Time is Fleeting – The investigation starts
by Alderman Dorian Gabriel & Captain Tasha Tahir (NPC) & Commander Karen Villiers & Commander Chelsea Dunham & Lieutenant JG Petro
Post Details
ON:
"Somebody is to blame, and I sure as hell don't believe in accidents!" Gabriel said as he continued to stand, rejecting the Commander's offer to sit.
"We have 54 dead, 127 injured Starfleet officers due to the firing of that live warhead in a supposed non-live simulation. If somebody was going to sabotage this station, this would be the perfect way of inflicting the most damage. The question is, which officer assisted." He added.
Davies kept his eyes on Gabriel as he knew he had yet to give his report to the Admiral and whatever Dorian found out would be the basis of that report.
He raised his hands shaking his head.
"First and foremost, we are not to cast any aspersions or direct blame. Ensign Petro will check the manifest and we will determine how a live warhead entered the armament line. Duquense will assist and ......"
Dorian cut Davies down.
"I say we begin at the top: First the J'Naii, then we look towards Michael Duquense, the supposedly former Maquis." He suggested.
Davies grew a little agitated at Dorian and despite the fact that he was thorough, he was still under investigation from that woman who was still lurking.
"Dorian, you must let somebody else take charge of the investigation. That woman is still demanding to talk to you. As for Duquense, he is not the only former Maquis aboard the station, in fact I am sure that there are a number of people who would have taken great pleasure in seeing a Federation ship destroyed by this station."
The woman was certainly outliving her welcome. He was not sure as to why she was still on the station. Whatever business she had should have been completed by now.
Gabriel angrily bit down on his tongue to stop from responding with his first choice of words. Why now of all times had that people decided to take any type of interest in that damn Romulan Doctor? He had never done any good for anybody other than himself. Now he had to deal with a witch-hunt, which was more than likely orchestrated by that damn Embassy.
Davies pushed himself from his seat, grabbing at the glass of water in front of him and tipping the glass upwards, emptied its contents. "We have Cardassians, Romulans and even Ferenghi personnel, all of whom may have accessed the weapons systems. Check the logs, check the missiles, goddammit, check everything." He said as his own frustrations rose to the surface and his voice went along with them.
"You can't be serious! There is no way in hell that I'm going to allow somebody else to handle an investigation this damn important on my station." He replied forcefully "I could care less what some woman or random Commander has to say about some worthless incident over 10 years ago." Gabriel said, making an indirect reference to Commander Villiers, who for some reason was still onboard the station.
Davies shook his head furiously. "No, not be involved I want you, no, need you involved. You are the Chief of security on this station and I need you to be present." He slammed the glass down a little harder than he meant to. "Dorian..." He paused, trying but failing to smile and appeared to grimace. "as the chief, you are the man at the top, but with that woman investigating you, you need to step back from the front line. I trust you to bring me the results of whatever happened, however it happened and I need to know ASAP so that I can at least stand in front of the Admiral and offer an explanation. Just take it easy." He explained.
"Screw both of them, I don't have time to play around with them and their pointless witch-hunt. That Commander is just bucking for a promotion and that other woman can't figure out that our history is just that: History!" He responded.
Before he could continue he was interrupted by the sound of the doors opening.
"What a fascinating theory," Karen said, "Which one am I? Sorry I'm a little late, Commander Davies, I had to look over a brief regarding the USS Trafalgar that could not wait."
Duquense followed behind the Commander as she entered the room and he quickly took a seat on the far side of the room in an attempt to avoid the fireworks that were sure to erupt.
"This is a conversation between Security and the Commanding Officer of the station, none of which apply to you and whatever temporary assignment you have on this station." Gabriel replied as he gave a dismissive glance towards Villiers.
"Commander, I can begin interrogations immediate. I just need authorization to collect logs and other files from the Embassies onboard. I already have my men watching the Romulans and that so-called 'Time Traveller' " Gabriel replied. He was already running through a list of suspects that he would visit first to ascertain their culpability in this matter.
"Embassies are sovereign territory and what you suggest would be tantamount to a border violation. You have no jurisdiction," Karen said, she was really beginning to dislike this man.
