Prelude 12/21

Posted on 04 Sep 2017 @ 5:19pm by Petty Officer 1st Class Lia McCarthy & Vice Admiral Nathan West

4,114 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: Errand of Mercy
Location: Starfleet Academy, San Francisco - BCT Section
Timeline: ED1 (Backpost)

On:

"There it is again... If only I could just find out where it went..." Lia muttered under her breath as she furiously typed away on her datapad.

Currently, she was ducked out under Communication Director Harding's desk because it was the best spot for a signal. The catch was not to get caught.

She had been following the phantom signal since her first night at the academy. Lia had been poking around the system and becoming acquainted when she stumbled upon a ridiculously protected signal that only ran for a five second pulse and then it would vanish completely. It didn't have any kind of pattern for appearances, so she had to scour the network as often as she got the chance.

Lia knew it was probably highly classified information but she didn't care about reading it, she just wanted to find it to prove to herself that she wasn't seeing things. After spending most of the night without any luck, she had to call it a night before she was found out by the morning staff. She made her way over to the window and hooked in her magnetic line, then hooked a second magnet to her belt. Everything else aside, even all the juicy hacks and problems in her life, this was her favorite part.

She stole a breath as she threw herself out of the window, letting herself speed down several hundreds of feet before locking up the line brakes and slowing herself to a gentle stop just above the ground. Her hair was blown beyond recognition and her smile split her face, but then all of the courtyard security lights flashed on. Lia snapped off the magnets and coiled the line to her as she ran as fast as she could manage towards The Hollow.

After that, the hard stuff began...

--Admiral West's Office same time

West sat behind his desk looking over the information that had streamed in from his personal black box. He had to get the reports up from the previous black ops missions because he thought he had found an unusual pattern. As his eyes flowed over the words before him and his brain took in the information making leaps of logic and intuition as the old information interacted with the new in his mind a voice behind him pulled his eyes and mind away from the screen.

"Admiral, I suggest that you cease accessing your information vault." came a strong masculine voice, the voice of the AI that protected West's black box as it were.

"Why is that SPARTAN?" West asked as he turned to look at the holographic depiction of the AI dressed in a SPARTAN's battle gear.

"There is an outside hacker attempting to access the system utilizing the pulse download frequency." the man's voice responded dispassionately.

West thought for a moment and leaned back in his chair "Really, how close is he to catching and accessing it?"

"At current I ceased the pulse sir, so the likelihood of detection and infiltration is negligible." SPARTAN replied.

"SPARTAN, resume normal operation, triangulate and locate the hacker. If he is able to crack your pulse and gain access to the stream, which I want you to change to a decoy stream, send security to bring him to my office. If not, send security to take him to the brig." West began to turn back around to his desk as the holographic image pressed his fist to his chest and bowed his head.

"Your order Admiral shall be carried out." and with that SPARTAN winked out of existence in West's office.

-Lia, A few nights later, back under Harding's desk-
"m0nk3y? You online yet? We won't have much time tonight, but i want to still give it a try to find that ghost signal again." she whispered hurriedly under her breath. After escaping the security teams last time she visited, the academy established roving teams under the premise of student security. All that meant to Lia was it was getting harder to make these trips, especially if anyone bothered to check this office.

A chirp from her pad told her that she was connected to the network, so she started up her routine. At least this time, she had some new ideas about how to track this thing down.

First, she knew that regardless of how protected any information or signal is, everything uses bandwidth to be streamed. You can't read any of it, but you can see where there were unusually high usages. The best part? Typically, the more protected it is, the more security it takes to stream, therefore, more bandwidth. So with that in mind she started with her first idea. If she could find out when the data was spiking the most often then that would up her chances of knowing when to look for that signal. She knew it only had a five second window, so she had to have as much ready to go as she could before trying for it. After almost an hour she had finally gotten access to the main administrator login so she could get into the maintenance logs. Once there, she found what she needed. Twice a week, at random, the signal jumps from the usual range to almost max. But always at night...

She tried to find a pattern in the stream times, when a loud bang scared her out of her skin. A large beam of light wandered around the room. Speedy breaths...

At last! The beam went right over the desk that she was curled up under and circled around to the floor just in front of the door. The security guard took a final glance around the room and left, securing the door behind him leaving her completely alone in the office.

--West's Office

West was sitting behind his desk when SPARTAN appeared behind him. "Admiral, I believe the hacker has returned. Attempting to triangulate but it will take some time." West looked back over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow in a manner he had picked up from long service with Admirals Thor and Shora. He looked over his desk and pressed the buttons that caused the holographic representation of the secure network to flair into life above his desk. He sat and watched as SPARTAN began the countermeasures that would lock the system down.

