Confessions of a Closet Dogooder
Posted on Mon Jun 29th, 2026 @ 10:03pm by Lieutenant Katya Davi & Commander Rhupert Tyree
2,341 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Post Cards from Past
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Kat was back on the Valiant, but she had yet to tell anyone except Amy why she had to go to the mine. Granted, Daynah had her hands full with the colonists, but Kat didn't really make time to talk to her. And now, she couldn't let it go any longer. She had to tell Rhu what she'd done--and what she caused.
She located him in his ready room and rang the chime.
Glancing at the transparent security panel on his office door, Rhu noted it was his Operations officer and touched the hatch controls. When it cycled, he said, "Come in Katya." Gesturing toward the chair opposite and said, "Have a seat," he added with a smile. "There's coco if you like."
She smiled back. "Betazoid cocoa? Definitely." Always. It would make this conversation a lot better. Maybe. Hopefully.
Nodding, he retrieved another china mug and saucer and poured her a cup, adding marshmallows from a repurposed sugar server. Settling back into his chair he took another sip of his and allowed her time to try hers while he sampled her projected thoughts. Nerves for some reason. A flash of Avan's colony gave him a whisper of a clue, but he opted to let her get where she wanted to go first, so he just watched her.
She took a sip, closed her eyes, and moaned softly. It had been a long time since she had cocoa this good. But, she couldn't let it distract her from her confession. She had enough distractions right now. She took another long sip and sighed. "I know you heard about what happened on the colony. But I'm not sure if you heard that I'm the reason Amy and I went after the miners. And I'm the reason we brought Kinna to the Adelaide."
"Yesss," Rhu said, drawing it out as he steepled his fingers in front of him, both elbows on the desktop. "I am interested when my officers decide to go off reservation. Put themselves and others at risk without the away team leader’s awareness and, from what I can, against her stated directives. Maybe you though it was a suggestion, Lieutenant?"
"We were sent to repair the air filtration system. We couldn't do that without parts, and they had none. What I could do was clean out all the filters. That improved the air quality by almost 27%. Richard wanted to rebuild the system, but again, there were no parts and nothing to fuel the system if he did. There wasn't anything I could do there. So, when I heard that there'd been an accident at the mines, and the team that went out to help them crashed, I couldn't do nothing. If I'd just walked away, every one of them would have died. I couldn't tell how badly anyone was injured. All I knew is that people were alive in the mines when they asked for help and people were alive when they reported the crash." She ran a hand through her hair. "If I did nothing, I would be condemning them to death. All I planned to do was fix the other cart and check on the miners. If I could fix the rail cart and get it back on the tracks, then they could check on the miners. I asked Amy to come with me so I didn't go alone." She mentally illustrated her story so Rhu would know what they encountered. "Kinna was alive, but injured. I used the medical tricorder from the colony and healed her enough to get her back. Then, since she was stable and we were close to the mines, we continued on...and found that all the miners had been killed. So, we came back."
Rhu let her run. She was agitated as she related everything. He could feel that behind the mental images, but they flooded his mind even as her words ran on. It reminded him of ancient flip-books. Once she'd gotten her story out, Rhu mulled that even as he maintained eye contact while her mind quieted.
Finally, he said, "I get the intent, Kat. But through all of that haze, you still didn't TELL anyone you and Amy were going haring off on a rescue mission, other than each other. Lots of things might have happened. I applaud you for the initiative even as I have to chastise you on poor judgement, but there are times to play fast and loose and you two could have gotten killed or worse. Caused more people to get hurt coming to rescue YOU."
"I thought Amy would at least tell the doctor, and Richard had been in the room with me..." She trailed off. "But yes, I assumed rather than confirmed. The computer indicated it was a clear run there and back. And it was...except for the lava." They both knew that, too, was no excuse.
"But," Rhu said, "With so much being wrong with that colony's people that everything needed to be suspect." Musing, Rhu said "Do better, Lieutenant. And that includes giving our doctor the twitches."
"I think my existence gives her the twitches," Kat couldn't help saying. She flashed him a quick smile, knowing she would likely irritate the doctor again.
Then she refocused on his other words. "I only dealt with one colonist and there was nothing suspect about him. Besides, I couldn't leave them to die. I honestly thought it would be a quick run out to fix the rail car and back. The guy I was working with knew where I was going, but he wasn't there when I got back. The building was empty. So, we brought the one survivor with us to the ship. And...you know the rest." She wasn't helping her case any, as she wasn't sorry she tried. "Next time, I'll ask Commander Ral for permission."
Regarding her for moments, Rhu said, "Everything but that last was an attempt to dissemble. But we'll leave it there. Just because the XO stated her intent, doesn't mean she would have turned you down out of hand. And if she had, well. That's the chain of command. Even for how loose I run things aboard Valiant."
"It wasn't dissembling. It was a statement that next time--if there is a next time-I will ask first." She met his gaze. "We both know you can tell if I'm trying to lie or skirt the issue. I'm not. I came here to tell you what I did, not to try and get out of trouble."
Nodding, Rhu pushed back in his chair and slouched. "I can. Pure body language tells me most things, but as a CO certain words have to get said. Which is why I have to do my best to keep command distance." He met her eyes and said, "I'm glad you...all of you came out of that alright."
She looked at him for a long moment. "Thank you." His words mattered more than she wanted him to realize--although he probably did. "I'm glad we came back, too." For a number of reasons--most she wasn't ready to share with Rhu.
