[Backlog] JL | VADM Scholtz-Archer, Cmdr Bailey, RAdm Indi Hawk - AQ CO, SF Sec, AQ Sec | "Have a danish"

Posted on 241708.13 @ 6:28pm by Admiral Sabine Scholtz-Archer & Rear Admiral Indi Hawk

Mission: Reconciliation & Reconstruction [Fleet Plot]

Tired. That was a perfect to describe the Admiral as she drifted through her morning routine. Coffee was her lifeblood, the mug warming and comforting as it settled into her hands. Without it, she was almost certain that she'd be completely and utterly worthless - but that was part of growing up and, whether she wanted to admit it or not, growing old. At forty-eight years of age she was still relatively young, but it was the mileage and not the years at this point. The war, and "running" had taken its toll. Of course, running meant heading out to sea with her husband on a sailing yacht bound for whatever port they decided seemed like a good idea to visit. No one ever suspected a thing when two middle aged humans in boat shoes and Oakley shades brought a massive sail boat into port - it certainly didn't scream Starfleet or Admiralty in any way. It screamed pretentious retirees... She couldn't have cared less.

But now the sea was just a memory and she commuted back and forth between the station and their home near Starfleet Headquarters twice a day.

A knock against the frame of her open office door caught her attention, and looking up the strawberry blonde couldn't help but smile, "Frank!" She exclaimed, setting her mug down and briskly walking to greet her former aide with a warm hug, "It's good to see you again."

"Likewise, Sabine. You look fantastic, briny breezes did you well." Frank responded, breaking gently from her embrace to take her by the elbows, holding her back for a good look, "Listen, I brought Indi Hawk with me. She's the one I was telling you about." Stepping back, he motioned for Indi to come through the door, the mood properly set.

Sabine nodded, "I have her file on my desk, actually." Her smile failed to fade when the woman finally stepped on through, "Rear Admiral Indi Hawk, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Frank's essentially sung your praises." She greeted, holding out her hand for a shake.

Indi was still trying to process what had happened over the past 24 hours. She remembered food, a shower, a bed, a meeting, more food, and another meeting.

Food and shower were perks that she had enjoyed. Food had never been a real problem, but home cooking always tasted better. A shower hadn't been a problem to get by, but was simply far less expected in the life she'd been leading for years now. The bed had been nice as well. She'd been laying awake for hours, but at least she was comfortable. She was trying to figure out what had happened the night before. It was coincidence that she'd been brought back to reality. Or out of her reality? It was all very confusing. She'd been convinced Starfleet had long given up on her, had long given up herself on Starfleet, and now this. She didn't think she'd ever be here again. And yet, here she was. But why?

The meetings, well, she could've done without them. People wanted to make sure she was who she was claiming to be. Or rather, who Frank was claiming she was. She hadn't done much claiming, or talking, for that matter. Frank, on the other hand, couldn't shut up about it. She wondered what made her so special, but then decided she truly couldn't care.

Now, she'd been swept away by him for another meeting. For this one, and after her identity had been confirmed, he'd ushered her in uniform. It felt.. wrong. It itched, it was tight, it choked her. She couldn't wait to get out of it once more.

Walking into the office, she saw an Admiral beaming at her. She met the outstretched hand automatically with a quick shake of her own. "Admiral," she nodded in sole acknowledgement.

Releasing Indi's hand, Sabine took a step back and swept out an arm in gesture to the seating arrangement towards the center of her office, "Please, make yourself comfortable. Could I offer you a beverage? Coffee maybe?" The coffee table already had a tray of danishes, muffins, and other breakfast confections laid out. Her aide had seen to it that morning, noting meeting after meeting on the Admiral's agenda. That meant she'd forget to tend to herself, but readily available and fresh high energy food would tempt and remind her as she passed by, flitting like a bird trying to gain ground against a coming storm, while trying to take control of the post and her position. It would come together, maybe in the next month or so, but for now the Admiral was nearly a one woman show.

Frank motioned for Indi to pick a spot and was quick to take up residence next to her. "Coffee would be great, thank you." He acknowledged, plucking a cheese danish from the plate. "If you've read her file then you know she's the authentic item, Admiral, you can't get better for the role that needs filled. I guarantee it." The man was only silenced when he stuffed his mouth with the first bite of food. It was the real deal, had New York written all over it - and he was right. It had been procured from a wonderful little place in Brooklyn and transported.

