Lady of the Green Kirtle
Posted on Sat Jan 13th, 2024 @ 4:17pm by Commander Arianna Frost & Warrant Officer Laena ben-Avram
2,290 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
S1E6: Where Skies End
Location: Ari's Quarters | Overwatch Station
Timeline: MD 0
Laena was leaving Overwatch Station once again after having just returned from Risa.
But this time she wasn't running. She had banked everything on rebuilding her life with Akiva, in their happily ever after. As it turned out, that would take far more work than she had anticipated. It might never happen. Laena had made peace with that in the trip back from Risa. What remained before her was an unsanctioned mission which Akiva had drawn her into. It was a purpose larger than any one person, something that would prove not only her worth to Akiva but also to Laena herself. Admittedly it would represent something outside her training, but Laena was from hardy stock. The cushy upbringing of the Federation was far from her childhood and adolescent experience. Only through significant trauma-relief counseling had she learned to be a functioning person. If she could overcome paternal abuse, poverty and destitution, sex slavery, and a turbulent journey toward Starfleet, then she could handle anything.
It was, then, with confidence that she rang the chime on Arianna's quarters in the middle of the night. Not that 'night' mattered much on Overwatch. The constant gloom of the facility bathed in the dim fires of colossal plasma storms cast an eternal twilight that the artificial lighting never seemed to wholly banish. Waiting, passive and calm, Laena steeled herself for what came next. One step at a time. That's all it would take. One step, then another.
The private part of Arianna was dreading the moment the doorbell rang. The professional part was dreading it too, albeit for a different reason. Regardless of what happened between the two in the last few days, Laena was still a novice to tradecraft and her upcoming assignment was dangerous and taxing even to a seasoned individual. She was also responsible for Laena's preparedness and handling.
Normally, handling field assets was a breeze for Arianna, but since Donnager her confidence had been seriously frayed. She still saw the moments of Aeneas and Gol's deaths behind her eyes at night, waking up in cold sweats, heart beating like a drum.
"Come in!" She called from where she sat at the couch, a myriad of PADDs and gadgets strewn on the coffee table.
Taking a breath, Laena walked into Ari's quarters, went straight to the other woman, and before the doors could close completely, she laid a full-mouthed kiss onto her. After waiting a full agonizing second, she pulled back. "There. Now if anyone tries to find out what I'm doing here, we're having a torrid affair behind Akiva's back and will do anything to hide the fact." She couldn't resist running the back of her hand across her mouth to wipe away the disgust. "I've toured the Science division of the Main Fleet Operations center in San Francisco, but never anywhere classified. What do I need to know about the R&D section where Admiral Tau keeps an office?"
Arianna wiped her lips, allowing a small smile of appreciation of the green woman's willingness to deceive. If only she weren't an awful individual, Frost might even like her. Alas, things being as they were, they were forced to be in this situation.
"Nicely played. Would that you used your skills for the right purpose." Arianna said with a chuckle before she too wiped her lips. "Sit down, first thing is first." Frost rounded the table and sat down on the couch. She picked out a PADD and handed it to Laena. "Memorize these, know them so that they become as easy as breathing. They will keep you alive out there."
After reviewing the PADD, Laena set it down. "Yes, this is standard Orion subterfuge." Her tone was more dismissive than she intended. "Sorry. I appreciate the thought." Then, after pausing, she added, "And... I guess I owe you an apology for more than that. I'm sorry for... Risa. Akiva and I talked. He told me I had it all wrong." Despite the apology, there was an underlying suspicion beneath Laena's veneer of graciousness which did not entirely disbelieve what her intuition told her. Her eyes flashed with a knowing, probing look. "Please forgive me."
Arianna held up a hand and levelled Laena with a cold, clinical look. "Let's get one thing clear, Laena. You may have experience with Orion subterfuge, great. That may help you survive longer than a rookie on entry day. You are entering the field of men who will not sell you for a profit. They will torture you for information and then either keep you for more information, or they will kill you. Your sex slave experience will do nothing to help you there, because they know what you can do, so they will not fall for it. This is serious business. On average, intel operatives don't make it past year five, if they make it that far. The good ones, really good and lucky ones follow these rules. It's kept me in the game for over a decade. I am your best shot at staying alive. If I say abort, you abort, don't question me. Abort. We will come back to it another day. If it feels wrong in your gut, listen to it and get out. Don't go into this needing to prove something, or you will die. And none of that horse-shit about having had worse or not being afraid of death. That's completely irrelevant. Intel is all that matters. For intel to get out, you need to live and you need to get out."
She reached over to the pitcher on the side desk and poured herself a glass of water. She motioned to Laena to ask if she wanted one too.
Laena blinked at Ari. Did the other woman really find all of this profound? It was second nature for Laena, or at least the part of her she always tried to ignore. Even so, the complexities of Orion etiquette both within their social castes and without when forced into double and triple crossing situations through slave transactions made Ari sound precisely pandering to Laena. Had Ari went on any longer, Laena would have interrupted, but thankfully she ran out of steam.
"As for your apology, save it. I don't care. You don't believe your own words, I don't. I wonder, have you told him everything? Or anything at all? Probably not. I sure as shit didn't. I'm not heartless, no matter how much you want to believe. You're intelligent enough to know when you fucked up, I'll grant you that, but you're a shit liar." Arianna then continued. "So, if you're done, we talk business and business only. Are you clear on everything I've said so far?" With that said, Arianna took a sip of her drink, smoothly maintaining her cold, impassive persona.
