Put That Audacity Back Where You Found It, Or So Help Me

Posted on Thu Apr 27th, 2023 @ 1:08pm by Lieutenant Didrea Zade & Lieutenant JG Nayisa Wrea

Mission: Wrath of the People
Location: Intel Offices
Timeline: MD5 :: After 'How Hard Could Breaking And Entering Be?'
1839 words - 3.7 OF Standard Post Measure

"Absolutely not!"

Zade stared at her friend in utter disbelief. When she arrived, Nayisa had ushered her into P'Rel's office and locked the doors behind them. She then explained what she needed help with, sounding vague and suspiciously need-to-know in her explanation, and what the security chief's role would be. The assignment was so absurd that Zade had stood in dumbfounded silence for a few seconds before she shook her head, hoping to shake out the nonsense she just heard. "Let me get this straight. You are asking me, this ship's chief of security, to go with you to break into the Captain's quarters, which are sealed as evidence in his murder trial, and invade whatever privacy he has left to find something that --in your words-- might not even exist? On top of that, you want me to violate security protocol to make it all happen?? Are you out of your mind???"

Called it. Nayisa somewhat expected this response from her friend. Zade preferred to follow the rules, which made her a real stick in the mud sometimes. It didn't help that she had to be incredibly vague in her explanation, even excluding that P'Rel was the one who gave her the assignment. For all the Trill knew, it was Nayisa's idea. As much as she'd like Zade to come with her, she had to be prepared in case she insisted on staying out of it. "Your role is very minimal, just make us invisible to internal sensors and keep a failsafe from alerting security."

The Trill waved her hands to reject the idea. Her role was minimal... was she being serious??? "Uh-uh, no. No way. Do you even realize the position that puts me in??" Zade put her hands on the desk between them, "Set aside the fact that you're asking me to tamper with this ship's sensors..."

"Oh no, you don't have to do anything with the ship's internal sensors or the security logs," Nayisa clarified. "It could be as simple as configuring a trico-"

"Nayisa, please, let me finish," Zade interrupted, holding up a hand to stop the silver-haired woman. Normally, she wouldn't be so informal to another department head, acting chief or otherwise, but they had known each other long enough that they could do away with formalities in their conversations. The Trill then pointed toward herself. "I'm supposed to be the one who monitors those quarters for break-ins, not committing the break-in myself! On top of that, Kane's quarters hold evidence that could either exonerate or damn him. What's to stop you from tampering with that evidence?? To go along with this --to even allow this to happen-- goes against the very rules I enforce! Plus, the amount of trouble we'd get into if someone found out is astronomical!"

The silver-haired woman waved a hand, as if to dismiss the idea of them getting in trouble. Broadly speaking, what Nayisa was proposing was hardly any different from the chief of security entering someone's quarters to investigate. There were small differences, but the concept and goals were identical. "Yeah, if someone finds out. The worst that will happen is you get a reprimand, maybe a demotion. But as long as nobody finds out, it will be fine. Come on, Zade, live a little."

As Nayisa spoke, Zade began to pace, placing her hands behind her head as if she could keep it from exploding on her. Nayisa was basically admitting to a crime- no, to SEVERAL crimes- and she was supposed to go along with it?? Turning abruptly, she held out her hands toward Nayisa, as if she were grasping the woman's shoulders and shaking sense into her. "Live a little?? The consequences of this go far beyond a demotion! Do you have any idea how many regulations this plan of yours breaks??"

Contrary to the Trill's outward distaste for this plan, Nayisa was calm when she replied. "Eight." That was the exact number of regulations cited to her the last time she pulled off a stunt like this, for a surprisingly similar reason. But she knew what she did wrong last time, and took measures to prevent it from happening again. "Nine, if you include this conversation. But most of them are so vague that they don't really do anything."

Zade paused for a moment, eyes wide with surprise, not expecting Nayisa to have such a precise number. The vagueness or the impact of the regulations didn't matter to the Trill. She suddenly slammed her hands on the desk. "Just what the hell is worth breaking nine regulations for?!?!"

Nayisa gave that all-too-familiar superficial smile, unbothered by the slap to her desk. Zade was going to ask the money question eventually. "I can't tell you that."

That damn artificial smile. Even if Nayisa hadn't said anything, Zade knew what that meant. The Trill looked up at the ceiling in disbelief. "Of course you can't," she muttered, before looking back to Nayisa. "Can you at least tell me what you're looking for??"

