[G] Capt. C. Egan Manno: The Decision (Calderan, Delano)

[Tony]

(( Captain's Ready Room ))

:: Soon, Cassie thought, the ready room would have a clear trail around its perimeter, showing the path she paced. She couldn't help it, though; she was close to making a decision, finally, and in fact she was waiting on the arrival of her first officer. She wanted to run it past Nia, since Nia had dealt so centrally with the most recent crisis and had been at the forefront at every one that had come before it, too. If she agreed, then Cassie would go for it. If not, well.... And here Cassie shouted herself down, thinking that she was just looking for one more way out of what she wanted to do but had decided was too difficult to pursue. But if Nia agreed, and Cassie thought she would, then she would do it. She'd have no choice. Well, she'd have a choice, but not much of one. 

There was the chime. Cassie beat the path back to her chair, sat down, and asked Nia to come in. She did, and Cassie reached beneath the box for the stylized conduit with which she'd presented other pips months before. ::

Calderan: ?

Egan Manno: I did, Nia. ::beat:: Have you heard that the quarantine and the resurgence of the Maquis has been discussed into the upper echelons of Starfleet, and perhaps even in the Federation Council. For five minutes, our corner of the galaxy was everyone's corner.

Calderan: ?

Egan Manno: A large amount of that attention fell upon you, Nia. I'm pleased to say that -- even though I couldn't be here to help you and to guide you -- Starfleet was very happy. In fact, they barely listened to my recommendation but almost insisted I present this to you immediately. Not that I disagree, of course!

:: But still. In many ways, Cassie appreciated their isolation. It made what she was about to broach with Nia simpler, anyway. But time for that in a moment: She presented the old piece of engine, twice as big as her fist, and handed it to Nia. The gold pip, attached thanks to a localized magnetic field, was obviously visible on the silver surface. ::

Calderan: ?

Egan Manno: And that's not all: Along with a promotion to full commander, you've also been elevated in position. You'll no longer be a lowly executive officer. Instead, you're a full ambassador for the Federation, effective by executive order and immediately. You'll retain your Starfleet commission, of course, and your staff -- plus whatever additional personnel you need -- but you're essentially free to move about as you please. Though I hope you'll attached your operations to the Garuda as often as you can.

:: Perhaps it was based in what she was about to say, but Cassie wanted -- perhaps needed her to stay. Especially with the added diplomatic heft Nia would now have. ::

Calderan: ?

:: Cassie saw that Nia got her full pip pinned on correctly and allowed herself, after it had been, one of her rare smiles. However, as she contemplated again what was about to happen, she felt her smile falter. Nia picked up on it at once, of course. ::

Calderan: ?

Egan Manno: I'd be happy if you'd offer me your opinion. I've been thinking for days -- well, longer than that, but certainly for the last few days -- about what to do next. 

:: She paused for a moment as she recalled her long conversation with Evan Delano about family, not to mention her short hour spent in the holodeck with her own. Though she wasn't going to say it, not even to Nia, "what to do next" meant much more than their next mission -- but the latter was troublesome enough. ::

Egan Manno: With our rise in prominence, I imagine it's only a matter of days before Starfleet Admin determines that our leave has lasted long enough and asks us to investigate something or other. I'd like to make the most of that time. I want, in short, to do what we should've done before: find the Maquis, search for the rogue Nok'Tan, follow up with the Community and the Myr Luuk, ::beat:: look for Harrison Ross. We may not be able to do it all, and in fact I'd be surprised if we were even successful once. But it's time we tried.

:: There she stopped, and looked at Nia almost eagerly. Would she agree? Of course she would agree. She had to agree. Please agree, Cassie thought. Please agree. ::

Calderan: ?

Jhresh: =/\= Captain, you have an incoming call from Command. =/\=

:: Cassie squeezed her eyes shut. How could it be right then? She could hear the reluctance in Jhresh's voice, too, and knew her yeoman by that voice after a year of reminders and briefs. It was a mission. It had to be. She tapped her combadge more reluctantly than ever before. ::

Egan Manno: =/\= Stall them. No, tell them we're having comms difficulties. That DSX is, too. =/\=

:: Would that surprise Nia? That her rule-abiding captain was asking her yeoman to lie to Starfleet Command? If it did, she didn't say anything. Jhresh's voice was dry. ::

Jhresh: =/\= Can't now. There's an admiral already online. She's waiting to talk to you. =/\=

:: That was it, then. No other way out. ::

Egan Manno: =/\= Put her through. =/\=

:: She tapped the channel closed. As soon as she did, Nia spoke. ::

Calderan: ?

Egan Manno: No, you don't need to go. In fact, I imagine whoever this is will want you to stay.

:: To illustrate this point, Cassie activated her monitor and twirled it so that it showed Nia and her equally. The woman on the other end, a Tellarite vice admiral, nodded once to Cassie -- but her eyes lit up when they moved over to Nia. ::

Yuv: Captain -- and you must be Ambassador Calderan? ::beat:: That is to say, it is 'ambassador' now, isn't it?

