Post 135: More developments
Posted on Wed Oct 23rd, 2024 @ 9:42pm by Major General Talo Jackson & Lieutenant Jude Haines & Lieutenant V'Lar
Edited on on Wed Oct 23rd, 2024 @ 11:31pm
2,388 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission: Obsidian
ON:
Once they arrived back on the ship, Talo was taken to medical and checked out. Once he was cleared, he went to the mess hall for something to eat. He knew when they led him into one of the conference rooms that he was going to be interrogated in a way. It probably would be their intelligence and security chief. It didn’t matter who you were, once someone was freed from captivity they had to go through the same process.
V'Lar walked down the corridor to the conference room pulling on her uniform jacket, she wasn't entirely happy, when things didn't add up it was sure to result in a less than happy intelligence chief and leaving aside exactly what had happened down on the planet there were a lot of questions circling around, Lieutenant Quinn had identified some of them before they'd undertaken the rescue operation. Seeing Jude waiting outside the room she sighed "Shall we?" she said
“Yes.” Jude said with a nod. “I have a feeling we are going to leave her with more questions than answers.”
"Probably." V'Lar said "But that's the nature of serving when there's conflict going on. Everything has an extra layer or two."
“Exactly.” Jude opened the door and walked in with V’Lar. “Good Afternoon.” He said politely. “I am Lieutenant Haines, security chief, this is Lieutenant V’Lar our intelligence chief.”
“I don’t have to introduce myself.” Talo replied in a deep rich voice. “I take it you are here to ask me some questions?”
"Yes." V'Lar said "This is all standard procedure following recovery of a captured officer. How did you come to be captured?"
Talo took a deep breath. “I was on Starbase K12, to meet up with my daughter. She wasn’t due for a few days so I decided to have a drink and relax.” He paused. “I wasn’t there long and a woman came and sat down and started talking to me at the bar. She offered to buy me a drink which I turned down. I’ve heard the stories of drinks being spiked.”
"Can you describe the woman?" V'Lar asked.
“She was in her forties, five foot seven. Her hair was black, except a blue streak down the left side. Her eyes were hazel in color, she has a small scar above her left eye.” He paused. “She favored her right leg, I have the feeling it wasn’t an injury but a limp. The name she used was Desiree Lamont, which I am certain was a cover.”
“What happened after you turned down the drink.” Jude spoke up as he finished typing on the pad he held and looked up.
“The bartenders offered to make me another drink which I accepted.” Talo continued. “I had no reason to believe he was up to no good at this point.”
"And then?" V'Lar asked.
“She asked me what I was doing on the base and I said visiting friends.” Talo recalled. “Things started to get fuzzy and then I remember she called me general and I tried to ask her how she knew me and everything went black after that.”
“What happened when you woke up?” Jude asked.
“It took me a bit to clear my head.” Talo said quietly, “I was locked in a brig.” He looked from one to the other. “It was an older starship but it was definitely one of ours.”
V'Lar was getting more and more concerned with each passing second. "Longshot but do you know the name of the ship or the crew?"
“The ships name was…” Talo had to give it some thought. It had been over a month since he had been kidnapped. “The Restitution.” His eyes met V’Lar’s, he sensed she knew something and he was pretty certain she wasn’t going to offer to tell him.
"And the crew that you saw? Any Vulcans or Bajorans that you recall?" V'Lar asked. “There was a Vulcan.” Talo recalled, two Bajorans and also one that I am certain was Betazed.”
Jude sensed V’Lar was going somewhere with this so he began a search on his pad, wanting to see what he could come up with.
V'Lar was starting to hear the ringing of alarm bells now "So how do you get from the brig on the Restitution to where we found you?" she asked.
“I was there for about a week.” Talo explained. “They tried different methods to get me to give them information of value but had no luck.” He smiled slightly. “They did not know how to extract information.” He paused. “Then one day, two of them beamed down with me and handed me over to the group you saw today.”
"Why?" V'Lar asked.
Talo started at him for a long moment. “To ask me the same damn questions the group before did.”
“And what was that?” Jude spoke up.
“What is our interest in Starbase Obsidian?” Talo replied. “Who is the command officer? What is the mission?” He shook his head. “They wanted to know about a secret project.” He looked from V’Lar to Haines. “The joke was on them, I don’t know about any secret project.”
"I need you to think very carefully now, because this is potentially the most significant question I have." V'Lar said "At any point during the time you were held by either group did they ever take a DNA sample from you? Could have been hair, blood, skin etc."
“Yes.” Talo said without hesitation. “That was the first thing they did when I arrived on the planet.” He paused. “What is going on.”
"I wish I could say something far more innocent than I suspect but I seriously doubt it." V'Lar said "I don't have any more questions at this point, but I would with your permission like to conduct a mind meld with you whenever you feel up to it."
“Let me know when you are ready.” Talo replied. “This incarceration was a picnic compared to when I was a prisoner the first time.” He wanted to know what the hell was going on.
“Is this an intelligence secret?” Jude asked V’Lar. “Something you won’t be sharing?”
"I have every intention of telling you." V'Lar said looking at Jude "I just want to verify one thing first which is why I want to mind meld with the General."
Jude nodded. He understood intelligence protocol and he wasn’t like Jordan who hated secrets. There were times they were necessary.
“When and where would you like to do this.” Talo said, looking at V’Lar.
"We can do it right here and right now if you want, I don't think it'll take too long." V'Lar said "But it's entirely up to you sir if you'd rather wait."
