Incommunicado – In Memorial: Tribute to the missing
by Lieutenant Commander Jarred Wallace & Captain Tasha Tahir (NPC) & Commander Karen Villiers & Lieutenant Commander Bruce Freeman & Colonel James Darson & Lieutenant Vincent Kramer & Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham & Alderman Dorian Gabriel & UFP Ambassador Ryan O'Hara & Cardassian Vi'kar Gul Tharek Getal
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Rhiana looked out the view port into the void of space, somewhere out there was the man who had rescued her and her family, a man who had saved the son of a Romulan senator, lead a Klingon raid on a Jemhidar outpost, and had something to do with the marines and engineering. She was really mixed on the speech she had given, and even more mixed on the people around her, she saw Admiral James talking with the captain, over at the table was the ultimate odd couple Dr Stapleton and the Chief. She noticed the sudden exit of Ms. Mackenzie and her friend Jana not too long after the speech was done, she wasn't to broken up over it frankly Ms. Mackenzie didn't exactly like her, and the woman probably needed to be alone instead of dealing with all the trauma of this event.
A waiter came by with a tray of drinks Rhiana reached for one, not realizing she had grabbed a massive goblet of Bloodwine, she took a long drink and felt a rush to her head, she leaned against the rail and looked over to her left she saw Commander Freeman. "Need an alien gadget dissected?"
"Nope, not this time around. Just here to pay my respects." Bruce replied with a small smile. Waving the waiter with the drinks along. He still had somethings he needed to finish up in Engineering after the memorial.
This type of event was not something that Vincent normally was used to doing, but he had been asked to put on his dress uniform and in his Chief’s words, “...at least act like a senior officer.” Lt. Kramer saw a Romulan address the Chief and stepped over to his side.
Bruce nodded at the arrival of his assistant.
Rhiana looked to her left "Lieutenant Kramer, it's nice to see you again. Haven't seen you down in the intelligence offices in a long time."
Kramer nodded to the Rhiana with respect, "Well, they keep me fairly busy."
The waiter then stopped in front of Lt. Kramer and offered a drink. Vincent took a shallow glass of what he expected to be champagne. He wasn't planning on drinking, but just wanted to look like he fit in.
"Mead, never did acquire a taste for that stuff." Rhiana said as she stood up to switch glasses "I wonder what those two are talking about." pointing to the captain and Admiral Edwards.
Tasha had her back to everyone else in the room and was holding the fluted glass close to her crisp white dress uniform, listening but not paying full attention to the Admirals procrastinations about the need for more intelligence officers, especially with the loss of Jarred Wallace and several other key members of the Intelligence department this far out in the quadrant.
Tasha cleared her throat. "Admiral, Intelligence gathering, though needed, is not as necessary as a fully staffed security department." She stated. "Your office alone has cut the number of security officers by half on this station alone and to me, no matter what intel we garner, we don't have nearly enough security to cope. I admit, we have one of best Flight and Marine teams in the sector, but if I cannot protect the civilian members of the station, what good is intelligence?"
"Lately we've been getting more and more into diplomatic solutions, and the only way we have been able too deal with those matters is to understand not just the politics but the size an inches, I admit that security staff have been re-assigned, but these levels have little to do with my office anymore Tasha, and besides that most of the primary intelligence work has been moved away from the starbases, the first had work is back with the star ships, freeing up the starbases to do the studies, but with officers like Lieutenant Wallace becoming smaller in number, the risk takers that we need in this day and age." Admiral Edwards paused to take a sip of his drink.
"Now with him dead, we think." pausing again to drink "It's becoming clear that Starfleet is going to get caught up in something messy with very few options to get out."
Tasha lifted her glass to her lips but before she raised it, she thought about what Edwards had said and dropped her brow.
"Messy? So what you're saying, is that we need more diplomats than security AND intel officers to get out of messy situations?" She stressed the 'and' as she shook her head in disbelief.
"Hardly captain, no one at Starfleet realized that a station that was originally intended as a jump off point for exploration and colonization would end up a critical military operation" Edwards paused as he took another drink "Lieutenant Wallace spoke highly of you, and we made sure that when possible you had access to some special items, and I'm going to keep that up."
