The Game And New Beginnings

Posted on Dec 08, 2016 @ 4:05pm by Selyara Chen
Edited on on Dec 08, 2016 @ 4:05pm

Mission: Aftermath

"The game and new beginnings"

(cont "Her little slice of happiness")

* * *=(/\)=* * *


Location: Earth

Stardate: 2.16.1207.1943

Scene: Starfleet Intelligence


Things were not going exactly to the erstwhile Shadow Master’s plans, a state of affairs that was becoming distressingly familiar to her in recent months. First, she’d been arrested and taken to Starfleet Intelligence, rather than the Federation Security, which had been rather unexpected. She’d known that there was a slim chance that SFI would be the ones heading her case considering her theft of the USS Pendragon’s data files, and the fact that she’d managed to become a well known, if small-scale, information broker while incarcerated in a Starfleet Security run stockade, but had figured that her status on Starfleet Security’s most wanted list would give them precedence.

That had been mistake number one. Mistake number two had been to try and argue the fact that she should be released because she’d been wrongly imprisoned in the first place. The ploy had worked in the sense that the Vulcan Intelligence Officer who had agreed to perform a mind meld with her had agreed that her original conviction had been in error, but had backfired spectacularly in that the Vulcan had *also* determined that she was now ‘dangerous’ and that her actions since her escape from the Jaros Stockade demonstrated ‘callousness, lack of regard for sentient life, and a ruthlessness’ that ‘made her a considerable security risk.’

All this left her with the unenviable task of trying to negotiate something that didn’t involve her going back to the Jaros Stockade from a position of extreme weakness.

“I’m not telling you what I did with the information from the Pendragon’s computer cores until I am granted some basic rights and assurances, and I most certainly am not going to hand over my information network, full stop. Even if I gave you the name of all my informants it would do you absolutely no good because-”

“Because they are the sort of people for whom you incarceration for treason against the Federation was a badge of honor, am I right?” The door swished open to admit a tall bald man with broad shoulders and an imposing air who surveyed Selyara with a probing look that made the hairs stand up on her neck.

**A dangerous man,** Selyara thought to herself, **and one already adept at playing the role I’ve aspired to. If I have to deal with him, I’m in more trouble than I thought.**

“You’re correct,” Selyara said aloud, taking in his uniform and rank pips “Vice Admiral-?”

“Koniki,” the Vice Admiral smiled at her, but it was a smile in the name of social convention, rather than any sort of pleasure.

“You say that like I should know that name, but it doesn’t ring a bell.” Selyara returned the smile, and locked eyes with him.

“I daresay there is quite a bit you don’t know, like, evidently, that I am the head of Starfleet Intelligence,” Koniki said smoothly, and Selyara had to silently admit that he had won that round, “now, if everyone would kindly leave, I wish to talk to Miss Chen in private. That *is* an order. The guards too. I trust Miss Chen will behave reasonably.”

The panel of Intelligence Officers looked as though they were going to object, but the look Koniki gave them sent them scrambling to the door. Selyara cocked her head, she’d have to working on adding that look to her arsenal. Koniki turned back to her and she swallowed involuntarily; It was likely not a good sign that the head of Starfleet Intelligence was taking a personal interest in her. Koniki sat his muscular frame down into one of the now vacant chairs across the table from her, and folded his hands on the table.

“Selyara Chen, disgraced Captain of the USS PATRIOT, Starfleet Security’s most wanted, hero of the Siege of Earth, and self styled Shadow Master, what *are* we supposed to do with you?”

“I’m assuming that my first choice, you let me go, and leave me alone, and I promise not to interfere with the Federation is not on the table.” Selyara did her best to sound cocky and self assured. She could tell this was a man who would not be distracted by flirtation, that power and quick wits were the only thing that would gain her respect.

“Absolutely not. You and I both know that the odds are if I let you do that you’ll eventually amass enough influence in the rim worlds and the unclaimed territories that you won’t be able to resist meddling, either directly or indirectly, with the Federation.” Koniki steepled his fingers. Selyara frowned. He sounded so certain, as though he knew something she didn’t. She waited silently for him to suggest an alternative until it became obvious that he was using his silence as a power play. She remained silent long enough to make it obvious to him that she knew what he was doing, and then let him win the round.

“Why don’t we stop this ridiculous posturing. Tell me what you want, or have in mind for me. I have already wasted the bulk of five hours with those idiots you call Intelligence Officers that don’t understand the art of negotiation, and I have no desire to go through the whole process again with you.” Selyara mimicked the Admiral’s pose, and leaned in.

“Let us be clear, Miss Chen: This is not a negotiation,” Koniki smiled again, his white teeth flashing, but this time it was the feral enjoyment of a man who knows that he is in complete control of the situation. Selyara’s stomach sank. “You do not have the upper hand, or indeed any hand worth playing here. I’m not interested in your network of informants, I know already that your success as the Shadow Master was largely based on your ability to see patterns and connections in readily available data, rather than access to *real* secret information, and that ability, while impressive, has no real capital with me. Likewise, I don’t really care much about the data from the Pendragon; with the drastic changes to the timeline it has no practical predictive value as far as the security of the Federation is concerned. So, as you said, why don’t we stop this ridiculous posturing.”

“Fine. What do you want from me, and what, if anything, do I get out of it?”

