Familiar Taste of Poison

[Lorna DeLaTour]

While Lorna had willingly joined the Alliance in a formal capacity when she had accepted a position on Jovan Station; she had never got to travel for official missions until this one. The last year had seen her quite busy on the station, whether when volunteering for the poorer areas' clinics, or helping with ambassadors from various species. She had missed being on actual worlds and ground to be honest. As much as her work on Jovan Station had been rewarding, she had felt frustrated. After so many years traveling across the galaxy, being confined aboard a space station had gone against her natural tendencies. Yet, she hadn't sought to request a transfer or even look for other options, which she knew she could have in both public and private sector given her credentials.

The blonde near-human had been surprised when receiving a message requesting her presence for an off-world mission. She had been able to accept with ease, especially as the assignment appeared to be coming from high enough in the food chain that nobody on the station would fight it. She had reviewed the short but detailed description of what her work would entail as a doctor. It was mostly testing and some vaccination and humanitarian general aid. She didn't know exactly what was the situation on Cona (https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Cona/Legends), but the environment that was toxic to non-natives, seemed to have been disrupted in certain areas, likely with release of gas, she mused. And there had been what appeared as terrorist attacks, causing more wounded than the usual populace could handle.

The memo had provided her with no details about the exact nature of the situation that had caused for external help to be requested. Regardless, Lorna had met with a transport set to retrieve her the next day, with all equipment she had to personally bring, for the rest would be handled directly aboard the larger craft she was to be taken to. It was her understanding that she would be in charge of the medical team, but how it would play in the overall mission was still a mystery to her.

The pilot didn't say much during the short hyperspace jump that would eventually take them to the rendezvous point. Lorna had used the opportunity to catch a quick nap, for she had gone to bed late the previous night, doing research about Cona and its natives, to get a better idea of what she would be dealing with.

Once the shuttle was connected to the large space ship, Lorna gathered her belongings, the pilot helping her transport the two crates of equipment she had personally brought. Once she was aboard with her stuff, the pilot left her in the hallway before she had much time to ask him what was up.

Instead of twiddling her thumbs, she adjusted her backpack straps and began pushing the two crates towards the main section of the dead end hallway she had come aboard through. Surely, some crew member would show up and let her know where to store her equipment, and where she should head next.

Right on cue, she heard footsteps coming her way.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Not too long after her former partner and best friend had been shipped off to his first mission since being cleared, one landed across Director Van-Derveld's desk hours later. Grace was happy for the chance to stuff her feelings away for Dasquian and have something tangible to do that provided clear focus. Cona had been targeted by several terrorist attacks that introduced sodium chloride into the air and once inhaled, was immediately addictive to the native Arconas. Several decades back, Cona almost experienced financial ruin due to the rampant global addiction to salt. The Galactic Alliance had assisted in rescuing the planet and now Cona called for aid once more.

Grace's team was assigned to provide protection and support to the medical relief team. Having a high level operative there would hopefully cut through a lot of red tape to examine the area of any Intel during their recon and find the source of the attacks. Grace theorized that whoever wanted to cripple the planet like decades past wanted to destabilize the governing body by overflowing their medical needs through this crisis to take over the highly sought resources by either overt means or by being the generous savior with a deal that would be too good to be true. That meant the Empire or some crime syndicate in the Director's mind. There was also the small chance that this was internal but that seemed less likely. Cona remembered that their planet was almost destroyed through salt addiction, and addiction that they fought against to a lesser, but significant, degree today.

For now, the focus was administering aid to the addicts and wounded. Grace was on her way to greet the last member of the medical team whose shuttle just docked with The Hope, a medical frigate that was accompanied by a Mon Cal Cruiser for support. She recognized the doctor from the file pushing her things and looking lost. Mentally she rolled her eyes at the crew being useless.

"You there," she snapped, pointing at a Bothan Alliance crew member milling about.

He threw a thumb at himself in confusion as if Grace was actually talking to him even though she was looking directly at him.

"Yes, you. Take Dr. DeLaTour's equipment to the medical shuttle being prepped for Cona."

Her cold stare made him move quickly without another word to the Director. He lowered his head to the doctor and took over the controls for the hoversled. "Excuse me, Ma'am."

He pushed the sled passed the Director, who watched him head off around the bend before resuming her approach to DeLaTour. "I know this has been quite the adventure considering the short notice, but the Alliance appreciates your expertise in this matter Dr. DeLaTour."

She stuck out her hand. "Director Grace Van-Derveld, Alliance Intelligence. I'm here to make sure Cona doesn't cause you too much trouble."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

When an athletic brunette came closer and had a crew member help load her equipment in the blink of an eye, Lorna knew that she held a position of power. It was easy to see in her natural assurance and body language. She was glad to actually meet someone who seemed to know what the hell they were doing. It wasn't because she had juggled things during under-financed humanitarian missions that she wanted to repeat that more than necessary.

"Well-met, Director," she responded as she shook Van-Derveld's hand.

She was surprised that someone of such a high rank would actually be present, but she didn't ask further questions on this topic, for it didn't affect the matters at hand. She fell in stride with the Director as they walked through the hallway, trusting that the crew member would transport her equipment wherever it was supposed to be stored.

"I was told the medical frigate would provide generic first aid supplies, so I focused on the addiction issues. Based on what your people reported, some of the base treatments have been ineffective. I will need to conduct tests first things as we arrive on location; but given the native's physiology, I already have three possible amended treatments to consider, two of them particularly practical for a crisis situation."

She was certain the Director had other matters to take care of, but updating her directly and shortly on what the medical situation was at was the least she could do. She wasn't sure about how armed support would unfold; but she guessed she would be told on a need-to-know basis.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Side by side with hands drawn behind her, Grace listened attentively to fill in the blanks for the doctor, quite aware that the Director's presence here was a surprise. The doctor recovered quickly and kept the conversation professional and focused without prodding for further information. The doctor's attitude was refreshing and rather impressive. DeLaTour was taking being uprooted from her regular duties without a single complaint so far.

There were still many hours in the day for the doctor to disappoint her.

Grace side eyed DeLaTour before motioning which way to turn at the t intersection. Her hand snapped back to join the other as they continued, musing over the information presented and how wisely the doctor used her time in transit.

"Its theorized that the saline concentration that was released is significantly higher than the usual street market fare that the gen pop use. Initial testing by the locals seems to confirm that but it'll be helpful if you can corroborate it too."

She turned down another similar hallway.

"Another concern is detox given the severity of the addictions. Are your treatments safe on the field or should there be testing at a facility? We have no deaths in relation to the inhaled compound. A statistic that the Cona government and myself like to maintain, Doctor."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna was mentally familiarizing herself with the layout of the ship. She had rarely got the opportunity to work on such large crafts. Since she knew it would be a means of transportation, as she would work on the actual planet, she only memorized things in the back of her mind, while keeping most of her attention on the conversation with the Director. She really needed more caf, but she could credit her lengthy experiences in humanitarian missions for still being clear-minded enough to do what was required of her.

"They were still running numbers by the time I got the previous report; but it makes sense given the crisis element of the situation. I will ensure to have some tests run myself as soon as we get there, while we set things up."

There was little time to proceed; but throwing all caution to the wind wasn't part of the plan either. So she would have to be quick but thorough enough to ensure the well-being of the population, despite dire circumstances.

"Two of the options I currently consider are short-term treatment to halt immediate deterioration. The third one is a longer-term one that might have side effects, and will thus need to be tested as you said. I didn't send protocols in advance to any local medical staff; because it can require fine-tuning, and without the appropriate training you risk doing harm instead of any good."

She retrieved a datapad from her pocket and checked something on it, still keeping up with the Director as they were moving across the different hallways and levels.

"Are you expecting me to be stationed at a specific hospital, or aboard a mobile unit?"

Her work would be affected by either of them; so it made sense to her to ask for clarification from the Director before asking further questions.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Grace stopped at the lift tubes and hit the panel as she answered the question. "Considering the options you provided, testing your treatments at the hospital before we move out with the mobile unit."

The lift doors opened and she motioned for DeLaTour to entire first before joining her. She was pleased that the lift was empty and keyed in a security protocol that overrode the lift functions, ensuring that the lift went directly to the conference room adjoining the docking bay where shuttles were prepped after the briefing. It was a one way stop and they wouldn't be bothered.

"The hospital on Tylcarros is overcrowded with victims. Some were physically injured but the majority are fighting the addiction. I feel immediate action should be taken at the hospital. Test your treatments with equipment on standby in case of any unforeseen side effects. If all's well, we move out to the attack sites. It'll give me time to speak with the local officials in person to start tightening our timeline of events."

As she spoke, she not once looked at the doctor - her focus the closed doors and the mission objectives.

"My team is to focus on the who behind this as you and your team focuses on healing the ill."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna had expected something along those lines, but she was glad to get the Director's clarification. It would make the rest of her preparation work easier. Having solid directives helped her be ready to make decisions on the go as the situation would evolve once they were on world.

She went inside the lift first, followed by the Director. She noted they were alone, and for a brief moment, she looked at the other woman by her side. Lorna didn't feel the need to ask any questions unrelated to the mission at hand, but as always when getting to work with someone new, she found herself curious about them. She had been as such since she was younger; but she knew better than being nosy. She hated people asking rude and unwanted questions to her, and made sure she avoided being as such with other people. Also, she doubted that someone in the Director's position made it that high in the Intelligence service by tossing personal information to the greater crowd.

It was fine with the near-human doctor. Saving lives and proving herself was what mattered.

"What's the ETA for our arrival?" Depending on how much time she'd still have, she would be able to get all protocols ready to go by the time they reached the planet. "Once I get the updated information about the situation, I will be able to fine-tune what tests to run and how to organize action for when I reach the hospital on Tylcarros."

She nodded to the Director, although she had realized the brunette kept her stare upon the closed lift doors. "The addiction issue will be my priority, Ma'am. As you said regular injuries can be handled by the local teams, especially with some extra supplies we're providing."

[Grace Van-Derveld]

DeLaTour was not a chatter box in the lift which Grace was thankful for. Most beings attempted to spark some conversation with the Director just because - no other reason then to break the uncomfortable silence that was entirely her fault. Her reputation preceded itself - invoking anxiety for ramblings or nervous silence. Or there were the ones that wanted to impress her. Those were the fun ones that wanted to break through the icy exterior and get to the meat of the matter. All she needed to do was rattle off something easily exploitable secret to shut them down and think twice about their actions, like the last flyboy that tried it. She made it plain that his current girlfriend wouldn't approve of his after hours rendezvous with the sanitation worker that cleaned the docking bay to the X-Wings.

She was just tired of it all, the bullshit personally and professionally, but the mission had to continue - and Bryna would, rightfully, worry about her if she sensed anything amiss. So she suffocated her feelings with work. The Alliance and its allies chose her for this mission and she would see it through despite falling apart on the inside. The doctor's professionalism was appreciated, glad she was surrounded by a respectful colleague.

"We're headed to briefing where you'll meet both sides of the team. Be an hour max so all objectives are clear and questions are answered. Figure two when we're planetside. Also, you're in charge of the medical detail."

That wasn't in the dossier sent to DeLaTour. Grace poured over the doctor's credentials and felt with her experience, she should be in charge of the medical personnel for this mission out of all of the qualified candidates that she had to chose from.

"And to be clear, this is not a joint operation between Intel and Support Services. I hand picked the teams. So you're here because I want you to be. And I know you're not going to go all cocky on me like the last hothead doctor who thought he was the shit."

She finally looked at the doctor. "That is, until he was blown up by a land mine."

Her smile was discomforting as the lift doors opened, allowing the doctor to leave first by a wave of her hand. "After you."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna was running on all the caf she could get at this point. She had no use for small talk or trying to impress the Director. It wasn't in her nature anyway. She could be sociable and enjoyed some chill down time and get to know collaborators if the opportunity arose; but frankly, she let her work speak of itself. Bragging wasn't her style. She didn't see the appeal; and she hated that in others. Either you did your job or you didn't, and no sweet talk would save your sorry ass.

She nodded at the Director's ETA regarding the briefing and last bit of traveling. She doubted she would get much rest; but she would try to sneak in one hour aboard the ship taking there to the hospital. She needed it; and people depending on her needed her to be highly functional.

Surprised passed in her eyes when the Director told her she was in charge of the medical team. She regained composure quick enough; and was already pushing her tired mind to figure logistics out. She could make it work for sure; and the briefing would let her know who was working with her so she could assign roles to support her leadership.

"Understood, Director," she replied to the explanation about how the teams were working. That might be quite practical though. She had a really strong and positive opinion from the Director already; but not having to always refer back to her at all times for permission to proceed would be good. She valued other branches roles; but having enough free reign to take action to save lives could be pivotal.

When Van-Derveld looked at her, with a smile, as she mentioned the previous idiot had ended blown up, Lorna found herself smirking. She might be a doctor who did her best to save lives, but if people were morons, she didn't treat that. She was good at her job, but some cases were just hopeless. "I have better things to do than getting blown up," she replied curtly.

She exited the elevator first, when the Director invited her to do as such. She looked over her shoulder at the brunette did as well, and then walked in stride with her towards the briefing room. Lorna hoped that the Director would do her share of the talking first, so she would hopefully be able to start reviewing some of the medical personnel, especially if she was expected to say something, which was probable.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

"I certainly hope that's the case, doctor," muttered Grace as she exited the lift.

DeLaTour slowed her steps so the two of them could walk together. It was a short trip too, as the briefing room was straight ahead. Personnel were on the move, bustling in and out of the adjoining docking bay to refuel ships and complete last minute maintenance and safety checks on the mission shuttles. They entered together and when the doctor was about to head off to take a seat, Grace tugged on her sleeve to keep up with her. She was her second on this mission, and DeLaTour needed to be up front.

Her eyes canvased the room, counting heads as the passed row by row, noting that all numbers were accounted for.

"Appreciate everyone's patience. Had to collect our latest asset that wasn't given a proper escort." She turned to the motley mix of agents and medical staff, hearing a covered snort of humor.

She smiled thinly at the guilty agent. "But that's what happens when notices are short. Am I right, Agent Briggs?"

He cleared his throat and nodded. "Course, Ma'am. Sorry."

"Good."

With all eyes ready and keenly focused her, Grace began with introductions. "This is Doctor Lorna DeLaTour who's fresh from Jovan. Her experience with xenobiology and previous field work with humanitarian aid is why's she's here and my second. Her job is to facilitate medication safely and accurately. Not to babysit you lot. Are we clear?"

There was a immediate 'Yes, Ma'am' from the group.

Satisfied with the response, she continued. "As most of you are aware, 18 hours ago there was a coordinated attack on Cona."

A holographic globe of Cona appeared to the right of Grace and Lorna and three red dots appeared one at a time. "All the attacks occurred in Tylcarros. The first weapon was deployed at approximately 0730 at the starport. Then again at 1200 in the Raklye shopping district. And lastly at 1930 at the Cona Calcite mine during shift change. The attacks appeared random, especially with the delay between detonations, but the intended effect is clear. To incite fear, disrupt Cona's functionality in daily and working life, and most importantly, to get as many citizens addicted to the substance released at the sites. The structural damages have thankfully caused no casualties but it was clear that wasn't the purpose of the explosives. It was to release a highly concentrated amount of sodium chloride into the air in highly populated areas. Addictions were immediate and severe.

With the amount of beings amassing at hospitals, the Alliance was called to assist in administering medical relief and uncovering the group responsible for the attacks."

She eyed the five agents present, the smaller group of the two teams. "That's our objective. You've already been assigned your sites and know the drill. Ask questions and search the area for anything that can give us a clue who did this."

Grace paused as a hand was raised and nodded for him to speak.

"Are we looking at any local interference? A domestic attack?"

"We haven't ruled that out. More than likely it's an outside threat, wanting to cause economical stressors. To what end? That's uncertain at this time. Our goal is fact finding. That means not engaging in any threats without reporting in for orders."

There were murmurs of understanding, including from the ten medical staff waiting on more information.

"Now I'm sure there's a lot of questions regarding the relief work. We'll get to that now and then revisit any questions or clarifications afterwards." She looked to the doctor and took a step back. "Means the floor is yours, Dr. DeLaTour."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna might have normally been more observant of all the activity surrounding them; but she was focusing on the matter at hand. Prioritizing was one of her strengths, really a pivotal one to have in the medical profession, and the present moment required it. She had already brought out her datapad, checking for updates for the information available to her.

When she felt the tug on her sleeve, she looked at the Director with mild surprise, but it disappeared from her face almost as soon as it had appeared. She went to stand by Van-Derveld at thein of the gathered assembly.

She then had to divide her attention between focusing on what the Director explained and scanning the new information at her disposal. If she had to present and brief the medical team, she had to do it right. Fumbling through things wasn’t ideal and she had no want for it. Admitting where she needed to check other sources was one thing, being unprofessional was another one.

She briefly smirked at the comment about the lack of proper escort upon her arrival, but kept to herself.

She felt gratitude when Van-Derveld made it clear she wasn’t here to babysit anyone. She might still have to remind other team members about that, but the less she had to do it, the better for everyone, from the victims to the Alliance team.

Where the attacks had occurred made it clear that it was indeed premidated and terrorist in nature. Lorna also noted that all places were within reach of that central hospital the Director had noted to her earlier on about first on-location base, before switching to a moving unit. It made it clear that the lack of other hospital arounds would put more pressure on the overwhelmed one, despite it being the bigger in the city. She pursed her lips and took mental note of it for what they would have to do as humanitarian relief.

When the floor was hers, she nodded and took a step forward. “Thank you, Director.”

She typed something on her datapad as it was linked to the larger display. It would make most sense to the medical team but it was them she was speaking to in the first place.

“Cona will require us foreigners to wear masks at all times due to the atmosphere; but it will also be one of our best defenses against the current threat. A list of all symptoms known so far on the Native population was just compiled and sent to all agents and medical staff. It will be updated in real time should we come across anything new. If you notice anything particular, let us know immediately.”

She paused and stared at everyone.

“I’m not here to babysit you but I must know if unusual symptoms occur.We can’t risk this mutating into a multispecies health threat.”

She understood that all of them were used to push themselves if needed; but this was a particular case when addiction potentially turning into contagion could occur. They were still in the immediate aftermath of the first wave of toxin and could afford no risk.

“Medical staff, I have sent you three protocols we will explore for possible treatment. Our first task is to administer one of them that are known to risk no side effect, for immediate relief. The other priority is to run some tests to refine our protocol and be able to work from a mobile unit within six hours, ten at latest.”

They were on the clock.

“We bring medical supplies to treat wounded but we will not handle that ourselves. Our mission is to handle the addiction crisis.”

[Grace Van-Derveld]

She had to give it to the doctor - lack of sleep and prep time didn't diminish her professionalism displayed here. DeLaTour was good at hiding it.

