Story [Star Trek] Coming Together Again. For DDC.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but for the original characters.

Setting: Audrey leaves for professional and family reasons. She does not know how long it will be for.

This diary encapsulates her experiences coinciding with adventures on the Enterprise in her absence, which are conveyed in message exchanges.

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Entry One

My Aunt Crystal contacted me with news that my Uncle Xavier had gone missing on a diplomatic mission. He had been extracted by his colleagues, fortunately. But he had amnesia for the immediate events prior to his being taken hostage.

The perpetrators were successful in blurring their trail of activity.

My former mentor in Intel/Security asked me in a separate communication to come help extract clues.

I wanted to be there to support my family and also to help bring the criminals to justice.

Therefore, after some consideration, I decided to approach Jim for a temporary leave.

[I need hardly say this particular aspect gave me no small qualm.]

What would his reaction be?

 

Ohhhh a mystery.

 

Audrey leaving the Enterprise for some research. That will be exciting. Who will help her?

 

Ooh, I love this concept already! On the one hand, Audrey helping solve a mystery that affects her family, on the other hand, Jim taking the Enterprise where no man has gone before. I'm already wondering if these two storylines will converge at some point, but meanwhile, I'm waiting to see Jim's reaction to her departure, because he might not like the idea of her not being there.

 

Yes, down the line the two situations will converge through message exchanges.
The diary is a combination of adventure and family time intermingled plus a strong dose of mush. Naturally.

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Entry Two

After explaining the situation to Jim over dinner of fish filets, Caesar salad, and apple tarts, he frowned thoughtfully.

"So, you don't know how long this will take?"

"No, unfortunately. I also want to spend time with my family after such an ordeal," I replied.

"Audrey, I can see how much this means to you. I cannot in good conscience deny your request, and I'm glad that it will only be temporary. It is a good thing that your second in line, Mr. Picard, is more than competent." He suddenly grinned. "It's not on the professional level that I find myself reluctant, honestly."

I smiled fondly, feeling a warm glow. "That's what gave me the pause I experienced, Jim."

"Okay, you have your temporary leave," He said after a beat. "But I'll miss you."

I said sincerely, "Me, too."

"How about a second tart?" He suggested, with a wink.

"Sounds good."

--

 

Heartwarming entry.

This back and forth is soooo good.

 

Love the banter between the two during dinner. Jim will let her go but sure wants her back professionally.

 

Wait, Picard is Audrey's subordinate? This is so cool

Also: why am I always hungry when I come off of reading your fics? I could use an apple tart myself now!

 

Entry Three

I leaned back in one of Nyota's plush extra thick floor pillows, sipped my soda and grabbed another handful of chocolate dipped pretzels. I listened to Nyota and Yolette talk about their favorite musical artists.

I would miss this easygoing warm camaraderie. We had been doing these gal pal evenings weekly for the longest.

"Audrey," Nyota nudged me with a smile, "Are you thinking about your time away, the reasons, the actual fact?"

I grinned. "Yeah, and how much I'm going to miss you all."

"And Jim, too, incidentally," Christine said.

I smirked. "Of course. You better keep him out of trouble. He's a trouble magnet, Nyota."

Nyota laughed. "Spock, I, and McCoy will do our level best. Doesn't always work."

We all laughed.

She turned serious. "We'll certainly keep him out of the fire, if not the frying pan."

"Thanks, until I get back and can keep my eye on him myself," I answered.

---

 

Just hanging out with friends, is there any better place to be?

 

Love to see the girls together and telling Audrey that they will keep Jim out of the fire

 

Audrey knows Jim all too well (and so does Nyota!) I expect that this isn't the last we see of her gal-pals in this story. I'm sure that she'll need their advice at one point or another when she's investigating what happened to her uncle.

 

Entry Four

Tenetra Logan, who has been my mentor in my earlier stint in Intelligence/Security joined me at a popular cafe where we shared a large platter of fried appetizers with dipping sauce and she ordered a chicken tender Caesar salad and I 'fish 'n' chips'.

"You're supposed to dip those in vinegar," Tenetra grinned, "but I never do."

"Me, neither," I said and dunked a thick wedge into ketchup.

Tenetra said, "Xavier was supposed to check in every Thursday and give a code phrase which changed periodically. When he didn't, we contacted his backup/secondary. Her name is Veronica Simons. She tracked Xavier down to a meeting with some questionable types but that's when the trail ran cold. As is our custom, as you know, we checked for 'accidents' and other notable incidents and emergency room visits using his alias."

I asked, "What did you find?"

"We found him at the third attempt. A person answering his description with his identicard had been admitted for observation. He had concussive symptoms, a bunch of lacerations, and some amnesia for immediate events."

"That makes finding out what he found out problematic," I commented ruefully.

She nodded, taking a bit of salad.

I nabbed a crouton and a tender from her plate, and she chuckled and continued, "Gradully, his memory returned, and details came out. Concrete progress has been made in uncovering who is involved in piratic raids of museums and even courier ships. At Crystal's instence, Xavier is on temporary leave. He didn't say anything against it; I think he's glad of a little respite."

"And you want me to help solidify your evidence and perhaps gather more?"

"Yes," Tenetra said. "We don't want the trail to run cold or become faint. You don't need to infiltrate, just use your technical and ferensic know-how."

