Conditions Have Changed

Posted on Mon Jan 26th, 2026 @ 3:31pm by Vice Admiral Sidra MacLaren & Rear Admiral Indi Hawk

2,152 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Dreamdust
Location: Somewhere Else

Indi couldn't think of any good reason to postpone the meeting with Sidra again. Well, she could think of a million reasons, but none of which she could say out loud. At least she managed to get rid of her Yeoman by sending her back to her office to take care of some stuff. That way, she could make her way up to the CO's office from the mess hall without anyone looking over her shoulder.

Or were they looking over her shoulder?

Paranoid and annoyed, Indi arrived at the CO's ante room a few minutes later. Tugging down the jacket of her uniform a little harder than she had to, she used the gesture to ground herself, straighten her face and bury all the weird feelings she'd been having for the past couple of days.

It only took her a minute to announce herself to the Admiral's Yeoman and be granted access to the main office.

"Admiral," she nodded to Sidra once she had entered. "I'm sorry I had to postpone our meeting this morning, but I'm glad our Yeomen found a new slot in such a timely manner."

Sidra looked up from the console embedded in her desk as the doors slid closed behind Indi.

The timing was right. The posture was right. The face she wore responded as expected.

There, the changeling thought. That hesitation wasn’t there before.

She rose partway from her chair, the movement deliberately restrained. Sidra did not loom. She never had. Authority, in this body, was conveyed through stillness.

“Admiral Hawk,” she said, voice even. Familiar. Precisely tuned to expectation.

Indi’s apology registered, but the words beneath it mattered more than the words themselves. The cadence was tighter. Guarded. A fractional delay before the nod.

Something has shifted, she noted. Awareness, maybe. Or fear. Those often sound the same at first.

“These things happen,” Sidra replied, allowing a neutral acknowledgment to pass. Neither absolution nor rebuke. She gestured to the chair opposite her desk. “Fleet schedules have a way of compressing priorities. Please. Sit.”

She waited until Indi did.

The pause was intentional. Sidra often used silence to let people settle into themselves. The changeling used it to observe what surfaced when pressure was absent.

Indi did not relax.

Interesting.

Sidra folded her hands behind her back instead of bracing them on the desk. Memory suggested she usually leaned forward here. The changeling corrected course a fraction too late and held the posture anyway.

“Your report raised several points I wanted to address directly,” she said. “Not through staff channels.”

Her gaze settled on Indi. Too focused. She adjusted it deliberately, adding a blink, a marginal softening.

Careful, she warned herself. Sidra looks. She does not stare.

“You’ve been carrying a heavy operational load recently,” Sidra continued. “And I’ve noticed some variance. Not in performance. In rhythm.”

That was the probe.

The changeling watched for the response that mattered. The tightening of shoulders. The brief break in eye contact. The breath that came too quickly to be casual.

There it is.

“I want to be sure nothing is interfering with your judgment,” Sidra said, calm and measured. “Before we advance the next phase.”

She let the words rest between them.

Then, deliberately softer,

“Tell me how you’re holding up, Admiral Hawk.”

The question was framed as concern.

It was not.

Something was off. Indi could feel it in every fiber, every second that passed. They were now two creatures seizing each other up. They both felt that something had changed. Both knew that things could never go back to what they had been. For the most part, Indi was glad for that. Now only to see how things would play out from here. 

"I'm holding up just fine," she replied with a tight smile. Too tight, too controlled, but she hardly thought it was relevant anymore. Things would play out, and they wouldn't be influenced by actor performance. "I'm ready for everything you want to put into motion," she added and got up from the chair she'd been forced to take. Instead, she went over to the replicator and got herself a coke. A real one. A real replicated coke. Or a replicated replicated coke? A small headache started to form between her eyes, so she shifted the coke thought to one side and just drank it. 

Only after that, and with most of the bottle empty already, did she return to her seat. Voluntarily this time. She'd made the Admiral wait on her. She sat down on her terms. This was a chess game, but the problem was that she knew Sidra to be an excellent chess player as well. 

"Was that why you wanted to see me? To get confirmation I'm ready for everything?"

Sidra did not comment on the delay or the drink. She watched, measured, and then inclined her head once when Indi finally sat.

“No,” she said evenly. “That wasn’t why.”

A brief pause. Deliberate.

“Your readiness is not in question,” Sidra continued. “What has changed is your posture. It has become more aggressive.”

Her gaze held, unflinching.

“I agree with it.”

The words landed cleanly. Too cleanly.

“The Vethari are not a problem that can be managed forever,” she said. “They will overrun our control in the region if allowed to persist.”

A faint narrowing of her eyes.

“Removing the threat decisively may be the only viable path forward.”

She let that stand.

“I wanted to know whether you were prepared for that reality,” Sidra said quietly.

You are.

It was absurd to be talking about reality within a setting that was obviously (by now anyway) anything but reality. It came as somewhat of a surprise that Sidra admitted to the more open aggression that Indi was showing, but then again, it was so obvious that there was no need to ignore it either. Sidra was making her moves very carefully. 

"I'm prepared to go to war. Whether you want me on this starbase or on a ship, that's entirely up to you," she spoke, using big words for a big situation. War wasn't something you brought to the table lightly. "If war is the only thing left, and it seems to become unavoidable, then a warrior's mentality is what you'll get from me." 

Sidra regarded her for a long moment.

War. The certainty behind it was unexpected. Not caution. Not escalation. Acceptance.

