Sonnez les matines!

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2020 @ 4:46am by Lieutenant Commander Mindo
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:28pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Mindo's Quarters
Timeline: current

ON

Mindo awoke and, eyes still closed, rolled over to the other side of the bed. No one there. He opened his eyes and blearily looked around. Terrekal was not there. Mindo was not surprised. He checked the chronometer on the wall. It was 0924. He had slept in.

Mindo got out of bed and put on some undershorts and a t-shirt and walked over to the dining table, where he checked his PADD for any messages. There were two. The first was from Terrekal. Terrekal must have written this before he left, thought Mindo. He tapped the PADD and the message came up.

It said, "Mindo, I had a great time with you last night. The arcade was fantastic, and the time we spent together in your quarters was long-overdue for me. It's been a while since I've been with another Fesarian. It was like returning home. I hope it was as good for you as it was for me. I hope you'll consider my offer. As I said last night, Starfleet is no place for a Fesarian.

"I hope we can get together again. I will be leaving Paradise Station in a few days. I hope you'll come with me."

It was signed, "Terrekal."

Mindo sighed. The previous night had been great. Mindo had almost forgotten his Fesarian roots, and last night was the first time in many years that he felt like a true Fesarian again. Afterward, Mindo and Terrekal had talked for an hour before sleeping, swapping stories of their different trades. Mindo had thought his experiences were outrageous, but Terrekal had him topped. They laughed a lot. Terrekal did this thing where, after a laugh, he gently kissed Mindo. It was like punctuation, the completion of a thought. Mindo had to remember that.

There was one more message, but Mindo did not recognize the sender's name. He tapped it open and found what looked like a dossier on Terrekal. Terrekal's picture was at the top, and below were several paragraphs of writing, most of it redacted and blurred out. The document was labeled "Classified." Mindo wasn't sure what he was supposed to see...

Then he found it. Just a short phrase, but Mindo immediately knew it was the part the sender wanted him to find.

"...and reassigned to Vice Admiral Bradford Chase. Current status: Active."

Mindo noticed an attached audio message and tapped it open immediately.

"Hello Mindo," said a strange voice, clearly warped to hide the speaker's identity. "I'm glad to finally have found you. We have much to discuss. But first I must give you a warning: don't trust Terrekal. If you've read this document, you know what I'm talking about. I cannot reveal my identity at this time but trust me, I'm a friend. For now I will refer to myself as 'Uno.' It was great to see you yesterday. I'll be in touch."

The message ended there, leaving Mindo with so many questions and not a single answer. What did "Active" mean? Why was Vice Admiral Chase mentioned? And who the hell was "Uno?"

The only answer to the last question was, Mindo thought, a given. Greep had sent him the message. Mindo knew Greep's history as a personal hitman of the corrupt Vice Admiral, one of the top brass in Starfleet Intelligence. He remembered Greep's official rank of Lieutenant-Commander, and how he'd been assigned to watch Mindo. All of this had come out on Mindo's previous assignment, the USS Tornado, and now it had found him again.

Before arriving on the Pandora, Mindo had been looking forward to the new posting. It was a chance to start over. Finally, he would be away from Chase's grasp. He should have known something was up when Greep arrived shortly after. But Greep had reassured not just Mindo, but Lieutenant Griffin as well that he was no longer an operative. Why couldn't that be true?

Then a cold fact hit Mindo in the face. Terrekal was somehow linked to Chase. And no doubt his "Active" status must mean he's still working with the bastard. Mindo knew then that his run-in with his fellow Fesarian had not been a coincidence. He had been let on the ship. Even given a tour! He may not know much about the Tornado, but he no doubt knows the layout by now. By allowing Terrekal on the Pandora, Mindo had now endangered the lives of everyone currently on it. He had to tell someone. Greep? No, Greep wouldn't talk about things in person. At least, not with a comm badge in the room.

"Computer," said Mindo, "what is the location of civilian Terrekal?"

The computer's female voice replied, "Terrekal left the ship at zero-six-hundred hours. He is currently on Paradise Station."

There's nothing I can do right now, Mindo thought. He knew the best way to go about this was to go about acting normal and wait for something to come to him. Mindo hated this kind of suspense. He'd specifically become an Engineer to avoid this kind of thing. Now it was smack-dab right in his lap, and he was helpless to do anything about it.

He put on his uniform and headed out to check on the core, and then try to find some answers on Paradise Station.

OFF