Monitoring

Posted on Sun Jul 1, 2018 @ 6:18pm by Lieutenant Commander Alex Rho & Commodore Michael Aravan & Lieutenant JG Jacob Hartley & Master Chief Petty Officer Thomas Barnes & Valasa Caenala
Edited on on Sun Jul 1, 2018 @ 6:20pm

Mission: Falling Star
Location: Intel
Timeline: MD 34 || 1130 Hours

Tom had a few things to take care of before reporting to Intelligence and take up Lieutenant Rho's request to work with their signals analysis department and keep a close eye on communications and activity in the sector. The gravity wave generators he'd installed prior to entering Romulan space were still functioning optimally, and there hadn't been any cloaked vessels to detect just yet.

He did know, however, that a twenty-light year radius was quite large and impossible to detect everything, at least not without a thorough, active scan. Such scans would immediately arose suspicion, so that was certainly not an option.

Finished with his duties, and delegating everything else to Ensign sh'Paveress, Tom entered the turbolift and directed it to Intel Country.

"State your authorization code," the computer requested.

Tom wasn't surprised at the challenge, and simply replied, "Computer, recognize Master Chief Petty Officer Barnes, Thomas. Authorization code Barnes Gamma Epsilon Nine Bravo Hotel."

"Authorization not valid. Please state a new destination," the computer intoned.

"Not valid?" Tom asked aloud. "I've got permission from the Chief of Intelligence!" Of course, he had no idea how to prove it.

The turbolift came to a stop and the computer stated. "Please state authorization."

He sighed, reaching for his combadge to give it a tap. Perhaps he should have asked before trying to do this. "Barnes to Lieutenant Rho. I'm ready to meet and start the monitoring process. I'm trying to come down to intel, if that's all right." He hoped he didn't have to state the predicament he currently was in.

Alex smiled and tapped his combadge. "Rho here, just a moment Master Chief." He closed the channel and spoke. "Computer, allow Master Chief Thomas Barnes access to Deck Forty-Four via turbolift. Authorization, Rho-zeta-four-zero-gamma-gamma-two." Rho waited for the momentary confirmation and then nodded. He tapped his combadge, "Rho to Barnes, you should be good now."

"Computer, Deck Forty-Four," Tom instructed the turbolift. After a moment of processing it began to move. Replying back over the comms, Tom said, "Thanks, Lieutenant. See you in a moment."

"Understood," replied Alex. "See you then." He leaned back in his office chair and looked at Jacob. "Do you remember the first time you exited that turbolift and came to this door?"

Jacob looked at Alex. "I think so. Didn't I end up being stuck outside, and then got transported into the secure interrogation chamber?" He asked, with a look that showed he hadn't forgotten it.

Alex nodded and then half grinned at Jacob's look. "Yeah, you did. Hopefully something like that doesn't happen again. SI security protocols...love 'em or hate 'em."

After what felt like an eternity, the turbolift came to a stop on Deck Forty-Four. The doors did not immediately open, and when they finally did, Tom couldn't find himself surprised that he wasn't deposited into a corridor, but rather what seemed to be the lobby of an office complex. Even as Chief Operations Officer he wasn't privy to the activities that happened down here, other than the power consumption and redirection of resources as required.

Chief Barnes spotted a person behind the only desk in the room, and it wasn't Lieutenant Rho. Seeing no other option, Tom approached the individual. "Chief Barnes to see Lieutenant Rho."

Priscilla, Alex's receptionist, looked up when Tom came and and gave him a smile. "He's expecting you, Master Chief," she said and pointed at what looked like the wall. While she did that, her other hand tapped a button on her desk and a doorway appeared on it. "Go right on in."

"Thanks," Tom said, moving past the reception area and into the open doorway. This place was certainly incredible, and Tom knew that he was only scratching the surface. It was highly doubtful he'd be able to move further beyond this point, and that was probably for the best. No one cared what a Master Chief knew anyway.

Alex closed the projection that had shown Tom walking into the reception area just as the door to his office opened. "Welcome, Master Chief. I'm glad you checked in for authorization before trying to get here. The result if you hadn't would have been a most unpleasant experience."

