Cloak and Stagger

Posted on Jul 18, 2014 @ 1:24pm by Captain Siobhan Reardon
Edited on on Jul 18, 2014 @ 1:51pm

Mission: The Tangled Webs We Weave
Location: Various

"Cloak and Stagger"
(Continued from "This Might Be Suicide")

=/\=

"All right, guys, uh, listen. This is a blues riff in "B", watch me for the changes, and try and keep up, okay?" —Marty McFly, "Back to the Future"

=/\=

Location: EARTH, San Francisco
Scene: JAG HQ
SD: [2.14]0712.1400
Time Index: 7:00 am

Lieutenant Commander Ty Jordayne tossed his sunglasses on the desk, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Trivia night at Rookie's Sports Bar had gone on a little late, but since his team won bragging rights for the week, he wasn't about to leave early. With no trial cases currently on the docket, he didn't have to be there as early as he was, and certainly hadn't been for the past couple of weeks. However, he had somewhere else to be later on so it was off to the office to work on the mountain of data that kept the office of the JAG running smoothly.

He ordered the largest cup of coffee that the replicator could make, and settled in. Maybe without distraction he could make some headway and enjoy a little family time. He made it a point to visit RISA at least every 6 months, but it was rare to be able to see the whole Jordayne clan while he was there. While his oldest sister Liliana stayed planetside and became the Head Chef for his parents' resort, his brother and other sister were in Starfleet. But thanks to twenty-fifth century tech, they communicated with each other as often as duty would allow.

About forty-five minutes in, his relative peace was interrupted. "Ty-man," Lieutenant Oliver said as he dropped a PADD on his desk. "Good times last night. Gratz." While it was true that Jordayne had a bit of a reputation for being a smug bastard in court, Ty had nothing on the up and coming counsel who had been his erstwhile protégé. Beck Oliver's arrogance was only exceeded by his holovid-star good looks. Once he polished up his ability to get the facts and use them for any possible outcome, he would be as golden as his hair.

"Hey, I'm working here," Ty quipped.

"I see that... is something wrong?" He tried to sound serious but the comment practically dripped with jackbaggery.

Ty smiled, making the nose ridges of his half-Bajoran heritage more evident. "Everyone's a wiseguy. I'm taking my sister to lunch today," he said with the same pride he would have had with a kick-ass closing argument. "It's been two and a half years since I've seen her in person and I can't miss it, jurisprudence or not."

"Which one?"

He took a sip of coffee and rifled his fingers through his dark brown hair. "Leila, my younger sister."

"The *Doctor*? I think my pulse rate just got a little higher. She can give me a checkup anytime."

Ty groaned. "Don't be such a wolf, man. This is just one of the reasons why lawyers get a bad reputation."

Beck laughed. That and about a quadrillion others. "Just kidding, bruh."

"She'll just be transferring out to another ship soon anyway. You know what they say about long distance relationships."

"Okay, she's off the table. I get it," Beck relented. "If you ever change your mind, 'big brother," I'd like to be introduced."

Ty shook his head. "Don't see that happening."

"Oh come on," Beck said with false bravado, "you don't even let me state my case before you come in with a verdict."

"And that, sir," Ty said with mock flourishing gesture, "is why I am not a Judge. Don't understand the protocols."


=/\=

Location: EARTH, Paris
Scene: Thoris P'Trell's Office

It had become a necessary morning ritual for the newly minted Interim Secretary of Starfleet to meet with the Secretary of Interplanetary Relations. Marie-Claire needed to be brought up to speed. And Thoris needed someone to play hardball and be the devil's advocate. It was a good, if unlikely match.

"What do you mean Edgerton wants to *collaborate*?" Martine asked a little more harshly than she had meant to. "Merde totale," she huffed.

The Andorian's antennae seemed to retreat away from the Canadienne before returning to a more neutral position. "He approached me under the guise of protecting Xana's interests, perhaps getting a lead on who might have kidnapped her children. He mentioned one Rawyvin Seth as a possible suspect."

