Sins of the Father - Part 5

Posted on Sun Dec 1, 2019 @ 2:33pm by Lieutenant Jason Haines & Civilian 'Key Holder' Dorian Gabriel

3,110 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Location: Xi'Cadia
Timeline: MD 12, 2100
Tags: Xi'Cadia, Raddon

Rob waited in the dark at the edge of a wood on a hill that over-looked some of the dilithium mining operations that were owned by the Raddon Corporation. There was a contact from the company there that he needed to meet. With his back to a tree, he watched, listened, and waited for his contact.

About 20 meters to the east of Rob a small round dot of orange light began to flicker intermittently. At first glance it could be mistaken for an insect, but its consistency in flashing indicated that it was artificial. The flickering was obviously meant to draw the man's attention.

Rob saw the light flicker. Using his own signal device, he flashed it the number of times he had been told. He was still wary and got up slowly, his weapon at ready as he moved to the individual who had been flashing the light.

As he got closer to the flashing light he heard a twig snap behind him. As he turned to look he was greeted by the sight of two disruptors aiming at him from two individuals in a kneeling position. The flashing light that had brought him over to this spot was actually a portable flashlight set to intermittently blink.

"Move that hand away from whatever you're reaching for. . .slowly. . ." a female voice said to him from beneath a bush that was being used for concealment. "That shirt looks pretty expensive and I'd hate to make a mess of it." She added.

"Which hand?", Rob asked. "The one on the disruptor or the one on the grenade? The grenade going off will ruin all of our evening."

Rob was bluffing, mostly, but he wasn't going to give in immediately.

"You're a Human, there ain't too many of those on this planet and I know'em all." The woman said as he slowly rose, still training the weapon on the newcomer. "So either these Cadies have gotten really good at looking like one of us, or someone dropped you off for a real important and real expensive mission." She added. "I'd hate for someone to have to read a report about their expensive asset blew himself up because he wouldn't put down the damn disruptor like he was ordered to" The woman said, her voice increasing as she placed emphasis on the words.

The other individuals had lowered their weapon to the low-ready position and were simply watching the show at this point. It was clear that the man wasn't some random by-stander. However, it was equally clear that Sarah had a point to prove.

"Oh, I wish this was an expensive operation", he replied slowly putting the disruptor down. "If it were, I would have a sniper who would have tagged you already. But, powers-at-be could only afford second best and they were busy, so they sent me. So, how do you know that I'm not one of the humans you know?"

Rob knew they probably had night vision gear of some sort or in the series of flashes earlier they caught his face. The answer didn't matter really he wanted to gauge their reaction and what level of equipment they might have based on the answer.

"Bastard. . ." Sarah grumbled as she lowered her weapon and and gestured for the other two to follow her. "Because the rest of us have been on this planet fighting for our lives against a Cardassian occupation. I'm sure I would've noticed you in between watching my friends and associates being publicly executed." She said dourly as she began to make here way down the hill.

"Whomever sent you here had a reason, so let's get to it." She said. "I'm Sarah by the way, this here is Quin and Sparlin." She gestured as she continued walking. "So what's your mission?"

"Sarah, Quinn, Sparlin", Rob said. "You can call me Al. My mission is to help you, so can I get my disruptor or do I just get to throw rocks at the Cardassians?"

Sarah nodded to Quin who tossed the weapon towards "Al". "Trust me, I've seen what a Cardassian can do with a rock against a Man's skull." Sarah said. "So where is the rest of your shit if you're here to help. It's going to take more than a bright smile to get control back." She said.

"Well", Rob said. "You don't space drop onto a planet loaded down. I'm pretty skilled and picking up what I need along the way. Plus, I'm not here to fight a war. I'm here to make sure that the Federation gets off its ass and sends the help you need. Starfleet isn't stupid enough to think that the Cardassians are here out of the goodness of their hearts, but unfortunately diplomats have gotten in the way."

"Yeah, there's always some excuse, huh?" Quinn said as he nodded to Sarah and took up the rear of the group. "Whenever there's a problem, 'Fleeters always find someone else to take the bla---" He never got a chance to finish the words due to distinct and winding noise of a disruptor surge. The last thing Quinn saw before falling this knees was a sizable hole in the right side of his chest. The discharge from the weapon instantly cauterizing the wound. "Ru---r---" He tried to say, but his mouth began to pool with blood before he could articulate the warning.

Sparlin started in disbelief for several moments before dropping to the ground "I see a patrol coming up the ridge!" He shouted as he checked his weapon and began a low-crawl to cover.

"Only a damn spoonhead's disruptor could tare a hole in a man's chest that quickly. This is the battle we've been fighting down here while the Federation and Starfleet have sat around on their asses!" Sarah shouted as she to made her way behind a large rock for cover as she tried to ascertain how many Sentries were headed their way.

From the brief glances she was able to steal without being shot, she saw that there were about five Soldiers, supported by two drones. A rather small group, but it typically meant that a larger unit was nearby.

