Breakfast and Bribery
Dr. McCoy entered sickbay to find both Spock and Selina pouring over reports on their PADDs. He could force them rest their bodies, but forcing them to not work would probably require heavy sedation. He crossed to Selina and checked her read-outs.
"So, how's my favorite patient today?"
"Quite well enough to cease being a patient," Selina replied with a sideways smile.
"Well, you're healing up nicely and the bone in your ankle is almost fully regenerated. I could release you, if you promise to stay off it as much as possible for the next couple of days." Bones smiled at her. "Of course, then I'd be left with just him for company."
"If you let me go, I will promise to stay off it and I will meet you for breakfast tomorrow, so you will not feel deprived of company." She gave him a small, coy smile.
"Now that is deal I can't refuse," McCoy said with a grin, offering her a hand to get off of her bed.
Spock's looked conveyed the thought 'I did not just witness that, did I?' with a single eyebrow ascending into his hairline. But he merely said, "I believe that I am more than ready for discharge as well, Doctor."
"You need to take it easy for at least another day." McCoy said.
"I will promise to 'take it easy'." Spock replied.
"I've seen you're definition of 'easy' before," McCoy scoffed. "I intend to keep you here where I can make sure you stick with mine."
Selina gave Spock a small, tight-lipped smile. He folded his arms over his chest and, amazingly, lifted his eyebrow even higher.
"While I certainly will not attempt to flirt with you to gain release," Spock observed dryly, "I believe I did meet the conditions you stated in the lounge with respect to a get-out-of-sickbay-free card?"
.
Security Chief Sam Giotto ran his hand over his stiff brush of salt-and-pepper hair. More salt than pepper anymore. He was getting too old for this.
The last several months had been bad enough. He'd lost crew during the Battle of Vulcan, but that was expected. That had been war and he was all too familiar with the consequences of battles fought between ships in space. But afterward...the casualty rates for even routine away missions had been appalling. He'd reviewed the logs; he couldn't blame the new and impossibly young captain. The man might be a cowboy, but one thing he was not was reckless with the lives of his people. In the end he'd had to chalk it up to having a security division staffed almost entirely by rookies. Kids right out of the Academy who hadn't developed the common sense, or more importantly, the sixth sense, that seasoned security officers wore like invisible armor.
Now, he had a ship crawling with alien delegates, any of one of whom might be a terrorist, and said ship stuck at a starbase harboring someone, probably on staff, who was a terrorist or at least a conspirator. And, to top it all off, a station security chief who was a lazy, self-important bureaucrat who couldn't find his backside with both hands. How else could the imbecile have cleared a shell company that ceased to exist a nanosecond after delivering and placing the exploding centerpiece? Still, he had no choice but to work with the man, no matter that it was an effort of will not to slap him.
He needed a drink. Unfortunately, he was officially on duty until all this got sorted out.
And part of that duty included reporting results (or lack thereof) of the investigation. The young captain had already read it. Could have written most of it, in fact. He had paced the crime scene almost obsessively, trying his best to lead and/or help, but mostly getting in the way. Giotto couldn't fault him for it. His XO, the same guy who had saved his skin on more a few of those away missions, had looked to be in bad shape when they brought him out. The Captain struck him as the sort of person who dealt with anxiety by channeling it into action. Unfortunately, the only action available had been reviewing data and security vids. So they had. Repeatedly. Other than the fact that Ms. Chandri had called the bomb a half second before it went off, there was nothing that stood out as out of the ordinary. The Captain had been good-natured about it. Demanding, but encouraging really. "I know you're doing all you can. But I'm counting on you and I need some answers now. Just let me know if you need any additional resources. I'll assign every non-essential member of the crew." He'd declined that offer. The last thing he needed was a bunch of idled astrocartographers getting underfoot trying to play detective.
Now, however, the XO was out of sickbay and he had to go over the report with him. It was not that Mr. Spock made him nervous. In a lot of ways he liked the Vulcan. He was disciplined and no-nonsense and outside of one incident (which happened after seeing his whole planet destroyed after all), you could count on him to keep a level head. Other than a clear aversion to using deadly force, he would've made a great security officer. No, the problem was having nothing but a laundry list of potential suspects in a report so spare of conclusions it read like a guessing game. And having to go over it with someone renowned for his own personal perfectionism.
He entered the small conference room to find Mr. Spock sitting at a console with a dark haired woman sitting next to him. "Cmdr. Giotto, I believe you have already met Ms. Chandri. As she is familiar with diplomatic and security issues involved, and was also confined to sickbay until recently, I have asked her to be present for your briefing."
She inclined her head toward him.
"Ma'am." Sam nodded to her. Great. The fey and secretive Ms. Chandri. He had clearly hacked off some local divinity.
He knew his reaction to her was nonstandard. The Captain was completely charmed (well, she was female and had a pulse, so no mystery there), however if some of his informal sources were to be believed she had even managed to charm the Vulcan at some point in their past. But he'd run background on every delegate and every member of the Federation team. Like a lot of diplomats, much of her data was need-to-know only, but it was clear that she was a Vulcan-trained telepath. There had to be something else though. Too much of her service record had been just a little too carefully redacted. Like all good security men, mysteries made him nervous. Mysteries that could read your mind were even worse.
"I have read your preliminary report, Mr. Giotto," Spock said. "It appears to be somewhat spare of conclusions." No beating around the bush with Vulcans.