"And I will also try to respect command distance." Try being the operative word. She wasn't sure how well she'd do, though. She couldn't keep from thinking of Rhu, but she'd try to keep her thoughts--and feelings--under control. Time--she hoped--would help.
"Have you looked at the scans from the mine?" she asked to help get her thoughts back under control.
He could feel her now familiar buzzing against his mind, which was as distracting as she was, but he took her change of subject and said, "Haven't had the time to do much but read the after-actions. What did I miss?"
"After we found and stabilized Kinna, we continued to the mine. All the miners were dead. Cooked in their own suits. We weren't sure of the cause at first, so Amy and I looked around. Then we saw a stream of lava coming down a side tunnel. We couldn't go back the way we'd come in, so we used a rope to climb to a tunnel above us and ran back to the entrance. I have scans of everything. There were Maquis symbols in the main room and Amy thought she saw something alive in the lava."
It was a very brief explanation, but covered the important parts. "I can show you the recording I took, if you want."
"Maquis," Rhu said thoughtfully. "We knew they'd been on the planet, but it's odd they went that deep. Something alive in the lava though? You sure she wasn't running on bad air?"
"No idea. All I know is there were Maquis symbols in the mine. It is interesting, but I don't know if it's interesting enough to warrant further research." Kat also knew that research might get the wrong people wondering what Starfleet was up to. "For the lava... I didn't see anything. I don't know if what she saw was real or imagined. I want to take a second look and see if the computer picks up on anything I missed." She shrugged. "I've heard stories of lava worms, but as far as I know, they're just stories. If I do find something, I'll show the recordings to Commander Ral."
"Depends on the sect of Maquis that left the symbols," Rhu said. "Some of the groups used a lot of pictograms to leave messages within messages. Some had to be scanned in certain light wave lengths...others could kick off sound." Rhu casually touched a control on his table and a chiming sounded in various tones from Kat's proximity.
Kat looked around for the location of the sound, then back at Rhu. "So, what does that mean?"
"Your most recent musical tattoo is kind of similar," Rhu said with a smile. "As for the maquis, well they fractured more often than was reported. This might be something they hid or had a hideout they forgot about."
Kat grinned impishly. She had flashed him a mental image of her back with feathers and the tattoo--which was thanks to the EMH. Depending on which fan dance she chose, she might be flashing it a lot more. She'd just have to take the musical element of her tattoo into account.
She shook her head to refocus on the current conversation. "It is possible. I wonder if the colonists were refugees or if they were dumped there. the facilities were in pretty poor condition. I wish we had more time to look around, but the situation got a little sticky."
"Remember the intel brief," Rhu said, tilting back in his chair. "After the biogenic weapon drove off or killed the Cardassian colonists, the Maquis moved a colony in. Analysts thought they wanted to use it as a Cardassian Free zone to stick a thumb in the eye of the Union. Then the Dominion showed up and the Cardassians insisted to get their own back. Only Avan's colony and two or three other small facilities were spared and no more than a handful of the Maquis made it off planet. And if only a few knew about some other hidden agenda or facility. Well. They probably died trying to get out or are in a penal colony someplace."
He caught traces of shielded thoughts...she was getting better at masking her surface thoughts, though he picked up...feathers again? "Might be something to research and possibly take a look at in the future if it seems relevant, though we'll have to keep inquiries discrete."
"Yes. We don't want to draw the wrong attention." That was probably something best left to Amy or Prianka. She could do general research, but she didn't have the access to information the other two did. And that made her think of her musical tattoo... and, though it was probably just a coincidence, it began to play Strangers in the Night.
Kat laughed softly at the song choice. "That brings up another question. How do I keep the tattoo quiet? It is, mostly, but there are times and places I would rather it not decide to sound off."
"It's based on old voice activated tech...ancient tech," Rhu smiled. "Just say Trance's name and tell her what you want. I do like her as a holo-doc, if we're changing subjects. What did you think?"
"Sorry. I'm a bit all over the place right now. I thought she was interesting. Actually, I found all the EMHs interesting, although Dr. Sloane is my favorite."
"You seem mostly put together from here," Rhu reassured her. "Probably going to have to let Dr. Zuub determine which we'll use. I think one or the other would be handy though."
"I'm afraid Zuub would prefer Dr. Kevorkian or Doctor Frankenstein," she replied. "If I didn't think Nyx could handle her, I'd be worried." Kat's encounters with the doctor had been...interesting.
She shook her head. "Seriously, though, you have some really good EMHs in the computer. Amy and I met all of them when we were confined to the cargo bay annex."
"We'll have to take it under consideration and see, it's not anything we need to worry about today." Glancing at his desk he said, "If there's nothing else, I probably should finish shuffling data?"
"Take what under consideration? Zuub or the EMHs?" She flashed Rhu a grin. "I think you're fine with the EMHs. Zuub is another matter." Kat stood. She'd taken enough of Rhu's time. And she hadn't embarrassed herself by leaking her feelings as much as she had on other occasions. That had to count for something. Maybe it was the martial arts training? At least she hoped so. That was getting fun. She was actually looking forward to getting into a bar fight--especially if she could fight with Rhu as a partner instead of an opponent.
END
A joint post by:
Commander Rhupert Tyree
Master and Commander
USS Valiant
Lieutenant Katya Davi
Chief Operations Officer
USS Valiant
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