10 Star Trek SID Cat & Mouse
Gendik showed Macen to an alcove. It possessed a comp/comm unit, a desk, and a chair. Macen smiled to himself at the notion of anyone actually using the obviously compromised data/comm unit. Macen thanked Gendik for his service and then watched as the door closed behind the departing Iridian.
Macen pulled a tricorder from his belt. Like his phaser, it was surplus Bajoran Militia issue. It detected seventeen obvious surveillance devices and two possible. Adjusting the scan bandwidth, he detected a cloaking signature around another device. He sat the tricorder down and retrieved a small cylinder from his utility belt. The uppermost portion of the cylinder opened into an antenna and the base of it flanged out to stabilize it on the desk.
The device was one of Joachim Dracas' legacies. It emitted a subspace pulse that would destroy the transceivers on all of the "bugs". Dracas had also designed a new class of sidearm for the SID but Macen had been reluctant to employ it. Exclusivity would label the team as well as a sign saying, "It's us!" But since Dracas had signed off the product to Outbound Ventures, Inc., Tyrol had joined with Bajoran Militia Arms to produce the armaments. The rest of the Corporation had switched to the new sidearms and assault rifles while they were in system defending Serenity. The SID team and the crew of the Solstice would be making the transition as soon as they returned to port.
Little things like that would keep Joachim's memory alive for the team. The younger Dracas had never served aboard the Solstice, unlike his progenitor, Hal. Parva had three years of service time with the ship class under her belt, and in her case, it was probably a garter. Joachim had only received his chance to be Chief Engineer of the Solstice because of Parva's injury. Her damaged brain couldn't readily recall a lifetime's worth of training and experience.
Re-education had helped Parva tap into the "lost" sections of her mind and find the dormant talents that lay nestled below the surface. Her personality had been permanently altered though. The jaded, cynical, and embittered Parva was replaced with a Parva full of innocence and wonder. Her years as a sex slave forgotten, she had lost her loathing for men.
Since her pheromone glands had been removed at Daveed B'nner's behest upon her enslavement, woman could be around her without risking horrendous headaches. She was accepted because of her skills. She was a savant when it came to engineering. Even when reduced by her previous injuries, she'd outperformed ninety percent of the Outbound Ventures staff.
Parva had a wicked talent when it came to armaments as well. She'd personally designed Daggit's photon grenade launcher. She'd also engineered the explosives they were going to use around the colony. Frankly, given his druthers, Macen would replace McMasters with Parva and vice versa. But such things were not to be. Besides Daggit's inevitable meltdown over such a proposition there was Parva's own docility working against her. Her former ferocity was extinguished. She nobly served in an engine room aboard a starship or a space station but put her into combat and she'd have a breakdown.
That had been proven when the Lantillian Night Coven overran Serenity. Parva fought with her would be assassin but she'd been temporarily reduced to helplessness afterwards. No, her spunkiness now revolved around the Solstice now that the Obsidian was gone. And Macen acknowledged that it should be that way.
Shrugging aside nostalgia, he depressed the activation stud on the subspace emitter. Sparks of flame erupted from virtually every surface of the room. Macen had to admit that he was impressed. He'd been spied on by the Cardassians before, who among the best in the quadrant at it, but this showed a whole new level of dedication to the art.
Macen swept the room with his tricorder. Unless the Iridians had developed a biotech means of observation that Starfleet Intelligence was unaware of, he was in the clear. He tapped his comm badge and placed a call to the starship Intrepid.
"Good to hear your voice, Captain," Lt. Commander Ian Delaney remarked, "I trust your team is well?"
"You can stop fishing, Ian. Hannah is doing fine," Macen tried to reassure the Chief Tactical Officer, "Anything interesting going on in your end?"
Macen could hear the frustration in Delaney's voice, "The Enforcers won't allow me to dispatch a security team for the Admiral and Ambassador Picard."
"And after that recent business on Felkor III, you find this to be intolerable," Macen ventured. Delaney took his secondary role as Chief of Security very seriously. On Felkor, Johnson had been captured along with Commander Stryker, Delaney, and his two man security detail. "Buck up, Ian. Bob knows what he's doing. And he has Picard affirming this move, correct?" Macen inquired.
"Yes, the Ambassador backed the Admiral's decision to go in anyway," Delaney grumbled, sounding very disappointed and put out.
Macen chuckled, "There's a reason why they made the most decorated captain in Starfleet an ambassador."
"You're right, of course." Delaney begrudgingly conceded, "Call it professional paranoia."
"Well, I have good news for you. In about five hour's time, all hell is going to break loose," Macen cheerfully offered.
"Why am I not relieved?" Delaney groaned.
"Just put me on with Jim," Macen requested, referring to Captain McKinley.
