| From: | "Paul J. Adam" <Shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Collaboration |
| Date: | Thu, 14 Jan 1999 18:58:47 +0000 |
>>>>>[TO: SIGA Archive
Amazingly, our Aztlan agent is not only remaining friendly, but
providing useful information.
It seems they're happy to trade their data for our insight: Narmohach
did a good job hiding his motives and methods, and the AIS fell for it:
content with good results, they didn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
+++++begin recording
"Aren't you concerned about coming here?" Captain Cordovez asks. Here in
his country's Consulate, in his office, he's wearing uniform rather than
civilian clothing.
"No." Lilith replies simply: she's wearing UCAS fatigues, too, and the
comforting weight of a sidearm can be felt on her hip. "You've got
office space, I haven't."
"I thought you would be working with the FBI on this."
"Ha!" Poisonous sarcasm drops from the syllable. "Seneca don't want
anything to do with SIGA. They didn't want us involved with Achilles,
well, too bad, we helped them take down Thunda anyway. Then we
discovered that some of their precious, elite, knights-of-the-last-
crusade Project teams were dirty. Therefore it's _our_ fault that the
plug got pulled." Lilith really does sound angry. "The Children of
Thunda rampage around the city killing at will while the FBI have their
thumbs up their ass, Jason's murdered, and all that's our fault too."
Cordovez almost visibly recoils from the venom in her voice. "I... see."
The intelligence officer's mind is obviously filing and collating every
piece of information, too.
"Raoul, don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good guys in the Bureau,
but the leadership has an ingrained CYA mentality and Seneca are very
fond of proper protocols and procedures." Lilith lights a cigarette,
shakes her head. "By the time I cleared this through the channels, it
would all be over. That's why we have SIGA as well as the Bureau."
"And why they resent you so. By moving fast, you steal successes from
them: but you also create problems that they must later solve."
"You have it precisely. And the bureaucrats can't understand that we
aren't interested in a turf war, or who gets the collar, so they assume
we will be as stubbornly parochial as them. Come on, Raoul, you have
this all the time whenever Internal Security and the AIS meet on a
case."
Cordovez laughs aloud. "Of course we do. It's merely reassuring to know
that bureaucrats are the same everywhere! But you're here for a
briefing." He fires up the trideo display on his desk. "Our suspect
Intelligence Officer is currently... here, aboard the destroyer K42,
north of Australia. One of our oil tankers was hijacked, and we are not
happy about it. The clan responsible are due a painful lesson."
Lilith studies the display. "Anyone we'd have heard of?"
"A Timorese group. Sun Yip's crew."
The shapeshifter shakes her head. "Nope. Small-timers, this must be
their idea of the Big Score. I know Narmohach is devious, but it looks
more and more like he wanted someone in Underwater Warfare and it was
just bad luck it went wrong."
"My thoughts too." Cordovez agrees, tracing the K42's course and patrol
area. "Why his sudden interest in subsea matters?"
"Maybe he's found the Lost Continent of R'lyeh." The AIS officer looks
blankly at Lilith. "Forget I said that. More likely, he's thinking about
submarines, maybe for smuggling or personnel insertion. I doubt it's a
field he knows much about, so he's planting a mole in your Fleet HQ and
sucking all the data he can out. Especially because the man he replaced
was checking out the decommissioned subs up in Everett."
"Agreed. When the K42 returns from its patrol, and we seize his
imitator, we will send you the transcripts of the interrogation."
Cordovez nods decisively.
+++++end recording]<<<<<
-- Cpt L R W Lynch <18:55:32/01-14-60>