"I was speaking to the other Commander, the one with the proper authority here." Gabriel replied to the woman.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but my appointment is not temporary as well you know. I am the Executive Officer of this station until such time as Starfleet feel it necessary to reassign or to promote me. Commander Davies has authority until Tahir returns, but I remain the XO. I am also an experienced and qualified JAG Officer and I will not allow a willful violation of the law to go ahead - you have a problem with the legality, file it with Admiral Brailsford at Starfleet HQ."
"Lieutenant Gabriel!" Davies' voiced rose as his face reddened a little, "Commander Villiers is the appointed Executive Officer aboard the station and as much as it may pain you, she is your superior officer and whilst you are under investigation from that other woman that is skulking around the station somewhere, her orders as well as mine stand." He voiced as he caught a sheepish glance from Ensign Petro and also noticed that Duquense had entered the room whilst he was preoccupied and wished he had not raised his voice so in front of junior officers.
David took a deep breath, holding his hand palm outward to silence any retorts from Dorian and turned to look at Duquense and then to Petro, wanting to make some flippant remark about permission to enter being giving and that his office was not a thoroughfare for all and sundry, but his mind honed in to his command status.
"People, what is said in this room, stays in this room. We have a job to do and we may not like it, but there we go. I have to report to the Admiral this afternoon and I don't want to report with half facts and babble. I want a true account from the investigating officer, Commander Gabriel and I want the truth." He spun on his heel, his throat sore and bridged the short distance to the replicator and ordered himself a fresh cold orange juice, without regard to anybody else. Taking the glass he took his seat and sipped, waiting for the rest of the group to sit..
Petro had watched Duquense and Villiers enter the room and the voices of the men became louder as the doors opened. She found it interesting that Gabriel would use the word interrogation and not investigation. The former carried with it the implication of assumed guilt while the latter insinuated the keeping of an open mind for all possibilities. She knew the type of person he was and in his mind he had already assigned responsibility. Now, for him, was the matter of proving it. She was sure he would do that in any manner that would suffice.
Duquense continued to watch the spectacle take place. He knew that Gabriel was looking for an opportunity to exert the long arm of Federation law on whomever he believed was responsible for the death of those Starfleet Officers. However, within Gabriel's desire for justice there lie an misplaced fervor. A fervor that could lead to more problems than solutions.
Another part of Duquense understood Gabriel's suspicion. He was not the first person to question Duquense loyalty since returning to Starfleet. "Once a traitor, always a traitor" is what so many had said to him in the past. However, Duquense knew that in his heart he never betrayed his uniform. If anything, carried out his oath to protect those that could not protect themselves.
Regardless of the man in charge of the investigation, Duquense still felt responsibility for what had happened. As Tactical Officer, the weapons onboard the station were his responsibility. Therefore the blame rested on his shoulders even if this was a result of negligence and not deliberate intent.
Gabriel didn't respond. He never believed in coincidences, and this current situation was beginning to prove him right. The reappearance of Girauna at the behest of Federation Investigations, the appointment of a JAG Officer to the station without his prior knowledge, and the comment by Raedheol within the embassy all led Gabriel to believe that his worst fear was beginning to take form. Leave it to a Romulan to pose a threat, even from the grave.
Gabriel stood up suddenly. "I have to attend an important matter." He said in a hurried manner as he turned and quickly exited the doors without being dismissed.
"Keep me informed Lieutenant!" David shouted after Gabriel as the door slowly rolled back into a closed position as David eased around to look at Karen, Duquense and Petro.
"Sorry Commander, you were not supposed to hear that, but I must ask that Gabriel be given a little leniency, he is under a great deal of strain at the moment, with the accident and that Federation investigator following him around like a shadow." Davies explained on Gabriel's behalf whilst noticing an obvious look of discomfort on the tactical officer face, despite him trying to look relaxed.
"Perhaps a session with a counselor?" Karen suggested, "I'm not about to tell you how to do your job, Commander, but I don't believe that strain is what is behind his extraordinary attitude - I can let it pass, but if it continues indefinately he will continue to undermine morale." She suspected that he was stressed about something quite different, but she had no idea how he could have heard so much as a rumour about her brief.
"Lieutenant Duquense, Ensign Petro, please, take seats." He motioned to the chairs around the table and waited for them to sit.