It took several minutes for McKinley's voice to come over the subspace circuit, "Brin? Are you still there?"
"Yes, Jim. I only have a few minutes before my 'facilitator' knocks down the door to eavesdrop so I'll get straight to the point. How are the negotiations going?"
McKinley's snort could be heard over the line, "They're stalling and we're pushing for a resolution. Picard has the sense they badly underestimated us."
"Even after all of Sindis' reports?" Macen wondered.
"Sindis was a disgrace. He was so much of a pariah that they left him alive to rot in his shame rather than execute him," McKinley reminded Macen, "They felt anything he reported would be exaggeration to try and redeem himself in the Masters' eyes."
"Is there an Enforcer Master on Tekik?" Macen inquired.
"Not that we can prove but the Governor is in communication with someone higher up. Whether they're on this planet or not is a matter of conjecture," McKinley shared, "Bob feels they're stalling. What for, no one knows. If we could find out and get some kind of leverage over them during these talks, it could change everything."
"Are Bob and Jean-Luc in the Government Dome?" Macen asked.
"Yes," McKinley confirmed it.
"Tell them they have four hours to do the best they can and then they need to withdraw," Macen instructed.
"And what happens in four hours?" McKinley wasn't certain he wanted to know.
"Actually, it's in five hours but I want the diplomats off of the ground before my team makes its move," Macen divulged.
"And what does this move consist of?" McKinley knew he probably didn't want to ask but curiosity had him reeled in.
"In five hours I'm going to get us some leverage. That's all you need to know," Macen disconnected before McKinley could ask anything else. The less the Intrepid's crew, the less they could be implicated of.
Macen emerged from the alcove and Gendik appeared straightaway, "I see you are a man of your word. Every system went dark after you entered in."
Macen knew Gendik hadn't overheard anything or else there would be Enforcer troopers present to escort him off to interrogation. The key to his nascent plan was the Government Dome. From there, the Governor directed the defense of four surrounding sectors as well as this colony. Those sectors, and Tekik in particular, stood between any Enforcer reinforcements and the newly acquired territories. Point in fact, Tekik was the hub from which the expansion had launched from and could theoretically still control it.
Macen headed for where Rockford was in a deep discussion with a merchant. As Macen drew closer he could overhear that she was discussing how a private detective served her client. It was definitely lost in the translation because the merchant waved her away and walked off. She turned to Macen with a gleeful twinkle to her eyes.
Macen tilted his head towards Gendik with the slightest of gestures. Her twinkle birthed a mirthful smirk as she physically took him by the arm and began asking what the licensing requirements would be for her to open up an agency branch on Tekik. The Iridian was so taken aback by her forward manner he literally lost the power of speech.
Macen corralled up Daggit, Radil, and McMasters and brought them to the closest wall of the dome. He'd noted that people came to the edge of the dome to reflect or to discuss things in private. McMasters waved his tricorder around before anyone spoke.
"We're clear," he announced.
"Good," Macen said as he turned to Daggit, "What's your impression so far, Rab?"
"Not good," the Angosian admitted, "If we were to get into a firefight, the non-Iridians might actually run around like poultry with its head cut off. They'd surely interfere with our lanes of fire and the Enforcers would start tossing them out as cannon fodder in order to slow us down."
"So we take the civilians out of the equation," Radil interjected. Finding all eyes and ears pointed at her, she elaborated, "It's like the same basic problem we had in the Bajoran Resistance. We had to target the Cardies without taking out potential friendlies."
"There is no way these bootlickers are going to be friendly. At least not in this lifetime," Daggit argued.
"No, they're going to be blind, panicky pylchyks," Radil agreed, referring to Bajoran livestock, "So we use that. The Enforcers can't shoot at us while they're trying to keep the rising tide of panic at bay."
Daggit turned to Macen and wore a sly smile, "She has a point."
"Of course I have a point. I grew up doing this shuk. We have strike at the infrastructure. We disrupt their way of life and the whole system will erupt in chaos. The primary responders will be so overwhelmed they'll never see us coming at our primary target. We do have a primary target, right?" Radil ended the last rather crossly.
"We're headed for the Government Dome. They may or may not have information that would prove invaluable to our negotiating team," Macen revealed.
"And if they don't?" Radil wondered rather clinically.
"Then the negotiations get a lot longer and tenser while we beat feet back to friendly territory," Macen explained.
Radil smiled, "Sounds good. Now, what do we blow up?"
"Hold on," McMasters fished a padd out of belt. He pulled out a second data slate and attached it to the first. He then made groping gestures at his teammates. They each surrendered two padds. They shifted to one of the nearby benches and McMasters knelt while he furiously made sketches with a light pen. Radil sat on one side of the bench, leaned over and entranced by the work in progress. Macen sat on the other side and was reminded of McMasters' displays of brilliance in his youth. Daggit was content to loom over the scene and glower at any bystander that strayed too close.
