Covert Dealings

Posted on Fri Nov 16th, 2018 @ 6:50am by Lieutenant Soren Dillinger 'Speedy'

1,371 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Demons in the Dark
Location: Chief Intelligence Officer's Office
Timeline: Before: Launching the Search

ON:

Soren walked into the office and closed the door. He tapped on the console by the door to lock it before walking toward his desk. After placing Bettie's holosphere on the desk, he sat down in his chair and leaned back, taking a deep breath. "Bettie? Use your encryption codes to ready a transmission."

Bettie appeared in his bomber jacket and flight suit, placing her hand on the desk, before raising a brow. "What are you up to, Speedy?"

"Trying to make a call. Are you gonna help or are you gonna stand there criticizing?"

Bettie took her hands off the table and crossed her arms. She smirked a bit before extending her index finger and thumb with her left hand. She held it up to her face, similar to a gun, before her holographic form shifted slightly. She was now in a black dress with slits going down each side. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and she had light make up. "The name is Page. Bettie Page." She said in an English accent before turning to the side and holding her hand up to her lips. "I have a license to thrill."

Soren smirked, letting out a slight chuckle, before looking back to his console. "I love to look. I take it that's the outfit for the Intel program I just added."

"Yup." Bettie said before sitting down on the desk, crossing her legs, as she leaned on her side. "I have an alternative for when we are on a mission." She winked.

"Are the encryption's working?" Soren asked with a smile.

"I did it while we were talking." Bettie replied softly. "No one will detect the call and it will not be logged. You are in the clear, Very Special Agent Dillinger." She winked with a smirk.

Soren leaned back in his chair, taking a moment to look at Bettie up and down, before looking back to the console. "Dial up Gul Necia."

"Necia?!" Bettie replied in shock, raising her brow, as she placed her hand on her knee. "Why do you want to call the spoon head for?"

"This starship is in Cardassian territory and has information of their comings and goings. She might be interested in what we find and would probably pay top price for it." Soren replied with a smile as he looked at Bettie. "We can setup some time for delivery as soon as we get it, and you can work your magic to make it appear like the original, so we can give it up to the Captain and Necia. A win win for us on both counts."

"That's bold." Bettie replied softly in her British accent. "And devious. I like it."

"This position might not be so bad as I originally thought." Soren replied, looking back to the screen. "Make the call."

Bettie winked her eye as the screen began to show a transmission beginning. "Establishing now." She said in a seductive tone.

After a few more minutes the screen went dark and an image of the Cardassian emblem appeared. Soon it changed to a Cardassian woman in uniform who raised a brow at the person she saw in front of her. "Soren? I heard you were in jail, or dead." She grabbed a bottle from off the screen and brought it in, pouring the contents into a glass, before placing the bottle down. "To be honest I was hoping it was dead." She added in a smug tone.

"Sorry to disappoint, Necia, but you are going to be glad I am neither." Soren replied softly, placing his hands together before rubbing them. "Instead of tossing me in a box and throwing away the key, I was able to pull some strings and-"

"Get to the point." Necia interrupted as she took a hold of her glass.

Soren took a deep breath, looking over to Bettie who rolled her eyes, before looking back and continuing. "Long story short, Necia? They put me in a position where I am able to make you a very lucrative deal."

"Not hearing a point, Soren." Necia replied as she slowly brought the glass to her lips.

"I have come across a cache full of information collected by Starfleet by a Starship at the demilitarized zone. This Starship has all the information they collected, secretly I might add, and may hold some valuable stuff for you to use." Soren said with a smile. "It may hold special information you can use against your enemies in whatever fight you are having now a days or give you a leg up on Starfleet."

Necia slowly took a drink from her glass and placed the glass back down on her desk. After a few more moments passes she finally spoke. "What is your price?"

"Double what I usually get from you."

Necia chuckled softly. "Ridiculous. I could be buying useless information. You said it may hold some valuable information. Neither of us have any idea of knowing how valuable this information really is. It could be useless chatter or world shattering. I won't pay for anything you can't prove is useful to me."

"Come on, Necia. This ship has been sitting there untouched by Starfleet. I can't tell you something they won't tell me other than it was sent there by Starfleet Intel to monitor everything they could get their hands on at the border. Aside from its name I can't tell you anything I don't know." Soren replied quickly as he crossed his arms.

"Which ship?" She said as she took a hold of her glass and began to bring it to her lips.

"The U.S.S. Cassandra."

Necia stopped the glass at her lips and lowered it. She looked over to Soren and narrowed her eyes before softly saying. "Listen to me carefully, Soren. I will pay you handsomely if you can get me everything that's on that ship. Do you understand me. Once you have that information, and you're still breathing, contact me and I will send you your payment to your account. Agreed?"

"Deal." Soren replied with a smile before stopping. The smile faded as he raised a brow and asked. "What do you mean by and you're still breathing?"

Necia smiled devilishly before saying. "Let's just say, the Cassandra was something we have known about for quite a while and we sent something to take care of the vermin, but couldn't get around to gathering what was there."

Soren hated the way that sounded. He looked to Bettie, who seemed to mirror his concern, before looking back to Necia on the screen. Before he could say anything, she interrupted.

"Just remember to step on board with protection." Necia said with a smirk before adding. "And I don't mean a weapon." before ending the call.

"Why does that not sound good?" Bettie asked without the accent.

"Because it's not." Soren replied softly. "The Cardassian government may have something to do with why the crew of the Cassandra isn't replying or reporting back. Which is why we need to get down there." He crossed his arms over his chest and looked down. "We have to find a way to get the information without stepping on board."

"We need to say something to someone."

"No." Soren replied quickly. "Because then we will have to say how we got it. Let's just hope that they can determine a safe way of stepping on board without getting hit by whatever the Cardassian's left behind."

"People may get hurt, Speedy." Bettie pleaded softly.

"As long as it's not us, it's not our problem." Soren said as he looked to Bettie. "Do you have my six, Bettie?"

Bettie got off the desk and looked at Soren curiously. She paused for a moment, as if in deep thought, before changing back to her standard program which meant she was back in her jumpsuit and bomber jacket. She tilted her head slightly before saying. "I always have your six, Speedy." She said softly.

"You always do." Soren replied with a smile.

OFF:

Lieutenant Soren 'Speedy' Dillinger
Chief Intelligence Officer

&

Bettie
A.I.

&

Gul Necia
Cardassian Officer

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