Liar Liar, Part 2

Posted on Sun Oct 15th, 2023 @ 3:49am by Lieutenant Didrea Zade & Ensign Rimal Iska & Lieutenant JG Nayisa Wrea

Mission: Character Development
Location: USS Athena :: Intel Offices
1178 words - 2.4 OF Standard Post Measure

It did not take long to reach the intelligence suite from the security offices. Coming to a stop in front of the Intelligence Chief's office door, Zade jammed her security override into the panel. Normally, she'd press the chime, but she was annoyed and wanted to get this over with. Once the door opened, the Trill stormed in and stopped in front of the desk. "Get up."

Nayisa glanced over from her computer when she got an alert that the door's access was being overridden, and looked between Zade and the other security officer when they entered. Oh boy. "Yeah, door's open, come right in," she said sarcastically, staying seated. Looking back to Zade, she asked, "what's all this for?"

"I think you know." Her hands on her hips, Zade glared at the intelligence officer. "You lied to me, Wrea."

Nayisa briefly glanced at the other security officer again. How much did he know? "I'm going to need some more context, Didrea."

"You want context??" Zade put her hands on the desk and leaned forward. "How about you explain why there's a traced message log in the system that points to these offices? Or perhaps how you sent an encrypted diagram of the Serena several hours after your little stunt? You said you were simply investigating, you said nothing about sending information to someone!" Perhaps she imagined it, but for a brief moment it seemed like Nayisa recognized the ship name, beyond the simple fact that she had been on the ship before.

Iska blinked and stared at Zade. There was obviously some story that he wasn’t privy to, but the words 'stunt' and 'investigating' had him curious. She wasn't in the mood to loop him in, however, so he kept his mouth shut.

Crap, Starfleet's trace went further than she thought. "I was just investigating, as I told you." Nayisa gestured to the door, intending to convey that the office they were currently in did not make up the entirety of the intelligence department. "You realize there's a whole department here, right? If a message had been sent, it could have been sent by anyone. Maybe someone else really likes the Serena's ship layout."

Zade took in a slow breath to try and contain her anger. "Don't lie to my face, Nayisa! I'm confident you're behind this because you're the only one in this department who has actually worked on the Serena."

"My having served on the Serena contributes nothing to this claim of yours," Nayisa responded, watching the Trill. She leaned forward slightly and folded her arms on top of the desk. "If I'm understanding you right, you're accusing me of sending some encrypted message, of a random ship diagram, to Earth after my investigation. How's that related? What's your proof?"

"For one, the timing! You do this little investigation of yours, and then five hours later some encrypted message goes out, from these offices! That's automatically suspicious." Spinning Nayisa's computer around, Zade copied the attachment that Charlie had accessed and pulled it up before spinning it back around. The figure clearly showed a diagram of the Serena, with a dot at the back of the bridge, where the ship's command chair was. "Second, I stand by my words that, at least according to your personnel files, you're the only one in this department who has actually been on the Serena. The bridge is clearly marked, and if I recall, the command chair is in the back of the bridge. That tells me this has to do with the Captain, and I don't think that's a coincidence. I think this is actually related to your investigation somehow, if that's really what you were doing."

"Uh..." Iska piped up from the back of the room. He almost changed his mind about speaking up when the attention abruptly swung to him, but there was one detail that stood out to him and it felt wrong to ignore. "The Lieutenant never said where the message was sent..."

Nayisa was ready to refute the claims Zade was throwing at her. While the evidence was pretty solid, Nayisa had the advantage because Zade didn't actually know who sent the message. Her dark eyes skimmed the information associated with the diagram, and she knew that the sender came from the intelligence suite, according to the trace log. Zade was going off of nothing more than a guess, and she was ready to call that out when the other security officer made a valid point.

She messed up.

For a brief moment, there was a realization in Nayisa's eyes, a sign that she knew she slipped. She had mentioned Earth by name, meaning that Nayisa had to have known of the message. Which meant that she likely sent it. Zade had the final piece she needed to make the arrest: a confession. It would be too complicated to try and lie out of this one, especially since everything was now stacked against her. Instead, Nayisa gave a defeated sigh as she mentally surrendered to what she knew was coming.

Zade stared at Iska for a moment, realizing that he was right. She had never specified Earth. Turning back to Nayisa, the Trill caught the look of realization on her friend's expression, the sigh telling her all she needed to know. "I will not repeat myself again. Get up, now."

"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill." Doing as she was told with some reluctance, Nayisa stood from the desk and raised her hands to shoulder level so both officers could see them.

Zade watched Nayisa stand with narrowed eyes, and she moved around the desk to approach her. "Ensign Nayisa Wrea, you are under arrest for unauthorized entry, tampering with security protocols, and unprofessional conduct." She grabbed the woman's communicator and yanked it off, setting it on the desk, then proceeded to pat her down, removing the tricorder and pocket knife as she found them. "Under Starfleet regulation 21, section 2, your rights are protected should your case escalate."

Iska considered speaking up again, feeling like that was an unfair list of charges, just for sending an encrypted message. But he wondered if this was related to that investigation Zade kept mentioning. When the Trill approached the Intelligence officer, Iska readied himself in case Nayisa decided to try anything, but the other woman gave no signs of resisting.

Once the pat down was finished and Zade finished reciting Nayisa's rights, Nayisa watched the Trill move behind her. Soon after, she was guided toward the door by a hand on the shoulder, an option she couldn't get out of unless she wanted 'resisting arrest' added to the list. "Can I at least explain myself?" she asked, putting her hands down as she headed for the door.

"No." The response was like a punch through the tension in the air. As they left the office, Zade saw Iska follow out of the corner of her eye. "I don't know if you're going to keep lying to me, so I've heard enough."