Mystery, Thy Name Is Woman

Posted on Wed Nov 4th, 2015 @ 12:18am by Commander Louie Rousseau

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Louie's Office - The Academy

* Louie's Office - Starfleet Satellite Academy *

The report on the padd before Louie had been enlightening. He fidgeted with it but it might as well have been invisible to him now. What he saw, instead, was a table at Lao's and two young women in light-hearted conversation, an Orion and a former Borg, both of them oddities in the Fleet...well one was still Fleet. What was in Six's service jacket confirmed her posting on the Evariste. It also showed her recent resignation. She had said she was Fleet but hadn't said much beyond that. She had seemed a bit hesitant and now he understood why. It wasn't a far leap to surmise that she'd left the Fleet for the crime boss Reva had mentioned.

A sudden flash of anger hit him and he slammed the padd down on his desk, enraged at the loss - to the Fleet and to her. He'd called a friend at the Academy who'd filled him in on the former Borg. She was, to use his words, a whiz kid and he was expecting great things. He'd been utterly stunned when Louie informed him that Six had resigned. He had demanded the details and then had insisted Louie keep him up to date. Louie wasn't so sure that was a good idea, if she was in as deep as he suspected.

He wasn't sure where to go from here. Six, as he'd guessed, hadn't been out of the collective long enough to get even a slight handle on how the rest of the universe operated. Why had she jumped so fast out of the Fleet and into what could be a dangerous situation? Reva had seen first-hand how dangerous that world could be. How long before Six fell victim to it too? She and Six were obviously close, which explained her displeasure at the mention of Six's 'significant other'. Maybe she could give him a better idea of what was going on here when Six wasn't around.

Till then, he was at a loss. He and Cy were going down to the Pit to get a look at this Suresh for themselves. He suspected it might be an interesting trip. Perhaps it would give him some idea of what to do next. He wanted to change Six's mind, get her back to the Fleet. He was hoping that a more complete picture of her life would be of help.

His gaze drifted to the photograph on his desk and he smiled. The image showed Louie, looking much as he did now, standing with his arms around a woman with long dark hair. She was looking up at Louie with a smile full of secrets on her face. He could recall the day in perfect detail. The year had been 2250 and he'd been just thirty-one. They'd been at Janaran Falls on Betazed, on a short vacation before the move to the USS Lakota. It was the day Louie had been promoted to Commander. The young woman was Celine Valois Rousseau, his wife.

They had spent the day at the falls and the rest of the week playing tourist in the area, and enjoying being completely off-duty. It had been one hundred and thirty-five years ago and yet it seemed like yesterday. Her death in 2269 had nearly destroyed him and he still hadn't gotten over her. In the short few years since he and Cy had returned to the Fleet, there had been a few women here and there but never anything more than a passing fancy. Seeing Six and Reva today made him realize that perhaps it was time he jumped back into real life and started seeing what, and who, was around him. Cy had certainly said so enough times. While that likely didn't include Reva and Six, there were other possibilities here on 900. His new assistant, Lt. Alan Young, looked in, interrupting his train of thought.

"Sorry to disturb you sir, but there's a call coming in from someone named Joy."

Joy? It took a few beats but then Joy's face rose in his mind. He knew, too, that the possibles didn't include Joy. They'd spent a little time after Lady Ella's talking but it hadn't gone beyond that. And wouldn't, Louie had decided.

"Oh, inform her that I'm in a meeting. I will have to speak with her later."

Alan nodded and withdrew. He sat down in the outer office and re-opened the channel. "The Commander says he's in a meeting and will have to speak with you later. Thank you for calling."

In his office, Louie facepalmed. He would have to give this young officer a little lesson in the finer points of handling his calls. He turned back to the photo and gently touched Celine's face.

"It's a pity that anomaly didn't take me back instead of forward, my darling."

The computer beeped, letting him know that classes were ending for the day. It was time to go change out of his uniform and meet Cyrus. Soon, they'd be getting a close look at the station's resident crime boss.

***************
Lt. Commander Louie Rousseau
Too Curious

Lt. Alan Young
Still Not Too Savvy