Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or any of its characters, only my OC - Kaitlyn Donovan.
This story is the sequel to All's Fair in Love and War.
Query: What sacrifices must be endured by those that secure our freedom?
A/N: Real life has been extremely busy. It only took a school closing for winter weather to give me time to write this. Here's your long awaited update Bina :)
Thank you to Just a Crazy-Man, bina W, and IrishBug74, LoyaulteMeLie, Lupinesence, jeangreyten, Belen09, Silver-ShadowSpark, Cap'nFrances, g-love99, guest, and badkarma00 for the reviews, and to everyone that is following this story and adding it to their favorites!
Chapter 18 - A debt to be repaid.
The Price of Freedom
Chapter 18 - A debt to be repaid.
Previously . . .
Administrator V'Las leaned forward, "Because I know that you are honorable and loyal - and I also know that you already keep a lot of things secret."
Major Kaitlyn Donovan nodded slightly, "In our lines of work we are entrusted with knowledge that the general public need not know." She stood up and bowed slightly, "Thank you for the opportunity to serve Vulcan in such a capacity."
The Administrator's eyes narrowed, "I have not dismissed you, Major."
Kaitlyn agreed, "Unfortunately, I have a great deal of work to do. If you will have the relevant information sent to me, I will start assessing the security needs of the Vulcan High Command. Thank you again, Administrator." She bowed once again, then took her leave.
Security Officer Shoope was waiting for her at the shuttle door. He could tell that she wasn't pleased. He closed the door after he got in and got into the pilot's seat. "Is there anything I can help you with, Ma'am?" he offered.
Kaitlyn took a deep breath, "Perhaps in a little while. I need to check on a few things first. Thank you for the offer." She quickly sent a message to Sgt. Jackson to get Mullens and be ready to tell her what he'd found out as soon as she returned.
She found Sgt. Jackson and Cpl. Mullens around the interactive table in the MACO debriefing room when she returned. "What did you find out?" she questioned.
Cpl. Mullens shook his head slightly, "It's not good news, Ma'am. All of our transmissions are sent through our satellite in orbit, then routed through our other satellites back to Earth. Our transmissions are also getting picked up by a Vulcan satellite placed in the same directional path as our signal path to Earth - both incoming and outgoing messages, Ma'am." he reported. "The only way to secure our transmissions for awhile is to change our encryption early."
Kaitlyn frowned slightly as she crossed her arms, "They would be suspicious - the Vulcans would know that we know they've been spying on us."
Sgt. Jackson raised an eyebrow, "You want to let them keep getting our transmissions?"
She gave him a small smile, "Just the ones we want them to hear. I'm going to speak with Ambassador Galen and Commander Leeds. Mullens, send me your report so we can go over it. Hold off on our transmissions until we decide what to do."
X X X X
"All of our transmissions are being captured and decrypted by someone or some organization on Vulcan!" the Ambassador sprung out of his chair. "How could this happen? These are supposed to be secured and encrypted transmissions on a dedicated satellite." Ambassador Galen pointed out.
Commander Leeds nodded, "They are, Ambassador. Unfortunately, they have a satellite and have been decrypting our messages. Nothing we send out, or receive is secure. We have to find a way to tell Earth, without the Vulcans finding out." He glanced at Donovan, she'd brought him up to speed on the situation a few minutes ago.
Ambassador Galen looked at Donovan, "How do we know they've decrypted our messages?"
"Administrator V'Las knew I'd received my orders to help them secure the Vulcan High Command. I was summoned to meet him as soon as I got back to my office from speaking with you. He should not have known that I got those orders." she explained.
Galen shook his head skeptically, "He could have received a message from Starfleet saying that his request was approved." he suggested another possibility.
"We checked - Starfleet did not send him a message." Donovan countered.
Leeds crossed his arms, "Ambassador, we need to get a message to Starfleet."
