Inspection: Intelligence

Posted on 14 May 2017 @ 6:01pm by Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Commodore Harvey Geisler

3,061 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: The Finnean Crisis
Location: Intelligence Center
Timeline: MD 2 || 0845 hours

His second stop on his first inspection as Captain of the Black Hawk was the new Intelligence Center. The Intelligence Department was one of the smallest departments on the ship, but he had a feeling it was going to be one of the most critical over the next year. For all of the time the Federation had spent at Finnea, very little was actually known.

In a way, Harvey felt sorry for his fiancé. Joey was considered one of the few experts on the dynamics of Finnea. Harvey had a feeling that what she knew, or could learn, would lead to their salvation. As he walked into the center, Harvey found himself admiring all of the state-of-the-art equipment.

Only a couple hundred faces aboard the ship were from the former Black Hawk. Everywhere he'd been aboard, Harvey had been able to recognize at least one face in the crowd. Here, in the Intel Center, for the first time, he didn't recognize a single face. It was eerie, especially considering the fact that he now understood what the letter from Zachary was all about. So far, he'd been able to keep it secret from Joey. A huge part of him wanted to tell her, but he just didn't know how. He didn't know if he should.

Harvey took a sip of his dwindling coffee. It wouldn't last much longer, and all he could do was maintain a professional composure among the new department. And the love of his life.

Joey made her way into the main Intel complex, hoping she didn't look as green around the gills as she felt, but at least now she knew why she was feeling the way she was. Still, she couldn't take the time to focus on that. Not when there were so many things she needed to do, starting with the isolinear chip the Commodore had given her back aboard the Lakota. That was probably best looked over in her office.

As she turned, she spotted the Captain standing there and came to attention. Surprise inspections... she recalled the one they had back in Security aboard the Akira class Black Hawk. Camila had been deep into detail about a pretty embarrassing story before any of them knew they had company. The memory brought a smile to her face even though she missed Camila like crazy. "Good morning, Captain," she greeted, offering him a polite nod. "What can I do for you?"

Harvey couldn't help but smile when he saw Joey standing there. "At ease," he told her. "Looks like a great setup here you have, Lieutenant."

"It definitely is," she agreed, looking around their surroundings once she took a more relaxed stance. "I'm still trying to get settled in and adjust to my new role, but I don't think it will take me too long."

Joey produced an isolinear chip from her pocket to show to him. "Commodore Satié gave me this, but I haven't had a chance to go over the information on this yet. My hope is that it will have something useful on it that I can bring back to you and Commander Teixera."

"I certainly hope so," Harvey replied, taking another sip of the black elixir of life. "The more we know about what we're warping into, the better."

"When I was there, the situation was already bad, and it sounds like it's only gotten worse," she stated with a frown. "I know you already have a lot on your mind, so I won't get into any of that. That being said, is there anything specific you require of me before we get where we're going?"

Harvey looked around the room, trying to understand what all he saw. "The nickel tour perhaps," he suggested, looking back to her with a small smile.

Joey couldn't help but blush. "Do you have change? I'm still learning my way around," she said honesty. After all, it was her first full day in her new department. She didn't have time the evening before to check things out. Hopefully, her move wasn't going to be a huge mistake. She mentally shook her head... it wouldn't be. She'd definitely make sure of that. "I'll know everything there is to know before we get where we're going."

The Captain, confident enough to do so now, began to wander the room, taking stock of everything that he saw. "Tell me about your team," he remarked, noticing the half attentive looks from the small group assembled in the room.

"We're still getting to know one another, but I've been over their personnel files. They're all highly qualified in their various fields. I think the entire department as a whole, along with the ten of us that will make it tick, will be a great asset to you and the ship," she replied.

He nodded, still wandering around the room. In fact, he soon found himself at a set of doors marked Communications Center. "Access Restricted," announced the computer.

"Computer," Harvey said, his tone trying not to be stern. "Recognize Captain Geisler, Harvey E." The system beeped and whirred for a moment before verbalizing a confirmation and letting him in. "Security upon security," he muttered as he entered the room. "Have we picked up anything from DS15 yet?" Harvey asked.

"This is one of the more secure locations aboard the ship for obvious reasons," Joey commented. "As far as picking anything up on DS15, I think we're still too far out, but we're going to keep at it until we have something. The moment we do, I'll let you know."

Again he nodded. It was natural to not pick up anything, especially since it would be a couple days before they arrived. "And what about encryption protocols?" Harvey asked. He thought of the probe and how quickly it was captured by the Selubassari, something that wouldn't have been so simple if they hadn't obtained some sort of knowledge of its existence. "Any idea why they'd want it anyway?"

