Posted by Lieutenant Casela Synthi-er (Counsellor / RTF) in Sausage and Scuttlebutt

Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in Sausage and Scuttlebutt
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Posted by Lieutenant Casela Synthi-er (Counsellor / RTF) in Sausage and Scuttlebutt
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

She went back to the desk with him, but leaned against it instead of sitting. “That’s the thing, I can find out, but should I? I’ve already grabbed the displeasure of the brass, of the shadow. IF she’s tied to any of that and I go snooping, it won’t end well for me. I’m okay with that. What I’m not okay with is if they decide to come after the crew to get to me. Best case they recall me and I go. Worst case ....” she left that hanging in the air.

“We could certainly confront it here, but have you looked at her combat record and training?” She pulls it up on the screen. “I’d be going up against my doppelganger, mentally and physically.” The similarities between them was uncanny. And it raised the question if someone had done that intentionally.
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

“Aye,” he nodded at the service record being displayed on the terminal, “I’ve seen. And as the captain of this ship, I have to say, she’s an asset I would consider myself fortunate to have on my team. If I knew no more than what was written there, that is.”

He sighed and gulped at his drink. “It seems we have two choices here. We accept her as presented to us and hope that the gift does not turn out to be a trojan horse. And that would mean you having to live with her being on board and working side by side with her as part of the RTF. Or,” he continued, “we dig. And you’re not the only one with connections on this ship. Maybe, for your own safety, we should hand this one over to Remington, see what he might be able to uncover?”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

Casela started pacing again, this time just in thought. “I hate being on this ship,” she muttered. Zachariah would understand though, she’d been on her own for so long. The risk to herself was nothing, it didn’t bother her. She’d simply do what had to be done. On board Leviathan she had a very large crew to consider. And she was never one to risk innocent lives, but Levi was different. They were family and it forced her to pause and wait. And waiting for someone else to make the decision that needed to be made was hard. Could she do it? Of course, did she want to? Not at all. She stopped pacing and looked at him. “Before I would have taken my shuttle and just taken care of it, no matter the outcome. Now…” she was tempted to punch something again in frustration but figured Zachariah would put his foot down over this.

“Aye,” Cobb nodded. The weight of responsibility, to have the lives of so many at your fingertips, was a burden that most struggled to bear. Especially when that weight restricted one’s abandon for their own, apathetic existence.

It goaded her to give Remington more information about her and why she did what she did, but…but she’d taken him to Delotha. And that was her greatest secret and he hadn’t betrayed them. She settled into a chair, finally. “You know this bugs me, but you’re right. If there is a paper trail, Remington will find it. Hell he found us didn’t he?”
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

“I know,” Zachariah winked, a trace of smug satisfaction flitting across his face. “But he’s the best at what he does and right now that is exactly what we need.”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

Casela nodded from her chair. Cobb looked just a little too smug at her expense, but he was right. “Alright, but in the mean time I can’t promise or even guess what will happen the next time we run into each other. And I’m still the ship’s counselor and if there is something going on with her, well, as you said, my staff and I are very good at what we do.” She got, opened hidden locker in the wall and took out a bottle and a glass and set it on the desk. A bottle of Glenfiddich 21 year old single malt Scotch whiskey. She opened it and poured a glass. “I procured this for you. I hope it’s as good as it was recommended to be.” She handed it to him and then took a seat. “Alright, my problem aside. I was on my way to see you when I discovered Juliet, to discuss our new CSO. I just finished my evaluation with him. I had to sanitize my office after he left. This man is going to need careful watching. Let’s talk about him.”
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

Zachariah brought the glass to his nose and savoured the aroma. “Your recommendations are top notch, lass,” he commented appreciatively as he took a first, delicate sip.

The mention of their new Ferengi Science Chief, however, saw him downing the remainder of the glass in a desperate gulp.
“A curse on whoever at the ARU thought it would be entertaining to send me a bloody Ferengi to head up my science division!” he spat. “I mean, by the gods, Cas! Do they not consider me to have enough problems already?”

At that Casela remembered something Raauhl had said on more than one occasion, and thought within her presence too, trying to rile her no doubt: “I have heard it said, Zachariah that the ARU was better guarded and more effecient at secrecy than Section 31. If so, how in the name of the four gods of Betazed did a Ferengi get placed into the ARU on the officer exchange program?”

Zachariah shrugged, but then almost immediately a thought seemed to occur to him - a thought that turned his face a rather sickly shade of pale.
“Heavens, Cas. Could all of this be my fault?” he dared to venture aloud. “I knew I was taking a risk allowing Olash and his men inside the containment deck. But I had a bloody good reason for doing so and it’s a reason I stand behind even now. But still,” he winced at the effort to continue such a damning hypothesis, “could Olash have used what he saw here as currency with the ARU? Allow one of our officers onto your ship or else we tell the whole quadrant what lurks behind the Leviathan’s closed doors?”

He shuddered and emptied his glass.

His now familiar signature of exasperation - a heavy sigh followed by a hand run raggedly through his hair. And then Cobb savoured his drink for a moment and shrugged.
“Still, he seems to know his stuff where anomalies are concerned. And his connections, I am led to believe, are more impressive, even, than Olash. Perhaps he can be of use if we approach this relationship from the right angle?”
His expression invited Casela’s own opinion on the matter.

