Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in Government Tower - PRISM TMODJ

Posted by Civilian Alston ‘Fox’ Mace (Director - Colonial Intelligence Agency) in Government Tower - PRISM TMODJ

Posted by Civilian Joseph Karlson (Police Commissioner) in Government Tower - PRISM TMODJ
Posted by… suppressed (23) by the Post Ghost! 👻

<snip>

As Alston waited he thought through the information they had figured out so far. “I have a feeling that I’m finally owed that chat with the Captain. She might have some insight into what is going on, especially if a political rival keeps popping up as a name in our investigation. Interested in joining me?” Alston asked looking over at Pangolin.

• Mace

Pangolin handed the PaDD where he’d received the information on the Syndicate member to Mace “I’d like that. Haven’t been to meet with her since the night of the murder.”

DCI Pangolin

Alston nodded. “Mr. Reilly, can you finish up here? Let me know if you find out anything else. And run him through our database as well, see if e we have any other information.

“Come along Detective, we have a Captain to talk too.”

• Mace

Pangolin nodded and followed Mace “After you director”

DCI Pangolin

Alston headed for the transporter room, “We have clearance to transport directly into the Government Tower. I think the best place to start would be at the Captains office. Worst case is that they will be able to tell us where she is at.”

Once they arrived at the transporter room, it was only a matter of moments for them to be transported directly to the Tower.

———————————————-

On their way up, Pangolin quickly briefed his boss on what they learned through a secure channel, now that they were in the Tower.

Quickly passing through security at the Tower, they took the lift up to the Lt Governor’s office. As they stepped out, he recognized Elena sitting at her desk.

“Good Afternoon Ms. Sreer. I was wondering if perhaps the Captain was in.”

• Mace

Elema managed to mostly contain her surprise, but then again, everything had been so chaotic lately that unexpected visitors who might expect her to be in again seemed to just fit right in with everything else. “As a matter of fact, she is, though she’s not announcing that so that she has a chance to catch up after her absence.” She held up her index fingers. “One moment.”

She called into the office, listening with her ear piece. “Ma’am, I have Director Mace and Investigator Pangolin here to see you… Okay.” Sreer looked up. “You can go right on in.”

To door opened to a large rectangular office, which took over the corner of the building and was filled with windows directly ahead and to the right. Dasca’s polished black desk was L-shaped and set in the right corner so her back was to the windows, but she could gaze out along the long side. At this time of day, when the sun was shining on this side of the building, the windows were strategically tinted to block glare on her computer screen. In front of her desk were two chairs backed by a decorative screen made of transparent glass tiles creating a mosaic of a mountainous landscape with a large waterfall. Hooked off the side of her desk was a simple black cane that nearly blended into the desk.

On the other side of the screen was a large oval table in the same black polished wood as her desk. It was set with many chairs around it that could double as a meeting space as well as a dining table. Adjacent to that in what was framed as a U-Shaped sitting nook were a large dark blue couch flanked by two light grey arm chairs nestled around an oval coffee table. It was something of an art piece, with a clear glass top and the base was a dark wood spiral that narrowed down to a round footing. Matching side tables were tucked in the ‘corners’ between the sofa and arm chairs.

Throughout the space were plants of various sizes from small trees to a living arrangement on her desk in a stone bowl. Hanging plants were strategically hung from the ceiling to take up blank space or help divide the large office into the cozier work and lounge areas. The interior walls held a couple abstract paintings in sweeping strokes and muted tones that added to the calming feel of an office that was almost always busy. Near her desk was a freestanding trellis with a trailing plant with chartreuse heart shaped leaves, edged in black with bright pink veining. One of the vines had crept down to the floor and was pointed in the direction of her chair.

