<USS Avalon> Re: "Ghosts Real and Imagined"

 Fantastic Log!! I really enjoyed it! 


 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: CamtheInternut@xxxxxxx
To: avalon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sun, 15 Mar 2009 6:33 am
Subject: <USS Avalon> Re: "Ghosts Real and Imagined"
















"Ghosts Real and Imagined"


Written by Lt. Delaney Scott and Lt. j.g. T'Leara


?


?


?


Delaney had never really thought about how tedious being in 
charge might be, how much "paperwork" was involved in being the boss. There had 
to be a couple dozen work orders and reports on the desk, and 
after picking up a couple, she could see that they were in no particular order. 
Still, it was her job to make sense of this stuff now, and so she set about 
completing the task of reading them and making sure they got copied to the 
admiral, so she stacked all the PADDs in neat piles and just started with the 
one on top. 

She'd read about six when she began to notice an 
oddity---there were work orders 
for minor repair jobs that had been completed and a report written, but there 
was no name as to who had done the work. Laney frowned. She might not have 
gotten to know many of the crew in her six or so weeks here, but she was pretty 
sure every one of the engineers on this ship knew the regs---if you did a job, 
you signed off on the work order. 

Now she had another job to do...check 
up on the work that had been done to make sure it was done right, and find out 
who was messing with the ship and not putting their name on their 
reports.


?


_____


?


It was late and again, T'Leara couldn't seem to manage sleep. 
Of course, it would help if Admiral Taggert would stop calling, but truth be 
told even if he hadn't sleep still would have eluded her. She'd meditated as 
long as she could manage, then again headed into engineering. It seemed that 
there was more than enough work to do there and not nearly enough hands. Given 
her background as an engineer, she was more than able, and completely willing 
to 
help. However, given her reputation, she was also aware that there were those 
who might not appreciate her interference?there. Thus, she quietly worked, 
carefully reported, and left with all information there for those who would 
check up on the requests. All, that is, except her name. 



She entered 
Engineering 
tonight as she had so often of late and immediately went to see what there was 
to do. As with all the other nights, nobody stopped her or questioned her in 
any 
way. They were all far too busy with 
work of their own to notice one out of place Vulcan 
wandering about..


?


Laney walked into?Engineering after lunch and stopped, 
taking a look around.?It brought a wry smile to her face to think she was 
probably going to be spending a great deal of time down here 
now---wandering?in during her off hours would probably become a habit, too. 



?


She stepped into her office and deposited several PADDs onto 
her desk. They were all the work reports that had been done by the mysterious 
handyman, and she'd spent the rest of her?morning checking up on them all, 
making sure the work had been completed properly. Turned out that whoever had 
done the work had indeed repaired each malfunction perfectly, leading her to 
believe that whoever it was had pretty decent engineering skills. But the 
question remained: Why be willing to do the work but not put your name on it? 
There were too many of the incidents for whomever it was to have simply 
forgotten, as she was well aware happened occasionally. 


?


She sighed as she sat in the chair behind the desk, 
contemplating the mystery. She hadn't mentioned the matter to Security or to 
Admiral Ketchum, but she would have to soon, or risk getting herself in trouble 
for keeping it under wraps. And considering she had just gotten this miracle 
promotion, Delaney sure as hell wasn't about to risk losing it on her first 
day. 
So..............


?


She decided she would give it a day. An idea had just occurred 
to her: She'd set a little trap for the mysterious worker. All the jobs he or 
she had done were relatively minor, only jobs requiring only one person. She'd 
set something up and then see if her phantom engineer took the 
bait.


_____


?




T'Leara picked up the first order and replaced it quickly. 
Repairs of that magnitude would take at least two people, and far longer than 
one evening. The next then, she decided, looking at it carefully and nodding 
slightly. Checking her tools to ensure she had what she needed, she headed 
toward the malfunctioning console, certain she knew what must be done. 



?


