Jesa didn't like lawyers. She didn't like lawyers in one of the more extreme ways she disliked things. She found them to be untrustworthy, morally unsound, conniving. annoying, and hell bent to find something wrong. She didn't like internal investigations either. But of all that, what she most didn't like was that this particular JAG officer didn't even have the decency to inform her of the intrusion she was making on her crew, or even bother working with ship's personnel, and that Jesa had to find out through a third party and by happenstance. THAT she REALLY didn't like. And it was that which made her see red as she outwardly calmly moved through the hallways, showing an efficiency of movement akin to a cat.

Turning the corner, she followed where Dixon had moved somewhat earlier, Jesa having to check the location of this supposed JAG officer. Which was to her benefit on the Starbase, in one of the more... auxiliary office sections. Meaning, that if anyone was there now, chances are, they wouldn't be in a week. Of course, Jesa didn't think of that as she stormed down the corridor, lower-ranking officers practically hopping to get out of her way, then looking back at her in a rather "parting crowd" effect, wondering where she was going.

Jesa walked directly up to the door in question, and chimed it once. Simply for the sake of annoyance, she chimed it a second time. She could have easily overridden the lock, but she figured that she shouldn't be too forceful on her first visit. After a moment that could have lasted an eternity, Niederst opened the door, only to have Jesa walk strongly inside on her looking at her, then at Dixon who was still seated, and looked like he was not enjoying his "grilling".

Without taking her eyes off of Niederst, Jesa growled at Dixon, her anger not being directed at him. "Dixon, hallway, now." She said, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. He looked from the face of one woman, to the other, and scurried out into the hallway, the door shutting behind him. Jesa simply looked at the Lieutenant for a moment, her arms crossed and her body language rigid. Her blue-gray eyes shown very little humor, and a great deal of annoyance.

Niederst took a final bite from one half of the sandwich, before looking up at the still standing Jesa. She looked at the Commander for a few seconds, as their eyes locked and the room fell into full silence. "So, Ms. Callen. What brings you here? Your appointment hasn't started yet. Although I had thought you would probably burst in during the next interview." Jennifer reached down and retrieved a small leather bound book from her briefcase before setting it on the table.

"Lieutenant, you will address me as, sir. No matter what branch of Starfleet you are in, you are still an officer and I am still your superior, and I expect the respect due me. Is that clear?" She said, her eyes steely gray, voice firm, even though she knew it probably wouldn't make Niederst bat an eye.

"As you wish, sir." Niederst picked up the book, before swinging her chair round and started to read. "Please continue what you have to say, I am listening." The only noise in the room was the occasional turning of a page.

Jesa suppressed a slight smirk, in another time and place she would do just as Jennifer was doing---thumbing her nose at authority. "Oh, I'll bet you are." In one swift movement Jesa snatched the book from the woman's grasp, and snapped it shut, laying it with a thud to the desk. "Now, tell me, Lieutenant. Do you normally enjoy walking the thin line with your superiors, or am I just a special case?"

Jennifer looked up at Jesa and tried not to smile. "I just always seem to be able to provoke people well. It also comes as part of the job description." She reached to the book, picked it up and put it back in the briefcase. "Now, sir, did you actually have any particular reason to barge in here, or do you just do it as an occasional hobby?"

Jesa's lip twitched, trying not to break into a grin, she knew the provoking thing pretty well herself. "Actually, I have a reason... I only burst into Admiral's offices and rant, as a hobby." She looked directly at Jennifer. "I was under the impression that it was in the regulations to inform a commanding officer of interviews of officers under his or her command before the interviews take place. I do not appreciate finding out about these things third-hand."

Niederst pondered this for a few moments before looking back to Jesa. "Well actually I was told specifically not to. In fact I was told quite a few things, and you probably don't want to know most of them." Niederst started putting away the items on the desk.

