Commander Margaret Walker - Testing Patience

[Michael Meir-Wright]

OOC: Please forgive me friends, the last few days have been utterly relentless! And all opinions and thoughts in this sim are strictly in character.

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

Walker tapped some notes into her PADD and cast a glance at the biometric readings scrolling across the bottom of the 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: (leaning forward on the table) I was in three different facilities. The first one, after the auction house was labor driven. Once I arrived, I was given a work detail and sent to one of nine work crews. The crew I was on was tasked at building what appeared to be a crude version of a plasma feed relay. We were given a quota to fill and if we did we earned ‘special privileges’ such as extra food rations or even some recreation time. If we did not meet the quota then we lost privileges. The guards at that facility were also less courteous to the labor. They seemed entitled and you were nothing more than a bug to them and they apparently had the right to let you know.  I had my jaw broken by the hand of one for simply smiling at him one morning. (beat) The second facility was on a different planet. There I was moved from labor to medical acquisition. For several weeks their doctors scanned and studied a number of us. There were a couple of humans in there with me but there was also a Vulcan who really seemed to tick them off (smiling), I don’t think they like logical minded beings. There was a Bajoran in the group, a couple of species I did not recognize, I assumed they were from the Gamma Quadrant and then there was a Dosi.

Walker flicked her eyes up from the screen, and looked at Radek with some surprise.

Walker: A Dosi?

Six months earlier, Dominion Affairs had intercepted a secure communique from the Dosi to the Zet that had begun the process of opening diplomatic relations between the two species. Such protocols usually involved prisoner returns. As far as anyone knew, all of those had completed.

Radek: Yes, Dosi. You know, the red people, weird lines on their bodies.

She fixed him with an unimpressed stare.

Walker: I know what the Dosi look like, Ensign. I’m not an idiot. :: she responded brusquely. :: Tell me about this prisoner.

Radek: Oh he was not happy to be there and let them know it. He kept going on about the UDP and the Zet being a member and how they would pay for their betrayal.

Walker: Do you know what he was incarcerated for? :: she asked, feeling his curiosity piquing. ::

Radek did not reply for several seconds and the Director of Intelligece found her swiftly becoming annoyed with the Rekarian.

Walker: Well?! ::  beat :: If you can’t tell me, then at least tell me something.

Walker had the distinct impression that the junior officer was being evasive.

Radek: I only saw the Dosi twice. I guess I assumed he’d been moved to another facility. As for the Starfleet personnel, they kept us separated from each other. I assumed that was a strategic reason. The third facility I was moved to was the one where I met Lieutenant Kessler. They told me I had become a V.I.P. It was explained that meant a I was important to my new Administrators financial plans. (beat) I think ‘Administrator’ is their word for owner or master. He was much nicer and caring than my previous two ‘Administrators’ and saw to my every need and comfort. In turn he asked only about Starfleet, strengths and weaknesses. I guess fortunately for me I knew nothing being a new academy graduate but for him it proved to be frustrating and not financially profitable for him so I was then handed over to the same Administrator as Lieutenant Kessler. He only asked that I get to know Kessler and offer him friendship. (beat) Learning Kessler was a Tactical officer gave me hope of escaping and so I obliged Topok, my Administrator.

Walker: You were asked to get to know Lieutenant Kessler? Do you know for what reason? :: beat :: And what did you find out?

Radek: (smiling) I never had a chance to get to know him. Kessler formulated our escape and executed it within two days of my joining his quad area. He obviously had been planning his escape for a while and it appeared I was great bait for the Zet to accomplish his goal.

She made several notes on her PADD, drawing the process out to see how Radek might respond. While he had not been outright insubordinate, he had seemed to be offended by the entire process. Intrigued by that, Walker made the decision to take her time in the hopes his patience might run out and he might reveal something he meant not to.

Walker: It strikes me as odd that Kessler would include you in his escape attempt without the two of you getting to know one another. :: she said finally. :: Surely, you must have exchanged some pleasantries and personal information?

Radek: Response.

Walker: I ask the questions, Mr. Radek, I don’t answer them. :: beat :: Now, you mentioned during your incarceration at the second facility, the Zet ran scanned and studied Starfleet officers. Do you know what they were trying to do? Were you involved in these studies?

Radek: Response.

Walker: Can you describe the nature of these tests? What did they entail? Were they invasive?

Radek: Reaponse.

—

Commander Margaret Walker

Director of Intelligence

Gamma Flotilla Expeditionary Task Force

assigned to:

USS Octavia E. Butler

C239203TW0