A Reckoning in Paris

Posted on Fri Sep 11th, 2026 @ 2:17pm by Admiral Jasper Secord

1,832 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: The Audit
Location: Vice President's Office, United Federation of Planets, Paris, Earth
Timeline: Four Days After T'Varel's Assassination

Paris had always seemed to Jasper like a city that survived in spite of its own history. Even through the tall windows of the Vice-President's office, with the Seine moving silver just beyond the nearby buildings and the pale morning light caressing on the old stone, there was a living, charming feel about the place. The city had been rebuilt, occupied, liberated, bombed, celebrated, mourned, and then destroyed and rebuilt once more. It had endured so much yet the cafés and bakeries always seemed to remain open.

Vice-President Yebrit stood behind her solid oak desk when Jasper and Lieutenant Commander Jung-hee Cho entered. She was an Arbazan women somewhere in middle age, dressed simply in a high-collared, dark bodysuit hinting at a toned athletic figure that might have made others blush in her youth. She seemed severe when she moved but there was a grace in it. She came around the desk to greet them herself, extending a hand first to Jasper and then to Cho.

"Admiral. Commander. Welcome."

"Madam Vice-President."

"Please. Sit." She indicated the chairs before returning to the opposite side of her desk. "Can I offer you something?"

"I'd love a black coffee, if you're having one."

Cho declined the offer with a small shake of her head, her tight ponytail seemingly rigid as her head wobbled.

Yebrit smiled faintly, moving to the replicator. "You don't know what you're missing. Since moving to Earth, I've become addicted to mate."

She turned tot he replicator and entered the order.

Jasper settled back into his chair, unwilling to completely relax in the Vice-President's presence. "I've heard it's a dangerous habit."

"Only if you have somewhere to be afterward," she smiled back at him.

The replicator hummed and produced a small tray with two cups filled with the desired liquids. She glanced over at the view of the Eighth Arrondissement as the sunlight had now begun to reflect off the rooftops along Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

Yebrit took the tray when it appeared, holding it before Jasper so he could take his coffee. She returned to her chair and held her own cup of mate, bringing it close to her face so she could enjoy the aroma.

"I was very sorry to hear about Ambassador T'Varel," she said. The lightness had diminished in her voice. "I knew her a little. We had met on occasion when circumstances required it. She was always very gracious."

Jasper inclined his head. "She was."

"I've found the media coverage quite distasteful, Admiral." She blew on her beverage. "The suggestions that she was assassinated to prevent a Romulan-Vulcan coalition. And now some of the more excitable journalists are suggesting that elements within the Federation government arranged her demise."

"Callous," Jasper said, sipping carefully at his black coffee. "That's the word I'd use."

"As would I."

She set her cup down.

"The President is watching the situation closely. He's at the negotiating table with the Breen, as you know, following their latest incursions, but he has been receiving regular briefings. His public statement was clear. He mourns T'Varel's death and remains committed to seeing the Vulcan-Romulan talks continue."

Yebrit paused and fixed Secord with a severe look.

"In private, he is considerably less diplomatic."

Jasper could understand this and stopped himself from asking why.

"He is deeply disappointed that the combined security apparatus surrounding the accords could not prevent her death. Starfleet, the VSA, the Romulans themselves. Everyone had people there."

He looked down at his own hands after placing the coffee on the table next to his chair.

"So am I."

"I imagine you are," she replied, leaning back in her chair.

"There are a few Starfleet officers who will be heavily reprimanded in the coming days."

Yebrit studied him over the rim of her mate, nodding.

"And the investigation continues?"

Jasper glanced toward her. He knew she was receiving the same information he was, and the question was simply being asked to gauge his own understanding. He glanced over at Cho.

"The USS Astrea has already begun the investigation," Cho said.

Yebrit's eyes slid back to the Admiral.

"Astrea."

"Yes, madam vice-president."

"Was Astrea not the same vessel responsible for security for the accords?"

"It was, madam."

She let that sit for a long moment, allowing Secord a few moments to squirm.

"That's an interesting arrangement," she said quietly. "Having the very same people who failed to prevent something determine how they failed."

Admiral Secord shifted slightly and then leaned forward.

"There are safeguards in place. Two Starfleet auditors are already en route to Barisa Prime. They'll ensure the investigation is conducted properly and with the necessary care."

"I see."

Yebrit reached to the side of her desk and lifted a data PADD. She looked at it for the briefest of moments before extending it across to Jasper.

"Then perhaps you care to explain this."

Accepting the PADD, Jasper brought it before his face and read the first few lines. His eyes narrowed and he looked up at the Vice-President, then returned to the PADD.

Several moments passed as the room grew quieter. He read further and his expression changed again.

He cleared his throat and thrust the PADD into Cho's hands. Any harder and he may as well have thrown the thing.

