Day 01 [1000 hrs.] Do You Speak Spy?

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Day 01 [1000 hrs.] Do You Speak Spy? | The Inside Man, P1

May 14, 2019, 03:20:14 PM

There were still hours left before Captain Ives could speak with Martok, but at least the Senior Staff meeting had gone well, along with the first meeting with their new hosts at Aldea. Whatever could be said about Radue and the Klingon General, they were quite transparent about their opinions, which Jien much preferred compared to to having to doubt their word at every turn. Then again, it was too early to tell if they had any ulterior motives. For the time being, he was about to give them the benefit of the doubt. After all, the High Chancellors will when it came to the Theurgy had become quite clear - something that had been evident in their hospitality.

The next scheduled meeting had been cancelled, so Jien looked over the messages for a replacement task to handle. His oaken eyes settled on the ambiguous message about a Lieutenant Petterson who carried a message for him alone, and he frowned, wondering what it might be. Little detail was given to the circumstances, the civilian named Sera vers Aldnoah mentioned in the attached information, and Jien made his decision.

"Thea, would you please summon Junior Lieutenant Donna Petterson to my Ready Room, please?"

[Aye, Captain,] came Thea's reply, and Jien rose to his feet.

While he waited, he brought the PADD with the short message and read over the notes belonging to it again, standing in front of the viewport, which overlooked the sunlit surface of Aldea, far below Vector 1. Now and again, a yellow worker bee sped past outside, moving between different hull sections that were in need for repair.

Re: SD 57558.73: Do You Speak Spy?

Reply #1 – May 17, 2019, 05:03:16 PM

[ Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Outside Captain’s Ready Room | Deck 01 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Lieutenant Junior Grade hadn’t been expecting the summons to speak with Captain Ives when Thea’s voice had sounded off in her quarters. She had been sitting on her bed, staring out the window at the Aldean space beyond as she had a bite for breakfast. She still hadn’t heard from Isel yet, but Thea had kept her up to date with her wingmate’s condition. A part of her was worried that Isel had finally decided that Donna wasn’t worth the strain and that there were others that would be better for her. Donna had caught sight of the male Vulpinian that rumour said had returned from the dead.

During the night they had docked at the Aldean shipyards though Donna had slept through the procedure as the prior day’s events finally caught up with her. She had attempted to take a turbolift straight to Deck 01 but had quickly discovered that the Theurgy was in MVAM so that all three vectors could be accessed for complete repairs. So instead she had headed for a transporter room for a site-to-site transport.

And now she stood in the corridor outside the Captain’s ready room, wondering what the outcome of the meeting would be. Would she be believed? Accepted? Locked Up? Or disavowed? As places go, Aldea certainly wasn’t the worst place she could end up. Plenty of options where to go next if she needed to. But that was then. She had to deal with now first.

With a PADD held in her hand, scrubbed, wiped and then preloaded with the message she had been ordered to deliver to none other than Captain Jien Ives, Donna entered the yeoman’s office where she was immediately directed into the captain’s ready room.

“Lieutenant Junior Grade Donna Petterson reporting as order, sir.”

Re: SD 57558.73: Do You Speak Spy?

Reply #2 – May 21, 2019, 08:35:47 PM

[ Captain Ives | CO Ready Room | Deck 01 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Stegro88
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When the woman entered, Jien turned from the viewport and greeted her with a small smile. "Welcome, Lieutenant, please have a seat."

With the PADD still in his hand, Jien stepped towards the desk. "So, having read the reports, I am given to understand that you defected from the Black Wolves Squadron together with your wingmate, Ensign Isel Nix, as well as the flight crews of four Valravn fighters. Thank you for choosing to aid in the mission, and I am sorry I could not see you sooner. I just came aboard myself, as you may have heard."

Pausing, Jien soon raised the PADD. "As far as I have determined, you did not chose to come aboard because of old squad allegiances - which was largely the case with the former White Wolves - but because of some kind of mission. A mission, which involved a message directly to me - personally - and you took this assignment of delivering it very seriously."

