Chapter 416

AMBASSADOR MAMET'S OFFICE

FEDERATION EMBASSY

MAGHREB

Clayborne walked into the office after being summoned from his own office. "Ambassador, you wanted me?"

"Sit down Admiral, you need to be updated."

Clayborne felt a flush, "About what?" But he knew what it was going to be about.

"I've developed some contacts. One of them leads to a businessman named Soklos."

Clayborne searched his memory, "The guy who owns that big tower?"

"Yes, I've seen a lot of information that Soklos has the President in his back pocket. I think that if we push Soklos, he'll push the President. With President Kurbish's leadership, the treaty will be ours. There are others, here is the list." Mamet handed over a paper with a list of names and how to contact them.

"Paper?" Clayborne tucked the list in the fold in his jacket.

Mamet answered, "I don't want any computer records. My plan is to contact all of them that we are interested in trading technology for their pressure on the government. I'm also trying to make a backdoor approach to the President himself. As we do the negotiations, keep your eyes open for more opportunities. Remember to keep this away from Dax."

Clayborne nodded. "I will."

BRIDGE

USS WISCONSIN

Kang's image was on one of the side screens at the communications console. Jacobs was turned around facing the screen allowing the rest of the bridge to have normal operations. Kang said, "How did you detect this object?"

Jacobs said, "Optically. We saw some stars twinkle and knew something was causing the twinkling."

"What range was it?"

"A very rough estimate was ten thousand kilometers." Jacobs stated. "The estimate is from when we started maneuvering. Obviously, it was not good enough to shoot at."

Kang thought a bit, "He is studying us. He was close enough for attack."

Jacobs asked, "What do you think he is doing now?"

"Studying us, particularly you. He knows I will immediately fire, but is unsure of you." Kang surmised. "He also gained useful intelligence on your response time, which I must say is most impressive."

Jacobs knew that Kang would have recorded the incident, and gained a lot of intelligence concerning phaser charging times, shield power settings and response times, and other ship functions. Jacobs decide a little tit for tat. "Thank you for your compliment. I should also compliment you on how robust your systems are for long-term full power operation."

Kang smiled a little at that comment, "Thank you Captain. It is fortunate you did not fire. I assume you were not confident of hitting the target."

"My thought is if I fire, I want to finish the fight. My crew was not confident of a successful attack."

Kang nodded, "And yet you did detect him. That will unnerve him. Captains of cloaked vessels tend to think that the cloaking device makes them totally invisible. The fact that he was detected breaks that assumption down and will throw him off his strategy."

"What do we do now?" Jacobs asked.

"We deny him time to regroup. Let's send some probes in the immediate area, primarily behind the closest moon. The probability is low that we will detect him, but he will have to react to them. We keep him reacting. I assume your probes are most sensitive."

Jacobs nodded, "Yes, how do you want them deployed?"

"Send at least one in high orbit, at least one hundred thousand kilometers beyond the moon. He will be worried because he will be close to the surface and might be silhouetted against the surface."

Jacobs turned to Grimm and nodded, Grimm started the programming and held up his hand with five fingers showing. Jacobs turned back to Kang, "We'll have it launched in five minutes."

Kang nodded, "Very well, we will have ours launched shortly as well. Kang out."

Jacobs looked at Leonaidas and remarked, "Well, that went well. What do you think?"

Leonaidas said, "I think you need a break, go grab a nap and shower. You heard Kang, nothing is going to happen soon."

Jacobs looked around, and saw everyone was performing their duties. "Sounds like a good idea. Call me when something happens. Leo, you have the conn." Jacobs got up and went to the turbolift.

BRIDGE

IKV KLOLODE

Kang asked, "Opinion?"

Mara started, "Their phaser charging times are very impressive. The shields went from a minimal amount to full power within seconds. Also, I believe that they were accurate as to the position of the cloaked ship."

"What about our readings?"

Mara shook her head, "Nothing. But I have analyzed their data, and they did detect something. The periscope's angle readings show a consistent tracking of an object."

Kang sat back, "So those primitive scopes defeated a state-of-the-art cloaking system."

