Surefoot 19: Star Crossed

"You? No!" Sasha quipped in mock horror.

Just then Eydiir joined them with a tray of clear soup, looking even more dour than usual, saying nothing as she sat down beside Neraxis, who looked to her. "Hey, is Jonas okay? Did you cure him? Is he in trouble? Dr Ling isn't giving him any hassle, is she? Why isn't he here? Is he mad at me? Well?"

The Capellan scowled at her lunch, before finally muttering, "Yes."

"Yes? Yes to what? I asked you fifty questions, you laconic bitch!"

"He is okay."

Neraxis blinked. "And that's it? That's all you've got to say?"

"No." Eydiir faced her now. "I will also tell you to cease your inane pathetic prattle about your would-be lover. Best if we all remain single and focused on our work and studies! All relationships are doomed to bring you nothing but disappointment and grief!" She bolted back to her feet and departed, leaving her lunch untouched and the remaining occupants of the table stunned.

"Wow," Sasha grumbled, looking red-faced. "What triggered that?"

Neraxis leaned back, her own appetite vanished. "Time of the Month, maybe?"

Rrori sniffed the air around them, then shook his head. "No, that's Sasha." At the girl's scowl, he asked, "What?"

*

The young Trill looked ready to collapse into a puddle of anxiety as she entered with Commander T'Varik, who by contrast was a picture of composure as both women took seats in front of Hrelle's desk. "Commander Olir, would you like some tea?"

"T-Thank you, no, Sir."

She was almost shaking, seeming more like a first-year cadet than the first officer of a starship. He felt sorry for her - but acknowledged as well that he had a job here. "Tell me a little about yourself, Commander."

She blinked. "Me? W-Why, Sir?"

"It is not your place to question an order from a superior officer," T'Varik reminded her sternly.

"Don't think of it as an order," Hrelle offered gently. "Just an opportunity to help you relax, and give me something to go by beside your name and record." He leaned back, resting his folded hands on his belly and smiled.

And it was a smile that Olir eventually returned. "Thank you, Sir. There's- There's not much to tell about me, really. I grew up on Trill, my parents were landscape architects in the Bandari Provinces. They were eager for me to join them and maybe start a family dynasty or something, but..." She smiled again. "Obviously I had other plans."

He nodded. "Your record shows you spent nearly all of your time since graduating from the Academy in Logistics at Starbase 12. Then six months ago you suddenly requested a transfer to ship duty - border ship duty. That's quite a dramatic change of career path for you, wasn't it?"

The colour from Olir's spotted face drained, as if fearing he was trying to catch her out in some lie. "Yes, I suppose it was, Sir. But when the vacancy came up, I couldn't let it go. I admit I even called in a few local favours to make it happen."

"But why change? Did you think that it was a more worthwhile duty than Logistics in an established Inner Sector facility?"

She stared hard, conflict clear in her expression, before she finally admitted, "I wanted the promotion that the assignment came with."

Hrelle saw T'Varik's eyebrow rise at that.

Olir made a harsh sound. "I know, that's not very selfless or noble-sounding, is it?"

"No," he agreed. "But it's honest, at least. It must have been quite a shock, going from a large operation such as Starbase 12 to a relatively-tiny ship and crew, isolated and with the threat of the Cardassians always present. How did you cope?"

"It-" Her gaze dropped to his desk. "It hasn't been easy. It's a very closed little community onboard the Tempest, everyone knows everyone else, and strangers are not exactly made welcome until they've proved themselves." She flushed. "It's worse when they're so loyal to Captain Acres, and they think I'm out to get him."

"Are you? Out to get him, I mean?"

She looked up again. "You think I was wrong to report the transmissions with the Cardassians?"

"Technically, no; the transmissions were unauthorised. But if the evidence corroborates his initial statements that they were nothing more than harmless puzzles being exchanged, then he's guilty of nothing more than poor judgement, and you'll appear to have overreacted. Did you try to speak with him privately about this before reporting him?"

"Of course I did, Sir! He insisted that everything was fine, that I was worrying about nothing and that he knew what he was doing! But then he started making these trips-"

He nodded. "Yes, these trips. Why am I only hearing about them now? Why weren't they in any of your reports to Starfleet Command?"

