Nash's Debrief
Posted on Sat Mar 15th, 2025 @ 7:08pm by Captain Remy Johansen & Commander Maxun Spello & Lieutenant Commander Nash Winters
1,874 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
Gone, Without Ever Knowing the Way
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD 00 2145 Hours, (After Phaedrae's Debrief)
Once Lieutenant Cyn had left the Ready Room, the Captain had called Lt. Commander Winters to report for his debrief. Remy and Spello exchanged a few thoughts while they waited for him to arrive.
"Hopefully this doesn't take terribly long, I'd like to get in on the progress they are making with Nor before they get too far into it. What do you think?" Remy asked.
Maxun nodded as he replied. "I feel the same.as far as Nash goes, I have a feeling he might not have as much information as Cyn did, simply because of her training to see more around her. That being said, I'm interested to hear his side of the mission, see if we can get a fuller picture of what went on down there?"
Before Remy could respond she heard the chime from the door.
Nash waited by the bridge engineering station and watched as Lieutenant Cyn exited the Ready Room. He avoided even the slightest eye contact with her as she stepped into the turbolift and left the bridge. Nash then approached the Ready Room door and pressed the chime button.
"Is that Nash already?" Remy asked with surprise. "Was he up here waiting for us to call him?"
Remy stood up and called, "Come in."
The door opened and Nash entered. “Captain…..Commander. I was, uh, hanging around the bridge to wait for my turn. So….I’m ready. We can start,”
"Of course, come on in, have a seat." Remy gestured over to Spello who was still on the informal side of the room with more comfortable seating and the coffee table arranged between the seats. The barely touched arrangement of biscuits, cheese, fruits, and meats was still laid out on the table.
"Can I get you something to drink- tea, coffee?" Remy asked.
“Sure, coffee, black. Thanks, Captain,” Nash said as he sat himself down. He exchanged pleasantries with Commander Spello while he waited for Captain Johansen to fetch his coffee.
"So, we can start from the beginning, unless there is another way that makes more sense to you," Remy suggested as she walked back over to Nash with his coffee. "Did you get into Freecloud without any issues?"
“No. From the beginning it is. Orbital approach and getting through the security checkpoints went by the book. Phae—-Lieutenant Cyn had authorization codes that worked,” Nash said as he paused for a beat.
“Captain, I just want to also add as part of the official record that, despite the “dust up” between us down there, I still have tremendous respect for Lieutenant Cyn. She’s incredibly smart, intuitive, and an asset to our ship and crew. I hope you let her know that when she was here.”
Remy nodded. "Hopefully I do enough to let everyone know that they are an asset."
Nash continued, “So, anyway, we agreed upon a preliminary plan en route. We’d split into two teams, T’Lenn and I, and Cyn and Siv. It was shortly after arrival that we went searching for our contact, Nor."
"T’Lenn and I explored part of the city, mainly the marketplace and what looked like a bazaar. I caught a glimpse of the Pakleds and that Axel character. I couldn’t see much from a distance, so T’Lenn took up the task to investigate further. Thanks to her Vulcan eyes and ears, she could tell a transaction was taking place involving Federation, possibly even Starfleet technology.”
"And you walked over and engaged with him, right?" Remy prodded, recalling the detail from their brief transmission.
“I approached him. Kept my distance, however. He was holding a PADD of some sort and I tried to get a glimpse of what was on it. After a couple of attempts from different directions, I went back to T’Lenn. She engaged shortly thereafter, using her Romulan alias.”
"And at some point in all of this you lost contact with Cyn's group?" Remy asked.
“That’s correct, Captain. We waited around to watch for signs of either Nor or Cyn and Siv, but were unsuccessful. T’Lenn suggested we make our way back to the ship and get a message to you here on Astrea. Tried to be as casual and inconspicuous as possible. I scrambled the signal and transmitted the message and figured we go back to a more public place to wait for our friends. T’Lenn and I got to the establishment, found a table and ordered drinks. I thought about using comms to contact the other members of the team, but T’Lenn advised against it, as to not give ourselves away. We waited inside the bar for almost two hours with still no sign of Nor or the others. T’Lenn went outside to wait and I followed her out to make sure we were not followed. Cyn, Siv, and Nor arrived a short time later. Probably 30 minutes or so after we exited the bar.”
Nash sipped his coffee and continued. “It was at this point where I announced myself as Malone and introduced Ael as my Romulan colleague. I asked Nor for the intel he had for us and that’s when Lieutenant Cyn reprimanded me. She thought that I compromised the mission and blew our cover. I, of course, vehemently objected, and despite our…..emotional outbursts, Cyn was able to gather the information we needed. She was pissed, to say the least, but there was no apparent damage done. Our informant was brought safely back to Astrea along with his intel.”
“I may be inexperienced as far as clandestined intelligence operations are concerned, but I did not compromise our position. Captain….Remira…. you know me better than almost anyone on board. You know I would not deliberately sabotage this mission. Could I have done better? Did I perhaps get carried away and bury myself in the part? Sure. I sure as hell will think twice about doing this again. I’d have been happier just tinkering in engineering like always. You asked me to go along. I agreed to help. There’s no one else I trust more than you, except for Sara, of course.”
"No one is accusing you of sabotaging the mission," Remy replied calmly as she looked at her friend in the eyes and shook her head. "It sounds like, from you, that maybe you let yourself get a little rushed to judgement at times. Adrenaline can do that."
“No, of course not. It the feeling I got from Lieutenant Cyn when we were preparing to leave the planet. You know she hit me? Slapped me in the face. Maybe I deserved it. I tried to be convincing to any onlookers in the establishment we visited. I guess I overshot it. I’m doubtful she will ever want to work with me again, let alone even look at me. But that’s an animal of a different color. When this is over, I need to talk this through with her, clear the air. But perhaps you’re right about the adrenaline and rushing headlong into everything. I was a little over eager to prove myself. And to Phaedrae,” Nash said as he exhaled deeply.
“So, that’s my story, Captain. You’ve read my report, but I’d welcome any other questions you have.”
Maxun frowned slightly at what he had just heard. "You said she struck you? Was it in with remaining in your undercover persona's, or was it as Cyn and yourself?"
“Cyn’s alter ego hit Malone. I…um….acted in what I thought was in the best interest of the mission. I mentioned earlier that I was trying to behave convincingly. Well, I did not inform her before I did it. Phae didn’t appreciate it, so she slapped me. I take responsibility for it. It was impulsive, sloppy, and I regret it in hindsight,” Nash confessed.
Maxun nodded wordlessly at this. He then looked over at Remy, to see what she had next to ask.
"Convincingly..." Remy stated, unimpressed with how piecemeal the information was being revealed. "Do you want to tell us now, or put it in your report?"
“If it’s all the same to you both, I can detail everything in the report. Like I said earlier, I may have overplayed my hand by burying myself in the cover. Thought I was going about it the right way by acting naturally, but evidently it did not come off that way,” Nash explained.
Remy studied Nash for a couple of beats before looking over at Spello then back to Nash. She nodded. "Very well. If you don't think there is anything else that we need to know for the purposes of talking to Nor, or analyzing this information he brought back for us, then it can wait for the report."
"If that's all then, I know it's been a long few days. You're free to go unless there's something else," the captain added.
“Thank you, Captain, Commander. I’ll have that report ready for you by the end of the day. I promised Sara and the kids to spend some more time with them before I go back to work. Briscoe and Murphy are holding down the fort down in Engineering. Thanks again,” Nash said.
"Normal course is fine. Get some sleep," Remy said as she stood up to walk Nash out.
After Nash left, the captain took a deep breath and turned to her first officer. "Hopefully, we don't have a personnel problem among our senior staff already."
Maxun nodded thoughtfully as he listened. "We'll have to keep an eye on it, Ma'am. Last thing the ship needs, is the senior staff not being a cohesive unit."
"Agreed. We've got other issues for now. Why don't you see if the teams who are working on figuring out whatever Nor brought back need anything and then call it a night," Remy suggested.
Maxun nodded as he stood. "Aye, Ma'am." He then paused a beat, before adding, "With respect, Captain, you should try to unwind as well. Who knows how things will explode over the next few days."
Remy nodded. "I will. After I check in on the subspace traffic and make sure there are no leads we need to follow on this USS Dalton possibility. Or you know, any other stolen Starfleet equipment for sale. Then I'll leave it to Delta shift."
Remy walked toward the door but didn't get close enough yet for it to open. "Anything else?" She asked.
As he walked with her out of her ready room, the taller El Aurian paused briefly, then shook his head with a slight grin. "No, Ma'am. Have a good evening." He gave her another smile, then waited for her to leave first.
Captain Remira Johansen
Commanding Officer
USS Astrea
Commander Maxun Spello
First Officer
USS Astrea
Lt. Commander Nash Winters
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Astrea
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