Posted by Captain Molly Holloway (Commanding Officer) in Side sim - Captain’s Desk - Daily Brief

Posted by Lieutenant Belle Harper (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Side sim - Captain’s Desk - Daily Brief

Posted by Captain Molly Holloway (Commanding Officer) in Side sim - Captain’s Desk - Daily Brief
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Months Ago:

UFP Times
Daily News

USS MONTGOMERY FOUND INTACT

Starbase Halcyon
Jenn Daily - AP

After nearly a decade, Starfleet intelligence officers located and recovered the missing USS Montgomery intact and fully operational. While the exact location and contents of the Montgomery remain classified, Intelligence Officer Lt. Commander Jun Yul said of the recovery, “we have made several interesting discoveries and look forward to learning more once she’s been towed back to Halcyon.”

Under the command of the then-newbie CO Captain Molly Wright, it’s common knowledge that the Montgomery had been involved in an incident that resulted in the deaths of several members of the crew, including the ship’s Chief of Security, Lieutenant Junior Grade Belle Harper. What started as a security breach in a science lab turned into a nightmare scenario with killer creatures around every corner. Taking advantage of the chaos, former Starfleet Admiral Jason Alley attempted to commandeer the ship by implanting a sub-routine which caused the ship to issue a false self-destruct sequence. Though Wright and her crew were cleared of any wrongdoing at the compulsory Court Martial, one can’t help but wonder if the outcome might have been different under a more seasoned commander.

The Montgomery was not destroyed that day but warped away to an unknown location after a ship-wide evacuation. The public was led to believe that the ship was empty when it disappeared, but evidence suggests that that might not be the case. For instance, why were medical personnel diverted to the recovery teams? If the ship was empty, save for bodies, of course, wouldn’t there only need be a coroner? What purpose would a full medical team serve? When asked for clarification, Doctor Walter Pembrose of Starfleet Medical declined to comment.

What discoveries have been made, and when will the public be made aware of what actually happened on that fateful day? Could this result in additional charges against Wright and her crew? Only time will tell. For now, the only thing we know for sure is the Monty is finally coming home.

One can’t help but  wonder if the outcome might have been different under a more seasoned  commander.

Molly’s eyes were trained on the piece, but her mind was not in the room. One couldn’t help but wonder… who couldn’t help but wonder? Ms. Daily? Had Ms. Daily been there? Had Ms. Daily even ever been on board a starship? Learn to command it? Go through the Academy? Holloway bet that Ms. Daily had written the article in the comfort of her own home, without even knowing what life in space was like. Without knowing the stress that came with the job. Without knowing what it was like to lose friends to stupid alien creatures that the stupid Science department had kept under heavy lock and key. Maybe a more seasoned commander wouldn’t have lived with the guilt, knowing that if they had done anything differently, the outcome could have been a different one.

Holloway shook her head in disbelief, wanting to fling the PaDD across the room, but she knew that was not going to do any good. That was not going to bring Belle back. Or the Monty… well… the Monty had been found. At least there was that. Why had no one told her, and she had to know through a news piece was beyond her, but if Molly had to guess, she suspected someone in the chain of command was of Ms. Daily’s opinion that a ‘more seasoned commander’ ought to have done a better job. And therefore, she was not worth being told that the whereabouts of her old ship had been discovered.

Molly sighed, and leaned back on her chair, her eyes glancing from her empty mug to the replicator. She needed more coffee. It was clear that this morning had started the wrong way.

When she came back to her desk, a new steaming cup of coffee by her side, Holloway skimmed again through the rest of the article. The ship had not been empty when it warped out. Belle’s body had gone with it. The lack of closure had been the worst part for most people close to the Monty’s Security Chief. Mr. Harper… well… Molly hadn’t even had the decency to tell him personally that his daughter had died… even though she had spoken to the man a few years before, it still ate her soul to know it. Then there was Calvin… in his quarters at Halcyon…

Closing her eyes, she laid her head in her hands and shook it. She didn’t want to remember. It was in the past, tucked away in the pile of things best left untouched. And she was going to keep it that way, for her own sanity’s sake.

