Faulwell paused for a bit, but the Vulcan seemed content to simply sit there. Finally, Cruz broke the silence and introduced Bart and himself to the newcomer. The Vulcan looked at the two men and nodded slightly to each in turn, his piercing dark eyes taking in the situation. “I am Chief Petty Officer Sabran, most recently assigned to the U.S.S. T’Kumbra. And to answer the question you’re about to ask, no, I have not been informed of the nature of our summons either.”
“The T’Kumbra? Isn’t that an all-Vulcan ship?” Cruz asked, curiosity evident in his voice.
“You are correct, sir.”
Bart ran a hand through his scraggly brown beard and piped up, “So what other ships have you served on?”
“I am completing my second tour on the T’Kumbra. In between tours, I was detailed to the Vulcan Science Academy for a research-and-development project.”
“Well, damn, it just seems strange they’d snag the three of us for whatever they’ve got planned. So, what did you do on that ship of yours, Chief?” Cruz asked, leaning back in his chair, staring at the door.
“I am a technician, specializing in computer languages. I was testing a new piece of communications security protocol when I was ordered to report to this starbase. Unfortunately, the test was about to finish in another week.”
“Well, we’ll have to see if we can make it up to you, Chief Sabran,” a voice sounded from the door, almost drowning out the “Attention on deck,” Thomas sounded out with. The three men inside the room immediately jumped to their feet as a human rear admiral entered, closely trailed by a human commander, and a Bajoran in one of their militia uniforms. Curiouser and curiouser, Bart thought.
As quickly as they cleared the door, a dour-looking Andorian lieutenant wearing a security uniform shouldered his way past the two security guards. A quick motion from the admiral sent the guards out of the room. They gave the Andorian dirty looks behind his back as they left. As the door slid shut, the admiral sat down, motioning for everyone else to take a seat.
“I’m glad you all were able to get here so quickly. I’m Admiral Hazlitt,” the senior officer began, his deep bass voice carrying through the room. After the requisite greetings were exchanged, he continued, “This is Commander Jonathan Mwakwere. He’s here to assist me with the briefing, and this is Lieutenant Priya Chantrea from the Bajoran Militia. She’s been assigned to work with the three of you on the upcoming mission. Also, this is Lieutenant Zarinth, who’ll be in charge of the security team that will be accompanying you. Commander Mwakwere, if you please.”
Bart watched as the large, dark-skinned man stood and pushed a series of buttons on the computer console, calling up a holographic map. Faulwell’s quick glance confirmed it was the current Dominion/ Federation front lines.
“Thank you, Admiral Hazlitt,” he said, then turned to the rest of the people in the room, his dark eyes fierce and intimidating. Bart found himself shrinking back into his chair as the commander sized up the assembled group. Taking a deep breath, he began, “I’m required to inform you this briefing is classified top secret. You’ve been chosen based on your records and skills for a special temporary duty and have been assigned to this Starfleet Intelligence project.” Listening to him speak, Bart placed the commander’s birthplace somewhere near the Great Lakes region of the United States of Africa.
“Roger that, sir, but what exactly is this project?” Cruz asked, leaning forward in his seat and staring at the map that was slowly rotating in front of him.
“Ahem…yes, I was just getting to that.” Commander Mwakwere refocused the map to highlight a specific section. Raising the magnification, it was easy to see the outlines of Cardassian, Breen, and Federation space. “This is the current situation as of four hours ago. This sector has been relatively quiet.” He made some adjustments and a small planet began to glow. “We’d like to keep it that way.”
Looking closer, Bart noted that it was just beyond the Rolor Nebula. “Excuse me, sir, but that’s definitely outside of Federation space.”
“Yes, we know, which is why this mission is so sensitive. We’ve taken advantage of that fact by establishing a listening post here.” He enlarged the map again, showing a rather nondescript planet with an ice-covered moon circling it. “Right now, the Cardassians have not made any moves in this direction and by keeping our footprint in this system as small as possible, we’re hoping to keep their eyes turned to a different direction. There is occasional traffic through the system en route to the Bajoran colony of Dreon, which is how we’ll insert you.”
“Insert us?” Cruz asked, drawing out the last word to encourage Commander Mwakwere to expound on that thought.
“Yes. You’re going to be assigned to Project Mungin. We’ve managed to deploy a number of listening devices into Cardassian space as well as in between the Cardassians, the Tzenkethi, and the Breen Confederacy. They periodically dump their information to the listening post we established here.”
He pushed another button on the console. The moon began to expand, showing a cutaway schematic of a post buried beneath the surface. “The actual listening post is designed to allow a small team to process and analyze everything they pick up without drawing attention to themselves. If the team discovers anything of interest, they’ll review the intercepted subspace messages or other anomalies, decipher and interpret them, and periodically report their findings here or to Starbase 621 as an alternate.”
The admiral broke in. “We have it on good authority that the Dominion is trying to bring the Breen into the war. I know the Breen are currently neutral and the Diplomatic Corps swears up and down that there’s no reason to suspect they’ll change their stance. However, you know and I know, Starfleet Intelligence cannot take that chance. If the Breen were to enter the war on the Dominion’s side, an already ugly situation could quickly become untenable.” He ran his hand through his close-cropped white hair and refocused on the holographic projection. “Mungin’s purpose is to ensure we don’t get caught off guard.”