Tasha pursed her lips and gave a single nod. "Thank you Admiral, I appreciate that." She replied as she arced her head around, looking at the room beginning to fill. "If you will excuse me Admiral." She gave a slight bow of her head as she turned and headed to the small group that had began to form around Rhiana and her hand went slightly upward as her index finger pointed upwards and made a circular motion as she mouthed 'Mingle' to them and drew up to the Intelligence officer as Colonel Darson entered the room with his usual flamboyance and swagger, closely followed by Commanders Dunham and Dunham.
"Keep circulating, there is a lot of useful contacts to be made." Her head bucked backwards in Admiral Edwards direction.
In another corner of the reception Marti was walking over to the bar to grab another drink, as she picked it up she saw a lone Klingon standing staring into space, "Can I help you?"
"You are one of Wallaces' crewmates?" The Klingon asked
"He was my teacher, and mentor." Marti replied not sure where this was going.
"So you mourn for you teacher with tears or in joy that he is one of the honoured dead?"
"Both, He died saving others, to protect life for his unborn child." Marti said.
"Among my people spies are not considered honourable, but this one proved that a warrior by any other name is still a warrior so I hope that he died well, he is one of the few non-Klingons whose deeds will be part of our history."
"Did he ever do deeds worthy of story?" Marti tried to keep this conversation going
"Many, we earned many honours in battle, and the rewards that came with it and he is an honoured member of my house forever."
Marti paused to think about her next question "Why did he return knowing he would treated as a criminal?"
"The one named Edwards said it was a matter of importance." The Klingon took a mighty pull of a drink he had in hand "Wallace chose to return for that reason only."
khre'Riov Gorath tr'Hheinia had little interest in this gathering. By virtue of the influence of the esteemed Ambassador t'Khellian he had secured permission to dock and to attend this ceremony accompanied by his three attaches. Still, it was a quiet honour to pay, and listening to the blathering of Klingons, even from a distance left a bad taste.
Chelsea and Rick were resplendent in their formal 'dress' uniforms as the couple entered the room dutifully to pay their respects. They separated and mingled, coming back together after a while as they both converged on the CO at the far end of the room.
"Good afternoon, Captain." Chelsea spoke with quiet respect as she stood beside her CO, taking a glass from the hostess who appeared out of nowhere to offer both the Dunhams refreshment. "Thank you" she said incidentally as she accepted a drink.
Tasha stood near the podium and watched the collective comings and in some cases, the goings of those she recognised and to an extent, those she didn't. She lifted the glass to her lips and allowed the fizzy beverage to dampen her upper lip.
The small group of Romulans who had entered and stood to the far left and kept themselves to themselves. The rowdy Klingons, of which she counted seven had huddled together and it was good to see that some former staff members had made the effort to trail back to DS5 to pay respects for Wallace.
She was lost in her own thoughts regarding the way aliens still managed to flock together even if this a gateway to the quadrants. She gave an unheard sigh as Chelsea interrupted her concentration.
"Good afternoon." She replied until she focussed her attention. "Commander Dunham," She looked at Rick, "the dress uniform suits you, or you suit it." She smiled as her eyes moved to Chelsea, "And you look very attractive also, Commander Dunham," She repeated rank and name and it struck her as odd, yet somehow charming, "or would you prefer Doctor?" She added as if to put right an error.
Klingons, Romulans, Ambassadors, Admirals, just one big giant target waiting for something to happen, Trellis thought to himself as he continued to survey the room. As the time passed, more and more individuals began to fill the room and converse with each other, completely oblivious to how tempting of a target they all were.
=^= "Trellis to R'zul, get with front entrance and see if they need assistance with scanning the people as they arrive. We need to make sure that this is an *invite only* event." Trellis said into his comm unit as he continued to scan the room.
He figured that he might as well enjoy the current assignment. Once his replacement from Earth had arrived, he would find himself back in Docking Bay Security. A position that he had originally thought he had left behind him. Unfortunately, the "powers that be" felt that he just wasn't good enough or adequate to handle the responsibility.
Responsibility, inadequate, not enough, he had become all too familiar with those terms. He just felt that *this* was going to be different. That *this* would be the time that he could prove himself to everyone around him and show that he was the most qualified to handle the responsibility of security.