"The only interest he is concerned with is his own and we both know that," MC spat. "So the question is, what are his real motives?"

"To discredit Xana, get her out of the way permanently." Thoris thought aloud.

"That's a good start, but that still leaves me he has to go through if he really wants control," she said with a well-deserved arrogance. She'd also been coordinating efforts with John Hiram to shore up the list of those Admirals sympathetic to their cause. They weren't sure if they had a majority yet, but it was only a matter of time. Time that they may or may not have, but theoretically it was still the only shot they had.

Secretary P'Trell continued. "To make this Seth character the scapegoat for the whole thing? He's already considered a criminal element, and if Edgerton can pin this whole thing on him it gives him more room to maneuver."

"Good," Martine said with praise. "It would appear a healthy way to begin would be to track this Mister Seth down, preferably without Edgerton's knowledge."

Thoris sighed. "That might take a while. In addition, Edgerton may already know where he is and is just leading us on the chase."

Martine had been pacing for most of the meeting, but at this point she sat across from Thoris and grabbed her café au lait. He was right. But they couldn't change that.
"Stall him. He doesn't know how intelligent you are. Drag your feet. Flatter him. Buy him lunch. Confuse the hell out of him. Make him think you're ignoring your regular duties to follow his lead. But in the meantime, watch him like a hawk."

He almost trembled just thinking about it. It would be a challenge. "We'll need to be careful. Without Xana here, you're in the man's sights now. And your life is in danger by proxy."

"Thoris, you know something? Ce n'est pas grave. I just don't care anymore."

Thoris leaned in, his antennae curving gently towards her. "You don't mean that."

She waved him off. "I've had a good life. But it wasn't an exciting life. I always followed my orders, tried to keep the peace, and made the safe choices. And it brought me here," she said looking gesturing to the room. "Comfortable, secure, but with no family. Prestige, but with no unbridled joy."

Thoris wasn't sure what to say. he could feel his emotions swell almost uncontrollably. "I would imagine you're not alone in those feelings."

Martine smiled wistfully. "But I *am* alone. However, it's not too late. I can choose to take a stand for something. And I could die. But to die for something, sure beats the hell out of living for nothing."


=/\=

Location: EARTH, San Francisco (Fisherman's Wharf)
Scene: Scoma's Restaurant
Time Index: Lunchtime, approximately during the events in the Quiet Waters in "Strange Bedfellows"

"Congratulations, *Lieutenant*," The elder Jordayne said with obvious pleasure. "Best surprise I could have had today." If she was blushing, Ty couldn't tell. Her tawny skin hid any such response.

It was obvious they were related. Their hair was the same shade of dark chestnut brown, only Leila's was long, past the middle of her back in a fishtail braid. They were both tan, although Ty had seen more of the sun lately than his sister had, and they both had the distinctive nose ridge. Leila was wearing an earring with a symbol for the healer D'jarra, but only because it was a special occasion. Ty never wore an earring; he felt it was too distracting in court.

The newly promoted Doctor Leila Jordayne demurred under her brother's attention, but still couldn't resist poking fun. "Does this mean lunch is on your tab then?"

The table was full of seafood, from lobster bisque to crab cakes to shrimp cocktail. "I wish you had told be before we ordered the appetizers," he replied in his best 'sad repentant lawyer' voice.

Leila only laughed, her amber-flecked green eyes sparkling with amusement. "That crap doesn't work on me. So just straighten up and eat your soup before it gets cold."

"I know I outrank you, but I'll take those orders and raise you a lobster tail." The next few moments between brother and sister were spent in relative silence as they ate.

"So..." Leila said as she dipped a piece of crab cake in remoulade, "Mom called." Despite the fact that their father was Risian, a hospitalitarian by nature, their Bajoran mother was the far more social one.

