To Spy A Spy With A Spy

Posted on Sat May 2nd, 2015 @ 1:09am by Commander Angelica Fairchild & Alden Engstrom XIII

Mission: The New Sydney Fiasco
Location: Conference Room 3

"Your presence has been requested in conference room three."

Buried in trying to modify the duty schedules to accommodate the Temporal Investigations team's 'interviews' and to account for the crew they'd lost, Angel rolled her eyes at the computer's announcement. "Requested by who, exactly?"

"Temporal Investigations Agent Alden Engstrom."

"Dammit," Angel muttered under her breath, setting her project aside. If she kept them waiting, they had too many ways of making her life absolute hell. Shoving the PaDD into a desk drawer, she got up from her desk and grabbed her uniform jacket, pulling it on as she headed down the corridor to the seldom used conference room three. Without knocking or otherwise announcing her presence, she went inside, plastering the sweetest, most innocent smile she could manage onto her face.

"Ah, Commander..." Agent Engstrom began as he looked over a PaDD. "You're right on... time..." he said without a hint of joviality at all. "Please... Have a seat. There are things I'd like to discuss." The other agent was off at the other end of the table, making notes.

"I imagine so, otherwise you wouldn't have called me," Angel replied sweetly as she sat down in an empty chair at the table.

"Yes..." the agent said, still looking at the PaDD before him. "I've read your report on the situation. I want to know what you left out."

"I didn't leave anything out, sir." Technically he didn't outrank her, but Angel knew that a little respect went a long way, even if she didn't like the guy. "Everything I witnessed is in my report."

Finally setting the PaDD down, Agent Engstrom finally looked at Angel. "Then what about what you did not witness."

Angel gave him an innocently bewildered look. "How can I report things that I did not witness?"

"From the reports of others, Commander. You were responsible for a lot during your... sojourn... I expect you to have at least pieced together some of what happened in your purview. Such as how the Devidians were even involved in the first place." Alden said in an even tone, not letting his annoyance show.

"Agent Engstrom, I explicitly stated in my report that the appearance of the Devidians was my fault," Angel replied evenly, doing her best not to let him get to her. "I believe it's also explicitly stated that we attempted to use filtered triolic radiation to make our phasers match the color of those native to the time period. The risk should have been minimal, but we made a mistake. I made a mistake. And believe me, I am already paying for it."

"Thank you for refreshing my memory, Commander." He said. that was what he was looking for. An emotional outburst. "Were you and your staff not aware of the proximity of Driffin's comet? Did you not scan it with this ships... crude sensors?"

That was in the report too, Angel realized. Wondering what exactly this guy was up to, she raised an eyebrow at him. "It didn't appear on our sensors... probably something to do with residual chronitons. I don't know the specifics because I'm not a scientist. I'm a security officer... or I was until Commander Radt died."

"Yes... How unfortunate for her." Alden said, not bothering to look up again. "What about the Borg Probe? Are you familiar with its origins?"

"No, I am not. All I really know about it is it was somehow responsible for our journey backward through time and it blew up pretty much immediately afterward. We have some sensor data, but as I said... I'm not a scientist. I can tell you all about the tactical and defense systems, but the the other sensors? Not my field." Angel was starting to feel like she was repeating herself a lot, and Alden seemed to be asking her questions that would be better suited for Sinek to answer.

"So you know nothing of the connection between the Probe and a surreptitious group that now resides in a closet at Starfleet headquarters?" Alden pressed.

"No." Angel gave him a truly puzzled look. "If you're talking about Section 31 - and I think you are - I hadn't had contact with them since before I came to the Hera, and my most recent contact with them was me telling them to leave me alone. Not in such nice words though."

Setting the PaDD back down, he pressed further. "So you are unaware that a man named Franklin Drake was in command of that Probe? Do you know what, if any connection Captain Telvan has to that same group?"

Angel blinked at him, trying not to laugh. "You're kidding, right? Enalia Telvan working for Section 31?"

Alden didn't show any emotion - he just waited for an answer.

