Beg, Steal or Borrow – False Flag: Part 1
by Colonel James Darson & Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Lieutenant JG Opaka Jo'el
Post Details
Darson stalked angrily through one of the well lit corridors of the station, a squad of fully armed marines marching in unison behind him. As they moved, terrified civilians and Starfleet personnel moved to get out of the way of the seething Marine, and the murderous black aura he was extruding.
Soon enough, they came to a stop outside the discretely marked doors of the Romulan Embassy. Darson stood in front of it, as the squad formed a neat semi-circle around him, trying to avoid making sudden moves. After a few moments of still silence, Darson’s hand flashed out, and calmly pressed the door’s controls.
As the talon-emblazoned hatch slid open with a hiss, he looked over his shoulder to the Noncom in charge of the squad, and received a slight nod in return. They were meant to prevent people from leaving, and as a precaution, were carrying a transporter dampening field generator as well.
As he entered the dark entrance way, he sidestepped around the imposing statue in the center, and walked up to the receptionist’s desk. Staring intently at her from under his mask he said in flawless Romulan, “I am here to see the ambassador. Take me to her."
Ael ir-Leinarrh actually rolled her eyes. Weeks went by with barely a visitor then all of a sudden people were wandering through the Consulate like it was the Grand Plaza in Ra'tleihfi on a festival day. That would soon be over, and she’d be on her way back to ch’Rihan, and with a very valuable new connection who she thought might leave her set up for life and blissfully free of the need to defer to people like lady perfect down the corridor.
Seeing an opportunity to make bad day worse for the ambassador, ir-Leinarrh agreed, “Follow me,” she said knowing that one of the Starfleet pair who had come earlier had remained with her. Ael cast a passing glance at the chronometer as she stood.
“Another visitor for you, Ihhei,” Ael announced as the door opened.
Isha returned to her desk having just replaced her husband’s kaleh on the stand by the seating area. “Is everyone on this station devoid of courtesy or is it you ir-Leinarrh who is incapable of operating an appointment book? Tell them to return when they have an appointment, I am seeing no-one today,” she said.
From out of her line of sight, Darson’s armored hand gripped the frame of the hatch, and pulled himself into view, “You’ll see me,” Darson said in a poisonous tone that indicated that he would broker no argument on the issue. He stepped fully into the room, and said in furious Romulan, “Dismiss that Starfleet whelp…we need to talk. Now.”
“Ensign Opaka, please go with ir-Leinarrh, she will show you out.” Isha waited until they had gone before rounding the desk and resuming her seat, she was very skilled at reading people, all those subtle signs in their voice and bearing - the message she read was not good. “I’ll thank you not to come into my consulate and start trying to give me orders.”
Jo'el looked at the major with consideration, choosing to exit based on his charge's request and not Darson's angry tone.
"Call when you need me, Madam Ambassador," Jo'el said. He sheathed his sword and nodded to Isha as he walked out.
As he passed through the outer office, Jo'el glared at the Marines who were apparently there to get in his way. Several of them scattered to clear the doorway when his violet gaze locked on what he assumed were the eyeslits on their masks.
“Major Darson, it seems you can’t get enough of my company,” Isha said, her tone almost as dry as her throat. “Please have some respect for the memory of my husband.” What on ch’Rihan was he doing here?
Darson waited until both Opaka and the receptionist were gone before he started his show. Making sure that his white noise generators were active, he stalked back and forth across the room, before saying in a voice teaming with extremely convincing faux outrage, “Iaawaain is gone.”
Isha rested her elbows on the desk and her chin on her steepled fingers, “this is the last place Iawaain would come, we really don’t want her back, you know. Her former colleagues were very angry with her, so angry that h-they barely left her alive. She was hardly a picture of health when we gave her to you, and now you come here to tell me that she is gone.”
“Gone!” Darson seethed as if he hadn’t heard her, “One might even say escaped…and I know exactly how. One of my own Marines…Marines that I thought would give their lives without question for the good of the Federation and its ideals…who would be loyal to me without question…broke Iawaain out of her cell, and helped her escape. And although I could not find Iawaain, the traitor,” he spat the word out, “was apprehended.”
”Betrayal is such an unpleasant business,” Isha agreed blandly, her eyes darting between the objects on her desk as she tried to work out exactly what was going on, and what her part in it was supposed to be, “and the outcome is usually unpleasant for the miscreant. You discussed the matter with your traitor, I suppose?” Isha shrugged, allowing her hands to fall into her lap as her shoulders straightened and she sat quite motionless in her chair except for the twist of her fingers in the fabric of her skirt below the desk.
Darson stared hard at Isha, and said quietly, “Oh yes…I interrogated her. And what she had to say was very, very, interesting.”
