STF

When Paparazzi Hide in the Bushes

Posted March 2, 2023, 11:49 a.m. by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) (Jennifer Ward)

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in When Paparazzi Hide in the Bushes

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in When Paparazzi Hide in the Bushes

Posted by Ensign Kovan ch’Sirhc (Engineering & Communications Officer) in When Paparazzi Hide in the Bushes
Posted by… suppressed (29) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Things had finally returned to normal on the Sentinel. People were healing, damaged sections of the ship were repaired, and despite all of that, with the Rand’s return to near full duty, even the chaos seemed to find some order. At least no one was willing to allow chaos into her perfectly ordered day. It was after Rand had made her morning stop on the bridge when the large daily packet of correspondence, orders, and news came through. Most was routine, simply needing to be forwarded to the correct person. However, before Kovan forwarded the news packet to the recreation room, the headline caught his eye.

WEST END STARLET TOOK TO THE STARS
West End Darling, Miranda Farquharson Spotted Amongst the Stars

Paparazzi

The only good part about working comms during the long stretches of space travel was the daily info dump. News from around the Federation and within Starfleet packaged together with fleet orders and personal correspondence. All necessary things to keep lonely star ship troopers entertained and connected to life back home when gliding through the blackest reaches of space. With the plus of Kovan being the first to know all the latest news and gossip. As the senior comms officer it was a simple matter to ensure he worked when the package arrived. There weren’t many privileges aboard the ship so Kovan will horde this one for as long as he wished.

Never did he ever expect his selfish narcissism to work in his favor than when he saw that particular headline while flipping through the news headlines. By accident he learned of Rand’s secret history as an actress. Which is also how he knew she would die of embarrassment if the rest of the ship ever found out. He blanked his screen before subtly glancing around the bridge. No one seemed interested in reading over his shoulder (something the crew would never attempt twice) and no one was close enough to accidentally read the screen.

Once ensured of privacy is opened the news story and got to reading. The brilliant and impassioned darling actress of West End. . . Who vanished from the spotlight at the height of her career. . . winner of the Globe Theater award. . . (Get to the point already). Many have speculated Miranda’s fate . . .(what, did they think she died mysteriously or something?) . . . while theorizing over her next career move. . . was spotted dancing under the stars with a Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome (Roman? He was alright looks wise. Far too leggy for Kovan’s tastes. And too serious. And that hair. Also too in love with Rand.) After some seriously intense investigation. . . . We’ve uncovered the man’s secret identity! (Was it really that secret?) Sir Roman Alden, Heir to the Alden Estates, Duke of Salisbury and the current commanding officer of the USS Sentinel (Kovan did not have the time to go into how wrong most of that was)

The article continued. . . Just how did these two steamy lovers meet? And what sort of juicy secrets does their illicit romance entail? (Kovan gagged internally while also vowing to never let Randy read this.) It was the last part, however, that captured Kovan’s full attention. Stay tuned, dear readers for the full expose in the next issue. Kovan mentally swore through his swear list and quietly quarantined the article to his personal PaDD and skimmed through the remaining news articles for anything related to Rand or Alden. When nothing came up he sent the package on and quietly paged a second comms officer to take over for him.

Kovan left the bridge and ultimately decided to bring the PaDD and it’s awful article to Rand.

Kovan

Roman was headed up from the lab, needing to check the bridge science sensors himself for something. He met Kovan in the lift and peeked at what Kovan was holding, catching something that looked oddly like himself. “What’s that?”

~ Roman

It was stupid but Kovan felt anxiety any time him and Alden were alone in a lift. Bad things happened when they shared a lift. This wasn’t about to be any different. “It’s. . . a news article I intercepted from the daily communique dump. It’s. . . it seems to be a paparazzi rag. . . about you and Rand.” Cautiously, like he was handing over a vial of dangerous chemicals rather than a PaDD, Kovan passed the device to Roman.

