Suspicion and security clearances

Posted on Fri Jun 1st, 2018 @ 8:59pm by
Edited on on Fri Jun 1st, 2018 @ 9:10pm

1,103 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: S1:3: Myriad Problems
Location: Engineering
Timeline: Before the Briefing

"I'm looking for Lieutenant Zhuri?" Daani asked the first engineer she came across once she'd stepped through the doors of main engineering, only to receive a grunt and a wave in the general direction of the offices before the jumpsuited engineer scurried off without a backward glance.

Engineers were the same the galaxy over it seemed, preoccupied with whatever they were tasked with fixing. In her experience, armorers were the same, but tended to have the capability of firing at whoever was asking questions they didn't like. She shrugged and headed toward the offices, pausing by the open door of the Chief's office.

"Hello? Lieutenant Zhuri?" she called out by way of warning, before stepping into the office.

"I'm a bit busy, could-" As Arivek looked up, his words were cut off as he saw the woman standing in the doorway. Despite his heavy workload, he set down the PADD he was reading. "Not who I was expecting," he simply said.

“No,” she answered, aware that many on the crew viewed her with suspicion. Not unwarranted given the way she’d arrived on their ship. “I would suspect not. I apologise for the interruption, but I need your help. I need my security clearances setting and access to the computer.”

She watched him for any reaction, but his body language was locked down tight. "I promise I don't intend to kidnap you and frogmarch you anywhere..." she added, attempting a small joke. It fell flat into silence.

Arivek's eyes didn't leave the woman, though he was obviously listening. "And you think that's funny?"

“An attempt to lighten the atmosphere, which obviously fell flat,” Daani replied, dropping the smile in favour of a neutral expression. Zhuri was a difficult one to read, his expression as controlled as his body language.

“Should I come back at a better time?” She asked, keeping her body language as neutral as her expression. To anyone watching, she would appear to be relaxed and open… not a threat. “Or perhaps route a request through the computer?”

"Will either of those actions change the past? Will they undo what you did?" he asked, standing up from his chair.

“The past can never be changed. Only the future,” she replied, watching him as he stood. He hadn’t rounded the desk. Yet. “However the first would allow you to be more prepared to speak to me, while the second would allow you to avoid it completely if that is your preference.”

Arivek raised an eyebrow as a slight smile presented itself. "My preference?" He laughed, slightly to himself. "My preference would be for you to be in the brig. Or better yet, pushed out an airlock. You're a mockery to the uniform you're now wearing and the ship that is harboring you. And now you expect me to hand you keys to the Computer?" he shook his head, as if the idea was ludicrous. Which, to him, it was.

“Out an airlock, huh?” Daani’s eyebrow lifted marginally. “For a crime in which nothing but pride was harmed? For the record, I did tell the captain that the brig was the best place to keep me but he decided otherwise. I’ve get to work out if he’s a genius or simply insane.”

She shook her head as she looked down at her uniform. It was one of the few things currently encoded into the computer for her, but it held no special significance for her. It was simply another role she had to play.

“Unfortunately, it came with the job. And I’m not asking you for the keys to the computer. In fact, as I already mentioned to the captain, I’d highly advise against it. All I need is the relevant clearance and accesses that will allow me to use the skill set that allowed me to kidnap the captain to stop someone else doing it… or worse.”

"Yea, well," Arivek stood there for a moment. He clearly looked like he had a lot to say, but wasn't saying any of it. "Request denied. I'm not giving you shit. Now, get the fuck out of my Engine Room. You don't have the clearance to be in here."

That hadn’t been the response she’d expected so for a moment, Daani didn’t move or say anything.

“You know, in all my career I had considered engineers to be intelligent, but you’re really threatening that assumption here. You’re an engineer so I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you can follow a train of logical thought. What do you think happens next?” she asked, still not moving.

“What happens is I send the message up the chain of command that my request for the necessary information and access to do the job that chain of command has given me was denied. You get a nice little visit from the higher ups, possibly even the captain himself, to tell you to do your job and let me do mine. End result, loss of face and you’re even pissier with me than you are now.”

She shrugged. “I really couldn’t give a shit if you like me or not, if you trust me or not. Apart from the captain, you lot know absolutely fuck all about me, but I will say one thing… I’m far less hassle on your side than working against you. Now, do you still want me to leave and we can make this far more complicated than it needs to be? Or are you going to act like the head of Department you’re supposed to be and let me do my job?”

"You have five seconds to leave my office," Arivek simply stated, still not moving. "If you don't, I'll call security. In fact, I'll specifically ask for that unstable Ensign who wanted to put a phaser beam through your skull. Who knows, I might not stop him this time."

She really had not made a friend here, one who could make things excessively difficult for her aboard the Traveller. Rather than express her frustration, Daani simply inclined her head and turned to go. She’d have to find another way around the problem of computer access.

Arivek watched in silence as the woman left, his eyes never leaving her. The last thing he wanted was for her to sneak off into Engineering and do more damage.

He sat down, satisfied that she was gone, and went back to work on the wing assemblies. So far, there was still a lot to do.

 

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