Breakfast of Spies

Posted on Sat Aug 3rd, 2019 @ 3:42am by Lieutenant Commander Adlyn Rowley & Commander Logan Vance & Amanda Vance
Edited on on Sat Aug 3rd, 2019 @ 4:01am

Mission: Down the Rabbit Hole
Location: Deep Space Station 317 - Logan's Temporary Quarters
Timeline: MD 2, Time 0630

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Time: 0630
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The following morning, Adlyn stretched out, stiff from the prior day’s events. It was a good stiffness. She hadn’t taken too many hits the night before. Her skin was a tad hypersensitive after the neat trick he had pulled. He was still sleeping, and she was ready to get moving. Maybe treat him to breakfast instead. She slipped out of bed deftly and then went to gather her clothes that was scattered throughout his sleeping area. She got dressed as much as she could without opening the door, which left her in her pants and bra; her shirt was left in the dining area. As he was still sleeping, she went to the latrine to fix up her hair and to wash her face. She was in the process of inspecting the cut left on her neck the night before. It was scabbed over nicely and would heal without a scar. She then looked back up and saw him standing behind her, leaning against the door way. A smile crossed her face as she turned and leaned against the sink. “Morning.”

He had dressed in a robe in case his surprise arrived early. He approached and kissed her. "Morning. Sleep well?" He'd fallen asleep at least an hour after her. It had taken that long to arrange things this morning. He'd been a little restless and he wanted to make sure he hadn't disturbed her.

"I did. How about you?" She asked as pulled him in closer, smiling as she did.

"A little restless," he admitted. "I had to… arrange what I'm going to share." No sooner had he said it than the door chimed and she could feel a chill sweep through him. "In fact… it sounds like it's time. Prompt as always. Ready?" he was asking more himself than her.

Her heart raced as she was only half dressed. "Do I have time to get my shirt from the dining table?" She asked. "Or can you grab it for me?"

He went in and grabbed it for her. "Just come out when you're ready." He disappeared into the other room.

Quickly she pulled her shirt up and over. She smoothed it out and looked in the mirror and made sure she was presentable. It only took her a moment and walked out, seeing a young woman walk through the door. She had a familiarity about her and there was something else she couldn't place. "Hi." She crossed the room barefoot as her shoes were near the couch with her jacket. "I'm Adlyn."

"I know who you are," the young woman looked at her. "Lt. Cmdr. Adlyn Rowley. Chief Engineer of the USS Andromeda." She paused for a moment and then extended her hand as if she had just remembered to do it. "I'm Amanda."

Logan seemed a little embarrassed at the way she introduced herself. "Amanda is… my daughter," he explained. "And she fancies herself quite the spy."

"Ah, I see. Yes. I guess you have me at advantage then," Adlyn said as she shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Amanda." She had no idea that he had a daughter those four almost five years ago. Then again all spies were secretive of their lives. Another reason why she left. "I didn't realize you had a family," she said as she looked back at Logan. "So...breakfast?" She asked.

"I didn't know either for a lon…" Logan started.

"Father, I don't think she needs to know every little detail just because she's your lov…" she interrupted.

"Amanda!" he interrupted her back. This wasn't going as he expected. He thought he'd have time to explain things better. "Can you excuse us for just a minute?" he asked Adlyn.

She nodded and Logan took her daughter aside. "We've talked about what is appropriate and what is not appropriate to discuss in front of people who don't know you."

"Yes, we have. And just because she's your lover doesn't mean she needs to know everything about us," she reminded him.

"She's not my lover. She's my friend."

'Is there a difference for you when they're women?" Amanda retorted.

Logan had to give her a point there. "My point is that I trust her."

"I don't get a vote?" Amanda folded her arms.

"You do get a vote… mine just counts more," Logan countered.

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Fine, but I'll expect something in return later." And that was Amanda. Shrewd negotiator and eternal opportunist, even with her father. She hugged him and after a moment gave him a kiss on the cheek. She wasn't good with affection like this but she'd been trying and learning.

Logan didn't want to press the argument right then, so he let it go. "Adlyn is going to make something for us. Can you at least pretend to eat it?" Amanda shrugged agreement. Logan returned to Adlyn while Amanda found her way to the table to wait for breakfast. "Sorry about that. Amanda is still getting used to… well… this."

"That is understandable," Adlyn said as she was in the middle of making breakfast. The ham and bacon had been going and now she tossed in the veggies when they had walked over. She really didn't do well idle. This is why she enjoyed being an engineer, always just busy. "I hope you don't mind I started breakfast while you two were talking."

"Me? No," he replied, leaving the obvious implication for Adlyn to interpret. "This didn't exactly go as I planned it. Honestly I don't know that much about kids so I don't even know if this whole thing is normal or if it'll get better. You asked earlier about the changes that got me from behind a desk. Amanda is that change."

