Warnings From The Future

Posted on Mon Jun 24th, 2024 @ 11:25pm by Executive Officer Jake Ford & Captain Rueben Gregnol & Chief Helmsman Kalahaeia t'Leiya

Mission: Shackles
Location: SS Mary Rose - Worker Bee Docking Port
Timeline: Post-Fractures
1879 words - 3.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Gregnol had no idea why he had been summoned to such a random location as the Parking Bay for the worker bees by his flight control department head. As he made his way through the dimly lit corridors, his mind raced with reasons for the summons. When the door to the bay slid open and Ford was already standing there Gregnol's confusion only deepened.

"You were summoned here too, hmm?" He remarked, his tone puzzled. The parking bay was an unusual place for a meeting, especially considering everything that had happened recently. For Kalahaeia to call them here, it must be serious.

"Got me," Jake shrugged. "You know what our Romulan ladies are like. They do love their clandestine meetings."

"That they do. But still, the space is unusual. I have not been down here for a long time." The space was filled with the quiet hum of machinery and the faint scent of some type of chemical, a stark contrast to the more familiar environments of the ship. Worker bees—small, manoeuvrable crafts used for maintenance and repairs—lined the walls, their sleek forms casting long shadows under the overhead lights.

"Yeah, can't think I've ever really needed to..." Jake shrugged, noticing a movement in the shadows as Kali appeared. "What's all this about then?"

"It's about not tipping our hand." Kali said, one hand reaching into an interior pocket to flip a jamming device...just in case. "Less noticeable than dropping by anyone's quarters or tying up a conference room." She paused for a moment, then sighed. "There were...When we were all jumbled up time wise. I'm sure we all saw a variety of stuff regarding potential futures that we're playing close to our chests; but in a few cases I think the cause warrants sharing. For example, in several a 'Nyx' came up; and whatever or whoever Nyx is, it always came up in such a way that gave a clear impression they're an adversary. But in one of those instances - based on who had or hadn't aged to what degree that I saw, probably like ten-ish years in the future - something else came up, too; that I think we need to be aware of. More than just me, that is." Another long pause. "It was implied in that future that Rick was involved with this 'Nyx' in some way; and that he was working with her against us, covertly, an offense for which I apparently killed him."

Kali sighed again: It was totally unknown, even in that timeline, for how long he had been entangled as such; meaning even if it tracked similarly in this one, he may or may not technically be innocent of such at the moment still. But given that she wasn't nearly as cavalier about offing people as some people seemed to think she was (a proper revenge or recompense for something was appropriate and measured after all, and it didn't always involve stabbing someone; responding wrongly was as bad as not responding at all; but that was possibly too much nuance to expect the humans to grasp), the fact that her other-self had not only done so but seemingly been widely lauded by her shipmates for such told her to take even the potential for him to be in 'Nyx's pocket already seriously.

Gregnol glanced to Ford. They had not mentioned Nyx to each other in a while but he could not deny that the name had come up many times in future. “And we are back to Nyx again.” Gregnol glanced at the workerbee and sat down on the step. He was not at all sure what to think about having someone he trusted on the armoury team being involved in the future with this Nyx let alone thinking on the potential of now.

Jake frowned. "Last we saw she was making off with the Temperance from under our noses," he confirmed.

"What do you know about this person before now?” Gregnol questioned thinking to the AI that had been effected on the cruise ship and the communications that had been heard about getting Nyx out of there.

"About Nyx? Next to nothing, unfortunately. Based on the way things sounded in the conversation, I'm going to learn towards Nyx probably being a person and probably being a female, but that's about it. About Rick..." Kali's voice trailed off momentarily with a slightly frustrated edge to it. "...not much I've been able to confirm, because what I have learned from him at least leaves the distinct impression that digging deeper would risk that getting back to him because his tradecraft is probably better than mine is. So take it with a grain of salt and a low level of confidence; which is that he used to be SFI covert ops and spent time infiltrating the Orion Syndicate. He seems to have a bit of a level of...playfulness...with information that I suppose would seem off to a lot of people, but honestly just comes across as normal to others." Kali's finger lingered for a moment on one pointed eartip by way of explanation as to exactly what sort of people found that normal. "I wouldn't say I've had any particular cause to distrust him...Until the time travel incident." She grimaced and shook her head. "He was there, too, actually; but I'm pretty certain he didn't hear what was said, and that I managed to cover for that I did."

