Interlude II
The conference room was buried deep within what was possibly the most ancient structure the Admiral had ever visited. The millions of tons of rock above his head held a certain solid reassurance after his recent journey into space. Smiling slightly at the familiarity of the thought, he crossed to the head of the table, directly underneath a large map of the planet. His subordinates stood at respectful attention as he sat down. What few of them had been allowed to gather here.
“Please be seated, ladies and gentlemen.” They each found their seat rapidly and sat down. Their faces turned to the head of the table, their expressions attentive.
“I'm sure that all of you have good covers in place to explain your current absence, however I have always felt that we should avoid pushing our luck, so I'll get right to the point. The war with the Klingons is going well, well enough that I believe we managed to avoid the critical point our analysis section pinpointed. Their fleets are being slowly driven back in space by Starfleet. Their allies have started abandoning them to avoid having us come down on them, and last, but certainly not least, we enjoy a complete superiority against them on the ground. Whenever we can bring in the Marines at least.”
The Admiral paused and looked around at the gathered officers, searching for any hesitation, any doubt. His satisfaction at finding none was clear to those that had been gathered. “As we speak, 6th Fleet and our deployed Marine companies are taking out the Fa'Rov system's defenses and industrial capacity. They are also rescuing Ambassador Worf, and capturing as many among the systems leadership as they can find.”
He let his gaze sweep across the room. Taking in the officers in front of him. This could never have been possible if they had stuck to the methods Sloan and his predecessors had followed. While it was true that one person in the right place at the right time could change the course of history. An organization could create the right time and the right place on it's own. If they tried hard enough they could even create the right person.
The problem with the expansion of the organization was of course that it was far more visible now than it had ever been, and he and his colleagues had no doubt what would happen if their secrets were to be revealed. He had taken steps to insure the continuation of Section 31 and it's mandate should that happen, however he himself would not be in a position to enjoy it.
“Now, however good this news may be, it is not the reason we are here today. One of our sources has provided information that the resistance to several of the new policies has begun to strengthen in certain individuals. In fact, we are receiving reports that seem to indicate a possibility of outright treasonous activities taken in support of domestic goals. We have also seen a few indicators of more troubling developments. Though nothing firm has been noted yet though, so we cannot act preemptively. Even The treasonous activities I have spoken of are nothing more than a few meetings between Federation personnel and persons from the Klingon embassy. Most definitely nothing we could leak to the Inspector General and have them run with an official investigation.” The Admiral paused to let the limitations they all operated under sink in properly.
“In addition to this we have lost track of a few individuals with connections to the security and engineering tracks. We have no hard information on what these individuals may be doing or where they might be. I bring this up simply because the individuals in question are very close to some high level elements within the opposition. Old Academy friends, family members, connections like that. Just as with the connections noted between the opposition and the Klingon embassy there is effectively nothing we can do at the moment. I would however like you all to keep a lookout for any new information regarding these individuals. What we can also do is to step up our surveillance of the individuals we have identified at this time. Orders to that effect have been sent out to the intelligence cells already assigned to the situation. Warning orders have also been sent out to those cells that are in positions to support the currently active cells should the need arise.” The Admiral paused and looked around the room.
“Are there any questions?” A Captain further down the table cleared his throat.
“Sir, how old are the reports you mention?”
“There has always been non-official contact between Federation personnel and foreign embassy staff. The meetings I mentioned have only been brought to our attention after the Federation personnel in question had first had meetings of a clandestine nature with individuals we have identified as belonging to groups in opposition to our current activities. It should also be mentioned that most of the groups in opposition to us have begun taking on a more organized structure, compared to the almost entirely social nature they had maintained for so long. School mates and club memberships for the most part.”
The Captain nodded in understanding, his question answered. At the other end of the table a Commander raised his right hand and was acknowledged by the Admiral.
“Sir, what, besides the close connections to other conspirators, makes the missing persons important enough for us to actively look for them?”
The Admiral tapped a few controls on the desk in front of him and the map of the world behind him was replaced by the image of a thin man with thick black hair dressed in the uniform of a Starfleet security Lieutenant Commander.
“This is Lieutenant Commander Mona Driscol. She graduated from the academy security program in 2372. She spent the next few years following a quite normal career track. In 2375 she had a run in with Bajoran seperatists that left her with a shattered spine and her left leg amputated just below the knee. After she got out of the hospital she applied herself to a study of more direct combat methods than are routinely taught at the academy. She even studied a few historic combat methods. When the marine program was getting started she was approached as a possible source of information and advice in the formation of the marines. She refused. She not only refused she got quite agitated at the idea of dedicated armed troops. She explained in detail that her interest in the subjects was from her personal history and that while security could profit from some of what she had learned, any dedicated combat troops would be a violations of the peaceful principles upon which the Federation had been founded.” The Admiral paused his briefing to let the information settle with his audience before continuing.
“She is very good at personal combat, both armed and unarmed. She has also studied unit tactics and methods with quite some depth. If she had been recruited she would have been at least a platoon commander at the moment. Her intimate knowledge of these subjects is fairly uncommon in the Federation and very nearly unique within the opposition. She is most definitely someone we want to keep track of. I assume that answers your question Commander?”
The Lieutenant Commander, deep in thought, nodded. “Yes, sir. Thank you.”
The Admiral waited for a few moments, but no other questions were forthcoming. He stood up from the table, prompting the other men, women and others to abandon their chairs and stand to attention.
“The meeting is adjourned.”
