Commander Margaret Walker: Searching Shadows

[Michael Meir-Wright]

(( Security Department Conference, Deck 7, USS Octavia E. Butler ))

There had been nothing remarkable about Radek’s personnel file, but then again Margaret Walker has not expected there to be. A freshly minted, straight-out-of-Starfleet-Academy officer was never going to have anything besides their background and Academy transcripts in their record. And yet, it was brevity that made the Director of Intelligence suspicious.

Of all the crew that went missing on the Caboto, he is the one to escape. There were people on that ship with decades of experience- and a green ensign just so happens to escape with Kessler?

She didn’t buy it. Something was afoot- and as the ranking Intelligence officer in the region, it was up to her to put a stop to it.

Never one to not be working, Walker had put a call into security and requested that they escort Radek to the briefing room barely two hours after she had all but cleared Jack Kessler of doing anything untoward. Of course, she was still going to keep a close eye on the ‘Oumuamua’s former Tactical Officer- but she was almost certain that he had been pawn in the Zet’s game of brinksmanship, rather than a key player.

Her reverie was interjected by the arrival of the Rekarian junior officer she had summoned. The man stepped into the room stiffly and stood at attention.

At least he follows protocol, she thought drolly as she coolly appraised him.

Radek: (allowing the doors to close and standing at attention) Ensign Radek reporting as ordered sir.

She motioned to the seat opposite hers.

Walker: Sit.

It was a command. The man obliged the order and slipped into the proffered chair.

Radek: Thank you sir (taking his seat).

Walker: I am Commander Margaret Walker, the Director of Intelligence for the Gamma Flotilla Expeditionary Task Force. :: she lowered her eyes to the large PADD she was holding, angled it in such a manner that he could not see the screen. and brought up Radek’s personnel file. :: State your rank and serial number.

Radek: Ensign Radek, USS Caboto, Security Division. Serial number Romeo-zero-one-nine-nine-three-two-Tango-Juliet-Kilo. Born Rekar III on 237404.10 to Uneera and Kaden. One sibling, a younger sister M’lva.

He was correct- and then some. More information than I asked for, she mused silently, is he showing off?

Walker: Before we begin, do you need a drink? :: she asked cooly. ::

Radek: No thank you. (beat) If I may ask sir, why am I meeting with you and not Commander Sherlock? Shouldn’t a matter of reinstatement be the Security Chiefs undertaking?

Unimpressed, Walker looked across the bland conference table and fixed Radek with a look that screamed “are you really that stupid?”. He might have been a newly minted ensign when he had been captured, but even then he should have expected this to happen upon a potential rescue. Unless he is not familiar with Starfleet protocol, she thought ominously before dismissing the thought from her mind.

Walker: Mr. Radek- :: she began :: - you were the prisoner of a hostile species for an extended period of time. Did you honestly expect to turn up again after over a year and expect to be reinstated that quickly? :: she did not allow him time to formulate a response. :: It does not work like that. There are procedures that must be observed before we can even consider that.

It was something of an exaggeration. She didn’t have to carry out the debrief- Commander Sherlock could well have done. But given the suspicious circumstances of how he came to meet Jack Kessler and the relatively easy manner in which they escaped, she wanted to conduct the interview.

Radek: Sorry sir, I did not think that question through.

Walker: Evidently. ::she sniffed and looked back down at the PADD. :: I suppose the obvious question to start with would be to ask how it felt becoming a prisoner of the Zet on your first posting.

Radek: I guess a little disconcerting. My first assignment out of the Academy and my ship gets captured and the crew split up and taken from one another. Still hard to wrap my head around how that happens to a Starfleet vessel.

She schooled her features into a mask of polite neutrality, even as her suspicions reared their heads again. A little disconcerting?! She acknowledged that everyone would react in different ways, but to Radek it seemed to be little more than a curio. Is he trying to put on a brave face or is it something else?

Walker: You would be surprised. ::she replied, as she remembered an old report from the Enterprise-D that involved Ferengi pirates and battered Klingon birds of prey. :: Do you know what happened to the Caboto? Did you see anything to suggest its eventual fate?

It was still an unsolved mystery, even if the presence of its Aeroshuttle at the Itech’man facility suggested that something of it had survived, albeit temporarily.

Radek: Response

Walker: What happened to you after you were captured?

Radek: Response.

Walker: What happened after you were captured by the Zet? Were you tried in a court of law? Or were you remanded to their custody?

Radek: Response.

She tapped some notes into her head and cast a glance at the biometric readings scrolling across the bottom of the PADD’s large screen. She noted that the computer  seemed to drawing a blank- it was unable to tell whether Radek was being truthful and lying through his teeth. There was a brief note to posit that his Rekarian physiology might be to blame.

Interesting… 

Acting as though nothing had caught her interest, she continued but did not look up from the PADD.

Walker: Describe for me your experience of being a prisoner of the Zet. :: now she looked up. :: In as much detail as you can.

Radek: Response.

—

Commander Margaret Walker

Director of Intelligence

Gamma Flotilla Expeditionary Task Force

assigned to:

USS Octavia E. Butler

C239203TW0