The Morning After

Posted on Wed Aug 19th, 2026 @ 5:03pm by Subcommander Kaiae t'Lien & Centurion Nancy Gable & Captain Freya Mannerheim

3,772 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Intermission: Safe Haven
Location: Haven Colony

Kaiae hoped she didn't look quite as drained from last night's meeting as she felt, but suspected based on a glance in the mirror earlier - after a mostly-sleepless night - that she did.

Given the way things had ended up going down the night prior pretty much how she expected, she was glad she'd made the decision to keep it to just the Romulans on the planet; but now that it was over, she needed to make sure the rounder-eared members of the leadership team, as it were, were brought into the loop. Especially considering that if anything went wrong in the future as to the meeting's...topic...Freya and Nancy would need to be able, along with her mother and other community leaders, to sort through the aftermath without herself or Hatham.

She'd commandeered her mother's 'office' for this meeting, since she didn't have her own at the moment, and looked up from a mostly-now-empty cup of the human coffee she'd resorted to as Freya and Nancy arrived, motioning for them to shut the door and find a seat.

"Good morning, Subcommander," Freya greeted as she walked in. She had heard about some of the issues that had arisen the previous day, and that the Romulan population was holding a town hall meeting to address them, which meant that this meeting would be about informing both herself and Doctor Gable about the outcome of that meeting. Considering the seriousness of the discussion to be held, she had, for the first time since arriving at Haven Colony, donned most of her old uniform, only changing the jacket for a civilian blazer. In her hand, she held a small tray with three cups of raktajino.

"Brought something for us, considering the hour and what we are about to discuss," she said with a smirk as she placed down the coffees on the "desk" before taking a seat. "I assume this we are here to discuss Doctor Nveid tr'Rehu?"

"I'd lay odds on it," Gable said, coming in just behind her. She nodded to Kaiae. "Good morning, and I say that mostly because it looks like you survived. I didn't get any emergency calls last night, so I'm hoping that means everyone did." She hadn't yet seen any of the new arrivals though and wouldn't necessarily put it past anyone to disappear them and pretend they'd just up and left.

"Thanks." Kaiae took the offered raktajino from Freya and immediately sucked down an appreciable portion of it, then turned back to Gables statement. "And so far, yes, on the 'everyone survived'. Though if anything goes wrong in the future, you can subtract Hatham and I from that number." It would have been even odds to a listener on whether she meant that someone else would be doing said subtracting; or her own sense of obligation would before anyone else even got a chance. "People accepted the order; they were understandably not happy about it though, and made that very clear."

The Captain simply nodded. By the time she had received the full profiles of the medical officers, they had already been en route, so there had been little chance to discuss the matter of Nveid's past in advance. "When my contact told me he had been able to arrange for some medical staff to join us, that had some experience with Romulan culture, I certainly did not expect it to be that kind of experience." She shook her head. "I certainly would have appreciated some advance warning, in all honesty. I have not yet had the opportunity to speak with him myself, unfortunately. Doctor Gable, what was your impression of our new arrivals when they came to the clinic?"

How to answer that? Because her first impression had been 'clueless'. "They arrived with one in Starfleet uniform and other in Vulcan style robes, so my first impression was that they had no idea of social and cultural context here. I'm not sure anything has changed that opinion, beyond giving it context. Savin is biologically Romulan but only recently learned that and was raised thinking he was Vulcan. How he didn't learn more, I don't know," Nancy said. Was there a touch of judgment in her tone? Maybe, but when she'd first met Gunnar, the impression was 'big, clumsy puppy'. And yet, fresh out of the Academy, he'd had a better handle on how to deal with their Romulan ex-pat. "NVeid was frankly an anxious mess. I've worked with enough torture survivors to recognize someone struggling to keep PTSD in check, but in his case it seemed to be compounded by shame."

She paused, looking at Kaiae because she knew the likely thought there. "Could it have been an act? Yes. Tal'Shiar, Sec31, Obsidian Order - name the secret intelligence service, it's not far-fetched to imagine they know every trick in the book to manipulate opinion. He was tortured. That's plain enough in his records and confirmed by scans. Would they have done that one of their own to sell a story? I wouldn't put it past Sec31, so wouldn't put it past Tal'Shiar either. However, if he is acting, based on visceral responses I could see in real time while discussing it, he's the greatest method actor I've ever seen."