"It would seem so. It seems that Captain Jacobs is once again using the simple to confound the complex. It is not dependable enough to use as a targeting method. I am amazed that they even detected a cloaked ship at that distance."

Kang looked at some of the data. "Perhaps so, remember they hit us as we were decloaking a couple of months ago. There would be no way they could get a sensor lock, yet they hit us. What distance did they hit us?"

"Extremely close. Point blank. Remember we wanted to decloak in the middle of the fight to stop it."

Kang nodded. "A limitation? Or an asset?" Kang noticed the clock. "Time for you to go meet your uncle."

Mara handed her station over to a waiting officer. "I will return this evening after the negotiations."

SOKLOS OFFICE

SOKLOS SKYTOWER

Soklos was standing at his floor-to-ceiling windows that made the outer wall. There were no buildings higher than his, and he had the top floors of his own tower. From here, he could look down on any building. Rofvert was with him patiently waiting. Soklos asked, "The aliens can literally appear out of thin air. Something is preventing them from going through the ceilings. How are the preparations for the roof?"

Rofvert said, "They are complete. If they try to beam in on the landing pad, they will fall through the false surface and get cut apart by the spikes. If they try to land their space vehicles, again they will go through the false surface and the spikes will impale the ship."

Soklos observed, "Their ships may be more resilient."

Rofvert continued, "Any unauthorized landing will be met with the explosive mines we have. If they survive that, it at least will discourage them. The great part is that your own hover vehicle can come and land on the surface. When you decide to use the pad, we throw a couple of switches and machines will make the false surface strong enough to land and walk on."

"How?"

Rofvert said, "A simple grid will extend up from around each of the spikes. The grid is strong enough to support your vehicle and people walking. It will look normal from above; all the changes are below the surface. A great back door trap."

Soklos said, "Good work. How about the operation?"

"Assets are almost in place. All we need is an angry mob. Zouger is not advocating violence, how do we push him to do that?"

Soklos chuckled. "Simple. We have a drug that enhances anxiety in a person. That along with a watch we gave him will do the trick. All I need is a four-hour notice. The watch emits a sound that will get him agitated as well. Here is the activating device." Soklos handed over a small device.

Rofvert took the device. "What is the range?"

"It works on our communication network. You can activate it anywhere on the planet. Speaking of watches, what about this thing?"

"It's a standard device that our intelligence service uses." Rofvert answered. "I'm finding a man that will deactivate it. I'm confident that I can find someone very soon. I'll let you know sir on both counts. By the way, give Zougar that drug tomorrow, at noon. Let Zougar know we need a massive demonstration tomorrow."

Soklos nodded, "I'll stir up the stirrer." Rofvert left and Soklos walked to his desk. He pushed a few buttons. Shortly after that, a voice came up.

"Tajar"

Soklos said, "Tajar, I need a favor. It is dangerous."

"Standard fee."

Soklos smiled, "I understand."

QUIRK STREET

FIVE BLOCKS FROM KLINGON EMBASSY

The Klingon motorcade was driving back. Maghreb were driving the vehicles but they were filled with the Klingon delegation. Klaar and Mara were talking about the progress of the negotiations.

"Mara, what have you found out about the minerals?"

Mara used her datapad, "Between what the Vernali found and what the Maghreb have told us, I've identified some sites I'd like to survey."

Klaar nodded, "I'll get permission from Kurbish for you to survey the sights."

Mara nodded, "It will take some time, but it will give us a good idea of…." Suddenly, from a side street a car came out and plowed into the lead car of the motorcade. The whole motorcade came to a crashing halt. The Klingons immediately jumped out of the cars and soon a half-dozen armed Klingons quickly started surveying the area with their disruptors drawn. In the lead car, the Maghreb driver came out and went to the car that hit him. The driver came out and stumbled around.

Across the street was a person with a camera taking video, and the traffic cameras were recording everything. The Klingons moved toward the driver of the vehicle. The driver snapped and yelled, "Why did you hit me? I had the right-of-way."

The Maghreb driver yelled back, "No you didn't, you ran that control light!"