Finishing the article, Molly doubted she would ever know what had been found on the Monty. If no one at Starfleet had had the decency to contact her, even though her clearance put no constraints on her access to the information, there was no reason to believe they would ever tell her. As for additional charges… she doubted. That would have been the one thing anyone would contact her faster than she could read the words on the screen. As for the doctors… well… Ms. Daily didn’t seem to know a lot about what she was talking, so Molly wasn’t going to allow her brain space to entertain her unfounded extrapolations.

There was one thing on which Ms. Daily had been right, though. Whatever happened next, only time would tell. And Holloway knew that, if and whenever that time arrived, she would know.

Without a second thought, Molly placed her empty mug back in the replicator, and walked out of the room, in the only way she knew to become a ‘more seasoned commander’.

---

Today:

Crew Transfer - Incoming

NE Hardy Laurel - Security
NE Jimmy John - Security
Lieutenant Belle Harper - Intelligence

-Chief Intelligence Officer

Molly’s heart did a double take as her eyes glanced over the last name on the list of incoming personnel, but she quickly shook her head to dismiss her thoughts.

She told herself she was being stupid. Belle Harper was dead. Gone. And if she wasn’t, she would probably have been the first to know. Hell… Calvin would have been the first to know, probably before Commander Harper himself. How common was the name Belle Harper anyway?

A quick search on the ship’s computer revealed that Harper was an old surname of Gaelic origin, meaning ‘son of the harper’, and that, judging by the list of important people that shared it, it was still quite used in present day. It was the 250th most common surname in Scotland, in a list of over two thousand entries. Belle seemed to be quite a popular name too, especially since what it seemed to have been the 1500th remake of the old tale Beauty and the Beast (now showing in a holotheater near you!).

Molly sighed. The spark of hope, however brief, was gone. Belle was dead, and she would remain dead, for a long time to come.

The Monty had been back for months now… still under the same secrecy as it had been when the first news were written on the subject. Ms. Daily had moved on to other topics, and so had many other journalists, so there was no reason why Molly couldn’t do the same.

Yet, Holloway stared at the name for what seemed an eternety. She didn’t want to open the officer’s file. She hated meeting someone having a preconceived notion of them, made by a piece of writing put together by some bureaucrat buried deep at Starfleet HQ. She had always preferred their first impressions be made in person, and so far that had worked well for her.

But something seemed to nudge her forth this time. Maybe that glimmer of hope wasn’t gone after all. Maybe, even though the rational part of her brain was screaming at her that Belle was dead, she still hoped that opening her file would reveal the smiling face of her long lost friend. Either that, or she would be looking at the face of a stranger, and her fantasy would die quickly just like she hoped the Monty’s Chief of Security had, many years ago.

Both.

The answer was both.

An audible gasp left Molly’s lips as she opened the Intel Officer’s file, and the picture came into view. The features were very much those of the Belle Harper she had known. And yet, she was looking at the face of a stranger. Her skin was grey and dull… her eyes were cold and emotionless… her hair…

“Gone.” The word came in a whisper.

The longer Holloway looked at the picture, the angrier she became. Was this someone’s sick idea of a joke? Had someone taken an old picture of Harper, altered it to look… deceased, and sent it to her as a prank new member of the crew?

As Molly typed an angry missive to Starfleet Command, a thought popped in her mind. If it was a prank, then there would be no Lieutenant Belle Harper on board, right? The computer would be able to tell her that with certainty.

With a victorious smile on her face, and fully expecting a negative reply, Holloway spoke to the Dresden’s computer. =/\= Computer, locate Lieutenant Belle Harper. =/\=

Holloway, CO

The computer responded promptly. =/\=There is no Lieutenant Belle Harper aboard the Dresden.=/\=

AHA! She knew it! Sitting back down, Molly prepared to resume her missive to Command, reporting the occurrence. Someone among the people responsible for assigning officers to ships was joking around on the job, and this was completely inadmissible.

