Shaky Grounds

Posted on Fri Jun 12, 2020 @ 9:38am by Civilian Jason Haines & Lieutenant JG Natalie Cross

2,839 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Et In Arcadia Ego
Location: DS5
Timeline: Backpost, 8 months ago

Natalie left Commander Soran's office in a haste. The conversation between the Commander, Mr. Haines, and herself became very heated. Each party wanted the same thing, but their methods of doing things differed, and even though Mr. Haines was stubborn she felt strongly that at the end of the day the best way to find Jason was to work along side Robert.

She hurried across the Operations Center and into the turbolift. Determined in catching up with Robert, and hopefully finding a way to get him to work with her. She hoped that cooler heads would prevail.

Lift came to a stop, and Natalie stepped out. She looked to the left side of the corridor, a few civilians wondering down the corridor. She then looked to the right, and saw a shape of a man that looked like Robert walking around the corner.

She quickly made her way around the corner. Robert was standing in front of a door about 10 meters down the corridor.

She approached him. "Hello again."

Rob was a bit lost in his thoughts. He couldn't believe the woman. First she wanted to hear what he had to say. Then when she didn't like what he had to say she became a total bitch. He shook his head.

He looked when he heard Natalie's voice. He scowled and looked at her suspiciously.

"You know, your Commander is the worst kind. A two-bit desk jockey who when she doesn't hear what she wants or get what she wants she turns into a child", Rob said. "Word of advice. Get as far away from this station as possible."

With that he turned back towards where he was headed.

Respectfully, you aren't much better, sir. Natalie wanted to say, but she simply bit her tongue. She chalked this one up to both of them being upset. Commander Soran had allowed an outlaw to board her station, take one of her crew members from right in front of her without much of a fight. She was tricked that this man. Commander Soran was blaming herself, she was sure of it.

"Despite how the conversation ended in the office, I still believe that you and I have a better chance of finding your son if we work together instead of individually." Natalie said before Robert could get too far from her.

Rob's eyebrows raised a bit.

"Where's a good place to get a drink around here Lieutenant?", Rob asked with a smile. "I'm buying."

A smirk appeared on her face.

The two of them traveled silently to the Upper Promenade. An establishment recently opened that has quickly grown a reputation for great drinks, and good food. Natalie had stopped by once or twice in the past, and hasn't been disappointed.

The Blushing Tankard is a two-story tavern. The main door to the tavern sits on the first floor. There are approximately 20 tables spread out across the tavern. Tightly, but some how enough room to feel comfortable, but cozy. On the right side of the tavern sits a very long bar, with stools lined up all along it. On the side near the main door sits the stairs to go up to the second level, and spread out across the left wall is number of booths where more private conversations can take place.

A man in his forties stands behind the bar, dressed rather casually. He nods to them as they enter, and Natalie returns the nod. She motions towards one of the booths, and leads Robert there.

"Nice place", Rob said, looking about, noting exits. "Nicer than many of the places I've been."

"Newly open." Natalie stated taking a seat on the side that allowed her a view of the stairs and the main exit. "There are shiftier places but didn't think it was necessary in this circumstance."

After ordering, Rob looked at Natalie and asked, "So, I am not so sure that working with you to find my son, knowing what your CO is like, is necessarily going to be beneficial. I have a certain approach to getting things of this nature done that I know your CO wouldn't like given our conversation, therefore you would mostly likely get you in trouble, a lot of trouble probably."

Natalie carefully considered what he was saying. There was some truth in his words. However, the order to stay away from him or not to work with him was never given. She was told to keep an eye on him, and since it was left to her discretion she decided that the best way to keep tabs on him was to work with him. Seemed logical and beneficial to both parties.

"I understand the hesitation. However, neither of us have time to not accept each others help. Its a vast galaxy out there. From what I have gathered this man is resourceful and good at what he does. So we have to be better, and I don't know if individually we are better but together we might stand a chance."

Natalie paused as their drinks arrived. The young waitress placed a drink in front of each of them then excused herself. Natalie took her glass. Looking in direction of Robert. "At least, until the cavalry arrives." She took a sip of her drink.

Rob paused as the waiter came for their drinks.

"A bottle of Andorian whiskey", Rob said. "2 glasses."

He looked at her and said, "Get whatever you want, I'll share mine too."

After the waiter left, Rob said, "Lieutenant, you are assuming I don't have a calvary of my own who have dealt with this man before. But I don't care about dealing with him, because no matter if my son is alive or dead, he is not with Daniels or what ever he is calling himself today."

