Sureties - Part Two

Posted on Mon Feb 28th, 2022 @ 7:14pm by Fleet Admiral Heather Duval & Admiral Jake Yamaguchi & Division Admiral Thomas Lasky & Department Master Chief Petty Officer Stephen "Orthos" McKnight & Master Admiral Pasha Andreyev

Mission: Mission 114: Be All My Sins Remember'd
Location: Various Locations - Starbase Vanguard
Timeline: 1100Hrs - October 28th, 2393

Fleet Admiral Heather Duval was sitting behind her desk. With her right hand resting gently over her face. She tried in vain to soothe an incoming stress headache. "Fuck, I hate these things..."

"Rough morning Admiral?" Admiral Jake Yamaguchi inquired of her, he knew exactly what a 'rough' morning looked like. This was why Duval tended to let him away whenever he made comments like that. He also didn't smile either. Something that was slowly becoming rarer and rarer on Yamaguchi's face these days. Duval knew of why this was the case but it was because of Jake's skills as an administrator and his abilities in getting things done that allowed her to be able to get her own work done. "Where are we with this meeting, anyway?" she asked in her usual gentle tones.

"It'll be another couple of minutes." This voice belonged to Orthos McKnight who was the senior enlisted man in the Taurus Reach area. His posting reflected this. "The com centre is working on getting the connection for us," he added.

Yamaguchi settled in to wait, he closed his eyes while he took a moment to centre himself and prepare for the meeting ahead. He had not been sleeping well of late, it showed in that he looked tired most of the time. What did not help was the small army of children he had taken into his care. A couple of very demanding young children who tended to act and think more like their mother rather then their father did not help matters. Yamaguchi missed his spouse terribly but he was not prepared to ask her to turn over her command to someone else and come home. She would serve as his primary aide. What was more to the point was that Jake had outright refused her when Torilla had even made the same offer to him on their last night of being together. She was worried about him but Jake had gently taken her hands in his and he refused her. Jake had wanted to ensure Torilla would have her time to shine while she commanded her own ship, the same as he had done years earlier.

Duval regarded her first officer for the Taurus Reach with a critical eye. As bad as her own issues were at times, she knew his dwarfed hers to a level that had to be experianced to be believed. "How are you feeling Jake?" Duval asked, warm compassion in her eyes and voice.

"I'm tired ma'am," Yamaguchi answered quietly. He knew better than lie to Heather Duval on matters of state. "Which is my default state on most days of the week." he let out a sigh. "Even if Torilla was present. She could do little to assist me with lack of sleep..."

Duval understood his dilemma all too well. "I'm sorry its come to this, Jake... I wish I could help."

"You help me enough ma'am." Yamaguchi smiled at the older woman before him. "You tolerate my concerns and address them on an as-needed basis," he explained with a smile on his lips.

"I try," Duval answered as the com system beeped. "The meeting is about to start." came Orthos's voice before he entered the office. The screen lit up and the face of Master Admiral Pasha Andreyev appeared on the display before them. "Good morning everyone. This won't take too long so I'll be brief... First, you all did grand work on finding a cure for the Halanan medical issue." he commented. "We're looking into how we can deliver this cure to the Halanan species and hopefully, this can resolve all of their major issues in one stroke."

"Do we know if they will accept it, Admiral?" Duval inquired, her soft dulcet tones indicating her relaxed posture.

"Not as yet Admiral. I will inform you as soon as we are informed. Diplomacy and all that jazz..." Andreyev answered with a nod. "I would simply love to hand this off to you and your command but there are a couple of Prime directive concerns we have to deal with..." the older officer explained.

"We can't interfere with a planet's sovereignty," Duval answered. with a sigh. "Alright Admiral. We'll sit on this and let you get back to us."

"Understood. Starfleet out." and with that, the transmission went black.

"Even if we're bringing them a cure for their issues... That will prevent their extinction..." Admiral Lasky commented quietly.

Yamaguchi sat in silence. His spouse was a victim of these issues as he turned to Lasky."Let's hope I'm just getting old and bitter."

"Doubtful Jake..." Lasky answered. "What's your take on all this, Valerie?"

Valerie regarded the gathering present. "I think we should be careful."

Lasky ran his hand over his jawline, deep in thought. "Well... They might refuse us on the grounds that they have had their own cure in the works and their government wants to be able to save their own people without assistance from us."

Yamaguchi regarded Lasky with a critical eye. "Why do you say that?"

"Well... Let's face it, both of our spouses are Halanan and they are both attainded from their homeworld. Banished and not to return until they perform some heroic deed or somesuch."

Yamaguchi paused as he saw where Lasky was going, and it got him wondering too. "Yet the Halanan government wanted to know why Torilla is able to have so many children..."

"The same with Plataea..." Lasky answered darkly. "It wouldn't surprise me if Laneli was getting this same crap as well. I'll need to talk to Curtis on the matter and see what he says."

"Give him my regards too. Please and thanks." Yamaguchi answered.

"Willdo," Lasky answered.

"For now, we'll wait and see what Starfleet comes up with... Maybe they will succeed... But this is a government that routinely abuses the rights of their citizens... They clearly can and will banish them at will, for any reason they deem fit and then they will harass them at will afterwards... So we should make our own preparations... Just... In case." she paused. "Thank you, everyone, for coming. This meeting is adjourned..." and with that, the meeting ended as people began to depart.