A few scant seconds passed before the computer chirped again. =/\=Correction. Lieutenant Belle Harper is in transporter room 2.=/\=

-CIO

Holloway’s hands stopped before they even reached the keyboard. What!? How could this be?

=/\= Computer, requesting access to surveillance– =/\= Molly never ended her sentence.

“Never mind…” She completed it. Was she losing it? Was she really chasing down a ghost? It was surely a prank. One of incredibly bad taste, but a prank nonetheless. Whoever was behind it, probably knew how easy it was to locate someone on board and they accounted for that. Even the delay in the computer’s correction had most likely been some extra subroutine that was added in as part of the prank as well.

Molly paused for a moment, reflecting on her own paranoia. What was she even thinking? Was she really that self absorbed to think that someone would go to all these lengths to target her specifically? There were far more important people in Starfleet than her.

And yet, the file, the picture… everything was still there.

Molly sighed. Surely a small trip to Transporter Room 2 wouldn’t hurt anyone…

---

From the Ready Room, the walk to Deck 5, where Transporter Rooms 1 and 2 were located was a relatively short one. In fact, it was less of a walk and more of a turbolift ride, but for Molly it was still an opportunity to organize her mind.

However, instead of walking into the transporter room and welcoming their new department head aboard the Dresden, Holloway preferred a more… covert approach, opting to stand just outside the room, quietly scanning the officers passing by while pretending to examine the closest wall panel. Hopefully, if the file was real, she would be able to spot Harper in the crowd. If not, she would know that her theory was correct.

All in all, it was an inconspicuous enough move that would make Molly blend in with the background. If it wasn’t for one small detail that she often overlooked – her fiery red hair standing out like an beacon in the middle of the crowd.

Holloway, CO

Molly had no sooner taken her position when the doors to the transporter room slid open with a woosh. Two NEs wearing gold uniforms exited the transporter room each with a duffel slung over their respective shoulders. They smiled and joked as they walked briskly toward the turbo-lift, not noticing the captain standing nearby. A few seconds later and Belle Harper, or more precisely what looked like the corpse of Belle Harper, followed through the doors. She walked past the captain either without noticing her or without acknowledging her.

Molly couldn’t help but follow Belle with her gaze. It was as if she was seeing a ghost – the lack of color on her skin, the lack of expression in her face, the lack of… life in her…

It was no prank. It was true. Belle Harper was alive or at least… moving…

Already in the turbo-lift, the two security NEs held the door as they awaited Belle Harper to accompany them to Deck 7. Halfway the distance from the transporter room to the turbo-lift Harper stopped. Slowly turning around she faced the Captain. Her expression gave nothing away as far as emotion. She stared at Holloway blankly. “Permission to come aboard, Captain?” she asked. Her voice would be exactly as Molly remembered, void of the tones of excitement.

Molly had only made a point of staring, because Harper hadn’t seemed to notice her. But when the Dresden’s new Intel Chief stopped in her tracks and started to turn around, Holloway rushed back to face the wall panel, embarrassed by her own attitude.

And then Belle spoke.

The voice… the voice filled Molly with joy, but the lack of excitement in her tone – or the lack of any other emotion for that matter – broke her heart. What had happened to her? What had they done to the Belle Harper that once could fill rooms with her bubbly personality.

Maybe after all these years Belle had grown to resent her? Molly couldn’t blame her… did she know the full story of what had happened? Was that way she was cold and distant? Or was it a result of whatever Intelligence had done to her? Holloway assumed it had been Intel. They liked to break people, just like they had broken Molly herself. Only Belle seemed to have gotten it much worse.

Holloway turned around to face the Intelligence Officer, and as their eyes finally met, guilt washed over her once again. One thing had been seeing a picture of her, the other was seeing her person. The full extent of what had been done to Harper much more prominent. Nothing could describe the happiness that Molly felt in knowing her old friend was alive, but as far as Belle herself was concerned, Holloway wondered if death wouldn’t have been a better option.