--Lia
"M0nk3y, run cloak. someone's gonna know we are looking and I need time to find it." The pad chirped as she resumed typing and searching the patterns. Digging through the files, she found a server that was segregated from the main network, but was still connected. The registry confirmed that it was only active at the same times of the phantom pulse signal so they had to be related.

"Hello SPARTAN. Nice to meet you." She greeted her challenge with a smirk Lia began running her programs to probe the system and introduce herself to the capabilities of the system. However it was immediately obvious that this wasn't the run of the mill federation junk security. She went to her onion program. It was a special code that she wrote herself to help peel back the layers of security until she could find an in.

after a moment, she found a way into the file list system. She couldn't read any of them, but she could see the file names. She skimmed for anything that might give her a hint as to what this was or what it was for, but then the connection jumped as she was being countered. the last file she managed to see the title of stuck with her. She'd seen it before: "Operation White Tower"

She enhanced her cloak program and dug back into the file list when she realized that it was a dummy system. A decoy to distract her from the real material. Lia immediately ejected and turned off her pad.

--West's Office

SPARTAN grinned to himself as he watched the packets that flowed from the decoy system he had set up to catch the hacker. His grin widened when he realized where the hacker was, in the Communication's Directors office. The hacker was good, but unfortunately for them had never heard of the old maxim that you don't snipe from the same spot twice. It took far less time to triangulate due to the work put in on the previous hack attempt. SPARTAN sent the order for security to apprehended the hacker and bring them before West.

"Got ya'." SPARTAN said to himself as he appeared behind West.

"Sir, the triangulation was quicker than anticipated, the hacker went to the same location which expedited the triangulation. I have dispatched security to pick them up."

"Very well I look forward to speaking with the hacker in question. Ensure that they bring the person in question to me."

"Order has already been given sir."

--Lia
She knew that she didn't have much time as with a decoy system, the alarm would have already sounded and it was likely they knew exactly where she was. Lia looked around the office and realized there wasn't really any kind of useful hiding spots, so she headed towards the window. She adjusted her magnets as an idea popped into her mind.

Lia could hear the group of security officers running down the hall towards the Director's office, so she slipped out and hung herself just out of sight above the window and slid the pane shut with her foot as the door flew open.

The security officers fanned out searching the office fully and checking their tricorders as they did so. The non verbal communications going on between the officers caused for to leave two to go up stairs and two went down with the last two remaining in the directors office. When the signal was received, namely the tricorders registering the other teams were in position the windows opened and each set of officers looked out.

"Miss, you should come back in before you fall." Rumbled a deep bass voice from the directors office. "Or we will have to come get you."

"Mmmm" She mumbled to herself, "Pass." Using her anchor magnet to swing herself around and stand against the building, she curled herself into a ball and launched across the gap between the towers and rode her momentum down the side. The magnets stopped her short of the ground and she hopped down to the grass and began to make a run for it. However as she rounded the building, she crashed right into the waiting security guard.

"Oh dear, we are in trouble...." his low and rumbling voice shook through her. He cuffed her and walked her towards the lift that would take them to the admiral's office.


-West's Office-

West sat in his office going over the code used that had caused SPARTAN to be alerted. As he went over it he noticed that there was potential in the person behind the code. He nodded to himself as he listened to SPARTAN's update to the chase and apprehension of the hacker. His door beeped and he looked up at the door then to SPARTAN who vanished from the room as well as any trace of the information West had been looking at.

"Come." West called out and waited for the security officers to bring in his target.

The door opens immediately and four guards along with Lia enter the room. "Sir, as requested." They lead her to the chair across from his desk and then position themselves behind her.

-Lia-
She knew immediately that whoever this man was, that he wasn't part of the Academy staff. So it had to do with whatever system she had a glance of while hunting the ghost signal. It was likely that he either knew about it or was the cause of it, since his office was right in the middle of the suspected origin. This meeting should prove interesting at the very least. All that being said though, there was also the fact that she was in worlds of trouble at the moment and tried to not let her curiosity get the better of her.

Lia waited until she was addressed, since it was his office.

West looked the woman up and down before raising his right hand and waving the security detail away. After they had left he looked at Lia again.

"Name and rate." he said simply.

"McCarthy, Lia. Petty Officer 1st Class." She said as flatly as he did. "And you are sir?"

"You may call me Admiral." he said vaguely "Now why are you in my office?"

