What who's really worth? Part 2.

Posted on Tue Jun 28th, 2016 @ 11:50pm by Lieutenant Ishan Satele

Mission: Do Not Follow
Location: Shuttle Icarus.
Timeline: Current.

Having spoken with the Captain about their mission, and getting permission from him to use one of the Victories shuttles, Kevin was keen to get underway.

Once he was out of the CO's Ready Room he tapped his COMM badge and said "Kilbane to Lt Ishan, we can get underway if you're ready. I'm heading down to the shuttle bay just now."

=^=Understood Lieutenant, I'll meet you in the shuttle bay=^= Satele replied. She was busy packing a backpack for the trip. She anticipated that the CO would approve the mission because it would benefit the Federation.

Slinging the backpack onto her shoulder, She stood up and started to walk towards the shuttle bay. I never thought I'd be returning to that place she thought to herself

After a short detour via his quarters to pick up his travel bag, Kevin walked into the shuttle bay and made his way over to the Icarus. Once inside he dumped his bag and made his way to the co-pilots seat and waited for Satele to arrive. She was to be the pilot for this mission, plus she also knew where the former Maquis base was.

Walking into the shuttle a few minutes after Kevin, Satele made her way up to the cockpit, "so, how did you convince the CO to send just you with me? I assume you explained everything"

"I told him the truth, that you said you'd only show the Maquis base to me" Kevin replied "that along with telling him how Laramy's contacts can help the future of the Federation by giving us intel on the Cardassians....he saw that this was worth allowing us to go."

He sat silent for a moment then said "The first phase is down to you Lt Ishan, the CONN is yours, if you're ready to go, please take us out."

"Well, since you're showing me this much trust, I might as well reciprocate" Satele said, as she started her system checks, "so, is there a particular type of music you want to listen to?"

"No, I'm not a fan of any one particular genre, just whatever you feel's appropriate for our.....jaunt" Kevin replied.

Satele shrugged as she put on some simple Bajoran Instrumental music. It was starting to get obvious to her that finding anything out about Kevin required some level of trust, and possibly clearance. Satisfied that the checks had been completed, Satele began to take them out slowly.

The shuttle rose quietly off of the deck and clearing the forcefield of the Victory made it's way towards their first objective, the Maquis base in the Badlands.

Looking up from his control panel, Kevin said "Please don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way Lt Ishan. I'm under no illusion that by taking me to one of your bases in the Badlands, you can fore warn surviving Maquis about what's happening, or indeed, you could lead me on a false trail, but 'if' either of those were your plans, perhaps you can shelve them for a moment."

"Computer, stop visual recording in this shuttle, also, cancel voice recording till further instructed" Kevin said.

==^==Visual and vocal recording now cancelled==^==

Kevin allowed a more serious look to come over his face as he said "We're not going to the Badlands and Mr Laramy's penal station to try and wangle a new sentence Lt Ishan, we're going to the penal station to 'jail break' him out. Yes, we'll go to the Badlands and your base, but not for info on what Mr Laramy did during your cells time fighting the Cardassians, the information I want is pertaining to Mr Laramy himself" he finished.

Satele was confused, as well as a little scared. Putting the shuttle on autopilot, she turned to Kevin, "what are you saying? What's going on here Starfleet? Why do you want information on Kier, you already have him in a cell?"

"Correction, I'm not Starfleet per say" Kevin said "Yes, it's title says Starfleet Intelligence, but, we operate under our own General Orders, if you wish to address me outside the vernacular, I suggest 'Intel' or the lesser used 'spook'. Anyway, getting back to your questions, what I'm saying is you have to understand that this is an Intel mission, so for the sake of continuity your currently temporarily on loan to us from your regular duties. The reason we're looking for information on Mr Laramy is classified....but before you protest, what I can tell you is he was part of a Maquis raid on the Cardassian shipyard at Mertisar IV, and he 'acquired' the blueprints for an upgraded Galor class. We know he didn't sell the information on, and we'd be very interested in having a look at them. We have him in a cell yes, but he's an old sweat, he knows how to keep quiet, so we require some leverage to help him talk, that's what I'm looking for at your base. He also has some useful qualities that Intel would like to discuss with him, and come to a mutual agreement with him about. In order for him to do this with us, we can't allow him to be rotting away in a penal colony, so we'll have to...be creative in finding a way that allows him freedom, yet no longer be hunted as a fugitive."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Kier never mentioned a raid on a Cardassian shipyard, and what use would the plans for some prototype Warship be to the Maquis anyway? It's not like we had shipyards or starbases where we could've built it"

"As I said, the reason we're looking for information on Mr Laramy is classified" Kevin said "and though he may never have mentioned it to you personally, he did raid a Cardassian shipyard and he did get blueprints to the new upgraded Galor class ship. We have well placed sources who have verified Mr Laramy being there at Mertisar IV 'and' him having the blueprints. I doubt very much he was wanting them for the Maquis, as you're correct, you don't have shipyards or starbases to build anything, but did you ever consider he may well have gone outside the Maquis to sell the blueprints on? He's a darker horse than you think Lt Ishan....I know this for certain" he finished.