:: The admiral sent a glance that was almost a reproof at Cassie, but it was Nia who answered. ::

Calderan: ?

Yuv: Good. Admiral Yuv, and Captain, Ambassador, I'm happy to speak to you both at once. I have a mission for the Garuda to embark upon immediately. ::beat:: The Qilin Project has identified one of the densest known clouds of protomatter within an eight-hour warp journal of Deep Space 10. I'm dispatching the Garuda to survey it.

:: Cassie wanted to question this order most vociferously. A cloud of protomatter? If the long-range Qilin sensor systems could scan it well enough to tell that it was there and discover some of its properties, then surely any investigation could wait? But Yuv wasn't done yet. ::

Yuv: It seems like a waste of your good skills, Ambassador, so I'm pleased to say that I'm extending the diplomatic mission begun by the Garuda and Task Force 105 to the Community. Delegates from that race will be arriving at Deep Space 10 within the hour. Your mission is to show them how we operate -- how the Federation handles a mission of scientific exploration. With any luck, we'll have them as members at mission's end, eh?

:: Cassie's mouth was almost hanging open. Were all admirals this out of touch and she simply hadn't noticed before, or was this one particularly dense? ::

Calderan: ?

Egan Manno: We'll certainly do our best, Admiral.

Yuv: I expect nothing less, Captain. Ambassador, a pleasure to meet you.

Calderan: ?

Yuv: Starfleet Command, out.

:: Cassie let out a long, long sigh. Well, that was that, then. They'd been ordered on a different mission. ::

Calderan: ?

:: She put on her most professional voice at once. She suspected that Nia would see though it, given everything she'd just said, but the front was important. ::

Egan Manno: We'll have to do just what the admiral said. Nia, would you be so good as to recall the crew? Also, when you have a moment, send me Msafiri Bakari and Mei'konda. Also, at some point, the new helm officer we were assigned. Lieutenant Falcon, yes? And, finally, a personal request: When you have a moment, I'd like you to ask Tristam Core what he knows about a hologram named Sky Blake.

:: If Nia found any of these requests strange, her face didn't show it. ::

Calderan: ?

:: Cassie hesitated, even though Nia was clearly ready to go at once. ::

Egan Manno: I'll -- I'll come along shortly. If you don't mind.

Calderan: ?

:: It had happened so quickly, Cassie thought. She'd decided to act, had finally been pushed to act, and the moment that she'd decided, something swooped down and snatched it away. Well, she thought, there was no reason they couldn't have everything. Demonstrating for the Community representative (or representative -- how would one refer to several entities from a communal species?) would address one loose end, at least, and they could survey the cloud quickly and then continue on into the Corridor. The admiral would be pleased, and Cassie would, hopefully, find her friend -- and address all of the other lingering concerns, lasting problems, and unresolved bits, too. Yes, she decided, that was what she would do. She stood and headed out to the bridge.... ::

(( Bridge ))

:: ...where she made it into the turbolift and ordered it down to deck six, all on autopilot. Only when the doors had opened onto deck six did she realize that, no, she didn't want to be there, she wanted to be back on the bridge, issuing a general crew recall. Fine. So she rode back up, trying to calm her mind -- and found there the nominal skeleton crew but Evan Delano as well, waiting outside her empty ready room. She walked toward him, though the moment she was about to say his name, he turned and started to sweep away. Unfortunately, he swept right into her. It appeared, she thought, rubbing her nose, that her mind wasn't the only one divorced from its body's actions tonight. :: 

Delano: Captain, I’m so sorry. Are you alright?  

Egan Manno: Perfectly fine, perfectly fine.

:: She tried to wave it off, but the fact was that she was still trying to calm the voices in her mind. She also wanted, despite the mission's less-than-exciting parameters, to call back the crew without delay -- they would know why soon enough, and it wasn't for protomatter -- but he'd clearly come looking for her. She wondered why. ::

Delano: I should have been more careful. 

Egan Manno: Never mind that. You were clearly in a hurry somewhere, and you were just trying to get into my ready room. You were looking for me?

Delano:  Yes, I was hoping to talk to you in private for a few minutes. I have some information you’ll want to hear. 

:: That, without any context but that which she provided herself, was enough to pique her interest. ::

Egan Manno: Very well. Please, inside.

(( CRR ))

:: She realized that she hadn't yet cleared away the old component with which she'd presented Nia's pip. She cleared it off the desk at once as she invited Evan to sit. ::

Egan Manno: It must be a rather short meeting, I'm afraid: I've just received orders from Starfleet Command, and I must recall the crew.

Delano: ?

Egan Manno: I'm sorry, say that again. You heard what?

Delano: ?

Egan Manno: And your source?

Delano: ?

Tag! and TBC!

Captain Cassandra Egan Manno

CO, USS Garuda