~Ahh hell, who am I kidding?~ He thought to himself as he reached for an alcoholic concoction as it passed by him on a tray. He figured that he might as well try to "blend in" with the crowd so as to not arose any suspicions. Besides, one drink wouldn't hurt. . .
"Has Captain Park Check in yet?" Admiral Edwards asked his aide
"No sir not yet."
"Thank you." the admiral turned to other matters.
Tasha placed the near untouched glass onto a tray as she moved back towards the podium, tapping both Rhiana and Trellis on the shoulder as she went.
At the base of the podium, she turned, taking a good look around the Arboretum, trying her best to identify everyone in the room and noted that there were still a few of the command staff missing.
"Lieutenant Trellis, make a single pass around the room. Ensure that all the doors are have security officers and that your teams are in place. Lieutenant Rhiana, once the Lieutenant has completed his checks, guided Admiral Edwards to the podium." She stated, ~Lets get this out of the way~ She thought to herself.
"Aye, ma'am," He responded while making sure to grab a second drink as it passed by him.
Darson entered the room with his usual sense of self-styled importance, and yet managing to convey a sense of somberness for the occasion. Compared to the last time he had been in full dress uniform at the dinner party, absent were the large mass of jangling medals, useless white gloves, sword and monocle attached to his helmet. Remaining was the holographic green dress uniform with ribbon rack attached, braiding on the right side, and the officers cap. New was the rather old looking bottle he carried in his hand. Bloodwine, from his own private reserves. A tribute to the supposedly fallen Lieutenant.
As he passed the threshold, he made his initial sweep of the room, assessing targets and potential threats. High ranking officials from almost all of the powers of the Alpha Quadrant were present, and he wished a silent blessing to the security teams that were coordinating security. This was a tough one. He maneuvered his way through the crowd, picking out the most important points as he went. Klingons and Romulans in their own separate camps, Cardassians not here…yet. Federation intermingling between the two. He marked the Captain’s location as he passed behind a boisterously drinking mountain of a Klingon and made a line towards Admiral Edwards, drawing alongside him and his compatriots, “Admiral,” He said with a salute, “On behalf of the Marine Corp, welcome aboard Deep Space 5. Though I wish it were under better circumstances.”
"Thank you Colonel, the marines did there part in shutting down the pirate base, it was just misfortune that we didn't get there sooner." Edwards paused to sip on a beverage "if you'll excuse me."
As if cued by the Marine, Tharek Getal entered and made his presence immediately known. Not by words, but by his mere size. He said nothing and looked at nobody, making a direct line for the nearest glass of Kanar.
Rhiana looked around the room, Cardassians, Romulans, Klingons, admirals, Captains, marines, the only thing missing was someone saying this was a joke. She looked over at Admiral Edwards who was busy talking to his aide for the second time, something didn't feel right about the conversation almost as if they were holding something back, she made a gesture to The Chief to try and listen in.
"they found the item sir, its being transported to tactical map grid g7, reference 3." the aide said
"Find Admiral James, we will have to depart ahead of schedule." Admiral Edwards said.
Tasha moved to the podium, Admiral Edwards at one side and Rhiana at the other. She tapped the microphone, disguising the gulp of air she took and signalled that the service was about to begin.
The assembly came to a natural order as all the faces in the room looked her way. Her mouth tightened into a nervous smile as her hands pressed down on her tunic.
"Ladies, gentlemen and honourable guests. Thank you for coming to this memorial for Lieutenant Jarred Wallace." She again swallowed. She rehearsed this speech several times over the last hour and now, she could not find the words to begin her oration.
"We have lost an officer, a friend and an esteemed colleague. We have gathered here today, to acknowledge the man, his life and his sacrifice." She paused as she glanced around the sea of colours, ranks and races of those that stared up to her. "Jarred Wallace has been listed as Missing in Action, a job he took great pride in, in serving the Federation of Planets, to nurture and protect. His last mission, took him into the heart of pirate territory, to resolve ongoing issues and it may have cost him his life." This time the Captain paused for effect as she dipped her head.
"Let us pray for his family with a moments veneration." She dipped her head and after a few seconds rose her head as she turned to Admiral Edwards and gave the slightest of nods.
"Admiral Edwards." She said by means of an introduction.
