Understanding Condolences

Posted on Tue Nov 27th, 2012 @ 6:01pm by Commander Oralia Zeferino & Ignatius Reilly & Commander Sakkath

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant

=^= Command and Control =^=

When Admiral Wegener and Commander Hawke had descended to Archadia III, Sakkath had tasted command of Starbase 900 for the first time. It had been entirely uneventful. He had gone so far as to refuse to seat himself behind Rick’s desk during that brief experience, but now… now he felt he needed to project as much authority, as much stability as he could. He would have used the Admiral’s office for that purpose, were it not replete with astrological phenomena that represented a link to the place where the Vulcan’s commanding officer and wife had vanished to.

And so he sat at the primary Ops console in C&C, where he had his attention divided between the systems screen, a bevy of reports on PADDs and, to a lesser extent, the cup of cold Vulcan spice tea he had long since ignored in favor of massaging the bridge of his nose in a vain attempt to relieve some of the stress he felt.

He had foregone sleep for more than the past sixty-seven hours, he realized. In and of itself, that was not a concern. He was capable of functioning without rest for weeks if needed, though he was quite sure Doctor Harding would conceive of a means to object.

Resisting the urge to heave a heavy sigh born of frustration, he instead picked up the nearest PADD and began perusing its contents. In the best of times, these would be simple department reports, requests for command action, desires for the resources that Ops and what his wife had called ‘the big chair’ could provide. Instead he was reading about the murder of Cadet Chance Conradi, the additional murder of a merchant named Ivam Qarth and the subsequent destruction of several important relays in the section, the status of the Archadian diplomatic situation, briefings on possible Section 31 activities in the sector, updates on the slave trade issues in the Cherry Pit, messages from Lazan, the latest analyses of the phenomenon that had conceivably transported personnel from this reality and that, quite disturbingly, had also seemed to pull others into it. Restoring power to the Galileo Center in the aftermath was Sakkath’s first priority, but once that was complete he knew he would have to meet with these visitors. Even if all he could do was learn what sort of situation his wife and the Admiral were facing, that would be something… if they had even survived, but he knew he needed to cling to that hope, regardless of logic. Anything less would destroy him.

In contemplating his own emotional attachments, he knew there was another he needed to consider. As he set down the PADD he lifted the cold tea and made his way to the replicator to recycle it, understanding what it was he needed to do. “Computer,” he said as he walked, “locate Oralia Zeferino.”

=^=Lieutenant Commander Zeferino is in her quarters.=^=

As he watched the glass vanish in the haze of the transporter technology, Sakkath steeled himself for what was sure to be an emotional encounter prior to stepping into the turbolift and ordering it to the deck where he would find his acting XO.

* * *Oralia Zeferino’s Quarters* * *

“...Iggy, let go of it,” Oz was trying to reason with the eight-legged pain in the ass.

No. If I do, you will simply leave, and that is not something you should be doing.

“Stop wrapping it like it’s food! I’ll just replicate another...,” the human warned but stopped when the door chime sounded. Quietly, she asked the computer to announce her visitor; it did and she shot a glare at Iggy, as if it were Iggy’s fault that Sakkath was at her door. “Fine, hold onto it while I --”

Sakkath! This is most excellent! In a burst of speed, the spider was across the room and pressing the button to let Sakkath enter. Greetings, logical one!

“Ignatius,” Sakkath said simply, inclining his head slightly to the spider as his eyes scanned the room within for Oralia.

Across the room, Oz put her face in her palm and shook her head. She was simply glad she was already dressed in uniform, since Iggy hadn’t exactly given her time to object to the door opening. “Commander Sakkath,” she retrieved her silk-encased commbadge from the floor, where Iggy had tossed it in her haste, and greeted the Station’s acting CO. “Please, come in. May I get you something?”

Sakkath entered upon being invited, allowing the doors to hiss shut behind him as he draped his hands behind his back. Though he did not appear outwardly weary, it was evident that he had not returned to his quarters to shave in some time, stubble plain on his chin. “No, thank you,” he said, declining her offer of refreshment. He seemed to hesitate a moment before speaking, needing to find the appropriate balance between support of his friend and officer and his own Vulcan stoicism. “Though she who is my wife is absent, I am certain she would wish to offer her condolences, in addition to my own, on the passing of your brother.”

Nodding slightly, Oralia quietly regarded the Vulcan a moment. There was nothing she could say that might console him about his missing wife. The moment bought her time to tamp down her emotional reaction. “Thank you, Sakkath. It’s a blow to the family,” she said as she avoided thinking about Chance. “Lieutenant Edwards is working on the investigation and has found a couple of things of interest.”

Changing the subject, she asked, “Besides blacking out fifty decks with his little experiment, has Leroy made any headway on possibly recovering our lost people?”