"There isn't enough data to form any solid conclusions at present, sir." At least he knew Mr. Spock would understand that.
"However, it appears that you have identified all the pertinent rocks," Ms. Chandri observed. "How have you fared so far at overturning them?"
"Ma'am?"
"You do have a reputation for 'leaving no stone unturned'." She studied his reaction with a faint smile and an inclined eyebrow. "Did you think you were the only one who likes to know with whom they are working?"
So she knew he had been poking around in her records. He truly hoped it was because someone else had told her. "I was just being thorough, ma'am."
"Most commendable, Mr. Giotto," She seemed genuinely pleased. "Now as to our various stones, I gather Mr. Newcomb has not been of great assistance in investigating their undersides?"
He tried not to show in his expression just how frustratingly true that statement actually was. "That would be a fair assessment, ma'am."
She looked appraisingly at Mr. Spock. "You really ought to give him permission to speak freely. The formal report has already been given and recorded. And even I find it challenging to discuss Mr. Newcomb with equanimity."
The Vulcan lifted an eyebrow at her. "It is usually incumbent upon the reporting officer to request such permission." Their eyes locked for a moment. Then he nodded with something close to resignation on his face. "However, Ms. Chandri makes a valid point. Given the informal nature of this briefing, our time is perhaps better served if all present may speak freely."
"In that case, in my opinion, we need to find some way to assign someone competent to investigate the station's personnel." It was a relief to actually to be able say it. Chalk up one plus for Ms. Chandri.
"Unfortunately, our authority ends at the dock," Mr. Spock observed. "And Mr. Newcomb could become even more difficult if he believed we were trespassing on his."
"However, it would make sense to coordinate our investigations. Is there an officer who could discretely work the investigation under the guise of acting as liaison?" Ms. Chandri asked.
"Yes." Jessy was going to hate him for this, but he'd buy her a bottle of whiskey later. "But do you think he'll go for it?"
"He is not renowned for his powers of observation," she stated flatly. "However, it would be best if we were also to request one of his subordinates to act as liaison on our end. Are there any that you would consider acceptable?"
"Betz seemed like a good man." His thinly veiled contempt for his boss had impressed Giotto right off.
Mr. Spock noted the name on his PADD. "I shall speak with the station chief and make the necessary arrangements."
"Now as to these...'stones', " the Vulcan continued, "Have you made any progress in tracing the origins of the fictitious company that supplied the sabotaged centerpiece?"
"Shell companies within shell companies, sir. A lot of bribes seem to have changed hands to get all various licenses, but it's a twisted maze and the one human face we can tie to it seems to have disappeared completely."
"Perhaps I can be of assistance in at least one respect," Ms. Chandri interjected. "The credits for many of those bribes seem to have originated with an isolationist group on Aolia."
"How do you know that, ma'am?" Much as he'd like the mystery solved, he couldn't very well proceed on even a Federation official's claim to have heard them thinking about it.
"I took the liberty of contacting an old friend who is employed as a banking regulator on Naruto. He was able to trace the transactions." She pushed a data card toward him. "I, of course, expect that you will confirm this data independently."
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you. It's a relief to know who to look at." He still didn't quite feel at ease around her, but he was beginning to appreciate working with her.
"I do not believe we have solved this mystery," she cautioned. "It is highly unlikely that a xenophobic group of Aolians would be able to navigate, let alone subvert, Federation corporate licensing requirements. However, they do provide a place to start and knowledge of their involvement in the incident may make the Aolians more tractable during negotiations." She pinned him with her eyes. "I would therefore appreciate it if no mention of my involvement in obtaining the data appeared in the official report."
And with that, she was right back to making him uneasy. If Mr. Spock had a mind like a steel trap, he beginning to suspect that hers resembled an Iron Maiden. He took the data card and stood, addressing Mr. Spock. "If that is all, sir, I will get right on this."
"That is all." The Vulcan was looking more at Ms. Chandri than at him. "You are dismissed, Mr. Giotto."
As he left, he heard Mr. Spock's voice past the swish of the door. "Does this mean we should be expecting Hideo to arrive for breakfast sometime?..."
.
Yep, once I noticed Mr. Giotto, he suddenly became a real character and demanded a part. His first name is never given in TOS, so I gave him the name of one of my favorite security guys from completely outside the Trek universe. Giotto is one of the few crewmembers with white hair in TOS, so I had to consider how a seasoned vet must feel running the redshirt division on a ship filled with recent cadets. And a lot of rookies would at least explain some of the boneheaded ways a some of those redshirts get themselves killed in a few TOS episodes (Seriously, if you can't follow orders to stay together, or have a bit of caution on planets with exploding rocks or killer monsters, you have no business taking a job in security).
As to his response to Selina, I figured some people would be uneasy with telepaths. And it seemed especially natural for someone responsible for security. Plus, he's read as much of her record as he could get and like Adm. Pike concluded that she is not someone to cross, let alone drop your guard around.
And yes, the doctor took full advantage of the opportunity of having Selina stuck in sickbay to be as charming as possible (while still refusing to release her before he's sure she's ready). That she decided to mount a charm counter-offensive to get out shouldn't be a surprise anyone who has noted that she actually takes pride in her ability to be manipulative. The scene had to nauseate Spock and it is going to annoy Jim no end.
