Truth Isn't Always in the Tea [Mission End]
Posted on Fri Oct 30th, 2020 @ 4:44pm by Captain Luka Mahone & Lieutenant Akihito Takeshi
1,289 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Equivalent Exchange
Location: Captain's Office, Command Center
Timeline: MD 16: 0819 Hrs
It had been a whole fifteen days since his first meeting with Admiral Matthews. The man was much less intimidating than he expected, but also much less reassuring of Luka's position on the Colony.
He was there to monitor and protect the citizens who inhabited the colony proper. There was a very clear line made there, but it seemed to obscure itself every time there was an incident around the colony. And what compounded everything was the idea that there could be threats from inside and outside that even Starfleet could not see coming. Hence the need for the Marines.
The thought for the green-uniformed personnel caused Luka’s gaze to flicker toward the order upon his desk, the one that was discussed by Admiral Matthews. He agreed upon his marine contingent, even if he felt like he was sort of cornered into it. But there were the transfer orders for a one Lieutenant Colonel Shaun Bradley to become the de facto Marine Commanding Officer (with an implication that they were working closer together than Luka would have liked). Was this a sign?
The young Captain contemplated making a call to Commodore Minawara, a man he felt he could rely on even if there was an odd shake up within the Task Force. He never knew what was going on past Haumea’s political climate, but he knew he could at least rely on the Commodore to make sense. Sort of. Of course, Luka could also skip the whole talking to people with pips and converse with his contacts in Intel.
But that was a thought that would give pause. Eventually, he would have wanted to consult Cornelius to at least gain some perspective. That seemed the best course of action, while Luka had the need of someone to consult confidentially on his hesitancy. Despite Cornelius’s constant advice to watch who he was trusting, Luka wasn’t able to shake the fresh-feel from his command, even after all this time.
In the same thought, Luka knew full well he was turning his own words against himself. The phrase from his argument with Asahi lingered in his mind. ’How can I trust you when you’re like this?’ There was a selfishness behind it, one that Luka had not thought himself fully capable of. He regretted saying it, not because Asahi had a penchant to hold a grudge if it hit home enough, but because of the hypocrisy of the statement. He could not sit and be open with his own feelings, not when his feelings could mean the situation on Haumea could change drastically.
So he could not confide in Asahi, not when there was potential that someone was listening.
God, he hated feeling so paranoid over this.
“Sir?” Davna’s head popped in through the doorway, a tired smile on her features. Below, Lugh’s head appeared as well, tongue lolling out. Over the past few weeks, the pair had bonded quite well, forcing Luka to leave his door open when they were sitting idle. If he did not, they would have heard a symphony of sad puppy whines. “Sir, your appointment to see the head of the USS Atala’s routine maintenance crew isn’t for another two hours, but the Lieutenant, he’s… arrived already.”
“Tell him I’ve brought his favorite cake!” came a voice from the hall, causing Lugh to disappear from sight. Luka frowned. Upon naming the tiny Merian vessel and submitting the new name to Admiral Matthews, he had another memo arriving at his desk of a ‘maintenance crew’ appointed for the vessel, who were essentially put in place to do exactly what the label described; maintain the ship. The memo came with a list of crew, but that memo arrived at his desk maybe a few hours prior.
So too did the notice he was going to have a meeting with anyone at all. Luka’s eyes narrowed, and before Davna could do more than give an apologetic look, he stated in a deadpan. “I don’t have a favorite cake.”
Davna, in all her graciousness, might have had a moment to respond, if it were not for the slender, red-uniformed man appearing at the doorway. In one hand was a PaDD, adorned with the new USS Atala patch. In the other, a box of treats was held up and away from the ‘offending’ pup, who had followed the man and had all attention to the box like it was his own.
The man did not wait for Luka or Davna confirmation, striding in and across the room and setting the box on Luka’s desk, hand resting upon it as he leaned over to give the Captain a big grin, deep brown eyes vibrant with familiarity. “Malasadas. I wanted to surprise you, Luka.”
After a prolonged moment, Davna, who had shuffled after the man just in case the Captain suddenly wanted nothing to do with him, rested both of her arms on the side of the desk, squatting down to watch the interaction with curiosity. “So you know him?” she asked, eyes darting between the pair.
“I do,” continued Luka’s deadpan. He placed the palm of his hand on the Lieutenant’s forehead, pushing him back to the other side of the desk. “Davna, this is-” he paused, eyes on the man’s collar, “... Lieutenant Akihito Takeshi. We served on the Viking together.”
“Oh!” Davna leapt up, clapping her hands together and bouncing on her toes. “I can go get out the good iced tea for this if you’d like?”
Luka watched as the young, mussy-haired man flopped down onto one of the big seats in the office space. “No, I don’t think this will be a long meeting.”
As Davna walked off, seemingly dismayed by the idea of listening to the Captain talk to a long-time friend, Luka rose from his seat. “So, head of the maintenance crew, huh?” he asked, finding a seat across from Aki, who was doting on the malamute pup with multiple ear scritches and cuddles. “How’d you come across that position?”
“Admiral Matthews asked me while I was in-between transfers,” came the nonchalant reply, between yes you’re such a good dog and oh you’ve got a handsome face don’t you?’s, “He didn’t tell me who I’d be working with though, for the record. I think he just snagged me in the middle of everything.” Aki did not look up from his dog-dotings. “Didn’t know you were in charge until I looked up the colony itself. And saw the three Hawaiian-related food shops that the civilians had set up. And maybe asked one or two of them why have the theme when there was a saloon right across the way.”
Aki let the beat skip, and he looked over at Luka. “And maybe I asked the Admiral after I accepted the position.”
Luka could feel his shoulders tense. What sort of move was that for the Admiral to pull? Perhaps he felt bad for the mess that Haumea looked to shape up to be, but that was how Command worked. If every Command assignment was a cakewalk, there would be no real need for Starfleet.
But he felt a bit guilty about the idea that he was once again suspicious of the first familiar face that he was presented with. The Captain let out a small sigh, letting his shoulders relax. Maybe, just this once, he could let his guard down.
“... Do you like your tea sweet or unsweet?”
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