Course Correction
Posted on Sat Jun 29th, 2019 @ 7:48pm by Lieutenant Aleksander Voroshilov
Mission:
Getting To Know You
Location: Intelligence Directorate
Timeline: Weeks Prior
The shuttle touched down outside a large complex in a sparsely occupied patch of forest. The rear hatch opened, revealing a man dressed in intelligence gray with two gleaming pips. Placing a pair of aviator sunglasses on, he slowly stepped out onto the landing pad where a woman with flag officer pips was waiting for him. Offering a salute he closed the distance.
“You look like hell,” Commodore Mira Polk returned the salute, her eyes looking over her protege. She wouldn’t admit it outright, but she had feared for his safety and for the outcome of the trial.
Lieutenant Aleksi Voroshilov lazily dropped the salute, a pained smile on his face.“Must have been what I had for dinner,”
Mira waved over her exec who had a mug of coffee in his hand. The man held it out for Aleksi who eagerly took it, “I took the liberty of getting coffee. You prefer it to match your soul if I remember.”
Alexi took a drink of the brew, his expression becoming less pained, “Black and bitter, you know me so well ma'am.”
Mira shook her head in response, motioning to Aleks to follow her. Their history went back to a chance meeting on a starbase when he was an angrier man. He had always struck her as unorthodox, never afraid to speak his mind or call out senior officers. Fortunately for him he was rarely wrong when he did so.
As he walked by the Orion’s sensitive nose picked up the pheromones still lingering on him, a well practiced neutral expression covered the coming smirk, “Are you sure it was dinner that kept you up?”
As they stepped inside the building he smirked, taking off his Ray-Bans, “Maybe it was the dessert.”
She rolled her eyes, following him into the security office. As he signed in she silently mused that he was the only man that could look both sharp and a wreck at the same time with an intellect to match. A rogue through and through, “I was happy to hear they gave you back your freedom.”
“You would have missed me? I'm flattered,” Alexi took another drink, a dull thud in his skull. He'd definitely lost some of his tolerance. So much for Russian drinking abilities.
She gave him a sideways glance while entering the lift, “A pretty boy like you in prison? Your anus wouldn't survive the week.”
A snort from behind his mug, “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
Ever since his days with the 45th reconnaissance squadron he had always admired Mira. While it appeared she didn't think much of sending her people against the best weapons the Federation’s adversaries could muster just to collect on communications and sensor emissions, which he thought was morbidly acceptable, in reality she'd make sure that her people we're under constant protection which was more comforting. Still, not much you can do when you were hit with a salvo of torpedoes. It was that threat which made it all the more interesting.
“Of course. Your weapon is your intellect,” Stepping on the lift she finally betrayed the slightest hint of a grin, “However, I’m sure you could make a shiv since you have no qualms about killing your fellow officers.”
If it had been anyone else who had made that comment he would almost consider being offended, but she was Mira Polk, the woman who pulled him from a career careening towards mediocrity. He had been pissed off when she met him, an irritation stemming from boredom. Most of his excellent work was outside the scope, therefore he rarely got to do it. Seeing potential she had the transfer paperwork to get him under her wing. Since then she had been helping manipulate his career, balancing upward mobility while keeping him entertained.
“Half the fight is psychological,” Aleksi tapped his skull as the door opened. It wasn’t news to her, she was the one who taught them the lesson, “And I may surprise you, spending a year as a smuggler has taught me a few lessons. I’m more than capable of fighting dirty.”
Mira shook her head as the lift stopped, stepping off. Aleksi was closely by her side as they marched to her office, “I doubt you know how to fight fair.”
“Never,” He took a seat on the other side of the desk, no permission asked, none was really needed. His eyes gazed around the room, nothing having really changed she had him sit in the same room, telling him that he’d be going on an extended camping trip to the ass end of Klingon Space. Nothing except, “New future ex-husband?”
Groaning, she snatched the photo from the Lieutenant’s hand. Very few people could get away with the sort of shit Aleksander pulled on a routine basis, but then again very few people were as useful as Lieutenant Voroshilov, “I figured after my little incident on the Norwich I'd be persona non grata.”
“You are,” She poured herself some tea. Preferably she’d send him back to some remote border station and let him do his thing while the news blew over. However, that wasn’t the deal she was able to negotiate, “In any other case you’d be seen as a hero, or at least an officer that did their duty. Unfortunately Captain Ch'evhiasrahr was popular and the Andorians are a founding species of the Federation.”
“They wanted their pound of flesh,” He sipped at his cooling coffee, his headache dropping to a dull thud, “I can’t blame the Andorians, they are a prideful group, or for that matter the Fleet. What’s the life of some colonial when compared to the reputation of a Hero and covering up an uncomfortable truth?”
