Nora Laas entered main engineering and found it significantly less busy than it had been the last time she had visited here. The reason seemed obvious. Despite the disruptions, including of course Lieutenant Gedar’s horrific murder, the construction effort was apparently on schedule and in fact nearing completion. For Rosenthal’s people as well as Eagle’s engineering crew, this meant that things were winding down as they focused on the final touches and software calibrations to ensure the spy array would work as advertised and be able to fulfill its purpose of collecting valuable intelligence on their enemy.
The Bajoran still felt somewhat shook up over her argument with the man who until very recently had been her partner in this investigation. She wasn’t happy how she had handled it but at the same time she was also convinced that she had done the right thing. Alex Clancy had a tendency of trying to take this case where it didn’t belong and she was fed up with it. He simply didn’t understand people like Hopkins like she did. That there was simply no way that she could be mixed up in this nasty business. After all, Hopkins was more than a friend to her. They had been roommates at the Academy and ever since she had felt it to be her responsibility to look out for her. Clancy didn’t understand that.
Of course she couldn’t entirely deny that his assistance had been more helpful than she had expected when she had been initially forced to work with him. But things had progressed quite a bit since then, and she was sure she could take things from here. Especially if he insisted on drawing the wrong conclusions about the people she cared for.
She knew she had to speak to Hopkins regardless of how she felt about her involvement if for no other reason than to put her own mind at rest and to give her friend the heads up that Clancy or Star would potentially confront her over their ridiculous accusations.
The chief engineer wasn’t working on the main engineering level and after checking in with Kolrami, he directed her to the upper deck.
She took one of those small, single-person elevators which lifted her to the level directly above. It took her a moment to locate Hopkins. She was working on a computer station in the far corner, away even from the much reduced hustle and bustle of main engineering.
“Lou?”
Whatever the sandy-blonde engineer was working on, it held her entire focus without exception. She didn’t give a single outward sign that she had heard Nora.
Undeterred, she stepped up to her friend. “Busy?”
Still no response. Instead her fingers continued to race across her work station at a near frantic pace, her eyes practically glued to the monitors. Nora, lacking an engineering background, couldn’t make out what the other woman was working on.
“Lou, hey?”
But the chief engineer continued to treat her as if she was air.
Nora turned to look around to see if anybody else was nearby to bear witness to the Hopkins’ odd behavior but found that they were alone. When she looked back at her friend she noticed the sweat pearls forming on her forehead. She reached out for her shoulder, squeezing it. “Louise!”
The woman stopped suddenly, gasped for air and then turned to see the Bajoran, her eyes wide as if seeing her for the first time. “Laas?”
“Uh, yeah.”
Hopkins wiped the sweat off her brow with her uniform sleeve.
“Are you alright?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes, I think so.”
“Didn’t look like it,” said Nora, sounding noticeably concerned. “You were completely zoned out there. What are you working on?”
The engineer looked unsure of herself and glanced back at the screen. “I … I was running a level two warp core diagnostic.”
Nora looked skeptical. “That must have been the most intense diagnostic I’ve ever seen.”
She uttered a little sigh and cleared the screen. “I guess I’ve been a little stressed out lately with everything that’s been going on.”
“Are you sure that’s all? You look pretty pale. Maybe you should pay sickbay a visit.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m alright. What brings you here?”
The security chief continued to consider her for a moment but then seemed to decide that she was no worse for wear, her odd behavior a minute ago notwithstanding. She offered her friend a serious look. “We need to talk. About Gedar.”
A dark look crossed Hopkins’ features and Nora instantly understood that she was not yet over Gedar’s death. She couldn’t blame her. As the chief of security she had lost people under her command, not as many as on some other ships, thankfully, but more than she cared to admit. And even then she had never lost anyone in such a senseless manner.
She nodded slowly. “What do you want to know?”
“Not here. Let’s go to your office.”
The young engineer hesitated for a moment, as if she feared the notion of having to face her friend over the issue within the privacy of her own office. But before Nora could prompt her again, she set out to lead the way.
The room was fairly small and spartan. Enough space for a desk and three chairs. A few pictures hung on the wall, Nora recognized them as the same she had kept in their Academy room all those years ago, including one of her hometown of Ottawa on the North American continent on Earth.
