Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or its associated brand. They are the property of CBS/Paramount. I own the original characters and plot developments therein.
Laos II was a colony established around the time Vega Colony had been settled. Twelve star systems away, Laos was Vega's closest inhabited neighbor. Not as renowned as Vega Colony, Laos was known for several specialties that it did better than the rest of the Federation. One of the things that Laos was most famous for was private security agencies. Services ranging from a standby personal detail to an installation's coverage were easily handled at various levels of agencies that made Laos their home.
The competition between agencies was brutal and demanded the highest levels of skill and professionalism. Those that couldn't aspire to greatness quickly faded into obscurity. Conversely, this aspiration to be the best spilled over to other professions.
Private investigators split from security companies and either profited or completely floundered. It was on this world that Annika Ryst came to when she became Celeste Rockford and established Rockford Investigations. Rockford spent five years alone carving out her own brand of an empire before taking on associates. Once she was elevated to a rarified advisory capacity, Annika Ryst became more active as a soldier for hire once again.
Over the course of the Dominion War, Rockford's services were in high demand. Afterwards, she split her time up with the Annika Ryst persona as Ryst sought favor with the Orion Syndicate. Still, Rockford's personal successes when she was dominant coupled with the pure skill of her associates made it so she was able to spread branch offices across strategic Federation worlds.
But Laos II was where Celeste Rockford had been born and so this is where she returned for her wedding day. Rockford Investigations had begun in the capitol city of Lan Xang in the upscale Sisavang Vong district. Because of this, Rockford had arranged for the ceremony to take place in the nearby Pathet Lao Park.
Rockford's list of guests leaned heavily toward s Laotian law enforcement as well as law enforcement officials across the Federation. She also drew from her own pool of investigators. Some were too entrenched in time sensitive cases but she'd rather they continue with those then blow a client's gift credits by destroying a case just to attend a wedding. Even if it were hers.
Macen's list included the prerequisite crew of the Obsidian, the command staff of Serenity Station, and corporate officers of Outbound Ventures, Inc. But it also weighed disproportionately towards Starfleet admiralty.
Admirals Alynna Nechayev, Amanda Forger, and Robert Tavar Johnson were in attendance. Captain Ro Laren of Deep Space Nine wouldn't have been anywhere else and Captain Alfonso Reyes would have been anywhere Ro was. Elias Vaughn, Starfleet (Retired) had come out of isolation to attend of course. The senior staff of the USS Intrepid was also present. The deep ties between Jim McKinley's crew and Macen's guaranteed they'd be here.
Johnson was more than a mere guest. He was officiating the ceremony. Given the disparate backgrounds of both bride and groom, they decided to blend elements of traditions from both their peoples.
The bride wore a deep purple caftan with silver embroidery over a simple white dress. It was traditional Angosian styling. Her fellow Angosian teammate, Rab Daggit, felt a swell of pride over seeing her wear it.
The groom wore a Mandarin collared charcoal gray tunic with a black jacket. His pants were black with gray piping. The only deviation from El-Aurian norms was his black Starfleet boots.
The couple each recited a traditional vow from their home world. And then they spoke a few more words from the heart. As Bajorans gave pledge bracelets so too did Angosians give marriage bands. El-Aurians preferred to give symbolic pendants with the other spouse's name engraved upon it. The thought being you could keep one another close to each other's hearts.
As the ceremony ended, the veterans of Macen's marriage to T'Kir wondered how the sky would fall now. Only nothing occurred. Last time the Orion Syndicate had sought revenge and when that failed, they sent a team after the couple on their honeymoon. This was how Ryst had met Macen. She'd been a member of that team.
While the Orion Syndicate was hardly a threat to Macen and his team these days, the Typhon Pact, Section 31, and the Iridian Enforcers had each declared their ready enmity against the group. So as the venue shifted to the wedding reception, some were still wary.
Federation President Nanieta Bacco diligently worked away within the fifteenth floor of the Palais de la Concorde, the Federation's governmental hub. It was a fifteen story structure located within the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France. The very first floor was the legislative wing where the Federation Council met to decide policy for the United Federation of Planets. The second floor belonged to the Press Liaison and her staffers' offices.
The third floor was taken up by the legal counsels and their staffers. The fourth through the eleventh floors were utilized by the Federation Counselors and their requisite aides. The thirteenth through fifteenth floors were the presidential wing.