Indi wondered if he would make any money if she was hired to whatever position he'd been babbling about. He sounded like a career agent alright. If only he'd stop talking for a few minutes, she would feel so much better. Luckily, the danish helped her out and she let out a sigh of relief. Rubbing one temple carefully to still a growing headache before it explode, she refrained to take anything from the cart. All she really drank was coke, and it was still within the 'breakfast' part of the day, she wasn't about to ask one. Asking one during breakfast time, well, that had been a long time. An involuntary smile played around her lips as she remembered one particular morning with Cin. As the details played out in her mind, suddenly present bright and clear, the room around her seemed to fade. It took her a few moments to realize that the room was probably waiting on her to make her next move. Damn you, Frank. For now though, she had no move to make.

"I can read, Frank." Sabine reminded the Commander gently, chuckling with a shake of her head as she poured the man's coffee from a carafe, "And you, Admiral Hawk? Did you want anything?" She asked directly, not wanting to go through Frank for anything when she was supposed to be doing her due diligence essentially interviewing the woman he'd tugged along. Indi was a member of Starfleet Admiralty, she hadn't gotten to that point in her career by being stupid or unable to speak for herself.

Frank, luckily, decided to take the hint.

"I'm good," Indi replied at last. She put her hands in her lap, and did her best to appear at least somewhat relaxed. She wouldn't fool anyone, least of all a fellow admiral, but she could at least keep up appearances. Less than 48 hours ago, she was living in a world where 'hey, you!' was the way to address something. Now, suddenly, she'd have to say 'sir' again. It was a clash of worlds and cultures. Too much in too short a time.

"Alright." Gathering her coffee and Frank's, Sabine made her way back to cluster of posh chairs and sat down once she was sure Frank was taken care of and happy. "I'd be remiss if I didn't say that I wasn't concerned about what you've been through in the last few years or how that may or may not have affected your outlook on life and duty." She finally began, drawing a sip of her coffee and setting it down. This was a formal meeting, but the idea of coming down hard and fast never made her happy when a degree of delicacy would have gone much further. This was one of those cases.

Reaching, she picked up a danish for herself, picking a bit at the almond encrusted breading as she continued to gather her thoughts and found herself holding up a hand to silence Frank as she noticed him draw breath to speak, "That doesn't mean that I don't agree that you're the best for the role as director of Alpha Quadrant Security."

Indi thought carefully on how to reply. Her first thought was to blow the other woman off. She had no desire or need to rejoin the Fleet. Frank thought she did. She didn't share that feeling. Or did she? Assume for a moment she blew off this conversation. What would happen to her if she did? She'd end up in the same kind of apartment she'd just gotten out of? Probably. She had family to look for. Family? What the hell had happened to them. She hadn't seen them in years. Hadn't talked to them in years. Family.... something stirred inside of her. It brought her back to the feeling she'd had when they had just arrived on Earth. And suddenly she knew what it was: Cin was on Earth. Their link, having been dormant for so long, almost forgotten, had opened just a fraction, alert her of the other's presence. It hadn't been answered though. That couldn't mean much good. At all.

"Starfleet sent me undercover and left me there to die. I'm not sure what else you expect of me," she finally replied to Sabine's question. It was the longest sentence she'd strung together since returning to Earth. It sounded harsh, even to her own ears, but she meant it nevertheless.

A slender rose gold eyebrow crested at the sound of Indi's statement and Sabine was almost certain she heard Frank choke on part of his second danish. "Well..." She began, picking up a napkin and setting her breakfast down on it, mostly untouched aside from a few missing almonds, "Then I'll ask you this; What do you think happened to the rest of us during the war?" But she wasn't done, in fact she was simply dusting sticky glazed crumbs from her finger tips, "There was nothing they could do but run. The need of the many outweighed the lives of a few, and sadly many of those lives were lost for the greater good of the Federation. It's how it's always been."