The Admiral stepped up, "Lieutenant Commander Jarred Wallace, as I have chosen to remember him, was by all means one of the Federations best officers, he was unafraid by the enemies that he faced, unaffected by the things he saw, and by the deeds he did. Despite the incidents that resulted in his demotions, and the unyielding risks he took to safe guard the quadrant his greatest accomplishment wasn't the awards or honors, it was knowing the federation was safe, that our allies were safe."
"While much of what he did will remain classified, there is one mission that I will talk about." Pausing to take a drink "Under my orders Jarred undertook a rescue mission of a crippled science ship, during that mission he was taken prisoner, his fate after that still remains a mystery, many of the marines who were on that mission, were also members of the special action team that Mr Wallace commanded during the Dominion war, we also have members of the Klingon high council and the Romulan senate here out of respect for his actions for there people."
"I learned today that dead or not the Klingon high council has erected a statue of Jarred in the hall of honor, and that the Romulan senate has finally, but posthumously awarded his a medal of valor for his actions in rescuing survivors of a ship during combat."
"In addition to the nine purple hearts, six bronze stars, two silver stars, and thirty citations for bravery, Starfleet command has decided to add to this impressive collection of honors with the medal of honor and the distinguished service cross."
He waited while the whispers subsided "Some day soon I hope to have an answer to the question of what happened to him, but for now we honor him dead or alive."
Rhiana stepped up and took the admirals place, "I met the Lieutenant when I was 14, he rescued my family who had fled Romulus, I never met a man who cared regardless of where your home world was, or what your politics were, or that he would have faith in someone as he did in me when I chose to join Starfleet."
She paused trying to hold back tears "For what its worth, he wouldn't think twice about anything he's done, I just hope we get the answer to his final days."
Stepping down she had difficulty keeping her emotions in check.
Ryan listened as speaker after speaker made their tribute to Lieutenant Wallace at the podium. Although he had never met the man, he had no doubt the lieutenant deserved every praise and every commendation, but what good was a piece of alloy or a lifeless statue when you were not there to share it with those whose life you had touched? He glanced around the room and wondered how many people had come because they had known Wallace, and how many, like himself, had only come out of formality and diplomatic etiquette. Suddenly a rush of guilt surged through him. But there was nothing to feel guilty of. He didn't know the man. The next moment when Wallace's name was mentioned again, he raised his flute slightly and drank to the man he had never met.
Tasha took a last sombre look around the gathering, pausing briefly at specific persons. A small but significant group led by the Cardassian Ambassador, Getal who was watching everyone else. Kramer, who stood beside Karen and Bruce and stared back to Tasha. Admiral Edwards who was now holding yet another fresh glass of wine, the new UFP Ambassador who she had yet to talk to and for that matter did not know his name except as Ambassador O'Hara, the Dunhams, who were cradling each other. The small entourage that had surrounded the Klingon Ambassador who had his back to the podium throughout the ceremony, except when Rhiana had spoken and finally Colonel Darson who had stood to near perfect attention through out and now looked back at the captain and raised his glass an inch higher as sign of acknowledgement.
She looked to the stand and stepped forward, taking a single small breathe.
"Thank you for your time and attendance on behalf of Lieutenant Jarred Wallace." Tasha spoke clearly as she eased her glass forward, then brought it to her mouth and took a sip before circling around the stand and stepped off the podium.
She placed the glass on the nearest waiters tray before making her way to Commander Villiers.
"Karen, I am heading back up to Ops, via my quarters to get out of this garb."
"I'll join you," Karen agreed.
