Pretend

Posted on Tue Nov 8th, 2016 @ 7:14am by Captain Charybdis MacGregor & Captain Patrick O'Connor
Edited on on Tue Nov 8th, 2016 @ 7:15am

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Taking Chances
Location: USS Bonne Chance, Deck Six, starboard docking hatch
Timeline: 2265

"Bring us into transporter range of the Surok," Patrick said evenly. "Open hailing frequencies."


The viewscreen came to life and a Vulcan appeared dressed in command gold. "I am Captain T'Vel of the Surok. We are here for rendezvous." Patrick smiled and stood. "Greetings captain. I am Capt Patrick O'Connor of the Bonne Chance. I have some prisoners to transport to you to be taken back to HQ for a thorough interrogation. Mostly Nausicanas, but I do have two Orion females as well." This got a raised eyebrow from the Vulcan captain.


"How did you come into possession of these Orion females? And more to the point, how have you managed to keep yourself out of their influence?"


Patrick looked back at Charybdis. "My science officer and my medical officer have managed to keep us in our pants. You are welcome to come over and look at the modifications they've made. I believe you have never been aboard a Constitution class, and I would welcome the chance to provide you with even a brief tour."


The Vulcan female nodded. "That sounds acceptable. We will dock with you and take on the Nausicaan prisoners immediately, and then view the modifications for the Orions. T'Vel out." The viewscreen went back to space, and Patrick turned around with a rather smug look on his face. "Ready docking procedures, notify security to prepare for prisoner transfers."


The first officer had already made the arrangements, and coordinated it with Security so that they understood what was happening and how it was to be executed far in advance. The order was given and the route was cleared, even as the teams moved into place. She stepped down to the commend deck to stand next to the captain with her hands clasped behind her back.


"Shall I assume the conn while you take the captain on a tour, sir?" Her tone was oddly detached, particularly formal even... it was interesting to Patrick to witness her reaction to Vulcans even at this range.


Patrick shook his head. "No, I think it important for you to be there to help explain the modifications. I believe Selune can handle the conn in our absence."


It was the first time he had seen her bristle at an order, and he was torn between concern and irritation. But it was only a flash, and her outward demeanor remained unchanged as she nodded to the affirmative. "As you wish, Captain," and she followed him into the turbolift.


The doors to the turbolift closed, he gave the order and they were whisked away. He looked to her in concern, "I suspected you might have... reservations regarding Vulcans. I need to know that you are going to be able to handle this situation though. Vulcans are a major part of the Federation, and even in StarFleet, no matter where we go, you know we will encounter them. Tell me if something is wrong lass."


She turned and regarded him flatly for a second, then she sighed and shook it off. "I cannot help it, Patrick... I am always on guard around them, and I really do not like them at all. Suddenly I find myself running long calculations in my head unnecessarily, I cease speaking in contractions, my body posture changes... I do not like who I am around them, and from my time and treatment on their planet I loathe them very much, I'm afraid."


"But I am your First, and you are expecting me to do my duty, so I will not fail you. I will be polite, I will hold my tongue and I will suffer them and their insults and I will be professional until they leave." She grinned salaciously at him, poked him gently in the ribs and he saw the woman he was crazy about in her once again. "And then you owe me, mister."


"I think you just have to get to know them... Vulcans like to make everyone think they are devoid of all joy of life, but they aren't. They simply look at things from a perspective devoid of emotion. It makes it difficult to deal with them, but once you get past that, you find that they are just as flawed as anyone else, they just hide it better. Nothing drives them crazier than losing to an inferior species in games of intellect, which is why I took up Cal-Toh. I have reached Grand Master status, which for a human to have is almost heresy. You've just got to learn to pick your battles with them, lass."


The sharply angled eyebrows narrowed, practically becoming vertical lines on her face and her voice lowered practically to a growl as she snarled at him. "Try living under their 'care' for a few years while they work to 'correct' your behavior. While they starve you and sweat out your resistance, while they try to invade your mind and constantly wear you down with societal pressure to conform. I think perhaps I do know them, Patrick. Perhaps better than you give me credit." The turbolift doors opened and just like that, her face resumed a blank, neutral expression and she gestured for him to precede her out of the lift.


He shook his head as he walked out. "How little you really know me lass." He continued down the hallway, coming to the airlock, then he looked to her, "You'd be quite surprised about how much I know about you thanks to your dreams, and how much I know about Vulcan culture and the training of the mind to become...Vulcan."


With that, he didn't even give her an opportunity to speak but hit the keys and the airlock opened. Two security officers came through first, one human and one Vulcan. They were followed by Capt T'Vel.


"Salutations captain. I welcome you aboard the Bonne Chance as both a fellow officer and a friend." T'Vel nodded. She was impressed with how dispassionate Patrick sounded.


