Rumors

Posted on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 @ 7:22am by Lieutenant JG Nozomi Kusuda 'Gemini' & Lieutenant Sorawo Kamikoshi

1,063 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Allegations
Location: USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Timeline: After "The Trial of Captain Taiga Aisaka- Day 2"

It had been a busy day with lots of running back-and-forth, but at long last Nozomi had gotten flight training completed. Sure, she had considered running back up to her quarters to retrieve the technical manuals, but she'd been been so busy scurrying about that the thought had slipped her mind completely. At least the good news was that they were bringing her up to speed on it now rather than having her learn things on the fly.

As she made her way to the Turbolift, still eagerly looking forward to that bottle of Sake that Soren had promised, she began to notice a certain tension hanging in the air; a pervading sense of dread that hadn't been there when she first made her way down to the TIC. Officers she passed in the hallway seemed on edge, constantly stealing glances over their shoulders and keeping their phasers within easy reach. She made out a few key details of their hushed conversations, but she couldn't stick around for long before they'd realize she was eavesdropping and immediately fall silent.

"...Captain Aisaka's been acquitted..."

"...Tal Shiar allegedly planted a mole in Engineering..."

"...something about an Admiral..."

"...war with Romulus?"

Eventually making it to the Turbolift, Nozomi punched in the buttons that would take her to Deck 6 and let out a sigh. Amidst a whirlwind of thoughts with what she'd just heard, an idea came to mind; slowly reaching into her uniform pocket, she pulled out a pack of Aquarian Tarot Cards, the packaging showing its age from nearly 3 decades of wear-and-tear.

"Alright, give me some kind of sign here," she muttered as she slid the cards out of the packet and began shuffling them with trembling hands. "Should I be worried about this?"

selecting a card from the deck, she carefully pulled it out and flipped it over; her breathing hitched as she found herself staring down a flaming tower.

There were many ways that such a card might be interpreted in situations such as the one Nozomi now found herself in. In many regards, it signaled an ill portent of things to come; allusions of a society destabilized by madness, and a cautious reminder to noblemen and clergy that they had the most to lose.

But in other regards, it signaled the end of chaos and turmoil; a time of new beginnings, to cleanse one's self of what had been and to look forward to what could be.

So, all things considered, there were two ways that this could pan out: the first (and, frankly, the option Nozomi dreaded) was that things were going to hit the fan in no time flat; the other was that Federation was in the midst of a period of turmoil- one which would eventually yield radical changes...

Sorawo stopped the turbolift, the blue clad panther-woman actually finding herself in a bit of excitement for once. She had heard some interesting bits of information - a new race? That promised to be interesting, even if it was overshadowed by them being likely hostile to the Federation. Her thoughts were interrupted by seeing another officer in the turbolift, with a odd card design. It reminded her of something, but whatever it was, she couldn't remember it.

"Hello." Sorawo nodded to the other officer, as she entered the commands to get her to Deck 10. "Pleased to meet you."

The Ensign looked up and quickly hid the playing cards behind her back.

"Likewise, Lieutenant," she nodded. "New here, I take it?"

"Yes, I was assigned here today." Sorawo didn't comment on the cards as she felt it was a little prying and - well, she was trying to learn tact. No point in scaring an Ensign on her first day. Well.. probably no point. "It has been.. interesting being assigned on this day. Especially with the court martial." Sorawo did forget - someships were more military than others - "Sorry for omitting your rank, Ensign." Sorawo's lips were quirked in what she considered a wry smile, but not quite to humans. "I heard a rumor about a new race and I'm very excited about it, and forgot myself."

"Oh?" the Ensign remarked, her eyebrow piquing in curiosity. "Are you at leisure to share?"

"I only really have a name, since I suspect any formal briefing or classification is going to be done tomorrow." Sorawo shrugged. "It was the Elachi."

"Hmm... that name rings a bell..." the Ensign surmised, trying to recall where she'd heard the name before. Did she hear about in the Academy, perhaps?

"Have you considered sifting through the Star Fleet Archives for more information?" she suggested.

"I tried, but it came up mostly blank. There's some signs that some information is being reviewed, however, so I might have seen reference to it somewhere." Sorawo looks frustrated. "There are no papers in the publicly available databases, however."

"Well, it was worth suggesting," the Ensign shrugged. "Well, my advice is that you keep digging; I know I've heard the name somewhere, but I can't quite put my finger on it..."

A chime sounded directly above them, signalling the Turbolift's arrival at Deck 10.

"Ah! Your stop, Lieutenant?" The Ensign gestured as the Turbolift doors slid open.

Sorawo nodded. "I want to spend some time getting the office setup and since I haven't met the Captain or XO yet.. well, understandably so.. It was good to meet you, Ensign! Hopefully I'll run into you around."

"You as well, Lieutenant," the Ensign nodded, opting to keep the rumors surrounding Captain Aisaka's recent acquittal to herself.

Sorawo waved as she disappeared around the corridor. She had some more thoughts about what was going on, but didn't feel comfortable talking about it - she was the newcomer, and she was reminding herself that even in this she shouldn't just broadcast her opinions. Probably.

Unbeknownst to Sorawo, the Ensign she had just spoken to was having similar thoughts; for she, too, was a newcomer, who now had information that she couldn't make heads-or-tails of. As things stood right now, she was better off biting her tongue and waiting until she had a better grasp of the situation before speaking her peace...
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Posting by (in order of appearance):

Ensign Nozomi Kusuda
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)

Lieutenant Sorawo Kamikoshi
Chief Science Officer, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)

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