Suspicions

Posted on Wed Mar 10th, 2021 @ 10:20am by Admiral Audra Milne

Mission: The Gauntlet
Location: Carnwennan Station

ON:

With the Brennan Griffin family returned to safety and currently in-session with the Court Martial, Admiral Milne set her sights on the next biggest problem. She was siting down at the desk in her office, the "shroud" still in effect as she maintained strict privacy over her affairs. On screen was the surveillance footage from the day of the kidnapping - but she wasn't watching the holodecks where it took place. Instead she was watching the Bridge where Ensign Green and Lieutenant Commander Squall were on duty at the time of the insurrection within Carnwennan Station.

On the day of the attack, Carnwenna's defences had been too slow to detect the kidnapping and the team members onboard had failed in their duty to protect the Brennan-Griffins from harm. Audra had not been told that the family were in the holodeck, despite the heightened risk to their safety. There had been a delay of thirty seconds in between when the environmental fault was detected and when the system detected a problem in the Holodeck - more than enough time for a skilled team of operatives to beam in and kidnap the family. The Section 31 stealth ship had been hiding as a merchant ship off-shore from Carnwennan, and yet the ship was ignored and allowed to orbit the base without inspection. And only further confirming the Admiral's suspicions, the Section 31 agent known as the Cleaner had informed Cailus and Shae that there was an informant onboard Carnwennan that they could really information with.

The question remained - who was it?

Who was the rat working for Section 31?

Green and Squall were on duty on the Bridge and the two crew members responsible for detecting and securing the ship in the event of such an event. The explanation given, by Squall, at the time was they had followed standard procedure and initiated a diagnosis of the environmental fault - providing Section 31 with the perfect 30 second window for them to make the infiltration and grab the family members, then remove them for the station. Enacting the Shroud when they discovered the sedative gas was fruitless as the family were already onboard the stealth ship and they were already departing when Audra realised what was going on. It was all too well planned and executed.

Looking at the console records, Audra could see that Ensign Green's system highlighted that the station had detected the fault and Squall had almost immediately ordered the diagnostic. No surprises there. If either of them did work for Section 31, they weren't about to telegraph quite so easily.

Failing that, Audra flipped to their records.

Green was an up and coming young officer - incredibly bright, solid grades, very technical in her abilities. She was earmarked for progress into Engineering, the previous Carnwennan station chief believed she could have a long career in such a role, however there was a small rumbling about attitude and demeanour. The CEO of Carnwennan had included Green on some projects, but felt her too independent to work cohesively in a team, and would often become "rude" and "snappy" if she wasn't left alone to work her tasks her way. Having behavioural issues in a young officer, not long from the Academy, was a worry and it was holding her back.

Audra had seen this on occasion in her career - young officers with strong-minded views, believing they knew best. It took experience and maturity to realise many people did not have all the answers and it took collaboration and listening to help fill in those gaps. Of course, "behavioural problems" were sometimes coded phrases for "I don't want to work with this person" as Department Chiefs preferred people they could mould and shape themselves. Audra had experienced a few complaints in her own career of a similar nature - normally from older Admirals with a military background who didn't want a Diplomat and lawyer telling them what to do.

On the opposite side was Lieutenant Commander Squall. She was officious to a fault; never missed a day sick, turned in every report early, and was a keen candidate for the Starfleet Command program. She achieved results in increasing productivities and efficiencies in every department she worked in previously, assisting Department heads and the Station Chief on projects and operations on countless occasions. Likewise, however, there was a concern for her "attitude"; mild complaints about her appearing condescending to junior officers and those she deemed to be not hard workers. She had to find a balance in her tone was a common phrase in her performance feedbacks.

Audra naturally wondered if the genders were different if similar comments would still be made. Would the same personality be seen as "bold" and "forthright" in another's shoes.

Still, she was left with a mission. One, or possibly both, of these officers were potentially working for Section 31. They could have assisted in the illegal capture and remove of the Brennan-Griffin family, and could be receiving orders from another organisation while wearing the Starfleet uniform. If this was true, she had to find out.

[Later]

"Take a seat," Audra said as Ensign Green entered. The young officer walked gingerly across the office floor and sat down in the chair offered, folding her arms pensively into her lap.

Half an hour later after Green had left, Audra made the same offer to Lieutenant Commander Squall. The senior officer strode confidently towards the seat and leaned into it, sitting with her back up straight with PADD in hand.

"I'm here to discuss the events of the kidnapping." Audra explained as she took her seat, looking seriously across the desk. Green had bit her lip, Squall had nodded and started tapping away, taking notes.

"What.. do you need to know?" Green asked.

"Good." Squall answered. "We need some light on the situation."

Audra had leaned forward and steepled her hands onto the desk, raising her eyebrows. "The initial environmental fault was discovered at 14:28, is that correct?"

Green frowned, eyes darting downwards as she tried to remember, and finally she nodded emphatically. "Yes."

Squall had taken a different approach. She tapped at her PADD and turned it around to show the Admiral, revealing a full incident report already filled out. Squall highlighted the appropriate paragraph - one of many. She indicated to this section, "Correct, Admiral. 14:28 and thirty two milliseconds to be precise."