Ty laughed. It was almost a running gag with his brother and sisters at how frequently the family matriarch kept up with her kids. If it had still cost currency to communicate in this manner, Dad would have been in debt up to his eyeballs. "And what piece of gossip did she bestow upon you? Or is she proposing potential suitors again?"

"Well, I heard that Malcolm just got his degree in Hotel Management," she smirked. "BUt I had to politely explain that he plays for the other team."

Her older brother laughed even harder. "I bet she was crushed when she found out."

"Maybe a little," Leila admitted. "But she perked right up again when she told me all about the 'high profile guest' that checked in recently."

Ty didn't want to rise to the bait. "The last time she thought a guest was 'high profile' it turned out to be the regional manager of that Hesperat-to-go franchise. So you'll forgive me if I curb my enthusiasm."

"Prepare to eat those words, brother." She looked around to make sure nobody was listening, then lowered her voice to just above a whisper anyway. "Secretary of Starfleet Bonviva, in the flesh," Leila said as if she laid out a royal flush at a Ferengi casino.

Ty let out a low whistle. That was a bombshell. "How come Mom never tells me the good stuff?" he asked out rhetorically. "That's it, no more dutiful son bs. I'm not sending her flowers on her birthday anymore."

"You're just still mad because she named you Tyrion," the CMO laughed.


=/\=

Location: USS PANDORA
Scene: Conference Room
Time Index: Six hours after "Roundup", but just about the same time as "14-7"

Siobhan's heart sank as she watched the recording of Dahlia and Benito being lured away from the villa. It was part of the information that had been surreptitously passed along by 'Ryllis on Xana's behalf.

She, Tim, and Mac were the only three in the room. As disgusted as she had been with the footage, she appreciated being included because Layne was under no obligation to share any of it with her. He was the Captain here; she was merely hitching a ride.

The CO's hand moved effortlessly over the settings as the mystery man's face and form was isolated and enlarged with detail. "Mulitple sources have confirmed the man in these screens as Jaxper Lawrence, current CO of the APPARITION. But his record doesn't indicate any terrorist acts. Any opinions, Chief?" he asked McInnis.

"I was just thinking," Mac said. The truth was, he had dedicated fifty percent of his subroutines to the kidnapped children. When he was flesh, Dahlia was his child, and Xana had been his love, and he rationalized his energy would be skewed toward this, had he still been connected to them in this manner. It seemed the only appropriate thing.

"It doesn't make sense," Sio interrupted in agreement. "But it's the only real lead we have. The other thing we know is if Captain Lawrence has gone rogue, it doesn't look like anyone at Starfleet Command is aware."

"They could have wiped his record clean," Tim offered, which was a point he should have brought up earlier. He didn't really trust anyone at this point. There may be black and white, but all he saw was a puddle of blood-stained gray. And the outlook wasn't getting any clearer.

"So where is the ship now?" Reardon asked.

"Sensors indicate its last known location as leaving the Armagosa system," Mac offered.

Tim thought for a second, his brain trying to recall details that he knew were present, albeit hidden. "There's nothing out there," he eventually responded. "No planets, no stars. Why the hell would a ship be out there?"

"If something happened in a place like that, there'd be no witnesses," Sio added.

Layne stroked his beard. It was nice to get the gears turning. But he wanted more than a grainy video and some speculations when he chased down this enigma of a CO. "Did you bring any of those pretty dresses with you? Something worthy of a Dabo Girl. We need to make a pit stop. It's on the way."

Sio's lips curled in a nymphlike smile. "I think I can whip something up. Where are we going?"

"VALLA ROYALE station. Maybe we can stir a little dirt up on the way to visit this Mister Lawrence."



=/\=
NRPG: Don't know what to say here. Yippee?

Susan Ledbetter
Momentarily the multiple personalities of

Marie-Claire Martine
Interim Secretary to Starfleet

Captain Siobhan Reardon
Diplomatic Liaison Officer
USS PANDORA

Lieutenant Commander Ty Jordayne
Lead Counsel
JAG

Lieutenant Leila Jordayne
CMO
currently unassigned