The Other Side of the Story (Part II)

Posted on Sun Apr 20th, 2025 @ 2:51am by Commodore Samantha York

1,141 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Broken Mirror
Location: York's Ready Room

[PREVIOUSLY]

She turned back to Alex. "I understand why you thought your tactic would work. But it didn't, and you should have tried something else instead. That said, I think your wife came up with an excellent compromise." Sam sighed. "Another problem is that the counselor was invited to assist and feels like she wasn't given the chance to do so. She feels you went too far." Before he could respond, she continued. "I know you didn't have the time and I know we needed that information. It could have meant retrieving the scientist before the ship left the system. Now, we need to find out where they're taking him and why. Perhaps the two of you could try a different approach and find out?"

[CONTINUED]

Before Alex could respond, Damion jumped in. "Captain, I didn't invite the Counselor in. She interjected herself. From the moment that interrogation began she was insisting on how it should go. While, I did agree with her suggestion, the fact that we didn't have much time to build a rapport when we didn't have enough time is why it was never taken into account."

"Exactly." Alex added.

"Shut up." Damion said, looking over to him briefly, before looking back to Sam. "As far as knowing when the prisoner was lying, I did make that fact clear. I told the Counselor, but the fact that I was telling something she didn't want to hear, only made her push more for her assistance. To be honest, she was less helpful and more of a hinderance than anything else. Between her and Commander Knight, the entire interrogation was nothing but chaos."

"Can I speak?" Alex blurted out.

"Do you have to?" Damion countered as he looked back over to Knight.

Alex took a moment to himself before speaking. "You're right. The interrogation was unorganized. Whether we had time or not, we each went in with a different idea of how to handle it and no one took a minute to meet and decide how to proceed. Also, I got emotional. Ross, the prisoner, was placed at a warehouse where someone I knew was killed. A close friend. The moment I saw that... I saw red. I won't deny it." He took a second to looked around before adding firmly. "I am beginning to think that my people aren't welcomed here."

"What are you talking about?" Damion questioned as he raised a brow.

"I don't know if it’s the fact that we are Starfleet Intelligence or that we are from the same universe as the people we are chasing, but I haven't been feeling like my contributions don't mean anything to... well... any of you."

Damion let out a frustrated groan before shaking his head. "This is nothing to do with where you are from or what department you're in. Your team was sent here because your specialty is what's needed for this mission."

"Exactly!" Alex shouted, looking over to Damion. "My team and I have been dealing with these people for a lot longer than you. Dealing with both universes. The Prowler is a one of a kind ship and the information that's been gathered since its creation is valuable to our work. You need to stop treating us like your ride and start using us for why we were sent here. We were sent here to do a job so let us do it. Starfleet Intelligence has given us immunity and means as long as its within reason. We would never cross the line so stop treating us like we will."

Sam raised her voice to be heard over the two men. "Gentlemen. Please. I appreciate that you have different views of how this should proceed, but may I remind you that we all have orders from both Admiral Burke and Admiral Hunter. We're supposed to be working together on this and so far we seem to be working at cross purposes. Yes, there were problems with the way the interrogation was handled. Yes, time was short and short cuts were necessary, but we are still Starfleet and we will still be held accountable for our actions. Please do not threaten to kill a prisoner again. Not unless you have permission from Admirals Burke, Hunter, or me to do so." She knew that Admiral Burke and she were on the same page regarding the treatment of prisoners. There were other options that generally worked better than outright threats.

Sam didn't have time for this. They had to start working together if they had any chance of finding the pirates and the scientist. "Commander Knight, I am aware that the Calypso is a large ship. If you need to utilize power or shields to facilitate the jump to your universe, please let me know. We do have the power to shield both ships."

She then turned to Damion. "I appreciate that you tried to work with the counselor. Right now, we still need answers from Mr. Ross--if he has any that will be of help. If not, he can stay in the brig under guard and behind a force field until he can be turned over to Admiral Hunter. Remind him again that you are a telepath. If he doesn't believe you, feel free to call me. I'll be happy to help prove that we are not going to let him continue to lie to us." It wasn't that she didn't trust Damion. She did. "Sometimes it takes someone who isn't in security to get the point across. If you feel that to be the case, ask me."

She looked from Damion to Alex and back. "You are both excellent at your jobs. That is not in question. Neither is the fact that you have both worked--or work--for Admiral Hunter. But for now, we all need to be more discreet. Command wants the piracy stopped. I also want to save the scientist. We don't know what value he could still have to the advancement of science." She paused, then sighed. "I agree that his mirror double is or was a part of this and they want to see if he can somehow replicated his double's work. We need to prevent that. But fighting amongst ourselves is not doing us any good. Please, keep your personal antagonism to yourselves and don't antagonize the counselor. Or try not to, anyway." She had to admit it wasn't their fault this time. "Now, unless you have something to add, you're dismissed."

When they both left, Sam sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. This particular mission was not going to be easy for any of them.

OFF

Lieutenant Commander Damion Wolfe
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Calypso

Commander Alexander "Alex" Knight
Commander
The Prowler

Commodore Samantha York
Commanding Officer
USS Calypso

 

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