Michael Eddington, formerly Lieutenant Commander Michael Eddington, one time Starfleet security head of Deep Space Nine, leaned back in his chair, turning his head away from the comm screen he had used to send a message to his former commanding officer, Captain Benjamin Sisko, their conversation ringing in his head.
Eddington knew Sisko well enough after serving under him for a year and a half now to know trying to plead his case with him was a waste of time. Sisko was a dangerous man. He might sound calm and gentle in tone, but when his temper was roused he was like a volcano rumbling beneath the surface.
Eddington remembered that business involving the Cardassian-Romulan fleets, when Odo and Garak were being held on one of the ships by Enabrain Tain; Admiral Toddman had known Sisko well enough to know he would disobey orders, and go into the Gamma Quadrant to rescue them while the combined fleets blew the Founders to bits, and so Toddman had told him to sabotage the Defiant, which he did, but he had known it was futile but it was important to continue to fool Sisko and Starfleet into thinking he was a rule-abiding drone.
Like the Borg.
How many similarities were there between the Federation and the Borg Collective anyway?
Space faring, check.
Been in space a long time, check.
Both wanted to consume races into their collectives, check.
But the Federation was more sinister, as they did it without a shot being fired.
At the time Eddington was becoming more and more sympathetic towards the Maquis, but to keep his cover and to pass on more classified information concerning Starfleet operations, but not enough to warrant Starfleet Intelligence discovering his operations, he'd needed to play a specific role. So many Starfleet operations were compromised by Eddington's doings, and he had done it gladly.
A few months before he had gone to his posting on Deep Space Nine, Eddington had witnessed the forced relocation of a colony from one of the DMZ colonies, and the sight haunted him forever, and it hadn't surprised him some Starfleet officers resigned in protest, some even going the extra mile and joining the Maquis alongside many other colonists. Eddington had been so moved, so horrified by how the Federation treated their own citizens who just wanted to live peaceful lives, he'd nearly done the same thing, but he had decided to join the Maquis.
From that point forward he had spent months sending them information from behind the scenes, keeping his head down and obeying orders, while making himself the book-perfect Starfleet officer that so many were fooled into believing he was. It wasn't difficult.
Eddington was just pleased the facade was gone, no longer necessary. He smiled when he felt a pair of slim arms slip around his neck.
"That was an intense call," Rebecca commented softly as she gently began massaging his shoulders.
Eddington grinned. "It was," he agreed amicably.
"Do you think he listened?"
"No. He'll come after me," Eddington's voice was sad, solemn, but resigned and expecting.
Rebecca paused in her massage. "What makes you so sure?"
"I know him. I was with him when he went into the Gamma Quadrant, knowing full well how Starfleet felt about the matter when he wanted to rescue two people while the Romulans and Cardassians joined forces and sent a combined force through the wormhole to strike at the Founders of the Dominion; even when his ship was decloaked, Captain Sisko forced repairs through and carried on as nothing happened. I've also seen him never give up several times, like when a changeling infiltrated the Defiant to begin a war with the Tzenkethi," Eddington explained. "Men like that don't give up, but Sisko will likely take what I did personally. Did you notice his attitude when I spoke to him?"
"I did, he was angry," Rebecca replied.
"Which is why he will come after me, after us."
"You don't like that?"
"No. I respect him too much; while I respect Sisko, I always found his attitude both endearing and worrying. That's one reason why I waited so long before showing the Federation which side I was truly on, the other was so I could find a good enough moment and then leave while I gathered enough information in those isolinear chips I brought with me," Eddington smirked. "I picture him as Javert, the police inspector in Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo."
"I know who wrote Les Miserables, Mike," Rebecca chided playfully, going back to her massage. "You really picture him like that? Doesn't sound complimentary to me."
"Oh it is, at least to me, but now he will see me as a villain rather than the other way around," Eddington said. "Did you see Sisko's reaction when I mentioned how the Federation is worse than the Borg?"
"I did," Rebecca said seriously. "I think you're right; the Federation care a great deal about bringing the Cardassians into the Federation, uncaring about how slick, untrustworthy they are. But that's the Federation for you; abandon so many of your own people and bring the people who caused it to the Federation Council. Only hope they have something to stop them from being stabbed in the back, they're gonna need it."
"True," Eddington chuckled, but then he sighed, "I wonder, now, how many races joined the Federation only to regret it later on?"
"Quite a few, I'd say; let's face it, you're right, with every Starfleet captain and admiral and diplomat urging races and cultures to join them, showing them how peaceful the Federation is, how welcoming Starfleet is towards aliens and new ideas and ideals, they bring them in, adding culture and technology to their own, growing as they do, but for some, their beliefs are just far too different, and some don't subscribe. And those who try to leave, they're bullied, harassed, with anyone who agrees and supports their notions being ridiculed, and treated like shit," Anger seeped into Rebecca's voice as she recalled how people who supported the Maquis were harassed and even imprisoned for treason, and how Starfleet kept chasing their ships on hide and seek missions in the Badlands. "Did you bring the schematics?" She asked.
Eddington held up an isolinear chip. "All here, the complete schematic for the Quantum torpedo, along with formulas for biogenic weapons which are lethal to the Cardassians. We'll soon get rid of 'em. Anyway, right now do you know where I can get out of this uniform?"
"Sure. Come with me, Mike," Rebecca pulled him out of the room, away from his life as a Starfleet officer.
And he didn't look back, not once.