Getting to the Point

Posted on Fri Oct 19th, 2012 @ 7:41pm by Admiral Ricky Wegener & Admiral Lucius Hawke & Commander Oralia Zeferino & Lieutenant Commander Leto

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Archadia III - Queen's Reception Chamber
Timeline: Current

Nenita arrived at Transporter Room 1, wearing her dress uniform, not a hair out of place. She smiled at the chief behind the console.

“How’s it going Jeff?”

“Not bad ‘Nita, not bad. Off on official business?” he asked.

“Indeed, audience with the new queen.” Her tone was dry. “Waiting for Commander Zeferino and the Admiral and then we’ll be on our way.”

“Better you than me,” he answered, then fell silent as the doors slid open behind Nenita.

Oralia was fussing with the hem of her dress uniform’s tunic as she walked in. Seeing both Nenita and the transporter chief looking at her, she stopped doing so and smiled. “Chief, Nenita,” she nodded in greeting to both of them before giving the hem one final tug and then leaving it alone.

“You ready for this?” Nenita left the chief’s side and crossed to Oralia. “From what Li said, it’s like talking to a brick wall all of a sudden.” Her voice changed, growing far more proper and with a perfect Archadian inflection. “My captain couldn’t possibly be plotting against me. How dare you?!” She stopped and grinned at Oz.

Chuckling, Oz nodded. “Yeah. This is all so strange. If I ran an investigation the way the Captain has, what would be your first thought, ‘nita?”

“I’d fire you, plain and simple,” she answered bluntly. “Ignoring video feeds? Refusing to examine evidence? Preferring to argue with you instead of chasing down the most likely suspect? My question is, why is Maline, excuse me Queen Maline now, refusing to smell what’s coming out of the swamp?”

“I’d think I was on the take, somewhere along the line,” Oz summed up her thoughts on the Captain. “As for Queen Maline? Have we looked into where her family is? Whether she’s being threatened?”

“So far, nothing’s circling in the air that we’ve discovered. But she’s been in the hot seat only a few hours.” Nenita shrugged. “Nick’s back down there sniffing the ground, now that Levin’s history.”

Surprised that Nick, after having brutally killed a man and taken a disruptor hit in the leg, was back on duty already, Oralia simply nodded and focused solely on the Archadian question, “Perhaps there is some benefit to being Queen that we are unaware of.”

“Fewer headaches? She’s nothing but a figurehead now, according to Kh’ali. She lost her power in one fell swoop of the knife.” Nenita shrugged.

The doors slid apart and Rick walked in dressed in his regular duty uniform. He thought briefly about wearing his dress uniform but, despite Maline now becoming the queen, he really wasn't in the mood to deal with her, or give her any more credit than she was due.

"Everyone here?" he asked.

“Yes, Sir,” Oralia spoke up, looking him up and down, “And now feeling overdressed.”

The doors opened once more and Lucius entered, dressed in his regular uniform as well. “Admiral, Commander, Lieutenant.” He nodded to them in greeting. “Mind some extra company?”

"Not at all," Rick said with a smile. "Matter of fact, Lucius, I'd rather you deal with this idiot." He sighed. "Grumble you may but go you must, right?"

“From what I hear, it may take all four of us to get some sense into her head. She seemed so sensible before, makes you wonder what happened, doesn’t it?” Lucius turned to Oz. “Any ideas?”

“Hello, Admiral Hawke,” the security chief smiled and nodded, “I do. It’s possible that someone is holding something over Maline - her family, ...I’m not certain just what, but Captain Dorinel disappeared just after Maline was crowned. Intel and Security tracked her to an island in the southern hemisphere, where she’d joined her family. She won’t admit it, but I get the sense that she hadn’t seen her family in quite some time. And that they weren’t south of the equator by their own choice.” Oz was hedging around alleging that the Captain had been blackmailed.

“Maline has only a few relatives living,” Nenita added. “And if what you’re hinting is true...”

“I smell a payoff,” Lucius finished and Nenita nodded. “What official reason was given for Dorinel’s departure?”

“None; she’s technically on leave and able to return at any time,” Oz shook her head and shrugged.

“So how do you wanna play this?” Nenita looked from Oz to Ricky. “I’ll be happy to play bad guy if needed.”

Rick looked around the room. “I’m thinking,” he said as he pointed at each one, “that we play bad cop, bad cop, bad cop and bad cop.” He really didn’t like Maline.

Clearing her throat, Oralia winced. “How about we just see how this goes?”

