Issues with Trust

Posted on Thu Jan 14th, 2021 @ 7:04am by Candy Templeton & Captain Jack Colburn & Lieutenant Rohan Read

1,734 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Mission 3.5 Faltan proudly welcomes ... The USS Kumari
Location: Candy Templeton's Quarters

Lieutenant Read headed towards the quarters of Miss Templeton. He was eager to speak to Candy about her interactions with the Falteans and if she could reveal anything of use to him about them.

He arrived at her door and yanked at his collar before pressing the door chime.

Candy rolled off of Captain Colburn and wondered aloud, "Who could that be?"

"Didn't you put the do not disturb sign on the door?" Asked playfully as he rolled out of bed to start searching for items of his uniform.

The fear of letting a lead go, she hollered at the door, "One moment! I'll be right there!"

'Of course.' Rohan thought to himself with a roll of his eyes. 'Probably adjusting her hair or makeup.'

Candy playfully slapped Colburn on his ass and said, "I'm a reporter. I have no point where I cannot be disturbed. I exist for the public." She puffed proudly, giving Jack a final look at her nearly perfect body. She then rushed over to the closet, picked out a pink silk robe that did as much to emphasize as hide parts of her body. "Maybe you should just stay in the shower or something while I deal with this," she told Colburn before walking barefoot across the floor.

"I should get back to my ship. Have a large pile of paperwork which has my name on it." Jack replied, as he grabbed his uniform jacket and a boot.

Answering the door, Candy tussled her mussed long hair and asked, "What can I do for you?" in a slightly sultry voice.

"Miss Templeton, my name is Lieutenant Rohan Read, I've recently been assigned to Faltan Station as her Strategic Operations Officer. Part of my duties here is to investigate the Faltean problem here. I've been told that you have unrestricted access to them and just wondered if I could speak to you about them." Read said in a professional tone.

"Of course you can talk to me about them," Candy replied. "How about we make an appointment to discuss them, say, over lunch?"

"Are you not available now?" Rohan asked with a frown.

A few moments later Jack continue to follow the trail of his clothes which happened to go past Candy's door. When he saw the Starfleet officer standing there, he bolted upright. "Lieutenant." He said trying hard not to go red with embarrassment.

"Captain Colburn, I didn't realise you'd be in a meeting with Miss Templeton at this present time." Read said raising an eyebrow with surprise.

Candy shrugged and smiled at Colburn. "I didn't realize that the Captain would have to check in with you, Lieutenant," Candy replied smartly. "Or, maybe I do not understand how the military works." She tilted her head and gave a silly smile. "All those ranks are just so confusing," the blonde replied in a silly voice.

"If this is an inconvenience time I can always come back?" Rohan said trying to hide a smirk. It was always good catching a superior officer with their trousers down. In this case, literally.

"Carry on, Lieutenant. I was just leaving anyway." Jack said as he red-faced approached the door. "Was good speaking with you Miss Templeton." He said with a polite nod before exiting squeezing past the Lieutenant at the door and quickly made his exit with his uniform in his arms.

"Indeed," Candy replied with a secret grin. "We will continue our interview later." Once the Captain had left, Candy shrugged at Reed and said, "It appears that I'm now available. If you wish to come in...." She stepped aside and let her arm gesture towards her messy quarters.

"Are you sure it's a convenient?" Rohan asked. "I didn't realise you were already entertaining guests."

"I don't seem to be entertaining anyone right now," Candy replied nonchalantly. "Please, sit anywhere."

Rohan nodded as he stepped inside the reporters quarters. He briefly glanced around and noticed things weren't as tidy as he'd have expected. He took a seat, as instructed and waited for Miss Templeton to ready herself.

Candy sat down near Rohan and leaned forward, the outlines of her breasts and nipples becoming very visible on her silk robe. "So, what is it that you wish to discuss, Mr. Read?"

Rohan cleared his throat as he moved away a little. Despite Captain Colburn's reason for the visit, his was purely professional. "I wanted to discuss your relationship with the Faltan Government."

"My relationship?" Candy asked laughing. "I don't get into relationships easily, Mr. Read. Ask Ensign Turner about that." She had to wonder what Connor thought of their relationship. She was not sure that she knew but they seemed to continue living in an uncomfortable limbo.

