Disclaimer: This story is based on all the episodes where Ro Laren appears. it is also based on the episode "The Defector". Kennelly is a character from the episode "Ro Laren". Luther Sloan is a character from Deep Space Nine. The USS Wellington was the ship where Ro Laren served when she was court-martialed as stated in the episode "Conundrum". The ship, commanded by Captain Thomas Purser, is shown as being assigned to patrol the Neutral Zone in the year 2365 in the episode "The Measure of a Man".
"They say you never told the true story about Garon II. They also say you didn't defend yourself at your court-martial."
Guinan to Ro. (TNG: "Ro Laren")
Chapter 1
2368
USS Enterprise-D
Ro Laren sat at a table in Ten Forward. She had hardly taken a few sips from her drink, she mostly let her hands play idly with the glass instead. She sat alone. Doctor Crusher and Counselor Troi had come into the lounge together a few moments ago. This time they had taken a brief look at her but wisely had turned to a different table. She really did not mind. At least now most of the crew did not look at her with disgust or open contempt written in their eyes. They surely still had the same poor opinion of her, it was just that they hid it for the sake of their admired captain that had vouched for her. So their glances were now neutral, or even mildly friendly, but everyone gave her a wide berth.
Besides, she had not been precisely forthcoming to anyone who had been nice enough to try to approach her. She should cringe for the way she had behaved with the two senior officers, Crusher and Troi, that first day in Ten Forward. She should apologize. But then she wasn't planning to stay on the Enterprise and therefore wasn't planning to make friends. She just wanted her ordeal to be over, so she could go on with her life, whatever that life turned out to be.
She had never thought she could truly be an officer again. She had never ever dreamed to serve on Starfleet's best ship. She did not deserve it. But somehow Captain Picard had decided to take her under his wing, and she had been fool enough to accept. It had been a long time since someone had trusted her and the feeling was good. Now she had to prove to him that he was not mistaken, now she had to excel.
And since she was staying, maybe she should really try to make friends. But she had always been a loner, making friends wasn't one of her strengths.
2364
USS Wellington
Ro Laren sat at a table in the ship's lounge. She had barely touched her drink and mostly spent her time staring at the glass, her hands firmly wrapped around it. She was on her own. She had been on the Wellington for over two months and she had yet to make a friend. She did not really care. Actually, whenever anyone was naive enough to near her off duty, she glared them away.
Most of the crew haven't liked her since she first boarded the ship anyway, before she could even get a chance to be cold or rude to them. Her fame, or infamy to be precise, preceded her. She had never lasted more than six months in any of her previous assignments. She had been reprimanded for insubordination several times. On her last ship, she had gone AWOL. She had never explained her actions. She could not. And she just shrugged it away. After two years, she was already used to her way of life.
Still, sometimes it pained her to get those looks of disdain from other crewmembers. Sometimes it hurt to be so looked down by superiors and subordinates alike. Sometimes the burden was too heavy to bear and she just wanted to scream she was not the officer they thought she was.
But today was not that day. Today she just wanted to be alone and the arrangement was just fine with her. Besides, they had been patrolling the Neutral Zone uneventfully since she was transferred to the Wellington and she knew she had not being given the assignment just for an uneventful watch. Soon, her real mission would start, and soon, the Wellington and her crew would just be another chapter of her past.
2368
Ro relaxed once she was alone in the turbolift. The other crewmembers had been chatting and they had tried once again to make her take part on their conversation. They had even invited her to go to Ten Forward with them. She had kindly refused, or at least as kindly as she could get. She really did not want company. She just wanted to get to her quarters and rest. Another lost chance to make friends.
Her shift had just ended. Gamma shift. Not that she complained. How could she? Captain Picard had assigned her permanetly as one of the Enterprise's flight controllers. It was a good post, a much better one than she deserved. Any other captain would never have her anywhere near the bridge. Actually, any other captain would have her scrubbing the decks, where she belonged. She owed Captain Picard a big deal. She wondered if she could ever repay him.
