Ming hadn’t forgotten the adventure on the Xoval and his candid but informative and pleasant conversation with Captain Talon on the matter.  He was genuinely pleased with the success of the mission despite the handful of flaws in the execution.  One of which was the Cardassian he disabled but was unable to capture due to the rush to escape.  

Captain Talon had cited the operational safety of the mission and crew as being the reason it was good there were no prisoners.  He still disagreed with that aspect.  The unconscious Cardassian officer could’ve been fireman carried to the Xoval and kept under with tranquilizers or similar until they got home after which the brig and interrogations would be in order.  He knew that there was no point arguing the matter and he hoped there would be other opportunities. While he was happy being a pilot his theoretical knowledge of the Intelligence world gave him some knowledge of the field.  He also had a few electives in that field while at Starfleet Academy as a tribute to his gramps.

The fact he had no idea how much useful information they captured, if at all, was either in and of itself or in aggregate with other resources, itched incessantly in his mind.  It didn’t hurt to ask in most cases.  He looked out the window of his office at the busy flight bay mulling things over as he did so for about a minute before tapping his combadge and saying, “Lt. Ming to Commander Nalam.  Do you have time to talk shop in say….30 minutes?”

Riandri sat in her office going through the recordings and logs of what had transpired aboard the Denver while he was in the Dominion POW camp. The thought of the changeling moving around the ship, using her things and pretending to be her still sent shivers up her spine and made her feel violated in a way she hadn’t expected. She was out to rewatch the final log from the changeling for the umpteenth time when her combadge chimed and Lt. Ming’s voice came over it, “Lieutenant, I would be happy to. I could use a break from this anyway. Shall I meet you in your office?”

Ming was a bit surprised at her offer but it seemed like she wanted to stretch her legs  He replied, “Sounds good   I’ll see you in a little bit.”

The flight commander of the Knights straightened his desk some and pulled up the notes he had on the Xoval mission.  Nothing classified to his knowledge and he had a heavy encryption on it either which way.   He opted to review the notes and compare them to his memory while he waited.

About thirty minutes later Riandri found herself at the door to Lieutenant Ming’s office. She reached out to press the door and chimed then stopped as the whole situation seemed so odd to her. Only a few days ago it wouldn’t have been her but the changeling standing here while she was being tortured by the Dominion. Shaking the feeling off she pressed the door chime and waited for the response. 

Ming stood up and said, “Enter!”

Riandri let out an involuntary sigh as she quickly adjusted her uniform and ran her hand through her hair trying to smooth it back but realizing at the same time that she had likely messed it up even more before stepping through the door, “Afternoon Lieutenant.” She took a quick glance around the office before turning to look at Ming, “So, how are things?” 

“Could be worse. Still reeling a bit over the losses at Betazed.  Nothing like seeing your last command blow up followed by 3/5th of your former wing.  I lost a lot of close friends that day.  Many folks did sadly.  Luckily the Knights came back.  One of them and one of the surviving Rangers took some rather severe radiation but should recover.  In the meantime my wingman from the Rangers was able to step in as Knight 5 for the moment.  At least we were able to hit back with the Xoval operation,” Ming said in a manor a touch more like reporting in than conversation.

Riandri grimaced slightly at the thought of Betazed, “It was a bad day, no question about it but as you say we hit them where it hurt with the last mission; saved a fair few as well, including my own, and who knows how many would have died when the fleet attacked the shipyard.” She grabbed a seat and relaxed slightly, shifting to get comfortable, “Not to mention what could have happened if the shapeshifter hadn’t been uncovered. That was just pure luck, they must have had a breakdown in communication otherwise I never would have been at that prison.” she paused for a moment, “I have already found a couple of little, let us call them, mistakes in reports that were submitted. Nothing major but if given enough time it could have let  lead to SFI making mistakes that would have been bad for the Federation.”

Marcus had heard of the shape shifter scenario and it just furthered his resolve to do whatever he could to help the Federation / Klingon / Romulan Alliance war effort to thump the Dominion.  He added that to the laundry list of reasons he wanted an overall victory.

“I heard of your not so little adventure. Bastards….Another set of reasons to drive the Dominion back into their corner of the galaxy I’d say,” added the Knight’s CO more conversationally but with a little more heat.  