"Doctor's right," said Grace, immediately jumping in to emphasize key points. "The local government has its disaster plans in effects for structural damages and treating the injured. But ... they can't handle the widespread addictions. By no means ignore someone that needs assistance, but the medical team is to focus on supply drop offs and healing the afflicted."

Grace took over the holoprojector from DeLaTour. The world of Cona disappeared to be replaced by an atmospheric graph of Cona compared to Bothawui, which was your typical breathable planet. "I cannot emphasize enough the importance of maintaining your breath masks. As you can see, the concentration of ammonia and nitrogen are deadly. If you begin to feel your eyes, nose or throat burning, or that you feel your chest is about to turn inside out from the same sensation - you immediately get back to your vehicle for a replacement mask. It's why everyone has to be in at least pairs on site in case there are any damages to the equipment and to keep an eye on the breather pack supplies. We're all responsible for each others safety.

Ro team."

The five Intel Agents shifted at being addressed specifically.

"I'll be assisting the doc at Tylcarros Med and joining you later. I expect hourly reports."

There were murmurs of understanding and she looked to DeLaTour. "Anything else to add?"

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Something in the recesses of Lorna's brain was chanting "stimcaf stimcaf," but she was thankfully used to handle this, and was able to focus on the briefing. She was really going to need to catch some shut eye on the way to the planet. Passing out in the middle of an emergency situation wasn't what she wanted to do. She was better than that. And she was always willing to prove herself, almost as much as she was set on saving as many lives as she could.

She was glad the Director reiterated how crucial it was for the teams to be on the watch for any health issues due to the unfriendly atmosphere. She hadn't expected the Director to necessarily working with her at the Tylcarros med center; but it made sense so Van-Derveld could potentially reassess what her teams were doing based on the results of the tests the doctor would perform right upon arrival.

When the Director asked if she had anything to add, Lorna nodded and looked at the medical team.

"Heed the warnings about detox procedures. We will not use the Fresco protocol to handle the addiction. This would provoke massive organ shutdown in the natives due to their physiology. Stick to the directives I have given you."

The Fresco protocol was a common one, but were deadly to certain types of species, including the Cona natives. She had noted that a couple of the medical personnel she had been assigned seemed fresh out of med school, and she had seen people make mistakes while meaning well.

"Nurse Adlir, you will be our liaison with the local medical staff."

She didn't plan to divide people further, for they would need all hands on deck, but having someone else handle communication would simplify matters both at the hospital and once aboard the mobile unit.

Lorna gave a curt nod to the Director, and stepped back, having said her last piece for now.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

"That is the mission. Search and report. Heal the sick. No heroics in the field or on the exam table. Anyone going outside protocols without explicit orders from me or the doc are going to find themselves on the first transport back here scrubbing freshers." The room went silent at the promise and slowly heads nodded in understanding. Grace had zero tolerance for heroics. A completely hypocritical view considering the heart attacks she caused the upper echelon of Alliance Command.

"Excellent." The edge was gone from her voice as the Director relaxed her stance. "We leave in 20. Enough time for one last equipment check. Dismissed."

Chairs scrapped along the floor as the teams dispersed, muttering quietly to themselves. Whether or not Grace was being discussed, discourteous or with complaints, she cared little. What mattered was the work, saving lives, and making sure the attacks didn't happen again. It was the only thing keeping her grounded right now.

Instead of focusing on the lack of sleep that started since Dasquian left for his op, Grace focused on DeLaTour's, who was visually as exhausted as the Director was but unable to hide it.

"Here. Take this when we get on the shuttle." She handed the doctor a tin circle. "Mild sleep tab. Engineered for a short, restful, sleep. It won't make up for all the hours you missed, but it will give your body a quick reboot during the hour in transit."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna appreciated the strong warning against heroics issued by the Director. She had seen people pull such stunts in the past, and more often than not, it was more of a mess than anything else. Sometimes it made sense, but the situation was already dire enough without having to juggle casualties that could have been avoided. She saw a few semi averted glare at the mission leader's words, but she knew first hand that some people could talk and that it wasn't worth thinking about it. The doctor had learned that the hard way while studying on imperial ground many years ago. When violent altercations happened, she had had to stand her ground, but whispers and rumors had otherwise flown over her head from a young age.

She was surprised when Van-Derveld handed her a tin circle with mild sleep tab. She took it without hesitation and slid it inside one of her pockets. "Thank you, Ma'am." She had made sure that everything she needed to bring for the mission was aboard her shuttle, but she hadn't included herself and her sleep in the equation, a regular occurrence for her.

"I'll check the medical equipment," she told the Director, following up on what had been said at the end of the briefing.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

"Same. See you in 20, Doctor."

The two oversaw their teams during equipment checks before the Hope's crew loaded it onto the shuttle. It wasn't long that they were on the way, and on time.

Grace answered a communication from Bryna while in transit, reassuring her that she was fine and that this op may not be as much of a blue milk run as Dasquian's, but the Director was confident it would be a success. She missed her ...

Daughter still didn't feel right. Not yet, but she cared greatly for the girl.

She felt the shuttle's turbulence as they moved into Cona's atmosphere and locked down her datapad.

"Confirmation with Cona High Command, Director!" Kiera, one of her agents, called from the cockpit. She was a veteran of smaller ops but had a good eye for details and a disarming presence when questioning beings. "We're cleared for Tylcarros Medpad. Landing in 10."

Another bout of turbulence jostled a head against Grace's shoulder. She heard a muffled gasp and scanned the crew sitting here in the troop cabin. The offender wasn't easily weeded out due to the engines purring and the piloting crew on comm.

Quirking a brow at DeLaTour, she realized that the sleep tab kept the xenobiologist sound asleep and she had no idea who she was leaning on.

"I'm not a pillow, Doctor." Grace shrugged her shoulder, nudging her elbow against DeLaTour's side. "Time to wake up anyway. We're almost here."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

While Lorna was set on this mission being a success, going through the briefing in due time, and checking the equipment without hiccup or delay, built up her faith in how the team would work once on the ground. She didn't expect things to go smoothly on Cona, given the crisis situation they had on hand; but if they all did their job to the best of their capabilities and even beyond, they could make a difference. Not having to worry about playing baby sitter to the agents was also something Lorna appreciated; and Van-Derveld's professionalism was also something that increased her confidence in the overall team. Working with no-nonsense individuals was very important to her, especially after having put up with less than optimal people in the past, and even saying that about some of them was being too kind.

She took the sleeping tab as soon as she had buckled up aboard the shuttle, not wasting any precious time she could steal to recoup before they made it to Cona.

She suddenly realized that someone was talking to her and that something was nudging her. She opened her eyes at once, shaking the sleepiness off. She realized she had ended with her head on the Director's shoulder. Straightening up at once, she gave a look at Van-Derveld.

"Well, the sleeping tab thought otherwise," she quipped dryly.

She definitely felt better than during the briefing. It wasn't perfect; but it was a significant improvement; and she was there for it.

While the engines were still roaring, she felt the rumble and the change of direction that foreshadowed their imminent landing, which answered her question of how far they were.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

She let the comment from the doctor slide, knowing it was the sleep tab talking. It was time to get to work anyway.

"Masks on." Her voice carried over the repulsors whirring as the shuttle slowed and began to lower.

Quickly Grace slipped on the breather with practice ease, counted her spare canisters and stood to address the team.

"Soon as we land and those doors open, we work fast moving supplies out to the cargo lifts. Cona gov has cordoned one off for our use to quickly load up our transports."

The med team was already split into helping the agents unload and helping DeLaTour in the hospital.

"Tylcarros Med has graciously converted three of their clean rooms for our needs. They're pumping in breathable air so we can take breaks. They've brought in charging stations for our canisters too. This will be available out in the field as well. Several emergency shelters have been erected as you were briefed on. At each blast site, a converted plastent has been modified for our use. It has breathable air for us and run on generators. Keep the gas masks close and take shifts inside the tent. Any malfunctions on the generators and you'll all be sucking in your own taste of poison."

She wasn't being dramatic, just honest, as the shuttle shook when it touched down.

"Move out."

The cockpit crew ran diagnostics as everyone checked in that they're masks were secured. Once the last crew member called out, the landing ramp was lowered.

Grace led the way, expecting the Chief Medical Officer, Governor of Tylcarros, and a small team to meet them.

"Director Van-Derveld... the citizens of Cona are relieved to see you and your team has arrived safely. We are forever grateful that the Alliance sends aid." replied the governor. He ordered his team to begin helping the Alliance crew unload.

"The Alliance is always happy to assist its allies, Governor Ta-ck. But we need to hurry. Let's talk on the way ..." she urged, looking to the doc to come join them. "This is Doctor Lorna DeLaTour. She's one of our top xenobiologists that already has a sound plan on taking care of the afflicted."

The Chief doctor's green, bulbous eyes, took in the Alliance specialist. "We'll be working together closely then, Doctor DeLaTour."

"This is Adde-lkin, the CMO of Tylcarros Med," said Grace, finishing the introductions quickly as they headed to the lifts.

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna had her mask secured in place right on cue. She counted and checked her canisters, running mental counts of minimal versus optimal use. She knew that bodily reactions and exhaustion could deplete supplies quicker than normal. Better safe than sorry, she thought.

Out of habit, she looked around making sure that all agents and medical personnel had done it correctly as well. It was standard procedures; but given the high risks at hand, it didn't hurt she looked at everyone in turn . The faster they got everything ready for transportation, the better. They had no time to waste. While it was no excuse for them to be hasty and sloppy, prompt efficiency was required.

Van-Derveld's update on what Tylcarros Med had provided for them to take short breaks without the masks was a good thing. It was also a telling sign that the Cona government was adamant about supporting the Alliance. It was good, because she knew that sometimes people pleaded for help, even rightfully so, but weren't willing to pull their weight.

She was glad that confirmation went in that everybody was set to go out. She moved out when it was time. She fell in stride with the Director as they met the welcome party. She appreciated that Van-Derveld suggested to talk while walking, because the last thing they needed was to just stand around in a committee.

"Well met, Dr. Adde-Ikin," Lorna replied as they were walking towards the lift.

"Have you been successful with any temporary treatments?"

The doctor shook his head. "Some of our young have responded well to immunization shots, based off Antenx vaccines against an older disease we first thought had similar symptoms to the current pathlogy. Any subject over fifteen had no reaction; and our older population's condition worsened, likely because their system already underwent the vaccine decades ago."

Now in the lift, Lorna was thinking about what this vaccine might entail.

"Please provide my team with all information on that vaccine and the disease it was used for."

It could influence the current options she wanted to investigate.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

While DeLaTour and the CMO talked shop, Grace spared no time in questioning Ta-ck as they arrived at the lifts. They filed in quickly and she got a glimpse of her team efficiently hauling equipment with Cona personnel. They were making good time and would roll out within 30 standard minutes if they kept hustling. Then the hourly reports would start coming in soon after.

The lift doors closed and they began to descend.

"Any new reports on the source of the attacks?"

"We wish otherwise, but no, Director."

"Nothing?" she pressed. "No one has taken credit for the attacks?"

"No. We're still piecing together security feeds ..."

"How far back are you going?"

Ta-ck blinked at the Director interrupting him. "28 hours." Which was the standard Cona day.

"Just a day?" she was perplexed. "You need to go further back than that. Look for consistent beings in the areas of the blast..."

"Which is what we're doing, but our resources are stretched thin due to the multiple attacks, coordinating relief efforts and upping security measures."

"What about an algorithm to help? I can tinker with your hardware. Depending on the specs, it can assist with facial recognition, set parameters to filter out similar vehicles and pedestrian traffic ..."

The lift doors opened and Grace and Lorna were greeted to the chaos that the attacks caused. Gurneys lined the hallways with Arconas in varying degrees of injury or addiction - all bandaged up and most with IV lines hung on the pole attached. She heard the moans of pain, a deeper sound than the ones that took on a higher, groaning, tone that indicated their addiction well before she noticed the textbook gold eyes as the physical manifestation. Medical staff crowded the halls, quickly working their way down a very long line of patients that needed varying degrees of care. She heard doctors barking orders of where to move patients after triage.

Her earlier tirade was already forgotten. Being in the thick of it grounded the Director and focused on the reason she was here - to find those responsible and bring them to justice - not berate an overworked government on how poor their security protocols were for an attack of this magnitude.

"It's like this on every floor, Director." Ta-ck could not hide his sadness. "It's not as bad as it was before, when the addictions were running rampant years ago, but it stings to see our people suffering."

"We'll do everything in our power to figure this out." Her response was firm, giving Ta-ck some hope.

Even if I have to look through all the feed myself ... she silently promised.

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna had tuned out from the conversation between the Director and Ta-ck, instead focusing on her own discussion with Dr. Adde-Ikin. Not only was it why she was here; but it was also was where she could actually make a difference. And they had no time to waste. The Doctor told her that all updated information would be sent within minutes to her team. The blonde was worried that their attempts at treatment might have caused more problems than anything else, at least in sections of the population. Yet she knew too well that such things could happen in cases of emergency.

The moment the lift doors opened, Lorna was reminded that such sights never got easier. It didn't give her much if any pause though. As she stepped outside, her eyes scanned the area, taking in as much information as she could from direct observation. She saw signs on exhaustion on most medical personnel but for the little she could see there was no other signs contrary to the many patients.

She had to remind herself that she was here to handle the addiction situation.

"This way please, Dr. DeLaTour," the Arconas CMO gestured. She nodded and kept looking around as he took them to the lab that had been set up for her team to run tests before they could operate from a mobile unit.

Once there, she pulled all the update info on a holo screen, to start reviewing it. The rest of her team should show up soon enough with the equipment. For now, she put the current info side by side with the tentative protocols she wanted to investigate, in order to touch up on her decisions before starting to run tests. Based on the new details, she worried that one of her three options was already doomed.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Grace's reassurances helped smooth things over with the governor. Her indignation was uncalled for and now they were discussing her previous options in greater detail as they stepped into the lab.

There were three Arconas strapped atop tables, eyes gold with addiction. They were strong and had outbursts that had injured staff, which is why the restraints were necessary. The bacta tanks were currently emptied but on standby in case of immediate use. There were supply carts, cooling units, med dispensers, and medical droids circulating the area in an endless loop of despair.

Her eyes followed one of the droids as it passed her, then near the doctor. DeLaTour's face may be covered by the masks but with Grace's trained eye to see lines crinkle around the doctor's, she immediately knew something was wrong.

"What's the problem?" she asked, coming to stand next to her as the Alliance medical team arrived and fanned the room - setting up equipment, conversing with the droids to know the medical state of the victims present, and prepping the first line of treatment that DeLaTour briefed the team on.

Dr. Adlir led this initiative and spoke up, unaware of her lead's concerns. "We'll be ready in ten, Doctor. Just about done mixing the compounds for testing."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna trusted the team assembled to help her, so she focused solely on the issue at hand. Having only one solid option was going to make things more difficult. While having a strong lead might seem like a good thing, in that case, it meant they had to hope for dear bloody life that it would work. She had bet more on the one she now realized was going to be useless, if not worse.

When the Director spoke to her, she looked at her, not bothering to explain the medical jargon. It wasn't needed.

"One of the two protocols I wanted to test here is almost certainly a waste of time. I will put two people on it; but will focus the rest of our efforts on the other one."

She looked back at the display before her. There was something there that didn't sit well with her, though it was a hunch more than anything else. Part of her thought it might have been manufactured to a greater degree than she had originally believed. The case of the Arconan was that the addiction was definitely air-spread; and while the original one had been quelled well in the past, the way it had been reacting to local medication made her wary.

"Temporary treatment protocol is to be started immediately, while I proceed to testing the other two options."

She briefly looked at Van-Derveld. "If we only have one option left to work with after testing, there is a risk we go beyond the expected time frame."

She never said such things lightly, and she would do everything to keep things on track; but they couldn't risk half-assing a solution with so many lives at stake.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Grace shook her head with confusion, eyes squinting together as she processed this.

"Why even waste time with a protocol that probably won't work? Time would be better spent on what you believe is a proper solution. Then we wouldn't worry about moving past our mission timeline. I will defer to you since this is your specialty, but I rather not chip away what little time we have on likely failure."

Bantha to Girlscout. Got a prelim ETA to the bomb sites.

She held out a hand towards Lorna so the doctor understood she wasn't talking to her but the feed coming through on her earpiece. Lorna had a feed to it as well since anything found onsite could assist the doctor with testing.

"Go ahead."

10 to the first two sites. The mine is furthest but we'll be there in 30. Taking longer with the damage down here but local law enforcement is clearing traffic to expedite it. Delta team will check in with you and Starlight when they land.

It wasn't what she wanted to hear because it was another disappointment. Between DeLaTour's medical detox protocol and this delay, their relief efforts were starting off like poodoo.

"Copy that." She muttered a 'brilliant' under her breath as the transmission ended and looked to Lorna without remorse. The doctor needed sleep more than discussing call signs. "While you were sleeping, I designated you Starlight for the mission. Rather keep it subtle on com despite the enemy knowing the Alliance's involvement."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna was about to retort about the reasoning behind testing that likely useless protocol, but as information came in through the earbuds they both wore. She was a silent listener, but she took the information in. It was a good thing because despite the mayhem they found themselves in the midst of, the Director's callsign was quite the surprise. Even calling it as such was putting it very lightly. If the situation hadn't been as critical, she would have probably had to fight a fit of giggles; but her expression betrayed nothing from her brief musing.

When mention of what had to be her callsign came up, Lorna seemed surprised for the briefest instant; for her mind was busy reorganizing the tests she wanted run in hope to figure something out about the new addictive substance that had been released.

Once the communication ended, the Director confirmed her guess. "Sounds good to me," she simply replied. She appreciated that Van-Derveld had gone ahead and assigned it while she slept.

"To answer your observation about the protocol. I'll test them separately. The one useless for treatment will be tested on a smaller group to be compared with tests ran on people vaccinated, as well as records from the last addiction waves."

She entered information on the holo display and also moved some files to a datapad, to transmit it to the local medical archivists.

"Due to the airborne nature of the substance, it's about impossible to analyze it properly."

That was exactly why given the particular atmosphere of Cona the assholes behind the crisis operated as such.

"Depending on natives' reactions to both that vaccine, older treatments, and molecules in that protocol that used to be an option, we will have more details about the nature of the current substance. If everyone pulls their weight, we should have results from that bunch of tests while we're still working on that other option I am investigating, allowing us to tweak accordingly."

[Grace Van-Derveld]

She agreed that the nature of the substance deployment was making this difficult to help the Arconians. Whoever orchestrated this knew damn well what they were doing. They wanted maximum casualties with lingering effects that were difficult to cure.

