TASTE THE SWEET SCENT OF VICTORY

PART 1

By D. Maxwell

The Director of Starfleet Command sat down at his large oak desk at home turning his mini-personal computer around toward him. He had just fixed himself a cup of strong coffee, a drink he always had when a lot of thinking lay ahead of him. The office lights were turned down low as it was just before midnight on a very cool Spring evening in San Francisco. His wife had already gone to bed a couple of hours ago, leaving him alone to collect his thoughts, even their cat "Rascal" had taken his leave and fallen asleep on the couch in the Director's study. He looked at Rascal with a feeling of sadness 'if only you knew what was happening a few days ago., he thought as Rascal silently turned over to a more comfortable position Oh how I sometimes wish I lived the more simplistic life of a cat'.

The Director reluctantly turned back to his computer. Now, just a few days after the event, while things were finally at last beginning to settle down, it was the time for him to report in detail, just what exactly had happened. He sighed at the thought of it being yet another long night, he had had to many recently but the event was still very fresh in his mind (and no doubt in everyone elses) and it had to be recorded now, while he could still remember, whilst at the same time, trying to forget.

He took a large gulp of his coffee, looked fixedly at his terminal, sighed again, then began:

"Director of Starfleet Command's personal log, stardate XXXXX. I now report the actions of recent events with as much detail and clarity as I am able to muster. I am truly unable to express in words the feelings all of us shared around the Earth, and the within the Federation, on that fateful day, five days ago, when the biggest threat to this planet's existence was as real as any other experienced in our history. For the first time, the entire structure of the United Federation of Planets was literally brought to its knees by those who have, for so long, wished its destruction. Never before have we ever felt so vulnerable as we did on "The Day". It was only thorough the actions of a brave few, that we were able to escape with our lives, civilisation and our sanity intact.

"However the time for brooding and patriotic speeches is now past and historical records must now be made for future reference. By utilising all of the reports submitted from command outposts, starbases, Earth bases, Starship personnel and my own personal Log, I shall attempt to recreate the whole story, so that the people of Earth in the future will learn of our most darkest day and how to possibly avoid another confrontation like this again." He stopped and looked once again at Rascal sleeping contently, outside he could hear a cool breeze springing up, he got up to look out his window at the blazing lights of the city before him, it all looked so peaceful, so beautiful, how close it had come to being anihilated. He closed his eyes, not wanting the vision to continue, not wanting to relive it all. But after a moment, he realised that he must regain his composure and complete this report, of all the things that had happened in the recent past, this was something that he had to. Slowly he took another drink of his coffee sat back down in his chair, facing the computer that waited patiently, and continued.

"It all truly began about twenty weeks ago on stardate XXX, when a report was submitted to me at an urgently called meeting, by our head of Starfleet Intelligence, Jerry Convall..."

The Director casually watched Jerry enter his office, having called thirty minutes ago requesting to see him about a matter of strict importance. He would not discuss it over the line, saying only that it required his immediate attention.

Convall strode in and sat down in one stiff motion at the Director's desk.

"Mr. Director."

"Jerry." He said slowly getting the formalities out of the way "what seems to be the problem?"

The head of Starfleet intelligence, pulled out his personal minicomp (miniature computer) and placed it upon the Director's desk turning it around to face him "Sir," he began "we have recently received an unconfirmed report, by our three newly placed Starfleet Agents on Romulas, that they have uncovered a secret armament ploy in the process of construction by the Romulan Empire." The Director looked at the screen as the message played before him while Convall continued his report "Apparently, they are in the process of building a new fleet of specially outfitted warships called 'Machte Warbirds'. Machte is the Romulan word for 'Killer', also to go along with this news was the of the discovery of a new cloaking device currently under development, but unfortunately we do not know anything more about it."

The Director looked up from the screen, a dark look upon his eyes "Do you suspect something?"

Convall titled is head to the side "Well I have concerns Sir." pausing to summarise his answer "No more information has been forthcoming and we haven't heard from our agents since they sent this." Indicating the computer "It is probable to assume that Romulan Intelligence has discovered the illegal transmission".

The Director looked at the wall behind Convall, trophies from his college athletic days adorned it, yet after hearing of the loss of three Starfleet men at the hands of the Romulans, made it all seem so meaningless. "I imagine that they would have extracted information out of these men before disposing of them."

"Yes sir that is highly likely."

"I hope it was a merciful death." he said quietly, although both men new this was unlikely.

Convall continued so to not to linger on the thought too much, "Sir I request we call an urgent meeting of our chiefs of staff to discuss this matter in more detail."

The Director centred his gaze upon the eyes of Jerry Convall as he nodded his head in agreement 'he has already forgotten about the deaths of his men, to him it is just part of the life in the service'. but then again, perhaps he was keeping all of this in perspective and would grieve later, when time permitted.

Within the hour, over several different Federation officials attended the meeting held in the boardroom adjacent to the Director's office, including Macillroy Osten of the powerful Federation Interplan Security Organisation, and Admiral Hanson, the Director's unofficial confidant and long time friend, of Starfleet Command. They were already seated when the Director together with Jerry Convall entered. They all sat at the large oval boardroom table near the window overlooking San Francisco Harbour, with the Director sitting at the head.

