Once a Spy, Always a Spy

Rashad was on her way back to her quarters upon the completion of the duty shift. The Romulan-Bajoran was almost there, when, upon turning a corner, someone "jumped" on her from behind and took her into a headlock. Flashing back to what had happened only days before, she immediately reacted by sidestepping and an elbow into the attacker's solar plexus, followed by a stomp onto his/her foot. As the grip on her was released, she turned around and took a defensive stance with a "guard" up. Wincing in pain and almost doubled up, now in front of her, was... Commander. Harris.

*Oh my...* Thought the Intel Officer, raising her Vulcanoid eyebrows." *Not again !*

"Commander," she addressed the First Officer. "What is the meaning of all this ?"

She dropped her guard just for a moment and immediately he lunged at her so fast that she was unable to move out of the way fast enough. In just a matter of seconds she was flat on her back on the deck with Harris sitting on top of her, pinning her down.

"WHO are you ?" The Human quickly disarmed her by taking the phaser off her belt and now had one of his hands on her throat. "Commander Toran has reviewed your record and it has nothing on your background. While it appeared to be in order to him, I checked it against the Starfleet records and the only Rashad T`Kul there was a JAG officer who disappeared off Deep Space 14 a few months ago... But even her identity on the file did not match yours !"

"This...is impossible..." Rashad was almost speechless. *The Admiral told me he erased my Starfleet service file completely, when he recruited me...* It now became obvious to her that her file had been merely altered to retrospectively change the identity of the supposedly "missing" JAG Officer. "How did you manage to access that, Commander ?"

"You would be surprised at what I CAN do, T`Kul. You are forgetting that I was with Starfleet Intelligence for years, myself. Now, WHO are you really ? Do you WANT me to turn you in to the Captain ?"

Both of her eyebrows rose, as if in shock. This could be the end of her cover, her career or even her life if Admiral Beard had indeed meant his repeated threat of sending her to Thexis Alpha II. Yet she was not so hot on the idea of vaporizing Commander Harris, or anyone else in the crew, for "knowing too much", either...

*For every problem, there, logically, exists a solution...* She forced herself to think, trying to suppress fear and think logically, like she had been taught at the Vulcan Science Academy. An "illogical" creature of two "fighter" races, she was still able to use some of it when she so desired...

Suddenly steps were heard in the corridor, somewhere around the corner. Realizing they would be seen, Harris released Rashad from under him and as she rose to her feet, took her by the arm to lead her to his quarters.

"Come with me, before we are seen." He half-wispered. "I will show you what I have found and I will need YOUR explanation for it..."

Not having any other logical choice, T`Kul followed the First Officer without resistance. *For every problem, there, logically, exists a solution...* She repeated in her mind, over and over again. The quarters were quite spacious, larger than hers, although to her they appeared somehow a bit spartan. The doors swooshed closed and Harris tapped the internal panel next to it to lock them.

"There, Lieutenant." He waved his hand to a chair at the side of the computer console. "Sit !"

As soon as she sat down he restrained her to the chair using a pair of sonic handcuffs. He then took the other chair in front of the console and tapped it. Immediately, a file appeared on the screen and the Executive Officer turned the console to face Rashad.

"See what I mean, T`Kul ?"

Her eyebrows "flew" up again. On the screen in front of her was Rashad T`Kul, but that wasn't...her. The JAG Officer was a Klingon woman of approximately the same age as the Romulan-Bajoran. The time of her disappearance was December 28, 2381 - same time as Rashad had been arrested by the black-uniformed officers - yet everything else about the woman's life previous to her entry to the Starfleet Academy, was different...

*Good job, Admiral...* Rashad could not help thinking. *Good job indeed. Even my Aunt Varena would not be able to recognize me if she saw this...*

"With all due respect, sir." She immediately protested in her "legal" fashion, "This is an obvious falsification and I will not even dignify this with a comment. Had you really desired to see my file, I am sure you would have found one or at least the non-classified part of it, in the SI database. Now, if you really want to continue this nonsense, Commander, I suggest we take it to Holodeck three and resolve the matter there..."

"Hmm..." Harris frowned a bit. "Not such a bad idea..." He stood up and uncuffed her from the chair. "Lieutenant, let's go ! And, prepare to have your ass kicked !"

"We'll see about that, Commander," Rashad muttered to herself under her breath...

"Holodeck three !" Ordered Harris when they stepped in the turbolift.