Jien seated himself, his oaken eyes resting on the dark-haired pilot. "The civilian from the SS Sabine - Sera vers Aldnoah - and Lieutenant A'vura have not given me conclusive reports. In the former case, because she isn't a Starfleet officer, and in the latter case, because she was killed in action. I was, however, sent a message from Sera which I could not open, and she claimed she got it from you. Pray tell, is this the message you mean to deliver... and what can you tell me about your assignment?"

The unspoken question was, of course, Who sent you?

Re: SD 57558.73: Do You Speak Spy?

Reply #3 – May 27, 2019, 04:25:15 PM

[ Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Outside Captain’s Ready Room | Deck 01 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Despite being briefed on Captain Jien Ives, both by her former boss at Starfleet Intelligence and by a data packet authorised by Admiral Sankolov while aboard the Dauntless, Donna found herself unsure quite how to proceed as she listened to her new commanding officer’s summary of the events that brought her to the Theurgy.

“Clear and concise. Exceptionally little wiggle room to alter or adjust facts to suit my needs if I was of a mind too. Well played Captain,” Donna thought as she appraised the Chameloid. “And of course, there are the additional questions of why I was sent, am I a threat to this ship and most importantly, who sent me?”

“Thank you, sir, but I will stand for the moment if I may,” Donna acknowledged. It could have been taken as a sign of exerting strength or a desire to have a quick escape if needed but to Donna, it was simply a personality quirk where she preferred to be debriefed while standing. And for all intents and purposes, that was exactly what this was going to be; a debriefing. “And you are welcome sir, not that I know what your mission is. My sole purpose for seeking to come aboard this vessel was to deliver the message that I am carrying and that I can only assume you also hold a copy of; provided this Sera vers Aldnoah. I did this knowing the cost that it would exert upon me. And I say that, so that you can understand the gravity of the message I carry.”

“I was reassigned to the USS Dauntless from the Jadestone following the battle at Starbase 84. The Dauntless’ TacConn department had taken severe losses and I was chosen as a replacement, as was Ensign Nix and several others. Several hours after my arrival, I received a coded subspace message on a secure channel that I had not used in almost half a decade,” Donna began to explain. “The message it contained spoke of a potential threat to the stability of Starfleet, the Federation and the quadrant as a whole. I was then given a choice to accept a highly suicidal mission that could prevent this threat from developing. Trusting the source of this message, I accepted the mission.”

“My mission was to, at my own discretion, gain access to this vessel so as to deliver a message to you, in person. That part was quite specific. Deliver to you, in person,” Donna continued. “I do not know what this message contains. However, given the circumstances and methods that were suggested to me in the briefing packet, along with what I have learned since coming aboard, I would hazard a guess that the message within contains information related to this parasitic threat that you discovered.”

“And to your unasked question, sir,” Donna added calmly, staring at the Captain. “My mission originated from the Head of Starfleet Intelligence’s Covert Operations Department.”

Re: SD 57558.73: Do You Speak Spy?

Reply #4 – June 02, 2019, 04:57:50 PM

[ Captain Ives | CO Ready Room | Deck 01 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Stegro88
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Sitting there in his chair and gauging the words of the pilot standing in front of his desk, Ives was able to determine a number of things, even though a lot of questions remained. It was the last revelation, however, that held the most implications - of course - and it made him frown in thought.

On one hand the Head of Covert Ops in Starfleet Intelligence was not the highest ranking officer among those in that clandestine organisation - one that Ives had been a part of many years ago. It seemed - based on experience and what little dubious intel could be gleaned from Doctor Nicander's 'visions', that the number of Infested were far lower than anticipated. Key individuals, selected by unknown method and possessed in what Nicander had described to Counselor Ejek as some kind of abduction to another plane of existence. The likelihood that this officer in SI was not one among them was relatively high, but there was no way of knowing for certain. The next thing that did stand our most - aside from the position of the pilot's old affiliate - was the timing of her assignment.