Kovan

It had only happened once, Roman would tell him. ,He took the PaDD and skimmed the article, face turning angry as he read on. “Those..” some choice words no one had ever heard Roman say found their way out of his mouth. “Don’t let Rand see this. And watch the future communications.” Roman made a face. “We’re about to get a lot more.”

~ Roman

Okay. Kovan had never seen this side of the XO before. He shook himself from his stunned silence, “Wait. No. We have to tell her! She needs to know what they’re saying about her. We can’t hide this forever and I’m not keeping secrets from Rand again.” He said, firm on the matter. He made that mistake once, and he will never make it again.

Kovan

Roman gave Kovan a very, very serious look. “She will stress herself into another cardio myopathy. She could make herself very sick. Get discharged. I cannot let that happen to her. We are on a starship, dozens of lightyears from earth. You control communications. Just don’t let her see that stuff.”

~ Roman

“It’s a popular magazine, the information is out there and being eaten up by the rest of the galaxy. She’s going to find out sooner or later. Is not better to tell her now in the safest way possible than wait until it’s out of our hands? Rand’s a big girl, she’s not some fainting maiden. And I don’t control every little thing that comes in and out of this ship unless you want to give me the authority to go through personal communique’s and messages.”

Kovan

Roman sighed and considered it. “Fine. Let’s ask Randy. But you are not showing her that right now. Understood?” Rand was absolutely a ‘fainting maiden’ when it came to the press. It would remind her of that day and she’d have a panic attack and… He had to remind himself to get a grip. He would take his own advice and ask Randy the best way to handle this. And if that was silence, then he would bribe Kovan if he had to.

~ Roman

Ask Randy first. Kovan could agree with that. Randy knew his sister best and he’ll know how to proceed. And if that’s silence. . . Kovan will deal with that problem when and if they get there. “Understood. . . Sir.” Kovan tucked the PaDD under his arm, and away from prying eyes.

Kovan

Roman redirected the lift back down to Deck 9 and headed toward Sickbay, stopping cold outside the doors, considering his options to proceed. He ended up calling Randy on his comm. =^= Alden to Randy. Meet me outside sickbay please. =^=

~ Roman

There was strangely no answer.

Kovan rolled his eyes. “Belay that Randy, we’re coming in.” Kovan quickly added in before suddenly shoving the XO through the open doors, “We’re not talking in the hall where anyone could walk by. Randy has a perfectly good office. Man up.”

Kovan

“No, no, no!” Roman hiss-whispered, putting the breaks on and digging his heels in. But Kovan had caught him by suprise and he tripped into sickbay, grabbing Kovan to avoid face-planting. Then he yanked Kovan toward the doors. “We can talk in my office. Let’s go. Now.” He said with an urgency not commonly seen from him.

~ Roman

“We’re already here!” Kovan snapped back, digging his own heels into the ground to maintain balance and keep the XO in place. “Isn’t this an urgent matter that we should discuss right away?” He whisper-hissed. “That’s why we came here, isn’t it?”

Kovan

“Randy will answer my comm call just as quickly and then we don’t have to look for him!” Roman said, keeping his voice low, gesturing toward the business of sickbay. “Let’s. Go!” He seemed nervous, still pushing on Kovan to make him leave.

~ Roman

“You’re as stubborn as a mule, you know that don’t you?” Kovan grit out before giving up and letting the XO push them out of the suddenly very quiet sickbay. They were attracting too much attention in there anyways because of Roman. “Tell Randy to meet us at your office then. Sheesh.” Kovan rubbed his hand down his face, suddenly feeling very tired. This was going to be a long day.

Kovan

“Rand tells me that all the time.” Roman grinned, letting out a long sigh of relief when Kovan let them leave. =^= Scratch that Randy, meet at my CSO office apparently =^=. “Come on.” Roman said, leading them both to his office. Then they waited for Randy.

