[ussbansheec] Spies and Spying
- From: Andy Maluhia <CaptainAndy@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ussbansheec@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 06:39:02 -0400
_Spies and Spying
_by Tavor Kell, Elizabeth Carter Eislin; Eislin Rissa, Disir, &
Somhelth; Phillip Souter, and Gabriel Wagner
/"When trouble comes, they come not in single spies but in
batallions."--William Shakespeare/
Tavor Kell was often underestimated but his fellow military men them
finding him to be too kind or lenient. Until, that is, Kell was angered
or truly passionate about something, then they saw what he was truly
like and nobody stood in his way. Such was the case when he asked
for--no, demanded that he be given a ship with no questions asked. He
got it and very quickly because the look in his eyes suggested anyone
denying his 'request' would be summarily be torn to shreds by the
legate's bare hands. It was less than a few hours after that that Kell
found himself headed toward the far end of the quadrant from home. The
girl's parents needed to know. Perhaps that damned center of operations
for the search for the Federation's missing ship would be the best place
to find them.
She knew Som had done as she'd asked because barely an hour later she'd
received a call from one of her old squad, Philip Souter. The droll
Scot looked older and much more sober but had a keenness in his eyes
that reflected her own. He'd be ready when she got to DSVP. Joban sent
her a textual message saying he was already on the station and would be
contacting Som shortly. Her boy was safe at least.
Their secondary shuttle was fast, sleek and stripped down to run at
maximum efficiency with no comfort at all. She'd filled it with as much
fire-power as she could, a lifetime of Marine training flooding her
cyberneticly enhanced brain as if she'd learned it all yesterday.
"Rissa!" she called out as she dumped her small bag inside. "Disir!"
Rissa knew there was something wrong. Elizabeth had been zipping around
entirely too much and saying entirely too little. "What's going on,
Elizabeth?" he asked as he strolled toward her. He held out a hand to
her. "You're angry, my dear."
"No, Daddy, she's pissed off," Disir corrected.
Elizabeth smirked at Disir with a nod. "The Butchers took Taline. I'm
going to take them apart, one by one, until I have our baby back. And
if they've so much as bruised her, I will keep hacking until there's
nothing left of their precious Union."
The casual air that Rissa wore was erased, replaced by a slow red flush
that climbed his face. Close to the century mark or not, it was the
picture of a furious father who was going to kill something, anything.
"What the hell happened?" he asked quickly. "Som knows it's them?"
"We told him what to look for, he said it was a Cardassian style
transporter that beamed her away," Elizabeth hissed as she tossed the
last of her gear in the runabout.
"Then what's this?" Rissa demanded, pointing toward the runabout. "You
really think I'm going to sit here and play nice when somebody has our
girl?"
"That's my sister!" Disir chimed in.
Smirking at them both despite the angry look in her eyes, Elizabeth
nodded to the runabout, "I expect you to pack quickly and get in."
"Smart woman," Rissa said, giving her a peck on the cheek before heading
toward the house. "One of the many reasons I love you."
Disir fairly flew into the house after him. Cardassians! She
shuddered. They were almost as bad as Orions in her opinion.
Kell thrummed thick fingers on the captains' chair of the Galor class
ship that he'd 'commandeered'. Patience was something he was known for
but he was having hard time finding it now. The crew obviously knew
that since, he noted with some grim satisfaction, none of them would
look him in the eye or come within less than an arm's length of him.
Pity the fool, they told themselves, when Kell gets his hands on them.
There was a secure line to Souter open when she settled into the pilot's
seat of the runabout but it was voice only. "We'll be on our way soon."
"Our?" the Scot said. "That sounds way too plural for my tastes, Sarge."
"She's my husband's daughter too, I'm not willing to stop him from
coming and I wasn't going to lie. Do we have intel?" Her hands flew
over the controls as she performed the initial pre-take-off checks.
"Working on it. Cardassian comms are quiet, only thing we picked up was
a ship headed this way at full speed. It'll be here before you so be
careful."
"Keep my son safe," she said before clicking off the connection.
Rissa stepped inside just as Elizabeth was clicking off. "What's the
word, my dear?" he asked as he dropped into the seat next to her. "I
know you know something."
"There's a Cardassian ship full-steaming right for DSVP," Elizabeth told
him, the last of her checks done. She swivelled to look into the eyes
she still loved. "No reports of what they've done with Taline but I
don't like the idea of them getting reinforcements."
