Some Idiot Blew Up The Ready Room

Posted on Wed Nov 1st, 2023 @ 5:20am by Lieutenant Didrea Zade & Ensign Rimal Iska & Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII

Mission: Character Development
Location: USS Athena :: Brig
Timeline: 10:00 hours, morning after 'Hate Thy Neighbor'
1145 words - 2.3 OF Standard Post Measure

"Hey! You! Ensign...?" Finn called after a young man in security. She'd been looking for Zade for the past 15 minutes without any luck. Someone from her department had submitted a complaint about engineering blocking off a locker and it needed to be discussed. If her department had to be worried about stepping on security's toes every five minutes, none of the repairs would get completed on time.

Iska jumped as the normal buzz of the security offices was interrupted by an attention-grabbing call. Turning around, he realized that someone wearing yellow was addressing him. Just in case, he did briefly look behind him to make sure she wasn't trying to get someone else's attention, before he put down the PADD he was holding and approached her. "Ensign Iska, ma'am," he responded, noticing the two and a half pips on her collar. "What can I do for you, Commander?"

"Ensign Iska, can you tell me where Lieutenant Zade is please? I need to talk to her about some engineering/security department matters sooner rather than later," Finn said, still somewhat distracted as she continued to scan the area for Zade.

Oh, Prophets. The news about Commander Zora being in charge for the foreseeable future hadn't made its rounds yet. For a moment, he wondered why this engineer hadn't called for Zade or asked the computer, but since the Trill's communicator had been confiscated, it would make sense for the computer to send the engineer to the wrong location. Iska couldn't keep the uncomfortable tension out of his expression as he recalled how angry Zade was the other day, and how terrifying Zora was when she broke the news to the department. "Uh... she's in the brig, ma'am..." he eventually responded.

"The brig? Let me guess...Ensign Fenn?" She asked, thinking it would be no surprise to find the troublemaker locked behind bars.

"N-no..." Iska wasn't sure of how this woman would respond to the news, and the tension in his body reflected that. "I mean... she's in the brig, ma'am. Commander Zora is fielding all security reports in the meantime."

"What?" Finn looked surprised for a moment before breaking into a chuckle. "This sounds like a story I need to hear. Thank you Ensign, I'll find Commander Zora." After I talk to Zade in the brig, she thought.

"You're... welcome, ma'am." Iska waited for her to leave before returning to what he had been working on.

=== Brig ===

"Well, well, well," Finn had an obvious smirk on her face as she entered the brig. "I don't know if anyone has told you, but you're on the wrong side of the forcefield, Zade."

Zade was sitting cross-legged on the floor and leaning against the back wall of the cell, eyes shut. After the argument with Nayisa in the adjacent cell last night, she was trying to keep herself calm because the brig officer on duty had already asked her to control her volume. The night was rough, with lots of tossing and turning and generally being unable to sleep, but eventually she got enough rest to not be irritable. Unless Zora changed the arrest record, the Trill knew Nayisa would be released after the shift change today, which annoyed her even though she couldn't do anything about it.

The new voice made Zade's eyes open, then widen when she recognized a familiar face. "Finn," she said, standing up. Still not quite in the mood to joke around, she responded to the tease with, "tell that to Zora."

Finn gave a low whistle. "I don't tell Zora anything, it's quite the other way around actually. So what the hell did you do? It must've really been something. I've gotten on Zora's bad side, but it never went this far..."

The response was Zade crossing her arms, her discomfort at the current topic present but not overbearing. "I went with the Ensign in the other cell into Kane's quarters so I would have something more than my word as evidence when I made my arrest." Not hearing Nayisa complain about the summary, the Trill continued, "apparently, P'Rel had our acting intelligence chief look for chemical residue to help prove Kane's innocence, but she didn’t tell me that," the emphasis came with a glare toward the wall separating her from Nayisa, "so now it's a mess that Zora has to deal with." It was obvious in her tone that Zade didn't fully buy Nayisa's story.

Finn looked at the other cell quizzically. "Acting intel chief eh? I should've known. I figured it had to be something. Your passenger story wasn't exactly convincing," she smirked at the silver haired woman who she'd run into on that shuttle down to Earth when she had left the Athena. "When you made your arrest?" Finn looked back to Zade. "Who were you arresting in Kane's quarters?"

Zade simply used her thumb to point toward Nayisa's cell. "Her, but the arrest didn't happen in Kane's quarters. It was about 4 days ago."

"Ah, I see," Finn said even though she wasn't sure she totally followed the whole picture. Regardless, she didn't have all day to get around to the bottom of it and it wasn't really her business anyway, outside of the fact that her friend was stuck behind the wrong side of the forcefield. "Well...I wish I could hang around longer, but unfortunately for me someone in your department is writing complaints about my engineers and I need to work with someone in security to get on the same page. I've been told that someone is Commander Zora for the time being, but I at least wanted to stop by and make sure you were ok. When you get out, I'd appreciate your help. Some idiot blew up the Commodore's ready room, so I don't have a ton of time to deal with petty complaints. Can I get you anything before I go?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I don't think you're allowed to get things on my behalf right now." While heroic and for good cause in the moment, the reminder of the ready room left Zade with pity for the engineer. "About the ready room..." The general aura of annoyance in Zade's expression was replaced by a faint apologetic look. "Sorry about that. That at least has a justifiable story. Catch up over drinks, when this," she nodded her head to the side in reference to the cell, "is done and over?" The words felt strange coming out of her mouth, especially since her fate was still in Zora's hands and she didn't know if she'd ever see Finn again.

"Wait, that was you?" Finn grimaced slightly considered what she had just said about whoever blew up the ready room. "I'll look forward to that drink later. Good luck, Zade."