After the false simulcast, or more accurately, the missive in which the true message had been hidden for all but a select few... that Jona Rez had hand-picked to be trusted with the truth. That certainly spoke in favour of this message being genuine, and of a nature that would not trigger some kind of subspace tracking algorithm.

What wasn't favourable, however, was how all this would imply that Edena Rez' - and therefore Jona Rez' - superior officer was the sender of the message. The same Head of Covert Operations that had sent Edena to spy on the Theurgy crew, and be prepared to destroy Thea, the prototype Valkyrie fighters, the Allegiant and the rest of Thea, if the ship were to end up in enemy hands. This individual that had sent the message would have sent Edena to kill them all if the threat to the ship's integrity had seemed compromised. Ives problem with this, besides the obvious, was that he had not trusted an officer posing as a counselor to know the odds of such a situation. Edena Rez had not infiltrated the ship in a position that would have let her make that call.

Of this, Jien spoke naught, but he leaned back a little in his chair, one hand on the armrest while he studied the human. "I may hold a copy of the message, sent by the civilian, but as she so informed me, you are the one holding the encryption key. So, the message has no value to me unless I let Thea spend more time than I care for to unlock it - knowing that such a method of accessing the data would corrupt the contents as a fail-safe as well. So please, at your leisure..."

Jien reached forward with his free hand, and turned the computer console around on the desktop, and slowly pushed it over to the Lieutenant. On the screen was the encryption seal input window, which waited for Donna's code.

"I am not sure what your orders are in regard to you hearing this message as well, so please, - in accordance with what you've been instructed - stay or leave after you've given me access. Thea has already scanned the data for any locator routines, so I am confident opening it won't give away the Theurgy's location. As much I felt needed, given the delicate nature of these matters."

OOC: Please, create this NPC in your next post, giving name and rank etc. when introducing the character to the story.

Re: SD 57558.73: Do You Speak Spy?

Reply #5 – June 05, 2019, 03:27:42 PM

[ Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Outside Captain’s Ready Room | Deck 01 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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"Sir, my orders are completed the moment I unlock the message for you. I received no instructions one way or another regarding my viewing but if it is acceptable to you, I would like to stay and find out what I risked my life, and that of Isel Nix’s, to deliver to you. Especially given the cost that has already been paid.”

Donna waited to see if the Captain would deny her request but he remained unmoved in his seat so she took that as acceptance. Reaching forward, Donna thought over what her instructions had been. She had been directed that the unlock code was the nickname for her most successful alias. That was, hands down, Maxine ‘Max’ Gentry. Donna loved and hated Max. Max could do anything she wanted and didn’t care about the consequences unless they directly affected her. But by that same description, she hated how callous she was when she was Max, and becoming Max was easy. Too easy.

Typing in the name that she had directed that Isel should remember in case Donna had died, the pilot sat back and watched as the message when through its decryption protocols.

“Greetings Captain Jien Ives. I’m not sure if you remember me, we only met once while you served under my predecessor. At any rate, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rear Admiral Joseph Nerva Anderson and I am the Head of Starfleet Intelligence’s Covert Operations Department,” said the man on the screen that Donna recognised as her old mentor. Although, seeing him now, the intervening years had not been kind to him.

“I’m sure you are wondering, given past events, why I have decided to send this message to you now by way of Lieutenant Petterson,” Admiral Anderson continued without pause. “Well, for operational safety reasons, let’s just say that recent events have helped to clarify a number of bits and pieces of information and coalesce them into a believable reason for why the Federation’s newest, most advanced starship, crewed by some of the finest to ever wear the uniform, decided to go rogue.”

“It has been reported that you had defected to the Romulans, and yet you have remained within Federation space when you could have easily made it to Romulus many times over,” the Admiral pointed out. “Would you like to know why I believe that is Captain Ives?”

