#commandersuran

[meme]

>Report, t'Lareth.< Tal'kaela spoke just loudly enough for her commander to hear her, but not loud enough for any listening devices to pick up the sound of her voice over the white noise that he had put on in the room, >Hugh and I have discovered the whereabouts of one of the ExBorg Romulan colonies. However, they have not responded to any of our attempts to contact them; we're not even certain we're getting through.< >And the logs of these attempts of contact...?< >Destroyed, sir,< Tal'kaela answered, >Hugh made certain that the files were corrupted and destroyed. Only he and I know the coordinates; we memorized them rather than recording them anywhere.<

Suran was silent for a moment. He hated operating illegally like this, but there was no way he could let the Tal Shiar have knowledge of the deassimilation of Romulan soldiers. ...or the young ExBorg that forged the trail to deassimilation.

>Now that you have spent some time with him, what are your impressions, Tal'kaela?<

The uhlan was shocked to hear her first name on her commander's lips. Ever since they had come back from training, Suran had been acting different. Tal'kaela pushed the thought aside and promptly answered, >He is naïve. Far too trusting, as he demonstrated the day he saved me. But his loyalty to his cause is strong, and he is intelligent. He's devoted to this cause, but... I worry that if the wrong person were to get to him, they might be able to extract our secret.< She quickly continued, >He's only been an individual for a few years; in a lot of ways he's still a young child. He wants to be a part of something, I think... that's why he's so quick to trust and make friends. I'm working on helping him--<

>Uhlan,< Suran interrupted, "Don't lose sight of your mission. Are you allowing yourself to become invested in this Borg's wellbeing?"

>No sir!<

Suran looked at her with dark eyes. >You don't lie well. Work to improve. As for Hugh, you are to continue to work with him to ensure the safety of Romulan ExBorg until we can offer them a place in Romulan society once more. Is that clear?<

>Yessir,< Tal'kaela nodded.

The commander's brow furrowed. How easily his uhlan had picked up human habits. She was so young and impressionable... not the ideal fit for this particular mission. Especially considering.... But there was no helping it. At least she had managed to build a trusting relationship with this strange young Borg. Suran only hoped that the Borg's trusting nature would not rub off on her. He turned off the white noise.

🔪 for the eulogy my muse would give for yours.

The Uhlan stands a little straighter, trying to remain professional and not let herself smile.