Lt. Parvana - "In Disguise" (Undercover Team)
Amanda Nordstrom
((Starbase 118 - IKS Yan – Unlisted Shuttebay 14))
Parvana had taken the instructions to change her appearance to heart. While she hadn’t exactly liked it, upon further introspection, she realised the wisdom of it. The easiest thing to do had been to simply make herself a solid, single colour. At first, she’d toyed with the idea of turning all her fur completely white. The idea tickled her, but should she run across another Caitian, it could be a problem if they were suddenly faced with a legendary White Caitian. Her lighter colour already threw most of her kind off - best not to push it. Besides, that was hardly under the radar. No, instead, Parvana had gone the other direction. Making sure what she did was by no means perfect, her lovely silver first was darkened into deep ebony. Her lovely spots and beautiful rosettes were melted into the shadowy hue, and she couldn’t help but sigh at their disappearance. Her natural colouration was far more attractive. Still, it could be worse. She could have gone with a beastly muddy brown. No, that would have been too much, especially since most of the clothing she had chosen for the venture pretty much matched that description. Sandy brown or muddy brown, neither were particularly appealing, but nondescript was the name of the game, and Parvana was attempting to be as nondescript as possible. Even if it was boring.
The ship wasn’t appealing either. If anything, it was off putting. As she came aboard, she noticed the arrival of the Denobulan man who had been at the briefing. From the look on his face, he found it just as pleasing as she did. Everything seemed to be falling apart, and what wasn’t didn’t look like it had long to live. As a putrid scent greeted her, Parvana’s nose wrinkled in disgust. What was that smell? Had something died in there? Parvana wouldn’t have been surprised if the answer was ‘yes’. But, whatever the condition, that was what they had, along with orders. A mission had come to call, and no proper Starfleet officer would ignore it. Following the man she’d materialised behind, Parvana’s feet were silent as she padded along. He’d come prepared, med kits in each hand. At least they would be able to lick their wounds, so to speak.
As they both came to what passed for a bridge on the ship, McLaren came into sight. Well. Great minds thought alike. The woman, whose hair was almost as silver as Parvana’s fur, had changed to midnight, like her own. For Parvana, she’d pulled on a brown jacket with many pockets. A sandy hued shirt was coupled with brown pants, the same shade as the jacket. Boring. Boring. Boring. She hadn’t bothered with shoes, for those were an unnecessary accessory, and generally she only wore specially made boots when she had to be in uniform. Unlike most humanoids, her feet were not so weak and delicate.
Pulling himself out from underneath the console, their Cardassian/Bajoran hybrid member had been hard at work, evidently attempting to make the ship flyworthy. Hopefully it wouldn’t break apart and they all died before the mission was over. Perhaps the ship would have the courtesy to wait until after. One could only hope. She did have to admit, Zel was quite dashing in his attire. It suited him.
As Parvana was studying her cohorts, Yael moved over to place the medkits in some sort of storage area. She, herself, didn’t even get the chance to speak before McLaren interjected - and rightly so. She was leader of the pack, and they were about to move out.
McLaren: We're launching as soon as Tony and his team are aboard.
Zel: Right on. Hey, on the bright side I got the computer banks working with Rue’s translation program, so Merry Birthoween, you can now read your consoles and panels in Federation Common!
Yael: ::giving Zel a grin:: How thoughtful.
Blackwell: ?
Well that would make things a bit easier. Parvana’s feline face curled up into a smile which she then offered to Zel.
McLaren: The Cult is pushing the tempo... and they have Max too.
Zel: That doesn’t sound good.
Parvana: Pardon my ignorance, but who is Max?
The name was quite unfamiliar with her, but then, so were many things. Parvana had barely any time on the ship and she was thrown a variety of pieces of information which seemed to have context for everyone, except her. That meant people had to explain far more than suited her.
Blackwell: ?
McLaren: I would have like another couple of hours, to be honest... but we dont have that luxury anymore. We'll have to finish everything else as we're in route.
Such was the way of things. Plans could be made, but ultimately, one had to be ready to go on a moment’s notice. At least they’d had some time, even if it wasn’t as much as desired.
Yael: We can work on the go. ::agreeing, then to Zel:: If you need an extra set of hands, just tell me what to do.
Blackwell: ?
Parvana: Indeed. My focus will be on the cloaking device, as well as monitoring subspace distortions, sensor echoes and other such clues for other ships that are utilising cloaks, correct?
Zel: I assuming we’re going to cloak as soon as we clear the Base’s shield array?
They were all asking questions, and for a moment, Parvana felt sorry for McLaren who had to lobby the answers right back at them.
Blackwell/McLaren: ?
Yael: I’d like to inject everyone on the team before we separate. ::he raised the injector into view of the others:: Sub-dermal communicators.
Zel: And we should practice who we all are on this mission. I mean cover persona.
Nodding in agreement with Zel, Yael stepped closer to McLaren. While Parvana didn’t particularly care to have something inserted under her skin, she knew the wisdom of it and would comply.
Yael: For those of us without alternative identities, perhaps a first-name-basis would help us avoid appearing too formal? ::pausing, then speaking to Sol with a pleasant smile, as if they were just meeting for the first time:: Nice to meet you, I’m Ash, your resident rogue merchant and tricky opportunist. Do you mind if I inject you with this?
A soft trill of laughter escaped from the Caitian. The little purple Denobulan had a sense of humour it seemed. All well and good, that would prevent the atmosphere from getting too morose.
McLaren: ?
Parvana had never used a subcutaneous communicator before, nor even seen one applied. How very interesting. She watch carefully, and once it was done, listened closely to the instructions Yael gave.
Yael: If you press this through the skin it will automatically carry your voice… and you should be able to hear us without it being audible to anyone else. Press it again to deactivate it.
Blackwell/McLaren: ?
Parvana: I’m ready, but if I scar, you’ll suffer the consequences. A soft rumble of laughter and a glint in her eyes indicated that there was no serious behind the words. She waited for Blackwell to receive one, then tilted her head while Yael pressed the hypospray against her own neck. There was the barest hint of a pinch, but then it was over and she stepped back while he gave himself a communicator. The injector was put away, and then Yael proceeded with testing.
Yael: Testing, trell, sect, vito…
Nodding, Parvana’s tail tip twitch and she reached up. Gently applying pressure, her trilling voice came through, underscored with a light yet warm rumble of a purr and the cascading roll of her r’s.
Parvana: I read you loud and clear.
Blackwell/McLaren/Yael/Zel: ?
Parvana: Another clarification if you please. You said another team is joining us?
Blackwell/McLaren/Yael/Zel: ?
Parvana: Ah, I see. Well then, that does make things more interesting?
Blackwell/McLaren/Yael/Zel: ?
Parvana: All right, what’s left to do before we launch?
Blackwell/McLaren/Yael/Zel: ?
-- Lt. Parvana PNPC Science Officer Starbase 118 Ops al...@blar.net M239008AD0