New Responsibilities

Posted on Sun Nov 19th, 2023 @ 4:53am by Lieutenant JG Nayisa Wrea & Lieutenant Commander P’rel M.D

Mission: The Trojan Horse
Location: Intel Offices
Timeline: After "A Slap On The Wrist"
2553 words - 5.1 OF Standard Post Measure

After the harsh lecture from Zora, Nayisa waited a couple seconds just outside Zora's office before giving her arms a little shake, as if that would shake out the tension that came with the last couple of days. She then headed down the corridor, giving Kane's quarters the briefest of side-eyes before continuing to the turbolift to head to deck five. The silver-haired woman kept a relaxed countenance for those blissfully unaware of the break-in and her time spent in the brig for it, but internally, she was unsure about what the atmosphere in the intelligence suite would be.

As she got closer to deck five, she recalled that P'Rel was back on board by now, a light pressing of her lips together the only outward sign of her internal grimace. In addition to the "debrief-slash-transfer-of-power" talk, she'd also likely have to explain why she wasn't around for three days. On top of it, she'd also have to update some of her passwords and security keys, a task that was hardly comparable to being lectured but still an inconvenience. Nayisa stood at the door to the chief's office for a long moment, considering avoiding the conversation altogether and just picking up some tasks to stay off the radar. Knowing she couldn't avoid the conversation entirely, Nayisa opted to get it over with, and pressed the chime to the office door.

Sensing the angst approaching her, P'rel concluded the most likely person to be in such a state was Ensign Wrea. P'rel, seated at her desk, leaned over and picked the small ornament up before pressing the door release. The two doors slid open with a hiss, to reveal Wrea stood at the threshold looking uncomfortable. "I assume this trinket is yours, and left behind accidentally...?" she asked, holding up a small anthropomorphised Terran frog of some genus of other. Reading the words at the base of the small object, she raised her eyebrows; "Hippity Hoppity...get off my Proppity..." she looked to Wrea, feigning confusion.

Giving a smile that would have fooled most into thinking she wasn't tense, Nayisa stepped into the office. She knew P'Rel was not most, however, and there wasn't really a point in putting that much effort into concealing her tension when it was just the two of them. If anything, her efforts were out of habit. Nayisa looked at the ceramic trinket resting in P'Rel's palm. "Yeah, it's something a friend gave to me. It seemed appropriate for the office." The silver-haired woman briefly scanned the desk with her eyes, spotting the three or so PADDs she had left, before adding, "sorry for the mess. I would have organized a little more, but I, uh... had some stuff come up."

Whilst it pained P'rel every time she repeated the stereotypical Vulcan idiom, it was often entirely apt for the moment, and she raised an eyebrow in response. "I am certain the brig kept you quite busy".

Nayisa shrugged, while making a mental note to add 'hippity hoppity, get off my proppity' to her log of things she's made a Vulcan say. "Busy enough. Happy to report there are 347 seams in cell number one." There was a brief pause as Nayisa shoved her hands into her pockets. "You were partially right, about involving Zade. Her putting me in the brig for a few days was well worth the risk, though. I did write a debrief, if you care to review it." She gave a subtle nod toward the wall with the display, seeking silent permission to retrieve the PADD she had stashed in the secret compartment beneath it.

"Ensign Wrea" began the slightly irksome tone, "You assume I have not read the report and retrieved the PADD", she leaned forward and slid one of several across the desk, placing the frog next to it.

Of course P'Rel would know this office inside and out. "My bad," Nayisa said with an apologetic smile. She got closer to the desk, recognizing the beginning of her report on the PADD, and casually clasped her hands behind her back. She knew the report included a map of Kane's quarters, with the 26 motion sensors flagged, as well as details about the security seals, so P'Rel would have the full context. "The trick with the motion sensors --creative, by the way-- considerably increased the risk of detection. Didrea was understandably resistant to the idea, but her help significantly reduced the time I would have spent investigating. I won't do it again, though, because I know that was a risky decision."

"Perhaps not as risky as you thought..." the Vulcan conceded; "you did, after all, secure in the information we were relying on finding". P'rel rose and moved to activate the main mission screen, bringing up a briefing packet. "Hopefully, we will never find ourselves in that situation again..." she keyed in a few more menu options and the newly formed Paladin Squadron appeared on the screen as a list of names, Commanding Officers, and basic schematics.