Laney didn't have to wait long before the bait hooked her 
fish---not even a day. That evening, as she ate a quick supper in NineForward, 
the tricorder she'd kept with her to monitor the "malfunctioning" console 
(okay, 
technically it wasn't working, not after she'd sabotaged it for just this 
purpose) down in the fairly secluded alcove in?Engineering..... No one was 
likely to notice who was working there, so it had seemed the perfect place to 
lay her trap. 


?


She quickly downed the last of her food and headed back to the 
engine 
room. Once inside she slowed her pace and made herself 
appear to be casually strolling through, around the warp core and toward the 
back, where the alcove was located. She stealthily leaned against the bulkhead 
and crossed her arms, looking down at the Vulcan in science teal as she said, 
"So you're the mystery engineer... What's a scientist doing performing the job 
of an engineer or an ops tech? Not that I mind the help of course, but you're 
not exactly sticking to the parameters of your job description are 
you?"


?


"Not any longer," the Vulcan agreed, standing slowly and 
wiping her hands on her pants. "However, I assure you I am more than equal to 
the task at hand." 


?


Laney nodded. "I've noticed. I checked up on your work because 
you didn't sign off on the reports, and now I'd like to know why. Even a sci 
geek helping out the gear heads is required to sign off on any repair work you 
do."



?


"Not when they're no longer permitted to work in the field," 
she admitted reluctantly. "I am no longer assigned to engineering because of 
what they fear I can do were I inclined to...cause trouble. I assure you, 
however, that is not my intent. I only..." She sighed. "I could not sleep. I 
required...distraction." Quieter still she added. "I desired to help." Shaking 
her head slightly in defeat, she began gathering her tools. 


?


The engineer quirked an eyebrow. "Your desire to help out is 
admirable, and I'd let you keep at it if I could, but regulations require me to 
both put a stop to it and report your extracurricular activities to the 
admiral............ Dare I even ask why you might have reason to cause 
trouble?"


?


"I have none. I would not, though I have no expectation you 
will believe me." she answered softly. "None did before." 


?


Delaney sensed a story there, a long and complicated one, but 
the Vulcan was obviously not willing to share so she didn't press---not like 
she 
didn't have skeletons in her own closet, secrets that were best kept secret. If 
she agreed with Starfleet Command about anything, it was that there was no 
telling what people would do if they found out she was, for all intents and 
purposes, a Changeling. 


?


No one was likely to care one micron that she still had Human 
DNA. 


?


"Well," she began at last, "it's good to know that you've no 
intention of causing trouble. And as I've noted, you did do everything 
correctly. But I hope you understand that if you're not authorized to do 
mechanical repairs, I can't let this continue. I'd be risking the promotion I 
just got this morning if I did, Ensign...?"


?


"Lieutenant again finally, 
though only just," the Vulcan corrected. "T'Leara. I understand." Belatedly 
remembering the appropriate social custom that was to follow good news, she 
added, "Congratulations." 


?


Laney cocked her head just so and saw that indeed, there was 
an onyx pin next to the single solid one. "My mistake, Lieutenant T'Leara. And 
thank you. Are you finished with this?" she said, indicating the 
console.


?


"The last chip set needs replacing," T'Leara said simply, her 
expression Vulcan stoic, though her eyes held a longing as she glanced at the 
work to be done. "And the fourth set is showing signs of weakness.. You should 
probably replace them both, to be certain it functions efficiently." 



?


Hiding her grin that the woman hadn't noticed the malfunctions 
were?the result of minor sabotage, Delaney nodded. "I'll make sure it gets 
done," she said. "If it's any consolation, your work is remarkably efficient.. 
It's really too bad you can't do it any more."


?


"It was a condition of my freedom," T'Leara admitted, seeing 
no reason to hide it, especially not if she was to be reported anyway.. "You 
should,perhaps, interview those who were nearest this console earlier. The 
damage to the chipsets appears deliberate." 


?