As they exited the service, Admiral Edwards looked over at Admiral James, "Next stop Starbase 255"
If were happy to end this, sign below and last to do so, hit post :D - Mark
OFF:
Captain Tasha Tahir
CO: DS5
Commander Karen Villiers
Executive Officer
Ryan O'Hara
UFP Amabassador
Lt jg Rhiana T'Sahen
Lt. Cmdr Bruce Freeman
Lt. Vincent Kramer
Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis
Vi'kar Gul Tharek Getal
Cardassian Ambassador
Colonel James Darson
Commander Chelsea Dunham
by Lieutenant Commander Jarred Wallace & Captain Tasha Tahir (NPC) & Commander Karen Villiers & Lieutenant Commander Bruce Freeman & Colonel James Darson & Lieutenant Vincent Kramer & Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham & Alderman Dorian Gabriel & UFP Ambassador Ryan O'Hara & Cardassian Vi'kar Gul Tharek Getal
Post Details
| Title | In Memorial: Tribute to the missing | |
| Mission | Incommunicado | |
| Author(s) | Lieutenant Commander Jarred Wallace & Captain Tasha Tahir (NPC) & Commander Karen Villiers & Lieutenant Commander Bruce Freeman & Colonel James Darson & Lieutenant Vincent Kramer & Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham & Alderman Dorian Gabriel & UFP Ambassador Ryan O'Hara & Cardassian Vi'kar Gul Tharek Getal | |
| Posted | Thu Feb 23, 2012 @ 12:41am | |
| Location | Arboretum | |
| Timeline | SD 52 0930 |
Rhiana looked out the view port into the void of space, somewhere out there was the man who had rescued her and her family, a man who had saved the son of a Romulan senator, lead a Klingon raid on a Jemhidar outpost, and had something to do with the marines and engineering. She was really mixed on the speech she had given, and even more mixed on the people around her, she saw Admiral James talking with the captain, over at the table was the ultimate odd couple Dr Stapleton and the Chief. She noticed the sudden exit of Ms. Mackenzie and her friend Jana not too long after the speech was done, she wasn't to broken up over it frankly Ms. Mackenzie didn't exactly like her, and the woman probably needed to be alone instead of dealing with all the trauma of this event.
A waiter came by with a tray of drinks Rhiana reached for one, not realizing she had grabbed a massive goblet of Bloodwine, she took a long drink and felt a rush to her head, she leaned against the rail and looked over to her left she saw Commander Freeman. "Need an alien gadget dissected?"
"Nope, not this time around. Just here to pay my respects." Bruce replied with a small smile. Waving the waiter with the drinks along. He still had somethings he needed to finish up in Engineering after the memorial.
This type of event was not something that Vincent normally was used to doing, but he had been asked to put on his dress uniform and in his Chief’s words, “...at least act like a senior officer.” Lt. Kramer saw a Romulan address the Chief and stepped over to his side.
Bruce nodded at the arrival of his assistant.
Rhiana looked to her left "Lieutenant Kramer, it's nice to see you again. Haven't seen you down in the intelligence offices in a long time."
Kramer nodded to the Rhiana with respect, "Well, they keep me fairly busy."
The waiter then stopped in front of Lt. Kramer and offered a drink. Vincent took a shallow glass of what he expected to be champagne. He wasn't planning on drinking, but just wanted to look like he fit in.
"Mead, never did acquire a taste for that stuff." Rhiana said as she stood up to switch glasses "I wonder what those two are talking about." pointing to the captain and Admiral Edwards.
Tasha had her back to everyone else in the room and was holding the fluted glass close to her crisp white dress uniform, listening but not paying full attention to the Admirals procrastinations about the need for more intelligence officers, especially with the loss of Jarred Wallace and several other key members of the Intelligence department this far out in the quadrant.
Tasha cleared her throat. "Admiral, Intelligence gathering, though needed, is not as necessary as a fully staffed security department." She stated. "Your office alone has cut the number of security officers by half on this station alone and to me, no matter what intel we garner, we don't have nearly enough security to cope. I admit, we have one of best Flight and Marine teams in the sector, but if I cannot protect the civilian members of the station, what good is intelligence?"
"Lately we've been getting more and more into diplomatic solutions, and the only way we have been able too deal with those matters is to understand not just the politics but the size an inches, I admit that security staff have been re-assigned, but these levels have little to do with my office anymore Tasha, and besides that most of the primary intelligence work has been moved away from the starbases, the first had work is back with the star ships, freeing up the starbases to do the studies, but with officers like Lieutenant Wallace becoming smaller in number, the risk takers that we need in this day and age." Admiral Edwards paused to take a sip of his drink.
"Now with him dead, we think." pausing again to drink "It's becoming clear that Starfleet is going to get caught up in something messy with very few options to get out."
Tasha lifted her glass to her lips but before she raised it, she thought about what Edwards had said and dropped her brow.
"Messy? So what you're saying, is that we need more diplomats than security AND intel officers to get out of messy situations?" She stressed the 'and' as she shook her head in disbelief.
