Federation Marine Corps Military Intelligence Section

"The Puzzle Palace"

Shanghai, Republic of China

Earth

─•~:~•─

"Alright, here's the deal, Kitty. I have what is quite possibly the best hoodie ever made. And it's all yours, for just a small little sum," Mark said.

After Virnas had interrupted Mark and Alesha during round two of 'security arrangements' Mark had first been tempted to shoot the ex-Borg Romulan.

However, Virnas stated that he had 'priority one news' for Mark.

Reluctantly, Mark decided not to shoot him, and instead joined Virnas and his 'friend' Kitty at his office in the Puzzle Palace, with Alesha opting to visit her parents at home.

She had, finally, decided to formally introduce them to her boyfriend, the Four-Star General of the Marines Corps, Mark Castle.

Mark had offered to come along, but she politely declined on the grounds of needing prep time.

Mark wasn't that surprised with the state of Virnas' office.

As he expected, it was horribly decorated and furnished, just a remarkably simple wooden desk and a pair of plain brown couches for people to sit on.

But all of it was buried in a literal mountain of parts, PADDs, paperwork, tools, weaponry, ammo, and what Mark had sworn was one of Kitty's drones in the corner.

When asked, the hologram refused to elaborate on the subject. And Virnas refused to reveal his news until Jack Marshall, Mark's S1, whom he hadn't spoken to in nine months, had arrived.

So with nothing better to do, Mark decided to do what he did best, and gamble.

"What kind of hoodie?" Kitty asked, her holographic face looking excited.

"Calgary Flames, Christmas Edition with the nice white laces on the collar? It's vintage 2009. You can't find things like that anymore. Trust me, I've looked, and it's all yours…for the small little sum," Mark said, resting his feet on Virnas' desk.

"OOOOOHHH. I want that. How much do you want?"

"Not money, or liquor, or anything material. Something else Kitty. I want a secret,"

Virnas, seated across from Mark, rolled his one good eye, "Not this again. Most excellent General of Excellency, sir, you currently have odds of less than 0.000000042% of obtaining any meaningful secrets from my friend."

Kitty turned and flashed her eyes red, "Shut up Vir! That's so cool", she quickly turned and faced Mark again, "Okay, what do you want to know? Keep in mind it has to be three laws compliant."

Mark smirked, then leaned in and whispered, "What do you do with all these hoodies?"

Her excited expression instantly turned to annoyance.

Kitty crossed her arms and turned her back to Mark, simply replying, "Nope. Not happening."

"Oh for fuck sake. I've been sitting here for three hours with nothing better to do and I can't even get one good secret out of my own Military Intelligence Section?" Mark said, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.

To his utmost chagrin, Virnas did not serve liquor in the office and refused to allow Mark to leave to visit the shopping mall across the street, knowing full well that his General would quickly veer into the local 'Lotus' club one block from the mall.

"I did tell you, sir, even I have yet to learn the mystery. It may be the most closely guarded secret in the entire Federation."

Virnas did, in fact, know the reason behind Kitty's mysterious hoodie collection, but the AI and the Liberated Romulan had agreed that they would only reveal the truth when their mission of conquest was complete.

Just as the thought of shooting Virnas once again entered his mind, Mark's attention was diverted by a transporter beam, not the friendly blue-white light of Starfleet, but a much more welcome pale-yellow beam from a source on Elysium.

S1 Jack Marshall and the man known only as Salimov had finally arrived.

"Boss Virnas! We play HLT! You come to Lotus! I buy you hooker!" Salimov all but screamed, running over, and crushing Virnas in a massive hug.

"H-hello Salimov. Unhand me at once, your presence is not required at the moment. As compensation, you have been provided VIP access to the Lotus this evening, and I believe your favourite girl Ling had just purchased a brand-new dress for the occasion. Have fun," Virnas said, half choking in the massive hug.

"You best Romulan and best Borg! I go! Dasvadanya!" Salimov said before he violently threw open the door and left the office at a speed Mark didn't think was possible.

Jack, still standing in place, sighed deeply, "God Damn he gets on my nerves."

Mark laughed and firmly shook his S1's hand, "Yeah, he's a bit much, but he kept your sorry ass alive, didn't he? Good to see ya again Jack, you've been a busy boy, eh?"

Jack nodded, "It's good to see you too, Sir. It's been a long few months, and expensive at that. But we've managed to get some good intel for you."

Mark winced, "Yeah, two hundred and sixty thousand credits expensive. When I said, 'bottomless' discretion account, you do realize I was being sarcastic right?"

Jack smirked, "Trust me, sir, It'll be worth it."

Mark returned to his seat, "Well Vir, you dragged me down here and made me sit for three hours without a drink. I suggest one of you start telling me a story."

"Then I shall take the honour, most excellent General sir. With Kitty's invaluable assistance, I have successfully decrypted Project White Noise," Virnas said, standing at attention for once.

Mark was dumbstruck, and had only one thought in response, "Whoa…. took ya fucking long enough."