Major Donovan looked at the Ambassador, "I believe there is another way to get a message to Starfleet." She took a slow, deep breath, "Remember when you suggested a specialist? I'd like for you to have the specialist come see me. I'll get the information we need and to send a message to Starfleet about our security breech."
Ambassador Galen glanced at Commander Leeds, "Commander, could you give us a few minutes?"
Commander Leeds nodded and closed the door as he left.
Fritz Galen sighed heavily, "I should be the one to request assistance from the specialist - not you." He was responsible for the Embassy.
Kaitlyn Donovan gave her former professor a small smile, "Though I understand your suggestion, I can not allow you to be in their debt." She had contemplated what it meant for her to ask for help from the Section - knew the consequences, but she didn't see any other way to get a message to Starfleet. It would take a week to get a message back by courier, if they could find a transport heading to Earth. She could send a coded message to Malcolm, but then he'd have to explain why they were communicating in code - and who could he tell without raising Harris' suspicions? This was exactly the 'backed into a wall' situation they had predicted would happen. She rolled her shoulder slightly to relieve the tension building there.
Ambassador Galen nodded, "I'll direct the specialist to you."
"Thank you, Ambassador." she stepped back, then left his office.
Major Donovan went to her office and analyzed the monitor on her wall. Was V'Las or the High Command responsible for decrypting their messages, or was is the Vulcan Security Ministry? . . . and were they also responsible for the disappearance of 47 Vulcans and 2 Humans? She had managed to ascertain, through discrete inquiries, that at least 26 of the missing Vulcans were Syrannites. The Syrannites were a group of Vulcans who believed the High Command had strayed from the true teachings of Surak. They had become quite vocal the past few months - and that's when the disappearances had begun. She leaned back on the edge of her desk and went through the list of missing again. She had to find someone to interview to get more information. She picked up her PADD and went through the new security reports she'd received today. Three more names had been added to the 'On Pilgrimage' list - that's what the Vulcan Security Ministry classified the disappearances. In their reports, they concluded that all of these Vulcans just decided to up and drop everything and go on a pilgrimage and meditate, since there was no sign of foul play and no note left to family members. Kaitlyn concluded it was a bunch of malarkey - these Vulcans would've told their family members and jobs they were going on a pilgrimage, they wouldn't just leave - it wasn't logical.
She was pulled out of her thoughts as the chime to her door sounded. She stood up, "Enter."
A tall, lanky blond-haired Lieutenant stepped into her office. "Good morning, Ma'am. I was told you needed to see me."
"Lieutenant Preston, isn't it?" she indicated for him to sit down. He was young - not more than twenty-seven, and he had the clean cut Starfleet Officer facade down pat.
"Yes, Ma'am - and if it's alright with you, I'd prefer to stand." he stated as he quickly assessed her office.
She thought back quickly to his service record. It was unimpressive, to keep him off of everyone's radar. He was assigned in the Communications Center, which gave him access to practically everything the Section could want. "Lieutenant, are we going to have to beat around the bush on this situation - you pretending you don't know what I'm talking about? Or can we get down to what needs to happen?" she inquired.
Preston straightened and his innocent facade dropped as he crossed his arms, "No need to play games. We've known the communications have been captured by a Vulcan satellite for the past three weeks. Your discovery that Administrator V'Las knew you'd received your orders was the first substantiated link that they've broken our encryption."
"What have you been doing to counter the situation?" Kaitlyn asked as she picked up her PADD.
"I've been sending out messages about various items of interest to see if someone would act on the information - they hadn't. Like I said, today's a first." Alex Preston watched the MACO Commanding Officer before him. Harris had warned him about her. Told him she was manipulative in order to get what she wanted, she was extremely intelligent, and under no circumstance should he allow her to touch him - evidently she had some sort of mind reading power. He'd watched her the past three weeks and found her very driven and dedicated to her job. He didn't think it was a coincidence that the encryption code had been broken around the same time as her arrival.
"Do you know who is responsible?" she watched him closely.
"Only that, evidently, the information is being filtered to Administrator V'Las." he pointed out.
