Journalism And Stuff

Posted on Tue Oct 17th, 2023 @ 3:20am by Lieutenant Alisha Reno & Lieutenant JG Jane Sinclair

1,754 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Operation Tokyo Return
Location: Bar 'Shady Rest' , Earth Spacedock
Timeline: After "The Interview"

Yasmine Jhaal of the Federation Entertainment Service was a bit surprised to find a message on her personal account. An invitation a bar on Spacedock. The Shady Rest. She'd heard of it, but had never been. It was in the shipping zone, and mostly frequented by Starfleet Ops enlisted types and civilian freighter crews. Not the softest sorts.

The subject is what clinched it. It had to do with the safety of Jane Sinclair, and that it came from an anonymous source aboard USS Myogi. It took essentially no time confirming that the Myogi was Miss Sinclair's ship. This might be serious.

It was by no means Yasmine's first time following a strange lead to a scary place. So she beamed up to the station, found the bar, ordered a pint of beer and waited.

From one corner of the room, eyes were on the well known journalist while their owner nursed a coffee, despite the taste that she disliked intensely. Why something like this smelled so good but tasted so horrible was beyond her and her blue eyes. Like half the other people in the Shady Rest bar, she wore a uniform, but it wasn't one of the 'normal' three colors of gold, azure or crimson, it was grey to go with the black, but as deep in the shadows as she was, it could be confused with one of the others. Her eyes flickered around the bar before fixing on nothing in particular, all the while, generally keeping an eye on the journalist as they searched for a spot.

Yasmine had dressed in something brown and drab. She wanted to attract as little attention as possible. But it was highly likely that the person who contacted her would recognize her regardless. She found a booth in the back and waited.

She watched as her target retrieved a drink and went to one of the back booths and nodded. Good, this could be kept as low profile as she’d wanted, despite her uniform. Alisha heaved herself out from her booth, taking her coffee with one hand and palmed something from her pocket as she generally meandered in the right direction. She casually slid into the booth opposite from Yasmine, her face a true neutral as she leaned forward slightly, to emphasize the color of the piping and shoulders of the uniform, “Good afternoon Ms Jhaal.”

Of course it’s Starfleet Intelligence, Yasmine thought. No matter. This wasn’t her first rodeo. “Who are you?”

“I am Lieutenant Alisha Reno of the Myogi’s Intelligence section. As I’m sure you’re aware, we monitor the news and other services for articles and information regarding our personnel. Last night you aired an interview, I believe?” While the look on her face was rather bland and disinterested, her voice had the right inflections for someone who knew that this was more a formality. It also covered for when she gently placed the device she’d palmed on the underside of the table and activated it. For a radius of three meters, any listening or recording device ceased working and an active jamming system activated to prevent people from a distance listening in.

“I did a few interviews last night,” Yasmine said plainly. “Care to be more specific, Lieutenant?”

Externally, Alisha looked halfway annoyed, but internally she wanted to laugh. Of course there would be this reaction to her in uniform, it was what EVERYONE thought of Intelligence and boy would Yasmine be in for a shock. “The one with Silverstar. It’s not a closely held secret that Jane Sinclair is an officer on board Myogi, especially since that race that was shown a couple days ago against the Andorians.” She brought her other hand out from under the table so that both could be opened palms up on the top for a moment, “Hence, my presence. We are concerned about things.”

Yasmine raised an eyebrow. “Concerned about what exactly? Because to the best of my knowledge I’ve reported on nothing but the truth, and nothing harmful. This is sounding less like the scoop I was hoping for and more like you wanting to challenge my rights and freedoms as a journalist.”

"I wouldn't even begin to do that." Alisha said truthfully, "If I did that, then you would never trust me." Her gaze softened somewhat, "And I don't know if I could live with that."

Yasmine squinted, taking in every detail. “You’re being sincere about this. What’s going on? Why is it so important to you that I trust you?”

"Because you're the only one that told the truth. It didn't help me back then, but you told the truth anyways." Alisha closed her eyes for a moment to compose herself, then opened them again. The only difference was that they were her own natural blue, "And Ah could only wish that more people listened to you instead." She said very softly.