Various Cabinet members ran their departments out of the thirteenth and fourteenth floors. The President's Chief of Staff's office was on the fourteenth floor. The President shared the fifteenth floor with her administrative aide and a security detail. The Federation Security Service provided waiting rooms, an arsenal, and a medical facility with physicians on twenty-four hour alert seven days a week.
There were also three basement levels. Two levels were dedicated to secure briefings and policy planning sessions. The third level was the command center for the Interstellar Security Agency.
It was this agency's director that requested an emergency meeting with Bacco at the close of the normal work day. Bacco knew Director Humboldt wasn't prone to hyperbole so she requested he be fit in. When Humboldt arrived in her office, he sat a padd down on her desk.
"Read it," he said firmly.
She did and suddenly reviewed a summary of every discreet meeting she'd ever held with various Gorn officials and Romulan dignitaries including the Empress herself, "What is this?"
"In a word?" Humboldt snidely asked, "Treason."
"How so?" Bacco wondered.
"Every meeting precedes a concession granted to the Typhon Pact," Humboldt said stiffly, "In short, you've sold us all out."
"And just how would you know?" Bacco mused, "Your agents weren't present at any of these meetings. How could you possibly assume I sold this office out?"
"Security organs of the Federation were present. You just didn't know it at the time," Humboldt proudly declared.
"So this is based on the word of the shadowy Section 31 I've heard so much about," Bacco guessed.
"It doesn't end with our enemies," Humboldt stiffened, "In order to coerce Rekena Garan into signing into the Khitomer Accords you bribed her with dismantling the Demilitarized Zone and giving the territory to the Cardassians wholesale."
"First, I wouldn't call the Typhon Pact enemies quite yet. Very real rivals, yes. But 'enemy' is too strong a term," Bacco countered, "And no Federation citizens were present on any of those worlds that I ceded to the Cardassia. Only the Valo system contained any Federation colonies and that system was removed from the DMZ and placed back within Federation borders by my action."
"Pretty lies," Humboldt refuted her assertions, "Just because we're not at war with the Typhon Pact or the Cardassian Union doesn't mean they aren't hostile towards us. Hostility leads to open warfare."
"Except when those hostile forces are Klingons or Cardassians," Bacco argued.
"Tenuous allies at best," Humboldt insisted.
"You're calling the Klingons a shifty ally?" Bacco was stunned.
"We did fight a brief war with them when the changeling Martok had Gowron's ear," Humboldt reminded her.
"They were duped!" Bacco exclaimed.
"I think they knew all along and just finally revealed their true nature at long last," Humboldt retorted.
"Who is delusional here?" Bacco had to wonder.
"You will resign tonight or there will be repercussions," Humboldt finally declared.
"And if I refuse?" Bacco had to ask.
"You won't," Humboldt insisted with far too much confidence for Bacco's taste.
"Whatever puppet you place in my stead will only be in office sixty days before a general election will replace them," Bacco reminded Humboldt of the law.
"The selected President Pro Tempore will win the election," Humboldt boasted, "That's been guaranteed."
"You're forgetting that I haven't even resigned yet," Bacco had to point out.
"It doesn't matter," Humboldt smugly declared, "The Federation Council has already voted and selected your replacement."
"Then they're all in for a rude surprise," Bacco asserted.
"Your resignation is a formality but a necessary one," Humboldt agreed, "And we have the leverage to make it happen. If you do not resign, my associates will execute Raisa Shostakova first and then Esperanza Piniero."
Bacco wondered just how these women would be threatened. Or how could they? Piniero was more than her Chief Staff dating back to her days on Cestus III. Piniero was a former Starfleet officer who'd resigned to become Bacco's campaign manager for the governorship of Cestus III. She'd stayed on to be Bacco's Chief of Staff and then they had repeated history with the Presidency.
Shostakova was more than the Secretary for Defense. She was also a skilled combatant from a heavy g world. Subduing her would take a great deal of effort.
"Even if you resign now and spare them any harm, they will still leave office with you;" Humboldt delivered the final ultimatum.
"Raisa was one of yours," Bacco thrust back into Humboldt's conscience, "How could you do this to her?"
"She betrayed everything she believed in when she supported your actions," Humboldt threw right back into Bacco's face, "She would have been dealt with eventually anyway."
Humboldt saw the fire still in Bacco's eyes, "Perhaps you'd care to speak with them?"
"Yes, I would;" Bacco insisted.
Humboldt activated his comm badge, "Clear Channel Two."
