MISSION POST: Shi Maro Space Station - Day 47 - OPEN

[enterprise_npc]

The air was one of breathless anticipation as all off duty personnel - military and civilian, Aian and Marosi - lined the viewports to watch the Starfleet ship come in to dock. Murmurs raced through the watching crowd at her strange design, at the unfamiliar words emblazoned across her hull

Comments

[nyota_uhura24]

This is not good. The moment Nyota walked into the hall, she felt a sharp spike of panic. The visiting delegation was from the Enterprise. She'd expected them to be from one of the vassal planets, and thus had actually been rather relieved that she'd be safe for a few hours. No one was going to attack her at a diplomatic function. She was still trying to convince both those loyal to the Aian Alliance and those who favored a separate Marosian movement that she supported their respective causes. Playing the two parties certainly minimized suspicion that she wasn't actually part of the militia, but it was still immensely dangerous

[green_psyd]

David was also doing several surveys of the room. He was standing back relaxing from his intense conversation with the Aian high commander. He was also standing back from the Enterprise crew. He needed to observe the interactions. That's when he caught Uhura's eye.

Recognition burst through and he made his way over to her side in no time. He hadn't realized she'd come back. Last rumor had it was that she was on some sort of sabbatical. She must have been back for the mission. He aimed to be the first one to welcome her.

"Lieutenant Uhura!" he exclaimed as he sidled next to her.

[nyota_uhura24]

The moment David caught her eye, she knew that she was going to have to think very quickly in order to avoid disaster. She drew herself off the wall as he approached, adopting the straight-backed stance of the Aian militia and keeping her face as impassive as possible.

He was at her side in moments, greeting her loudly and enthusiastically. Normally it would have brought a smile to her face, but now it made her glance around quickly to see if anyone had noticed. "Please lower your voice," she said, voice soft but commanding. It would confuse him, but she had to hope that he would pick up on her cues. "And please address me as Specialist Corporal Kerin." She clasped her hands behind her back in the traditional Aian greeting, and then moved one hand to indicate the Aian insignia of rank.

[green_psyd]

David was slow to the pickup.

"Uh. Okay. I don't..." David trailed off and cocked his head. He suddenly had a boyish gleam in his eye. "Wait. Are you..." he put on a whisper, "...a spy!"

His grin got larger. "You're kidding! I didn't know they had spies in Starfleet! Sorry. I just. I used to watch James Bond and...so cool!" He whispered this excitedly. He couldn't help himself. Somewhere his common sense was burrowed underneath childhood memorabilia and Id response trying to reign the Orion in.

"I...mean. Specialist Corporal Kerin," he said with a clearing of the throat and wink. Professional! Professional! It might be too late.

[nyota_uhura24]

For a moment he simply seemed confused, and she held out hope that he would exercise caution and discretion... Her hopes were misplaced. Under other circumstances his reaction might have been endearing, but she was seconds from discovery, provided it wasn't already too late. She needed to do something. Fast.

Finally he was addressing her by her rank and Aian last name, but there was nothing at all convincing about his delivery. She glanced around again, and was relieved to see that no one seemed to have noticed them... yet. But if he kept this up, it was only a matter of time.

"Doctor Tinny, you need to stop acting as if you know me." The words were pitched low so as to be hard to overhear. "But if you can't do that, then we need to get out of this hall. Now." Luckily they were close to the door, which she indicated with her head.

[green_psyd]

"Get out of...oh," David whispered back with large eyes. He widened the distance between them chastising himself silently. This wasn't an ancient movie, this was reality. He scrubbed his hand over his head, obviously embarrassed. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"I mean...it's just..." Stop talking, David. "How dangerous--" he cut himself off. "Right. Should I walk off now?"

[nyota_uhura24]

She nodded when he apologized, immensely relieved that he seemed to have realized the gravity of the situation. She wanted to speak words of encouragement, but it was a miracle no one seemed to have noticed anything so far, and she wanted to keep it that way. "It's all right," she said softly. "I don't think anyone's noticed your enthusiastic greeting." She gave him a small smile and gestured towards the door. "There are actually rather beautiful gardens outside, so if you would be so kind as to feign interest in them, we can talk there."

[green_psyd]

"Feigning interest! Sounds like a plan," David replied enthusiastically.

"Please, lead on." David's eyes were still wide as he looked over his shoulder. So obviously trying to make sure they weren't being followed. In the back of his mind his SuperEgo, the mayor of logic and reason, was banging its figurative head on the inside of David's skull.

David scratched the knot at the top of his neck as if shooing away the common sense. "So..." he buried his hands in his pockets not knowing what to say, what to ask first, doing everything but bouncing on the balls of his feet.

