Mission Lead

[Kansas 0]

Note: The following Harper, Caine and JoNs joint log is an off plot Mirror Universe Log

 

Colonel Harper was developing an unfortunate tendency to interrupt Caine during mealtimes; admittedly, this time it had not been her in person but a comm call which had pulled Caine from the mess hall, but it had necessitated the abandonment of a replicated sandwich of, if not stellar, then at least inoffensive quality.

 

However, the tone of Harper's voice had intimated something of import, so Caine had left the mess and made her way into a lift, up to the bridge, and towards the ready room without any outward complaint. She couldn't resist a grimace, however, when she saw Commander JoNs heading in the same direction a few steps ahead of her, apparently having taken a just-earlier 'lift.

 

With a low grunt to herself, she increased her pace, her longer stride allowing her to casually overtake the Cait XO and arrive at the door first, pinging the chime.

 

Immediately after a similar summons had been received on her personal wrist communicator, Commander Kansas JoNs had briskly exited the secondary turbo lift and headed straightaway towards the main bridge Ready Room. The golden furred Cait’s personal guard for this shift, Lieutenant Mical, followed in the senior officer’s wake, cobalt blue eyes searching the bridge confines and any officers on duty carefully and efficiently for any outward threats towards her feline charge.

 

When JoNs reached the outer entry way to Harper’s bridge office, she offered the still walking Lieutenant Caine a perfunctory though respectful nod, yet also smirked a bit. “Mister Caine.”

 

The feline was half wondering why the Lieutenant would be present as well, but chose not to dwell on the matter. She motioned for Mical to remain on standby just outside the entry door to the office while waiting for admittance to the CO’s inner administrative sanctum.

 

From the comm panel beside the door a voice drifted out. "Come." The doors hissed open, admitting both women to the Colonel's office.

 

Once the official ‘come forth’ order had been offered by the Colonel, Kansas merely put a paw up in the air and indicated that the Lieutenant should go into the office area first.

 

Caine cast a look sidelong at the Commander, then at the Cait’s blue skinned Andorian guard, and her lips twitched in a return smirk, though she otherwise did not acknowledge the greeting or the courtesy. She stepped quickly through the door and took up a position at half-attention, her hands clasped behind her back, in front of Harper's desk. "Colonel."

 

“Lieutenant. Commander." The colonel gazed at the two of them, her expression fixedly neutral. "We have a new assignment, and I have the particulars for you."

 

JoNs maintained her relaxed parade rest position next to the half-Vulcan in front of Harper’s desk, and her one ear merely flipped back in curiosity. “What sort of particulars Ma’am?”

 

Caine said nothing, merely nodded, her grey eyes fixed on Harper, waiting with as much curiosity as JoNs but, she was pleased to notice, more restraint.

 

"Division of labor," she replied briskly. "We've been ordered to investigate and halt some drug running. I've decided that Lieutenant Caine will be heading up the investigation."

 

The commander’s ears went back then forward and then both ears began doing it independently of one another as the feline officer was a bit surprised not so much at the labor division as Harper called it, but the specifics of the mission.

 

Caine's head cocked to the side slightly as she took in the information, and then she nodded sharply. "Aye, Colonel."

 

"Wait, pardon me?" Kansas spared a glance over towards the older Vulcan woman before turning her full green eyed attention back on her commanding officer. "Caine as mission lead? May I ask why Sir? I understand that Caine is our resident investigator, but I myself have the background -- and contacts -- that may be manipulated for this sort of mission. Tailor made, even."

 

"You do," Harper agreed, eyes narrowing slightly. "Which is why the lieutenant will head up this particular mission to avoid any conflict of interest."

 

The golden fluffy tail had started to lash. Not aggressively, just a sort of languid back and forth motion indicating Kansas’s growing level of annoyance. “With all due respect Colonel, I can handle this sort of fandango just as well as Mister Caine.”

 

Harper's expression began to lose its studied neutrality. "I don't recall asking for opinions on the subject, Commander."

 

“I have no problem reporting to the Lieutenant. I do have a problem with the particular assets that we are in possession of not being employed to their full extent, in this case the direct knowledge that I do have regarding the drug trade as it plays out across the sectors.

 

Caine, who had not moved during this exchange, quirked an eyebrow up in dark curiosity at this comment, but she said nothing. Better to let the cat dig her own hole for the moment.

 

"You're welcome to provide the lieutenant with information on your contacts, Commander, but my decision stands." The last three words were delivered in a decidedly frosty tone and accompanied by a sharp glare.

 

"Mister Caine does not have the particular mindset to pull this sort of operational mission off. This is not the sort of cut and dry situation that she is used to dealing with."

 

“You'd be surprised, Commander," Caine said, finally speaking up and delivering a glare as cold as Harper's in the XO's direction. "I think you'll find I'm quite capable of handling myself.”

 

"Commander." Any warmth that might once have been in the colonel's voice had packed its bags and left for Qo'nos. "If you have such a problem with my orders, I would be happy to relieve you of duty for the duration."

 

JoNs broke her parade rest, leaned forward to place her wide paws on Harper's desk, and spoke to her CO in a calm and semi-familiar manner. "Colonel, if I had a problem with your orders, I would not be your Executive Officer."

 

Kansas kept her position leaning on the desk while she huffed a breath out through her nose and turned her attention to the half-Vulcan woman. “I know you can handle yourself Lieutenant. It’s just the methods that have me concerned. You don’t exactly work with kid gloves, and you have no idea of the mindset of the mercenary. That’s all I’m saying. And drug running is a whole other astro ball game. Some of those people would sell their own mother."

 

"I have learned a great deal from...prior engagements..." Caine said coolly, letting the tacit reference to her last encounter, pre-Agincourt, with a JoNs family member hang in the air. "I'm sure I will manage to take care of the situation very cleanly."

 

JoNs kept her half leaning posture on the desk while still half looking towards Caine, and the Caitian's eye whiskers rose upward to her mane line. "Lieutenant, past engagements you might have had, but not everyone is as....nice...as my familial line."

 

The comment was indirect, but nevertheless a reference to the encounter that they both knew she was talking about.

 

"And I'm sure Lieutenant Caine will benefit from your advice," Harper broke in. "Feel free to take that discussion back to your own offices."

 

"Yes...I'm sure I will benefit exceedingly," Caine said, her grey eyes not leaving Kansas's, and it was only inaccurate to say her voice dripped with sarcasm because it was cold enough to freeze those drips to ice. Breaking their staring contest with a dismissive jerk, she turned her head slightly to meet Harper's eyes. "Dismissed, Colonel?"

 

"Quite," the colonel said dryly.

 

Now, the leonine Commander turned her sharp attention back on the Colonel. She was miffed at the whole situation, that emotion was certainly showing in her bright green feline eyes, but her purred vocalization was professional and courteous. "Indeed. I know she'll benefit from my advice, and I will report to Lieutenant Caine for this mission’s duration Ma'am."

 

The feline then moved back a step and re-adopted her parade rest, her tail still animated…the appendage got a bit close to the half-Vulcan, just to annoy her.

 

"Permission to retire from the meeting, Colonel?" JoNs’s tone came out flat.

 

"Go," she said, just barely restraining a snap.

 

Kansas again indicated with a paw that Caine go first to lead the way out of the Ready Room. "After you....Lieutenant. You being the mission lead and all....." Kansas offered a sarcastic wink.

 

Caine ignored her deliberately, nodded sharply to Harper, and turned, moving towards the door and tapping the controls to let it swish open. It was only after she had turned her back fully on both the CO and the Cait and was halfway through the doorway that she allowed a smirk of victory to slide its way onto her face.