Intelligence Integration

Posted on Mon Jun 17th, 2024 @ 3:25pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Lieutenant Jackson Smith & Ensign Lun

2,762 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Long Hard Road Ahead
Location: USS Firebird, Spy Cave, Deck Five
Timeline: 25 August, 2396 - 0900 Hours

[ON]
Jackson halted in front of the SCIF's entrance, waiting briefly as the scanner verified his identity. Once the door slid open, he stepped into the modest 10'x10' room. The space was sparsely furnished, with only a few workstations and chairs, and a handful of PADDs scattered on the tables. Jackson casually sat down in one of the chairs and motioned for Ensign Lun to join him.

Lun was met with a large room; open spaces. She entered and hesitated. The slender young woman side-stepped the door and kept her back to the wall while her eyes looked over every corner and curve. There was only one way in and out for the standard Terran, a vent in the ceiling for crawling into if needed, and other than that, there were sparse objects for hiding. When Jackson motioned for Lun to come into the open and join him, he may as well have offered a cat to jump in a toilet bowl for a spin-wash. Her skin turned an unusual shade of white and she could feel the reaction cause her teeth to grow just a millimeter's length longer. The ache ran up her jaw as a tear ran down her eye and raced down the now pale-white surface of her skin.

One foot in front of the other, she inched toward the man. He smelled unphased by her awkwardness and that put her at ease. Lun's fingers trailed across the edge of the consoles and chairs as she stopped every other second and cautiously eyed him until finally, and silently, she shot her arm out and grabbed hold of another chair next to him without warning while tilitng her head to the side, keeping eye contact with him throughout the uncanny motions.

"This room - is expansive. Important..." She whispered. "I suppose this is where the transmissions I monitored arrived from somewhere out there." She motioned with her slender arm, indicating 'somewhere in the Gamma quadrant'." She looked behind her out of instinct and then slowly back at Jackson. "Is your contact still safe? Considering the outcome of recent events, he should be recalled. I fear for his safety in only the greatest manner of intent." Lun's whispers just barely made it through her teeth. She had a habit of speaking only loud enough for the intended listener to hear even if they were the only ones in the room.

Jackson studied the Vulcan as she moved into the room. She was unlike any other Vulcan he had met before—it was hard to pinpoint the differences. She was slender and tall, with eyes that meticulously surveyed her surroundings. Jackson grinned slightly as she settled in and began speaking.

"Jumping right to business, I see," Jackson remarked. "Yes, we have a contact in the Gamma Quadrant. While their safety is certainly a concern, it's beyond our control at the moment." He reached over his shoulder to the table, shuffled a couple of PADDs aside, and grabbed one. Pulling up a screen, he chuckled and smiled. "Yumi sent me a message about you. She said, and I quote, 'Play nice... dot dot dot.' Those three dots convey a lot. Yumi is not someone I want to cross. How do you know her?"

Jackson tossed the PADD back onto the table. There was more to Yumi's message, but he would share that as needed. He looked back at Lun, noting how her straight dark hair framed her face and her eyes studied him. For a brief second, he thought he caught a glimpse of contacts. She might be hiding her true eyes. This fit with what Yumi had told him.

Lun sat still and watched as he looked her over. His gaze was unflinching, his body calm. The only movement came from the faint crackle of electricity in his nerves, a sign of his heightened awareness in the black, open space of the room. The console hummed with power, reaching out for activity from the electrochemical neurons of a Terran touch.

But there was no fear or apprehension in him. If anything, she could feel his curiosity pulsing through the air. She couldn't help but admire his cool demeanor and steady heart.

Her Vulcan side fought against the urge to smile, knowing that maintaining control over her emotions was essential to her stability. But at times, like this, she had to push back against that restraint to keep herself balanced. As she sat back in her chair, she gripped the edges tightly, almost as if checking to make sure it was real and not just an illusion.

Her eyes remained locked on Jackson's face, taking in every detail. She relied on various senses - vision, heat, and electrical impulses - to assess those around her. But stationary objects like a backrest were difficult for her to detect, especially when they fell outside of her peripheral vision.

As she spoke, her lips stretched into a small upward slant, revealing faint traces of black at the edges of her teeth. It was a subtle reminder of her unique dental structure and decreased strength from the changes that occurred in her life. But just as quickly as it appeared, her subtle hint of what might have been considered a grin disappeared behind her lips once more.