"Hardly captain, no one at Starfleet realized that a station that was originally intended as a jump off point for exploration and colonization would end up a critical military operation" Edwards paused as he took another drink "Lieutenant Wallace spoke highly of you, and we made sure that when possible you had access to some special items, and I'm going to keep that up."
Tasha pursed her lips and gave a single nod. "Thank you Admiral, I appreciate that." She replied as she arced her head around, looking at the room beginning to fill. "If you will excuse me Admiral." She gave a slight bow of her head as she turned and headed to the small group that had began to form around Rhiana and her hand went slightly upward as her index finger pointed upwards and made a circular motion as she mouthed 'Mingle' to them and drew up to the Intelligence officer as Colonel Darson entered the room with his usual flamboyance and swagger, closely followed by Commanders Dunham and Dunham.
"Keep circulating, there is a lot of useful contacts to be made." Her head bucked backwards in Admiral Edwards direction.
In another corner of the reception Marti was walking over to the bar to grab another drink, as she picked it up she saw a lone Klingon standing staring into space, "Can I help you?"
"You are one of Wallaces' crewmates?" The Klingon asked
"He was my teacher, and mentor." Marti replied not sure where this was going.
"So you mourn for you teacher with tears or in joy that he is one of the honoured dead?"
"Both, He died saving others, to protect life for his unborn child." Marti said.
"Among my people spies are not considered honourable, but this one proved that a warrior by any other name is still a warrior so I hope that he died well, he is one of the few non-Klingons whose deeds will be part of our history."
"Did he ever do deeds worthy of story?" Marti tried to keep this conversation going
"Many, we earned many honours in battle, and the rewards that came with it and he is an honoured member of my house forever."
Marti paused to think about her next question "Why did he return knowing he would treated as a criminal?"
"The one named Edwards said it was a matter of importance." The Klingon took a mighty pull of a drink he had in hand "Wallace chose to return for that reason only."
khre'Riov Gorath tr'Hheinia had little interest in this gathering. By virtue of the influence of the esteemed Ambassador t'Khellian he had secured permission to dock and to attend this ceremony accompanied by his three attaches. Still, it was a quiet honour to pay, and listening to the blathering of Klingons, even from a distance left a bad taste.
Chelsea and Rick were resplendent in their formal 'dress' uniforms as the couple entered the room dutifully to pay their respects. They separated and mingled, coming back together after a while as they both converged on the CO at the far end of the room.
"Good afternoon, Captain." Chelsea spoke with quiet respect as she stood beside her CO, taking a glass from the hostess who appeared out of nowhere to offer both the Dunhams refreshment. "Thank you" she said incidentally as she accepted a drink.
Tasha stood near the podium and watched the collective comings and in some cases, the goings of those she recognised and to an extent, those she didn't. She lifted the glass to her lips and allowed the fizzy beverage to dampen her upper lip.
The small group of Romulans who had entered and stood to the far left and kept themselves to themselves. The rowdy Klingons, of which she counted seven had huddled together and it was good to see that some former staff members had made the effort to trail back to DS5 to pay respects for Wallace.
She was lost in her own thoughts regarding the way aliens still managed to flock together even if this a gateway to the quadrants. She gave an unheard sigh as Chelsea interrupted her concentration.
"Good afternoon." She replied until she focussed her attention. "Commander Dunham," She looked at Rick, "the dress uniform suits you, or you suit it." She smiled as her eyes moved to Chelsea, "And you look very attractive also, Commander Dunham," She repeated rank and name and it struck her as odd, yet somehow charming, "or would you prefer Doctor?" She added as if to put right an error.
Klingons, Romulans, Ambassadors, Admirals, just one big giant target waiting for something to happen, Trellis thought to himself as he continued to survey the room. As the time passed, more and more individuals began to fill the room and converse with each other, completely oblivious to how tempting of a target they all were.
=^= "Trellis to R'zul, get with front entrance and see if they need assistance with scanning the people as they arrive. We need to make sure that this is an *invite only* event." Trellis said into his comm unit as he continued to scan the room.
He figured that he might as well enjoy the current assignment. Once his replacement from Earth had arrived, he would find himself back in Docking Bay Security. A position that he had originally thought he had left behind him. Unfortunately, the "powers that be" felt that he just wasn't good enough or adequate to handle the responsibility.