He waved at Bacco's comp/comm, "Shostakova is waiting on Channel Two."
The image that met Bacco's gaze was of a battered and broken Shostakova. She was bruised and bleeding and from the cant of her stance, Bacco could tell she was kneeling and greater damage that couldn't be seen had been inflicted. Bacco was immediately outraged.
"Raisa, how are you?" Bacco demanded to know.
"I'll live but I really don't feel like it right now," Shostakova rasped.
"What have they told you?" Bacco asked, "Who are they?"
"They haven't said but they're very thorough. They know what they're doing," Shostakova admitted, "They want you to resign but I say tell them to go to hell."
An exit wound punched its way through Shostakova's head seconds before the signal terminated. Bacco looked up at Humboldt, "You bastard! There's was no need for that!"
"There was every need," Humboldt said calmly, "Should we repeat this exercise with Piniero?"
"What happens if I agree to your terms?" Bacco wondered.
"You and Piniero leave here tonight," Humboldt promised.
"We'll be set free?" Bacco knew they wouldn't but had to ask any way to see what he'd say.
"You'll be held in seclusion for sixty days," Humboldt shared, "After the election is over and our candidate has won, you'll be free to spread your pathetic story to anyone who will listen. But I can assure you, by that time, no one will care."
Bacco suddenly knew without a doubt that a crisis would be manufactured for the President Pro Tempore to handle so that he/she would play well to the voting public. A triumphant enough victory over the perceived enemy could engender hostility to Bacco's tale when she and Piniero were released. And they would be released because they'd no longer be a viable threat.
"I suppose you have my resignation letter prepared?" Bacco grated.
Humboldt slid another padd out of his jacket, "Of course."
Bacco sealed it with a thumbprint and handed it back, "Do your damage."
Humboldt paused, "You know, if you had any conviction at all you would have sacrificed Piniero. Then we would have resorted to an assassination to remove you from office. You could have died a hero."
"I still will," Bacco proclaimed.
Humboldt smirked, "Not when we're done."
On Cardassia IV Section 31 agents Sarina Douglas and T'Kir were reviewing the ranks of the Unionist provocateurs that they'd been training for last number of weeks. Now these Unionist agents would filter back into society on Cardassia Prime and began agitating for the dismantling of the elected government. Once chaos had erupted across the globe the Unionists' leader, the former Gul Maret, who had been elected as Legislator Maret, could lead the forces that would quash the uprising and thus cementing his position as the rightful ruler of the Cardassian Union.
Douglas and T'Kir eschewed boarding one of the mass transit ships and departed Cardassia IV in their own shuttle. Now they were headed for Cardassia Prime to coordinate with another agent in place to coordinate the overthrow of the Legislative Assembly and Castellan Rekena Garan.
The wedding reception was entering its second hour of blissful uneventfulness. Then Admirals Nechayev, Johnson, and Forger were all paged simultaneously. They each managed to find a modicum of privacy. Each was informed of Bacco's resignation by their fellow admiral, Leonard James Akaar, they converged once again to discuss the news.
"Personally, I find the timing to be suspicious;" Johnson opened with, "I conferred with her just yesterday while we were en route to Laos. She was outlining her new diplomatic emphasis for the coming year. She never said a word about resigning over 'health issues'."
"That's because she doesn't have any," Nechayev said sourly, "Ed Noyce and Starfleet Security are kept abreast of any president's health concerns. Bacco just underwent a full physical. She cleared it with a bill of outstanding health."
"What's the most troubling is Akaar saying Bacco had booked passage back to Cestus III and never made the flight or rescheduled," Forger put in, "He specifically said it was as though 'she'd fallen under a shadow'."
"It seems it was only a matter of time before this day arrived," Nechayev remarked, "I'm actually surprised it hasn't happened sooner."
"The loss of the Andorian Empire to the Typhon Pact has pushed a lot security agencies into espousing doomsday scenarios," Johnson grimaced, "And every one of them places the blame for Andoria's loss on Bacco."
"And you can't tell me someone executing Raisa Shostakova with a bullet wound to the head is merely coincidental," Forger fumed.
"A slug thrower wouldn't set off the internal sensors," Nechayev reminded her protégé, "It also makes one hell of a point."
"Ed Noyce is trying to keep the doors of communication open with the Federation Bureau of Investigation but he's being stonewalled. The FBI is deliberately keeping Starfleet out of the loop while they supposedly investigate Shostakova's murder and Bacco's disappearance."
