Next Assignment
Posted on Wed Dec 25, 2019 @ 9:48am by Commander Caleb Ryan & Civilian 'Key Holder' Dorian Gabriel
Edited on on Wed Dec 25, 2019 @ 9:50am
1,604 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Things Past
Location: USS Winchester
Timeline: 2376
Natalya Ivanov pressed the door controls and walked into Dorian’s quarters, heedless of whatever state he was in. “We have a mission briefing in ten,” she said. “I think Pierce found whatever the hell he was looking for in that data you stole,” she explained.
Dorian finished his last set of sit ups as the doors swished open. He sat up and looked towards the source of the intrusion. "I'm certain that I activated the privacy settings for this suite," he said in an annoyed tone. He slowly climbed to his feet and addressed the superior officer before him. "Ma'am," he added, with an edge to his tone.
"Just what was he searching for that nearly got me mauled to death by a half-dead Cardassian piece of shit?" he asked angrily.
“I’m the Chief Intelligence Officer,” Natalya said. “There is no privacy. And Pierce hadn’t said,” she said with a scowl. It clearly annoyed her that the captain wasn’t being forthcoming. She was supposed to be handling him! “In any case, get dressed and let’s see what he has to say.”
"This better be good," Dorian said, as he disappeared further into his suite to change into his duty uniform. "How many more of those Cardassian bases does Intel believe are still scattered about Cardassian territory?" Dorian shouted from his closet. "If the Obsidian Order had left so much behind, imagine what facilities the Dominion could have left that are still viable," he said as he walked out, zipping up his tunic.
“The Dominion wasn’t in charge as long as the Order has been around,” Natalya said. “What facilities the Dominion had were mostly for prosecuting the war, or piggy-backing on existing Cardassian infrastructure.”
They walked down to the briefing room where Pierce waited for them. “Good morning,” Artemis greeted, sipping from a mug of coffee.
“Morning, sir,” Natalya said. “Now what is this about?”
Pierce raised an eyebrow. “Insubordination, Lieutenant?”
Natalya gave a frustrated sigh. “No, sir,” she said. “I just don’t like being in the dark.”
Pierce gave her a level stare. “Neither do I.”
Natalya was wise enough not to push it.
But Dorian wasn't. . .
"Sir, a half-dead Cardie nearly ripped out my damn throat!" the young lieutenant said. "What I appreciate even less than that is being kept in the dark," he said pointedly.
“Fair,” Pierce said. “No half dead Cardies this time,” he promised. “You two are going on your honeymoon.” He gave a small smile.
Dorian looked towards Natalya and gave a quizzical look to her, hoping that she knew what the captain was talking about.
Natalya shrugged to Dorian and looked back to Artemis Pierce.
"I'm sorry, sir, but--what?" the Lieutenant asked, dumbstruck.
Artemis gestured to the holo-table between them. The image of a building appeared, in a city.
“This is Central Constabulary Command in the Bajoran capital,” Aremis said. “As it sounds, it is the main police headquarters of the city. But what few know is it sits over an old Obsidian Order black site. Most working in the building don’t know it exists, but there are a few that do. Officially, the Bajorans don’t use the site. Unofficially, the data you retrieved tells me there might be a few holdovers from the Cardassian occupation still in the facility. There is one I am particularly interested in. Myru Jera.”
Natalya frowned, recalling, “Wasn’t she the Bajoran Agricultural Minister before the war? She died in a shuttle accident.”
“That was the story,” Pierce said.
“Why would she be in an old Cardassian black site? The Cardassians weren't even—” She paused.
“Yes,” Pierce said. “The Bajorans put her there.”
“And why is she valuable?”
Pierce didn’t answer as he pulled up a couple more holo-images, this time of two young Bajorans that looked awfully familiar, a male and female.
“These are the Prets, Dor and Natal. They were just married this week in Dakhar Province. They are looking to enjoy their honeymoon in the big city, in the Freedom Hotel, on the square across from the constabulary. They have a nice room overlooking the square. Nothing fancy. They are poor farmers, after all,” he said with a smile.
Natalya scowled. “And that’s us.” It wasn’t a question.
