Lt Alex Storm and NPC Cynia Nila - Follow Me!
Karen Morris
((OOC: I’m starting back a ways to preserve Jaran’s tags))
((Berth Delta-7, Spaceport Alpha, Betazed ))
The moment she stepped outside of the shuttle, Alex looked around for her friend. Seeing her, she jogged over.
Storm:: Nila!
The two women met in a quick embrace.
Storm: Jira, Nat, this is Nila.
Jaran: Response
But Nat was already in motion.
Cole: I want the first person who can explain why we circled while outbound traffic cleared. After that, I want the person who told them to make it happen.
Alex touched Nila’s arm.
Storm: They’ll need help getting answers.
Nila: Because you’re…
Storm: I’ve got a funeral to attend.
Nila: Aren’t you a little overdressed?
Storm: That will be remedied shortly.
Jaran: Response
Alex tried to catch Nat’s attention, but she was in investigative mode.
Cole: Let me talk first. People tell you interesting things when they think you’re only half suspicious.
Nat found her prey. Her badge read **Senior Traffic Coordination Clerk – Lysa Pell**.
Cole: Ms. Pell, right? Lieutenant Natasha Cole. I’m sure this is all perfectly ordinary, but there’s one little thing about our approach delay that keeps bothering me, and I was hoping you could save me from overthinking it.
Pell adjusted her grip on the data-slate, her smile holding a fraction too long before she answered.
Pell: I assure you, Lieutenant, your shuttle was never in any danger. We were instructed to delay inbound clearance for just a few minutes while a priority departure window was maintained. It was administrative, not personal.
Alex stepped up behind Pell.
Storm: It may not have been personal…
The woman hadn’t expected Alex and swung around quickly with her hand on her chest.
Jaran: Response
Storm: But it was intentional, and …
Nila’s words overlapped Alex’s.
Nila: … And my friends and I here would like to know why.
Cole: Why a Starfleet shuttle with a filed funeral visit was kept circling while outbound traffic cleared. Start there.
Jaran: Response
Pell: You’d like to know why…what?
Alex breathed in…then suddenly turned to Cole and Jaran.
Storm: I’m sorry. I need to go. ::Turning her former shipmate:: Nila?
Nila: I’ll help them get to the bottom of this.
Cole: Go be where you need to be. We’ll handle this side of it.
Nat softened by a degree for Alex.
Jaran: Response
Storm: The funeral’s already underway. I…
Her voice trailed off. Alex turned to go, but stopped, walked back, and gave both Nat and Jira a quick hug.
Storm: Thank you both. I have to go.
Alex turned and started off at a jog. Nila turned immediately back to Pell
Jaran: Response
Nila: ::To Pell:: I think you need to answer the woman’s question.
Pell: I’ve already explained the hold, Lieutenant. There was outbound priority traffic, and your berth assignment was delayed accordingly. It happens.
Cole: You said you were instructed. That’s useful. Let’s start with by whom.
Nila: And you said that it happens. Is this routine?
Jaran: Response
Pell: Station Operations issued the instruction through standard traffic channels. I don’t personally originate berth holds, Lieutenant, I carry them out.
Cole: I don’t need the whole station’s secrets, Ms. Pell. Just the part where our hold pattern became somebody else’s escape route.
Nila: Especially when a member of Starfleet is late for a high-ranking Betazoid’s funeral.
Jaran: Response
Pell: Escape route is a serious interpretation. I had no manifest naming anyone of concern, only a flagged departure window that was marked priority and time-sensitive. That is all I knew.
Cole: One way or another, I’m getting the shape of this. I’m simply offering you the chance to be on the useful side of it.
Pell’s careful smile faltered at last. Her fingers tightened against the edge of the data-slate, and when she answered, the words came out lower and faster, like she was trying to get rid of them before they could become hers.
Pell: …The instruction was signed off by Berth Operations Supervisor Teren Vos, but it didn’t originate with him. He said the request came down from Station Operations with a diplomatic priority marker attached. That’s all I have.
Natasha gave the smallest nod, as if Pell had finally remembered how to be helpful. Teren Vos. Diplomatic priority. Station Operations. Better. Now the lie had structure.
Cole: Good. Let’s go ruin Teren Vos’s afternoon
Nila: And I know just where to find him. Follow me.
Nila turned. With a wave of her hand, she started off for Station OPS.
Jaran: Response
~*~
End Scene for Storm and Nila
~*~
Cyna Nila
As NPCed by
~*~
Lt Alex Storm
Tactical Officer
USS Artemis
O240103SK2