McMasters came to a flourish and he stopped, "Okay, what we have is sixteen domes. But these domes aren't all centrally connected. The center dome," he pointed with his deactivated pen, "is the hub. It has access to every other dome. It's also the military headquarters on this world. Our task is to disrupt movement to and from that dome."
"What are these two domes?" Radil pointed at two that were nearly isolated, "They're only connected to the Enforcers' barracks."
"You really weren't paying attention when Gendik proudly laid out the design of this place, were you?" McMasters scolded.
"Hey! I was looking at how to tear apart the happy little colony," Radil asserted defensively.
"This is how you do it. Through infrastructure. Just like you said," McMasters mollified her. He pointed at the first isolated dome, "This is arts and crafts-ville. Totally negligible to our purpose. This other one though, is our eventual destination. It's the government dome."
"So we blow the access points and completely isolate it," Daggit opined.
"Nnnnh!" McMasters emulated a buzzer, "Thanks for playing but you're dead wrong."
"Then how do we do it?" Daggit growled.
"Have you caught up, m'dear?" McMasters asked Radil. Seeing the eager look in her eyes, he handed over the reins to her.
"We blow the access tunnels to every other dome. It'll have to be timed bursts in sequence. We want the military deployed as far away from the central hub before we move in on the Governor's Dome and blow the access tunnel between it and the Enforcers' Dome," she explained, "With the Enforcers scattered across the colony, they'll be disorganized to properly react. And in addition to everything else, the civilians will be in a full rout. They'll be trying to stay alive as the crowd mobs them."
"Meanwhile we'll be commandeering a troop transport," Macen added, "Once we're aloft, we'll blow the access tunnels to the Governor's Dome and come in through the airlock while the Governor's staff cries for reinforcements. Reinforcements I might add that they'll think we'll be."
"I can narrow in on the specific systems if we strike but this is all for nothing if we can't retrieve the data in a hurry," McMasters warned.
"I'll have a chat with our resident spymaster," Macen assured him.
"I though that was you," McMasters quipped.
"Our other spymaster. She's looking rather bored at the moment and I think she needs a challenge to tackle," Macen said and then went off to find P'ris.
"What makes him so cozy with her anyway?" McMasters wondered. Seeing the baleful looks from his companions he got irritated, "Well excuse me but we risked a helluva lot to keep her alive and deliver her to Starfleet. Once she was in Starfleet's custody they dumped her on us and he went for it."
"It's a long story," Daggit said.
"Well, I've got time," McMasters declared. Seeing their irritation he added, "Now you know how I feel. But I promise I get the story or this little act of terrorism goes up in smoke."
Daggit and Radil exchanged rueful glances. Daggit spoke, "Lees is the one you really want to ask. She was there with Macen when the team first met P'ris. Hell, it wasn't even a team yet. Only Grace is still here from the original crew."
"You mean you weren't signed up yet?" McMasters wondered.
"No, I was serving aboard the Enterprise trying to convince Captain Picard to blow Macen's ship straight to hell," Daggit admitted.
"Obviously that happened," McMasters dryly retorted.
"Will you shut up and let me tell the story?" Daggit asked.
"Okay," McMasters meekly cowed.
Daggit informed him of the basics of the first meeting of Commander P'ris and the crew of the ill-fated USS Odyssey. Radil took over at the meetings upon Harbinger and Bajor and the mission to Romulus. P'ris had been a confederate of then-Commander Donatra. Now-Empress Donatra wanted her head on a pike but Radil wondered how much of that was personal animosity or the urging of the ambitious Proconsul Sela.
"So she's screwed with your heads a little but pretty much played it straight?" McMasters asked.
"Essentially," Radil conceded, "She'll toy with you for the sheer hell of it but in the end she comes through."
"Good to know," McMasters said, "Now I think we should follow him because I need access to that information kiosk and Macen has the only real access to our Iridian friend."
"I've noticed that you never refer to our beloved captain by his given name yet he does the reverse towards you. Why is that?" Radil wondered as she helped McMasters dismantle the padd construct.
"I guess it's because he was already 'Captain' Macen when I first met him," McMasters confessed. Seeing Radil's piercing stare, he chose to elaborate, "Macen was captain of another Blackbird-scout named the Odyssey. He and Ro brought their ships to me for some performance enhancements. Now, Ro's Ju'day-class, that was a ship I could work with. After earning my spurs on Chakotay's ship of the same class, I'd earned something of a reputation amongst the Maquis." McMasters grinned, "The Maquis had just acquired a dozen of the ship class and they wanted all of them converted into raiders. I was more than happy to help."