Re: SD 57558.73: Do You Speak Spy?

Reply #6 – June 09, 2019, 11:01:12 AM

[ Captain Ives | CO Ready Room | Deck 01 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Stegro88
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"I can sympathise with that. Please, stay, for I might need your second opinion on the contents as well, Lieutenant."

After the fighter pilot typed out the encryption key, the message started to play, and instead of turning the computer console back towards himself, Jien rose to his feet and walked around the desk. Coming up next to the standing Lieutenant, he reached down and put in a command that transferred message to the viewport that overlooked the surface of Aldea. The phosphors of the thick transparent aluminium alloy shifted to make it a screen, and the face of the Rear Admiral filled it. The message was still played on the computer console, the feed only duplicated to the bigger screen.

Frowning, Ives approached the bigger screen and looked at that face. He fell back on his old training, trying to see any signs of a counterfeit hologram recording, to see if there was any obvious signs of the speaking person being fake. There was naught to be found, but he'd ask Thea to verify that with a deeper data diagnostic than just going by his own ocular assessment. The message itself was, however, promising in its initial premise, sounding like Admiral Anderson - if it was him - actually believed Ives and his crew to be innocent.

As the message continued, Jien stroked his chin in thought, and shifted... to her female form, because her morphogenic matrix still felt stiff and leaded after her captivity. She cocked a hip where she stood before the screen, gratified that at least someone back home had analysed the Theurgy's flight from another perspective than that which the FNN told the Federation. The explanation in the news - and likely on official Starfleet channels - was that the erratic path was a direct consequence of Admiral Sankolov's brilliant tactics and fleet deployment, heroically keeping the rogue ship from reaching Romulan space. Something which Ives could but shake her head to.

Re: SD 57558.73: Do You Speak Spy?

Reply #7 – June 09, 2019, 01:50:04 PM

[ Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Outside Captain’s Ready Room | Deck 01 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Donna had listened as the Admiral had spoken; the recorded message being played simultaneously on the console she had used to unlock it as well as a larger screen Captain Ives had activated after rounding the table to stand next to her. He didn’t sound any different and still had a penchant for getting to the point in a roundabout way. But there was still something, hidden, elusive. Like there was a weight to his words that couldn’t be seen.

“For some time now, I have been aware of, irregularities, in how Starfleet, and in some cases, the Federation, has been operating. A ship told to avoid this area at the last moment or that project suddenly given priority for no reason,” the Admiral explained, describing events without being specific. For brevity, Donna assumed. “I had tried to discreetly look into these events as I became aware of them but I only obtained more questions than answers. Nothing made sense.”

“And then the Theurgy ran. I still do not know the specifics as to why you ran, Captain, and not for lack of trying. I was blocked at every junction in obtaining a reason, fed the same line that you were defecting to the Romulans,” Anderson continued. “At first, I couldn't believe it. It was completely out of character for those on board. That, was something I could confirm thanks to the presence of an operative of mine that was stationed on the Theurgy. I believe you would have known her as Azani Mikahl, although her real name was Edena Rez.”

“Rez,” Donna noted silently. “That is Amelya’s symbiont’s name. No wonder she is different.”

“I had initially assumed her secondary mission of safeguarding the Theurgy's prototype technology to be a failure, especially in the immediate aftermath of the confrontation at Starbase 84 and your simulcast,” Anderson went on, his voice having remained unchanged since he had begun speaking. “But I have been burned before by assuming the first thing I see or hear is the truth. It was some hours following the battle and your transmission that I received a second transmission. One that had been skilfully hidden within the first so as to remain undetected. I don’t know who else, if anyone, received it nor would I tell you if I knew.”