"All right. This will also give me a chance to spend time with my family, my folks and Aunt Crystal and Uncle Xavier."

"Yes," Tenetra answered. "This gives you personal and us professional advantages."

"Do you have a sense of how much input you'll need from me, what a benchmark for success or failure would be?"

"Hmmm. We have a few important facts to identify, as to who is in charge, how to identify the next target, and how and when to stop the group altogether. When we have answers to the first two questions, our group on the ground will be able to handle the third objective."

I reflected that any one of those could take an unknown amount of time.

In my first messages to Nyota and to Jim, I let them know I'd arrived and contacted Tenetra and would being sleuthing. I also said that, unfortunately, I did not have a tangible return date, which I had not honestly expected, but had felt the need to ask about.

--

 

And the investigation begins!
Conversation is very casual and down to earth, that is something I can appreciate.
It's the simple things like commenting on food choice's that make it feel real.

Evidence fades with time, hopefully Audrey finds the answers she is looking for.

 

Now she can begin being with her family and with Tenetra giving her the details. But no return date. She will be eager to end the investigation and return to Jim

 

Apparently sleuthing is something of a family hobby in Audrey's case, if Xavier was last known to be in a meeting with some "questionable types before his disappearance in order to figure out who is involved in piracy! Interesting that said piracy would target museums (you've been on a kick about the illegal trade of historical artefacts lately, haven't you?), I wonder what Audrey will make of it. And even though Tenetra said that she didn't need to infiltrate, I'm not sure Audrey will listen – from what I read of her in your stories, she's the sort of person who likes to see things through herself.

 

Not to be too spoilery, but the artistic thefts are the jumping off/ramping up point to more egregious crimes.

 

Entry Five

I enjoyed parsing through clues. Page designations and key phrases gave clues to coordinates and times for information and other more nefarious exchanges.

Uncle Xavier had a contact with the pseudonym Silver Fox.

I traced her activity as well. Could it be she was a 'double agent'? I found these to be the most reprehensible, deceitful and motivated by sheer self-interest and greed.

Thankfully, I found that her actions were above board.

Then I found that the 'leak' was a technical one.

I passed this along to Tenetra and she said she would get the tech people on it, but not before I suggested something different.

Entry Six

Since the task was to begin to try to predict next actions, I suggested passing along 'false facts".

"Oh, Audrey! That's a great idea! We'll catch them in our traps!"

I smiled. "No one suggested this before?"

"They probably would have but we have always been trying to keep up. Now, thanks to you, we can get a step or two ahead."

"Let me know what happens. I'll be at my folks."

"Will do."

 

Oooh, Audrey is a smart one! She's not only found the source of the leak, but also how to exploit it. If I were Tenetra, I'd be offering her a permanent job (not to mention that her department sounds like it's a bit short-handed) but then, there's no way Audrey would accept to stay away from the Enterprise for a moment longer than necessary...

 

Very clever finding the leak and also selectively choosing what information to release! Where will it go next?

 

Audrey is sure getting clues and selecting information will work. Nice entries

 

Thanks! I've been reading some books about RL spying and it's fascinating about the code making and breaking and the lengths the operatives have to go to in order to make false papers and even outfits fit a particular country of origin.

~
Entry Six

I had a wonderful few days with Aunt Crystal and Uncle Xavier. His memories were gradually returning, and he felt ready to return to work in some capacity, but he needed medical clearance to go back in the field.

He regaled me with some of the more esoteric code phrases he'd used to communicate, some culled from Poor Richard's Almanac and lines from various Shakespearean plays.

This amused me to no end, imagining a crazy portmanteau of "A Stitch in time saves nine" with one of the soliloquies from Hamlet or Macbeth, as in Lady Macbeth!

When I sent Nyota a message sharing this, her return message was full of her silvery laugh.

"I am glad your uncle is recovering," She concluded.

When I joined my folks later, we went up to Vermont for a delightful time watching the leaves turn vibrant fall colors.

Tenetra kept me up to date on the progress of the strategies I had suggested.

False documents and intricately false leads eventually led the pirates to fall into the hands of Federation law enforcement.

Uncle Xavier and his colleagues would eventually be called to provide further evidence.

All this took about six to eight weeks to unfold.

I communicated with Tenetra in an unofficial capacity. That is to say, I was not on the payroll. I had merely served as an expert consultant, having worked with her before and being a close relative to one of the operatives.

Tenetra praised me for my contribution, which was gratifying.

My work on the Enterprise took much of the same skillset, so it was nice to know I could still improvise in the moment groundside.

It was at this juncture that my folks posed a question, Tenetra made an offer, and I had a lot to ponder.

 

Time spent with family, Uncle Xavier is doing well which is good to hear and I loved the mention of the trip to Vermont, and the leaves changing color. Very cozy and scenic.
Curious ending, I wonder what will happen next.

 

Nice entry with visits to the family and her uncle Xavier recovering and giving those codes. But what will happen next with the offer Tenetra made?

 

Haha! I read quite a bit about spycraft for last year's KR, and the crazy code phrases were definitely one of the highlights!

It's nice that Audrey got to spend all this time with her relatives while her suggested strategies bore fruit, both on a personal and a professional level, but I feel that the question from her folks and the offer from Tenetra, while gratifying, are about to cause her a serious dilemma – again, both on a personal and a professional level.