No Way Rosé (Part II)

Posted on Monday, 30 November 2020 - 4:57pm by Captain Barret Stillwater & Lieutenant T'Lanna Vali & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley

Mission: Operation: Ouroboros
Location: Medical Facility
Timeline: After "Sour Grapes" (Part I)

Several minutes after persuading the Doctor to allow it, Stillwater's biobed was approached by the two women he had requested. "Kingsley, you are taking the Casablanca and seeing the Admiral's mission through. I cannot go anywhere right now, Talarn won't be pleased about leaving me for this mission, but he had his orders. If necessary, remind him of that."

The fact he had not even waited to let them ask how he was feeling before issuing orders was, Lieutenant Kingsley hoped, a good sign. She still could not quite believe what had happened after she had left the Admiral's office. Word had reached them quickly, yet precise details seemed... well, lacking. So far. "Of course," she assured him before admitting, "although aside from our intended departure time, I am in the dark about what the mission is, Sir?"

"Right," he said. She was in the dark on this one. "I'll grant you both access to my personal files on the matter. You'll be looking for anything marked project widowmaker. It pertains to the TR-116 projectile riffles that the Federation designed for Starfleet use during the 2370s. Widowmaker was an extension of that project. Widowmaker was Starfleet Intelligence desperation, biological warfare at its most sinister, a weapon designed to kill Romulans, coating the TR-116's tritanium bullets in the biological agent. When laced, if the bullet hit a Romulan it was the casing that would dissolve releasing the biological agent into the Romulan's bloodstream, spreading it throughout the body and quickly killing them. The problem was Starfleet Intelligence's scientist working on the project could never perfect the toxin. It would kill any Vulcanoid, not simply Romulans and it was highly infectious. If we had actually used it as it was, we could have potentially driven the Vulcans to extinction along with the Romulans."

Project Widowmaker? Dramatic name. And it seemed with good reason. Yet the very idea that someone could ever even think of perverting science in such a way... she bit her lip to keep her temper in check. It wasn't, after all, the first time someone had ever thought of using a biological weapon.

"Sounds delightful," she observed drily. "And this is related to why the Admiral summoned you back to Earth?"

"The Admiral knew my involvement on the project because my Captain at the time was actively involved in trying to spearhead the project. All the information about that toxin was supposed to be destroyed. The problem was, it wasn't. There was a case containing several vials of the toxin, a PaDD with research stored away with several TR-116s, all of which were securely placed in the Venus Weapons Depot. You need to go there and see to it that everything is where it is supposed to be. If those vials or that PaDD is missing, our 'hunter' may have more prey in mind than just the President of the Federation."

Alex swallowed, understanding what he meant. Four vials may not sound much but it was enough to do a lot of damage. Or to use to create more or the biological agent. "Given what is happening here on Earth, that seems likely."

"And I have my own orders for you, orders that will go against the Admiral's," he said grabbing Alex's hand. "If you find those vials...if you find the PaDD. DESTROY it, lieutenant. Destroy it so that nobody can have it."

She nodded quickly, thinking of Soral. Of their family and the family she had helped just a little while ago... "understood. I'll make sure of it."

He turned his head slightly to face T'Lanna Vali. "The poison was in the wine itself. I trust my Yeoman isn't an assassin. If they try to arrest him, see to it he's cleared immediately. I don't think the Admiral was the target, three are too many variables, too many things that had to happen, that occurred randomly. We had to be here on Earth, we had to have met with her, and I have had to been saving that bottle of wine. I brought it along from Prarie. It was a gift to me and I and or Talarn were likely the intended victims."

“Which means somebody has been planning this for a long time.” T’Lanna raised an eyebrow in typical Vulcan style. “What about the Admiral? Did she make it?”

Stillwater sighed for a moment. "The Admiral is deceased. She may not have been the target, but this is only going to add fuel to the fire. We need to prevent the President's assassination. Lieutenants, we stand at the edge of a precipice. The pulse of Federation may as well be resting at our fingertips."

T’Lanna nodded. “Oh joy, just what we needed.” She shook her head.

"So absolutely no pressure?" Alex surmised.