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Riandri said. “It isn’t a great feeling knowing a changeling was living your life.”

“Not exactly a two day leave on Risa I’d venture to guess.  I’m sorry that we both had to endure what we did.  At the risk of sounding dark and/or pragmatic I’m tempted to say that it’s the theoretical joys of war,” Ming said looking especially bland at that last part in something resembling a deadpan delivery.

He actually did smile a bit as he went on gesturing to the two faux leather chairs on the far side of the desk for him, “Anyway, have a seat if you’d like.  The office might be slightly utilitarian in an austere but I did make sure at least the seats were comfortable.”   

Riandri nodded in acknowledgement and took a seat, “Thanks.” After a moment she continued, “So, what was it you wanted to speak about?”

Marcus sat as well then took a breath before starting, “Well, as I suspect you’ve learned, the Xoval mission got very ‘interesting’ you might say.  We got out of there with some varying levels of luck and skill.  The facility getting destroyed was a blow to the Dominion for sure.   There was a primary data dump and a secondary grab of data rods however.  I happened to grab a vast majority of the data rods myself.  I’d hoped to drag a Glin I knocked out along with us for interrogation down the road but ….  Other operational considerations took priority to my dismay.” 

He paused taking another breath to allow for processing (and perhaps a bit for presentation) more than the necessity before going on, “Realizing I’m likely not privvy to what was captured I suppose I was wanting to ensure that at least some of what we captured information wise was worth it.”

Riandri nodded in understanding, “I have read the report, both the official one and the unedited version. The mission was a clear success but it did go sideways and I think everyone did the best that could have been expected of them.” She paused for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing, “I am aware of the potential to capture the Cardassian soldier and how his capture would have saved his life. The loss of any life is unfortunate but I do believe the right calls were made. Any delay could have resulted in the station detonating while the team was still on board.” She gave Ming a slight smile suspecting that the words didn’t help to alleviate the feelings he had, feels she could relate to having been in similar situations in the past.

“As for the data, all of it has been passed up the line for in-depth review and analysis. I was able to go through only a small amount before we transferred it but it appeared to be good intel. The top level information, which isn’t classified showed that there were several Galor and Keldon class cruisers docked for repair with several more nearing completion, not to mention a dozen or so Gem’Hadar fighters docked. All of these were destroyed. That alone made it worth the effort.”

Ming chuckled softly and said, “I’ve had a friend named Joel since we were kids.  He often teased me for being an overachiever.  That if I didn’t nail every aspect of a project, mission, or test I wasn’t happy.  Here I’ve been rather hoping for another infiltration mission so I’d have another crack at a live capture for interrogation.  It’s unreasonable I realize.  That doesn’t negate the desire however.”

Riandri smiled softly at that, “I would not expected that from a fighter pilot, if I am honest. I have been on several such raids and it is harder than you might expect to capture a prisoner.” As she did she couldn’t help but think back to her time on the Dawnbringer before she joined the Denver, “The lives of your team always come first.” 

He tilted his head as he added, “I got friendly with a professor of intelligence operations at the Academy.  He ALMOST convinced me to switch from the path I took.  I never entirely got it out of my system I suppose.” 

“Well, next time it is needed, I would be happy to have you sit in and observe if you like. It is never to late to make a career shift,” Riandri said with a smirk.

“Absolutely.  If nothing else, acquiring more skills will make me a bigger asset to the Fleet.  And if I do eventually decide to switch to the fleet’s intelligence services as my primary role it’d not be the first time anyone switched in-between departments. Either which way I look forward to getting some more exposure to if not experience in the field,” Marcus replied with a small smile.  

Riandri smiled, “I will let you know.” She stood up and made for the door then paused and looked back, “Thanks for the chat by the way, it was…” She looked lost for words for a moment, “a nice distraction. I appreciated it.” 

Marcus stood with Riandri and smiled at her words.  He told her with surprising sincerity, “I’m glad.  The feeling is mutual.  Hopefully we can find more to talk about soon.”

“Agreed, see you soon,” with that, Riandri left and made her way back to the office thinking about the never-ending challenges of the war.