Welcome to Star Trek Simulation Forum

Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to contribute to this site by submitting your own content or replying to existing content. You'll be able to customize your profile, receive reputation points as a reward for submitting content, while also communicating with other members via your own private inbox, plus much more! This message will be removed once you have signed in.

Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
Ethan Neufeld

Breakthrough (by Joe & Ethan)

“You’re sure Pher hasn’t bugged your room,” he said, and it was difficult to tell if he was being flippant or serious. Ethan rubbed his face and exhaled.

 

“About a year ago, we were approached by the CEO of a hard currency reserve,” Ethan explained. Then in anticipation of the inevitable questions, he clarified: “Our private security company was approached by the CEO of Ataraxia Holdings, Yuri Miroslav.

 

“Miroslav had received an anonymous tip alerting him that unknown parties were conducting surveillance on his firm. He assumed the worst and hired us to improve his security and identify who was casing his firm. I lead the team. We played it close to the vest, kept a low profile. Whomever was casing the firm must have moved on; nothing happened for a few months.

 

“They hit the firm in August. They came in hard and with a lot of enthusiasm, but they weren’t expecting us. Except for a couple guys, I wouldn’t call them technically proficient. They didn’t make it very far or very long; and, turns out, one of their own sabotaged their mission from the inside. By the time the smoke cleared, she was the only one left and not in a condition to resist. We took her into custody and that’s when things got really interesting.

 

“We believed her when she told us that she and her team were Rainmakers. They’d planned to empty the bank’s vault, and level the entire building in which that firm wasn't the only business. She told us she was a die-hard and, given she’d turned on her team, we also believed that. Then she told us this wild story about parasites that had seized Rainmaker cells and were forming a splinter group. We weren’t so sure about that. Not until the autopsy reports on her dead teammates.

 

“Her name is Sapphira Mazar. We ran an extensive background check on her. She was born and raised in Bull’s Head; joined the Rainmakers as a teenager, back when they were just peaceful occupiers. She still believes in the old civil disobedience and thinks these parasites are responsible for Rainmakers’ new penchant for terrorism.

 

“She wanted our help figuring out what was going on. The coroner couldn’t pull a clean sample of the ‘goo’ from the autopsies. We were told we needed a sample from the source, and tracking the source meant going back to the Rainmakers. But we had a couple things going for us.

 

“Donno if you’re aware, but the Rainmakers don’t operate as one, large organization. They’re compartmentalized into small, semi-autonomous cells; the leaders know each other and that other cells exist, but the rank and file are recruited locally and vetted at the cell level. After wiping out her entire cell at the bank, going back to the Rainmakers as the last two survivors of a heist gone wrong, was an easy pitch.

 

“She gave us the possible location of a cell group she believed was infected by these parasites. Once we knew where and what to look for, one of our teams set up site intelligence; observed their activities for a couple weeks, while Sapphira recovered from her injuries.

 

“We approached the cell and, thanks to Sapphira’s connections, their leader took us in without a lot of questions. Some of the local core group were infected. It took time, but we earned their trust and learned about Zoalus. They asked us to seed a new cell. That’s when I went dark. I arranged for a lab and started looking into how I was going to get to Zoalus without drawing attention. Given Sapphira was taking care of the details in the new cell, the Rainmakers wouldn’t expect to hear from me. But, at some point, someone must have discovered I was missing and grew suspicious. A bounty with an unknown sponsor turned up before I learned about the expedition being funded by Xorax. I underwent cosmetic surgery, posed as a Vulcan academic, and used some local contacts within Xorax security as references.

 

“As far as I know, Sapphira’s still running that cell and sends the company the intelligence she gathers. Gabriel - the guy Pher talked to on Zoalus - was in the cell I originally infiltrated. I didn’t know he’d be there and he recognized me. He must have been infected after I left. Can’t tell you if he had the chance to report me to his superiors or not.

 

"You know the rest.”

 

Joe had been sitting on the end of his desk sipping his flask of bourbon while Ethan related his story. Either the story was too elaborate to be fiction, or Ethan was one of the most creative people he'd ever met. Either Ethan seemed to be genuine, or he was one of the best actors. Joe's instinct was telling him that Ethan was being honest, but the truth was no easier to swallow than dishonesty.

 

"So you work in private security. That's who operates the lab. You infiltrated the Rainmakers. The Rainmakers put the bounty on your head. And you don't just mock yourself up as a Vulcan because you like the pointy ears. Interesting information," Joe mused. He looked down at the floor for a moment, wondering -- were his quarters bugged? No, Pher wouldn't do such a thing. Joe's sense that he was being watched was just paranoia fueled by the revelation that the Rainmakers were hunting someone on his ship. "One thing I don't understand. You took a pretty big leap from protecting some small-time corporation to posing as an extremist to investigate sentient goo. What's your firm's interest? This woman can't be paying you all that much. So are you really just good Samaritans looking out for Bull's Head, or is it possible that someone else is funding your efforts?"

 

Ethan rocked his head in a gesture that suggested Joe was close. “We have the resources to self-fund most of our projects as needed, but we did call in a few favors this time. The lab for one. We don’t operate it, but they want the same thing we do and we trust them.

 

“This isn’t about money; it’s more than that. We only want to stop the threat. Most of us are veterans,” he said, gazing steadily at Joe. “We still believe in what the old Federation stood for. What's worth the price is worth the fight.”

 

Joe nodded slowly -- he understood, even if he wasn't fully ready to believe it. "Boy scouts ain't too common in Bull's Head; it's the sort of phenomenon I need to see to believe. Still, my instinct -- whatever that's worth -- is tellin' me that you can be trusted. Pher thinks you can be trusted too, even if she sees you as a bit of a loose cannon.”

 

Ethan didn’t hide the brief hint of a smile at the mention of Pher, but he reserved his thoughts as Joe continued.

 

"So I won't ask you for any more info on this firm you work for. But I still want to put in some due diligence. This 'Ataraxia' probably has offices here on Andus Station; I'll make some discreet inquiries, find out what sorts of things they're willing to tell me about Rainmakers, see if parts of your story add up. In the meantime, give me the contact info on this lab and I'll look into that too.

 

"If I don't come across any red flags ... " Joe gave a slight shrug. "I'll turn the vial back over to you."

 

Ethan nodded in understanding. “Everything you need is on the drive I gave you.”

Edited by Ethan Neufeld

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0