"That's okay." Adlyn poured in the eggs. "Things never always go as planned and now I understand. As much as things are different, being out from behind the desk is best. You aren't bound to just reports. You get to do things. At least you got to get past the newborn and toddler phase I think it's called?" She asked. She was good with Federation Standard but always seemed to struggle with idioms. "So Amanda, are you still in primary or are you looking towards secondary schooling?"

"I don't do schooling in the traditional sense," she replied. "I prefer to learn on my own through a carefully selected circulum put together by my father. He helped me decide what was important enough for a hum… a girl my age to learn." Logan knew the near slip was why she didn't like to be in mixed company like this. She hadn't prepared herself to play the part. "In return, he allows a certain degree of instruction in what really interests me."

Adlyn caught the slip but wasn't going to pry. She figured that she could ask Logan later about it as necessary. She finished the scramble by sprinkling some feta and fresh spinach in it. "Building your own curriculum is nice, because it allows you to tailor to what you need." Dishing out the three plates, she turned off the induction cooktop. "Wanting to take after your father's calling then?"

"I believe everyone has a responsibility to contribute in a way in which they are most suited," Amanda replied. "Already I am predisposed genetically to intelligence work by virtue of the fact I am the daughter of one of Starfleet's most successful spies… I mean, intelligence agents," she corrected.

Logan knew there was a lot more to it but was unsurprised Amanda did not answer the question fully. "She's shown an interest since we were introduced once she found out I worked for Starfleet Intelligence."

"He is very good at being a spy as you called it. Much better at it than I." Adlyn took a bit of the food and then finished it "I agree. Everyone should do what they are good at and what they want to do, not what they get forced to do by expectations or because of loyalty." She smiled trying to ease the tension in the room.

"I read your file, Lieutenant," Amanda continued. "You were quite the accomplished 'spy'. In fact you even saved my father's life once and helped eliminate a threat to our family. Yet you left and became a simple engineer. Why would you do that? It seems like such a waste of talent."

"Amanda… that's rude…" Logan chimed in.

"Is it?" she challenged.

That caught her off guard but not enough that she was going to let it ruin everything. "It's okay. I'll allow it; you had asked me once too, just with more finesse. I've been an engineer longer than I have been a spy. I was forced to be the tool once. With Starfleet, I thought it might be different; it wasn't. Just different situations and surroundings. Everyone should be allowed to do what they want. I was lucky I was in the right place for your father when I was. I may have been an accomplished spy, but I'm more accomplished and fulfilled as an engineer. Now my friend, she was an accomplished engineer but she liked being the spy and soldier more than being an engineer so she switched."

Amanda made a face that indicated she wanted to say more on the topic but knew her father would disapprove. She moved around some of the food on her plate and nibbled on some of it but didn't actually swallow. "Do you agree my father is an excellent lover?"

"Amanda!"

"What? I'm not a fool! I know what it means when we have breakfast with one of your female friends! And I've heard what some of them say about you. I'm just curious."

That really caught Adlyn off guard. She took time to formulate her words as she was embarrassed about how to "I am actually not comfortable talking about that with you. How about you ask something else instead?"

"I don't understand why," Amanda started to protest.

"Amanda, she doesn't want to talk about it," Logan reinforced. "It's not an appropriate topic for guests."

"This culture is so sexually repressed," she whispered a little too loudly. "Very well… may I ask if you enjoy working with my father?"

Adlyn wasn't going to bring up her species eccentricities about sexual dalliances outside of the paired mating. Somethings she just realized were better left unsaid. "I did enjoy working with your father for the one mission. It was a good mission to bring my intelligence career with Starfleet to an end." She finished the food that she served herself. The tension was still strife in the room.

"Which one of you killed the man that threatened my father and aunt?" Amanda continued with the inappropriate questions.

Logan sighed. "Don't answer that," he said to Adlyn. "Amanda, since it looks like you're done eating, why don't you go work on that science homework we agreed you would do yesterday."

"You agreed that you would…"

"I know what I agreed and you need to finish that first," he reinforced.

"Fine," she sighed and slid away from the table. Despite her obvious annoyance with Logan, she proceeded to hug him before she turned towards the bedroom. She got halfway there before she turned back around. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Commander." The words were very well rehearsed.

"It was nice meeting you too, Amanda." The young woman disappeared to the bedroom opposite of the one they had spent the night in. "I can see that as the juiciest secret," Adlyn commented to Logan after she left. "Also helps me understand some of your comments yesterday. She definitely is not reserved about her opinions and feelings."

Logan nodded. "That… comes from her mother and possibly her grandfather. I'm not sure. I didn't even know she existed until three years ago. It's a… long story." He wasn't sure how much she wanted to hear. "It's been an… adjustment."

"I bet. She is what? Midteens?" Adlyn asked. They were all trained to profile everyone they meet. She was just a bit more off with humans because she wasn't one of them. "It's got to be tough for the both of you, especially with how outspoken she is. I take it her mother and grandfather are no longer in the picture since you're no longer behind a desk?"