Laney did not smile, though she wanted to. Her sabotage had 
been noticed after all, she mused with a mental chuckle. Well, that meant that 
not only was T'Leara good at her job, but she was observant, as a good engineer 
should be. It really was to bad that she couldn't keep her on as an ad-hoc 
repairman. She didn't even want to have to report her, would have liked to keep 
it just between the two of them.?Though if she really had been forbidden to 
do any engineering work, for whatever reason, Delaney knew she would be risking 
her own career and freedom by not following protocol. 


?


Outwardly she nodded. "Thank you for pointing that out to me. 
I'll have a look at it and be sure to keep an eye open?for any other 
damage."


?


"None of the damage I have repaired thus far, save that in the 
Jeffries Tube last night?and possibly the failed airlock control Monday, 
appeared to have been deliberate." T'Leara continued, "And, of course, 
the?slight hum?from your?office earlier most likely indicates the 
addition of?flawed monitoring device embedded in your computer, though no 
doubt you are aware of this." Sighing, she handed over the other two repair 
orders she still had in her possession. "This replicator," she said indicating 
the first," has been fixed twice this week.?The Ensign insists upon 
attempting to reprogram it with his own recipes, incorrectly of 
course.......... 
This one in the mess, however, will likely require a?new unit, as I've 
replaced?blown circuits three times?already." 


?


Delaney's eyebrows winged up. She knew already what was on 
every work order, but the bit about their being a monitoring device on her 
office computer was definitely ?new to her and it wasn't welcome. She 
frowned then, suddenly recalling that she had, in fact, had some trouble with 
the monitor earlier, but she had chalked?it up to a simple mechanical 
issue, one that she would fix on her own when she didn't have so many pressing 
issues to take care of before they reached the planet and their mission really 
got underway. 


?


To hell with protocol, she thought angrily, snatching 
the?PADDs from the Vulcan with more force than she naturally would have, or 
had even intended. "Come with me, Lieutenant. I want you to show me this 
device, 
if you can find it."


?


T'Leara nodded and followed silently. Entering the office, she 
cocked her head to the side slightly, listening carefully. After the briefest 
moment, she stepped forward to the monitor and removed the back, peering in 
closely. She drew the small pen light from her pouch and a pair of fine nosed 
tweezers and seconds later withdrew a very slender silvery disk. The humming 
ceased at once. Holding it out to Laney, she said, "It would seem you are 
a?subject?of real interest. They rarely waste these on average 
surveillance. You'd do well to do a thorough sweep both here and in your 
quarters. Just in case." 


?


What the....? Laney slowly reached forward and took the disk, 
eyeing it curiously. Who would have---could have---done something like this? 
And 
why? 


?


Anger began to boil inside of her and she seethed, miniscule 
vibrations beginning to cause her body to tremble (though no one casting a 
casual glance would have noticed anything was amiss) as T'Leara's words sank 
in. 
She was going to have to sweep?her office for bugs? Her private quarters?! 
Who the hell dared to think they had any right at all to invade her privacy?! 



?


Just as suddenly as she had become angry she became scared, 
and her body trembled for a much different reason. As livid as she was that her 
privacy had been raided, the sudden and undeniable breach in security was 
something that definitely could not be ignored. T'Leara had no idea the 
Pandora's Box that could be opened if whoever was observing her discovered that 
which she so carefully kept hidden. 


?


The anger warred with the fear, and in the mere seconds that 
passed, Laney allowed the anger to take over, to consume the fear so that it no 
longer existed. She could not operate in a state of fear, nor would she allow 
these bastards, whoever "they" were, to make her afraid. And she promised 
herself that "they" would pay for every having taken an interest in her. 



?


Laney walked over and keyed the door shut. With the office 
being as small as it was, the door being closed made it seem that much smaller. 
It was a good thing, she mused, that she?wasn't claustrophobic. "Lt. 
T'Leara," she said. "I give you full permission to use whatever means necessary 
to detect and remove any and all monitoring devices from this office. I would 
then like you to utilize your skills to create a program that will alert me if 
the 'they' you speak of tries again. When you are finished, I want you to bring 
anything you find to my quarters, which is where I will be, looking?for 
more." 


?


She'd go to Ketchum next. Hopefully, she?prayed, he 
wasn't one of the "they."


