[USS Vanguard] Shadow of a Doubt
- From: "Jonathon Bremmer" <causticshell@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ncv80221@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2004 23:53:23 +0000
Lt. Cmdr Jaav E'thexx
Ship's Counselor
USS Vanguard, Briefing Chambers.
Valentine: "So what does Akron-4 have to do with this?"
Santos: "Akron-4 doesn't exist. It marks the coordinate established by
Starfleet
of the nearest entrance to the conduit from our quadrant."
E?thexx: And we're going to simply leave our quadrant and enter Borg
space??
Santos: Yes.?
Jaav sat in a daze for the next few mintues. As though he was surrounded by
cotton wool, he was partially aware of the questions and answers that were
moving between Captain Santos and his crew but for the most part Jaav was
absorbed in his own thoughts.
After a time the chambers emptied, but Jaav remained seated, still dazed,
theroom was empty apart from himself and his Captain. Santos stood behind
the podium, arms folded, staring at the Counselor.
"I said 'dismissed' Jaav, this mission provides us all with a lot of work,
you more so than others, I'm surprised you..."
"I heard Captain," Santos looked shocked, it was uncharacteristic of Jaav to
be curt in anyway at all, nevermind offensive towards a commanding officer.
"I beg your pardon Counsellor!" Santos seemed stern, he had little time for
this, there were more important things to hand. Jaav did not answer at
first, he gazed into his COs eyes for a lingering moment longer, before he
took a breath in and seemed to snap back to reality.
"I apologise sir, I was out of line, I meant...I mean"
"Spit it out Jaav, if there's something bothering you I want and need to
know," Santos steped down from the podium and moved towards Jaav.
"That's exactly my point sir," Santos looked confused, the expression on his
face signalled that Jaav was permitted to elaborate. "Sir, when I took my
first posting as a ships counselor with this crew's previous Captain, Lee, I
made a promise to myself. I promised that I wouldn't analyse my CO, no more
so than the obvious I mean. That's a position I've managed to uphold until
now."
Santos was curious, even if a little un-nerved. He gestured with his arm for
Jaav to continue, almost frowning.
"Sir, you delivered that briefing confidently, competently and with the
ability and demeanour this crew has come to expect, respect and admire, but
Ican't help dwelling on what you have not said. Your body language was
different, restricted, your choice of vocabulary, the pace of your speach
etcetera all lead me to one conclusion: There is something very significant
about this mission that you have not told us."
Santos exhaled prominently.
"I would not remind you Jaav, as I'm sure you know very well that it is a
Captain's perogative and on occasions his obligation NOT to disclose
everything to his crew." Santos seated himself in a chair adjacent to Jaav.
"I'm aware of that sir, and I apologise, but something just seems wrong,
that's my gut feeling, I've been trying to process everything in my head,
howthis mission came to pass so suddenly, the cosmic reason for our
involvement and so forth." Jaav stood to his feet "Captain, I feel you are
witholding a significant component of our forthcoming mission. I will
however respectfully perform my duties as a starfleet officer to the fullest
of my ability."
Santos was silent for a moment longer.
"Sit down Jaav, you are right, there are certain things I took steps not to
say, but not through choice, there are elements that I cannot reveal without
threatening the very purpose of this mission. I need you to trust me Jaav,
Ineed your help and I need you to trust me." There was an awkward moment.
"Of course sir, I apologise if it seems otherwise but I have and will
continue to trust your judgement." Santos smiled at Jaav's response.
"The first time I recieved the mission briefing I felt not that much
different to you," Santos paused, looked away, towards the floor, he looked
extremely troubled. Then as though his train of thought suddenly altered
thetopic he spoke of switched suddenly. "Jaav, how up-to-date is your
knowledge of Borg Hive Psychology?"
Jaav seemed startled by the question that shot out of the blue, but given
themission it seemed relevant.
"It wasn't compulsory when I was at the Academy, but I've kept up to date."
"Good, good, and what do you know of the V'Ger mission?"
"I'm perhaps a little more rusty when it comes to 23rd Century history, but
I'm aware of the basics."
"Good, good, that's all Counselor," Santos strained a little as he pushed
himself up from his seat, he was clearly tired and the events of the last
fewdays had taken their toll, "do what you can to familiarise yourself with
any data that might be relevant to the mission, maybe a little brush-up is
inorder." Santos grinned tentatively as he moved towards the door. He
turnedhis back and was just about to leave the briefing chamber when Jaav
spoke.
"Sir, there is one thing that I know of the V'Ger mission, or rather one
thing I DON'T know of. The psychological profiles for two officers that
served on the Enterprise at that time completely disappeared, it's
consideredsomething of a well know mystery by the Starfleet Medical Corps of
Archivists." Santos spun on his heel and asked,
"Which two crew members Jaav?"
"If I remember correctly one named Decker and one named Ilia."
END
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