LtJG Gila Sadar - A Warhead of Information
Gila Sadar
((Promenade - Deep Space Nine))
Deep Space Nine was a unique Federation installation, due to its Cardassian origin. The architecture was unusual and intriguing, and while it could be disorienting to new visitors, it was - at the same time - a good way to leave behind a lasting first impression. Gila still remembered the hustle and bustle escaping ‘Quark’s’, when she first passed by, a skittish and much younger woman, who was leaving the comforts of her own star system for the first time in her life.
Captain Mata had helped her find her ‘spacelegs’, so to say, but the Indefatigable hadn’t been slated to say at DS9 for more than a week, and the Captain had had more important things to deal with than making sure that Gila didn’t get lost on the Promenade.
The entrances to the bar - both upper and lower - had been great landmarks to navigate the promenade by.
Sadar: This would be our destination, Sirs.
Jovenan: Oh, so this is the first Quark’s! I never realized it was a single bar here before becoming a franchise.
Gila smiled slightly at the genuine enthusiasm in Jovenan’s voice at seeing this piece of Ferengi commercial history, but noted that the Lieutenant Commander didn’t seem as enthused at the bar’s visual presentation.
Dakora: It’s kind of a dump…
Silveira: Response
CloQ: Welcome sirs!
CloQ had donned a traditional Ferengi garb - judging by the cut of the tails, it was temporally appropriate, which was perhaps to be expected of someone so keenly obsessed with the concept of time - and they bade them welcome with a flourish.
Dakora: ::Frowning.:: Right… I don’t suppose you’re willing to tell us if we’re on the right track?
Silveira: Response
Sadar: The board does list the holosuite as being occupied...
CloQ: You’re getting so close, but excuse me a moment. I want to go back and watch ::they pointed at Silveira:: this guy getting stabbed again. ::a pause:: I’m adding it to my highlight reel, it’s right up there with the fall of Romulus, the Napoleonic wars and ::they pointed to Sadar:: your violent death.
The off-handed way this comment was delivered stunned Gila into an immovable statue, frozen in disbelief, as her brain struggled to comprehend the pretty significant spoiler that had just been delivered to her in the same manner with which someone would deliver the final scoring of a sports game no one really cared about.
Which was apt, perhaps, but Gila still found herself unraveling into a scatterbrained mess as she tried to fully understand what her future held.
Sadar: M-M-M-M-My wh-
Gila felt the - at this point - exceedingly familiar warmth and grace that Lieutenant Jovenan exuded into the air around her, as the Edo scientist stood next to her, her arms forming a kind of protective barrier between her and the nonchalant force of nature dressed in tangelo.
Jovenan: Don’t listen to them, they always lie.
oO But if they know we assume they're lying, then they wouldn’t have to lie, would they? They might as well just tell the truth. And so far, they haven’t actually lied about anything, have they? Or maybe they have, and we just haven’t noticed it, which means we’re walking into a trap and they are just enjoying seeing us crash and burn. But surely they wouldn’t have to go to these lengths- Oo
Dakora: This way. ::He pointed to the stairs near the back of the place.:: The holosuites are up here.
Gila attempted to shut down her frankly unending cycle of increasingly desperate thoughts. This was the trouble with Starfleet - give her too much agency to think for herself, and she was a mess.
Silveira: Response
Sadar: Y-Y-Yes Sir...
Following her senior officers, sticking perhaps a bit too close to Lieutenant Jovenan than what was normal for her, they soon arrived at the door leading to the holosuite that had been logged in Tolar’s name. An information panel adjacent to the door indicated the Suite was, indeed, in use.
Jovenan: This is the one. Do you think we can just, um, open it?
The Commander looked back at her, shrugging.
Dakora: Only one way to find out…
The Commander attempted to do so, but was initially barred entry. Clearly whoever was in there didn’t want random people to just walk into whatever they were doing, but that wasn’t necessarily a damning fact. Plenty of people considered their holosuite time most private. Then, the panel flickered, before shifting to an all-red display with the words “ACCESS OVERRIDE: AUTHORITY CAPT. SISKO, BENJAMIN.”
Sadar: H-How-?
Silveira/CloQ: Response
Gila shook her head, willing herself to stop being shocked by every little thing the Q decided to do.
Sadar: W-Well, it certainly indicates that whatever they’re doing isn’t exactly above-board...