"I can imagine," mused Tom, looking around the room. "Though I'm sure it would have been embarrassing for more than one of us, nor would I really enjoy what might have happened."

"Oh I have no doubt about that," Alex replied, casting a quick glance to Jacob. "Please, have a seat for minute. I don't know if you've had the opportunity to meet my Assistant Intel Chief, but this is Jacob Hartley."

Tom swore he could have met Jacob before, but it escaped him. Maybe it was his Assistant Chief, Ensign sh'Paveress, who'd worked more with him, and she'd certainly let Tom know about it. He offered Jacob a nod of greeting, and noted that Lieutenant Rho had addressed his assistant by name, not rank. "A pleasure, sir," he said, not really knowing what else to say.

"Likewise, Chief." Jacob said, returning the rank. "And please, call me Jacob." He added.

"Lieutenant, we're picking up a transmission from the ship to the surface," an Ensign said. "It looks like they're using Enigma Encoding on basic settings, rotor I, II and III, Umkehrwalze B, Grundstellung A, Ringstellung A, and Standard plug board configuration."

Alex looked over. "Enigma Encoding...interesting. Run it through the Decryption Center. And...wait. From the ship? Exactly where on this ship?"

The Ensign worked at her console for a moment. "It's coming from the Communications Center, Sir," she said. "Ambassador Caenala's authorization is the initiator."

"The Communications Center?" Tom asked. "Why would the Ambassador use such a place when the comfort of her quarters would do?"

"That's a very good question, Master Chief," said Alex. "When I spoke with her in the VIP quarters, she proposed that the room was...'bugged'...as they say. Maybe she thought the ship's Communications Center would be safe from Starfleet Intelligence."

The Ensign processed the Enigma Encoding through Intel's Decryption Center. The Center had root patterns of every encryption program know to Starfleet and the Federation. Especially those used by the Romulans since the splintering of the Empire. Such intel was a bit easier to gain. Granted, there was a very good chance that some of them would not work due to the constant rotation or disuse. But many of them still would and the computer could determine that quickly. After about a minute, the Decryption Center had analyzed the structure and cross referenced with Starfleet Intelligence records. A slight 'ping' indicated that the process was finished. "Shall we see what the Ambassador has to say? Or rather, hear?"

The Operations Chief nodded, though he was certainly acting well above his paygrade in a department that wasn't his.

'...understand you, Caenala," a male voice was saying. "And the dead man's switch is in place."

"Good," came the voice of the Romulan Ambassador. "We can't afford for the so-called independent worlds to remain apart from the Romulan Republic. The Federation will court them."

"When the second and third bombs go off, it will make the Federation look like the idiots they are," the male said. "Are you sure this is secure?'

"Very," Caenala replied. "They'll never get through the encryption that I put up and I claimed diplomatic immunity when they tried to get my access codes. The look on Captain Weisz's face was priceless when the Commodore caved to that."

Tom considered those words as he stood there. He had, with Alex's help, set some traps on the bridge to obtain a copy of the ambassador's credentials should they be needed. And, while he was no intelligence operative, he was smart enough to think that something wasn't right here. "Wait," he said. "She's using a public area to make declarations like that? I have a feeling she knows she's being monitored."

"That's a very good possibility," replied Alex. "If that's the case, this could be an entirely different situation. We would need to go at it from both angles."

"Should we take this information seriously," supposed Tom, "we would have to take the ambassador into custody, but it wouldn't stop the terrorists, and it would make them harder to find. And, if we're being baited, we can expect that someone is hoping to pin something on the Federation."

"Are we sure it's the ambassador making the call?" Jacob asked, frowning. "It wouldn't be difficult to mask a voice pattern, or even a scan. I know it's a stretch, but it could be someone trying to frame the ambassador." Jacob said. "Either that, or the Ambassador is trying to alert us. Romulan's are, in fact, very careful and trained to be deceptive. Could be she knows what we're looking for, and is trying to help us without asking for our help. Romulan's can be a proud people, more so after the loss of their homeworld. Asking for help...it's always been something of an impossibility for them."