"You detected the fault on your console?" Audra asked Green.

"Yes." Green answered with a little more confidence, though didn't offer anything more.

"The fault was detected by Ensign Green, correct?" Audra had asked Squall.

"As shown here - " Squall showed a different paragraph, "The Operations console alerted at the above-mentioned time and Ensign Green gave a verbal explanation for the alert following a brief three second pause. I calculate that to be a normal period of reading and comprehension for someone of Ensign Green's age and rank. I find no delinquency in her reporting of the error."

"And who made the call to run the diagnostic?" Audra had asked Green, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"Squall did." Green replied immediately, "She was in command of the Bridge and gave the orders." There was a wry little "hmph" to herself.

Audra had caught it and frowned, "Something to add, Ensign? Now's the chance."

Green took in a deep breath and sighed, "Look, between you and me, Admiral, that is how Squall handles things. She gives all the orders. Anytime she has the conn on duty, it is her way or nothing. We don't even get a say."

"Isn't that what the chain of command is for?" Audra asked, but her tone was gentle instead of telling.

Green only offered a shrug, "I wouldn't have ordered the diagnostic, Admiral. She didn't listen."

Meanwhile, Lt. Commander Squall had a different approach.

"Section fourteen, part three of the Station's operation procedural guidelines stipulates that a level one diagnostic be enacted immediately following the detection of a possible environmental control fault, unless that fault indicates heightened risk to the safety and comfort of all personnel onboard the Station." Squall rattled off her answers like a semi-automatic phaser firing at high velocity.

"You know your regulations, Lt. Commander." Audra remarked. "Awfully well."

"Thank you." Squall replied with a smile.

"But is that the only regulation in play?" Audra asked, and this caused Squall her first moment of doubt - it passed over her face for a brief secondt.

Finally she shook her head, "That is the standard protocol." Squall insisted.

Previously, Audra had looked to Green with intensity, "What do you mean?"

"Environmentals on a starbase are checked regularly, Admiral," Green answered. "The possibility that the fault was just a fault is likely, but before we shut down the auxiliary systems to diagnose the fault, we should have ensured everything else was okay first. We didn't do that."

"What would you have checked?" Audra asked intently, pushing for this answer. She believed it may have been pivotal to the investigation.

"Oxygen." Green said simply, "The fault was in the recyclers, we should have made sure the station's oxygen levels were stable throughout with a full sweep before we turned off the auxiliaries for diagnostics. If we did, we would have found the oxygen in the Holodecks were lower than they should have been and then been able to detect the sedative gas used to incapacity the Brennan-Griffins."

Audra raised her eyebrows at this - Green had a point. When later asked, Squall was infuriated by the alternate suggestion.

"No." She shook her head, "That's only policy if section 14, part one of the operations protocol was enacted - in the event of a known security threat. We didn't know there was a security threat until after the diagnostic was complete."

Audra had leaned back in her chair, "What about the possibility of such a threat? Did that cross your mind?"

Squall looked plainly at the Admiral. "Why would it?"

A simple question but with many implications.

Earlier, Audra had asked Green a similar question. "Why would we look for something we didn't know was there?"

Green once again shrugged, "Because we would have found something."

It was an easy answer to make in hindsight. Audra couldn't tell if Green was just trying to prove Squall had acted incorrectly, and that she knew better - or if Squall had purposely not completed an oxygen sweep because it would have found what was happening in the holodeck. Without an answer, Audra moved to the second phase of her plan.

In both interviews, she had moved over to her computer and tapped a few buttons, putting on a show to appear as if she was securing the room. She stood from her desk and moved around to the other side, as if initiating a more concealed discussion.

"The more I think about this, the less sense it makes." Audra started off. "I have... concerns... over the reliability of Brennan and Griffin's testimonies over these events."

"Oh?" Green had asked, perplexed. "How can I help with that?"

"So you should." Squall nodded emphatically. "We should investigate all options." She added.

Audra continued, "I want you to talk with them privately this evening. We will send you in to fix their Replicator. I have their quarters on complete lock down, no one else will hear you. See if you can find out anything."

Green furrowed her brow, "Why?"

Audra had smiled at the young officer, "Just see if they're acting suspicious."

Squall meanwhile had immediately agreed, "I certainly will try. But they may not talk to me."

"Perhaps." Audra had answered, "Get a gauge of their demeanour."

Green reluctantly nodded, "Okay, if you think it'll help? I'm... not... " She sighed, "That's not my skill set, Admiral."

"Nor mine." Audra had laughed, "Don't worry, as I said their quarters are completely locked down. No one else can listen in. If you find nothing, come right back out."

Though she looked uncomfortable by the suggestion, Green had agreed. Squall was already planning her disguise. Both had left Audra's office soon after - Green, the reluctant spy and Squall, the willing deceiver. If either was an act, it was hard to tell.

Some time later once both interviews had been completed, Audra found herself looking out the window of her office, wondering if she'd made the right move. If either one of them attempted to make contact with Cailus or Shae on behalf of Section 31, Audra would know immediately. She just wasn't sure she was ready for the answer.

OFF