Expanding the scope
Posted on Wed Oct 9th, 2019 @ 10:23am by Major Cornelius Tremble
Edited on on Wed Oct 9th, 2019 @ 10:19pm
2,028 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Episode 8 - The Silence
Location: Marine CO's Office/Marine Country - Deck 9 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD002 1400 hrs
After Jenn had left, Neil tapped his comm badge once more and said, "Tremble to Ovaa."
Tallida was enjoying have a counselor on board, other than her. She was enjoying taking fewer of the sessions and getting more time to looking to more of the behind the scenes issues people didn't come to her about. She heard her name over the comm but finished reading the paragraph she had been reading before absently replying. "Lieutenant Ovaa, here."
Neil grinned as he heard her distracted voice, "Did I catch you in the middle of someone, Doctor?"
"Eh," She started with a shrug he couldn't see. "Paperwork," She continued. "What can I do for you?" Still distracted.
"Paperwork? There is no such thing as paperwork, Dear Doctor. The Paperwork Reduction Act of 2145 doesn't require hardcopies anymore," he teased. "But if you want to compare paperworks, I'll show you mine if you show me yours."
His teasing finally drew her back into reality with a giggle. "Any time, love." She said with a large smile that could easily be heard over the comm. "Do you need something? Or did you just miss me?"
He chuckled as she was pulled out of wherever her brain had taken her. "Yes and yes, Tallida. If you have a moment, could you visit this lowly Marine in the bowels of the ship? I do have something to show you and it occurred to me you may not have been in actual Marine Country yet."
"That is a terrifying thought." She blurted, thankful he was unable to see the blush on her cheeks at her outburst. "I guess I can be brave. Be there in a minute." she grinned as she was already heading for the door.
"Roger that," he smiled into the air, "I'll warn the Corporal of the Guard you're on your way."
Looking around his office, he didn't think she'd be that impressed. The furniture was fairly utilitarian and the decor a muted OD green with black rug bearing the Cure's seal. Federation, Starfleet and Marine flags stood in three corners and the Cure's Guidon hung on the wall behind his desk, mounted horizontally. Two lockers were built into the walls, each opposing the other. Several holo-frames were scattered about the walls, showing various stills taken from over his years of service: people, places, and items of interest flickering slowly through their rotations.
Tallida had only gotten lost twice, which was an improvement in the maze of the ship. She didn't bother ringing the chime as the doors parted for her as if they had been expecting her. To most, the office would have seemed, rugged. That it only existed for a purpose. The office brought a smile to her face, but not as much of one as the Marine sitting behind his desk. "Hi," She said simply.
He stood as she entered and returned her greeting, "Hi yourself." He gestured toward a chair and moved to sit in it's mate, slightly turning it to face her first. "It sounded like you were about eye deep in fun," he told her as he settled into the seat.
Tallida laughed, her face flushing. "I was reading a report on the effect of transdermal treatments for dna derived hormone embalances." She said simply. "The theory that Doctor Marlow was postulating was rather impressive." She smiled at Neil.
He thought on her words for a time, his eyes slowly crossing as they widened and he said unblinkingly, "So, they're going to try and treat beings for inherited conditions like ass-hattery by slapping a patch on them?"
Neil shook his head dramatically as he finished speaking and blinked, grinning at her and asked, "Can I get a couple dozen? I have a list...."
Tallida narrowed her eyes at him, "Only if you get the first one." She could only hold the scolding face for so long before she broke into a smile. "He was trying to see if there was a way to do perform the gene therapy in a more controlled fashion that the drastic injection of a hypospray." She wasn't going to admit that the reason she was so interested in it was the prospect of using it to treat herself.
"Soo, slow insertion versus Orbital landing craft. I suppose that makes sense. Just another medical paper or are you researching for a patient?" he asked, pulling a flimsy from his desk and settling it on his lap.
"Bit of both," She said with a shrug before she turned her bright eyes to him, pushing the bridge of her pointless glasses back up her nose. "That isn't why you called me down here." She smiled. "What can I do for you?"
He eyed her for a moment then twitched the flimsy before handing it to her. "I'll forward the original, but Fleet has a tasking for me and by doing my due delegating diligence, I'm including you. After the Wakefield incident, they want a third party review. Since I wasn't involved in that mess, I am tasked with interviewing people and seeing where they think things went off the rails. I need a counselor's assessment to go with that."
As she took the flimsy and glanced at it, he grunted "That has both a JAG and IG stamping on it. So we can't necessarily ignore it."
"We could," She started correcting him. "We would just get in trouble." She had that distant tone to her voice as she looked over the file. Wakefield. She had heard something about it but nothing with any actual heft. "So, what exactly are they wanting us to do? Witch hunt? Or therapeutic?"
