Little Introductions, part two

Posted on Fri 24th Oct, 2025 @ 1:35pm by Commander Mindo & Commander Geraldine "Geri" Severide

1,660 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: From The Ashes
Location: Security
Timeline: current

Previously:

Francis tapped his communicator. "Francis here, what's the hubbub?"

"A body has been found in Cargo Bay 168-B. Your presence is requested."

Francis' eyebrows furrowed. "Is the body currently among the living?"

"I don't believe so sir," came the officer's response.

Francis looked at Mindo and shrugged. "Looks like I'm needed elsewhere."

"A dead body?" Mindo said. "Sounds like something a Chief of Security would handle."

"Cargo Bay 168-B is located way down in the Garden District," Francis said. "You stay here and wait for Severide. I'll fill you in later."

"Whatever you say, sir," Mindo replied, eager and curious to get started on the station. There were many aspects of station life he was interested in experiencing. He knew in due time things would happen. Hopefully the action would start soon. With Severide the first hurdle, he knew things could only get more exciting from here.

And now, the continuation...

{Security Chief's Office}

Mindo waited patiently after Captain Francis departed, testing out the beanbag chairs one by one, to assure high-quality comfort. The last one he tested was the one behind his floor desk. Relaxing, Mindo closed his eyes and was asleep in seconds.

The door chime sounded, but wasn't immediately answered. Geri stood with her finger poised and pressed it again after a moment. She took a look at the padd to make sure she wasn't wrong on time, but 0900 was simple enough to remember.

-0900; Briefing, new SEC Chief at SEC Main

Short of overriding the lock Geri decided to take one last action of simply knocking on the door.

Upon hearing the knock, Mindo jumped in surprise and yelled, "Yes! What? I mean... come in!" Mindo straightened his uniform as the door parted.

Geri walked in to the office immediately drawn to the only other person in the room. When his face made sense to her after a split second she tossed the padd on his desk in disgust, "Oh for %%#$ sake."

She nearly turned on her heel, but Captain Francis and this man had a history, and Andrus Grax wouldnt weigh in at this level so who would she even go to? She figured it out in an instant, this guy was a friend of the captains, deep cover, got brought here for a job. If someone had told her any of this, it would have saved a month of dead end investigations work. Suddenly embittered beyond belief, she decided to speak her mind.

"You know what I hate more than anything, is when professional courtesy is thrown aside for personal reasons. I had to drop a case against you without explanation, a case where Starfleet officers and civilians were attacked by piracy, which is running RAMPANT in this sector, but any leads I had that lead to your or the Comfort got cut off without explanation because you know the captain. I took that pill and swallowed it because I have professionalism but you sir, took the low road and left me like a chump to wonder what greater forces have conspired against me. IF we are to make anything work, that needs to never happen again. If we are to have anything approximating a working relationship you will speak to me with alacrity and absolutely zero obfuscation. Understood?"

Mindo sat quietly, listening to Severide's tirade with attentive--albeit pointed--ears. When she finished, he cleared his throat.

"Would you like a beverage before we get started?" Mindo asked, calm, straight-faced.

Geri set her jaw, knowing when enough was enough. There was just a little bit more bang in the firecracker however.

"I'll have a Long Island ice tea. Tall." She took her seat, satisfied at the outcome.

Mindo smirked as he headed over to the wet bar, realizing he had everything but the cola. Instead, he poured her a tranya and handed her the glass.

"This is tranya, the real stuff, from a vineyard back home," Mindo said.

"Short on supplies as well." She couldn't help herself, and asked quickly, "So this is why no profile was attached to the message. I guess you and Captain Francis go way back."

"We don't," Mindo said, sitting behind the desk. "About two years ago we were on the same wrong end of a very bad situation and were able to help each other. My assignment here wasn't the Captain's choice. Actually, it really wasn't mine either. For a year I worked in this end of space on the USS Pandora, a since-retired Luna-class starship. We explored the Delavi Expanse. After that went south, I left Starfleet and went back to try and fix some of the damage going on there. I worked rather closely with a very rich Broot by the name of Qaraq. He owns some businesses here on the station now. Heard of him?"

