Rogues

Posted on Tue Jan 26th, 2021 @ 10:51am by Lieutenant Kalin Brennan-Griffin PhD & Cailus Griffin & Admiral Audra Milne

Mission: The Gauntlet
Location: Carnwennan Corridor

ON:

There was a pensive stare across the face of Audra Milne as she watched the shuttle landing inside Carnwennan Station, eyes glued to the monitor in her office as she viewed the arrival via internal surveillance cameras. On board were the Pandora officers who had apparently taken an unauthorised excursion to conduct a raid on a Section 31 base to rescue their daughter. After which they had travelled to Starbase 242 and simply surrendered themselves. The details and explanation for their mission had been ridiculous, bordering on the insane, though they had arrived with obvious injuries and strictly refused to be separated. They had complied with all questioning and relinquished the shuttle and a small cache of weapons without hesitation. It appeared as if they didn't care about being caught at all.

Security Officers were present as the doors to the shuttle opened and the family appeared, still as close together as the moment they had been rescued. There was no resistance, no argument, as they were escorted off the shuttle bay and into the station. The Admiral waited patiently at her desk; it took exactly seven minutes and thirty two seconds for the door to chime. She inhaled a long breath through her flared nostrils and called for them to enter.

Cailus was the first to walk in the door with Eva in her usual position, perched on his hip. For the first time since leaving Pandora, he was wearing his uniform, although he had put it on earlier that day with some melancholy. It was sobering to realise that it might well be the one of the last times he ever wore the uniform, along with everything it symbolised. It was a price he paid gladly, given the fluffy-eared girl he held who could now look forward to a bright, long and happy future, but it was a price that ached nevertheless. Still, uniform or not, the old habits of duty were ingrained in Cailus's bones. Upon entering the office and seeing the admiral, he stood to attention, or at least as best as he could with Eva. It was oddly comical, but he didn't care a whit. At least he could stand straight now, even if his knee and shoulder were still quite stiff.

Shae came to his side, also in uniform, but instead of a child at her hip, she held newborn cozily swaddled in her arms. Shae's uniform suddenly felt heavy, the rank pips on her collar even more so, in the presence of the Admiral; was this the last day they would get to wear these uniforms? Was their Starfleet career over? She and Cailus were of one mind, it was a price gladly paid to get their daughter back, but that didn't make this moment any easier.

Audra stood and took in the family, so tightly bound to each other. It was disarming and heartwarming, not the feelings she was expecting to feel at this moment. She cleared her throat and began, "Greetings. My name is Admiral Audra Milne, head of the Starfleet Operations Improvement department." She smiled as she told the lie; the door had not yet closed and there were unfamiliar officers nearby. She would wear the mask of her subterfuge until she knew they could be trusted. "I hope you are all well?"

"We are still recovering, but our needs were tended to quite well," Shae answered honestly, her soft lilting voice at odds with the image of a rogue Officer.

"That's very good to hear." Audra said.

The Admiral nodded as she looked to the small children attached to the parents, and she felt a strong need to cater to them. She indicated to the couch by the wall and said, "Please, take a seat." Audra turned to her computer and pressed a few buttons. The office door slid closed and there was a brief, additional 'click', followed by a confirmation 'beep' from her console.

Turning back to her visitors, Audra explained, "I've just secured the room."

Shae's sensitive ears darted up in surprise at the click and confirming beep. "We're in a SCIF?" Shae asked cautiously as she moved towards the couch and sat down.

"A what?" Cailus asked with a frown, on edge at the unexpected twist. He followed Shae to the couch, sitting down with concealed relief, but there was a wariness to how he looked at Admiral Milne. "Admiral, what's happening here?"

"Forgive me, I don't mean to alarm you." Audra said immediately, holding out her hands innocently. "I assumed if Captain Temple had given you my name, he would have explained my true purpose here on Carnwennan Station?"