Responsibility, inadequate, not enough, he had become all too familiar with those terms. He just felt that *this* was going to be different. That *this* would be the time that he could prove himself to everyone around him and show that he was the most qualified to handle the responsibility of security.
~Ahh hell, who am I kidding?~ He thought to himself as he reached for an alcoholic concoction as it passed by him on a tray. He figured that he might as well try to "blend in" with the crowd so as to not arose any suspicions. Besides, one drink wouldn't hurt. . .
"Has Captain Park Check in yet?" Admiral Edwards asked his aide
"No sir not yet."
"Thank you." the admiral turned to other matters.
Tasha placed the near untouched glass onto a tray as she moved back towards the podium, tapping both Rhiana and Trellis on the shoulder as she went.
At the base of the podium, she turned, taking a good look around the Arboretum, trying her best to identify everyone in the room and noted that there were still a few of the command staff missing.
"Lieutenant Trellis, make a single pass around the room. Ensure that all the doors are have security officers and that your teams are in place. Lieutenant Rhiana, once the Lieutenant has completed his checks, guided Admiral Edwards to the podium." She stated, ~Lets get this out of the way~ She thought to herself.
"Aye, ma'am," He responded while making sure to grab a second drink as it passed by him.
Darson entered the room with his usual sense of self-styled importance, and yet managing to convey a sense of somberness for the occasion. Compared to the last time he had been in full dress uniform at the dinner party, absent were the large mass of jangling medals, useless white gloves, sword and monocle attached to his helmet. Remaining was the holographic green dress uniform with ribbon rack attached, braiding on the right side, and the officers cap. New was the rather old looking bottle he carried in his hand. Bloodwine, from his own private reserves. A tribute to the supposedly fallen Lieutenant.
As he passed the threshold, he made his initial sweep of the room, assessing targets and potential threats. High ranking officials from almost all of the powers of the Alpha Quadrant were present, and he wished a silent blessing to the security teams that were coordinating security. This was a tough one. He maneuvered his way through the crowd, picking out the most important points as he went. Klingons and Romulans in their own separate camps, Cardassians not here…yet. Federation intermingling between the two. He marked the Captain’s location as he passed behind a boisterously drinking mountain of a Klingon and made a line towards Admiral Edwards, drawing alongside him and his compatriots, “Admiral,” He said with a salute, “On behalf of the Marine Corp, welcome aboard Deep Space 5. Though I wish it were under better circumstances.”
"Thank you Colonel, the marines did there part in shutting down the pirate base, it was just misfortune that we didn't get there sooner." Edwards paused to sip on a beverage "if you'll excuse me."
As if cued by the Marine, Tharek Getal entered and made his presence immediately known. Not by words, but by his mere size. He said nothing and looked at nobody, making a direct line for the nearest glass of Kanar.
Rhiana looked around the room, Cardassians, Romulans, Klingons, admirals, Captains, marines, the only thing missing was someone saying this was a joke. She looked over at Admiral Edwards who was busy talking to his aide for the second time, something didn't feel right about the conversation almost as if they were holding something back, she made a gesture to The Chief to try and listen in.
"they found the item sir, its being transported to tactical map grid g7, reference 3." the aide said
"Find Admiral James, we will have to depart ahead of schedule." Admiral Edwards said.
Tasha moved to the podium, Admiral Edwards at one side and Rhiana at the other. She tapped the microphone, disguising the gulp of air she took and signalled that the service was about to begin.
The assembly came to a natural order as all the faces in the room looked her way. Her mouth tightened into a nervous smile as her hands pressed down on her tunic.
"Ladies, gentlemen and honourable guests. Thank you for coming to this memorial for Lieutenant Jarred Wallace." She again swallowed. She rehearsed this speech several times over the last hour and now, she could not find the words to begin her oration.
"We have lost an officer, a friend and an esteemed colleague. We have gathered here today, to acknowledge the man, his life and his sacrifice." She paused as she glanced around the sea of colours, ranks and races of those that stared up to her. "Jarred Wallace has been listed as Missing in Action, a job he took great pride in, in serving the Federation of Planets, to nurture and protect. His last mission, took him into the heart of pirate territory, to resolve ongoing issues and it may have cost him his life." This time the Captain paused for effect as she dipped her head.