"The ship's encryption codes change periodically, and will automatically change the moment there is any hint of outside interference, or inside, that wasn't authorized. Since the ship is new, it has the latest encryption protocols, and would be highly unlikely that an outside agency would have them unless there was someone deep in Starfleet Intelligence to get the encryption codes out. Or... of course, a traitor among us feeding those codes to the outside," she said, pausing to let that sink in before she moved on the to next topic.

"Information would be my guess," Joey said. "Since it came from the Finnean Convergence Zone when nothing else has for seventeen years, that makes any information on the probe valuable. Maybe they wish to keep it for themselves to get better footing in the area, or perhaps they'll auction it off to the highest bidder. There's no way to know for sure until we're able to get our hands on it."

"What about your time on Fifteen?" Harvey asked, turning to leave the room and find a private place in which they could talk. "What can you tell me about the Rakhari or the Selubassari? Or any of the Ferengi or Dosi that frequent there?"

Joey followed him into her office, which was likely the most private place to talk in all of Intel. She gestured for him to sit down and did the same, thinking back to her time spent aboard the planetary base. It hadn't been all that long since she left, and now she was going back again. "It was hard not to notice things even with fifteen hundred people on board," she began. "Deep Space Fifteen had what I would call a revolving door simply because there weren't many who stayed longer than six months at a time. I stuck around for nearly two years... that being my job and all. When the Consortium happened, only a handful of us were lucky enough to get out alive."

She paused before speaking again. "There were quite a few unexplained murders and kidnappings that took place, and for some reason, those went unsolved. Deep Space Fifteen is as sketchy as they get, and if someone told me three months ago I'd be going back there, I would have laughed in their face. Yet, here I am," Joey said, trying to keep the frown off of her lips. She quickly shook those thoughts from her mind and moves forward.

"The Rakhari, Selubassari, Dosi and Ferengi..." the Lieutenant paused for a moment as she tried to gather her thoughts. "What I can tell you from personal experience was that none of them were to be crossed. They're all quite dangerous, and now that I know most of them are in control of one or more Steadings, we're in a pretty nasty position. War is coming, Captain."

"Ferengi and dangerous," Harvey mused, leaning back in his chair and sipping his coffee. "Those are two words I never thought I'd hear paired together. What can you tell me about the murders and kidnappings. Were there any specific targets, or were they as random as can be?"

"The Ferengi aren't nearly as dangerous as the others, but considering where we're going, and everyone wanting a piece of the pie, it can make anyone turn into monsters, but it's not them I'm worried about. Or even the Rakhari," Joey commented. "All I can tell you as far as those murders went, were they seemed to be random, and as far as I know, remain unsolved."

Harvey was left to arch an eyebrow. He knew the Ferengi were motivated by commerce and the Rakhari structure. But if that didn't worry her... "What are you worried about then?"

"The entire situation as a whole," she replied as her brow furrowed a bit. "I don't know why they were mentioned as little as they were in the briefing, but The Followers of Dolmoqour... they have partnered with the Selubassari. They have total control of DS15 and the da Gama. The da Gama is supposed to have been the one to retrieve the probe, and if that's the case, The Followers or the Selubassari are the ones who have possession of it."

"And what do we know of the Followers? Or this Dolmoqour?" Harvey asked.

Joey shook her head. The look of frustration was clearly written on her face. "Not much, I'm afraid. I didn't encounter them during my time in the area. All we will know is what the computer can tell us, and I seriously doubt it will be any help."

The Captain sighed, but softly. "Any information at this point is valuable. If the Followers and the Selubassari are indeed working together, why would the Selubassari work with such an unknown group?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," she said, removing the isolinear chip out once more. It was a long shot, but there was information on this thing he'd need to know about anyway, so why not look over it with him present? She inserted it into her terminal after powering it on, then began to look through the contents. "I would imagine the Selubassari know a great deal more than we do."

"And we're going to have to find out what they know." Harvey shook his head. He enjoyed a good mystery, and every good mystery started with a heap of questions. "I assume you have contacts everywhere. What motivates the Selubassari?"

"Power, leverage... it's more a question of what doesn't motivate them," she replied. "They have a facility on DS15 called The Net. It's a facility where a patron can experience anything they imagine by placing a neural experience node on the back of the skull. It's been claimed as being safe, but rare reports indicate humanoids suffering from impaired brain activity."

Like many times before, she paused, taking the time to collect her thoughts. "I don't know this for fact, but it's my belief that they use this as a front to get information from others, and it could very well be how they found out about the probe if they are, in fact, the ones that have it.