Isha raised her eyes, “I’m sure she was fascinating. It would seem, Major Darson that your time would be better spent looking for Iawaain than coming round here and behaving in a manner that a less accommodating person might consider to be threatening. What has your own lax security got to do with me?”
Darson ominously strode forward, until he was standing in front if Isha’s desk, “Somebody in this Embassy blackmailed a serving Marine into this heinous act. And that of course leads me to question whether of not this person was acting on their own volition…or if they had the authority of somebody in charge,” He stared down at her, the murderous aura back, as he leaned over, placing his hands on her desk and cocking her head to look at her, “Thoughts on the matter, Isha?"
“I think that you should think very carefully before you explicitly make such an accusation,” Isha said drawing in a breath. She placed her fingertips on the edge of the desk and rose to her feet. “I think that our conversation is over, Major Darson.”
Darson’s hand curled into a fist and slammed down on the desk, spider webbing cracks from the point of impact, “This conversation is over when I say it’s over!” Darson said in a deadly voice, “So sit your green ass back down. I am not a bigot like the good Lieutenant Gabriel. I am not a bleeding heart sympathetic like Captain Tahir, or the departed Commander Rakka. What I am is the shield of this station. It is my responsibility to keep the civilians of this station, ignorant as they are, our of harms way by resolving problems like this one. And it seems to me that you are at the crux of every thing that’s happening here!”
Isha remained on her feet. She had done quite enough to help these lloann'su, more than they had any right to expect, and quite enough to get her into trouble in the Empire if the wrong people chose to interpret her actions in the wrong way; she was damned if she was going to be bullied into doing anything more to help them solve their problems.
“It is hardly my fault if your officers are corrupt. If you have something to say to me, stop wasting my time and say it before I call my people and have you ejected,” she said.
Darson let out a tiny insane chuckle, “Alright, I’ll get straight to the point. I know that somebody in this embassy blackmailed one of my Marines. I only want that one person. The question is whether or not she was taking orders from somebody higher on the chain of command. And the way I see it, there are two ways this can go down.”
Darson leaned closer to the Romulan Ambassador, “You can convince me that you had no hand in this event, and I help you quietly cull your ranks of a troublesome employee, one that might become an embarrassment for you and Romulans in general. On the other hand, if I find that you had any kind of foreknowledge of this, than I will be forced to take drastic measures. I’ll shut this embassy down, and arrest everybody on the premises. I’ll turn you into a pariah on the intergalactic stage, and make sure this place is burnt until it is naught but ash!”
The desk was wide, but it still left her only an arm’s length from danger. Isha wondered if she should have sent the boy away, but would a Federation bodyguard two minutes into his first assignment actually have intervened to protect her? Isha did not know so she had chosen to rely on age old conventions like sovereignty and diplomatic immunity which now seemed so frail that the gentlest of breezes could disperse them.
“It would be a rash act, Darson. My government would retaliate against the incarceration of one of their ambassadors, and what might begin as a tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats between our powers would soon escalate.” Isha lowered herself into her chair, her fingers curled lightly around the arms, “Is your life left so empty without war, Darson that you would provoke one?”
Darson cocked his head to the side, “Don’t think it is outside my capabilities Isha. I have a squad of Marines standing by to do just that. And I don’t even need to go public with anything myself. All I have to do is leak it to the media. With the evidence I have, you’d be guilty until proven innocent.”
“Ordeal by media?” Isha laughed as she sat back and folded her hands in her lap, a humourless smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “The good people of the Alpha Quadrant judge me to be guilty every time they look at me, accustomed as they are to Klingon propaganda about the outrages of their neighbours, my reputation in the Empire will hardly suffer, and that, Major Darson, is what matters.”
Darson’s voice rose slightly, “I am trying to save lives. You spoke of having respect for your husband’s memory. What would he think if he knew that you were instrumental in the deaths of innocent civilians? I think he would be spinning in his grave.”
“He might be if he had one, but botched Klingon and Federation intelligence at Chin’toka ensured that was not possible,” Isha flared, blazing to her feet. Turning, she shoved her chair out of the way. As it toppled to the floor with a crash she stormed towards the window before spinning back towards Darson. “I have done EVERYTHING that is possible to help this installation! Am I to blame if the Nausican chose to pack her bags and run away rather than act on information I shared over twenty hours ago? Would Tahir have been aware that the Tal’Shiar were involved if I had not told her when she asked me for my help? Did I bite my tongue and swallow my secrets like that diplomatic officer or did I tell them what to listen for? Just GET OUT!
Darson knew that he had pushed Isha to the edge, and that it was time to drive the point home, “I’ve shown you the carrot Isha, and I’ve shown you the stick. Think very, very, carefully about the choice you now have to make.”
