JL | Cmdr Dhej & LtCmdr Rinehart - "Dear John"

Posted on 241412.12 @ 4:07am by Commander Tierney Rinehart

Mission: Holy Cow

Ducking away after the meeting, Tierney was quick to set herself apart from the crowd that sought to flock away from the Trill. Instead, she sat idly by waiting for Karim to be free. He'd sent word that he needed to see her, something so formal made her heart skip a beat seeing as the two of them had formed a friendship that left them feeling footloose and fancy free; they were never formal. Ever. "You rang?" She asked when at long last the opening came to pass and she pushed herself away from the bulkhead she'd been leaning against.

Nodding somberly, he said "Please take a seat Lieutenant Commander. I have some ... news to discuss with you." Once she was seated he said "I've recently received a message from ... Captain Rhodes. It was slightly distorted, and apparently had been saved in some pending folder. It's for you."

Sliding her tiny self into the great big cushy chair in front of the newly minted Captain's desk, Tierney felt her eyebrows furrow. "Captain Rhodes? For me?" She asked incredulously. He'd left quickly, too much so for there to be any real good byes or farewells, and nothing had come of it since. Karim's grim expression and quiet eyes spoke volumes, the message wasn't likely to be a happy one fulled with promises of some wonderful home coming.

Nodding, he pressed a control on the console in front of him, and swiveled it to face her. After a moment she heard Mark's voice :

"Computer, send a message to Lieutenant Commander Tierney Rinehart of the USS Enterprise..." "Tierney... I want to let you know that I love you. I ended up between a rock and a hard place and I am not coming home to you. The orders I received were authentic, I want you to know that. I was suppose to meet up with the USS Michigan to get back to earth but I am not going to make it to them..."

After a brief pause it continued "I want you to know someone sabotaged the Shuttlecraft Darwin. My core is going to overload... in the repair log is says that the last person to service this shuttle Lieutenant C-"

Pressing the control to end the message, he said "That's it. We've tried to determine if there is more to the message, but it appears to end suddenly. I'm so sorry Tierney."

Sitting there in the pressing silence that followed, the young redhead could only blink. Her lips pursed as her first sign of displeasure, and that pursing soon became a thin line that seemed so unnatural for the usually pouty-lipped Commander. The softness of her seemed to leak away, blanching her face of any and all color that once littered itself across her cheeks. Instead stone was left. "Did..." She coughed as her voice cracked and caught in her throat, "Was there any wreckage? Any hope?" She corrected question, posing it as best she could through straining vocal cords. Her mouth felt dry and parched, tacky as adrenaline and some other cold emotion raced along the veins of her delicate neck and up through her jaw.

Shaking his head sadly, Karim replied "I'm sorry Lieu-I mean Tierney, I had OPs use long range scanners on the source of his signal, and there was nothing there." Leaning forward, he placed a hand on hers gently, "I don't know what to say right now. I don't want to say I'm sorry, because that is a platitude. I just feel at a loss as to what to do right now, but you have a right to be angry with me for sharing this with you so suddenly."

"I'm..." The Starling shook her head and the Trill rested his much larger hand over hers. numb was the word that came to mind, but voicing it was hardly appropriate or realistic. She simply sat and looked between her friend's hand and his face, back and forth as she willed herself to remain the picture perfect officer. Grieving was something she'd have to do in private, leaving an officer red eyed and choked up simply wasn't an option. "I'm not upset with you. I couldn't be. You didn't do this." She swallowed hard, her teeth worrying the fullness of her lower lip, "Do we have any leads on who did? He said he was sure he'd been sabotaged..."

Sighing, he said "Not yet. I've been assured that Starfleet is investigating, but I haven't heard anything yet." Pausing, he said "I think I know you well enough to know how this is killing you. I will be here for you if you need me. I do have to ask though, as your commanding officer, are you going to be ok to perform your duties during our new mission?"

This time she nodded instead. "I will be. I have to be." The little redhead finally let her eyes lay on the Trill's, their immeasurable blue fathoms filled with their own frigid blend of pain, confusion and yet... Determination. If there was one thing to be said about the little Intel Officer, it was that she was a determined little creature. While at times it may have seemed that she was but a finch flailing against an incoming hurricane, she was seldom stopped by the forces that tried to throw her back. Part of her had known that Mark would meet an untimely end, especially now that there was still so much unrest post war. Enterprise was a massive target by name alone, after all. What she hadn't anticipated, however, was that it would have happened like this and left her feeling so powerless to stop it. "We knew something like this could happen, Karim, we both took the same oath and Star Fleet makes no promises to people who find love within her ranks. We knew and... Maybe we even quietly prepared ourselves for this kind of news." It still stung. There would never be anything anyone could to to prepare for losing their loved ones whether they were commissioned officers serving the fleet or not. "Permission to launch my own internal investigation? I'll keep it from getting in the way of my normal work load."

Nodding, Karim replied "Permission granted. Though I do want to be updated if you find out anything ok? And in terms of this mission, I'll be relying on you to help me when I need it. Between you and me, I have to admit I'm a bit nervous about this new position, and don't want the enormity of this mission to overwhelm me. I may need a friendly shoulder to lean on from time to time."

"You have me as you need me, Karim. You know that." Tierney nodded again and allowed her free hand to clasp his wrist. "Enterprise will survive... I'll see to it one way or another."

Smiling very slightly he said "Thank you Tierney. When we can, I would like to spend time with you off duty. Both of us would benefit from some 'hang out' time. Does that sound ok?"

"As soon as we have a spare minute." The smile she offered was more for her self, one showing she still had the ability to do so in spite of the tumultuous blur of emotions that had settled heavily in her gut.

Standing, he walked around the table and said "Be strong Tierney. I know you will get through this." Clearing his throat he said formally "You are dismissed Lieutenant Commander. I will see you very soon."


=/\=End Log=/\=

Commander Karim Dhej
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Enterprise, NCC 1701-F

Lieutenant Commander Tierney Rinehart
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS ENTERPRISE, NCC 1701-F