Kathryn
ooo
This is going to be one of those days.
Half of an E-Corps security team is camped out in my lab; the others are with Daystrom's engineers. Our network's been up and down; at one point, they shut down the feed to the building.
That didn't make us popular, but I was happy to have some quiet. We've had an insane number of calls — mostly updates and questions from the teams. It's triggered memories about patching up Voyager after an attack: my comm badge constantly buzzing, trying to navigate the corridors without falling over debris or engineers …
ooo
The network comes back up after lunch, and the first call is from Mom.
"Everything all right out there?" she asks casually. "Couldn't get through for a couple of hours."
"Technical difficulties," I say, and she knows enough not to pry. She nods. "I wanted to thank you for the heads-up. Nico showed up here last night to talk to Phoebe."
"And how did that go?"
"They talked for an hour or so. I don't know if anything's been resolved. I told her that if they worked it out, I'd keep quiet and welcome Nico back into the family. But I also told her that she can always talk to us if there's a problem."
"Sounds like the rest is up to …." I'm interrupted by my aide frantically waving from the door, so I quickly get off the call.
"Sorry, Admiral, Captain Archadi is asking that you come to the lab. He said they found something."
Well, things had been a little too quiet recently ...
ooo
"What kind of virus?" I demand as I stare at the bit of code retrieved from the transmission.
Lt. Commander Steiger, who's leading the E-Corps security team, clears his throat. "In its simplest form, a three-part, remotely controlled virus, ma'am. Actually, an adaptation of older technology."
He points to various parts of the code. "When the scans open, this launches a data sifter to look for specific information. Can't confirm it yet, but if it runs to form, it's looking for communications codes with the network, data storage codes … basically the keys to the infrastructure. It then sends that information to its handlers."
An ice ball is forming in my gut. "What's the third part?"
"Once they have those codes, the handlers can order the virus to delete them from the network. It could do a hell of a lot of damage … ma'am."
"Wait a minute; we've been running this," I say. He nods. "The isolation grid's doing its job, but the Daystrom teams are doing another sweep to be sure."
"So," Scott asks, "any speculation on who the handlers might be?"
Steiger gives us a wry smile. "We were looking for this. Intelligence has reported network attacks using viruses with this structure. They're thought to be the work of the Tal Shiar."
"Well, looks like it was Romulans," Scott says."Just not the ones we wanted."
Enough. "Commander, I need the information in that scan. Can we run it against our data without destroying the network?"
He nods. "The captain and I are discussing that. We can set up an isolation grid to handle a limited data comparison. But not until everything is disinfected."
ooo
Back in my office, I make a call.
"I'm sorry Admiral, Admiral Nechayev is out of the office right now," the aide says apologetically. "May I take a message?"
"Please alert her that I'm leaving a text message on the secure channel," I order. A bit harder than I intended, but I need the admiral's attention now.
I open the channel and dictate a very short message. That speculation on sabotage: You may be right on the money.
ooo
"Kate … honey … do you need to get up?' Tom's voice is soft in my ear, but I'm much too comfortable to respond.
"Hon, it's 1000 hours. You OK?" This makes my eyes fly open, and when I focus, I realize that I'm still wearing most of my uniform. and Tom had thrown a blanket over me.
"Crap," I mutter as I swing out of bed and manage to pat his shoulder as I head to the bathroom. When I come out, he has coffee waiting.
"Bless you," I say and back it up with a kiss. "Last thing I remember, I'd just taken off my boots."
"I think that was about 3:30," Tom says wryly. "Get your 'security issue' fixed?" Which is how I termed it when I called to say that I'd be very late.
I pause for a moment to let the caffeine kick in. "Part of it; the rest remains to be seen." And that's all I can tell him.
ooo
My message to Nechayev galvanized the brass. Somehow, she … or maybe it was Bordson … managed to assemble most of the players for an evening vid conference. This time we had new faces: Commander Geordi LaForge, who's running the refit of the ships to be used in the evacuation, and Vice Admiral Fujisaki, Deputy Chief of 'Fleet Intelligence.
I introduced Steiger and let him make the explanations. Steiger will go far: He laid out the situation and answered questions, completely unfazed by his high-ranking audience.
"So," Bordson said, "the question is: If this is indeed the Tal Shiar, what's their aim here?"
"As we've said," Fujisaki broke in, "the Tal Shiar wanted us to reveal that the Romulan government tried to mislead us. One possibility is that they intended to destroy Admiral Janeway's project. Though I assume, Admiral, that you have copies of all your data."
"Many," I assured him. "All in secure locations."
"So they destroy the project and blame the Romulan Senate," Jean-Luc Picard said. "I think that would go beyond embarrassment."
"I'd say so," Kirsten Clancy exclaimed. "That would be the end of your evacuation mission. Hell, it would be the end of the Federation. All those worlds sitting on the fence wouldn't be after that got out."
"All valid points," Fujisaki said. "Which leaves intimidation. 'Do what we want, or we'll destroy you.'"
"I'm inclined to accept the intimidation argument," Nechayev said. "They waved a large red flag by stripping the communications codes. They have to know that we're onto their virus. As Commander Steiger aptly pointed out, they've lost communication with their toy."
"This brings us back to the original question. What do they want?" Bordson said.
"I agree with the intimidation theory," I said, "but this isn't about the misleading data. Knowing the outcome of both scenarios … Essentially, they're threatening to destroy us unless we destroy ourselves. There are easier ways to accomplish that. Why bother with this?"
"I would agree," Picard said. "I believe they have another motive. Perhaps someone else is involved? What are the Cardassians up to? Anyone from the Delta Quadrant we should worry about?"
Fujisaki shook his head. "The Cardassians always concern us, but not on this front. As for the Delta Quadrant, things remain quiet. But Admirals, you may be right about the true motive here. I suspect we'll be hearing from the Tal Shiar soon enough."
ooo
After a light breakfast at Tom's insistence, I call the office.
"It's very quiet today, Admiral. Blessedly quiet," my aide says as he updates me on what I need to know.
"Let's enjoy it while we can," I quip. "In the meantime, open a request to Fleet Ops to see available personnel. Then pull the list of personnel who analyzed the first batch of Romulan data. Send copies to Dr. Tatim and Captain Archadi to make revisions as needed."
I sign off and lean back in my chair …
Which is where Tom found me, asleep, two hours later.