“But, suffice it to say that the received message from Jona Rez proved to be enlightening viewing and helped to put things into perspective. After some alternative verification of things, I set a plan in motion to try and get in contact with you so that we could have a more direct means of communication. If you are viewing this message, then that plan has succeeded and I hope the both Lieutenant Petterson and those she recruited are alive and well,” Anderson expressed. “Donna, if you are seeing this, please inform whomever you recruited that I would never had carried out my threats towards them but that desperate times have called for desperate measures and I had to give you the best chance available to succeed. As I said, the fate of the Federation could very well be in the balance.”

“Captain, as they say, the ball is now in your court. At the end of this message are the frequency and unlock codes for a concealed data buoy that I have set up. No one but you and myself will have access to this buoy,” the admiral revealed. “The buoy, as Lieutenant Petterson will be able to corroborate, will enable us to leave messages for the other party to receive without revealing their location. The very nature of the buoy prevents the tracking of the message’s origin. To do so would expose the buoy’s location.”

“I hope you will take the opportunity to contact me Captain. I understand that it is a lot to consider and that you will need time to think about everything I have said and to consult with your staff,” Anderson went on. “But, I cannot wait forever. If I have not received a message from the Theurgy by stardate 57610 then I will assume that either Lieutenant Petterson failed in her mission or that you are refusing to contact me. Either way, the buoy will self-destruct and I will continue on my own path. From that point on, I will have to consider the Theurgy as just a much a threat as any other that I may find.”

“I sincerely hope that that will not be the case, Captain Ives,” Admiral Anderson finished before pressing a button on his desk to end the transmission. As he had stated in his message, the frequency and unlock codes appeared on the screen as Donna thought about everything that she had heard.

“Nice to know that he would never have carried through with his threat,” Donna said to herself as she waited for the Captain, now in her female form and very near the same height as her, to react to what they had seen and heard. “I doubt that is going to make Isel feel any better but I can at least tell her.”

Off the top of her head though, she could think of a number of ways that the Admiral could help the Theurgy in their cause. From resupply drops for hard to obtain components and munitions to the potential for crew replacements or for crew wanting to leave to be given new identities, like she had been given, so that they could return to a semi-normal life. At the very least, the Admiral should be able to get secure messages sent from the crew to their families delivered safely although that always ran the risk of the crew’s own family giving them up.

“As I understand it, we have a period of safe harbour here at Aldea and we don’t want to expose that until the ship has completed repairs; at the very least,” Donna thought. “Messages would have to be checked for incriminating or revealing data before they were transmitted. There would still be a risk but it could be mitigated to some extent. Although, none of this is my decision.”

Re: SD 57558.73: Do You Speak Spy?

Reply #8 – June 13, 2019, 11:39:14 AM

[ Captain Ives | CO Ready Room | Deck 01 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Stegro88
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Having pondered the message from Andersson, Jien turned her head towards the fighter pilot, wondering what she might be thinking. As for herself, she considered opportunities, and what a possible first reply would contain, as well as when it ought to be sent if that buoy had been compromised, or the Admiral infested with a parasite after the clever message had been crafted. It was apparent that Andersson was thinking along the same lines, making it clear that he could not risk the message leading back to him either.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," said Ives and set her step towards the fighter pilot. She extended her hand to shake hers. "Your efforts to complete your mission has opened up possibilities for me and my crew - gaining an external asset in Admiral Andersson back on Earth. If he can be trusted, he might even be our eyes and ears in Starfleet Headquarters. This, not even mentioning what he could directly do to sustain the Theurgy's mission once she leaves these shipyards. Like you, the Admiral might even have other former operatives or Starfleet officers that can be sent here, and replenish our numbers after the battle with the Borg Queen. All in good time, of course."

This, inevitably, led to Lieutenant Petterson's fate.

"It would be our privilege if you could stay aboard now that your mission is complete, and fly with the Lone Wolves. We sorely need pilots, and it would be a shame to loose one who could carry a message so far, and who's loyalty to Andersson's and our mission made you openly defect from Sankolov's forces. I realise.... that your actions may have undermined any kind of possibility to return to the ignorant in Starfleet... but be that as it may, you should feel that your place here is not a fact of circumstance, but that we want you here."