“Begging the admiral’s pardon,” Bart said, as the admiral paused, “but there must be some mistake. I am a linguist, but I’m barely familiar with Cardassian.”
“No, Mr. Faulwell, there’s no mistake. We’re well aware of your scholastic achievements before you joined Starfleet, but your skills as a cryptanalyst are why you were chosen for this mission. You’ll have plenty of time to brush up on your Cardassian, but that’s why Lieutenant Priya is going to be joining you on this mission. She’s an expert on the Cardassian language as well as a number of the Gamma Quadrant races that are serving in the Dominion’s forces.”
Commander Mwakwere added, “The lieutenant has been fully vetted and cleared. Even though Bajor’s signed a nonaggression pact with the Dominion, the Bajoran Militia has been quietly working with Starfleet Intelligence since the start of the war. Mr. Cruz, you’ll be in command of the cryptography mission. Lieutenant Priya will be your second in command, and Lieutenant Zarinth will be in charge of security.”
“Folks, I don’t have to tell you how important this mission is,” Admiral Hazlitt said as Commander Mwakwere powered down the computer console. “You’ll be given full documentation on the mission once you leave the base. Your mission is scheduled for six months, with a possible extension of another six months. The base has been equipped with the finest state-of-the-art technology and highly classified systems. In case of discovery, the base cannot, I repeat, cannot fall into the hands of the Dominion. Do I make myself clear?”
Lieutenant Zarinth spoke up for the first time. “Perfectly, sir. You do not have to worry about that. My people fully understand their duty.”
Somehow, I’m not really comfortable with how well his people understand their duty, Bart thought. If we get into trouble, are they likely to shoot the enemy…or us?
Admiral Hazlitt and Commander Mwakwere headed for the door. “You’ll remain here until an escort comes to retrieve you. You should be leaving for Mungin in approximately two hours.” The ad
miral paused at the door and raised an imaginary glass to toast the room, “Here’s hoping you have a very uneventful six months.”
Chapter
3
Bart thought back on the admiral’s final words. Obviously he cast a curse on this entire mission, because “uneventful” is exactly what’s going on.
Bart sat at the terminal in the operations section of Mungin watching as the computers downloaded another transmission from Probe 13. Looking up, he scanned the room, painted in a standard eggshell white, with light gray floors and track lighting overhead. There were several computer terminals stationed at various locations in the room, one for each of the team members. Two large screens flanked the walls near the exit to the room. They were set up so the analysts could work together on projects as well as doubling as a communications viewscreen.
Bart let his thoughts wander as the transmission from Probe 13 was being processed by the station’s computers. Operations was on deck two, while security and communications were located on deck one. The deck immediately below them held the rec room, gym, and holosuite. Farther down were the decks that held the living quarters, sickbay, armory, life support, and other sundry functions. The lowest deck, which they had dubbed “the boiler room,” was where the powerful generators that kept the entire system running smoothly resided. The base was very utilitarian, with minimal design for comfort.
Even that wouldn’t be a problem if we were kept busy. Given the lack of work though, plain walls and such become depressing over time. He stared at the walls, trying to motivate himself. He knew he ought to get up and start working on the recovered data, but he was having a hard time convincing himself anyone really cared what they were collecting here.
Looking across the room, he saw Priya listening to a recording they’d made a week ago. She looked up and noticed him watching her.
“Is there something you needed to bring to my attention, Petty Officer?” She spun in her chair to face him, removing her earpiece. The modified communications device was partially hidden beneath her red hair.
“No, I was just thinking about how boring it’s been lately. From the way the admiral had built this assignment up, I was really expecting a lot more than just this. If that Cardassian cruiser hadn’t transited through the system, I’d begin to think the rest of the universe was an illusion.” Bart stretched, feeling the tension in his shoulders and neck. “What in the world is so important about this site?”
“We were told to monitor specifically for any communications between the Dominion and either the Breen or the Tzenkethi.” She rose from her chair and straightened out the earring she wore on her right ear. She followed his lead and stretched also before retaking her seat. Just before she buried her head in her work again, she smiled wistfully at him. “The commander did point out this was an inactive sector of the conflict, Dr. Faulwell.”
“Inactive is right and please call me Bart.” Bart groaned as he stood up from the stool he’d been sitting on. “We could probably all pack up and go home and no one would notice. I don’t know how you keep from going insane, Priya. I mean, the highlight of my shift is getting to listen to that repair facility near Delavi. I swear, I know more about Cardassian freighters and tugs than I ever thought was possible.”
“True, there hasn’t exactly been a pressing need for a Cardassian language expert. You’ve had more than enough time to brush up on your language skills.” She paused for a moment, and then said in a softer voice, “Even if you do still speak with an accent.”
Bart simulated tossing a grenade at her and turned back to the computer terminal. An all too familiar noise announced the transmission from Probe 13 was completed. He called up the results of the transmission, his fingers flying across the touch pad and, as expected, it was the weekly transmissions from Cardassia Prime to various outlying bases discussing upcoming personnel transfers and supply requests.
