Lieutenant JG T'Ama - Trust Me, I'm El-Aurian
Melissa Jackson
((Adirim Bolen’s Manor - Paoike Colony, Drever IV))
Herren: Sounds like lowest bidder contractor to me.
It sounded positively Ferengi to her, which was not to say no one else could have poor safety standards and cut corners. It just wasn’t surprising coming from them.
T’Ama: This… rift with the Sixteenth House - how serious is it? Is he trying to win back favor or is it outright hostile on either side?
The answer to that could affect many things, whether sabotage from an outside source was more likely or not. If the Sixteenth House was actively trying to hurt Bolen, then the colony could be a means to that. Or not.
Varl: He’s trying to get back in good with the family, sees the colony as his way to glory. But the house finds him to be an annoyance. His ego and grandiosity were more bearable when he and his wife were bringing success with their business ventures. Adirim’s wife Dalla died. She was the brains behind the shipping, Cardassian reconstruction, all of their major initiatives.
Herren: A good thought. But frankly I’m not sure Mr. Bolen out here in the middle of nowhere is worth the embarrassment or potential legal liability of a noble house trying to sabotage the colony.
She tipped her head in acknowledgement. It was valuable to explore all paths to find the dead ends, and Varl’s answer made it more likely that the house would prefer to keep Bolen occupied at his backwater colony and out of their hair. It certainly didn’t sound like Bolen needed any help failing.
T’Ama: Are there any other examples where Bolen’s mismanagement could have had serious consequences for the colony? Even if they were prevented.
Varl: The initial survey was very rushed. He was more concerned with aesthetics and getting things established than finding the perfect place. Equipment he arranged to buy was substandard. He didn’t really vet anyone who wanted to live here to see if they were prepared for life on the frontier. During a drought four years ago he insisted on continuing to use precious water reserves on the flower beds and grass in Dalla’s park.
Herren: It’s amazing things have lasted as long as they did.
T’Ama: No doubt due to more competent people intervening.
Varl: I try my best to mediate his worst impulses, but I have significantly less influence with him than his wife did. Although I did persuade him to think that he had indeed sent a request to Starfleet for help in the first place. When in reality I did.
T’Ama: Somehow I’m not surprised.
And she wasn’t - that fit perfectly with the picture that was now being painted of Bolen. Without Varl’s going behind his back she expected Bolen would probably still be insisting the colonists could wait the disaster out then bolt before the pitchforks and torches came for him.
Herren: I am glad that you did. The colony seems on the edge of a disaster.
Varl: I’m glad that you came with competent people. The wildlife expert he recruited to consult on the colony is the maker of a Klingon children’s wildlife documentary series he heard about fro- ::Varl stopped, hearing something in the room a few doors down from the office.:: Hold on.
She listened, turning her head to triangulate the sound. Varl was accustomed to the sounds of the house and she wasn’t, so she didn’t notice anything was off until he said something.
Herren: What is that?
T’Ama: A ransacking it sounds like.
She followed Laria as she took off out of the office towards the noise, coming to a stop at the doorway to the master bedroom. Bolen appeared to be packing his bags.
Herren: He isn’t- ::She sighed and muttered under her breath.:: Oh you are kidding me…
T’Ama: ::barely audible:: Mmmmhm…
Just as she had predicted only moments before. Laria looked back at Varl with an expression of absolute fury that took T’Ama aback for a moment. Bolen was only doing logically what a scumbag grifter would do: flee before the noose tightened around his neck. Somehow she wasn’t even mad about it.
Varl: ::Quietly:: Go ahead.
With permission granted, Laria marched into the room and started chastising Bolen in what felt to T’Ama like a very exaggerated display of contempt.
Herren: Going somewhere, Mr. Bolen?!
Bolen spun around, clearly in shock at being caught out. It was interesting not being on either side of a heated exchange and just observing unemotionally. She wondered if this was how Vulcans always felt.
Bolen: Oh, hello! I, um- got an urgent call from a former friend of mine at Cardassian Central University. He thinks that a university on Renavi might have a promising compound that could address the blight. So I was going to go ::Pause:: pick it up.
Laria just glared at him and crossed her arms. T’Ama didn’t even need to think through the logic on that one - she knew he was lying. She could tell by the way his heart was jackhammering in his chest and had just kicked up a notch.
She crossed her own arms and leaned on the door frame, conveniently blocking the exit.
T’Ama: What’s the compound?
Bolen: Don’t remember the name, it was a call over subspace, fairly technical. But I’m sure that the staff at the university will figure out what I’m talking about.
Herren: That’s it, then? The going gets rough and you decide to leave your entire colony to fend for itself?
Bolen: I…
The man wilted before getting more than a single word out and just stared helplessly at them in silence. She pushed off the door frame and took a single step into the room, uncrossing her arms.
T’Ama: Adirim…
She’d chosen his given name for a reason. Her voice was gentle, almost like a mother patiently lecturing a small child who should know better because she’d told him this twenty times already. She caught his eye.
T’Ama: Tell me… Why are you really running away?
Something about her made him want to be honest and admit it. It wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe she would listen and understand.
Bolen: response
T’Ama: Is that all? It’s all just too much for you? Where do you keep the ship you’re going to leave on?
She’d taken another step towards the man, encouraging him to spill his secrets.
Bolen: response
T’Ama: ::shaking her head, sadly:: Where were you going to go, Adirim? The Sixteenth House doesn’t want you back.
Of course she would know that, it was true. It was okay.
Bolen: response
T’Ama glanced at Laria, the spell broken suddenly as she dropped her concentration on projecting the aura of trustworthiness that could grease the wheels of admission that allowed El-Aurians to gather the wisdom and insight from countless races over the millennia. Or to fleece them in a con as the case may be.
T’Ama: Definitely a coward and unsuited to lead.
Herren/Varl: response
Bolen: response
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Lieutenant JG T’Ama
Operations Officer
USS Constitution-B
C240004T11