Sticking the Nose In (Part 1)

Posted on Mon May 11, 2020 @ 2:17pm by Commander Caleb Ryan & Lieutenant JG Natalie Cross

834 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Et In Arcadia Ego
Location: Intelligence Offices
Timeline: MD 03 1400

Natalie’s door chime rang, and when the door slid open, a young, black, Human female petty officer holding a padd in her hands stood in the doorway.

“Sir, I think there’s something you should see,” PO3 Andi Williams said. “We have some chatter.”

Natalie looked up from her desk. "What do we have?" she asked, motioning for Williams to step inside and bring the padd.

Andi walked in and handed over the padd. “Some chatter involving the station,” she said. “I think there is going to be a meeting on the station, an arms deal.” She stopped and stood in front of Natalie’s desk. Williams’ remit was monitoring chatter on Syndicate and black market activity in the sector.

That definitely got her attention. She grabbed the padd and began reviewing the information on it. She had doubts that an exchange would take place on the station, but a meet and greet was very likely. The station saw a number of visitors daily. Keeping tabs on all of them was a colossal job, and some might slip through the cracks. This information seemed kind of convenient, but still needed to be worked. "Let's get a team working on this."

“Yes, sir,” Andi said. “Do you want surveillance or tactical?” she asked. “I don’t know how aware you are of the current situation in the arms market.”

"Surveillance for now. Tactical can be on hold," Natalie replied. She didn't want to be too eager to act. She wanted to observe, collect intelligence, and act accordingly. "Please put together a briefing to get up to speed on the current situation in the arms market."

“I can give you the long and short of it now, sir,” Andi said, “and turn in the report later. After the war, there were five major dealers that basically divided up the market,” she said. “Enrily Graeca, a Romulan warlord, dealt in that sector. Deneia Tejera handled the Orion Syndicate market. A Ferengi named Dys dealt in Federation and Ferengi tech. A Boslic named Torm was also a player. But the big one, right after the war, was Moia Ilmater, a former Obsidian Order operative. With the collapse of the Dominion and Cardassian Union, she had the biggest market share and the most desirable weapons technology from Dominion caches over the Union. Ten years ago, Moia disappeared, just vanished. No one knew if Starfleet got her, or some other law enforcement, or if she died or was killed. We still don’t,” she admitted. “She left no one to take over her operations, and her lieutenants eventually became small timers under the other four.

“Five years ago, both Tejera and Dys were apprehended by Starfleet. That left Enrily and Torm’s son -- Torm senior had died. Enrily we think is just dealing as a way to finance other projects -- his intel file is beyond my clearance,” she admitted. “So while he did expand his operations, Torm took up most of the market. Two years ago Dys was released from Federation custody on a technicality. He got good lawyers. And Tejera escaped from a Federation penal colony. Both are back and rebuilding, though we don’t have much on their current whereabouts.

“A year ago, Torm was killed by one of his slaves. By all accounts, he was a sick bastard. Trafficking and sexual slavery, besides the arms dealing. Had himself a harem, tortured for pleasure. A real sick fuck -- pardon my language, sir. That left the market completely unstable. Everyone is grabbing for a piece of it. Violence. Lots of lieutenants being taken out.

“And who steps back into the mess? We have reports that Moia Ilmater is back. She seems to be carefully reconsolidating her position. Where she came from, where she is currently, we don’t know. But that’s the scuttlebutt from the CIs. Dys and Tejera are rebuilding, too. But Moia was a legend in the community. Where she’s been and why she’s back has everyone speculating. She’s the one making the deal on the station, sir. Or her organization, at least.”

"Thank you for that information." Natalie paused, thinking for a moment. "Who do you think we are dealing with here?" she asked.

“I don’t think it will be Tejera,” Andi said. “Local criminal elements don’t let Syndicate on station. Enrily is too reclusive. Last time he crawled out of his bunker planet in the Iawu nebula, he was nearly taken out. By his daughter. My money is on Dys or Moia Ilmater.“

"Okay, let's work on that assumption. Take lead on this. Keep me in the loop, and don't be afraid to pull me if you need assistance with anything."

“Yes, sir,” Andi said. The young black woman hesitated a moment to see if there was anything else the chief needed before turning for the door.

"Good hunting." Natalie smiled.

FIN

Ltjg.. Natalie Cross
Chief Intelligence Officer
Deep Space 5

PO3 Andi Williams
Intelligence analyst

 

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