Rising from her desk, Eela Dasca bore a more centred countenance that she had had at the memorial, but there was still a quietness to her was not what most people were used to. But her grey mourning wear was gone and she was back to her usual office wear: today a grey suit with a pale blue floral blouse. “Gentlemen,” she greeted, gesturing to the seating area. “How about we sit and you can tell me how I can help you.” Underneath the surface calm, she was suddenly anxious about why they were here.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Pangolin smiled politely and sat down, he crossed his legs and placed his hands in his lap and leaned back in his seat almost leisurely but most definitely calm “Thank you for having us” He said and interlocked his fingers “Are you familiar with a government program codenamed Project Anvil Dragon, PAD?” He asked going after advice from Karlson about going straight to the point with the lieutenant Governor.

DCI Pangolin

It was hard to shock Eela Dasca, and even if you managed to do just that she was rather adept at covering her reactions when needed. But this was not the place, nor the time. Her face paled and her mouth dropped open slightly. “I am,” she said as her heart began racing. “The bigger question is how the hell you know that name, given that only two people on this colony currently know about this.”

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Pangolin raised an eyebrow at the Starfleet Captain’s reaction, that was not a good reaction to that, the boss was gonna be very mad, he could feel it in his spots “At least eight” He said as an answer “What, if anything, can you tell us about that project?” He hadn’t answered her question, and they were getting to a dangerous part of the investigation. They had a clear picture of who and how, now they needed a why. Then of course evidence to get whoever was at the top.

DCI Pangolin

Her gaze was sharp as she drew in a steadying breath. Dasca rose to her feet and stepped away from the sofa and planted her hands on her hips before shaking her head and laughing. “Ahh Oed, just when I thought I was getting my feet under me again, it smacks me down again. It’s very humbling,” she said with amusement before she dropped her arms, her expression falling with it.

Gathering herself, Eela gazed intently at the two men. She had to make an executive decision here and the suspected under the circumstances that Kenzo would understand. But it would warrant a conversation with him immediately after. “PAD is a project that the Governor and I have been working on. The plan was to get it solidly to a proposal stage and then bring it to cabinet for further research before we pursued it any farther. Essentially, given the complicated status of Oed as a Federation colony, our distance from reinforcements, and the planetary atmospheric shield, we believe it is prudent to Oed’s future to use that shield to overlay a defence system. Now, given a lot of the variables right now, most won’t think it’s terribly unexpected, but a Federation colony seemingly arming up would draw some concern. But that’s not the point. The point is that we’re vulnerable and given the hopeful likelihood that the Vren will be continued guests here, it seems like a necessary step, especially when you factor in our terraforming efforts and the fact that that atmospheric shield will not be necessary in the future.” She didn’t specific how soon that could happen, as that was not on the table for discussion, nor pertinent to their investigation.

“So that’s PAD. My question is why and how has it come up for you? How is i t relevant…” Eela paused and her shoulders sank. “Crap. My apartment, the bug. Someone did catch something, didn’t they?” she said more softly. After all, he and Kenzo had loosely been talking about it before her team barged in and told them to stop talking.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Pangolin took the information in stride; he hadn’t truly expected her to answer. he supposed now why the boss wanted him to be direct and honest with the Lieutenant Governor and why the Commissioner had been more willing to believe her. “We don’t yet know where the leak was coming from” He looked at the Intelligence Director and shrugged giving the man a chance to take the next question.

DCI Pangolin

“Perhaps,” Alston said looking over towards Pangolin. “What are your thoughts on Devray Technologies and their CEO Thurston Kennick?”

• Mace

Eela didn’t even both to hide her grimace as she sat back down, punctuating the motion with a snort. “My thoughts are that he is in insufferable ass who pretended to be charming at the welcome ball for the Vren, but his words were subtle barbs. I didn’t even need to be an empath to know he had zero sincerity with me. Even my Aide-de-camp thought the interaction was weird. That’s what I think of the man. The company? I know of it in passing, but nothing more.” Dasca’s eyes narrowed. “What’s his connection to all this?”

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

“Well both his company, and Kennick, keep coming up in connections to you,” Alston said as he leaned back in his chair. He fished his PADD out of his jacket pocket. “We have a suspect for Mr. Jones’ murder in custody, and during the interrogation, more information has come to light. Our suspect was in possession of some high end Devray tech, which the techs believe allowed him to bypass security at Mr. Jones’ apartment. He was hired to intimidate Mr. Jones’ to find out information on Project PAD.

