Chapter Text
It was a nice touch to newer ships that the captain had an actual office, however small, to get some quiet and take care of administrative work, rather than just a desk shoehorned into the captain’s cabin. Uhura had no idea where to start on the report about Doctor Costello’s actions, or how any such report on her part of things was going to be received by Starfleet, and in particular, Admiral Nogura, but it was nice to be able to work on things in private instead of having to write the reports in her cabin or seating in the centre seat.
Somebody rang the door chime, and she waved a hand in front of the monitor to shut it down. “Enter.” The door slid open to reveal, unsurprisingly, Doctor Carlin. Uhura forced a smile. “Welcome, Doctor. How is your colleague holding up under confinement?”
He stepped far enough into the small room for the door to slide shut behind him. “Well enough, for now. She may be increasing the wear rate on the carpet in her quarters, but allowing her library access helps quite a bit, I think. Thank you.”
Uhura shrugged. “She’s not a criminal, just a hothead. One simple, if colossal, mistake shouldn’t ruin you completely.” And she’d just finished typing something very close to that in her report.
“Even when that mistake endangers the lives of dozens of other people and threatens to break the Prime Directive?”
“Lieutenant Stark assures me that they could have handled the issue technically, and we were probably not in danger of anything more than being a bit lightheaded, and only on that deck. The hangar deck would have taken a bit longer, but as far as the Prime Directive, her heart is in the right place.”
Carlin nodded. “Unfortunately, her brain was in the same place.” He swallowed, a deep breath, and then hesitated a little while longer before speaking. “You were bluffing, weren’t you?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Bluffing?”
“About the probes being able to more than just listen?”
“No, that’s certainly true. They have plenty of capability.”
“But you implied that you have programmed them to… that there is information that could be made available by the probes.”
Leaning back in her chair, she swallowed once before responding. “Yes, I did, Doctor, but here’s a question for you: do I look like a programmer to you?” When he didn’t respond right away, she smiled. “To answer, no. I don’t have the technical background, not in that direction, at least. I’m a very competent communications officer, I think, a fair judge people, and I’m really, really good with languages. I can tear down any communications system, civilian or military, in the Federation and put it back together better than it was before, and I’d do a fair job with Romulan or Klingon versions. But reprogramming a standard Starfleet probe to do something that bypasses the standard command set and not leave any traces of the work?” She shook her head. “No, that’s not in my skill set.” She raised her eyebrows. “Although, having worked extensively programming the universal translator systems, it might possibly be inside yours.”
Carlin went very still. His eyes never left hers, and he barely breathed. After a long moment, he allowed himself a nod. “Yes, I suppose it might be, commander.”
“It’s a good thing you believe more firmly in the Prime Directive than your colleague does.”
“Yes, commander, I suppose it is.” Carlin’s weight shifted from one leg to the other and back. “Well, I don’t want to take any more of your time.”
“That was all then, Doctor Carlin?”
He nodded several times “Yes commander. That was all. Thank you.”
When the door slid shut behind him, Uhura let out a long sigh. “You’re welcome, Doctor.” And thank you for making my report even more complicated. And it wasn’t like she could use the whole trip back to write it. She doubted Admiral Nogura would be willing to wait that long.