"The Federation Cannot Be Here"

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2020 @ 5:12am by Captain Nycolas Temple & Lieutenant Commander James Smith
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:30pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Deck 4 - Intel Office

James Smith returned to the Pandora with the computer files and headed straight for his office, he needed to figure out what he had found on their computers, and now that he found out they were decided messages he needed to find what was going on. The safety of the crew was a responsibility he took seriously. Too many times had he been put in a position where the prime directive forbid him to intervene in matters, but because of the tension he was prepared to do whatever he needed.

Entering the info into the main computer in his office, Smith started to run some algorithms to crack the code. It didn’t look impossible but he thought it might take some time. Slowly he made out a few phrases that caused him some concern. Hitting his com badge he said, =/\= “Captain Temple and Lieutenant Parrino could you please come to deck 4, I have been able to retrieve something from our visit to the ship.” =/\=

The Captain had fallen asleep next to his wife and daughter, forgetting for just the briefest moment about traitors, Paradise, and the Alrakis Pact. Of course that moment was never going to last. He awoke to Smith’s urgent message and it all came flooding back. Knowing that this intel couldn't wait, he immediately tapped his badge in reply, =/\= On my way =/\=

Natalia copied the message.

A few minutes later, Nyx strolled into the Intel office with purpose. He looked around and was pleased to see it was just them. "What have you found?" He asked Smith as he approached.

Looking at his old friend he said, “It’s not good Nyx, we have a traitor on board. I’ve been able to decode a couple of sentences so far. One said 'The Federation cannot be here: They must leave'.” Smith looked back at his screen before continuing, “But the one that’s bothering me most says ‘I’ll help you eliminate them.’ As of right now there are very few people can trust.” James looked at Nyx waiting for the information to register.

Natalia entered in the middle of James's explanation. She heard the ominous messages though.

Nyx's brow furrowed. He had known about the possibility of a traitor on board this ship, and he had wondered what their mysterious assailant had been attempting to do while in Marine Country. Now it was clear - to communicate with someone on Paradise in order to betray the ship. To help them eliminate the Federation presence. It sent a chill down his spine to think a Starfleet officer was walking around on his ship actively plotting to hurt the crew. He had been hoping to keep this between the senior team until they knew more, but now it was becoming impossible to keep a lid on it. Nyx decided they needed to bring more people into the investigation in order to help find the culprit before they did anything.

He leaned towards Smith and Parrino then spoke in a hushed tone, "We have recently become aware of an unknown crew member accessing parts of the ship and attempting to use comms systems with stolen codes. Up until now it was unclear what their purpose is, but now we know. They have been communicating with someone on Paradise in order to betray the Pandora."

“What is being done to apprehend the suspect, do you have any suspicions?” James cursed a little under his breath, this mission had just become a bit more complicated. James continued, “So besides worrying about the station, there could be other ships out there gunning for us, and somebody on the Pandora that we can’t trust. What can I do to assist in finding this traitor?”

Nyx frowned, "We don't know who it is yet. If we can decipher who sent these messages it will lead us straight to them." He said firmly.

"Do you think this is Freedom's Legion?" Natalia asked, always assessing the changing environment.

"I don't know." Nyx replied honestly. "This has caught us all by surprise and we have had such little to go on. So far, we know the culprit has accessed an auxiliary storage room, the botanics room, and attempted to use a console in Marine Country. They were interrupted during their last incursion, but got away without being seen. It is possible they were trying to use the console to send another message to Paradise. Hence why we need to know who sent it, and what else have they been saying."

Smith nodded, “ I will continue to work on deciphering these message”. Smith looked toward Natalia, “If you're not needed anywhere else I could use your help here. We need to get these messages deciphered as soon as possible.”

Natalia nodded. "Sir, we can run them through the computer and analyze whatever hash algorithms to try to crack the code. In the mean time, an access list should be pulled of the personnel accessing those areas along with corresponding video footage."

Natalia was not a fan of being tasked to supplement Security, yet in this case it could very well have been someone from Security implicated.

Nyx nodded in response, pleased to have both the Intel experts on the case. And it was relieving to know they were on the case. As trouble as the messages were, it also brought them a step closer to finding the culprit.

"Good idea. But you must work in absolute secrecy." Nyx added, his tone still heavy. "Smith, you're right. We don't know who we can trust at this time. All evidence is highly classified, only myself, Nash, and Griffin, are aware of these events. If it means locking down this room while you decipher, so be it. We'll say that you're working on our Covert spear of the Paradise mission."

James nodded, “The Intell office does have the ability to go dark so nothing can access this room or our computers.” Smith looked back toward the screen, his thoughts on Krysia, “Everyone should be tracked, and if a problem arises we need to be able to pull them back immediately. We don’t need to lose anyone.”

"Keep me updated." The Captain replied with a solemn nod.

OFF