That made Eela sit up very straight, her mind gathering the details and laying them against all the other things she knew.

“Then there is the listening device that was found in your private residence, that was manufactured by Devray. And add in the fact that he was nominated for the position of Lt. Governor before you were ultimately selected…

She blinked. Wait, what?

“My colleague here might consider that all circumstantial evidence, but in my circles, that sounds a bit like a conspiracy.”

Pangolin half-smiled at the Director’s comment but didn’t say anything.

Alston paused for a moment as he tapped his fingers on the PADD. “Are you sure it was just you and the Governor who was aware of Project PAD? No outside consultant’s or engineers were involved in trying to understand the feasibility?”

• Mace

“No one else so far,” Eela said, her tone quieter. “We’ve been very careful about the whole thing. Not even our assistants know anything about PAD, given we don’t keep formal notes. We didn’t want to makes waves accidentally before we were ready to have more serious discussions with others in government.”

She blew out a breath. “The breach in my home security with the bug was several days before Jones was killed. The timeline fits. And of course Dash and I were publicly known to be seeing each other. But why target him? I get me. I’m still relatively newish and people presume maybe we don’t have all the kinks in our systems worked out, which might have been true if my ex hadn’t shown up causing drama.” Dasca leaned back in her seat and tapped her finger on her thigh. “Do you think he was just convenient for someone?” Then that conversation at the memorial came to her mind and she felt her heart beating faster. She of all people understood the different motivations of people and how desperation could lead people to take more risks than they might have before. Was that bit of knowledge relevant? Was it something she should share? Now she felt just as uncertain as Torres had.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

“From the information we have so far, his death was not their intention. Instead their goal was to pressure him into using your relationship to gain access to the information they were looking for.”

As Alston thought about it for a moment though, the timing seemed rather rushed. Why would you pull the card to pressure Dash on just a snippet of information you heard on a recording, without anything else to back it up. It was sloppy. The only thing that made sense was to try and discredit the Governor and Lieutenant Governor while the eyes were on Oed for the Vren negotiations.

Alston looked over at Pangolin to see if he had anything to add before he continued.

• Mace

Pangolin scratched his chin, “Leverage” He said after a moment “Someone had leverage on Jones, something they thought they could use to get information on PAD, or the project itself in whatever form they believed it had. Jones did not capitulate, so the blackmailer used a third-party shakedown thug to get the information or learn how exposed they were, and things went wrong.” Pangolin was watching the Lieutenant Governor as he spoke, “What has me thinking is the timeline. The bug was discovered a few days before the murder, the blackmailing started weeks ago, our subject was hired a month ago and according to his employer, he was being brought into an older operation”

He paused and looked at the director “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Sometime between the bug getting discovered and the night of the murder, something changed, something pushed this from a long-term espionage operation to a more improvisational, aggressive operation. How long has Anvil Dragon been in the works?”

DCI Pangolin

“It was just after the Vren came into the picture, but before they arrived.” Jones and Mathis arrived prior to the Vren. Eela was mapping out the timeline in her head, but overriding that was the information that Pangolin had just offered.

Shifting forward again, she sighed softly. “Did you find out what that leverage was? If not, I might have an idea what it was.” The knowledge had sat in the back of mind since the memorial. There hadn’t been anything to do with it at the time, other than acknowledge it and set it to the side. Somewhere deeper within her though, Eela’s anger was simmering. Ever since she had experienced the physicality of his death, there had been a thread of anger weaving its way through her. She knew that it wold want its say sooner or later. At least she had recognized that ahead of time and had a plan in mind in case it became necessary to stop herself doing something stupid.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

“We are still looking into it, but any information you have could be beneficial.”