He smirked a bit, "Both, to a lesser degree on to the first. Something got lost in the chain on Pioneer when it came to the trial. Pioneer's a flag ship and it didn't reflect well all the way back to Fleet HQ. They don't want a repeat, so we assess and see how it matches theirs. Since I'm both in the Pioneer chain and in the Corp's chain you and, vis a vis, I get the duty."
"It's politics more than anything," he groused. "Her father pulled some strings keeping her in the fleet from what I understand, but the fact that all this happened is staring right at the Command Staff. They're not bent out of shape enough to pull a full review, but I'm guessing there's going to be steps taken. One way or another."
"Ah," Tallida said with a nod of her head. "Pre-witch hunt witch hunt." She thumbed through the file. "Tyler will be easy enough. I am having lunch with him and should be able to do some sort of preliminary evaluation." She looked at Neil. "The others will be a bit more, creative. Assuming we are keeping this, uh, quiet."
He shook his head. "Nope. This is above board, required assessment. All parties cooperation is required. Failure to do so and I'm authorized to put said participant under oath for their statement. This an official JAG-MAN investigation and more to the point, a big Qu'vatlh to Malbrooke. I talked to a friend of mine and that's what it boils down to."
"Ugh, that might be worse," Tallida replied with a groan. She tapped him on the knee with the orders. "Why should I agree to this?" She gave him a teasing smirk.
Neil shook his head, "Because you'll make friends and be popular. People just love being stared at having things dredged up they thought were put to rest."
In a very childish move Tallida stuck her tongue out at him in response. "Thanks," She rolled her eyes before they fell on him again. "Have drinks with me tonight?" She blurted.
His eyebrow arched at that and he grinned. "I didn't see that on the flimsy, but definitely!" Then he let his face fall and said, "Wait. Are you perfecting your interviewing technique?"
"Oh, uh, no..." Tallida replied nervously as if she thought she had done something wrong. Which she did. "I just, wanted to, uh." Her cheeks flushed as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I just wanted to see you, uh, outside of work."
"Sounds like a good idea to me," Neil said, smiling at her blush. "Where and when?"
"Mess?" She offered, thankful for him just glancing over her awkwardness. "2200 hours?" She shrugged, tucking her hair behind her ear.
He nodded in agreement, "Sounds like a date, Tallida." HIs tone changed to teasing as he let his glance slide over her. "I like the sound of that."
"The mess, or 2200 hours?" She asked with a smile completely missing the point of his statement. It was all for the best as if she had caught his meaning she would have fell into one of her signature blushes.
Neil peered a her, a smile widening over his face and he said, "The 2200 hundred hours. The mess I'm not sure of. You know I was always confused by that word, so I looked it up. It has a murky origin, tracing back to the latin word missus which seemed to have two meanings, one being a course of food. The word was mutilated through the years from a group of people you normally ate with to the room where food was eaten to meaning both."
He warmed to the subject a bit, his eyes mischievous, "And that's following the military usage. It of course means clutter and untidiness and went from being used as a negative to even being a badge of honor, of sorts. Are you suggesting we dine in the official mess, or explore becoming untidy?"
Tallida watched him. Amused by his tangent regarding the a word that was simply used without regard for the meaning. "I guess that would depend on the activities to become untidy." She gave a shrug missing his implication. "Painting can be fun, but not for drinks." She smiled at him as her mind wondered at the thought.
Neil's eyebrow raised as she spoke and he asked, "Painting...drinks. Are you suggesting we show up in public only wearing paint, Doctor?" He furrowed his brow as if giving that some thought and then shrugged. "Well, it might cause shock but we can try...."
Tallida worried her lower lip for a moment as she watched him. She was starting to catch on, rather slowly, to his teasing and tried to analyze the situation to see if that was what was happening now. "I can't help but feel like you are teasing me." She said softly.
He smiled again as she met his eyes and said, "Only just a little, Tallida. Do you mind?"
"I guess not," She admitted. "I am rather used to people teasing, I just am never around them enough to figure it out." She paused, "Until later." She shrugged. When others did it it wasn't as playful as Neil's, it was hurtful.
The marine regarded her for a few beats and said, "You're supposed to hand it back, generally. Like saying you've seen me naked and no one really want's to see that painted red. It changes from teasing to banter, then."
"I will keep that in mind." Tallida replied still not catching on to the game. She didn't really feel like telling him right then that she had enjoyed seeing him naked and she might even have looked forward to it. The thought along sent a red flush to her cheeks forcing her to look down before clearing her throat. "So, drinks tonight." She stated with a grin.
"Drinks tonight, Counselor," Neil confirmed, the smile staying strung over his face. "I'm looking forward to it."
Tallida smiled as she rose from her chair. Placing her palm on the desk she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. "Me too." And with that she went bounding out the door.
Captain Cornelius Tremble
Marine Commanding Officer/Second Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Tallida Ovaa
Chief Counselor, USS Pioneer
RSS Feed