AN: Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek, nor plan to make any profit from this story. The original creations are the Federation Intelligence group and Anna and her team.

My first review! And I like how it's assumed I'm a girl (I am) since I guess the majority of fanfic writers are girls. I think, anyway. In any case, thanks for the alerts...

Read on and enjoy.

Chapter 4:

"Anna Demerin, Starfleet Intelligence, Alpha rank, clearance code Juliet-0-5-4-Tango-Bravo-4-Zulu-Delta," Anna said clearly into the mobile receiver. She stood still, patiently waiting in front of the large communications screen in her quarters, with her hands clasped behind her back. "Request transmission line to General Bishop, Starfleet Intelligence, Alpha-double-O rank."

She had been released by Doctor McCoy only a few hours ago and one of his assistants had walked her over to her new quarters. She had studied and memorized the outline and deck maps of the Enterprise on the PADD McCoy had given her- it had been all too easy to hack into the ship's database through the device and she made a mental note to warn him the next time she caught him alone.

Or not. Starfleet could take care of itself and if they wanted to remain vulnerable and not run checks on their own equipment then it was of no concern to her.

But still, the Doctor had taken care of her and Trig. She wanted to return the favor.

Anna knew which deck her quarters were located and was not surprised to find herself next door to the Captain's own quarters. He wanted to keep an eye on her, which was fine. She probably would have done the same but with perhaps more subtlety. She was under no illusion that Captain Kirk wanted to keep her safe or cared about her welfare. He was angry with her, that much was obvious and he probably held the same prejudices about the FI as most Starfleet command did. He wanted her off his ship as soon as possible, but only to his own benefit.

It was also clear from their first conversation that all he wanted was information from her. She didn't hold it against him.

He's not Jimmy.

Not anymore.

It was what everyone wanted, after all.

Once Anna was given her passcode and the doors had closed behind her, she wasted no time in making use of the shower. There were some places on her body that were still sore and her throat still hurt, but she was able to stand without her legs shaking and that was more than acceptable. She examined her body under the shower, ignoring its relaxing waves, and made note of the too thin limbs and her still aching ribs. That was less than acceptable- she had lost some muscle tone and too much weight over the past month.

So worried, so scared, I'm so...

…DanielDanielDanielDaniel…

She would have to take up her usual physical regime as soon as possible in order to return to her peak condition.

Someone had kindly left a week's worth of clothing in the small closet across the bathroom and she eagerly got dressed after her shower. Fortunately, the clothing did not consist of the inhibitive short skirted uniforms that she knew Starfleet major usually inflicted on female officers. She had pulled the black sweater over the waist of her trousers, noting the loose fit and bit down on the irritation she felt at herself. She hadn't glanced at the mirror to study the severity of her facial wounds; there was a part of her that had wanted to though.

Now was not the time to feel self-conscious over her appearance. She had never cared before, there was no point in doing so now.

"Secure link complete," said the soft, feminine voice of the computer. "Visual up."

True to word, General Bishop's face appeared on the screen before her. He was an older man, in his fifties, with a thick head of short, prematurely silver hair. Though his face was lined with scars and experience, there was a brightness in his light eyes that made him seem far younger than his years. He was standing behind his desk, wearing the stiff blue uniform of an FI General, and he cut a dashing line with his broad shoulders and still trim figure.

He was a handsome man, but like Anna, there was a sharpness in his face, an ever-alert, ever-watchful cast to his eyes that slightly marred his features.

"General Bishop," Anna said, standing up straight and pulling her shoulders back.

"At ease," he said, nodding slightly. His voice was hard but there was a faint softness in the way he looked at her, an easing of the shoulders and a slight turn of the mouth that betrayed his fondness for Anna. She noted this, all the familiar expressions of her advisor and felt relief pour over her.

She had missed him. Missed seeing a face she trusted.

"It's damn good to see you, Colonel," he said and this time, he smiled broadly, showing off a dazzling white smile. For those who didn't know him as well, the smile would have looked vicious and almost menacing. To Anna, it looked like home. "It's also good to see that Starfleet ships are as fast as they claim to be."

She placed her hands at her side and took a deep breath, feeling relaxed and warm for the first time in days.

"It's good to see you as well, General," she said. "I assume you called in a few favors else I wouldn't be standing here."

"They owe us, Colonel," he said, his smile was replaced by a deep frown. "They owe us for quite a few things."

"General, Trig is still under static," she said quickly. "But recovering nicely. He should awaken any moment now."

"That's good. I'm glad to hear that," the General replied. For a moment, they stared at each other as a silent conversation went on.

It's not safe, General.

Understood.

By using Trig's nickname, Anna was telling the General that despite the secure link, she was unsure of the fidelity of the Captain's promise. She was warning him to proceed with caution or to only divulge information that he was fine with releasing.

