11
"Okay, I'm going to be sad about missing our honeymoon for now but we have to help," Rockford insisted.
"I'll admit I'm slightly surprised," Macen confessed, "After all, this is your first marriage."
"It'd better be my only marriage, mister;" Rockford warned him.
"Bacco pardoned Annika Ryst," Rockford reminded Macen, "Therefore she pardoned me by extension especially since now all of Annika's former personas are now integrated into me. I'm not going to abandon her after that especially if I can actually help somehow."
Macen nodded soberly, "All right, let's gather the team and the ship's senior staff. I'll break down the bad news and Shannon and her staff can filter it down to the crew."
"I'll grab Ziva and gather up the team," Rockford volunteered, "You're on your own where Shannon is concerned."
The SID was all for going. The Obsidian's command staff was far less eager. They'd been promised extended leave and they were loath to abandon that concept. Macen promised that the crew would get at least some shore leave while the SID team was on Earth. Extended leave would still be granted once the ship returned to Serenity Station.
Shannon Forger spoke for the crew when she agreed to those terms, "Now I have to inform the crew. Should any lynch mobs form I expect to be rescued."
Of the entire SID group, Macen detected that P'ris was less than enthusiastic. While Forger hustled off to break the news to the ship's crew, Macen got P'ris off to the side; "So why does this turn of events unsettle you?"
Rockford joined them while P'ris protested her innocence. Rockford cut her short, "Bull, Talera. You're unnerved and you probably have good reason to be."
"Truly?" P'ris' tone was almost mocking.
"A sitting president has just vacated office and been replaced by a hard liner who has spent a lifetime railing against the evils of the Romulan Star Empire. That's bound to bleed down from the top. It could be a bad day to be a Romulan on Earth," Rockford summarized.
"My presence will hinder the investigation," P'ris prophesied.
"Let me worry about that," Macen asked her.
Hannah Grace had excused herself from her husband's presence to join Macen's briefing. Ian Delaney didn't realize that she hadn't returned straightaway after that briefing. Instead, Grace sought out the park groundskeeper's office. Inserting a specially programmed isolinear rod in the comp/comm, Grace contacted her Section 31 handler.
L'Haan greeted her coolly but that was typical of the Vulcan. Grace explained what had occurred over the last several minutes but the Vulcan remained as unflappable as ever, "You must continue in your role as 31's mole within Macen's SID team. Your task is to run interference so that Macen and his superiors do not realize the full scope of our plans."
"You sound as if you already knew Macen was going to be assigned this case," Grace pointed out.
"We have a source within the Special Investigations Division itself," L'Haan revealed.
"I was never informed of this," Grace curtly commented.
"And this asset is unaware of you as well," L'Haan said coldly, "It is best to keep things as such."
"I'll be sure to insert myself into every aspect of the investigation and throw Macen's conclusions off," Grace promised, "After all, Earth's heavy transporter traffic restricts the use of orbital transporter insertions. This means Macen will need a pilot and I'm his best."
"That is all well and good but recall that your future assignment aboard the Intrepid with your husband requires that Macen be eliminated first," L'Haan reminded Grace, "So make that happen."
"I will but dissuading Macen from investigating the Cardassian operation may be impossible to do," Grace warned, "Macen is a former Cardassian Affairs officer. He's particularly interested in that region of space."
"Convince him to stay away," L'Haan orders, "Your future depends upon it."
L'Haan terminated the connection while Grace ruefully realized it would be easy to diffuse a live grenade in midair then convince Macen to stay out of Cardassian space once that operation was fully underway.
Jennifer Marie Massoli, Liz Liefers, and Emily Johnson; all Intrepid officers, noted Grace's exit from the groundskeeper's office. Massoli asked Liefers and Johnson to keep an eye on Grace while she checked out the office. Massoli discovered the last function the comp/comm had was transmitting a signal yet the logs were clean. Transmissions before the hour were recorded but the recent transmission itself was scrubbed from them memory, if it had ever been there at all.
Massoli rejoined Liefers and Johnson to learn that Grace had simply rejoined Delaney. Grace and her husband were currently saying their farewells because the Obsidian had been called into action. Neither Grace nor Delaney looked pleased but they stoically went along with their respective duties.
Massoli filed all of this away mentally for a future conversation with Captain McKinley.
As the Obsidian got underway, Forger exited her office to head for the bridge when she literally ran into Dakota Bedford. Forger regarded Bedford with utter disdain. Bedford shared the sentiment towards Forger but also wore a smug expression of superiority having convinced Forger's former lover to have an affair with her and get him to forsake Forger for her.
Forger headed into the turbolift thinking that no amount of magenta lacing Bedford's raven hair would negate the fact she was a slut. And Bedford walked away still gloating over her recent acquisition. Although, she had plans to sleep her way to the very top.
