LtCmdr Sky Blake, "Fallout."

[Deliera Jay]

((Hallway))

Caide: Breaking into Lukaik's locker was your idea?

Blake: Yes, sir.

When Kelrod had gone on a small tangent about the odd adherence to procedure the ship required when working with the Marshals, Blake had admittedly understood some of his frustration. Truly, she did. Sometimes she wanted to shake the Marshals, to have a rulebook that they all abided by, rather than the seven different codes of conduct for each colony, plus the Starfleet book itself.

So running out of leads, and getting increasingly frustrated with Suttirat, Blake had called time down on Ketar V. She recommended breaking into an innocent Romulan man's locker, on the advice of a now convicted killer. Her exact words: "What's the policy? Better to ask for forgiveness later? Crack the locker open, we'll deal with the hurdles later."  

Lukaik was now dead. Self-inflicted strangulation. 

Now she had to "deal with the hurdles". 

Lieutenant Rairen Caide was the head of the Rangers located here in the Shoals. He was tall, with liquid brown eyes, long dark hair tied back in a tight bun, black Trill spots, and a face sculpted by an artist with a particular fondness for dimples. They'd just concluded six months together, some of that time he'd spent recuperating from injuries he'd suffered on Kidman I in a horse accident (that'd been a strange day). The more time she spent with him, the more she grew attached to his grounded nature—in a way not unlike her feelings for Sabor. Caide was an honourable person, with a heart of gold. Sometimes she struggled to put coherent sentences together when she around him.

Caide had been kind enough to drop her off at Ketar V when Veritas had called, sticking around the area to continue his search for Lt Kehive na-Soldim, a ranger gone missing months ago. So far, no luck. But the search didn't prevent him from other matters; like Marshal complaints about the conduct of one of his officers.

Caide: What the hell do you have to say for yourself?

Blake: Nothing, sir. It was a serious breach of protocol. 

Caide: You're damn right.

Would the Trill have been this harsh had Lukaik gotten through the night? Probably not. But he hadn't. And that was on Lieutenant Commander Blake. 

And in reality, she could have come up with a multitude of reasons or things to say for herself. "We were out of leads", "he was a suspect", "Captain Rahman okayed it", "if I hadn't, we wouldn't have found the murder weapon". But none of them were acceptable excuses. 

Ukinix: Hey Commander, I’m about to have breakfast, wanna join?  Been meaning to ask, how’re things with Faith?  Is Ayden looking forward to having a sister?

oO Toshu-va bitann. Oo

The interruption of her crewmate had put Caide on hold, his eyes flickering from the strange high-visibility clothes Wil had thrown on today, back to Blake. 

Blake: Lieutenant Wil Ukinix, this is Lieutenant Rairen Caide.

Ukinix: Response?

Caide: Not at all.

Sky winced at the Trill's tone, emerald eyes glancing down to her feet. 

Blake: You'll have my report by tomorrow morning.

Caide: Good. Expect a call from me later.

Blake: Aye, sir.

The Trill gave her another stern look, the lips under his moustache curved down at the edges. With a nod to Ukinix, Caide departed the hallway, making for the nearest turbolift. 

Blake rubbed at her eyes, releasing a shaky breath.

Ukinix: Response?

Blake: That's my boss.

Ukinix: Response?

Blake: He means well. To join the Rangers, you have to have the utmost respect for rules of procedure, ::she sucked in a breath:: I didn't. I cut a corner. 

Ukinix: Response?

Blake: When we were down on the surface interviewing Suttirat for the first time, he directed us towards Lukaik's locker. I suggested we break into it—low and behold; we found the murder weapon. 

Ukinix: Response?

Blake: Lukaik's dead, Wil. And he might not have died had I stuck to the rulebook. Because of that, his death might as well be on me. Rairen will have to handle the fallout from that.

Ukinix: Response?

Tbc . . . 

LtCmdr Sky Blake

Second Officer

USS Veritas

C238803SB0