Geri scoffed, "Well, a three point connection exists to folks here on station, and you're telling me its coincidental you are here. Coincidence can only be true in rare, random cases, most often there's a plan in effect somewhere."

"I never said it was a coincidence," Mindo replied. "I'm here thanks to Qaraq. He wants the Federation to consider his home planet Delavi for membership and Starfleet thinks I'm someone who can help, among other things. I'm also your new Chief of Security for the time being, which means you can call me 'sir.' You brought up the piracy situation in your little tirade earlier. Tell me about that... and please don't start with blaming me for any lack of information again. I don't really know anything. I was little more than an unfortunate hitchhiker who got caught on the wrong ship, and your little interrogation almost blew a rather deep cover. I was lucky Captain Francis was there to bail me out. Ditching those idiots wasn't easy."

Geri laughed, perhaps he knew it was forced or perhaps not, but she was laying it on thick.

"OH, it's my fault you attacked a Federation starship, and your investigation got its ass kicked by Thunderchild and then you had to be interrogated by me? I was going to pick you apart piece by piece until your "not a friend" Francis saved you." She smirked halfway through,"Cant wait to see the results of that investigation... or was it as I suspect it was a massive loss of time and resources yielding nothing actionable?"

She propped her feet up on his desk, "We are both Commanders here, so of course I'll call you sir when the job calls for it, but you and I are waaayyy past formality. Between friends, and we are friends now right? Between Friends it'll be Geri and Mindo, like a magic act."

With a smug self satisfaction she sipped her tranya, secretly loving it, but twisting her face all the same. "Gross."

Mindo couldn't help a small grin at the false reaction, which he knew was definitely false. No one thought tranya was gross. He decided to say nothing to it, as he'd already shrugged off the rest of her insults. But he had to admit, though only to himself, the tranya line had hurt the most. "If I were in your shoes, hindsight would tell me that I should have laid off the former Starfleet officer and focused on the other two prisoners. My cover was fully in tact prior to my capture. But you didn't just give away the fact I was Starfleet... you gave two clueless criminals my name. Now they have my name and appearance, and it was no trouble for them to find my former rank and assignments. They aren't the Maquis, Geri. These people are far more ruthless, and they hate Starfleet, current or former. You put my life in great danger and Captain Francis, being Intel for far longer than you've been potty trained, realized that and was forced to pull me out. You had two other captives who would've squealed so easily--even to you--and you threw away that opportunity just to burn someone already disgraced enough. So it was definitely a massive loss of time and resources, caused by your mistake. Captain Francis didn't owe you an explanation. If anything, you're lucky he didn't chew you out. He must respect you a great deal to keep you around after that. So quit with the ego and let's play nice."

"Poking the bear" was as close to pure fun as it got for Geri. She could get information out of most sources by simply wiggling under their skin and provoking them. Francis had never told her a thing, but Mindo here had all but spilled the beans on what she needed to know. This man had nobody to run to, nobody to complain to. He was stuck here, and had to make this work.

As he spoke, she sipped her drink and calmly listened, responding at the end with a gentle amazed look.

"Fascinating, your mental gymnastics are just... wow. As if you could pull of my shoes... And is that how you try to justify it, because you know not one person has ever even approached me about my handling of a rogue Starfleet officer who was involved in an open fire incident on a medical vessel... They just said drop it, and I dropped it. Funny if it was my fault as you say there would have been... something you think?" She pulled her feet of the desk and assumed a more proper posture.

"Intel works in mysterious ways," Mindo replied.

"You were once an enemy," Geri said. "I have now adjusted my gaze and am waiting to be impressed by my new Security Chief. Let's proceed then, as colleagues."

Mindo pointed to her empty glass. "Want a refill?"

Ever the good sport, Geri stopped playing with her food. "No, but thank you. Let's just start with any questions, and do a rundown over whats left?"

Mindo shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

To Be Continued...

 

RSS Feed