P'ris oversaw the bridge while Forger met with Macen in his Ready Room. Forger saw Macen's stern demeanor and wanted to run, "Should I leave and let you rip someone else a new one?"
"I just had a disturbing discussion with Jim McKinley," Macen shared, "Jennifer Massoli witnessed the aftermath of Hannah breaking into the groundskeeper's office to use the comp/comm."
"Who'd she call?" Forger's curiosity was piqued.
"She couldn't find out. The unit registered that a call had been made but there was no record of what it was or to whom it had been sent," Macen explained.
Forger fidgeted, "I seem to remember trouble like this from before I came aboard."
"Precisely," Macen concurred, "Which is why we're shifting the flight roster. When we reach Earth and the team deploys, I want Wyn Mesa piloting the Corsair, not Hannah."
"She is not going to like that," Forger predicted.
"She doesn't have a choice," Macen warned Forger, "She either accepts or leaves the team and finds her own way home."
"Okay," Forger said philosophically, "It's been a while since I played hardball. Let her bring it."
Douglas and T'Kir met with Orim Maret at his estate on Cardassia Prime. Maret brought Section 31's technical expert, Dorian Collins, into the meeting. Collins was the sole surviving former member of Red Squad from the destruction of the USS Valiant. She was still a serving Starfleet officer but she was on temporary detached duty with the Cardassian Guard. As such, Maret had little trouble assigning her to his personal staff.
Maret's journey from the echelons of power, being the broker who ran the puppet Castellan, Iltz Ganan. Still the official head of the Unionist Party, he'd overcome the stigma attached to the party's brief hold on power. Elected to the Legislative Assembly, Maret used official channels to undermine Rekena Garan at every turn.
Douglas was impressed by Collins' progress thus far. Collins had rerouted control of the planetary communication and transporter grids to this manor. Collins had just completed usurping control of the ground based disruptor banks just prior to Douglas and T'Kir's arrival.
Unionist supporters were ensconced in every military, security, and law enforcement unit. They were prepared to seize control of whatever ship or base they served in at a moment's notice. T'Kir revealed her contribution, that being a computer virus to be inserted into the command codes of every Cardassian ship and installation. The virus would lock out any officer not authorized by Legate Akellen Macet. Macet was Maret's ally in this latest thrust to grab the reins of power.
"Macet is prepared to lock the fleet down but he is worried about potential incursions from the Breen and the Tzenkethi," Maret admitted.
"Tell him Admiral Ross has redeployed the Seventh Fleet to the Tzenkethi border and the Ninth Fleet to the Breens'. They will conduct war games intended to monopolize the Typhon Pact's attention," Douglas informed Maret.
Maret nodded like an eager juvenile. Douglas decided to remind him of the terms of their assistance, "After you have control of the Cardassian Union, you will focus on the uncharted regions of the Alpha Quadrant. Bajor and the rest of the Federation are off limits to you. You can do as you will with the Typhon Pact."
"What about Starfleet's own effort sat exploring the uncharted regions?" Maret wondered.
"Captain Data and the Enterprise are leading the effort. Data's a relatively untested commander. I highly doubt Starfleet would bother to recall him to intervene in the crisis we'll be creating. Captain Sisko and the USS Robinson are in the Gamma Quadrant," Douglas recited.
It was easy to see from Maret's reaction that he still harbored ill will for Sisko. Douglas decided to distract him before he could do something stupid, "Other notable commanders will be sidelined as well. Captain Ro of Deep Space Nine will be ordered to patrol the border in the Defiant but she will also be under orders not to interfere. Captain Dax of the Aventine has just been sent to the Demilitarized Zone on the Enforcer border. Captain Will Riker and the crew of the Titan are still in the Beta Quadrant. Captain Chakotay and the Voyager have returned to the Delta Quadrant employing their recently installed quantum slipstream drive."
"As far as closer notables, Captain Calhoun is still located in Thallonian space alongside Captain Mueller. Thereby accounting for the Excalibur and the Trident," Douglas shared, "President Pro Tempore Macht will keep Admiral Jellico on a very short leash. These ships will never draw near to Cardassian territory."
"I'm satisfied that all is as you say," Maret acknowledged her briefing, "My people will be ready to move in another twenty-seven hours."
"Then we will be too," Douglas promised.
"Shannon, do you have a minute?" Macen asked after entering her office.
"Sure," she said easily, "What's on your mind?"
"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Macen inquired.
"Personnel problems," Forger grimaced, "And does my sister know that you let P'ris drive the ship?"
"She wouldn't care and personnel matters are why I'm here," Macen informed her, "We need to talk about Dakota Bedford."
Forger groaned, "The very thorn in my side. Almost no one wants to work beside her."
"I really don't know many of the personal details besides her and Eric's very public and very naked march through the corridors," Macen admitted.
