Gold Is The New Black
Posted on Mon Apr 20th, 2020 @ 2:33pm by Lieutenant Commander Gwynne Emberly
Edited on on Mon Apr 27th, 2020 @ 4:58pm
776 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission:
Mission 0: Everybody Has A Story
Location: Approaching Shuttle / Overwatch Station
Timeline: MD01
Beginnings were hard. Especially when you didn't have the clearest picture ahead of you as to how to go about beginning anew. Her time on the Venture had been tumultuous, yet some of the best times of her life to boot. She'd made friends, re-acquainted with some old friends. She was almost certain she'd kind of managed to fall in love too. Though they'd both decided that wasn't going anywhere in not so many words. They were both married to their jobs and with her cover having been busted in the incident with the Tal'Shiar remnant on Ruhoka...yeah, neither the time, nor the place.
Grigor Eisenberg-Sloane, the Venture's Chief of Security. She would remember the withdrawn, cultured german fondly. Maybe one day, maybe not. Who could know?
Right now though she needed to focus on what was ahead. When she applied for a transfer, she didn't quite think it would be a Starfleet Black Site, especially not this place of all. Memory Theta.
Sure, she'd heard of it through the grapewine, but it was always a distant kind of piece of lore rather than a reality for her. With her work on cracking romulan codes and electronic warfare, it apparently made her suitable to the position of Lead Technical Specialist, with the Field Team of Theta.
Sure, that suited her fine, she was still within the intelligence circle, and this place was semi run by Intelligence, but it was her technical skill that was in demand here rather than her tradecraft. Definitely a change.
Still, she'd never worked at a Black Site before, so she didn't quite know what to expect.
Overwatch station loomed in front of the approaching shuttle, bearing possibilities and somehow a grim warning too, Gwynne felt and it was getting closer.
As she transported aboard and the shuttle went on its way, the betazoid readjusted her duffel bag and gulped a little. There was so much going on in this place, she could feel it in her bones, so much emotion, raw and barely contained, it was almost painful.
Emberly took a deep breath and tried to focus her mind, to push it all out. She wasn't going to risk having an episode barely minutes into her new service. She'd never wanted to have one again after that bloody asteroid. She'd done fine until the attack on the Venture last year.
She would do her best now to not have one again. It was bad enough to carry that scar with her since the war, going back into that event again. No. Just no.
Slowly, brick by brick, a wall built up around her mind, voices and emotions quieting down until a protective barrier shimmered into existence in her mind. There, that felt better.
"Sir?"
She heard a flat question from a clearly Vulcan inflection.
Gwynne opened her eyes, realizing she was still standing on the transporter padd.
"Sorry, Lieutenant. Permission to come aboard?" Gwynne asked, refocusing her mind on the Vulcan in front of her.
Or half Vulcan? She couldn't quite tell. They didn't have that telltale aloof rigidity about them to make them the traditional, full blooded member of the race.
"Granted, Commander. Welcome to Memory Theta." He said equally flatly, "this way, please."
The betazoid blinked, then nodded and followed after the officer who was already on his way out of the room.
"Captain ben-Avram, Colonel Garlake, Commander Frost and the Field Team are on Mission. You will be reporting to Doctor Wilson." The officer said as he made sure that she was following him.
"The CMO's running the site?" She asked, frowning.
"Indeed." It was almost laden with negative emotion, the Vulcanoid's reply.
"Hmm, alright, do we have an ETA on their return?" Gwynne asked again.
"Negative."
She'd almost forgotten what it was like dealing with Vulcans. While she'd always be fond of Semirk, for what he had done for her that day, their self imposed restrictions always grated against her betazoid self.
"Understood." She said finally, accepting a PADD from him. "I'll report to the Doctor ASAP."
"I must return to my duties, Commander, all relevant details are in your PADD. Good day." Without more said, he turned on his heel and left down a side corridor.
Gwynne blinked at the odd encounter. Were they all this odd?
Squaring her shoulders, she asked for directions to locate Doctor Jonah Wilson so she could get signed in, receive her codes and see about getting to work. This place would be a big learning curve for her, she knew, but she was kind of looking forward to it.
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