After announcing the potential problem and replaying the transmission from Romulas. The Director, quietly sat back and let his experts run loose with all their theories and ideas. Out of the numerous discussions, he was most impressed with the concepts put forth by his two most important men Jerry Convall and Macillroy Osten.

Ironically, the Federation Interplan Security Organisation and Starfleet Intelligence rarely ever agreed on anything, much less talk to each other. the problem was that their inflated egoes, differences of operational methods, and territory boundarys always seemed to get in the way. Some reports even said they spied on each other, which was a high possibility. The roots of their organisations stretched back hundreds of years from when they were called the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation operating for the then United States of America. Now in the 23rd century they were the only two Secret Agencies for the entire United Federation of Planets. Even back when they worked for the USA, the two departments did not trust each other and the Director of Starfleet Command, watching the two leaders confer, really didn't care how they tried to constantly dent each others pride, so long as they got their jobs done and insured that the UFP was the focus of their existence and always remained safe from hostile forces.

After much discussion, everyone mutually decided to sit back and take a break. And although every man at the meeting was a very important Federation official, it was clear to the Director that they all respected the two leaders of the Secret Service departments.

The Director, after observing his cabinet discuss the problem, decided to speak over the graduating silence that was decending on the table "Well gentlemen, what have we come up with?" It was pretty clear to every one at the table that they all agreed on the same thing. It was Convall who decided to answer the Director's question "Well after sifting through all the possibilities, I really cannot say much without more detailed information."

Osten quickly spoke up "I must agree with Jerry, we can only analyse so much here. Without any really hard evidence, all we can do is speculate and make guesses, and we can't judge a possible reaction on a guess."

The Director acknowlaging their responses with a curt nod, turned to the Admiral for his opinion "What do you think, Bob?"

Admiral Hanson swung his chair up straight and took a deep breath, "I'm afraid, I have to agree with Jerry and Mac, we need more information before we can proceed further."

The Director looked around the table of faces who in return stared back at him, clearly suggesting he ask the next question "OK, so what do you suggest gentlemen?"

"I think it is pretty clear that we need to send in another agent." Jerry ventured without hesitation.

"Another agent? Is that going to be possible?" the Director motioned "surely the Romulans will be on the look out for more infiltrators."

"It is possible, but it is the only way we are going to find out what is really going on. We need positive information on these 'Machte Warbirds', what they are?, What they can do and more importantly, what are they for? We also need to know about this cloaking device and the only way to get all this is by sending another agent. Either that or turning one of theirs, and that is almost impossible. Otherwise there are no options, our cameras and sensors just aren't good enough." Convall said.

There was a moment of tense silence as each man in the room weighed up what Convall had proposed, then from out of the silence, one man suddenly spoke up, "I agree will you Jerry," it was Osten "but I don't think any of your people should do it."

"Why?"

"Well for one thing, Romulas does technically does come under our duristiction of investigation. Besides you have already lost three good men and there is no doubt that the Romulans will have done a brain scan on them and currently have a fair idea of who all your agents are, and your operating methods." everyone turned toward Convall to see his reaction.

"Well I can't see why it should be any easier for you. And besides this is our operation, the information in our possession is technically Starfleet Intelligence property and it was I who allowed you to be in on it. Remember I wasn't obligated to tell you anything, so I think I should be allowed to decide how to proceed as I choose." Everyone could see a fight looming as the battle of the interdepartmental egos were going at it once again.

"Yes, but you have already fouled it up once..." Osten said nonchalantly.

"At least we are now aware of the problem. Thanks to us! If this is your territory, how come you didn't know anything about it!" Convall said, his anger clearly building up.

The Director sighed to himself, knowing he would have to jump in on this soon to save an all out argument, so far the two men had agreed on everything concerning this issue, obviously personal pride was finally getting in the way. "Gentlemen, gentlemen," he finally started "can we act a little bit more civilised?" The two opponents stopped suddenly and settled back in their chairs while the Director continued, "I have listened to your two views and I must agree with Mac..." Convall started to protest but was silenced with a wave "...I also believe that the Romulans will in fact be more aware of SI operations Jerry, and they will be quite prepared for another one of your people to enter their world. So..." he said looking at everyone in the room "..we must find an alternative."

Admiral Hanson suddenly up "I must agree with The Director." he looked at the faces around him "we cannot under estimate the Romulans, they can be pretty quick off the mark, and Jerry..." he said turning to face the young man, with compassion in his voice "...it is a good bet they know quite a lot about your department now, through your unfortunate agents."

Convall fell silent after hearing these two views.

"Yet all of this discussion, does not solve the problem though of who is going to do it or how?" The Director said calmly. Once again, the room fell into an uncomfortable silence as everyone thought about the problem.

"Well it turns out that I have just the perfect person." Osten remarked in the stillness, a big smile spreading over his face.

"Who is he?" Someone asked, obviously not realising that Osten would naturally suggest that one of his men should do it, even if only to show up Starfleet Intelligence.

"Well he," Osten continued, his smile getting broader "is in fact, a she."

"A woman?" the Director exclaimed amongst a chorus of yells, the thought of sending a woman into Romulan territory was unheard of, it was in the unwritten code of espionage ethics that no female be sent into Romulas. If the Romulans discovered her, she would be treated very badly, they were known to...