"Sounds like a place to investigate," Harvey remarked. Taking in a deep breath, Harvey rose from his chair. "I'm sure that chip has got a lot for you. If the Selubassari are interested in that probe, much less defending it, then we're going to have to figure out a way to get it from them. I'm going to need any and every idea you have before we get there."

"I do have an idea that I don't think you're going to like," Joey stated as she turned to face him. She knew he wouldn't like it both professionally and personally, but for now, the Lieutenant waited for his full attention. Not that she didn't have it before.

Harvey stopped before he could turn towards the door. His mind immediately leaped to a worst case scenario. "I thought running Intel was supposed to keep you of the line of fire," he said plainly.

"It was, but we need answers, and I think I know how to get them," she retorted. "Do you want to hear the idea?"

Harvey didn't. If it were truly something dangerous, there were two lives he'd be putting on the line, not just her own. Nevertheless, he had to be a Captain first. He, therefore, nodded in acknowledgement.

"I can infiltrate The Net as one of their Net girls," Joey said as she rose to her feet. A large part of her hoped he had zero idea what a Net girl was, and had higher hopes he wouldn't ask her. "It makes sense. No one knows more about them than I do, and I already know how their operation works. There just isn't enough time for me to prep anyone else, and it's the easiest way to get information."

"And wouldn't you be recognized?" Harvey immediately countered, doing his best to stifle the immediate refusal. "And if it works just the way you suggest, then what's to prevent them from learning about what you know?"

"Considering I would have to have a node implanted, which would be done here, there would have to be a way to block them from being able to access my memories, or to allow them access to false ones entirely. It would take some doing, but I think it could be done," Joey said. "As for them recognizing me, it's a risk."

Harvey thought about it for a moment. "It's one hell of a risk," Harvey remarked. "I'd feel better if you don't go alone. How many people over there don't like you?"

"I don't know an exact number," she stated as she rose to her feet. "Who would you recommend going with me? Because, the more people that are there, the more suspicious things become."

"Someone from security," Harvey stated quickly. "Not that you haven't proven yourself capable in the past to be a... one woman show. But, you're a senior officer, my fiance, and the mother of our child. I fully expect the three of you to return with your wits about you and something that will lead us to our objective. As for the number, that's up to you. And, if possible, I don't want everyone to go into this... net at the same time."

"I'll be the only one going into it. If there's anything to be found, I'll find it. As far as who I'll take... there's no one I trust more than Miller. For obvious reasons," Joey said. She was even more nervous now, but she'd do whatever she had to to get the answers he wanted... needed. "The three of us will be back the same way we left, too. I promise you we'll be okay." She gave her stomach a pat. "The second things seem like they're going to take a turn, we'll beam out."

"And what about the dataport?" the Captain asked next. "Any chance that's going to mess with your nervous system?"

"There's always the possibility, but we have some of the best surgeons on board the ship, and I have faith that they'll keep that from happening," Corwin said, moving over to him. This was supposed to be a professional inspection, and it had been just that up until a few moments ago. "You give me the word, not as Captain Geisler, but as Harvey, and I'll send someone else. Time will be an issue, but I can brief someone else in the department to go. I can monitor everything from this side."

Harvey shook his head. What kind of future husband would he be if he put Joey's life above her career or the ship itself. He knew Joey wouldn't have suggested it if she wasn't confident enough that she could pull it off. "No," he declared. "You can go. I, uh, I just like knowing that you know what you're doing."

Joey reached out to give his hand a gentle squeeze. "It's going to be okay. No unnecessary risks. Not anymore. If I smell trouble, I'm out of there."

"Good." A smile appeared on his face just before he nervously looked down at his nearly empty mug of coffee. Despite the warning from his future self not to trust anyone, he now thought that navigating these new waters with Joey being both a senior officer and his finace would be a far more difficult challenge. "I know you will."

"I'll figure out the details and get them to you for final approval by the end of the day today, because tomorrow, I'll have to get the dataport in place, brief Miller and brush up on a few things," she said as her mind began to race a mile a minute. And just like that, she went from not knowing what to do, to knowing exactly what needed to be done. Not to mention, there was still the chip to deal with. "Is there anything else, Captain?"

Final approval? thought Harvey. He interpreted that as a last chance to scrub the idea, a courtesy. He'd deal with that when it came. "There's nothing, Lieutenant," he said, sticking with the same formality as she. "Carry on." With that, he flashed a nervous smile and departed the office.

RSS Feed