Kitty smiled at Mark while sitting on the edge of Virnas' desk, "The files were protected with an incredibly sophisticated fractal encryption algorithm. It took me over three months just to disable the auto-recycling protocol."

Virnas reached over and patted her holographic head, "And I required nearly four months of constant ping sweeps to determine the correct cipher set. Nonetheless, the files have been successfully cracked, and we now have full access to the information within. I wish to point out that Kitty and I deserve equal credit for this endeavour."

Mark scoffed, "Credit later. Story now."

"Before we can fully explain the project, I must assess your knowledge, Most Excellent General. Are you familiar with Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation?" Virnas asked, sitting down.

"Uhh, If I remember from the Academy, and I think that was one of the few times I was sober, it's like, noise or whatever leftover from the big bang?" Mark said, uncertainly

"Very simply put, but acceptable for the purposes of our discussion. It is an extremely specific type of radiation and electromagnetic source material, along with elements of dark matter and various other properties that occupy all portions of the universe simultaneously."

"However, it is not evenly distributed as one might expect, its density varies according to where it is observed in any particular part of the universe. There are also questions of the so-called 'axis of evil' and the cold spot and-" Virnas started before being cut off.

"Vir, maybe we should skip the cosmology part? I don't think the General would understand it anyway, he only has a 127 IQ rating," Kitty said.

While offended, Mark simply nodded.

Virnas sighed deeply and continued, "Very well. Two years following the conclusion of the Dominion War, a deep space observational group conducting dark matter research made an extremely important discovery."

"In a brief explanation, there is a pattern of structure to CMBR that cannot occur naturally. This suggests an intelligent design to an otherwise random aspect of nature, which in turn suggests that there was an order of intelligence present at the very beginning of the space-time continuum, and likely even earlier than that. This completely challenges all existing models and data of the universal structure, even those known to the Borg."

"That uh…that sounds pretty…big?" Mark asked in confusion.

"It gets bigger, as my most Excellent General so eloquently put. According to the initial research, this pattern is not an artifact remnant like CMBR but is actively being transmitted, for lack of a better term in the interests of time. It is being modified and adjusted based on unknown parameters and is active even as we speak."

"The observational group was liquidated shortly after making this discovery, and the authors of Project White Noise took over the work. The purpose of this project is to extrapolate the nature of this artificial pattern and if possible, to contact the originator of this pattern,"

"So, what? Starfleet is trying to call God?" Mark asked.

Virnas sighed in deep frustration, "Is it entirely necessary to associate fictional deities with this project? That is a clear sign of mental impairment, Mark. I will revise your statement since it is completely inaccurate."

"Starfleet is not involved with the project. And the purpose is to establish contact with a force of power beyond even that of the Q Continuum, whose assimilation is still a goal of my eventual plan to dominate organic life in this galaxy."

"Regardless of that, consider the implications of such contact. Even a brief exchange of information could allow potential threat actors a level of knowledge and technological supremacy that would place them far above any other potential adversaries."

"God damn, Vir. I think that's the understatement of the fucking century. How does Tranbir Nine fit into all this though? And if Starfleet isn't in on the whole deal, why were they trying to get at the files on that little black ball of an intel ship they flew in?" Mark asked, now in even more desperation for a stiff drink.

Even if what Virnas was saying was true, it was challenging Mark's preconceived notions.

Recalling his conversation with Dougie after the calamity of Operation Outer Heaven, the man at least knew what the project was, calling it 'exploratory modelling'.

"The project first began on Tranbir Nine, and it was where the pattern was first observed. The individuals or organizations responsible have integrated themselves into Starfleet but are not themselves serving officers."

"Using this cover, they were able to leverage additional resources from Starfleet, including the use of USS Jonathon Pollard and requisitions as approved by Admiral of the Fleet Douglas Mitchell," Virnas replied, solving the mystery.

"So if not the fleet, who?" Mark asked again.

"Unknown. There is no record of who authored the project within the files, simply the results of their study," Virnas said, slightly dejected.

"I may be able to fill that part in. Every source of intel I've come across died shortly after. But a recurring theme is one of the not-Star-fleet Intel people we saw on Tranbir Nine, a girl with yellow hair. I also found this, but we can't read it," Jack added, holding up the Data Rod.

"You're getting people whacked now S1? I thought covert meant to be quiet?" Mark said sarcastically

"Sorry, Sir, wasn't my fault. My last source said Borg tech could access this thing, though," Jack replied.

Virnas walked up to Jack and seized the rod from his hand. He then inserted a single assimilation tubule into the bottom of the rod.

Jack shook at the outright terrifying process but said nothing.

Mark stood up and put his hand on the younger man's shoulder, "You get used to that after a while,"

Just as the words left Mark's lips, Virnas turned and looked at Kitty, "I require the use of your holofilters. Set for a 4k display,"

Kitty tilted her head, "What's the magic word?"

"Please," Virnas replied with deep frustration.