"Well ... it's why I picked you for this crisis, Doctor. If anyone can solve this puzzle, it was you," she admitted. "I'll trust your judgement on what you need to conduct your testing, but anything that can be done to keep us on target, while adhering to the safety of your patients, will be optimal."

Her attention drifted to the room for a free computer. "I'll be in here for ease of updates. I'll be pulling security feed to analyze at that terminal..."

She pointed out the free unit in the corner. It would provide a quieter place for Grace to work and kept her out of the way of the bustling room now that Lorna's team took over.

"It will be locked down for my use... so keep the med team clear as much as possible," she cautioned, already cuing the terminal's code in the system on her datapad, securing it with her personal protocol before downloading video data.

Grace would have retired to another room to work, but it was better to have everyone close by so they could move out quickly together. "If anything turns up, I'll let you know. And you've got real time updates from the field ..."

"Oh good," came Dr. Adlir's voice above the lab's din. "Got confirmation that the med transports are fueled and on standby. Ready to roll out as soon as we're done here, Doctor."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Where the announcement of a callsign was acknowledged with merely any surprise, Van-Derveld's admission that she had personally picked Lorna for the mission was met with a brief but obvious look of surprise on the doctor's face. She didn't comment upon it though. While she was honored, she considered that she had to prove herself during the mission, before being in the position to actually thank the Director for any such praise.

"Will do," she replied to Van-Derveld's instruction to stay on target as much as possible. It was her plan; but she understood the Director's reinforcement. It was her job after all, and Lorna knew that while she wasn't on probation given the importance of the assignment, it was still a first professional collaboration.

She appreciated that the Director would stay nearby for now, as well as getting hands on with the situation, for she had seen enough higher ranks be happy to just sit back and bark orders. So far, Van-Derveld walked the talk.

"I'll make sure the team stay away from the terminal, ma'am. And I'll pass on any update."

As Dr. Adlir updated them on the situation of the med transport, she knew it was time to get to work.

"Copy that. Thanks, doctor."

As her team gathered in the lab, she broke them down in to separate groups. Ten people weren't that many but it was still better than she had experienced in the past.

Within twenty minutes, the temporary fix was already supplied to local doctors and nurses by one of Lorna's team members, along with a couple of Alliance medical droids that were brought for easier handling of certain meds. It was a solid good start, that allowed the rest of the visiting personnel to handle the testing.

Dr. Adlir did great to work with the medical center's employees, especially archivists and local experts who had worked through the previous addiction wave several years ago. It helped Lorna and her team adjust the tests they were running both to get more insight into the current substance makeup, and potential detox treatment.

After direct supervision in the first stages, Lorna then devoted most of her attention to the detox research, for they were short on time. The good thing about all working in the same lab was that it was easier for her to switch gears if her help was needed.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Grace anticipated the look of surprise on the doctor's face and braced for the inevitable gratitude that followed. If someone wanted to immediately antagonize her, gushing over being chosen or receiving an earned compliment was the way to do it. She never made choices without doing her research and analyzing what was best for the missions. Compliments, though rare, were deserving which is why being on the receiving end of one was coveted. Grace despised it because the work was important, not earning points with COs to get a promotion. Do your work, put in your time, and focus on what was important - keeping the Alliance safe and secure.

Lorna surprised her and did the opposite. The nonchalant will do was refreshing and professional, but Grace's features betrayed nothing of her approval.

She nodded to both physicians and took her leave at the terminal she commandeered. Quickly she got to work uploading her homegrown facial recognition program titled - Cannok Protocol - named after the annoying creatures on Dxun that consumed mechanical equipment. She thought it an appropriate analogy since she wanted to work through tons of data feeds quickly. Envisioning these squat, bulbous creatures gorging themselves on endless data made her chuckle when she was alone in her office coming up with the programming. It was one of the few times during Dasquian's disappearance that she had felt a momentary sense of peace.

As that ran in the background, she gave Alliance Command a summation of their initial findings, potential delay that DeLaTour mentioned, and despite the lack of resources Cona had, they were well prepared to receive the team's help. Soon Delta team checked in over the com as promised.

Touched down at the mines and checked in with local law enforcement. Gear's stored in the plastent. Air units are working fine inside. We're gonna be briefed in 5.

"Copy that, Delta team. Good hunting."

Alpha team checking in. We're working on identifying materials used at the starport but everything's coming up common. Means this shit was homegrown or the bastards used mass produced materials that wouldn't be easily traced.

Her jaw clenched with irritation, but that would explain why there were no leads yet. Bravo team checked in with the same conclusion at the shopping district.

"We'll confirm with Delta team's findings, but I'm sure they'll discover that the bomb was made with materials found around the mine too. Our instigator is making it difficult, but not impossible, to find them. Keep at it."

There was a barrage of copy thats from the comm and Grace checked on her program.

100% Downloaded - Rendering complete. Initiating Cannok Feeding Frenzy.

Whose to say the Director didn't have a sense of humor - as evident by the small cannok icon hopping up and down on the lower left part of the screen, gnawing on a power converter. Images rapidly flashed as the program boxed points of note with a line that etched across the screen to a pop up bubble that categorized every living being and vehicle.

It would take time and the Director busied herself with answering a response back from Bryna as she cued up another window to search the holonet with key phrases that pertained to the bombings. It would disregard trivial updates but anything that was considered breaking news would immediately play.

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna's stress level was rising as they worked through the different test series. She was also aware that her tiredness was only growing as time went on; but there was no other way for her to get rest, and she would soldier through exhaustion. It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last.

She munched on a couple of ration bars, and a couple of cups of stimcaf, in between reviewing incoming results and working on the best formula for a detox product. While she checked on the other work stations at times, she was mostly working at the central terminal in the room, with the massive holo display looking like a chaotic mess of equations and lists to the untrained eye; but the doctor knew her way around all of it, having it organized as it worked for her, feeding information to others on a need-to-know basis.

She had established three possible options for the detox treatment; the one they would eventually choose would depend on the different tests currently run. She hated the waiting game; but she knew too well that it was a necessary part of the process.

Lorna received the feed updates about what the agents found, or rather didn't find. Reports from the medical team's liaison also came in, at least confirming that the temporary relief already administered at the med center were helping. It was a start at least.

After almost two hours, results about the nature of the current addictive substance came through. Lorna and a couple of her team members reviewed them thoroughly, but most of them seemed rather useless to get a good grip on what was at play.

When the added tests came back with extensive results, Lorna felt relief wash over her. It was far from being over; but it was a huge breakthrough. Based on the resistance or conflicting effect with some of the vaccines, it revealed one of the components of the substance.

She walked up to the Director's terminal at once.

"The substance is locally manufactured for sure. One of its core components is alarens virosi. It's a plant that only grows in three regions. My team is marking them up on a map and will relay it to you and your team. It is normally used for certain ointments in a very diluted way."

This meant local hands and medical personnel were involved, regardless of who pulled the strings.

Working on a hunch, Lorna asked for another series of tests. She knew it would eat twenty more minutes of the precious time; but if it came out as she thought it might, it would make a major difference.

In the meantime, she narrowed down to two possible versions of the treatment, adjusting the formula on both for better long-term efficiency. The recovery would be a tad longer, but it would be a better solution.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Grace was full of stimcaf too, knocking it back with surprisingly more gusto than the doctor when it was her turn for breaks in the clean rooms. She was constantly monitoring progress as the teams checked in, utterly baffled that there was nothing found at the sites.

This was smelling more and more like an inside job after all. She hadn't dismissed the possibility, but Grace had figured it highly unlikely since introducing addiction to your populace was extreme. What was so important that whoever caused this would risk so much chaos and suffering that it would be worth it?

DeLaTour's update at least produced a tangible lead and further substantiating that this was domestic terrorism. She decided to expand the search algorithms to include known criminal elements near the system while reaching out to the field teams. She was playing up on a hunch that there was still outside help to make these attacks possible.

"Alpha, Bravo, Delta teams. Update on your priorities. Starlight got us a lead and the info's being uploaded as we speak. Need you to work this new info ASAP. Keep the blast sites as base ops, but you're going to be traveling. Friendly reminder to keep track of your canister usage. No more luxuries while away."

Copy that. We're getting the data now.

Yeah, we're getting it too.

Same.

We'll review and hit 'em for info. Soon as we have anything, Starlight will get the uploads.

"Good. Keep up with the hourly updates and ..."

No heroics! We know, Girlscout.

Son of a bantha! Did ya really cut off Girlscout?!

Are ya barking mad?!

Uh ... ... ... sorry, Girlscout. There was a short cough at the end.

She rolled her eyes and focused on her cannok icon, thinking it was now chewing on Bravo leader's head. "Just get on with it. Girlscout out."

A tension headache was just starting to gnaw right behind her eyes. She pressed her thumb and index fingers to smooth along the curves of her brows. Perhaps another stimcaf was needed and she was in the middle of turning her chair to address DeLaTour when the terminal lit up with a match.

"What have we here?" She boxed up her annoyances and headache, willing it away. The rush of adrenaline in finding another lead gave her clarity and focus. She pulled up the image of an Arconian that hadn't stepped on their homeworld in a very long time and was confirmed at all the blast sites a week prior to the attacks.

She pounded a fist on the console in victory once his file started coming up. "Gotcha."

Fingers danced along the controls, uploading the information to Lorna. "Anv'dos. Works as an outlaw tech for the Anjiliac Clan. They're known for transporting illegal substances, mainly spice of course because they're Hutts, but they also dabble in slave trading, gambling, and get this ..."

Grace swiveled around to face Lorna, tho she had to direct her gaze upwards since the doc was standing. " ... they specialize in extortion. Want to bet that the clan made a deal with someone here to help elevate them during this crisis? Be real lucrative to have a powerful and influential friend that used this for their own benefit. Get the substance here on Cona to amplify the drug's effects, detonate it with near untraceable materials created by an outlaw tech, and watch the fallout. Just need to hold out for the proper moment to make their move."

She eyed Anv'dos' mugshot and frown as something nagged at her. "I just feel they weren't anticipating Alliance involvement. Or at least this quickly mind you. Cona was quick to call us in and that could explain why there hasn't been anyone taking credit for the attack. Maybe the attacks were too good and got out of control."

She waved off that thought. "Doesn't matter right now. We need to figure out who the Anjiliac's have in their pockets. I'm willing to bet they made grandiose promises they would later reneged on to make whoever this Arconian savior a puppet."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Van-Derveld's reaction to her update was to do something in her data analysis, and something on the monitor caught Lorna's attention. She wasn't the snooping kind at all, hating when people looked over her own shoulder with a passion. But as the Director hadn't said anything directly to her, and while she was contacting the various teams, to which the doctor listened via the feed, she squinted her eyes because she couldn't believe her first impression was the correct one.

Bloody hell, she wasn't hallucinating.

There was a cannok munching on stuff in a corner of the Director's screen.

That was something new, and she was glad the Director wasn't looking at her at this moment, because it was probably the biggest shock she had had so far coming from the brunette, even more than her being callsigned Girlscout, which said a lot.

One day, she'd have to ask her how the heck did that cannok thing happen; but now wasn't the time.

She was relaying some information and checking on real-time updates from the progress of the tests for the treatment protocol, while the Director was fine-tuning her own research. They were making progress, despite several hurdles. Lorna hoped that they would stay closer to the original ETA to transfer to the mobile unit.

She listened to what Van-Derveld explained next about the lead she had got.

"And if they're in the business of spice, they might have some personnel able to have treatment available, which can be a perfect way to ensure extortion works better, as well as making a name in the black market. I've seen that on Ryloth. Create a health crisis, and show up as the remedy bearer to be the hero of the day."

As Van-Derveld had said, the Hutt had once again proved that subtlety was a lost art on many of their kinds.

"Is there any current pharmaceutical trades between Cona and off-worlders? Or any medical conference scheduled in the region, or with Arconan specialists? That might be an angle."

She had seen scientists be ready to do everything including harming others to get their names to be known and to get their bank accounts fattened. And sadly she had seen that on both sides in her career.

"We're making progress on the detox protocol. I'll update you, Director," she added before returning to work with her team for her input was needed for the next step.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

"Will do," was all she said, unawares of DeLaTour's thoughts about her pet icon.

Grace sent out a text communication about possible angles that the doctor mentioned to the field teams. She also ran the parameters through the Alliance database, hoping to get a lead of known Anjiliac associates that may be working the sector. It was more tedious work that required patience and the director had an abundance of it. It may prove to be a dead end, but she had to try.

She stood up, pulled her arms over her head to loosen sore stiff muscles, and decided to stretch her legs by sweeping the room. Grace was a ghost as she passed through - not one tech or doctor had to adjust their path because she was walking the floor and courteous to move out of the way. She heard quips and phrases of medical jargon, heavily threaded sentences laced with frustration, and DeLaTour's voice offering remedies for the protocols. The doctor was doing an impressive job hiding the exhaustion from her voice. The director could recognize it from a lifetime of practice.

There was a passing interest in the molecules that were floating over the main exam table. Lines of text scrolled rapidly next to it with DeLaTour's team adding variables to perfect the main protocol. What she did glean was somewhat hopeful. The temporary remedy was providing relief, which was a miracle by itself. At least the suffering could be appeased until the doctor found a cure with little side effects.

She moved to the back of the room, grabbed a ration bar for later, and sat back at her work station, unlocking the terminal with a password she changed monthly. Her stroll was well timed, ensuring she would be back for the hourly reports.

Nothing of note was mentioned but the team did confirm the alarens virosi in the regions the doctor mentioned. What was curious were noticeable patches of disturbed soil at Bravo's site. That expanded the search further to medical facilities nearby - these were local doctors and immediate care sites that were being used to deal with the overflow of patients. The teams were working on questioning the staff if they had seen anyone suspicious in the area.

Grace ran the list of medical personnel that may have had dealings with off world medical shipments that came in through the past month. Four Arconians of interest came up:

Dr. Aiu-na - Medical Director of Cona's Correctional Facility
Dr. Kidr-Va - Medical Officer for Cona Disease Control
Dr. Adde-lkin - Chief Medical Officer of Tylcarros Medical.
Dr. Hae-d - Chief Resident of Cona Medical Institute


All of these individuals would have reason for medical equipment coming to them from off world. Just who was the shady one that wanted a hero promotion? Hopefully it wasn't Adde-lkin and minimized the list in case his staff happen to pass by to see what she was working on.

Thanks to the welcoming government of Cona, she pulled up shipping manifests that were cleared at the spaceports. All sorts of medicine and equipment were cataloged from the previous weigh in station prior to landing on the planet. She pressed further reading over the compartment sizes of the freighters, the cargo containers and stifled a yawn. She blinked, forcing wakefulness before moving onto the next manifest.

She looked confused as the shipping documentation from one drop that was approved as it was not weighted the same since checking in through the Arkanis Sector. It was signed off as a clerical error and confirmed with a spaceport official. It looked harmless, and these sorts of errors did legitimately occur. She checked who the shipment went to and it was Dr. Hae-d. She cross referenced the manifest with the delivery at the med school, confirming that it arrived. She dug deeper and pulled up his financial records both private and publicly funded for the school, reading an article that the system flagged about the Chief Resident that came out last year. His grants may be cut on research dedicated to expanding vaccination efforts to babies and small children in relation to ...

"... salt. You sonofabitch..." she hissed. Fingers danced along the terminal, quickly feeding in data to find out where the doctor's location was as his financial records came through. Hae-d was dirt poor and that would make him desperate.

"Girlscout here. Alpha team, new orders. We've got a wampa loose that needs a hand. Mind chipping in?" The information had Hae-d's frequented locations. Mostly he spent time in his lab at the school.

Copy that, Girlscout. Be happy to assist.

"Transmitting coordinates now. Usual protocol 3 4 Zeta Niner. Confirm receipt."

Second ticked by before Alpha was back on the line.

Confirmed, Girlscout. Are we getting an escort?

Grace erased the terminal data after transmitting every byte of it to her datapad and stood up. "Yes. Converge in ..."

She checked her wrist chronometer and did a quick mental calculation. " ... 35 minutes."

Copy that. Alpha team out.

The datapad was compiling the information she discovered and sent it to DeLaTour's personal one. It was currently locked down tighter than a prisoner on Stars End, but the attachment that popped up on her computer came with the urgent title - WE NEED TO SPEAK NOW. She couldn't be certain that the staff here didn't have a connection to Hae-d and tip him off.

"Doctor?" Grace made it clear that whatever Lorna was working on, it had to wait, but she sounded polite in asking. "A moment of your time."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna was relieved that they could focus on the recovery protocol for the detox at this point. They had found out what they could with the amended series of tests for the substances. It was up to the Director and her team to hunt the bad guys now. Yet the doctor was glad that she had been able to contribute thanks to her discussion with Dr. Adde-Ikin.

Once she was back at the lab station, she and the other personnel appointed to the task went back to work on the damn detox issue. Those working with her directly made for most of the ten team members, for only a couple of them remained working as liaison with local medical professionals for smoother action.

As she was changing formulas and adding new details to one of the holo displays above the terminal, she caught sight of the Director stretching and pacing around the room. She didn't let her attention wander off; but she had the habit to keep track of what was going on in her lab. Van-Derveld was a true ghost though and moved around everyone with easiness and efficiency. She was a far cry from a ravenous cannok for sure!

"Dr. DeLaTour, there is no way we can implement that without running another battery of tests for at least over a week."

The blonde stared at the Bothan intern next to her. She understood the concerns for safety. She had the very same; but it was also why they were adjusting before giving any sort of treatment.

"We need to switch xelonon for half a dosage of adranx. It should let us run quicker tests, and adranx has been used in the past with Arconans with great success, and it has no conflicting effects with the current substance core ingredients."

The look on the intern's face was one of shock, but she eventually nodded, as she connected the dots.

"Run a simulation with a three percent modified reton as well. It might help the transition from the current medication."

She heard her personal datapad beep, which meant a subtle meow from her Jax Poky; but she couldn't look at it right away, for she was finalizing another testing series. She was reaching for it and saw the Director's message when she heard the brunette's voice call her name.

She nodded and walked towards Van-Derveld, uploading one last set of instructions for the rest of the team to work on as not to waste any time while she would be talking with the Director.

"Yes, M'am?"

[Grace Van-Derveld]

"Follow me."

The Director left no room for discussion as she escorted Lorna out of the lab and across the hall to the clean room. She locked the door, heard the familiar hiss of the air being sucked out of the room, then the cool jets pumping breathable air back in. It tussled Grace's hair until the lights went from red to blue, indicating that it was safe.

She pulled off her mask and held up a finger, making it clear to not talk. Like every other time Grace was in the clean room for a break, she checked the control panel and attached a universal jammer. A tiny blue light appeared, indicating that the device was working and so far, the room had not been bugged. Thankfully there were no cameras in here as it would be rude to have anyone looking in on the crew using the fresher.

