The Secret

Posted on Sat Jul 1st, 2017 @ 9:50pm by Commander Leah Sullivan & Lieutenant T'reth

Mission: Overhaul
Location: USS Protean - Deck 1

Japori Sector
Starbase 343
USS Protean - Deck 1

“Commander. This is...unexpected.” Lieutenant T’reth stood at the entrance to her quarters confused and slightly concerned that her commanding officer was paying her a personal visit.

“I know, and I apologize, Lieutenant,” Leah said. “I like to know my senior staff and vice-versa. Since I’ve worked with everyone else, with exception of Lt. Commander Bevan, I felt that we might be at a mutual disadvantage. I had hoped to fix that.” There was an uncomfortable silence between them so Leah pushed on. “This is--ah, I know that you’re off duty now and I don’t want to take you away from whatever you may be doing. I just thought I’d stop by to--”

“I’m available now, Commander. Please, come inside.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant.” Stepping into T’reth’s quarters, Leah noticed that they were still sparsely decorated, with exception of four full shelves of books. “I see you’re still getting your quarters together. I’m still having a hard time with mine.”


“Moving to your new quarters must be difficult, Commander. I read about your last mission. My condolences.”

“Thank you. It was difficult, and I don’t just mean losing our crew.” She gestured to the couch. “May I?” After a nod from T’reth, Leah sat and continued. “I have never had such a challenge. We weren’t sure what caused their deaths--food, water, the Obroran air, flora or fauna...it could have been anything. And, well, as the Chief Science Officer and acting CO it all fell squarely on my shoulders to try and find the cause and a cure.”

“But you had assistance from the Obrorans and the Yamato, isn’t that correct?” T’reth asked, genuinely curious.

“Oh yes. Luckily, the Obrorans were more than willing to assist us and we continually sent the pooled information from the planet and Protean to the Yamato’s science teams. Lieutenants Gikou and Kallan were instrumental in finding the cause, and the Yamato created a means of suppressing it.”

“I must say, I was very eager to read the report,” T’reth said, almost at the edge of her seat. “It was a fascinating situation, despite the horrible effects it had. It was because of that mission that I readily accepted this position, Commander.”

Leah smiled. “Well, I’m glad you’re with us.”

The two continued discussing the particulars of the Obroran mission, going back and forth over what methods were used to determine the issue and a more detailed version of the cure the Yamato crew created. Leah even told T’reth about the planet, the people, and how wonderful a place it actually was, despite the one major hiccup they encountered.

Eventually, Leah found herself standing in front of the bookshelf looking at the names of the books. All of them were typical Vulcan science books. She took one off the shelf. “I like the feel of real, honest-to-goodness books. They’re usually hard to find, but I just really like them, you know?”

She turned and saw T’reth standing, a bit of worry on her face. Replacing the book, Leah turned and smiled. “Lieutenant, I’m going to say something to you and I don’t want you to be alarmed. I have a feeling you’re hiding something--nothing sinister, just something you don’t want to be brought to light, at least not yet. I want you to know that you have no need to do so on my ship. But I also respect people’s boundaries. So you do what you think is right when you think it is right.”

T’reth stood motionless for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, she looked down, clasped her hands nervously, and then looked back up with the smallest hint of a smile on her face. “Lt. Gikou, right?”

“Please don’t blame her. She really likes you and is extraordinarily happy that you were assigned as CSO,” Leah said, wanting to make sure that C’hens received no disciplinary problems from this. “I had simply come to check on her, as I hadn’t been able to see her in a while, and I asked how you were fitting in. She had nothing but good things to say, and added, in private mind you, that she had noticed you...smiling.”

T’reth smiled in earnest this time. “Yeah, I figured she saw that. And don’t worry, I don’t blame her. She has gone out of her way to make me feel at home. You know, she really has a way of making someone feel at ease.”

“Believe me, Lieutenant, I know. I was her direct supervisor for two years.” Leah smiled this time. “She’s also one of the brightest minds I’ve met in a long time.”

“I agree.”

The room fell quiet again, neither really knowing what to say.

“Well,” Leah said, breaking the awkward silence, “your secret’s safe with me. I just wanted you to know that while it’s inevitably your call, you don’t have to hide who you are here.”

“Thank you, Commander. I do appreciate it.” She then added, “It means quite a bit.”

With that, Leah let herself out.