Jesa arched her eyebrow slightly, looking at the woman. She either was quite happy to let information slip, or was feeding Jesa false data. Either one, it didn't matter a particularly large amount. Jesa noticed her moving to put the items on her desk away, but pretended to not notice, or ignore it. She leaned forward, placing the flat of her hand on the desk, looking down at Niederst. "Try me." She stated calmly.

Niederst placed the PADD, the pen, the half eaten sandwich and all the other junk back into the briefcase, before closing it, and standing up. She leaned over to Jesa and handed her the leather bound book. "Read it, it's quite good. Incidentally, you probably won't see me again. And you can thank Mr. Drake for attempting to bug the office. The device is under the desk." And with that, Lt. Jennifer Niederst left the room.

Not amused was the most... delicate way of putting Jesa's reaction as she simply stared at the door for a moment. Yet, somehow this perked her interest in the most intriguing, and most annoying of ways. 'You probably won't *see* me again, she said.' Jesa thought, holding the substantial leather-bound volume in her left hand. She looked down at the book, testing its weight slightly. Across the cover were the words "The Enemy Within." Jesa raised her right eyebrow and looked back at the door.

"Indeed, Lieutenant, indeed."

~~

Callen just stood there for a moment, pondering what particular capacity that this peculiar Lieutenant was acting in. She thought about following the JAG officer, or whatever she was, for a moment, but realized that it would probably be of no use. Even if she did manage to catch the Lieutenant, she would either spot Jesa and lead her to somewhere else, or she'd lose her along the way. Either way, nothing was to be gained.

Yet, she might be able to discover something by poking around the office itself. Nothing really was left in the spartan surroundings, but sure enough, she did find a bug under the desk, supposedly placed there by Ensign Drake during an earlier interview. So far as she knew, two people from the ship had been in this office, Ensign Drake, and Ensign Dixon. Somehow that last thought about Dixon wanted to ring a bell, but kept missing the cord.

'Dixon, Dixon... what about Dixon? OH! Dixon!' she mentally exclaimed, in sudden realization of the situation. Of course, it was at that moment, with Jesa stooped under the desk that Dixon proceeded to walk in. Somehow, the Commander's rear didn't make a very dignified point at which to be speaking to her. "Commander, I know you told me to stay outside, but I just wanted to know what the hell's going on!"

"OUCH!" Jesa yelped, having whacked her head on the desk. She heard the door, but she hadn't expected him to enter yelling. "Commander?" He questioned, uncertain of what to do to help the situation. After all, it wasn't every day that one walked in on one's CO in a strange office, only to have her half-hidden under the desk. She held a hand up, not coming out from under quite then.

He waited there, the puzzled expression still remaining on his face. Jesa emerged fruitful, holding a small object, no larger than a sliver spot the size of a pinky nail, on her finger. "And this, Dixon, is all that remains."

As predicted, his puzzled expression deepened, and Jesa smiled slightly. She curled her fingers closed and placed the small device within her possessions. "What did you say, before, when you walked in?" She questioned.

"She simply wanted to know what went on aboard the Isannah and Prophecy. I told her the sum of the situation, as it pertained to sickbay. I explained to her that I knew nothing about the Prophecy, as I was not the away team doctor. I just want to make sure our crew is exonerated if anything should come to trial." He answered plainly.

"Unfortunately, nothing you have said will come to the trial... it appears out Lt. Niederst isn't quite who she appears to be, and... that I just smoked a fox out of the henhouse." Jesa said, distantly, her eyes still wandering over the walls of the room, looking for anything she may have missed.

"Commander, you're losing me." Dixon said, looking at Jesa.

"Hm? Oh... I mean, she's not with JAG, I just confirmed that with a quick inquiry to Starbase Security... and there is no officer here on this base with that name... that they know of anyway. Unless she's on leave and as such, wouldn't be on the active rolls. And what JAG officer would do freelance investigation while on leave?" She said, musing.

"What? How did you know who to check with? Have you encountered this before?" He questioned, growing more confused.

Jesa didn't answer, but instead made her way towards the door. "Walk with me, Ensign." She said, leaving Dixon to wonder if he had said something wrong. He fell into step behind her, but she remained silent until they were some ways down the hallway.