“‘Lacking understanding of social and cultural context’ is right on the bullseye, yeah.” Kaiae sighed. “That shame you mentioned shows up in…exactly the opposite of where and how I’d expect it to in a few places, and honestly that more than anything is making me consider that his supposed backstory might actually be true. The Tal’Shiar have been known to take children they believe will be useful to them; and seven or so is about when I’d expect it to happen - “ she considered the audience and decided to spell out the rest blatantly “ - old enough to be useful or noticeable in some talent they may value. Young enough to be broken, or better yet, molded. And depending on whether they plan that child’s theoretical future as an agent or simply an asset would change how they were raised afterwards - the former might be fostered in a family of agents, or of supporters or a house aligned with them, and live and learn a fairly normal childhood beyond said conditioning and training. The latter, not so much. If the story is true, his lack of a full set of cultural knowledge comes from that; he implied to me they did not teach him much and mostly desired obedience from him.”

Kaiae paused and took another big swig of raktajino. “Savin’s story I'm actually inclined to believe; his Federation records can be verified in full; and given certain details it would be far from unheard of for his parents to have fled the Empire at that time with him. And once they were on Vulcan…Well honestly I’m not sure why they would have tried to raise him as one, except perhaps they thought it would be better to blend into their environment to avoid questions.”

Freya sipped her own coffee as she listened to the other two discuss their new medical officers. "I concur on Savin," she finally said with a nod. "When I spoke to him, he very much came across as someone raised Vulcan, rather than Romulan. And given how closely related your peoples are, that does not come as much of a surprise. I once met a young Romulo-Vulcan hybrid who basically looked completely Vulcan while behaving, well, as you'd expect from a Romulan raised away from the Empire, really. As for Nveid, well. You both know my history, both in the Terran Empire, and then briefly as a Section 31 operative." She stopped herself from mentioning that both those things were technically in the future, as both of them would be aware of that fact as well. "The Tal Shiar are among the worst of the worst, especially when it comes to how they treat their own. I would not put it beyond them to torture one of their assets into a sleeper. Still, given his behaviour, I actually somewhat believe his story."

She paused for a moment. "Of course, that could be precisely the intent. I've seen it in the Empire, it's how they integrate agents into rebel groups. Make them hate the Terrans, but implant a subliminal command that will ultimately serve them."

Gable nodded. She might privately doubt that anything beat the old Obsidian Order, but one insane bunch of sadistic fascists vs another... "I do intend to keep a close eye on him, though I'm somewhat less concerned as I can't imagine Starfleet gave him free reign to practice in the Federation knowing he'd been Tal'Shiar without some sort of deep telepathic assessment to look for those sorts of subliminal commands." They damn sure hadn't even with Gunnar, and he'd been one of their own. "Not that there'll be any record of that that it wouldn't take a dozen clearance levels above what I ever had access to. But I wouldn't expect most Romulans to trust it in any case. Starfleet's given them no reason for trust."

Kaiae nodded as to both that last statement, as well as the fear of some possible subliminal conditioning. On the mention of the clearance levels and inaccessible records of any telepathic assessment of NVeid for those issues in the Federation, though, she looked thoughtful for a moment as glanced at Gable, remembering the Orions and the exceedingly odd defector’s child who’d accompanied them on Gunnar’s behest and helped them secure some of the ships they’d used for the evacuation efforts. “What about that woman who was one of people Gunnar and T’Ango brought in briefly back in the lead up to the evac and such? I did research on her at the time and seemed to indicate she was a Federation Starfleet intelligence officer - would she have the clearance and ability to check that?” Even as she asked Kaiae unfortunately doubted it; even then it wasn’t like the woman wouldn’t have to be careful accessing information without reasons to, or a defensible cover to at least.

"Kali? Unlikely. They pushed her into intel because of her background." And because even Starfleet had limits on the crazy they encouraged in pilots, though Nancy didn't voice that. "She's not high enough level for that kind of access, especially since she has a reputation as bit of a hot head. Honestly, I'm sort of amazed she didn't snap and start punching admirals after Hobus."

