An Incomprehensible Pictorial

Posted on 10 Feb 2018 @ 2:40am by Lieutenant Commander Geraldine "Geri" Severide
Edited on on 10 Feb 2018 @ 2:54am

822 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Errand of Mercy
Location: Ensign Marshall's Quarters
Timeline: ED7: 0700 Hours

As the brilliant blue light of the transporter beam dissipated from around Geri, she found herself in an area unfamiliar to her. From first glance, the quaint quarters, dwarfed in comparison to her own undoubtedly belonged to a less senior officer then she. Had Stovvan brought her here by accident? Or was there purpose behind her placement? She stood in the middle of the living area, which only had standard furniture and décor, no hints of personality or an intimate touch. The room was too clean. She surveyed her surroundings, looking into drawers and into couch cushions for any hint of occupancy. When searches of the living area proved less than fruitful, she turned her attention to the bedroom.

No matter the personality, level of training, the bedroom always proved to be the container for one's most intimate secrets. It was if the walls provided a blanket of secrecy, guarding against interlopers whom would seek to interpret one's inner sanctum. As she stepped through the gap into the room, her overt observations gave no more information then she had already perceived. The made-bed did however give her the first hint that someone occupied this room. Subtle wrinkles in the fine fabric gave away the illusion of vacancy, whomever the owner of this room, they were disconnected from the surrounding ship. There were no pictures, no discarded PADDs. The detailed organization, the cleanliness led Geri to believe this occupant was methodical. He or she valued logic above emotion as displayed by the detachment to sentiments.

As her eyes were drawn to the closet, she noticed a door slightly ajar, the first indication of chaos amongst the order in this room. Walking over to the closet, she slowly slid the door aside, revealing three sets of uniforms. The three garments were federation standard complete with accoutrements. The shoulders were teal-colored indicating a member of the sciences or medicine. It wasn't until she looked upon the collar that suddenly the purpose of her placement became clear. The lone gold pip told her everything she needed to know.

These were the quarters of Ensign Jon Marshall.

Her approach and objectives were now manipulated given this new information. Given the state of the room, security had not yet conducted a search of his quarters, but it would only be a matter of time. Anything they did find would undoubtedly be filtered from Severide. The days of her old training filled her minds as the countless possibilities filled her mind as to where Marshall kept his secrets. He would not be overt in his storage of these items. The point was that they never be found, at least not without a detailed search. Geri rubbed her chin as she surveyed the room for possible location of his secrets. She would have to tread carefully as upsetting the nature of the room would alert Doyl and Ashcart to her presence, if PALLAS had not already reported to them. She needed to think fast.

As she pondered, a gentle breeze from the ventilation shaft above brushed against her hair. If she had been in deep thought, she would not have noticed it as it was barely enough to push a follicle. Her brow perked up in curiosity. She remembered once cursing her vent for nearing tearing the roots from her scalp, why was his delivery so much weaker.

Unless....

Geri gripped the sides of the vent cover, giving it a gentle jarring to dislodge it from the wall. Placing the cover onto the shelving, she reached into the shaft. A smile quickly crept onto her face as her hand met a fabric, what felt like a bag blocking the natural airflow. Her fingers grasped the package and slid it gently out of the shaft. She lowered the satchel to the floor, foregoing the bed as to leave little evidence of her intrusion. Pulling the sides of the satchel away from one another, she reached inside the bag. Inside, the bag contained several PADDs, all encrypted, but certainly something her department could crack. In addition he had one hand phaser and a holo-picture. The frame was facing away from her so as she could not see what image the picture depicted.

Why had Marshall hid this picture? Geri wondered furling her brows as she slid the picture frame out from the satchel.

As she turned the picture towards her, the pixels of the image would hit her like a tidal wave of emotion. Instantly her thoughts became scrambled as if she had been stricken on her cerebellum. Her balance, vision, it had all become compromised as she fell back dropping the picture to the floor. A tear fell from her eye as she leaned against the wall in shock. Her hands began to shake, her thoughts incomprehensible.

In the picture, was Ensign Jon Marshall with his arms around Tatyana Svechinskaya. Geri's dead wife.....

Dated six months prior.

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