"Commander."

Jung-hee was already reading while Yebrit was watching Jasper carefully, her large office chair moving gently back and forth.

"You will note," she said finally, "that the Romulan government has submitted a formal diplomatic protest. One of their most respected physicians was present at the accords under diplomatic immunity. According to this document, he has been arrested, interrogated and charged by Starfleet personnel."

Cho's eyes moved steadily down the screen.

Jasper felt like he was sitting on red-hot needles and shifted uncomfortably. He could feel the ice-cold sensation of anger in the pit of his stomach. He had already known there were complications on Barisa Prime. He had not known about this. That made everything worse.

"When did this happen?" he asked.

"The protest arrived yesterday morning via diplomatic courier. The Romulans are old-fashioned, you see."

Cho finished reading and lowered the PADD, a disgusted expression on her face. "The charging documents are signed by a Commander Maxun Spello, Executive Officer."

Jasper felt ready to throw the chair he was sitting in through the window.

"Who authorized it?" Yebrit demanded, the full-force of her office behind her.

He looked to Cho and then back to the Vice-President.

"Do not look at her. Answer me, Admiral."

Jasper could feel the heat rising from his face. "Without knowing the particulars, I would say Astrea's commanding officer would be the one to authorize the charges." He suddenly felt it difficult to swallow and added, "Those responsible will be held accountable, madam vice-president."

She nodded slowly and squinted at him. "I have no doubt you mean that."

Yebrit finally took a sip from her cup before setting it aside. She then folded her hands on the desk.

"Do you have confidence in Astrea's commanding officer to continue this investigation?"

"Absolutely." It was a bald-faced lie and he delivered it smoothly.

If there was anything Jasper Secord had learned in his thirty years in Starfleet, it was that you never sacrifice a fellow officer in a civilian forum. You back them until it hurts and then you back them some more. Even if they were lazy or incompetent or unfit. They wore the same uniform and no civilian--elected or otherwise--should touch them.

Yebrit held his gaze for several seconds. Her expression remained calm, though something in her eyes had become much harder.

"In less than ninety-six hours," she said, "one of the Federation's most decorated and respected ambassadors has died at the commencement of what may become the most consequential moment in the history of Vulcan-Romulan relations. A respected Romulan physician with diplomatic immunity has been detained and questioned without proper consular notice. The vessel leading the investigation was also responsible for providing security when the ambassador was killed."

She rose.

"That is a great deal to have gone wrong in four days, Admiral."

Jasper remained seated, feeling as if he were a young boy being admonished by a schoolteacher.

Yebrit walked toward the window and ran her hand along the curtain, smoothing the material.

"You need to tighten things up."

She turned back to him.

"Get a handle on your people."

There was no anger laced in her voice and it's what made her words hit even harder.

For several long seconds nobody spoke. The sun had finally reached a point where it was hitting all three of them and lighting the office fully now.

"I'll handle the Romulan protest personally. Ambassador Karos is meeting with me later today. I'll see if I can't smooth this over before it becomes something larger."

"Thank you, Madam Vice-President."

"You may go."

Jasper and Jung-hee both stood and began moving toward the door.

"The Federation Council is watching Barisa Prime very closely. They will expect progress. Astrea must produce the perpetrator in the coming days."

He turned back to see Yebrit's gaze had fallen on him again.

"If that doesn't happen, Admiral, there will be a reckoning."

Jasper nodded.

"Understood."

Her expression began to soften somewhat and a warm smile returned.

"Thank you for your time," he said with a modest bow.

"And before you return to San Francisco, you should visit the Champs-Élysées. There's a rather charming music festival happening there at the moment."

Jasper managed to smile politely, covering the intense anger and embarrassment he was feeling.

"Thank you, Madam Vice-President. I'll keep that in mind."

"I hope you do. Have a good day, Admiral Secord."

"You as well, Madam Vice-President."

Yebrit had already returned to her desk and was now sipping her mate and looking at another data PADD.

The doors closed behind them and they weren't more than twenty paces down the corridor before Jasper spoke.

"Get Rixx."

Cho looked at him.

"Sir?"

"Get Rixx. Get Palacios."

His voice was kept low and his teeth were gritted. The words that came out were barely above a growl.

"None of this pussyfooting around. Forget observing. I want the full force of the Audit Divison thrown into this. Get the goddamned Phoenix. The mask comes off."

Cho nodded. "Yes, Admiral."

"I want the fucking audit orders drawn up by the end of the day. You hear me, Cho?"

"Understood, sir."

It was still morning in Paris and the for the first time in Jasper's life he didn't feel like spending the day there. The city of romance had become the city of ire.

---

Admiral Jasper Secord
Chair, Federation Strategic Affairs Council (FSAC)
Starfleet Command
(NPC of JB Dorsainvil)

 

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