~ Roman

=/\=Cmdr…” Randy sounded stressed. “Can I meet you later. I gotta find En Kovan and then Rand. No… Rand then Kovan.” Then they heard him muttering about where Rand should be right then. “Wait you’re on Deck 9.” The whir of the lift went quiet and then started again as Randy requested a new destination. “I have to check the rec hall.=/\=

Randy

=^= It is urgent. And about Rand, not me. My office. =^= Roman replied through the comm, beginning to think Randy might already know. =^= We can find Rand after you meet us. Ensign Ch’Sirhc is with me. =^=

~ Roman

There was a pause and then, =/\=On my way.=/\= Roman and Kovan didn’t even have time to sit in Roman’s office before Randy walked in without knocking. A sure sign of his agitation. “What is it? I have to find Rand before this finds her.” And he tossed his PaDD on the desk, the article glowing on the screen.

Randy

So he had already seen it. “That was my next stop. After catching him,” he pointed at Kovan, “trying to go tell her about it.” Roman shook his head. “We can’t do that!”

~ Roman

Randy ran two hands through his hair and after it made him look a bit crazed. “I don’t know if we can not NOT tell her. This was from a week ago. It just took that long to get to us. It’s going to get worse.” Randy smacked the back of his hand to his PaDD. “I got this from my mother. The Paparazzi got ahold of this photo somehow and they are now all over the local village, following my parents, neighbors, friends. My dad threw a guy into the dung pile when he caught him at the window trying to take pictures inside the house.” Randy stared at the photo, “That was Valentine’s day a year ago. They had to get it from someone on the ship.”

Randy

“What did I tell you, Alden? If Randy can get a hold of it then anyone on the ship can. We need to get ahead of this before someone like Scott gets to her first.” That last statement could turn this whole thing into a nightmare. Jeez. Journalists were the scummiest of trash. It didn’t matter who they worked for, from the most prestigious of news networks to the lowliest of tabloids. A good story came before everything else.

Roman let out a long, exasperated sigh. “Fine. But let me do it. It’s best coming from me, I think.”

Randy’s constant finger combing of his hair was just making him look more crazed. And there was a very unfamiliar angry glint in his eye that made him look positively dangerous. This was the man that Rand had told Roman beat the news reporter that snuck into her hospital room. “I don’nae want ta tell her. If we were home I would nowt. I’d take her ta Braemar, and we would stay there till I could bring her home.” Randy’s accent was getting quite thick. He wasn’t yelling either. He was getting quieter and his voice harder. “But tha’ no an option. Better from us tha’ someone else.”

“I just want it done safely for her.” Roman sounded really worried and stressed. He couldn’t let her have another heart problem. He didn’t know what either of them would do. She hated sickbay and he wasn’t setting foot in there. And she’d worry about her career, too.

Kovan shook his head, “Where would someone get that photo? No one would take a photo and then hold onto it for a year to send to paparazzi.”

Kovan

Roman shook his head. “I didn’t know anyone took any photos of us at that dance. And I certainly don’t know who would care enough to post it to the press.”

~ Roman

“That’s why I was lookin’ for ya,” He said to Kovan, “I wan’ta know the bloody b@$t@rd tha’ sent that. It has ta be in the comms logs.” Then he devolved into Gaelic with threats and promises of what he was going to do…ideas that rivaled what the English did to William Wallace. “They put my sister in the hospital!” And he punched the PaDD so hard he shattered the screen and electronics inside.

Randy

Kovan was seeing a new side to all the people he knew today. Where did violent Randy with an accent hide because Kovan wanted him to come out and play more. Seriously where did this come from? Kovan was enchanted, momentarily losing track of their conversation and their purpose in Alden’s office. And punching the PaDD too! Amazing.

“Randy.” Roman’s voice was crisp and calm and he put his hands on Randy’s shoulders, ignoring the broken PaDD. If need be, Roman would have a decently easy time physically controlling Randy. “We have to handle this right. What would she do if you get yourself thrown out of Starfleet?” He glanced momentarily at Kovan with a slight nod. “Find out who sent it. My ears only.”