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

“Well we’ll see, but we’ll have to tread carefully. He’s not stupid. I have a....tentative business arrangement with him at the moment.” She held up a hand to stop the concern and outpouring of it that she knew would come from Cobb. “Right now it’s simple. He’s going to get me a knife I want, and I’m going to tell him what the Federation knows about him. Not really a risk since he already knows about himself. Now let’s look at his marching orders.” She pulled the information up on her display and turned it where they both could see it: the transfer orders and directive straight from Rear Admiral Vincent T. Jansson reading “DaiMon Lazol is to, hereby and henceforth, assume the duties of ARU Chief Science officer onboard the USS Leviathan retaining his rank of DaiMon equivalent to a Starfleet Captain as well as duties of an Ambassador of the Ferengi Alliance. Do whatever needs to be done to further the understanding of the anomalies. When in regards to ARU matters Lazol is the highest ranking person onboard and has control over what is done with the anomalies and has discretion with their future.

“Alright let’s break this down he’s the new CSO which means he’s in charge of science, and in that there is no real danger. He’s a man of science and he works methodically and carefully. The problem I see is in him trying to use this position for profit. And he LOVES latinum. I had drool left on my couch after he got a look at the stash I keep in here. But safety of the ship still falls to you, even if the information learned on the anomalies is above our clearance level. So if he endangers the ship you can and will still put a stop to him. We can’t make him tell us what he was doing but we can stop it.”

“If we find out about it,” Cobb countered. “But how much damage could he do before that moment, eh?”

“His rank, well you know how I feel about rank, but is of no matter. Manhattan is a captain as well and you two get along well. Two captains outrank and out vote a DaiMon. As for being an ambassador of his people, that just means we have to be diplomatic. And you know that Diplomacy is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip (OOC: Winston Churchill). So no problem there. I’m sure Cmdr Raauhl and his diplomatic Trill tendencies can do that, and if not between you and I we can convince Lazol of it.”

That brought a hearty chuckle from the captain’s lips. “We both know that, when faced with an anomaly, the chain of command is about as much use as a cardboard phaser rifle,” he shrugged as an agreement with her own indifference to rank. “He could be bloody grand master of the universe for all I care. Because at the end of the day, there is only one person in charge of this ship. And that’s me.”

Convincingly said. So much so that Zachariah almost believed it himself.

“Do whatever needs to be done to further the understanding of anomalies. So anything that he does, if not to that goal he is in violation of the admirals orders. We shall take note and put a stop to it. I’m very good at writing reports to get what I want with very little evidence. This part won’t be a problem. Selling them off or access to them is not increasing understanding.

“Aye, now we get to the heart of it,” Cobb sighed. “If he’s going to revert to his baser tendencies in any manner then this will be the most likely end. And I’m not going to lie, Cas, the thought of him trading access to these monsters with nary a thought to the wider consequences should they escape fills me with a horror I can barely describe!”

“When in regards to ARU matters Lazol is the highest ranking person onboard and has control over what is done with the anomalies and has discretion with their future. Now this is the tricky part; ARU is science. RTF is security and containment. These orders do NOT give him access to RTF. So if he wants to work with the anomalies he either has a FULL squad of RTF with him on the containment decks OR a full squad in his labs to protect the ship. Now this is what we already have in place, now we will just need to go over the top with it. As for his discretion of the anomalies futures, sure he can do that, but only if RTF deems it safe to do such a thing, since they are responsible for that. I suggest we increase security clearance and by that I mean, Lazol’s clearance gets him into the labs but denies him access to the containment and RTF decks unless escorted by Manhattan or yourself, or whomever either of you deem necessary. He thinks he’s going to run this ship. So let’s keep his little kingdom to the labs.”

It was a lot of information, but Casela never wasted time on making a plan.
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

One hand raked tentatively through his hair, Cobb let out a long whistle. “I hate to say it, lass, but here’s where you underestimate him. You are right that the RTF has a definite presence on the containment deck and, from what I know of Lt Surda, she’ll have no desire to be changing that any time soon. Nobody knows how to handle these things better than Manhattan’s crew and there’s not a damned person on this ship who doubts that. But his labs?” Another exhale, tempered this time by fiery liquor. “Cas, even I can not gain access to his labs without invitation. Or McHarrie’s, for that matter. Although so far his door has remained reassuringly open.”

He got to his feet, overcome by a desire to pace the room, to dissipate some tension through strong, determined movement.
“This has never sat right with me, Cas, you know that,” he attempted to explain. “But what can I do? It’s been made clear to me from day one that, where the laboratories are concerned, their business is none of my own. Or yours, for that matter,” he added, shooting a nervous glance in the Counselor’s direction in anticipation of a verbal protest.
“And you also know better than to discuss clearances aloud, especially after…last time.” There was no call to explain further. It was a curse that they both shared, to be forever haunted by the Shadow.
“So let me just say this - where the anomalies are concerned, the ARU will place far more trust in Lazol than they will in either of us. Now I know, I know,” he held out his hands in placation, “that’s akin to a kick up the rear with a flaming, steel-toed boot. But we’re not going to best our new CSO by working against him. As much as it may pain us to do so, my advice is that we work with him. Alongside him. Gain his confidence. Provide him a safety net so that when he falls…and he will fall eventually, we can use that net to contain him the same as we would with any dangerous creature we have the misfortune to encounter.”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb