Gaining More Information
Posted on Fri Jul 31st, 2026 @ 11:53am by Lieutenant Jayna Tremble & Lieutenant Junior Grade Stefan Zamfir
Edited on on Fri Jul 31st, 2026 @ 12:33pm
1,565 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Episode 18 - The Edge of Darkness
Location: Office of the The Cure Intelligence Liaison - Deck 9 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD001 1700 hrs
The general's visit had been enlightening for Stefan. At least where Rowena was concerned. Her behavior had made him even more uneasy, why was she still the department head?
He had spoken to Sofia about Commodore Malbrooke, and had asked her questions as per Rowena. The yeoman wasn't able to tell him much about Rowena. Then again she wasn't part of Intelligence.
There was one though he'd not really been able to talk to as of yet. and that was Jayna. She had been there during the General's visit, and witnessed Rowena's actions.
As he had spoken to Sofia about the Commodore, Stefan didn't want to keep the yeoman any longer, and do any pressing questioning. He had seen there had been hurt with the possession of the Commodore, so he let her go.
Now though he needed to talk with Jayna, from the briefings he had read, he gathered that she had perceptions that others hadn't even spoken to her.
He sent a message to her, it being coded, the message stated, "We need to talk please, and it needs to be secure. Please advise where we could meet"
Jayna would know where more secure area for them to talk, as she had been on the ship longer than he has.
"Not the SCIF?" she replied. That was the most secure place. Neil's office and quarters were next, but she couldn't offer those without Neil's permission and likely his attendance. Her small office in the Cure would work, with a few adjustments. "We could meet in my office".
Your office would be rather welcome. The SCIF, it can't be there. Not at all. Stefan messaged back.
A little bit later, Stefan showed up at Jayna's office after being escorted by a marine. He nodded towards the marine, who left then chimed the door.
"Come in." She stood as the door opened. "Have a seat and tell me what you need to talk about." She waved a hand at the replicator. "Would you like a drink or something?"
"Ice tea with lemon please." Stefan responded, before taking a seat.
He looked about the office, giving a nod,
"First off, congratulations." Stefan giving a warm smile . it hadn't been lost on him that Jayna had a last name change.
"There is a reason why I hadn't requested a meeting with you at the SCIF. I am wanting to talk to you about Commander McGowan. I certainly didn't want to have the possibility of her walking in while you and I are talking about her."
"Thank you," she replied politely to his first comment. Then, to the second, she said, "No. She wouldn't like that. The only person who can listen in here is Neil, and I'm going to tell him about this conversation anyway." She looked at Stefan with a raised eyebrow. "Unless you have a good reason why I shouldn't?"
"
There isn't a reason not to tell the Colonel, as this is about Rowena."
He took a sip of his ice tea, thanking Jayna for it.
"Now I had read small reports about her having been possessed, you and I witnessed her--behavior--and I was wondering why she had been kept in her department head position. Granted, with you being part of intelligence, I have been thinking that you've been monitoring her access to highly sensitive information. And I have been as well."
"Since shortly after the senior staff disappeared, yes," Jayna replied. "I believe the reason she survived her first encounter was because she was possessed." Since Rowena was the one to tell Jayna about it, she assumed Stefan knew as well. "I believe she remained as department head for the same reason Commodore Malbrooke is still in command. The admiralty felt that the entities were removed and both were cleared to resume their duties."
"And yet I was sent to keep an eye on them, especially Rowena. From what I have been able to ascertain Commodore Malbrooke is in the clear. As for Rowena having been possessed before. She told me only that she had been possessed. Not much information was forthcoming. Also, I don't think her heart is in being a department head anymore"
Stefan lifted up his cup to take another drink, its progress stopping at midpoint. "Jayna, from what reports I've been able to read. What was your experience concerning Rowena and Maleficus. I'm quite certain that you had been piecing things together, you're not a person who would miss signs of things not being right."
"Rowena was the only survivor of a ship I believe was called the Maleficus. Everyone else died. The same thing began to happen on the Pioneer, but the crew managed to defeat the entity. Otherwise, we would have died the same as the other crew, with one person surviving. Or perhaps two, since both the commodore and commander were possessed. I really haven't seen much of Rowena since I moved to the Cure. I'm generally in the SCIF when she's probably sleeping."
Stefan gave a nod as to what Jayna had mentioned. "How did things come about as to the discovery of Rowena's possession? Who ended up doing the clue gathering? Not much had stated who had gathered such together though I do recognize that you had sent in a report, and the same for Merrick. I have a feeling that you were the one gathering the clues."
"Well, most of the senior staff was missing, so yes, I was looking for what happened. Captain Malbrooke was locked on the bridge and doing nothing. Rowena was walking around like she owned the place. So...I did what I do best. I went searching for information. I wasn't alone. Rommie helped a lot. And I know now that Major Merrick was doing his own search." She gave Stefan a half smile and shook her head. "We kept missing each other. But in all honesty, while I found a lot of information, it wouldn't have done much good. I couldn't get to them, or bring them back. They had to do that themselves."
"I am glad they got out." Stefan shaking his head, not dismissively but more of what happened was mind boggling. "From what I recall reading, they decided to blow themselves up? That was some sort of solution to get out of a predicament." the man mused.
"Not exactly," Jayna said. "They were trapped on an alternate Pioneer. It was just the senior staff--minus Rowena--on the empty ship. And the entity. Alanna told me she had an encounter with Maleficus posing as her boyfriend. That showed her they could fight it. At least for a time. But the solution was to blow up the ship. That by doing so, they'd blow up the bubble that contained the pocket universe and return here." It was the one thing Jayna had never figured out: where they were and how to get them back.
Eyes widening when he heard more of the details, Stefan stroked his chin "that certainly sheds more light on the matter. I for one, hope something like that doesn't happen again. I also am amazed at the resilience of the crew, and from what I am seeing, the work that you had put in, trying to find out what happened."
"I was--and am--just a junior officer. And I'm intel. With Rowena still on the ship, who would listen to me? Neil, but he was in the bubble." She did have Rommie, who became her sounding board and helped keep her grounded when she couldn't find Neil.
A bit of a chuckle, and Stefan remarked. "You are more senior than I am. Truth be told, I would have listened to you."
His eye going somber.
He drew in a breath, as he gazed at Jayna. "I don't know just how much I could have added but, I can be a sounding board as well, but that happened and I wasn't here.."
Giving a shrug "Uh not that I am of any true importance, just part of the cogs that work through intelligence."
Giving a half smile, Stefan scratched his jaw.
"I don't have any more questions concerning Rowena, and I thank you for answering what I have asked. I don't want to take any more of your time, though, later on I would like to talk to you about other things concerning intelligence. For now though, this is sufficient."
Stefan making ready to leave Jayna's office.
"Any time." He was only the second person who was interested in what she knew. The first being Neil. She hoped he'd find the information useful. "You should talk to her about all of this as well. She'll be happy to tell you."
Stefan paused at the door, to look back at Jayna. "I had spoken to her about it, she only gave me brief information. She seemed uncomfortable in talking about it, and I can in some sense, understand. Still though, I needed to find out more." He gave her a small smile.
Jayna nodded. "I get that. Good luck, Stefan."
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Stefan Zamfir
Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Jayna Tremble
Intelligence Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer
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