Now that their conversation was not being recorded, she addressed the doctor. "I've narrowed down a suspect and relayed all pertinent information to your personal 'pad. Not that I expect trouble but if something goes south, at least you have a copy."

She held out her hand, pointing to her datapad in a hurry. "May I?"

With a groan, Lorna reluctantly handed it over but watched the director closely because she was territorial with her devices.

With a few key strokes, the attachment opened and quickly she looked through the security protocols on the datapad. Satisfied that it was locked down sufficiently, she handed it back to DeLaTour. Grace could care little about background images or icons. That was the doctor's business.

"Dr. Hae-d, Chief Medical Resident at Cona Medical Institute. He's been working on a vaccine for infants and children. Just last year his funding was in jeopardy. He sunk a lot of credits into his research and has accumulated a substantial debt. You'll find his published research notes there on what he's done. Not sure if you've accessed them at all yet with what you're doing. Maybe it'll help."

She shrugged and continued, she wasn't here to talk med. "Between his debt, his shoddy progress, and recent deliveries at his lab that raised a few flags - he's my prime suspect. He has motive. Probably desperate. The perfect pawn for the Hutts. Probably won him over with grandiose tales of being a hero over a crisis he's been trying to cure. As you overheard, I'm meeting with Bravo team to bring Hae-d in."

Grace was fairly certain that Lorna could piece together the code speak she just heard with this new information that the agents were going to extract Dr. Hae-d.

"Why we needed to talk like this. I don't know if anyone on staff here's close to him. Don't need someone tipping him off. Fairly certain he's at his lab and I'm hopeful we'll have enough incriminating evidence found onsite. Alpha and Delta teams are questioning the local staff where your plant was found missing. We're hoping one of the medical staff saw something since it was clear whoever was grabbing it was doing it in a hurry. They'll check in if they get any leads.

What I need from you is to let me know if any of the medical staff here are acting off? Or do you suspect any of them with this new information?"

If that were the case, Grace would have to let Bravo team move ahead and stay here to make sure DeLaTour's research wouldn't be sabotaged.

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna had observed enough of the Director already, even on a critical mission and with significant lack of sleep, to know not to even think about discussing the issued order. She dutifully followed, intrigued as to what might have provoked such a decision; but she knew she would find soon enough.

The clean room stay was welcome regardless. Once they were good to remove the mask, Lorna did exactly that with hers, rubbing the bridge of her nose a bit. For whatever reason breathing masks, no matter what model, always made her nose feel squished, though at least this one didn't give her a headache. The lack of sleep was enough for that.

As long as she could keep going and avoid brain fogs, she was good though. And caf and ration bars had definitely been useful for that.

What Van-Derveld revealed shed some light right away on the need for secrecy. She also found herself hoping that there wouldn't be extensive trouble, and she realized it made sense that the Director trusted her with the information.

The whole persona datapad reliance also made sense, and at least she didn't show too much annoyance at having to let Van-Derveld handle her device. She was a decent team player and didn't mind sharing work stations for medical purposes, but she was fairly territorial with her personal belongings.

She didn't waste time as the device was handed back to her. She looked at the files, while listening to Van-Derveld's explanations. She reviewed the titles of the different publications.

"I have actually gone through two of them a couple of hours ago while checking for potential information. His original ideas were sound, but he seems to have gone astray in the last years. It's possible that his desperation over profit and then getting out of debt have clouded his judgement as well. Yet the miracle remedy he might have on hand if he works with the Hutts might be a lead to another addiction that might be spice based. There has been a couple of examples for "fake" saviors and easy short term cash in the past decade."

While it wasn't for sure how it had panned out, this might be relevant for further questioning once the Intelligence Team went to arrest the doctor. Even if the doctor wasn't aware of the Hutt's scheme, he made for an easy pawn as Van-Derveld had suggested.

What the Director said next about the current staff at the hospital made Lorna frown, as she reviewed who she knew had been working with her team.

"Dr. Fou-lern, and Intern As-eda. They have quarrelled a lot when they thought no one was looking. I am unsure whether it could be related, but As-eda has also appeared delayed in providing information when requested to act as liaison with one of the medical archivists."

It might not make them suspects but under the new light, Lorna preferred being safe than sorry, especially given all the lives at stake.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

"Quarrels can just be professional posturing," she said while queuing information on her 'pad regarding this intern. "Dallying with information is another matter entirely."

Grace's face said it all after reading As-eda's file. "Blast it. Hae-d might have a friend here after all. As-eda's in his last year of residency at Cona Med. Means our suspect has ample contact with your intern. It isn't odd by itself that he's here since it's all Arconians on deck due to the crisis, so it'd be easy for someone loyal to Hae-d to slip on in here and transmit operational updates. Subtle ways of sabotaging efforts. Just in time for what you're proposing, I wonder ..."

She pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaustion trying to take hold of her. Her mind was weary, her body close to following, and it angered her that some indebted doctor was too weak to accept failure. His frail, desperate, ego had to win and the cost mattered little. Hae-d could have reached out to other professionals for assistance, combine research - as there were many on Cona that wanted a cure for their affliction. Instead he took a handout by criminals that cared nothing about his desire to save his people. She'll never understand that desperation and yet she does at the same time.

It's just like a lie that spirals out of control. Just a small tiny white lie that forces you to fabricate even smaller threads of deceit to ensure that the initial lie is secured. Hae-d was doing that right now. But his lie was out of control because he trusted Hutts. He trusted false promises because he wanted to be the hero that his planet adored. He wanted that lie to secure him a place in history.

Grace had no desire to go down in history anymore. She did her duty because it gave her drive, purpose, and passion. Nothing mattered but her duty to protect the weak and innocent from evil. That is all Grace felt she had left since being recruited by the rebel agent Keth into the, then, Rebellion. Corulag tried to break her and almost did. Corulag - that glimmer of being the first female graduate a mere dream of fanciful youth. Part of her died at the academy after what she endured and that piece of her tainted heart would never return.

Emotions were weakness, one of the few things she agreed with the Jedi of old. Yet that philosophy recently warred because of her blasted partner.

Ex-partner, she had to remind herself.

She sighed and pulled her thoughts back to the present, dropped her arm and looked to the doctor with eyes no longer tired. "I'm going to stay here and have a chat with As-eda."

Her tone was full of poisonous promise despite how coolly the words left her lips. "I don't trust him. He may try to sabotage your work as you get closer to a stable remedy. Hae-d won't like that."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna nodded to Van-Derveld's observations about professional posturing. She had seen that many times, which was why she had only pointed out these two who also proved tardy in providing information. Lorna had done some "posturing" in the past, when younger during her years in imperial training.

She had dropped such things earlier than others, as soon as she had realized that she was an anomaly with problematic views by her superiors and teachers' standards. Simply giving her everything and some more, being the best she could and standing up for her values had been enough to leave a mark, even one that could still come bite her one day. As much as she had spent years helping as a doctor, even for lesser pay if she change lives, she had continuously carved a name for herself in the medical community with certain research and case studies, when she felt something was worthy to be shared.

She pursed her lips at what Van-Derveld explained about As-eda. It might be nothing or it might be everything. They couldn't afford risk at this point.

"Does his course history indicate any class taken with As-eda or close collaborators?"

While she trusted the Director to be thorough, she knew that certain students wanted to vie for the professor's attention, ready to be lapdogs out of ambition, even though it seemed contradictory to her. And if they had similar personalities, it might make them good partners into trying to sabotage any joint efforts with the Alliance to bring a cure.

"I also believe that most of the local team working directly with me were from this medical facility and not from other institutes."

For a brief moment, she had the impression that the Director was pulled inward, likely out of tiredness, she guessed. It was short enough, and they both were running on lack of sleep, the kind that no amount of caf would fully counter; so she didn't interrupt. Even if it was only a few instants of respite she could give Van-Derveld, she would do it.

The look in the brunette's eyes was sharper when their gazes met again.

"Even with further tweaking, we're within one hour of having a solution. So the critical time frame is basically now."

If it had only been about her, she wouldn't have wanted Van-Derveld to stay when she could have gone into the field with the other teams to arrest the main suspect. The only reason she didn't argue with the brunette was the treatment she had been working on, which would serve thousands of people at the very least.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

"Extensively," answered Grace in response to the course work. "He's taken every class he could with Hae'd."

She nodded in confirmation to Lorna's information on the rest of the team. "I doubt all of them have ulterior motives. Some might be sympathetic to Hae'd, but it doesn't mean they're all in on this. As desperate as he is, I can't see him involving that many. A last year resident that has followed him around since his first year of school is questionable. And let's not forget the one that helped pick your plant. Delta team is working that lead. Alpha will back up Bravo if needed since I'll remain here."

Grace was purposefully roping the doctor into the plan because there will be a lot of chatter on the links soon. She had no doubt that DeLaTour could multitask listening in while working on the serum, but it was best to be informed. The confirmed time frame solidified her decision in staying.

"Right then." She tucked her pad away into a pants pocket and went over to the control panel, purposefully taking her time in removing the jamming device. "I'll remove As-eda shortly and keep him occupied."

Which meant locking him in a room to have a chat under false pretenses.

"You make sure to get my attention if anything looks suspicions when he's out of the equation."

She popped the jammer free and slipped on her mask, already updating the teams and ready to move out once Lorna was ready.

"Bravo team. Change of plans. Alpha team will escort you. Starlight needs an assist."

Copy that, Girlscout. You 5x5? You went dark.

"Quite. Needed alone time with Starlight. Delta team ... any news on that perp?"

She hit the panel when Lorna gave her the all clear sign, the lights going blue to red, and opened the door for the doctor. She didn't want to keep her any longer so close to a breakthrough.

Delta team here. Found out that a tech came back to Tyressian Immediate Care looking pretty grungy after an extended break. The facility is close to the site where Starlight's plant was taken. Tech stated he went to check on his sister that was ill, which checks out at the med center. We're tracking him down now and piecing together his whereabouts for the last week.

"Good. Keep me updated, Girlscout out."

She got the main door for Lorna as well and after seeing the doctor in, Grace made a beeline for As-eda. Her approach was non-threatening, but there was a longer stride that displayed false urgency. "Dr. As-eda?"

He looked up from his terminal, bulbous eyes blinking once in annoyance at being disturbed. "What is it Director?"

"I received word from Dr. Adde-lkin that we need more hands in surgery. They're short on experience and wants you there to oversee patients in recovery."

He balked. "We're close to finding a substantial remedy for the addicted. Surely someone else can take care of that."

"Afraid not. Everyone is swamped and can't be pulled to OR or there's a safety risk. And there's a helluva risk of patients crashing after surgery if not watched properly. You're needed there now, doctor. Adde-lkin wouldn't budge on this because out of everyone in this room, you have logged the most surgical hours and are the most senior resident here."

It was a flawless lie after reading his file and saw it had worked when his shoulders sagged forward.

"Very well, Director." He locked his station down and grabbed his personal datapad. "Lead the way ..."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna frowned at what Van-Derveld said about As-eda. That definitely sounded like the teacher's pet kind who would do anything to gain approval and potentially fame. The doctor understood how connecting with a given professor could lead to build professional ties; but there was a difference between binging on someone's classes, and being selective and organized about one's education.

"I've not seen anything else suspicious in the team, though I'll admit that I was also spending much of my energy to advance the tests. So I wouldn't be fully certain nothing passed over my head."

She hated admitting such things, but they were putting all cards on table given the critical situation, so Lorna preferred being honest with the Director, even when her ego took a hit in the process.

She checked the chrono at her wrist, not trying to cut her discussion with the brunette short, but just to check when the next batch of results would come her way so they would hopefully be almost done fine-tuning things.

She then listened to the director as they got ready to go back outside.

"Will do," she replied promptly about keeping her updated.

She was relieved that Van-Derveld would get the intern away from her team, especially given the new info and how close they were to have a solution.

The doctor gave her full attention to the exchange between the Director and the various teams, taking in all the current info, so she had a solid idea of the plan. She gave a thankful nod to the mission leader, because it would make it easier for her to have that in the background and follow well enough, while mostly focusing on the remedy.

She returned to the lab with the Director and witnessed the exchange between her and As-eda. His reaction could have worked both ways, though she couldn't help finding his annoyance at helping with surgeries utterly disgusting. Sure they needed the treatment, but attempting to avoid helping patients in immediate danger was against what doctors stood for. She was glad when he eventually left with Van-Derveld.

Now As-eda was in the brunette's hands; and she had her own part to do.

New results came in within minutes, and Lorna could tell that they had a three-part protocol to significantly put the ill through detox process. It had a risk of being quite painful; but it would work, and the side effects were minimal, besides the painful part, but nothing that couldn't be handled, even for really young or elderly.

Two of the products were easily available, and she sent a notification, which went also through the Director's feed, for further supplies of it. A significant amount should be found in local pharmaceutical warehouses, but the Alliance might have to deliver more. Lorna had one of her team members run numbers in liaison with the local medical professionals to know how much would be needed.

Lorna had done her best to have at least some of the established protocol within easy reach. The last part though would prove problematic.

"Dr. DeLaTour, it appears that there isn't enough stock of one of the ingredients to produce the last product."

She looked at the other doctor and frowned. It made little sense. While she had already been doing automated transfer of the ongoing research to her encrypted personal datapad, she did a manual right at this point.

"It can't have been wiped out that much. This isn't a widely used ingredient."

The nurse shook her head. "That's based on the report we received."

Lorna realized that someone must be tampering further with the reports, even now that the suspicious intern had been taken away. And she had no way to know which one of the many local medical personnel it could be.

She took a step back and reached out through the feed.

"Starlight here. Someone's tampering with medical stock records. I need to know location and availability of substance RF-972 ASAP..."

On cue, the power went out in the lab, all work station whining before shutting down.

"Power was cut off in the lab," she said while checking that her personal datapad was safely tucked in a zipped pocket, before trying to make her way towards the hallway.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Grace was biding her time for the right moment to stuff the intern into an empty to chat when things started to go sideways over the comm. The doctor was extremely concerned about a missing substance required for her research. More of Hae-d's lies were unraveling.

"Bravo and Alpha team. Keep an eye on Starlight's request when you pick up your order. We're famished here." The agents would understand the code - the substance was probably at Hae-d's lab and it was critical that if it were, to get it here ASAP.

When she heard the power went out, Grace's posture loosened for what was about to come next. Her expressionless gaze scanned the hallway because she was now out of time to play it subtle with the idiot intern. She just needed the right moment that wouldn't disturb the sick being attended.

Gotcha.

Unfurled rage expanded across her features as she grabbed As-eda by the labcoat and swung his body against the free wall at the next junction. Personnel scattered, most gasped and cried out at the sudden display of violence - even patients that had enough strength and sense tried to scoot up to see what was going on.

"Who cut the power?!" she barked as As-eda's head lolled forward from the impact.

"What ... what are you -" He snarled in defiance. "... How dare -"

He didn't have a chance to finish as she backhanded him across the face.

"I've don't have time for your lies! I know you've been stalling information to DeLaTour! I don't give two shits anymore why you followed Hae-d's lead on this, but you have one fucking chance to make this right. Your idol caused this disaster and reached out to Hutts."

As-eda's black eyes blinked rapidly, mouth falling open as he struggled to find words. "No. No... he ... he wouldn't trust them..."

"Well de did. The Hutts are probably banking on this crisis to extort him later or if the doc's right, use this as a way to introduce a new addiction through this so called cure that Hae-d has." She was nose to nose with him by this time. "There's no such thing as a miracles, As-eda. No immediate glory. Just peoples lives on the line because of someone's vanity."

She roughly pulled him off the wall and forced him to look down both ways of the hallway with dozens of gold eyes staring back at him. Even with the commotion, there were still wails of pain from injuries, giddy laughter from the high. "Is the price worth the prize? A false prize when this all comes full circle?"

Alpha and Brave in position. Ready for extraction of target.

Her link exploded with commands and commotions once they had eyes on Hae-d.

"Well?" she hissed when As-eda said nothing as he took in the misery around him.

"No. No it's not, Director," he said as his shoulders sagged with shame.

"Then who cut the power?" she asked, speaking gently with a non-threatening tone. Grace knew As-eda was in turmoil and would talk. She even released him.

"Nd-os. They are another intern that is sympathetic ..."

She snapped her fingers at the closest security guard that had cautiously approached. He had been ordered to treat the Alliance as if they were local law enforcement and take orders from them.

"Where are they?" she pressed.

"Somewhere not by the main generators. They were there when the power went down," he admitted with a huff and Grace looked to the security officer. "We do not know where they ran off to."

"Take him into custody and track down Nd-os," she ordered and switch frequencies on her comm, immediately ignoring As-eda's apologies that only came because he was naive fool in over his head and made a choice to do wrong by his people.

"Hope C&C? Director Van-Derveld here. I need you to slice in and take over Tylcarros Med to bring power back in the Nest Lab. Saboteur knocked out emergency power."

Uh ... copy that. But ... should we really be taking over the facility like that? There's protocols -

"We don't have time to ask nicely. Just do it! If the doc can't get the cure up and running, then beings are going to die!"

Captain Vende here. Director ... this is highly unorthodox. The ensign is correct. We need-

She slammed a fist against the wall. "Ultraviolet override command Zeta44289Beta Banda Leaf. I take full responsibility with this decision. Just get power back in there, now!"

There was an audible gasp as the command was entered and then a frustrated sigh came over from the Captain. "Executing your command, Director."

Within a few minutes, power had been restored and when Grace switched frequencies, she was just in time to hear the field team update.

... -ing crate into the transport now. Be at the hospital in 15. Does that ETA work for ya, Starlight?

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna thought that the power had been purposely cut off, which meant that trying to get it back on track and running away from the lab made little sense.

"Everybody, stay on track with assessing what stocks of the two first meds there are on planet. Liaise with the Alliance to figure restocking. We need to have the planet covered within the next three days at latest."

More than that, there would be irreversible damage on a large number of patients. She knew there was a risk; but the two main products would help wait until the third one would be manufactured on planet.

Since her team still had their own datapads, with external access to the system, they could at least stay on top of things this way.

She followed what was going on feed-wise, so she knew what was unfolding out there.

The doctor then triple checked her formula, and knew it was the good one. She checked numbers of what they had on hand to start making it. Reviewing what was accessible, she knew that they had four sites effectively able to manufacture across the planet. By bypassing every other order, they would be able to keep up with the third substance, and take care of everyone affected within five to seven days.

When the power came back on, she didn't waste time, and re-transferred the formula to the main workstation, pulling it on the holo display.

"Have everything except beside the RX-972 ready within ten minutes. We need to produce the first batch and have it tested here within forty minutes."

The Alliance and local medical team did as told and began to contact the storage facilities and requesting more equipment.

She got the feed update. "ETA works. We'll be ready to proceed. We should be able to deliver in seventy minutes."