"Three weeks?" She took a deep breath, "It's not a coincidence that it coincides with our arrival." She watched as he walked over to her interactive wall monitor and analyzed it carefully.
Preston nodded, "Yes, I've concluded that it's either one of your MACOs, or someone from Earth that has given them the encryption code." He spoke calmly, assuredly - keeping her in his peripheral vision.
"It's not one of my MACOs - we don't have the encryption codes." Kaitlyn stated firmly.
Preston turned to her and watched her carefully, "You and Mullens are smart enough to figure it out."
She shook her head, "It's not one of us. It has to be someone from Earth, in Starfleet."
"So the conundrum is then, how do we inform Starfleet without that person knowing when we don't even know who they are?" he questioned.
"Use the quantum entangled particles to send a superluminal communication to Admiral Stevens. He'll be able to come up with a reason on their end for us to change the encryption codes early, so we don't raise anyone's suspicions. We'll keep sending out feelers - if the messages are decrypted again, maybe we can narrow it down to who is giving the decryption code to them." Kaitlyn suggested.
Preston blinked. How did she know about the quantum entangled particles? They'd only recently been placed in key areas where Operatives needed to be able to send messages without being detected. They weren't in use when she'd been active in the Section.
Kaitlyn took a deep breath, "Don't look so shocked, Preston. They were being field tested when I was active - it's only logical that they would be fully operational by now. Will you send out the message?"
"I'll send out two. One you compose to Admiral Stevens, and the other to Harris to apprise him of the situation." Preston watched her, he'd wondered how she'd ever been allowed to leave the Section - she obviously knew too much, she was a risk to the organization. "You understand your situation once I send those messages out?" he inquired.
Kaitlyn gave him a small nod of acknowledgment.
Lieutenant Alex Preston indicated her wall monitor, "One of the names on today's report . . . you may be able to find someone that will speak to you, since you know a family member." He shook his head slightly, "There's a reason why we haven't been investigating these disappearances. . . if it turns out it's the High Command's doing - they will make you disappear, just like the others. Be cautious, Major." He looked one more time at the monitor, then glanced back at her. "Compose a message to Admiral Stevens and I'll send it out." He turned and left her office.
X X X X
Kaitlyn looked around the small restaurant a few blocks from the Earth Embassy and sipped her tea as she waited to see if her invited guest would arrive.
After she had written the message to be sent to Admiral Stevens and sent it to Preston, she quickly went over the names on the disappearance list again. She should have known that the Section would have known what she'd been up to, but for Preston to point out she knew a family member of someone who disappeared unnerved her.
She glanced at her chronometer again, her guest was thirty minutes late. It was a long shot that he'd come.
Luckily, there had only been three Vulcans to narrow down how she knew one of them. She'd been surprised when she found out who she knew from the family. It only took her a few minutes to decide who to try and speak to.
Kaitlyn looked up as the door to the restaurant opened and her guest arrived. She stood up as he approached the table. "I'm pleased you found the time in your busy schedule to meet with me, Koss." she spoke in Vulcan.
He nodded and indicated for her to sit down. He glanced around the restaurant quickly before he sat down across from her. "You're invitation was unexpected, but I felt I should come, since you are an acquaintance of T'Pol." He thanked the waiter as he poured the tea for him. "Have you heard from T'Pol recently?" he inquired.
"No. But I did speak to another crewmember a week ago, after they had arrived back to Earth from another mission. He said they were all doing as well as could be expected." She watched him carefully, "Did T'Pol mention to you what they went through during the Expanse?"
He sat up straighter, "It is no concern of yours what is said between a husband and wife."
"I didn't mean to offend you, I just thought maybe you'd understand why the crew was doing 'as well as could be expected'." She could see that he was still very uneasy, he kept looking around at the other customers. "Would you prefer to speak in Earth standard?" she offered.
Koss nodded, "It is not common for a Vulcan to be seen conversing with an off-worlder." he admitted in English. "It is difficult with the new security protocols in place to know who could be listening."