The other driver vaulted over his hood and yelled, "No way! You lie!" He took a swing at the Maghreb motorcade driver. The Klingons got closer, drawn in instinctively by the conflict. The Maghreb driver took the hit and swung back. The other driver ducked the blow and charged at the motorcade driver, pushing him into the nearest Klingon. The accident driver got pushed back and took a swing at the motorcade driver, but missed and hit a Klingon. The Klingons entered the fight and started a regular beat-down of the accident driver. Blows were exchanged while sirens screamed as the Police tried to break the fight up. The Klingons exchanged some blows with the police until Ambassador Kraal yelled with a loud voice, "Klingons Halt!" The Klingons backed off.

Eventually, the damaged cars were pushed free and the Klingons got back into the rest of the cars. Kraal said to Mara, "We need to find a different way to get back and forth. We are too exposed."

Mara said, "I agree, but we cannot transport into their building, they do not want us to use a shuttle in their Capital airspace, and we certainly cannot walk there. I do not know what else we can do." Mara eyed the camera crew filming this. "Interesting."

Kraal asked, "What?"

Mara studied the camera crew for the few seconds as they passed. "Conveniently placed mass media."

SOKLOS OFFICE

SOKLOS SKYTOWER

The communications system beeped. Soklos saw who it was and answered, "Tajar."

"It is done." And the line went dead.

Soklos pushed another button and a different voice came through, it was Dr. Zougar. "How are you doing today Mr. Soklos?"

Soklos answered, "Good. I have a hot tip for you. There has been an incident between the aliens and police."

Zougar's voice sounded discouraged. "I was afraid of that. We are getting too chummy with these aliens. Which group?"

"The Klingons."

Zougar's voice had a scared tone, "The worst group. We need to make a statement, or something."

Soklos smiled, "Let's do that. I will talk to somebody and get you on Mammoth news. What can you do? This is our big chance to do something big."

Zougar said, "You get me on Mammoth News, and I'll get the word out."

Soklos shook his head. Zougar had no imagination. "What about a call for a demonstration? Make it big. Call for everybody who can to protest both alien embassies tomorrow, they are just a few blocks from each other. I can supply materials, printing, a portable loudspeaker, mobile platforms, this is your big chance."

Zougar was quietly thinking it over. "How many do you think we could get?"

Soklos said, "The work you've done so far is impressive. How many people have you signed up here in the Capital city?"

Zougar said, "Thousands."

Soklos smiled, "Good, let's get them tomorrow late afternoon. How about let's meet for lunch tomorrow. I want your energy high for tomorrow."

"I'll be there."

STUDIO 5C

MAGHREB MAMMOTH NEWS

"This is Shepherd Fox and this is a Mammoth alert! There has been a confrontation between the Klingon delegation and some of the Maghreb population. Police were called in and a general brawl broke out." As Fox was giving the details, a split screen behind him showed the view from the camera crew and the traffic camera. Fox continued, "The street brawl broke out just after the Klingon motorcade hit a car. Details are sketchy and we'll broadcast them as we get them."

The screen split again with Fox on one side and Dr. Zougar in front of some bookcase on the other. Fox continued, "Joining us now is Dr. Zougar, head of the anti-alien movement. Dr. Zougar, thank you for joining us."

"My pleasure Shepherd."

Fox asked, "First, nobody was killed, which is good news."

Zougar said, "Yet."

Fox said, "What is your comment on the incident?"

"Well, I've seen the tape and I think it quite clearly shows the volatility of the aliens, particularly the Klingons. We are talking about aliens, totally different mindset than us. I've seen this same species burn down tanks with weapons barely larger than pistols."

Fox said, "But they didn't use them here."

"Precisely. Klingons are a warrior species. They enjoy a good fight. I believe we need them off the planet and right now. I'm now calling for a massive demonstration of everyone concerned with having aliens on the planet. We need to band together before there are more of them. If it is large enough, the aliens will leave us alone!"