"And the Feds are alright with those spoon headed lizards just walking
up to the front door?" Rissa choked out. He shook his head with no
small amount of disgust. "Fools, the lot of them. They want to let the
sneaking butchers in: fine but I want our girl back."
"I want her back too, Rissa," Elizabeth said as calmly as she could.
"We're going to get her back. Is Disir ready?"
With that, their oldest child stepped in. "I put up the coded screen,
Mum," she reported. "Nobody is finding home while we're not in."
"Good girl," Elizabeth said with a grim smile. "Get strapped in, this
isn't going to be careful driving. Full thruster and no looking back."
Gordon Mack was already a nervous little man to begin with. Gabriel
knew that. However, when his aide entered the office, he would have
sworn the man's hair was standing on end and vibrating, each strand
separately. "Ach, what is wrong with you, Yeoman?" he asked. "If I
said 'boo', you would fall apart."
"Car-car..." The yeoman made a concerted effort to pull himself
together. Captain Wagner was a decent sort but he could only take so
much. Taking a deep breath, Gordon tried again. "Ops says long range
sensors show a Cardassian Galor class ship barreling in this direction."
"They are allowed here, you know," Gabriel began, even as he wondered
what the Union was up to. They'd been rather quiet since the war's ending.
The small, greying Bajoran man stayed in the shadows, the peripherals as
he'd been taught so long ago. His fine bone structure making him appear
frail and his deliberate stoop almost halved his size. He watched the
door as a tall figure in a deep green cloak tapped in a code and entered
but just as the door swished closed, he sped through faster than any
would imagine a man of his apparent age could manage.
Iruvande turned to the intruder, her pale green eyes fastened on his
nose ridges then his own eyes. "Thy intrusion is not welcome at this
time," she informed him stiffly, her hand on her kaleh.
"I'm here for the boy," Joban told her as he straightened. Just that
simple action took years from his appearance. Still not a young man but
not as ancient as before, he met her eyes with determination. "Tell him
Le Carré is here."
While she doubted that the Hevam name belonged to this Bajoran, Iruvande
did not feel any other sense of trickery from this one. She lifted one
finger to point at the room adjoining the main. "In there."
Somhelth, in addition to not being prone to impatience, was also not
prone to staying indoors much. He'd promised his mother he'd stay put
and stay put he did but it was grating on his nerves. The fact that his
sister was missing and he was just sitting there made him, in his
opinion, completely useless. "I am going to wring somebody or
something's neck," he muttered for maybe the hundredth time.
Joban knocked softly on the door, all of his senses aware as he reached
inside his jacket for a phaser, just in case the white one was lying to
him. "Som?" he called through the door.
Very few people knew his name, never mind knew him well enough to call
him by a diminutive nickname. Even still, the paranoia had crept up on
him. Somhelth stood up, weaponless but prepared to pounce. "Who wants
to know?" he asked.
"Le Carré," Joban said softly.
Somhelth would have outright snorted in amusement if he wasn't so
tense. When he was younger and realized where the name came from, he'd
laughed himself silly. Now, he was simply relieved to hear the voice.
"Yeah, come on in."
Joban offered the kid, more a young man now though, a gentle smile.
"How're you holding up? We've had word and your mama's on her way."
"I'm going stir crazy, Joban. I hate having to sit and do nothing,"
Somhelth said bluntly even if he was glad to see the man.
"Somebody--Cardassians no less-- nabs my sister from right underneath my
nose and I sit twiddling my thumbs. Lovely, simply damned lovely." He
let out a sigh of sheer frustration. "What's the word?"
"Word is a Cardassian ship's headed full speed this way," Joban said
softly. "It'll be here before Elizabeth and we need to know why they're
putting the rush on. I think reinforcements for whoever took your sister."
"What the hell for though?" Somhelth demanded. "Why now, after who
knows how long? I thought they were supposed to be such logically
minded tacticians. It seems an awful waste of mental energy to carry a
grudge against anyone that long."
"Depends on the Gul," Joban offered. "If it was someone who knew about
her mission through Cardassian Space that led to her meeting your father
then maybe they held a grudge or they want information she gathered.
Who knows, maybe they think Taline knows something. That's what we need
to find out before your mama gets here: why."