"Because..." She swallowed. "I was afraid of how Captain Acres would react to them. When he learned I was sending transmissions, he ordered any subsequent ones to go through him first. In fact, he restricted my access to outside communication in the last couple of weeks-"

"And you did not confront him about this blatant violation of Starfleet regulations?" T'Varik asked.

"I tried! He- He-" The girl looked ready to burst into tears.

"He is subject to the same regulations as the rest of us, Commander," Hrelle informed her sharply, rising to his feet, any sympathy he had for the young woman evaporated. "And part of a First Officer's duties is to question the actions of their Captain when applicable. Rest assured, however, we'll be investigating further. Dismissed."

Olir flushed, before nodding and rising. "Yes, Sir."

Hrelle remained silent until the Trill departed and the doors closed, before looking to his First Officer. "Your opinion?"

"Of Commander Olir? She is inexperienced, immature and easily-dominated, completely unsuitable for the position. Of these allegations about Captain Acres? Like the matter with the communication with the Cardassians, these sojourns, while unorthodox, are not necessarily felonious. Your reaction, however, suggests you believe there might be more to it."

"My reaction suggests an impatience at the distaste of having to come out here like some parent to deal with cubs who should know better. You know, Acres joked about his father getting him his job, but I'm beginning to think there's some truth to it. Mother's Cubs, some of our cadets would be better suited than those two!

And you're right, there may be nothing to these trips, or to these transmissions." He steeled himself. "But my hackles are rising. I want you and Lt C'Rash to board the Tempest, retrieve and examine all their communication records, as well as the Tempest shuttles, including their flight logs and anything else you might think of."

Her expression changed. "There will certainly be protests on the part of Captain Acres."

"He can direct them to Starfleet Command." He rubbed the bridge of his muzzle. "The Arkady Cluster... Commander, I think I have a first mission for our new Strategic Engineering Officer..." He touched his combadge. "Lieutenant Jonas Ostrow, report to my Ready Room at once."

*

Counselor's Office:

Kami likened a first meeting with a new individual to a ship exploring a strange new world: plenty of surprises, but typically following expected patterns and features.

Thomas Acres, for instance, was like many young ambitious officers she had met before: outwardly confident and charming, papered over layers of unease, suspicion, defensiveness and... was that fear? Yes, there was fear, fear of revealing too much.

Then there was the empathy, the sympathy, he seemed to be displaying whenever the Cardassians were mentioned. Nothing in his record had indicated any personal connections with them prior to his taking command of the Tempest - but there was something there beyond the mutual love of puzzles?

Or was it Gul Ersat himself who was the focus of his emotional connection?

But then Kami became distracted by Eydiir, sitting beside her, seemingly observing the session as part of her Medical training. Kami was aware that Falok had finally confessed what had happened between them - and that based on the Sickbay gossip, it had gone as badly as Kami expected and feared.

In fact, the young Capellan was so sullen and withdrawn, that she was beginning to have an effect on Captain Acres, prompting Kami to wrap things up before she could probe further. "Thank you so much for your cooperation and patience, Captain, it's very appreciated; I know how busy you are." She made a show of struggling to get up, expecting to trigger his gallantry.

She was not disappointed; he rose and waved her down. "No, no, stay there, it was my pleasure to help, Counselor." He nodded politely to Eydiir before leaving the offence.

Kami relaxed and turned to the cadet. "We need to work on your Friendly Face. People are more likely to open up to you if you don't look like you're about to disembowel them."

Eydiir's face remained a mask, though she refused to look directly at the Counselor.

"Ooh," Kami teased. "Captain Hrelle wanted you to protect me from Captain Acres. But who's going to protect me from you?"

Now the girl faced her, with open hostility. "You know. You know what Falok did to me."

"I know what happened between you two, if that's what you mean."

"And who else knows?"

"Anyone who was in Sickbay when we found you in your comatose state: The Captain, Commander T'Varik, Dr Ling, Nurse Scarlo. And Falok, of course. It's been kept that way, and we don't know what specific memories Falok might have seen in your mind."

"And you chose to keep this news from me all this time?"

Kami leaned back, easing the pressure on her belly. "I chose to give Falok the opportunity to tell you himself. Knowing you as well as I do, I thought it best to keep your interaction to a minimum - and with the one responsible."

"It was almost two weeks ago!"

Kami nodded. "I was about to confront him, to intervene, before he finally stepped forward. He seemed confident that he knew how to properly break the news to you." She shrugged. "Clearly he was mistaken."

