Posted Feb. 13, 2023, 9:24 a.m. by Civilian Aiofemi T. Oshiro (Director of Medical and Social Services) (Mika Jackson)
Posted by Civilian Nicholas James (Director, Colonial Intelligence Agency) in Information Is Not Knowledge…But It Helps [Tag CIA Director - Mr. James]
Posted by Civilian Aiofemi T. Oshiro (Director of Medical and Social Services) in Information Is Not Knowledge…But It Helps [Tag CIA Director - Mr. James]
Posted by Civilian Nicholas James (Director, Colonial Intelligence Agency) in Information Is Not Knowledge…But It Helps [Tag CIA Director - Mr. James]
Posted by… suppressed (12) by the Post Ghost! 👻
After analyzing the building specifications and floor plan for the Rabbitus Memorial School she’d received from Direct Enger, Aiofemi made the trip from her office at Sacred Heart Hospital and arrived at the Government Tower around 12:50 pm. When she walked through the doors she headed right for the lift and excessively waved her keycard over the sensor like it was going to hurry the lift. As she waited, she reflected on all the progress she had made at that point. Despite the short timeframe to pull the seminar to host the Vren medical staff, she was very pleased with the prompt responses from her colleagues at the Government Tower, the willingness of Starfleet and Sharah to help out with the event, and of course the staff at Sacred Heart Memorial.
She checked the time on her PaDD. It read 12:52 pm! How did two whole minutes go by that fast? she thought as her heart began to race, she couldn’t miss her meeting with the CIA director. She scanned her badge again and continued to wait. After what seemed like only moments she peeked at the time again. The time was now 12:55 pm. Your office. 1300. Don’t be late. The words burned into her brain as the minutes ticked away. Just as she looked at the stairs and contemplated running up them, the lift dinged and the doors slid open. She rushed in, pressed the button to her floor where her office was, and rode it up. When she exited the lift was 12:59 pm. Ai sprinted to her office, looking around as she made it to her door and opened it. I made it. she said triumphantly in her head. Just in time.Dr. Ai Oshiro, DMSS
Nicholas was already seated in one of the guest chairs. Quite how he had gotten in and settled without alarming anyone, remained unclear. “Cutting it rather close, Dr Oshiro. But not a moment too soon either.” He was a lean figure, muscular but underfed. His black hair was well kept, and he dressed in a fine gray suit. He rose and turned to greet her. His artificial eyes met her gaze and he said “Good afternoon. I trust no one knows about this little meeting.”
-CIA Director
Ai’s eyes widened after she turned around and saw the CIA Director already seated in her office. “Mr. James!” she cried out in surprise. “How did you....” Her hand was on her chest to calm her heart rate as she stopped mid-sentence. “I..uh..didn’t expect you to be here…in my office already, however, welcome… No, sir. No one knows we are meeting.” She went to her desk and placed the items she had been carrying with her on it before she took a seat in her chair. After clearing her throat she said, “It is nice to finally meet you. Also thank you for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice. You are aware we are to make contact with the Vren in a couple of days. I hoped that you would be willing to share any information you and your agency have learned about them with me. The governor has given me the task of organizing a seminar to host Vren Medical staff. I need to know how technologically advanced the species is. Do we have any information on their culture, their medical practices, or the food they prefer to eat? Anything will be useful. I want to get an idea of who we will be sharing our space with at the Rabbitus Memorial School in two days.”
Dr. Ai Oshiro, DMSS
Nicholas sat down opposite her. “The Vren. Scientific name: Vrenlisidian Anthropormorphi. To human eyes, walking, talking, dart frogs. While it’s dangerous to generalize about a whole species… You’ll find the relics of their less enlightened past in a tendency to behave as hunters, predators. Not necessarily literally. In negotiations they’re unlikely to make any sudden or first moves. They’ll wait to see where you’re weak and then kill you. They’re not overly fond of outsiders, so the fact they’ve initiated diplomacy… it was not a decision made in haste. Their society operates on a caste system. The more markings you see on a Vren the lower they are in society, by and large. The ones to worry about believe in a god called Imog. The strict adherents to his cult are few. Vren skin emits a toxin, known to take down more than one large opponent. The flip side is it needs consistent moisture. A Vren without sufficient moisture in the air will eventually die.” He rattled it off like he had memorized the whole file. “Any specifics you need?” He asked.
