The Grin And The Grim

Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 4:01am by Cailus Griffin
Edited on on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 7:24am

Mission: New Moon Rising
Location: Bridge/Temera's Office
Timeline: After "The Pandora Taxi Service"

After meeting with the Captain, and after Ambassador Colonel Sevros had been delivered to Captain Temple, Temera who'd remained on the Bridge to commandeer a console she could use at times she could be needed on the Bridge. She espied Lieutenant Griffin make his way back to his console.

She waited until he received a status update from his console before approaching the man. "Lieutenant Griffin?" She said, a polite smile on her face, "Lieutenant Temera Lann, Strategic Operations, you wouldn't happen to have a moment, would you?"

Glancing up, Cailus frowned briefly at Lann's appearance before standing up straight, putting his hands behind his back. "Of course Lieutenant," he said curtly, his expression professionally cool. "What can I do for you?"

The young betazoid took in his countenance aswell as the cut off feeling and nodded, "I was hoping you could give me an update on the Pandora's readiness state and your encounter with the Talaraian Ambassador. I just arrived so I am still playing catchup. I'm not interested in telling you how to run Security or Tactical. I'm just interested in cooperation, so we call do our jobs well to the benefit of the ship and crew." Temera fought hard not to rattle away, fought hard to hide her nerves under the stony man's gaze.

Realising to his consternation that he'd made her uncomfortable, Cailus attempted to soften his tone. "Certainly, sir," he answered. Glancing around the bustling Bridge, he added "Your office?"

And a smile was given in turn, "sure, or yours, whichever is closer." Temera offered as they meandered towards a Turbolift. As the Turbolift door closed, "please, no need to call me, sir. Deck 4."

"Force of habit," Cailus said a little stiffly as the turbolift descended, his back still ramrod straight. "Did you just beam aboard from Carnwennan?" he asked awkwardly, glancing at Lann. Her black eyes caught him offguard; they reminded him strongly of Oakley's. Betazoid?

"Yeah, landed from the S.S. Sulaco two hours before the Pandora arrived. I caught the fact the Ambassador sent a dozen enquiries for a transport and that his ship is missing, but that's all I've managed to find so far. So any kind of update would be helpful," said Temera as she glanced at Cailus. "And yes, I'm betazoid." She added with a smile.

It was only a moment later, as the doors opened and they began walking down the corridor, that Cailus stopped in his tracks at the belated realisation. He actually froze for a moment when Lann looked back, his mind fierce with cold outrage. "Did...did you just..."

Temera shook her head, "no. I did not. There is an emotional pattern people project when they realize or wonder if others are betazoid. I am duty bound by the code of sentience not to read one's mind without permission. I however cannot help detect what people project. What you projected is what I've encountered many times in life and I reacted to it." She replied simply.

It was a reasonable explanation, but Cailus had to spend a good few seconds working through it before he began walking again. "My apologies," he said stiffly to Lann as they reached the door to her office. "I've had mind melds before, but I tend to be...I tend to value my privacy nowadays. Sometimes too much. I wasn't aware that your telepathy was so acute."

"Actually that fell under empathy. I've had training in control of both from bot betazoids and vulcans." The she shrugged, "and I've majored in human and xeno-sociology, so I can give a pretty good read on people even without the..." she tapped her left temple with an index finger. Then she tapped the code to her office before and stepped aside to welcome him in.

"Impressive," Cailus acknowledged with a slight incline of his head. It still took some effort to relax as he entered her office, but he got there, standing in front of her desk next to the chair. "I had some detective training from the Paris Peace Corps a few years ago, but I suspect your skills make me look like a novice."

Temera had to laugh a little, "hardly, Mister Griffin. Please, have a seat, anything to drink?" She motioned as she stepped over to the replicator. "I'm just a scientist who happens to be good at tactics. You're the one with actual field experience that matters so much more than being able to read minds. There's techniques to shield one's mind quite easily."

Sitting down he replied. "True enough. Just water, if you will. Chilled." As he accepted his glass, Cailus asked "So where would you like to start? Starship readiness levels, tactical profiles for the Tzenkethi and Ravagers, the overall strategic picture? I'm sure you're more familiar with the Luna-class specs than I am."

Temera had ordered herself some green tea while she ordered Cailus a glass of water and handed it to him. "Yeah, I'm quite familiar with the Luna, so we can skip that. I think we should start with the Tzenkethi, the Ravagers and the current Talarian situation and move down to overall strategic picture and ship readiness." She said as she took a seat herself.

More comfortable now that they were talking about business, Cailus leaned forward in his chair, looking at Temera with a blunt, intense gaze. "I'll be frank, lieutenant. For the last month, I've been playing catch-up. Until I got assigned here, I hadn't even heard of the Tzenkethi or the Talarians. Everything I've got for you was prepared by the Tac gremlins down on Deck 17, and from talking to Ambassador Sevros just now. Just so we're clear."

Temera grinned, "I'll take what I can get, Mister Griffin."

"Okay then," Cailus replied with a faint frown. There was something unsettling about an officer with Lann's responsibilities being so damned cheerful, but then again, she wasn't the only one. Starfleet as a whole was downright bizarre nowadays, and indeed, Captain Temple was the same as Lieutenant Lann. Friendly, smiling, even joking...all very odd.

