Trade Secrets

Posted on Wed Mar 5th, 2025 @ 4:27am by Commander Alex Flynn & Lieutenant Rune Thul

2,097 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: The Serpent's Tooth [3]
Location: XO's Office, CIC - DS13
Timeline: MD02 - After 'Unfamiliar Faces'

Alex had left the meeting shortly after Thul, and followed at a polite distance, they were both going in the same direction. Just outside the door to her office, she spoke loud enough for him to hear. "Mr Thul, can we talk in here for a moment?" She said, gesturing towards her ready room opposite the Captain's, just outside the CIC.

Rune had left the briefing with a quiet but growing unease, his mind turning over the countless possibilities of what the Excalibur could encounter while cut off from their universe. The scenarios only got worse as they had played out in his head. Each possibility had unraveled into something more dangerous, more unpredictable as he had walked toward Operations.

Without realizing it, he had found his hands flexing and tensing, his fingers curling and releasing over and over—a subconscious manifestation of the anxiety he had tried to suppress. It had been an irrational fear, he had told himself. They had safeguards, they had protocols, they had layers of precautions—enough to rival the stars beyond the nearest viewport.

But phobias, or fears bordering on phobias, rarely operated with logic.

He had known, even as he had spoken in the meeting, that his overly protective stance had been unwarranted—at least on the surface. But he had given into it anyway. The moment had come and gone, but now he had to face the consequence.

Just as he had stopped outside Operations, he had heard Commander Flynn’s voice behind him. Calling his name and for his time to talk.

Rune had closed his eyes for just a second, forcing himself to take a few steadying breaths. Whatever she had to say, he had a strong feeling it had something to do with his outburst in the meeting. He had turned, already seeing her gesture toward the Executive Officer’s Ready Room.

Without hesitation, Rune had approached, his stance composed, his expression unreadable. He nodded to her, his voice calm despite the tension in his chest. "Yes, Commander," he had replied, stopping just short and waiting. Protocol dictated that senior officers always went first—unless, of course, they had chosen to allow their junior officers to precede them. And Rune had known better than to assume.

Alex entered the room, assuming Thul had followed when she heard the door swish behind him. She took the seat behind her desk. "Have a seat." She said.

Rune walked over to the chairs opposite his superior and sat down. He felt like he was in trouble back in a school situation and he took a breath to calm down.

"How are you feeling about your assignment here so far, Mr Thul?" Alex asked.

"That’s a rather loaded question—a lot to unpack," Rune had begun, his tone thoughtful as he considered the best way to answer. He had taken a measured breath before continuing.

"It was a sudden, requested by Captain Rovak, transfer. My family had to up and move from what they had expected to be their life aboard a starship." The shift had been abrupt, unexpected, and no matter how adaptable they had been, it had still carried its own weight.

"Of course, we’re no strangers to a nomadic lifestyle," he had admitted, "We’ve been moving from home to home ever since I began my Starfleet career." The reality of it had settled into something natural over time—but natural didn’t always mean easy.

Rune had paused again, taking another slow breath before gesturing to himself, his smile carrying an undercurrent of appreciation. "I am grateful for my family," he had said sincerely, "They’ve put up with my whims… and those of Starfleet." A quiet chuckle had followed, light but genuine.

His expression had softened slightly as he had added, "That said, we’ve managed to fit in here. We’ve found a home." Then, after a beat, his voice carried a subtle weight of self-reflection.

"I acknowledge I may have taken longer than normal to fully find harmony with my duties, my family, and everything asked of me." There had been no defensiveness in his words—just honesty. Rune had always been one to strive for betterment, and this was no different.

"I will continue to work on improving myself." And he had meant it. "I do have help," Rune added with a smile.

"That's good." Flynn said. "And it's understandable to still be a bit unsettled. There isn't another posting like this one that I'm aware of. What we went through with that Dalek took me a while to come to terms with. But I've gotta be honest, you're coming across a bit... frantic. Nobody expects the Chief of Security to go full-on Vulcan with their emotions, but you're giving the impression you don't trust your subordinates or superiors to look after themselves or each other. Do you know what I mean?"

Rune raised an eyebrow, his expression tight with frustration. "Trusting others has nothing to do with it," he said, his voice carrying an edge that hadn’t been there before. "The Dalek utterly defeated us. Without the Commander’s help, we’d all be dead. And frankly," he exhaled sharply, his hands briefly curling into fists. "The Commander could have killed us all if he had wanted to. That was why I seemed frantic."

That was why he couldn’t just shrug it off like the others seemed to. His shoulders stiffened slightly as a shiver ran down his spine. "Anything like either of them—" his voice lowered, almost as if saying it out loud made it more real, "we need to run. And hide."

The words had felt foreign on his tongue. Running. Hiding. That wasn’t the Starfleet way—but this wasn’t Starfleet’s normal frontier anymore. He shivered again, his breath unsteady. "All the precautions and contingencies wouldn’t mean a thing against their technologies. And any universe we explore could hold the same—or worse."