~ Roman

“Huh?” Kovan blinked before pulling himself together. Crap. “I’m on it.” He said quickly before Alden could pick up on the fact that Kovan got distracted by a ranting, swearing tech-punching Randy. “Should take me half an hour-hour tops.” It all came down to the computer’s processing power and the amount of data the Sentinel has sent out over the past few months.

Kovan

Randy gave him a good hard stare. “She’d stop feelin’ guilty ‘bout me traipsing after her inta Star Fleet.” They both knew that was true…they had seen her journal. Randy, in his agitation missed Roman ordering Kovan not to tell anyone but him about the picture. “We have ta find her.”

Randy

Roman stared right back. “What about me, then? Hm? What would I do?” Roman still had regular appointments with Randy and while the meds helped a lot, he still had his bad days. And they both knew he would never go to anyone else. He still very much needed Randy. He nodded, “This time of day she would be doing rounds.”

~ Roman

Randy huffed, “I am not abandoning either of you.” That didn’t mean he wouldn’t do what he had to either.

“Good luck,” Kovan said before taking his leave. He did not envy their job of telling Rand. Which just meant he had to work all the harder now to learn the truth. Rand won’t be able to relax until they figure out sent that image. He decided to use the communication station in the ship conference room. This was job was a direct order from Alden and he couldn’t trust the bridge crew to keep their noses out his work. Nor did he want anyone knowing that he was about comb through all outbound communications.

Kovan


Rand was running rounds at this time of the morning. She had finished with Roger’s and had submitted the reports for the next communique packet going out. She had helped Gorshin with his next supply order and was headed to deck 6 to check supplies with Helpful before finalizing the food supply order.

Rand

Ensign Scott was taking advantage of Alden’s prolonged absence, her PaDD opened to a popular magazine that had come in that morning. When she saw a photo of Rand and the Commander splashed across one of the pages, a two-page splash, she squealed quietly and peeked around to see if anyone was looking. Then she turned her PaDD off and went to find Rand. Upon finding her in the corridor, Scott pulled her aside. “Rand! Rand! Have you seen this?!” She asked, handing Rand the PaDD. “I think you look quite lovely, really, it could be worse. But I don’t think you’d want the rest of the ship seeing this…”

~ En Scott

Rand heard Scott before she saw her. She placed a smile on her face and turned waiting for her to catch up. She gave her a perplexed look. At first she thought it was something about Nibbles, Scott was supposed to be in the lab. Roman must have been doing XO things.

She took the PaDD that Scott shoved at her and looked at it. It didn’t register, it didn’t make sense. The picture was decent but not great quality, but how? When? Her eyes landed on the title: WEST END STARLET TOOK TO THE STARS
West End Darling, Miranda Farquharson Spotted Amongst the Stars

Snippets sank into her head as her eyes skimmed. Her hands shaking and her breath whistled frantically through her lungs.

The brilliant and impassioned darling actress of West End. . . Who vanished from the spotlight… Many have speculated Miranda’s fate . . .was spotted…with a Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome…We’ve uncovered the man’s secret identity! Sir Roman Alden, Heir.......what sort of juicy secrets does their illicit romance entail? full expose in the next issue.

She couldn’t breath, her heart pounded painfully, her fingers and face and feet felt numb. Her vision tunnelled and then went black. The PaDD crashed to the floor. She had to get away, she didn’t feel good, this…this couldn’t be happening.. no…she had a rush of adrenaline, she had to get away. She tried to walk away, but her legs would not hold her. She couldn’t breathe. Her head felt hot and then cold, leaving her dizzy and sick. Her vision went totally black before she collapsed to the floor.

Rand


Posts on USS Sentinel

In topic

Posted since


© 1991-2024 STF. Terms of Service

Version 1.15.9