"Thank you for having me, captain. This is my Security Chief, S'Rel, and his junior, Lt. Munday."


Patrick greeted them. "This is my XO and Chief Science Officer, Lt Cmdr Charybdis. My Chief Security Officer, Lt Celes is en route with the Nausicaan prisoners and will be here for transport I am told momentarily. Might we start the tour?"


T'Vel looked to Charybdis, 'You look familiar. Have we met before?"


The first officer cocked her head slightly to the side, studying the older woman's features as she raised her hand in the traditional Vulcan salute, then nodded slightly. "Dif tor heh smusma. I believe you may have served on two of my academic review boards during my tenure at the academy, Captain."


The Vulcan female nodded her head. "Yes, that must be it. I am pleased to see another fellow Vulcan reach such heights in StarFleet. It is a testament to Vulcan ability and to the union that is the Federation."


"As you say, Captain T'Vel." Charybdis nodded to the two other officers, acknowledging them before speaking again. "Would you like to give that tour now or after the prisoner exchange has been complete, Captain O'Conner?"


"Now seems ideal." He motioned for them to exit, and the two security officers remained at the airlock as Patrick and the two females walked away, moving towards the turbolift. "I believe you wanted to see the modifications for the Orions, Captain. We should look at that first I think."


"Not many modifications were actually possible, Captain T'Vel," the curvaceous commander explained drily. "We placed triple biohazard filters over the ventilation systems in both the brig cells and the brig area itself, and we outfitted security personnel who would be in the area for more than five minutes at a time with EVA suits. Given that the air supply is self contained, that offered protection to the personnel, since the filters seem to cut down on the emissions but in no way eliminate them."


"Hazmat conditions were used to decontaminate the EVA suits after every shift change, and the environmental controls sealed Deck Twelve off from the rest of the ship environmentally- we were unable to effect a greater quarantine without affecting the turbolifts, which we prevented from stopping on this level and minimized the spread of the contagion by using the access ladders only to access this deck, all of which are distant from the brig, thus lowering the particle per million count."


"Even so," she continued, "there have been problems. Heightened testosterone levels have been observed in crewmen up to four decks distant, causing some minor disciplinary issues, but nothing on the scale of the usual Kolari phenomenon, and certainly no mutinous behavior at their behest. Apparently their pheromone levels are not wholly necessarily natural, so at the recommendation of our Kolari communications officer and our Chief Medical Officer we bathed and laundered them in decontamination thoroughly, which cut down significantly on the parts per million we detected subsequently."


The stiff scientist handed the gold-clad bowl-cut Captain a datacard. "I have included all of the relevant data including incident reports, Kolari briefings and corrections from our Kolari communications officer. I will of course be filing it with Starfleet Command as well, but since you are here and the information may be highly relevant to your current mission I thought to include it as a matter of expediency."


The Vulcan female kept a typical stone faced expression, though she was quite impressed. "It would seem that the diversity of your crew and the efficiency of your officers is to be commended, captain. They work with the precision of Vulcans, and I dare say that they have come up with some interesting methods to solve this issue that logic might not fully grasp, at least initially."


Nodding, Patrick tried to take the compliment in stride. "They are a fine crew, and I value them all. As you say on Vulcan, captain, infinite diversity in infinite combinations. And so it is here, and we have found harmony. I trust that you will not have all the same problems aboard your vessel as we do on ours when it comes to these Orion females thanks to your... dispassion."


T'Vel nodded. "Indeed captain. I am amazed at how well your crew has managed the situation. I take it as a shining moment for you as captain that this crew has done so well." Patrick nodded. "Indeed. But most of the credit should go to my XO in this case."


She had been doing so well to keep up the act, pretending to be that which she was not... SO well... but the praise from her Captain undid her and the mask slipped. "Just doing my duty, sir," she said cheerfully with a wide grin just as T'Vel looked her way.


The Vulcan noted the emotional outburst... it would have been impossible not to. But to the surprise of everyone, she said nothing about it.


"Captain, I have found this all quite fascinating. Might I ask that we postpone the rest of the tour until later? I would very much like to return to my ship and check the status of the prisoners and have these security measures implemented." Patrick nodded. "Understood and not a problem. XO, return to the bridge and take control while I escort our guest to the airlock."


"Yessir." She offered the salute to the departing commander of the Surok, "Peace and long life, Captain," before turning on her heel and making haste for the bridge. The Vulcan captain had not returned her salute previously, so there was no need to assume that she would do so now, but etiquette demanded that she offer it all the same, and she was determined not to embarrass her captain further.


Patrick gave a half nervous smile, then escorted the Vulcan to the airlock, breathing a sigh of relief once she was gone and the airlock closed. This had been more trying than he had imagined it would be, and things had almost gone south, yet they managed to keep it together.


He suddenly had the desire for a rather large drink with large amounts of alcohol.

 

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