“I like to face things head on.” Talo murmured. “I would rather get it taken care of right now.” He looked at V’Lar. “I am a private person, anything you may find out about my life will stay between us.”
"Understood." V'Lar said, the mind meld was a somewhat intimate act in that it was sort of a bridge that went both ways to an extent. She placed her fingers on the side of Jackson's face "Try to concentrate on the moment the first group handed you over to the second, that will guide me." she took a breath "My mind to your mind, your thoughts to my thoughts."
Talo let his mind go to the ship he was held on first, the people kept pressuring him for answers, the frustrations of their being relentless and then to the surface where he was handed over to the pirates, only Talo knew they weren’t pirates from their actions and the way they spoke and little things. These were professionals.
Mind melds were interesting things, in this context it was like V'Lar was watching a holonovel being a witness to Jackson's memory as they played out in front of her. She stood there a few feet in front of Jackson firstly on the ship, she wasn't looking at Jackson she was looking around, the computer displays on the wall the LCARs displaying the ship layout the USS Restitution NCC- 51240, Steamrunner class, well that made sense. Then she was watching the handover, she was taking note of who she saw and what she saw. Then she saw a Betazoid put a hypospray into Jackson's neck and extract the DNA sample before the same Betazoid moments later disappeared in a transporter beam. This seemed odd - pirates babysitting a general? No there was something else at play, Jackson was an intelligence source that was true but why did they need the DNA? What did that get them? She wound back the memory looking now more closely at the first group there was a Bajoran with the Betazoid and there were faint scars on the Bajoran's face and neck, ever so slight, not necessarily surprising in a war but in context that smacked of something else.
Breaking the meld V'Lar opened her eyes "Well now that's certainly interesting." she said.
“Interesting?” Talo said after a moment. It had felt intrusive, he knew it was partly because he wasn’t one to share much about himself. He kept his private life separate from her professional one. Looking at V’Lar he waited for her to speak.
"Both groups asked you the same things but that you were handed over and kept alive suggests a couple of things." V'Lar said "There'd be no reason to keep you alive if they didn't want something from you, and if that was your DNA then why aren't you dead? You're an intelligence source to them and a second cell took on the responsibility of the first which suggests the first cell has a different objective to the second. And you were on K-12 a month ago..." she thumped her fist against the table and let out a couple of Romulan expletives, how had she not seen it, she glanced at Jude "You know how Lieutenant Thrace has a list of reasons why the Federation won't lose this war?"
“Yes.” Jude nodded. “I have heard her speak of them.” He knew if the marine lieutenant said it she had done her homework.
"Well high up on that list is the Khitomer Accords." V'Lar said referencing the alliance that existed between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, "Essentially if the Romulans or Cardassians ever managed to pose a significant threat, which they currently don't, then the Klingons would throw in with the Federation and that would be the end of it. The other way of looking at it is to say that the Klingons are the only other major power in the Quadrant. If you're the Romulans or the Cardassians it's a sound strategy to break that alliance as it is a means of leverage. I suspect the General's abductors have a hand in something along those lines, among other things." she looked at Jackson "They wanted your DNA for a reason, our next step needs to be to find out what that is, whatever they're planning hasn't happened yet and to turn the Empire against the Federation would take something huge, with Starfleets fingerprints on the metaphorical weapon." she turned her attention back to Jude "You're the security chief but I'd recommend filing a report to treat the Restitution as rogue and I'd like to suggest we hold off on broadcasting anything about the Generals rescue at this point."
“We need to go back.” Talo replied seriously. “They are planning to use my DNA to incriminate me in something against the Klingons.” He looked from one to the other. “I have forged a friendship there, if they can destroy that it will break the treaty.”
V'Lar was silent for a moment, Commander Haines was doing a debriefing with the rest of the senior staff that were aboard and then of course there was Captain Pontmercy, this would need to go through them and likely the rest of the senior staff, this screamed the word 'big' and in any event there was a need to regroup and do some preliminary work "We need to talk to command" V'Lar said "As soon as Commander Haines is out of the debrief we need to talk to him and the Captain."
Talo almost tried to use his authority as a command officer but he stopped himself. He had never been one to throw that weight around and he wouldn’t start now. “If I could make a suggestion?”
"Of course sir." V'Lar said.
“I know the value of debriefing but if I were you I would contact Captain Pontmercy now. We can’t afford to waste time and risk they move my DNA. When I left it was on that planet. Every minute is time we can’t get back.”
V'Lar looked at Jude, the calculation going through her head that DNA sample had been taken at handover and there would be a reason why they needed it. she had a horrible feeling that something big and devastating was coming "I'll get a preliminary information pack together for the Captain if you bring him up to speed on the background?" she suggested to the security chief.
“I will do so immediately.” Jude replied with a nod. He had a feeling they would be heading. back, they had no time to lose.
"Ok then." V'Lar said, time to go and find a star ship she thought. "General unless Lieutenant Haines has any questions I think that concludes our conversation."
“I am good.” Jude said with a nod. “I would suggest that we find a different ship and possibly Commander Haines may know someone in the area that owes him a favor.”
"Let's hope." V'Lar said "Let's go set up that call then."
“Right.” Jude said to V’Lar as he stood and headed for the door. Never did he imagine when they left on this mission they would end up here.
V'Lar wasn't far behind Jude, standing she nodded her thanks to the General. The next few hours were certainly going to be interesting.
OFF:
Lieutenant Jude Haines
Security Chief
Starbase Obsidian
Lieutenant Junior Grade V'Lar
Chief Intelligence Officer
Starbase Obsidian
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