STF

Intel and the Gov

Posted May 5, 2021, 5:20 p.m. by Lieutenant Commander Nicholas James (Chief Star Fleet Intelligence Officer) (Sage Pennington)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Preston Longstreet (Chief of Star Fleet Security) in Intel and the Gov

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Nicholas James (Chief Star Fleet Intelligence Officer) in Intel and the Gov

Posted by Civilian Astrid Rousseau (Chief Justice) in Intel and the Gov
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
<snip>
Nicholas sighed. “I know I’m not the first. Nor am I likely to be the last. Nothing about any relationship to any attacks was ever proven. But your relationship to the Maquis isn’t exactly a secret. The same goes for your… associate, Nyx. Your mother helped you evade trial, and you brought Nyx along. Though you’ve never been proven guilty, one operative went missing whilst investigating you. You’re someone to be monitored Mr Hyrushi and the more antagonistic you are, the less friendly I will be in the future.” Nicholas smiled a sickly smile. “You see Mr Hyrushi, I don’t want to cause problems for your administration. I don’t want to harm you. If that second point changes, you’ll be the first and last to know. All I want, very simply, is to know how you came to be the Governor of OED V, who offered you the position, and did they know about your time in the DMZ? That’s it. Should be painless.”

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO

Hyrushi sipped his tea and sat in silence for a long moment. Finally, he said “Before I decide whether or not I will give you an answer, I have a question for you first. Tell me, Commander… did you research who wrote that report? Did you, as they say… ‘verify your source’?”

Hurushi, Governor

“I know the operative who compiled the report had a history of fabricating and falsifying evidence. Which is why I’m not terribly concerned with any accusations of sabotage.” Nicholas added some emphasis to the final word. “Those charges may be entirely false but a conviction was expected and it’s had intelligence… irritated for some time. And the nature of the charges does make me wonder how you came to be here. Most people would only read the report. Maybe see that it was written by a veteran. Curious, isn’t it?”

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO

“Indeed… but one would think that an organization, such as yours, who dealt with the unexpected on a regular basis would be less…irritated… when things went a direction they didn’t expect. But, who am I to say? Ive never been a spy.” and he took a drink.

Unless one of them has made any effort to manufacture that end Nicholas thought.

“Now, to your questions. My relationship to the Maquis was just that… a relationship. I wasn’t part of their organization, but yes… I did work with them. I negotiated on their behalf with both the Cardassians and the Federation. I also negotiated on behalf of the Federation with the Cardassians, the Cardassians with the Federation, the colonists with both of them and the Maquis. But none of that is in that report, is it? Yet, it is in the Federation Diplomatic Corps files. But your report doesn’t reference those reports. Because your report… and Indeed the diplomatic ones… leave off or choose to ignore one very important fact.” The calm demeanor of the Governor slowly faded and his face set into a hard visage.

“I didn’t give a damn about the Maquis, the Federation, or the Cardassians. I cared about the people caught in the middle. The ones who were starving because the Federation didn’t allow supply drops because the Cardassians held the territory they were in. The people whose homes had been destroyed by the Cardassians to root out Federation sympathizers. The orphans left out in the wild because the Maquis had destroyed the military base their parents were being held prisoner in. I worked for them.” He took a breath and the countenance of calm returned.

“I was not tried for anything because there simply wasn’t anything to try me for. And yes,, my mother had some influence in the matter… but so did more than a few diplomats from other Fededation worlds… including Earth, Vulcan, and Delta V. They also deemed my being tried a farce. As for how I placed here? It was by Federation Senate decree. They chose me for the job, ‘past indiscretions’ aside. And in accordance with Federation law, I am innocent until proven guilty. The fact that you just admitted that you are monitoring me, without any evidence or charges, leads me to believe that you are either a poor Intelligence officer or a simple lackey that has no real authority. Either way, I think that you may have started this conversation off without all the facts. So I will give one last chance to redeem yourself and salvage our little conversation here. Otherwise, I’m sure a man of your position has many things to attend to. You may either have some tea and we can talk like gentlemen… or you can get out. Your choice, Commander.”

Hyrushi, Governor

Nicholas nodded, thinking. “Thank you for your candor, Mr Hyrushi. Allow me to return the favor. As much as is possible. Monitoring you is common practice for a new high level official in a colony such as this. Especially one for whom there already exists a file. Why would I admit it? Because the gain of information is significantly more efficient this way. I could spend weeks combing through everything you say and do, or ten minutes speaking directly with you. Efficiency, sir, is the name of the game. As for your information… Once upon a time, I took everything I heard from intelligence seriously. But then I was exposed to other things. The universe is a stranger place than Starfleet Intelligence often gives it credit for. Often the best place to look for a fact” he pointed at the governor “is the source itself. As opposed to a report composed by an official.” He carefully placed his teacup back on the table, still as full as it had been when offered. “I can more easily corroborate what you said with evidence from the time than find anything in your current dealings. You see Mr Hyrushi, my business is to find answers. Now I have some.”

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO

A soft click click click sound emanated throughout the airy lobby space of the reception to the Governor’s office before being muffled by cushy carpet as the Head of the Judiciary approached the administrative assistant’s desk. She was, as always, impeccably dressed. Her choice for the day was a suit of burgundy. The jacket’s lapels and cuffs were tipped in a brighter burgundy red silk fabric to match the wrapping blouse beneath. The skirt was high waisted with a common slit up the back to allow her feet movement. Black suede heels were pretty but sensible, the heel itself thicker and stable and the toe capped in burgundy satin to match her suit. Her dark chocolate hair was up as always, though today she had not worn a hat. It was sleek and twisted in a complicated knot at the crown with soft tendrils framing her face. She held a briefcase and a PaDD.