"Her name is Sayla," Osten continued breaking the Director's thought "and she has studied Romulan culture and history for many years. She looks like a Romulan and sounds like a Romulan and of all our FISO agents available, she is perfect for the job."

There were a lot of grumblings around the table, the stories of captured female spies on Romulas were too horrible to imagine and for that reason no one had sent a female spy in decades, even the female agents themselves never volunteered to go there.

Convall's disgust of the idea finally got to him as he snorted "well If she is so damn good, then why isn't she there already?" Scarcasm laced within every word. Everyone turned to Osten to hear his reply as another huge smile burst out from his face.

"She is! And has been for over seven years." With that, the whole conference table burst out their surprise with this discovery, with only Admiral Hanson remaining quiet.

"Why were we not told of this?" someone demanded.

"Since when do you act without informing the Government?" said another. Even Convall was joining this chant and exclaiming his disbelief. Osten merely smiled and waited for the rabble to die down, he knew that soon everyone would be quiet, as their curiosity got the better of them, and he could explain everything (or at least as far as he was willing to).

Eventually the Director motioned for silence and as the last grumbles finally died down, then he casually turned around and allowed Osten speak for himself.

"Gentlemen, I must admit, in some cases it is not always important to tell everyone the affairs of FISO, especially extremely delicate ones such as this. Agent Sayla has been a precious link between us and the RCP, The Romulan Secret Service, for a very long time now..." He stopped to take a sip of water before continuing, knowing that everyone was hanging onto every word he said, and he loved every minute of it. " You see I believe our own senior Federation networks and departments have long since been infiltrated by RCP agents..." At the hearing of this statement, the table once again went up in an uproar. The Director, interested in hearing all of what Osten had to say, motioned them to silence. Once the table went quiet the Director spoke.

"Do you have any proof of this claim?"

"Nothing conclusive, so to aid my theory I sent Sayla to Romulas in the hope that she would be able to discover the identities of these people from the Romulan end so I could expose them. In the process, she became such a wealth of invaluable information that I have kept her there. That is why she is so well hidden, if the RCP got wind to her existence, she would be finished. No one knows of her existence except her and me, and now all you too."

The table fell into stunned silence, even Jerry Convall, who was against the thought of female spies on Romulas, was quietly impressed by this exploit of Osten's. To think for seven years a Federation Agent had been working under cover in the most espionage conscious race ever discovered, that was indeed a remarkable achievement.

"If this is as big a secret as you say it is, why are you telling us now?" Someone quietly asked.

Osten turned to answer the question "Well it appeared my suspicions were incorrect, Sayla reported to me some time ago that no RCP agents were working within the Federation." At that, the table fell into complete silence again.

"Well Mac," the Director clearing his throat began, fearing that the table would stay silent forever, "I think that I can speak on behalf of all of us and praise you for your..." he searched for the word "...resourcefulness. This is indeed a surprise, and I must say I think you have done very well for the best of the Federation. And taking all that into consideration, I think I can now give you, on behalf of the delegates of this meeting, unless anyone has any objections," he quickly scanned the table, finishing on Convall, who just looked at the table "authorisation to activate Agent Sayla to assist us in finding out what is going on with these ships." Osten nodded curtly "although I would like to ask that in future, you do me the curtesy of at least letting me know what is going on. If you cannot trust me, well Mac," he said almost apologetically "who can you trust?"

Osten sat up straight "Thank you sir and I understand and I apologise. With regard to Sayla, it will take a little time to alter her orders, as she will now have to infiltrate Romulan Strategic Naval Intelligence, to find out what we need to know."

"Thank you."

Suddenly Convall loudly spoke up "I have a question," as all eyes darted to him "is this Sayla human or Romulan?"

The whole table was deathly quiet awaiting the answer, it was something they were all curious to find out, but were waiting for someone else with the courage to ask.

"Oh she is very much human Jerry," he said with a little laugh "I am really not at liberty to reveal all about her, suffice to say she underwent a series of physical operations and a specific mental training programme before being sent to Romulas, through an illegal trade courier route. The whole operation was so delicate that it was vital silence be maintained. Hence the strict secrecy code. She volunteered for the assignment and has pledged a lifelong vow to report as much information as possible about Romulan affairs, so she is the best, and only, agent we have."

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence, no one knowing what to say next. The Director could see that it was finally time to draw the meeting to a close and let everyone think about this issue in their own time.

"Well in that case gentlemen, I think that will be all..." he stood up and everyone else in the room did likewise. The general mumblings and mumours associated with completed business meetings sprang up and everything had turned back to its usual self while the Director continued speaking "...I look forward to hearing an update of this latest problem, and only hope that it is something which is of little concern." but even as he said it, with the top government officials steadily leaving the room, he knew it would be something to be worried about. The Director watched in silence as the last of the men left and the door closed behind them.

Admiral Hanson had not as yet moved from his seat. He had been friends with the Director for over twenty years and one of the reasons for him being invited to this meeting was in fact to stay around afterwards and express his opinions and points of view to all matters concerned with Starfleet, and hopefully offer some very good and sound advice from this one man who the Director truly trusted.

The Director let out a breath "So what do you think Bob?" he asked, going to the table to pour some coffee.