“I’m certain the Lieutenant and the rest of your staff are doing everything in their power to ensure that justice is served,” the Commander replied. On the second point, Sakkath was forced to shake his head in the negative. “Not as of yet. The power requirements appear to be enormous, and stabilizing the field is obviously a matter of some concern... but at least we have the means now to know just what the Admiral and Commander may be facing.”

Small comfort there - and don’t you dare repeat that, Iggy!, Oralia thought. “Yes. Have you spoken with the woman... Aleksa?” Since Oz had the “real” version of Aleksa in her department, it was slightly strange to know that another of the woman was here, in this dimension.

“It is my next stop. Hopefully Norval has been able to restore some of the power by now, as I am quite sure Commander Leroy is anxious to return to work.” Sakkath had to admit that he was anxious for the same. Losing their primary science station in the midst of this crisis was far from ideal. “Have your officers made any progress in the commercial explosion?” he inquired, though he did feel a tinge of regret at not being able to offer her time to grieve for Chance.

“Lieutenant Darwin was going to gather more information from the Admiral’s office this morning, to see if the disruptors were a match in anyway. Just on the off chance that ...I don’t know, perhaps that someone is constructing disruptors from spare parts?” It was an angle that concerned her, even if it was unlikely. Thinking up worse case scenarios was something she was good at doing. “In the meantime, Gilroy has told me that the blast obliterated anything useful in the shop where the explosion originated. Even the security sensors in that area were fritzed for a minute or two after the blast.” She paused and sighed, “All of that to say: no, there’s been no progress, Commander.”

Sakkath gave a nod of understanding. “Given the circumstances, I feel it is only prudent to close our ports, then. No traffic in or out until we can determine the severity of the anomalies or, at the very least, apprehend our perpetrators. Commander Kh’ali can inform the Archadians while I ground the shuttles and notify Starfleet.”

“Very well,” she nodded, “Gilroy went to add people to the incoming customs checkpoints. I’ll have him turn those people to securing the docks instead.” Oralia smiled slightly as she thought of all that would need to be done to close their ports properly; the extra work would give her reason to bury herself in it, far from thoughts of her brother.

"Excellent." As if giving answer to her unspoken thoughts, the Vulcan rubbed his chin, feeling the stubble there for the first time and seeming not so much surprised but curious before replying, "I do apologize for putting this on you now, Oralia, but even if Commander Leroy were to step in as XO... I prefer to have him focused on the disappearances."

He was being selfish, he knew, even if he was executing his duty... The return of Li and the Admiral was his firmest priority, both his heart and his logic agreed. There would be a time to grieve for Chance, but it was not now.

She reached across the small distance between them to touch his arm lightly and said, “There’s no need for apologies, Sakkath. Losing Chance....” She blinked back tears, “...isn’t like losing Connor. And we need Leroy doing what he’s doing to keep you from that same sort of... loss. Besides, I really don’t want to be XO by default, if I can help it.”

"I have no siblings," Sakkath admitted as he shored up his mental defenses before brushing a stray tear from her cheek, "but I do know what losing Li would do to me. You have suffered unduly at the hands of this command, and have my word that I will do everything I can to see that trend of history halted. This will end, here." He chose not to include that his personal career ambitions would be quite well-served by this predicament, were the cost not so high.

“Yes it will. This time, Suresh won’t get away with what he’s done. And if he had a hand in Chance’s... murder...,” she looked away from Sakkath then half-laughed and shrugged. Anger roiled under her surface. “I’ll let the prosecutor handle him, just like I should.”

"We have fairly definitive proof of his intent in the Admiral's office. I doubt even he could reason his way out of that." Sakkath took a step back and straightened his duty vest. "Should we manage to recover him. And on that note, I should be meeting with Miss Levkova... or rather, Mrs. Leroy," he supposed, quirking a brow with the realization.

“And I’ll get going to handle closing our ports,” she added, resisting the urge to hug the Commander. He was a friend, and the husband of a dear friend who was missing, but... he was also Vulcan and her commanding officer. Some lines, she knew not to cross. “I’ll call you with any developments on the commercial sector investigation.”

"That will be most appreciated," Sakkath replied with a nod. His wife's empathy had affected him to a degree, but the decades of emotional repression continued to rule his behavior in the largest degree. He turned to go, bowing his head to Ignatius in the process, but stopped just short of the door.

"Commander, when," he resisted the urge to use 'if,' "we do recover the Admiral, my wife and Suresh, you have my permission as commanding officer of this base to detain him. Indefinitely."

“Thank you, Commander,” Oralia smiled, a feral gleam in her eyes. She didn’t intend to ‘detain’ the man, not if he had one whit of involvement in Chance’s murder. “I will see that appropriate accommodations are made for him.”

"I am quite sure you will," was all he said, before stepping out into the corridor, the doors sliding shut behind.

--

Commander Sakkath
Unsleeping, but not unfeeling

Lt.Commander Oralia Zeferino
Keeping it at a low boil

Ignatius J. Reilly Zeferino
Being Stubborn