Fox was under orders to protest not too much, "Dr Zougar. I cannot let you…"

Zougar sat forward so his face filled his side of the screen, "Just past midafternoon, tomorrow afternoon, both embassies. We need it to be as massive as possible. The bigger the protest, the better the chance we have of urging them to leave us alone. We must do this for our survival!"

BRIDGE

IKV INSTIGATOR

The ship had been hovering very close to the surface of the moon on antigravity. The sun was down at that spot and as such it was very cold. Golger was trying to allow the ship to cool off from being worked very hard with the cloaking device on for so long. Golger was trying to take the time also to analyze what just happened.

"Engineer, is this place sufficient?"

The engineer was looking at various systems. "Very sufficient. If we wait for a day, that will help our systems a lot."

Golger nodded, suddenly the tactical officer said with much urgency, "Probe coming above the horizon! Federation probe with scanners on a high-power setting!"

"Engage cloaking device!" Golger ordered hurriedly. "Did they see us?"

The tactical officer was looking for a change in readings. "Probably not, but I suggest moving. We are in the shadow of the moon, but the spot we have been over has now been heated by our presence."

Golger knew that even a small temperature change on the moon's surface would be detected. "Helm, move us a thousand kalikams toward the south pole. Our priorities are first to remain undetected, second try to get our systems to cool off. Suggestions?"

The weapons officer said, "Blow the probe."

The tactical officer responded, "Two more probes coming above the local horizon. We will be detected for sure. They will know we are here and we will lose surprise."

Golger thought for a bit, especially about Kang. That Federation ship had extremely good responses, even if it was forewarned by Kang. It was inconceivable that a Klingon would help a Federation ship against another Klingons ship, but it was also hard to believe that Federation ship had the response it had with no warning. As Golger continued to think, he thought about the warnings Kang had been broadcasting about not approaching Maghreb, which Golger disregarded. Black Fleet orders were to attack Kang. Could Kang have guessed a Black Fleet op against him? If anybody could, he would have guessed.

"We'll destroy it, we'll destroy them all and circle around to the far side of Maghreb under cloak."

"But sir, we'll be out of cloak when we fire on them. They will see us."

Golger said flatly, "Then we'll ram them under cloak."

BRIDGE

USS WISCONSIN

Lt Cdr Hotchner said, "Probe three is offline."

All eyes looked to Hotchner. Hotchner started working the controls of his console. "I have a replay."

"Put it on the big screen." Jacobs ordered.

The main monitor showed stars and an enhanced view of the dark surface of the Maghreb moon. Hotchner said, "This is the suspected ship." And a box was drawn around a blurry portion of the screen.

The view moved slowly as the probe orbited the moon. The box that was drawn around the cloaked ship got larger and larger. It covered stars and you could see the stars distorting, then the signal went out. Santini commented, "They rammed it."

Hotchner reported, "Probes 1 and 2 are offline as well."

Jacobs said to Jareau, "JJ, forward the telemetry from the probes to Kang." Suddenly, he had an idea. "Show me a tactical view of Maghreb."

The big screen was changed to a computer drawn stick figure of Maghreb with the position of the Klolode and Wisconsin shown in standard orbit. Also shown were the three shuttlecraft on the planet. Jacobs studied the diagram and said, "Opinion, now that we know we have a bad guy in the system, what of the shuttlecraft?"

Agathon was the first to say, "They are no match for a cloaked ship."

Mitchell's first thought was Agathon was overstating the obvious. Mitchell was surprised that the Captain turned the bridge into an ad-hoc briefing room. Commander Carter stepped from the turbolift. Jacobs turned and said, "Thank you for coming Alan. We can confirm a cloaked hostile ship in the system."

Hotchner added, "Look at this image sir. I have run some enhancement." The image was of one of the probes just before it was hit. "The sensors were on maximum, and the target was approaching the probe with nothing but space, but look when I color in the stars that were distorted."

A rough outline of the ship showed up. If one used some imagination, you could make out the warp engines, main body. Jacobs mused, "A D7. Send this image to Kang as well. Let's see what he thinks. Alan, we were discussing the missions that Clayborne wants. We were using shuttles for support and the wisdom of accomplishing future missions for the Admiral."