The turbolift stopped before reaching her deck and she found herself facing Counselor Troi. Ro straightened immediately. The counselor greeted her with a smile on her lips. She asked for her wellbeing. Ro had to wonder if she really cared for her or if she was just doing her job. She gave her a curt answer. She really did not want to talk. And Counselor Troi knew when not to press. Lieutenant Commander Deanna Troi, she reminded herself. She had always seen her out of uniform and she had made the terrible mistake of considering her a civilian assistant. Never again. She had checked the records of all the crew after that. She should have had the moment she had been temporarily posted to the Enterprise, or at least once she had decided to stay. She knew better.
Ro had been harsh with Troi during the last crisis, pressing relentlessly the senior officer to make what she believed was the right decision. Commander Troi didn't seem to be bothered by it, though, and she was always nice to her. Ro doubted, but always got the same impression that the counselor was being sincere with her, that she really wanted to befriend her. Still, it was a difficult step to take.
2364
Their shift was just over and the other crewmates in the turbolift talked excitedly of what they were going to do now they were off duty. Apparently, all of them were going together to the recreation deck to have some fun, whatever that meant to them. Of course, they haven't invited her. They haven't even bothered to address her. She did not mind. She did not want to talk to them or take part on their stupid games. She just wanted to go to her quarters and relax on her own.
She didn't get the chance. The moment she got to her cabin she was notified there was an incoming subspace communication for her. Ro went for her table and opened the channel, expecting to see her control officer; she found herself facing Vice Admiral Kennelly instead.
She sat at attention as she acknowledged him, "Sir."
"I have just spoken with Captain Purser," he informed without greeting her in return. "I have ordered him to reroute the Wellington to Garon II."
"There have been several murders in Federation space in the past few months, all of them allegedly perpetrated by the Orion Syndicate, all of them poisoning by an agent that was unknown to us until now. I have told Captain Purser that we have intel that suggests the agent has its origin in a plant native to Garon II. We want to find it and analyze it. And the Wellington is the closest ship to the location."
He paused, so Ro took the opportunity to reply him.
"You certainly don't want me to find a plant, Admiral."
Kennelly looked sternly at her. "No, Lieutenant, I don't." And then he added, "That's just the ruse."
He continued with the debriefing.
"I have also told him I don't want any senior officers to take part on this survey mission. The chief science officer, Lieutenant T'Ler, will stay onboard. The main mission of this ship is to patrol the Neutral Zone and I want all the key officers focused on that mission."
Inwardly, Ro smiled. Captain Purser must had hated that order. Admiral Kennelly had not only just appeared out of the blue to send him on a mission to find a plant, he was even deciding which members of his crew were sent on that mission and which not.
"You will volunteer."
That was no surprise.
"You will use that class of botany you took at the Academy to validate you for the job."
The class of botany, she had almost forgotten it. That was her first year, when she had thought for a time she could become a science officer. But her instructors had insisted she was better cut for a different division and sadly, she had realized that she actually agreed with them.
He went on. "What I want you to find is of a very different nature. Recent communications intercepted to the Romulans indicate us that they have settled an outpost in Garon II, at our side of the Neutral Zone. It is unmanned and its function is unknown to us."
Entering the Neutral Zone was a violation of the peace treaty and therefore an act of war. Crossing the other side of the border and building there an outpost was beyond that. But Romulans did not play by the rules and Starfleet had to bend them too so they could keep their precarious stand-off. Ro Laren knew it well. She had been involved with Romulans before.
"You will locate it, infiltrate it and place a spyware in its main computer. It will be easy."
Yes, and it's of little importance to Starfleet, Ro thought wryly, that's why you are directly debriefing me instead of my handler.
"I'm sending you the schematics we have on Romulan systems, and also the program and the exact place where it should be placed considering those schematics. Once activated, it will record all activity in the outpost's panels and transmit it to us."
She just nodded.
"The moment we get the first transmission, I will contact Captain Purser again to call off the mission. I'll tell him we have found the plant on a different planet, which is the truth anyway. You will return to the Wellington and await further orders."
"Yes, sir."
"Beam down, plant the program, beam up. Easy enough."
For a moment Ro thought he would smile at his last statement, but he remained as serious as ever. She was about to retort that she was never given easy tasks, but she realized that the admiral would not appreciate her comment. Commander Sloan, her control officer, never did.