"Yeah," Forger said ruefully, "Two swinging dicks by the sea."
"Gender is a non-issue here," Macen assured her.
"Then what is the issue?" Forger wondered.
"You said it yourself, Bedford is very divisive," Macen said, "So much so, people are lining up to take sides between the two of you."
"Who's winning the most adherents?" Forger grinned.
"You are, hands down;" Macen stated, "But that leads to the problem no one will work with her and Parva and Gilan have banned Eric from Engineering."
"Aw, poor baby;" Forger mock lamented.
"The safety of this ship depends upon the ability of its crew to come together as a single unit," Macen reminded Forger, "If that can't happen something needs to change."
"Oh really?" Forger mused.
"The only way to keep this petty bickering from blowing up into a full scale lynch mob is to get Eric and Bedford off the ship."
"Yes!" Forger pumped her fist.
"Shannon, if this could have gone down harmoniously they'd be staying. But Eric is armed and the rest of the crew is eyeballing the armory," Macen shared, "So when we reach Earth, they depart."
"So we're just ditching them?" Forger asked a little too gleefully for Macen's tastes.
"No, I've already booked them passage back to Serenity Station," Macen doused her enthusiasm, "Tom's agreed to take them on but I also doubt they'll stay for long. Eric will want to set up a shop again so I expect them to leave in a few months. Afterwards, when Bedford has ridden Eric as far as he will go physically emotionally, and financially, she'll leave him as well."
"Have you told them yet?" Forger asked slightly more subdued.
"I'm on my way now," Macen revealed.
Macen laid out the terms of his arrangement to McMasters and Bedford. Bedford looked stricken while McMasters was angry, "I'll take your damn deal just so I can set up my own shop again. If there were any way to get off this damn boat any sooner we'd take it."
He looked at Bedford, "Right?"
Bedford numbly nodded and McMasters began to spout off again, "I really can't believe you're siding with Shannon on this. She's made Dakota's life hell and it's no wonder the crew sided with her."
"Actually three quarters of the crew sided with Shannon," Macen coldly informed the pair, "At least according to Celeste's informal survey. And they're ready to come after the both of you with phasers drawn."
"Well, the hell with all of you!" McMasters snarled.
"Eric, you've run your own businesses before. If two employees disrupted your shop as much as the two of you have the atmosphere on this ship, what would you have done?"
"I'd stick up for the underdog," McMasters declared.
"Do you really think you're the underdog?" Macen inquired sharply, "You were the one found cheating with another woman. That makes Shannon the underdog in most of the crew's eyes."
"Fine, I'll work with the SPYards crew on Serenity like you've offered until I can afford to get the hell off of that cruddy station," McMasters grumbled.
Macen decided not to debate the merits of a Cardassian built Nor-class station, "Sounds like a plan. Good luck, Eric."
McMasters seethed as Macen departed without offering Bedford a similar goodbye.
Travelling from Sector 008 to Sector 001 took seventy-two hours at Warp 8. Forger arranged for a skeleton crew to man the Obsidian while she was in an orbital slip above Earth. Grace was angered to discover she'd been pulled from the flight roster and even angrier to learn she was the first watch officer.
Grace had to argue about though, "This isn't fair!"
"Wyn actually has more time in the Danube-class than you do," Forger pointed out, "And the Captain requested the change. So suck it up and deal with it."
After Forger left the bridge Grace employed the OPS station to scan for other ships in orbit. Not finding any that suited her needs; she began scanning Earth's surface. She hit pay dirt in China. Harri Mudd always had enjoyed Hong Kong.
Harriet Fedora Mudd was Harry Mudd III's other child. Overlooked in her father's efforts to groom her brother to take over the family legacy, he'd never noticed that Harri was a far superior criminal. With Harry IV cooling his heels on a penal colony, that left Harri the sole heir to the Mudd tradition.
Harri left the casino in Macau to discover she had messages queued up waiting for her in her ship. Mudd made her living as a freelancer. Smuggling, gun running, bounty hunting, thief, con artist, and the occasional assassination were all part of her résumé. Which is why Grace wanted to hire her on Section 31's behalf.
The Corsair was expertly flown by Wyn to Paris. The FBI had planted their headquarters there so as to hang on to the Federation Council's coattails. While the SID team could have used the transporters of the orbital docking facility to be routed to the FBI headquarters' complex, the facility's transporters were locked down to anything but official agency traffic. So the SID team had to employ the agency's private landing pads.
Deputy Director Mithral ch'Drien met them in the lobby. It was a surprise to find an Andorian chann still serving in such a sensitive post. Especially in an interim administration marked by paranoia.
The Andorian instructed the group to call him "Thrad", "How may I help you?"
The team consisted of Macen, Rockford, Delain and P'ris. Macen handed his writ of authorization to Thrad. He read it and handed it back.
