Deirdre's Bad Morning
Posted on Sun Dec 7th, 2025 @ 11:15am by Deirdre Arlen
606 words; about a 3 minute read
Mission:
Second Light
Location: Starbase 369
=== Promenade, SB 369 ===
Deirdre was walking on the promenade on her way to work. She’d picked up a small bag of Orion spiced pastries for breakfast, the warm scent curling out of the paper like an invitation.
“Deirdre!”
She glanced over her shoulder to see Kora Maddex hurrying toward her.
Maddex was also in the cargo business. Though Deirdre had never asked for details, she had the distinct impression his operation dipped further into illegal territory than hers ever would.
She didn’t stop, but she slowed enough for him to catch up.
Maddex didn’t waste time on pleasantries.
“Did you hear the news?”
“What news?” she muttered, already pulling out a pastry.
He grabbed her arm, tugging her to a halt.
Deirdre gave the pastry a longing look, then, with an irritated huff, she stuffed it back into the bag. "What?"
Maddex darted a glance around and then lowered his voice, forcing her to lean in close.
“The Fleet Security Chief's quarters were locked down this morning.”
Deirdre frowned.
“I heard Admiral Hawk was murdered last night,” he whispered.
“Murdered?” Deirdre echoed.
“Shhh!” Maddex hissed. He leaned even closer. “Either that, or she fled the station in the middle of the night with a classified data core.”
“Okay, that—”
“…or she got hauled out in restraints for tampering with Starfleet logs,” he finished, breathless.
Deirdre straightened and rolled her eyes.
“Right. Since none of that sounds even remotely possible — and they can’t all be true — what makes you think there's actually a problem with the Security Chief?”
“I checked,” Maddex said. He glanced around again, making sure no one had stopped nearby. His voice dropped to an impossibly lower whisper. “The Admiral's quarters are indeed locked down. I don’t think she’s in there anymore.”
He took a breath.
“Whatever happened, Starfleet’s about to come down hard on this base. Make sure you have every T crossed and every I dotted. Someone is going to go over every piece of security paperwork filed here since this station was built.”
Deirdre’s appetite suddenly disappeared.
“How long do you think we have?”
Maddex shrugged. “Station Security’s going to lock down everything they can, but it’ll take a few days for Internal Affairs to get here.”
“Two, maybe three days,” he added after a moment.
“Right.”
Deirdre took a few steps, then turned back. “Thanks for the heads up.”
====
Down in the office of Arlen Transit & Freight, she looked around at the piles of PADDs. Her paperwork passed well enough for routine security checks, but she wasn't sure it would survive a full, serious audit.
Additionally, the Starburst had just departed, with Treon's ship heading for what she described as a "personal mission". The paperwork looked vague. Coincidence or not, if anyone bothered to look into it, it would seem suspiciously like she was running.
The Wayfarer’s Promise, Vaelen’s ship, wouldn’t be back for another month. There was no point dropping all of this on him; he was too far away and too busy to help even if he wanted to.
Sitting down, she opened a comm link. She would have to be careful with how she phrased things. Station comms could always be monitored, and on a day like this she wasn’t taking any chances.
“Deirdre to Marken.”
“Deirdre.” Holt sounded half-asleep. “This is not a good time.”
“I need help. With paperwork.”
This was Holt’s expertise, after all.
Marken must have heard the worry in her voice, because he sounded fully awake when he finally replied, “I’m coming.”
====
Deirdre Arlen
Arlen Transit & Freight
RSS Feed