“Astrid Rousseau here for the meeting with the Governor.” She had made the appointment soon after his arrival. The purpose of course, would be to brief him on all things going on in the colony’s justice system. Astrid knew she had arrived right on time. She wondered idly if he would like the changes she had made to the department since her own arrival two years prior. Little did she know, he was meeting with someone whom she had met two governors ago. To say she didn’t particularly like James would be the nice way to put it.

Rousseau, HotJ

The Deltan woman at the desk smiled warmly. “Chief Justice, right on time.” and a knowing smile spread across her face. Trussa had worked in the Government tower for some time. Of the many reasons Hyrushi selected her as his ‘gatekeeper’ - in addition to her intellect, charm, organization, and ability to deflect - was that she also was tapped into the rumor mill in a way that few others were. If there was drama, she knew it. If there was juicy gossip, she had it first. And those qualities she put to use for the new Governor. But here… here was an opportunity to hard to pass up. She knew there was a certain tension between the Chief Justice and the Commander who had so rudely dismissed her.
“The Governor had an unexpected arrival that was quite insistent on seeing him -” Trussa said politely, “- but you, of course, have an appointment. Please… go right on in.” and she gave the Chief Justice a smile that indicated she should be on her toes.

Curiosity had killed the cat they say, but she didn’t often see that as truth. The look on Trussa’s face was definitely enough to pique her curiosity and make her on her guard. There could be a wide variety of people who would demand to see the governor, but how many of those would Trussa let in? She simply nodded and opened the door to walk through.

The doors swung open to the office as Tressa buzzed the Governor with a text message. Hyrushi looked down and then up. “Commander, I hope you don’t mind. My next appointment has arrived.” and he stood up and smiled at the figure in the doorway.

Hyrushi, Governor

Her blue eyes immediately fell on Nicolas James, the CIO. He had been gone for some time, so her sources told her. Interesting that he chose now to return. Astrid could only speculate, but it didn’t bode well. James had a knack for trying to intimidate but only being successful in looking like a child… at least in her limited experience. She turned her gaze to the Governor, who smiled.

The Head of Justice returned the smile and adopted the light politeness the Governor had displayed upon seeing who had arrived. “Yes, you see, some people make appointments when they want to be seen.” She walked forward and set down her briefcase. “Oh I do hope Commander James hasn’t been too unpleasant sir. He seems to think that veiled threats and insinuations are the only way to get things done and you would hardly be the first Governor he would try those tactics on.”

She gave James a look that clearly said, bored with you and turned back to the Governor’s desk. “Oh, tea. May I have some?”

Rousseau, HotJ

Hyrushi pressed an icon on his desk and said “Chief Justice, so nice to see you again. And of course, to your inquiry about tea.” The doors opened and the same man as before brought in another cup on a tray. Hyrushi poured the Chief Justice a cup and said “Please, do be seated Your Honor.” and he sat as well.

“The good Commander and I were just discussing that very subject… manners and whatnot. But I will say that he has been most polite and diplomatic.” and he gave a nod to James.

Hyrushi, Governor

She took the cup offered and went to have a seat, obviously comfortable despite her previous negative encounter with James and the fact she was speaking to her new boss. Astrid rarely felt intimidated by anyone when she was doing her job. Her brow did raise in surprise as Hyrushi corrected her assumption that Nicholas James was anything other than polite and diplomatic. Her dark blue eyes glanced his way as she took a sip of the excellent tea. She needed to get the name of it from the new Governor so that she could put it in her rotation of teas.

“Yes. We were having a very pleasant and productive conversation.” Nicholas said, thinking now that’s out the window. He had no particular like or dislike for Astrid, but more people was more variables, more variables was a problem. There might be more on the table, but it’d be hard to get. It was difficult to say what Astrid might know.

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO

“I am glad to hear that Commander James has been better behaved.” She gave him a curious look and then in an obviously light hearted and teasing tone, spoke directly to him. “Perhaps you have learned manners while you were away from us?”

Astrid, HotJ

“There has been a paradigm shift.” Nicholas said, refusing to be more specific. The way he had been was a matter of training. Things changed. “You’ll forgive me cutting the line to see the governor. Upon my return, it was urgent I verify some facts with him.”

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO

“I’ll leave you two to your meeting then.” Nicholas rose. “Pleasure to meet you Governor. Good seeing you again Chief Justice.”

Areal and Ground surveillance began on James the minute he left the Government Building. Longstreet monitored it passively in his office in the Security Building on the planet. He was scheduled to go to the Starport and that is where he also hoped to lure James for an interrogation for the actions described to him by Apollonia. Intel were not the only ones who could make people disappear he thought. However he knew that was probably not an option.

Longstreet

As Nicholas walked away from the government building, something felt off. Someone behind him, walking when he walked, stopping when he stopped. Alright. There are two likely options here. I’m being tailed by my own division, or someone else has placed surveillance on me in the last few hours. I’m betting on the second, but the first is possible. How to find out? He walked. And kept walking. He tried to disappear into a crowd for a moment so he could get close to the person tailing him.

When he caught them he said “Hi there. Where you off to?”

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO


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