Hopkins walked behind her desk and took a seat.
Nora remained standing. She decided against beating around the bush. “There are some on this ship who believe that you were involved with Jin Gedar and I want to put those speculations to rest for once and for all. Tell me it’s nonsense.”
But she refused to make eye contact and didn’t respond.
The silence dragged on for too long. Nora covered her eyes with her hand and then turned her back on her friend. “By the Prophets, it’s true.”
When she still didn’t say anything, Nora continued. “Why, Lou? You must have known what kind of guy he was,” she said and faced her again.
She nodded gingerly. “I knew that it was never going to be anything serious. And I knew it was wrong to get involved with somebody under my command but for a while there, it just felt so right and I didn’t want it to end,” she said, her voice small and obviously guilt-ridden. “I thought that maybe I could have what you had. I mean, you were so happy then and everybody could see it,” she added, sounding defeated. “Maybe I wanted a bit of that happiness even if it wasn’t going to last.”
The Bajoran let herself fall into one of the chairs facing the desk. It had never occurred to her that her friend had been looking for a relationship similar to the one she had shared with Eugene Edison. She knew of course of her attraction to their ultra-pragmatic Vulcan science officer but that had always seemed to her more like a schoolgirl crush, an improbable fantasy, considering that Xylion was unlikely to ever reciprocate those feelings. So when she had not been able to make him see her the way she wanted to be seen, she had found a much more willing partner in the outgoing Krellonian. Nora couldn’t deny that she felt ashamed at having judged her so quickly. Not to mention the pain at realizing how much she still missed Edison, the man she had loved without compromise.
“I’m sorry,” said Nora. “It wasn’t my place to judge.”
“But you’re right about Gedar. I can’t say that we didn’t have fun, that I even cared for him but I also quickly learned that he wasn’t exactly a one-woman kind of man,” she said but with no bitterness or anger in her voice. “He didn’t deserve this fate.”
Nora nodded and stood. “Okay, being involved with a junior officer isn’t a crime. But it now appears Gedar may have been leaking classified information.”
“What does that matter now?” she said. “He’s dead.”
“Lou, this isn’t just going to go away. Culsten already all but admitted it by refusing to answer any more questions on the subject. He is protecting somebody and it isn’t himself or Gedar. He’s protecting you and it’s only a matter of time until Clancy or Star”” she stopped herself when she spotted the very same having just entered engineering and after a moment’s delay making a beeline for Hopkins’ office. “Damn, just what I needed,” she said and turned back to Hopkins. “Listen, just stay quiet and let me do the talking.”
“Laas.”
But then the doors parted to allow the first officer to enter, quickly crowding the small office. “Lieutenant Nora, why am I not surprised finding you here?”
“I don’t need your permission to visit a friend.”
Star nodded. “Yes, of course. You two go back, don’t you? If I remember correctly it was you who recommended Lieutenant Hopkins to the captain for chief engineer when you first came aboard.”
Nora frowned at that. Star had to have been looking fairly deep into the official records to dig out that little fact. “I take it your little bird came flying back to its coop to chirp.”
Star shot the security chief a blank look. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Lieutenant.” Her confusion appeared genuine enough.
“I came to speak to Lieutenant Hopkins about Gedar.”
“Clancy talked to you.”
“I haven’t seen or heard from Lieutenant Clancy since earlier in Culsten’s quarters,” she said firmly. “Now, would you mind giving us a minute?” It hadn’t really been phrased as a question.
Nora took a seat instead. “Whatever you need to discuss with Lieutenant Hopkins, you can do it with me in the room. Besides, if this is related to my murder victim I should be here anyway.”
The two women shot lasers at each other.
“I’d really rather have this conversation in private. Do you need me to make this an order?”
The Bajoran smirked. “You can try. You might want to call in some of my men, seeing that you are already so well acquainted with them, and see if you can get them to drag me out of here because that’s what’ll take.”
“Laas, please,” Hopkins begged, clearly not wanting to escalate this any further.
“Don’t test me, Lieutenant,” Star said, her voice taking on an even sharper edge.
