Posted by Lieutenant Commander Peter Sigmundsson (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Undisclosed location- CIO vs. Operative - Who is the better agent? When the past doesn’t match the present…or the future

Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in Undisclosed location- CIO vs. Operative - Who is the better agent? When the past doesn’t match the present…or the future
Celia opened her eyes and immediately knew things for her were about to get extremely uncomfortable. The room was dark and she felt groggy. The last thing she remembered with the CIO hauling her off the floor by her neck…her shirt....her collar? Normally she had a crystal clear memory for events like this. It helped to be instantly awake when one was an intelligence operative. Right now she felt disoriented.

Taking a second she surveyed the room. It appeared to be barren of any decoration. There seemed to be no real lights: Just black and darkened shadows. She could be in a closet, in a holding cell, or some other secluded place. The one thing she knew was that she was not in the brig. “So is this where we break out the thumbs screws because I know the protocol as well as you?” It was normal for even the most experienced agent to feel trepidation in situations like this. Normally being caught by your own side or that of a Federation member meant you were probably going to have a walk in the park with the interrogation. Civilized people did not do the creative things others did. The wild card was the kid. Universally people became less rational when one involved children but since this mission was about a child, it was hard to exclude that element. Celia never held too much concern about kids. They simply grew up to be adults one day but not all people held this pragmatic view.

Celia Decker, intelligence officer

There was a slight creaking and one of the room’s shadows seemed to shift, a large black mass moving forward barely a foot from her. There was a slight click and a small ball of light, floating maybe six feet above the floor between Celia and the now visible form of Peter, gave a dim light. Enough to show his emotionless wooden expression “Have you ever heard the story of how the Cardassians tortured Admiral Picard back when he was Captain of the Enterprise , this was the Enterprise of my youth, Enterprise D. Galaxy-class, gods what a class of starship” His expression seemed to shift as he spoke, in fact his entire posture seemed to change from rigid man of the uniform to a more relaxed person, he had on a slight smile, a wry smile as if he knew a joke that no one else did “This happened the year before I joined the Academy but the story became somewhat of a legend during the Dominion War, a story of Human resilience, Cardassian brutality and most importantly how ineffective torture really is”

Her eyes immediately snapped to the light and then the voice in the darkened space. She didn’t waste a moment uttering a silent curse that it was the intelligence chief and not some security guard in the room. The simpering brat had made her play a hand from her deck back in sickbay. It was not the last hand in the poker game she was playing but only this turn. A new round of cards had been dealt and now she had to figure out which one she would play. They both had different mission objectives and different methods to achieve them. She remained quiet and continued to let him talk.

He leaned forward “The man was drugged, tortured, humiliated for some classic Cardassian scheme. No one really knows the details of what happened but I’ve read the after-action reports and let me tell, it was not pretty yet he held on, ‘there are four lights’ became a rallying cry”.

There was no training that prepared one for torture or interrogation. Since this was a Federation vessel and she was a Federation member it would be the latter but that did little except give her less hope. If this was an enemy, there was a chance they would just kill her and not care but the security chief wanted answers. This meant he would probably try to tap into her psychological component in an attempt to disrupt her senses and sense of duty.

He leaned back “No this isn’t where I bring out my thumbscrews, I won’t even have to hit you. I’m afraid that if I did you might not wake up” He raised his left hand and made a fist, showing just how large his hands truly were. “We’re just going to play a little game of chicken or better yet a game of faith and duty. Do you believe enough in your cause to die for it” His smile widened showing teeth, a predatory smile “Because I believe enough in my cause, in my duty to kill for it” He said cheerfully “But that’s a bit heavy as a start for a conversation don’t you think?” He asked rhetorically “Instead I’ll ask you this, you’ve clearly been briefed on me or at least my presence on the ship, you have some training in tradecraft although perhaps not very extensive but enough for the layman. What do you know about me?”

CIO

Celia listened to his speech and looking at Peter instantly broke out crying. Whether or not he would buy the dog and pony show she was about to sell him remained to be seen. By now Primrose and the rest of the team would be moving into the extraction phase of the plan with the girl. In the world of intelligence, time was sometimes more important than information. The more time she could buy for herself and the extraction team would increase the chances of success of the mission. “Please I was just trying to help her. It’s not fair what happened to her. I was just trying to help her. She is just a kid.” The tears were real as was the way her face twisted up and her shoulders sagged and caved as she began to sob. What wasn’t genuine was the sentiment. Peter seemed to not be sure of her credential. For now, that was what she would play on and sell the lie as long as she could.

Already the mental games were afoot. Had she mentioned she knew him in sickbay? Did she call him by name or even department? His arrival was unexpected. The man breezed in like a wraith in the commotion and seemed to be there before she even knew it. How much had he heard or was aware of? She had to keep her responses vague or get twisted up in her own lies. Looking up at him with tear-stained cheeks she shook her head with all the emotion of an OMAP award-winning actress. “That is his kid. Who would do that to your own child? Lock them up? Treat them like a criminal. Someone has to help her even if her own father won’t.”

The tango between the operative and the chief had begun. Celia could not admit she knew the man and continue with the ruse that she was an unassuming doctor. Men like Peter would not give up when they posed a question so the only thing Celia could do was try and introduce new information. If it was new information, then it would give her a chance to control the narrative and buy more time.

Celia Decker intelligence operative