Just Dropping By
Posted on Tue Aug 2nd, 2016 @ 6:01am by Commander Jordan Gunning & Captain Liarra Von
Mission:
Lie Of Omission
Location: Main Operations [Deck 12]
Timeline: Five days after return to Starbase 332
Previously...
He didn't have any excuse to put it off any longer, he should go and see the Captain.
The benefit of the civilian licenses, property rents etc. was that there was every chance his old friend had no idea he was even back on the station but in order to operate effectively as a Private Investigator he was going to need the cooperation of Starfleet and, in some rare cases, for them to turn a blind eye.
The doors of Main Operations sighed apart in front of him and he was greeted with the irreplaceable throng of activity as officers and enlisted personnel ran a station the size of a city and beyond the hubbub, a glass fronted office marked 'Station Commander' was the semi-permanent home of the woman who was nothing if not its Mayor.
He stepped out of the turbolift and was immediately greeted by a security officer who pressed a hand straight into his chest. "No civilians on this level sir. How did you even get up here?"
The computer must still have read his biosigns as his old rank. He should have realised. He hadn't seen the navy-shirted ensign before but he hoped that his name still meant something. "I'm Jordan Gunning, Ensign. I'm here to see the Captain."
The ensign looked him up and down, clearly recognising the name but unable to put a face to it. Thankfully for Gunning Second Lieutenant Nvaiden, the Nequencian Strategic Operations officer passed at just the right moment. "Commander Gunning?" His face went from his usual stormy expression to something more like a wet afternoon. "It's good to see you, sir. I didn't know you'd come back to the station."
Gunning smiled and accepted the handshake, effectively removing the security officer from the equation. "I'm just dropping by to say hello to the Captain, Nvaiden. It's good to see you too." He moved off, nodding to the few faces he recognised. It was the benefit of coming to Ops last thing at night, you didn't have to see anyone you didn't want to. He reached the office door and pressed the chime.
Liarra stifled a yawn as she finished up the last of her reports. Ever since she became commanding officer of this station, her life seemed to become a never ending pile of reports and countless meetings. It could have been much worse, and she wouldn't have traded this life for any others, which is saying something coming from someone who had already lived several. Von leaned back in her chair to stretch before calling it a night when her door chime rang. "Come in," she said reluctantly, afraid to know what crisis needed her attention at this hour.
"If you don't stop burning the midnight oil, you're going to get bags under your eyes." Gunning poked his head through the door first before stepping in. He had been nervous about seeing his friend again, especially after he had left in such a rush but there was no doubt that it felt good to be back in her office, to be back in her presence.
"Jordan Gunning," Von answered as she stood. She offered her hand to her old friend. "It's about time that you came by my office. I was beginning to think that you were avoiding me."
Gunning smiled, shaking the Captain's hand with gusto as he smiled nervously. "I suppose I was." The more he thought of it, the more he realised that staying down below deck 100 had been some kind of unconscious way of avoiding Liarra, she very rarely seemed to have time to get down to the promenade.
Von gestured to a seat in front of her desk as she retook the one behind it. "You've made a bit of a splash around here, whether you wanted to or not. A lot of people have been wondering about why you left, and wondering even more about why you came back. I've heard quite a few rumors myself, but I'd much rather hear the story from you."
Jordan stared straight ahead, forming entire explanations which barely made any sense. "I thought that maybe I could take a bit of a break." He began, chuckling at the memories - or lack of them - from a lost fortnight. "Once I realised I wanted out of the service I thought I should probably take my time and consider the decision, did I really want to be scrubbing around trying to find needles in haystacks?"
"And just what kind of needles are you looking for?" she asked, curious. "Is there something that you're trying to find that you couldn't find in Starfleet?"
"I think I've got more chance of finding the person who killed Alec from this side of the desk, let's put it that way. The way I see it, you're out trying to dig up dirt on some dodgy betrothal and it doesn't hurt to ask a few questions." He pulled at the cuffs of his shirt, after decades in a Starfleet uniform it was remarkable how other clothes barely seemed to fit. "I don't know if it'll bring anything up but at least it's only my time I'm wasting."
Von nodded. It was hard for her to argue. There was always something that never quite sat right with her about the attack. Maybe it wasn't so much what had happened, but how easily the responsible party was able to get through security. Alex was her friend and mentor, and sometimes Liarra was convinced that his ghost still lingered around this office. But as a Starfleet captain, she was limited in what she could do to go after the people responsible. She had resigned herself to that. But for Jordan it was different. Alex wasn't just a friend, he was a brother. And what he needed to do to find peace he would never be able to do in that uniform. Liarra knew what that meant, and it was her duty to talk him out of it. But at the same time, she felt that she owed it to Alex. Maybe turning a blind eye and giving Jordan some latitude was what she needed to do to honor her friend's memory. "Any idea where you're going to start? The Sojourners claimed responsibility for that attack, but between their failed attack against us and betrayal from the Ritorians, there aren't many Sojourners left."
"The way I see it, there's enough. Not necessarily the fighters, we put most of them in the ground or in a cell but someone must have been helping Vaishaa to give the orders, forming the logistics, taking on the agents. There's plenty out there that didn't receive any form of justice." He left the rest to Liarra's imagination. "As for what I'm going to do? Take cases. There are people all over Galactic South who need help and if that leads me to where I need to be, all the better."
"That sounds like a good plan to me," Liarra replied with a smile. "Heaven knows this place can use all the help it can get. Just maybe you can accomplish some things that I can't. I wish you the best of luck in your new venture. Just make sure you don't stay away as long next time. I'd hate to have to have my new chief of security haul you in just so I can say hello."
"You're always welcome down in the bowels, Captain." He smiled, thinking about the horrible little offices he had viewed on deck 1856. "If I'm honest, they're actually quite plush."
"Maybe I'll get a chance to make a trip down there. Now that Commander Soleck is here, I can start delegating some of my work load to him. Besides, it's good to get down there and make appearances from time to time. I don't want people to think that I'm just living up here in my ivory tower."
"It's a very nice ivory tower though." Jordan replied with a smile.
Captain Liarra Von
Commanding Officer
Jordan Gunning
Private Investigator
