Post 548: Rendezvous?

Stardate 71105.1000
Authors: Biggs and Zanh
Title: Rendezvous?
Time The middle of the night- hours after "Full Disclosure"
Scene: Quarters/ Deck 8
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The computer informed Biggs that the Captain was in her quarters, and without hesitation he tapped his badge. "Biggs to Zanh,"

A groggy sounding Zanh Liis responded a moment later. [Yes, Simon?]

"I need to talk to you, please. It's urgent."

[You're talking to me now, Lieutenant,] Zanh seemed to sigh, and Simon realized that he may actually have woken her up. Amazing, he was beginning to think that she never actually slept.

"Captain, it's. . .important."

[As in, so important it can't wait another couple of hours until the beginning of Alpha shift?]

"Yes, Sir. That important."

[Ten minutes. My living room. Zanh out.]

Simon's quarters were not far from the Captain's, and so he paced, ticking off the moments he had to wait in his head and nearly wearing a path into the carpet as his boots dragged across it repeatedly.

Finally, at nine minutes and thirty seconds, he briskly strode out of his quarters and up the hall. He took a breath, and rang the chime on Zanh's door.

"No rest for the wicked, so they say." Zanh rasped, her voice hoarse from having to raise it to be heard above the music at the party earlier. "Come in, Lieutenant."

She stood before him in uniform, with a cup in each hand. She handed one to Simon, and he fidgeted it in his fingers, unable to think of swallowing anything past the lump that was stuck in his throat.

"Tea, cream and sugar. You look like you could use it."

"Thank you, Sir, but I," he set the cup down, and Zanh frowned. This wasn't the Simon Biggs she was accustomed to. She took a seat on the couch and gestured for him to sit in the opposite chair.

"What important matter brings you to my doorstep so very early in the morning, young Simon?"

He was comforted by her demeanor, which, while not as teasing as usual, still conveyed enough familiarity to allow him the freedom to say what he needed to say without fear of her reaction. "Captain, before I left on the Alchemy mission. Do you remember, we were talking about my visit to Earth?"

"I remember that you said that it was, what was the word? Complicated?"

"Yes. You asked if I wanted to talk, and I said that perhaps we could talk about it later."

"It's later."

Simon nodded.

"I wasn't ready to explain it then, but when I was on Earth, I received terrible news. News that my father and sister had been killed in an attack on the supply depot where they were stationed."

Zanh dropped her cup.

Simon hurried toward her, realizing that as the mug had tumbled, she had spilled its scalding contents onto her legs. "Captain, are you all right?"

Zanh seemed to register no reaction to the pain, and stopped him as he knelt beside the couch and attempted to pick up the cup from the floor, fussing over the mess.

"Simon, Simon." She shook her head. "Leave it."

She pulled him up by the sleeve and gestured for him to sit on the couch beside her. She stared at him, her expression horrified. "I'm so sorry. If I'd only known, I would have granted you leave. You could have stayed on Earth awhile, spent some time with your mother,"

"Wait, Captain, that isn't the end of the story. I now have reason to believe that my father and sister did not die in that alien attack, but were kidnapped and are being held captive."

Zanh entwined her hands, bringing her index fingers up to her chin as she considered his words. "Slow down. Back up. Start at the beginning and tell me everything that you know."

"The data recordings from the security cameras on the supply depot were garbled. Inconclusive. With an explosion obscuring segments of the picture and audio feed. Several seconds of the recording seem to be missing entirely." He explained. "My mother has been looking into the circumstances surrounding Dad and Jenny's 'deaths', and she just contacted me via subspace a little while ago. She introduced me to her information source, a man called Vely who is a Ikiian operative. This man claims that there is holo-imaging evidence that Dad and Jenny are being held by the Trikz, at a weapons manufacturing facility."

"The Ikiians?" Zanh frowned. "I am not familiar with their culture. The Trikz, however," she paused, "Their reputation proceeds them."

"I had never heard of the Ikiians myself until this morning." Simon replied honestly. "I have no idea if any of this is true. But my mother's ship will arrive within transporter distance of the Independence in thirty-six hours. She is willing to answer any questions you may have, if there is any chance that Starfleet," he paused, "that we, might be able to help and determine the truth of what is going on."

"Oh, Simon." Zanh sighed heavily, reading between the lines and knowing what he was really asking- if she could help him somehow if there was a rescue attempt. "This is tricky. Your father, I know that he was a Starfleet career man, but he was in the private sector for years after he retired," she wrung her hands a moment. "I don't know if we can navigate this quicksand without being sucked under."

"I know that Starfleet might not be able to help," Simon assured her. "And I am not asking for much, Captain. What I am asking is please, let me use the resources available on the ship to analyze the data, to construct a timeline of events. To see if there is any credible evidence that my father and sister might still be alive."

His eyes pleaded with Zanh in a way that tugged at her heart, despite the barriers she kept in place to keep everyone at what she considered to be a safe emotional distance.

"Then, if the evidence supports that they are being held somewhere, I will request leave, and go off with my mother on her ship, and we can go after them. I won't leave them there to waste away, if they are alive Captain. You have to know that."

"I know you, Simon. So of course, I know that." Zanh spoke softly, considering. She nodded slowly. "All right, Lieutenant. Beam your mother aboard, have her bring all the data she's compiled. Science and Engineering can help you sort through it, and I know that your crewmates in Security will be willing to do anything they can to help you out as well as far as authentication of the information."

She thought about how well liked Simon was in general among the crew and had no doubt that his fellow officers would rally around him at this time. "Then we'll call a meeting of the Senior Staff, and we will see where we are. But promise me that you won't just go charging off before we consider all the options. I want your word on that."

"I give you my word," he promised. "Thank you, Captain. Here are the specs on the ship that we should expect to meet us. It's not my mother's old ship, it's something new. It's called Blizzard." Simon handed the captain a PADD with the ships specs on it.

"Holy cow. This is a nasty little ship, Simon. Your Momma's packing some heat."

"My brother designed it."

She whistled softly. "My compliments your brother on his design capabilities, there's some serious armaments on this thing. Pulse plasma weapons, type 9 phaser emitters, forward and aft photon torpedo tubes. Very powerful for a civilian vessel."

"It needs to be, if we're going to go charging into Trikz territory to try to stage a rescue."

That idea worried Zanh more than she wanted to let on. Still, in her head she was already formulating potential plans of action, just in case. . .

As Simon hurried for the door, anxious to get a message to his mother's ship, she called after him. "You know if it were up to me, if Independence was truly my ship and there weren't so many lives at stake, I'd be the first to strap on a phaser rifle myself and follow you into Hell to bring your family home."

"I know you," Simon replied softly, with a gentle smile. "So of course, I know that." He seemed suddenly to have taken on a maturity beyond his years, just over the past few moments and right before Zanh's eyes. "It's not your job to do it, Captain," determination was evident in his voice and on his face. "It's mine."

"Maybe. But you don't have to face this alone."

He nodded.

"You know I can't make you any promises. . ." She wanted to be sure that he understood that her hands might be tied in this situation.

"I'm not asking for any." Simon felt relieved as he returned to his quarters; knowing that as much as the crew and Captain of Independence could do to help him, they would do.

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Lieutenant JG Simon Biggs
Security Officer
USS Independence

and

Zanh Liis
Acting CO
USS Independence NCC-90791