Admiral Courtney Hazelwood and Commander T'Pol stepped onto StarFleet Intelligence's landing pad after their shuttle flight from the Enterprise. It was a sunny day so the Admiral donned her white thick squared sunglasses that were not regulation.
" Oh fresh air, how I have missed you." Those were the first words spoken between the two since they left the Enterprise that were not deemed necessary. Courtney may be outspoken at times but that does not mean that she cannot appreciate silence and the work you can get done by using it. T'Pol was a sniper in the Vulcan military before she became a spy, and as Courtney has quoted from NCIS multiple times before " Snipers are patient and stubborn'.
" That statement was highly illogical." Courtney didn't even look at her when she started to walk towards the building and pronounced.
" Looks like you're back to being your jolly self." T'Pol followed her through the security measures. First you had to use an iris scanner, then a voice recognition, after that there was the thumbprint and id card. Before you finally have to go through the metal detector.
" Admiral, Commander, you are all set." They walked through the halls and went up to the turbo lift to the top floor where her office resided.
" Good morning Admiral." The Admiral's secretary Lt. Deborah Kerry offered when they walked through.
" It's still morning?" Courtney replied.
" Just barely Ma'am." Courtney chuckled before opening her office door.
" Oh and Deborah, we want to be left alone." After Deborah gave her acknowledgement to the order Courtney closed the door and went straight to her computer. T'Pol took the seat on the other side of her desk and took out a pad.
" Alright it looks like Black is at a Command meeting in Washington Hall. The meeting will end in twenty minutes so that gives us enough time to gear up and prepare the agents." Courtney meets T'Pol's eyes and gives her a concerned look.
" Are you sure you want to be there?" T'Pol stood and nodded to her friend.
" I have to do this Courtney." Courtney knew that of course if someone ever threatens her family she would do the same.
" Let's roll then." They went a floor down to pick up Lieutenants Samantha Potters and Mark Perterson then went to Conference room four.
" Computer turn to SCIF mode." Courtney commanded the room and soon the conference room turned red and the screens read in big red letters S.C.I.F.
" S.C.I.F. activated." Courtney shared a look with everyone in the room before nodding.
" We are here to report that Admiral Black is now a suspected treasonist and terrorist. The Enterprise has been exposed with the gas Moglan four. The gas was developed and used by the Andorians during the second Vulcan/Andorian war, and the effects were catastrophic to the Vulan's neural pathways. We have quarantined the ship and no damage has been done." Courtney looked both of her agents in the eyes and she saw fury in them.
" And you and the Commander believe that Admiral Black planted the gas on the ship to kill the Commander and Ambassador Soval?" T'Pol glanced at Courtney, her eyes filled with confusion.
" They work in Intelligence T'Pol, they know the name of everyone who goes up to the flagship." T'Pol accepted Courtney's explanation.
" Yes we do, this all started when we went up to the Enterprise. We already cleared the Tuckers and when we found the device it was clear of all forms of identification. The device is simple enough and would not take a genius to make." Courtney takes a pause and looks to T'Pol to finish for her.
" Moglan Four is more difficult to procure through. The gas is extremely rare and has so far only been found on one of the Andorian solar system's moons. The moon is Kul'va, a class J gas moon." Courtney picks back up after this.
" Therefore there is no reason to not suspect that an Andorian party is in on this act of terror. Not everyone is pleased with the forming of the Coalition and we all know the lengths some are willing to go to get what they think is just." The Humans gazes stay stealy and Courtney couldn't help but have a sense of pride from the way her two agents reacted with no reaction.
" Alright boys and girls, let's go make half of StarFleet Command's day." The two agents let out small chuckles of amusement at their boss' comment and followed her out of the room when the SCIF was deactivated.
To Admiral Gregory Black was surprised to be detained by the Chief of StarFleet Intelligence two of her agents and the first and only Vulcan in StarFleet would be an understatement. And to say that he took it well would be just plain false.
" What gives you the right to do this to me Hazelwood? I am a citizen of United Earth and an Admiral in StarFleet. I have rights, you know." Lieutenants Perterson and Potters were both on either side of him both with one of his arms in their own.
" Hey for me this is luxury travel services, I didn't even put you in cuffs. Besides you lose your rights when you become a terrorist." The crowd of Admirals that surrounded the group who were murmuring around them gasped at their colleague's accusation. They were about to head out the doors when Admiral Gardner stopped them.
" What is going on Courtney?" She didn't have to tell him, he was the Chief of Command and she was the Chief of Intelligence but she did it anyway because in Courtney's mind he deserves answers.
" We have reason to believe that he put gas poisonous to Vulcans on the Enterprise during his stay. I was going to bring him to Intelligence to question him." Gardener nodded his head and for a moment Courtney could have sworn that she saw a look of relief in his eyes. She chalked it down to him being happy that she finally found a reason to get rid of Black.
" Was that a… the Ambassador harmed at all?"
" No, the gas takes time to become pernamit and the Ambassador is back on his own vessel now. Don't worry I wasn't about to let the Vulcan Ambassador to Earth have permanent brain damage no matter what I think of him personally." Courtney said with a smile. Gardener gave her a small smile of his own and walked away. Courtney shook her head and had a weird feeling in her gut. She shook her head again and motioned for them to move out.
They were on their way to the interrogation room when Courtney stopped T'Pol in the hallway.
" Hey I know I said you could run the interrogation but I got this feeling in my gut that says we have this all wrong." Courtney said with an unsure look on her face.
" I am unsure what you mean Admiral."
