A Romulan Interrogation, Part II

Posted on Sun Dec 21st, 2025 @ 2:49am by Lieutenant Jean-Baptiste Dorsainvil & Sub-Lieutenant Osirin Acainus & Captain Remy Johansen & Lieutenant Commander Xalanth & Lieutenant JG Jezra Siv MD

1,184 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Peril at the Unification Accords
Location: Interrogation Room 2, Deck 5
Timeline: MD 08, 1915 Hours

M'Veira had returned to the interrogation room and laid out what Captain Johansen was proposing while Valik listened intently. While nothing was carved into stone, she knew the word of the Astrea's commanding officer was worth its weight in latinum. The potentially difficult part would be convincing her client that coming clean would be the only avenue for Valik to be released from detainment.

"So that's what they're offering," she said, watching for Valik's response.

It was clear that Valik didn't like what she was proposing. It required him to be more vulnerable than he wanted to be. "You know how sensitive my case is, M'Veira," he muttered, as if the walls were listening. "I'm not particularly enthusiastic about announcing it to others." He seemed faintly hesitant, torn between wanting to get this over with and protecting himself.

She leaned in closer, elbows on the table. "Listen to me, Valik," she said, voice barely above a whisper. "You are my client--and I must advise you in good faith." She breathed a long sigh through her nose, considering her words carefully.

"They know you are not responsible for the Ambassador's death, but they need you to provide them with everything. Tell them about your meeting with T'Varel. Tell them of the Romulan Colonial Defense. Trust them."

Valik stared into her artificial eyes, studying her face for any other option. She was changing the advice she had given him only moments ago. Information that was originally irrelevant was now important. He wouldn't dare speak the name of those after him, especially to those outside of his case, but he had chosen her for a reason. Any decision she made considered his safety first. "I'll do it because I trust you," he eventually responded in an equally hushed tone. "If the captain can assure that the information will only be used for the investigation, I'd feel more comfortable sharing it. If they find out..."

"Please," M"Veira said, narrowing her eyes to his. "Hear me. They know you were probably not involved in the ambassador's death. However, they can charge you and have you held at the nearest star base for assault on a Starfleet officer. Do you understand?"

Valik paused before nodding his confirmation. "I understand."

M'Veira nodded, stood, and crossed to the door. When she opened it, Osirin was waiting on the other side. They both returned to the table and sat down.

"I can assure you," Osirin said, "I am a neutral third party. I'm an exchange officer; that is my only tie to Starfleet and the Federation. You can trust me with the truth. Your truth. I can help you, I will help you, but only if you're truthful. Tell me about this meeting you had."

There was a long pause before Valik spoke again. "I'm currently in the process of seeking political asylum due to persecution by the Romulan Colonial Defence. I had met with the Ambassador to seek a sponsor for my case, and she listened to what I had to say but decided to not sponsor me. Later, someone who works for the Ambassador --I don't remember who-- contacted M'Veira to inform us of this reception, and that maybe I could find a sponsor here. So I got permission to attend, and since security was pretty well established, M'Veira and I thought it would be safe enough for me to be here."

"I believe you," Osirin said. And he did, not completely, but enough, at least to give him the benefit of the doubt. "You were seen near the body by several witnesses. And you did seem...evasive. Care to explain that?"

"That is a lie," Valik pointed out. "I was nowhere near the ambassador when she collapsed. Whoever claimed otherwise provided false information."

M'Veira cocked her head to the side, narrowing her gaze at the Akadian. "Mister Osirin," she began, her voice low. "I must object to the framing of your statement. A witness report is not the truth. It is a perception. A recollection. A fallible imprint implanted through fear, dim lighting, whatever music was playing, or whoever shouted first. And calling my client seen near the body--as fact--when it is, at best, an uncorroborated claim... that is prejudicial."

Her hands folded on the table very precisely. "You are asking him to answer an accusation which doesn't meet evidentiary standards. I would kindly request you bring Captain Johansen into the room."

"An eye witness testimony doesn't meet evidentiary standards? Since when?" Osirin responded.

M'Veira took a long breath, attempting to regain control of herself in the face of what she viewed as an inflexible system which was bent on bullying her client into providing a witness account with open hostility.

"Mister Osirin," she said evenly, "you were in the vicinity of the Ambassador's body, if I'm not mistaken. Would you care to explain that?"

The Akadian kept his tone even, his expression neutral; the only outward sign of his growing frustration was a slight tic of his right eye.

"I'm not the one accused of killing her counselor; I'm not a suspect. Your client is a suspect. I had a legitimate reason for being there and I'm not denying that I was there. It sounds like he might have had a legitimate reason for being there. I don't know."

"The more I'm granite walled the less I can do to help."

Ironically, the very training Valik went through on how to remain silent under duress was both a help and a hindrance. He recognised the signs of investigative bias. It seemed clear enough, at least to the Romulan, that Osirin wanted the answers that matched whatever narrative had already been spun up to explain his actions at the reception. In his experience, there was no pleasing someone like that, and trying to set the record straight, as much as Valik wanted to, was too volatile. That was evidenced by the way Osirin and M'Veira were bickering after the former was called out for lying. While his interrogator wasn't Starfleet, Valik was in Starfleet custody, and he knew the rights granted to detainees. So he remained silent, waiting for either M'Veira to instruct him or for the "neutral party" to ask less hostile questions.

It didn't stop the adrenaline from making his hands tingle, though. His eyes were focused on M'Veira. Knowing that Osirin wasn't a Starfleet officer made Valik nervous, though his ingrained stoicism was working overtime to keep it from showing. Osirin was another variable that could get information back to the RCD. The pulse thudding in his throat made it hard to swallow. There wasn't much stopping Starfleet from detaining him further... from passing his name through the wrong channel... from reaching the very people who marked him for disposal. Every option, from a false confession to being even more forthright than he was being, seemed to want to point in that direction. Now more than ever, he was leaning on M'Veira's guidance.


~To Be Continued~

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