Stillwater was forced into a small smile. One day, she's going have a command of her own thought Stillwater. "It would be sheet fucking hubris of me to think one small patrol ship such as the Standing Bear is in this alone. The Admiral's death and this looming assassination attempt are on every ship's radar, on every Admiral and ever COs radar right now. Anyone in the Sol system and beyond is doing their part, but I have more faith in you and this crew to prevent the Federation's premature collapse than I do any other crew on any other ship or station."

T’Lanna looked at Stillwater curiously. “Sir you said you brought that bottle from Prairie ... that it was a gift to you and Talarn? If it’s been sitting waiting all this time then someone has a pretty elaborate plan in motion. Either that or the fact you chose that bottle was pure coincidence.” She started pacing as she thought about it before stopping again. “Do you happen to know who the bottle was from?”

"Yes," Stillwater said without missing a beat. "My former Commanding Officer aboard the Lakota...her former CO, the man who tried to spearhead project widowmaker...Admiral James Robert Thomas Layton," Stillwater said crisply. "Admiral Layton was convicted in 2372 for plotting a coup against the then Federation President. He was sentenced to seven years on the New Zealand Penal Settlement, and I helped put him away. When he was released, he completely vanished."

“Maybe not completely. He wanted revenge on you so he sent you a poisoned bottle, the poor Admiral was simply collateral damage.” She sighed. “Is it possible he could be the one spearheading this? To get his revenge? Or am I simply going for the easiest target?” She had to wonder, it seemed a little too easy. “We need to find out if he had any regular visitors in those seven years.”

"Admiral Layton was always a chess player, orchestrating things several moves in advance. The man was a friend at one point in time, we would play chess from time to time," Stillwater explained. "He undoubtedly had plenty of visitors during his incarceration, I know I will be on that visitation list. He had a strong history and connection to the Lakota. Captain Erika Benteen was CO of the Lakota during the attempted coup, she young and easily manipulated, she had a history with Layton, had been his aide-de-camp. She became Captain of the Lakota without having any time as a First Officer. I always suspected Layton had heavy involvement in making that happen."

Stillwater shook his head. "I helped put them both away, but Benteen got off easier. They stripped her of her command and demoted her in rank. As far as I know she tried to put all of that...Layton behind her. The crew of the Lakota were fractured after that. Some of them still supported Layton in private, others like myself were vocally against Layton and Benteen. You are not wrong to suspect Layton may be behind all of this chaos, but at least a dozen of those who served aboard the Lakota would have died for that man."

Stillwater looked at Kinglsey. "I did not assign Soral for the Admiral's mission because I did not want to place him at risk. Likewise, why I did not add you to it either, T'Lanna," he added looking over at the woman. "Any Vulcan...any Romulan are at high risk when it comes to project widowmaker. Though you all need to be extraordinarily careful. If Layton or one of his loyalists is behind all of this, we are getting into a very dangerous and very deadly chess match."

T’Lanna nodded. “I appreciate that Admiral, I’ll do what I can to help.” She smiled warmly at Alex then looked back at Stillwater. “You’ve tried to keep me out of this but you need me now and I’m not going to leave Alex to do this alone. We’ll be extra cautious.”

"I'm not alone, Talarn and Mac are coming with me," Alex assured her, having zero wish to endanger a heavily pregnant woman. Yet she could understand her friend's desire to help. "Perhaps making some enquiries about current postings or locations for the Lokota crew could help? Find out who we can and cannot account for. You'll also be able to tell from their psych evals if there are any red flags, better than any of us could. It might not be a trip to Venus but understanding the people who might be behind this, and their possible state of mind, could be our best way of stopping them?

Someone should also speak to Grol, have his account for his journey to the Admiral's office. Did he speak to anyone, was the bottle every out of his possession, was anyone possibly close enough to tamper with it..." she flashed T'Lanna a hopeful smile, "and I know he'd respond better to you than he would to me."

T’Lanna nodded gratefully that Alex had suggested something she could do behind the scenes. “I’ll do that. I’ll start digging into the records and see what jumps out. I’ll also drop by and see Grol.”

"You will also want to look into Red Squadron, specifically cadets from 2372 who were members of it. They, unfortunately, we're dragged into the Admiral's plot as pawns," Stillwater noted. "Some could have become more loyal to him afterward. He was charismatic and influential. I think Starfleet dropped the ball on his psych eval" Stillwater added sourly. "You have your orders, be careful...all of you."

“Aye Sir” T’Lanna smiled. “Now you get your rest.”

"I will," replied Stillwater. "At least I will try."