Logan rubbed his temples. "They're… dead." He wasn't sure how to gently jump to the next part, so he just did it. "They died when the Romulan empire was decimated by the supernova. I was in charge of collating the intelligence during the humanitarian effort. Imagine my surprise when someone brought me a report about a girl on one of the ships with similar DNA to me… a half human, half Romulan thirteen year old girl…"

She leaned back in the chair and sighed for him. "It's tough being a refugee," she commented knowing how it was first hand. "Always fearing rejection and never knowing you'll ever be good enough or accepted. Probably why I was so easily swayed into joining Starfleet Intelligence. Felt like I owed them. I can't imagine what you're going through for your own adjustment. You, the epitome of bachelor trained by his people to extract information with sex. I can see why it's difficult to adjust. Always were on your own and now you have to care for another. Did she have surgery or did she win your genetic lottery?" She asked curiously as she knew the Romulans had pronounced features and Amanda had none of those.

"She insisted on the surgery," Logan told her. "Her grandfather… he was one of my first assignments. I got to him through his daughter, Amanda's mother. I came in, did my thing, got what I needed and left. Never even knew she was pregnant. Apparently the scandal of a half human daughter ruined them. Her mother took it out on her. Back then she was called D'Ral. She still raised her Romulan with Romulan values. Eventually she decided to get away, find her own place away from her mother. Managed to make it all the way to the edge of Federation space on her own."

"After I found her and told her who I was, she started asking all these questions. We talked for hours before she fell asleep. After a couple weeks she wanted to know everything about humanity. Cultures, customs, mannerisms. She wanted a human name, human features, everything. I picked out Amanda, got a friend to do the surgery and decided to take her home. That's when she told me she didn't want to go back to earth. She didn't feel she was ready to fit in. So I took the posting on the Hawking."

"It's tough when assignments don't stay where they belong. I can see her wanting to have a new life, one to be accepted in - especially if her maternal life hadn't accepted her. Seems like it is working?" She stated more than asking about it.

"If you call what you just saw, working, I guess so," he hedged. "I care a lot for her. And I think she loves me in her own way. But then there are things where she takes things a little too far, as you saw. Her Romulan family were hurt by the wrong information getting out to the wrong people. So now she's very guarded and she's looking to me to show her how to protect herself so it doesn't happen again."

"Most situations are that. Working in their own way. Tact will take her further. I've never known a Romulan who was that though," Adlyn smiled weakly. "So I guess this is it then? You a newfound father, serving in the Fleet - still in but not. A daughter who will test your every last nerve. And I'm back to just being an engineer." She laughed lightly. "So I guess until we meet at some backwater station again in four years?"

Logan chuckled. "You never know. Unless you want to try and make it happen," he proposed. "But who am I kidding? The way things are going, we won't even be in the same half of the galaxy. The Hawking is headed back towards Cardassian space last I checked. Who knows where you're going."

She smiled. "Well until then, of all the places and all the chances." She stood to leave. "I probably should get back before shift starts."

Logan stood to give her a proper goodbye, which included a kiss and a hug. "It was good to see you. And I'm glad you got to meet Amanda."

Returning the hug and kiss Adlyn looked at him. "You too and I am glad as well. Maybe this time, we'll actually stay in touch?" She joked lightly as she went to get her shoes and coat.

"If I ever lose track of you, I'll probably just need to ask Amanda," he was only half joking. "But yeah, I guess it would be easier now that we aren't hard core 'spies' anymore."

She slipped into her boots and grabbed her coat. She smiled and went back to him kissing him lightly. "Until next time, Logan."

He walked her to the door. "Take care, Adlyn." And with that, she was gone. For a second time he was sure he would likely never see her again.

"She was weird," Amanda said coming back out of the bedroom.

"A lot of people would say that about you too, sweetheart," Logan replied.

"Yeah, but who goes back to being a dumb engineer after being a spy. It doesn't make sense," she tried to reason out and failed.

"Things change. Like when I found out I had a daughter and had to make changes. You don't see me going on missions like I used to."

"Yeah, but you're doing the same job just in a different way. It's not the same. Do you really like her?"

Logan nodded. "She's a good friend. The other stuff is just bonus."

"You mean the sex," Amanda clarified.

"Speaking of my job," Logan changed the subject back, "you need to head back to the ship so I can make contact with the person I'm meeting here," Logan reminded her.

"No need. I already got your next assignment," Amanda informed him. Logan was about to ask her how when she answered it for him. "He used standard Federation encryption. Sloppy. I was able to fake your access code and make contact for you. I got your orders. I think you'll be happy. You get to see your friend more."

"What are you talking about?" he asked as she handed him the PADD. He started reading and his eyes got big. "Oh…. shit…."

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Commander Logan Vance
XO, USS Andromeda

Lt. Commander Adlyn Rowley
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Andromeda