Rohan shock his head. "I don't care about your personal relationships. I'm not here for the latest story or gossip. I want to know why you are the only federation citizen allowed to come and go in Falteans cities?"

"I would not say that my access is unfettered," Candy responded simply. "However, Governor Taga enjoyed my report on the previous Captain and XO of Faltan Station, as well as the members here. Refelian and Prescott. Quite the pair...." She tsked amusedly. "It was so bad in Refelian's opinion that he had my access cut off and the Admiralty actually issued their own counter story. Propaganda at its best...."

"Yes, I read both. Tags tried to have Captain Refelian killed and blamed their own assassination of their own leader on Refelian and Starfleet. With convenient evidence left at the scene to point to Starfleet." Read said. "It's a badly written murder mystery in my humble opinion. Which makes me wonder, were you in on it somehow?"

Candy laughed. "Now THAT would be a really bad murder mystery. I was not even here when Refelian was shot. And, by the way, I agree with your assessment. I believe Taga had a lot to do with it. I would not trust her as far as I could toss her."

Rohan's eyes narrowed, "So why do you have so much contact with the Falteans?"

"Why not? That's where the story's at," Candy countered, leaning forward eagerly. "Not like there's anything interesting going on here anymore."

"You must be aware that Starfleet is keeping tabs on you given your relationship with the Falteans?" Rohan said as he began to make notes.

"Of course." She shrugged. "I view it as a safety feature."

Read frowned as he made more notes, "A safety feature? Do you not feel safe when you speak or deal with the Falteans?"

"Feeling safe is a good way to die, Mr. Read. I take all necessary precautions where I can."

"Ok." Read said as he made some more notes on his PADD. "May I ask your movements while your in Faltan territory?"

"You can ask, but a girl never tells," Candy replied with a light, flirtatious giggle.

Rohan couldn't help but sigh, "This isn't a game, Miss Templeton. I need as much information as I can get. You are the only source of information that regularly cross over to the Falteans side."

"Not a game?" Candy responded interestedly. "Everything is a game, Mr. Read. The sooner that you realize that, the easier your life will be. There's winning and losing to be done everywhere." She paused and stretched, allowing her form to become more visible. "Tell me that you're not in intelligence...."

"I...used to be." Rohan admitted hesitantly. "I've spend my whole career undercover. Now I'm back wearing a uniform." He said giving the collar a good tug. "Something I'm not keen about but I've been deemed unfit for undercover work."

Candy's eyebrows expressed interest by perking up. "Is that a fact? I don't suppose that you're keen to tell me why."

"It's classified." Read replied in a neutral tone. "Are you planning to head across to Faltean territory in the near future?"

"Maybe," Candy responded. "Perhaps that is classified as well," she replied with a light smirk.

"More games, Miss Templeton?" Rohan replied resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He knew the game she was playing, it might work of certain Starfleet Captain's but not him.

"I told you before. Everything is a game, Mr. Read." She stood up, realizing that this man was not going to be easy to handle. "If you want information from me, you have to give me something more than 'because it is my job and it would benefit the Federation.' I'm a reporter. I have sources to protect and if I am to risk them and thereby my reputation, I have to get something for it. So, what will it be, Read?"

"Give me something credible and I'll see. This could be a two way street." Read replied. If she could give him some of use then perhaps this was his way in.

"You seem to think you're in a position of power with me, Mr. Read. You're not. You want my information, you need to give something first."

Rohan powered down his PADD, he'd heard enough. "Very well, it's a shame you don't wish to help me." He said as he stood up.

"Help you what? You've given me nothing but you ask for everything. You will have to learn that demands won't work well on the frontier."

"You're right I've asked questions, but the answers you've given me hardly warranty a reciprocal relationship." Read replied frankly. "If I'm given something worth taking back to my superiors, I can offer similar information in return. I can not and will not give away Starfleet Intelligence information at the drop of a hat."

"Nor will I give away my sources, risking their trust and lives," Candy countered. She paused and then shrugged nonchalantly. "I suppose that we are at an impasse."

"So it seems, but not giving any information could be putting those people at risk as I won't know who they are or they're involvement." Read replied. "Well, thank you for your time, Miss Templeton." He added as he turned to leave.

Candy watched as Reed left. When he was gone, she muttered to herself, "I think he is going to be fun." She shrugged her shoulders and looked at the room, thinking she would clean it later. For now, it was time to shower and to get back to work.

 

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