Breakfast

Posted on Mon Jul 18th, 2011 @ 1:58pm by Captain Claudia Drake & Admiral Ricky Wegener

Mission: In Our Time of Need
Location: Admiral's Dining Room
Timeline: The Next Morning

Claudia walked into the Admiral's private dining room and took a seat opposite Ricky, she looked directly at him, she poured herself a glass of orange juice, "Christ you are definitely not a morning person Ricks" she sipped her drink.

He harrumphed and cut into his omelet almost shoving the food down his throat.

"I think I will have the scrambled eggs this morning." she said to the steward, and looked at Ricky in silence for a few moments before speaking again, "Oh just spit it out" she said staring at him with a smile on her lips, '"You were always piss poor at hiding it when something pissed you off."

Waiting until after the steward left, he opened up. "Goddamn Section 31 getting their grubby paws into shit out here that's causing nothing but trouble! That's the last thing I need to have slinking around out here while we're stuck helping the Divitians."

The steward entered with Claudia's eggs and took up his spot again against the wall, should they need anything else. "Give us a moment, Chief," Ricky said. the steward disappeared as quickly as he'd arrived.

Claudia looked at him, "Section 31...I don't know what you are talking about" she said in a dead-pan tone, her eyes glistening, they bore into him, "But if I hypothetically knew of this clandestine organization of which you spoke, what would they have done to earn your ire?"

Ricky just shook his head as she feigned ignorance. He knew better. "The planet below, the one that 900 is in orbit of? Well, we haven't heard from them in a while. Turns out they thought they'd been chatting us up the whole time, when in fact they've been talking to Section 31 operatives who have been plotting to have the Archadians boot us out of their system." He slammed the napkin onto the table--as much as napkins could slam. "What the hell are they up to? And why make it so we're not welcome around here?" With a hard exhale he added, "Those bastards are A-Number One on my shit list. I will find them and crush them."

Claudia looked at him, "Ricky, if an organisation that big and powerful has existed for so long without anyone being able to bring them down...what does that tell you about them?" she didn't wait long for a response before she continued, "It tells you that they are damned hard to eradicate, they have infected every aspect of Federation life, and those people brave or stupid enough to go up against them end up never having existed..." she stared at him, "To survive you need to know what battles to choose, and those to walk away from and pretend never happened." she ate a forkful of her eggs, "You're Chef has excelled himself once again, please pass on my compliments."

"Mmm," was his response about the eggs. "I know I won't be able to take down the whole organization, but those on Archadia need to disappear. Who knows what would have happened if the Arizona hadn't been dispatched down there? All they have to do is tell us to leave, then we're stuck trying to figure out how to get this station and all of our ships quickly through the gateway and back to the Beta Quadrant."

Claudia looked at him, "Such an organisation would eliminate their agents if they are discovered...unless to be discovered was part of their plan." she said in a non-committal way, "Or so I would believe if such an organisation was to exist of course." she took another forkful of eggs, "They live in shadows and disappear like smoke."

His mind was racing, hearing her words and knowing their truth, but weighing those words against his anger. Finally, it struck him. Why was she here?

"So, what brings you to breakfast anyway? I thought we were going to have make-up dinner?"

"A meal is a meal" she said simply, as she sipped her juice, "I thought I should let you know you will have a few new faces around the station in the next week or so."

"More cadets? I thought their semester had already begun?"

"Their term begins tomorrow" she said correcting him, "But these people will be Post Graduate Students, I am running several advanced training courses over the next few months, it is Lavoisier to to them here than for people to leave their ships and go all the way back to Earth."

"Ah," he said, then finished off his omelet and drained his milk. "Make sure to keep them busy. I don't want them just dawdling when they're not taking instruction."

"I'll leave the commanding to you; and you leave the education to me." she said simply, but a small smile reached the corner of her lips, "One of them is assigned to Strategic Ops, so you'll likely be seeing her quite a bit."

Claudia didn't miss a beat, "Lieutenant Valkris Edwardson..quite an interesting young lady from her service jacket. She has a lot in common with your burly XO."

He made a mental note to look up the lieutenant as he cleared his throat, signalling the steward to return. Once Rick's side of the table was cleared, his post-breakfast coffee was brought out for he and Claudia to sip and talk about old times, things they'd missed and the future of...just about everything.

--------------------------------------------
A joint post by:

Professor Claudia Drake (CMDR)
Dean of Education
Starfleet Academy Satellite Offices, SB900

&

RADM Ricky Wegener
CO, Task Force 38
CO, Starbase 900

 

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