"I had assumed female myself from the way people flock to protect," Gregnol admitted. He had his sources, but there was no way to confirm it all for sure. The information he had gathered was vague, and people's protective instincts had misled him before. The bigger issue was Rick. Gregnol was trying to work out whether they were being played now or if that event was still to come in the future. Rick’s behaviour was suspicious, and Gregnol couldn't shake the feeling that he was up to something but everything so far could be explained as just young. "I suspect if he was aware of our suspicions, he will be gone at the next port," Gregnol continued, his tone sombre. The uncertainty was eating at him, and he knew that they needed to be vigilant.

"That he's still around suggests he doesn't suspect. At least yet." Jake looked at Kali. "Maybe we can use that; keep an eye on him, see what he does. He's taken a bit of a shine to you, do you think you can stay close to him? Tap him for information or something?" It seemed like a moot question in his head, given Kali's heritage and disposition.

Kali sighed; somehow, people who'd never done intelligence work, near as she could figure, seemed to have the mistaken assumption that all such work was the same and equipped one with the same types and levels of skills. At least that was the feeling she somewhat got from Jake's voice not having nearly as much trepidation in it as she would have put in her own asking such a thing. "Yes, I can try that. I honestly don't think we have much choice other than for someone to, actually. But you may be overestimating the chance of success or underestimating the danger of getting discovered or tipping him off. I was an analyst. He was an operative. He is, very likely, at least as good a liar as I am and at least as good at knowing when he's being lied to as I am. Probably better."

If there was any saving grace in the contest, it would probably be that she'd found that both humans and Romulans alike seemed to find her harder to read than each other or their own kind otherwise...Who'd have guessed massive and messy threads of code-switching would actually be to her advantage occasionally.

"Also, I doubt I'd expect anything close to quick results even if it works." She continued, sighing again. "Given that the Syndicate was originally founded by the Orions, and Orions are about as fond of 'playing the fucking long game' as Romulans are. Which means if he survived any decent length of time on the inside of it, he's very good at that, too." In the back of Kali's head, there was also the uncomfortable thought that due to the vagaries of the timeline, it was also entirely possible the man was innocent - of this at least - and she was about to engage in the sort of knee-jerk suspicion and extrapolation off dodgy evidence that she'd been infuriated by when it had been aimed at her in the past by senior fleet officers.

Reuben sighed to himself. He did not mind using Kali and her heritage for this type of thing but he also needed her at the helm flying the ship. Rosie was temperamental and he needed her focused on that. "I could bring someone on board who owes me a favour to investigate him." Gregnol had many connections from being a security officer and Executive Officer that he did not tap into often unless it was desperate.

"I don't know." Jake shook his head. "If Captain Jaal finds out and thinks we've got a leak on board..." He shook his head. "Maybe confronting him is the right thing to do? Could be that we misunderstood all this."

"It's entirely possible we have, yes; not so much misundersood as maybe that timeline hasn't happened yet." Kali nodded, then shook her head vehemently a moment later. "But I would so not recommend that idea still, mostly because I really don't think it'd get us anything for the risk. Let's say we confront him. He denies it, seemingly credibly, but since it's damn hard to prove a negative, all we really have then is that he seems sincere. Which, again, a man who survived time undercover in the Syndicate would be real good at faking." She shrugged her eyes and eyebrows and turned from Jake to Gregnol. "That might work, if you thought they have the right skills both to do so and to fool him. It'd have to seem believable as something else, though; and it'd have to be done slowly and subtly, or he'll probably pick up on it as too focused on him."

"No, we observe. I would do the same if I was still Starfleet Security." Gregnol smirked at the suggestion that his friend did not have the right skills. "I will let her know that he skills are being tested if she decides to come. Agrax is an interesting one but she needs a time out from Starfleet." He mused hopeful that she might be able to join them for a month.

"Well, it's your call," Jake nodded. "I just hope we're wrong...because if he has been working with Nyx and her group, we're going to be unraveling something none of us are going to like."