She kept her expression even. Whatever this was, she knew she was blind in here and it wasn't going to help anything to dig a hole that she couldn't get out of. "Well Admiral, I'm going to skip the obvious answer that involves the guards that escorted me and make the presumption that I am in your office because I managed to get introduced to your spartan defense system via the ghost signal that I've been following for some time now." Lia leaned carefully forward in her seat. "Which is obviously something /very/ important otherwise you wouldn't have had to use phantom pulse signal bursts to transmit in the first place. The irony is that if it had looked like a normal secured channel, it wouldn't have even caught my attention. So either you are just that bad at subterfuge, or you were waiting to see who noticed and how good they are. Care to correct me?" She sat back in her chair and waited for his reaction and his reply.

He sat silently staring at her as he thought. He suppressed a smile as he did so and let several moments pass before he spoke.

"And what reason did you have for attempting to hack SPARTAN?"

"Please Admiral. Lets not waste time insulting each other's intelligence. Whats the purpose of the signal? Black ops reports, SIGINT prototyping, or an actual test like I mentioned before?" She leveled her gaze across his desk to find it oddly bare, the same of the walls and room in general...

"You didnt answer my question, do you go looking for strange signals to hack for fun? No, you had a purpose to take such a chance. What was your reason." West asked again.

She didn't want to admit that she only wanted to find the source as a simple curiosity, especially with what things have turned out to be. But then a realization hit her, If he was actually worried about the security of the signal or that she was some kind of spy, she would have just been buried. The fact that she is sitting here in his office is like a challenge, or a dare even. And the thought of that, gave her an idea.

"My reason was simple. I'm a hacker, and a damn good one. Until meeting your spartan system, there hasn't been one that I couldn't get into. I did manage a peek at your system, but that was a decoy with actual file names. Nice touch by the way."

He nodded "What is your assignment here at HQ?"

"Starfleet Academy Student." She returned to her flat expression and adjusted herself in the chair.

He grunted and raised an eyebrow "OCS?"

Lia scoffed. "Hardly. I earn my livings."

He raised an eyebrow "What are you studying at the Academy?"

Lia let an annoyed look slip across her face. ”Admiral, for being intelligence you are certainly trying to give the impression that you don't have any. So let's skip the small talk and tell me why you had me brought here instead of the brig where I would otherwise be.”

He kept his face stony "Very well, SPARTAN summon the guards and have her thrown in MY brig." his emphasis on my was very strong.

Lia slightly regretted her quip but at the same time he was beating around the bush and it bothered her. Why toy with her and not just get to the point. He obviously knew about her and either wanted or needed her for something otherwise she would be at a tribunal for treason.

She kept herself level and knew she at least had m0nk3y with her.

SPARTAN appeared and spoke over his shoulder "Admiral, the security personnel have been called and are on there way now. ETA 40 seconds."

40 seconds gave Lia an idea...

She quietly reached for her bracelet and flipped all of her magnets to maximum and the magnetic field engrossed the entire office causing everything to rez and m0nk3y launched a brute force hack against SPARTAN and anything it was attached to.

SPARTAN lifted an eyebrow and his posture changed, he pulled the shield from his back and the spear went from resting against his body to in his hands. He nodded his head and the helmet snapped down over his face and he yelled.

"Admiral, brute force attack has been initiated from with in your office. I have isolated all command functions and removed myself from the system. Permission to dispose of threat?"

West looked at the petty officer in front of him. "I would suggest that you refrain from that. SPARTAN has been programmed to protect himself at all costs. That includes using the spear especially if I give him the order to do so."

Now that SPARTAN wasnt connected to the system, it was ineligible to protect it. So she switched from brute force to a more subtle extreme silent running hack to the system itself, bypassing SPARTAN altogether.

SPARTAN moved closer and pressed the spear to her throat and growled. "Cease your attack immediately or your blood will stain my spear."

West snorted "I dont think you understand exactly how SPARTAN was created or for what purpose. While he is disconnected" he pointed at the hologram "The bulk of his AI is still protecting my... possessions. I can assure you Star Fleet Command and the Federation Council is aware and approved of his... extreme programming." at that moment the doors to the office swished open and the security forces entered.

"Gentilmen, please." West motioned to the woman across from him, the members of his security force were well aware of who he was and the dual status of his position. "Take her to my brig, I'll have one of the company interrogate her since she is proving less willing to be cooperative."

"That's rather rude of you, Admiral. What exactly am I being uncooperative with? You've only asked me silly small talk questions and beaten around the bush." Lia did comply and deactivated her bracelet to show the point.

