Pardon Our Dust
Posted on 12 Sep 2025 @ 9:16pm by Lieutenant Tobias Hirsh & Deputy Marshal: T'Sai - FMS
Edited on on 13 Sep 2025 @ 7:26pm
Mission:
M4 - Falling Out
Location: Marshals Office
1069 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure
T’Sai walked in a continuous line, along the same route through the Marshal’s office which she always took. On any normal day on either side of her at this particular place, there would have been two rows of desks. But this was not any normal day. On this day, there were persons rearranging the desks and taking measurements, drawing up a new floorplan for the old office. In the back were the unpleasant, teeth grinding, high pitched sounds of the motors of hand tools and construction equipment, lasering apart old barrier walls to combine what used to be a storage area into new office arrangements.
With the precision of a Suus Mahna master, she stepped over a bound stack of electrical conduit tubing— one foot set, then a sharp lift of the other, pivot and land– and, her head swivelling left and right, identified her own desk: stacked and wrapped in the middle of a tower between two others.
“This is unacceptable.” Although she said it, there was no specific individual to whom the declaration was addressed. T’Sai shifted her lower jaw and attempted to calm herself by the practice of breath control.
“Deputy T’sai?” A deep voice cut through the whine of the power tools and T’Sai turned only far enough to confirm his identity for herself before replying.
“Lieutenant Tobias-Hirsh. Thank you for meeting me in my office.”
“Sorry?” Tobias looked around. “What office?”
“You are not mistaken in your assessment." T’Sai motioned for him to follow her, deciding to retreat to the Marshal’s conference room. It was a small planning space, but it possessed a door which could be closed.
Once inside, T’Sai gauged the difference. Though muffled, the highest pitches and vibrations of the work crews still resounded through her teeth. “This will have to suffice,” she determined, turning to the table and motioning for the Lieutenant to be seated.
Tobias, as a sizable Grazerite, took a chair, but seemed to assume the entire long side of the table when he folded his elbows out on it.
“I must apologize,” Tsai said. “We are renovating in anticipation of expanding personnel aboard this installation.”
“A greater presence of Federation Marshals here would be fitting.” The grazerite officer said agreeably. “Especially with a growing number of missing persons and the emboldened criminal elements to handle.” Tobias held up a padd. Although standard in size, by comparison to the one wielding it, it appeared miniaturized.
“This is the analysis I requested?”
“Your office was correct. The ident security code-check was altered. The tampering led me to the Chief Engineer’s office.”
“But you do not believe it was the Chief of Engineering himself doing the tampering?” T’Sai could tell from Lieutenant Hirsh’s body language that he found it unlikely.
“It was spoofed, most likely. Using his codes from someone who would have been able to observe him.”
“I do not believe the Chief of Engineering to be foolish enough to use his own access codes to directly alter an identity confirmation in order to permit an unauthorized device onto the station during a conference he is leading. Nonetheless, I will question him as he will likely want to know that his codes are compromised and may have insight into who would have the ability to steal or falsify them.”
“You might have a line up for him to choose from. I looked into the direct computer-core maintainance that would match the access timing and we have narrowed it to five persons from the computer maintenance team that would have had physical access to that part of the mainframe at that time.”
“You have their names?”
“I have them in for questioning, down in security.”
“I will require their files to look over.”
At last, Tobias handed the Vulcan the padd he had been holding and as she scanned over the names, T’Sai began to prepare a list of questions that occurred to her, to ready herself for these interviews.
Meanwhile, Tobias rose to his feet and entertained himself by switching the viewing wall to half transparency in order to observe the progress of the renovations. “You must be getting six new Marshals.” He observed, counting the desk areas being laid out.
“Eighteen, in fact,” T’sai clarified. “The desks will be shared between three shift changes.”
Tobias was surprised by that. “Eighteen?”
“Yes. With myself and Marshal Lofthammer, the office will be staffed by twenty Marshals service agents in all.”
Tobias gave a soft grunt which T’Sai interpreted to be a blend of surprise and approval. “I don’t suppose that Marshal Ridge Steiner will be returning?”
T’Sai’s face tightened almost imperceptibly. “He will not.”
“Has he been reassigned by the service?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes.” T’Sai said being both plain and cryptic in only the way a Vulcan could be.
Tobias intuited that he wasn’t going to get very much more out of her. He darkened the screen once more. “Is the new head of this office now Marshal Lofthammer?”
“By default, at present.”
In other words, it was assumed to be the case as Lofthammer was the senior most person… currently. T’Sai didn’t know any more than Tobias-Hirsh who she would be calling boss next week, but they would all find out soon enough. Tobias decided he’d learned as much as he was going to about the personnel changes, at least from the tight-lipped Deputy Marshal T’Sai. “When you are ready,” he said, “I can set up the interviews with our suspects.”
She did not look up from her note taking, her focus unbreakable. Distractions for the sake of conversation were highly inefficient, after all. “I will be ready shortly.”
Tobias shifted from one foot to the other, before deciding he could be useful elsewhere and T’Sai likely wanted quiet and a chance to work. Although he wasn’t sure how anyone could think with the piercing pitch of the workcrew’s tools. At least he didn’t need to suffer along with her for no reason. “I’ll go ahead to Security and make the arrangements.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant.”
As a metal-on-metal screech bit into her eardrums, T’Sai did her best to grit her teeth and remain focused on the five profiles before her.
Deep inhale.
Hold.
Slow exhale.
