Old Friends, New Business

Posted on Wed Mar 27th, 2013 @ 4:29am by Commander Alexandra Vance & Admiral Maximilian 'Max' Hunter

1,358 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: A Pirate's Life
Location: Vance's Quarters

ON:

Alexandra had returned to her quarters leaving the junior officers on the bridge once again. The funeral would be ending soon and the senior staff would return to their posts. Her headache was beginning to flare up once again and the noise on the bridge was not helping matters in addition to the lighting in which her occular implant was still adjusting.

As she entered her quarters she stopped only a couple paces past the door allowing it to close. Something about the room did not feel right. It was an unsettling feeling she had not experienced in quite some time but was once accustomed to.

"Admiral, you know I had to kill the last three security officers who allowed you access to my quarters?" she stated scanning about the room for the Admiral.

Max laughed as he turned in the chair and then slowly came to a stop. "Still think I am using security to get in, Ice?" He stood up and walked around the desk with a smile. "Your never going to figure it out, Alexandra." He leaned against the desk and crossed his arms over his chest. "How you been? Haven't see or heard from you since..." He tilted his head slightly, trying to think of the last time.

"All good things dear Admiral. To answer your inquiry that would be Cardassia Prime and the bureaucrats have gone to some lengths to keep it that way. They prefer I chase nebulae and space pirates." she replied in a disappointed tone.

"I know you missed the field, and I am keeping to my word. When something comes up that you would be perfect at, I will be the first one to send it your way." Max smiled as he walked back around the desk and pulled up a cocked bottle. "You still drink that Hippie Drink, or would you like some Bloodwyne? Its a good year." He smirked as he picked it up slowly.

"Missed? I don't know how people can go through a lifetime of this without wanting to seek counseling from a phaser....Bloodwyne, the year has not been so generous to me." she said taking a seat on her couch.

"I heard." Max took out two glasses and poured some bloodwyne into it. He slid one glass over to her and picked up the other. "Not often you get turned into a Borg Queen and not get killed. Your right up there with the likes of Picard, now. It must have been the Earl Grey Tea your so fond of drinking."

"Perhaps it is the minds that attract them." Vance retorted taking a generous swig from her glass. "But you did not come here to discuss the Borg and I am not the Commander of Theta Fleet. So tell me, what is it that Starfleet Intelligence requires of me?"

Max looked at her for a moment and then answered quickly. "We need you to die." He drank his bloodwyne quickly, downing it quickly in one shot.

Alexandra replied in turn by downing hers. "I fully expected those words to come from a Cardassian, but not you."

"When I say the name, Captain Gregory Strife, I am sure you know what will follow." Max said as he poured another glass for himself and offered Alexandra the bottle.

"I told you not to trust him with the Nightstar. You gave him power and he did exploited it exactly as predicted." she took the bottle from Max and poured herself a glass setting it back on the table. "If you wish to relieve him of this power, I am fully obliged to assist you in anyway I can." she sneered.

Max laughed as he took a sip from his glass and brought it back away from his lips. "I already got enough I told you so's from Admiral Burke, so I don't need any from you, Alexandra." He smiled and then took a sip of his drink again. "How much of the Nightstar Project do you remember?"

"Besides your questionable choice in a Commanding Officer. The ship was an improvement upon the Defiant from Deep Space Nine. Utilized in covert, recon, shock and awe and extraction missions. Now it seems Captain Strife has reallocated the vessel's resources to the slaughter of innocent lives."

Max nodded and then drank some of his bloodwyne. He was happy she was as caught up as he remembered her to be. You could take the Agent out of Intel but you couldn't take the Intel out of the Agent. As he lowered his glass, he set it on the table and reached behind the desk again, pulling up a black PADD with the Intel Black Ops insignia on it. "Your well informed. Thats good. Now tell me about Lieutenant Damion Wolfe."

"Observant Admiral." she corrected him. "As for Lieutenant Wolfe, Commodore York has him confined to the brig for insubordination. He told a hotshot colonel what he needed to hear and the colonel was not very receptive. She has no idea what to do with him and believes his actions to be from ineffective medication."

"But you would not be asking about him if it was that simple."

"Come on, Alexandra. All these years and you still haven't figured out when someone is feeding you a line?" Max smiled as he drank his bloodwyne, hinting to her there was more going on then she realized.

Alexandra took a sip from her glass. "I have had very limited contact with Lieutenant Wolfe but I knew there was a play, I should have known it was you. You will have to excuse my shortfalls....my mind has been a little preoccupied." she smirked at her morbid pun.

"Damion is one of ours. He is actually a former crewman from the Nightstar who got out just in time before Strife went rogue. We're still not even sure if its him or the whole crew has gone rogue. Wolfe has agreed to go undercover to get back onboard and help take it from the inside. Unfortunately, in order to do that, he has to push himself from Starfleet to get Strife's attention. He wont take him if he feels Wolfe is still working for us." Max explained as he picked up his glass and finished the rest of the bloodwyne. "The medication angle and report have all been fabricated to help the illusion."

"You need me to give him an out....to get Strife's attention." she added finishing her glass in turn.

Max nodded pouring himself another glass and then held it out to her. "Just like on Romulus. You remember Romulus, don't you?" He smiled slightly as he nodded his head slowly seeing if she was catching on.

Alexandra smiled for the first time in quite some time. "I remember the look on that Romulan's face when I appeared from the shadows. It would amuse me greatly to see the same look on Strife's face."

"And I can make sure that happens if the pieces fall exactly where we want them to." Max said softly as he put the bottle down and took a sip from his glass.

"Then the time for talk is over Admiral, the time for action has come upon us..." Vance replied drinking in turn. She could feel her emotions numbing, her mind was clear and focused. She was ready.

Max nodded as he held his glass up with a smile. "Should I set the wheels in motion?"

"I believe we already have." Vance said pouring a small amount of bloodwyne into her glass and raising it to Max.

"To a great death." Max replied with a smirk and soft laugh.

"Would you expect anything less from me?" Vance replied with a smirk of her own raising her glass.

Max raised his glass and then laughed, adding a smile. "Let's not get too full of yourself, Alexandra. I thought I taught you better then that?"

"I've picked up a few bad habits along the way."

OFF:

A Joint Post by:

Commander Alexandra Vance
Executive Officer

&

Admiral Maximillian 'Max' Hunter
Starfleet Intelligence

 

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