Individual assignment for Lt. Inabnet

Rai waited for the remainder of the crew to file out of the room. The Lieutenant now sat a ways down the table.
"Lieutenant Inabnet, I feel like you have bloomed under pressure here on the station. I could not be more proud to have you on my crew, I want you to know that. I tell you this because I want you to understand the gravity of importance when I ask you to do what I'm about to."

T'Pren had waited patiently for the rest of the staff to leave, running through all the possibilities for assignments she could think of and coming up with nothing that seemed quite right. Certainly nothing that involved being briefed in private.

Then came the praise. Her brows lifted in surprise and her cheeks went gently green, but inside she grew more than a little anxious about what kind of job involved this kind of preface. "Thank you, sir."

"Two things. First, at the behest of the Federation and Bajoran government, we're going to get a full confession from Mila Tahain. I know you've wanted some information from her, and we're going to attain it. Together."
It was ghastly business. He wondered how merciful Lt. Inabnet would be this time. Would she stop him sooner? He didn't actually relish hurting anyone, he never had.

While T'Pren found no actual satisfaction in the news that they'd be interrogating the Cardassian again, she was relieved that the Federation was on their side. Nobody would get court martialed as a result of further digging. This hadn't concerned her for her own career so much as she'd been reluctant to let the Commander risk his for it.

The half-Vulcan's expression was grim but determined, and she nodded her consent to the first half of her assignment while nervously awaiting the second part.

"We're going to be on a Sovereign class vessel together, with some new, very unpredictable technology, and an even more unpredictable First Officer.
I know I can trust you. I'm trusting you, in this case, to keep an eye on Tal'Ara. Do not let her know about this. Do not let anyone on the crew know about it. Not Akhil. Not even Ozan. I believe she's dangerous, and I need you to be careful.
Do you understand me? I want you to have a long, bountiful career ahead of you."

"How closely do you want me to watch her?" asked the lieutenant carefully. She maintained a gentle emotional equilibrium, through no small part because of the bloodwine still in her system, saving both the warm gooey feelings and the mild professional panic for later. "Do you want me to get closer to her or should I keep my distance?"

T'Pren's lips twisted slightly. "Has she given us reason to not trust her yet, sir?"

"You're going to be sharing your findings on the Orb with her. Observe her, but from a distance.
I know to you this may look like paranoia, but I'm not about to forget that she's Tal'Shiar."

The twist to T'Pren's lips turned darkly wry. "Sir, I'm half-human and half-Vulcan. No amount of security where the Tal'Shiar is concerned looks like paranoia to me."

After a moment's thought, she wondered, "Will she have access to my previous reports on the Orb?"

"The Federation asked that we share it with her. I am not thrilled at the prospect of it myself."

"Oh good," T'Pren said with a sarcasm that came with a ready-made suit of emotional armor, "So I suppose I can thank the Federation for telling her about that time I saw an other-dimensional being wearing my dead father."

It was a testament to how quickly she was recovering from her difficult first week that her inner life was mostly guarded, grave humor and no sharp pain of loss. "I'll keep an eye on her, sir. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't Lieutenant. Dismissed."