Rune swallowed hard before shaking his head. "We need to be utterly careful. Yet the others, from what I have seen, don’t seem to understand this. Sure, the Commander has given us his continued assistance, but unless we develop our weapons and defences quickly, we won’t last long."

His frown had deepened, frustration and fear intertwining in ways he hadn’t entirely expected. "I don’t believe I ever said that none of us were capable of doing our jobs," Rune continued, though his voice had lost some of its earlier edge. "It’s more about our level of awareness—of what we explore and how we explore it."

His hands had tightened into fists at his sides before slowly unclenching. "We barely contained the Battle-Brother. We nearly lost people." He exhaled, voice quieter but still firm. "I’m saying we need to be more cautious. But I do now see you all believe I’m just—" he had sighed, shaking his head, at his own behaviour and how it was insensitive, "as you say, distrustful of my fellow officers’ abilities as I was vocal for being overcautious."

Rune’s gaze dropped to his hands in his lap, his fingers instinctively fidgeting with each other. "I think the Dalek scared me more than I realized." He swallowed hard, the admission feeling heavier than he had anticipated. "Especially after DS13’s destruction." He had taken another breath, his left hand instinctively finding the back of his neck, fingers tapping lightly behind his ear. A Betazoid trigger point for endorphin release. It had taken a few taps, but slowly—his breathing had evened out, his pulse steadying.

The memories of the Dalek encounter had rushed through him like a flood, dragging with them the same primal, adrenaline-fueled terror that had gripped him at the moment. But the worst of it had passed now—or at least was beginning to fade. "It’s not that I don’t trust the others," Rune finally said, his voice quieter now, the tension giving way to something more vulnerable.

His eyes flicked back to Commander Flynn, and despite his best efforts, they still held traces of fear. "And I apologize, Commander, for the way it was taken." His shoulders lifted slightly, then dropped with a slow breath, as if releasing some of the weight pressing down on him.

"It’s more my fear of losing people I care about to the unknown." He exhaled again, "Or maybe more to what we cannot control." A pause. "I will double my efforts to handle it better." Rune held Flynn’s gaze for a moment longer, then shook his head, another slow breath helping push the worst of his emotions down.

The fear hadn’t left him. Not entirely. But it had shrunk, at least a little. "I will apologize to the Senior Officers and the Captain upon their return." It was a commitment—not just to them, but to himself.

"Fear is part of the job. And apology isn't so important as action." Alex said with a tone of serious understanding. "I'd like you to make some time to speak with one of the Counselors. Qrork would be my suggestion, but it's up to you. And if you'd like to hear it, I have some advice that the Captain gave me when I first became a chief of security, which he got from Admiral William Reardon, who you may recall was C-in-C before Clancy."

First thought was why. "How come you refer me to Counselor Qrork?" Rune asked curiously before adding. "Any advice is appreciated."

"She's someone I've seen for some of my own stuff. Or are you asking me why I'm referring you to a Counselor?" Alex tried to clarify.

"To Counselor Qrork specifically," Rune said. "Ah. She helped you, I was only curious as to why her specifically, that's all." He wondered what Alex's advice would be.

"Yeah. So the thing is, a good security chief is like a matriarch's butler. When he finds vermin in the pantry, he doesn't run up to her to ask her what to do about it, he deals with it. He doesn't let the matriarch know what activities she's going to be able to do to fit into his schedule, he adjusts around what she needs." Alex said.

"Security should fade into the background, not be constantly asking questions and suggesting things any CO worth their salt has already considered." Alex said. "If you don't trust your Captain to know what they're doing without you in their ear trying to find something they've overlooked, they're not going to trust you. Understand?" Alex asked, hoping the clarification would help.

"Did you have to use Matriarch..." Rune's voice was a little rough as he looked away from her as he banished any thoughts of his people's leaders. Upon returning his gaze back to Alex, he nodded a few moments later. "I understand, what of Tactical Officer?" He asked, "since I hold both positions at this moment. Am I not to advise the command officers on tactical possibilities and probabilities?"

Alex shrugged. "Tactical is tactical. Something shows up, you point it out. You get told to shoot something, you shoot it. Something unusual happens with the systems you're in charge of, let someone know. Just try not to face the task with the mindset that whoever is in charge doesn't know their shit. Okay?"

Rune smiled. "Perhaps you can be a counselor as well." He nodded. "I understand, I will work on it, I'd like to say that this may not be changed over night," he said, he glanced down as the last time he had met with counselors was when facing the Dominion War and the loss of his parents. He did not look forward to revisiting those memories.

"Nobody's expecting it to. One day at a time is all anyone can do. Dismissed." Alex told the man.

"Thank you Commander," Rune replied. "Have a good day." He attempted before he stood and with his hands behind his back as he walked out of the office. He mulled over all she had said and again. Then again. Though he was sure there was room for initative somewhere, he just had to find it and apply it where he wouldn't be seen as distrustful. Lots of thinking to do as he made his way to Operations for a quick check in with the Security duty officer.

Alex let out a sigh once he was gone, and checked her pockets for her lighter. She began a referral note to Qrork.

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