"How long have the new security protocols been in place?" she inquired.
"Two months now." Koss watched as she sipped her tea, he wondered how she knew T'Pol. He realized why she might be speaking with him, "Has something happened to T'Les?"
Kaitlyn nodded, "I wanted to find out if you knew anything more before I sent a message to T'Pol."
Koss shook his head, "You can not send her a message about her mother. There would be repercussions, and T'Pol is already on unstable ground in the eyes of our government because of her service to Starfleet. I should have known that T'Les was in trouble. She came by last week and gave me a family heirloom to give to T'Pol the next time I saw her. Has T'Les gone into hiding?"
"I'm not sure." Kaitlyn admitted.
"But there are others?"
"There are now fifty Vulcans that have left their families and jobs without any prior notification."
Koss became hesitant, "Why are you concerned?"
"Because two Humans also disappeared last month." Kaitlyn explained. She watched as Koss quickly assessed the situation.
"Major Donovan, the new security protocols are concerning to many of us - unfortunately, to speak out against them raises concerns about our loyalty. I do not wish for you to be scrutinized by the Security Ministry - please drop your inquiries." he requested.
"I can not drop my inquiries when it concerns the disappearance of two Humans. I have to find out what happened to them and get them back, if at all possible."
Koss glanced around the restaurant again, "I know of someone, he works in the Security Ministry. He has concerns about what has been happening where he works. He may be able to get you the information you need." Koss stood up, "I'll see if he's agreeable to meet with you."
Kaitlyn stood up and bowed slightly, "Thank you." She watched as Koss quickly paid their bill, then left the restaurant. She finished her tea as the owner, Solan, quickly came over.
"Can I get you anything else, Major?" the older male Vulcan offered.
"No, not right now. I'll be back tomorrow for the mid-day meal." she thanked him. Solan's wife had gone missing - she was one of the first. When Kaitlyn had come by and inquired a few weeks ago, he had opened up to her and admitted that his wife would never have left without telling him. The older Vulcan had been helping her to reach out to other families and offering for them to come speak with her at his restaurant. He had been slightly thrown off last week when she'd asked if he could feel his wife through their bond, but he admitted that he could not. She looked at Solan again and gave him a small smile, "Perhaps I will have some information tomorrow." He looked older and more tired than when she first met him. "Have you been meditating?"
Solan nodded, "Yes, though it has not been as restorative as it has been in the past. I will be fine, Major. You are the one that should be cautious."
She agreed, "I will. See you tomorrow." Kaitlyn left and headed back to the Earth Embassy.
X X X X
Lieutenant Alex Preston quickly went to his monitor in his quarters as it chirped that he had an incoming message. After he had sent the message to Admiral Stevens, it had only taken five minutes for a message to come in stating that the encryption codes would be changing over early because of a problem back on Earth. The codes had been changed and, for now, their communications were secure.
Preston raised an eyebrow as Harris appeared on his monitor, "How can I help ?" he questioned.
"Your report to me was unsettling - Administrator V'Las is getting the information from our communiqués? And why didn't you tell me earlier that Donovan was so hell-bent on these disappearances?" Harris demanded to know.
Preston took a calming breath, "I did tell you she was making inquiries, I did not know the depth of her determinedness. She is a risk. She knows too much about our organization, and now she knows too much about the Vulcan High Command's Security Protocols. They are not going to just let her leave with that information after she gives them their report. They could mind-meld with her and get our classified information out of her. I recommend that she be immediately removed from Vulcan."
Harris watched the young operative make his recommendations. Yes, Donovan was a huge risk - but he hadn't been the one to send her to Vulcan in the first place. If they could just keep her out of harm's way, the information she obtained on the Vulcans would be invaluable to the Intelligence community. "She needs to stay and complete her assignment. Activate your Vulcan assets and have them keep an eye on her safety while she's outside the confines of the Earth Embassy. I'll speak to Donovan." the screen went blank.
