Posted by Lieutenant Relavvik (Chief of Security) in Arrival

Posted by Commander Shara Calloway (Executive Officer) in Arrival

Posted by Commander Shara Calloway (Executive Officer) in Arrival
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
<SNIP>
Relavvik chuckled lightly as he sat down. “That sounds like a phrase from a past life.” He leaned back slightly and looked at her… Something about the voice seemed familiar but, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. His grey eye matched her gaze for a moment. “I am looking forward to serving here. This is a very different post than I’m used to.”

Interesting. Either he was lying, or he hadn’t used his access to look her and the others up. It was possible, but did she think it was likely? She wasn’t sure yet. Certainly she could imagine given the transition he’d made that perhaps he wanted to step into a new role without all the standard ‘due dilligence’ their sort were accustomed to. Shara had to admit to herself, that if that was the case, she was rather envious. It was still not something she could do herself. “You’re not the first to find that, nor will you be the last,” she said.

He stood up and walked toward the replicator. “Do you want anything?”

Relavvik - CoS

“Coffee, black. Thanks. I swear at this point I should just take a caffeine supplement every day, but what fun would that be?” The words bought her time, and Shara needed that time more than she realized. Did she say something? There was that tiny flicker of possible association towards her, but there was a time and place for those moments and she didn’t want to intrude where it might cause harm.

~Shara Calloway, XO

“I understand about the caffeine, I find that the tasting and drinking adds something to the experience.” He turned toward the replicator and Shara could see the scar on his neck following his spine. “One black coffee and one aesollh.” The two glasses materialized and he carefully picked them up. Setting the coffee down in from of the Commander and sitting back in his chair as he took a cautious sip.

Shara pulled the mug to her and wrapped both her hands around it for a moment before she lifted it by the handle to her lips. She took a moment to enjoy the warmth that flooded her body. Some days there was no better feeling.

“How did you find adjusting from intelligence to the regular fleet?” It was his first time addressing both his time and hers in intelligence, showing that he did do what research he could before coming to the Asimov.

Relavvik - CoS

She snorted. “Well, given the first mission I took part in here became a deep cover mission for the entire crew, I’d say it was pretty messy. I’m still not fully adjusted, but I dare say I have a better chance making a proper transition now that I am in a command role, rather than having the word Intelligence in my title.” Shara shrugged with one shoulder. “We shall see.”

“What about you? Anticipating any issues?”

~Shara Calloway, XO

“Issues with my new role? There will be adjustments.” Relavvik paused to take a sip of his tea. His eye studied the Commander for a moment as he sipped. “I’m more anxious about returning to open space again, my last…” he paused for a moment to find the right thoughts. “Trip gave me all of this.”

“It’s definitely a change,” Shara agreed. “Just be glad our missions will generally be on the shorter side going forward.”

He leaned back and looked up at a piece of art on the wall that was left over from the last CoS. “Always a time of adjustment, but Starfleet security has taken my training and been able to adapt it. I’m looking forward to putting it in practice.”

Relavvik - CoS

She nodded slowly, studying him. “A variety of training is most definitely useful here. As is working as a team.” Shara watched his reactions, looking for even the more subtle ones people like them learned to mostly hide but sometimes leaked through anyway. She had particular questions in her mind she wanted answered before she left this office.

~Shara Calloway, XO

Relavvik tensed slightly, his shoulders locked but, his face didn’t change. “That’s the been the hardest part.” he spoke under his breath almost in a whisper. His posture instantly loosened and he smiled as his gaze returned to the First Officer. “Training and teamwork is very important. I’ll also be leaning on my team here as they have been around much longer than I have.”

“Always a good stance to take when you first join a new team,” Shara said.

He took another sip of his tea, setting it down he lightly rubbed where his patch was over his skin. “Shorter missions are defiantly a help.” His eyes narrowed slightly in a curious look. “You can just ask.” He had picked up on the subtle tells when someone wanted to ask something but, was unsure how.

Relavvik - CoS

Calloway sipped her coffee, letting herself momentarily sink into the sensation of warmth before lowering the mug and gazing at him. “You know what is the other really important variable on a ship like this? Trust. It’s hard won and easy to lose when the stakes are often so high. What we do is different than on other vessel. What they ask of us is more complicated than scientific studies and border patrols. Those things can and do go awry. But here? We put ourselves in the unenviable position of digging where we’re not wanted, of following leads that might quite literally blow up in our faces. On a different Starfleet vessel, Intelligence is often mistrusted and seen as the enemy within. Here? No such problem. And if someone does have a problem with our work, they are one, not assigned here in the first place, and two, reassigned if they prove to be problematic. Captain Kiernan and I have to trust each and every person on this ship. And one thing we cannot abide is a double agent. So, the way I see it, we have ourselves a little problem of Schrödinger cat. I want to trust you, and believe that you’re here to be a part of our team, but if I ask you, I have no good reason to think you’d tell me the truth. When our work so often involves ambiguity, it’s imperative there is none around the people we work with. Do you see my dilemma?”