She shook her head slightly as she recalled a betrayal from someone she thought she could trust. Crossing one ankle over the other knee, she continued to speak with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"Last time I followed that woman's advice, it got me assigned to data analysis near the core of Deep Space 18 by a Chief of Intelligence Officer who wanted me segregated from everyone else,” she shrugged nonchalantly, her bony shoulders shifting in her Starfleet uniform. "But she also told me that sometimes it takes multiple attempts before something finally pays off." She finally tore her gaze away from Jackson and glanced around the room, as if taking in her surroundings once more.

Lun's gaze flicked to Jackson's and then she shifted her weight, dropping her foot to the ground. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees as she whispered, despite being alone with him in the room.
"It only makes logical sense that my superior would pair me with someone who would bring up their shared past in conversation." She nodded slightly, as if reaffirming her own reasoning.

Lun's eyes carefully traveled over Jackson's appearance as she tilted her head to the side and squinted, sizing him up.

"Being alone is easy, but it becomes meaningless without someone to fight for and be vulnerable with. A family." She straightened up and crossed her ankle over her knee again.
"In order to be truly vulnerable, one must have no secrets," Lun stated firmly. "In the hope that someday, someone will accept us for who we are."

Lun's arm grazed along the desk and touched a PADD that Jackson had laid out earlier. She picked it up and placed it back in his hands gently before meeting his gaze once more.

"I'll trust you if you can accept me," she whispered softly. "And I'll be your loyal officer if you'll have me after I reveal everything about myself to you. There may be two sides to me, but you always get the best."

A slight grin tugged at the corners of Lun's lips as she quoted Joseph Conrad. "'It's one thing for us to stumble upon the horror of a corpse, but entirely another to conquer the darkness within one's own self.'"

"As for that darkness within," Lun continued, reaching out and taking Jackson's other hand in hers. "We just need to fight fire with fire where our enemies are concerned. The demons within, and the tangible ones," Lun nodded away from their direction, "... the ones out there."

Jackson's eyes never left Lun's as she spoke, his expression one of keen interest. As she talked about darkness and vulnerability, she could almost see a shadow pass through his eyes, hinting at his own hidden depths.

"We all have our demons," he said, his voice softening to match hers. "Some are less tangible than others."

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze unwavering. Jackson's curiosity was genuine, but there was a playful spark in his eyes. "Yumi mentioned alterations...tell me what you feel I need to know."

Lun took her hands away from his in order to help provide a measure of comfort for her superior and she reached up to tuck a few strands of hair behind her pointed ears.

It wasn't until she removed her hand that Jackson realized how warm and natural it felt. It was definitely not what he was expecting. Yumi's description of her alterations brought to mind the old legends of Vampires, which he imagined to be cold to the touch. Her hand and skin were definitely warm and pleasant. Jackson shook his head ever so slightly as he refocused on what she was about to tell him.

"I am prone to sudden and quick movements, I change color in the dark. I wake up and have to file my teeth down in the same way you Humans have to share your face everyday..." Lun reached into her eyes with her fingers and pulled the contacts out. She looked back at him with solid obsidian black eyeballs. "I wear these to keep people from being too scared of me. And most importantly, there's nothing to be afraid of. I'm not 'possessed', just -- afflicted. In fact, I don't even have my original Vulcan strength."

Lun places the contacts on the desk and let out a half laugh despite being Vulcan.
"I lost more than I gained. I wanted to be a dedicated shuttle pilot, but now I can only see fifty feet in front of me."

Jackson studied her carefully, taking in the sight of her true eyes. He could see the vulnerability and honesty in her expression. As she spoke, he wondered what she had gone through to experience the things she mentioned. The thought of her struggles and the alterations she endured piqued his curiosity, but for now, he was satisfied with what she shared.

"Ah, Starfleet Intel, the bullies of Starfleet. They sure do like to crush the dreams of pilots," Jackson said with a wry grin, shaking his head. "I can see why they forced you into intel, though. Your skills are very useful, and they can't really have someone with altered DNA running around sticking out as a pilot."

Jackson leaned back in his chair, his mind whirring with thoughts of how Lun's unique abilities could be an asset. He then turned and touched a couple of concealed spots underneath the table. With a soft hum, a large table emerged from the floor, expanding to encompass the center of the room. Above it, a holographic display of the Delta Quadrant flickered to life, casting a bluish glow around them. Several areas on the map were marked with colors and symbols, denoting territorial control and key locations.