Natalie sighed. "What do you care about Mr. Haines?" She asked her hands resting on the table in front of them holding the glass. In the brief time they had been conversing, a theme had developed. He keeps saying if his son is alive or dead. He was defiantly preparing himself for both outcomes. Smart but calculated and slightly cold.

Rob looked at her and laughed and at that point, the waiter brought their drinks. Rob filled the 2 glasses in front of him with Andorian whiskey and pushed it in front of her.

"Lieutenant, I have been interrogated by far more experienced and ruthless than you", Rob said, downing his first glass of the whiskey. "A for effort though. There are many things I care about, but I don't know you well enough to share them. I tell you what, you tell me why you are doing this and I will tell you one thing on my list of things I care about."

She looked down at her glass. Stayed silent for what seemed an eternity before looking up and looking at him. One of them would have to put down their shields even if it was for a moment. "Because I was once captured, tortured, and left for dead." She looked away from him taking a big sip of her drink. She quickly finished it slammed the glass on the table grabbing the bottle of the Ale and poured herself another.

Rob looked at her and nodded and said, "I care about those I call family, which aren't defined by blood alone. So, what happened?"

She looked at him half-grin on her face. "I'm going to need a few more of those." She motioned towards the bottle and the empty glass that sat in front of her.

"Well", Rob said, appreciating the gesture. "A page out of your story book that heavy, requires a reciprocal payment. So, before I let you get crossed-eye, let's go to your office and we'll walk through all the interactions Daniels had on this station before Jason left. Perhaps it will either lead us to answers or prove my point and we can plan from there. Sound like a decent trade?"

Rob stood up and grabbed the bottle.

Natalie nodded in agreement. "Seems fair."

She stood up, and headed towards the exit of the establishment.

Rob paid and then followed her. Once they were in her office, he looked around. "Nice", Rob said. "I didn't have an office this big even when I was a Commander."

She looked around the office slightly shrugging her shoulders. "I'm still getting use to it myself." She walked over to her chair and took a seat.

"Ok, let's get down to business", Rob said. "Can I drive?"

He nodded toward the terminal.

"Sure." She replied. Normally, she wouldn't but with his history and background she weighed the pros and cons and to her it made sense to allow him. At least for now - plus there was plenty of systems monitoring all the actions taken by the terminal.

Rob sat down and then from under his tunic, he withdrew a chain with some sort of small cylinder. He opened it up and took out a chip and slid it into the terminal.

"Authorization code needed", stated the computer's voice.

"Haines Alpha, Zulu, five, seven, black, alpha", Rob said.

The computer beeped in compliance and the screen changed to a symbol Natalie had never seen in her career at Starfleet.

"What is that?" She asked of the symbol that displayed on screen. Unshaken by it or surprised. Intelligence was built on layers of secrecy. Organizations such as Section 31 ran amok inside of the Intelligence umbrella. They all promised and said that they were working in the best interests of the Federation but without checks and balances their idea of best interest of the Federation always turned sideways. She was curious to what he would say. Curious about what organization he was part of. She waited patiently and expected him to say a lot without really saying anything. It was part of SOP.

"This is a little invention that one of my cavalry created when he used to work for me", Rob said. "Making one's steps in a system untraceable is one of the many things it does. I don't think your boss would like what I am about to do, but I have you as a witness as to what I am accessing and there is an oversight committee should complaints arise. Anyway, here we go. Computer, access any communication between Captain Soran and a Captain Daniels."

After a few moments, a recording of an interaction was brought up and Rob played it. (http://ds5.sim-metry.net/index.php/sim/viewpost/1327)

"Ok, she starts off good, not giving him anything", Rob said stopping at a certain point. "The thing with any 'favor' with Daniels is that either it will be a one and done or he will use it against you forever. Computer resume play."

The recording got to the point where Soran suggested Daniels go to personnel management. Rob stopped the recording.

"Aww, damn", he said.

"What are you trying to tell me with this recording?" She asked.

"I am showing you who you are dealing with and how he operates", Rob answered. "That way you can avoid the mistakes your CO made here."

He then say, "Computer are there anymore communications between Soran and the one referenced as Daniels?"

"Negative", the computer replied.

Rob nodded and then said to Cross, "Ok, we know he came on board as Jason went with him. Computer play any security footage with Commander Soran and Daniels together."

It brought up a recording, "Stop That Boat!" (https://ds5.sim-metry.net/index.php/sim/viewpost/1341)

"So, tell me what you think about this footage", Jason said.