Carter walked down and stood by the helm console. Mitchell started getting ready to transfer it over and Carter said, "Not so fast son."

"But I thought you…."

Carter smiled, "You keep manning the helm, speak up if you have something to contribute." Carter refocused on the map. "The shuttles would be dead meat to a D7."

"That's what Mr. Agathon said."

Santini looked at the map. "Would they be at risk above the atmosphere?"

Carter shrugged, "It does not matter. Klingon disrupters will kill them just as fast on the surface as in space. The power of a starship can punch through the atmosphere. We've all seen the effect of Klingon disruptors on cities. Only difference is that they would not be as noticeable." Carter looked at tactical display. "Can you put the remaining sites on the screen?"

Leonaidas pushed a few buttons and added the sites to the display. Carter asked, "Would a Cloaked D7 attack something in the atmosphere?"

Grimm said quietly, "If they stayed on the side of Maghreb that we are on, we would fire on any target that attacked the shuttles. I do not think the D7 would attack a shuttle with us hanging around, much less Kang. I would not pick on a shuttle with 2-1 odds hovering over me."

Carter turned and said, "Sir, I think the ground mission can continue. If the shuttles stay inside the atmosphere, they can merge with existing Maghreb air traffic to make them harder to spot. We can beam people up and down and still use the shuttles as portable bases. The only thing is that we lose time. Maghreb air traffic is all subsonic."

Mitchell said, "Our shuttles can do over Mach 2 in the lower atmosphere."

Carter nodded, "Yes, but the play is 'where do you hide a tree'?"

Jacobs answered in understanding, "In a forest. Alan, redraw the flight plans, we will file them with the Maghreb. Give me a new estimate when you can finish the total. I will stall the Admiral. Hotch, look at having the geology teams beam into place while the shuttle is enroute, that will save some time." Jacobs looked around.

Jareau said, "Kang is responding."

Jacobs nodded; Kang's image came on the screen with his customary stern look. Jacobs' sense of humor came through, "This is Jacobs."

Kang nodded and showed a little hesitation, then said, "This is Kang. Captain, I congratulate you on detecting that ship. That ship is definitely a D7. His ramming technique is a technique that is used, and he rammed where a D7 would ram."

Jacobs asked, "Where would he go?"

Kang said, "Captain, we are getting a lot of information on each other's capabilities on this mission. I hesitate to discuss tactics."

Jacobs raised both eyebrows, "Well then, we will be surprised when he shows up and be unprepared. We will just plan on fighting fair."

Kang let a small crack of a smile show, "Captain, it's too bad more Starfleet officers don't have a sense of humor. You use yours effectively."

Jacobs smiled, "Thank you. Now, are we going to cheat to win or play fair and lose?"

Kang said with a small smile, "That D7 has been using his cloaking device for a long time and it is heat saturated. He will be looking for a place to let it cool off and possibly do some reviewing of his own sensor logs. He is looking for patterns or weaknesses to exploit. I would go hide in the asteroid field, too many places to search for too short of time to look."

"What do you suggest?"

Kang's stern look came back. "We are both tied to protecting our assets below. There are no more assets to use in orbit, unless you have something more to reveal."

Jacobs looked at Carter. Carter shrugged and asked, "Raptors?"

Jacobs turned to Kang, "When would he attack?"

"If I could stay undetected, I'd do it from one to three days from now."

Jacobs asked, "Why wait as long as three days?"

Kang raised an eyebrow, "Better to let the systems totally cool off. Also, best to let the quarry get complacent. No longer than that because the hunter will weary of the stalk. You cannot keep Klingon Warriors waiting for long."

"Kang, if we come up with something, I'll let you know." Kang nodded and the screen returned to the tactical display.

Jacobs asked, "Alan, what are your thoughts on the Raptors?"

"We equip them with merculite rockets and provision them for a three-day flight. They go into orbit around Maghreb, the higher the better and go virtually dark. The only thing they leave on is a radio and probably a heater. That is not much power and they will probably be mistaken for one of Maghreb's satellites until called. If they see something visually, they hammer it and run like crazy to the surface."

