The Net Closes: Part 2

Posted on 20 Aug 2023 @ 5:15pm by Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen
Edited on on 20 Aug 2023 @ 5:21pm

1,001 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 3, Operations Office
Timeline: MD 12, 1030hrs

[PREVIOUSLY]

Constantin smiled weakly at the words, just holding him. "Space is a cruel mistress..." he breathed softly. "But you're right, it's home. And I am okay, I promise. I got your arms around me."

Gabriel shook his head, tapping his cheek fondly as he chuckled. "Besides, I'd have kicked your arse if you didn't come back," he teased, squeezing him as the computer gave a beep. "Here we go..." he breathed, bringing up the list.

[ON]

Constantin moved closer, checking as well as he let out a breath. "Okay, some easier to track than others," he said, with a small smile.

Gabriel nodded, a frown of concentration coming back to his features as he leant to the screen. Constantin's trace had managed to source the kill command of a single security feed back to a terminal on Deck 2. "No one accessed that terminal directly prior to the murder," Gabriel shook his head as he glanced to him. "Which supports your remote access theory..." he tapped on the screen to cross reference with the movements of personnel in the previous 24 hours. And that's when the anomalous access showed on the list. "Here...see? No crew member is logged during this session on that console. Can we drag up what was accessed in the session?"

"We should be able to," Vansen said, nodding as he slowly got the logs up. "Depends on how well something has been scrubbed I guess," he added, sounding unsure for a moment before the log appeared.

Gabriel leant forward on his folded arms to peer at the screen before tapping a command that had been introduced half way down the log. "There...what's that..." he looked to Vansen with a confused frown. "A command is inputted along with some kind of data, but there's no execution from it..."

"It's a backdoor," Vansen said after a moment, shaking his head. "Clever too. It's half a code, the rest has been integrated with the commands. It means that you could in theory just finish the code somewhere else, with the root of this console and...it finishes the command."

Gabriel sat back heavily, swearing under his breath with a flash of anger. He started to cross check with the movements they'd tracked. He frowned, his jaw tightening when he saw the time of the access coincided with one of the Klingon visitors registering close to the console. "Devious bastards..." he muttered, shaking his head with a frown.

"Too devious if you ask me," Constantin said with a slight frown. "Not to be that person, but...this is really sneaky and technologically difficult. You'd need someone very skilled to do this. A spy or assassin type."

"Have you ever seen something like that cloak they used?" Gabriel asked, watching him with real worry. The idea of them being able to use personal cloaks was disturbing. Let alone plant a backdoor into their systems. "They should never have been allowed a moment alone on this ship without an escort. This is what happens when we have an understaffed security team," the bite of anger was twanging at his voice.

Constantin reached to touch his shoulder, squeezing it. He considered it for a moment, before shaking his head. "Not on top of my head, but makes sense you know. If we can cloak ships, we can cloak people...just need enough energy for it." He hadn't been there for the battle, or the aftermath. But he was here now. "So it was the Klingons. Murdering one of their own?"

"Or one of them, at least," Gabriel frowned, shaking his head as he started to work on the console. "If we can't get clear footage from the murder, maybe we can find footage of this console at the time the command was inputted..."

"Let me check," Constantin said, smiling gently as he started searching. "We'll cover the corridor, both places, and the console. They might have tried to cover up they were there, but we have a lot of surveillance on a ship."

The first two feeds showed the same distortion that they'd seen with the Sickbay feeds. But when they switched to the corridor interchange feed, there they were, captured from the side. And as the Klingon moved to input the commands, the feminine profile of Brin't'a was as clear as day.

"Got her," Constantin said before he looked at Gabriel, with a smile. "Whoever she is..." he looked at the Klingon's face, nodding. "Maybe we could get the biological sample off the console, I think we've been so busy no one's wiped them down..."

"It's worth a shot at least," Gabriel replied, but quietly, clearly not celebrating their achievement. "This isn't going to be pretty...not when the Captain finds out."

"At least the Klingons aren't on the ship anymore," Constantin said as he glanced at him, giving him a small smile. "So we won't have to worry about them hurting anyone else here."

"Can you make sure that the systems are absolutely clean in case she left anymore of this crap on it?" Gabriel asked quietly, shaking his head with a concerned frown. He was angry. They should never have been allowed to walk around without an escort, regardless of how much 'help' they'd given them.

"Yes, now I know exactly what I am looking for," Constantin said before he smiled, seeing the anger in him. The concern. It was beautiful, like wildfire. "You know, as per usual...lower decks saves the day." He started working, biting his lip for a moment with concentration.

Gabriel looked to him with surprise for a long moment, and it was enough to pierce his anger. He laughed softly, watching him fondly at the way he knew exactly the right thing to say. "Better believe it..." he said gently, watching him with warmth before starting on the report.

[OFF]

PO1 Gabriel Stark
Security/Tactical
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

&

PO3 Constantin Vansen
Operations
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

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