Eydiir grunted. "He was so casual about it! Like he was announcing the Featured Meal on tonight's Replicator Menu! What was he thinking?"

"Perhaps he hoped that a casual approach might engender a casual response? Current events have kept me too busy to talk to him about where he went wrong."

"He went wrong when he assaulted my mind!" the Capellan snapped.

"No," Kami corrected gently. "What happened was an accident, unintentional, the equivalent of walking in on you when you're in the shower. It wasn't a good experience for you, no, but it wasn't a criminal act, or he would have been sent home by now."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Eydiir sneered. "It didn't happen to you."

"No? You think I've forgotten being the victim of telepathic assault myself? When that rogue telepath Aikens invaded my thoughts, opened them up against my will, twisted and corrupted them?"

Eydiir's harsh, accusing expression softened with the memory of the experience she had witnessed with Kami and the other members of Alpha Squad, but didn't suffer directly from them. "Forgive me... I am... speaking out of shock."

"I know. I also know that Falok is deeply regretful about what happened, but is restrained by his youth and inexperience, as well as his people's exigent desire to conceal their emotions."

Mention of Falok's name hardened Eydiir's face and tone again. "I do not care how he feels."

"Liar. Of course you care how he feels - especially about you. The affection between you two is the biggest open secret on this ship since my husband's hidden stash of shuris snacks in his office." She reached out and took the girl's hand in her own. "You know this. You know he's a good man. He did something bad, something embarrassing to you, but I genuinely believe it was an accident - brought on by those feelings for you. T'Varik is providing him with supplementary training to prevent this from happening again."

Eydiir withdrew her hand from Kami's, but her overall demeanour was calmer. "You expect me to forgive him."

Kami leaned back again. "I can perfectly understand you feeling like you can never forgive him for what he did. But once you get past the shock and embarrassment of what happened, that might change - but not if you kill him first, or even refuse to speak with him." She shrugged. "Still, I'm not going to advise you on anything. I always keep my opinions to myself."

That brought up the hint of a smile from the cadet.

*

Deck 4, Repair Bay:

Jonas almost froze when he entered and saw Neraxis standing guard at the airlock beside the Saurian cadet Orogg. He debated taking time to speak with her, to let her know he was all right - and then she saw him, a wide grin breaking out across her wide azure face, and he strode up to her. "Hi, True Blue."

Neraxis almost looked like she was going to race up and kiss him again, before recalling the rules against Public Displays of Affection and straightening herself up. "Hello, Scrappy. Feeling better?"

"Yes - despite a lecture from the Counselor. That was fun." He rolled his eyes, laughing as he looked at her fellow guard. "Hi, Orogg, how's it hanging?"

The salmon-pink oval face and bright round bronze eyes on the Saurian brightened. "Mine stays tucked away in its pouch where it belongs, thank you, Jonas. Leaving it hanging out like you Hotbloods do when it's not required seems rather risky."

Jonas grinned. "I know what you mean." Back to Neraxis, he asked, "When are you off-duty?"

"2000 Hours, why?"

He noticed her alarmed expression, reassuring her with, "Nothing scary, I promise! I just-"

"Cadet Ostrow."

He and the others turned to see Ledit stride up, PADD in hand, stopping and nodding politely. "How are you feeling? I heard that you were in Sickbay. I hope you've recovered?"

Jonas blinked, unprepared for the level of politeness, given the past animosity between them. "Um, yes, I'm fine, thank you. And you?"

"Very well, thank you for asking. May I speak with you for a moment?"

"About what?"

"Well, I saw Guforg trying to finish reading an article in the latest Journal of Starfleet Technology before her shift started this morning, something that she just happened upon and might otherwise have missed, but appeared important to her. And it occurred to me how much new knowledge is released that we might not know about, knowledge we might need.

So I had an idea that perhaps you could host a regular meeting of your fellow Engineering Cadets, and perhaps even members of the Engineering Crew, and make each other aware of new articles, new developments?"

"That's..." Jonas nodded in thought. "That's a very good idea actually, Ensign. Thank you."

"And should you do organise this, I'd like to sit in on one or two of them. I know my Primary is Command and my Secondary is Flight Ops, but I like to keep abreast of what's going on."

"Sure. Sure, of course."