OFF
Ambassador Isha t’Khellian
Major James Darson
Marine Commanding Officer
Ensign Opaka Jo'el
VIP Bodyguard/Master-At-Arms
by Colonel James Darson & Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Lieutenant JG Opaka Jo'el
Post Details
| Title | False Flag: Part 1 | |
| Mission | Beg, Steal or Borrow | |
| Author(s) | Colonel James Darson & Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Lieutenant JG Opaka Jo'el | |
| Posted | Mon Mar 09, 2009 @ 12:34pm | |
| Location | Romulan Consulate | |
| Timeline | SD8 - 12:48 |
Soon enough, they came to a stop outside the discretely marked doors of the Romulan Embassy. Darson stood in front of it, as the squad formed a neat semi-circle around him, trying to avoid making sudden moves. After a few moments of still silence, Darson’s hand flashed out, and calmly pressed the door’s controls.
As the talon-emblazoned hatch slid open with a hiss, he looked over his shoulder to the Noncom in charge of the squad, and received a slight nod in return. They were meant to prevent people from leaving, and as a precaution, were carrying a transporter dampening field generator as well.
As he entered the dark entrance way, he sidestepped around the imposing statue in the center, and walked up to the receptionist’s desk. Staring intently at her from under his mask he said in flawless Romulan, “I am here to see the ambassador. Take me to her."
Ael ir-Leinarrh actually rolled her eyes. Weeks went by with barely a visitor then all of a sudden people were wandering through the Consulate like it was the Grand Plaza in Ra'tleihfi on a festival day. That would soon be over, and she’d be on her way back to ch’Rihan, and with a very valuable new connection who she thought might leave her set up for life and blissfully free of the need to defer to people like lady perfect down the corridor.
Seeing an opportunity to make bad day worse for the ambassador, ir-Leinarrh agreed, “Follow me,” she said knowing that one of the Starfleet pair who had come earlier had remained with her. Ael cast a passing glance at the chronometer as she stood.
“Another visitor for you, Ihhei,” Ael announced as the door opened.
Isha returned to her desk having just replaced her husband’s kaleh on the stand by the seating area. “Is everyone on this station devoid of courtesy or is it you ir-Leinarrh who is incapable of operating an appointment book? Tell them to return when they have an appointment, I am seeing no-one today,” she said.
From out of her line of sight, Darson’s armored hand gripped the frame of the hatch, and pulled himself into view, “You’ll see me,” Darson said in a poisonous tone that indicated that he would broker no argument on the issue. He stepped fully into the room, and said in furious Romulan, “Dismiss that Starfleet whelp…we need to talk. Now.”
“Ensign Opaka, please go with ir-Leinarrh, she will show you out.” Isha waited until they had gone before rounding the desk and resuming her seat, she was very skilled at reading people, all those subtle signs in their voice and bearing - the message she read was not good. “I’ll thank you not to come into my consulate and start trying to give me orders.”
Jo'el looked at the major with consideration, choosing to exit based on his charge's request and not Darson's angry tone.
"Call when you need me, Madam Ambassador," Jo'el said. He sheathed his sword and nodded to Isha as he walked out.
As he passed through the outer office, Jo'el glared at the Marines who were apparently there to get in his way. Several of them scattered to clear the doorway when his violet gaze locked on what he assumed were the eyeslits on their masks.
“Major Darson, it seems you can’t get enough of my company,” Isha said, her tone almost as dry as her throat. “Please have some respect for the memory of my husband.” What on ch’Rihan was he doing here?
Darson waited until both Opaka and the receptionist were gone before he started his show. Making sure that his white noise generators were active, he stalked back and forth across the room, before saying in a voice teaming with extremely convincing faux outrage, “Iaawaain is gone.”
Isha rested her elbows on the desk and her chin on her steepled fingers, “this is the last place Iawaain would come, we really don’t want her back, you know. Her former colleagues were very angry with her, so angry that h-they barely left her alive. She was hardly a picture of health when we gave her to you, and now you come here to tell me that she is gone.”
“Gone!” Darson seethed as if he hadn’t heard her, “One might even say escaped…and I know exactly how. One of my own Marines…Marines that I thought would give their lives without question for the good of the Federation and its ideals…who would be loyal to me without question…broke Iawaain out of her cell, and helped her escape. And although I could not find Iawaain, the traitor,” he spat the word out, “was apprehended.”
”Betrayal is such an unpleasant business,” Isha agreed blandly, her eyes darting between the objects on her desk as she tried to work out exactly what was going on, and what her part in it was supposed to be, “and the outcome is usually unpleasant for the miscreant. You discussed the matter with your traitor, I suppose?” Isha shrugged, allowing her hands to fall into her lap as her shoulders straightened and she sat quite motionless in her chair except for the twist of her fingers in the fabric of her skirt below the desk.
Darson stared hard at Isha, and said quietly, “Oh yes…I interrogated her. And what she had to say was very, very, interesting.”