"I bow to your superior experience," Laena said plainly. "But don't ever think you're better than me. You're not. I am doing this because I made a promise. Think what you want though. I won't care. No one will. Die mad about it." She leaned closer to Ari and said in a lower tone, "Now do you have more shit to talk or will you finally answer my question from before?"
Arianna sighed. Did the green witch really not see that she was just proving Arianna's point? "That comes later. First, tell me how you plan to get close to him to vet him without tipping your hand the moment you walk through the door?"
This was a disaster waiting to happen, it was plain as day. Why the fuck did she step up and say she'd be her handler? Why didn't she get Leah to handle this demon of a woman? Ah, yes, because out of all the intelligence personnel aboard the station, Arianna Frost had the most experience both in the field, handling assets and profiling. Damn it.
"If I'm lucky, I won't even talk to him. I'm going to file reports at central processing," Laena said. "I have classified simulations and projections that I don't want to send on subspace channels. That's actually true, even if exaggerated a little. The classified piece would get me to the admiralty section because I was going to include a red flag in a stellar chart that would ensure it. A senior officer will review my findings for confirmation only for them to be dismissed as an error under further scrutiny. That's my in." Laena pursed her lips. "My star charts will contain an auto-executable hidden inside junk code that won't compile into malicious form until deleted. From there it will spike back into the network from the console which deleted it--a console already behind the firewall. I walk out, disappointed that my data wasn't helpful long before someone else remotely exploits the vulnerability and reads Admiral Tau's mail. The worm will only work once before decompiling back into junk code." Folding her arms, Laena said, "If I had any insight into the classified areas of the Main Operations Center, then maybe I could improvise less."
Arianna took another sip, "from a technical standpoint, absolutely correct." She pointed over to a PADD which had the information Laena was requesting. "How are you going to deal with your HUMINT though? Luck and and assumption often go hand in hand, what will you do if someone comes a-sniffin'? Half the time the fuckup happens when you have an unexpected interaction. How will you handle that? Under cover vetting is anything but cut and dry. The idea that the Captain gave you will work, under ideal conditions. What's your backup play? What will you do if he has a psionic guard? Or not even a guard, just a plain old betazoid stumbling in on a hot but suss orion doing things when she thinks noone's noticing." Frost fired off another round of questions, still casually calm.
Laena's overconfidence was going to be her undoing.
Blinking back tears of frustration from her eyes, Laena said, "I don't know what you want from me. All I asked for was inside information about the offices I'm going into and you want to play mind games." She sniffed away her emotional display as she looked away long enough to wipe her eyes dry. When she resumed her gaze, it was with wide-eyed pleading. "Please just answer my question. Are you going to help me or not?"
Arianna leaned over and reached for the PADD she'd motioned to earlier. "You're not paying attention, Laena." She then handed Laena the PADD. "I am trying to help you but you are so overconfident and so distrustful of my motives, you are not seeing the hand in front of you. I need to make you ready to see a knife going for your back. Whatever you think of me, I am your ally. Focus. Clear your head of any other issue you have with me and focus."
Laena lowered her head in shame and accepted the PADD. She held it for only a moment before she tossed it back to Ari. It was blank.
"Sucker."
Raising her head with a beaming smile, Laena presented an isolinear memory chip. "I got your cute little rules right here. Can we get to the vital information now? Shortcuts, protocols, stuff like that. I only have so much time to memorize it before we leave."
Arianna shook her head. "No. I'm calling it off." She said and stood up. "I'll find another way to get the information we need. You can go." Without looking over, she headed towards the door.
"Fine. Don't help me." Laena took the cue and headed toward the door. She stopped to speak her mind. "But I'm still going to Earth with the others and you can't do anything to stop me. I will keep my promise. I won't be afraid anymore."
Arianna opened the door. "That's why I'm calling it off. You're a loose cannon whom I can't trust. And you have all of our safety and lives on your head. I've lost too many good, well trained people lately. Now I have to make sure you don't get us all killed, or worse, assimilated like Teejay's brother. Get out."
"You and your bitchy power games can't stop me from filing a report with Starfleet," Laena said, "and I sure as hell don't need your help to deliver the hidden package when I do so. You got your whole team killed, right? If you were half as good as you think, you'd be somewhere else. Instead you're here being a control freak." Laena shook her head, letting her ponytail flail behind her. "I'm not buying it. Akiva will see your overcompensating for what it is and he will be even less impressed." She has done her best to be cordial but Ari has been a frigid bitch from the start. "Good luck finding another scapegoat while I'm gone."
"I really wish you could see beyond yourself. That in that crunch moment that will come...you see. I hope your plan works. I really really do..." Arianna sighed as she watched after the marching green witch. Last week the jab against Donnager would have hurt a lot more than it did. She'd made her peace since with the fact that it had, in fact, not been her fault.
Now, Frost needed a backup plan, should the green apprentice fail. If Laena ever reached out, she'd help, she'd guide her, regardless. She was right in one regard, Ari hated not being in control, and in this case she would have to relinquish it to chance and hope for the best.
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