McMasters grew nostalgic, "Ro's Indomitable was a work of art. She could never hold her own against a Galor-class cruiser mind you but she could put up a fight. Pit more than one raider against the Cardie and they'd go running." He sighed, "I refitted the whole dozen and it was still in vain. The Odyssey, however, was barely scratched. Macen wanted her as close ot design specs as possible for his scouting missions."
"What about Macen and Ro?" Radil asked and grinned at McMasters' confusion, "You were going somewhere with thus trip down memory lane."
"What I was getting at is why I never refer to Ro and Macen by their names. It has to do with my first impression of them," McMasters opined, "That'll always stick with me."
"Why?" Radil was well and truly baffled.
"The Maquis was full of believers. Zealots, if you will, willing to fight and die for the cause. Ro and Macen were a different breed. All of the Starfleet recruits were. They'd seen action. The kinds we heard stories of but didn't repeat," McMasters shared.
"I know Ro saw action in the Resistance and Macen served along the front lines during the Border Wars but I never gave it much thought," Radil admitted.
"Give it some. Give it some real good thought," McMasters advised, "The older Maquis told me war stories of how Macen served on both sides of the ever shifting line. He put it all out there for fifteen years and then came back for more when the DMZ was formed."
"What was he doing on the other side of the border?" Radil wondered.
"Stuff," McMasters replied. Seeing her temper flare he went on, "Macen was the first of a new breed of analyst for Starfleet Intelligence. Cross trained as a field operative, they went out with the Special Forces and personally got their hands dirty. He was trained by Elias Vaughn."
"Yeah, I know he and Macen are friends to this day," Radil retorted, "Old news."
McMasters couldn't refrain from rolling his eyes, "Elias Vaughn is the oldest surviving member of SOCOMM. No one else has reached the ripe old age of one hundred and eighteen. Hell, they usually don't make it to forty. You know why? Because they get the jobs that can't be done." McMasters looked truly discomfited now, "Vaughn took Macen under his wing and after T'Prynn died Macen became his right arm. They blew the hell out of the Cardassian installations near the border. Sometimes they didn't come back."
"What are you saying?" Radil pounced on that statement.
"Macen and Vaughn have both been interrogated by the Cardies. You know that isn't pretty," McMasters revealed, "Yet they came back alive, not once, but twice."
"There's no way," Radil protested.
"How do you think Macen rescued Admiral Johnson from Cell 51?" McMasters asked.
Radil narrowed her eyes, "How do you know about Cell 51?"
"I looked up the ship's secure logs. I like to know where a starship that I'm going to be working on has been," McMasters divulged.
"It seems P'ris isn't our only resident spymaster," Radil mused.
McMasters shrugged off the comment, "So anyway, while all the rest of the Maquis were getting ready to hurt the Cardassians however they could, Ro and Macen were ready for a war." McMasters shuddered, "Personally, I'd never get in their way when they decide something like that."
"Yeah, I've seen the look and the consequences," Radil admitted.
"You want to know who else to look out for?" McMasters asked.
"You're not going to go off about P'ris again? Or Daggit? Or Celeste? Because we know about them already," Radil dryly remarked.
"And you're missing the obvious candidate," McMasters informed her.
"Who's left? The only person I didn't name is Hannah," Radil shared.
"Bingo," McMasters said authoritatively.
"You're kidding?" Radil didn't believe what she was hearing.
"Radil, Hannah ain't human despite her looks," McMasters warned.
"Yes, I know," Radil's words dripped with scorn.
"Look into her eyes, dammit!" McMasters urged, "We're bugs to her. Bugs that she dearly wants to squish. And from what I saw the other day, she can damn well do it whenever she wants."
"Hannah's harmless," Radil insisted but she was beginning to wonder what was in Grace's eyes.
"And her people sent her out as a spy, right?" McMasters hammered at Radil's protestations, "She's supposed to look harmless. Her people have a nasty track record of killing anything and everything that isn't them. Now, I'd like to believe as much as the next guy that she's got that impulse in check but the more I get to know her, the more I seriously doubt it."
"I'm beginning to see your point," Radil admitted.
"Good. Two sets of eyes and ears can cover more ground than one," McMasters said gratefully.
"Shouldn't we tell Macen?" she asked at long last.
"Do you honestly think he doesn't know?" he asked derisively.
"What's with the hostility?" Radil wanted to know.
"Look, our beloved captain is shacking up with a woman who has tried to kill him on three separate occasions. Do you think that something like Hannah's little attitude problem is going to faze him?" McMasters demanded of her.
Radil fell silent and McMasters adopted a knowing smile, "I thought not."