"One can hope." As P'Rel worked on the main mission screen, Nayisa helped herself to the frog trinket, turning it over slowly in her hands as she watched the Vulcan. While only by name, she did recognize some of the ships and some of the Captains. The first image to stick out at her was Lance's. She didn't get to work with her, but heard from the crew that she really stepped up. Nayisa held off on the rather obvious question of what all of this was for, instead waiting for P'Rel to either dive into a briefing or tell her to leave.

"With promotion, Commodore Kane has inherited a Starfleet Squadron..." she began, turning a moment to pull out a small metallic box from a drawer in the desk, and then turning back to the monitor. "...Athena is going to act as the principle intelligence and command hub for the squadron, and this changes my role somewhat". P'rel was very much not one for ceremony, and simply handed the box to Ensign Wrea. "I will need a Lieutenant to act as my liaison officer within the squadron...Commodore Kane authorised my recommendation this morning..." she said, so matter of factly, continuing to work through the squadron menu.

Initially, Nayisa dreaded seeing the small box in P'Rel's hand. In her experience, promotions came with a speech about "more responsibility" and "you can't act like an Ensign anymore," and with her track record, she was going to lose it within the next year anyways. But then the box was simply put into her hands. Nayisa stared at it for a moment before looking at her superior's back. A liaison officer? To the whole squadron?? Her??? Was P'Rel feeling alright?

"What's included in our new responsibilities?" She asked, curious to see what P'Rel's new role entailed as well. Opening the box, the silver-haired woman inspected the dark pip inside while setting the frog on the desk. P'Rel obviously trusted her enough for this if she recommended Nayisa, but Nayisa didn't really care for promotions and she had a sense of hesitation around it.

Quipping slightly, P'rel began by saying in a half stern, half teasing tone; "Staying out of trouble...according to the Commodore..." she continued with the menu and consolidated a list of the ships and their command staff. Only the two larger vessels; Aurora and Spruance actually had shipboard intelligence staff, with the remainder of the smaller vessels requiring their Security and Executive Officers to incorporate intelligence into their roles. "This office will become the intelligence hub for this sector, we will need to keep a steady flow of information coming in, prioritised and sorted and relayed back to the squadron".

Nayisa quietly snorted at the idea of staying out of trouble before actually paying attention. A steady flow of information, that she would have at least some access to, would prove beneficial, in more ways than one. It tickled her inner strategist the right way. "I would say 'simple enough,' but surely it's anything but. Have points-of-contact for the other ships been assigned yet?" If she really was going to be a liaison, it would probably be a good idea to get introductions and all the logistical nonsense out of the way.

"Only aboard the two larger vessels..." P'rel answered. "Though Commanders Shan and Lance are commanding two vessels also, so there at least some familiar contacts for you". She thumbed her new pip and twiddled it between her fingers. "Regrettably...my own new position will necessitate I spend more time away from the suite and instead make a presence on the bridge...".

A brief silence filled the air as Nayisa processed that last sentence, quietly closing the lid of the small box, the new pip untouched. From her position by the desk, she could barely make out the fidgeting at the collar. Vulcans weren't ones to get nervous, so why was she messing with her collar? Perhaps it was a thoughtful action? It was probably the best guess, since Nayisa couldn't see P'Rel's expression. It didn't take a genius to figure out that P'Rel's promotion came with some kind of bridge duty, but what purpose would intel serve on the bridge when a tactical station existed? Unless she wasn't providing tactical support... "Damn, whose nerves did you get on to get bridge duty??"

Looking disdainfully at Wrea, she noticed the officer still hadn't placed the pip. "The Commodore, evidently..." she dryly replied. "I am certain he sees as much humour in this as he does logic and..." she closed down the Paladin menu to open up sector reports. "...I am not putting that on your collar..." her voice trailed off as she accessed the data heads which had been tagged for squadron review.

Nayisa looked back at the box in her hand. "I wasn't expecting you to, Lieu... Commander. The..." Nayisa paused to think of the appropriate word. "...lecture by Commander Zora left me on restricted duty and level three intel clearance. It just feels strange to be promoted right now." Also, she couldn't think of a single Lieutenant with level three clearance.