“That is a significant assessment,” Sidra said at last. “Epsilon Fleet is not structured as a wartime armada.”

She shifted her weight slightly, hands still clasped behind her back.

“Our strength is distributed. Our readiness uneven. Command cohesion still forming.”

Her eyes narrowed, not in doubt but calculation.

“I have commanded effectively under sustained conflict,” Sidra added calmly. “That record is not in question.”

The statement stood on its own. Too firm. Too deliberate.

“So I will ask you plainly,” she continued. “Do you believe this fleet can be brought to that footing.”

A beat.

“And if it cannot,” she said quietly, “do you believe my experience is enough to carry it there.”

This was turning into a weird conversation. The chess game seemed to have moved to the background. But in favor of what? Why was the topic of war suddenly so important? Why did war have----

Indi's thoughts stalled right in the middle as realisation hit her. It was the only possible explanation. If whoever was holding her had a stake in whatever happened with the Vethari, this was a good way to gain information. But did it even have to be the Vethari? It could be anyone and anywhere. How would Starfleet react to them? 

The realisation kindled Indi's anger again. It made her reckless, but for once she didn't care too much. Stalking off into war, without thinking too much, was a good answer for most interrogations. Even those as subtle as this one. 

"I know your war record isn't in question, Admiral," she shrugged slightly, but something in her posture added disbelief. She didn't care to hide it this time. "We can bring Epsilon Fleet up to war specifications. The fleet is there, the logistics are there, the people are there, the infrastructure is there. We can handle whatever they want to throw at us," 

Indi's eyes now had a blaze in them that was rarely seen. The old warrior awakened, even if only in her imagination. If she could assume an entire fleet was ready to go to war. If she could be part of it. 

"I think we should bring the fight to the Vethari before they can bring it to us."

Sidra did not respond immediately.

So she believes it. Not posturing. Not baiting. Conviction.

That was unexpected.

Our data from Epsilon has thinned. Hawk’s reports ended abruptly. Something disrupted the channel. The conclusion followed cleanly. They know.

She kept her expression neutral, though the assessment recalibrated rapidly. If Indi truly believed Epsilon could sustain open conflict, then either the fleet had changed faster than anticipated, or Hawk herself had become the variable.

“Your confidence in Epsilon Fleet is noted,” Sidra said at last. Calm. Measured. “More than noted, in fact.”

Her gaze sharpened, curiosity bleeding through control.

“You are certain the fleet can absorb that level of escalation,” she continued. “Sustain it. Coordinate it.”

A brief pause.

“That level of aggression invites attention,” Sidra added. “From more than just the Vethari.”

She studied Indi now, openly.

“And you still believe striking first is the correct course.”

Either she is reckless, the changeling thought, or she is far more prepared than our remaining assets suggest.

“Tell me,” Sidra said quietly. “Who else do you expect to come running once the first shot is fired.”

"That question is way above my pay grade," Indi replied without skipping a beat. Alright, so she wasn't held here by the Vethari. Somebody wanted more information on how to attack Epsilon. She'd have to spend more time tonight on her efforts to re-open the link with Sha'mer. The people on SB369 had to be aware of a possible imminent threat.

"If you're willing to bounce names off me, I can make sure our Security schedules match those specific races. It can take quite a bit of different training to deal with the different species."

The bottle of coke was empty now, but her head was full of questions. How could she find out who they were? Who was running this simulation? How did they get such good holograms to play the people she knew? So many questions. So little answers.

"I'll prepare my people for war. Just give me the enemy and the timeframe Leave the rest up to me. As for the other departments, that's up to you. I'm sure you can use your experience to get them ready in no time."

A silence.

"Shall I go prepare for war, Admiral?"

Sidra held the silence a fraction longer than necessary.

She is committing. Fully.

That was the danger. Not suspicion. Not resistance. Momentum.

“Not yet,” Sidra said at last. Calm. Grounding. “Preparation without specificity creates noise. I won’t have Epsilon rattling its own cage.”

Her gaze remained steady, though her thoughts were anything but.

She is ready to mobilize an entire fleet on instinct. That was not in the projections.

“You’ll continue readiness reviews within existing parameters,” Sidra continued. “Security posture. Training refreshes. Quietly.”

A pause.

“When I have a confirmed vector and a confirmed adversary,” she said, measured and absolute, “you will be the first to know.”

She inclined her head slightly. Dismissal, but controlled.

“Until then,” Sidra added, “I need you sharp. Not burning ahead of the fleet.”

If she moves on her own, the changeling thought, this simulation fractures.

“Stand by, Admiral Hawk,” Sidra said evenly. “War does not begin until I say it does.”

Sidra watched Admiral Hawk leave the simulated office.

The doors slid shut. The room settled. The echo of conviction lingered longer than expected.

Awareness, she thought. Not complete, but enough.

She turned slightly, addressing those that were listening.

“Things have changed,” Sidra said calmly.

Her gaze lifted, focusing on nothing the room itself contained.

“They are no longer operating blindly,” she continued. “And Indi Hawk is no longer simply reacting.”

A pause.

“I believe she suspects the environment,” Sidra added. “If not its nature, then its intent.”

Her expression hardened, just a fraction.

“We will need to adjust,” she said. “Because if she becomes fully aware, this construct will not hold.”

And neither will our advantage.

Rear Admiral Indi Hawk
The Real One

The Changling
Vice Admiral Sidra MacLaren

 

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