Rick grunted. "I still like my idea better." Turning to Lucius he said with a wink, "Doesn't rank still have its privileges?" He gestured everyone to the transporter pad. "Chief, send us down, would you?"

“Aye sir.” Once they were all in place, he hit the controls. “Energizing.” Moments later, they vanished.


Queen’s Reception Chamber - Archadia III

“Right this way.” An Archadian male led the way down a corridor carpeted in red. This wing was far more ornate than the others and guards were stationed every few feet. At the end a set of double doors was open and waiting for them to enter. When they reached the entrance, Lucius thanked the escort and they stepped inside.

Some of the group had been in the queen's chambers before but for others it was a new site. The word 'extravagant' just didn't do it justice. Hand cut marble everywhere, gold and other precious metals covered many items, or items were created completely out of those precious metals. They had what looked like large diamonds (and was that purple quartz?) adorning chairs, enormous picture frames and around the fireplace. There were other assumedly high-priced stones about but Rick had never seen them before and, to be quite honest, he didn't care.

Stepping forward he announced, "Queen Maline, thank you for--"

He was cut off by a male steward who cleared his throat loudly. "I do apologize, Admiral, but Her Royal Highness is no longer referred to by that name. She is forever more to be called 'Her Royal Highness Queen Melanippe III'. Please do remember that."

Rick slitted his eyes at the little man who quickly realized he may possibly be in danger and backed away.

The Vice Admiral started again. "Queen Melanippe," he said, skipping the other added fiddly bits, "thank you for seeing us. I'm sure you have much to do in your new position but there is a very urgent matter that simply must be discussed."

If one had known Maline before she took the mostly useless position of the Archadian Queen, she would not have been described as anything near regal. Now, however, she held her head high, she made it a point to move gracefully and, to Rick's disgust, had the audacity to look down her nose at them.

"It has been...hectic," she said in an oddly soft but nasal voice, one that was not her own in her former position. "But in the interest of keeping our diplomatic ties secure with the Federation, I do grant this meeting."

"Like you could keep it from happening," Rick grumbled then continued in his normal tone. "I would like to introduce to you Vice Admiral Lucius Hawke from Starfleet Command," he said as he gestured to everyone with him, "my Chief of Security, Lieutenant Commander Zeferino, and from my Intelligence Offices this is Lieutenant Quidley."

Melanippe nodded regally as each was introduced. "This area," she said with an elegant sweep of her hand, and an eyeroll from Rick, "is used primarily for royal court appearances and may not be best suited for what you wish to discuss." She turned to her steward. "Prepare my antechamber."

With a deep bow he backed away from her and turned to quickly open the large white, gold-gilded doors leading to a side room that looked more like an office. She slowly stood and descended the three steps in front of her throne and walked somewhat gracefully to the doors. With a jerk of his head, Rick urged the group to follow.

Once they had all been seated, the doors closed and the steward shooed away, the Queen looked at Rick and spoke.

"What now?" she asked in her normal acidic tone. "More of this nonsense about a conspiracy involving my security who were allegedly involved in killing the former Queen?"

"There's the Maline that we all know and love," Rick said, which received a glare from across the desk. "And, yes, it is exactly that. As much as we love to dislike each other, Maline, I am still duty bound to protect you and everyone else on this planet from bad people. And whether you like it or not, or even care to hear it, we have more evidence that shows that it is more than just a conspiracy. It is a reality." He crossed his leg and sat back in the chair, slouching a bit. "Your life, and the life of your incoming prime minister, may be in danger."

For once there was an inkling of interest in her eyes. She sat up and leaned forward on the desk, most un-Queenly. "Fine. Let's hear it."

When Admiral Wegener looked at her, Oz’s brows rose slightly then she launched into a short explanation of what her department had found: “Dorinel’s family was relocated to an island in the southern hemisphere; from everything we could find on that, the relocation was not voluntary and Dorinel was not informed of where her family was - not until after the Queen was killed. Also, we have evidence that shows Dorinel’s DNA on the lock leading into the Queen’s chambers. The most likely scenario is that Dorinel’s family was threatened unless she helped the Queen’s killer, Jonas Levin, get into and back out of the Queen’s chambers. Dorinel was in the perfect position to accomplish that task.”

Nenita took up the story then. “You will recall the link to your own military in the restaurant bombing? That was faked of course, to frighten you into thinking a coup was brewing but it was merely a way to cause distrust between you and the station, to screw up relations. Your own commander in chief was, in fact, approached and refused to comply. It looks like they decided to fake it in any case, which would point back to you too. In short, Your Majesty, you got played. You’ve been moved aside for a new Prime Minister who will hold the power now, while they trot you out on formal occasions to wave at the crowd.”