Petro walked timidly to the indicated chairs. She wanted to say something about Gabriel but now was not the time. She wasn't sure if it would ever be the time. She lowered her head and stared at her hands which she folded in her lap.
Duquense kept his eyes locked on the window on the far side of the Commander's office. Out the porthole he could still see Dunham's crew handling the wreckage of the vessel as it continued to float within the station's secured area.
Things like this didn't "just happen". Duquense knew that this wasn't just some random glitch in the system. Human error was involved at some point, and as he thought about it more and more, the error seemed to be apparently his own.
Davies could see that the two of them were racked with guilt and for different reasons and he wanted to know what it was that was on their minds.
"You are not here under investigation, Lieutenant Gabriel will probe that avenue later, but I want to know what both of you are feeling, why you're both feeling it and what we are going to do to alleviate your feelings." He stated. looking at Karen for some moral support.
Karen nodded, "Mistakes were made and we'll find out why and how later; for now we need to accept that and understand what is on your minds," and if there was any malicious intent she added to herself, not that she suspected anyone in the room.
Petro looked up. She had had more than her fill of conflicts lately and Dorian's hunt for guilt wasn't making things any easier. Whether there was a mix up or not wouldn't matter to him. He'd seek out someone to push through an airlock.
She turned her head and glanced at Karen for a moment before looking back at Davies. "Permission to speak freely, sir?" She asked, her natural timidity coming to full bear.
"Always!" Davies replied, a little taken aback at her braveness.
"Lieutenant Commander Gabriel has a history of going beyond what actually needs to be done. I don't know if it's a personal issue or what it is but, well..." she stopped, looking for the right words to say.
"Don't have any qualms about offending us," Karen said, "this is a private conversation, so don't hesitate to speak your mind."
Duquense listened intently for what Petro had to say about the Chief Security Officer.
He could see that despite her brave front, the J'Naii still had underlying fears and it was never easy to coax them to the surface, but she had made the first step.
"Petro," Davies began as he searched her eyes, "if you have something on your mind, now is the time to bring it to light." His voice was quiet and reassuring and he did not take his eyes from hers.
Petro nodded. "It's just that, well, I'm not sure that Lieutenant Commander Gabriel would be, um," She bit her lip trying to think of the right word. "Impartial. He's shown, on several occasions, that he has a gobbet on his articulatio humeroscapularis against non terrans." She looked around at the faces staring at her. She wished they wouldn't stare. Maybe she was just being paranoid about Gabriel but something in his tone when he spoke to anyone that wasn't a Terran and the way he looked at them made her uncomfortable.
Her description was lost on Davies as he tried to make sense of her articulations.
"His what?" He asked, confusion painted on his face as he looked at Karen and brought himself closer to the Ensign, dragging a chair behind him.
"ah, you mean he has some chip on his shoulder!" He said with the beginnings of a grin. "I see and you think that he may have had something to do with the awry warhead?" He enquired cautiously, not wanting to sound as if he were putting words into her mouth.
"Why would he do that?" Petro asked, confused by the question. She shook her head. "No, I just think that he may just look for anyone convenient to blame. Anyone could be a target of his chip."
"We'll bear your concerns in mind," Karen assured her, it was true that the few encounters that she had witnessed between Gabriel and alien species were hardly cordial but Karen had assumed, given his instant hostility to her that it was the sort of reaction he had to all newcomers to hold them at a distance ... still, Petro's feeling meshed somewhat with some of the reports she had been reading about the security chief.
Duquense, you're very quiet. You must have something on your mind?" Davies asked.
Duquesne continued to observe the interactions of the officers before slightly turning his head towards the Ops area. What he saw surprised him to the point of being speechless.
"Commander! It's Gabriel! He's completely snapped!" He said as he rose to his feet and began to rush towards the door to pull the enraged Officer off of Lieutenant Tan.
Off
Commander David Davies
Ensign Petro
Quartermaster
Commander Karen Villiers
Lieutenant J.G.
