Talking with friends

Posted on Tue Apr 19th, 2016 @ 12:07am by Lieutenant Ishan Satele

Mission: Vipers and Scoundrels
Location: Cardassian station promenade
Timeline: Current

ON:

Walking along the Promenade, Satele was looking for her contact she had told to meet her here. Of course she knew that it was dangerous to meet with one of her old Maquis friends, but she was in the sector anyway and apparently she had some new information on someone Satele was looking for. Dressed in the old clothing she used to wear when she was with the Maquis, she figured it would help her to fit in easier than civilian clothes.

Walking over to a vender who was set up in the middle of the Promenade, Satele moved over to a vase, picked it up, looked It over, than returned it to where it was, but upside down. After standing there for a moment, Satele stepped away and headed towards the local bar.

Kevin had followed Satele off of the yacht and onto the station. He was careful to keep out of sight of her, and when she stopped at a vendors shop he to stopped, making a pretense of reading a PADD he held in his hand. Out of the corner of his eye he watched her lift the vase and place it back, then move away. Quickly, he walked over to the shop and saw that the vase had been replaced upside down, so he picked it up, making a show of examining it, them placed it back. As he did so, he placed an imperceptibly small tracker on the inside of the lip.

His reason or doing this was a guess, and it was only a guess, that Satele was up to something as she'd placed the vase upside down when she put it back. If the vase had anything to do with it, he could get lucky that someone would buy it, and that someone could be a contact for her, or a target for her. Either way, Kevin wanted to see I anything would come of it.

Finding an empty table off to one side, Satele ordered a small drink and waited for her contact. Fortunately she didn't have to wait long as a human female in similar clothing to Satele walked into the bar soon after.

Standing up from her table, Satele walked over to greet her contact, "hay, it's been a while Anya"

"Yes it has, but it's still good to see you Satele" Anya replied, giving Satele a hug. "So, shall we get to why I'm here"

Nodding towards her table, Satele lead Anya over. After they were both seated, Satele started, "well than, I assume you've got what I need?"

Anya nodded, "it wasn't that difficult to get a hold of. Just a little obscured in our old database. I'm surprised that you didn't find it" she said, sliding a small PADD across to her

Satele shrugged as she took the PADD and put it in her vest, "I was still missing a few other parts to the puzzle back then so I wasn't looking for it" she said, looking around for anyone listening in, "so, how many of our old group are left?"

Anya sighed, "there are only six of us. We're still working out of the old facility, but we've put out some feelers for a better spot"

Satele smiled, "that's good to know" she said before giving a sigh, "is...is he one of them?"

Anya shook her head, "I'm sorry, he didn't make it"

Satele nodded, "it's alright, thank you for telling me"

The two women continued to talk for almost an hour before Anya had to leave to catch her scheduled transport off of the station. Giving her friend a hug goodbye, Satele smiled, "have a safe travel"

"You too. And remember, we'll always have you back"

"I know. You better get going" Satele said

Watching her friend head off towards the airlock, Satele pulled out the PADD she was handed earlier and started to read it.

Kevin moved from his vantage point, realizing that the tracker he'd placed on the vase wasn't of any use in the current situation, however, he left it just in case it was taken, it may be of some use, one never knew. Moving into the bar, he took the vacated seat that Satele's visitor had been sitting in.

"So, friend or 'friend' " Kevin asked, nodding his head back in the direction of the departed visitor to Satele's table.

Satele smiled, "am I going to expect one of these visits every time I meet up with an old friend? Should I start scanning for Survalence devices in my quarters?"

"Only if you have something to hide Lieutenant, and only if you feel guilty about something" Kevin replied "Are you feeling guilty about something?" he asked nonchalantly.

Satele sighed, "going fishing today are we? I don't think you'll catch anything" she said, putting the PADD back into her vest "so, shall we discuss something else? Surely we have something in common"

"Unfortunately, I never learned to fish" Kevin replied "However, I do have a keen sense of smell and can smell when there's something fishy going on. As for discussing something else, sure, no problem, let's see what we have in common. Well, have I ever gone off on one at my CO....no, have I ever chucked Starfleet....no, have I ever taken up with the Maquis...that's a definite no...have I ever endangered or taken peoples lives without caring...that's another definite no...have I ever squealed on the Klingons...mmmmm no...have I ever struck a deal with Intel that would see me return to Starfleet but only go on away teams with what is effectively a chaperone in tow...no. Nope, looks like we've struck out on that 'having something in common' count...no. no, wait a minute...nope" he finished.

A waiter came over and asked if he'd like to order anything. "Yes, can I have a cup of Assam tea and a salad please" Kevin replied.