-CIA Director
“Right to business as he ignores the fact that he nearly gave me a heart attack”, Aiofemi thought as she listened to him. After he was done speaking, Ai who was usually not one the frighten easily, being that she was sure she’d encountered the worst of the worst during her service in Starfleet, felt uneasy and a little terrified about the information Mr. James had just shared with her. She now understood why Dr. Helaky had gotten so worked up. There was a hard sigh, “What in the hell are we doing? They seem dangerous…and aggressive. Why in the world would we allow them in the colony? On this planet with 4 million beings? I have heard about some of their attacks. Were you around when they happened? I don’t think the Governors understand how terrified these people are. Do you think we could survive if they decided to sabotage the conference?” She had so many questions. So many things to consider. “I expect we are going to have a lot of requests for counseling and mental health services from the colonist as these events progress.”
She thought about his question, “You say that they are unlikely to make the first move. Do they have any triggers that we should avoid so that can remain the case? I will need to ensure all the doctors and staff who attend the medical meet and greet with the Vren are aware. Also any thoughts on how we can best prepare and protect ourselves for the worst-case scenario?”Dr. Ai Oshiro, DMSS
“They’re ambush predators by nature. Patient. They wait for the best moment, not the first.” Nicholas said, unsettlingly calmly. “If they sabotage the negotiations, that decision has already been made, they’ll prepare and wait for a time when the damage to us would be the greatest. But like I said, the decision to open diplomatic channels was not made in haste either. If they wanted simply to bomb OED and everyone on it, there are simpler, cheaper, and faster ways to do it. Two options remain, they have some sincere reasons for wishing to engage with the federation, or a specific target who they’ll want close access to. It’s impossible, really, to vet the incoming Vren. Any background information we can get would come from the Vren.” He paused. “Their homeworld is at risk. The planetary humidity will be dropping and that’s dangerous for them. I expect they’re going to be seeking carte blanche to resettle. Or access to classified and protected terraforming technology. Worst-case coverage we maintain a transporter lock on everyone in the conference room, and monitor for unknown signals. A detonator or gas release by remote. Give our side an emergency call button. Beam out as many as we can and let the structure fall. If they’re after the whole colony… Comissioner Karlson needs to have his police force ready. I’ll be preparing to sabotage the sabotage. But my power extends to how many agents I can move, and how fast. And how much I can scare them off.”
-CIA Director
-bump-
The calmness of the CIA Director was not lost on Ai. It was kind of reassuring because to her it could only mean this was not the first time he had dealt with a hostile species or been in a situation like the one they were going to be in when the Vren landed in Oed. “I am glad you have the plan to try to save as many as you can. Limiting the loss of life is the most important contingency plan we can have at this point.”
She tapped her fingers on her desk momentarily before she asked her next question, “Do you think it’s possible we can collect some biological data from the Vren during the conference? I think it is an opportunity we should take advantage of since we will have them in proximity. We could use recent data to study the species and identify some of their core biological functions. It may give us a strategic advantage if we should ever need it. What do you think? Do you think it is an opportunity worth pursuing?”Dr. Ai Oshiro, DMSS
Nicholas appreciated Ai’s inquiry, though medical people following such lines of thought could lead to trouble. “I can see about some covert scanning.” He pulled a pistol out of his coat and gently laid it on the desk. “Though I can pretty well guarantee the efficacy of the tried and true, if you want to handle a large group, lock the door and dehumidify the environment. Completely. They’ll wither and die.”