Hanson was quiet for a moment as he pondered the question. "Interesting." was all he said. He shifted position on his chair before continuing "One of things I found intriguing is that if Osten has had an agent on Romulas that no one knew of, for all this time, I wonder who else has he got stashed away?"

"Yeah well," the Director said whilst stirring his coffee "you know how he likes to keep things from Jerry. Who knows, he probably even found it amusing to hear of his three guys getting caught out, all the while knowing his own brood was well and truly entrenched in the enemy camp." He finished making his coffee and turned to Hanson "You could see as well as I, how he relished springing this news, he probably did it just to get on Jerry's goat. Who knows, he probably been waiting for years for the right opportunity." he said with murmur.

"You know what I find surprising," Hanson pondered "if Macillroy knew of Jerry's three guys on Romulas, why didn't he get Sayla to help them, or at least give them cover until they could escape."

"Interesting point." They both sat there quietly collecting their thoughts on the issue. The Director took a long drink of his coffee. Hanson sat staring into space in deep thought. After a few minutes of silence, The Director finally got up and headed back to his office, somewhere more comfortable to sit and think. Hanson, without comment, got up to join him.

"So why would the Romulans be building a fleet of new ships in the first place?" the Director asked, walking through the door.

"I don't know," Hanson wondered, his mind miles away. Eventually thinking properly about the question "certainly their current Warbird is volatile enough as it is without the need for creating a 'killer' version of it, so that doesn't really make sense." He replied, settling in to his favourite part of the Director's couch.

"Yes and this supposed new cloaking device doesn't make much sense either." The Director muttered while putting more sugar into his coffee, he made his way over to the couch "I only hope that Sayla can actually clarify a few things for us". He settled down "It's going to be a tedious wait."

With that thought in mind, Admiral Hanson began to consider his responsibilities in this event "I think just to be cautious, we should put all Starships in the vicinity of the Neutral Zone on a low priority alert, and contact all the starbases in that sector to do the same." Hanson looked at the Director who was staring back at him.

"You really think it may be coming to that?" He asked slowly.

"I really have no idea, I just want to be more prepared for anything that may happen." The Director looked away, and for the first time, he really felt very uncomfortable at the circumstances taking place.

"Proceed." He said quietly.

The two of them sat there for what seemed like an eternity.

The Director was sitting at his desk working away, when his terminal buzzed. He absently turned it on to see the face of Macillroy Osten, whom the Director hadn't seen or heard from in two weeks, his attention instantly rivited to the screen.

"Mac," he exclaimed "Where have you been? I've been waiting for over a fortnight for some news!"

"I'm sorry Mr. Director I have been tied up with this investigation, but sir if you could call up a meeting of the cabinet immediately, I can report to you an update sent from Agent Sayla."

Within half an hour, the seven men were once again sitting in the same board room as they had done two weeks eariler. Once they were settled, Macillroy Osten stood up at the table to deliver his news from Romulas.

"Gentlemen, there is no need for concern. Agent Sayla was successfully able to infiltrate the Romulan Strategic Naval Intelligence network and has discovered that not only are these 'Machte Warbirds' about three years away from completion and production, but they are designed for the exploration of the unchartered regions of Romulan territory, heading out away from the Neutral Zone." There was a collected sigh of relief around the table "Apparently there may be some sort of recently discovered large super power race that may exist there, She thinks the Romulans may conceive them to be a potential threat and so are preparing for it now."

There was a hushed silence in the room.

"What about this new cloaking device?" Someone asked.

"Of that there is little news, the Romulans are still trying to find ways of improving it and we are sure they have still not made a break through in creating one where a ship can be cloaked and still fire its weapons safely."

At that news, the feeling of a released pressure was evident in the room, yet it was obvious that at least one person in the room felt a little intimidated by it.

"Just how reliable is this Sayla," Convall asked, irritation clearly obvious in his voice.

"Very," Osten said with a touch of annoyance of his own "she has been suppling us with top grade information for years, and as I said, she is human, so her loyalties are to the Federation. OK."

The Director felt that the tension in the air had to be broken, he could see that Convall was hurt by the knowledge that his three agents died for what was ostensibly useless information, when in reality Sayla could have told the Federation what was going on all along.

"Well, if there is no perceived threat to us, at least in the near future. I suppose we can all stand easy." He turned to Hanson, the feeling of relief evident in his voice "Admiral you may cancel your low priority alert, thank you all gentlemen, your time and input has been invaluable." With the meeting drawn to a close, the group of men stood up and took their leave of absence. Leaving Admiral Hanson and the Director alone again.

"Well Bob, that seems to clear things up somewhat, what do you think?" the Director, feeling cheerful, decided not to get a coffee this time, and for a change, he would try something different, like mineral water. He looked outside his office window to the bright sunshine which warmed up the city all around. "You know I feel like going for a nice long walk now..." he chatted casually not noticing Hanson's serious expression until he turned to face him. His smile automatically fading "what's wrong?"

After a moment, Hanson snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the Director "something very unusual occurred to me when Macillroy was giving his report..."

The Director, who trusted Hanson's intuition completely, felt a tingle up his spine as the thought of something being amiss played on his insides. The last thing he wanted now was a suspicion that all was not quite right, considering that he was feeling very cheerful a moment ago. He looked at the Admiral with a sense of foreboding.

