A Wolf in sheep's clothing Pt 17

Posted on Mon Jun 17th, 2024 @ 4:25pm by Commodore Finchley Kerr & Lieutenant Commander Shr'Nesh Karadis

Mission: The missions never over.
Location: Sickbay, USS Thall
Timeline: Current.

Entering sickbay again, having looked over the encrypted files Eve had opened and brought to him, Finchley dismissed all but one of the Senior medical staff and nurses, but made them go to their office and wait there.

He walked over to Karadis, an unhappy look on his face. "Ok, I'm just going to cut to the chase, why didn't you tell me about Lieutenant Steele being a sleeper agent for Admiral Brown?"

"Oh gee, let me think..." Karadis began, "Why do you think I didn't?"

"Because you thought I'd have had an adverse reaction" Finchley answered.

"Then you've answered your own question" Karadis said.

"But you didn't know I would, I may have had a different reaction" Finchley countered.

"Really?" Karadis asked in mock surprise.

"Anyway, regardless of that, we had an understanding, you were to report on everything that happened with and to Lieutenant Steele to me and you failed to do that. Right now, you're on a knife edge Karadis, this could have been something we could have used earlier in the mission to draw Brown out, instead, we're going to have to go after him. I no longer know if I can trust you..."

"Oh fuck off you arse!" Karadis replied, "I'm keeping much bigger secrets than Eve being a sleeper agent for Admiral Brown. Secrets you don't want coming out, so if I'm still keeping them, you can trust me."

"What do you know of the situation regarding her missions?" Finchley asked.

"I never asked, how could I, my job was to keep an eye on her and make sure she stayed safe and in one piece" Karadis answered.

"Lieutenant Steele gave me her file, or what she had of her memories of the missions she carried out for him" Finchley said, "and it was interesting reading. A meeting with top Klingon dignitaries, outside of the scheduled ones, closed door meetings with Romulan Generals after treaty signings, hosting dinner parties for top brass Starfleet Officers who are trying to close the Intelligence network."

"Look, all I did was follow her, occasionally infiltrate the meetings to try and pick up information, but I was never privy to any of the talks" Karadis answered.

"You should still have told me Karadis, I thought our working relationship was close,obviously I was wrong!"

"Look, I found out Brown had converted her into one of his sleeper agents didn't I?" Karadis asked.

"Yes" Finchley said.

"And when I did, I pulled out all the the stops, called in a lot of favours to get a psychoanalyst to help her get out of the situation" Karadis went on."

"If you say so" Finchley replied.

"Yes I bloody well do!" Karadis shouted.

"Yet you still withheld all of this from me" Finchley said.

"Yes I did, because I knew it would madden you that Brown had used one of your family in his twisted game" Karadis answered.

Finchley stared at her for a few seconds, then said "Given how Lieutenant Steele has kept a number of the real reasons why she came here, her affiliation with Admiral Brown, and now...this...you're both under scrutiny."

"As if we're all not already..." Karadis said under her breath.

"Watch your tongue Karadis!" Finchley replied angrily, "Just remember, I hold your life in the balance. One word from me and you're out...it's a long drop to the bottom of the rope."

"You know what your problem is Captain?" Karadis replied, "You've spent so long building up barriers to keep everyone at bay you see conspiracy everywhere and in everything. I've been dying to say that for a while, and do you know what, it feels good. Your own shadow doesn't want to know you anymore, so let me say this. You can berate me, threaten me, even think of me as an enemy now, but you've brought all of this on yourself. Eve was in trouble, your orders were keep her safe, I did that, I got her help, I got her out. Now, perhaps she was mislead by Brown, duped even, but it wasn't all her fault, she was looking for answers to questions. Ok, yes, she could have told you the main reason for her being on the Thall was to make a report on you for Brown, he would then possibly give her information on her mother. However she was stuck between a rock and a hard place, personal gain and give you up to Brown to get information she wanted for her and Brett, or tell you from the off and lose that opportunity. She went with natural instinct, but probably not before going through all kinds of personal mental torture knowing she was trading one family member in for the chance to regain another, closer one. Think about that whilst you sit in your fucking ivory tower passing judgement on all of us!"

Finchley bristled in anger, he wanted to say so many things, instead, he glared then turned round and walked away.

As he did so, Karadis hung her head. She knew she'd overstepped the mark and would probably pay for it, but she had to try protect and defend Eve, she was only looking out for herself and her own interests. At the same time, she could see why Finchley felt betrayed by her, she was his niece, she was family. She had no idea how he would now react, one thing was for sure though, there was trouble ahead as they were going up against Brown.