“After this briefing, you both will report to Dr. Desatu for some temporary reconstructive surgery,” Pierce acknowledged. He pulled up another image of a Bajoran.
“This is Nalis Pym. She is a popular politician up for reelection, and my sources in the Bajoran government say she is one of the few who know of the existence of the black site. She will be visiting the constabulary as part of her reelection campaign and is staying in a penthouse suite of your hotel. You need to obtain the location of the entrance to the black site from her. Then get down to the site and free Jera."
“You will have two small Marine teams in support. One will be an engineering team. They will be in the city sewers that run near the constabulary and set up a local EMP device. When you are ready, they will knock out power to that section of the city. It will hopefully bring down any security measures in the black site for a few seconds before backup generators kick in. The second Marine team will be a fire support team. They will be undercover as a city maintenance crew in the square. If anything goes wrong, signal them and they can provide a distraction or assist extraction. Obviously, we don’t want to have to use them if we don’t have to.
“Do you have any questions?” Pierce asked.
Dorian had lot's of them; however, now was not the time to voice his opinion. More importantly, he was certain that Captain Pierce most certainly did not wish to hear them. "Sir, if this is a secret facility, why in the world would a Bajoran politician reveal any information to a pair of farmers that she just happens to run into?" he asked. As far as cover stories went, this seemed to be a lot to maintain just to get into a black ops location.
“Because we make her,” Natalya said, giving Pierce a level stare. Pierce stared right back. “What do you have on her?”
“It isn’t what we have. It’s what we can make the public think we have,” Pierce said, opening another file. “There is enough information in the database you retrieved to strongly suggest that she was a collaborator during the occupation. At least it can be massaged that way,” Pierce said. “Including liaisons with senior Cardassian officers.” He smiled. “But I am not averse to you using more...direct methods of extracting the information.”
Natalya eyed Pierce again. “I understand.”
Dorian looked between the two in slight confusion. However, the level stare they shared let the younger officer know that the conversation was over. Everything was understood, even if not by him.
"So when do we see the doctor?" the lieutenant asked.
“Zoe is waiting for you now in Sickbay,” Pierce told them.
“Come. Let’s get our makeovers,” Natalya told Dorian, picking up the padd with the files and turning to go.
In the lift, Natalya looked over at Dorian. “You good with this?” the redhead asked him.
Dorian looked towards the Intelligence Officer, who clearly had more experience with these sorts of missions than he did. "Which part? Having my face rearranged to look like a Bajoran dirt farmer, having to pretend to be a Bajoran dirt farmer, or the fact that we're being sent off on a mission to convert the target?" he said in a frustrated tone.
"I'm usually good with more information. I've seen what happens when you play it by ear," he said, rubbing his neck where the Cardassian had bitten him on the prior mission.
“Sometimes you don’t have all the information,” Natalya said. “Sometimes that is the point of the op. Pierce must be convinced there is something good in that black site. He’s playing this close to the vest.” She shook her head, not liking being out of the loop. It was her job to handle Pierce. But she had to admit, he had handled her pretty well. “It’s the job. Need to know. We do what we’re told.”
The lift doors opened, depositing them outside of Sickbay.
"But what we're being told is incomplete," Dorian said, as he stepped off the lift and made his way through the doors leading to the main reception of Sickbay. "It's not his ass going out there in the dark," he said pointedly. "Notice how he never answered your question about what is so special about this Myru Jera,?”
“I noticed,” Natalya said, a bit irked. “Operational secrecy is par for the course in this line of work,” she said as they entered Sickbay. “You’re told what you need to be told to complete the mission.”
The beautiful dark-skinned El Aurian Dr. Zoe Desatu approached and smiled. “Lieutenants,” she greeted. “Ready for your makeovers? Who wants to go first?”
Dorian looked hesitantly from the El Aurian to Natasha and back. "No, let's just get this over with," he said with obvious resignation.
FIN
Lt. Dorian Gabriel
Undercover
Lt. Natalya Ivanova
Chief Intelligence Officer/Section 31
USS Winchester
NPC Caleb Black
Captain Artemis Pierce
Commanding Officer
USS Winchester
NPC Caleb Black
Lt. Dr. Zoe Desatu
Chief Medical Officer
USS Winchester
NPC Caleb Black
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