Before the security chief could come back with yet another retort, Hopkins beat her to the punch. “Gedar was the spy. He was a spy and I knew about it.”
The two women whipped their heads around to look at the chief engineer who had suddenly risen from her chair.
“Lou, you can’t”“
But Hopkins stopped her with a hand. “No, Laas. There is no more point in denying it,” she said and let herself fall back in her chair. “In fact, I’m relieved to have it in the open at last. Bad enough that Gedar was killed and that Lif got dragged into all of this for no other reason than being a good friend to me. This is all my fault and I can’t stand keeping quiet about it any longer.”
It took a moment for the confession to sink in. Then Star addressed the mugato in the room. “Did you kill Gedar?”
She shook her head decidedly. “No.”
“You do realize however that this makes you a suspect.”
“I believe her,” said Nora.
Star shot the security chief a less than surprised look.
“Even if she had motive, she didn’t have opportunity. She has an alibi for the time of death. She was in a meeting with Professor Rosenthal and Charlie Colcord. We know that Rosenthal saw Gedar alive and then returned to the meeting room. Louise would not have had time to kill Gedar,” she said but conveniently leaving out the small yet pertinent detail that Hopkins had been left alone in the meeting room for a short time, even if it had been barely enough time to commit a murder.
“It doesn’t mean she wasn’t involved,” said Star and continued before either could protest, focusing on the engineer. “And even if you aren’t, you suppressed knowledge of a spy operating on board. At the very least that is aiding and abetting and at worst, conspiracy and treason.”
“Now wait just a minute,” Nora protested.
But Louise already nodded. “She’s right. On all accounts.” When nobody spoke up straight away, she continued. “I found out about a week ago when I traced a subspace message made to look like background noise to a work station he had used. I confronted him about it, not expecting anything malicious at first. But the more I talked to him, the more evasive he became until he finally came clean and admitted that he had been sending engine specifications to the Orion Syndicate. He said he had been approached by them just a few months ago. Apparently targeting Starfleet officers from non-Federation member worlds is their modus operandi and they were able to recruit him by offering him significant financial compensation. He said he was pretty conflicted about it but that his family back home needed the money.”
Star shook her head. “That doesn’t excuse it. And you should have reported this straight away.”
“Yes, I know. But for all he had done, I just couldn’t go through with it. I didn’t want him to spend the rest of his life in the stockade. We came to an agreement. He’d sever his ties with the Orions and as soon as our latest mission was over he would either resign his commission or desert if they wouldn’t let him.”
“And you believed him?” said the commander, suspicion written all over her face.
Nora jumped in. “It makes sense. He’d already hinted at leaving Starfleet. He even arranged with Rosenthal to be paid for selling his transphasic shield design, presumably to have enough money to escape to a place outside the Federation or perhaps even to go back home.”
Just then Sirna Kolrami appeared by the doors to the office. “Chief, sorry to disturb you but we’ve got a problem with the starboard main power tap. Looks bad.”
Star responded in the chief engineer’s stead. “We’re in the middle of something here, can you not look into this?”
The Zakdorn hesitated for a moment. “I suppose. But I really think the chief should have a look. This could get ugly.”
Hopkins didn’t make a move and looked at the first officer instead.
After a moment’s consideration, she nodded. “Alright, go. But do not leave main engineering.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, got out of her chair and followed her engineer.
Star began to head out as well.
“Commander.”
The Trill turned to find Nora Laas now standing and facing her. “What do you intend to do about all this?”
“My duty,” she said. “I’m inclined to believe that she was not involved in Gedar’s death but her crimes of covering up his activities are just as serious.”
Nora nodded, unable to disagree with that statement. “It could destroy her career. As well as Culsten’s if he knew about it as well.”
“Most likely.”
She took a step closer. “We can’t afford losing people like them while we’re fighting the Dominion with tooth and nail.”
“So what do you expect me to do, Lieutenant? Simply ignore all this?”
“Gedar was the spy. The truly guilty party here is dead. He won’t be sharing any more secrets,” she said. “What’s the point in dragging good people like Louise and Culsten down with him?”