Hotchner added, "The closest Maghreb orbit to us is their navigation satellites. Their orbits are a thousand miles under us, so the orbital period is extensive, on the order of twelve hours. Two Raptors would at best put one a thousand miles under us and the other on the opposite side of the planet."

Jacobs thought about that. Not good enough response time even if one was directly below them. "What about if we raised their orbit to be nearer to ours?"

Carter said, "Then they run the risk of sticking out of the crowd. I would recommend against it."

Leonaidas offered, "What if we keep them close? I never like assets that are far away."

"How close? There is nowhere to hide." Santini said.

Leonaidas pulled up a display of the Wisconsin's profile. "I am thinking right here, just under the impulse vents, on each side of the neck. They can grab on with claws, any turning we do will not affect them that much, and they are well in our antigrav field to not start falling toward the surface. They face aft, because that will probably be the way that the rat will come from."

Jacobs looked at the neck. "Can we hook up a docking collar there?"

Santini shook his head, "No, the impulse field coils don't leave any space to crawl through. What I can do is weld a docking collar there with full-service fittings. They will be secured to the ship far better than claws and can have power and communication, but there will not be any space for them to get on or off the Raptor."

Jacobs thought back to his own career in the Raptors. Three days in a Raptor was not a picnic, but he did that without power. They will at least have power and therefore warmth, but will be trapped. Jacobs pointed out, "The docking collar will have to be extended a little bit for clearance with the rockets."

Santini laughed and said, "That is no problem, sir. I can have my guys start now and the collars will be ready in two hours."

Jacobs looked at Carter, who nodded. "Very well, Dom and Alan, get to work. JJ, call Kang back."

In a moment, Kang's image came on the screen. "This is Kang."

Jacobs explained the plan. Kang commented, "That is only a momentary increase in firepower."

Jacobs nodded, "But a substantial increase. They also will provide two additional targets for that D7 to contend with."

Kang said, "You would send men out to certain death? To be cannon fodder? I had no idea Starfleet would sanction this."

Jacobs smiled, "I am not prepared to reveal all my secrets Kang. Remember that Raptors have their strengths. They will not be cannon fodder."

Kang remembered that these two raptors snuck in so close to him as to be under his shields. It was not the human way to sacrifice themselves, however that was not true. Human warriors were willing to die to save others. Suicide missions among humans were far less common than Klingons. "Very well, I believe they will come in useful."

LT CDR RESSLER'S OFFICE

STARFLEET COMMAND

Ressler was pouring over some more of the details when his secretary chimed him. He was now important enough to have a secretary, not be a secretary. "Yes."

A female voice came through, "Commander Uhura here to see you."

Ressler's office had all sorts of evidence that he had been gathering spread out on various wall screens in the office and datapads organized on a big table that was hastily put up. His desk remained relatively clean. Uhura stepped in, Ressler came around to greet her, "Ma'am, thank you for dropping by. I would have been happy to come to you."

Uhura smiled, "Not a problem Mr. Ressler. I have some interesting news for you."

Ressler pointed to a couch, "Good. Coffee?"

Uhura sat down, "No thank you, do you have tea?"

Ressler walked to a rack, "Being a secretary for Admiral Nogura I always had tea ready to serve. Even developed a taste for it. What kind?"

"Earl Grey please."

Ressler picked the appropriate bag and sat it in an empty cup with saucer. He put a pot of hot water on a tray with the cups and took them to Uhura. Why did he feel like a Lieutenant JG around Spock and Uhura? Well, they were living legends in Starfleet after all.

"Thank you, Mr. Ressler. Captain Spock and I ran more simulations and I was able to start tracking the datapath. The communications system at Starbase 5 is compromised."

Ressler sat down sipping his own tea. "Admiral Adama is not going to like that. Neither is Admiral Nogura for that matter."

Uhura nodded, "We reset the simulator to simulate five other starships. Initially, nothing happened until I informed the onboard computer that Nurse Griffin was transferred to that ship. Then the same thing that has been happening on the Wisconsin happened on that ship. I even tested it on the actual Enterprise's system, and a message was sent."