The Commander led the charge as the doors slid open and they all stepped inside. The scenery that met them was, safe to say, not what any of them had imagined.
Jovenan: Wha- what is this?
Several Cardassians in their military uniforms sat around a holo table with a smarmy-looking Vorta. It was clear that it was a hologram, but beyond that, Gila couldn’t tell much more at a glance. Then, a few meters away from those gathered at the table, stood a blue-skinned man - likely Tolar - and another Cardassian, though this one wore significantly more approachable attire. This pair were corporeal beings, currently frozen in place at what looked like a control console of some kind.
Dakora: I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn’t on the list.
Sadar: This would be the Cardassian tailor? I suppose?
Silveira/CloQ/Jovenan: Response
Gila eyed the scenario unfolding within the holosuite with tentative interest. While she was still on edge from the off-handed comment from earlier - would she really die violently? How could she avoid that? Could she avoid that? Would it necessitate her resigning Starfleet? - she couldn’t help but feel drawn to the mystery that they were busy unraveling. It felt familiar, comforting…
Unraveling the secrets of the past was what she’d always enjoyed most about being a historian.
oO But that’s also what made you an exile Oo
Dakora: See if you can determine what our friend Mister Tolar is doing to this recording on that control interface.
Sadar: ::looks at Silveira, Jovenan, then back again:: I’m, uhh… Not very good with holo-technology.
Silveira/CloQ/Jovenan: Response
As more information was brought to light, Gila felt it, and she was sure everyone else did too. The puzzle pieces slotting together, forming a picture. They did not yet have all the pieces, but they were close.
Dakora: What? Why would he be making a fake scenario look like a real recording… ::He trailed off.:: Unless…
The answer was obvious.
Sadar: ::deadpan:: He needs someone to believe it’s a real recording.
Silveira/CloQ/Jovenan: Response
The Commander joined the three of them at the console, not necessarily to double-check their work - he didn’t strike her as the type (which she based on nothing but the limited interaction she’d had with him in the time since operating on his abdomen) - but when he arrived, his dark eyes went wide. He pointed to the translucent cylinder that was partially inserted in the control interface.
Dakora: Holy strokes. Do any of you know what that is!?
Gila - as a matter of fact - hadn’t the foggiest.
Silveira/CloQ/Jovenan: Response
Dakora: That’s an unused Cardassian Optolythic Data rod ::His words pitched up with excitement as he spoke.:: These things were like the holy relics of the Intelligence world. Made with materials and processes that can ONLY be found on Cardassia Prime, they can only be written to once and are used within the Cardassian Union to transfer the most high-level of classified information.
The Universal Translator pulled some heavy-duty work, and Gila was fairly certain she got the picture.
Sadar: They’re rare then?
The Commander leaned in closer to look at the device with amazement.
Dakora: As far as I know, Starfleet Intelligence has only ever gotten their hands on a few of these things. And NEVER a blank one.
Gila was glad the Commander had found something to be excited about, as the identification of this item was painted an ever more vivid picture, and it was not one that was flattering for the Captain.
Sadar: Which means, there’d be little reason to suspect that this recording came from the holosuite on a Starfleet Space Station, rather than Cardassia Prime.
Silveira/CloQ/Jovenan/Dakora: Response
Sadar: Judging by the date, Romulus hasn’t entered into the war yet, which means it’s the Federation/Klingon Alliance vs the Dominion, and Romulus still has its non-aggression treaty with the Dominion. Something pretty major would have had to sway Romulus to join the war against an enemy that they were assured wouldn’t pose a threat to them… And according to the newscasts we heard on Romulus ::looks to Jovenan:: Senator Vreenak was a supporter of the treaty with the Dominion.
Silveira/CloQ/Jovenan/Dakora: Response
Sadar: I have to agree. Just because the Senator isn’t slated to dock with the station, doesn’t mean he won’t. During wartime especially, information is as valuable a weapon as a photon warhead, so it wouldn’t be out-of-order to keep such information on a need-to-know basis.
Silveira/CloQ/Jovenan/Dakora: Response
Sadar: … Likely because what happened when he docked was something someone didn’t want anyone to know, even after the war was over.
Silveira/CloQ/Jovenan/Dakora: Response
Tags/TBC
LtJG Gila Sadar
Medical Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240006GS1