The far wall lowered, revealing another hidden feature of the SCIF: an array of weapons and gadgets meticulously arranged on the wall. The sight of advanced technology and armaments hinted at the room’s true potential.

"While I do work for Intel, I don't trust the vast majority of them and I do my own thing," Jackson said, his tone becoming more serious. "I can teach you a few things, but don't expect any advancement while working with me. Half the time, I'm lucky if they don't send me to the brig." He laughed, the sound echoing slightly in the high-tech room, as he stood up to take a closer look at the spinning galaxy projected before them.

"The Captain trusts me and has always had my back, which I guess is why I'm here and not rotting away in some Starfleet prison." Jackson's expression grew solemn as memories of past missions and close calls flickered through his mind. "The Captain and this crew are my family. With the vouch from Yumi and..." He turned to her, his eyes narrowing slightly as if trying to see deep into her soul, "well, let's just say I'm inclined to trust you as well."

Jackson shifted his attention back to the holographic map, his fingers lightly brushing over the projections. "This represents the last data dump I got from your Chief. It's a few weeks old and definitely doesn't show any hint of an attack..." He let the insinuation hang in the air between them.

Lun was rarely surprised but her jaw dropped slightly when she saw the framework of the room change drastically around her and she found a moment of pause to take in the immensity of the transformation.

She blinked and pushed her contacts away on the table to get a look at what her department head was doing as he spoke. She nodded in agreement with Jacksons pregnant pause at the lack of information that came from her previous chief.

"Before I say anything further, I want you to know that I would never say anything negative about my chain of command normally, but considering my previous lead was shot over fifty times, stabbed beyond recognition, and set ablaze... It's pertinent to our investigation to agree with you on your observations of what's not there."

Lun pulled up the communications log to show unread messages down the line of back-chatter that should have been investigated. She expanded the log files and meta-data underneath. They blinked *UNREAD* in unison with several other high priority messages.

Lun hissed slightly through her teeth as her soulless looking obsidian eyes took in what she had just discovered.

"This is the type of thing that transfers Intelligence Directors to Starbase 80 as a Subspace Tranciever Specialist," the aggravation in her voice apparent as a full betrayal of her Vulcan roots.

Jackson's left eyebrow raised in a very Vulcanesque manner as he studied the information that Lun presented. He nodded slightly at her assessment. "Indeed." He swiped his hand to scan through more of the data. "Unless this was deliberate... We need to get to the SCIF on the station and see what other information there is. I will inform the Captain."

Lun nodded slowly.
"Sir," Lun whispered as she placed a hand on his shoulder. She forgot her eyes were solid black but her gaze still managed to pull off 'apologetic' as she tilted her head slightly and leaned in closer to him. Her body was almost fully out of the chair as she closed the distance to his ear. "... I, regret to inform you that my previous department head never trusted me with information as to the whereabouts of this -- SCIF, on the station... However, I can help locate it with you."

Almost nose-to-nose with the man, she displayed her dismay of divulging her lack of helpfulness at the moment but she wanted to assure him she was very eager to rectify her ineptitude brought on by previous distrust.

She stood up next to him and picked at her uniform uncomfortably again as she rolled her neck and shoulders as if stretching before a run.

Jackson felt Lun's closeness, her solid black eyes reflecting a mix of apology and determination. He appreciated her honesty, even though it highlighted a gap in their current situation. As she stood up and adjusted her uniform, Jackson took a deep breath, formulating a plan.

"Thank you for your honesty, Lun," Jackson said, his voice steady and reassuring. He unconsciously started straightening his own uniform and looking her directly in the eyes. "Let's locate that SCIF together. We'll need all the information we can get, and your help will be invaluable."

Jackson hesitated slightly as he studied Lun. There was a whole lot more to Lun than he'd orginally thought, and Jackson looked forward to discovering more. But first there was a mission to plan and execute. "Go prepare, we will leave at 1200 hours." Jackson turned and picked up a PADD, he quickly started typing out a message to the Captain.

There was no sign that the door to the room opened, no sound of Lun's footsteps... By the time message was sent, the room was just -- empty.

[OFF]


Lieutenant Jackson Smith
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298



Ensign Lun
Intelligence Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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