And Behind Forcefield Number Two Is...

Posted on Mon Oct 30th, 2023 @ 7:52pm by Commander N'Garzi Zora & Lieutenant Didrea Zade & Lieutenant JG Nayisa Wrea

Mission: Character Development
Location: USS Athena :: Brig
Timeline: After "Schism"
1821 words - 3.6 OF Standard Post Measure

With literally nothing better to do, Nayisa made herself at home on the bed in her cell. Her shoes were off and standing neatly on the floor, and her heels were currently resting on the wall. It was a strange habit of hers to lay upside down when she was bored, but it helped pass the time to imagine that everyone walked on the ceiling. She was starting to doze off in this position when she heard the doors hiss, and she could see red and yellow in the corner of her eye. Craning her neck a little, the blobs became figures, and Nayisa recognized Zora and Zade, and she quickly turned over so she'd look like less of a dork.

At first, she thought they were coming to see her, but her expression became confused when Nayisa saw Zade head past her cell, with Zora right behind her. Nayisa stood, then grabbed the edge of the bed when she felt the tingling sensation of half-asleep limbs. "Everything alright?" She called out, though the tension their presence brought said more than any response would. She didn't quite catch it, but did Zade look... defeated?

"Get ready to activate number two," Zora said to the crewman in gold operating the controls. She ignored Wrea entirely, not really ready to deal with her just yet and watched as Zade stepped over the threshold. Once the Trill was inside, Zora nodded in the direction of the brig operator and the forcefield activated in a blue flash. "Keep the Lieutenant here unless authorised by myself or the Commodore. Until further notice, all security reports go through me until I find a replacement." She put extra emphasis on the final word, hoping to stir something in Zade.

It was rare for Zade to be in the brig, let alone inside a cell. Knowing better than to try and argue, the Trill was silent as she put distance between herself and the threshold. It was unnecessary, given she had no intentions of trying to get out of her current situation. Hearing the hum of the forcefield solidified what was happening, and she just stared at the bed against the far wall. When Zora mentioned finding a replacement, it made her chest ache as the weight of how much trouble she was in settled. Was this it? What was going to happen to her?

Once Nayisa got feeling back in her legs, she walked up to the threshold to see what the deal was, but couldn't actually see what was happening. Zora's words to the brig officer, however, made it all click. Was this what Savin meant by this potentially jeopardizing her career? "Commander, she's not at fault here."

"How did you come to that conclusion Ensign?" Zora asked, her eyes still on Zade in her cell. Somehow she looked smaller than usual.

Finally, a chance to actually explain the situation. Nayisa watched Zora about as intently as she was watching the adjacent cell, considering her own words very carefully. This was delicate territory. "Zade wasn't fully informed of the situation, so it can be argued that her actions were not entirely of her own free will."

"Nayisa, please," Zade muttered, pressing a couple fingers to her temple. This was already embarrassing, and she didn't need her friend spouting off nonsense to Zora on top of it. "Stop trying to make this worse than it already is."

"I'm not, Dee." Nayisa kept her gaze on the commander. Yeesh, Zade even sounded defeated. Just what the hell happened before they showed up here? By Zora's unwavering stance, the intelligence officer knew she had her work cut out for her. Her friend's job was on the line, after all, and she knew that Zade would never forgive her if she got kicked out of Starfleet over this. "Given the sensitive nature of the trial, Commander, I made the decision to not reveal that I was under orders."

Zora had to admit that this revelation piqued her interest. Who the hell would be giving secret orders to Wrea? Because it wasn't her and Commander Lance was too much of a rule follower to really give a damn, so who? However much she wanted answers to these questions she couldn't let Wrea get the upper hand, and so her face stayed stoic as she continued to watch Zade in her cell. 5...4...3...2...1... Zora turned to face Ensign Wrea in her cell, her face unreadable, or at least trying her best to be. "Orders by whom, Ensign?"

The revelation made Zade's attention snap to the wall separating her from the intelligence officer. Under orders?? Zade got a little closer to the wall so she could listen in on the conversation.

Curiosity was a powerful tool. Nayisa had a feeling that this tiny detail would grab Zora's attention, and the stern gaze turning toward her confirmed her hunch. The commander was good at keeping a neutral expression, but there were tiny hints of that curiosity peeking through, enough to tell Nayisa that she was on the right track. The silver-haired woman kept her own expression calm enough to convey that her words were truthful. "I was contacted by Lieutenant P'Rel, Commander." She let that news sink in for a moment before continuing, "she needed to confirm the age of explosive compounds found in the Commodore's quarters. I contacted Zade because the quarters were rigged beyond the basic Starfleet security seals, and the risk of collateral would have been far greater if I had gone alone."