She was very familiar with this footage. She has viewed it many times since her arrival to the station, and this assignment. "He is a cleverly intelligent man, who is very good at being manipulative. He allowed the Captain in the previous recording to dig a hole for herself, then used that as an opportunity to get what he wanted."

"Exactly", Rob replied. "Now, imagine that done to a lot of Starfleet officers and Federation officials, some willingly others not so much. The ones who help willingly are the real problem. That said, the others he most likely has blackmail on so they may be too scared to break ranks. So, we would need to help them first before we can get the others. We know he has someone in personnel as most transfer orders don't happen in 5 days. So there is your starting point if you really want to go all gung-ho."

"If you would kindly bring up the copy of the transfer order on the screen?" Natalie asked politely. "Let's take a look and see if we can figure out who is helping him. We don't have to go kicking the hornet's nest just yet."

The order came up on the screen and there was an approval by one Ensign Mike Scott. The approval was to send further up the chain. The final approval was a Captain Maria Reynolds of the division's command office.

"I could be wrong, but I am not entirely certain an Ensign would be Daniel's main point of contact in Personnel", Rob said. "I have never had any dealings with Reynolds before, so I can't speak of her."

"Let's search for all the order transfers that Captain Reynolds has approved in the last 12 months." Natalie looked over to at Robert. "Also, bring up her records..."

There were quite a few approvals that came up in the list of things and Rob said, "Pretty clean record, and she is up for promotion review to Admiral. Funny, she has only been a Captain for three years though."

"No one is that clean." Natalie smirked. "Have Captain Reynolds and Mr. Caleb Xeod ever crossed paths? Served at the same posting for any amount of time?"

Rob had the computer do a cross check with the aliases he knew Xeod as.

"Nothing given the aliases I have known him as", Rob said. "but that doesn't mean anything. He could have easily used encrypted, untraceable communication or gone through an intermediary."

Natalie sighed. "It's never easy, is it...?" She got up from her seat and headed to the replicator. "Can I get you anything?" She asked, as she ordering herself a cup of black coffee.

"Just a glass", he said, lifting the bottle of Andorian whiskey up. "And no, in this field it is never easy. However, if you think about things right, they aren't as hard as they seem. Computer, run Hermes, target Diamondback."

The computer beeped in acknowledgement.

"Need to call a friend", Rob said.

"Don't expect me to leave the room." Natalie said walking back to her seat with two empty glasses and no coffee. She placed them in the desk next to the bottle. "When in Rome..." She said pouring in a glass for each of them.

"I wasn't going to ask you to", Rob said raising his glass to hers and taking a drink.

The communication went through a bit faster than most. The screen activated and Natalie recognized the man as she had seen him a number of times when she was in Academy. It was Captain Goodwin, one of the assistant commandants of the Academy

"Diamondback", Rob said. "How are you?"

"Doing alright Cottonmouth", he replied. "Who's the guest?"

"Oh, we'll call her ", Rob paused and then looked at her. "Why don't you choose?"

"Phoenix." She quickly replied. It suited her, and it suited her situation she thought.

"Phoenix it is", Rob said. "It seems like a mongoose took one of our snakelets, one of the cottonmouths. Phoenix is helping me in trying to locate it."

"Which mongoose?", Goodwin asked.

"Number two", Rob replied.

"Crap", Goodwin replied. "What do you need?"

"Anything on Captain Maria Reynolds", Rob replied.

"That will take a bit."

"Ok, but the sooner the better", Rob said. "Next time, minus 5."

"Understood, good to see you", Goodwin replied and the screen went blank.

"So, where do we go next?" She asked.

"Well, we've followed the information that we have at hand as far as we can", Rob replied. "I imagine it will take my friend a little while to get the information on Reynolds, so we either wait until he gets back in touch with me or we leave the station and hit the couple of contacts I know who can get in touch with Xeod when no-one else can. Now, I recommend the first as we have no credible reason to be searching him out and talking to these people can get you shot just as easy as getting information."

"Agreed. Let's wait. Just make sure you don't disappear in the meantime."

Rob drained his glass like a man who had seen plenty of bars and he smiled.

"I'll be around Lieutenant", he said, removing the program chip from her terminal. "I've got to go make a few new friends."


[OFF]

Lcdr. Robert Haines
Intelligence Officer
APB Jason Haines

Lieutenant (jg) Natalie Cross
Chief Intelligence Oficer

 

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