CHAPTER 5
I am glad of all details, whether they seem to you to be relevant or not."
- Sherlock Holmes – Earth (Human)
USS ENTERPRISE, IN ORBIT OVER EARTH
SEPTEMBER 2269
In the briefing room aboard the USS Enterprise, Captain Karmes was furious. "Kirk, you said you'd be able to monitor her, that there was little risk, that she would be safe." Chief Engineer White sat by his side in stoney silence.
Kirk frowned and Spock explained, "Captain, with the information that we had available at the time, Commander Botha should have been safe. Indeed, we remained unaware of her fate for some time as her communicator signal continued on its path along the Metro. Whoever the enemy agent is, they are highly adept. Commander Botha was a skilled officer. They left no physical traces upon her communicator and we have not yet recovered any of her other possessions."
Karmes was not mollified, "How did you lose sight of her? Aren't there public sensors in Paris for God's sake? How in the hell can a Starfleet officer be murdered in broad daylight and no one sees or hears anything? And who was she following?"
Continuing, Spock explained, "She was following up on a lead we had developed from one of Captain Kirk's contacts within the Romulon Star Empire." at this, Karmes cocked an eyebrow at Kirk who simply smiled back at him. "Indeed, the information you and Commander Botha brought acted to confirm and focus our suspicions. There is indeed a penetration into Starfleet Research. Your information has allowed us to localize that leak to the Advanced Sub-Space Fields facility at Marseille. That lead led her to the individual she was following. Unfortunately, she did not identify that person before she was killed and he seems to have expended considerable effort to avoid the public sensors in Paris. Her last communication was that the man she was following was apparently meeting his contact at the Cafe La Sencerre in Paris.
"Shortly after that, the sensor logs are fogged."
"Fogged? How do you fog a sensor log?" White asked.
Leaning his elbows on the briefing room table, Kirk spoke up. "Klingon technology. It's called a dazzler. It produces a combination of white noise on a number of spectrums that effectively jams sensors over a short distance. This is highly classified, but it can be set to do anything from completely blocking all sensor detection in a small space to degrading what is captured in a large area to such a degree that everything looks...well...foggy."
Continuing, Spock said "The fact that the individuals involved move freely among the Federation planets while spying for the Romulons and utilizing Klingon technology provides several clues, as do the sensor logs that we do have.
"I was able to reconstruct an image from the logs that should provide a further clue."
He pressed a button on his console and the view screens displayed a badly blurred image of a very short person in what could only be a cap.
"You've got them then! All you have to do is check the logs of the sensors leading up to where they got fogged and find this guy." Karmes exclaimed.
Spock raised an eyebrow. "Indeed, Captain. That is exactly what I am doing. However, as you expand the search radius and time frame from this datum, the number of sensor logs increases exponentially requiring a detailed reconstruction of the damaged logs and an analysis of..."
White, studying the blurry, blobby image interrupted. "Hydran."
There was dead silence in the room for a moment. Kirk said, "Explain."
"Look at the height – but the build is too heavy to be a child. And the cap, he's covering his hair and skin color. He knows he's being monitored. And the Hydrans trade with everyone – Klingon, Romulon, Federation...
"That, Chief Engineer White, is a very logical conclusion." Spock said.
Karmes said,, "So all we have to do is find the Hydran who was at that cafe' at that time. Should be easy, right?"
Spock raised his eyebrow and tapping on his console said, "Captain Karmes, there are currently 11,237 Hydrans known to be on Earth. In Europe alone, there are 4,602, due to their business dealings on the European continent. Attempting to localize each of these and cross-reference their travels with the Cafe La Sencerre will take a considerable amount of time and require a massive analysis of sensor logs. That is likely to take more time than we have as the individual we seek will no doubt leave the planet once they have collected the information that they are here for."
"How much time, Commander?"
"At least 6 days, 11 hours, 13 minutes and 42 seconds, Captain Karmes."
"Any idea when the information is supposed to be handed over?" he asked.
Kirk spoke again, "My contact is expecting that they will receive the data in no more than five days time at Toulagai."
"Toulagai? There's supposed to be a Romulon cruiser being given safe-passage to the starbase there right about then. They're negotiating for emergency medical and food supplies for Romulus. The Yorktown's going to be escorting her.
"Wait, there can't be that many Hydran ships going that direction from Earth – We can monitor those ships!"
"Unfortunately, the Hydrans are prolific businesspeople and there is at least one ship every day heading to, or from Toulagai which serves as a sort of hub for many of their dealings. We have taken the precaution of alerting Commodore Selek to be on the lookout for espionage activities and sabotage"
"But if we can find this Hydran before they leave, we can undo the whole thing, right?"
Spock commented, "Precisely, Captain Karmes. We are in a race against time."
At that moment the bosun's pipes sounded and Commander Scott's voice was heard, "Scott to Kirk".
Kirk slapped the button in front of him, "Kirk here, Scotty."
"Aye, Cap'n, We're startin' the refuelin' an resurfacin' the dilithium chambers now. We're right on schedule."
"How long, Scotty?"
"'Tis a five day job, Cap'n. Starfleet's handlin' it tho so I've sent most o' my crew ta leave."
"Keep me posted, Scotty, Kirk out." He looked up at Captain Karmes, "Looks like it's your turn to be the only ship in the quadrant this week, Bob."