Post 16 - The President and the Praetrix

Posted on Mon Jan 25th, 2021 @ 11:13pm by Fleet Admiral Sturnack & Vice Admiral Augustus Taqin

Mission: Episode 1: Acta Non Verba
Location: Starfleet Headquarters - Office of the Commander-in-Chief
Timeline: Day 12 - 1042 Hours

[CinC's Office]
[SFC Complex]
[Day 12 - 1042 Hours]

Augie didn't stay in his office very long, though he made sure there were no pressing matters that needed his attention just yet before leaving to offer his formal reporting in to the CinC.

This was further proof that no matter how many years you spent trekking across the galaxy, there was always something new for you to do. While Augie had worked at Headquarters at various times in his career, this was the first time he was doing so as a direct report to the Commander-in-Chief. Previously he'd been sheltered from the top by at least one degree of separation, now the buck for his department stopped with him.

As the human/El-Aurian hybrid turned the corner into the first part of the span of offices devoted to the top brass of Starfleet, he offered a pleasant nod to a commander sitting at the first desk before fully stopping and giving a smile as well.

"Admiral Taqin here to see Admiral Sturnack." One did not simply walk into the office of the Commander-in-Chief just to say hello, after all.

"Good morning, Admiral," the Commander smiled up at the man, rising to offer her hand in greeting. "Marlena Glenn, the Fleet Admiral's chief aide-de-camp," she introduced herself. "Pleasure to see you, sir," Glenn nodded, then gestured to a transparent bell jar full of chocolate chip cookies atop her desk. "The Admiral is in, sir, but I need to see if he's available or on a comm call. Want to grab a cookie while I pop in? They're homemade. Sea salt and dark chocolate chip," the woman smirked mischievously. "Please help yourself and I'll be right back, sir," Marlena said with a final nod before disappearing through the door behind her.

"Oh, that is dangerous knowledge right there!" Augie replied with a twinkle in his eye after shaking her hand. He helped himself to one, mentally stopping himself from taking the whole jar for when he walked in to meet with the CinC.

A few moments later, Glenn had returned. "He's just finishing up a call but you can head in. Sounds like it involves your department anyway, so your timing is great, Admiral," she smiled with her eyes.

Inside the office, Sturnack was -- indeed -- speaking with someone on the large comm panel built into the left wall of his office, opposite expansive windows that looked out on the bay and Golden Gate Bridge in all its sunny splendor. The solar panels that had filled the space land vehicles once traversed were slowly turning, following Sol as it arced slowly overhead. Perhaps pulling attention away from the view, the Vulcan seemed to be embroiled in a conversation about the imminently-opening Romulan Embassy with none other than Federation President Najale Patel herself.

"...don't disagree, Admiral. But you have to understand," the woman's voice was gravelly as she spoke across the distance between San Francisco and Paris, "this Embassy represents so many great works done between our two powers over the last year. It is prudent to be on guard but outright hostility will," she emphasized, her gold-and-jade earrings catching the light of her office, "set these efforts back. I need you to ensure that Starfleet security forces will respect the Romulans' sovereignty and treat them politely."

Sturnack looked away from the screen for the briefest of moments -- waving Taqin in -- before returning his gaze to President Patel. "I understand, Madame President. As ever, I appreciate your candor," the Vulcan nodded. As DCinC, he'd met and worked with Patel on a number of occasions but in the new regime, she was now his superior officer of a kind, in role if not in rank.

"Always," she nodded back before disconnecting the channel on her side.

"Admiral Taqin," Sturnack greeted, turning to regard the man. "Your timing is, as humans say, most fortuitous," he said, gesturing to a stuffed chintz chair in the sitting area of his office. Taking a similar seat, he looked at Taqin expectantly, allowing the Admiral to voice his own reason for coming before jumping into a needed update for the man after the call with Patel.

"Well, I do enjoy being ready when needed, Admiral Sturnack." The twinkle in Augie's eye remained for a moment before he mentally shifted to the topic at hand. "I was just coming by to report in. My leave between assignments ended yesterday, so I figured today would be a good day to make the official niceties." He glanced at the wall screen a moment, then quirked an eyebrow at the Vulcan. "If there is something pressing for us to do, though, we can just skip the rigmarole and get to work. Is there an issue with the Romulan Embassy?"

"I am appreciative," Sturnack nodded in response, "of your visit to check in and I am gratified to have you serving as our Director of Homeworld Security, Admiral." For Vulcans, that was as close as it could get to saying 'I'm over the moon.' "That said, however, moving past the...rigmarole," he used the Admiral's term, "may be useful here."