Maline chewed on this information, her eyes darting back and forth between the group of Starfleet personnel and down at her desk. When she finally looked up at Rick, he nodded as if to say, "It's all true." She and Rick had never, ever seen eye-to-eye, but one thing that she could count on from him was the truth, no matter how much it stung when he delivered it.

For a moment she closed her eyes, finally coming to terms with what she had been told several times before and was now being given again, with more evidence to prove it as true. Maybe she didn't want to face facts--she knew from the beginning that something was up, that she was being pegged as the patsy, but she was the Archadian Prime Minister, for Goddesses' sake! She surely couldn't be that fallible? She had been trained in government at the best schools Archadia Prime could provide. She'd cut her teeth in the government arena--done it all and seen it all and fought her way to the top. And now to find out that she is just a stooge?

Resigned to this fact she finally said, "What do I need to do? It's well known that I am little more than a figurehead now that I am Queen, but I still have a little pull here and there, not to mention a few outdated and little-known, but still active orders that allow me some flexibility when it comes to ruling this land."

Lucius considered the question for a minute, then turned his black eyes on Maline. “Is there anyone in your staff now that you absolutely trust? And who would be willing to be ‘read’ to prove their loyalty?”

"I--," she began, then stopped. "To be honest, I don't know. My porter seems to be fairly honest but I don't know if it's because I'm the Queen or if he's genuinely so. I've only been in this position a few days so I can't be quite certain." She hung her head. “I don’t even know his real name...”

Rick cleared his throat. No matter how much he disliked Maline, she did have the potential to be a force for good as the Queen instead of the PM with her head up her ass that he had known. “Lucius, should I bring him in?”

“With Her Majesty’s permission, yes. She needs someone she can count on and that can fly under the radar and communicate with us if things get messy.”

With a quick nod from her Royal Majesty, and another eyeroll from Rick at the thought of that, he went to the large double doors and summoned the man. He entered, bowed deeply, then closed the doors behind him.

"Your Highness," he said as he came closer. "Please tell me what I may do to make your day easier."

Maline, quickly picking back up her completely made-up 'Queen' persona, began speaking in her high, nasally voice and moving slowly with odd gestures. It seemed like she was just waiting for a blue bird to land on her finger.

"In the last days since I have become Queen," she started, then shot an icy glare at Rick after he tried to stifle a chuckle, "I have been remiss in not becoming familiar with your name. Would you please provide it?"

"Oh, your Majesty, thank you!" he gushed, bowing once again. "It humbles me even more that you would want to know the name of someone as lowly as me." He paused. "I am known as Moren. Pentias Moren. But whatever your Majesty wishes to refer to me as makes no difference to me as long as I can serve you."

Rick noted that Moren was actually a decent looking guy. From what Maline had told them she really hadn't had the opportunity to pick her staff so they must have been chosen for her. He did see, however, that Maline looked him up and down and even arched an eyebrow at him. Was there some possibility of 'serving' in a different way in the future?

"I will call you Moren, in more private company, but in public I must refer to you as Porter."

"As your Majesty wishes."

"So, Moren," she said, now smiling, "as you know these people are from the Federation and the large starbase orbiting our beautiful planet. Because of some...security issues that have arisen, I need to know who among my staff are as loyal as they seem."

He immediately threw himself to the floor in prostration. "Oh, your Supreme Highness, I am truly loyal to you and no one else! I would never betray you for any being!"

She blushed at bit, the first time Rick had noticed that happening. Seemed she needed to get a little more accustomed to being the Queen and dealing with the outpourings that came from the 'help'.

"I am sure you are, Moren, but would you mind if this one," she said with a gesture towards Lucius, "reads you? If I am not mistaken his is a race of beings that can search your thoughts. He will be able to tell me, for certain, that you are as loyal to the Queen as you say."

"I will do anything that Your Majesty asks of me!" he said, quickly jumping to his feet and standing in front of Lucius. "Please, prove to my Queen that I am a loyal subject."

Behind him, Oralia lightly touched her right brow and shook her head. She was silently thanking whatever powers that were that the Admirals didn’t require that their subordinates gush over them. She, for one, wouldn’t have been able to muster up the appropriate level of ass-kissing joy that this porter was demonstrating. Ever. Even if she did like Admiral Wegener. Lucius? It’d be easier to kiss his ass, but, then, he wasn’t really in her direct chain of command. She shot a glance at Nenita and rolled her eyes.

