A Peek Into The Records

Posted on Sat Oct 8th, 2022 @ 11:14pm by Lieutenant JG Kell Asaa Dr & Lieutenant Commander Finchley Kerr

Mission: The battle's not over
Location: DS9 -> USS Liberty
Timeline: Current

[DS9]

Kell cut across the promenade, having gone this way many times before. She was always taken by the diversity that constantly flowed throughout the station. It hadn't been until she'd looked up Dr Clerk that she realized she'd met him before, however briefly. Her duties at that time didn't require their paths to cross and it was a large facility.

Comforted that she didn't need her nose in her PADD to follow a map, she made her way to where she thought his office was. Sure enough, he hadn't moved and was open. His practice wasn't as bright and spartan as the Fleet sickbay tended to be, but not exactly a family practice either. She realized she'd never really thought about it before.

Stepping inside she quietly closed the door behind her, appreciating a conventional swinging door versus the auto-sliding ones that most preferred in modern society. She introduced herself and waited.

It wasn't long before she was led to an office. She smiled her best smile as she extended her hand towards the gentleman.

"Hi, thanks for seeing me. I'm Dr Kell Asaa, from the USS Liberty. 'Bird says Hi." She hoped the timing was right, not too presumptuous yet not blindingly naïve. . .

Max Clerk took a hold of Kell's hand and shook it "Dr Clerk" Max replied, then added "You're welcome Dr Asaa."

At the sound of the familiar, 'Bird', he was momentarily taken aback, he hadn't heard it in a while. Recovering himself almost instantly, he carried on "How can I help you, and presumably that old Coot Bird?"

Kell relaxed somewhat. "I need to examine some records you have. Some Dominion war records." She let that play out to gauge his reaction, remembering what Capt Kerr had given her for leverage but not wishing to just toss it out if unneeded.

"Dominion war records are kept in the main archive Dr Asaa" Max replied "Why come to me, I'm not part of that department?"

Kell's smile gels in place somewhat. "I've sifted through what I can find in those records. There are... gaps... Inconsistencies that lead me to believe there is more to the story I'm delving into. The Captain didn't think I needed any additional Starfleet clearance for myself for what I already have access to, but he seems to think I can glean what we need from what _you_ have access to."

Kell sweetened her smile again. "Please."

"What do you mean by 'what I have access to', I'm a Doctor just like yourself?" Max replied.

She exhales slowly, watching for any guile or temper. Sometimes she envied a Betazoid, being able to tune right in to someone... sometimes.

She shifts her smile into neutral mode. "My Captain, aka 'Bird, wouldn't have sent me here if you were 'just a doctor' like me. For that matter," her smile returns, "You have no idea what a doctor like me is capable of... not that that really matters at the moment. What does matter is the information we need, of which I will be quite discrete as to its content and acquisition, to which only my Captain will be privy."

"So it's either we continue to banter, and he will let everyone know about Stanyx when I return empty-handed... or I can get to work, and get out of your hair sooner than later."

"Please."

"Stanyx..." Max whispered, and then closed his eyes, a despairing look on his face. Opening his eyes again, he sighed heavily "Very well."

Walking across to his computer terminal, he opened up access to the medical war records and stood back.

"It's all there" he said "If you find what you're looking for, tell Bird when you report back to him that this is the last time I want to hear about Stanyx. It was a mistake, I was at a low ebb and things got out of hand!"

Kell nodded, maybe reading between the lines. "He's a fair man, I'll be sure to pass it on."

She sits down, initially skimming, then drilling down. More than once her eyebrows threatened to bounce off, or her knuckles to pop from fisting them so hard. Her gaze occasionally scanning around to assure her she was alone. She'd definitely had some hits and she surmised that the Captain wouldn't be very surprised.

She was rather solemn when she sat back and locked the terminal. She checked her PADD twice to ensure it was completely secure as she contemplated the information she now had. Her centering techniques certainly came in handy this day!