Satele felt confused. None of this was matching up to what she knew of Kier. Thinking it through, she sighed, "if you're sure. Than I'll help how I can. Though I would like to know more about what we'll be doing and who we're doing it for. I realise Starfleet intelligence isn't usually forthcoming but as I'm 'volenteering'.."

"You are indeed Lieutenant, and the Intel community will be grateful, believe me" Kevin replied. He sat looking at Satele, consciously mulling something over in his mind. Taking a slight intake of breath he then said "I'm going to break a Starfleet Intel protocol here Lt Ishan. Kier Laramy, the man you knew as a fellow Maquis fighter and cell member was in fact a myth, a fantasy, a made up. He was a plant, an infiltrator...a spy or 'spook' if you like, surgically altered from his original appearance. Intel could see long beforehand that there was going to be trouble between the Cardassians and what was fast becoming the Maquis, so, we sent in sleepers. Kier spent a year building his character, his background and making a home and friends for himself. It was easy to plant enough material that would corroborate Kier saying who he was, and there was just enough missing that no-one could deny him being who he said he was. He spent the next few years infiltrating the Maquis, sending back reports to us on what you were doing, what attacks you were planning, and nobody ever suspected him. However, something went wrong, his reports became less frequent, more sketchy, and eventually, he stopped sending them altogether. This meant one of two things to us in Intel. Either he'd switched allegiance and decided he did want to be a part of the Maquis, or, he'd gone rogue on us. The attack on Mertisar IV was coordinated with another Maquis cell, one that also had a spook in it. This is where the corroborative information comes from that we know he stole the new Galor class ship blueprints. The bigger question is, what is he going to do with them, because we know they're not for us here in Intel? By going back to your base, I'm hoping I can uncover the answer to that question, and then, go find Kier and....well, that part will have to wait" he finished.

Satele was just confused, "are all intelligence missions so convoluted? So, we're going to my old base to get information you already have about someone you already have in custody. I'm just not sure why we're out here, other than this is a reason to be alone with me."

Kevin sighed "No Lieutenant, all Intel missions aren't so convoluted. To answer your points as to why we're out here, we're going to your old base because you're the one who knows where it is and can get us there, you can also get us in past the security measures that I'm sure you set up. Once there, I can scan your computers for logs and messages Laramy sent, unencrypt anything he's trying to hide and see if I can track what he's done with the blueprints and also figure out what or who he plans to have dealings with regarding said blueprints. Yes, we have him in custody, but, he already knows how to wait out an interrogation, well a normal one anyway. If I can get him out of his incarceration, there's one or two techniques I can use that will get him to talk 'and' we can still use him as an asset. Please don't flatter yourself by thinking I want to be out here alone with you, anything in that kind of context is the furthest thing from my mind. If you're having doubts about being here, or going on this mission, feel free to recuse yourself, turn the shuttle around and head back to the Victory, I'll then carry on myself with how to get to Mr Laramy."

Satele huffed, "fine whatever" she said, standing up and moving to the back of the shuttle. Secretly she was regretting going back to this facility. She didn't exactly have very many good memories of it. In fact, nearly all of the memories she had were bad. Unfortunately it was the only place she knew of to access the files they needed. "By the prophets, why am I doing this. This can't be healthy for me"

"What doubts are you casting upon yourself Lt Ishan?" Kevin asked "Why won't it be healthy for you, this is your base?"

"It's called stress. I'd explain but you wouldn't understand"

"You don't think that Intelligence Officers suffer from stress?" Kevin asked, bemused at the thought "As hard as it may seem to believe, we are human so we're prone to feelings as well" he added.

"Did you just call me human? That's a rather racist remark" Satele said looking up at him, "well, although I'm sure your intelligence gathering can be stressful at times, but I'm sure you've never been afraid to return to a specific place. The last time I was inside of this base, it didn't exactly go well"

"You're not an 'actual' Intel Officer Lt Ishan, you're merely on loan to us, so no I didn't call you human and no I wasn't being racist" Kevin replied. He was wistful for a moment as a passing memory was brought to the forefront of his mind and he became a little emotional for just a second "Oh yes, there are certain places I will admit to never wanting to go back to again" he said.

Shaking himself out of the pity he'd just felt, he once again concentrated on the time at hand "If I may, what happened last time you visited this base?"

Satele sighed, "actually yes i do. It's not something I want to think about right now"

"Fair enough" Kevin replied "Would you care to take us to the base just though please, we really should get going" he finished.

"We're already on course for the badlands. I've programmed the autopilot to drop out of warp just before we enter the field. From there I'll pilot manually the rest of the way"

To be continued.....