Coffee punctuated the beginning of her speech, but as it was set back down against the table with a click of ceramic against sealed wood, Sabine's voice lofted again, "In many ways you're lucky. None of those jackals thought to look for you where you were. Because you were out of touch and off the radar they didn't go for your family. My husband and I ran, assumed new identities, prayed that our son and daughter were safe and that their ships weren't captured or destroyed in battle. So the way I see it, Ms Hawk, is that you can choose two paths now in life; wallow and fester in self pity and resentment of rules you agreed to play by when you signed on with Starfleet, or you can wake up to a fresh start, take back your life, and be grateful that you still have the ability to wake up and resent Starfleet. The offer is on the table for you. What you choose to do with it is your own, I won't order you to do it just because I have the authority. That won't bode well in the long run and I don't aim to have a cabinet that's all cattywampus." She drawled in that slow southern style of hers.

It left Indi well and truly speechless for a few moments. It had been a long time since anyone had talked to her like that, even while she was still on duty in the Fleet. She knew things had been bad after the civil war, and that had been a big part of the reason why she'd been so angry for so long that they didn't call on her. But perhaps they'd done her a favor. Or had they? For years, they'd kept her from her family this way. Who knew what had happened to them? To her wife, her son, her step daughter? It was all so damned unfair that she could almost cry over it. Almost.

"What was the offer again?" she asked at long last, swallowing hard. She'd underestimated this woman in a way that never would have happened to her in the past. She didn't belong here anymore, but perhaps it wasn't too late to make another attempt at it.

Frank stared between the two women, feeling his blood pressure climb as Sabine finally took a full bite of her danish and Indi mulled over the verbal lashing that she'd just taken. He wasn't sure how it was going to go... Whether Indi would snap back and the entire meeting would go to complete and utter shit or if she'd wake up and realize what was on the table.

He didn't have to wait long.

Sabine nodded to show she understood the question and was finishing her mouthful of food before responding, "Director of Alpha Quadrant Security." She said, once again setting the danish down, this time in favor of a PADD that had been sat beside her, "Here. All the details are in these orders. I won't execute them unless you want me to." Sabine's voice was much softer this time, honoring the art of delicacy as she offered Indi the PADD.

Indi accepted the padd and started reading it, more to give her time to think about what had just been said than because she really wanted to read it. She was quite aware of the order that had been established by the Admiral's one retort. She found it hard to just accept the verbal reprimand without rising up to the challenge, but she didn't have a fight left in her. Besides, she'd never been one to argue with her superior officers. Usually just to one, and she'd solved that problem by marrying said officer. It was a new feeling to her, all over again. It had a strange effect on her, like somebody was there again to watch over her. To take some of the burden off her shoulders. To take responsibility. She liked that feeling, even if it went together with verbal lashings.

Scrolled through to the end of the padd, without actually having read it, she looked up at Sabine. "Alright. I accept. I'll be your director of Security."

"Marvelous!" Sabine smiled, taking the PADD back and signing off on the bottom. The order was now official, "Rear Admiral Indi Hawk, you now report directly to me concerning matters of security in the Alpha Quadrant of Federation space. Other than that, you are your own person with your own agenda and I don't presume to invade or pry unless such a time comes that it impedes progress or becomes a threat to Starfleet in some regard." Again the PADD was handed off to Indi, this time for her to keep as Starfleet records would have already received a copy sent for their archives. "Welcome back."

Frank released the breath he'd been holding, and quickly crammed what was left of a cherry danish in his mouth. "What she said," He nodded, "You made the right choice, Hawk."

'We'll see about that', Indi thought to herself. She was careful not to speak those words aloud though. Accepting the padd back, she stuffed it in her pocket. She'd read it later. Undoubtedly, she'd have to deliver it personally at HQ sooner or later, but she'd deal with that later. Looking at both smiling people sitting next to her, she wondered just what legacy she'd be trying to live up to in the months to come. "Thanks, Bailey. Thank you, Admiral," she replied politely, allowing a small smile to accompany her words. "I should get to work then."

"Any time, Hawk." Frank nodded, proud.

Sabine on the other hand was far more gracious, "Thank you. I look forward to working with you in the future. If you don't have any questions at this time, you're free to go."

--

Vice Admiral Sabine Archer-Scholtz
Commander
Alpha Quadrant
Starfleet

RAdm Indi Hawk
Senior Security Advisor
Alpha Quadrant