"You've wasted your time and mine," Thrad decided, "Starfleet has no jurisdiction and even less right to information concerning our case. And you've brought a Cardassian and a Romulan with you."
"Cardassians are our allies now," Macen reminded the Andorian.
"We'll see how long that lasts," Thrad sniffed, "And the Romulan Star Empire is a member of the Typhon Pact. An alliance we are currently at a state of covert warfare with."
"I was unaware that we were in a state of war. An assertion that I'm certain the average Federation citizen is also unaware of," Macen retorted, "And isn't the Andorian Empire now a member of the Typhon Pact as well?"
"Allowances are made for select individuals who have proven their loyalty," Thrad said tersely.
"Then make an allowance here," Macen insisted, "Commander P'ris was given a Starfleet equivalent security clearance of 'Top Secret' by presidential order."
"Presidents change," Thrad smiled coldly.
"What's your interest in finding Nan Bacco?" Macen decided to find out.
"I have none," Thrad admitted, "It's just a routine assignment for me. Frankly I think the Federation is better off without her."
Thrad eyes suddenly gleamed, "But a warrant for Commander P'ris' arrest went out several hours ago. Thank you for delivering her to us. It saves us a manhunt."
Agents suddenly converged on the room with weapons drawn. Thrad grew quite eager, "Please, resist arrest."
Macen tensed up. P'ris intervened, "Please Captain, do not interfere. I shall be fine."
"I'll get you out of this," Macen promised.
"See that you do," P'ris wore a wan smile, "You are still under contract to protect me."
"Special Agent Haarvot, escort these people out of the building;" Thrad instructed.
The remaining SID team was marched out of the facility. Making their way back to the landing pads they found Wyn waiting for them, "Weren't there four of you a minute ago?"
Macen explained what had happened. Wyn asked the obvious question, "So what now?"
"Now we fly to England and report to Admiral Forger at SID headquarters," Macen instructed.
"Yes!" Wyn exclaimed. She then sheepishly explained her enthusiasm, "It's just that no one ever gets to go there except you. I'll be an instant legend amongst the crew."
Rockford was pleased to see Macen had rediscovered his smile.
When they went to meet with Forger, Wyn stayed out in the reception area with Ambril Delori. Wyn was pleased to chat with a fellow Bajoran expatriate while Ambril was happy to hear a firsthand account of recent events on Bajor. One thing that was swiftly established was that Ambril solidly approved of the new President Pro Tempore. She saw having a strategic affairs expert as the Federation's leader as a smart move towards having a strong hand steering the government.
"So what do you propose for your next step?" Forger asked Macen.
"Brin and I discussed it and I proposed that Ziva and I conduct our own investigation into Bacco's disappearance. We wouldn't have official support or cooperation but the SID doesn't have that now anyway," Rockford stated.
"Then how could you reasonably expect to succeed?" Forger wondered.
"People just don't disappear," Rockford replied, "They leave trails and most of those trails will lead to vague netherworld that currently exists between the established arms of officialdom and private security. We can find her. The question is merely how long it will take."
"Brin?" Forger handed off to him.
"I already endorsed the plan," Macen wistfully smiled.
"You have my full support," Forger agreed.
Rockford and Delain rose. Rockford leaned over and kissed Macen, "Don't let her get you killed. We have plans later."
They exited and Forger shook her head, "Sometimes I think she's psychic."
"So you do have a mission in mind," Macen surmised.
"Rekena Garan may not approve of Garak but she's willing to use him as a messenger," Forger reported, "Uprisings and civil disobedience have erupted across the Cardassian Union and is particularly concentrated on Cardassia Prime."
"Let me guess, all in support of Orim Maret," Macen groused.
"It seems he learned better than to utilize political machinations alone to usurp the government. Now he's honestly trying to garner popular support," Forger shared, "But you'll have official and unofficial assistance. Gul Malyn Ocett is in charge of the Legislative Assembly's security. Lyoti Mariska travelled with the Dervins to negotiate their return to Cardassian politics."
"What about Starfleet?" Macen inquired.
"Bill Ross redirected the Seventh and Ninth Fleets to the neighboring Typhon Pact borders," Forger grimaced, "An action guaranteed to keep them out of range of Cardassia. President Pro Tempore Macht issued a directive forcing Jellico to order Ro to conduct patrols throughout the Bajoran Sector and to keep Deep Space Nine secure against a potential 'renegade' Cardassian fleet."
"So it's becoming clear just who all is a part of this little movement," Macen mused.
"Be careful, Brin;" Forger urged, "L'Haan has reasons to want you dead and so do her top agents, Sarina Douglas and T'Kir. T'Kir's own twisted fantasies about killing you are reason enough to be cautious."
Macen rose, "Have no fears, Amanda. I'm well aware of dangers all around."
Macen exited before Forger could ask just what that pointed comment was about.