Nenita smiled broadly at the wink and returned it. ‘Later’, she mouthed silently to Oz. It was all she could do to stifle a laugh. Lucius seemed to sense it as he shot her a look that was stern but she could see the amusement in his eyes as well.

“Very well,” Lucius answered. “This will be brief.” He fell silent as he looked at Moren and opened his thoughts, reaching in to touch those of the porter. Around him the room fell silent. He delved deep, poking into every corner of the man’s mind until he was satisfied. “He’s good. No evidence even of anyone having been in there to block anything off either. Loyal to a fault. You have at least one person you can count on if things get rough, Your Majesty.”

"But of course!" Moren said, turning. "I would never allow any harm to come to you, your Highness."

Maline allowed a slim smile and nodded. "I am relieved and the Admiral's information only supports what I assumed to be case. Thank you, Admiral Hawke, and to you, Mr. Moren. It means quite a bit to me that you are loyal to the Queen."

For once, Moren said nothing and only bowed deeply.

"I think that will be all for now, Moren," Maline said, still in her annoyingly nasal/high voice. "I will summon you if I need further."

"Of course, your Majesty."

Once he was gone, the conversation continued...and Maline's voice came back.

"Yanno, just what the hell is that?" Rick shot at her. "The voice thing. Is that really necessary?"

"I do not question your customs--"

"Like hell you don't," he added.

She continued, "--and I would appreciate you not questioning ours!"

“The Queen could speak in a weird Shirley Temple voice if she likes. Now that we know she has one completely loyal,” annoyingly subservient sycophant “fellow on her staff, do we have a plan here?” Oralia interrupted the two’s bickering, looking from one to the other and doing her best not to look at them like they were children.

Nenita spoke up. “I suggest that he get acquainted with you and I, Commander, in case something happens. We can give him a procedure for sending word to us in a way that should bypass the problem players here.”

“Fine, but if he kisses my boots...,” Oralia started to grumble then caught Ricky’s glare and smiled. “We’ll get it worked out.”

I'll leave the details to you, Commander," Rick said, "but if you determine it necessary he can be issued an emergency communicator."

Nenita stood and had the good grace to bow to the queen. Otherwise, she feared Kh’ali would chew her a new one for starting some inter-planetary incident. “Your Majesty.” She turned to Oz then. “Shall we?”

Careful to mimic Nenita, Oz nodded and the two left the room.

"I will make sure that Commander Zeferino and Lieutenant Quidley come back with more information for you, Maline. While we know we have one person on your side that's in your staff, it's a long way from ensuring your safety." Rick stood. "However, I would actually feel much better about this if I could have some of my people installed as a personal guard for you. Women, men--whatever, but at least you and I would know that they were completely loyal."

She stared hard at Rick trying to determine if he was being genuine. Deciding that he was she asked, "Would you have them read like you did Moren, to make sure that they are loyal? After all, this Section 13 you speak of is supposed to be a part of Starfleet."

"Section 31," Rick corrected. "I would leave that answer to Admiral Hawke, but it would require those security personnel to allow it."

“I agree.” Lucius turned his attention back to the Queen. “Things are too precarious at this point to take chances. Since most of your guard are female, I think that would be best. We can leave Miss Quidley and have Commander Zeferino assemble the rest.”

"They will have to dress the part," Maline replied. "It cannot be obvious that...outsiders are having to protect the Queen. And some of your women are, well, puny. They would be noticed immediately as not being Archadian."

"The dress isn't an issue," Rick said, "and we have some highly trained and professional female security staff that fit the height and weight standards of your race." He sighed and stepped closer to her. Speaking softer, he said, "Maline, we can do this and no one will be the wiser."

"Fine," she said. "Do what you must."

“Very well. Time is of the essence, so we’ll begin immediately.” Lucius rose and bowed. “Don’t worry.”

With a nod Maline replied, "I'm not worried. I actually do believe that you and Admiral Wegener care enough to do everything to ensure my safety."

Rick didn't reply. He just nodded and unceremoniously walked out.

***************
Vice Admiral Lucius Hawke
Nice Hiney
Starfleet Command

Vice Admiral Ricky Wegener
No Friend of the Queen

Her Royal Highness Queen Melanippe III
a.k.a. "Maline"
(written by Scott B.)

Lt.Commander Oralia Zeferino
Not Good With Children

Lt.(jg) Nenita Quidley
Picked First For The Team