"...How is it, that when Convall's SI agents make their first and only report, they get captured. And yet this Sayla can keep it up for seven years without ever being discovered?"

The Director pondered the thought for a moment, a logical solution came to him "Well what about when Captain Picard was on Romulas, searching for Ambassador Spock, he found a way to communicate to his ship by placing the carrier waves of his transmission on top of normal Romulan transmissions could Sayla be doing the same?"

"Possibly," his expression changed as he considered the suggestion "but the range is short and even they eventually got caught by the Romulans doing it."

Both men fell into silence thinking about the puzzle, neither of them finding a solution that would stand. after a few minutes Hanson spoke up "We could ask Osten." He ventured.

"I somehow feel he wouldn't tell us, and I can't force him to either, he is FISO and I do not have the official backing to make him answer my queries. As it is, I'm lucky he confides in us, I think it's only the fact that we get along so well that he keeps in touch." The Director replied slowly.

"It's getting to the point where I don't know what to believe anymore." Hanson mumbled irritably "why is it that simple answers can be so hard to come by, I mean just who is working for who?"

The Director, taking careful heed of those words looked straight at Hanson, after making a very important conclusion, he put down his mineral water and poured himself a stiff coffee, then he went over to his communication circuit and called his secretary.

"Yes Mr. Director," she asked.

"Get in contact with Jerry Convall, tell him I want to see him right away."

Within twenty minutes, Jerry was chiming at the door.

"Come in."

Convall walked into the Director's office, Admiral Hanson was still sitting in his usual spot on the couch, quietly glad that it was not he who had all these worries.

"You sent for me Mr. Director?" Convall asked.

"Yes I did," not motioning for Convall to sit down, he stood there, hands behind his back, as the Director looked straight at him "I called you here because there is something that I would like you to investigate. Now I want you to understand that this is official Starfleet Intelligence business and that I want this information shared with absolutely no one, is that clear?"

"Perfectly."

"Good, now something has been troubling us. We have not been able to verify just how Sayla could transmit information from Romulas without being detected, as your men were. It's only a hunch but I suspect that Sayla is possibly working for the Romulans, maybe she has become sympathetic to them or something. The trouble is, Osten may not be aware of it, in fact I am not sure why he has so much faith in her in the first place. I may be barking up the wrong tree about this, I don't know, l but I want you to have a little sniff around and see if you can find an answer to my question."

"Yes sir." A smile built up inside Convall which he kept tightly concealed.

"And I want it done very discretely, do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, report back to me personally when you have finished your investigation." Convall turned and headed for the door, the Director called out to him before he went through it "Oh and one more thing," Convall turned to see him staring straight into his eyes. "I do not care for your feelings towards Mr. Osten, Mr. Convall. However if you should find something out of the ordinary, I expect you, as the head of my Intelligence network, to take your responsibilities seriously before you start to enjoy yourself too much." He stood up and slowly walked toward Convall speaking with deliberate softness "The very establishment of the Federation could well be at threat here, and we could be in a very awkward situation if such is the case..." he now stood face to face with Convall, his expression deadly serious "just keep all that in mind."

Convall nodded slowly and left, all thoughts of satisfaction draining out of him, he was now on a case, all his personal feelings were pushed aside and he would not smile again at the thought of investigating his biggest rival.

Within a few days the investigation was complete, Jerry Convall walked with little joy down the corridor towards the Director's office. He had called a special council with the Director to report his findings in the FISO search, in his mind he felt he should be in charge of both the SI and FISO. In fact if he had his way, he would merge FISO into the structure of Starfleet Intelligence, and finally do away with the official UFP secret service altogether. It had become rather apparent that Starfleet Intelligence was by far the more superior department, just through the influence of Starfleet Command. By the reports his men supplied, he felt that FISO were a pretty disorganised group, it was a hinderance that they had the Federation government as their official backing.

He chimed the door as he approached it. There was a moment's pause before he heard the Director's voice from within to enter, he stood up straight and walked throught.

Admiral Hanson was sitting at the desk with the Director as he entered, and after exchanging pleasantries got down to business.

"Mr. Director, I have the detailed report of the investigation of the FISO problem."

The Director put down the paper work he had in his hand, slowly placing his coffee cup in front of him. "He casually reached over to his intercom and told his secretary to hold all calls, then he leaned back in his chair with his hands clasped together, it was very clear that he really didn't want to hear Convall's report, fearing it might be bad news. He let out a sigh, then finally he spoke. "OK Jerry, spell it out."

With slow and deliberate elocution Jerry Convall mentally prepared to report his findings to the Director of Starfleet Command, knowing that sometimes the information presented in these reports took a lot of people by shock, he had learned long ago to give a verbal report as if it was written. Nothing was to be left out, and all information had to be presented with cold and deliberate punctuality.

He cleared his throat and began to speak. "As instructed by the Director of Starfleet Command, my department undertook an extensive search into the files of the Federation Interplan Security Organisation on Agent Sayla, the human agent based on Romulas.

"Intelligence agents Dysentra and Wilkes conducted an rigorous search of FISO headquarters, being current infiltrators of FISO, it was easier for them to do it rather than call in outsiders.