She returned her attention to the personnel bringing what was needed for the next stage to the lab.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Grace returned to lab with a security escort with orders that unless she or Dr. DelaTour authorized access to the lab, no one was to enter. Anyone exiting were to have an escort that were not Alliance personnel. The search for Nd-so was still underway but she was get real time updates on the hospital search, which was now under lock down. Patients were still being screened but also by security for another layer of safety. Dr. Adde-lkin had been made aware of the new procedures and agreed to them after the director briefed him on the swift change of events - Hae-d's and As-eda's arrest, the cultivated plants that DeLaTour pointed out, the redirected substance that was in immediate need found at Cona Med -he was shocked and deferred to the Alliance on mitigating any further sabotage to the doctor's work since she was close to making her product mobile. He would see that the prisoners were accepted at a high security prison and Grace directed Bravo team there to start questioning them. Alpha team would be here shortly with what the doctor needed and would assist in the search for Nd-so if necessary.

Delta team's lead was still being sorted and didn't have a tag on the tech's location yet. It was possible that they went into hiding and Bravo team would work out another lead with that being when questioning Hae-d. Her team would pluck the information from him eventually and find out all who was involved. Grace was particularly focused on finding the whereabouts of Anv'dos, the outlaw tech who more than likely created the bombs. If they could find him and press him for information, it would be a big boon to the Alliance in stopping one route of illegal drug smuggling.

She stopped a safe distance away from the main lab station where Dr. DeLaTour's team was hastily working, not wanting to be in the way. She felt her comm go off again and spared a glance to confirm it should be ignored. Word had reached Alliance Command about her override order and they wanted to be briefed. It was standard protocol and one that would be taken care of later once she confirmed the lab was safe from any further interruptions.

"Doctor ..." Grace's voice carried over the commotion. "Are we looking good to go?"

The mobile units had been on standby the entire time and waiting on orders for final checks.

[Lorna DeLaTour]

While heavy security used to make Lorna ill-at-ease back in her days with the Empire, mostly due to what it meant in terms of values and their destructive opinions of too many sorts of people, she didn't bat an eye at Grace returning with security escort and placing the lab under lock-down. On the contrary, she felt gratitude because they couldn't afford any further delay. Too many lives were at risk, and she was already annoyed it had held them behind. She also didn't give any further thought about the saboteurs, pushing such considerations to the back of her mind, for it wasn't in her hands, contrary to the treatment. She had all trust in the Director to handle security matters.

At least, her team and the local medical personnel helping them all worked as hard as they could, and when Alpha Team arrived, they were all but ready for the last ingredient for the third part of the detox protocol. The blonde used the twenty minute window that was required to put the product together - thankfully a quick process, compared to other options she had worried she would have to entertain, to issue medical instructions via the feed, so that the other products were confirmed available at other areas, sending one of the now available teams to retrieve it and eventually rendezvous with the mobile medical unit. As for the products already on hand at the local facility, they were packed and loaded already, so the team would move into the field as soon as possible.

When the first batch of the product was ready, Lorna sent two of her teams to test it on local patients, who had already been administered with the other two parts of the treatment. In the meantime, she was reviewing stocks and running calculations of what could be produced directly on Cona, and what would have to be subcontracted off world with the Alliance. It was looking like they would be good for the next first two days locally, but then would require off-world assistance.

Lorna got the report from her team members about the first tests, right when the Director called out to her. The doctor raised her hand, indicating that she had heard the brunette, but finished her exchange with the other medical personnel. Everything was nominal, and while the pain experienced was bad, it was as expected. She issued a few orders to the rest of the medical professional present, officially starting the batch production of the third part of the treatment.

Only then, did she look up at the Director, to finally answer her question, with all available info, including the confirmation of good news with the detox protocol.

"We'll leave with the first mobile unit in thirty minutes. From then on, we will get deliveries to top off our supplies every two hours during the first six hours, then every three to four hours for the following twenty four. We'll reassess in twenty to know how local and off world delivery work out."

[Grace Van-Derveld]

There was much the doctor could do with 30 minutes and got to work. With the doctor's ingredients safely delivered, Grace ordered Alpha team to assist in searching the hospital for Nd-so and directed Delta team to back off on the search for the missing tech. They were to brief local authority in transit to the hospital as they would provide escort for the mobile units. The tech that assisted in retrieving the plant was so low on their priorities, that it was best to transfer responsibility of tracking that tech down to Cona. With two key players in custody and her agents searching for the saboteur, it was imperative that the mobile units were protected.

We gotta present for ya, Girlscout.

Grace allowed a thin smile of approval at Alpha team's news. "Excellent. Where did you find him?"

Laundry room. Was buried underneath a lot of dirty linen.

She crinkled her nose and sighed. "What is it with targets panicking and thinking they can hide in the laundry room?"

Not sure, Girlscout. Too many holovids prolly.

That made her chuckle. "Probably. Have the team split - half with me to provide escort with Starlight and the other half take two locals to deliver Nd-so with the others in prison."

On it.

"Any updates Bravo team?"

Hae-d wasn't very talkative but when the list of charges was read, he broke down. Was way in over his head and sunk in just how bad this was. Once he's calm, he'll be cooperating and giving us a confession.

Grace wondered something that made her blood run cold, her tone wary. "Tell me they didn't give him a plea bargain ..."

No worries there. He'll be tried. Though ... he might get off easier depending on what info we can get from him. Nothing yet on that cartel guy you were looking for.

She bristled why Cona would consider leniency for someone like Hae-d. Regardless of being in over his head, Hae-d's ambition cost people their lives and transformed countless others for the worse. There was chaos and upheaval and it would take years for Cona to find some semblance of normalcy.

"Focus on Anv'dos. We find him, we find the supplier. We find the supplier, we can prevent this substance being used on Cona or for any other insidious purposes."

Copy that, Girlscout.

She ended communications and heard her comm go off again, but it was a different high pitch chirp. It was ultraviolet priority versus just a general communication from Alliance Command. With great effort, she plucked the comm free from her belt as DeLaTour ordered the team to prepare for departure in five.

"Hello there," she greeted evenly, changing the privacy settings on her earpiece. "What can I do you for, Admiral O'don?"

Cut the shit, Van-Derveld. What happened? The gruff Mon Cal's voice boomed over the transmission, displeased at being ignored until now.

"I made an executive decision to potentially cut through hours of protocol to restore power to Dr. DeLaTour's lab in Tylcarros Med. It was not ideal, but they were at a sensitive moment in the doctor's research and time was of the essence. Lives were at stake. Now we're only 30 minutes behind schedule due to interference instead of hours, Admiral. That means more Arcona lives will be saved due to successful trials of the doc's remedy and we're rolling out in 5 to admin meds for the general populace."

There were a few moments silence before O'don responded. Grace presumed he was conversing with other Alliance Command and Cona personnel.

Cona is forgiving of the transgression because of the positive outcomes. However you need to follow protocol, Van-Derveld. You didn't even attempt to contact Cona Gov for an ETA on permission. You can't throw your weight around when things are inconvenient for you.

Grace rolled with the slap on the hand and locked eyes with Lorna. "Duly noted, Admiral, but I need to go. Doc's ready and I can't keep her waiting ..."

Of course. And, Grace?

Her brows lifted at the drop of formalities. " ... yes?"

I never said this but ... good job.

The transmission ended and Grace switched her link settings back to Lorna's and the agents. There was no time to celebrate unofficial approval until the units were out successfully administering DeLaTour's protocol.

[Lorna DeLaTour]

While the schedule was tight, Lorna found the current situation easier to handle, for it was mostly coordinating various things and ensuring that everything was going smoothly. After the last hours and plaguing uncertainty, along with various threats on the research, it was appreciable for sure.

She gave some attention to the ongoing feed exchange between the Director and the various teams, so she would stay on top of things. While dividing her focus was something she was skilled at, a must really given her line of work and especially her interest in emergency cases such as the current Cona situation, not having to juggle a trillion things when suffering from a severe lack of sleep, made it easier to follow the latest updates.

Also the bad holovid laundry room episode made her almost choke on the latest mug of caf she was drinking, while reviewing lists and itineraries.

The production of the first batch went seamlessly, which was a nice change of pace. The other two medical products for the whole protocol were already loaded into the mobile units, as she was overseeing the schedule for the next batches. With the planet-wide cooperation effort, along with Alliance off-world support, they would make a significant difference, despite the losses the locals had already suffered.

She was eventually good to go, having tossed her backpack back on with the few bits of portable equipment she had arrived with what seemed an eternity ago. She also checked on the canisters of her mask to be sure she would get to the ship without any issue. She was aware that she had almost run out of her final canister before taking a break in the breathing room, a couple of hours ago, when finishing up the final stages of the research. She had been fine, but she didn't want to repeat such a close call if she could avoid it.

As she walked to Grace, she nodded to her as the rest of the team were headed back to the ship as well, Lorna having chosen to leave one liaison behind for the time being. The feed had just informed them that everything was loaded and the mobile units had been on standby anyway.

"We're good to go, Director."

[Grace Van-Derveld]

That was all it took and Grace signaled everyone to move out. Half of Alpha team and a group of Cona police surrounded the medical team as they walked to the nearest lift with Grace keeping close to Lorna. Delta team already linked in they arrived.

As the group moved through the hallway, her team gently called out to make room for them, not wanting to disturb any care with rough or accidental shoulder blocks. The Alliance were still guests here, even with Grace overstepping bounds, and it was paramount to be quick in delivering aid, but not forget that there were beings here too that still needed help.

In transit, Grace glanced down at her breathing unit when her level flashed red. She switched her canisters, noting that had enough for a few hours of field work. There were extra cartridges in the mobile units and she would replenish her supply.

Grace wanted this phase to go smoothly and then the teams could slowly hand off responsibilities to local authority since Lorna had laid down the groundwork for supplies and distribution. The doctor's commanding presence. leadership, and brilliance at working under pressure impressed Grace. It was a breath of fresh canister air, considering where they were, that she was able to collaborate without incident. Alliance Command would probably think Grace ill for playing nice when it was merely respect earned.

When the lift doors opened, everyone dispersed to their assigned mobile units - Delta and Alpha team evenly dispersed between the three of them. Grace personally escorted DeLaTour to the lead unit and followed in after her. She found a seat and briefed her agents. "I want eyes and ears opened at all times and frequencies monitored. Protecting these units are our priority. I don't want anyone getting soft just because we have perps in custody."

There was a chorus of affirmatives and copy that's before nodding to Lorna. "It's your show now, doc."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

As the team moved through the hallways of the medical institute, careful not to disrupt any ongoing care, Lorna couldn't help but scan the area, taking in the doctors and nurses helping the ill and wounded. Despite the disgusting and criminal practices of the local culprits; she had been impressed by the assistance and collaboration she had experienced with the personnel from Cona. While it was normal for most planets to have educated and skilled practitioners, Cona stood out to her, compared to other places she had seen handling crisis. The fact they had reached out to the Alliance for help, while giving their best, also proved that they knew how to assess emergency situations.

At this point, Lorna had kicked into autopilot and was running on too much caf to mask the exhaustion. There was also the adrenaline kick of having found a solution, which had provided her with another burst of energy, even though a minimal one compared to how she could operate under more normal circumstances. Yet, she was immensely happy to be able to do actual field work and help during a crisis. She tended to do some of her best work in such settings, even when her body disliked it.

While there weren't that many sites to cover, the extensive damage provided to people close to the original sites, had required to have more than one mobile units. Going everywhere would take days, and Lorna knew that eventually they would relay the coverage to local doctors; but the Alliance was set on overseeing the first critical hours, and being responsible for the protocol used, Lorna wanted to be available for the first few hours in case something cropped up, which required alteration. She hoped not, and she couldn't really think of any reason, given who had been caught by the Director's teams; but she wasn't the kind of woman to drop a case.

When Van-Derveld told her she was in charge, she relayed information to the pilot, telling them which site they would go to first. She had been reviewing the reports, and while everything looked bad, one appeared to have an increase of patients fading more rapidly in the past couple of hours. So it would be their first destination.

The following ten hours were draining; but the protocol was as efficient as Lorna and her team had expected, which was a massive relief. Some patients were already too far gone for anything to react positively; but that was sadly to be expected. After the first batches of patients treated, Lorna had ordered the divide the mobile units across multiple sites, in order to handle the most critical patients as fast as possible. The supply runs were all delivered on time, which was a must given how stretched everything was in order to cure as many people as possible.

When the time for reassessment of schedule for the production of medicines and cycling through the different sites, happened, Lorna was reloading another canister to make sure she wasn't going to run out of breathable air. She felt herself ready to pass out due to exhaustion; but she nevertheless and stubbornly stilled herself. She made sure that everything was in order, and she postponed expanding time windows for another five hours to be on the safe side. The Alliance transportation to support the global effort across Cona would arrive the next morning, thus ensuring that production of the third medicine wouldn't be altered, and the other two would continue to be available.

She finished transferring all required information to the local medical leadership, and eventually looked at the Director. She knew her tiredness was obvious; and she had stopped trying to pretend she wasn't exhausted a good many hours ago. She had had better uses of the energy she had mustered during that time.

"We can head back to the shuttle and depart Cona, Director. Everything is in order from a medical standpoint."

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Grace happily carried out whatever orders DeLaTour needed. She assisted in unloading the equipment, doing safety checks on all masks and canisters, provided breaks for her team, and was an extra set of hands for anything - moving patients, distributing supplies, and jotting notes on her pad for her report to Alliance Command. The half of Alpha team that rendezvoused with Bravo kept them up to date when they arrived at the detention center. She was pleased when nothing else of significance occurred while medication was administered and they moved from site to site.

The last few hours were critical and everyone was feeling the weight of exhaustion as they had worked through an entire Cona day. Over 28 hours of lack of sleep and crashing off of adrenaline highs, yet they continued to persevere. Grace brought some of the best agents and doctors on this mission that not only had exemplary skill, but could thrive under pressure and push themselves through bodily limitations. Everyone had a threshold and DeLaTour was about to fall over. If she was anything like Grace, she was standing upright by sheer stubbornness alone.

At the final hour of coordinating relief efforts, Grace expedited Lorna's wishes with the Alliance and confirmed arrival times of the supply ships. It would be easier to facilitate the transfer of relief efforts with the doctor, and it didn't hurt to play nice with Cona government after giving the order to hack their systems. Her team at the prison had relinquished control of the prisoners and were working on their reports for Alliance Command back at the shuttle. Hae-d had provided information on the tech they were looking for and was now apprehended. Thankfully there were no others involved on planet. The best news was confirmation on the outlaw tech that had been. Alliance network was currently on the search for Anv'dos and what suppliers he was working with. Grace had reached out to some of her feelers to get a sense of which Anjiliac drug lord was involved in this outbreak.

Now they were all working on fumes with what little stimcaf and rations provided forced energy, bodies desperate to crash.

"You all heard the news. Good work everyone," Grace's voice boomed over the comm and for those in the immediate area. "Now pack it up and head out. We got beds waiting for us back on The Hope."

A transport vehicle was prepped for the field team to take back to Tylcarros Medical. She ushered the Alliance medical and intelligence agents inside first. After she boarded, she pulled the hatched with a grunt, double checking that the latches were secured before taking an empty seat. As luck would have it, she was sitting next to DeLaTour again.

She side eyed the doctor several times as the transport went underway, the driver managing to pull out of the area smoothly without jostling the weary personnel.

"Just a friendly reminder that my shoulder's not a pillow, Doctor."

It was said with a thin smile.

"But ... thank you for everything you did. Cona's initial recovery time was expedited thanks to your efforts."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

If there was one thing that Lorna valued in others, it was helping however one could, including when that person was a leader. The way Van-Derveld assisted even with what she could have considered menial tasks wasn't lost on the doctor, even in her ever-increasing exhaustion. When she would have actual brain power to devote to non-critical matters; she would recall how professional and even exemplary the Director had been. Among the many humanitarian missions she had worked on, this was definitely one of those that had been the easiest in terms of collaborators.

Lorna was running on sheer stubbornness, a quality whose downfall would likely be headaches for a few days and brain fog for at least one. She was used to this. Throwing herself into her work wasn't new. As much as she loved down time, she couldn't resist an emergency. Not only was she damn good under stress; but helping people the Empire, and even her family, could consider as sub-sentient, provided her some unique and petty joy.

By the time they could return to the shuttle that would take them back, the blonde didn't even know how she could still stand. It was the kind of questions she didn't waste any - nonexistent - energy on. Part of her was eager to know what the next steps were in regard to that newly available drug, because she knew the damn substance would be used in the black market. Such shit always was. As much as she had come to enjoy her life on Jovan Station, she couldn't help briefly hoping she could help the Alliance in a similar way in the future.

For now, she allowed herself a faint but truthful smile at the Director's congratulations to everyone. Also the mention of beds aboard the Alliance ship filled her with sheer happiness.

When she realized that the Director was once again to sit next to her aboard the shuttle, the tired blonde looked at her and grinned at the remark.

"I'd take a piece of metal as pillow now, Ma'am. Your shoulder looks like a five star cushion right now," she teased, although adjusted herself so she shouldn't risk falling asleep on the brunette's shoulder this time.

She smiled at the praise.

"It was a team effort, a damn good team effort. Glad I could be part of it."

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Grace chuckled at the doctor's quip as she ran a hand along the back of her neck. The physical labor was necessary to break the gear down and load onto the transport in a timely manner to get everyone on the departing shuttle. The crick in her neck was an acceptable consequence in expediting her team back to The Hope for much needed rest.

She continued to work the immediate pain out as she blew out a huff of air through her nose. The team exceeded her expectations working under harsh crisis conditions, were able to immediately carry out orders as priorities shifted, and DeLaTour managed a delay in care that was not as catastrophic as initial numbers predicted. The right people chosen for the right mission is what made it go as smoothly as it did.

DeLaTour's field experience had been mercilessly tested. Past relief work for the doctor had varied in difficulty but this was a first in magnitude for the doctor and Grace was impressed. She wondered why DeLaTour's talents were being wasted on Jovan. The outpost needed a physician, but Lorna was overqualified in Grace's opinion. While she was searching for a lead physician for this op, everything in the doctor's file indicated she thrived under pressure and actively looked for challenging assignments prior to being enlisted with the Alliance. It was puzzle for the director but it wasn't her call what the doc's assignment was - though Grace would definitely keep her in mind for future intelligence work if there was a need to justify another temporary transfer. Which may be the case depending on how the lead with the Anjiliac drug smuggling and their outlaw tech panned out.

She dropped her hand with a wince to work on the last of her report to send ahead. The final report would be done later after much needed sleep. "Even better news is sitting on a debriefing we won't have to dread."

Grace looked to Lorna and slightly shrugged, pain and exhaustion deeply rooted in her gaze but the rest of her face was smooth, holding onto the lie of strength. "I've included you on the report and you can fill in your details tomorrow. I can keep up with the coordinated efforts you've set in place for distributing materials and medication with Cona."