"Like they're actually trying," Nechayev snorted.
"You really think they're white washing this whole thing?" Johnson was slightly incredulous.
"Someone is sanitizing this, Bob;" Forger stated, "The FBI is the perfect element to use to accomplish the task."
"And Eddie's insistence to utilize the SID as our lead investigative force is only going to throw antideuterium into the intermix chamber," Johnson pointed out.
"Do you have a better solution?" Nechayev wondered.
"Let Jim handle it. His people are skilled and they'll get results," Johnson pushed for Captain McKinley's crew to get involved.
"But our beloved C-in-C has mandated that the SID will take point," Nechayev thrust back at Johnson, "And despite Jellico's usual protesting, he's even selected the team."
"If we can convince Brin and Celeste to forgo their honeymoon," Forger reminded the group.
"I suggest we put our considerable charm and persuasiveness to use," Nechayev suggested.
Nechayev approached Macen and Rockford and asked them to follow her to a discreet location. Rockford shot Macen an irritated glare. The sight of Johnson and Forger waiting for them when they arrived at Nechayev's preferred location caused Rockford to audibly groan.
"Not now," Rockford grated.
"We're so sorry, Celeste, but something has come up;" Forger profusely apologized.
"Something always comes up," Rockford protested, "Don't you have other teams you can send instead?"
"I do," Forger agreed, "But these circumstances are special. First off, Admiral Jellico specifically asked for your team to be assigned this case."
Rockford was rueful but intrigued. She was well aware of Jellico's usual hostility towards her husband. She took a second to delight in using that term towards Macen before admitting the universe must be nearing heat death for Jellico to intentionally order their team to be given this task. Perhaps it would be a watershed moment that would recast relations between Jellico and Macen.
Forger explained what had happened to Bacco, officially and unofficially. Macen was quick to reply, "Piniero's involvement is obvious. Bacco has maternal feelings towards her dating back to before Piniero entered Starfleet. A threat to her would undermine Bacco's resistance."
"It wasn't just her;" Nechayev interjected at this point, "Raisa Shostakova was murdered in her own Cabinet office that same night. The FBI is investigating both incidents."
"Then why are we being asked to go in?" Macen pointedly inquired, "There's something you're not telling us and that information is why we're being asked to sacrifice our plans."
Nechayev and Forger exchanged pointed looks. Johnson intervened, "Tell them."
Forger did the honors, "When Akaar alerted us all to the situation, he employed a code phrase that alerts the Council of Five members to Section 31's involvement in a situation."
She let the newlyweds digest that fact before continuing, "We therefore have to assume Section 31 engineered Bacco's 'retirement' and Shostakova's murder. At this point, we're assuming that S31 has also suborned the FBI and the ISA into this plot as well."
"What corroborating evidence do you have for that assumption?" Rockford was already in investigative mode.
"The FBI volunteered to assume jurisdiction before Starfleet even had time to digest that there were abnormalities with the situation," Nechayev broached the topic, "The FBI has effectively shut Starfleet out of any and all investigations yet they don't seem to actually be conducting an investigation of their own. As for as the ISA goes, Director Humboldt was the last logged visitor that Bacco had prior to resigning."
"So who is the President Pro Tempore now?" Macen was well aware of the procedures and law.
"Gelt Macht," Johnson put in, "He's a Zakdorn who was a former strategist for the Interstellar Security Agency before retiring to focus on politics."
"You're neglecting to mention that Macht was on the periphery of Admiral Lehman's plot and resigned in a cloud of disgrace," Macen reminded Johnson.
"Extremist views often appeal to disgruntled voters," Johns did his own reminding; "Macht was elected to the Federation Council during the Dominion War. He's served in that post ever since eventually attaining positions on the Select Intelligence Committee and the Starfleet Oversight Board. He's very connected and very well respected amongst the Council members."
"And everyone just overlooks that he tried to overthrow that same Federation Council at one time?" Macen wryly asked.
"He downplays those incident sand plays up his strengths in security and strategic affairs," Johnson added.
While Macen grudgingly absorbed this facts Rockford stepped in again, "What aren't you saying?"
Johnson gave her a sad smile, "Macht was elected three hours before Bacco tendered her resignation in a nearly unanimous vote."
"Someone jumped the gun," Rockford mused.
"Can we have a moment to decide whether or not we'll get involved?" Macen requested.
"Certainly," Nechayev spoke for the assembled admiralty.
"This should be good," Rockford mused.