Subterfuge Most Helpful, Part 3 of 3

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2020 @ 12:47am by Captain Nycolas Temple & Lieutenant John Sandoval
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:20pm

Mission: New Moon Rising
Location: Diplomatic Department, Deck 4; Palais de la Concorde, Earth
Timeline: Current

A Mission Post by Lieutenant John Sandoval & Captain Nycolas Temple
Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Diplomatic Department, Deck 4; Palais de la Concorde, Earth
Timeline: Current
Sun Nov 4th, 2018 @ 1:17pm

ON

Preparations for the Irokari mission on Paradise were underway. John's team had made initial contact with the aid agency's representatives, gotten a list of their needs, and began identifying what the Pandora could provide. Security Chief Griffin had assigned him a most capable officer for mission security. Everything was falling into place.

The immediate that fell on John's lap was a political one. Despite his years of work in this field, and understanding how important political involvement was, he never found it easy.

Thankfully, he had an ace in his hand this time. Apparently the Secretary of Exterior Affairs, whose office John needed to engage, was the Captain's brother. What are the odds?

John and his assistant prepared a simple message: The Diplomatic Department of the USS Pandora, under the command Captain Nycolas Temple, requires Secretary of Exterior Affairs approval and signature on credentials to engage in diplomatic negotiations aboard Paradise Station, Inconnu Expanse. Attached to the message was a draft document, requiring only the Secretary's electronic signature. Crewman Marcoux sent it through the appropriate channels. John had crafted such messages before in his previous assignment, but never before included the CO's name. He hoped that dropping the last name Temple would spur urgent action.

John was not disappointed, as a communications officer signaled him. =/\= "Bridge to Lieutenant Sandoval. You have an incoming transmission from the Palais de la Concorde." =/\=

That was quicker than I thought, thought John. "Thank you. Patch it through to my office."

His terminal activated, and before him sat a face he recognized: the chief of staff to Secretary Magnus Temple.

Genevieve Gillard was a graceful, poised lady not long into her sixth decade of life, and with all the charm and sharp intelligence to prove it. Once she had been a high-profile judge in the International Court of Justice, before sitting a term as Attorney General to the President of the Federation in the 2370's. After a brief spell of retirement, which simply didn't take, Gen returned to public service as Chief of Staff to the previous and current Secretary of the Exterior.

Today she was sat in her Palais de la Concorde office which over looked the Champs-Élysées, Gen was resplendent in her royal maroon blazer, her golden brown hair perfectly coiffed. As her eyes focused on the young diplomatic officer, her lips curled into a pleasant smile.

"Mr. Sandoval." She beamed. "Not five minutes on the job and you're already asking for favours?"

“Hello, Ms. Gillard,” John said, returning her smile. “It’s been too long. Is that ficus I gave you still alive?” Gen had been a family friend while John was in grad school, and wrote him a recommendation letter for his Academy application. She helped prove an important lesson in politics and diplomacy: who you know was as important as what you know.

A vague look came over Gen's face for a moment before she gave her trademark sultry laugh. "I'm sure one of my staff are looking after it. The transition to the new President has been rather time-consuming, as you can imagine."

“I won’t take up much of your time, then,” said John as he began to explain. “USS Pandora is about to go into negotiations about Paradise Station. I know that starship Captains generally have authority to speak on behalf of the Federation, but credentials signed by the Secretary would be immensely useful for the mission. I can’t say much more on an open channel, but the legitimacy we gain with a document approved by Secretary Temple could make the difference between doing our job at Paradise or being chased away by the forces of the Alrakis Pact.”

"Yes, the department is keen to have all Starfleet assets return to Federation space." Genevieve nodded, "As I'm sure you're aware, there is a process in place for approving credentials. Federation bureaucracy is never short of regulations, which I can appreciate can seem tedious, but they are tedious for a reason, John."

“Of course,” John replied. “But I also know that things that need to be rushed can be pushed through rather quickly. I know we’re supposed to have these requests in weeks ahead of time, but as you jut said, I only just got here. No one with the Captain’s ear knew these protocols.”

He leaned back in his chair and widened his smile a bit. “And I’m sure your boss wouldn’t be particularly happy that the bureaucratic process put his brother at unnecessary risk.”

Gen stared back with an icy glare for a moment, before she broke into smile. “Don’t show your hand so early, John. Lead your opponent to your conclusion.” She raised her eyebrows, “Every ship still in the Expanse will be given priority clearance to finalise their missions. Send through your completed requests and I’ll ensure that the Secretary has it signed within the hour.”

“As always, I leave one of our conversations having learned something,” John said graciously. “Your staff will receive a full memorandum explaining the mission and draft credentials document in the next five minutes. It will come through the secure channel.” He straightened in his seat. “Thank you for your assistance in this matter, Ms. Gillard. I hope to see you again next time I’m on Earth.”

“Get home safely, John.” Gen replied, her tone soft and earnest. “And I’m sure the Secretary would love to have you visit Paris. If you can manage to bring along that brother of his.”

“Thank you,” he said with a polite nod. “Pandora out.” John deactivated the comm signal and gave one final review of the memorandum his team had prepared. Everything seemed in order, so he transmitted it along.

Genevieve Gillard came through, as she always did. Forty-five minutes later, he received a message from Earth, stating that his memorandum had been approved. Attached to it was a set of diplomatic credentials, complete with Secretary Temple’s electronic signature.

John smiled and quickly wrote a message to Captain Temple and Commander Nash: the overt spear was ready.

OFF