The waiter wrote the order down, smiled then turned and walked away. Kevin watched him go and then turned his attention back to Satele, saying "So, would we like to begin again Lieutenant. Was that an acquaintance friend, or a Maquis friend? You can lie if you wish, you can even try to mislead me, however, in the end, I will find out. You see, I took a nice picture of them for my album, and as soon as we get back from this little jaunt, their picture will be circulating around the cosmos. One way or the other, as I have many many contacts as you can imagine, I shall find out, but we can cut to the chase by you just telling me who they are?"

Satele smiled, "well, I would've thought Starfleet Intelligence was a little more efficient than that" she said, thinking over what information to give to him. "Alright than. I'll tell you what you want to know. That woman I was talking to, she is an old friend of mine, and yes she is Maquis. Do you want to know who she was before the Maquis? She was a high school student on a federation colony along the Cardassian Boarder. Her family was happy where they were and didn't pose a threat to anyone. But than, all of a sudden, her family was forced to leave their homes and their lives, all because the Federation signed a peace treaty that handed her home over to the Cardassians"

After taking a few breaths, Satele continued, "now ofcourse the Federation eventually reached an agreement with the Cardassian Central Command to allow for the colonists to remain in their homes on the Cardassian side of the boarder. It sounds like a good compromise on a sheet of paper, but the reality was so very different. Where the Federation happily protected those Cardassian colonies on their side of the boarder and left them to their own devices, the Cardassians weren't as kind. Every week, there were new beating, robberies, assaulted colonists in public, and what did your mighty Starfleet do about it? They talked. You accuse me of endangering people's lives without care. Where was Starfleet when those colonists were being attacked by mobs of Cardassians who never were punished for their crimes? And when the colonists decide to stand up for themselves against this racism, Starfleet declared them terrorists and arrested any of the colonists they came across, and it wasn't just that. Anyone who even mentioned that they supported the Maquis in their fight was ostrosized and ridiculed. The only, The Only time that Starfleet seemed to act was when the Maquis proved that the Cardassian colonies were being supplied by the Central command. And that was only the beginning, so don't pretend that you're superior to us just because you're apart of Starfleet. Starfleet has enough blood on their hands"

Taking out the PADD she was given, Satele unencrypted the information and slid it across the table to Kevin, "there. That holds all of the information you'll need to capture every surviving member of my little cell, not to mention the names of those we lost. And now that I have betrayed the only friends I have in this screwed up universe, I've got somewhere to be. I have a few debts to clame" she said, standing up from the table, "have a nice day, Starfleet"

"It's funny" Kevin said "It's actually your Starfleet as well Lieutenant, after all, you re-enlisted. Unless what you're actually admitting to is that you're a Maquis infiltrator, or spy if you prefer?"

His tea and salad arrived and were placed on the table in front of him. Thanking the waiter, and tipping him generously, Kevin turned his attention back to Satele.

"Before you answer my question, let me say this. Don't think for a single second I don't have sympathy for what happened to the colonies and the colonists who ended up on the Cardassian side of the border after the peace treaty agreement was signed. However, you swore an oath to Starfleet, quit, joined the Maquis, then killed innocent people who were just carrying out 'their' orders. Tell me Lieutenant, where do you draw the line of distinction between killers and being a killer, you see to me, you're both. You were a member of, and by the way you're speaking perhaps you're still a member of, an organization of killers, and you've previously freely admitted to killing people on behalf of the outlawed Maquis. Now, I didn't broker the peace treaty, and I didn't enforce the rules and laws it laid down" he finished so he could take a sip of his drink.

He picked up the PADD, and read out the names on it "Trevor Atkins, Marion Demoyn, William Narvis, Gerard Johnston, Lidia Markinson, Gailor Harfor, Janice Thomkinson, Kier Laramy, Justin Pearson and Kelvin Williams....your cell went by the nick name 'The Springers' because you'd spring an attack then disappear. Intel knew who you were, finding you was a different matter, you were good at hiding."

Taking out his own PADD, he touched the screen, the PADD 'bleeped' and Kevin slid Satele's PADD back across to her, saying "Here, I no longer need your PADD."

Pushing his salad plate away from himself, he stood up and stared at Satele "You might think you have the right to take life just because you joined a bunch of rag tag would be soldiers, but in truth, you're just a cold hearted killer without an excuse. One way or the other, I'll find out if the Maquis have got an infiltrator in Starfleet. If there is, and I find them, then their going to spend the rest of their lives on a penal colony. There's no excuse you can give me for the actions you and your Maquis friends took, you're killers, but worse, you're killers without conscience, you make me sick!" he finished and began to walk out the bar.

Sitting back down at her table, Satele seethed with anger. She couldn't believe how stuck up and self-raichous he was. True, he did say that he had sympathy for their cause, but she didn't believe that for a moment. Kevin was just like every other Starfleet officer she'd talked to. Picking up her PADD, Satele gripped it tight, "I make you sick hay? Well than, I'm not going to make it easy for you to find my friends" she said quietly to herself as she set the PADD to send out an encrypted burst transmission just like the ones she used in the Maquis, warning her old cell about what was coming and how it came about.

End