X X X X
Kaitlyn knew as soon as the monitor chirped it was time to face the situation she'd gotten herself into. She sat down at the desk in her living quarters and touched the icon for the message. She nodded to Harris as he appeared on her monitor.
"What do you want in return for sending the message?" she got right to the point, no sense in delaying the inevitable.
"Everything you've found out so far about the Vulcan High Command's Security Protocols, and the members of the Vulcan High Command - I'll even let you send all of that to Stevens too." he gave her a tight smile.
"Anything else?" she asked as she pulled out her PADD that already had all of that information on it.
"You need to take care. If you find yourself captured, you know what you need to do. I can not allow you to speak about this organization - I will have you eliminated before that happens." he promised.
"I know what to do, no need to make threats." Kaitlyn shrugged.
"You're a risk." he pointed out.
Kaitlyn nodded, "Not just to you at the moment. Anything else?" she prodded.
"I'll call upon your assistance when I need it." Harris stated firmly, then the screen went blank.
Kaitlyn frowned. Of course he'd call for her help later. She turned on her PADD and got the information he wanted ready in a packet and sent it to Preston with the directions to send it to Harris and Admiral Stevens.
She stood up and got ready to meditate. She desperately wanted to send a message to T'Pol about her mother, and she wanted talk to Malcolm about what she'd just done. But she couldn't with the scrutiny she'd now be under from Harris.
She sat down on the floor and lit the meditation candle and took slow, deep breaths. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her heartbeat.
X X X X
Kaitlyn Donovan watched as Sub Commander T'Rel, the man that Koss had mentioned to her left the restaurant. She had met him several times before when she had gone to the High Command for updates, though she'd had no idea at the time that he wasn't a loyal follower of V'Las. They had spoken for almost an hour about the new security protocols. He had told her that under orders from V'Las, Syrranites were being rounded up for questioning. T'Rel told her that only seven had been taken into custody and that all of the others had gone into hiding. When she had asked him about the two Humans, he'd told her they'd been picked up for questioning and that as far as he knew, they were still alive. He had promised to find out where they were being held.
Kaitlyn quickly said goodbye to Solan, then headed back to the Embassy through the back streets.
The hair on the back of her neck raised as she turned another corner. She glanced back in time to see a male Vulcan about to take a swing at her. She quickly ducked and punched his lungs to throw him off.
Her punch didn't even seem to faze him. She felt her head split as an object crashed down upon her. She hissed and kicked his feet out from under him. She started to punch him, over and over. Each time she did, her mind was filled with more and more information from him.
She stood up slowly and felt her world tilt slightly because of her own loss of blood. She reached her hand up to the back of her head and pressed it against the open wound to try and slow the bleeding.
She stumbled slightly as she walked down the deserted street to the main thoroughfare. There were a few gasps as people caught sight of her bloodied clothes.
She grabbed onto one of the men, he looked vaguely familiar, "Please, don't. . . let him. . . get away." she managed to say before she collapsed to the sidewalk.
She fought to stay conscious.
She wished she knew a month ago what she knew now.
The lies, the corruption, and the treachery.
Her head pounded with each beat of her heart as the blood rushed through her veins.
She had to remember.
She had to remember everything she'd learned from her attacker. She quickly packed all of his thoughts away. She also packed away everything about the Section. She couldn't allow anyone to access those thoughts. A key word. She needed a key word that only she would know to unlock those thoughts. She smiled slightly as she choose the word and lost consciousness.
X X X X
Malcolm Reed stood up from his hunched over position near one of the weapon's relay conduits. He was still finding glitches in the newly upgraded weapon systems. They had dropped Arik Soong back off at Earth and had been back out in space for a week, and he still hadn't heard anything from Kaitlyn. Not that he expected her to be able to communicate with him every week, but it wasn't like he could make a communiqué to her without good reason. He put the spanner back in the tool kit and put the kit back in the cabinet.
