Ill Tidings
Posted on Fri Oct 8th, 2010 @ 12:59pm by Lieutenant Commander Eliza McAdams & Captain Elsie Halliwell
2,078 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Structured Shoreleave - Marchwiel
Location: Captain's Ready Room, USS Ranger
Timeline: Current
ON:
“Captain,� Ensign Norberry said over the internal comm. as Elsie turned from the view that lay beckoning just beyond the glass. The day was glorious as the sun flooded her nut-brown hair with a soft shower of light, highlighting the fairer streaks with a subtle shimmer. She faced her desk, almost instinctively, and then tapped her combadge with a fluid, unconscious motion. “Go ahead, Ensign,� she replied, now walking forward and down the steps to her chair.
“I have an Admiral Goulding on subspace, Ma’am, requesting your attention.�
“Put her through,� she replied, now twisting the console to face her as she tapped her security clearance into the buttons. Over the past few days, several communications had been directed towards the Ranger as she lay stationed on Marchwiel. All and sundry wanting to know the logistical ins and outs of their current predicament. So, this call, the third this morning, was seemingly routine.
“Admiral Goulding,� Elsie nodded as she settled back into her chair in an almost relaxed position.
The woman on screen had been attractive once, tell-tale hints lingered still beneath the careworn signs of age that had lined the rosy complexion with permanent weariness. Plumper now than during her prime, the Admiral's blonde hair had all-but lost its fight against the creeping shades of grey and the clipped, non-nonsense style did little to aid any enduring femininity. Her expression was one that had perhaps become synonymous with StarFleet's upper-echelon, stern and uncompromising authority radiated from the piercing blue eyes whose almost-unnatural shade was the last thing of beauty to persist against the ravages of time. Alina Goulding had dedicated her life to her job, foregoing all else and in the process embracing spinsterhood with a suddenness that had surprised her. The years had passed quickly and now, devoid of options as far as she could see, there was only one function that allowed her some measure of productivity. Pinched disapproval seemed her natural expression as she sniffed once and barked, [[Captain, I seem to have called you at a bad time.]]
Elsie raised an eyebrow at the visage before her, and almost squinted at the woman now depicted on her console screen as she spoke, clipped and aggressively. As her attention was drawn to the lines adorning the admiral’s eyes, the captain couldn’t help but find a grace of familiarity in her features. Something of a sense of what was to become of youth and diligence… of herself. She shuffled uncomfortably about in her chair, the objects placed about her ready room distracting her somewhat welcomingly. Then, looking out to the meadow that lay beyond the fringes of the canyon that enveloped them, she smiled awkwardly. “I’ve experienced worse,� she replied, acknowledging the surroundings with which she was confined.
Another disdainful sniff suggested that the habit was commonplace as was, likely, the look of muted scorn that seemed a comfortable fit to the sharp, angular features. The Admiral shifted in her seat, betraying tension that made it seem as if even the slight deviation into actual conversation was an unpleasant one. [[Yes, well, I am not involved with your particular situation. My tenure is with the Personnel Division, careless starships are outside my jurisdiction.]] Without waiting for a reply or even continuing the courtesy of eye contact, Goulding looked down towards her desk and presumably a PADD, from which she read, [[Lt. Commander Kevin Allen Larkin, registry three-oh-nine-gamma. Chief Science Officer and Second Officer under your command, confirm.]]
Elsie, with her head cocked to an angle and her eyes now almost slits due to the contempt that she was now aligning to her expression, simply nodded and said flatly through a tight-lipped mouth, “Confirm.�
Halliwell seemed torn between a genuine concern for her crewmember, and what trouble he had now gotten himself into, and an outward display of scorn for the ranked vessel now relaying the information. “What about the commander?� she added, her eyes searching the screen.
[[At approximately 0700 hours, Lt. Commander Larkin was involved in a docking incident whereupon his shuttle made impact with another just prior to scheduled arrival.]] The officious voice betrayed no emotional element and matched beautifully the pair of cold, disinterested eyes that again looked up towards the screen. [[He has been admitted to Sickbay and is awaiting relocation to Earth. Having examined his medical report, I am authorising one month leave on the grounds of diminished ability. This time allocation will be revised if necessary pending medical opinion of his progress.]]
Elsie’s eyes widened with a disbelief possessed only by those who harboured with it a coupled sense of anger. Whether it be the admiral’s deflective and arduous demeanour that caused such hostility, or the fact that, as Elsie looked deeper into her superior’s eyes, she noted a trace of self-prophecy hidden beneath the shallow, stony iris, she did not quite confess. “Diminished ability?� she parroted in an urgent tone. “What’s his prognosis?�
[[I'm not a doctor, Captain. You will be forwarded the relevant medical reports as soon as his evaluations are complete. His condition is listed as serious yet stable, this leave will simply provide for any rehabilitation and loss of vitality.]]
Suddenly, as the admiral’s dull words flowed over her, her wandering and searching mind fell upon a sickening realisation. “Lieutenant Commander Rose McAdams!� she interjected, cutting Goulding off as she spoke. “Larkin had a passenger. What of her?�
On screen, the Admiral's eyebrows raised just a fraction of an inch and Goulding made an exaggerated attempt at checking the PADD she'd been reading from. [[Lt. Commander McAdams does not appear on your crew manifest, Captain. According to my documentation, she was dismissed from her duties at 1300 hours on Stardate 64754.9. I'm sure you realise I cannot release an officer's medical records to anyone who just happens to take an interest.]]
