Wolf in a stray dogs clothing

Posted on Wed Mar 4th, 2020 @ 2:20am by Post Captain Vasily Borodin & Lieutenant Commander Torenna Cel & 2nd Lieutenant F'ianna "Firefly" t'Tahn
Edited on on Wed Mar 4th, 2020 @ 2:20am

Mission: Mission 52: The Astral Winds
Location: Various Locations - USS Roanoke
Timeline: 1500Hrs - December 8th, 2391

F'ianna sat at the desk. In front of her was the PaDD she completed. She waited in silence for the Star Fleet officers to come in.

Outside Commander Vasily Borodin stood as he regarded Torenna Cel. "Well... This should be interesting." he turned back from the woman before him, he turned to the entrance to the brig spaces before the three of them since Seykai Ferian was there too. "Besides... I wanted to get out of the office for five minutes... I figured I'd miss something important for a change.... Not that there is anything going on..... Do you require anything from me before you start?" he slowly smiled. "Hangover medication perhaps?"

Torenna cel had to say. "Well Borodin, I'm not exactly an interrogator, i'm just a signals analyst, doing an interview like this is not something i am really any good at."

Borodin nodded his head. "Fair enough... Besides... Its time I got out of the office once in a while... I'll handle this. Go on... Tell the Sergeant Major that I sent you." before he turned and went into the office.

F'inna sat nervously at the table as the intelligence officers came in.

Borodin sat down across from the Romulan female. "Howdy. I'm Vasily Borodin... Can I interest you in a drink?" he inquired of her. "I'm going to ask a few questions and you can answer them if you wish... Once we finish here. I'm going to have you released to your quarters.. You're not a prisoner.... For now, you are a guest of this ship and her crew.." he smiled at he turned tot he guard. "Call the galley. Ask them for two bottles of Romulan Ale. Make sure they are not replicas.."

F'ianna looked at the ale skeptically for a moment. Was this a ruse to get her drunk or was he genuinely trying to make her comfortable? If she refused the drink then that would raise eyebrows. "Do star Fleet officers normally drink during an interrogation?"

"Well.. I am Russian... We tend to drink through our troubles.." he explained. "Since you are a guest... I felt it appropriate that we drink." he explained evenly.

F'ianna gave a quick smile then took a sip of ale. She savored the ale before addressing Borodin. "Since the Hearthworlds were destroyed it is very hard to find a good bottle of ale in the Empire. I am surprised to get a good bottle in the federation."

"Well." Borodin shrugged. "I should explain where this bottle came from." he regarded the Romulan. "This bottle was made in the Federation by my brother.

"Oh, well your brother seems to have perfected our distillery methods." F'ianna responded. "I congratulate him." She kept the conversation short. She hoped that this would be a short, routine interrogation.

"Last time I heard, he had a few Romulan refugees working for him." Borodin explained. "So... what can you tell me about yourself?" he inquired. "More specifically your last duty station and your duties there?" he inquired.

F'ianna took a small sip of ale before talking. "I was assigned to the IRV Hlai'vna. It is a Valdore class ship. I was assigned to flight control. I was the second officer in the department."

Seykai just sat there quietly, using his PADD to record. He had no interest in trying any Romulan ale, though in truth it was because of his incredibly small size, his tolerance for the stuff was extremely limited.

She looked at Seykai. "Why aren't you drinking?"

Seykai looked up at her and gave her a simple answer. "I am 119 centimeters tall and a mere 20 kilograms. I cannot easily tolerate most humanoid alcoholic drinks because of that."

Borodin smiled as he poured himself another glass. "Besides... It seems such a shame to drink this bottle alone... Grigory is m,ass producing the stuff and now that the embargo is lifted.. All things considered.. We have many thousands of refugees and more coming with each passing day... They are for the most part civilians and refugees.." he shrugged as he downed the drink. "Mmmm..." he then poured himself another. "I suspect... that this will be a brutal experience for me more then you.." he addressed the Romulan female.
"So... what else happened aboard your last posting... anything special of note?"

"We were trying to keep our empire together." F'ianna explained. "We were busy fighting pirates and rebel Remans."

Borodin nodded. "Okay.... so... why defect?" he inquired.

F'ianna thought for a moment. "The Senate and Tal Shiar are more interested in keeping a hold on power than helping its citizens. I had a hard time following their orders. Leaving the military is not an option right now. So that is the reason why I defected."

"What sort of orders were they giving you?" Borodin inquired before he drained the rest of the glass, he then poured himself another. "You want any more?"

"Oh, no more ale right now." F'ianna answered. "We had to put down colonies that declared their independence or colonies that were considering joining the Federation. Sometimes we attacked the flesh heads."

"Flesh heads?" Borodin inquired. "Yes... I got reports about two colonies... Deltavis II and Tarlonis IV." he regarded her. "Were you involved with that?" he inquired. "Let me remind you what happened... one world had a continent glassed and the other had an ocean bombarded which produced massive clouds of superheated steam... which cooked several coastal cities... killing tends of thousands in... quite a brutal manner..."

"We were directly involved with Deltavis II." F'ianna admitted. "I only heard about the other through fellow officers in the fleet."

"Ahh..." he paused. "I see..." he shrugged. "Both worlds ended up getting Federation protection anyway.." he lifted his glass to his lips. "So... all you did was drive the ship?"

"Yes, I was not even the department head." F'ianna replied. "Sometimes I would join the fighters when they needed extra pilots."

Borodin nodded his head. "I see... Well... The Colonists are not exactly impressed with the Romulan military however the colonies political leadership wants to deal with us.." he paused as he called up something on his PADD and he slid it across to her. "Thats about someone bearing your name.... I assume she is a close relative... she looks a lot like you."

F'ianna shuddered as she saw the picture. She took the bottle of ale and poured a glass. She promptly downed it and then poured another glass.

"That is my mother." F'ianna stated flatly. "They told me she was the leader of a large splinter faction. I had a hard time believing them. Until now, I thought she was dead." She finished another glass. "That is why I ran. The Tal Shiar came to arrest me. They discovered what you know. I didn't know how to react at first. When we were in the shuttle bay I broke free and stole a fighter."

Borodin nodded. "I assume all of what happened during your escape is in your report?" he inquired as he poured himself another glass.

"From the time I left the hanger on the Hlai'vna to when your fighter intercepted us, yes it is all in the report."

"Alright... Well I have no more questions for you.." Borodin responded as he shifted his attention to the half empty bottle of ale. "Seems like such a shame to waste this.... Shall we finish this?"

"Well..." F'ianna replied. "I don't think it will hurt to have just a little bit more."

He poured her a glass worth of ale before he finished the last of it. "Mmm... my brother knows how to make good ale.." he regarded her. "So... what do we drink to?"