"You heading out?" his second-in-command, Lt. Samuel Bueller, inquired as he came down from the second level of the armory.
"I think I've done enough damage for today. Could you check out the relays to number three tonight? Those fluctuations are a concern." Malcolm directed.
"We'll get on it, Lieutenant." Bueller nodded and headed for the conduit in question.
Malcolm walked down the hall slowly, feeling a bit sluggish and debating whether he should bother to eat something this late, or just head for bed. Ever since the Orions had snatched some of the crew members off the ship, he'd been working on a rotating shield frequency to keep it from happening again. Problem was, it was a power drain. Maybe they could just have a switch to turn it on when unknown vessels were in the area.
He looked up and realized his feet had made his decision for him - he was standing at the door to his quarters. Malcolm went inside and quickly changed and climbed into bed. He was exhausted and his eyes closed as soon as he hit the pillow.
He awakened with a startle at the sound of his alarm and frowned as he turned it off. He sat up slowly and winced. He felt like he'd been running all night long - did he even get any sleep? He headed to the shower to see if that would help get rid of his headache.
Malcolm headed down to the Mess Hall and grabbed a bowl of oatmeal and some coffee and sat down at the back table away from the few other crewmembers that were already up. He concentrated on eating his breakfast and winced when a hand clamped on his shoulder.
Trip Tucker eyed his friend as he sat down in the chair next to him, "You look like crap, Malcolm."
"Thanks for pointing that out." Malcolm said quietly, trying to keep his migraine from pounding in his head any harder. He took a drink of his coffee and tried to relax, but his muscles felt coiled.
Trip started to eat his eggs and sausage, "Did you get any sleep last night?"
Malcolm shook his head and regretted it, "I don't think so."
"You should go see Phlox - maybe a hypo will take care of it." Trip suggested with a grin. His grin faded when Malcolm stood up.
"Yeah, I think I'll go see Phlox."
Trip gaped. It took an order from the Captain to get Malcolm to go to Sick Bay most of the time. He watched as his friend put his tray up, then headed out. Trip went over to the communication unit on the wall. "Tucker to Phlox."
"Yes, Mr. Tucker - how can I help you?" the cheerful voice of the Denobulan doctor answered.
"Lieutenant Reed is on his way to see you. He's not looking too good, Doc." Trip advised the doctor.
"Well, thank you for the warning." Phlox clicked off the comm unit and put a hypo in his pocket to be on the safe side. At times, the Security Officer had been a bit unruly and uncooperative with suggested treatments. Though the man was compactly built, he was freakishly strong and the doctor found it easier just to sedate him instead of arguing with him.
Phlox looked up as the man in question stepped through the doors to Sick Bay. His concern spiked as Mr. Reed headed straight for a biobed and laid down. Phlox followed him and pulled out his scanner, "What seems to be the problem, Lieutenant?"
Malcolm Reed felt nauseous, "I don't know. I didn't sleep well last night. I feel like I've been running the entire time. I've got a huge migraine and the back of my head hurts like bloody hell." He turned on his side to try and keep the nausea at bay.
Phlox frowned at the readings. The man was showing heightened serotonin levels and his blood pressure was way above normal. He was definitely showing signs of a serious migraine, though his scans showed no cause for Mr. Reed's condition. "Mr. Reed, I'm going to give you a hypo to make you relax so I can run a few tests." he prefaced a few moments before he released the hypo into the man's system.
Phlox watched as the man's eyes closed. Phlox looked over the readings again and frowned. He went to the comm panel, "Doctor Phlox to Captain Archer."
"Yes, Doctor?" Jonathan Archer inquired.
Phlox glanced back at the unconscious Head of Security, "Lieutenant Reed is in my care and will not be at his post today."
"What happened?" Archer questioned as he quickly finished the last of his coffee.
"When you have a few moments, perhaps you could come by Sick Bay." the doctor suggested.
"I'll be there shortly." Jonathon Archer replied and headed out the Captain's Mess and to Sick Bay.
X X X X
TBC.
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