Kaiae’s eyebrow raised, but given the woman had looked around a similar age range to her, and had been shown as such in the records Kaiae had checked at the time, Gable’s comments as to the woman being a ‘hot head’ at least added some minimal additional context as to why she’d come off significantly younger than her age. Pilots. Of the best ones, even the former ones were one step short of insane. “Alright so, if that’s out then…what about the Orions that came?” She grimaced at the thought of trusting information from that sort of source, but. “Could Gunnar get the Orion Federation officer that he had come then or the badly disguised pirate that came with her do some digging and see what they come up with?” She sighed again, knowing she was very very much grasping at sand as it ran through her hands.

Nancy pursed her lips. Gunnar and T'Ango together could probably persuade Divash to look. She wasn't sure it was a good idea to ask though, both on low probability of success and somewhat higher probability of detection. Divash was a valuable resource and not one to risk on a fishing expedition. "Divash is resourceful, but this is outside her scope. Hubin is a private investigator, and we could ask, but breaking into Starfleet classified files is a big ask, and one that would require a big payment for the risk."

Kaiae looked over at Freya. “Dig up whatever you can on NVeid or any vetting the Federation did on him through any contacts you have. I’ll ask Renee to have hers do similar. Other than that there may be little we can do to verify or disprove a threat beyond time, unfortunately. As for the others…I still need to meet the third man; but what of his records I’ve seen would seem to indicate he’s some sort of package deal with Savin, and has never been in RSE space, so I’m less concerned there beyond hoping he can learn enough quickly enough to not make an ass of himself. Though, if he accidentally does, people will at least understand alien behavior from an alien.” She shrugged her eyebrows. “Savin stated an interest in learning appropriate cultural knowledge, and I’m fairly certain I can find people willing to teach him.” She paused again, and given she was in fairly trusted company, some of the sadness at the facts of her next statement leaked through in her tone. “Wherever we eventually make a new home, I suspect people will see value in giving that home to others of their kind who lack one, as well.”

"Gerant van Rijn, I've met him," Freya explained. "He's a linguist, and basically Savin's interpreter in situations where hearing is required. Once we have Ourainavassa back, I intend to give him your old job, manning the comms, since you'll be busy relaying stuff back and forth with here, I'd assume. In any case, he can take the beta shift if you're still willing to do it."

She took a deep breath. "Unfortunately, my contacts in present-day Starfleet are pretty limited, beyond Captain Targaryen. Well, former Captain. He resigned his commission after the supernova. He'd been a sympathiser of Picard's to begin with, but had hoped to effect some change from within. But, well, we know the outcome of that. We do happen to know a pretty good hacker on Earth, though, if you remember Shizune, Perez' counterpart. She might be able to unearth something if no other route succeeds."

"That might be the best option," Nancy replied. "The question is if this hacker would be willing to take the risk and at what cost."

"Remember that override we used on my old ship so that we could blow it up that easily? That was her work," Freya retorted. "She takes risks, that's not the issue. And if we get Perez to ask, I doubt she'd ask for much, either. Shame that my S31 credentials won't work for another seven years, give or take. They would definitely come in handy here."

“Alright. I’ll have Hatham ask Perez to ask Shizune.” Kaiae’s own level of trust in Perez themselves was fairly high by this point, but Hatham had worked more closely there and so might be the best to pose the ask in a way that could convey the importance in a way that would translate best. “All things being considered of what we know so far yet, I admit I’m starting to lean towards ‘probably telling the truth on the overall story’ at least to the degree as I can be leaning towards anything one way or another with such a limited research and observation period so far. But any conditioning unknown even to its subject is a definite concern either way, yes. If we can discover hard evidence the Federation already cleared that, it will go a long way.” Kaiae looked somewhat uncomfortable considering and speaking her next words, but said them anyways considering she could trust the current company to keep it closely held, and glance at Gable given she’d been the one earlier to state her own observations along this line. “His hands shook, talking about the Tal’Shiar, and his encounters with them.” She took a deep breath she covered with another big gulp of raktajino; but given how closely they’d worked together to date and been proven in it, and how closely they were likely to continue to work in the future, eventually she was going to have to be somewhat more open with these two, anyways. “An experienced agent could fake that probably but…I admit I noticed it mostly because my own did the same thing on the way over to meet him, and so it’s exactly the sort of thing I’d expect to happen to someone who had a true adverse encounter with them. I entered a room with them once, for a few days during the war. I walked out of it alive and mostly whole. And I know beyond a doubt that would not happen again a second time.”

