"The La Forge Array"

Prologue:

In the darkened office a man, dressed all in black, sat at a desk. His face, seen only in silhoutte, was completely obscured. He scrolled through a service record being displayed on a PaDD.

A young Starfleet officer stepped just inside the door. "Reporting as ordered," he stated quietly.

"Come in. I'm afriad I don't have time to offer you a drink. Please, sit."

The officer obeyed, taking the chair opposite the man. "What are the orders?" he asked simply.

"Starfleet Intelligence reports a possible Romulan infiltration. Starfleet is in the midst of a highly classified project, one that will greatly increase our ability to gather intelligence on neighboring systems. There is a high probablity of a Romulan agent posing as one of the engineers. You are ordered to identify the Romulan agent."

"And then?" asked the timid officer.

"Kill him," the man simply stated.

After a moment of silence he continued. "You will also be tasked with installing a component that will allow us to tap into the array's systems. It is much too powerful a device for us not to utilize it."

The officer sat quietly for a few seconds contemplating these unexpected orders. "What's my cover?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"You'll be briefed on the way. We need to get you to Starbase 257 as soon as possible. Good luck."

The officer nodded and said nothing as he stood from the chair. The task was simple enough. Afterall, it wouldn't be the first time he'd been ordered to kill.

**********

The cargo hold on Starbase 257 was a blur of activity as a sea of officers in engineering gold traipsed in and out of the rows of cargo containers. An excited looking Ensign stood scanning a container chattering away to an officer opposite her.

"Third inventory scan since we've been here. Someone's paranoid," she said in a sing-song voice.

"It is standard procedure when dealing with a project of this magnitude, Ensign." Said a voice behind her. Lt. Cmdr. Saletek, the project lead, continued. "Overlooking something could be disastrous."

"Yes, Sir," Ensign Mayfair responded as the Vulcan moved away.

"At least this is the last time. We'll be off the project in a few hours. Ah, well, it was fun while it lasted."

"It may be your last time," said the Zaldan Lt. she'd been speaking to, "but I will have to do another inventory once we've transferred the cargo to the Draco."

"You've been selected to join the team?" the Ensign asked, ignoring her scans.

"Yes," he simply stated.

"Damn it, I wanted that post," the Ensign said in a huff. "To actually be able to work with Geordi La Forge, I mean, I would kill for that assignment."

For the second time that day, Ensign Mayfair failed to see the Vulcan Commander as he approached behind her once more. "It seems highly illogical to commit murder in order to be selected for a desired post."

The three officers looked back and forth at one another. "Besides, Ensign," said the Vulcan breaking the silence, "I think you'll find you've been selected for the project as well. And you didn't even have to kill anyone." The Ensign swore she saw a smirk on the Vulcan's face as he walked away.

"Looks, like we'll be together a while longer, Lt. Tryder," said the Ensign with a very excited grin.

The Zaldan appeared annoyed. "I'm not sure I am able contain my excitement," he stated, not bothering to mask the sarcasm.

"Just finish your scans," she quipped with a smile, returning her attention back to her tricorder.

-OZ