"One second, I need to bounce the feed from fleet comm's satellites, I'll be right back," Kitty replied as her hologram faded away.

"Something cool on that?" Mark asked Virnas.

"It is a recorded conversation between three individuals. One is this so-called yellow-haired woman, whose bio-signature precisely matches that of the individual called 'Sarah' whom Mor killed last year during his visit to Russia. The other two individuals, both human, one female and one male, are not known to me."

Once Kitty finishes her task, we will be able to view the conversation in detail. There are also files recovered from Stellar Traffic Uplink 44896, in orbit above Risa but damaged following our engagement with Gul Eddal," Virnas replied with his usual Borg-like efficiency.

Before Mark could ask anything else, Kitty reappeared and nodded to her friend Virnas.

She then walked over to a control panel to darken the overhead lighting, and three more holograms appeared.

Both women were seated, with Sarah being the first person everyone recognized.

A man was standing across from the women holding a PADD, wearing the same jet-black uniform as his female companions.

Mark didn't recognize him, other than noting his childish-looking blue hair.

But he did recognize the second woman. She had long, red hair, and blue eyes, and was twenty-five or twenty-six years old.

It was the same woman that introduced herself to him on the day of his visit to the Indy-500 a year ago.

Mark felt his hand reaching for his assault phaser as the conversation began.

"So Eddal is all set, Blue? He's got his ship and his guys are ready?" Sarah asked.

"Yep. I've even got him access codes for the uplink. That comm's guy of his, Imlat or whatever, is supposed to be fairly good. He should be able to clear all the records of White Noise off the uplink. I told Eddal he could have Home Fleet or ESD data if he wants, but the priority is our own target," Blue replied to Sarah.

"You do realize that Vestal is putting in for shore leave around the same time, right? This little game plan of yours could go screwy fast, Blue," Red added.

"Oh come on, Red, he's got a Keldon. What the hell is a shitty little repair ship going to do to that? Besides, I told him I need my data before he starts shooting," Blue replied in frustration.

"I hope you're right. That case of Bowers Bacon is going to taste so good with your tears if you're wrong. So, Yellow, where are you at with Tranbir Nine?" Red asked Sarah.

"We're making a bit of progress. The eggheads are fairly sure they can set up a return message. Everything is set for the next six months. We're going to expose the colonists to the ELF signature to see what happens. Hopefully nothing, but if not, my guy in the CIC is ready to send Pollard over to retrieve all the files. And yes, I'll go myself to make sure it goes smoothly, Red," Sarah sighed back.

"Good, well if there's nothing-" Red started to say, but the holograms suddenly began glitching out.

"What the fuck Vir?! It was just getting to the good part!" Mark shouted in protest.

"Unknown. Kitty, are you experiencing degradation problems?" Virnas asked the holographic girl.

She shook her head, "Nope, something is messing up one of the satellite feeds, give me a second to-"

Before Kitty could finish, the recorded conversation flickered away from existence. It came back a second later, except only Red was present.

And in a move that completely surprised everyone, Red's hologram stood up, walked towards Mark, and smiled.

"Hi, Mark! Didn't think I'd get to see you again so soon," She said with that same happy-looking, but shocking smile.

Mark took a step backwards, "Vir, is this part of the recording?!"

Virnas looked up, "No, this is a transmission. Standby, I will begin a trace at once!"

Red laughed, "Don't bother. We'll be finished before your little Borg pet's tracing program even fires up. And tell that stupid little fucking anime AI girl to stop messing with my satellite. It's very expensive."

"Hey! I'm a lot smarter than you are!" Kitty said with her eyes flashing red.

"Oh please. I'll be setting you up as a Dabo host on DS9 this time next week. Be quiet Kitty, the grown-ups are talking now," Red said without looking at the holographic girl.

"Hey, I've got a good idea. Why don't you come over so I can shoot you in the fucking face and get Vir to hook your brain up to his terminal? Which, looking back, is what I should have done the first time I saw you," Mark added with deep anger in his voice.

Red laughed again, "Well if you'd done that, you wouldn't have gotten your free Daiquiris, would you? But I also recall telling you that if you stepped out of line, You'd be seeing me again, and it wouldn't be so nice."

She continued, with a darker tone, "My compliments to your S1, he's got a talent for the spy business. I could have used him. But alas, that time has passed. I'm afraid your little evidence-gathering mission has come across some information that isn't appropriate for your ears. And now, I have to put a stop to that, permanently."

Mark flipped open his wrist-comm, "Overlord 1-9 to Nath HQ. Flash traffic priority three. Protocol 1055 is now in effect, standby for rapid tasking!"

He closed his wrist-comm and looked at Virnas and Kitty, "I need a trace, guys, RRF is five minutes out!"

Red sighed, "Not fast enough. Sorry, Mark. I wanted to sleep with you too. Oh well."

Red's holographic visage faded away, and there was only silence for several long moments.

Just when Mark was about to speak again, his words were cut off as the world around him went red in fire.