?


Again, T'Leara nodded, though she peered curiously at the 
woman a moment longer before saying simply, "I shall meet you there shortly." 



?


What would they want with this woman? Clearly she could not be 
what she appeared to be. They have little if any interest in most humans, after 
all. 


?


A mutation, perhaps?


?


It doesn't matter, she reminded herself, scolding silently, 
You of all people know the value of privacy. You will help restore this ones if 
only as a matter of courtesy.?If Taggert desires knowledge on this one so 
badly, you will have a long night ahead to find all means to?gaining that 
knowledge.


?


He never plants just one.


_____


?


Three and a half sweaty hours after she had left T'Leara 
standing in her office, Laney dropped the last of the devices atop the pile on 
the coffee table. There were twelve in all, and whoever had violated her by 
doing this had been pretty damn slick?about concealing them. Not only had 
she found one in her monitor, but underneath the desk itself. There'd been one 
on each of her three lamps, one underneath each table in her quarters (another 
three), one in the closet, one in the replicator, and one behind each of the 
paintings she owned. T'Leara had been right: someone had taken quite an 
interest 
in her, and she could think of only one reason why that would be...


?


....they knew what she was. 


?


She didn't want to stop and think about why they hadn't made a 
more overt move against her, such as alerting the crew to the fact that there 
was a Changeling among them. She didn't have the time. She now 
realized?that she was going to have to sweep both shuttle bays and every 
damn shuttle on the ship---especially hers. She also had the quarters she 
hadn't 
even?moved into yet, the chief engineer's quarters, to go through as well. 



?


Bastards, she thought angrily. She would have liked 
to destroy every single device and disk she had found, but she would need to 
take them to the admiral for evidence. As she had worked she could only wonder 
in vain who could possibly have done this---and wonder who, if anyone---on this 
ship she could trust. Right now, the number of people in that category was 
zero. 
She couldn't be sure she could trust Adrian now (and was reminded that they had 
a breakfast date in just a few hours)---his attraction to her could very well 
be 
feigned in order to get close to her---and she couldn't even be sure T'Leara 
was 
trustworthy. She may have alerted her to the surveillance, but that could all 
be 
part of the plan.Going to Admiral Ketchum could even dangerous. If he was a 
part 
of the conspiracy, he would certainly have a plan for covering his tracks. 



?


As she dropped that last item on the pile, and prepared to 
devise an intruder detection plan, Laney was struck by how very?much she 
wished her parents---even the father she had not spoken to since she had been 
arrested---could be there to hold her and tell her everything was going to be 
alright. The fact that she hadn't felt such a bone-deep need for that kind of 
comfort since she was a child told her that the predicament in which she had 
just found herself?was deadly serious.


?


T'Leara rang the chime and waited. She held them all, fourteen 
total, in the small bag she'd placed them in. 


?


Why are you interfering? she asked herself quietly. Why put 
yourself further up on his list of enemies?


?


The answer was simple enough. Failure to work against him 
would be tantamount to working for him. And she would not, could not, work for 
Admiral Taggert. Not ever again. 


?


Delaney bade her visitor to enter, having a good idea who it 
would be. She would act with caution, and figured now was as good a time as any 
to get rid of T'Leara if she was not someone whom she could trust. 


?


When the Vulcan entered carrying a small bag, Laney almost 
laughed. Apparently, her new office in Engineering had been quite full of 
surveillance devices. She took the bag that was handed to her by a silent 
T'Leara, studying her as she added the ones she had found in here to the lot.. 



?


"I would like to thank you, Lieutenant, for your help, but 
your assistance is no longer required," she said at last. "I don't know what 
the 
hell is going on and I don't know why. I'd ask you if you might have?a 
clue, as you are the one who brought this to my attention, but quite frankly, I 
don't know if I can trust you. There are only three people I know without a 
doubt that?I can, and?only one of them is aboard this ship.?That 
would be me."


?


