Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Side Sim - Conference Room - Delivery. Who Is Going To Sign For This? (TAG Calloway, Wyatt, XO)

Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Side Sim - Conference Room - Delivery. Who Is Going To Sign For This? (TAG Calloway, Wyatt, XO)

Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Side Sim - Conference Room - Delivery. Who Is Going To Sign For This? (TAG Calloway, Wyatt, XO)
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Pikelsimer looked at Shara and smiled broadly. “Oh honey… I don’t expect anything. I know that is the way its gonna go. And your Rear Admiral may have stroke, but his stroke ain’t nothing compared to a Federation Senate Security Committee order. So as of right now, your orders mean exactly jack and s%$t.” and he looked around the table. “Y’all may not be used to this, but you ain’t the big dog on this porch. I am. And if y’all bother to pull your -” and he looked at Shara and winked, “- pretty little heads outta your quite amazing backsides -” and he looked back at the table, “- you’ll have caught the fact that I’m tryin’ ta help y’all get this settled while you still can. Hell, it’a make my final report a hell of a lot easier for the Committee to swallow if I could say INtel managed to clean up their little manure-pile before I got the prisoner transferred.” and he leaned back in his chair.

“Ain’t nobody in this room responsible for this breach… but you can bet y’alls asses that they are gonna try to hang it on ya. ‘They’ being your brass and my oversight panel. Your division, not mine, was breached ladies and gentlemen… and at the highest level I have ever heard of. And if you think Intel is gonna be given free reign to do what you usually do? Hell, ain’t nobody gonna let that happen. As far as anyone outside here thinks, you may still be guilty of aiding and abetting. Powerful people have been really embarrassed. Not publicly, of course. But enough folks know now that its a mess. And like I said before… Leroy here and I have kept the machine stalled almost as long as we can. But you guys gotta stop thinking and start acting. We all need answers here. First hand. Not just to help out the good Lieutenant and Commander Strickland get the closure they need and want… but to potentially keep everyone here outta prison and keep your names on Santa’s Nice list. Breach like this? The fallout is gonna be… well… the word ‘biblical’ comes to mind. All y’all can do right now is get out in front of it. And I’ll help ya however I can… but don’t think y’all call the shots. ‘Cause you don’t.” and he looked at Shara. “Not tryin’ ta be a jerk, hun. But your Admiral is probably in a meeting right now with a whole lotta of folks who are looking to mount his head on a wall. You wanna help him? Let’s get this done now. ‘Cause you ain’t got much time, no matter what you think.”

Pikelsimer, FedSec

Shara took in his little speech with some curiosity and more than a little bit of amusement. She laughed incredulously. “This isn’t some ego trip of mine, nor do I care to play some sort of turf war with anyone. But let’s not all forget that there are people whose lives are in danger and they don’t even know it. Yes, this is a massive breach. And the people most at risk in that breach are undercover agents who suddenly have to worry whether their handler or the order they are receiving are corrupt. I’m interested in protecting those lives, because they are the ones that will get forgotten in all of this.”

~Shara Calloway, Starfleet Intelligence

Faye pushed back her chair and moved around the table, seeming both unimpressed and, well, worried. “Now, now, children, let’s not have to put you in separate corners.”

Leroy couldn’t help the snort of laughter that erupted, though he stifled it quickly.

Pacing slightly, Faye was trying to work through the options, her eyes unfixed and gazing down as she moved. “He hasn’t said anything. He said nothing when I went to see him”-she held up a hand as she looked at Strickland, knowing his response-“but then again I wasn’t there to question him really. The answers I wanted from him weren’t ones I needed him to tell me.”

Chewing the inside of her cheek, Faye frowned. “It seems to me that the really fallout will be the one where this Shadow Syndicate fully realizes they’ve been found out, and what happens then. Commander Calloway is right that there are people in the line of fire that are not the head honchos of either department and already considered expendable. People like me,” she said flatly. “How do we get the answers we need while minimizing the risk to those out there? And for the record, no, I’m not willing to be bait again, even if”-she tapped her head-“there are some excellent reasons why I should be.”

~Faye Calloway, Data Specialist

Cochrane sat in silence, just listening, his hands resting on the arms of his chair. After Faye spoke, he said “So why not just use Fake Blue as bait, then? Seems to be the most efficient option.”

