Spectre from the past

Posted on Wed Jul 10th, 2019 @ 8:55pm by Lieutenant Commander William Rogers & Lieutenant Aleksander Voroshilov

Mission: Getting To Know You
Location: CIO office?
Timeline: Prior to launch

With his meeting with the captain over it was time for the second stop on Bill's introduction tour, and if past experiences were any indication, likely his least favourite. This was not a courtesy visit, but rather an obligation forced on him by Starfleet command - as one of the few openly genetically altered individuals allowed entrance to Starfleet (thanks mostly to legal technicalities rather than growing acceptance of genetic modification) Bill was required to present himself to the Chief Intelligence Officer.

He'd never had to wait long for them to come calling, although he tried to amuse himself by getting to them before they came to see him. It was not a game he was winning. With this in mind though he'd made his way to the CIO office as quickly as he could.

Aleksi had busied himself with going through the technical capabilities of the Astraea, a rather vanilla Akira-Class vessel. Still, it was an upgrade on the Ambassador he served on earlier in his career. And a lot cleaner than the Bird of Prey. He noted that some of his fellow crewmembers were uncomfortable with his apt description of the vessel as a warship, as if being purposely designed to go toe-to-toe with the Cardassians made it an emissary of peace.

Switching through a few more files, he stumbled on a flag personnel file. He normally didn't dig too much into the crew's filings unless he absolutely needed to, and this was such a case. A man out of time, a Cold Warrior if he recalled the phrase correctly, and an early by-product of the war that would lead to where the Human race was right now. Just finishing the summary of findings, surprisingly understandable for something written by a scientist, his door chimed, "Enter!"

Upon hearing the summons Bill stood up straight, squared his shoulders and stepped through the door. Whomever was waiting for him on the other side was not responsible for this duty, so no matter how much Bill disliked this particular duty, the CIO deserved respect and to be judged on their own merits. He snapped off a salute. "Lt Voroshilov?" he asked, "Lt William Rogers. Reporting as ordered."

"We're the same rank my friend," Aleksi stood up and offered his hand. There was a bit of ironic timing to this whole thing, "Not sure how the old earth militaries handled it. Either way I don't stand much on ceremony."

"More than happy to follow suit." A broad, friendly, smile brightened Bill's face. He shook the offered hand, his grip was firm but measured so as not to be overwhelmingly so. "Is now a good time? I prefer to get the interview session over with as soon as possible, but I can come back later if you want more time?"

"I've been through a battery of bureaucratic buffoonery since coming onboard, I'll try to spare you some of that. Take a seat if you'd like," Aleksi marveled at just how effective the genetic process could be. Turning his monitor so both men could view it, the Intel officer grinned, "So we're on the same page, I just got finished with the summary. But I care less about the what than the who. First, can I get you something to drink? I have both unleaded and leaded to offer."

"Appreciate it." Bill settled into the offered chair. "I could cop something leaded. Always found it easier to get to know someone over a drink."

"A man after my own heart," Aleksi withdrew a two glasses and a bottle of whiskey from a desk drawer. After a generous pouring he slid a glass to Bill, taking his own seat, "So, a life long pilot?"

"Mulitple lifetimes now." Bill laughed, a deep resonant sound. "Was my dream ever since I was a kid, and my pops would take me an J out to JFK to watch the planes." He took a drink from his glass. More than a sip, but less than a gulp. "Oh. This is good. What is it?"

"High West, I believe it opened shortly after your adventure into the unknown," Aleksi smiled at his reaction, happy that he still had his touch with alcohol, "I have my connections if you want a bottle or two," Taking a sip he looked at the man across from him, "How does this back and forth usually go? Sorry, it's my first time dealing with a time traveler."

"Might take you up on that. Depends what it'll rush me." Bill swirled the liquid in his glass thoughtfully, although his attention remained on Aleksi. "Well, I don't normally get a drink, so you've gone off script all ready. Usually the one in your position asks a bunch of stuff about my upgrades, what I did in the war, why'd I side with Humanity, that kind of jazz."

"I could ask that, but we'd only be repeating what is probably already well documented. Though I'd like to delve into that last one a little, for my own edification," He had been curious about the effective, or in some cases ineffective, use of propaganda had affected the outcomes of conflicts, "If you wouldn't mind."

Bill grinned. "By all means. What do you want to know?"

"While history has proven otherwise, I'm sure that at the time the augments must have seemed like the winning side," Aleksi took a sip of whiskey, "What convinced you that humanity was worth fighting for?"

"Hope you aren't looking for a motivational speech about the indomitable spirit of man." Bill joked. He took a drink from his own glass and shrugged. "Singh and his boys were gunning for my home. That's pretty much all the convincing I needed."

"Motivational speeches bore me," Aleksi laughed. He had always found them a bit sanctimonious and hardly ever straightforward. If you couldn't convince someone with the truth, then you had no right convincing then at all, "And good of reason as any. At least it doesn't seem like at any moment you flip after hearing some codeword," He lifted his glass with a smirk, "Or will you?"

"Pretty sure I don't have one of those, but..." Bill raised his glass mirroring Aleksi, "If I do, hopefully whoever finds it is on my side."

Aleksi laughed, taking a sip of the liquor, "Excellent, I really didn't want to have to come up with a contingency for that. Now then, how does it feel to be rotated into the normal flett? You were DTI previously if I recall."

"So far, so similar. Figure it'll be less exciting over the long haul." Bill frowned thoughtfully. "The transfer came as a surprise though, DTI don't normally part with their personnel."

"Specialized troops are hard to come by," There was a small bit of sympathy in his voice, Aleksi also being taken from his team. At least his came with a reason, "Curious, perhaps they wanted you to spend some time with us mortals?"

Bill smiled; an acknowledgement of the offered sympathy, no matter how small. "They probably got tired of hearing about how things were in my day."

Aleksi chuckled, "At least in your day the people acknowledged the wolf at the door, maybe to an extreme but it was there," Leaning back the Russian continued, "I suppose if you aren't here to be the arbiter of our doom and you respect a good drink I think we'll get on just fine. Now then, do you have any questions for me?"

Bill took a moment to savour the drink he'd been given. "Just one. The ship that founded this class. The USS Akira? Was it named after the movie?"