Ressler asked, "Won't that tip off whoever did this?"

Uhura sipped her tea, "Not in this case. Before testing, I diverted the communications array into a portable testing unit. No signal was sent, the testing unit captured the message and sent the appropriate response to the Enterprise's computer. I can see why it was so difficult for the Wisconsin to detect this, I'm amazed that they actually detected the sent message."

Ressler shook his head, "I do not know how they did. One thing that the Admiralty has talked about that ship is that Captain Jacobs comes up with out-of-the-box solutions, often low-tech solutions. I would not be surprised if he had a camera watching Nurse Griffin type her message and comparing that to the log of what was sent."

"That would do it. Simple."

Ressler shrugged. "So, we know the Wisconsin is compromised for sure."

Uhura sat her cup down and said gravely, "It's much worse than that Mr. Ressler. We have confirmed that Starfleet vessels in general and at least one starbase is compromised. There is more too."

Ressler felt a sense of dread. Uhura continued, "I figured that if the virus was able to rewrite logs and hide itself, it might do that in a broader sense also."

Ressler's eyebrows furrowed, "I don't follow you."

Uhura explained. "Captain Spock and I went over exactly what changed from the last communication operating system to the present one." Ressler thought that had to have taken hours. "We noticed some coding that when activated, would erase all data of a file or series of files. There would be no record whatsoever that the file even existed. I confirmed that by deleting a junk file from the Enterprise. There was no way Captain Spock could find the file, even where I told him to look. This is the best erasure I have ever seen. And that is in every computer system in Starfleet."

Ressler was taken aback. "Ok, I am going to have to take this to the Admiral. Sum it up in as few words as you can."

Uhura smiled, she liked how the kid operated. "We have confirmed that not only is the Wisconsin compromised, but every communication system in Starfleet is compromised. We also have confirmed that somebody has backdoor access to delete files at will in any Starfleet computer."

Ressler thought it was bad. "Any suspects?"

Uhura nodded, "Yes, Captain Spock has traced the datapath of Nurse Griffin's messages. One of course ends up at her sister. A duplicate is made and goes to an anonymous account. The account is always accessed from the public library down the street."

"Here?"

"Yes, here. I suggest we have the Wisconsin send this bogus message." Uhura handed over a datapad and Ressler read it. "I have the message electronically tagged and we can follow it all the way to the library. We stake out the library and when the spy picks it up, we pick him up. It will be an open-and-shut case. The trick is that this message cannot be sent to the Wisconsin electronically. That datapad must be downloaded and the message sent."

Ressler did some quick figuring. "That could be a month."

"How bad do you want this guy?"

Ressler clenched his jaw. "We are talking about the worst-case scenario. I want him bad. Can you come with me to brief the Admiral?"

Uhura stood up, "I thought you'd never ask!"

Ressler went to his desk, pulled up Nogura's schedule. The Admiral was in a meeting on the wear and tear of the fleet with the new warp engines. Do I interrupt him or not? Ressler looked at Uhura, and figured this took priority. "Lt Cdr Ressler to Admiral Nogura."

A short wait, then "Nogura here. What is it Mr. Ressler?"

"An update, urgent."

Nogura asked, "How long?"

"Ten minutes, then a tough call by you."

"Come right in." Ressler motioned to Uhura. The two of them went to Nogura's office.

TUNNEL 2

UNDER KLINGON EMBASSY

Rofvert walked up to one of his helpers. His helper was at the deepest part of the tunnel listening to the concrete ceiling with a simple cone. Rofvert asked, "Well?"

"Sounds like they are having one of their eating binges, probably that awful gagh."

Rofvert had to check this tunnel out. They had dug it in anticipation that the Klingons would do exactly what they did, fill in the first tunnel. Who knows how they found out, but they filled in the entire length of the tunnel with some form of Klingon concrete. They filled it clear out to the service tunnels just outside the Klingon Embassy grounds. This tunnel Rofvert filled with sand in the hopes that it would not be detected, and had spent the better portion of the day with his men digging the sand out.

