The Morning Report: Orion Edition

Posted on Tue Jul 14th, 2015 @ 1:07am by Captain Li Hawke & Commander Dae Nalas & Commander Oralia Zeferino & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & Lieutenant Commander Gilroy

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Security

8:30 A.M.

Darwin already had coffee - for Oz, not himself - and when she entered the room, he handed it to her. She looked at the mug and the coffee in it, then at Darwin. "I take it this is not a happy fluffy meeting?"

"No, not really. One point of good news, but beyond that, this is going to suck. Now drink your coffee," he said.

"Where's yours?"

"I'm going to go take a nap once this is done. Either that or allow Gilroy to spar me into unconsciousness," he answered as the big part-Klingon came into the room. "So it's just water for me now."

"Why do I get to beat you down today?", Gilroy asked as he took a seat.

"You'll see," Darwin replied. "When the others arrive."

Oz took the seat at the head of the table and sipped her coffee. "This involves Orions, doesn't it?"

“That’s what my summons seemed to indicate.” Li’s voice heralded her arrival with Dae right behind her. Like Oz, she held a large mug of high octane. “Good morning everyone.” She took a seat at the table.

Dae sat down as well and after greeting the group, he looked at Darwin. “Four hours or less, am I right?”

"Little longer than that since it happened, Commander, but it was solved in less than four hours," Darwin answered with a grin.

Dae laughed and shook his head. “I meant sleep Darwin. Your edges are getting blurry.”

Darwin laughed and rubbed the stubble on his chin.

"Woah, for those of us who were asleep four hours ago, what happened?" Oz asked.

Darwin recapped the situation, from Ensign Madhava's actions in Saturnalia to her current status in Piper. He then explained, "Publicly, Pit denizens believe Suresh ordered this beating."

“Even though he was home at the time,” Li mused. “All this happened in one night? That will teach me to think I need sleep. So, we have an engineer in sickbay, two unknown assailants sent by someone other than Suresh but who wanted it to look like it was him?”

"No guessing necessary, Captain: Seyla told me and Suresh that she sent the assailants. She heard what the Ensign did, knew how our old Suresh would have reacted and ...made it happen," Darwin said. "I can't arrest her or her men because that'll get known and ruin the image of Suresh as a... kingpin."

Oralia pushed her coffee away. "We have to turn a blind eye to this?"

Dae spoke up. “Well, it may not be a popular view, but Seyla has a point. It was a no win situation for both. She did it to keep things looking as they should and is forcing you to cover it. If he’d done it, he’d be in the brig for attacking an officer. Granted, that would reinforce his image but it would’ve forced him to do something he wouldn’t do and that we don’t want him doing.”

"The old Suresh... Granted, it never would have been a problem - the old one would have made someone like Madhava disappear in the most profitable way possible. But if a woman had ever dumped a drink on him... He would have had her hauled out and beaten right there. This Suresh, as some of us know first hand, is a nice guy. He turns the other cheek and all that," Darwin said.

Gilroy snarled at Darwin. The two topics he most disliked were on the table. "Ensign Madhava, then, she is being confined to quarters? Restricted only to Fleet areas?"

"I talked with Chief Jenkins. Madhava's on house arrest for conduct unbecoming for two weeks. That sort of encompasses everything she's been doing in the Pit for the past couple of weeks," Darwin looked at Li. She could override any punishment and impose her own.

Li nodded and looked to Oz. “Ultimately, it’s your call, but I have no issues with it.” She turned now to Darwin. “Do you think her presence down there is going to continue to be an issue for this operation after her two weeks are up? And does some of her fascination down there come from the fact that her friend is now living there?"

"Right now, her fascination centers on Seyla. She's been telling Madhava stories about her mother," he paused and looked around the table. "Madhava's mother has been in prison, except for a few escapes, for more than 23 years."

"Isn't the Ensign just about that old?" Oz pulled up the woman's bio on her padd. "Twenty-two. Jeez."

"Yeah, young," Darwin nodded. "I imagine that having Six of Ten living down there might be an attraction, but I'm hoping this incident will cool her curiosity some."

“Is there any other oddities involving the ensign?” Dae asked. “Anything that might warrant our attention?”

"Possibly, Commander. A couple of things. One, Madhava is part Betazoid, so she's an empath and a touch telepath." Darwin finally voiced what had been bothering him for days, "I think Seyla's interest in her is geared towards getting her to quit the Fleet and become one of her employees. Two, Madhava and Six of Ten caught the attention of a couple of slavers. Since their first encounter, which Suresh broke up, Madhava's been targeted by them a second time. Six has been well-protected by Suresh."