[nyota_uhura24]

She forced herself not to cringe at the loud comment and simply smiled and walked with him out into the corridor that led to the enclosed gardens, keeping a polite distance. "You don't need to look over your shoulder," she added, still keeping her voice quiet so as not to be overheard. Eventually they reached the relative privacy of the gardens. She gestured at the flowers, which were glowing rather spectacularly with the stars as a backdrop. "I'm going to keep pretending I'm explaining these in case anyone shows up, and we can hope they'll believe us." Her smile turned slightly sly. "And if anyone realizes we're acting suspicious, we'll just have to find a less damaging lie to be covering up."

[green_psyd]

"Oh," David replied absently and faced forward, stubbornly. He kept a respectable distance from the flowers. He hadn't had an allergic reaction to fauna in years so he doubted he'd have one now but alien glowing flowers weren't exactly the least intimidating of plant life.

He nodded at her first statement reflecting her hope of their hosts' gullibility. At the second he started and smirked. "I'll do whatever it takes to keep your secret. Uh, I mean." A beat. Then he nodded. "No, that's what I meant. So. What's this all about?" he asked gesturing to the flower but talking about her secret spy act. And thank God he'd finally gained some subtlety.

[nyota_uhura24]

She smiled at his reaction. "Thank you. It's very important that our hosts remain unaware of the fact that I'm part of the Enterprise crew. It could compromise the whole mission." He asked her what this was about, and she gestured at the flowers as she replied, keeping her voice low but conversational. "Starfleet Intelligence isn't convinced that we're being given all the facts on the situation, so they wanted someone to pose as an Aian officer and find out what they're not telling us. I'm one of only a handful of Starfleet officers who actually speak the Aian language." She paused. "None of the Enterprise crew are aware of the fact that I'm not simply on leave; it's probably best that it remains that way."

[green_psyd]

David nodded enthusiastically and raised his eyebrows as if interested in the flower, which he glanced at pointedly. When over the effects of excitement from one of his childhood idols oh my god a real spy eee! David was actually a good liar. To a point.

"Have you-uh-found out anything?" David said, interested. 'Secret Agent Man' was stuck in his head. He's watched Secret Agent as well. He might've had a little bit of an obsession as a kid.

[nyota_uhura24]

Nyota considered her answer for a moment. She knew that Dr. Tinny was part of the negotiation team, so she wanted to tell him anything that might be helpful in trying to make sense of the conflict. "There's a group of Aian soldiers who support Maros An - small, but well-organized. A little too well organized. It seems the separatist movement has strong supporters on both planets. I was able to track down a little information about that anonymous tip that the Aians were taking advantage, and it seems to actually have come from an Aian. His identity is irrelevant; what's important is that they chose this moment to bring the conflict into the public eye. It was planned."

[enterprise_npc]

Commander Emil Tashka, head of the Aian garrison on Maros An, had been in conversation with one of the Marosi delegation when he'd happened to notice a deeply unwelcome sight; one of his soldiers in intently hushed conversation with a member of the visiting Federation crew. Their mere presence here was an insult. The idea of anyone under his command helping them was unacceptable. When the mismatched pair quietly left, he made his excuses and followed.

Entering the gardens, it took him a moment to locate them. On doing so he immediately strode over. He didn't recognise the woman - possibly a transfer, there had been a lot of reassignments recently - but her insignia was enough to be going on with. "Specialist!" he barked in Aian, and woe betide her if she didn't come to attention.

[nyota_uhura24]

Nyota saw the Commander coming out of the corner of her eye, and flashed David an urgent look. "You're going to pretend to be interested in me," she said firmly, and then wiped the emotions off her face. It was a good enough reason for him to be there with her, and she could say that she'd been trying to get information from him. When she heard the Commander's sharp address, she snapped to attention. "Commander Tashka," she said in greeting, clasping her hands behind her back and bowing her head.

[green_psyd]

"I'm going t'wha--?" he whispered before he realized she didn't have time to explain. His eyes darted anywhere but the commander's. A flush crept up his neck but, perhaps, that would make this all the more convincing.

"Commander...uh...Tashka," David repeated bending severely at the waist which gave him time to collect himself. He rose and gave the commander a smile. "The...specialist and I were just exchanging pleasantries." He gave a mischievous smile to Uhura, licking his lips slightly and making sure to look a little sheepish. "It...uh...seems as if we enjoy the same sort of fauna, actually. I was just about to ask her if-if she had some time later--if perhaps we'd have time to...share more...uh-conversation."

He rocked on the balls of his feet then glanced at Uhura. Too strong?