The director was sure that after all the critical analysis that the doctor had done for over a day without rest, she wanted a chance to switch her brain off.

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Despite her exhaustion, it wasn't lost on Lorna how the Director ran her hand along the back of her neck. There was a definite sore spot there, which was no surprise after how much Van-Derveld had helped. She took a mental note to ensure that the brunette would have it checked. Of course, they would all go through check ups after they got rest aboard The Hope; but Lorna would keep an eye out. It seemed only natural to her, given how the Director had had her back during the mission. That was why the crisis had been managed to the best of everyone's abilities, despite losses.

She was half passed out by the time the brunette by her side spoke again. She smiled faintly and nodded.

"It's nice when it happens, isn't it?"

She had had her share of dreadful debriefs, even when things had turned out better than expected. She turned her face away to cover a yawn. When she faced the Director again, Van-Derveld was looking straight at her. Lorna was still rather surprised of how much the Director had showed trust and inclusiveness during the mission. The doctor knew her skills but at the same time, she was aware she had only formally joined the Alliance a few months ago. So it still floored her, even though she mostly kept that to herself.

"Thank you, Ma'am. I appreciate it. I'll take care of everything needed tomorrow."

At this point she wasn't sure whether she could tell a medical formula from a grocery list frankly.

The trip back to The Hope was a blur in Lorna's mind, although she was certain she hadn't used Van-Derveld's shoulder as a pillow this time!

She was quite docile at following directions to the bed assigned to her. She recalled removing her boots and zipping the pocket where her personal datapad was so it wouldn't fall while she slept; but that was the extent of what she did before she passed out right when her head hit the pillow.

***

Lorna had no idea how long she had slept but her whole body hurt. Her head felt clearer though, and she quickly assessed that it was only fatigue from the mission. She looked around and saw some of the beds still occupied and some empty. She noticed that a set of fresh simple cloths was set on the nightstand by her bed.

She picked it up and soon found her way to the closet fresher, where she spent ten minutes. She felt clean again afterwards, and fresh clothes helped with that. She pulled her damp blonde hair into a loose ponytail. Only her jacket and her boots were from her personal items, but she recalled her backpack had been put into a storage unit, for which she had the code on her personal datapad still on her person.

She decided to retrieve it so she could go through the report she needed to fill in with medical details.

First thing though, she needed caf.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

When the alarm chirped to life, Grace threw a pillow at it, knocking not only the thin silver chronometer off, but the lamp too. She thinks there was a loud crack after the thud, and something rolling along the floor, but she decided to roll further into the middle of the bed and ignore the wake up call as her head snuggled against the spare pillow. Knowing herself well after an op with over a day of no sleep, thirty seconds later the no longer chirping snooze alarm boomed, physically jarring Grace awake.

With the fog of sleep lifted, Grace raised her head and yawned before scooting up to sit. She immediately grabbed her datapad on the opposite nightstand which escaped her wrath, purposefully put there for that very reason, and scrolled through her messages and schedule. Admiral O'don was leading the debrief with just her and DeLaTour and had shuttles on standby for the two of them once they were given leave. The rest of the teams were divided into individual debriefings before they were corralled back to Bothawui for reassignment, and The Hope was to remain stationed around Cona.

She skimmed the messages save for one from Bryna and replied, letting her know that the mission was over and successful and would contact her again once she was en route back home. There was a high priority appointment to report to medical for a once over and promptly deleted it. She was fine.

Slipping out of bed, Grace stretched and let out a sharp whimper when a hand quickly grabbed at the back of her neck. Eyes tightly clenched as the pain slowly throbbed into an ache as fingers worked out the strain as much was possible with the awkward angle. She glared at the offending pillow on the floor, knowing her tantrum aggravated it. Now it was off to the fresher for a hot shower and force her neck to behave, still refusing to go to medical over a mundane injury.

Her efforts were thwarted as she moved through the halls looking stiffer than usual. Beings knew to keep their distance unless they had a reason to approach the Director but they gave her a wider berth for the caf guzzling agent this afternoon who in a rare moment, was wearing her uniform. Tan slacks were tucked into black glossy boots that hit the metal floor in a determined stride, the matching tan tunic was buttoned up to the collar with her rank insignia pinned along the right breast and there was not one crease in the light blue long sleeve shirt that finished the ensemble. Too tired to do anything with her hair, she brushed it out and allowed it to air dry. She was meeting an Admiral for a major debriefing and wanted to at least smooth things over by dressing accordingly. O'don wouldn't have cared either way since most intelligent agents threw on whatever presentable clothes they had available.

Grace decided to swing by the mess hall to get a refill since caf packets were in short supply in her quarters. Most of the grunts quietly watched her go by, knowing to keep their mouths shut and be very focused on having their midday meal ...

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna hadn't wanted to delay filling in her report for long. She had grabbed a cup of caf at the mess and had scampered off to retrieve her backpack right away. She had then worked on filling in all the details in the report that only her should handle, due to the medical content. She was nevertheless grateful that Van-Derveld had taken care of certain logistical aspects with the Alliance teams helping on Cona. While it wasn't the most difficult part, the doctor was happy for every little item off her to-do list. She had been very impressed by the Director's pragmatic approach, as well as her outstanding performance. In the past, she had seen people in the higher echelons forgetting about field work. Van-Derveld wasn't one of them.

Sometimes Lorna had tried to excuse her delay in aligning with the Alliance in a formal capacity because of her issues with hierarchy, especially obnoxious and under-qualified hierarchy. She knew that deep inside, she had wanted to put distance between her and the Empire before eventually joining the Alliance. It was as if she had to scrub her imperial youth, before she allowed herself to embrace the path she had longed for. It was also why she had chosen to go to Jovan, even though she had had more prestigious options on various planets in the past. She tended to feel she had to prove herself over and over again.

Of course, it didn't help that another DeLaTour was a famous mathematician and artist on the other side of the Cold War. Every once in a while she wondered how Morgana was doing, whether she had gone down the route to have a foot in the underworld and the other firmly in the imperial system. It wasn't as if she might ever really know anyway. She still had fondness for her cousin, much less for her parents though.

Under different circumstance, she could have seen her father detach himself from the imperial system and have a happier life, but he had chosen to be a doormat to her power and money hungry mother. Lorna used to feel bad for her father, but at some point, especially when he never really supported her when she had needed him to, she had realized that the older DeLaTour had made his choice, and she should as well, even though it had been painful.

Her issues with her mother were also why she rarely spoke of her Lorrdian blood, nor had ever really connected with it. Frankly, she didn't inherit many genetic perks from it. She had ensured she knew about the species well enough to be aware of any medical issues about herself that might not be visible in a pure human. And she had wanted to be able to help Lorrdians if need be, as she had for many species, given why she had specialized in xenobiology.

She shook herself from her ruminations when she realized her mind had been straying. She double-checked the schedule. She had to get her mandatory check up in twenty minutes, so she could be cleared to board the shuttle to go to the debrief where the Admiral would see her and the Director. At least it should keep the debrief straightforward, though it still surprised her that she was in the same sphere as both the Director and the Admiral all of the sudden. She didn't let that get to her head though, for she considered that the work she had put out on Cona was solid; but it was only one crisis.

Having put her belongings back into her pack, she adjusted the straps on her shoulders, and headed back to the mess. She had enough time to grab something to eat and another cup of caf. She would be ready to go to the checkup and then directly to the shuttle bay afterwards.

The place was still busy with many people. From afar, she saw people move to give space to a uniform-clad silhouette. Upon getting closer, the doctor recognized the Director. As much as she felt weird to think that, Lorna had to say that Van-Derveld wore the uniform well.

Also there was something about the way the brunette held herself that betrayed a still bothering pain in her neck. The way Van-Derveld moved made her think some amelioration had occurred, but it was far from gone.

Shrugging the thought off, she ensured that the Director had an already partially-drunk cup of caf in hand before approaching. She caught sight of some personnel looking shocked upon her behavior. She cared little about that. She stopped within respectable distance from Van-Derveld, and got herself a mug of caf as well.

"Good afternoon, Director."

[Grace Van-Derveld]

One grunt elbowed another that was particularly interested in the watery mashed potatoes that were served for lunch. "Hey, Maern. Hey! Look ..."

The last word was long and drawn out with suspicion that he couldn't help looking up and to his astonishment, someone was approaching the director. No wonder Baet was trying to get his attention. Maern was a new recruit and fresh out of the academy that even he knew to stay away from that woman. Almost everyone in the Alliance knew, in fact, to leave Director Van-Derveld alone unless there was a reason to interact with her or if you had the esteem pleasure of being chosen for an op. She was highly respected but at the same time, Van-Derveld made it perfectly clear over the years that she wanted no attachments outside of the mission unless your last name was Belargic. Now some random doctor was up and walking towards her like it was nothing?

This was highly confusing and his tablemates were already taking bets.

"So ... how many going for the ignore?" whispered Baet, not wanting to get Sassypants attention. "Okay two. How about a quick glare and then walk off. Yeah. Yeah... three. Snarky blow back cuz she's encroaching on personal space ..."

All were valid options and Baet listed off a few more on how the dismissal was going to go down, but Maern decided that it was best to ignore the whole situation like they were doing before because if the director overheard this, they were going to get fresher detail for a month ...

Grace was in mid-sip as DeLaTour approached her and bets were being tallied. She was quite attuned to the buzz in the mess hall and how several tables had quieted in their conversations that were close-by. Whether out of curiosity, respect, or just plainly not wanting to be noticed by her, it mattered little to the director.

She licked her lower lip to halt a stray drop of caf from creating an unnecessary dribble down her mouth and gave DeLaTour a nod. "Afternoon."

Maern's table paused in shock. No one bet that Van-Derveld would actually respond with a greeting.

"Seems we had the same idea," she soon added, hoisting her cup up and masking what little pain came with that motion. "I'm sure our blood levels contain more caf than anything else between yesterday and today."

Jaws dropped because there was actual banter. Banter.

"I give up!" Baet tossed his hands up as he plopped on the bench to continue eating. "Not sure who the blondie is but she produced a miracle."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna wasn't surprised about the quiet that surrounded her approaching to the Director, though it proved greater than she had expected. Certainly, she had got a solid idea of the type of no-nonsense woman Van-Derveld was during the mission, and she recalled seeing her agents show respect, if not a little fear, before the brunette. Yet, the blonde hadn't expected that speaking to the Director in the middle of the mess would prove such a big thing.

At the same time, they could think what the hell they wanted. What mattered was Van-Derveld's reaction, and she couldn't help chuckling at the banter that flew her way.

"You tell me, Director. I'm sure we broke any nominal rate of caffeine in blood stream, if there were any standard for that."

She grinned and took a long sip from the mug she had just filled.

"I'll see what the results of my check up say soon enough. I should be ready to depart in one hour."

The checkup was only basic procedure, so she wasn't concerned it would take long. She guessed that the Director had hers soon as well, unless the onboard medical personnel was subpar and couldn't tell the difference between a crick in the neck and normal posture. If so, she would have words with whoever was in charge.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Grace prided herself on professionalism, accountability, delegating responsibly so her people could thrive in their assigned tasks. And as much as it got her into trouble as it did provide results, she was honest with everything and to everyone when asked for leadership, direction and made quick decisions in a crisis. Grace could cut off her feelings and choose the necessary course of action that would save millions and allow the burden of sacrifice to be carried on her back alone. That partly caused her standoffish behavior but it only exacerbated overtime since Keth and Dasquian recruited her into the Rebellion after the events at the academy. She referred to what happened at Corulag as an event because to delve any further would break her all over again.

"I think the standard's caf poisoning. Sure you're aware of that, doctor." Her tone was acerbic but the banter was still there. "Which, thankfully, we do not have."

DeLaTour exceeded her expectations on Cona and her appreciation for the doctor's skill and leadership only grew when she was awake to think back with clarity. She was uncertain if the operation would have had the quick response and turnaround in distributing medication with all the obstacles that the team endured if Lorna had not been her second. The other candidates were just as qualified and had more experience, but her gut went with DeLaTour.

And with limited time left, Grace decided on a rare act of chivalry.

"Since my bunk's along the way, I'll walk with you."

The clatter of a utensil dropping on the metal tray caught Grace's attention and she wasn't sure who the guilty party was at the table. Every single one of them ducked their heads towards trays and were slowly shoveling food into their mouths. Her eyes narrowed briefly at them. "If that's alright..."

Grace relaxed her gaze and regarded Lorna, unsure if her offer was a good idea with her reputation. The director couldn't give two bantha shits how people saw her, but perhaps the doctor did. Contrary to public opinion, she was not entirely heartless. Just mostly.

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Van-Derveld's deadpan delivery of the line about caf poisoning was almost enough for Lorna to spill her drink. She kept her composure though and responded accordingly.

"Cardiac arrest would have already occurred, if we had it."

Likewise, the banter was still there, just hidden in dry humor and sharp tone.

Although she could be goofy under certain circumstances, the doctor tended to have a witty and even dark humor. It came with the line of work, she thought. One couldn't be that close to death on a regular basis and not be able to joke about it. She believed it was the same for the Director, due to her own line of work.

With the clock ticking, Lorna took the brief pause in the conversation to promptly munch on the ration bar she had picked, as well as a small pack of dried fruits, which was in her breast pocket for now. She knew many thought her insane to go for this kind of food when aboard a ship that had a decent mess, but efficiency was good, and she still had things to do that day, before being shipped back to Jovan.

Either Lorna was still recouping from the exhaustion of the mission, or she had weirdly got used to Van-Derveld in unexpected ways, because she didn't look shocked upon the Director's offer to walk with her to the med bay.

The clatter behind her didn't go unnoticed though, and it just amused her. She didn't give a shit about what others would think.

"Sounds good to me, Director," she replied with a nod.

The mention of the brunette's bunk made her realize that either the med team was abysmal, which would be weird but not unheard of, or that Van-Derveld might just have bloody skipped the checkup. One way or the other, Lorna was about to find out; but not in front of everyone.

She refilled her mug with more caf, and then fell in stride with the Director as they exited the mess side by side, in front of a bunch of traumatized grunts.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

The grunts were immediately forgotten as director and doctor left the mess hall together. They both knew the way to the med and fell into a comfortable stride down the hallway, unlike the quick, fervid movements during a crisis. Grace sipped from the cup and wondered why in the Force a doctor would eat ration bars and dried fruit when an extensive menu was available for her choosing. There were healthier and more substantial options after running on caf and rations on Cona.

Of course Grace had the luxury of a meal alone due to rank. She had her own quarters where personal needs could be tended to without an audience, minus the caf refill. After they made it to her bunk, she'd let Lorna continue on to med so she could grab her pack and wait for her at the prepped shuttle.

Her 'pad pinged with a meeting reminder and tucked it free from the holster on the belt. It was another message from medical that she hadn't accepted the invite for her check up. The irony of bringing DeLaTour to one while she was ditching hers was not lost on the director who deleted the appointment again. She tucked it back into place and found the walk without the usual tension or uncomfortable silence as with most that accompanied her that were lower rank. Usually there was a black cloud that hung over Grace and whoever was lucky enough to be in her proximity. Here it was comfortable, but she wouldn't go out of the way to say it was pleasant. She was attempting politeness because Lorna earned a modicum of respect.

That was to change quickly as they reached her bunk, unawares of Lorna's concerns. "Here's me."

She paused to let the doctor pass and walked behind to reach the pad, keying in the access code as she guzzled down some more caf. When the door swished opened, she gave DeLaTour a polite nod. "I'll see you at the hangar shortly."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna was looking forward to being back on Jovan so she could take time to sit down somewhere and have real food. Yet she had to admit that spending some time away on such a crucial mission had made her long for such assignments again. She did good work on the station, but she liked pushing herself to and even beyond her limits. She found value in everyday health work, but crisis was the kind of situation where she did her very best. Regardless of what the future might hold, she was glad she had got this opportunity to prove herself.

It was comfortable silence as she walked with the Director. She didn't mind conversation, but she valued silence when it had its place too.

As they reached Van-Derveld's bunk, Lorna finally said what had been on her mind since she had approached the brunette in the mess.

"Either the med team's efficiency is disastrous, or you skipped your checkup, Director. Either way, you should have your neck checked before we depart. While it is minor at the moment, given the extensive stress and exhaustion from the past few days, there is every chance it spreads to your back and shoulder."

For what she had witnessed of the Director, she didn't expect her observation to be well-received; but she didn't care. She wouldn't tell Van-Derveld how to lead her teams, but health issues were her field. And she had seen her share of people pulling bravado and not have matters taken care of until it was major and a real impediment.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

And just like that, what politeness Grace showed to Lorna out of respect immediately disappeared. Lorna just had to go and pull the doctor card on her which was one of her biggest pet peeves. She disliked anyone touching her unless it was due to an injury the director couldn't handle herself. A minor neck strain was something she could handle and has handled in the past.

Blue grey eyes that had showed a flicker of acceptance in having DeLaTour near now stormed with resentment. "Dozens of doctors have attempted to do what you're doing right now with no success. But your concerns are duly noted, Doctor DeLaTour," Grace curtly responded with a waspish accentuation of Lorna's title.

This was the Van-Derveld that kept people at a distance. The one that the mess hall grunts were happy to avoid incurring the wrath of with their foolish bets that went unnoticed. Even two unfortunate engineers had to stop and calculate if it was worth it to keep walking past the bickering and if so, could they go unnoticed.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta grab my gear and you need to report to med." What little benign camaraderie that Lorna managed to coax out of Grace evaporated in a heartbeat. "Mustn't keep your peers waiting," she challenged with a brow raising to signal the end of this conversation.

It was not entirely smart to end their interactions so crossly since there was a dual debrief in the near future and a short shuttle ride, but Grace was used to uncomfortable silences, well aware that was what the immediate future held for the two of them. She would never diminished the work that DeLaTour did for the people of Cona and they had partnered well on the op, but she will be damned if some white coat was going to strong arm her into something unnecessary. There were better uses of the director's time and the medical staff had more serious soldiers to attend to.

She turned her back on DeLaTour and entered the bunk, reaching for the panel to close the door and bring finality to this nonsense ...

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna had expected that any easiness that had existed between the Director and her would evaporate when she would bring the neck issue up, especially if as she was proven correct, meant Van-Derveld had ignored the mandatory checkup.

There were lots of ways the doctor could have reacted to the ice cold venom that came her way. She had several options for equally dry and acerbic retorts on the tip of her tongue; but she realized quick enough they would be useless. She would only be wasting both their times, and in a way she wondered whether the Director would rather have that than getting medical attention.

Even though she meant to help people, and had left the Empire due to their disgusting views on certain group of living beings, they had nevertheless taught her that people you helped might just want to tear you a new one.