“The point, Lieutenant, is the principle,” said the Trill and took a step towards the security chief. “Your friend may have forgotten, but as Starfleet officers it is our duty to oppose all enemies. Foreign or domestic.”
The Bajoran paced the small office. “There has to be punishment, I agree,” she said and then stopped and faced the other woman again. “Charge them both with obstructing an official investigation or failure to follow orders. Something that can be negotiated down to a formal reprimand instead of a court martial.”
“That would not be punishment befitting the crime.”
“It would keep them from being promoted for a good while. Their careers would be stalled but they wouldn’t be over.”
The look in Star’s eyes remained ice cold.
Nora realized that she was not being swayed. She took a deep breath. “I’m asking you, please, to consider it. I know we haven’t exactly seen eye-to-eye on things since you’ve come aboard but you must agree that losing Louise and Culsten now would be seriously hindering our effectiveness against the Dominion.”
A smile began to grow on Star’s face. “Not seen things eye-to-eye? Let’s call a spade a spade, Lieutenant. You’ve opposed me being here every chance you’ve had. Not five minutes ago you were treading dangerously close to insubordination and that’s hardly been the first time we’ve had this little dance of ours.”
The security chief looked visibly deflated and Star was clearly enjoying seeing the usually tough as nails Bajoran who never passed on a chance to openly disagree or otherwise oppose her backed into a corner as she desperately tried to find a way to save her friend from losing her commission or worse even, be sentenced to a long, involuntary stay at the Starfleet stockade.
Nora raised her hands in defeat. “Tell me what you want, Commander.”
That smirk grew a little wider. “You really think it works that way? You offering me something in order to overlook a severe crime committed on this ship? There is a word for what you’re trying to do, Lieutenant.”
“Call it what you want,” she said, “but I’m still offering. You want my resignation? You’ll have it. You want me to transfer off this ship? I’ll put in the papers today.”
The smile faded from Star’s face. “Why I had no idea you could be so loyal.”
“I’m not surprised that you can’t see the value of loyalty.”
“Ah, there it is, the Nora Laas I know, with all the spite and anger I’ve come to cherish.”
Nora blanched. “I’m sorry, I was out of line.”
“Now that’s something I haven’t heard you say before.”
Nora nodded. “Alright then. You want me to be a good little officer and say ‘yes, sir’ and ‘with pleasure, sir’ whenever you open your mouth? I can do that. You want my unquestioned loyalty. I can do that, too.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want you to grovel, Lieutenant. What I want”no, what I deserve”is your respect. I want you to start following my orders like you’d follow orders from any superior officer. I want you to stop questioning everything I say or oppose me just because you have a problem with me being your first officer. In short, Lieutenant, I want you to behave like a Starfleet officer is expected to behave.”
The security chief considered that for only a few seconds and then nodded firmly. “You are right. My personal feelings aside, you are my superior on this ship and as such you deserve my full compliance. I’m sorry if you didn’t have it before.”
“You’re saying this because you want to save your friend.”
Nora stood a little bit straighter. “I’m saying it because it’s the truth, sir. Whatever you decide to do with Louise and Culsten, I will follow your orders as if they came straight from the captain.”
Tazla Star considered the lieutenant for a moment, as if enjoying her deference, the first time since she had come aboard that she had truly given it. Then she nodded. “I’ll figure out how to deal with them without either having to face a court martial. I’ve been through it and I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone else.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Don’t think I’m doing this solely so you finally treat me like a humanoid being, I’m not that desperate. I don’t want to lose good people. Not Hopkins, not Culsten and not you.”
She nodded sharply.
They exchanged a last look and an unspoken understanding passed between the two women. Then Star turned towards the doors again.
“Commander, if I ever disagree with an order you give”“
She looked over her shoulder. “I expect you to voice it, just like you would with the captain or another superior. But once I make a decision, it’s final.”
Nora Laas nodded her agreement.
Then the alarm klaxons came to life and the ship shook hard. Nora lost her footing and stumbled forward. Star kept her balance somehow and caught the lieutenant before she could be painfully introduced to the deck plating.
“What’s going on?” Nora asked when she had found her footing again.
But Star was already rushing out of the office, the security chief close behind.