Freya simply nodded. "We'll get to the bottom of this. And I will speak to Nveid myself after this meeting. The only question is, what should we do with him while we wait to get the confirmation?"

“Until then? Watch him carefully.” Kaiae shrugged her eyebrows again, a surprisingly nonchalant gesture at first glance to someone who’d earlier insinuated her own survival was now linked to how things went, but in this case probably more a sign the person in question had already accepted the potential price and moved on in large part to the next concern. “Not much else we can do.”

Nancy nodded. "For now, he won't be doing any surgery as he can't communicate without his hands except through telepathy." That that option was not happening here went without saying. Or that most colonists would object to having him perform any procedure more involved than setting a break. "His other specialty is immunology, so I'm put him on evaluating local microbes for potential issues."

"Keep him researching, good idea," Freya agreed. "That way, he's still doing very important work while at the same time minimising any patient contact. At least until we know more. Now, there is one more issue that we need to talk about, with Ourainavassa soon to return. We obviously need to have medical staff here, but we also need them on board. Any suggestions on how we deal with that?"

Nancy frowned. If the surgeon Starfleet had sent had not been ...problematic... the answer would have been easier. As it was, if she left, Kaol was going to be it (the idea of sending him on the ship was a non-starter as far as she was concerned). However, the ship would need medical staff, and while Gunnar could run a medbay, he couldn't do more than assist if surgery was required. "We're light on doctors here, but Savin says he was a doctor before switching to Counselor. Since Starfleet assigned him as an exchange officer to the Ourainavassa, the question is whether he could handle an emergency."

“He can handle an emergency better than Kaol, undoubtedly…” Kaiae’s tone was a mix of frustration and dry humor.

Nancy nodded. "And leaving the 'Best Surgeon in the Quadrant' here, should at least ensure that there's no reason for NVeid to attempt resuming it." If for no other reason than that Kaol's ego would step up and prevent it. Which might mean someone with more diplomacy than she liked to muster (unless knocking heads counted) might be better left to run things. "As long as Gunnar is willing to take on running the center, and Kaol's nose doesn't get too out of joint by that, I'll join the ship to make sure Savin handle things. Even if he can't, he'll at least be an extra set of hands, and it's not like there will be people here lining up to talk to a Counselor."

Freya couldn't help but laugh at the thought of a queue of Romulan refugees outside a counselor's office staffed by a Starfleet officer. She shook her head. "Oh no, they absolutely will not be. We'll take Nveid with us as well. Easier to keep an eye on him when we're actually in the same place, and I have a feeling he'll be more useful as a combat surgeon than Kaol ever could. Frankly, we're doing that man a favour, leaving him here."

“Kaol? We’re doing everyone a favor leaving him here.” Kaiae’s voice tone was practically a verbal eye roll personified. “I have no idea how he ended up posted to the Sianna in the first place. His entire service record before that was basically one planetary posting - always larger ones, too, never frontier outposts - after another; I suspect because his first commanders realized he wouldn’t be that useful as a combat medic as quickly as I did.”

The Captain chuckled. "I've read the reports about what happened when he was forced to deal with his first battle. Performing medicine while the ship you're on is actively being blown to pieces is something I have a lot of respect for, and I am glad we have a very capable medical officer, who keeps her cool under fire." She looked at Gable. "I mean you. Kaol definitely does not suit that description."

"I knew you did," Nancy replied with a nod and a smile. "Hopefully the new ones coming with us will be able to stay cool under fire too. Otherwise, I'm going to have press Gunnar into service when we get back. Speaking of which, I should get back to the medical center."

"And I should get back to the oh so exciting paperwork. The amount of hoops the Federation wants you to jump through just to get a crate of antiquated weaponry cleared for export is ridiculous." Freya shook her head. "I hope that smuggler finally comes through, because this is going on my nerves." She turned to Nancy. "Oh, and Doctor, when you see Nveid at the medical centre, please ask him to swing by my place at his earliest convenience."

“Alright, meeting adjourned…I think my mother needs this space in about ten minutes to call our investments broker, anyway. Let me know if anything urgent develops; otherwise - “ Kaiae looked at Freya “ - I’ll see you at our next standing meeting tomorrow.” She stood, dipped her head slightly to both women, and started for the door, taking the last dregs of her raktajino cup with her.

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