-CIA Director
“Thank you. I will send your staff the equipment they need to carry out the task. Any data we can collect to study them further would be beneficial to the colony. I assume with will have agents hidden among the crowd at the medical seminar? Will me and my staff have direct communication with them?”
“I’ll have people scattered around. You’ll preferably not have contact with any of them. You and I can maintain contact, I will monitor my people. The fewer of them are known to anyone outside our facilities, the better.”
“Yes, that makes sense. Contact with you will be sufficient. “
She nodded as she eyed the pistol. “Maybe we should have not taken the dome down. I assume it was weather controlled and it would have been our best defense because we could dehumidify the whole colony if we had to. It seems almost too easy to kill them. There has to be more to it. Tell me Mr. James have you encountered one of the Vren face-to-face before? I am curious to know what they are like up close.”
Dr. Ai Oshiro, DMSS
“The act may be simple. Killing a human is similarly simple. But it takes time. And then there’s cleanup and restoring the environment as quickly as possible so no one can trace the… disappearance of those certain Vren to anything you’ve done. I’ve never personally encountered one. I was on the Thresher when Section 31 decided to do some peeking at the Vren, but I never went down myself.”
-CIA Director
Ai was genuinely shocked as she listened to the CIA Director. So much so she inadvertently placed a hand on her chest while her mouth gaped open. It took a lot to shock her, and Mr. James was a lot. “Oh,” she said with a nervous chuckle, “I see....if I were a Vren I would certainly be apprehensive about encountering you during this trip. I am glad we are on the same side.” It was supposed to come off as a joke, but it sounded more like a fact, also she was sure that it didn’t come through as a joke due to the nervousness.
“Okay so I think I have learned all there is to know at this point. We will be setting up at the Rabbitus Memorial School. Do you know where it is? Feel free to go and set up whatever equipment you need. I will be stopping by tomorrow after to help set up all the medical equipment. I appreciate you stopping by. Please let me know if you need anything from me.”Dr. Ai Oshiro, DMSS
Nicholas slid the pistol off the desk and back into his coat. “I apologize if I unsettle you. There’s a distance you have to maintain from everything to keep your mind together in this line of work. People unfamiliar tend to find it… disconcerting. I’ll place some surveillance on the school. With any luck, none of my preparations will be necessary.” He straightened his suit as he stood up. “Congratulations on taking over this office Dr Oshiro. Don’t concern yourself too much with what happens at the Agency. It’s about as far separated from medicine as you can get, philosophically speaking.”
-CIA Director
Aiofemi sat up and pushed her shoulders back, “No…I…It’s good that I felt unsettled.” Good to be unsettled? That didn’t sound quite right but hopefully Nicholas knew what she was trying to say. “It takes a lot to unsettle me by the way and that means you are good at what you do. It’s important in your line of work. I actually feel like we are in good hands and I am glad you and your agents will be at the conference.” She nodded, “Thank you, Mr. James. I hope I can live up to the expectations of the job. “I will take what you said about the Agency to heart. Let me know if I or anyone at Sacred Heart can help you or your agents out in any way. I’d be happy to discuss a tailored medical and psychological plan for your staff. Good healthcare is part of a good compensation plan.” She said with a big smile.
Dr. Ai Oshiro, DMSS
Nicholas chuckled. “There may come a time, when we need to make use of the facilities. Not always a safe business. Good to know who you’re dealing with.” His gaze seemed to pierce through her for a second before he softened. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way.”
-CIA Director
“Uh…there is nothing else. Well, I guess I have one question. What are the procedures for obtaining information about these…these…” she couldn’t quite figure out the word she wanted to use. “I guess threats. Is there a database I can access? Do I just reach out to you when I need to know something? I feel like I am in the dark right now. I don’t know what the previous issues were prior to starting this new job. I’d like to know so I can prepare the staff at Sacred Heart and be ready for to provide the best care for the citizens of the colony.”
Dr. Ai Oshiro, DMSS
© 1991-2024 STF. Terms of Service
Version 1.15.11
RSS Feed