Liar Liar, Part 1

Posted on Tue Oct 10th, 2023 @ 1:34pm by Lieutenant Didrea Zade & Ensign Rimal Iska & Ensign Charlotte (Charlie) Washington

Mission: Character Development
Location: USS Athena :: Security Offices
Timeline: 1 day after "Through The Fog"
908 words - 1.8 OF Standard Post Measure

"Computer, begin Security Chief's log.

"In total, there were 37 pirates accounted for, following the intruder alert on stardate 43577. Cargo Bay 4 was converted into a holding cell until we reach Earth. I put security measures in place to ensure that if the containment fields dropped without the proper security authorization, all access points to Cargo Bay 4 would seal shut. Three crewmembers were killed, and numerous injuries reported. Security logs show that twelve weapons lockers were opened, so those will need to be inventoried-"

A beep pulled Zade out of her train of thought, and she glanced at the message on her computer. About an hour ago, she had started a system-wide security check to make sure their intruders didn't tamper with anything. The responses had been green for a while, but then something came up. "Pause recording," she said, leaning forward slightly. A traced message log? Looking in the system that raised the flag, and confusion settled onto her expression when there was... nothing. The flag wasn't present. "How the hell...?"

Navigating back to the security log, she reread the source of the notice. It was definitely something in comms, but when she accessed the supposed location of this discrepancy, it wasn't to be found. "Zade to Operations. Can someone help me identify the source of a security alert in the message logs, please?"

"Be right there, Lieutenant," Charlie piped back before breaking into a light sprint. Running had always felt good to the ops officer. The activity kept her body occupied and allowed her mind to run wild with thoughts on the next job, even though at the surface this one didn't sound terribly interesting. Then again sometimes those turned out to be the most intriguing.

"How can I help?" Charlie asked with a bright smile.

Zade glanced up when her door chimed a moment later, and let an enthusiastic officer in yellow enter. It didn't take long to connect the dots that this was who responded to her request. She didn't expect the Ensign to come running to her office, though. "That was quite prompt, Ensign..."

She shrugged. "I enjoy a good run. It's exhilarating and keeps me refreshed. I'm Ensign Washington by the way, but feel free to call me Charlie or CJ. Now, what was it you needed? Help tracking down some sort of alert?"

The Trill gave a smile. "Pleased to meet you. I'm doing a shipwide security check and I have an alert for a traced message," she explained, turning the computer around so she could see the alert. "But when I try to investigate the log, there's nothing out of place. I'm hoping for a second set of eyes to determine if this was a false alarm."

"Hmmm," Charlie bit her lip as she inspected the message. "There's an attachment, did you look into that by chance?" She asked, noting a seemingly harmless picture attached to the message. From the thumbnail it looked like some sort of mountain scape, but you could never be too sure with attachments.

Zade gave a thoughtful frown as she watched Charlie work. "Huh, no, I didn't see the attachment. When I tried accessing the log, it said there was nothing to view." She leaned in slightly, "Are you able to open it? Can you tell who sent it?"

"Yea I think so," Charlie securely downloaded the attachment and then opened it. "Looks like a diagram of a ship...the USS Serena? Does that ring a bell for you?"

The USS Serena? Zade's brow furrowed even more as she looked over the diagram. Why was the command chair marked? Who was sending information about the Serena, of all ships? She glanced up at the attachment's timestamp. 1am on the morning of crew testimonies... this happened before the pirates even boarded, meaning that whoever sent a ship diagram must have been a member of the crew. Part of the log pulled by Charlie included the last part of the ship the trace hit before it was cut off, and it read deck five.

Suddenly, it clicked. "You've got to be kidding me..." she muttered, realization in her expression. "It does ring a bell. Thank you, Ensign." Zade's tense tone was accompanied by developing anger as she glared at the picture. Not really paying attention to Charlie anymore, Zade saved her report, stood, and promptly exited her office. On her computer was evidence that Zade, at best, wasn't informed of some detail, and at worst, was flat-out lied to, and it couldn't be ignored.

Zade had to deal with this. She asked the computer to locate her suspect as she grabbed two phasers from the security locker, shoving one into her holster with more force than necessary. Looking around, she spotted Iska talking to another security officer. "Iska," she snipped, not bothering to hide her annoyance. She jerked her head toward the exit she was walking to, "with me. Now."

The Bajoran jumped when he heard his name sharply announced, and quickly turned to see his boss staring him down. "M-ma'am?!" Sharing a startled glance with the other officer, Iska quickly caught up to Zade, surprised to see a phaser being offered to him. "Uh, Lieutenant, what's going on?" He asked, awkwardly pushing the phaser into his pocket while trying to not drop it.

Zade led the way down the corridor to the turbolift. Thankfully, deck five was a short distance away. "You're about to help me arrest someone."