Nayisa took in a breath, "also no."

"What if I make it an order?"

Nayisa calmly shook her head. "Departmental privilege. I may be an Ensign according to Starfleet bureaucracy, but I can guarantee that my clearance to certain classified information is higher than yours, even if I weren't the acting department head. Pulling rank won't work."

There was a brief pause before Zade realized that she was the only one amongst present company who was very against the idea. "How are you so... calm about this?!"

I have to be, otherwise you'd be running for the airlock, Nayisa mused, giving the woman a small smile. "Didrea, I'm an infiltration specialist. It's literally my job to go where I'm not supposed to. You've wanted to know for years what I do, now you have a glimpse of it." She slung the small bag over her shoulder and started to head for the door, not surprised in the slightest when Zade blocked her path and made her stop. "Look, obviously I can't tell you everything, but I need you to trust that I'm doing this for a reason. Besides, this is no different from a security check that you would perform."

Zade shook her head as she stood her ground. "Like hell it is. This is very different!" There were certainly similarities, but Zade wasn't the one trying to solve the case, and neither was Nayisa. They simply had no business being in Kane's quarters. If she had more context, she'd probably let it slide, but Nayisa was being too vague and it set off every alarm in Zade's head. "I'm sorry, Nayisa, you're forcing my hand here. I can't let you risk your career, or mine, or even Kane's, on this. The answer is no."

Yep, that sounded like the Zade she knew. The problem was that if she didn't go through with this assignment, it could hurt Kane's career more than if she did. Nayisa let out a gentle sigh before she responded, "ok, let me rephrase. It doesn't matter if you help me or not, because I will get into those quarters and find what I'm looking for. You can either tag along and be useful, or I'll lock you in this office so you won't interfere."

Peeved by the threat, Zade narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. Despite the calm aura, the intelligence officer's dark eyes held the truth in her warning. She really didn't want to have to fight Nayisa over this. "You're bluffing."

"Am I?" Nayisa countered, raising her eyebrows slightly as if to challenge Zade to test her. She was bluffing, but she wouldn't admit that. She could certainly lock Zade in the office and gain a few minutes head start, but she'd be able to get out, eventually, and Nayisa would be in a lot more trouble. It benefited both of them if Zade tagged along. She let the question hang between them for a moment before adding, "if it eases your goody-two-shoes conscience, make up some security reason that allows you to come with."

There was a long pause as Zade considered her options. Even though Nayisa was an Ensign, the two officers went to the Academy together and had a comparable level of experience. In the Trill's eyes, she was also a genius with computers, which gave her an advantage. Zade suspected that the woman would stay true to her word and lock her inside P'Rel's office to keep her out of the way, and presumably Nayisa had found a way to block communications out of the office if she followed through, meaning that the Trill would be unable to escape. Didn't Nayisa realize that the sudden absence of the security chief would raise suspicion? Did she plan for that, too? "Khov'aa..." she swore under her breath. The Trill had to conclude that Nayisa had considered all the possibilities, as well as a few that Zade had yet to consider.

Nayisa was kind of in a hurry. She needed to get those samples as soon as possible so she had time to review the results of the analysis. Zade just needed a little push. "Computer..."

"Fine!" Zade huffed, cutting off whatever the intel officer was going to say. "I should... 'make security rounds in that area' anyways." She stressed the obvious lie, making her disapproval of this plan well known. By going with her, she could at least monitor Nayisa's actions and either reduce the number of regulations she was breaking, or stop her if necessary. "But if you do anything outside of what you told me, I will arrest you," she warned. The Trill was planning to put Nayisa in the brig anyways, solely because of the information she had shared with her, but she decided that her case would be stronger if she had proof of Nayisa's actions.

"That's fair. Before we go, you're aware that this is strictly classified information, and you will not share it with another person or in your logs?" Nayisa had to make it clear that Zade could not, under any circumstances, mention this to anyone. There was a lot at risk.

"Yes, I'm aware, now move it before I change my mind," Zade hissed.

Nayisa beamed and gave her friend a solid pat on the shoulder. "Good choice! Follow me."

Zade slapped the silver-haired woman's hand away, the combined result of not liking being touched and her general annoyance that she got roped into this plan, before grudgingly following Nayisa out of the office. As much as she wanted to lecture Nayisa on how ridiculous this idea was, she knew it was no longer the time. If the plan was to remain a secret, she'd have to save it for later.

Their destination was deck two.