“Well shit,” Dae muttered. “Reason number two to keep Ensign Madhava up here, for her own good. As tough as this sounds, Six is more or less on her own, though I have assigned Vic as her contact. Do we have an ID on those slavers?”

Gilroy answered, "Not yet. Suresh has provided information and has people watching for them, but no names yet. We've run facial recognition algorithms, but... so far, nothing."

"Vic? You said Vic? As in Jackson's bartender?" Darwin looked at Dae then Oz.

Oz cleared her throat. "I hadn't shared that information, Dae. About those reactivation orders." Both Darwin and Gilroy now turned to look at Dae.

Dae shot a look at Li, who nodded, and he continued. “Since we are all tied into this project and will be jointly dealing with the developments, I thought it wise to make use of one of our special operatives who is known to be civilian. That way, if Six needs to pass something along, no one will think anything about seeing her in the Nexus, where both of these operatives spend most of their time. It’s safer for all concerned, given she’s been seen there often already.”

Oz grumbled, "Safer...." and something else under her breath.

Gilroy, sitting next to her, caught it, made it out to be, 'my ass', and his brow rose. "Jackson and Vic? They're operatives? Do they have the training?"

Darwin was less keyed into their boss at the moment. "Vic. Good deal! He's easy... oh, but he needs to be careful about being seen talking with Six. Suresh the original wouldn't have put up with anyone flirting with his woman. Maybe Jackson is a better contact, since everyone knows...," he glanced at Oz who was staring at him. "Ah, right. Vic, then. Okay."

“To answer your question, Gilroy, yes,” Li answered. She left it at that. “If she passes the information when he is working, no one will think anything of it. My big question now, though, is what do we do with Ensign Madhava once her house arrest is done?”

Darwin had a few ideas, though none were actually appropriate in any way; at least two ideas involved a chain, an ankle shackle and his bed. One of those involved an interesting costume he'd seen in an old movie. Too late, he tried to wipe those from his thoughts. "We could wait and see. Perhaps this will make her steer clear of the Pit. If not, then... perhaps we find some outlets for her time."

"Iggy has talked about her. We could assign her to be Iggy's ...something. Spider-sitter?" Oz suggested. "As Chance has often told me, being out and about with Iggy can be a trying experience."

Li shot a glance at Darwin and snickered. “Sorry, Dar, you’re projecting a little.” She settled down and sipped her coffee. “I suppose we’ll see in two weeks. Oz, what’s your word on keeping a lid on this? It’s a sucky position, but whatever you decide, I’ll back you.”

"It does suck," Oralia said. Like Darwin, she hated how this made her department look: as if they couldn't find and prosecute the ones who had beaten a Fleet officer. Incompetent. "We need to keep it under wraps that Seyla did this. Even Madhava needs to think Suresh ordered this. Dae, I'd think Six will want to defend Suresh's... honor, but she can't. You'll make sure she gets that message?"

“Certainly,” he nodded. “She’s due for a briefing in two hours and I’ll make sure it gets covered. She might be useful to dissuade Madhava from venturing south after this too.”

"Let's hope so," Darwin said. "I have an ankle bracelet to install before Madhava is released from Piper. Unless anyone has a question, that's all the news I have."

“Nothing from me,” Li answered.

Dae shook his head. “I’ll send you all an update after this briefing.”

"Thank you for coming, Captain, Commander," Oz stood. "If we get anything more on this, I'll let you know. Madhava is rather firmly on our radar now, so we'll keep tabs on her, particularly once her two weeks are up."

Once Dae and Li were gone, Gilroy grumbled, "Orions in Starfleet. Whoever allowed that should be airlocked."

"Gilroy!" Oz said his name sharply, "Technically, she's Betazoid. She just looks like an Orion. Maybe she's the one we should talk to Dae about getting into Intel."

"Oh, hell no, Oz. Reva has zero control. She'd get into more trouble than Iggy does with a plate of gagh." Darwin protested.

"Okay, okay, just thinking out loud. Go install that bracelet," Oz told him, dismissing both him and Gilroy.

************
Lt. M. Darwin
Lt. Gilroy
Commander Oralia Zeferino
Captain Li Hawke
Lt. Commander Dae Nalas