First Day on the Job

Posted on Sun Sep 1st, 2024 @ 2:11am by Lieutenant Hadir Prenar & Lieutenant JG Vanya Karolyi

Mission: A New Beginning
Location: Intel
1954 words - 3.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Vanya told her boss about Tetris, but she may not have told him how much it was a part of her security system. She'd discovered that not many people were adept at puzzle games, so she made one her first level of security.

Basically, anyone who didn't have the right command codes would have to play and beat the game. And, like the regular game, hers sped up after each level. Once—if—someone got through the entire game, they would then have another set of security codes. Sometimes, in her spare time, she'd play the game just for fun.

For her first day on the job, she arrived early, dressed in a regulation jumpsuit and set up her archival computer and arranged her office to suit her preferences. As she planned to spend a great deal of time in her office, comfort was a priority.

When it was officially time for her shift to start, she rang the chime on Hadir's office door.

Hadir had been enjoying a brief respite from all of the work as of late. He sat with his feet up on the desk and his uniform jacket unzipped. He had the temperature in his office set to a balmy 35 degrees Celsius. He took a deep breath in and exhaled as he relaxed into his chair. "Just like home..." he said as he relished the heat on his skin. The door chime took him from his relaxation. "Computer restore normal temperature." The slight chime and rush of cool air was acknowledgement to his request. He zipped his uniform. "Enter..."

It was still a little too warm when Vanya walked in. She filed that bit of information away for later and smiled. "is there anything in particular you want me to work on today? Or do you have specific routines you like followed?" She looked him over and raised an eyebrow. "Or I could come back later if you're busy."

"No, not busy at all please have a seat. At the moment it seems that there is nothing brewing in the intelligence world. Odd I know, and something that should keep you on edge when it happens. Tell me, do you have any information that you would like to share or projects that you would like to work on?" Hadir sat back down at his desk. He chided himself internally for raising the temperature in his office. A mistake that he would not perform again.

She sat down across from him. "You're right. That's definitely concerning. The only time it gets quiet is when something is about to blow up--literally or figuratively. I can do some digging, if you want." She paused, mentally going over activity she'd noted in the past few weeks. "There's been some talk about a 500-year-old book on the antiquities markets. Specifically, someone claimed to have a journal from one of the early settlers on a small Romulan colony that was believed to have been established as a base for smugglers. The journal supposedly mentioned a hidden treasure." She waved it off with a gesture. "There have been rumors of lost treasure involving that colony for centuries. Several days ago, word spread that the man who wanted to sell it was killed and the journal stolen. There's also some chatter about a Bajoran artifact that was stolen from one of their temples. I've been keeping an eye out to see if anyone is looking to sell it, but nothing so far. As you said, it's been quiet of late."

The amount of treasures that his people looted from Bajor still haunted Hadir. He hoped that this theft was not along those lines. Treasure hunting was not what he dealt in. The information he wanted, he had hit a dead end on. He wanted anything having to do with his father. "Tell me, have you heard anything, rumors or otherwise about the Obsidian Order. I know that they are allegedly no longer in existence. However, I do not trust that news."

"In the last few weeks? No. But then, as you said, it's been pretty quiet--especially if the most interesting news is about treasure hunters." Vanya shook her head. "However..." How long ago was it? Four months? Six? "There was something not long ago about some former members of the Obsidian Order being seen on the same planet. An agent went to check on it and reported that it was just a high-stakes card game. That stuck with me because it didn't feel right."

"I would agree. I cannot see former Obsidian Order members playing card games. In fact, the only games I ever saw them play was Dabo and that was more for the women than the game. But if you think it may be worth checking out we can send an operative in there and track them down. I would hate for the Order to get the upper hand in anything." This was strange news indeed to Hadir. Regardless of what Vanya said he would have to learn more about this game. Make sure that his father was not involved.

"It's always worth checking out, if for no other reason than to confirm it was just a card game." She leaned forward. "But as you said, it's likely more than that. I was...traveling and was unable to look into it further. I should have taken a detour, but my assignment at the time made that difficult. I'd almost forgotten it." That was not something she generally did and she'd need to do more puzzle solving to help sharpen her memory. "What would you like me to do?"

"I have read some reports from Lieutenant Commander Rowena McGowen my counterpart on the USS Pioneer. They discuss something that I would like you to delve into and see what we can come up with. To start tell me, what do you know about former Admiral James Leyton?" Hadir poured himself a glass of kanar and raised the twisted bottle in offer to the Lieutenant.

