Intelligent Reviewing

Posted on Sat 6th Apr, 2019 @ 5:47pm by Captain Andrus Grax & Lieutenant Adam Keller & Lieutenant Damion Ildaran & Ensign Elizabeth Brennen
Edited on on Wed 1st May, 2019 @ 10:39am

1,136 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: A Diplomatic Affair
Location: Deck 15 - Intelligence Department Conference Room
Timeline: MD-2, 0800 hours

[ON:]

Captain Andrus Grax strode into the intel. department's main briefing room and moved towards the vacant chair at the head of the table. It had been just over twenty four hours since Commodore Suzuki had invited him to accept a permanent assignment on the station, overseeing Starfleet's intelligence interests for the sector. He had thought about the offer for all of about ten seconds before accepting. Since that meeting, he had felt more at ease with himself than he ever had in the centre seat of a starship bridge. Command had been thrust upon him, but he never really felt comfortable with it. At heart, he had longed to return to intelligence - whether as a field operative or in a more administrative role, he didn't care. This was who he really was.

"All right," he began, without preamble, surveying the group of officers that were seated around the large conference table. The intelligence team were all there, Ildaran, Keller, Brennan and Jason Fisher. "The organised criminal activity in the sector has hit us hard. It's affected traffic, it's affected trade and it's affected us on a personal level. We've lost ships," he said with a knowing glance towards Jason Fisher, the Falcon's former first officer, "And we've lost colleagues."

He paused, taking a deliberate breath, just to ensure his emotions were in check as he remembered the crew of the Falcon that didn't make it to One-Oh-Nine.

"I know I'm new here," he eventually continued, evenly, not betraying the emotion that he felt, "but from what I can gather, we've been trying to tackle this problem from our own little corners of the universe. That ends today. We need to start putting our individual pieces of the puzzle together and seeing the big picture. So," he invited, taking his seat and gesturing towards the group, "Let's recap what we know. Who's going to kick us off?"

"I suppose I will," Damion Ildaran said. He steepled his fingers and took a moment to organize his thoughts. "I was assigned to this station as an infiltration specialist about a year ago, off the USS Hermes. I was informed by the previous department head, Lt. Miller, that this station was, if not the focus, certainly a focus of local pirate activity. The problem has been, during all this time, that we still have no idea where the bloody bas--where the pirates are coming from. Time after time, I've listened to cockpit recordings of fighter pilots who've had encounters with them. It's always the same thing--they appear out of nowhere.

"Lt. Miller hit upon the idea of setting a place on the station where we might do a bit of covert observation and intelligence gathering. That became even more critical when one of our pilots detected a signal being transmitted from the station to parts unknown. It was for the most part hidden by all the usual communications chatter originating from 109. The pilot wasn't able to get a good fix on it, though. We knew it came from lower down in the station, but not precisely where. So I set up our little 'listening post' near Tivoli Gardens. It's a repair shop, because that's the kind of work I know, and it gives us the chance to be inside people's quarters and to observe them. We've seen quite the few things that we've alerted station security about.

"We didn't, however, find our signaller for several months. Finally, though, that same pilot got lucky, isolated the signal, and located its origin point. We were able to apprehend a suspect, one Zelda Alegari. But she's cagey, experienced, and, we think, afraid of whomever she's working for. She's proving a very difficult nut to crack, and we're having to go slowly, to avoid frightening her more than she already is. We think she's working for this man." Damion touched his PADD, and an image of a male Andorian Aenar appeared on the wall screen. "Despite his identification as Ah'ras Nelet, he's not who this says he is. Ah'ras Nelet was murdered on Andor. So we don't know who this bloke here is. Craniofacial analysis can't get enough corresponding points to determine a match--probably because of whatever cosmetic appliances he might be wearing to throw that off. We've begun to start questioning Ms. Alegari."

"Indeed," Grax responded thoughtfully, reflecting briefly that Alegari's questioning hadn't yet yielded and results. "What else?"

"We know that the pirates have the technology to track a Starfleet ship under cloak," posited Jason Fisher. "Access to that sort of information isn't readily available to just anyone."

"You think there's a mole on the station?" Grax asked.

"I'm not suggesting anything, sir," Fisher replied, "Merely stating a fact."

Grax gave a half-chuckle. He'd known Jason Fisher long enough to know that he rarely drew conclusions before having all the facts - it's what made him such a thorough analyst. "Okay," he said, nodding at Fisher, "Fact noted." He turned back to the group. "Any other relevant information?"

Adam had nothing to add to the conversation. He'd been on his own projects recently and there was nothing that he could bring up in a public conversation. It was interesting to hear about the other investigations going on throughout the station. Maynard didn't have the 'all inclusive' attitude that Grax had. This would be interesting and refreshing. Adam had always felt that the left hand should be aware of the right hand at all times. 'Maynard kept many secrets from his staff.' Adam shrugged off the old anger of Maynard's collusion with Jasmine keeping the Borg nanites from him.

"If there is a mole, he could have been in place for quite a while," Damion said. "I've been reading old flight controller's reports. There've been pirates operating near this starbase since before Starfleet retook control of it. I've not seen any references yet to pirates being able to detect cloaked ships in the reports, but that doesn't mean it wasn't happening."

"Okay," Grax nodded, "Keep at it - co-ordinate with Commander Fisher if you find anything else of interest."

"Glad to," Damion said. "And, Commander, if you want to observe the questioning, you're welcome to."

"Thank you, lieutenant," Fisher replied with a smile, "but I think I'll leave that to our illustrious leader - it's much more his scene."

Grax gave a half-smile at Fisher's comment, and resisted the urge to say something inappropriate. "Fair enough," he eventually settled. "What you can do however, Commander," he continued, "Is to co-ordinate with security, strat-ops and the fighter command. I want to know every they know about the pirates' movements."

Fisher nodded in the affirmative.

"Then, if there's nothing else," he was already standing up from the table. "You're dismissed."

[OFF:]

 

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