Trading Faces

Posted on Mon Apr 11th, 2011 @ 5:34pm by Lieutenant Commander Aiden Roberts (KIA) & Lieutenant Colonel Anastasia DeVries

Mission: Renegades
Location: Security Offices
Timeline: After Tight Spots

The doors to the security section parted as Lieutenant Roberts entered, peering around first to see if the new Brig Officer was present. He had heard rumors about the man, and frankly wasn't in the best of moods to chit chat with 'he who never shuts up'. No, Aiden had more important business. Having just come from the shuttle bay where he saw the Tempe off on their away mission to further scout out the remains of the wreckage. Aiden found himself delegating his Operations workload to his folks, and found himself adopting more of his role as the Acting First Officer.

"Major?" He called out, as though he felt like he was intruding somewhere he didn't belong. The last time he had made his way down here, things didn't exactly go as he had planned.

Peeking her head out of her office at the familiar voice, Stace casually waved the Lieutenant over in her direction. "In here... trying to make sense of all these blasted interviews. Not to mention I'm hiding from Chet. As much as I adore that little twerp I'm not ready for another round of hugs and coffee. What can I do for you?"

Aiden chuckled, at least he wasn't the only one hiding. "Business as usual..." It was a weird situation, him acting in the role of someone superior in position but not in rank. He told himself, while this was only temporary, he wouldn't let a title go to his head.

Sitting down, with two PADDs in his hand. "How are our guests settling in..?" He started, looking around the office at the various weaponry displayed on the wall.

"About as well as one can suspect. Most of them are still in a fragile sense of shock over the loss of their comrades and vessel. Some are flat out angry... mostly at us of course for not rescuing them sooner," she explained as she took to sitting on the edge of her desk. "Unfortunately I don't think this is the last of this type of encounter."

"As much as I hate to admit it... you're right." Aiden tossed one of the PADDs on to the desk.

"The USS Hamner responded to another distress call on the other end of the corridor while on a training exercise. Those Saber-Class vessels aren't meant for any extensive analysis of the crash, but it appears to be the remains of a Cardassian freighter. They seemed to have faired a little better than the Temperance, but if you have been by Cargo Bay Two at all that doesn't say much." The Lieutenant paused, as though excepting the words as he said them. "It appears the Cardassians are not our culprits..."

Stace nodded in agreement as she lifted the PaDD and began to skim through it. "I concur. At this point I'm going to have to trust my instinct and label the Romulans behind these incidents. I believe we're looking for a small group of disgruntles."

"Small? Then they must be pretty damn organized to be hitting say many places at once..." Aiden's voiced and tone reeked of frustration. Deep down he had hoped, even fanatically believed it might have been the Cardassians. Maybe he was allowing his personal feelings and the past fuel his thoughts, but now wasn't the time.

"I'm not that savvy when it comes to Romulans, they're too cloak and dagger for me. They're more up your alley if I do say so myself." The Lieutenant stood, and began to pace in the small office. "Do you any contacts in the Empire?"

The Major took a few minutes to herself before nodding slowly. "I have a few though I'm not sure where they are now. Things got a bit scattered after Shinzon's fiasco. I could put some feelers out. And to reply to your previous assessment... yes... I believe we're dealing with a small very organized group. The Empire is trying to rebuild and the last thing they'll approve of is this type of shit... especially where the Federation is involved. The Romulans have a bad reputation... but there's still some good folks there too."

"Feel away, Major... quietly. I'm gonna see if we can find out anything through the diplomatic channels." Roberts started to leave before turning for a moment in the doorway. "Just remember, we might not be the only ones on the trail now. If it's not the Cardassians, then you better be sure that they are going to want to hold someone responsible for their freighter. The longer we take to solve this, the more impatient they're gonna get. Sooner or later we're gonna have to contend with our... small, very organized group and the other powers that they have pissed off..."

Stace grinned at the thought. "I assure you I'm quite good at contending with others. Nevertheless, I'll let you know what I find out on my end."

"I assumed as much..." Aiden said, returning her grin with his own before leaving to find the ship's new Diplomatic Officer.