" I got this feeling that he didn't do it and I think I can prove it right if you give me a chance." Courtney knew that T'Pol didn't like what she was saying but she couldn't shake the feeling. She let T'Pol think for a moment before she agreed.
" I will trust your 'gut'." Courtney nodded her thanks before they started to walk again. When they reached the interrogation room Courtney let T'Pol enter first. Admiral Black has been in there for three hours while they let him stew and when he saw the Vulcan his head shot up. T'Pol sat down on a chair located in the far corner of the room and Courtney took the seat in front of him. She opened the file on the padd she brought in with her and put on her thick framed glasses.
" Admiral I have known you for years but I still can't believe you did something this heinous."
" Can you please tell me what I am being accused of before you decide if I'm guilty." He takes a look at T'Pol who is still sitting in the corner of the room and quickly looks back with fear in his eyes.
" You know as well as I do I'm not the one who decides if you're guilty or innocent. As for what I think you did." Courtney has to pause a bit and take a deep breath before she continues. She's trying to make Black think she's on the fence about this and it's working.
" A poisonous gas was released on the ship and we are trying to find who did it to see if they have antidote before it's too late." She made her voice crack when she said antidote and his reaction was one her gut was expecting.
" Poisonous gas? Are you kidding me Hazelwood? You let someone POISON ME?" The questions came out in a rapid succession and were so self centered that it was pure Black. Courtney met T'Pol's eyes and she nodded slowly and she knew how she felt. The person was still out there.
" Oh sorry Black I guess I didn't explain that well. It isn't poisonous to Humans, just Vulcans and it's not deadly to them either. My bad but thanks for coming and proving my latest hunch." Courtney takes off her glasses and puts them back in her inner breast pocket and gathers her padd.
" The agents who brought you here will be here to bring you back to Command soon." Courtney and T'Pol left a yelling Black behind.
" I believe this leaves us back to what Humans call ' square one'." T'Pol said with a touch of a sigh that Courtney didn't miss.
" Not exactly." Courtney draws out and T'Pol looks at her with a hope in her dark eyes.
" We know that the Tuckers didn't do it and neither did Black. That leaves only one option from that party." Courtney finishes. " Admiral Gardner." This next hunch led them to Courtney's boss, the Commander in Chief of StarFleet, Fleet Admiral David Fletcher. As it turns out when you take an Admiral of considerable status in for questioning and leave him there for three hours before deciding he didn't do it causes trouble with the boss. When they entered his office he was pacing the length of the floor.
" Hazelwood you know I think the world of you but your actions were unacceptable." Fletcher said without looking up when he heard the door close.
" Dave…" Courtney says with familiarity but Fletcher cuts her off right away.
" Oh no Admiral this is too serious of a problem to try and ' oh Dave' me. You arrested an Admiral." He said with fire in his eyes.
" Admiral I had reason to believe that he did it."
" Did you have any evidence?" He asked and Courtney started to blush.
" Well no but…" She was cut off again.
" No buts Admiral you crossed the line this time…" This time it was Courtney who cut him off.
" And I'm going to have to do it again." He looks at her and sighs before going over and slumping in his chair.
" Proceed." He commanded and Courtney took the chair across from him. She was lucky to have known this man as long as she has or she would not have been given this much leeway.
" We thought it was Black because we eliminated the Tuckers and well Gardner is Gardner, but we were wrong. I was wrong." Courtney admitted with defeat.
" About the Tuckers?" The Admiral asked with obvious confusion.
" No sir, about Gardner. Before I could walk out with Black he came up to me to ask what was going on and that is what started my doubt regarding Black. When I told him about the situation he looked relieved but I thought at the time it was about me finding dirt on Black." Courtney pauses meeting the Admiral's eyes once again.
" Sir was relieved that he wasn' caught. And while I wouldn't have usually picked up on that I did pick up on the fact that he knew that Ambassador Soval came aboard the ship. That is classified Intelligence information that he simply should not know. And when he asked about the Ambassador he almost called him an alien and not in the scientific way." Fletcher did not respond at all and was quiet for a long time. Before out of nowhere he reached over across his desk and hit his comm.
" Lindsey, get Gardner in here ASAP." He commanded the woman at the front desk. He sounded mad and Courtney knew that she had him. They waited several minutes in silence before Gardner was granted access to the room.
" What's this all about sir?" Gardner asked shakily with a false sense of humor. Courtney answered though.
" Remember when I told you that you could not bullshit and old bullshiter?" Gardner nodded and Courtney continued.
" Well you got caught Gardner please don't make this harder than it has to be." Gardner sighed and then turned to T'Pol.
" You know this would never have happened if your kind just minded your own business. Your soon to be ' marriage is a joke' and your family is a sin." Courtney stood up to knock his lights out but when she drew her arm up Fletcher held her back and they both watched T'Pol do some sus mahana move on him. Courtney moves her arm and pats Fletcher on the chest.
" Good call." Fletcher nods and Courtney goes to stop T'Pol from doing any more damage to that joke of an Admiral. In the background she could hear Fletcher call for security when she says.
" Hey Hey Hey. You did it. It's over now." T'Pol is hiding her emotions particularly well right now but Courtney knows.
" I guess you don't have as much control over your emotions as you thought huh?" Courtney said as a joke when T'Pol didn't speak.
" No I do not." T'Pol says, staring at the heap of a body being carried out by security. She then turns towards Courtney and asks.
" Do you think the contamination team got the gas off the Enterprise? I wish to see my family." Fletcher answered that.
" They did Commander. Go and tell Commander Tucker hi for me." He says before they leave his office to go back to the landing pad to board the shuttle pod and go back to the Enterprise.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed. - Countdrizzle