After everything they'd been through, Tom couldn't buy the idea that the Ambassador was silently crying out for Federation help. "Well, we do have security cameras," he said, stepping forward to enter a command to pull up a feed from the communications center. "Or, we can just walk up there and just talk to the woman. She's already in a public area, so it's not like we'd be violating any personal space issues."

Alex pondered what both men had said. "I've been in her mind. She seems typical Romulan; methodical and purposeful. Plus," he pulled up her Starfleet Intelligence profile on a PADD and slid it over to Jacob, "she's former Tal Shiar. The only one she's helping is herself." He turned to Barnes. "Let's look at that Security feed and see if she's even in there."

Tom nodded, leaning in to tap a few controls. While his personal clearance hadn't earned him access to the Intelligence center, his clearance still worked on the security feeds. The screen flashed, changing to a view from the ceiling, revealing the Ambassador still seated at the station. "Looks like she's not in a hurry to go anywhere," he commented.

Whoever Caenale was talking to was quiet for a moment. "The runabouts are on the way?"

"Within thirty minutes," Caenale responded. "Is everyone in place?"

"Of course and prepared. Be ready to beam out in one hour."

Alex watched and listened. "Well, we have more information now and it's confirmed that it is the Ambassador." Alex shook his head. "A dead man's switch, her involvement with the bombing and more to come, and an attempt to beam out. But the question is, what are they prepared for with the runabouts? We can't afford to lose the lives of our crew. Period. But to some Romulan plot of keeping what's left of the Empire together, no."

"I don't know," Tom said. "It all still sounds too easy. Again, I'm no intelligence or security expert, but my gut is telling me this is some sort of set up. We're damned if we do something, and damned if we don't."

"I agree," said Alex. "But we have to do something. And the first step is to notify the Commodore. Heneeds to be aware of the situation if not the Ambassador."

Tom nodded his agreement. "Do we go to him, or does he have the ability to come down here?" Surely the commodore could come down, after all, it was his ship.

Alex smiled a little. That first time had been interesting. "Yes, he does have the ability to come down here. And I think he should see and hear this for himself. In the meantime, let's keep a track on the Ambassador. I don't want her in any obscure places where she could beam out." He then tapped his commbadge, "Rho to Commodore Aravan, you're presence is requested in the Intel Center, Sir."

=^=I'll be there soon=^= Michael responded.

Five minutes later, Michael entered the Intel center and headed to where Barnes, Hartley and Rho were. "Report, gentlemen," he said.

Tom didn't intend to steal the Lieutenant's thunder, but he just jumped right in. "We've got our Ambassador here, using our comm center to coordinate an attack on the planet surface."

"What? Are you certain?" Michael asked before he looked at Rho.

"Very," replied Alex. He brought up the recordings of the last few minutes on a holo next to the live feed of the Ambassador.

Michael looked and listened, then grunted. "I'll have Security escort her to the brig," he said with a note of finality that sounded as if he were worried about the outcome. "Good work, gentlemen."

"Doing the job, Commodore," replied Alex. This whole thing had raised his suspicions to an uncomfortable level, even for him. He wondered what kind of agenda she could have and how far it went. He made a mental note to see if he could dig up anything else.

"I want you both to dig through everything she's sent or received since she's been in touch with the Federation," Michael told them. "If there's anything unusual besides this, let me know."

The Chief Operations Officer nodded. "Aye, aye," he verbally confirmed.

Michael tapped his combadge to alert Security to pick the Ambassador up. =^=Aravan to Security. Please detain Ambassador Caenala in the conference lounge until I arrive. She should be in the communications center."

A moment later, his combadge chirped again. =^=Security to Commodore Aravan. She just transported off the ship.=^=

Michael grunted. =^=Find her location now!=^= he ordered before he glanced at the other Intel and Operations officers. "Gentlemen, I'm needed elsewhere." With that, he headed off.

"I'll go give the gravity wave generators a check from the bridge," Tom said, knowing his bridge station gave him the best vantage point for the situation. "Hopefully, I can see where she might have run off to." Tom had a feeling this wasn't over.

Alex watched as the people trickled out. There was a lot of digging to do and both and he and Jacob were about to be very busy. It also sounded like Tom was also going to have his hands full, too. At any rate, the Romulan didn't disappoint.