She wasn't surprised when she didn't see the good doctor on her way out, nor the older clerk up front. She let herself out, not surprised when she heard the lock click behind her.


[Ready Room - USS Liberty]

Kell was very aware of her return trip, inwardly glad she hadn't run into anyone she knew. She wouldn't have acknowledged them at all. No idle thoughts or observations as was her norm. No affectations, no cordiality, none of the social niceties would have been forthcoming, she was of a single mindset. It didn't take her long to return to the ship.

She gave her customary nod to the duty officer as she crossed the bridge to key the chime to the Captain's ready room. As she waited, she hoped he wasn't busy. She hadn't even considered calling ahead first...

Inside the Ready Room, Finchley looked up as the chime sounded, "Come!" he called out.

Kell stepped briskly inside. As soon as she heard the door close she started. "I've talked to your friend the doctor. He was a little hesitant as you said he might be, he even advised me that it was the last time he wanted to hear about Stanyx, but capitulated and gave me access to what I was there for."

She glanced briefly at the seat in front of his desk as she stood rather stiffly.

"Take a seat Lieutenant" Finchley said "Don't worry about Doctor Clerk, there's more to Stanyx than he cares to admit, and we can use that as and when we need to. Now, tell me what you've found."

"Thank you sir."

Kell took a shallow, controlled breath to center herself and hopped in. "If what I found is accurate, and I have no reason to believe it is not, this R'nam is is is.. a terrorist for want of a better word. Very connected. Very focused.

"I had wondered why he bombed the captain's ready room of all things, if there wasn't something else afoot or was it personal vendetta. I'm guessing that interdicted some activity the Liberty was about to engage in, or not. There are too many angles for me to consider, but... here's a list of events I've connected him to, barely, but he's way too immersed in this black ops stuff you talked about to be the minor player he portrays.

She taps on her PADD a few times to shoot over a secure list of the connections she made with even a mention of his name, and a handful that had his paw prints all over 'em.

"This guy has had a toe in a number of Dominion operations, and seems to be quite a slippery character. Unless he's the most amazing dupe I've ever heard of, any other would've died by now if so, he has managed to somehow stay low on anyone's radar. If i hadn't been specifically looking for what you sent me to look for, and knowing his specific signature, I wouldn't have picked him out of a crowd to follow up on. I can't begin to imagine the kind of intelligence he has access to, or the pain he's caused!

"He hasn't previously been considered someone of any real importance from what I can gather, but he has to be more than an emissary, or a baseless thug... I shudder to think that maybe he has connections within Starfleet to downplay his involvement. This guy is dangerous to the Nth degree and we will have to be very careful not just while we have him, but before, during, and after. I wouldn't even put it past him to let slip his own whereabouts on purpose in order for us to bring him in for some nefarious intent of his own. I certainly don't envy the commanders you sent after him...

"Is there anything else on Deck 20 that would be sensitive, or anything on the way there? Would there be a rescue attempt once his partners learn we're holding him? I don't trust this guy farther than Freya could throw him! He has got to be up to something... Sir..."

Kell made a better effort to keep from inching forward in her seat as she spoke, lest she fall right out on the floor. Taking a calming breath she sits back in the chair as she watches the CO's reaction to her tale, guessing he had his own suspicions already.