"Oh my god. You're serious." Angel couldn't connect those thoughts in her mind; the idea of Enalia working for those people just seemed so ludicrous. "First off... no. I didn't know Drake himself was on that probe, and frankly I don't care. That man's caused me more trouble than necessary. Second... as far as I am aware, Enalia Telvan is not connected to Section 31. Now, that doesn't mean she's not doing things behind my back, but I personally don't think she's connected to them."

Alden finally blinked. "And why is that?"

"Because I've been connected to them for years and she doesn't strike me as the type they're interested in. I may not be a 'people person', but I tend to recognize fellow spies when I see them." Angel sat back in her chair, not quite a casual position but one that was less tense. "Enalia is a total troll... loves to prank people. But taking orders from the spies in the closet?" Angel snorted at the thought, trying to keep from laughing too hard.

"Indeed..." Alden said as he looked back at his PaDD and his companion took notes. "How about the Pirandello then? Do you think Captain Telvan's decision to... interfere... was the correct one?"

What was this, a journey back to Starfleet Academy? Angel refrained from rolling her eyes at the question, but it still bothered her. "We are required as Starfleet officers to render aid to fellow officers in distress. I would consider a ship under attack by Klingons to be in distress, so yes. I do believe it was the correct decision. We knew from history that the Pirandello survived that battle, and if we hadn't intervened... well. It wouldn't have."

"Whether you rendered aid to a ship in distress or not is not in question." Alden said, clarifying. "You're saying that you intervened because history said the Pirandello survived. So if you hadn't gone back and intervened, history would be different? The Pirandello would not have survived and all hands would have been lost?" Alden pressed.

"Oh, come on. Even I know that temporal mechanics isn't a simple linear progression of events. It's fluid... it changes whether we mean for it to or not." Angel leaned forward on the table, looking at him with an unwavering gaze. "I have studied that battle, and you know what I found? A log from the Pirandello's captain about a strange ship that fired on the Klingon vessel. A ship that did not identify itself to him. I'd say that meets the parameters of our presence there, wouldn't you?"

"Perhaps. Or perhaps it only seems that way now. Are you aware that the Pirandello was destroyed during a battle later that year? It survived long enough for Starfleet to design ships with dedicated sensor platforms as fleet support ships." Alden replied with, leaning back in his chair and showing a slight hint of relaxing. "In other words, if they had not survived, this ship and its predecessors might never have been built."

"Suppose you could look at it that way too." Angel hadn't done enough follow-up reading to know about the Pirandello's destruction, but it wasn't terribly surprising. Starfleet had lost a lot of ships that year. "Whatever the original event was, the Hera took the place of that unknown ship. And prompted the development of this type of design... and you know the best part?" She smirked just a bit at a realization she'd just come to. "Section 31 existed then, stronger than they are now but not as pervasive as they were during the Dominion War. They could take all the credit for it... secret ship design, refusal to identify. It's right up their alley."

"Exactly. That's where we found this." Alden said as he slowly slid his PaDD over to Angel. On it were highly detailed sensor readings of the Hera... Taken by the Pirandello.

Curious, Angel picked up the PaDD, reading over it. "This is... rather detailed for a ship of the time period. They even picked up clues that the Hera is a Bonchune-series, not that they'd know the word for it." She paused in her reading, looking up at him over the PaDD. "Is there something you're withholding from me about that ship?"

"Section 31 admitted that it was one of theirs. Anything else, that's what we're trying to find out." Alden replied seriously. "Such as how they knew how to scan through your jamming and sensor scattering."

"I certainly didn't tell them... I was too busy keeping the Klingon ship off their back and fielding calls from my security teams about the Devidians..." Slowly setting the PaDD down, Angel realized that meant that Section 31 likely orchestrated the whole event, possibly with help from someone on the Hera.

Seeing the realization of what this meant cross Angel's face, Alden nodded and took the PaDD back. "You understand our concern then?"

Angel nodded. "I do. And I appreciate you bringing it up... now I'm concerned as well."