Elsie seemed to mimic Goulding’s disgruntled sniff and subconsciously narrowed her blue eyes onto hers, seeming to bury her own glare through the screen. “You obviously are not aware then, Admiral, that Lieutenant Commander McAdams now serves on a detachment project that is housed on board my vessel. For want of a better sentiment, she is still a member of my crew.� She repeated the inhale through her nose and then drew out the exhale for a long, exploratory pause. Searching for the courage, she squarely faced the admiral, inhaled deeply and uttered quietly, “She is also my sister. I’m sure that your authority within the Personnel Division can verify that fact. I just want to know of her condition.�
The ensuing silence was brittle, an uncomfortable pause that conveyed a sense of silent resentment for all the Admiral's expression faltered only slightly. The determined intensity of her stare gave some hint as to how much effort she was exerting to avoid verifying the information she'd clearly missed though it was the personal relationship of the woman that had caught her by surprise rather than McAdam's career change. Pedantry was Goulding's forte, she could twist the rules to suit herself in ways that others could only wonder at but even though she clearly felt no emotional obligation to ease Elsie's concerns, there was a matter to attend to that made the Captain's inquiry a viable one.
[[Very well. I have had some considerable difficulty contacting the Commander's listed next-of-kin, I am informed that he and his wife are travelling without an apparent preestablished itinerary.]] The disapproval in the older woman's tone was palpable, as if the couple's right to an extended and impromptu vacation failed to take precedence over her requirement to speak with them. [[Lt. Commander McAdam's condition is listed as critical, she is currently on board transport for our facilities on Earth. I will forward her initial evaluation results as well as contact details for the attending surgeon awaiting her arrival. He may very well require your authorisation to proceed.]]
A worried, searching look crossed Elsie’s face as the blunt information hammered at her ears. It would be at this moment, on hearing the slicing word ‘critical’, that in future she would recall whenever Rose tried her patience beyond any professional intent. They were sisters. Despite both of their hard edges and acerbic conduct, blood relation or not, they were family. “I’d appreciate the report... thank you,� she managed, looking away from the screen in an attempt to shield her emotional reaction. As her heart pounded in her throat, with her first finger and facing away from the screen, Elsie wiped a solitary tear that had reached the edge of her eye.
“Uh,� she said as a distraction, looking to her embedded console panel and fluidly tapping at its dancing lights, “I’m uploading my mother’s last known subspace transmission index to you. It was routed through Starbase 97 as we arrived in the sector and, should you command sufficient authority, Admiral, which I am sure that you do, you should be able to trace the source through the transmission relays used.�
[[My office will continue to make every effort to contact the Commander's father, however time may very well be of the essence. Upon her departure, McAdam's condition showed signs of deterioration and reports indicate she has already been revived upon two occasions; once at the scene and an hour later in Sickbay.]] The Admiral imparted the information with a casual glance upwards, as if acknowledging another's presence. If she knew that her words were particularly harsh and unsympathetic, there was nothing in her expression as she brought her gaze to bear on Halliwell again that revealed such awareness. [[Are you aware of any cultural or religious obstacles that might prevent her father from extending full medical authorisation? I have been told that transplant may be necessary.]]
“No,� Halliwell replied quickly, shaking her head in a small and precise manner as she inwardly composed herself. “But, if you do have trouble contacting them, then, please, get back to me and I’ll see what further use I can be to this situation.�
Elsie couldn’t quite grasp, as she spoke to the admiral, why the feeling of such sorrow and regret had befell her at this news. She could, perhaps, theorise, as most Scientific captains appreciated, that the harsh terms by which their ‘sisterly’ relationship had now developed had been driven so firmly into the core of their sisterhood that, at this late stage of its career, could never become freed to any resolve. Despite their gratings, Elsie did, in fact, care for Rose, at least on some subconscious and buried level.
[[I will forward the information to her medical team though it will, of course, fall to the senior doctor to provide judgement in an emergency should the next-of-kin's input remain unavailable. The Commander is an active officer, her well-being is our jurisdiction should it be required.]] Reaching to the side of screen, Goulding then handed whatever she had picked up to the invisible second occupant of her office and afforded Elsie a passing casual glance as she wrapped up. [[I will have my office forward you what information we have on Lt. Commanders Larkin and McAdams and inform their respective teams of your current communication restrictions. I see no reason for me to contact you again, all that can be done will be done. Goulding out.]] And, without waiting for courteous dismissal, the Admirals' visage disappeared abruptly from screen.
Elsie remained staring at the blackened screen for a moment, her reflection from the now obtrusive sunlight glaring back at her in muted stillness. She sighed a little, and then moved the screen away, taking another moment to absorb the information handed out so abruptly to her from Admiral Goulding. She shook her head at herself – and the situation – and then looked out through the window at the scene just lying beyond the hull.
I think a breath of fresh air would be good for me, right now, she thought, as she stood up and made her way around her desk. She composed herself once more, straightened her uniform, and made for the Transporter Room.
OFF:
Being Bitches were:
Alina Goulding
Personnel Division
Starfleet Command
AND
Elsie Halliwell
Commanding Officer
USS Ranger
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