"That's a very comprehensive report Lieutenant Asaa, thank you" Finchley replied, "There is a however..." he added "What I'm about to tell you is currently known too only to myself, Captain Shannon, Commander Karadis, Lieutenant Savette and you'll be the fifth and last person for the moment. R'nam isn't the Cradassian's real name, it's a fake ID he created, his real name is Jinaro Marron, a former Legate of the Twelfth Order. It's true, he was a true Black Ops agent for them, but we lost track of him when the Liberty engaged with the remnants of the Cardassian Fourth Fleet. We knew he was part of the Command team on their flag ship, the last ship we had a fire fight with, but we thought we'd killed all onboard. The Liberty was extremely badly damaged and we were lucky to limp back to DS9. The USS Haldermyer was sent out to check on that last ship, most of the crew were dead, but a few of them were unaccounted for, no bodies were ever found, Marron being one, the most Senior Officer unaccounted for. No-one on the Liberty thought for a single moment that he'd be mad enough to come to DS9 to get revenge, but we underestimated him. Though the war was over, and Cardassians were now free to come onto DS9 again, Marron, or R'nam as he now called himself, was plotting his attack. Yes, he was checked out, and yes, he had a service record, but we didn't connect him to the attack on the Liberty till he suddenly went missing after the bombing. What you've found in Doctor Clerks files for R'nam is exactly what we have for Marron in our files, we just had to make sure we were dealing with the same person. Neither Captain Shannon, nor myself or Commander Karadis could have asked for the files Max had as it would raise suspicions, but you asking on our behalf wouldn't really draw that much attention, even though asked for by myself. We're an Intelligence ship, Max knows that, so to him, he would think it's part of another mission, not one trying to find out who bombed the Liberty."

He took in a deep breath after his explanation of the situation "As complex as that sounds, we can now establish that R'nam and Marron are the same Cardassian agent, what we need to do now is find out who supplied him with the fake ID, who gave him the bombing equipment, how it was smuggled onboard DS9 and do they have links to the Dominion rebuilding."

Kell lets a little nervous laughter escape, her eyes a little wider than when she came in. "Ah, yes, all that."

She firmed up her resolve and nodded. "Yes sir. I didn't actually tell Dr Clerk what I was looking for, just access to records and he left. Of course he could have had some monitoring or logging... I didn't detect any in the room, or the terminal, but I did go roundabout in my searches. Read a few things I wish I had not, but being in the medical field doesn't afford one to be... squeamish. So he would have to sort through a good bit of data to determine a pattern. Not impossible but..."

She paused, changing gears. "Thank you for your confidence. It's certainly more obvious now why the gaps... And he wasn't R'nam, impersonating other identities, although those others are further pseudonyms, but this Marron masquerading as R'nam. At least we're much closer to the ID confirmation when he's brought in, and finding out if he's just bent on revenge, or if there's something larger at stake."

Her eyebrows were working overtime as the thoughts overtook each other. "Twelfth Order... That's an older military unit yes? If I remember right... Sarpeidion V maybe? Rim? I liked history but I'll refresh on a few details in case that proves to be some leverage later."

Obviously, her mind was a mass of overlapping trains of thought, but she was working through them to each conclusion.

"Basically, it was a fortified Cardassian garrison, one of their most heavily defended and for good reason, their top echelon was based there" Finchley replied.

He stood up and walked round the desk and sat on the edge facing Kell "We need to plant an overriding fear in R'nam that failure to co-operate with us will see his downfall. I doubt his death at our hands holds any sufficient sway in us getting him to do that...however, there could be another way. The one thing that all Cardassian officers had in common was to further their careers at whatever cost. He's bound to have double crossed and upset other Twelfth Order officers at some point, we just need to find out who, and if they're still alive. That could be our edge, R'nam may not fear dying at our hands, but dying at the hands of someone he's stepped on...that's a whole different brew of tea."

Tapping his lower lip with his right forefinger for a few moments, he suddenly looked at Kell and said "You're going to the war archives next. Get what you can on Marron, see what's in his record, find out who he stepped on and over. Find out who's dead and who's alive, that's going to be our way in."

Kell nodded, working out search parameters in her head in advance as she stood. “I’m on it! I already have a long list of events to compare to, so it should be a matter of picking someone still active that would have a strong motive, and the best connections. Someone he’s going to fear!”

“There’s still time to go today… and the sooner, the more time we may have to choose the best candidate.” She turned and moved out of the ready room with a purpose to her step…