Secret Admirer
Posted on 09 Jun 2021 @ 8:15pm by Lieutenant JG Rosaline Belikov
Edited on on 14 Jun 2022 @ 12:59am
Mission:
Patching up the Copernicus
Location: Intelligence office
Timeline: On the way to the Copernicus
2266 words - 4.5 OF Standard Post Measure
Ethan came into the Intelligence Office, bearing a vase with a red rose which had a quality scent to it, and a note addressed to Rose. On it there was written in calligraphy,
"For a Rose that is rare and none other can compare." There was no signature except for the letters D.P. And a blue velvet ribbon tied in a bow around the crystalline vase.
"I found this outside of the door, when I came inside. And I am sure it belongs to you." Ethan stated with a smile. "Don't worry, I did check for poisons, and explosive devices. And there were none."
Rose nodded as she accepted the vase, “well done. I’m glad your thought ahead” she said as she read the note attached. The calligraphy was interesting, indicating an intelligent or at least somewhat cultured person. The flower was a little more obvious, a Rose, either hinting at an attraction towards her or simply an attempt at a bad joke using the flower she shared a name with.
After a moment, she put the vase down on her deck and looked to Ethan, “can I get you to pull up the security feeds for the past few days? If I’m right and the person who left this here wasn’t careful, we should be able to identify them”
Ethan pulled up the feeds for the past few days, all that was seen were just crewmen passing by, then later on clean up crew which were in orange jumpsuits, cleaning up anything that had been dropped, spilled or lost, then moving on. On the night previous there was something that had been spilled not too far down the hall, and a person came, cleaned the mess up, paused looked around then placed the vase and rose near the door. Said person was wearing gloves and did not even glance up to where the cameras were. It seemed said person was well aware of the location. Then the crewman walked away, still avoiding all cameras, keeping their head down low.
Ethan watched as the person moved, " I do believe that is a male."
The feed follows the person until he gets to an area where he goes into a room. marked cleaning supplies and that is the last time he is seen.
Watching the feed, Rose pondered for a moment, “hmm, they seem to know what they’re doing though I doubt they’re actually a part of the clean up crew” then said, thinking out loud, “they seem to know the ship well enough so they’ve either served on a Galaxy class before or are a current member of his crew and knowing where the security cameras are would lead me to think they are in either Security, Intelligence or Engineering. Science and Medical don’t really have a need for such information or the clearance to access it” she thought, planning out her next move. This secret admirer had just thrown down a rather beautiful gauntlet and Rose wasn’t going to let the chance to show off pass her by. “Computer, show me a schematic of the Andromeda focused in on this supply room”
The computer brought up the schematics, and then focusing on the supply closet it shows that there is an air duct as well as an access panel which leads into the jefferies tubes. The air duct was too small for a human to get into.
"I am finding this rather intriguing, Lieutenant. " Ethan cracking a grin. "Also from the jefferies, this person could have gone anywhere."
“Unfortunately so, and with their assumed knowledge of the location of the security cameras, they would pick an exit that wouldn’t be easily detectable” Rose commented, starting to treat this more like a proper case rather then a curiosity, “Computer, given the dimensions of the person in question, how many personnel onboard match this body type?” She asked, hoping to narrow down the possibilities.
"There are 134 crew that would match the body type in the paremeters which are specified." came the female voice of the computer.
Ethan looked at Rose. "That narrows the field down, as there are with the combination of officers and enlisted, around 800 personnel." he stated. "There is another 200 that are civilians."
Rose thought for a moment, “ok computer, bring up the files and sort them into Officers and Enlisted. Eliminate all Civilian matches” she said, sitting down in her chairs and activating the holographic wall display. As the matches started to appear, Rose’s expression became serious and focused, “hmm, alright, let’s sort these people by department and start looking at them”
"Lieutenant Belikov, I just realized that we've forgotten Operations on that list of who would have knowledge of camera points, so new calculations need to be done. And are we eliminating the possibility that there are some females who have the build of a man." Ethan decided to point out.
“If that is so, then I believe the computer may need to be recalibrated as I didn’t specify and departments in the search parameters. However, it’s a simple fix. Computer, using the previous search parameters, please create a list of all onboard persons who match or are similar, then sort into Starfleet and Civilians, then sort the Starfleet matches into their respective departments” Rose requested, trying to cover all bases this time.
If she was being honest, she’d never considered a woman might be interested in her, but now that the thought had come up she didn’t mind the idea.
With the new data, the computer lowered the projected number of people to 45. Ethan got rid of several others, "These are apparently involved with someone at this time." clearing that. "and having eliminated Science and Medical personnel and I think that we can eliminate Intelligence personnel too." "Clearing away those, "which will drop how many people we need to look into still a fairly high number, but, doable. " the number now to 30. "We still need to look for more clues though. What are we missing? We are probably missing something that maybe right under our noses."
Looking at the vase, Rose wondered if it had a meaning that she wasn’t understanding. Giving it a flick with a finger, it’s gentle ring filled the room for a moment before fading, “hmm, it doesn’t seem like glass, the sound isn’t right”
Ethan walked over towards the vase and looked at it as well, then his eyes flicked to the note that was attached to the vase. "Wait, there maybe a clue there." Pointing at the note, in fact he read it out loud.