He noted with a passing interest the Cardassians had changed their encryption system again. He transferred the data to his padd and walked over to the replicator to get a cup of coffee. Armed with fresh caffeine, he sat down at the small table nearby to see whether this was simply an updated system or if they’d actually done a communications change.
“It could be worse.” Priya’s voice broke through his concentration. Her almost cheerful voice caught his attention and he turned to see her resting her head on one arm, looking at him.
“Oh? This I have to hear.” Bart chuckled, setting the padd down.
“We could be sitting on top of this rock. Nothing like temperatures averaging around twenty below zero to help you appreciate how good you’ve got it,” she said. Bart felt his skin crawl at the thought of being out in the almost permanent blizzard conditions that existed just beyond their lair. Priya continued, “Of course, it’d beat being on Antros III itself.”
“It’d be a little tougher being stationed on an airless world, I must agree.” Antros III might have been a Class-M world once long ago, but something had stripped it of any atmosphere it had. In a way, it reminded Bart of being on Earth, only in reverse. Here, the moon was habitable (if only barely), but the planet was a huge ball of rock, hanging over their head. “Remember when we first got here and Jamie was spending all that time examining Antros with the short-range sensors? I thought Zarinth was going to have a conniption fit if he didn’t quit messing with the settings.”
“Serves him right. I thought I had some tough trainers when I first joined the militia, but Zarinth is incredible. I’m surprised his people haven’t killed him yet.” Priya shook her head in amazement.
Jamie Cruz entered the room just then. “Well, he’s trying to keep them sharp. A bored security guard is a dangerous security guard, especially around all this equipment. I’ve already had to explain to McKenzie why he can’t take over the zero-g racquetball court and turn it into a target range.”
“Oh, don’t tell me he’s on that kick again,” Bart said in an aggravated tone of voice. “I thought Zarinth got through to him last time.”
“I thought so, too. I guess they’re as bored as we—”
Cruz was cut off in mid-sentence by a sudden chime from the computer. “Incoming message from Probe 42.”
“Forty-two? Have we ever gotten anything from that one?” Cruz looked from Priya to Faulwell apparently hoping someone would have an answer.
Bart rushed over to his station and typed in a few queries into the main computer. “No, in fact, Mungin shows no traffic of any type ever coming in on it. I’m getting a preliminary reading now.” While he examined the results the computer was sending him, Priya started running a diagnostic on the traffic. After a few minutes, Bart looked up at Jamie. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. This is seriously strong encryption on this message.”
“I’ve been looking at the message logs,” Priya said, following up on Faulwell’s initial report. “There was no preliminary chatter, nothing that would tell me who might have sent it or why. It just started at a specific time and stopped at a specific time. No acknowledgment from whomever received it either. I honestly can’t say if it was Cardassian, English, or straight binary.”
“Bart, any chance these might be Jem’Hadar communications?” Cruz asked, sitting down with the Bajoran officer to go over her preliminary analysis.
“I don’t think so. This doesn’t resemble anything we have on record for them.”
Bart was busy typing in a new diagnostic test when Cruz came over and tapped him on the shoulder. “Okay folks, I know you were just getting off shift, but if you don’t mind…?”
“Mind? Are you kidding?” Bart looked up at the warrant officer with a surprised expression on his face. “After the past few weeks, this is definitely worth losing a sleep shift over.” The cryptanalyst got up and started pacing around the room, his fingers interlaced behind his neck. “The only problem is, there’s only this one piece of traffic. We’re going to probably need a lot more if we’re going to break it. The sample is too short
to run most of the tests I know.”
“Well, that’s not exactly up to me, Bart.” Cruz smiled at the linguist’s enthusiasm. “However, I’m sure we can dedicate a link to monitor this probe.” He moved back over to his workstation and tapped his combadge. “Sabran, we’ve got a new signal down here. If you wouldn’t mind, could you come down here and run some tests?”
“Why would I mind, Mr. Cruz?” The Vulcan’s confusion was evident even over the link. “Is that not why I was assigned to the team? I will be down there shortly.” Bart watched as Cruz started to explain further and then apparently decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Sabran would be in the operations center before he could finish.
The group quickly divided up to begin analyzing this mysterious signal. Bart began by getting a printout of the signal. Taking a look at the entire message, he punched some commands into the computer to begin looking for any anomalies or sections that repeated. He was looking for anything that would give him a chance to start identifying the encryption system. In addition, the computer would provide a frequency count of individual letters as well as groups of two, three, four, and five.
“Priya, any luck identifying what language this is?” Looking up, he realized two hours had passed while he had been analyzing the results the computer had given him.
The Bajoran looked up from the padd in front of her and pinched the bridge of her nose. “No, but there’s nothing here besides this message. As far as I can tell, it’s machine code of some kind. We’ll have to break into it before I can find the actual language. How about you?”
“Nothing. The first rule of cryptanalysis is to know what the target language is,” Bart admitted, stretching his arms over his head. “It makes it a heck of a lot easier to set up your diagnostics if you know what you’re going after.”
Echoes of Coventry Page 2