Augie's eyes twinkled at Sturnack's use of rigmarole. Not mischievously, just with humor. He knew how precise in language most Vulcans tried to be, and words like rigmarole were often used more colloquially than definitively.

"President Patel," the Commander-in-Chief continued, "informs me that several promises of violence against the new embassy have been intercepted by her office. While Romulan security forces will see to the security of their embassy internally, the President and Romulan Praetrix Donatra would feel more comfortable if Starfleet took charge of the embassy's external security for the time being. Their sovereignty, of course," he noted, "is not to be violated by Homeworld Security. And, as you may have heard," Sturnack inclined his head toward the monitor on the wall, "our people must be on their most...diplomatic," he stressed, "behavior. Does this present any challenges you foresee?"

The twinkle in Augie's eye remained, though the Admiral turned more contemplative as his eyes unfocused for a moment. "I've never been gifted with precognition, mind you. I'm thinking we'll have a challenge with Romulan territory at our back, that's a hard boundary I can't have my people cross. That limits deployment possibilities of personnel..." He trailed off for a moment in thought, then looked at Sturnack and nodded. "There will be complications, but we'll get it done. I have a few ideas myself and I will have local section chief review the lay of the land. We'll want to deploy sound dampeners and survey drones, those will likely keep things calmer and let us have active eyes on any crowd." He was thinking out loud now, the sound dampeners would allow them to reduce the noise level. Mobs evolved from crowds when they were able to rile each other up, if they could keep the noise down they should be able to keep things from getting out of hand. "Who is currently handling security in the area and who do we coordinate with inside the embassy?"

"An apt plan," Sturnack nodded slowly. "However, the Romulans will object to the drones flying over their sovereign territory. The drones will need to be contained to monitoring the boundaries of the embassy only." Producing a PADD, the Vulcan called up a diagram of the space, pinching and flinging the image from the PADD and onto the large monitor inset into the wall. The depiction showed a three-story building built into the shape of a hollow square, the center reserved for greenery and relaxation spaces. "The aversion to drones makes little logical sense," the Vulcan began, "given that our orbital satellites can monitor their compound with great precision but such is the language of politics," Sturnack conceded. "Sub-Commander Lerat will be your contact within the embassy. She is their Chief of Security and, unlike other members of the Romulan contingent, seems amenable to cooperation."

Augie had a few ideas as to why, but they were mere supposition. He could respect the restriction, and nodded to his superior. "That is a blessing at least, I've known Romulan security officials that were quite reticent to even be near someone in our uniforms. Though that was some time ago." He smirked as he eyed the grounds, nodding. "Excellent, I will get people planning and have things in place within..." he glanced at the screen where a chronometer was, "...say two hours. I'll have some undercover operatives start overwatch sooner." He looked at Sturnack once again. "Do we have any leads on the threats, any people we need to be especially on the lookout for?"

"This," Sturnack held out a PADD for the Admiral to take, "contains all of the information President Patel sent over. It would appear there are some Earth-based extremist groups believed to be behind some of the threats." It was odd to think Paradise would be plagued with such malcontents but even centuries of peace couldn't eradicate conspiracy theorists, it seemed. They tended to operate in rural locations and used sensor dampening fields to hide their activities but exist, they still did. "You and your department will need to assess the credibility of these threats and perhaps pre-emptively stave them off. Assuming, of course," the Vulcan nodded slowly, "they are actually behind them. Are you able to do so quietly, Admiral? The embassy's opening is quite sensitive and vital..."

Augie's twinkle came back as he smiled at the Vulcan admiral. "I can be circumspect in my investigations." He took the PADD with a nod and stood. "We'll not let you or the President down, sir." Once he got a nod in return, Augie turned and walked from the office to return to his own and start getting people working on the issue at hand.

Sturnack watched Taqin go, satisfied that the man had accepted the request to stay in his position. The Vulcan had often found Taqin's counsel helpful while serving as DCinC. That the Admiral would remain ensured continuity and ease of action in many ways. Once the door had closed behind Taqin, Sturnack tapped his combadge.

"Marlena? What's next?" he asked.

=/\= A joint post by... =/\=

Fleet Admiral Sturnack
Commander-in-Chief
Starfleet Command

and

Vice Admiral Augustus Taqin
Director, Homeworld Security
Starfleet Command