“Commodore Aris should have never been put in charge of the investigation. Yet somehow the truth came through, but not before your name was thoroughly drug through the mud,” There was a hint of irritation in her voice. She knew he did the right thing, she also knew that was a decision most of the explorers pretended would never come up, “In fact, the only place they wanted to send you was a staff job, on Andoria.”
“I see he wanted to see me resign,” Leaning back a little, he shrugged. The smear wasn’t the greatest thing for him, but he wasn’t entirely unhappy. Any reputation was useful so long as you knew how to use it, “Or murdered. Probably that last one,” He was amused at the overt attempt in irony. Andorians weren’t known for being subtle, “I suppose either is better than a pound me in the ass prison.”
“That’s true enough,” His merry nihilism had always amused her and felt it was a trait more of her colleagues could use, her job would at least be funnier. She had fought hard to convince the Fleet’s Headquarters S1 to let her bring the lieutenant onto her staff so she could keep an eye on him, which was only partially true. Unsurprisingly Admiral Fox thought that was a terrible idea, seeing her as part of the reason Aleksi felt he was in the right to go off the rails, “Fortunately, I was able to negotiate you a job on a starship. Call it a condition of your parole.”
The words tasted sour on her tongue, he was supposedly a free man and yet he was paying for the actions of an aspiring war criminal. She watched for his reaction, realizing long ago that he was pretty good at keeping people guessing about his intentions. It was a few moments before he chuckled, “Ever since the trial closed I’ve been considering resigning.”
That was what she was afraid of, that she’d lose the man that was supposed to take her place when she was long gone; hopefully on some island being served an endless stream of tropical drinks. In the years after the war she had done her damndest to keep him sharp, and more importantly in the fleet. If she hadn’t his combination of a unique and deadly skillset and the need for near constant stimulation would have lead to his resignation. This meant she’d lose control of a dangerous asset which could mean anything from being a pirate king to an elected official, all of which would be a gross underuse of his talents, “Don’t, the Federation needs you even if they don’t want it. As much of an asshole as you can be you’ll be of more use in that uniform than farming grapes. Hell, you’d likely miss the action at some point.”
Aleksi laughed a little at the rousing counter-argument, “So bold of you to assume I can’t get myself into enough trouble on my own. With the Monte Carlo and Vegas on the same planet I could probably fleece a few billionaires if I ever get bored,” Setting the empty coffee cup down, he leaned forward staring directly into his mentor’s eyes. There was nothing stopping him from leaving, he had land, connections, latinum, and most importantly the skills to evade any known military force in the galaxy. What Mira had was his loyalty, “What’s the plan?”
“Thank you for trusting me,” It was a rare moment of vulnerability from a woman known as an ice queen. Before she called him in she reworked her plan for him, the previously constructed plan having been blown away by the incident. If she was clever enough and worked the PR just right he may just recover, “We have no specific ship picked out for you yet, I do have a few starbases that we can have you camp out at while I find one. You’ll stay there, likely for a few years until this bullshit goes away. Afterwards you’ll be sent to K-13, by that time you should be sufficiently hungry enough to do your best work.”
Aleksi took an offered PADD, quietly perusing it as Mira refilled his coffee cup. He whistled softly, taking the freshly topped off coffee, “As a consolation prize I’m sending you a small toy box. Some experimental things to help you survive so you aren’t reverting to taping vibrators on walls,” At that comment Alexi peered over the PADD, a trouble maker smirk on his face, “I really don’t want to know why else you’d have that.”
Aleksi chuckled, still pursuing through the brief, “You know me better than my own mother ever did,” Mira had taken on that role since his time with the 45th, and had likely played a larger role in his career than even he knew. Whether that was because she cared for him or simply found him useful was inconsequential to him.
“Unlike your mother I taught you useful lessons,” She hid a small grin, watching the light in her protege’s eyes increase. A genuine moment of joy, “And give you better gifts.”
“Much better,” Setting the PADD down he looked up at the stoic Orion. Raising an eyebrow, “Anything else before you toss me out into the sunlight?”
“Please just try to behave. You can’t be helped if you are a dick to everyone you meet. And that monster that I admire so much, keep him hidden unless it’s absolutely necessary,” She held up a hand, unconsciously stopping any protest to the next statement, “And please, avoid killing anymore Starfleet Officers.”
Aleksi’s grin was much more devilish, “What do you think of me Mira?”
Mira leaned back, offering a small smile, “That you make a fantastic weapon, no more than that.”
OFF:
Commodore Mira Polk
Deputy, Operations Directorate
Intelligence Directorate
&
Lieutenant Aleksander Voroshilov
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Astraea