"There's too many to take on, unless the 'Fleeter here has a exploding EPS manifold in his pocket!" Sparlin said as he secured Quinn's gear in his own pack and began to head towards the treeline. "If we move fast enough, we can put enough distance between us and the drone to signal for an emergency beam-out." He said to the other humans.

Rob said, "I wasn't lying, I do have a grenade. Watch your eyes."

He took the grenade off his belt, activated it, and then tossed it towards the patrol. The throw was that of a practiced hand and the grenade landed right behind the lead soldier. There was a small explosion and screams.

"Go!", Rob said, following Sarah.

Sarah used the distraction to her advantage and made her way up the hill towards the treeline. She look ahead of her and saw Sparlin, he had stopped, activated his communication device and was in the process of communicating with their unit to setup the emergency beam out. She knew that it would take at least 87 seconds exactly for the beam out process to lock on to the the trio and initiate the site-to-site beam out. Unfortunately, the Cardassian patrol was much closer than that.

Once she had made it to the top of the hill she dived behind a large set of rocks and charged her disruptor, looking over the rock for a possible shot. She fired off several shots in the general direction of the remaining three Cardassian soldiers. She knew that at this distance she would not be able to hit them squarely, but it would be enough to slow them down long enough for the beam-out to occur.

Rob got near where Sarah was. He was able to make out the movement of the Cardassian's. He took a number of shots and soon there were only two Cardassians moving.

"How long is this going to take", Rob asked.

"It shouldn't take too much long--" Sarah began to say, but was interrupted by the abrupt de-materialization process. Within several moments, the trio had reappeared ontop a small platform in a spacious bay. "er. . ." she finished speaking. The transportation process essentially paused a user's brain functions throughout the entire process. Although it made the re-assembly process easier, it was a bit off-putting to those engaged in a conversation or any higher functions during the beam out process.

"Well that was a fast 87 seconds?" Sarah said as she slowly rose to her feet. She expected a smart-ass response from Sparlin; however, she was surprised to see four sets of disruptor rifles pointed in her direction by the Xi'Cadian Guardsman. The Xi'Cadian transport technician must have already removed the trio's weapons because Sarah could not feel any of the weapons that had been on her body just several weapons before.

"This is not the Human you departed with originally." One of the lead Guardsman said, staring intently at Rob. "Talk, now." He said.

"My friends call me Al", Rob said. "I'm from Tenko province. With all the changes, I lost my job and thought there might be work this way. I think your transporter may have gotten me accidentally."

He shrugged his shoulders as if nothing was out of the ordinary. All the while he was assessing the guards, their weapons, their postures, and of course his 'hostess' Sarah. He would follow her lead as he didn't know if these were friends, enemies, or frenemies.

"He's lying." Sarah said as she stepped off the platform. "He's our relief that Starfleet sent to help us." She said as she helped Sparlin off the platform. She was slightly impressed with how quickly the man had come up with a cover story rather than risk blowing his cover. In this case it was not necessary since they were safely back at their base.

"We had barely exchanged hellos when the damn Spoonheads came upon our position and started shooting." She said as she went to the data console and began to type on it. "They got. . .they got Quinn before we even had a chance to respond." She said as she reviewed the live intel reports.

"They're closing in on us. Just in the past 12 hours we lost 2 watch stations." She said frustratedly to the gathered individuals.

"The success of the rebellion was never expected to be fast or without troubles." Dulga Xastra, the lead Xi'Cadian Guardsman said.

"This rebellion won't last too much longer if the Cardies tare through out defenses like wet tissue paper." Sarah responded less optimistically. "Before the Cardies came here, the Xi'Cadians were never this aggressive or brutal. With the military backing of Cardassia, they've turned into a monster that Starfleet is too scared to stop." She added.

"We have to do something to slow down their momentum," Sparlin said. "We've got to punch them in the mouth! Maybe then that will give a us a chance to catch our breathe and make a plan." He said.

"Well, punching them in the mouth isn't going to do much except get the Cardassians to officially take over sooner than their plan lays out", Rob said. "At first the Cardassians are only here to help and then a little down the road, someone in your government will 'accept' being a protectorate. We need to get your government to give the Cardassians the punch. If it is a group of rebels doing it, the Federation is less likely to get involved, seeing it as an internal matter. We need to make it so they see it as an external matter. Are there any in your government that you know are against the Cardassian assistance who might help?"

Guardsman Xastra thought carefully for several moments. "There is High Commander Tash Winjut, he was the 2nd in charge of Planetary Logistics & Operations prior to the coup. He always viewed as a moderate. . .he served under Prime Minister Zora Krulan. Since Supreme-Governor Arkul took over, HC Winjut has been promoted to overseeing the Western District of the planet." Xastra said as he brought up a projection of the government official on the console beside Sarah.

"If there is anybody within Arkul's inner circle who would be a potential ally, it would be HC Winjut." Guardsman Xastra said.

"Ok, so why do you think he would help?", Rob asked.