"After an extensive search of the FISO computers and filing system. Dysentra and Wilkes discovered that although a file on Sayla exists, nothing has ever been sent by her from the planet Romulas itself. Her messages have in fact been sent to FISO from another location. The co-ordinates listed the transmission source as being in the remote Nova-Contrach sector near the Neutral Zone.

"Agent Wilkes took an special express Starship to this area, only to find a transmission telescope orbiting the nearby planet of Bollair II. Upon investigation, it was revealed that all Federation orders being sent to Sayla were in fact being received by this satellite and then re-transmitted to Romulas. Romulas would send their replies to this telescope which would in turn transmit them to Earth. To avoid anyone listening in, The transmission sent to Earth is in a special code which only the receiver would logically know."

Convall paused to take a breath. Both the Director and Admiral Hanson sat in complete silence, their skin beginning to crawl at the dread their instincts told were coming. Although neither of them said anything, they both knew that if everything had been OK with Mac Osten, Convall would have just said so. All these formalities suggested something was indeed amiss. Convall stood at adese before continuing "However, Wilkes stayed with the object and intercepted the next transmission from Romulas bound for Earth. It was not coded, so it was safe to assume that the satellite was a scrambler designed to rearrange the Romulan text into the coded message that Earth would receive. The intercepted message that Wilkes had was an order telling him to continue as planned. Since Mr. Macillroy Osten has admitted that he personally placed this Romulan Agent on behalf of the Federation, it is therfore safe to assume that only he can decode the message once scrambled, thus it would appear that he is in fact working for the Romulan Empire. Yet it must be pointed out that we are not sure whether he knows of this satellite's existence."

He took another breath while letting all the information sink in. Both The Director and Admiral Hanson, now sat there in complete shock, and although there were a thousand questions they wanted to ask Convall, they knew better than to interrupt an unfinished report as answers they wanted may not yet have been mentioned. Instead they would wait until Convall had told the whole story before going through the barrage of questions, they simply looked at each other before returning their attention to Convall.

He paused for a moment more, then continued "Back in FISO headquarters, Agent Dysentra did some more searching and discovered the file of an ex FISO agent named Oprina Sayla who was reported missing since stardate XXX, over 8 years ago. According to the report, she was apparently on some kind of small trade vessel which was lost somewhere near the Neutral Zone. It was never heard of again and there was never an explanation of its disappearance nor was there any investigation. One other problem Dysentra discovered is that Oprina Sayla is actually her single name, she married about a month before she vanished," he paused, not wanting to complete the sentence, "to a Mr. Macillroy Osten of the Federation Interplan Security Organisation..."

The Director suddenly burst out "What? You mean that Sayla is Osten's wife?!"

Convall, unmoved, continued "I'm afraid it is, Oprina Sayla is in fact Mrs Oprina Osten."

There was a break as the Director abruptly got up to get himself a very stiff coffee. Complete bewilderment surrounded his thoughts as he stirred in about 4 sugars. How could a man send his newly wed to Romulas? What kind of husband is that? But he said she volunteered, was he lying? No wonder he kept it so quiet. Reluctantly he sat down again to hear the rest of the report, he found it difficult to accept that not only was one of the highest officials in the Federation working for the enemy but his wife was helping him! He shook the thoughts from his mind as he gestured to Convall. "go on." he said shakily.

Convall in complete report receital mode, continued without emotion. "We looked hard, but found no photos or pictures of Oprina Sayla anywhere and no references to check either. Dysentra instantly informed Wilkes of his findings. Wilkes, knowing he could not decode the satellite's transmissions after scrambling, proceeded to disassemble the satellite. Inside he discovered a very complex and intricate computer bank set up along with holograph projection booth which housed the image of a Romulan woman. After some inspection they discovered that the orders being sent by Romulas were being altered, scrambled then sent to Osten. they were able to evaluate that the message sent "continue as planned" was in fact being transmitted to Osten as a different message. Apparently the satellite would receive the Romulan text, then it would re-state the order in a manner to appear that his own wife would in fact be advising him to do as planned and not as a direct order."

"Gentlemen, What this means is that Macillroy Osten is not a Romulan agent, but he is being manipulated by them, from a holographic image of his wife, as a married couple, she would be naturally be asking for updates of Federation Security and he would willingly oblige, knowing that as a Federation Special Agent working under cover, she had a right to know what was going on back home. He has been in a set up for years and is not even aware of it." Convall knew he had them both spellbound beyond belief, as every essense of loyalty they had toward Osten was being torn down in strips, and it was he who was doing the tearing.

"Thus we have concluded that Oprina Osten did in fact go to Romulas as a spy but was quickly discovered. The Romulans found out who she was and who she was linked to and quickly sent up the transmission to link with Osten. Needless to say, they would not hesitate to create a link up between themselves and the head of the Federation Interplan Security Organisation. Macillroy Osten has been dealing directly with Romulan Intelligence and not with his wife for many years, who we presume has been dead for a long time. It is impossible to imagine the classified secrets he has been willingly feeding them and not realising it..." He pause one final time before finishing. "...This concludes my report on Agent Sayla." He quietly sat down and took a long deep breath.

The Director got up and prepared some more coffee as he tried to work out exactly what kind of action to take after the discovery of this remarkable information. He turned to face the two men.