She stared stoically at the Director's rant, knowing that the quicker she were done, the faster she could give her options available.

Silence didn't make her a doormat.

And having her title used as some weapon wasn't working. Given how much she had worked her ass off and even put her life on the line to gain it, she wore it as a badge of honor regardless.

But good try, Van-Derveld...

As the brunette had pointed out, others had failed before her. That was on them.

Eventually, the Director was done with her tirade and headed inside the room. That was when Lorna took her next step, much to the two engineers' shock further in the hallway.

The blonde blocked the door shutting into her face, and she stood in the frame, not caring what others might say.

"You have two options, Director. Either you come with me to the medbay and get your neck treated there, or I take care of it here and now."

She stared at Van-Derveld, not giving her room to respond just yet.

"Yes your muscles can take a few days to ease, and work themselves back to normal on their own; but you must have two to three cervical vertebrae displaced at the moment, and likely a few tendons."

She could say more, but keeping it straight to the point was her best bet with the stubborn brunette.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Grace's stance stiffened at the realization that she was not rid of her medical pest when DeLaTour's voice resounded through the room, and not even three feet away. The woman had the audacity to follow the director into her bunk and lecture her! There was only one being in the known galaxy that had that right and Doctor Lorna DeLaTour was not Belargic. Two for Grace's not quite daughter but counted since she were a Belargic too. Regardless Lorna was not on the list, nor would she ever be.

"You have two options, Director."

"Are you bloody insane?" she snapped back, hoping to curb the list of options but Lorna kept on going as if Grace said nothing.

She viciously turned around, eyes matching the venom that would have been in her voice if not for the sharp pain that shot down her neck and curved along her left shoulder. The only indication that there was any pain was the tight clench of neck muscles that easily doubled as anger towards DeLaTour overstepping her boundaries.

It didn't matter if Lorna was completely correct in her assessment of Grace's injury. The director was not going to medical for an unnecessary evaluation and under no circumstances would she allow the doctor the rest of the way inside for a house call.

"Or option three - you go to med and keep us on time, because like hell I'll be late for our debriefing on something I can fix, as you just said, on my own." She took two steps forward to close the distance and got right up in Lorna's face, maintaining eye contact. "So back off and play humanitarian elsewhere, Doctor."

The two engineers decided to slowly move backwards, not wanting to walk into that vipers nest but not so fast that they couldn't overhear ...

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Whatever made Van-Derveld so irate at the thought of going through basic medical checkups likely indicated something in her history that made her uncomfortable at the perspective of being touched. While Lorna was too busy getting the Director to cooperate at the moment, she would eventually ponder on it later.

Yes, she had been called insane before. And it was irrelevant to the situation at hand.

She caught the tighter clench of neck muscles. She had been observing Van-Derveld like a space hawk at this point.

Once again, she took the verbal venom spat in her face. It would be too easy, even though it was damn tempting, to just argue back; but Lorna denied that to the Director.

She didn't move when Van-Derveld surprisingly closed the distance between them. It wasn't that the doctor had issues with being so close to another woman, who happened to have looks and brains, but she was on a mission and nothing would derail her from it.

"Option four, I pull rank on you, Director, as the medical officer of this mission."

The debrief hadn't occurred yet, so she was still within her right to operate as such. She knew Van-Derveld could say a lot of shit that would bury her somewhere in the Alliance, and she might be stuck on Jovan for years to come; but Lorna wasn't known to take the easy road. She took her oath to provide medical assistance very seriously, and even a hard-headed and disturbingly stubborn high rank wasn't enough to sway her.

She held the Director's gaze, refusing to step back, with her hand still firmly on the door.

She meant every word she had said, and if the Director had any understanding of how she operated, she'd know the doctor wasn't bluffing.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Few physicians called her out like this and when they did, Grace made her position clear, like now, that left little room for argument. Her injury was painful, but it didn't require immediate care. Sore muscles and misalignments were minor annoyances that came with the position and were easily mended. She popped in her own damn shoulder back into place on a field op for Force sake and splinted it, only acquiescing to Belargic in order to get a scan to make sure nothing was broken. After that, Grace pushed the medical droid's scanner arm away and tended to her injury while grounded since there was no break. Now Lorna was equating the current neck injury on that scale and it was ludicrous. There were more important battles to martyr herself with than going nose to nose with Van-Derveld. She needed to back down like the others before her and leave her be.

Admittedly if she weren't furious with the doctor, Grace would be impressed by Lorna's resilience in standing her ground and not biting back so it was a one way argument. Not forcing a shouting match, which the director wanted because it was easy for her then to admit she needed help, took a lot of control.

Then the unthinkable happened - Lorna threatened to pull rank. Grace couldn't help how her eyes widened at this change of events because no doctor had ever challenged her like this. She regrouped and opened her mouth to counter, but then realized she couldn't. They weren't dismissed and both of them retained all of the responsibilities as officers for the Cona operation until after the debriefing because Grace had the bright idea of making Lorna her second to facilitate the flow of information. It meant that Lorna retained full capacity as lead physician and had the authority to hand down orders to the director for medical necessities.

As poignantly as her hatred of this situation was, Grace wouldn't have changed her call. Lorna desperately needed priority access to efficiently perform her duties and making her second in command was the right thing to do. It immediately saved hundreds of lives and would surpass thousands as the week progresses. But the damnable woman was overstepping her bounds over a neck pain and has firmly became a pain in the neck herself.

Though how different was this compared to what Grace had done during the op? The severities were vastly different but the means and results were the same. Grace cut through red tape with her override clearance code to get power back in the lab. She was determined to save lives and didn't care about the consequences. The slap on the wrist by the Admiral and Cona's support proved she was right. No where near as detrimental, Lorna was acting similarly as healing beings was her passion regardless if it were a scrape of a knee to cardiac arrest. Lorna's file highlighted her accomplishments as a xenobiologist, but it was Lorna's determination and quick thinking under prior stressful relief missions that swayed the director in choosing her, trusting in her gut. And now the doctor's stubbornness was staring her down and Grace knew she wouldn't back down.

Fuck.

She relaxed her posture but her gaze was still heatedly affixed to Lorna's. "This doesn't go on record." The venom was retracted but not the edge. Grace was making it clear that she agreed under protest. Only with that confirmation would she step back and allow Lorna entrance.

The last thing she needed on record was proof that Doctor Lorna DeLaTour was given permission to examine her. There would be no precident set.

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Part of Lorna found it ridiculous to have to pull rank on the Director, especially for what should have been a non-issue. Post mission checkups, or any regular basic medical examination, should be no big deal. And maintenance medical care also prevented further injury or buildup that might cause avoidable issues down the line. It was easier for all parties involved, and much safer for patients.

If Van-Derveld had had a crick in the neck in regular and stress-free circumstances, it would have also be less of a thing to attend right away. Yet Lorna had been on Cona along with the Director, and they had spent enough time together for the medical doctor to witness the brunette's growing exhaustion and extra stress she had put on herself. Even though she could understand it was minor compared to what she had likely got on more physically demanding field assignments, it was no reason to brush it over.

For what the blonde had seen since reuniting with Van-Derveld at the mess, it wasn't getting better, and could be taken care of within minutes. And as a medical officer, Lorna wasn't the kind not to provide assistance when needed, even when the patient wanted to toss her across the room like a pissed of Trandoshan and grumpy Wookiee had done to her in the past, putting Van-Derveld still close enough behind them on the list.

Lorna knew she was taking a gamble for her career by standing up to the Director, but if she had wanted the easy road, she wouldn't be where she was now.

So be it, Van-Derveld.

She was dead set on getting the Director to get her neck handled, whether by herself or by other medical personnel, but she still noticed the shock on the brunette's face when she pulled rank. Apparently, it was some whole new level of insanity; but Lorna was no stranger to such things.

When the Director gave her condition to agree to Lorna's decision, the blonde nodded firmly.

"Deal. This will not go on record."

She was a woman of her word, and really she didn't care about talking about that whole thing, as long as the Director let her neck be taken care of.

Lorna knew she still had like ten minutes before having to show up to the nearby med bay, but as a medical officer, she knew about the procedure, and had already most information on hand and pre-filed questionnaire answers she knew she would face, to expedite the whole process, for she had already known about the upcoming debrief.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

DeLaTour was a woman of integrity and would not go back on her word. Nor would she hold this incident against the doctor. Grace was not the kind of person to make others lives difficult out of spite and her report would exemplify the stellar work done on Cona.

She acknowledged Lorna's confirmation with a curt nod and stepped aside to allow entrance. Once Lorna was inside, she closed the door and focused on breathing to decrease the tension brought on by what was going to happen next. Grace willingly agreed to being examined but it didn't stave off the rush of anxiety that always accompanied it.

As long strides help her quickly move to the living area, Grace focused on her breathing - exhaling the apprehension away as her mind could compartmentalize as much of the fear as possible. She was more than likely going to have a physical response once hands were on her - increased heart rate, subtle tension in her muscles, quite possibly a rush of danger that usually was a boon in the field, or a slight tremor in the hands. It was difficult to say if all or some would be triggered but she was relying on DeLaTour's professionalism to realize questioning her on these symptoms were off limits. The symptoms were not as pronounced as she had decades to work through the initial trauma but medical procedures, no matter how minor, easily set her off. Her theory was the thorough examination the Rebellion performed on her upon recruitment and the relief that she was not pregnant was so overpowering had tipped her over the edge, breaking down in a violent sobbing fit on the cart. Most of the doctor's findings were seal for good along with a great many classified missions and personal abilities that remained untapped.

Grace never wanted to feel so helpless ever again and it turned into this - an unhealthy backlash of pent up rage and guilt that she forced herself to work through. And she would never fall prey to the power that pumped through her blood. There was so much pain in her life that it would be too easy to fall into madness like her brother.

Without pretense, she sat down on one of the more comfortable cushioned chairs and tied still damp hair up into a bun to allow ease of access for the doctor, waiting with her back towards her, posture impeccable, and remained silent.

[Lorna DeLaTour]

While Lorna hadn't hesitated to challenge the Director, she nevertheless remained respectful and didn't step inside the quarters until she was allowed to. There was a fine line between standing up for what you deemed important and being a jerk. The blonde had been on the wrong end of the latter enough times to know that, and watch her behavior. Yet she wasn't going to apologize for being assertive in her decision to pull rank on the stubborn Van-Derveld, regardless whether the brunette wanted to tear her a new one at this point.

She followed the Director into the living area, noting how the other woman's breath changed. While full-blooded Lorrdian had acquired outstanding skills at reading body language, which had to do with the history of enslavement they had suffered from centuries ago, the blonde didn't possess it as well. Yet her medical training had made up for this genetic and cultural lack, and she had become very skilled at reading people's behavior. The Director was growing more and more uncomfortable, even though she was doing an overall damn good job at hiding it.

Ever professional, Lorna took in those subtle signs without saying a word about it. Whether Van-Derveld thought she didn't notice them was up to her. Lorna wouldn't ask intrusive questions, unless it was a life or death situation, which it wasn't.

Lorna put her backpack down in the living area, and used hand sanitizer out of habit, even though a neck massage was a really simple procedure. She was glad that the uniform the Director was wearing was practical enough that she could do the required manipulations without issue.

"Thank you," she said quietly as she saw the Director pull her hair up, appreciating the gesture.

As she raised her hands to place them upon the brunette's shoulders, she briefly paused out of politeness.

"I'm going to begin. It should take 5 to 10 minutes."

Then she laid her hands down and began to directly assess the crick and the displaced cervical, as well as a slight wronged angle at the collarbone.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Grace heard Lorna shuffling inside and a familiar plop of a bag being set down and opened. The anticipation was grueling, every second her heart beating faster. She immediately returned to slowing her breath and not the blood pounding prominently throughout her body, chest threatening to clench violently which meant adrenaline would surge soon. Every exhalation Grace tried to keep it from bursting into a full blown panic attack, forcing it to simmer just on the surface.

Lorna's voice sounded so loud in the quiet room, a side effect of the director's escalating anxiety. Despite the pain, Grace forced a glance over her shoulder and gave a curt nod of acknowledgement to at least offer appearances of normalcy. Then she looked away and debated between closing her eyes or keep them open and focus upon a object. The lamp she knocked over earlier and returned to the nightstand was the choice and Grace set hands atop her thighs and squeezed, forcing them to remain still as she could feel the doctor's presence looming closer. She braced for the intrusive jolt and stiffened with surprise. Grace had presumed with how opposed the director was to this Lorna would complete her task without a word and provide whatever assessment after she was done. She was wrong as the heat from the doctor's hands were mere inches away from their target, but there they hovered.

Lorna continued to be professional but also kind. She didn't have to be the later considering Grace's behavior but it was silently appreciated none-the-less. Having a detailed amount of time that hands were going to be on her helped lessen her fears. It was a small sense of of empowerment that Lorna accidentally gave the director. The grip on her pants loosened and Grace began to count the seconds as she gave another curt nod of acknowledgment.

Unfortunately she couldn't prevent her neck and shoulders immediately tightening at first touch. The injury was partly to blame, but so was the need to run away from the doctor. She could picture herself roughly getting to her feet, grabbing the doctor, her gear and throwing her out.

Instead she was the model of outward perfection, sitting like a good patient despite her entire body revolting against fingers that wanted to heal, not harm her. She just had to keep reminding herself of that fact as Grace continued to count ...

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Regardless of how she had butted heads with the Director regarding the issue with her neck, Lorna saw no reason to be anything except professional with the brunette. She knew when to stand her ground, but she also firmly believed in providing humane care, regardless of how minor or life-threatening he situation was. She had been called many names over the years, but she didn't care if it had anything to do with her work ethic, for she knew she did her best. If people had issues with it, so be it. She was not going to start mistreating patients, or being rude to them, to assuage some pompous asshole's insecurities, as she had seen many on all sides of the Cold War, even when she wanted to believe it was mostly an imperial issue.

And the signs of anxiety she had noted only prompted her to be kinder, albeit in a discreet fashion. She would not address what she saw, so her genuine professionalism allowed her to provide care without appearing to ensure the Director was alright.

She felt the tension flare up as soon as she rested her hands on Van-Derveld. She didn't comment on it though. She carried on assessing the situation, although she noted that the brunette then proved perfectly still and quiet.

She easily got confirmation of what she had expected by observation, along with a few more tendons that needed to be rolled back into appropriate position. She punctuated her manipulations by calmly informing the Director of what she was doing. It seemed courteous and she knew that some tense patients felt some measure of peace and control from being involved in the process so to speak.

After what happened to be eight minutes per her chrono, she stepped back, giving the Director her personal space again.

"Everything's back in place. I will see you in thirty minutes at the docking bay, Director."

She didn't mention that the muscles would remain sore for a few days, because the Director had already made it clear she was aware of it. And in case the brunette had any comments or questions, she could bring them up during the flight to the debrief.

Without further ado, Lorna gathered her backpack and headed out of the Director's quarters.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Counting and focusing on the lamp aided Grace's mind with pushing through the anxiety. There was a fixed goal of 5-10 minutes that required her cooperation and she was going to hold DeLaTour to that and not a second longer. By the fifth minute, Grace had to relax her jaw as the anticipation of this soon ending was making her neck clench worse and would impede what the doctor was doing. Her lip trembled as she silently blew out a breath of air, still ticking off each second in her mind.

Lorna's prompting eased escalating tension so when hands adjusted for a new technique, Grace didn't flinch as expected. By the seventh minute, much of the pain had subsided and the director had a new focus - Lorna's hands. They weren't hardened like hers from training but they managed to apply an equal amount of pressure for function that rolled tendons back into place and loosen muscles. It felt incongruous that soft, gentle hands could hold so much power behind them and that, of all things, made Grace lose count. What was curious is that Grace didn't feel a rush of new anxiety at that knowledge because Lorna wouldn't lie. It would take ten minutes. Just ten minutes...

With a blink, the hands were gone and Grace replaced them with one of her own to survey Lorna's work. She bent her neck from side to side towards her shoulder and felt tenderness instead of the sharp pain plaguing her. That was normal after muscle fibers were forced back into place and made a note to ice her neck before leaving the room. She kept noting how rough and calloused her fingers felt against the heat of the skin, unlike Lorna's, as Grace went to stand to watch the doctor leave. Lorna didn't wait to ask if Grace felt better, confident in her abilities that the injury was righted and that the director knew how to take it from here. Lorna took Grace's word instead of rattling off a list of self-care instructions and just left.

The Director didn't know what to make of that because any other doctor would have talked her ear off, emphasizing every little detail to make sure the stubborn agent would understand that what was said was important. Lorna said far more with simply stepping away, announcing she was done and left.

Grace wasn't stupid and neither was Lorna. As observant as the doctor was, she had to know how anxious and fearful the director had been, and that Grace wasn'tbring a stubborn patient without good reason. Grace hated that knowledge but she was grateful that Lorna was kind enough to keep the examination and manipulation on task and left without confirming the director's mental state.

She didn't know how that made her feel because most examinations weren't this personal or required such intimate touching that went with a neck massage. The memory so fresh brought an immediate flush to her skin with renewed trepidation and pushed the thoughts out of her mind. It wasn't important anymore. It was over and the doctor kept her safe despite the initial push backs.

With a sigh, she disappeared into the kitchenette area to ice her neck for the next ten minutes and then would finish packing.

***

The shuttle ride was not tense, but it wasn't overly friendly like it had been back in the mess hall on The Hope. Grace and Lorna kept a respectable distance from each other, no longer sitting by one another with ample room in the crew hold.

Grace was glued to her datapad - updating Bryna on her ETA, checking if there was any news on Dasquian's Op, scouring news feeds for anything that may indicate his mission with the Consortium. Unsurprisingly Grace did not have clearance for the details, even though she technically did with her rank. The Alliance didn't want the two of them snooping on each other's operations after being apart for so long. It meant that he wouldn't be able to access her operation on Cona until final reports were in.

Unable to find anything substantial, she switched to the report she was working on for Alliance Medical. They had wanted a detailed report on DeLaTour after the mission, basically a glorified outline defending Van-Derveld's decision bringing the doctor onboard for Cona. Thankfully she could reuse some of the wording from he official report to the Admiral to speed up the process.

"We're exiting hyperspace, Director," called the co-pilot and Grace nodded, tucking her pad away inside her pack.

The shuttle exited in the Kashyyyk System where Admiral O'don's small fleet of cruisers and frigates waited. Their destination was the main Mon Cal Cruiser, The Caerulean, and in fifteen minutes, the shuttle was secured inside the main hangar.

Grace immediately unbuckled her belt, slung the pack straps over her shoulders, and disembarked. She was barely down the ramp when a tech flagged her over. He was wearing his uniform instead of work gear and Grace presumed that this was the cleanest the young man had ever been on the job in some time. Even his dirty blonde hair was combed back with a slight wave to it.