Michael Duquesne
Tactical Officer
by Alderman Dorian Gabriel & Captain Tasha Tahir (NPC) & Commander Karen Villiers & Commander Chelsea Dunham & Lieutenant JG Petro
Post Details
| Title | The investigation starts | |
| Mission | Time is Fleeting | |
| Author(s) | Alderman Dorian Gabriel & Captain Tasha Tahir (NPC) & Commander Karen Villiers & Commander Chelsea Dunham & Lieutenant JG Petro | |
| Posted | Fri Nov 06, 2009 @ 7:39pm | |
| Location | Captain's Office | |
| Timeline | SD 15 - 10.07hrs |
"Somebody is to blame, and I sure as hell don't believe in accidents!" Gabriel said as he continued to stand, rejecting the Commander's offer to sit.
"We have 54 dead, 127 injured Starfleet officers due to the firing of that live warhead in a supposed non-live simulation. If somebody was going to sabotage this station, this would be the perfect way of inflicting the most damage. The question is, which officer assisted." He added.
Davies kept his eyes on Gabriel as he knew he had yet to give his report to the Admiral and whatever Dorian found out would be the basis of that report.
He raised his hands shaking his head.
"First and foremost, we are not to cast any aspersions or direct blame. Ensign Petro will check the manifest and we will determine how a live warhead entered the armament line. Duquense will assist and ......"
Dorian cut Davies down.
"I say we begin at the top: First the J'Naii, then we look towards Michael Duquense, the supposedly former Maquis." He suggested.
Davies grew a little agitated at Dorian and despite the fact that he was thorough, he was still under investigation from that woman who was still lurking.
"Dorian, you must let somebody else take charge of the investigation. That woman is still demanding to talk to you. As for Duquense, he is not the only former Maquis aboard the station, in fact I am sure that there are a number of people who would have taken great pleasure in seeing a Federation ship destroyed by this station."
The woman was certainly outliving her welcome. He was not sure as to why she was still on the station. Whatever business she had should have been completed by now.
Gabriel angrily bit down on his tongue to stop from responding with his first choice of words. Why now of all times had that people decided to take any type of interest in that damn Romulan Doctor? He had never done any good for anybody other than himself. Now he had to deal with a witch-hunt, which was more than likely orchestrated by that damn Embassy.
Davies pushed himself from his seat, grabbing at the glass of water in front of him and tipping the glass upwards, emptied its contents. "We have Cardassians, Romulans and even Ferenghi personnel, all of whom may have accessed the weapons systems. Check the logs, check the missiles, goddammit, check everything." He said as his own frustrations rose to the surface and his voice went along with them.
"You can't be serious! There is no way in hell that I'm going to allow somebody else to handle an investigation this damn important on my station." He replied forcefully "I could care less what some woman or random Commander has to say about some worthless incident over 10 years ago." Gabriel said, making an indirect reference to Commander Villiers, who for some reason was still onboard the station.
Davies shook his head furiously. "No, not be involved I want you, no, need you involved. You are the Chief of security on this station and I need you to be present." He slammed the glass down a little harder than he meant to. "Dorian..." He paused, trying but failing to smile and appeared to grimace. "as the chief, you are the man at the top, but with that woman investigating you, you need to step back from the front line. I trust you to bring me the results of whatever happened, however it happened and I need to know ASAP so that I can at least stand in front of the Admiral and offer an explanation. Just take it easy." He explained.
"Screw both of them, I don't have time to play around with them and their pointless witch-hunt. That Commander is just bucking for a promotion and that other woman can't figure out that our history is just that: History!" He responded.
Before he could continue he was interrupted by the sound of the doors opening.
"What a fascinating theory," Karen said, "Which one am I? Sorry I'm a little late, Commander Davies, I had to look over a brief regarding the USS Trafalgar that could not wait."
Duquense followed behind the Commander as she entered the room and he quickly took a seat on the far side of the room in an attempt to avoid the fireworks that were sure to erupt.
"This is a conversation between Security and the Commanding Officer of the station, none of which apply to you and whatever temporary assignment you have on this station." Gabriel replied as he gave a dismissive glance towards Villiers.
"Commander, I can begin interrogations immediate. I just need authorization to collect logs and other files from the Embassies onboard. I already have my men watching the Romulans and that so-called 'Time Traveller' " Gabriel replied. He was already running through a list of suspects that he would visit first to ascertain their culpability in this matter.
