The Niece from U.N.C.L.E.

Posted on Thu Dec 10, 2020 @ 9:35pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit

1,312 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Archangel
Location: Nicole's office

After a long 3 hour discussion with Admiral Bennett, Kennit had signed off with the Admirals word to get back to her once he had more dsta. That done, she. Paused a moment to download a file to a data padd and then departed her private quarters with a specific destination in mind.

[Sickbay]

The Captain entered sickbay and immediately began walking toward the Chief Medical Officer’s office. A nurse approached her asking, “Is there something I can help you with Captain?”

“You can get out of my way.” Kennit answered as she walked past the woman and entered the doctors office.

"Thank you Edmund," Nicole said, appearing in her doorway. She nodded to the nurse and dismissed him, stepping aside and bidding the Captain enter. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" she said, as the other woman walked in, moving back behind her desk and crossing her legs as she sat.

“An old friend of yours is being his usual asshole self.” the Captain answered as she strolled over to the desk, leaned over to drop the padd with the data she’d placed on it regarding her visitor, and opened a drawer to retrieve the bottle of brandy she knew was there and a glass. She filled the glass, drained it, and filled it again before setting the bottle on the desktop and taking the glass with her as she sat down. “I want know everything you know about him.”

Nicole's brows knit. "What is 'Project Archangel'?" she said.

“Archangel is my concern. Right now I want to know everything you have to tell me about this man.” she told her, tapping the padd where Markus’ face was displayed with one fingernail.

"All right," she said, putting the padd down. "I only know so much. He's my Godfather, or at least, that's how my mother introduced him. She's known him since she lived in England, and I know they're old friends. He's....strict, but generally more with his own rules than someone else's. When I served under him, he ran an efficient ship, if a bit more feeling of family than other ships. One of his little jokes is 'Nepotism breeds loyalty.'"

Nicole grabbed a second glass and poured a brandy for herself as well, taking a sip. "He has a list of rules. I don't know them all yet, he's been compiling them throughout his life, but his first rule is 'everybody lies.' It's not that he doesn't trust, it's that he knows that no one is entirely truthful. So whatever he's told you, I'd wager he knows a few more details that he's holding in reserve to see how honest you are with him." She shrugged. "He's also a highly pragmatic man, and he's not prone to fits of unjustified paranoia, so if he's concerned about this, I would be too. He's always been a 'big picture' kind of person, for as long as I've known him. He lets the ships under his command find the puzzle pieces, while he tries to figure out the picture. He doesn't waste his time on small scale issues, unless he feels there's more to it. If he's sending us out on this, you can be sure he's got the ships loyal to him working on it as well."

“If he was as smart as you make him out to be then he damn sure wouldn’t be trying to pull me into the mix.” Kennit said.

"Do not underestimate him," Nicole said, pointing a finger.

Draining her glass, Kennit refilled it and at the Doctors raised brow said only “Oh please. You know I could drink this entire bottle and the only negative result might be a really deep belch.”

"I'm just worrying if I have a sufficient supply," Nicole said, dryly, taking another sip.

Setting the bottle down, Kennit picked up her glass and took a sip, then leaned back in her seat. Crossed her legs, and said “Now, tell me everything you left out.”

Nicole's eyes flicked up over the rim of her glass and then back down. She swallowed and inhaled, then exhaled slowly, savoring the aroma. "He used to be the head of Section 31," she said. "A long, long time ago, he tried being the power on the throne. For a while, he succeeded. Power, reach, an empire that made others tremble. What he forgot was that while he was playing Emperor, others were playing politics. And one day, they stabbed him in the back. And front, and elsewhere. It was not pretty to watch." She sighed and tossed back the rest of her drink. "Anyway, after that, he decided that he was better off being the power behind the throne. He prefers his crew does the heavy lifting while he sits back and keeps an eye on those playing politics, to avoid anyone getting stabbed again."

She poured another snort for each of them, then took the bottle away and put it back in her drawer. "If he's got assets on this, it's not just us. I guarantee the Castelnaudary and the Saint George are on the hunt as well. Markus wants people loyal to him working on something he's worried about." She tilted her head, regarding the Captain. "So I ask myself, why did he tap you? Obvious answer: he wants a more objective search. Less obvious answer: he believes that whatever you don't tell him, I will."

She bobbed her eyebrows. "That's assuming you tell me anything. I think he overestimates our relationship." She took another sip, thinking. "However...nothing in the rules saying we can't play the same game."

The Captain only smiled, just a little. Privately she was thinking that if Marcus continued on this dangerous game of his, he was going to discover he’d poked the wrong dark corner, and that now something he could not control had turned its attention on him.

"I have a friend I can contact," Nicole said. "He's not in the Federation. He might be able to put an ear to the ground in places we can't."

“Dare I ask who?” Kennit asked.

"Chief Engineer of the I.K.S. Su'Q'Mi-something-or-other. He and I go far back. I trust him. I can contact him and have him here for some innocuous reason, and then slip him a message. He can then report back to me as he finds things."

“If you are so inclined..” Kennit replied.

"At this point, the less ignorance we have on this, the better," Nicole said. "Should I contact the Castelnaudary? See if they're willing to share anything with me?"

“You trust them too readily.” Kennit answered. “I am not so sure they are trustworthy.”

Nicole scowled. "All right," she said. "For what it's worth, they probably feel the same about you. So, what do we do now?"

The Doctor's scowl only made Kennit smile, "We continue as always. For now, we will take a look and see what, if anything, there is to be found."

"Are you planning to bring the entire senior staff in on this?" Nicole said.

"Our orders are to find what information we can. To not utilize all assets at my disposal would be a waste of time and resources." Kennit replied.

"I couldn't agree more," Nicole said, wholeheartedly. "I'll see you at the briefing."

The Captain just gave her a look, "Well then, since you are aware of the necessary parameters, I will allow you to oversee calling the briefing and making certain that the others are on time."

"You call the meeting, I'll get certain distracted crew members there on time," Nicole said.

As the Captain left, Nicole made a rude gesture behind her terminal, then recycled her glasses and put the bottle back in her drawer. "Not nearly enough of a supply."

 

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