A shadow's shadow.

Posted on Sat Oct 5th, 2024 @ 12:05am by Captain Yadira Tristen & Commodore Finchley Kerr

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: The 'Eagle continues.
Location: Captain's Ready Room, USS Blackeagle.
Timeline: Current.

Everyone had left the room, it was just Yadira and Finchley now. He looked at her, studying her face, thinking about how she'd acted in the meeting, and what she'd done to provoke him.

"You do realise there's got to be consequences for what you said to me during the meeting don't you, but I'll come to that in a moment?" he said. Walking up to her and gently getting her out of her seat he carried on.

"There's been reports from SFIHQ of interference with the outer colonies of the Federation. There's some sketchy information that those involved are The Orion Syndicate" he said, "I want you to look into this, find out if it is indeed the Syndicate, and if it is, what their plans are."

"Yes I do! But I don't think you fully understand that the amount of your stress is dangerously high and you are not the same man that I love and respect? It has me wondering and worrying about myself. I don't think you even know of my childhood and what the Syndicate did to me and my family!", she screeched at him, looking for something to throw. Tears were rolling down her face as she threw a chair across the ready room. Crumpling to the deck, she was in hysterics and clung to Finchley tightly.

Finchley looked down at her, a horrifying realisation coming over him, "What do you mean 'what the Syndicate did to your family', are you telling me you've been involved with them?"

"Been involved? Finchley, I was born in the Syndicate! My parents, and their parents were captured by the Syndicate. So there you have the ugly....painful.....life of Yadira Tristan," she cried harder. Even talking about it causing a great sorrow in her heart and mind. It was bad enough that her family were Betazoid but to have that exploited as well.....

"Does SFIHQ know about this, any of this?" Finchley asked, the realisation of the scale of the possible trouble ahead.

"No! How do you think I got my Star fleet training and my rank? I lied, ok no body knows my true life except you! Happy now?" Yadira said weeping through the pain of her true life's history. "Truth be told to you only to you. Yes, I was born in the Syndicate. Raised in the Orion Syndicate till I finally found a way to escape from them. I was found floating in an escape pod near one of the Federation shipping lane. I was unconscious, but swiftly taken to their sick bay where I woke up terrified. That's where I heard all the voices, emotions were hitting me all at once. I was getting a shot, which calmed the voices and the emotions that were painful and terrified me. Here is where they found my Betazoid life and not Orion Syndicate.," Yadira stammered.

By now she was able to speak with a somewhat more understandable voice as she continued... however, she still had the sadness and the tears were still trickling down her face.

The situation had all but suddenly turned on it's head, since when was he the bad guy?

"Wait just a minute!" he said loudly, becoming angry, "Why are asking me if I'm 'happy now', I'm not the one who lied to Starfleet, more still, lied to Starfleet Intelligence, have you any bloody idea how that looks? More over, you've personally lied to me all these years, what else aren't you telling me, what else have you lied to me about eh?"

He turned and walked away to the other end of the room, beside himself with anger. She was the 'Fleet' Strategic Operations Officer, responsible for having major input in nearly every strategic decision Starfleet had made in the last ten years.

He looked at Yadira again, "Have you any idea of the difficult situation and catch twenty two position you've put me in now?"

"Catch 22 situation. The only thing I had to was to survive and that's where my lie began. I put my... Syndicate...life in my subconscious never again to be spoken of. Finchley, my life in SF would end up with my death as a spy or worse. See I have lived my life as part of a wonderful organization. Starfleet has been my home for just over 20 years and everything we had was not a lie but me being free and living the life I wanted. You have my jacket and SF Intelligence records as well. But what SFI did was to make me become an agent and spy for them from the ship I was assigned to. The Claymore was my assignment and for 16 years and it was my home before I landed here with you. When we left the academy, it killed me.
I thought I had lost you for good," Yadira said. She hoped he would understand and be more calm. "You don't have to report this please, I beg of you" crying again.

Finchley paced back and forth, this was a situation he never dreamed of being in, not even in his worst nightmares.

"Nobody else knows about this yes, but what if you get to your destination to look into whether or not the Syndicate are involved with A'axxa, and one of them recognises you? Yes, it's been twenty years since you escaped, but there is a possibility that you could be compromised. If that happens, you put the lives of those going with you in great danger, life threatening danger."

He stopped pacing and looked up at the ceiling, his brain running through all the possible scenarios that could occur. Finally he looked down and then looked at Yadira, "Ok, this stays between us, no-one else on the Away Team has to know about your past with the Syndicate, however this piece of stark information does change things between us. You kept this from me, I didn't think we had any secrets. Gather your team, let me know when you have and I'll speak to you all then, dismissed Captain" he finished, walking round and sitting back at his desk.

Yadira was hurt again but by the one man in her life that she loved. As she walked away she turned and said, "My life with you was never a lie as it was an honest truth. For nearly twenty years I never lied to you. There were no secrets as we grew to find each other. Now you treat me like ... I was a leper," she finished as the door slid closed.

Finchley was now enraged, he got out of his seat and moved quickly to the doors of the Ready Room, and as they opened before him he said, "Don't you dare try and guilt trip me! You kept the one thing from me that you knew would have been a deal breaker all those years ago. You didn't have to, you could have trusted me, but oh no, you kept it back, that is called keeping something secret. You have your orders Captain, I want your team assembled in one hour, and you contact me when you have, I'll then issue orders!!!"

He turned away and walked back inside, allowing the doors to close behind him, not interested in anything Yadira had to say if she had tried to reply.

 

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