Hall of confusion

Posted on Mon Jan 26th, 2026 @ 12:03pm by Rear Admiral Indi Hawk & Treon Brevor

955 words; about a 5 minute read

/// Somewhere ///

The Starbase's promenade was full of people. Starfleet officers and civilians thronged the space despite it being an early morning hour.

Nobody paid attention as Indi passed by.

Almost nobody.

One officer, standing just inside a shop, watched her through the storefront window as she passed by.

Indi was on her way to one of the large messhalls the starbase had to offer. She didn't used to eat there, but the past week or so, she found it interesting to study other people. Watch and observe. Hopefully learn more about what was going on. So far, it had been pretty unsuccessful, but she kept trying.

Once arrived, she did the short queue at the replicators and headed with her meal for one of the empty tables. She made sure to choose one near the very end of the mess hall, with her back to the wall so she had a good overview of everything going on. A few eyebrows here and there were raised because they weren't used to seeing an Admiral amongst them, but everybody luckily kept the comments to themselves.

The officer, Lt Cmdr Sena Tal, followed Indi to the messhall. Once there, she watched from the entrance as Indi took her tray and sat down. Only then did she go to the replicators and get her own lunch.

She had been stationed on SB 369 for a few months now. At first, there was the usual confusion of a new posting and a new starbase. But since then she had slowly gotten the feeling that something was wrong.

It wasn't anything specific.

For example, she had yet to meet anybody whom she considered a friend. Everybody was polite, but nobody responded to her attempts at casual conversation.

Seeing the Admiral walk by, however, she realized that something was different about her. There was a cloud of annoyance about her.

She had yet to see anybody annoyed.

Taking the tray to where Indi was sitting, she put the tray down on the table and sat down.
Indi eyed the unknown Lieutenant Commander, but didn't say anything at first. She finished swallowing her bite and then looked straight up at the stranger. "I don't believe we've met, Commander...?" she started. "I'm Admiral Hawk. I haven't been here too often in the past, so you'll have to pardon me if I don't have familiar faces in memory."

"Lt Cmdr Tal, Fleet logistics." Sena answered. She picked up her fork, but didn't yet start eating. "I thought I knew all the Admirals in Epsilon Fleet."

"I've never had much contact with Logistics. My Yeoman handles most of that," Indi shrugged. She tried to be as relaxed as possible, but it gnawed on her conscience that she now realised she'd allowed her Yeoman to isolate her completely. Most of the contact with other people had been handled by the Yeoman. Only the absolutely necessary meetings had been done by her. Come to think of it, it had been a good strategy, because it had taken her much longer to figure out something was wrong. And those actual meetings, especially with Sidra, had been the big giveaway.

Remaining cautious, Indi took another bite to buy some time. "Logistics must keep you pretty busy with a Starbase this new. It also brings you in contact with a lot of people. That's nice," she spoke casually once her mouth was empty. The question of why this officer had chosen to join her, kept going through her mind.

"Yes, it does." Sena considered her plate, then back to Indi. "I expected some teething problems with a new fleet and new procedures. But everything seems... " she searched for the right word, "smooth."

There was something about this woman, but Indi couldn't quite place her finger on it. Yet. It sounded like an interrogation, and yet it was a perfectly pleasant lunch time conversation. "I'm glad to hear that for you. Security wise, we've been having teething problems alright. Quite a few loopholes that still pop up from time to time. Luckily, nobody seems to have been inclined yet to take advantage of them," she winked, taking another bite. She went far further in admitting Security issues than she usually would. Or should. But something in the Commander's behaviour prompted the reply.

Sena hadn't seen anybody wink either.

"Admiral, you're in charge of Security on this base?"

Indi nodded, wondering where this was leading. Except for Sidra, nobody had ever talked to her directly about Security. Or much duty related at all. Or personal related. Again, that damned Yeoman.

"Theoretically...." Sena kept her eyes fixed on Indi. "If I see anything unusual... should I report to you?"

Feeling the stare, Indi remained unphased. "Any and all unusual things could be reported to me, yes," she replied. This was going somewhere. The Commander was building up to something. Could it be she'd found the person she had been looking for? "Whether or not you're sure it's Security related, as long as it's unusual, I prefer to make the determination if it's concerning enough to warrant my time," she added. Specifically making it personal and not referring to her department.

Sena was about to answer, but she stopped when another officer appeared by Indi's table -- her yeoman.

"Admiral, your meeting with Admiral MacLaren is now rescheduled. It will begin in half an hour."

Sena rose at once. "Thank you, Admiral." She gathered her tray, untouched, and stepped away.

Indi looked after the retreating back of the Commander. She cursed inwardly because she would have to try to establish a connection again later. For now, she focused on the nonsense talk of her Yeoman.

--

by LtCmdr Sena Tal apb Treon Brevor
&
RAdm Indi Hawk

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