By Vedek Jariel Camen
80130.2200
Following Between the Lines
80130.2200
Following Between the Lines
"Mr. Blane."
Salvek sat in the command chair, waiting patiently for TC to emerge from the ready room.
"Yes, Sir?" TC said wearily, as if talking to anyone was the last thing he wanted to do.
"I have a suggestion. The crew has its hands full preparing for our arrival at Beta-626. I would offer that Vedek Jariel is just as capable of scanning for beta band waves as anyone. See to it he is drafted to help with the scanning."
TC nodded, and stepped past Salvek. He conferred with Dabin Reece a moment.
"No problemo, TC. But why in the world would we need to..."
Reece stopped mid-sentence as TC emphatically signaled for him to be silent.
"Because we need to."
[[Ship is bugged, don't tell anyone verbally.]] TC signed as he spoke.
-=A short time later=-
[[We need you to search deck 8, starting with the arboretum. If you find any of them, disable them and bring them to the bridge. Don't tell anyone what you are doing. The less people who know, the better,]]
Dabin Reece handed the Vedek a tricorder.
[[You can count on me, Commander.]] Camen signed back to Dabin.
"Love the new flowers Vedek! See you soon!" Dabin yelled out into the arboretum, without even a hint of subtlety.
Camen flipped open his tricorder. Dabin had explained that they were looking for some sort of cloaked listening device, that it would hum if exposed to the beta band waves the tricorder emitted. Camen didn't try to pretend he understood the science behind it all and took the Trill's word for it.
Dabin had also shown him how to disable the "bugs" if he found one.
Camen walked slowly around the room, scanning each flowerbed carefully. He checked the alcove where he kept his tools and February's angel. Nothing.
Dabin hadn't told him who had planted the devices or why, but Camen had a few ideas, and figured it was probably one of the usual suspects. Romulans, Cardassians, maybe even the Klingons.
He looked above at the holopanels and realized something may have been hidden in the ceiling. He pointed his tricorder towards the false sky and watched as the display showed him the beta waves bouncing off the ceiling. Still, there was no hum.
He made his way down the short path towards the Captain's favorite swing...
-=Ready Room=-
"Hey, you." She managed a smile at least, despite the anger she felt and the overwhelming desire she had to make sure whoever was blackmailing TC Blane got theirs in the end.
Camen set the small chip down on her desk.
She sighed.
"Where?"
[[Between the wooded slats on your swing.]]
She sighed again and rubbed her hands slowly over her eyes. Liis picked up the device and rolled it between her fingers.
"I'm sorry, Camen."
[[Sorry for what?]]
"I'm sure you had other plans for the day besides looking for bugs. Sorry you got dragged into this."
[[Can I ask who is so interested in listening to your private chats in the arboretum?]]
[[I'm not going to lie to you.]] She signed. [[So I guess for now I'll just say when I feel like it’s safe for you to know, then I'll tell you.]]
[[This ship has a lot of secrets. I'm not surprised someone would want to know them. At least its good to know we're part of an organization like the Federation that doesn't resort to tactics like this.]]
"Yeah." She said simply. She didn't have the heart to tell him it was Starfleet Special Ops that had bugged the ship, and not some combative alien species like the Romulans.
His view that the Federation was "pure as the driven snow" was for the most part true, but like most organizations the Federation was willing to look the other way for groups like Special Ops.
[[I've got more scanning to do. See you later?]]
"I've got a lot of work to do. I don't know. Might be an all-nighter."
[[Oh.]]
The disappointment on his face stung her. Between this "bug" situation and their imminent arrival at Beta-626, she didn't know when she was going to squeeze in any down time today.
[[I guess I can just take in some dinner at Illusions or Afterthought. I'm sure Fleur will keep a hot pot of soup on even though MacDougal is back.]]
Camen turned to leave.
"Wait!" The name Fleur brought Liis back from whatever far off place she had gone to. Camen paused, and turned back towards her.
"Dinner, the two of us. I'll make the time."
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Vedek Jariel Camen
Ship's Chaplain
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
Vedek Jariel Camen
Ship's Chaplain
USS Serendipity NCC-2012