"For a Rose that is rare and none other can compare." he turned to look at Rose, "Whomever this is, they certainly have a sense of romance. If you take a look, this rose is in full bloom but there are no thorns. There is a symbolism in this itself. There was back in the Victorian Ages, a language developed for communication, to indicate someone's love, interest, even clandestine meetings. As speaking of those subjects were considered taboo. Hence the game of courtship was played by using flowers and their meanings. They even had a language utilizing fans as well. However I digress. The meaning for this red rose, would be...whomever they are, they have loved you from the first time they set eyes on you. And are now just declaring their interest."
He examined even further.. then his eyebrows raised, "We both have missed another clue. And it has been right there." Pointing towards the bottom of the note, where two letters were signed. (DP)
Looking at Ethan, Rose was about to ask if he was the secret admirer as he seemed to have all that information on romantic courtship in his head, but the clue of the initials disproved that idea quickly, “then we should add that to the search. Computer, remove all matches who don’t have the initials DP”
More dropped off and the end result was four candidates. Two in Operations, both ensigns. Daphne Price, and Derrick Patton. One in security Delilah Page and in Engineering, Desmond Porthos. An Ensign.
Ethan looked at Rose. "Well that definitely narrows things down even more."
Rose nodded, “4 targets is acceptable. Hmm, security, operations and engineering. Quite the mix” she said, thinking out loud. At this point, Rose would normally acquire as much surveillance as possible, but these were federation citizens and this wasn’t an actual case so her options were more limited. Or was it? She was already using security footage to narrow down her targets, so why not go that extra step.
“Computer, collate all security footage for Ensigns Price, Patton, Page and Porthos for the last four days and display them on my personal console” Rose requested, looking to Ethan, “thank you Ethan. I think I should take things from here alone.”
Ethan gave a nod and as he walked away, he said over his shoulder. "Good hunting Lieutenant Belikov." then the door closed behind him, leaving Rose to her search.
The videos were sent to her personal console and the feeds began to play. All four seemed just another day in the life of all four ensigns, this went on for the couple of days, then one started changing, whilst the others still went on about their daily business. Porthos, his actions seemed all so normal but he did seem to avoid cameras from time to time, disappearing from camera view and appearing on another deck. There was even footage of him coming out of the supply closet but not having entered it.
“Computer, bring up Ensign Porthos’ file” Rose requested, trying to think where she could’ve seen him before.
And the files brought forth his service record.
==========
1. He had joined the marines at the same time she did. Was there for two years before he was sent to toe Corps of Engineers.
2. Sent to the same Starbase she had been sent to, to help keep things running.
3.He went back to the academy around the same time as she did. He gained the rank of Ensign.
4. Ensign Porthos arrived at the Andromeda just a few months after Hawkins had arrived.
==========
That was the end of the information that was brought up.
Rose was surprised to find she’d served with him before, “no, that can’t be right. I should remember him if we’ve served together” she said, pulling up her own service record and placing them side by side. After comparing them for a moment, she figured out why she didn’t recognise him. While They’d trained at the same places on earth, they were in different squads which turned out to be the case for their fist assignment as well. Rose was in a recon unit while Desmond was with the regular grunts.
The next time their records lined up was when Rose went back to the academy to change specialties. This one was more easily explained, she was in the security course while he was in engineering. The two rarely interacted.
Taking a deep breath, Rose walked out of her office and went to find Ethan, “hey Ethan, can I ask you a few questions?”
Ethan was in his area going over some files. He looked up. "Sure, go ahead." putting a pause in his research.
“It would seem the mystery person is Ensign Porthos from Engineering. How would you recommend I go about broaching the subject with him?” Rose asked, unsure what she should do. If she confronted him straight out, he could cut and run and she’d be back at square one.
"Ensign Porthos, interesting. " Ethan thought over what he knew of the engineer, and the tidbits he'd heard about him. "From my observation, and with the challenge he gave you, I'd say, send him a message and let him know that you would like to see him. Or for that matter you could craft a coded message and let him decipher it, and let him know that you received his message and would like to meet." he smiled. "Also, there is the language of flowers which is a code within itself. You could send him a message that way."
Rose thought for a moment then smiled, "perhaps I should return the favour. Though if i simply put a rose infront of his door that might look like i rejected his gift. unless I put a note with it." she said, almost thinking to herself. "Thankyou Ethan, can you cover things here for now? thanks" she said walking off without an answer.
stepping back into her office, Rose moved over to the replicator and ordered two roses and a small label to attach to them. Grabbing a pen from her desk, Rose wrote a small message on the label,
'Meet me in the arboretum, 1800, don't be late Marine'
attaching the label to the roses, Rose placed them into a thin crystal vase then walked back to her desk, "Computer, what is the current location of Ensign Porthos?"
=^= Ensign Porthos is on Deck 11 in the gymnasium" was the reply. =^=
Rose nodded, "good, that should give me enough time" she said, taking note of Porthos' quarters. Picking up the vase with two roses in it, Rose made her way to tbe crew deck and headed straight for Porthos' quarters to leave the vase outside. hopefully he didn't have a roommate.
End
LTJG Ethan Smith
Assistant Intelligence Officer
&
Lt. JG Rosaline Belikov
Chief of Intelligence