"Welcome aboard, Director Van-Derveld." He slightly looked to the left of her and nodded to DeLaTour. "Doctor. Admiral O'don apologizes for sending me instead of a higher rank to greet you. I'm Finch, Engineering Mate."

"It's not a bother." She waved off the concerns. There were far more important things going on the galaxy then some stuffy suited Navy officer coming to say hi and make small talk.

When Finch, in all his nerves, said nothing else, Grace raised her brows expectantly.

"Oh! Right!" His laugh was a bubble of nerves before clearing his throat. "It's uh ... yeah ... this ... uh this way ..." Finch extended his hand in leading the way out of the hangar and onto the main deck.

"Conference room just up ahead," he said, holding out his hand with his brows knit together nervously towards Grace who looked at him funny. "Need ah ... help with ... with the bag ...?"

He tried not to gulp, just trying to be polite to the Admiral's guests.

"No, thank you." Grace wasn't going to bite the guy's head off for that and watched Finch's face slowly relax.

Finch looked to the doctor next. "How 'bout you, Doctor?"

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Lorna's medical checkup went smoothly, although she felt relatively detached from the proceedings. It wasn't just that she was used to them so much. No, her mind was drifting back to the Director, and it puzzled her. For some reason, she kept replaying the whole banter in the mess hall, and then the argument that had her pull rank on Van-Derveld.

The doctor didn't have any remorse about her decision, because she knew it would make a positive difference for the mission leader. Yet, part of her recognized that the brunette likely dreaded medical procedure given the anxiety she had observed. While Van-Derveld did a stellar act at being exemplary patient, Lorna had seen and sensed the subtle signs of fear that had placated the Director when having to undergo that neck massage. She wouldn't ask what history had prompted that. Even in the more obvious and sadly common reasons, there were different possibilities, and really Lorna didn't want to just wonder about it.

What mattered to her was to be of service in the present. Shall people choose to discuss their past with her, she was a compassionate individual, and a good listener. Yet, she herself hated prying people, and she avoided being annoying as such, unless there was a life or death situation. Then, all bets were off if that was the only way to save a life.

She grabbed another caf on the way to the docking bay, and showed up with perfect punctuality. She nodded to the Director, and appreciated that the empty seats allowed them not to have to sit side by side, even though it felt a bit weird to Lorna after the mission to Cona.

She put that on her still erratic mind as she was still recouping a little.

The blonde appreciated that even though the silence felt different from the one following their direct banter in the hall, the Director wasn't pissed at her. She had known that something might have been brought up after having been the direct target of the brunette's cold venom. She was glad that Van-Derveld's posture looked better and healthier, and that at least, they were able to be in the same space with no issue.

Once the shuttle landed, Lorna was quick to follow the Director outside of the vehicle, although just a tad behind, given where she had been sitting.

When the young tech welcomed them, she had no issue with the lack of grand pomp committee. She was rarely greeted as such, and had no need for it.

She smiled and shook her head at the request coming her way.

"I'm fine, thanks."

Her backpack wasn't in her way and would make it easier to get in and out, for she knew she was already expected back at Jovan in thirty-six to forty-eight hours from now.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

"Okay," Finch said cheerfully, liking the doctor's easy demeanor more than the director's blunt one, and continued leading the pair the rest of the way in silence. He had an idea that would be for the best.

A few turns later, Finch keyed in the access code for the conference room and stepped aside so they could enter first. Grace didn't bother sparing a glance at the room and slid her pack off her shoulders to claim her spot close to the head of the table where the Admiral would assuredly sit. This room was like every other conference room on Alliance ships - white walls with a long table down the middle with holoprojectors lined up where the chair were pushed in for personnel to call in. A larger projector was in the middle for displaying various information regarding military strategies. It was a sterile environment that offered little distractions to keep meetings on task. The only inviting objects were the water pitchers and glasses.

"The Admiral will be here soon." Finch wanted to ease their minds that there wouldn't be a delay. Dr. DeLaTour had a shuttle back to Jovan Station that she needed to be on. The Director didn't have that tight of a timeline for the moment that he was aware of. "Was nice meeting you both."

He smiled, meaning every word because the doctor was, indeed, nice and Van-Derveld didn't bite his head off. It was a good day!

When the door slid closed, Grace was already seated and had her 'pad out, pulling up her report and the current ones that have filed in from Cona.

"If you need the projector, it's all yours, Doctor. I won't be using it." Grace finally spoke directly to Lorna without actually looking towards her, tone professional but that glimpse of warmth from the mess hall was definitely gone. This wasn't due to a petty grudge. This was work time and there was a schedule to keep and within seconds of speaking, Admiral O'don strode in.

The Mon Cal Admiral took in the pair and made his way to the head of the table. Grace immediately stood to respectfully salute, recognizing his higher rank despite being the Director of Alliance Intelligence. She had been in the position for a few years now, but O'don had stars on her.

"At ease, Director." Grace lowered her arm and took a seat as O'don looked to Lorna. "Doctor."

Grace was about to open her mouth in request, but O'don already had an idea what was on her mind. This debrief looked peculiar on the surface. "Oh don't be so surprised, Van-Derveld." He honed in on the agent quickly. "Despite what we talked about, you knew this was coming."

His attention was fixed on Grace and became aware of DeLaTour's confusion. As Van-Derveld's second in command on the mission, protocol forced Lorna here for this particular debrief. Clearly the director had not looped the doctor in on the override order. Grace noticed Lorna's surprise and ignored it, hoping the doctor didn't have a meltdown when she realize the risks involved in getting the lab back up. "I thought we filed this under all was forgiven since Cona was understanding ..." she pointed out and when O'don glared, Grace tried a different approach. "And technically we did follow protocol. We discussed my order and you stated Cona forgave the transgression since Dr. DeLaTour was able to finish her detox protocol. Lives were saved with minimal delay."

Lorna was only getting bits and pieces of a conversation long gone, which was confusing for her until O'don supplied the last part that provided understanding.

"Be that as it may, overriding planetary access of an Alliance ally requires an Admiral or General to oversee an official debriefing ..."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Having had to suffer academic conferences in a variety of annoying configurations that allowed too many audience members and fellow scholars to be rudely distracted, Lorna appreciated the bright, even sterile, environment of the conference room aboard the ship. At least they could get down to business at once, which she highly appreciated. It wasn't that she was in a hurry of just getting it done and over with; but her looming work back on Jovan made her willing to take care of things as efficiently as possible.

That was why Grace's curt tone was fine with her. She saw nothing bad or worrying with it. Lorna herself was straight to the point and focused.

"Thank you, Director. I won't need it unless questions required diagrams from my report are required for further explanation."

She had made sure that her report was as detailed and organized as possible, long time habit formed back in her youth on imperial territory and schooling system.

The blonde chose to sit across from the Director at the table, so it would be easier to address both her and the Admiral. She pulled her datapad at once, and opened the report version that already had highlighted sections. She had made sure to have such a copy to make the debrief go smoother.

When the Admiral entered, she stood up at once like Van-Derveld. Though she didn't salute as a civilan, she bowed her head with respect due to the Mon Cal's position and service. She only took her seat back when he acknowledged her.

What unfolded next confused the hell out of her. She tried to piece things together but it made little sense to her. As much as she tried to recall what she had followed through the feed even as she focused on the medical protocol, she couldn't recall a thing that was relevant to whatever the Admiral and the Director were addressing.

Her expression likely betrayed it, though it changed to one of pure shock as the Admiral told her what it was about. Of course, something of such a scale must have happened through private channels instead of the shared feed. Still, Lorna probably looked stupid for a few moments, although she quickly managed to pull herself together.

"I believe this override happened to return power to the lab where my team was working. While I am not privy to due protocols for such matters, I fully support the Director's decision. Without such quick thinking, the delay would have cost many more lives, and might have allowed further sabotage to happen."

They hadn't directly asked for her opinion, but Van-Derveld and her had operated as a team, and still did as the debrief wasn't over. Not one to hesitate to speak up, the doctor saw it only appropriate that past the first surprise, she expressed her genuine support for what the Director had done.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Grace waited for a beat and if Lorna's shocked expression was anything to go off of, the doctor wasn't going to have a meltdown. At least that was in her favor, and she knew damn well O'don was on her side too. He couldn't officially condone the override, but he respected her decision and agreed it was the right call when the admiral thanked her.

This was just stuffy posturing from Alliance Command that was forcing O'don to slap her on the wrist after Grace defended herself again.

Lorna suddenly joining in brought all eyes on the doctor. Grace was not entirely surprised since DeLaTour already had a habit of speaking her mind in front of authority if the cause was just. Obviously Grace felt the full brunt of that hours ago over an inconsequential neck injury. But for Lorna, it didn't matter how small or large the suffering was, she would do whatever it was in her power to help. That was where their principals aligned. She just wished they would align on things not related to her own physical injuries.

Though her neck felt exceptionally better after Lorna manipulations and icing afterwards, it was quite sore, but the good kind of sore that happened after a hard workout, or a massage in this case. She pushed these thoughts to the side as it served no purpose right now.

She nodded towards Lorna in solidarity, continuing to be impressed with the doctor's professionalism. She quickly offered an opinion based on new information.

"And for the record, it would've taken hours to get access through official channels, and with the chaos going on at the hospital, it would've taken the same amount of time trying to figure out how Nd-os cut the power. Resources were thin with multiple searches and security maintaining order in a hospital that was barely keeping it together with the amount of patients there." Grace kept her voice from rising too high, but she would passionately defend herself even if an official reprimand was going to blemish her stellar file.

O'don leaned back and eyed the two of them. He was not expecting DeLaTour to quickly come to Van-Derveld's defense after being kept in the dark about the override. That was curious.

"Explain."

Grace immediately jumped in. "I don't have the exact numbers, but Arcona were already deteriorating by the hundreds. Between that and aiding injured, med staff were overwhelmed and the delays that we had cost a significant amount of lives. If I went through proper channels, it would've taken a minimum of four hours to obtain permission ... and that is being kind if we rushed the request through during a crisis. Furthermore, with staff being stretched so thin, there was no guarantee that we would have found our saboteur quickly enough, or that he'd break fast enough to explain how to bring power back to the lab. As you saw in the report, he was subtle about it and I'm certain my team couldn't have reversed that bit of slicing so quickly."

She was bristling. "And I know we can't prove it yet, but it's highly suspicious that tech was purposefully given to As-eda along with the outlaw tech we salvaged from the blast sites. Hutts are far too interested in Hae-d's research and sunk in a lot of resources into this mess."

[Lorna DeLaTour]

When Van-Derveld nodded to her words and the Admiral provided silent confirmation that she had understood correctly, Lorna then listened to the exchange between them; but didn't interfere for a while.

Now that she had more information, she began to put together a separate report, so it could be ventilated to those with appropriate credentials, since she knew that different reports went to appropriate audiences.

She was pulling notes from her personal scribbled throughout and after the mission. That was a habit she had taken, to use every brief break for caf or in the case of Cona minutes in the breathable room, to jot down notes about what was going on, which she kept. Not everything made it into her actual reports, but in certain cases, like the one on hand, it proved an incredible resource.

She was putting things together with speed and clarity. She would have to polish it on her way back to Jovan, but it would be transferred to Alliance Command within the next five hours, probably less.

She was also retrieving projections that had been made in collaboration with the Arcona doctors and her team prior and during the research.

When there was a pause in the conversation, she spoke up again.

"Based on the Director's estimation of how long it would have taken to go through normal channels to gain the power back up, here is what we would have looked at in terms of losses, and this is without including the risk of further sabotage in my lab."

While she was a team player, Lorna was also territorial regarding her teams and her work.

She switched the holo projector on and several graphs appeared in front of the trio.

"This is the time when the grid went down. Those were our projections for the following hours without the protocol."

She pulled another one in comparison then.

"This is the time when we left with the protocol. And next to it, is an estimation of what would have happened with a four hour delay."

It divided into four graphs, that showed projected numbers and then actual numbers of losses.

She looked at the Admiral.

"Without the Director's override, we would have had a minimum of five to nine hundred more deaths. Those projections were made thanks to a joint effort by Cona's medical experts and the Alliance team I led, sir."

She paused and briefly glanced at Van-Derveld before returning her attention to the Admiral.

"Based on the new information, I will submit another report within the next hours with appropriate documentation to support our claims."

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Once again DeLaTour held O'don and Van-Derveld's attention, both impressed with how quickly the doctor analyzed the conversation, was able to root through mission information and disseminate her findings in a clear and concise manner that confirmed the director's decision to bypass security protocol. The projected graphs and timeline were the perfect touch that validated the decision since numbers do not lie.

After Lorna was finished, Grace had very little to add. "I would presume Cona's government came to the same conclusion and realized we didn't want more of their people dying."

"They did forgive the transgression, but this information was not shared by them," O'don countered.

Nevermind, Grace had a lot to add.

"With all due respect, sir, Cona's a mess down there. A trusted academic went rogue with ambition, tricked into setting off bombs that caused catastrophic damage and had plants ready to go cover up his mess. Most of all? There's thousands of Arcona that still need help with healing and finding resources for the survivors to make it through another day." She hovered over the table, finger stabbing against the sleek black surface with a stern voice to drive the point home. "So sending all required information on why they accepted an apology's not high on their list."

And then quickly add. "Sir."

The Admiral blinked once, regarding both women over steepled fingers. Van-Derveld had defensively leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, ready for another round if needed. The Director was always quick to defend herself when she felt actions justified the means. He agreed in this case and with DeLaTour's data backing up the decision, Alliance Command should be pacified.

"Perhaps so, Director. And it's fortunate that you recruited a physician that has a knack for quick number crunching." He turned to Lorna. "Soon as I have the report, I'll forward it to Alliance Command along with my recommendations."

Grace lofted a brow, ready to challenge. "Which are?"

"To leave it alone, per Cona's wishes." He motioned to the holographic charts. "And this will keep Command off your back, Van-Derveld." O'don held up his hand, pressing the pad of his thumb to a finger. "You were this close, this close to being grounded indefinitely behind a desk."

She shrugged it off as if it were the norm, which it usually was, and O'don shook his head in frustration. "I'm serious. Not another stunt like this."

Now her eyes widened with amusement. "Now Admiral ...you know I can't promise -"

"Try," he emphasized. "Or ... at least keep it tamed down a few notches that doesn't require abuse of power. Ah!" Grace closed her mouth as the Admiral cut off her argument. "I don't want to hear it. Just do it."

"Sir, yes, sir," she said with a satisfied smile.

[Lorna DeLaTour]

Once Lorna was done and no question came her way, she sat down again, returning to her work on the extra report. She was working double again, following the conversation between the Admiral and the Director, while giving her everything so the report could be directly handed over to the Mon Cal by the end of the debrief. While she had got solid sleep, she was pushing herself again, but she didn't complain. She was willing to do what needed to be done and in the best time frame for all parties involved. There was no reason to go into extensive details given all she had already provided in her other reports. All that mattered was consolidate around the particular time frame where Van-Derveld had chosen to do the override so power could come back up. She had no reason to have a bloody committee about it.

In the back of her mind she was pleasantly impressed by Van-Derveld passionate responses to the Admiral, to defend what decisions she had made on Cona. As much as Lorna had been oblivious to the override, nor had it been her call, she would have supported the Director's decision had she been consulted, which was also why she had made it clear to the Admiral.

She was cross referencing her notes, some reports she had received during collab work with the local medical teams. The report was taking quick but precise shape, and she knew she would stay on her self-imposed target.

The blonde looked up at the Admiral when he mentioned her knack for quick number crunching.

"I'm currently finalizing the report, sir," she replied without hesitation, before looking back at her datapad for the Mon Cal and Van-Derveld were discussing her situation.

She added notes and cleaned up a couple of graphs so there was a simplified version for whoever would review it. While she expected them to be able to understand them, having a simpler version rarely hurt. She had figured that out a few years ago after being told repeatedly she was providing way too many details or jargon that fundraisers or politicians didn't understand.

She couldn't help a slight grin from curving her lips at the end of the exchange between the Admiral and Van-Derveld. She did admire the Director's strength and spirit.

"Since what I just showed you was clear enough, I have opted for a short and efficient report, sir," she explained, realizing that she might not have made much sense several minutes ago compared to her initial ETA.

Copying the report to two encrypted datachips, she slid them both across the table, one to the Admiral and one to the brunette.

"I also have a knack for crunching words, not just numbers, sir. Here is the added report. This should satisfy Alliance Command."

[Grace Van-Derveld]

O'don reached for the datachip and scrutinized it, eyes taking in the fact he held an updated report that took the doctor less than a hour to complete. A report that would keep Alliance Command off Van-Derveld's back.

"Short and efficient will probably suffice. If there's further queries, I'll inform command to cross reference details in both your reports." He cued up the console and inserted the datachip into the port that appeared when a small latch slid back, already uploading the data to a secure server to send off.

Grace took her copy and fiddled with it, rubbing her thumb against the cool metal exterior. She despised reports, but they were part of the job. Accuracy of reports were only helpful if the information was relayed in a concise, well organized manner. Everything in the file could be on point but if the information was jumbled together with a shoddy outline, then time ticked away sifting through words to piece a puzzle together. Information needed to be digested and acted upon, not picked apart to figure out what the point of the report was.

Yet Lorna somehow managed all of that in record time. To be fair, she only spoke up when she knew her contribution to the conversation was imperative and focused on the update. A fact that didn't get passed the director. Crunching mission specs had convinced O'don that Grace wasn't to be grounded, aligning with Cona's input.

She would heed his warning but would make no promises. Grace's decisions were based on making the best call in the situations that presented themselves - even if she had to wiggle through some grey areas to save lives, though she did feel relief knowing that her record remained untarnished. She prided herself on working in the confines of her role and pairing that with her fervent belief of doing what was necessary. O'don said not to abuse her power as a director within the Alliance. She was within her rights to order the override, but Grace also knew in that back of her mind to tread carefully, keeping in mind that it truly was in the best interests of the mission. That it was not based on power or pride because she could do it. Every action had to be for the greater good, but not compromise her morals.

She would not become her brother.

"Thank you, Doctor." Grace attached the datachip into her personal 'pad. Of course the thank you was obscured to its intent. Was it for the report or was it because the report saved her ass?

"Reports have been filed with command along with my recommendations. As well as yours, Van-Derveld."

Grace nodded. "Thank you, Admiral."

The incident in her bunk had not affected her opinion on DeLaTour's work. How quickly Lorna responded during the debrief only solidified her glowing opinion that was forwarded to Alliance Medical - that if opportunities presented themselves for a mission that require a medical commanding officer, DeLaTour should be considered. She witnessed her leadership and ability to respond critically and effectively under pressure, while maintaining a strong presence for her team. Grace knew the doctor was brilliant and had the knowledge to figure out a detox protocol, but not everyone could be a leader. Lorna was the whole package.