Yet, Molly still braced herself for the inevitable hug, but it never came.

Holloway hadn’t changed much since they last had seen each other. Still 5‘5’‘, with the same pale skin and prominent freckles, and the bright red hair put up in the same ballerina bun she had always worn. Molly was a creature of habit, quite the opposite of what she remembered Belle to be. In fact, as far as the latter was concerned, Holloway was still wearing the same Command Red uniform she worn on the Montgomery. The only new thing being the extra peep on her collar, ranking her as Captain rather than Lieutenant Commander. After all, she had served as acting CO on the Monty, only to be promoted after Belle’s (and the Monty’s) disappearance. There was also less of an air of innocence about her, but she looked just as young as she had looked six years ago.

The two security officers still standing in the open turbo-lift, snapped to attention.

-Lt. Harper, CIO

Molly remained frozen, looking at Harper for what seemed like ages. “Uh… granted.” She managed to say. Her eyes finally looking past the Intel Officer and to the turbolift where the two security officers waited patiently.

“At ease, gentlemen.” There was no need for formalities.
The two NE’s relaxed about but both looked extremely pensive.

Holloway wanted to ask everything at once. We thought you were dead… How are you? What have they done to you? What has happened all this time? The questions zipped past in her mind but she couldn’t bring herself to utter them.

Instead, in a very uncharacteristic gesture for Molly, she wrapped her arms around the other woman and pulled her in for a hug. “I’m sorry…” She whispered. It was the only thing she could say.

Holloway, CO

The irony of the situation was not lost on Harper. She still retained the many memories of flinging her arms around a very stiff and unreceptive Molly. She remembered the day she met Molly and exclaimed that they would one day be friends. And they had been. Very close friends. Harper could feel the fondness she once had for the woman somewhere deep within her, like looking at a faded photograph of someone she once knew long ago. It was Harper’s turn to remain stiff and unreceptive. She stood stock still with the captain attached to her.

A pang of sadness hit Molly, as no response of any kind came from Belle. She had hoped that, even though she looked different, whatever had happened to Harper had preserved her personality. Yet, it was increasingly clear that, even though she was standing right in front of her, the Belle Harper she had know was dead. The coolness of her body further driving the point home.

Harper was about to tell the captain that she had nothing to be sorry for but never got the chance as the two NEs, both dropping their duffels in sync, burst forth from the turbo-lift and rushed toward the pair of women. NE Hardy rushed behind Harper and been to pull her back from the Captain, while NE John tried to insert himself between them. “Captain, for your own safety I must ask you to step away from Lieutenant Harper, ma’am.”

Belle’s expression didn’t change but she was very nearly amused.

=Lt. Harper, CIO

For her own safety? What were they afraid of? What could Belle do to her?

Confused, Molly stumbled backwards as the Ensigns intervened. So was that what they were? Body guards?

Sadness and confusion mixed in her gaze as she turned to face Belle again. Her expression making her feelings painfully clear – her heart hadn’t been broken. It had been crushed.

“Really, guys?” Belle asked the intruding security NEs. There was a slight tone of annoyance that made her sound more like her old self than she had so far.

“What happened?” She finally asked the new Intelligence Chief. “Why do I need to stand back? Is there something I should be afraid of?” The questions were not uttered softly, as if she was sorry for the woman, even though she was. But rather, the disbelief she felt and the authority her position held on board the Dresden seeped through her tone and into her words.

Holloway, CO

Lt. Harper looked at the captain. “I can’t talk a lot about what happened as it is classified. Suffice to say, someone had the foresight enough to place my body in a cryogenic freezer before they evacuated the Montgomery. When she was found they found me inside. I was reanimated. That’s about all I am allowed to say.” If Molly was paying attention she might notice the smallest hint of longing in Belle’s voice, a want to tell her everything. It was subtle but it was there.

“As for these two idiots,” she said, nodding to the NEs still separating the captain from herself, “don’t mind them. They’re just afraid I’m going to assimilate you.”

-Lt. Harper, CIO