"Embassies are sovereign territory and what you suggest would be tantamount to a border violation. You have no jurisdiction," Karen said, she was really beginning to dislike this man.
"I was speaking to the other Commander, the one with the proper authority here." Gabriel replied to the woman.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but my appointment is not temporary as well you know. I am the Executive Officer of this station until such time as Starfleet feel it necessary to reassign or to promote me. Commander Davies has authority until Tahir returns, but I remain the XO. I am also an experienced and qualified JAG Officer and I will not allow a willful violation of the law to go ahead - you have a problem with the legality, file it with Admiral Brailsford at Starfleet HQ."
"Lieutenant Gabriel!" Davies' voiced rose as his face reddened a little, "Commander Villiers is the appointed Executive Officer aboard the station and as much as it may pain you, she is your superior officer and whilst you are under investigation from that other woman that is skulking around the station somewhere, her orders as well as mine stand." He voiced as he caught a sheepish glance from Ensign Petro and also noticed that Duquense had entered the room whilst he was preoccupied and wished he had not raised his voice so in front of junior officers.
David took a deep breath, holding his hand palm outward to silence any retorts from Dorian and turned to look at Duquense and then to Petro, wanting to make some flippant remark about permission to enter being giving and that his office was not a thoroughfare for all and sundry, but his mind honed in to his command status.
"People, what is said in this room, stays in this room. We have a job to do and we may not like it, but there we go. I have to report to the Admiral this afternoon and I don't want to report with half facts and babble. I want a true account from the investigating officer, Commander Gabriel and I want the truth." He spun on his heel, his throat sore and bridged the short distance to the replicator and ordered himself a fresh cold orange juice, without regard to anybody else. Taking the glass he took his seat and sipped, waiting for the rest of the group to sit..
Petro had watched Duquense and Villiers enter the room and the voices of the men became louder as the doors opened. She found it interesting that Gabriel would use the word interrogation and not investigation. The former carried with it the implication of assumed guilt while the latter insinuated the keeping of an open mind for all possibilities. She knew the type of person he was and in his mind he had already assigned responsibility. Now, for him, was the matter of proving it. She was sure he would do that in any manner that would suffice.
Duquense continued to watch the spectacle take place. He knew that Gabriel was looking for an opportunity to exert the long arm of Federation law on whomever he believed was responsible for the death of those Starfleet Officers. However, within Gabriel's desire for justice there lie an misplaced fervor. A fervor that could lead to more problems than solutions.
Another part of Duquense understood Gabriel's suspicion. He was not the first person to question Duquense loyalty since returning to Starfleet. "Once a traitor, always a traitor" is what so many had said to him in the past. However, Duquense knew that in his heart he never betrayed his uniform. If anything, carried out his oath to protect those that could not protect themselves.
Regardless of the man in charge of the investigation, Duquense still felt responsibility for what had happened. As Tactical Officer, the weapons onboard the station were his responsibility. Therefore the blame rested on his shoulders even if this was a result of negligence and not deliberate intent.
Gabriel didn't respond. He never believed in coincidences, and this current situation was beginning to prove him right. The reappearance of Girauna at the behest of Federation Investigations, the appointment of a JAG Officer to the station without his prior knowledge, and the comment by Raedheol within the embassy all led Gabriel to believe that his worst fear was beginning to take form. Leave it to a Romulan to pose a threat, even from the grave.
Gabriel stood up suddenly. "I have to attend an important matter." He said in a hurried manner as he turned and quickly exited the doors without being dismissed.
"Keep me informed Lieutenant!" David shouted after Gabriel as the door slowly rolled back into a closed position as David eased around to look at Karen, Duquense and Petro.
"Sorry Commander, you were not supposed to hear that, but I must ask that Gabriel be given a little leniency, he is under a great deal of strain at the moment, with the accident and that Federation investigator following him around like a shadow." Davies explained on Gabriel's behalf whilst noticing an obvious look of discomfort on the tactical officer face, despite him trying to look relaxed.
"Perhaps a session with a counselor?" Karen suggested, "I'm not about to tell you how to do your job, Commander, but I don't believe that strain is what is behind his extraordinary attitude - I can let it pass, but if it continues indefinately he will continue to undermine morale." She suspected that he was stressed about something quite different, but she had no idea how he could have heard so much as a rumour about her brief.