"I'll send over my full report of the mission including our medical records after this transmission. I'll need a Base run on the chemical the Tressacks used on me. Trig was unaffected by the substance."

The General's face darkened and Anna could easily see how her mentor could frighten and intimidate officers twice his rank. Though he seemed average-sized on the screen, she knew that he was over six feet four and used his considerable height to its full advantage. She was above the average height for most women but even she had to look up in order to face him.

"I heard about that," he said. "I'll give them to Stat to run through Base and send you the results. What do you suspect, Colonel?"

"It's not Heretic," she said slowly. She stood alone in the dark room but she knew she wasn't the only one present. "CMO McCoy, my attending doctor, was able to isolate the compound and I've asked him to give me his findings. I believe it was a level one substance."

"To prevent escape," the General said.

"Yes, sir," she said. "Unfortunately, the compound was yet unperfected for humanoid biology. Its side affects include hallucinations, paranoia and total system failure. However, I believe that its main purpose was to subdue."

They didn't want to kill me.

This was poorly engineered to keep me from leaving but not to kill me.

"Is Heretic on that planet, Colonel?" he asked. She almost shivered. Almost.

"Without a doubt, sir," she said. "Our assumptions were correct. J-311 is the Tressacks' main base."

Anna could see the General's eyes light up but she only stared at him grimly. She knew he wouldn't be happy for long. She took a deep breath and forced her next words out.

"Sir, Daniel is alive."

The General did not move nor did his expression change. But Anna could read the fury lying underneath his calm exterior.

"I see," he said.

Unsaid words hung between them.

"Captain Kirk refuses to allow me to continue my mission. He believes that if I go planet side, I'll die," she said. She paused. "He does not want to waste his ship's resources for a return mission. I will not ask for back up from his crew."

The General said nothing but his pale eyes bore into her.

"Sir, I'd like to return to J-311. I request permission to continue with my original orders and to gather the core members of my team," she said. "Because of several blood transfusions needed during surgery, Trig and I will both need additional medical support along with new suits and weapons."

"Colonel, you do understand what this means," he said. She noticed he ignored her request. "And the implications of Daniel's survival."

"I ran the probabilities myself, sir," she said. "I'm fully aware of the consequences."

"Are you?" he asked. "You understand what you'll need to do."

Anna felt cold.

"My orders, based on this event, are to execute and proceed with a code three operation, sir," she said, almost stiffly. "Nothing new for me. I am not compromised."

"I don't doubt you, Anna," the General said. His gaze grew soft again as he regarded her. "But I would understand if you chose not to continue. This operation…"

"You wanted the best team for this operation," she said. She rarely interrupted the General but she had to convince him, to waylay any doubts he had about her, immediately. "I have the best team, sir. With all due respect, I've not once failed to uphold an objective of a mission and I don't plan to begin now. I want to go back there, with my full team."

"This operation, Colonel, is one that must succeed. At any and all costs."

"By any means necessary," she finished for him and he nodded.

"I understand this, sir," she said. "And I know what will happen if I don't succeed."

Silence.

"You nearly died, Colonel," he said. Anna winced inside- she heard the accusation in his voice.

You failed. Why should I let you return?

"Sir, they were expecting us," she said. "It was an ambush."

We were betrayed. There's a leak. Otherwise, I would have succeeded.

The General narrowed his eyes. "Is that so?" he said, mildly. "I suppose it's time for a comms review, don't you think, Colonel?"

"Yes, sir," she said.

"Timeframe?"

"The past six weeks, sir."

The General nodded and looked down for a moment. Anna knew he had already set up the parameters in which all the communications channels were to be scrubbed, in his head. And she also knew he already had a short list of suspects.

"Speaking of which, I noticed activity outside of the Church last night," General Bishop said. Anna tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. Church was the codename of the FI personnel database. It had been General Bishop's brainchild and he took particular pride in it. It had layers upon layers of security and access checks; even the best hackers could not breach Church.

The FI would know- they had hired the best to create it in the first place. Every six months it was updated and relocated within their network. Anyone trying to gain access to Church would be caught, without fail.

"I see," she said. "Local teenagers trying to get into the Alpha quad?"

The General nodded. Anna smiled slightly. The Alpha quad referred to where her information was housed in Church. "Local" meant that someone on the ship, someone part of the Enterprise's young crew, was trying to gain access to her file.

"I think we should open the door to the Church slightly, just for a peek," she said. "Perhaps only to the front entrance. Let the kids think they can see the altar and then give them the hellfire sermon if they try to press on."

I'm fine with letting them see my general information and psych eval. Anything more and we go after them.

"You're feeling kind today, I see," the General said dryly.