SPARTAN blinked and growled but moved back behind the Admiral and lowered the shield but not the spear. He kept that in hand ready to be thrown. West raised an eyebrow "Impudent." he looked to the security officers and waved his hand dismissing them, for now.

"I wasn't aware that an Admiral had to justify the questions he was asking to a Chief Petty Officer. Last I checked if I wanted to have you stand in the corner with my PADD you would be duty bound to comply. If I want to ask a few questions to ascertain if you are a fit for what I have in mind I can, or if I simply want to ask a few questions to see how much, or how little control you have over your own actions I can. Now answer my questions or find yourself in one of my brigs, to be held until I can determine if you are a security threat and possible 6th fleet conspirator." he paused then asked SPARTAN "According to the new rules passed by the Federation Council, how long are we able to hold a possible security threat?"

"Until confirmation of negligible threat can be assessed." SPARTAN replied. West looked at the woman in such a way as to say 'Your move youngin'.

"If you're going to go that route then you also know that in the same statute I can refuse any order given that I believe to be unlawful or unethically unbecoming of a ranking officer, and even that being said, the order would need to come down through my immedoate chain of command. Which unless I'm suddenly part of your unit, doesn't include you.

Besides, you can't complain about my lack of cooperation with something I'm in the blind about. So how about we start again? Because we both know that you flagged my file as soon as I touched your system the first time the ghost signal went out, so you already know everything about me. Including the complete lack of connection to 6th


You know how good I can be, and there arent too many better than me so far. So what's the op? Does ot have to do with White Tower?"

She sat back down in the chair, smooth as a summer breeze.

He laughed "I know that and you know that but the board of inquiry does not know that and they require me to inform them. That could take a while miss. Now again answer the question asked, or is that unbecoming an officer?"

She mulled everything over for a moment. Lia knew he was the obvious source for the signal, and hes fishing for new people for an op that somehow he doesnt have people already for....

But at the same time her curiosity was winning over...

"I study Technological Sciences with a focus on signal analysis and cryptology." She said slowly making sure he ate every word.

He smiled broadly "There now, that wasn't so difficult. This has to do with the USS Redemption, I take it you've heard of her?"

Lia shook her head. Nothing she had ever come across mentioned the Redemption.

He coughed softly to keep from blurting out "Bullshit" but instead said simply "The Federations flagship, spearheading the fight against the 6th fleet?"

She shook her head again. "Admiral, all of my ops so far have been topsoil. (Planetside) We've been monitoring chatters and intercepting transmission against 6th fleet elects that are trying to spy. I know there's a direct initiative, but its not part of my theatre." An apologetic tone woven into her words in hopes to make up for the lack of knowledge.

"Hmph, what do you know about encryption and electronic/counter electronic warfare?"

"Quite a bit, since im the top percent. Crypto is a royal pain in the ass. Its a hydra effect, shut one down and any scriptkitty can take their place. And each code is unique, like DNA or a fingerprint. So its not only the matter of decrypting whatever shenanigans that theyve set up but also identifying the source and hunting them down."

He nodded "Well you were right, as soon as the guards had captured you and we were made aware of your identity I pulled your file. Also I pulled your current assignment and had you reassigned to the Redemption as an Encryption Specialist under the Chief Intelligence Officer. Pack your bags, you ship out to the front line." He handed her a PADD with the information on it and her new orders as well as the departure time and location.

"Well then. Seems like its already done and done then while we were prattling on in here. Two things though. First, if I'm going to be under you, id like a name rather than just 'the admiral'. Second, I would like a base copy of SPARTAN so I can upgrade m0nk3y. Because do you know the one thing about being a hacker?" She smiled broadly as she finished.

He laughed "You wont be under me, you'll be under Lieutenant Commander Geraldine Severide, Chief Intelligence Officer of the USS Redemption. But my name is Vice Admiral Nathan West, head of Star Fleet Intelligence. As for your second request, SPARTAN's base code is locked. If your sweet on the Redemption maybe you'll find someone to help you upgrade your monkey, though I do hope that's not a euphemism for something less than becoming an officer."

She shrugged and let m0nk3ys definition hang for another day. She stood, saluted and made her way to the door. After opening it, she paused and as an afterthought she left the admiral with something of a parting remark.

"The thing about being a hacker admiral?

Is getting hacked back."

OFF

Nathan West
Vice Admiral
Chief of Star Fleet Intelligence/Master of The Company
Star Fleet Headquarters, Earth

&

Lia McCarthy
Petty Officer 1st Class

 

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