"Lieutenant Duquense, Ensign Petro, please, take seats." He motioned to the chairs around the table and waited for them to sit.
Petro walked timidly to the indicated chairs. She wanted to say something about Gabriel but now was not the time. She wasn't sure if it would ever be the time. She lowered her head and stared at her hands which she folded in her lap.
Duquense kept his eyes locked on the window on the far side of the Commander's office. Out the porthole he could still see Dunham's crew handling the wreckage of the vessel as it continued to float within the station's secured area.
Things like this didn't "just happen". Duquense knew that this wasn't just some random glitch in the system. Human error was involved at some point, and as he thought about it more and more, the error seemed to be apparently his own.
Davies could see that the two of them were racked with guilt and for different reasons and he wanted to know what it was that was on their minds.
"You are not here under investigation, Lieutenant Gabriel will probe that avenue later, but I want to know what both of you are feeling, why you're both feeling it and what we are going to do to alleviate your feelings." He stated. looking at Karen for some moral support.
Karen nodded, "Mistakes were made and we'll find out why and how later; for now we need to accept that and understand what is on your minds," and if there was any malicious intent she added to herself, not that she suspected anyone in the room.
Petro looked up. She had had more than her fill of conflicts lately and Dorian's hunt for guilt wasn't making things any easier. Whether there was a mix up or not wouldn't matter to him. He'd seek out someone to push through an airlock.
She turned her head and glanced at Karen for a moment before looking back at Davies. "Permission to speak freely, sir?" She asked, her natural timidity coming to full bear.
"Always!" Davies replied, a little taken aback at her braveness.
"Lieutenant Commander Gabriel has a history of going beyond what actually needs to be done. I don't know if it's a personal issue or what it is but, well..." she stopped, looking for the right words to say.
"Don't have any qualms about offending us," Karen said, "this is a private conversation, so don't hesitate to speak your mind."
Duquense listened intently for what Petro had to say about the Chief Security Officer.
He could see that despite her brave front, the J'Naii still had underlying fears and it was never easy to coax them to the surface, but she had made the first step.
"Petro," Davies began as he searched her eyes, "if you have something on your mind, now is the time to bring it to light." His voice was quiet and reassuring and he did not take his eyes from hers.
Petro nodded. "It's just that, well, I'm not sure that Lieutenant Commander Gabriel would be, um," She bit her lip trying to think of the right word. "Impartial. He's shown, on several occasions, that he has a gobbet on his articulatio humeroscapularis against non terrans." She looked around at the faces staring at her. She wished they wouldn't stare. Maybe she was just being paranoid about Gabriel but something in his tone when he spoke to anyone that wasn't a Terran and the way he looked at them made her uncomfortable.
Her description was lost on Davies as he tried to make sense of her articulations.
"His what?" He asked, confusion painted on his face as he looked at Karen and brought himself closer to the Ensign, dragging a chair behind him.
"ah, you mean he has some chip on his shoulder!" He said with the beginnings of a grin. "I see and you think that he may have had something to do with the awry warhead?" He enquired cautiously, not wanting to sound as if he were putting words into her mouth.
"Why would he do that?" Petro asked, confused by the question. She shook her head. "No, I just think that he may just look for anyone convenient to blame. Anyone could be a target of his chip."
"We'll bear your concerns in mind," Karen assured her, it was true that the few encounters that she had witnessed between Gabriel and alien species were hardly cordial but Karen had assumed, given his instant hostility to her that it was the sort of reaction he had to all newcomers to hold them at a distance ... still, Petro's feeling meshed somewhat with some of the reports she had been reading about the security chief.
Duquense, you're very quiet. You must have something on your mind?" Davies asked.
Duquesne continued to observe the interactions of the officers before slightly turning his head towards the Ops area. What he saw surprised him to the point of being speechless.
"Commander! It's Gabriel! He's completely snapped!" He said as he rose to his feet and began to rush towards the door to pull the enraged Officer off of Lieutenant Tan.
Off
Commander David Davies
Ensign Petro
Quartermaster
Commander Karen Villiers
Lieutenant J.G.
Michael Duquesne
Tactical Officer