"Good, lets finish cleaning this tunnel quietly. We need to be ready for tomorrow."

SERVICE ENTRY

FEDERATION EMBASSY

Clayborne was about ready to head back up to the ship. He decided to take another look at the service entry again. Opening the door into the room, he could see where the services from Maghreb enter the room. Right up through the concrete was the water, electrical, sewage, and natural gas. He walked on the section right next to the pipes entering the concrete. It felt solid enough.

Maxwell's warning kept echoing in his ears. Clayborne initially wrote it off, but the incident with the Klingons today got him thinking. He will talk with the Ambassador tomorrow and perhaps they will do something about it.

Clayborne walked out of the embassy and flipped open his communicator, "Clayborne to Wisconsin, ready to beam up."

BRIDGE

USS WISCONSIN

Jareau turned around, "Admiral Clayborne ready to beam up."

Jacobs checked the tactical board and all was quiet. "Approved."

The shield covering the side of the transporter array dropped and the transporter process started. Jacobs got up and handed the conn off to Santini, "I guess I better go and find out what he wants to complain about this time. Are his quarters ready?"

Santini laughed, "There aren't any better quarters this side of the USS Tahiti."

Jacobs smiled. Santini typically went all out when a special project came up, and he did this time too. "You have the conn, Dom."

TRANSPORTER ROOM 1

USS WISCONSIN

Jacobs walked in hearing Clayborne yelling at Chief Frye. Jacobs quickly said, "ADMIRAL!"

There was silence for about a second, Jacobs could see the Admiral winding up for continuing the tirade when he quickly said, "Is there something wrong?"

Clayborne said, "Yes, there is! Why weren't you here to greet me? This operation is so sloppy I'll be surprised if you keep your command after this mission."

Jacobs was tired from the earlier potential combat and trying to keep ahead of the Admiral. He shot back without thinking, "Probably sir, if I don't crash my ship into the surface of the planet first because I don't know which way is up."

Clayborne shot right back, "Is that a smart-mouth comment?"

Jacobs eyes narrowed. "Admiral, you are not dealing with a cadet here. As I said before, if you have a problem with the transporter system, come to me. Do not berate Chief Frye. Now if you will follow me, I will show you to your new quarters."

Just as Clayborne was about to retort, Jacobs interrupted, "And Chief Frye, thank you."

Frye smiled and said loudly, "Your welcome, sir."

Clayborne was irritated at this crew, but the incident with the Klingons and Maghreb got him thinking. Maxwell was right, the Embassy was exposed, and now Clayborne did not know how to fix it. The Excalibur crew was more than helpful but Clayborne rejected the help. No doubt if Clayborne would ask Jacobs to fix all that was wrong, Jacobs would fix it, but Clayborne did not want to give Jacobs the satisfaction that Clayborne made a mistake. The walk was quiet.

Jacobs walked up to Cargo Bay 4. Clayborne said, "You want me to stay in the Cargo Bay? This is an insult."

Jacobs quietly prayed that Santini worked a miracle here. There was not enough time to see what the plans were or how the work was done. There was more to the ship than the Admiral's bed. Jacobs decided against pretense and simply said, "Computer, open."

The doors opened and what greeted them was an entryway to what amounted to a luxury hotel room. In the foreground were a couple of couches, minibar, and dining area. There were even windows to the back that showed the planet behind them. How did Santini manage that? On the table was a datapad. Jacobs walked over and saw it was instructions on the use of the VIP quarters. To one side was a door and partition that showed the sleeping area and restroom. Jacobs handed the datapad over and said, "Commander Santini says you can change the view to whatever you wish, here are some suggestions. Evidently, he used our spare Bridge main monitors to create a holographic view outside the windows. I hope you enjoy it, now I must be off."

Clayborne took the pad and said, "I'll be ready for transport at 0800."

Jacobs nodded and left. Clayborne looked around; it was really something. He never had quarters on a ship like this. It must be at least a thousand square feet. Well, he was not about to give Jacobs the satisfaction by saying thank you.