"Let us pray for his family with a moments veneration." She dipped her head and after a few seconds rose her head as she turned to Admiral Edwards and gave the slightest of nods.
"Admiral Edwards." She said by means of an introduction.
The Admiral stepped up, "Lieutenant Commander Jarred Wallace, as I have chosen to remember him, was by all means one of the Federations best officers, he was unafraid by the enemies that he faced, unaffected by the things he saw, and by the deeds he did. Despite the incidents that resulted in his demotions, and the unyielding risks he took to safe guard the quadrant his greatest accomplishment wasn't the awards or honors, it was knowing the federation was safe, that our allies were safe."
"While much of what he did will remain classified, there is one mission that I will talk about." Pausing to take a drink "Under my orders Jarred undertook a rescue mission of a crippled science ship, during that mission he was taken prisoner, his fate after that still remains a mystery, many of the marines who were on that mission, were also members of the special action team that Mr Wallace commanded during the Dominion war, we also have members of the Klingon high council and the Romulan senate here out of respect for his actions for there people."
"I learned today that dead or not the Klingon high council has erected a statue of Jarred in the hall of honor, and that the Romulan senate has finally, but posthumously awarded his a medal of valor for his actions in rescuing survivors of a ship during combat."
"In addition to the nine purple hearts, six bronze stars, two silver stars, and thirty citations for bravery, Starfleet command has decided to add to this impressive collection of honors with the medal of honor and the distinguished service cross."
He waited while the whispers subsided "Some day soon I hope to have an answer to the question of what happened to him, but for now we honor him dead or alive."
Rhiana stepped up and took the admirals place, "I met the Lieutenant when I was 14, he rescued my family who had fled Romulus, I never met a man who cared regardless of where your home world was, or what your politics were, or that he would have faith in someone as he did in me when I chose to join Starfleet."
She paused trying to hold back tears "For what its worth, he wouldn't think twice about anything he's done, I just hope we get the answer to his final days."
Stepping down she had difficulty keeping her emotions in check.
Ryan listened as speaker after speaker made their tribute to Lieutenant Wallace at the podium. Although he had never met the man, he had no doubt the lieutenant deserved every praise and every commendation, but what good was a piece of alloy or a lifeless statue when you were not there to share it with those whose life you had touched? He glanced around the room and wondered how many people had come because they had known Wallace, and how many, like himself, had only come out of formality and diplomatic etiquette. Suddenly a rush of guilt surged through him. But there was nothing to feel guilty of. He didn't know the man. The next moment when Wallace's name was mentioned again, he raised his flute slightly and drank to the man he had never met.
Tasha took a last sombre look around the gathering, pausing briefly at specific persons. A small but significant group led by the Cardassian Ambassador, Getal who was watching everyone else. Kramer, who stood beside Karen and Bruce and stared back to Tasha. Admiral Edwards who was now holding yet another fresh glass of wine, the new UFP Ambassador who she had yet to talk to and for that matter did not know his name except as Ambassador O'Hara, the Dunhams, who were cradling each other. The small entourage that had surrounded the Klingon Ambassador who had his back to the podium throughout the ceremony, except when Rhiana had spoken and finally Colonel Darson who had stood to near perfect attention through out and now looked back at the captain and raised his glass an inch higher as sign of acknowledgement.
She looked to the stand and stepped forward, taking a single small breathe.
"Thank you for your time and attendance on behalf of Lieutenant Jarred Wallace." Tasha spoke clearly as she eased her glass forward, then brought it to her mouth and took a sip before circling around the stand and stepped off the podium.
She placed the glass on the nearest waiters tray before making her way to Commander Villiers.
"Karen, I am heading back up to Ops, via my quarters to get out of this garb."
"I'll join you," Karen agreed.
As they exited the service, Admiral Edwards looked over at Admiral James, "Next stop Starbase 255"
If were happy to end this, sign below and last to do so, hit post :D - Mark
OFF:
Captain Tasha Tahir
CO: DS5
Commander Karen Villiers
Executive Officer
Ryan O'Hara
UFP Amabassador
Lt jg Rhiana T'Sahen
Lt. Cmdr Bruce Freeman
Lt. Vincent Kramer
Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis
Vi'kar Gul Tharek Getal
Cardassian Ambassador
Colonel James Darson
Commander Chelsea Dunham