"Well, I'd like the favor returned," Anna said, keeping her face straight. "Think you can manage it, sir?"

The General grinned suddenly, baring his teeth again, and nodded. He looked like a shark.

"Do you have safe passage?" he asked. He was asking if she had access to a secure link and she nodded. She had already tinkered with the device that McCoy had given her and manually changed the security settings so that no one in the ship's network, not even the Captain, could see what she was doing. She almost dared them to take it away from her- she had coded a self destruct fail safe in the PADD. Without her access codes, it would wipe itself clean.

"It will be yours within the hour," he said. "I'm assuming you'll want to see the Preacher's dossier?"

Do you want the Captain's file?

"And all his attendants, if it's possible," she said.

And the files of his senior crew.

The General laughed.

"Consider it done," he said.

"Thank you, General," she said, earnestly.

"You're welcome, Colonel," he said. His face grew serious again and Anna felt herself tense. She could only guess at what was coming next. "Colonel, the Captain of the Enterprise passed along some interesting information the other day."

"Yes, sir?"

"You knew each other as children."

"Yes, sir."

There was a heavy silence and the General waited patiently. Anna knew he would stand there for hours if he needed to, just looking at her, until he got the information he needed. She had seen him in action during criminal interrogations. It was not a pleasant feeling to be the focus of his intense stare. She sighed inside and chose her next words carefully.

A dull throb began in her legs; she had been standing for too long. She ignored it.

"Jim Kirk was my next door neighbor," she said finally. "We were close childhood friends, sir. He was like an older brother to me."

"Who just happened to end up the youngest captain in Starfleet history," the General said.

"Once I left for the FI, I had no reason to look back," she said. "I hadn't realized that Jim, that Captain Kirk, had joined Starfleet. Nor did I make the association between him and the events of the Narada, since I was off planet. The Jim Kirk I knew… did not seem particularly enthused about Starfleet, due to circumstances regarding his parents."

The General regarded her closely and she felt uncomfortably exposed. But she trusted General Bishop, had trusted him since the first day he came and met with her to discuss a future with the Federation Intelligence. He had guided her throughout her cadet education and had gotten her choice assignments throughout her career. He had become like a second father and she knew she was fortunate to have him on her side.

"I knew who Jim Kirk was," he said, after a moment. She tried but failed to keep the surprise from showing on her face. Her fingers curled into fists. "I was also aware of how deep your relationship with him ran."

"Sir?" Her voice sounded weak and she hated herself for it. She cleared her throat and lifted her chin, trying to keep her emotions from surfacing.

"You were both being shadowed by the FI back then, Anna," he said, not unkindly. "But we decided to approach only one person. There was never any doubt that it would be you."

Anna understood that the General had his own reasons for dropping that particular piece of information on her at that moment, but she could not help but be confused. Jim, or Jimmy as she remembered him, had been the extrovert. The brash, loud, mouthy troublemaker with the genius IQ and the talent for strategy and deception, even as a teenager. She had just been his quiet sidekick. Equally as smart but not nearly as noticeable.

Or so she had thought back then.

Anna tried not to think about their former friendship. She had tried to forget her life in Iowa and she had done a fairly good job of it for nearly a decade. To try and revisit old feelings and memories, the guilt she had felt in those early years, especially now when everything depended on her being focused could only lead to folly. She could examine her past later, when her future was more secure. She owed Jim Kirk an apology but she could not let herself be dragged down by mere feelings. Not now.

She straightened her stance and took a deep breath. She had an operation to run, one that carried all the weight of the world with it. To say it was a heavy burden was an understatement.

"You remember the three main recruitment requirements, Colonel?" the General went on. "He met only one."

She nodded. The three main requirements covered the main areas that the FI felt were most important in their officers: physical endurance, psychological balance and the authority factor. The FI were an elite, secretive force but they were also hierarchical- you needed to have the disposition to be able to follow superiors and to be loyal to your fellow officers, while staying true to the mission at hand.

Anna knew that Jim, for all his brilliance, could have never passed the last two requirements. Not back then, at least. There were many other determinants involved in the recruitment process, up to and including genetic factors, but those were the main three. If a potential recruit could not meet the standards set out for those three things, then they were rejected from consideration.

Most of the time, they didn't even know they were being considered.

"He's done well in Starfleet," the General said, still watching her carefully. "It's his place."

"And the FI is mine," Anna said. This seemed to please the General and he nodded.

"Permission to continue the mission granted. I'll take care of Starfleet and the Captain. Send me the coordinates of the nearest star base and I'll make sure your team members are there," he said. Then his gaze became critical as he studied her body. "And I'll also make sure FI med supplies are sent."

Anna almost smiled. "I'm assuming that Ven will be part of the med package?" she asked.