"Because he is a Xi'Cadian first, and a Politician second." Guardsman Xastra retorted. "He has always put the needs of the people ahead of his own career ambitions. He started as a mere Guardsman Recruit nearly 40 cycles ago and rose to the top through simple hardwork. Unlike Arkul who merely served as a Staff Officer and manipulating his way into power." The Soldier said with obvious distaste.

"Fine, even if he is as fair and noble as you say, he's only one man, what the hell is he going to do with the Cardies pointing a disruptor to our temple?" Sarah interjected as she looked towards Rob.

"So, this Winjut might also be able to reach the people", Rob remarked before looking at Sarah.

The gathered Xi'Cadian Guardsman exchanged glances with one another before looking back at the Humans. "High Commander Winjut is a man of few words. Teh very reason he was placed in charged of Logistics and Operations was because the man was more at home organizing weapons and rations, than he was speaking before a crowd." Guardsman Xastra said. "I don't see how you plan on getting him to convince the people to rise up against Supreme-Governor Arkul and his illegal administration." He added.

"Well, if that is the case", Rob replied. "he probably has a decent network of contacts he trusts. All good logistics individuals I've known have been able to spin impossible trades. They might not seem to be people, but they are, just a bit more reserved. Do you know what percentage of a cut of the dilithium the Cardassians are getting out of this."

"I can answer that, easy!" Sparlin said from where he was sitting, listening to the conversation. "Since taking over, the Cardassians have seized just about all of our orbital platforms that we used for processing the Dilithium that had been extracted from the planet. For the sake of appearances, they've allowed the Xi'Cadians to handle the actual extraction from the planet." Sparlin said as he stood up slowly.

"Like typical Cardassians, they'd much rather supervise the miners rather than getting their actual hands dirty." He said with obvious disgust. "So once the Dilithium is brought to the orbital platforms, the Cardassians begin refining it and preparing it to be shipped out to either Cardassia, their clients, or . . .more recently, the damn Ferengi" Sparlin said, obviously surprised by the sudden friendliness of the two.

"Supposedly, the Xi'Cadians are receiving a substantial share of the refined Dilithium, but hell who knows what kind of agreement Arkul has made just to get access to Cardassian weapons and support. What I do know is that the Raddon Corporation was robbed of millions because of this." He said angrily.

Rob listened and thought about the situation.

"Ok, we need to get the Cardassians to demand more from Winjut to deliver", Rob said. "Make it seem like they have forced your government to give more. We get Winjut to complain to Arkul, start planting some seeds of doubt. The more the Cardassians take, the less that Arkul gets. We may have to get creative in how we do this."

"Alright, how do you suggest that? Sneaking up to the man's home and having a one chat with him over a couple of drinks?" Sparlin asked sarcastically.

"What sort of access do you have to computer systems?", Rob asked. "Any holographic emitters?"

"Of course, but they're highly monitored since the Cardassians took over. You'd only get about 5 minutes of a connection before it would be intercepted and monitored." Guardsman Xastra said. "After that, it'd only be a matter of time before Arkul's forces located our location and descended on us." The Xi'Cadian said hesitantly. He was not interested in compromising his dwindling forces any further.

"Five minutes is plenty of time", Rob said. "Do we have any media or surveillance coverage of say the third or fourth in command of Cardassian forces? Having this come from the top would be too suspicious and not be as effective."

"There's Glinn Hilmor, he's be placed in charge of the sub-orbital platforms that have done most of the transporting of the raw dilithium." Sarah said from the console. "He's been on the newsfeed droning on and on about the increase in productivity the Cardassians have brought and how the added synergy between Cardassia and Xi'Cadia has been good for everyone." She said without obvious disgust. "He's certainly got the Spoonhead talking points down. . ." She said in a bitter tone.

"Good", Rob replied. "Now we need one of two things, someone who is good at computer programming or someone who can be doctored up to look like a Cardassian."

The Xi'Cadian Guardsmen looked at one other and suppressed a laugh. It would take a significant amount of technological know-how to doctor the image of the tall, lean, and bluish-hue of a Xi'Cadian to the point that he would be able to pass for a Cardassian. Even the most rudimentary communication system would be able to detect the deviations in the visual transmission matrix.

"It cannot be one of us," Xastra. "Our speech patterns are in the global system, the second we try to send a communique, it will be matched back to our speech pattern and someone will be able to spot the incongruity." He said. "It will have to be a Human that neither side has encountered before and who's pattern won't already be in the system." He said as he cast his gaze upon the Human guest.

"Welp. . .looks like you drew the short straw." Sparlin said as he smirked at Rob. "Don't worry, by the time I'm done with you, Gul Dukat wouldn't be able to notice the difference!" He said excitedly.

"Well then", Rob said with a chuckle at the welp statement. It had been a long time since someone called him a welp.

"Well, let's get to it. The universe awaits my acting career."

[OFF]

Sarah Tampear
Raddon Corporation

Sparlin Gonitor
Raddon Corporation

Xastra Ke'l'u'tah
Xi'Cadian Guardsman

LCDR. Robert Haines
Starfleet Agitator

 

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