The reporter was surprised, to say the least, but also disappointed in herself for not picking up on it sooner. She held the bridge of her nose a moment in self reflection before taking a long sip of her ale. “So. You’re her, she’s you. Alisha Reno of the Myogi. And in real life you’re seeing Jane Sinclair too? The public date on Spacedock, that was…what? A bit of play?” She tried to key down any annoyance, because now she was in fact finding mode, but she knew her questions might sound aggressive. “And her departure from the public eye, that was you entering Starfleet?” She was intentionally avoiding using Silverstar’s name, in case others were listening.

"Yes to all, technically." Alisha confirmed with a very soft smile, "The crew of Myogi know, but we're a rather quite tight-knit group and I don't think any of them would willingly tell anyone. The date? That was in celebration of the competition we had with another ship, both Jane and I won our races, but one hundred percent genuine." She exhaled, tense but trying not to show it, "Leaving the public eye was more to keep out of the news as best possible. Didn't want to make things worse and figured that if I went into the Fleet, I could still make a difference. For the record, there's a jammer under the table and I disabled any devices right around us. And the booths here are very good at killing sound, which is why I chose it."

“I never record these meetings anyway,” Yasmine said. “If you were a whistleblower of some kind, you might be at risk, and a copy of your voice would be deadly.” She grinned. “I might be an entertainment reporter but these things still happen. Not often. This is admittedly the juiciest scoop I’ve had in a long time.”

"I know and know that you'll keep this a secret." Alisha couldn't help but smile back, "I didn't trust the studio, there's always something recording in there. Besides, when I said that someone's life could be on the line? It's mostly mine I was talking about. After all, with a bit of makeup and stuff, I can become basically anyone." She giggled.

Yasmine nodded. “I’ll need to write some notes but I’ll encrypt it all. I’ll keep it secret…Alexis.” She took another drink and cocked her head. “I don’t suppose you could get me an exclusive with Miss Sinclair?” she ventured.

"For me, she'd absolutely do it!" Alisha batted her eyelashes, showing that the day before she'd definitely been wearing fakes for how long they had been, "Jane is such a sweetheart, truthfully, and when I said riding with her was a blast, I do mean it, terrifying when she goes all out, but adrenaline rush? Oh yeah."

"Please give her my credentials then," Yasmine said, giggling at Alisha's enthusiasm. "Next time you're over Earth, she and I can set something up. Maybe she can drive or fly me somewhere fast." She drank a bit more, the ale tasting much better after the tension had been broken. "Here I was, at first thinking I would be warned off, with claims of safety and security that couldn't be corroborated. I thought, imagine how Miyahara's supporters would react knowing Starfleet Intelligence was telling the press not to report on something! But I trust you, Miss Silverstar. And yes, I'll still think of you that way even if you're Lieutenant Reno."

"I hope and pray that none of my kind ever try to do that. If they do, let me know and I'll handle it. I have some contacts that are rather um..." Alisha pondered for the right word, "Influential with the higher ranks." She smiled brightly, a Silverstar smile, "And another thing, again off the record, but you can use it in whatever documentary you've got planned for me, no doubt: If I'm offered a role in something, I probably won't turn it down if I don't have to compromise my position in Starfleet. I feel rather useful here and honestly... So long as Jane is in the Fleet, I intend to be right there with her."

“Very sweet,” Yasmine admitted. “Thank you, Lieutenant. For all of this. And for what you do.” She smiled warmly at her ‘source’. “Both on screen and behind the scenes.”

"You're welcome, Yasmine." Alisha's hand went back under the table so she could retrieve her device, "But as I've said before and I hold to it: Thank you for being on my side, for being my friend." She slid out of the booth, smiling at Yasmine before resetting her face to something impassive and turning to walk away and out.

Alone in the bar, Yasmine let out a sigh. There would be no follow up story on Alexis Silverstar. She might have some opportunities in a few months for another conversation with the actress and Jane Sinclair, but she would control her impulse to publish.

It was all well and good to say that the people had a right to know, but she knew Alexis Silverstar well. She trusted that she had a good reason to keep her lives separate. She needed to trust the actress-turned-spy.

Oh well. She would write her notes up, encrypt them as she always did, and file it for background information. And then go back to work.

*********
A Post By

Lieutenant Alisha Reno
Chief Intelligence Officer

and

Yasmine Jhaal
Federation Entertainment Service

RSS Feed