Isha raised her eyes, “I’m sure she was fascinating. It would seem, Major Darson that your time would be better spent looking for Iawaain than coming round here and behaving in a manner that a less accommodating person might consider to be threatening. What has your own lax security got to do with me?”
Darson ominously strode forward, until he was standing in front if Isha’s desk, “Somebody in this Embassy blackmailed a serving Marine into this heinous act. And that of course leads me to question whether of not this person was acting on their own volition…or if they had the authority of somebody in charge,” He stared down at her, the murderous aura back, as he leaned over, placing his hands on her desk and cocking her head to look at her, “Thoughts on the matter, Isha?"
“I think that you should think very carefully before you explicitly make such an accusation,” Isha said drawing in a breath. She placed her fingertips on the edge of the desk and rose to her feet. “I think that our conversation is over, Major Darson.”
Darson’s hand curled into a fist and slammed down on the desk, spider webbing cracks from the point of impact, “This conversation is over when I say it’s over!” Darson said in a deadly voice, “So sit your green ass back down. I am not a bigot like the good Lieutenant Gabriel. I am not a bleeding heart sympathetic like Captain Tahir, or the departed Commander Rakka. What I am is the shield of this station. It is my responsibility to keep the civilians of this station, ignorant as they are, our of harms way by resolving problems like this one. And it seems to me that you are at the crux of every thing that’s happening here!”
Isha remained on her feet. She had done quite enough to help these lloann'su, more than they had any right to expect, and quite enough to get her into trouble in the Empire if the wrong people chose to interpret her actions in the wrong way; she was damned if she was going to be bullied into doing anything more to help them solve their problems.
“It is hardly my fault if your officers are corrupt. If you have something to say to me, stop wasting my time and say it before I call my people and have you ejected,” she said.
Darson let out a tiny insane chuckle, “Alright, I’ll get straight to the point. I know that somebody in this embassy blackmailed one of my Marines. I only want that one person. The question is whether or not she was taking orders from somebody higher on the chain of command. And the way I see it, there are two ways this can go down.”
Darson leaned closer to the Romulan Ambassador, “You can convince me that you had no hand in this event, and I help you quietly cull your ranks of a troublesome employee, one that might become an embarrassment for you and Romulans in general. On the other hand, if I find that you had any kind of foreknowledge of this, than I will be forced to take drastic measures. I’ll shut this embassy down, and arrest everybody on the premises. I’ll turn you into a pariah on the intergalactic stage, and make sure this place is burnt until it is naught but ash!”
The desk was wide, but it still left her only an arm’s length from danger. Isha wondered if she should have sent the boy away, but would a Federation bodyguard two minutes into his first assignment actually have intervened to protect her? Isha did not know so she had chosen to rely on age old conventions like sovereignty and diplomatic immunity which now seemed so frail that the gentlest of breezes could disperse them.
“It would be a rash act, Darson. My government would retaliate against the incarceration of one of their ambassadors, and what might begin as a tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats between our powers would soon escalate.” Isha lowered herself into her chair, her fingers curled lightly around the arms, “Is your life left so empty without war, Darson that you would provoke one?”
Darson cocked his head to the side, “Don’t think it is outside my capabilities Isha. I have a squad of Marines standing by to do just that. And I don’t even need to go public with anything myself. All I have to do is leak it to the media. With the evidence I have, you’d be guilty until proven innocent.”
“Ordeal by media?” Isha laughed as she sat back and folded her hands in her lap, a humourless smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “The good people of the Alpha Quadrant judge me to be guilty every time they look at me, accustomed as they are to Klingon propaganda about the outrages of their neighbours, my reputation in the Empire will hardly suffer, and that, Major Darson, is what matters.”
Darson’s voice rose slightly, “I am trying to save lives. You spoke of having respect for your husband’s memory. What would he think if he knew that you were instrumental in the deaths of innocent civilians? I think he would be spinning in his grave.”
“He might be if he had one, but botched Klingon and Federation intelligence at Chin’toka ensured that was not possible,” Isha flared, blazing to her feet. Turning, she shoved her chair out of the way. As it toppled to the floor with a crash she stormed towards the window before spinning back towards Darson. “I have done EVERYTHING that is possible to help this installation! Am I to blame if the Nausican chose to pack her bags and run away rather than act on information I shared over twenty hours ago? Would Tahir have been aware that the Tal’Shiar were involved if I had not told her when she asked me for my help? Did I bite my tongue and swallow my secrets like that diplomatic officer or did I tell them what to listen for? Just GET OUT!
Darson knew that he had pushed Isha to the edge, and that it was time to drive the point home, “I’ve shown you the carrot Isha, and I’ve shown you the stick. Think very, very, carefully about the choice you now have to make.”
OFF
Ambassador Isha t’Khellian
Major James Darson
Marine Commanding Officer
Ensign Opaka Jo'el
VIP Bodyguard/Master-At-Arms