“I want you to take over as the head of Section 31,” Koniki flashed his feral smile again as he watched her reaction. Selyara suddenly found herself grateful that Raxl Dreyton was not around to watch her get a taste of her own medicine.

“Section 31, as in, the covert security operations formerly headed by one Richard Edgerton, known for operating with… flexible ethics?” Selyara stared at the man stupidly, her mouth hanging open, “*that* Section 31?”

“Yes and no. As this most recent catastrophe has shown us, Section 31 suffered from far too much autonomy, and far too few ethics and limitations.”

“So you’re offering me a neutered Section 31,” Selyara was getting offended in spite of herself.

“For now. Did you expect anything else? We may revisit the issue later when you’ve cleaned the house of Neo-Essentialists and proven yourself to be reliable and trustworthy. Besides, you’re still green. You don’t have the ability to oversee a large operation. Yet.” Selyara glared at him, well aware he was offering the last bits of flattery as a subtle manipulation.

“And I suppose if I say ‘thanks but no thanks’ I’ll be sent straight back to the Jaros Stockade?”

“And thrown into solitary for the rest of your sentence. After all, we can’t have you building up a power base or making friends that can break you out of the stockade again, can we?” the two of them locked eyes for a long moment, and Selyara half wondered what the odds were on her being able to reach across the table, thinkstrike the Vice Admiral, take out whatever security was on the other side of the door, and make an escape to the Briar Patch or some similarly unsavory section of the galaxy. “But let’s not dwell on that, because I wanted this to be pleasant; A discussion between colleagues.”

“You win, Admiral, though I suspect you knew you would already,” Selyara wilted in her chair. She was tired of running, and she was tired of the specter of the Stockade looming over her. No matter what this position entailed, it had to be better than the alternatives. “Perhaps you’d better tell me what I said yes to.”

“The odds were stacked heavily in my favor,” Koniki said dryly, and reached over to one of the padds the panel had been using, he pulled up a file and spun it across the table towards her. Her eyes flicked over it quickly, taking in the information. “Section 31 can’t be allowed to operate the way it has been. Edgerton would not have been able to stage his coup without having first gotten a toehold in an organization as large, sweeping, and well funded as Section 31. But I cannot deny that having a group of people who are willing and able to go to, shall we say, extreme lengths to protect the Federation’s interests is something that I’m not willing to give up. I need lone wolf operatives that we can send in to do the dirty missions that regular SFI can’t be seen to be involved in.”

“Unofficially, of course. If someone gets caught, no doubt you’ll vigorously deny knowledge of us,” Selyara cocked her head and stared ruminatively at him, “all of a sudden it makes sense, you deciding to put me in charge of this unit. After all, if everything goes sideways, who better to scapegoat than a former traitor and black market information broker.”

“You were well aware that there would be strings attached, Miss Chen. Don’t insult both our intelligence by pretending to be surprised,” Koniki said dryly, raising his eyebrows at her. “I know you’re going to feel the need to test the boundaries of this relationship, but I would much rather we just be upfront about it.”

“As you like it,” Selyara placed the padd on the table in front of her. “Why don’t you tell me exactly what you expect from me in this role, and exactly how much autonomy do I have?”

“You will report directly to me, but as far as your agents will be concerned, the buck stops with you. I may give you missions to hand on to your people, or you may clear missions through me. As far as you and your Agents go, the old Section 31 motto ‘by any means necessary’ will be your operating parameters.”

“What makes you think you can trust me? It’s odd for you to put someone like me in charge of something like this,” Selyara searched his face, her eyes narrowed. Koniki smiled again, that damn enigmatic Cheshire cat grin that she knew would never cease to annoy her.

“I don’t trust you, not yet, anyway. But fortunately for you some little birds told me that you’re liable to be as trustworthy as any of my assets as long as you find this job challenging and having met you, I agree with them. You’re ruthless enough to sacrifice your agents if necessary, you don’t have many of the sensitivities and qualms that most beings have, and above all, you like winning. Who you’re winning for is immaterial to you, I think,” Koniki stood and indicated she should do the same.

“So what now, I’m free to go? I’m assuming my first duty is to assemble a section, followed by dismantling the old Section 31 with extreme prejudice,” Selyara felt a smile playing on her lips. She didn’t know how Koniki knew what he did about her, but he was right. As long as it was interesting, she didn’t care who she was working for, and this sounded *very* interesting.

“Almost. Your first duty is to report to Captain Morningstar of the USS Anubis,” Koniki said, another irritating smile flitting across his lips as he took in her surprise. “You can’t run an off the books mission if you’ve never seen a mission run by the books. Besides which, you can do me a favor while you’re there - Observe them, write a detailed report on the Anubis, the dynamics of the crew, how they operate for Starfleet. Command is understandably perturbed by the appearance of a fleet they knew nothing about, and I would like to give them something to allay their fears. It will also give me a chance to see how your mind works. ”

“I hardly think a report from *me* is going to soothe any ruffled feathers over at Starfleet Command,” Selyara said dryly “but your wish is my command, sir.”

“Excellent.” He walked her to the door. “Oh, and Miss Chen - No cheating and using your touch telepathy. I want to see what you’re able to observe and glean about them by observation. I’ll let Captain Morningstar know to expect you.”
* * *=(/\)=* * *

Alix Fowler
writing as

Selyara Chen
Head of Section 31
Starfleet Intelligence