"A SCIF is a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, secured from all means of surveillance," Shae explained to Cailus in a hushed tone, then returned her attention to Milne. "No, we know very little, just that we were to make contact if things got complicated." Shae looked down at the sleeping babe in her arms then offered a meek smile to Milne. "Well, things got complicated."

"As I hear," Audra replied, as she leaned a little on her desk. "My true purpose is to uncover the corruption within Starfleet's leadership, investigate the former Second Fleet Admiral and Inconnu Expanse Task Force commanding officer, and identify any other associates or locations where they were operating. So what was it really, this base? Another of Thac and Vincent's Pithos facilities? Was it running the same dark matter experiments? Or is this where the transmission signal was coming from?"

The questions were so unexpected that Cailus did a double take. He hadn’t thought about Pithos for a while. “Admiral, there’s nothing to indicate a connection...” His voice trailed off then as he actually starting thinking, looking at Shae. “Hell. It can’t be a coincidence. That place was too close to Pithos. Illegal secret bases can’t be that common. It’s only a month at high warp through the corridor, a couple of weeks if you can sneak through Tzenkethi space. The layout was different, and the personnel, but....”

"I wouldn't look too deeply into a connection," Shae cautioned them. "The facility we raided was a cloning facility, and the man who was the Director of that facility, I never knew his name but he did not play well with others. I find it highly doubtful with his obsession with my genetics that he would have delved into dark matter." To emphasize her point, she shifted Eoin in her arms so that she could fish something out of her pocket, the data drive with the files from the base! Shae looked at it pensively for a moment, wondering if she could trust this woman, and ultimately she gave in; if Nyx trusted Milne, then so could they, and she rose just long enough to set the data drive onto the Admiral's desk and slide it closer to the woman, then returned to her seat.

"I don't recommend viewing that if you've recently eaten, it can be quite unsettling," Shae cautioned the woman.

Audra shook her head, as she looked to the data chip. She left it where it was on the desk for now. “I’ll take your word for it. But wait, are you actually telling me the story you gave to Captain Wolfe was... true? It wasn’t a ridiculous cover to hide your involvement with Project Lighthouse?”

"I'm not familiar with that designation," Shae replied. "What we recounted to Captain Wolfe really is the truth. I know it's an insane story, but we really did it all to rescue our daughter; well, revenge also played a key part in it, too. To be perfectly blunt, we made no plans for after the rescue, fully expecting our actions to be the end of our careers. It's why we were so candid with Captain Wolfe and compliant with all protocol in the matter."

The Admiral moved around to her desk chair and sat down again, placing her hands on each of her temples. “That complicates matters. If the mission was not sanctioned by Captain Temple, you have stolen Starfleet property, and you have used deadly force against Federation personnel.” She let out a breath, and looked the pair square in the eyes, “I thought I could protect you if you were acting as part of our operation, but this is... too much.”

Cailus deflated a little at the admiral's judgement, even if it had been expected, but nevertheless, he sat straight. If this was how it all ended, he intended to face it head-on and proud. Eva was being remarkably well behaved on his lap, seemingly sensing the seriousness of what was happening. "Admiral, we understand. We are ready to face the consequences of our actions, and we don't want protection that would be improper or hazardous to your own career. Eva is safe. The people who hurt her, who hurt Shae, are dead. If that costs us our careers, if that even means a few years at a penal colony, then so be it. The things we did..." At that, Cailus stopped, his expression briefly becoming haunted. "Well, we probably deserve whatever punishment is coming for us."

"Hardly seems fair, though..." Shae said, taking one of Cailus' hands to give it a gentle squeeze. "They were Section 31 personnel conducting illegal genetic experiments on an innocent child; we take out Starfleet's garbage, yet their lives matter more than the one we saved... But I guess that's for the JAG to decide."

Cailus grunted in agreement, although it was only half-hearted. The memory of the sickening things he'd done lingered.