"I understand," T'Leara answered. In truth, she really did. 
She had no real idea whether or not she could trust this woman. For all she 
knew, Taggert had found out about her activities and set this up to test her.. 



?


It didn't matter, she reminded herself. She still had to warn 
her. Just in case.


?


"You'd do well to trust no-one." She cautioned as she reached 
the door...... "Be careful, Lieutenant. They've a far reach, and usually get 
what they want. No matter what the cost." Fighting the urge to shudder, she 
opened the door and stepped into the hall. 


?


Unable to resist, Laney stepped after her. "Damn it, who the 
hell is they? I need a name, not some faceless ghost haunting me. Even if 
you're 
one of them, surely you can give me something. Though?I suppose it's part 
of the test, isn't it? The surveillance was just bad enough to have been 
discovered, and now I have to figure out who the hell you, or they, are, is 
that 
right?"



T'Leara glanced around nervously then, taking Laney's arm, stepped back 
into her quarters and waited until the doors closed. Very quietly, so as not to 
be overheard in case?any devices had been missed, T'Leara answered, "They, 
are Admiral Jack Taggert and the Vega Prime Research Project. Just telling you 
that much violates every agreement that keeps me in Starfleet instead of dead 
or 
incarcerated somewhere, or worse, so if you are one of his people sent to test 
me, clearly I have failed yet again, as it seems I always will." Lowering the 
collar of her shirt to disclose the bruises of the last 'lesson' she spat. "One 
thing this last 'lesson' did teach me is the value of observation, though, so 
know this... I will not be caught unaware again.... If you?are his you 
might?as well try your hand now, because I will kill the next to try to do 
to me what the last did. Understood?" Her eyes blazed as she leveled them at 
the 
woman. She drew a slow deep breath, forcing herself to settle. "If, however, 
you 
are genuine in your ignorance of him and his research, I can only warn you as I 
did before to watch yourself. Trust no-one. Sweep your living and working areas 
often." She released her collar, allowing it to cover the bruises once again.. 
"Just be careful." 


?


The bruise was a deep emerald green, and it was fresh. It had 
been caused?the last 24 hours, for certain, Laney noted, and if this 
Taggert or someone working for him was responsible, she knew that she did 
indeed 
have something to worry about. The warning was genuine, and the passion with 
which T'Leara vowed to defend herself equally so. 


?


Laney had no doubt her own sense of self-preservation would 
mirror it. 


?


She was also not remiss to the fact that, if indeed this woman 
was risking as much as she claimed by telling her even as much as she did, then 
she owed her something for the telling. And she also had not missed the name 
Vega Prime. She had been discussing the facility with Adrian recently, and 
their 
many attempts to keep their work under wraps.


?


Well, she thought wryly, she could certainly see what would 
have intrigued them about her. she was an anomaly, an aberration. For all 
intents and purposes, she should not exist. They would probably see her as a 
thing meant to be studied and then dissected. Thank goodness she had caught on 
as soon as she had, because Delaney had no intention of going from phase one to 
phase two. She was no one's fracking research project! 


?


Well, except maybe her mother's. And she had stopped being 
that, her mother had assured her, the moment she was born. Before, even---the 
moment she had learned she really was pregnant, Marsha Scott had only wanted to 
have a healthy child. She had made sure Delaney knew that all she cared about 
was loving her and keeping her safe. Oh, what Laney would give to be able to 
talk to her mother now. But how could she be sure the conversation wasn't being 
monitored and/or recorded? If they were watching her here on Avalon, 
were they watching her parents too? 


?


Most likely.


?


Delaney sighed. "Thank you. If indeed you have risked what you 
say, then I am certain I am now in as much danger as you. I don't know much 
about Vega Prime, but what I have heard isn't very...comforting. I don't relish 
being anyone's science project, though, and I aim to put a stop to it any way I 
can."


?


She smiled ever so slightly. "It would nice to know that there 
is someone aboard that I can trust and I want to believe that person 
could be you, because the prospect of being alone in this is too terrible to 
contemplate. In that regard, I can only assure you that I am no agent of 
this?Admiral Taggert person. I didn't even know he existed before 
you?told me about?him, and I've already got a bad feeling?about 
the guy. So thanks, again, for the warning."