Suddenly Captain Hrelle's voice filled the area through Jonas' combadge. "Lieutenant Jonas Ostrow, report to my Ready Room at once."

Jonas looked up instinctively, before tapping his combadge in reply. "On my way, Sir, Ostrow out." As the comlink broke, he reached up to his collar. "This looks like a job for Superman."

"Superman?" Orogg asked curiously.

"A Terran mythological figure," Neraxis explained, grinning. "Super strong, invulnerable, able to fly, and hiding in plain sight among us mere mortals, but ready to change into his alter ego when disaster struck." She grinned now and nodded at Jonas. "Go get 'em, Scrappy!"

Jonas smiled as he moved his Lieutenant's pips from inside his uniform collar to the outside, glancing once at Ledit - before winking at Neraxis and departing.

Once alone, the Bolian looked to Ledit. "It was on the other side."

The Hermat looked back. "Excuse me?"

"His ass. You came over to kiss it, but it was on the other side of him, just above the tops of his thighs."

Ledit regarded her - and smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? For what?"

"For how much you must be hurting now."

"Hurting? What are you talking about?"

Ledit drew up to her, lowering hir voice. "It's obvious, isn't it? Your friend has all this new responsibility, this attention on him. His confidence is building up, and deservedly so. He can probably have his pick of partners onboard now - ones that wouldn't send him to Sickbay with a kiss." S/he glanced at hir PADD. "Excuse me, I have to confirm the receipt of medical supplies."

S/He departed, leaving Neraxis speechless. Orogg looked to her. "You don't believe Ledit, do you? I would not trust hir to tell me that space was cold."

Neraxis just stared ahead.

*

Hrelle leaned back against his desk, shifting himself to let his tail swish proudly behind him as he explained the situation. "Captain Acres has allegedly been making trips to the Arkady Cluster. He says it was to have some time alone. There's supposedly nothing there but the debris of ships that have unsuccessfully tried to navigate through it over the years. I want you to go there and look around, see if that's true, or if there's any evidence that he might have been meeting directly with the Cardassians."

Jonas' gaze was fixed on the tactical display of Arkady, how it bridged the Federation-Cardassian Border and how the Starfleet ships tended to avoid its navigational hazards. Beside him, T'Varik continued for Hrelle. "Your safety is the primary concern here, Lieutenant. We do not want you to take any unnecessary risks."

"I understand, Commander."

"You may select whatever crewmembers, cadets or equipment you might require," she added, "However, there is a level of urgency to this mission. Should you need assistance in your choices-"

But he tapped his combadge in reply. "Shuttlebay Operations, this is Lt Ostrow: ready shuttles Sureswift and Littlepaw for immediate departure. Cadets Soolamea and Yeager, and Crewman Darcy, report to the Shuttlebay with Type 2 Engineering Tricorders. Cadet Rrori and Ensign Ledit, report to the Shuttlebay. Ostrow out."

T'Varik frowned at Hrelle, who smiled and asked, "Care to explain your choices, Lieutenant?"

Suddenly a little of the inexperienced young man returned to Jonas' expression. "Um... did I do wrong, Sir?"

"If we ask such questions, Mr Ostrow," T'Varik elaborated gently. "It is not always meant as a rebuke, but rather an invitation for you to demonstrate your thought processes behind your decisions."

"Oh," he nodded in understanding. "Well, I wanted two shuttles, one to enter Arkady, the other to remain outside of the potential hazard, monitor our progress and provide aid if necessary. Cadets Yeager and Soolamea have been studying Cardassian technology this year, and Mr Darcy previously worked on the Othello, surveying a Murasaki-type phenomenon like Arkady, and helping to adjust that ship's sensors to compensate for any disruptive effects. They will accompany me on the Sureswift, and Mr Rrori will pilot, his skills speaking for themselves, with Ledit piloting the Littlepaw, collecting the data we send, and standing ready should we get into trouble. I'm not expecting trouble, but-"

"There are others with greater Flight Ops training," T'Varik pointed out. "Why choose Delta Squad's Leader?"

Now he hesitated, as if beginning to doubt the reason behind his choice. "I know Ensign Ledit has been... troublesome since s/he first boarded. But s/he seems to have improved hir temperament and behaviour. And I... I wanted to show hir that it was noticed, and acknowledged." He shrugged. "It's not a very logical reason, I know-"