Audra nodded, "I understand the situation you were in. As a parent, you are motivated into doing whatever is necessary to rescue your child." She didn't want to say 'but', but it was coming. "But, as Starfleet Officers, you are aware that there is a chain of command and a process for dealing with such matters. You chose to go rogue instead."

"Would you have approved a mission with little to no proof that she even existed?" Shae countered, then sighed. "But as we've said, we knew and accepted the consequences of our actions, and we're ready for those consequences if you truly cannot help us, and we appreciate that you took the time to listen."

"I can't say. You've removed that option for me." Audra remarked. She began to absentmindedly scroll through the report from Captain Wolfe, looking for something that could help the situation. "You complied completely with the SCIS, I see. And you surrendered all of your weapons." She was saying it more as a statement than a question. "It shows you meant no harm to us, at least."

"And we've surrendered information on the facility and their activities," Shae offered, pointing to the data drive on the Admiral's desk. "I would have surrendered it sooner, but I didn't know who to trust with it, but if Captain Temple trusts you, then that's enough for me."

All the while, Eva had been a good girl, sitting still and waiting patiently for the adults to stop their important adult talk, but she had been growing thirsty and now could wait no longer.

"Papa," Eva said in a hushed tone as she tugged on his jacket sleeve to get his attention. "Thirsty."

Of course, Shae's ears didn't miss a bit.

"Ma'am, may we make use of your replicator?" Shae asked politely.

Audra looked across briefly, "Yeah, yeah sure." She went back to reading the report.

Shae rose and approached the replicator, punching in an order for a juice box, then returning to sit beside Cailus. Handing Eva the juice, she immediately took a long drink from the straw, causing the box to gurgle when she finally stopped for a breath. "Thank you!" Eva said cheerfully, then went back to drinking, this time more slowly and less noisily.

Once again focused on their plight, Shae returned her attention to Milne. "So where do we go from here?"

"Oh you're both suspended from duty pending trial." Audra replied casually, "My priority is getting the Pandora back and reviewing everything that has happened on that ship, which will now include your excursion to Section 31." Her eyes fell upon the itemised list of everything the pair were found with. "Medical packs?" She looked to them, "You had unregistered medical packs?"

Cailus raised an eyebrow in bemusement. "Technically Admiral, according to Federation law, no citizen may be charged with theft of medical supplies which are intended for personal use and are demonstrably required for urgent medical care." It was a bit insubordinate, perhaps, but hell, so what?

Shae suppressed a smirk at his little rebellious streak, but then her amusement soured. "Wait, the Pandora hasn't returned yet?" she asked. They had left before the call went out to stop the Pandora, so they had no idea that she had been under attack. "I'm surprised she hadn't beat us back to Carnwennan, what's the delay?"

"She's had to go the long way around. For her safety." Audra said as a sort-of answer. "The packs were unregistered. Every time a piece of medical equipment is replicated for use in Starfleet or Federation service, it is branded with an identification code and registered on the database, as per Starfleet and Federation protocol. Section 31 facilities included. For you to have picked up unregistered packs shows that the facility was not operating under Starfleet or Federation regulation at all. Now that may seem like a trivial thing, but when you're going to a hearing or trial, evidence like this matters." She peered over to them, "It puts you back in the frame of operating on behalf of Starfleet, instead of against it. Do you see what I'm saying?"

Milne's off-hand answer about the Pandora wasn't reassuring, but there was no point pressuring her about it. Instead Cailus focused on what she was saying, frowning. It was true that Shae had grabbed some medical supplies just before they'd beamed out, but he hadn't given it much thought beyond that. Clearly Milne (or more likely, some very smart people working for her) had. "Admiral, that just proves that the place we hit wasn't an official Starfleet facility. That's helpful for your investigation and whatever mess has to be cleaned up back on Earth afterwards, but for me and Shae, it doesn't make any difference. The law doesn't care who you commit crimes against, only that you have committed crimes."