Needless to say, Jien was impressed with the former SFI operative, and grateful that she'd pulled through despite everything hurled at her since she departed Starbase 84.

Re: SD 57558.73: Do You Speak Spy?

Reply #9 – June 20, 2019, 01:44:53 PM

[ Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Outside Captain’s Ready Room | Deck 01 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Donna had remained unmoving as the Captain spoke to her, and to one degree or another, seemed to be thinking along similar lines as she was. With the Admiral on the outside, they might possibly have a conduit for resupply and information that they didn’t have before. It would be difficult, and incredibly dangerous but, with the right precautions, it was possible.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Donna acknowledged gratefully. Truthfully, her options were now extremely limited. If she decided to leave the Theurgy, her life, however much remained of it, would forever be spent looking over her shoulder. She’d never step foot on one of the central planets of the Federation; her appearance and identity would, by now, be flagged as a fugitive. And they wouldn’t even need to invent any charges. She’d deserted her post, committed treason and sided with declared traitors and renegades. If she wasn’t on the Theurgy then she would be exiled to the fringes of existence. “At the moment, ma’am, I’ll take you up on the offer to stay. I have no other place to go without some form of preparation or risk of exposure.”

“But, if I may ma’am, I do have a suggestion and an offer,” Donna began respectfully. “I’d suggest replying to the Admiral from the Allegiant, after taking it for at least a 2-day trip at its maximum sustainable warp factor. A message sent from 5 light-years away is much harder to identify the origin of. As to my offer, I worked extensively as an undercover operative for 5 years; establishing several identities, some of which should still be viable. I may be rusty and some of my contacts may no longer be active, or even alive. But, if it can help in some way, I would be willing to reassume those identities and reach out to their former associates if required.”

Re: SD 57558.73: Do You Speak Spy?

Reply #10 – June 24, 2019, 10:04:38 PM

[ Captain Ives | CO Ready Room | Deck 01 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Stegro88
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Jien nodded when the former SFI operative offered to stay, sharing her spoken and unsaid concerns about her wellbeing should she try to head out on her own - the defection of the Black Wolves a bloody affair and known by the entirety of Admiral Sankolov's fleet. It would not be long until her name was just as stained as Ives' and the rest of his crew. Sankolov and the rest of the Infested were going to great lengths to smear those who were anywhere close to knowing the truth about Starfleet Command.

Then, she made suggestions for how to approach the Rear Admiral, and her reasoning was sound. Ives and the Senior Staff would have to decide upon the matter, but the Lone Wolf seemed to have her head on her shoulders, and he'd take her suggestion with him when he let the Senior Staff see the message as well. It would likely be in the afternoon.

"Thank you kindly," he said to her when she offered to use her old aliases to further the mission, but the offer was hard to answer immediately. "Of course this would be interesting, but it is difficult for me to make any firm suggestions towards that end without knowing what aliases you've used and in which areas of this part of the Quadrant you have operated in, so I suggest you submit a report with the kind of information that you are confident to share. I am aware that some of the information you hold may end up hurting innocent people if it leaked to the wrong people, so I will not hold it against you if you decide to hold some facts close to heart in such a report."

Whether or not this knowledge might have told the Lone Wolf that Ives knew a lot more about working in Starfleet Intelligence than many other officers she'd encountered, Ives didn't mind, just giving the woman a faint, knowing smile, before he stepped back towards his seat. "You've done us all a great service already, Lieutenant, and after I know what you can do besides your duties in your cockpit, you may be able to do even more. Dismissed for now..." he said, and leaned back in his seat, "but I have a feeling we'll speak again soon."

After the Senior Staff had said their part, the Allegiant was likely due to launch as soon as possible, so that they might reach out and speak with their new inside man behind enemy lines.

- FIN