"Yes, Colonel, I'll make sure your favorite doctor is included," the General said, grumbling- but she knew he was teasing her.

"Thank you, sir," she said quietly.

"I hope they're feeding you," the General said. His brow wrinkled. "The slop Starfleet gives its officers is an abomination. Let me know if you don't…"

"I've been treated with the utmost respect befitting another officer," she said. She thought about her… verbal altercation with the Captain earlier but didn't let it show on her face. By the look on the General's face, he clearly did not believe her but he let it go.

"Permission to end transmission, sir," she asked, after a short silence.

"Granted," he said. He nodded once. "Watch your back out there, Colonel."

"Yes, sir."

###

"She's a Colonel?" Jim exclaimed, slapping his palm down on the table. He was with Spock in the senior officer's meeting room and had just reviewed the transmission video between Anna and General Bishop. Uhura had been able to set up a communications transmission between the two FI officers but had redirected the feed so that it went through the Captain's own link first. It was one way to secure the original transmission, protecting it from outside sources, but also a way to loop in the Captain without either party knowing.

Even though they had front row seats to the conversation that had just taken place, none of it had shed light on the current situation.

"Dammit, why didn't she say so in the first place?"

Spock watched as the Captain stood up straight and began pacing in front of him, with his arms behind his back. He said nothing for a moment, merely observed the tense figure in front of him. Finally, when Jim seemed to lose himself in his thoughts, Spock spoke.

"Captain, perhaps if you had asked…"

"The General wouldn't even give us her name until I told him I knew her," Jim said. "I doubt that she would have freely given me her rank if I had asked."

Jim looked at Spock and shook his head. "This means we're equals in title, Spock," he said. "And you and I both know that stealth missions force rank. If she wanted to, she could have easily called out her title and her clearance codes and I would have had to let her go back. But she didn't- she felt that protecting her title was more important."

"I disagree, Captain. She thanked the doctor for helping her," Spock said, in his steady, calm way. "It's clear she respects his title. And, as you said from your interaction yesterday, she respects your office as well. Though Federation Intelligence officers do not relinquish information freely, I believe that Colonel Demerin may not have wanted to interfere with your command."

Jim stared at him. Spock continued.

"You stated your reason for denying her request to return to J-311 as one of safety, for her welfare and for those aboard the ship. As Colonel, she would have understood your motivations and decided that the risk she was willing to take on her own was outweighed by the consequences you would have to face."

"I didn't realize you were running a psychological analysis, Spock," Jim said slowly. Spock lifted an eyebrow.

"Captain, she was your former acquaintance," he said. "This is merely a hypothesis based on observations taken from you and Doctor McCoy. Since you have a previous relationship with the Colonel, you would know best as to her motivations."

"That's just it," Jim said. "I don't know her, not anymore anyway."

He sighed heavily and pulled out a chair, almost throwing himself down in it. Spock saw that his expression was troubled. Jim rubbed at his eyes and looked down at the table.

"She literally disappeared overnight," he said, more to himself than to Spock. "One day, she was there and the next… gone. Even her parents were gone. I remember stopping by that morning and seeing their house- just empty and devoid of life. It was like they had never been there."

He ran his fingers through his hair. "I dropped out of school. I just didn't fit anywhere anymore. I spent years looking for her. Of course I didn't know about the Federation Intelligence. It's how they operate, right? 'Under cover of night.' But I didn't know that back then. I thought something bad had happened… I thought I had done something to make them go away… I just…"

Jim looked up and shook his head. His handsome face was twisted in an expression of pain and confusion.

"She was the only real friend I had growing up. I mean, that sounds pathetic but I didn't exactly have the best time of it growing up. Her and her family were the only ones…"

He trailed off.

"We were both trailed back then," Jim said finally. His voice was thick with bitterness. "According to that General, the FI considered us both and they went with her instead of me. It had to have been her choice to leave. She left me. But she didn't even… I thought…"

Jim fell silent. Spock looked at him and cleared his throat.

"By her account, Colonel Demerin plans to remain on the ship until we reach the nearest star base," Spock said. Jim looked back at him and saw that Spock's black eyes were almost kind as he regarded him. "I expect that she will make a formal request soon. The nearest star base is some distance away. You will have time to speak with her about less official business."

Jim looked at his first officer with no little surprise.

"Did you just give me personal advice, Commander?" he asked. The corners of his mouth twitched.

Spock looked pained. "I was only trying to direct you to the most logical path to a solution," he said.

Jim grinned and sat up.

"Thanks," he said and Spock nodded, straightening his shoulders. Jim's face grew serious and he tapped his fingers on the table.

"Now, what do you think Heretic is? And what's with that church business?"

###