"Quite honestly, I don't know what is going on, nor what that Lieutenant Niederst wanted, if that is even her name. I need to ask you... about what she asked. Normally, protocol would prevent the testimony you gave to her to be heard by me, yet, since I have confirmed she is not on active assignment here, do not worry about betraying protocol that way." Jesa said, some part of her mind still working out the many possibilities of who this person could have been.

"As I said before it was a rather simple testimony." He explained "I explained to her the depth of the radiation sickness. I told her of my experimenting with the Lystocercyrolethazine and the eventual use of the drug to cure the sickness. I didn't go into detail about the crew's actions, but I explained that what went on had nothing to do with the person, but their disturbed mind instead. She tried to get me upset about Faulk taking over Medical, and being the away team doctor. I simply stated to her I thought Faulk was much more experienced and deserved the position. She asked me about the initial explosion and asked if there were any secondary, I said I knew nothing except what went on in sickbay. I found it odd that a JAG officer was doing an inquiry. I managed to question her intent and told her to subpoena me. She told me it wasn't a criminal investigation. I responded by asking why they sent a lawyer then, she didn't care to answer."

"Hm... I see. She certainly knows about the situation, then. Even things that was only in my report... or... hmm... " she said, quietly trailing into silent thought.

"Commander, you must tell me what's going on. Does this have something to do with the attempted mutiny on our last mission? Commander, I wanted to be in Starfleet my whole life. If I jeopardized our ship by revealing classified info, I'll be terminated. Please Commander what's going on?" His voice grew a worried tone.

She looked over at him, her eyes meeting his. Jesa felt a moment of sympathy towards him, at least she had some means to attack and fight this. And when the need arose, she could even get more pull if she had to. Yet, he was in the rock and the hard place... saying something to someone that was not authorized. She reached over and squeezed his shoulder gently.

"Don't worry, Dixon... this will be handled. I know you didn't know she wasn't who she said she was... and I'm sure that no action will come against you for speaking of the mission. I don't think you told her more than she already knew anyway. I just am not sure what she was after." Jesa said.

"She told me she was JAG, I just assumed, because of her rank, she was who she said. What did I do Commander?"

Jesa nodded. "I know... and in similar circumstances, I would have made the same mistake. It just doesn't take much to lift a uniform and a couple of pips... and you can pretend to be whom-ever. I'm careful, I know there are a lot of ill-intended forces... I suppose I just don't trust anyone." She said, looking pointedly at him for a moment. "I guess my advice is, Dixon, is don't trust lawyers, high-rankers you've never heard of with top-secret orders, and Greeks bearing gifts." Jesa said, going off on another tangent, pretty sure it would evoke another 'huh' response from him.

"What? Greeks?" He questioned.

"Didn't take Earth ancient history, did you?" Jesa asked, trying to lighten the mood. "It's a reference to the Trojan horse, and the destruction of Troy."

"Who was Trojan Horse? A JAG officer?" he questioned.

She laughed, something rare in her these days. "Never mind. Don't worry, you'll be alright... I'll see to that. I just have one more thing I should delegate to Lysander... though this one, I think I will handle myself."

Dixon nodded slightly, obviously thinking, then he looked over at Jesa. "If I may be excused, the lounge is calling my name."

She smiled slightly at him. "Of course. You're dismissed."

He turned away, then stopped again to speak. "Also, Commander, I'm loyal to you as our ship's commander. I don't know what's going on, but something's about to happen. If you need help I'm here for you, no one would ever expect you to turn to an ensign."

Jesa smiled gratefully at the gesture. "Thank you, Dixon... I'll keep it in mind. Enjoy your time here, rumor has it we might not be back in some time, so I'd advise you to make the most of it. See if you can run into Lt. Cmdr. Tory, rumor has it she's the local party hostess on this base." She smiled slightly. "Not that I ever found out... good evening. " She said, leaving in her normal abrupt fashion.

Loaded: 03.10.2004