"Lieutenant Wrea, I was until recently a fugitive of the state; wanted for escaping arrest, avoiding lawful investigation, kidnap, assault and suspected to be linked acts of domestic terrorism. I have just been handed the self destruct codes for this ship, and had my administrative clearance upgraded to Theta 6..." she pulled through the reports she was searching for and opened them. "...I assure you, not everyone in Starfleet favours those who will blindly follow, and that thinking outside the cuboid is more often an asset than a liability".

Ew, Nayisa didn't like the rank next to her name. Even with this being her sixth promotion to a junior grade lieutenant, it still sounded funny to her. P'Rel probably wasn't going to take no for an answer, however, so she re-opened the box and looked at the half-pip again. How long would this one last? "Well, I guess if you can get promoted after being a fugitive..." Nayisa took the small thing out of the box and set the box on the desk so she could fasten it to her collar. How ironic was it that she was sporting a new pip after being placed on glorified house arrest by Zora. "Alright, so what now? Orders, requests, complaints...?"

"Only one item of note..." the Vulcan began, as she opened the relevant files on the large screen and pointed at the items as she spoke. "There has been increased talk in the usual circles about ion storms in the Naghel system, however long range stellar weather reports out of Deep Space Nine do not seem to suggest anything of the kind...." she paused, bringing up another report, "...there is however a treaty negotiation underway between the Federation and the Gorn. It is relatively low level, though it is taking place on Naghel IV. Your thoughts?".

"Sounds like an attempt to mess with negotiations," Nayisa responded with a shrug. There was a chance that it was faulty equipment, but she had yet to hear of DS9's equipment messing up so badly that it couldn't even detect an ion storm. "Deep Space Nine's sensors aren't bad enough to miss a disturbance as obvious as an ion storm, not when they're exposed to interstellar phenomena on a regular basis. It seems worth looking into, even if it's to compare their scans to what the usual circles have."

Nodding slowly, P'rel agreed. "I will add into the Commodore's briefing packet, a recommendation to dispatch a vessel to investigate". She pondered the information for a moment; "The reference to the ion storm could be reference to the negotiation event itself...I think it unlikely that there is any actual threat. Would you agree?".

Nayisa nodded. "Yeah, that's probably the case." Of course, she'd need to know more to say for sure if there was a threat. Until it was actually assigned to her, however, she'd just keep an ear out for any new information.

"Very well" P'rel concluded. "Lieutenant, I will leave the matter of liaising with the squadron in your capable hands. Wait for the Commodore to approve the orders, and then make contact with the principal officer on board...." her eyes scanned the squadron manifest for the which ship was closest to Naghel on it's patrol route, "...the Valiant" she finished.

While still wary of becoming attached to her new role, Nayisa gave P'Rel her usual sickeningly enthusiastic smile. At least she was able to work and not be stuck in her quarters or the brig. "Sure thing, boss!" At least her new role, and rank, gave her much more freedom, so she wasn't fighting with authorization nonsense. "Is it alright if I use the office for this liaising?"

If only looks could flay a person, Wrea would have been in real danger; "No" P'rel replied flatly. She continued to stare at the Lieutenant in somewhat disbelief.

"Aw, man..." Nayisa mumbled. She'd miss those glorious displays and their abundance of functionality. Maybe she could request an office space of her own, especially if she was going to be handling incoming data. While she knew the suite's security capabilities, it was still an open space. "Didn't hurt to ask," she said with a shrug.

P'rel leaned over and pressed the door release, opening the doors to her office out into the main suite; "It would be advisable not to test that logic often..." she advised clearly and sternly. "Dismissed..."

With a wide smile, Nayisa just nodded and left, knowing that she was suddenly in delicate territory based off of P'Rel's response. It wasn't until the door shut behind her that she gave her collar a slight tug, feeling self conscious about the new pip. A liaison for an entire squadron... that was a hell of a promotion. It meant she had a lot more work to do, and unfortunately it meant more desk work. Grabbing a PADD from the suite, she began making a list of what she'd need to prepare for the role. She'd make a stop in engineering to see if these were doable.

In the office, the frog trinket remained on the desk.