Meeting the Handler

Posted on Fri Jul 5th, 2019 @ 1:43am by Lieutenant Aleksander Voroshilov

Mission: Getting To Know You
Location: CIO Office

Aleksi finally got to his office after what could best be described as a bureaucratic harassment. The medical bodies were doing their job, it was done in a very cautious way, but they did it with professionalism. At this point he could be sitting on the deck of some rich divorcee’s yacht, sipping champagne that costs more per glass than he made a year in the French Riviera. Instead he allowed his loyalty to Mira chain him in this seat, amongst those who tolerated him at best and actively resented him at worst. It would be funny for the next few weeks but at some point would eventually prove boring. Either he’d have to prove to be a trusted asset or resign, the latter sounding better than the former.

Taking the isochip out of his pocket once more he examined it. Still intact after he smuggled it from the Norwich. Extremism wasn’t unfamiliar to him, having dealt with that in the hinterlands of the Klingon Empire meeting at least four men who believed themselves to be reincarnation of Kahless, including a Ferengi which he thought was interesting. Usually though an extremist, at least a smart one, has a following beyond a single starship. Martyrdom could have been the goal, but without a willing audience it wouldn’t have made much sense. There had to have been something more.

Before he could dwell further on the mind of a madman the door chimed. Drawing his draw he lifted up a false bottom, something he had taken the liberty of installing, and dropped the chip inside, “Enter.” A Caitian entered through the door, a brute of a creature, wearing a set of civilian clothes. Aleksi made a show of looking at the roster before responding, “Mister R’Mular?”

“Doctor,” The Caitain corrected Aleksi, a slight sign of annoyance in his face knowing the Human had intentionally gave the lesser address. He took a seat without asking, “Your senior analyst and, effectively, your second in command.”

“I’m well aware of what your position is,” The Human’s eyes went back to the PADD, more of a show than anything else, “Who sent you here?” He looked back up to see the practiced confusion on R’Mular’s face. He raised a brow, “Don’t worry, the only bugs in this room belong to me,” He suspected that with the Doctor, one of the foremost SIGINT analysts in the Fleet, on board it would not be true for long.

“What do you mean who sent me? Starfleet did!” R’Mular’s tone took on a low growl, as if to intimidate the Russian to his way of understanding. The fact he’d even ask the question was ridiculous, any unit would be happy to have his abilities.

“Well no shit,” Aleksi raised a brow, not particularly fond of his new ‘deputy’s’ defensiveness. The aggression could have worked a few years ago, but since spending a year where that sort of act was considered flirting he just took it with annoyance, “Considering the fact you happened to be assigned to this vessel about an hour after me. Let’s just say I’m not a fan of coincidences,” While Dr. R’Mular was well known in the intelligence community, there was something suspicious about his relative demotion. Watching the face for a reaction, a confused look as he mentally attempted to come up with some plausible explanation.

“Excellent,” After a long pause, a smile spreading across Alexi’s face. A senior civilian in his house, a big brute could easily keep a human in check, plus the timing meant someone wanted to keep an eye on him, “Now the air has been cleared we can get onto the business of what you are officially here to do. As you’re annoyance suggested you aren’t just a SIGINT analyst, you are one of the best in the business. Don’t take my suspicions the wrong way, I am glad to have your capabilities and intend to fully utilize them.”

The Caitian nodded, “Coming from you I suppose that’s a compliment. Yes, I’m probably the best there is at, definitely on this ship,” It had been a while since he’d been in the field, most of his days being stuck in the SIGINT Directorate Headquarters coming up with better exploitation techniques, “And I was asked if I wanted to go out in the field again. Considering that a lab can only tell you so much I thought it’d be wise to test my theories,” It wasn’t exactly normal to have a collections guy on board a regular fleet ship, in fact far from normal since most vessels wouldn’t be in a position to collect on regular basis, “To include using readily available Starfleet equipment.”

“And so humble too,” The human realized the hypocrisy of his own words, at least in this case his job made more sense than R’Mular’s, “This is how I see us operating, you handle the technical aspects of the job and deal with the folks back home. I will handle the analyst side while being the pretty face of leadership.”

R’Mular held up a finger, “You are the commander, you handle communication. I’m more than capable of handling the analysis,” There were rumors of Aleksi suffering from paranoia, possibly leading to his overreaction on the Norwich, either way the last thing they needed was for the man to misconstrue some innocent gesture as an act of war, “We need you at the helm, focused.”

Aleksi raised a brow, pretending not to understand what the senior civilian was getting at, “I’m more than capable of signing forms and attending staff meetings without it having a significant impact to the work I was brought on to do,” He leaned forward, letting the Caitian know non-verbally that the arrangement was not going to be acceptable, “You are the collections and technical side, I am the analyst and tactics side. Will this work,” It was more of a statement than a question.

Removing his own doubts from the equation R’Mular had to agree that was a logical delineation of effort, he didn’t want to but it was true, “It will work,” He had received both the doctors and counselors reports, both indicating he was fit for service. No, unfortunately he may have the most realistic view of them all, “Cold and logical.”

Aleksi stood up, stretching out his uniform, “That’s me, cold and logical,” He looked at R’Mular for a long moment, the latter expecting some other comment, “I’m off to my cabin now, still haven’t been it since boarding, and get a nap in before my date tonight,” Raising his brow looked him in the eye, “You want her name? Times I’ll be out?”

“You’re an adult, just show up to work sober,” R’Mular wondered why he even brought the comment off, he was a professional analyst and not a nanny.

“I’ll show up, I can’t promise any sobriety,” Aleksi set his hand on his deputy’s shoulder briefly before leaving. He could understand why someone would want to send him some sort of handler, but the question is who. At the very least he knew it wasn’t Mira, she would have been smart enough to send a drop dead gorgeous Betazed or Orion, people who could control him without the use of strength. The thought could come later, now he just wanted to make sure he didn’t screw up his meeting later that night.