Intelligence Confidential Part II
Posted on Fri Jul 22nd, 2022 @ 6:25pm by Lieutenant Commander Rowena McGowen & Lieutenant JG Mira Jayna
Edited on on Tue Jul 26th, 2022 @ 6:13am
1,511 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Episode 13 - Crooked River
Location: SCIF - Deck 9 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD003 1100hrs
"Ok good," Rowena said. "Now I know as an intelligence officer you want to look it up, trust me when I say, you won't find anything. The Malificus is decommissioned and the Paranormal unit supposedly doesn't exist. Or not anymore. If you want to look in to the stuff, that's fine, I can give you all the information you'll need, but you have to be sure you can stomach what you'll find. Paranormal activity is not exactly high on Star fleet intelligence list. But the people who really want to and start digging, they usually get more then they bargain for. I know, I used to be a part of that unit when I served on the Malificus. I am not really sure if I have completely let it go. And yes, before you ask, I have been in and out of therapy, and the visions stopped for a while." Rowena gazed off again in thought. "I am telling you this, because I want my team to be fully aware of what's going on, whether you believe in the paranormal or not. There are things going on, I just don't know yet what."
Jayna raised an eyebrow, sure there were more layers to this than the commander was intimating. "And how is this relevant to the Pioneer?" She wasn't sure if it was relevant to the ship, or just the commander. Either way, she wanted to know more about what may or may not be going on.
"Because if my feelings are right, the Pioneer will be heading in to dark times. And it would be my fault." Rowena stared in front of her as she said. She then looked over to Jayna. And then she smiled and then laughed. Her laugh was a little icy. She then took up her glass of water and downed the entire glass in one go. "But maybe I am just hallucinating. Who knows? I wouldn't mind to be wrong once."
"But you don't think you are," Jayna said quietly. That much was clear. "So tell me, what sort of dark times and why would it be your fault?" If the commander was correct, and that was still an if, then knowing what could be coming was vital to knowing how to deal with it. Then she decided to ask the obvious question. "Does this have anything to do with your last assignment?"
"For a part." Rowena tapped her fingers on the table. "I joined intelligence because I wanted to know what happened to my parents. Just like Miss Masters. But unlike Jennifer, I never found out what happened to my parents. I did find out one thing. They were scientists and they were part of the paranormal unit. Their disappearance is still unsolved to this." She took a deep breath. "As for what happened on the Maleficus...We encountered a ship adrift. The captain sent an away team with the XO leading it. I remained on the bridge monitoring and controlling the transporters. And then... the Away team got under attack. My controls were scrambled, I couldn't get the transporters to work. The only thing that worked properly were the external communications. Both the First officer over the com and the Commanding ordered to transport them back. Not even engineering couldn't get the transporters to work. All we could do was just...." She looked to the corned again as her hands trembled. "All we could do was listen to them scream and plead to get them out of there. And then an icy silence." She looked to her hands as they kept trembling. "And if that wasn't traumatizing enough, the transporters kicked in, transporting all the bodies right on to the bridge...the bodies..."
She grabbed her arm; a stinging pain was piercing it as someone just had grabbed her. A little panicked she pulled the sleeve up. A red hand print appeared and then disappeared. She quickly pulled her sleeve back down. "I am sorry, miss Jayna. Mira." She got up and walked to the replicator and ordered another glass of water and took out a hypospray and put it against her neck and then put it back.
She sighed softly. Then she took a sip. "I am on medication, they help me calm down, but that's about it. In the beginning the visions disappeared, so I thought I was just traumatized, hallucinating. The MO can't give me anymore medication. So, what must I think about all this? Cause I don't know anymore. I still don't know what happened on that ship. The Malificus was purged. And the ship was destroyed. But the Unit and the Captain still thought it safe to put the Malificus away. It wasn't destroyed." She then stumbled back with the glass in her hand to her desk and then opened a drawer. She pulled out a padd and slid it over to Jayna. "This is the manifest of the Maleficus. I crossed out some names. Starfleet listed them as MIA. But according to reports I found with the Unit the circumstances of their disappearances were mysterious to say the least. Some weren't even on a mission. Some went to bed and never were found again. But all of them were either on the bridge or in Engineering or in sickbay of the Maleficus on that day. And all of them had psychiatric treatment like me." She took another sip trying to suppress upcoming tears and also to let the other intelligence officer get through the information.
Jayna had seen the mark on the commander's arm and wasn't sure what to make of it. She began to thumb through the PADD, taking note of the names and the information provided. "Was there an investigation?" She wanted to know what was done and if so, what the results were. There was too much that didn't make sense. Could this be an advanced race or some alien creature? It was possible, but that would require more information. She had a hard time believing in poltergeists. Her own world's prophets were advanced beings living in a wormhole.
Rowena nodded. "There were several investigations. The once conducted by Starfleet all came back in conclusive. The Paranormal unit is still investigating, but have not come up with any explanations of them disappearing without a trace. This is as much as I know. The Paranormal unit said they would notify me if something changes. Also, why I am still here, I don't know. The Captain is also still here, I know he is actively involved in the investigation."
"Inconclusive evidence does make it more difficult," Jayna said. "Have you spoken to anyone else on the Pioneer about this and do you think this could affect the ship or crew at some point?"
"You are the only one right now. For the moment I don't think this will affect the crew. It seems to be only focused on me, so I am hoping to keep this under wraps until I know and understand more," Rowena explained.
Slowly nodding her head, Jayna thought over the possibilities before responding. "If you find any of this affecting the Pioneer or the crew--including yourself, let me know. I will do what I can to help." She wasn't sure how much she should tell Neil, if any of it. This wasn't exactly what he asked of her, but it could become a problem later.
"I intend to," Rowena said. "Is there anything you like to discuss?"
"Not at the moment," Jayna replied. "I'm assigned as intelligence liaison to The Cure and there is a great deal I need to learn. I assume you will wish to make some alterations to the department to suit the way you like to work. I may have questions then." She also wanted to do some digging on her own. She believed in non-corporeal aliens, but she wasn't so sure she believed in poltergeist. At the same time, she couldn't deny that Rowena believed everything she said and that something had strongly affected her. Was still affecting her.
Rowena smiled and said, "For the moment, miss Mira, I would like to keep you where you are right now. I have to look in to the position of the other officers though." She rubbed her arm again for a second and then continued, "Thank you for meeting with me."
"I will leave you to your work, then." She gave the commander a bow. "Thank you for your time, ma'am."
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Commander Rowena McGowen
Chief Intelligence Officer/Second Officer, USS Pioneer
Staff Warrant Officer Mira Jayna
Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer, USS Pioneer
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