The Curious Case of Alexandra Vance: Stage 1

Posted on Fri Jul 24th, 2015 @ 2:29am by Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Tate & Jethro Vance & Commodore Samantha York
Edited on on Fri Jul 24th, 2015 @ 6:57am

1,320 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Deadly Diplomacy
Location: Intelligence Labs

Jethro Vance and Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Tate had been granted a workspace in the Intelligence labs to begin their inquiry into the murder of Alexandra Vance. The two had begun their work by attempting to ascertain why Alexandra had left.

"Any ideas?" Jennifer asked turning herself in her chair to face Jethro.

"My guess is she knew Morat was coming. It's the only thing I could think of that would make her react so irrationally. Let's check the communication logs. Check for anything sent to her quarters, i'll handle her office." Jennifer replied as the two returned their focuses to the consoles.

Sam had come by to check on their progress and heard the last comment. "There are no communications. If Morat sent her something, it wasn't through the comm system. My guess is she had it delivered personally by one of their flunkies. And, knowing Alexandra, if she was going dark, she wouldn't leave a trail like that."

"Point taken." Jennifer commented as she continued to scour the logs. "It may also have been embedded in something that looked completely harmless to the untrained eye. Prior to her death did anything unusual happen? Unexpected guests, a crew member acting different?"

"Yes. The ship is riddled with spies," Sam informed her. "I've put two in the brig and sent several more packing. However, I've only scratched the surface. Morat herself may have been here as well."

Jennifer immediately swung around with a look of both worry and curiosity. "What do you mean?"

Jethro also paused what he was doing but his face did not reveal his feelings towards the notion even though the very thought brought chills down his back.

"A nurse in sickbay who was sending reports and files to an Admiral at Starfleet Command, a Yeoman who was spying on me, Storm who I believe to be a double-agent. Two parents sent to sickbay and a child tormented into severing the head off her own teddy bear to save her parents' lives. Oh, and there was a present left in Alexandra's quarters after her death. Arson. Intel and security are investigating everyone on the ship. There are very few people I trust on this ship right now."

"Morat rarely works an operation directly but rather through proxy. Although we really don't know what she looks like." Jennifer commented.

Jethro did not pipe in even though he knew her statement was false.

Sam looked at Vance, then at Tate. "That hasn't been the pattern here. She has taken a personal interest in destroying Alexandra and Amarylis -- and anyone associated with them."

"Aye, but it's unlikely she is doing it herself. In the past we have found she places operatives in plain sight. They are hard to find, extremely skilled and loyal to Morat to the death. These people have either gone through years of conditioning or Morat is exploiting that which the individual cares for." Jennifer replied.

Sam turned to Vance, who had said nothing. "You're the one who seems to know Gul Morat the best. What do you say?"

"Jennifer is spot on in her analysis." Jethro replied without skipping a beat. "Chances are there is still someone onboard whom has been helping her achieve her goals. She's hellbent on vengeance, she has been since day one."

"Again, nothing new," Sam replied, feeling like a broken record. "Until now, I could count on one hand the number of people who actually know what's going on. I prefer it that way." She sighed, feeling like she was getting nowhere. "I suspect Morat has been and may still be nearby, popping onto the ship at her whim. I need to figure out how she does it so I can stop her. She also has people here on this ship. As I said, Admiral Hunter and my Intel department are looking into that. She's after Amarylis, too. So, not only do we need to find out why Alexandra left, if she is dead or has gone black and keep Amarylis from becoming her next victim."

"Anonymity is her greatest weapon. Sadly I am the only remaining person who has actually seen what Morat looks like and that was decades ago. She could walk right by any of us and no one would know any better. We're chasing a ghost and we don't have any god damn idea what it looks like." Jethro replied balling his fist in frustration. It was clear the history between the two was quite personal and filled with conflict.

"She's after Amarylis because Sergeant Beckinsale was on the team that liberated Commander Vance from the Cardassian prison. Although I would think given her M.O her actions would have ceased once Alexandra was killed. Her death serves no purpose to her anymore, dead people can't feel." Jennifer chimed in. She began to rub her chin, crossing her legs as she tried to determine the missing piece. There was more to this then they knew and right now it seemed only Morat herself had the answer.

Now THAT was something new. Jethro Vance had a piece in all this. And Amarylis rescued Alexandria from Morat. "If we take away all her tentacles, eventually she'll have to confront us directly," Sam said. "So, we tighten security, close all the loopholes, fix whatever is going on with Beckinsale and wait."

"The problem is having her identify herself. In the past such actions have only gotten us to her Lieutenants. There have been instances of those claiming to be her but they were easily refuted. As abrasive as she is she is far too cowardly to face off against us, we need to find a way of identifying her." Jennifer replied.

"That will be up to Intel and Amarylis at this point," Sam said. She agreed with what Jennifer had to say, that it would be difficult, but sitting back and waiting for Morat's next attack was unacceptable.

"Has Sergeant Beckinsale had contact with Morat directly?" Jennifer asked hopefully.

"I don't know," Sam admitted. "But I think so. Go talk to her, see if maybe she'll tell you. Both she and Alexandria seem to feel that by keeping information from me they're doing me a favor." The tone of her voice let Jennifer know she did not agree with them.

Jennifer lowered her brows as she began to ponder. She raised them once again when she focused on Sam. "Technically the information they had is classified to the highest levels, partially due to Gul Morat's vindictive nature. Commander Vance and Sergeant Beckinsale probably felt they were protecting you from her wrath. Problem is Gul Morat did not see it that way.

They also felt that Sam couldn't handle the information, but she wasn't going to mention that.

Jennifer's console suddenly bleeped. "Excuse me a moment ma'am." Tate said turning from Samantha to the console. "What the hell?"

Jethro rose from his seat moving over to Jennifer curious of what she had found.

Sam just raised an eyebrow and waited to be informed.

"It's a satellite. In orbit of the planet." Jennifer informed them. "Jethro can you use the sensor data to plot the satellite's position during the attack? See if it could have recorded any data!"

Jethro moved back to his console and began to work the numbers. He turned back to them with a smile. "Unless that thing was turned off, it would have seen everything." He replied.

Jennifer turned to Sam. "We need that satellite ma'am."

"I'll contact the planetary government," Sam said. "Since we just negotiated peace with them, it wouldn't be a good idea to steal it."

She headed for the door and paused, turning back to the other two. "Please don't do anything to jeopardize that."

Jennifer looked to Jethro confusedly.

Jethro smirked shaking his head. "It's not you kid."

____
OFF

Commodore Samantha York
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Tate
Starfleet Intelligence

Jethro Vance
Civilian

 

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