~Shara Calloway, XO

Relavvik listened. He was picking out key words that hit close to home. “I do see what you mean.” He paused for a moment. “Computer, secure office, level alpha one.” There was a hum and a field went up making the office a momentary secured compartment.

She couldn’t help but feel a tug of amusement that resulted in the barest hint of a smirk.

“Commander, I know you have looked up my service record. I know for a fact that there is no official record even to Starfleet intelligence from my graduation from the academy until I was promoted to Junior Grade and returned to Starfleet injured.” He shifted slightly and took a sip of his tea. “Because of that last mission and the being pulled out the way I was, I was told it almost compromised someone who was long term undercover, they wouldn’t tell me who.” He took a deep breath. “From the Academy and who my father was, Section 31 recruited me. I worked with them during my entire time as an ensign. I’m not hiding anything in stating that I cannot talk about everything I did while assigned there. I was released and worked with Starfleet Intelligence as an analyst. But, that is all on the record with you.”

Shara inclined her head to show that yes, none of this was news to her. Even more than he might realize.

He set his glass down. and looked directly at her. “I have not been contacted by them since my release. No contact coming here and if, IF they did, you would be the only one I talk to about it.” He leaned back in his chair. “As far as I’m concerned, they would have left me to rot in that hole that tore me apart. That mission was the only time with them I was assigned to a team and I was the one left behind. If it wasn’t for intelligence intercepting that an Ensign was being held, I never would have made it. I knew this was a possibility but, once you go through something like that, you’ve lost the usefulness to them.”

Relavvik - CoS

A small snort escaped her lips. “Yes, I can see that. It’s not dissimilar wit Intelligence. You build a reputation doing something and when you can no longer do that, and in my case outright refuse to, the big wigs get rather irate. To that effect, I believe you.”

There was more than one dilemma weighing on her mind. At least she believed him about not being involved with 31. He could still be lying but Shara was going to trust her instincts here and believe him. Maybe not quite trust right out of the gate, but she would give him the benefit of the doubt- at least once she made clear the consequences.

But first, she was torn. Did she say something? Was it necessary? It might help build that trust though. She needed him to trust her as much as he needed her to trust him. Shara sipped on her coffee again, sighed and set the mug down with a gentle thunk. She leaned back in her seat and tipped her head up towards the ceiling.

Closing her eyes, she took herself back to the time and place. She channelled that one persona she had spent hours upon hours crafting to perfection until she lived and breathed that Romulan woman’s very soul. Dropping her head and opening her eyes, she spoke. Her voice had changed. Nothign drastic, of course. But enough that it wouldn’t quite sound like Shara before him he had been conversing with. It was almost like a close cousin who spoke a different mother tongue. “Arhem ahr’daehlen.”

~Shara Calloway, XO

As she put her mug down, he picked up his tea and took a sip. He was watching her as she opened her eyes and spoke.

He froze. Everything was spinning in his mind. He could feel that torture again. That never ending pain, those questions… the sound of a Romulan disruptor and his captors body hitting the floor. Then there was that voice, those words. Memories and emotions flooded his mind.

The sound of his tea cup shattering against his desk shook him back to reality. He was visually shaken as he sat back. His hands gripped the edge of his desk to steady them. Then his mind started racing. How did this happen? He knew that he was selected by Starfleet Security but, did she have a hand in it?

“You… you pulled me out of there?”

Relavvik - CoS

Shara startled slightly as the cup broke but she didn’t move… yet. The answer to his question was obvious, but oh so very complicated. She pushed her chair back and moved to the replicator and ordered a towel. She couldn’t shake the voice she had summoned again. So, rolling her shoulders, she moved back to the desk and began to wipe up the tea, mindful of the broken pieces. She was buying herself time as much as she was helping.

Eyes fixed on the desk, she soaked up the spilled liquid. “Yes. I received the call and I was the one who delivered you to the extraction team. And yes the whole thing was very precarious.” Inwardly she was frustrated because it was so easy to slip into specific personalities that she had donned at one time or another, but this particular one hurt too much. It was too traumatic in the end and she needed back out of it now. She had definitely made the point she had intended but Shara could admit there might have been a better way to go about it. However anything else would not have been as fast, nor would it have allowed them to establish the rapport and trust they needed to have so quickly.

~Shara Calloway, XO

He looked at her, eye focused. Expression moved from pain, shock then back to a stoic firm set. He noticed her eyes flickered for just a moment and he paused, there was much more to this story and while he wanted answers, he needed time to process what just happened.

He slowed his breathing to calm himself, the last thing he needed was his voice giving him away and breaking.

“Commander, at some point I am going to have questions but, I only have one right now.” he paused trying to figure how to word this… He decided to be blunt. “Did you pick me for this role because of our shared history?”

Relavvik - CoS

Shara shook her head. “No. In fact, I had no idea it was you being assigned until we got the orders and I looked up your personnel file and saw the photo. Now, whether someone at Intelligence suggested it to Command or not is open to debate, but if so, I suppose I can understand their logic. This crew has had a great deal of upheaval before, durning, and after our last mission. We’re trying to get ourselves into a good position to continue doing the work that this new vessel makes so much easier and more proficient.”

~Shara Calloway, XO