She nodded yes to the kanar. "Former Starfleet officer, went rogue, started the New Maquis, was part of a group that took over Empok Nor, hasn't been seen since. That's the condensed version. Do you want to find him?" She cocked her head to one side. "Doesn't the Pioneer also have two former Maquis in intel? One from the old Maquis and one from the new?"

Hadir poured the kanar and slid the glass across his desk to the woman. He smiled as she just told him something he did not know. "Well then we are going to have to get in touch with Commander McGowen and chastise her for holding back on me. What is not said in the official reports is that Leyton claims to be working with the Obsidian Order. Yet the Cardassian government claims the Obsidian Order was dissolved after the new Detapa Council gained control of the government. So, the question is which is it? Now that is what interests me most. I am sure you know how many problems it would cause if the Obsidian Order was back."

She took a sip of the kanar and nodded. "So, as usual, someone is lying and we need to find out who." She took another sip. "There will be problems either way. Either the Cardassian government lied, or Leyton is trying to bring back the Obsidian Order. I'll see what I can dig up on both."

"Something I have learned since my own years with the Order. Everybody lies! The question is which lies are useful and which ones are rubbish. That my dear is where we come in." Hadir smiled in that unique Cardassian way and took a deep draught of his kanar.

Vanya chuckled and raised her glass in a salute. "Very true." She liked his outlook on information and its usefulness. As he said, everybody lied. It was just a matter of finding out what the lies were. "So you are aware, I've set up a secondary security system on my office computer. For those who don't have the access, they have to beat a game of Tetris. If they win the entire game, they need additional access codes." She shrugged. "I trust few people. If you have a problem with this, let me know."

"My dear, I am Cardassian and I trust no one..." Hadir's voice trailed off as he laughed. "So, I applaud your resourcefulness on making sure no one gets through. There are a lot of old adages that have truth to them. One such which I live by is keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Perhaps I may have to practice game and see what secrets you hide." He smirked and sipped his kanar again. Hadir was joking, or was he.

"You're always welcome to try it--or any of my games." She smiled in return and took another sip of her drink. "You can learn a lot about someone by how they...play. However, I should warn you that my secrets are not so easy to uncover." She enjoyed good word play. Indeed, she enjoyed a number of games.

There was something interesting about this woman, Hadir got the feeling that he was being toyed with and in some way he rather enjoyed it. He took a sip of his kanar as he thought of what to say next. "You can learn a lot about someone by simply how they speak."

"True. But I tend to prefer body language. You can use words to say whatever you want, but it's harder to hide the tiny telltale signals your body gives." She smiled serenely. They both knew those could be disguised as well, but it wasn't as easy. Especially if you caught someone off-guard.

"Body language can be covered up, disguised. In fact, Cardassians undergo quite a lot of training to accomplish just that. However, my people have been known to be caught off guard especially by humans. I mean no offense or disrespect simply that your people are an unpredictable species in a very predictable universe." This was not the topic of conversation that Hadir thought he would have today, however, it was quite intriguing.

Vanya couldn't help herself. She laughed. She was enjoying this conversation. "Yes, we are unpredictable, which I believe is one of our strong suits. The same goes for spacetime. You should look into chaos theory. The universe is not nearly as predictable as you think it is. She leaned forward. "And your body language is not as hard to decipher as you believe, either--especially when chaos is involved."

She finished her kanar and set the glass on his desk. "Is there anything else you'd like from me?"

"Not at this time..." Hadir began and then had a thought. "Perhaps another conversation in due time."

"Oh, there will definitely be more...conversations." She enjoyed bandying words with him, and she would definitely have opportunities to do so when she reported what she learned about the Obsidian Order and Admiral Leyton.

Vanya stood and headed for the door. Then she paused and looked over her shoulder. "You don't need to worry about the temperature." She gave him a mischievous smile. "I have no problem when things get a little heated." She waved a hand in farewell and went back to her office.

Hadir smiled as she left. If he did not know any better he would have thought that she flirted with him. He restored his environmental controls to the way he liked them and resumed his relaxation. Since he boarded the Majestic things just seemed to get more interesting by the day.

Lieutenant JG Vanya Karolyi
Data Archivist and Analyst

Lieutenant Hadir Prenar
Chief Intelligence Officer