A loud glurp interrupted him, and Cailus glanced down to see that Eva had quite thoroughly finished her juice, and was apparently quite proud of it. "You were thirsty alright," he remarked wryly, taking the box and setting it aside before looking back at Shae and Milne. "I've done the research, Admiral. The only way Shae and I stay out of prison, never mind keep our jobs, is if we make the case of self-defence, both of our family and our ship, using extraordinary means. There are precedents for that sort of thing, but none as extreme as our case. It'd take one hell of an advocate to make that argument stick before a judiciary panel."

"No, love, I think I understand what the Admiral was hinting at," Shae said softly. "We can legitimize our actions if we were acting in defense of Starfleet and the Federation; rescuing Eva was personal, but destroying the facility so that no one else would ever have to suffer at the hands of the mad science going on there, that wasn't personal! In our own way, we were protecting the people of the Federation. Is that what you were getting at?" she asked Milne.

“Yes, necessity as defence. Committing a crime to prevent a crime.” Audra nodded with a faint smile, “The experiment data you ripped from the site’s core on this chip," She picked it up from the desk and held the device appreciatively, "...will cast the facility into such a moral black hole that few in JAG will be able to justify: Section 31 itself couldn’t justify it if they tried. But the medical packs show the facility was operated so entirely outside of Federation law, that legally speaking, it wasn’t Federation at all. Thus, all of your actions can be explained.”

"It still feels like an incredibly long shot, but we'll take it," Shae said, then sighed. "Thank you for helping us. Even if the JAG doesn't see the case the way you do, we still appreciate the assistance you've given us."

Audra stood again and moved in front of the young family, her tone softer now. “I don’t believe you are criminal rogues. Look at you all, how could I?” She smiled, “I agree that you have a tough challenge to overcome the ramifications for your actions, Starfleet still has a particular distaste for those who take the law into their own hands. But you do have my support. We need all good people to stand against the tide of moral decay within the Federation, and we need to help each other in that goal.”

"Why do I have the feeling that you already have something in mind when you say 'help each other'?" Shae asked, trying her best not to be too suspicious of the Admiral's motives.

"I will let you both gets some rest for now." Audra replied, "Until the Pandora returns, Project Lighthouse can wait."

"Thank you, Admiral, that is greatly appreciated," Shae said, then looked at Cailus and Eva; Eoin was still in the 'sleep all the time' phase, so it was no surprise there that he had remained quiet, the same which could not be said of his sister, and she had done a remarkably good job remaining still and quiet to let the adults speak, definitely worthy of a few cookies!

Cailus simply nodded politely, looking pensive; clearly, the admiral had plans for her new guests and the Pandora, and he was certain that he wouldn't like them. Nevertheless, that was all to come. Cailus stood, Eva in her usual comfortable position. "If you need us, Admiral, you know where to find us," he said, fervently hoping that she wouldn't but knowing full well that it was going to happen regardless.

"We have secure quarters arranged for you and security personnel on hand for your protection." Audra nodded, then gave a short laugh, "Not that I think you'll need it, if what you did to that base is any indication. However, my boss is concerned about possible reprisals from Section 31 agents. We do have the best internal protection systems in place on Carnwennan for you."

"Your boss, Admiral?" Cailus asked, frowning, but he decided not to push her, shaking his head. Instead he got up with Eva, and on a whim, he looked down at the little one. "Time to say goodbye to the nice lady, Eva," he said softly, his voice changing completely from its usual rough sternness.

"Bye bye, nice lady!" Eva said cheerfully, waving to the admiral as well.

"Oh, my little love, she's an admiral; you have to show your betters respect, so call her Ma'am," Shae said with a soft laugh as she rose and they started to leave. Then Eva peeked around Cailus' arm to wave once again.

"Bye, Admiral Ma'am!"

"Goodbye," Audra called out sweetly, waving widely to the girl. She kept a pleasant smile on her face until the door closed and the quiet concern fell upon her again.