A meeting of Colleagues

Posted on Fri Aug 20th, 2010 @ 1:18pm by Commander Acle Walex & Lieutenant Commander Sara Archer

Mission: Shadows Fall
Location: CIO's Office
Timeline: MM2 MD16 1632hrs

Acle stepped out of the briefing room into the corridor beyond. Quartermasters and supply NCOs were an essential part of any star ship. Without them, they wouldn't even be able to eat. But, they were somewhat of a dull lot.

Acle sighed as he started to proceed down the corridor and passed by a plain unmarked door. Acle then did something very uncharacteristic for him. He stopped for no reason and simply looked at it. This had been his door for some time, and although he didn't miss the office itself, there were times when he did miss the position.

On a whim, Acle stepped up to the hatch and depressed the chime.

On the other side of the door, Sara was her usual place: behind her desk with a PADD in her hand. For once it was not an intelligence report, but a novel her aunt had recommended before she left. It was a spy story, and Sara couldn't help but notice all the inconsistencies. Since she had no sensitive information lying around, she responded to the chime without checking who was there, another rare occurrence. "Come in," was all she said.

Acle raised an eyebrow at the quick reply. Unless he was getting rusty, that wouldn't have even been enough time to check to see who it was. Acle thumbed the hatch open and stepped inside, his eyes unobtrusively scanning the office. He walked to the desk until he was standing an approximate four feet away.

Sara lowered her PADD to see the ship's executive officer. She was not much of a fan of surprise inspections, especially while she was in the middle of reading. She didn't know much about Acle Walex, except for what she found in his record. During her short time on board, she hadn't taken the time to meet with him while not on duty, even though he had been the ship's previous chief intelligence officer. She placed the novel down on her otherwise immaculately clean desk. "What can I do for you, Commander?"

"Nothing official." Acle said, offering a slight smile. "Have you fully settled in?" He asked, not fully explaining why he was here. He stood relaxed with the easy grace of confidence and attempted to lighten his voice.

Sara nodded. "I'm as settled as I'll ever be, sir." That could be considered an outright lie from some perspectives. In fact, she was starting to become more settled than she ever had been. "The office is certainly a little larger than my old one on the Carthage."

"Relax Commander, this is an informal visit. You don't have to address me as Sir. We are, after a fashion at least, colleagues." Acle said. He stepped further into her office, moving towards a chair. "Would you mind if I sat?" he inquired.

She motioned towards the chair. "By all means, sir." She cut herself short and noticed the look from Walex. "Sorry, old habits die hard." Her aunt told her that she needs to try to be more open with her shipmates. With everything going on in her head, sh decided to give it a chance. Of course, she wouldn't have turned the XO away even if she had wanted to. "I suppose we haven't formally met. I'm Sara," she said, extending a hand.

Acle sat if the seat, his posture still somewhat stiff, although he appeared to be relaxed. "Acle" he said, grasping her extended hand with a light grip. Sitting back, Acle appeared to mull over something in his mind before speaking. "As you know, I was the previous occupant of this office. Before that, I worked in Internal Affairs. It is an interesting life that we lead is it not?" Acle asked, a wisp of a smile crossing his face.

"It certainly is," Sara replied nodding. "It's a job no one else wants, but I wouldn't trade it away for anything. If you don't mind me asking, why did you choose to become an intelligence officer? Was it because of your work in Internal Affairs?"

Acle offered a wry smile. "To be completely honest... It was assigned to me. I didn't really choose it. My former posting was my first time serving as an intelligence officer aboard a ship. Before that, I worked extensively within the field. What about you? Why did you choose to be an intelligence officer?" Acle asked.

"I'm actually a career intelligence officer. I was recruited just after graduation from the Academy." Sara debated internally for a moment, trying to decide how much she really wanted to say. She promised her aunt that she would try to open up more. "Because of the way my parents were killed, I jumped at the opportunity. I felt that it was the best way for me to save lives."

Acle sat silently for a moment, thinking over what the other had said. "And has it worked? Do you feel like you have saved more lives then if you had trod on a different path?" Acle asked quietly, looking into the other's eyes intently.

Sara's gaze shifted to her desk, not really looking at anything in particular. "Much of my work has been spent in the field. My time as an ship-side intel officer has been spent on hot reserve. The whole Bevrudl incident was another case of me being reassigned back into the field. I've done a lot of things during the war that I'm not proud of, but I keep telling myself that it was for the greater good. I've recovered information that has led to Federation victories, so I suppose that counts for something." She looked back up at the Commander. "I've never regretted my career choice, even if it has meant lying awake at night."

Acle continued to look at Archer, even when she had looked down, his face expressionless. A moment passed, where silence reigned between the two until Acle spoke again, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

"You have no reason to doubt yourself or any reason to inquire as to if you have done well. Unlike anyone else presently on this vessel, I have looked at your file... Your full file." Acle said, letting his words hang in the air.

