Second Secretary Aitas - It was only brain surgery

[Aitas]

((Hovan Military Command Center, Hova III))

Aitas: I can bring my bot ::she’d in truth picked a more technical term, the Hovans were more likely than most to have some small understanding of Eccian cybernetics:: down to assist as well, if you’d consider that prudent. 

She let her hands rest open at her sides. She’d mentioned such connections to Chancellor Ril; if he’d neglected to pass the information on…well, she was simply raising a possibility.

Rosek-Skyfire: I have a background in coding and, to an extent, network security. I can monitor the bot’s progress and note any anomalies that might lead us to the party responsible. ::to Ser:: Thoughts, Fleetmarshall?

Ser: Given the circumstances, I am inclined to agree with your proposal – so long as it is carried out under appropriate supervision.  ::Indicating his control terminal::  You may examine the logs, but I warn you they are heavily fragmented, as the culprits were clearly trying to erase anything tying them to the events. In case their plan did not work as intended, I suppose.

Ser stepped aside, and Aitas moved to take a look at the terminal. The information there was indeed quite fragmented, and she hadn’t exactly had much chance to become familiar with Hovan systems. 

Rosek-Skyfire: ::pauses:: Do you have any thoughts on who might be behind this, Fleetmarshall? Anyone who would have a motive to steal those ships?

Ser: ::Grunting in disapproval::  It is difficult to speculate on this subject, Commander. Hovans are not, by nature, quarrelsome – we prefer to find reasonable compromises that avoid internal conflict. The military is defensive in its duties… Without knowing what the thieves were attempting to achieve by taking these ships, it is hard to imagine what possible motive they could have. 

Rosek-Skyfire: Even Humans were divided at one point in our history. ::grimaces:: Everyone doesn’t always agree with everyone else, after all. 

Human violence had rather started to seem like a common topic of conversation during their meetings with the Hovans. 

Aitas: The Federation does contain a wide variety of species, and an equally broad range of histories.

Rosek-Skyfire: ::runs a hand through her hair:: Sadly, it took a war that wiped out most of Earth’s population for us to see sense. 

The Fleetmarshall seemed disturbed at such a prospect. Aitas only hoped no one mentioned Betazoid and Caitian history, or they’d quite scare the Hovans away. 

Rosek-Skyfire: ::nods:: Illogical, I agree. But our core nature isn’t always logical.

Ser: I hope you will not be offended, Commander, if I say that I do hope our people have more sense than that… A war between Hovans would be absolutely devastating. If someone is trying to foment unrest among the people with these actions in hopes of escalating some sort of conflict, we simply must get to the bottom of it – as swiftly as possible… Have either of you been able to recover anything?

Iko: Fire was completely intentional. Set off at around the same time the vessels were stolen. Designed to burn out some of the logs, and unfortunately it didn’t do a half bad job. There’s several teams on the Shelby who are working on trying to restore them. 

Aitas: It will take some time. But I did see some patterns with badge usage during the investigation with Representative Sel, so we have that point to start with.

Rosek-Skyfire: Response

Ser: What does that mean? Can we deduce how they were able to take the ships?

Iko: It’ll be a hell of a lot easier once we can get what they were trying to hide, but we can work with what we’ve got in the meantime.

Aitas: All the existing evidence points to someone with an access badge, most likely a borrowed one. Narrowing that down…::she looked to Rosek-Skyfire:: is more the Commander’s expertise than mine. Though I expect any locally stored data might prove useful. 

Rosek-Skyfire: Responses

There came a noise from the Fleetmarshall’s terminal, a bit unpleasant to Aitas’ ears. The voice that followed was unfamiliar.

Hovan: =/\= Fleetmarshall – We have received the recovered vessels, towed by the Federation starship. Senor Dil has been taken into custody, though he insists he was not personally responsible for commandeering the vessels and was only following his orders. =/\=

Aitas could feel both the low rumble of the Fleetmarshall’s irritation in both his throat and his mental presence. 

Ser: Perhaps this case will not be so difficult to solve after all. Senor Dil has been troublesome in the past… However, his credentials had been disqualified from accessing these restricted areas. Someone else with access would have had to have been involved.  ::Activating his comms::  =/\= Has he identified who gave him the orders? =/\=

Hovan: =/\= No, Fleetmarshall. So far, he has vehemently refused to give them up. =/\=

Ser turned back to them and clenched his fists. 

Ser: Now we have two paths to investigate, it would seem. What we uncover in the files may be corroborated by Dil – if he can be persuaded to talk. Perhaps, if we are able to recover evidence and show him what we know, he may be more inclined?

Aitas: We may be able to read something from his responses. From what we were told of his previous poking about, he was not exactly inconspicuous. 

Rosek-Skyfire: Response

Iko: The Shelby’ll be giving us a ping as soon as they find anything.

Aitas: And my bot will be here momentarily. 

Even distant as it was, she could still feel the connection to Fureri, the sense of its movement as it made its way to the transporter room.

Rosek-Skyfire/Ser: Response

Iko: What do your encrypted transmissions look like? 

Rosek-Skyfire/Ser: Response

Iko: If he’s been “following orders”, we need to find those orders. And I’d assume they wouldn’t be out for just anyone to find. If we know what we’re looking for…

Aitas: Any information about factional divisions could prove useful. We didn’t have much of a chance to get a feel for your local politics before this started.

And Keehani was still in Hovan custody, which put them down her expertise. Fleetmarshall Ser seemed a reasonable sort, perhaps it would be a point to pursue once they’d made just a little more progress.

Rosek-Skyfire/Ser: Response

Iko: And who was piloting the second scout? If one won’t talk, maybe the other will.

Aitas listened a moment, her attention divided between the base and the transporter room on the Shelby, drawn distantly apart in a way that she’d grown a bit more used to over the years. 

Rosek-Skyfire/Ser: Response

Fureri materialized; a thing of flowing silver lines and blue accents that resembled, among other animals, a fox. While it was generally most convenient to describe it as a bot, an advanced cybernetic was more strictly accurate. It did operate from a connection to her brain, rather than merely programmed or spoken orders.

By El-Aurian standards, it was as much a part of her as her hands or eyes. 

Aitas: This is Fureri, Fleetmarshall. I believe your people have encountered its like before. As I told the Chancellor, many El-Aurians took refuge among the Federation. Fureri was a gift from a member of the Cantavi; I can coordinate it remotely. 

The bot promptly trotted over to the console. 

Rosek-Skyfire/Ser/Iko: Response

Aitas: I can have it review the evidence while we speak with Dil, if necessary. But I’d prefer a bit more preparation.

Her colleagues would no doubt be efficient about the matter, and there was one other detail she wished to look into.

Rosek-Skyfire/Ser/Iko: Response

Aitas: I’d appreciate everything you have on Dil as well. I’d like to know just what might make him consider such orders legitimate.

If they had come from someone within the Assembly, then it would be useful to know who could legitimately give them. Let alone demand silence as well.

Rosek-Skyfire/Ser/Iko: Response


Tag/TBC

Second Secretary Aitas

Federation Diplomatic Corps

Amity Outpost

O239307A10