• Mace

Eela was quiet for a moment before she resigned herself to the inevitable, even though she had already made the decision to share the info. “As you know, Dashiel had gotten into trouble as a teenager, and as a result of the B&E’s he and a friend committed, they found themselves in the justice system. Dash was given a fair of leniency due to the circumstances and he did everything he was supposed to, including community service. Because he was a minor, his record was sealed after a period of time of goof behaviour.” She drew in a deep breath. “I’ve learned recently that he in fact kept that up, except for one… lapse. His family was going through a rough time and he was approached by someone he knew about stealing a painting and he would be compensated very well. He didn’t want to do it, but he felt he had no choice. Whether he did or not I don’t know, but he did steal the painting and no one found out it was him. But the guilt stayed with him. So much so that he confessed it to two people: his friend who he had done the thefts with originally, and the therapist he eventually started seeing on Agilon. I know for sure it wasn’t his friend who shared the info but if someone wanting to pressure Dash found out about this info, given the guilt he’s carried over it, I could see someone thinking it was good leverage.”

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Pangolin nodded at the information, “It is a possible pressure point, even a probable one” He said thoughtfully “In conversations that might have taken place where you were bugged, do you recall what of significance was spoken of regarding this project?” He asked

DCI Pangolin

Eela shook her head. “The bug was found on a crate that was being delivered to my place. It arrived ahead of me but hadn’t been there very long before I came home from the Government Tower. The Governor was with me and all we had mentioned PAD but not its full name. Ten seconds, at most. Nothing sensitive was revealed before my security team came rushing in having detected the signal.”

“To be honest, they got lucky that they heard that at all. It’s not something we discuss outside of the Tower much, for obvious reasons. But like we already discussed, I’m newer and it makes sense to try to see where there might be weak spots that can be taken advantage of.” She frowned ever so slightly. “You said Kennick was up for the Lieutenant Governor position. The name felt familiar but I couldn’t figure out why. But it makes sense if he made it to the interview stage with the selection committee. There were only three of us who made it that far. It does seem a rather petty reason to go to such lengths, but if he’s from Oed, then I’m an outsider. I can understand the motivation, but”-she took a steadying breath-“a man died because of all of this. You need to find everyone involved in this. ASAP. Things with the Vren are too delicate for Oed to be dealing with internal strife,” she said firmly.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

The Detective Chief Inspector nodded “That is our mandate” He said calmly “We still don’t know the exact motivations” He glanced at the director “Likely motivations aside. We also have no direct evidence tying Kennick to this, only members of his company. Is there anything else you can think of now with these new revelations?” He didn’t directly reference her revelation about Jones’ criminal past

DCI Pangolin

She drew in a steadying breath. “All I know is the evening before he died, he was at my place and there was something on his mind, worrying him. He told me that there was something he wanted to share with me, but he didn’t want to ruin our evening and promised to tell me at lunch the next day. I let it go and obviously we didn’t get to have that lunch. I have no way to know for certain that this new info I’ve learned was had something to do with what he was going to tell me. Call it a gut feeling but I’ve relearned to trust my instincts and when I do I’m rarely wrong.” She had no idea at this point that in the blackmail messages they had threatened Eela and Jones’ family and he had still said ‘go to Hell’.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Pangolin nodded slowly, He fished out a small notebook from his pocket and wrote something down with an actual pen, nothing computerised “Thank you for answering our questions, Lieutenant Governor” He paused to give the Director an opportunity to either continue or end the question.

DCI Pangolin

“I just want to wrap up a couple of loose strings,” Alston U said looking up from his notes. “Has there been anyone else who you have noticed acting strange around either yourself or the Governor lately? Anyone that potentially stood out?”

• Mace

Eela thought carefully over the question, going back through her recollections to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. At length, she shook her head. No, other than the weird interaction at the gala with kennick, I can’t think of anything that registered as odd to me. All our other interactions have been normal for the drama our negotiations with the Vren bring.”

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Pangolin paused “One thing, if PAD were to be leaked, what would the immediate political ramifications be for you and the Governor?” He asked for her view on that.

Commissioner Karlson