Shaking that train of thought off, he began. "The current strategic situation in this neighbourhood is precarious, lieutenant. The emergence of the Ravagers has severely destabilised matters in the area, and the Tzenkethi have accordingly increased their military readiness. The destruction of Deep Space 10 has furthermore affected Starfleet's ability to reach the Inconnu Expanse since we can now only use this Corridor. The Talarians have to be worried, too, since they're working pretty damned hard to be friendly with us. Speaking of which, have you ever met a Talarian, Lieutenant?"

Lann shook her head, "not in person, no. But I have done my homework on them. I take it the Ambassador Colonel has been a handful, hm?"

"To say the least," Cailus said sourly. "At this point, I'm hoping he isn't a proper representative example of their culture. I've been focusing on their tactical deployments more than the Talarians themselves."

"That's a good plan. Helps ignore the snooty patriarchal system." Temera sipped her coffee, "how's the Pandora's ability to handle combat? While I don't doubt the readiness of your men and those of Major Halliwell's, I am wondering about the ship herself. She is a science vessel after all."

Nodding in agreement, Cailus said "You're right to be worried. Could you bring up a hologram of the ship's specs, please? The tactical profile, the one that highlights shields, weapons and other tactical systems."

Temera nodded, "of course." She tapped a few commands on her console and a holographic diagram of the Pandora's specifications sprouted to life.

"On paper, we're well armed," he said, although the skeptical tone of his voice belied his words as he pointed out individual features on the hologram. "We've got top of the line phasers, good torpedo coverage, good maneuverability, everything. We even have hull armour. On paper, from a tactical perspective, the Pandora is very impressive."

Temera sipped her coffee, "and in reality?" She knew all too well that things on paper didn't necessarily ammount to the truth in real life. Theory was great, but practice...that was a whole different barrel of apples.

"In reality," Cailus said grimly, "our torpedo stowage is insufficient, our armour has serious weak points, our shields have minimal redundancies for total failure and the phasers have no redundancies whatsoever. Our armaments, defences and hull structure are plainly designed for self-defence, not a protracted battle, or any kind of engagement against superior firepower."

Lann nodded, sighing. "So we need to know how to compensate for the deficiencies. Thank you, for this assessment. It will help me in suggesting courses of action to the Captain. I'm going to assume you already have some contingencies in mind should push come to shove?"

"The tactical gremlins have been working on the problem, yes," Cailus said with a perfect straight face. "They drew up a list of tactical recommendations, but that's more an issue for Captain Temple and Commander Glyndar than me. However, if push should come to shove, as you put it...Lieutenant, have you ever had to abandon ship before?"

Lann couldn't help but smirk at the inferrence that her counterpart in Security made. "I've not had that experience yet, no. Whole crew knocked out by modified gas through the enviromental systems courtesy of the unwitting CMO yes, shot by a former Borg drone, sure. But no, I've not had to abandon ship yet."

Raising an eyebrow in a purely Vulcan matter, Cailus said drily, "The entire crew? That sounds like an interesting tale."

Temera shrugged, it had been the event that had cost Alexandria her life. The mission when she was ordered to invade ones mind in order to locate them. The mission when she and Andrus....

Her train of thought stopped short, "we need drinks a lot stronger than this one for that story to go down properly." She said finally, smiling. "But I promise I'll share, I just need something stronger..." Lann raised her coffee mug to emphasize.

Cailus made a gruff noise of agreement as he nodded. He could appreciate that, at least. "Fair enough. Some other time, then. There is a decent bar on the Rec Deck, if the enlisted personnel are to believed. They are usually the prime authority on such subjects."

Changing the subject, he gestured at the hologram with his right hand as it slowly rotated over the desk. "In short, Lieutenant, when it comes to the safety of this starship, I'm a pessimist. It's your job to keep an eye on the overall strategic picture, to keep an eye on the grand view and the Pandora's place within it, but it's my job to assess immediate threats. Hull breaches, boarding actions, shield failures, evacuation scenarios and so on."

Looking directly into Temera's with an honest, grim expression, he said quietly, "If I seem cold while on duty, or even unfriendly, then I apologise. I take my job seriously because I have lived the worst case scenario in a much more sturdy starship than the Pandora, and I have no intention of letting it happen again."

"You needn't apologize to me, Mister Griffin. We all have our ways." She said with an understanding smile, "I do not and will not claim to know better when the ship is concerned. I will defer to your expertise there, always."

"Not too much, mind you," Cailus answered with a faint self-deprecating smile that was barely visible through his trimmed beard. "I hadn't even heard of the Tzenkethi or the Talarians until four weeks ago, so if you're able to provide any assistance..."

"Of course. That's at least an area that is within my expertise." Temera nodded, "anything particular you're after?"

With a darkly amused look Cailus said, "That depends on how much spare time you have. And if you particularly enjoy sleep. The list we've got down on Deck 17 is a bit...long."

"Well then you best give me it, no?" Temera smirked, finishing her coffee, "though perhaps we best do this after we have delivered the Ambassador?"

"Fair enough." Standing up, Cailus nodded with somewhat more geniality than when their meeting had begun; accidental mind-reading aside, she seemed surprisingly pleasant, and smarter than he'd first expected. In Cailus' experience most Strat Ops experts tended to be arrogant as hell, but Lann seemed to have avoided that particular pitfall.

"If you need anything from Security or Tactical, just let me know," he continued, half turning towards the door. "I'll have the Tac gremlins coordinate with you on that list in the short-term. Have a good day, lieutenant."

"Likewise, Mister Griffin, I am at your disposal." Temera said, nodding. "Thank you."