Zora smiled a cold one that didn't reach her eyes. She took a step towards the Ensign's cell, stopped and held her arms behind her back. She could feel three pairs of eyes on her, baited breath waiting for her next move. "If that is true then I'm sure Lieutenant P'rel will back up your story when we arrive on Earth." She turned to walk out of the brig and then stopped and turned back around as though she only just remembered something. "As an intel officer, you often have access to information, sometimes I don't receive, annoyingly. Well, I was aware that P'rel was considered a fugitive, did you?"

Of course Nayisa knew that P'Rel was a fugitive. The news outlets that she monitored during the trial wouldn't stop talking about it. It was easy to guess that this was likely a trick question, regardless of Zora's intent behind asking. A truthful response would have Nayisa admitting that she helped a fugitive. Denial could peg Nayisa as not performing her duty as an intelligence officer to the best of her ability, and also probably a liar. This wasn't about her, however, this was about her friend in the next cell. Nayisa mimicked Zora's action of placing her hands behind her back as she watched the woman carefully. "While her fugitive status was publicly known, Commander, an intelligence officer's actions are rarely without reason."

Zora nodded her head slowly. "Right, so you will blindly follow orders regardless of the officer's current active status? That's good to know." She turned towards the second cell where Zade was currently watching this play out. "You may have been correct earlier, Lieutenant," she said smoothly. "This one would be better off with Starfleet security."

It took everything in Nayisa's power to not laugh at that response, the effort instead producing a faint half-smile. The response was one hell of a reach, an attempt to twist the truth enough to rile her up, but it didn't matter how she tried to respond. It seemed Zora was set in her decision. Nayisa was confident that P'Rel would back up her claim, so she was surprisingly calm despite the accusations. What did surprise Nayisa was what Zora said to Zade, and that prompted a brief turn of the head toward the wall between them, her smile fading. Did Zade actually recommend that?

Zade stared, surprised, at Zora. She didn't make any recommendation like that, it was all Zora jumping to conclusions. "Those are your words, not mine, Commander," she pointed out. The frustration she felt was similar to what she felt during the trial, when Babanin was putting words into her mouth. She hated it, and she suspected Zora knew that.

"My words based on your implications," Zora responded calmly before turning back to face Ensign Wrea. As far as she was concerned the matter was done, she had received the response and outcome she wanted and for now, that was enough. "You still haven't answered my previous question, Ensign," Zora asked the silver-haired woman. "How do you figure that the Lieutenant here isn't at fault?"

Nayisa turned her attention back to Zora, her composure almost Vulcan-like with how little she expressed. She wanted Zora to see that she wasn't phased by the accusations, that she had control over the situation. "I will preface by saying that I may lack the proper context leading to your presence here, Commander. If the Lieutenant is here because of her involvement in my assignment, she shouldn't be. She didn't break into the quarters, didn't write a program to fool the security seals, she didn't scan the quarters for evidence and collect it, and she didn't send those results to P'Rel, per an order allegedly followed blindly." Behind her back, her hands were clasped a little tighter than usual, a silent hope that she could talk their way through this. "I took measures to ensure that any and all violation of regulation related to this assignment fell onto me, even if something went wrong. I cannot determine if she's at fault for a separate reason."

"Well, aren't you P'rel's little clone?" Zora asked referring to the Ensign's attitude. It was obvious that Wrea was trying to intimidate her, and she was having none of it. She was too old and experienced to be rattled by a little girl trying to play in the big league. "Do you know what an accessory to a crime is?" She asked rhetorically. "Convenient for Lieutenant P'rel, she gets what she wants without any of the risk; working her puppets from afar, as usual."

The Commander moved towards the door not wanting to hear more excuses. Once again she stopped short and looked back at the two women in their respective cells. "Lieutenant Zade knew the quarters were off limit by decree of the commanding officers of the Athena and by the Federation Supreme Court. You already told me that she knew nothing about P'rel's orders and yet she still accompanied you. You haven't saved your friend, you have condemned her. Have a good night ladies, you'll need your strength for tomorrow." Without waiting for a reply, Zora headed out of the room and let the door close behind her.