?


T'Leara looked at her warily for a moment, then nodded again. 
"Be certain to heed it." Hesitantly she admitted,"I am no friend to Taggert, 
either, I assure you. I do not work for him, though I did once. I was assigned 
as an engineer, though my?aptitude in science was considered a bonus. It 
was my refusal to continue once I knew what he was doing, my efforts to halt 
their research, that led to the events for which I was eventually 
courtmartialed."?She paused, considering her next words 
carefully,?"There is one other I trust, though perhaps foolishly. He leads 
the ships security forces." Shaking her head slightly. "It is possible I have 
misjudged, though. Human's are so difficult to fathom at times. They're 
propensity for dissemination too well developed." Blowing out a slightly 
frustrated breath, she amended. "No. Perhaps it's better not to for now. Better 
to remain wary of all. For your own sake." 


?


Laney knew without a doubt that her companion was talking 
about Adrian... And though she knew it was her attraction to him and not common 
sense talking, she really wanted to trust him. But T'Leara was 
right---at this point, it wasn't wise to trust anybody. Hell, she didn't even 
have the faintest clue as to when Taggert's people had begun to spy on her, and 
possibly her parents, and there was no way she could even risk warning them, no 
matter how much she wanted to do that, too.


?


T'Leara's mention of being court-martialed?almost made 
her laugh, as she could certainly relate. And since she had shared at least 
some 
of her own story, Laney could do no less. "I have been tried and convicted 
myself," she admitted. "Spent a few years in Leavenworth---and if you don't 
know 
about that place, that's a good thing. My trial records are 
classified---something I'm really not supposed to tell you, or anyone, for that 
matter. That little red flag is probably what got me noticed by the Mad 
Scientist....."


?


And then she did laugh, a little hysterically. "Which means 
this is all my own damn fault."


?


"No," T'Leara answered sternly. "No, it is not." She reached 
out a tentative hand to her. "You must not blame yourself. That way serves no 
purpose. Taggert alone is responsible for his actions. His team for theirs. You 
bear no fault in their folly." 


?


The hysterical giggle continued. "Oh, T'Leara, if only you 
knew... See, I did something I was ordered not to do by my former commanding 
officer, something I was practically begged not to do by my father, but I 
didn't 
listen, because I just had to know. And what has it done? Broken apart 
my family and put me in a mad man's crosshairs."


?


It was at that very moment that she understood the root of her 
father's fear, and for the first time since it had all happened, she felt like 
an idiot. Laney hoped fervently that she would have the opportunity to tell him 
how sorry she was.


?


"It's placed you here, now, aware of their presence, thus more 
able to protect yourself." T'Leara responded calmly. "Rest assured the 
truth?of your nature would have?come?out, it is the nature of 
secrets to be discovered, and he would have?learned of?it no matter 
what you chose to do. The difference then would have been you' d have had no 
warning. No way to steel yourself and protect yourself. Now, no more lamenting 
the past. It is the present and future we must look to now. Lay your ghosts to 
rest and attend to your safety now. Understood?" 


?


The "stern talking to" T'Leara had just given her was just 
enough to rekindle her anger. Damn it, she was already letting that bastard get 
to her! Well, it wasn't happening again, she swore to herself. Jack Taggert had 
just messed?with the wrong woman. T'Leara was right, she had to stay 
focused?on the here and now so that she could use her God-given intellect 
(or Changeling-given, depending on your viewpoint; for Laney it was the God she 
had been brought up to believe in, He who had created all things, all peoples) 
to beat Taggert at his own game.


?


"You're right," she said. "No more letting that jerkoff make 
me doubt myself. Now, you'd probably better go, or tongues will start wagging 
we're up to something. Thank you, again. You've helped me more than you 
know."


?


Still, she would lay her ghosts to rest only when she could 
look Captain Francis Scott in the eye and say to him, "Daddy, I'm so sorry." 




 

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