[Typhon] Furtive Favors

Posted on Sun Aug 19th, 2012 @ 5:54am by Miral Annhwi & Khiy Tal'ehrihn

1,338 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The Enemy Within: Typhon is Missing!
Location: Typhon and Khhellian

ON

Khiy paced the bridge of the Khellian his prized K'vort class warship, the largest and currently most powerful ship in TGT's defense fleet.

"You had better have something for me." He growled at his sensor specialist.

"There is a lot of data to sift through here Mr. Tal'ehrihn." Came the somewhat hesitant response.

"You have had hours to 'sift' through this. Perhaps your skill set was somewhat exaggerated when we hired you."

The implication of his words weren't lost on the man. His eyes glared at the screen in front of him as if willing the data to makes sense of the stations current situation.

"Get me a secure link to Commander Adams. Have it routed to the office." He said with a half glance to the ship's communication specialist.

The few paces it took to reach the Captain's ready room were heavy and quick as Khiy stormed through the parted doors. The Andorian Captain looked up from his desk and was about to scream an obscenity at whomever had the gall to walk unannounced into his office; when he recognised who the intruder was.

"I need this office." Khiy simply said with the same burning expression he had given the sensor specialist.

Without question the Captain simply nodded and gathered a few PADDs off his desk before quickly vacating the room.

Khiy sat himself down in the chair and pressed a few buttons on the monitor on the desk. A low tone hum seemed to permeate the room intermittently before the monitor flashed =ROOM SECURE=. He paused for a few seconds before punching in a sequence of numbers that equated to an 'all clear' signal and waited for the image of his old friend to appear on the screen.

Raven was working in her office, gathering data for Edgar to collate. When she saw who was on the other end of the communication she set up her security to make sure the conversation was private.

"Hi! I'm glad to see you weathered the trip," she said facetiously. "What do you need, Khiy?"

"This time I think our needs coincide." He said without much preamble "I have about 15 minutes of intensive deep space scans recorded on the Khellian. Some of that data may be helpful in the investigation of where the hell we are."

"Wonderful. What do you want in exchange?" Even though they'd been friends for years, Raven knew this would be a business dealing. As it was for Typhon and not just for her, she had no problem making a deal that would be of benefit to both of them.

"Simply, I don't want any Starfleet personnel digging into why my ship was taking any scans at all. Also, this information must not reflect in any way that scans for cloaked ships were being made. I want this buried."

"Of course," Raven said. "No one but you and I will know where the data came from or why it was taken." That was too easy. Especially for Khiy. There was also a hesitancy in his manner. "What else?"

He looked off to the side for a moment, almost as if he knew he couldn't meet her eyes. "I am going to need your help erasing and reconfiguring a prefix code."

A prefix code. This sounded interesting. "For what?"

"I have an interest in a new...acquisition. I just dont know anyone as good with a string of code as you are. This isn't a task I would trust to anyone else. If you have to know specifics right now, all I can say is that I will not be targeting any Starfleet vessel with this."

Raven smiled slowly. "I can do that. I'll need to not only change the prefix code, but create a history for the new code and alter the IFF and other codes on the ship. It'll take a little time, but I can do it. Or I can send Edgar to do it." She'd have to create a new subroutine for the AI, but it might be an interesting one to have for the future.

"Why do I sense a but?" Khiy questioned.

"Well, I think this favor is worth more than just fifteen minutes of scans. Just how much more I don't know. Yet."

Khiy leaned in closer to the screen. "You have an idea, though, don't you."

Raven smiled sweetly. "How about an I.O.U.?"

Khiy's finger tapped the table as he considered the counter offer. An IOU from anyone else would be a simple matter, not even worth considering. Raven, however, was a different story all together. She knew who he was and what he was capable of. This was a serious matter as he knew whatever she called in the favor for would be something either vastly expensive or dangerous. Either way, he was sure he wasn’t going to like it.

"Deal." He said with a nod. He tapped a few more times on the panel as he brought up the information and sent it to Raven. "I've had the ship's sensor specialist work all afternoon on the information, work I'm sure you could have done in 20 minutes, but at least it's a head start."

Raven knew she got the better end of the deal and tried not to appear too pleased. Instead, she focused on her computer screen as the data loaded. "Got it. Thank you." She slipped a data rod into her computer and began to enter some codes. After a minute she sent back a message. "Send your information there. I'll have Edgar reprogrammed so he can deal with it. He's safer than the Intel computers." As much work as she'd put into protecting the Intel computers from unauthorized access, Edgar was her baby and was able to utilize programs Starfleet would not ... appreciate.

She looked back at Khiy, knowing she should tell him what she was planning but not sure how he'd take it. "I will be asking Morticia for help as well."

His eyebrow raised. "Oh? I wasn't under the impression things needed...taking care of out here."

"I think her ship is better equipped to do recon and surveillance than most of the ships still attached to Typhon," Raven said. "Commander Lane is organizing the station's shuttles to explore the area."

"It'll be a risk for you."

"I can't sit back and do nothing." Raven paused for a long moment, then sighed. "How about I only use her if the others fail?"

Khiy shrugged. "It just seems that you have a lot to lose by starting down that path again."

"Well, she has used the Hawthorne a time or two. Mostly to pick up supplies for a friend. I'll think about using her help. Okay?"

"Just let me know if you do. I'll be using one of the old runner frequencies in case she needs to talk."

"I will. Thank you, Khiy. I know she'll be grateful for the offer." Raven knew Khiy would have her back if she needed it. His words made her rethink her earlier decision. He was right; using Morticia's help could have unnecessary repercussions. For now, she'd see what Cressidia and the Starfleet shuttles could uncover and use Morticia's resources to gather other information.

"In the meantime, would you and your Starfleet friends please figure out how to get us out of here? I'm sure I don't need to tell you how bad this is for business." He sat back deeply into his chair and folded his arms.

"It's not good for Starfleet, either," Raven laughed. "I promise, we'll get back as soon as we possibly can. In the meantime, I'll let you know when I'm ready for the codes. Maybe we can work on them over dinner."

"Done."

Raven smiled fondly at her old friend. "I'll fix something from the old days and we can reminisce. See you later."

OFF

Commander Raven Adams
Chief Intelligence Officer
Starbase Typhon

Khiy Tal'ehrihn
Owner
Trans-Galactic Trading

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