May the Prophets Be with Us

"Do the names *Lucado* or *Gnukeru* mean anything to you Admiral." Toran asked, "I know they do to Captain Lighter."

Suddenly she recognised the names. *By the Prophets! He is Commander Lighter from Federation v Lighter!* She remembered reading the case, back when she was still an attorney with the JAG Department. Commander Lighter, then the Executive Officer of *USS Lucado* had been convicted for wilful murder of his Captain over a command decision to help a shipfull of highly contagious ill refugees.

Subconsciously she clenched the isolinear chip with a call for help, addressed to Officer 003, she had recorded only hours previously and was now hiding inside one of the concealed pockets of her uniform. Somehow she had hoped to get it to Section 31, but now the Captain and his wife had been kidnapped... it was too late... The stress overcame the Romulan-Bajoran, and the darkness embraced her as she quietly fainted next to her console.

A few minutes passed before the exchange between the bridge crew of the Leviathan and "Admiral Leary" was over and Toran finally saw that the Intel Officer he so much distrusted had collapsed on the bridge.

"Elase, Dachus," he tapped his commbadge with annoyance. "Get Lt. Rashad OFF the bridge and confine her to her quarters for now."

[On our way, sir!]

"I am Rashad T`Kul." She was saying to the Executive Officer who had come to "interrogate" her personally. Still weakened by her hidden overwhelming fears, she was laying on top of her bed in full uniform. They were alone inside and the quarters were on secondary communications lockdown.

"The file that you saw of the JAG officer on Deep Space 14, used to be mine. It was falsified upon my arrest by Admiral Beard's officers... He gave me no choice but to work for him or die a horrible slow death on Thexis Alpha II... Ironically, the job he gave me satisfies me professionally like no other Starfleet career would."

"What was your crime ?" Harris took a chair and sat down next to her bed.

"I was professionally dissatisfied, although successful, with my legal career, so, out of curiosity, I started hacking the top secret classified databases. I never intended any harm to the Federation, but they saw me as a threat... My court-martial records were destroyed so Beard could detain me indefinitely, if he wanted, or even execute me. Commander, our
Captain is in grave danger; Lighter is a cold-blooded killer - I read his case when I was still an attorney..."

"Indeed, Lieutenant, by now, so have Commander Toran and I." He nodded.

"Sir, the information I have just given you will endanger my own life when it gets out. My cover is the only thing keeping me safe... I am an Intel Officer, and will continue to do my best at my job, however, I can no longer stand by the insanity of some officers within Starfleet Command... Here," she gave him one of the isolinear chips. "This is the evidence of Officer 001's insanity. I did NOT give this to you. When Commander Toran and you manage to discover his identity, you will be able to put the pieces together... However, no one of our low ranks can do anything about it.

I need to somehow get this message safely," she pulled out the isolinear chip she had been hiding, "to Section 31. I have encoded it in the latest cypher, but if I send the information via the Intelligence network, it will almost certainly fall into the wrong hands... We have to stop this insane course of action, Commander. It may already be too late..."

The Human Executive Officer took the second chip out of Rashad's hand, stared at it for a moment, then returned it to her. "I will keep the first chip, Lieutenant. There is not love lost between your department and me, but, at least for now, you can trust me with your life. I will NOT uncover you to our Chief of Security or anyone else for now," he sighed. "A spy or not, you are, obviously, still our ally. I respect your position and the duties you have to perform."

The Romulan-Bajoran nodded. "May the Prophets guide us, Commander. We certainly need their help..."