"Gentlemen, any suggestions you may have on how to handle this situation will be very much appreciated." he turned to see both men looking at him in silence, he took a long deep breath to calm his nerves down "well if none are forthcoming I suppose then the first thing to do is to remove Osten from his post and put him under house arrest for the time being, although I imagine he is going to crack rather badly when he finds out why, however that is not a priority concern," he focused on Convall, "please see to it immediately Mr. Convall, you may use my terminal."

Convall immediately went to work, although he had always wanted to see Osten topple, he knew this was not the time for being smug. Whatever pleasure he got out of it would have to be kept in check, at least for now. The Director only ever called him mister, when matters were very serious and as he hinted before, things couldn't get any more so. He quickly went over to the computer and called up the Security department of Starfleet Intelligence and gave the instructions.

The Director turned to the Admiral "Well Bob, your thoughts."

Hanson's mind was full of negative thoughts about the Secret Services. All this trouble was due to this constant cloak and dagger stuff which really got on his nerves, all these secrets and counter secrets made him very uncomfortable sometimes, but he knew that the Director didn't want to hear about that. He wanted an opinion on the real issue of this matter. "Well for one thing, it shows that the report on the new fleet and the cloaking device is probably false, which could mean we are in for a bit of a shock when we learn their real intention."

Convall turned from the computer screen, "Mr. Director, Mr Osten has been taken into custody."

The Director grumbled to himself "You know things are bad when you have to start arresting your most trusted aides." Suddenly his terminal buzzed, he went over to it , agitation clearly building up in his demeanor. " I thought I said no interuptions!"

The nervous voice of his secretary could clearly be heard in the room "I apologise for the interruption Mr. Director, but there is an urgent message for Mr. Convall on from Starfleet Central Command, on Starfleet Security channel Alpha 6."

The Director looked directly at Convall, Alpha 6 was the highest priority security channel in the Federation. "He'll take it in here." he said back to the intercom. If anyone was going to talk on this channel, he wanted to hear it.

"Yes sir."

There was pause then a young ladies face appeared on the screen, she wore the distinct uniform markings of Starfleet Intelligence. "Forgive the interruption sir, but we have just received word from the Klingon Empire monitoring the Neutral Zone that all Romulan traffic, military, trade, pleasure have ceased near the Romulan border. A confirmation report from Starbase 5 also states the same thing."

The Director turned to Hanson "why would they do that?"

Hanson replied, his voice unusually dry "it's an invasion tactic, to make room for something big to come through, like a large fleet of..." his voice trailed off to a whisper "...warships."

The Director turned back to the woman on the screen "Now here this, by order of the Director of Starfleet Command, I want all outpost stations put on full battle alert. All, I repeat All Federation Starships are to converge on the route from Romulas to Earth and are to be in a state of full readiness, they are to report their atmospheric surroundings and positions once finalised. All planetary defences are also to be put on full alert is that understood?"

"Yes Mr. Director." she vanished.

The Director turned from his console "I'll have inform the President of the Federation on what is going on." he turned to Hanson "Bob, I leave the handling of the Starfleet and our defences in your hands," he centred on Convall not waiting for Hanson's acknowledgment. "Jerry find out what is actually going on, I need information, we still aren't sure what we are dealing with yet." And at that, the gathering was at an end. The Director turned back to his console to put a call through to France and the President of the United Federation of Planets. As both Hanson and Convall left the office together. There was a few moments pause when the face of the most powerful man in the Federation came into view.

"Hello George," the Director started "we have a problem..."

Outside the office, Hanson and Convall were walking briskly down the corridor, Hanson clearly seeing Convall's pleasure over the demise of Osten finally beginning to show.

"You enjoyed that didn't you?" Hanson began.

"Enjoyed what?"

"Bringing Osten down, you really went to town on it."

"I was acting out an order from the Director, who happens to be our boss. My instructions were quite specific, besides the fool had been taken on a ride by the Romulans for years, and if that isn't blatant stupidity what is."

"You realise of course that not only is his career finished, but his status as an important member of the Federation is as well. Not to mention how he is going to take the knowledge that he has been happily conversing with the RCP for over seven years."

Convall abruptly stopped walking and turnned to face Hanson "But that's part of the game, don't you see." he said with an air of casualness "There is always someone waiting to knock you off your perch if you so much as sneeze, that's the rules of being a player..." his tone suddenly turning serious "...and Osten sneezed - once to often." He looked Hanson over before continuing "even people like you had better be careful, I imagine there is even someone out there wanting your job too."

"Probably, but I wont fall as easily." Hanson snorted.

Convall ignored the comment. "I really don't know why you're supporting Osten so much anyway, he has taken out his fair share of players in the game also. And as for you and me, well I suppose it all depends on when this invasion takes place. The Romulans are probably on their way here right now, so if I was you, I wouldn't worry about the fate of one dried up ex FISO chief, I'm sure the Romulans won't." he turned and walked off.

Hanson watched him leave 'damn secret service people, The worst part was, if the situation was reversed and Convall had been arrested by Osten, chances are even his attitude would've been the same'. But Convall was right about one thing. The Romulans were probably on their way, now was the time to act, the matter of Osten would be dealt with in due course. Hanson looked up the corridor where Convall had been, thinking about what he had said. Who knows, Hanson thought, if I fail now, well maybe history will say that I too had a sneeze. Hanson pondered the thought as he marched up the corridor.