Acle had indeed read her full file, or at least the majority of it. His clearance as the Chief Intelligence Officer had been revoked, but, he still maintained extensive ties to the intelligence network along with certain responsibilities therein. It was said that once you were a spook, you never could go back.

"I too have done things that I am not proud of. I started off in star fleet as an enlisted crew member. I participated in two battles of the Dominion War during that time, the final one seeing me become the senior person left on the ship. I was a Petty Officer." Acle paused for a moment, then forged on "They essentially forced me to become an officer where I was recruited into the intelligence field, or more specifically Internal Affairs. During my time at the Academy, it was bombed by the Breen. After that raid, and my advanced graduation, I spent the remainder of the war suspecting every intelligence agent we had of being a changeling or of cooperating with the enemy." Acle's face turned soft, and his voice dropped another octave. "Believe me when I say that I to have regrets. I did many things I am not proud of, and to this day, I am still not certain if it was the right thing to do, or worse yet... Even necessary."

"Don't worry, Commander. I've read your full file as well. It never hurts to know everything about who you are working with. It seems that we have both suffered tragedy that drove us to action." Her expression stayed serious. "We do what we must so that the rest of the Federation can live in peace and bliss. Even if it was declassified, most people wouldn't want to know our secrets, the people we've killed. I'm sure presiding over executions was not an easy task. Were you close to any of them? The 'execution' that I 'presided over' convinced me that no one can be trusted. No one is exactly who they claim. They always say that spies shouldn't love. I suppose I learned that one the hard way."

Acle raised an eyebrow. "I would contest that. Love is what defines us as sentient beings. Without it, we are simply machines encased in a fleshy body. For a spy not to love would be to doom the being, and worse yet, to doom whatever it is the agent is working towards. Make sure someone earns it, but, you have to trust someone Sara." Acle said, calling her by her first name for the first time. "To do else wise is to follow the path to madness. I trusted no one... Not even myself. You have more intelligence experience then I do, but, my entire intelligence career was about not trusting anyone. Find someone, or if you can't do that, something, some ideal."

Acle fell silent, reflecting over what he had just said. A faint look of surprise washed over his face as he realized just what he was doing before fading. He hadn't opened up to anyone like this since... Well, a long time ago.

"It's been hard to trust anyone since Torga IV, Commander. I can still see his eyes. He felt like what he was doing was right. In his mind, he was the one that was betrayed. If there is anything that I've had to believe in, it's that I was right, and that everything I have done has been for a higher purpose." Sara grew quiet, knowing that she was violating a number of protocols just by mentioning Torga IV, even though Acle did read her file. "I've been trying to tell myself to let it all go, to move on. I've tried telling myself that trust will only lead to more betrayal. I'm on a new ship, on my way to a new quadrant. Maybe now, maybe with some help, I can truly move on. Maybe I can learn to open up, learn to love again."

Acle was silent again, clearly pondering something. His head lowered somewhat, letting his gaze fall to the floor, although if one had been able to see his eyes, they would have seen that they were directed someplace far beyond the hull of the space craft. After a few moments, he rose his head and locked eyes with the other. "How about a deal Sara?" he asked finally.

Sara was a little apprehensive. She wasn't know for making deals. "What kind of deal?"

"How about you and I... Open up?" Acle asked. "I don't think it is possible for us to be completely open with one another. I am sure that we'll both have internal affairs on us then. Nor are either of us very open people. But..." Acle paused for a moment, looking down momentarily before locking eyes again "Everyone needs some help at times. How about it then? I'll try if you try." Acle asked.

Sara thought about Acle's proposition. She had promised her aunt that she would take the time to be human, to form actual relationships beside those necessary for her work. The commander had a lot in common with Sara; they have both have difficult pasts, and were both haunted by the things they have done in the defense of the Federation. Perhaps if anyone could understand Sara, understand what she had been through, it would be him. "You have a deal, Acle. It's good to know that I have people here that I can trust. That's a rare thing for our like to have." She extended her hand to seal the deal. "My door is always open if you want to talk."

Acle reached out and clasped her hand in his own, gently squeezing. "As is mine." He let go of the other's hand and stood. "I have some paperwork to do, and you should get back to your reading." Acle offered with a slight smile.

"It was a pleasure Commander." Acle said as he stood, slipping back into some semblance of military formality.

"The pleasure was mine, sir." She stood with the Commander, her lips slowing slipping into a smile of her own.

Acle paused for a moment, then nodded to the other and strode out the hatch, into the corridor beyond. He turned towards his own office, his mind clearly occupied with the conversation that had transpired, nodding towards the few crew that he passed. An interesting Colleague she would turn out to be... Interesting indeed.

---------------------------
Commander Acle Walex
Executive Officer
USS Iapetus

&

Lieutenant Commander Sara Archer
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Iapetus