Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Comp Science Lab 2- Post-Jefferies Tube

Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Comp Science Lab 2- Post-Jefferies Tube

(snip)

Cochrane looked at her and a mischievous smile crept across his face. “Damn, Calloway. I thought you’d be better at this whole ‘spy’ thing. Look, just tell them something. But throw a bit of truth in it so it checks out. Try…” and he looked around the room for a bit and then snapped his fingers. “Tell them there was a massive power surge and it feedback through the experimental system. The tech is fine for the most part, but anything connected to the network reacted to the spike in power, including the PaDD which simply activated. But thank the stars you are the only one in here. Do you know what would have happened if to Skipper saw that? He’d be on the comms to Admiral Yi in a second. Catch my drift here, L-T? I mean, come on. It’s and experimental system. They can’t know for certain that it wouldn’t do that. And any ship captain worth a damn would be trying to check this out first thing, right?” and he leaned forward again and said “I may just be some schmuck Security officer, Calloway. Or whatever your extended background check showed. But I know a thing or two about subterfuge. And now is the time to practice a bit of it, or we both are screwed.”

Cochrane, CO

There was a war playing out inside her head that would be obvious to anyone watching her. Faye gritted her jaw slightly and didn’t hide her frustration. “I’m not a spy! That’s the point. Even when I did work for S.I. before I snuck myself across borders, sure, but I wasn’t undercover as you know it. And contrary to popular belief, Intelligence work is rarely the cloak-and-dagger sort of stuff that people romanticize. I’m a data specialist, that’s all. But I have a knack for languages and a weird sense of justice on top of my profound loyalty and rebellious history. It suits them.”

She moved away from him, trying to find a way to make him understand. “Just because I’ve kept secrets in the past, doesn’t mean I enjoyed it.” Faye stopped had turned in his direction once more. “Don’t you see? This was supposed to be my fresh start, a new beginning after surviving Hell. The longer I play games here, for either them or you, the farther I get from semblance of life. I will follow your orders, and make it looked damned good, but if you’re going to give them to me, understand that they have a cost you may not see yet.”

Lt. Faye Calloway, CIO

Cochrane let her vent and listened as she spoke. When she finished, he looked at her and slowly shook his head. “Calloway… none of us ever really get a fresh start. You, me, the crew… hell, no sentient being I ever heard of. Of course, you can send yourself to the left armpit of the galaxy where no one knows you and think you are getting a fresh start. But you can’t get away from you. You bring your hell with you wherever you go. The trick is learning how to use it in the present and not let it use you.” and he stood slowly and began walking around, looking at things absentmindedly, picking up a device, setting it down. Not actually looking at anything, just moving.

“We are and always will be anchored to our past. We are products of that past. It makes us who we are in the present. We carry our scars, our losses, our victories… all of it… with us all the time. The best we can hope for is to find a spot and group of people who accept us as we are now, regardless of what our past is. Now that I can tell you is possible. In fact, it’s all around you right now.” He picked up the device he brought to her earlier and looked at for a moment, then shook his head in a most dismissive manner.

“Calloway, just because because you didn’t enjoy what you did in the past doesn’t mean that it isn’t what you did. And while we may not want to play the game that Intel has so graciously put all of us in, not just you, we have to play it. For as long as is necessary. The only thing that has changed in the last few moments is that we now know we are in the game, and who gets to say when the game is over. It was them. Now? Now it’s us. And now is when we take back our own. You may not like it, Faye. I would be surprised if you did, because I certainly do not. But we have to deal with what is in front of us. Right now, that’s getting your system online and your aft-section out of the line of fire. Fortunately, those two things go hand in hand. But if this is going to work, you need to be what you were sent here to be. Intelligence. With all the connotations and stereotypes that go with it, for now. Faye, like it or not, right now you are a spy. You were tasked with gathering intel and performing covert observations on your own crew and reporting it back to the Intel Section all while installing some kind of covert computer system under the very nose of the ship’s crew and Command staff.” and he looked at her directly. “That’s pretty spy-y.” he said with a slight grin. “But so what? Spy is just a job description, same as janitor or president. So be a spy. Just do it for yourself this time. Use what you can do to save your own ass. There is nothing wrong with that, Faye. In fact, that’s the smartest move you and I have. The faster you can put their minds at ease the faster we can get this done and get them off your, and by default our, backs. And that makes this ship better off.” and he sat back down on his crate. “And it keeps you on board, which is what I want to see happen.”

“And before you ask, no I’m not. No one is going to know you were ordered to check up on them. I’m gonna chalk that up to ‘Crap best left out of ship-wide memos’. We have enough to do without people getting their undergarments all twisted up over something none of us could control.”

Cochrane, CO