"There's a ship headed this way, right? I don't suppose we know whether
the Fleet monkeys in charge are in contact, do we?" Somhelth asked.
"There's a way to find out," Joban said with a wicked smile. "I can
hack the system."
"Can I watch?" the younger man asked. "I've watched Mum and Dad all my
life but another method to learn is always useful."
"Sure," he said with a grin as he settled down at the terminal in the
kid's room. His fingers danced over it, controlling it like a musical
instrument under the fingers of a master. "I could always run rings
around your mama," he sniggered as he pulled up the terminal and comm of
the station's CO.
Ever since Gordon had made him aware of the Cardassian ship's approach,
Gabriel kept an eye on its vector. Sure as hell, it was making a
beeline for the station and not a leisurely one either. With a sigh, he
tapped at the console on his desk. "Cardassian ship, this is Gabriel
Wagner, the commanding officer of Deep Space Vega Prime. Are you in
need of some dire assistance? Your approach is somewhat, shall we say,
overly direct."
Tavor glared at the ops officer. Of course he should put through any
communication from the Federation. What a stupid question. Though,
Tavor admitted to some surprise when the person appeared on screen.
What the hell sort of a fusion was that? He recovered his poise
quickly, though. "Legate Kell, Captain. My business is purely personal
so you may keep your nose out of it."
"Polite sort," Joban mused to Som, knowing their commentary wouldn't be
heard. "Very smooth. Looks like our Fleet isn't involved though at least."
Somhelth blinked. "Taline and I met that guy almost as soon as we set
foot here," Somhelth mused, nodding at Gabriel's image. "I had no idea
he was the CO."
"Sure, Gabriel Wagner," Joban said with a smirk. "I've got his record
on my PADD if you ever wanna read. I never go anywhere without knowing
the career of the guy in charge."
"Never saw a blue Human before," Somhelth mused. One Vulcan-like brow
rose. He had no idea what language the man was using but he knew
swearing when he heard it. "Lovely color..."
"Legate Kell," Gabriel said tightly, "I am simply asking that you stay
within what most people considering acceptable traffic patterns."
"Then I may or may not apologize to you later, Captain. Now stop
wasting my time, Human," Kell snapped before slashing his hand toward
his Ops officer. He had no time for paper pushers.
"Not entirely helpful but the Scaly's in a rush for sure," Joban mused.
"They're coming though. I recorded that. Think your mama will want to
see it?"
Somhelth nodded vehemently. "I don't recognize the name but she may."
"She knows more than you'll ever realise, Som," Joban said as he patched
the link through to the runabout en route. "Le Carré to the Cold Spy,
how's it coming, Sergeant Major?"
Elizabeth snorted at the name. "Progress is being made. What've you got?"
"Me for one," Somhelth said with no small amount of relief. Grown man
or not, it was a relief to see his mother in such a tense time. "Safe,
sound, and listening in to some interesting things."
Elizabeth managed a smile for her son, her eyes softening a little.
"Tell me."
Gently patting Joban on the shoulder, he said, "This one's still sharp
as hell, you know. He got us front row cloaked seats to a conversation
between the station CO and a legate named Kell. I...don't recall ever
hearing that name."
It wasn't one Elizabeth knew. Not from all her years as a spy and under
their 'hospitality'. Glancing over at Rissa, she shrugged. "Sorry,
Som, it's not one for me."
Somhelth's lips flattened in disapproval. "Which only makes it
completely senseless, even more than it already is."
"But we're coming and we sure as hell are getting her back," Elizabeth
swore, her eyes fierce.
"Son," Rissa said as he stepped in behind Elizabeth, "keep your ears
open but stay with Joban."
"We'll be staying here until Souter's finished snooping," Joban told
them both. "Then we'll all head out to meet some of the contacts I
know. We're doing all we can, Elizabeth, I swear."
"Joban, no chances with my son," Rissa said darkly though there was an
undertone of pleading in his voice. "You're family. I trust you to
keep him in the Prophets' sights."
"No chances, I swear," Joban said solemnly. "And if they're still of a
mind to be adventurous when this is over, I think either me or Souter'll
be tagging along for the ride."
"Aren't I a bit too large for a babysitter?" Somhelth asked. "Chase bad
guys instead. Like that legate."
"That's your mama's job," Joban grinned. "She's so much better with the
fighting than I am."
"You just make sure we know what we're getting into, Joban," Elizabeth
snorted.
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