The Director sat alone in his office when his door chimed, he knew it was Hanson, so he called for him to enter.

"Thanks for coming Bob," he said wearily.

"No problem, what's the latest?" he replied heading for the couch.

"I received a report from Starbase 5 twenty minutes ago, when you were off world, I thought you might want to have a look." He switched on his screen and replayed the message he himself had only just read twenty minutes before.

The blank screen flicked to an image of a Starfleet Captain, Hanson recognised him at once as the commanding officer for all the starbases bordering the Neutral Zone. "Federation outpost 5, stardate XXX. Captain Simms commanding officer. As official head of all the starbases for this sector, this report is a summary of all the reports from these other bases. By orders of Starfleet Command, we were put on maximum read alert for the unconfirmed offensive assault by a possible Romulan Fleet. At 07:00, 16 hours after the alert was signalled no sign of any war vessel, cloaked or otherwise, has been detected crossing the Neutral Zone or entering Federation air space. We have launched 1609 of our newly operational C-Probes covering an area of 56 million square kilometres of air space, C-Probes are designed to detect the combined particle field emissions emanated by cloaking devices. So far none of our probes have detected anything and none have been moved or destroyed. All outposts have no other information to add to this report." The screen suddenly went black with the UFP seal to take its place.

The Director leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. "Well Bob, things aren't making a lot of sense. If the Romulans wanted us to believe that this new fleet of theirs was three years away from completion, in fact it is probably ready now. And if it is supposed to be used against an enemy away from us, then chances are it is in fact for us." He stopped rubbing his eyes and slapped his hands against the table. "Can you imagine how the Romulans must be laughing at us as we trample blindly around searching for explanations..."

"I know what you're saying," Hanson cut in "I have received detailed reports from all our Starships, not one of them have anything to report."

The Director continued without really hearing Hanson's statement "...and yet they've stopped their own space flight traffic, why would they do that?" He sighed heavily "Damn I wish I knew what they're upto?"

The Director sat quietly in his chair, his empty coffee cup his only companion as he fiddled with it aimlessly, hoping for some miraculous answer to the questions that had constantly annoyed him. For four days he had been there in his office, waiting for the first report of movement from a Romulan invasion fleet. But it had not come. He eventually realised that he could not leave the whole fleet and the entire Federation in a state of full battle alert indefinitely, with slow deliberance, he placed his cup on his desk, reluctanctly he called Starfleet Central Command on his terminal.

"Yes Mr. Director." The same woman he had seen four days ago answered.

The Director said quietly, "send this instruction to all Starships and starbases operating near the Neutral Zone. As from now, the red alert is to be called off. All Starships are to be stood down but are to remain on yellow alert until further notice. All planetary defences are to be deactivated. All starbases are to remain on a low level alert and all C-probes are to remain in position and not to be withdrawn. this order is to remain in effect until we feel the situation has soothed down further." he signed off. At the same instant there was a chime at the door. He really didn't feel like seeing any visitors, but it was probably important, and his position could not dictated by how he felt.

"Come." he said.

Jerry Convall entered the office looking refreshed and awake. The Director looked at him with weary eyes, thinking sarcastically that it was good that at least some of his staff were not too busy to rest and recouperate.

The thought vanishing from his thought as though it had never entered "Ah Jerry, what have you to report."

"Mr. Director, I have just received word from the Klingons that traffic flow through the outer Romulan territories has recommenced and that all services are returning to normal."

The Director looked at him for a long time. "Is there anything else?"

"Only that we have conducted a very thorough scan of Romulan territory, our cameras, probes and long range sensors have detected nothing out of the ordinary. Although I must admit, even they are limited in their capabilities."

With all this in mind, The Director thought long and hard about what to do next. His options were narrowing down considerably with this latest development. As far as he could see, only one course of action remained. he turned to his screen and called up the Starfleet Central Command Centre once again, and ordered all C-probes removed and all alerts cancelled.

He waited until Convall had gone before placing his next call to the President of the Federation.

"Hello George, sorry to bother you at a time like this."

"That's OK, what's the latest..." The Director informed him of the reports and his latest orders "...yes well you did the right thing, we couldn't keep the whole fleet on alert without anything conclusive to go on."

Suddenly the Director's biggest unanswered question came blurting out beforre the President. "But what I can't understand is why would they would halt all their space traffic for four days?"

The President considered the question briefly. "Yes well I received word from one of our FISO people monitoring Romulan tranmissions, apparently they are saying its the result of some huge interstellar chemical spillage or something and that everything was now in order. The funny thing is, they say it was some stuff that can't be detected by sensors or long range cameras. I suspect it's probably a outright lie, but we really don't have any proof to suggest anything is amiss, but all we can do now is ask ourselves, well what if it's the truth?"

The Director thought about it for a long moment then reluctantly agreed that they had been caught out and could not pin anything down on the Romulans. He signed off with a feeling of despair after a brief discussion with the President on the latest developments concerning the head of FISO. He drained the last portions of his cold coffee and looked at his desk. It was an unusually cluttered mess from all the reports and orders recently coming and going. Well if this crisis was over for now, he thought to himself, he should go home and finally get some rest. But not before paying a visit to Macillroy Osten's home first, to just say hello.