Security Calls

Posted on Sat Feb 7th, 2009 @ 4:17am by

Mission: Dark Discoveries
Location: Earth
Timeline: Current

“Mother, it’s been five years,” Andrew said in exasperation. “Just let it go already.” Often, Andrew’s blatant disregard for authority was refreshing; now, it just irritated Elizabeth. She turned from the viewport to glare at her son.

“That girl disgraced the family,” Elizabeth said coldly. “She has no right to remain in the family.”

“Like me?” Andrew asked. “When I left Starfleet, you hated me and refused to even speak of me. But you accepted me back.”

“You didn’t do what Sara did,” Elizabeth pointed out, but she remembered how her hatred at Andrew had faded over time. Perhaps, with time, she could begin to forgive Sara.

“Listen, mother, just don’t worry about that,” Andrew said, standing and hefting his field pack. “I’m sure that you can always make up to her later. I mean, it’s not like you’re going away to join another Starfleet vessel and could at any time be killed before ever seeing your granddaughter again.”

“Andrew…” Elizabeth began, but her son was already gone, the doors sliding closed behind him. Elizabeth sighed, turning back to the viewport and the field of stars beyond. The USS Iapetus wasn’t due back for another few days, which left her a lot of time to think about what Andrew had said. Not that she wanted to…

Elizabeth was startled out of her reverie by the chirp of the door chime. For a moment, she thought it was Andrew again, and she had no interest in talking to him. Finally, though, she turned with a sigh and headed to the door. It slid open to reveal a man in a security uniform, and Elizabeth’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Ms. Narton?” the man asked. Elizabeth nodded wordlessly. She could feel that something was wrong. “I’m Lieutenant Commander Earlond. May I?” He motioned with his hand, and Elizabeth stepped back.

“Of course,” she said, allowing Earlond in. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s about your son, Andrew,” the officer replied. “Do you know where he is?” Elizabeth frowned in confusion.

“Andrew?” she asked. “He was just –” She broke off, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Wait, why do you want to know?” Now it was Earlond who frowned.

“Just here?” he guessed, completing Elizabeth’s unfinished sentence. He tapped a combadge and said, “Mitchell, the target may be on the station. Keep an eye out for his ship.”

=/\= Acknowledged, =/\= someone replied. =/\= Do you want us to follow it? =/\=

“Negative,” Earlond said. “Just get a bearing on its course.” He turned back to Elizabeth, who glared at him.

“Target?” she asked. What was going on here? “Who are you, and what do you want with my son?”

“I am Lieutenant Commander Earlond, Starfleet Security,” the man replied calmly, countering Elizabeth’s rising tone. “I need to speak with Mr. Grenlas about an urgent matter.” Elizabeth continued to glare at him, but he didn’t offer any more information.

“What exactly do you need to know, young man?” Elizabeth asked icily, crossing her arms, but Earlond was unmoved by her hostility.

“I’m sorry, but that’s classified information,” Earlond replied. “Have a good day, ma’am.” Turning, Earlond strode out of the room, leaving Elizabeth staring angrily after him.

After a while, Elizabeth became aware of a sharp pain in her hands; unclenching them, she realized she had been digging her nails into her palms. Who did that guy think he was, barging in here and using her against her son? Despite her earlier anger with Andrew, Elizabeth knew she had to warn him. Moving to her room’s desk, she activated the comm and hailed Andrew’s private channel.

“Mother, I don’t really have time to discuss this,” were his first words when his face appeared on the screen. “We just got a job at the edge of the Alpha Quadrant. Just talk to her; it’s not that hard.”

“Maybe for you, but I –” Elizabeth checked herself. “This isn’t about Sara. Andrew, there’s someone looking for you; he said he was from Starfleet Security. I got a bad feeling about him; have you done something illegal?”

“Maybe,” Andrew answered, frowning thoughtfully. “If I have, and they’ve taken notice…well, just don’t expect any calls from me for a while. I love you, mother. Talk to Sara.” The screen blinked to black.

Elizabeth sighed and leaned back in her chair. By now, she had come to realize that Andrew could take care of himself – she wasn’t worried about that. Instead, her thoughts went to Sara, the poor girl she had deliberately cut from the family for an action long past. Leaning forward suddenly, she activated the comm again and called a channel she had not used in many years. “Sara,” she began hesitantly. “I…I’m sorry.”