Cochrane, CO

Faye’s intense gaze was suddenly fixed on Alex and he’d recognize the look on her face when she had latched onto an idea and was working through its possible permutations. “Oh!” She laughed. “Oh, hell yes. Let’s do that! We have the frequency he used from the transmission, plus I’ve been dealing with Mr. Fakeness well enough that swapping the real thing in a call would be nothing. All we need to do is hack into their systems over that call, yours truly at your service, and we can plant whatever ideas, pull any information out that we want.”

“So long as we’re careful not to trip over any unknown rules of conduct they have,” Leroy said with a hint of caution. “Let’s not rush into this too quickly. But-” he began nodding his head-“the idea has merit.”

Faye jabbed a thumb in Cochrane’s direction. “I think that’s why they gave him the extra pip,” she quipped.

Shara took all of this in quietly. It could work so long as they were exceptionally smarter about it than their counterparts. She looked at Piklesimer. “Any objections, Big Dog?”

~The Calloways & Strickland

Pikelsimer looked at Cochrane for a minute and then said “What’d ya have in mind, Skipper?”

Cochrane thought long and hard for a moment and then looked at Faye, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“Lieutenant, rather than leave an opportunity for them to see we have breached their systems, tell me…”

“How good are you really at computer programming? Specifically… holodeck programs?”

Cochrane, CO

Faye grimaced and holding her hand out wiggled it back and forth. “Similar skill set, different application. It requires a nuance for details and to be quite honest I’ve never been super fond of the holodeck enough to get into the program side of it.”

“I can,” Shara said easily. “Not a problem for me.”

“You?” Strickland said.

Shara gave a wide grin. “Who do you think taught Faye a good chunk of what she knows?” Faye just shrugged and nodded. It was true after all.

~The Calloways & Strickland

Cochrane grinned. “So here is what I propose: We let Fake escape. The Manhattan becomes catastrophically compromised. Escape pods, death, destruction… the whole bit. Fake grabs the Runabout and escapes… but get injured in the process. He runs… as he will… and makes tracks to get somewhere safe. En route, he will have to activate the EMH on board. He makes his trip, however long that is, and eventually will reach his destination of safety and security.” and Cochrane smiled.

“But he does it all on the holodeck. Commander Calloway, you program the holodeck for the destruction of the Manhattan. Once the program is ready, we sedate him in his sleep and move him. He wakes up in the brig, but on the holodeck. He escapes, but gets hurt. Not bad, but enough. We tie the holodeck input to the navigation computer and astrometrics, so he sees what he is supposed to see as he travels. Every now and then, he’ll have to activate the EMH to help him. EMH isnt an EMH, its the Doc. Doc minds the injury so we don’t lose him, but gives him a little nighty-night dose so he ‘sleeps’ through a lot of the trip to speed things along. Once he is at his destination, we know where that is. Gunny here sends his folks to do their thing, Bob’s your uncle.” and he looked around the table.

Cochrane, CO

“Elegant and straightforward,” Faye said. “I highly approve.” She was teasing but only a little bit.

“We’ll have to be flawless. Anything less and I guarantee he’ll see through the ruse,” Shara cautioned. “I can do it, and clearly there is a timer on the whole thing, so… if that’s the route we want to go, I better go get started.” She looked to Faye. “I could use some help though. It’ll go faster.”

Faye smirked. “This won’t be like AP Calculus, will it? I’m not sure I’ve learned enough patience for that nonsense all over again.”

Shara couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ll survive,” she said dryly.

“As long as we all remember we’re on the same team…” Leroy chimed in, gazing at Faye. there was much to discuss and unpack there, but there would be time for that yet.

~The Calloways & Strickland

“Commander, before you go.” Cochrane said. “Perhaps some time to discuss between the two of them would be prudent?” and he nodded slightly to Faye and Strickland. “Agent Pikelsimer. Why don’t you and the Commander join me for a quick bite. Lieutenant, meet Commander Calloway in the auxiliary computer lab when you are done. Commander Strickland. Please join me in my Ready Room when you are free. And let’s reconvene tomorrow at 1200 hours to see where we are at. Dismissed.” and he stood up and gestured to the door.

Cochrane, CO

There were some nods all around, though Shara held something of an indifference towards Pikelsimer. “I think that sounds like a plan,” Strickland said, giving Faye a smile.

Faye was still weirded out by all of this, even though she knew without a doubt that it was Leroy. Yep, definitely some things to work out.

~The Calloways & Strickland