Second Mission, Part VIII

Posted on Feb 04, 2018 @ 6:56pm by Chloe Nielsen
Edited on on Feb 04, 2018 @ 6:57pm

Mission: Section 31

“Second Mission, Part VIII”

Location: West city, BETA-525
SD: [2.18] 0130.2255
Scene: HH Building

As soon as the human prisoners realized the forcefields were down, they made a dash for the viewing area before the non-humans could reach them. With HH’s focus on the non-humans who rampaged off the cage, the humans managed to reach the aisles with ease, making their way towards the exit at the top level.

Chloe felt tightening as a pair of male arms wrapped around her body. Glancing behind, Nielsen swore under breath. It seemed peeping Tom had managed to recover and grab her from behind.

“I’ll have you down on your knees,” he declared, his nostrils flaring.

“I don’t think so.” Chloe snapped her leg back, the stiletto pointed upward and struck his groin. Tom howled in pain, releasing the agent as he dropped to his knees. Nielsen slipped passed him, when at the corner of her eye, she spotted the three Orion dancers approaching them. The green skinned women gave out soft hisses, their eyes blazing with anger as they halted beside Tom, still knelt down on the floor, reeling from the pain. Chloe began moving up to put some distance between her and the Orions, spotted looming over the man. Then the women dragged him downwards and as Chloe turned her attention forward, she could hear shrieks erupting from Tom as well as sounds of beating and kicking and knew the Orions were attacking him mercilessly. Well, he got his fantasy but in a twisted way and that was going to be the end of him. Apparently, the other HH members were too occupied with their own troubles and didn’t come to his aid.

The agent caught up with Poorna and Sanjay, just as they reached the main doors. The Indian woman gave the blonde an apologetic look. “I’m sorry…I had to see him for one last time before he’s lost to me forever.”

“Fine,” Chloe said, her expression devoid of emotion. “But we need to get to the control room. Do you know where it is?”

The doctor shook her head in dismay. “I’m afraid only board members and Mr. Kamal were privy to that information.”

“Well, let’s go get a board member,” the agent said, just when they were accosted by a young Bolian man and an older Andorian woman. The Bolian rushed towards the two women, while the Andorian lunged for Poorna’s husband, pinning him against the wall. Nielsen pushed back the bald, blue man with a side kick to his midriff, sending him tumbling down the steps until he crashed into the base of a workstation. She next quickly turned to the Andorian and fired a shot from her phaser, stunning the blue woman unconscious. Sanjay shoved the white haired being off him.

Chloe gazed around her surroundings. Some of the other non-humans were engaged in skirmishes with the HH guards. Quite a mix of species - Ferengi, Yridian, Gorn, Rigelian and a species she didn’t recognize - a pink skinned being with a long tail, covered in bluish green polka dots, lashing at the guards. She ushered her assets out through the doors, which parted to let the couple through and spotted Kyle and Katie, engaged in a brawl with two Nausicaan males. She aimed her phaser at the two non-humans and fired to stun them. The Nausicaans froze before falling onto each other and then to the ground. As Kyle and Katie glanced in her direction, Chloe waved at them and they rushed to her position. All three made their way out of the room to the hallway.

Poorna announced, pointing her finger at the lift, a few feet ahead, “Wilhelmina, that lift should take you to the control centre but…” She sighed, looking downcast. “I can use my passcode to take you to that floor but only a board member can access the room.”

“Lucky for us, we have a board member with us.” Chloe glanced behind at Katie, who sported a confused expression.

The young woman shook her head, glaring at the agent. “No way. I’m not going to help you.”

Kyle grabbed her elbow, shaking her. “I don’t’ believe you have a choice.” He raised his voice. “Either you help me get my property back or you die!”

Katie freed herself from his grip, growling and gave him a fixed stare. “Don’t you dare touch me.” She scowled, when the man laughed.

“No wonder your husband wants nothing to do with you.” Kyle’s words seem to have stabbed her in the heart, judging from the young woman’s hurt expression. “You’re such a silly girl.”

Not one to let this go, Katie dealt a blow to his ego, twisting her mouth into a smirk. “Oh yeah, and how is making ga ga eyes at blonde over there gonna help? She couldn’t even be bothered with you.” Kyle grunted - his silence said it all. The young man locked eyes with the agent, filled with a burning ire for her and Chloe realized he didn’t believe her cover anymore. Well if Natasha’s words didn’t’ convince him, then her own actions, leading up to the deactivation of the forcefields, likely did.

Chloe turned her attention to Katie, her eyes narrowing. “Mr. Ross is right on one thing. You really have no choice.” She approached the younger woman, weapon pointed at her. “You will lead us to the control room.”

“None of you are going anywhere,” a female voice announced. Nielsen glanced to her side and found Alia, along with Kamal and a large security team of at least a dozen men and women, blocking their path to the lift. She watched Jimenez saunter towards her, a menacing glare in the blonde’s direction. “Besides, Wilhelmina or whoever the hell you are, you’re too late. You won’t prevent us from taking back our planet.” The security team flanked them on all sides. Alia spat out, her expression darkening with fury. “You know, Wilhelmina. I feel so betrayed and humiliated at the way you played me. I really believed you’d be one of us and we had this rapport and could have been besties. How disappointing.”

Chloe wasn’t sure whether to laugh or not at Alia’s woe-is-me attitude. She gave the taller woman a fixed, icy stare. All part of her job, betraying others to accomplish mission objectives and she wasn’t going to feel bad about it.

The South Asian security chief ordered, addressing his team, “Take them out.”

“Mr. Kamal,” Katie demanded. “I order you to stop as a member of the board.”

“You’re no longer a board member,” came a cold response from the head of security. As the guards went into formation, raising their weapons at the small group, multiple whooshing sounds were suddenly heard. Chloe’s eyes shifted upwards, spotting crimson coated, golden butterfly shaped projectiles zooming past her and striking the necks of some guards, knocking them to the floor. Minerva appeared, holding daggers in both her hands. When a security officer lunged at her, the redhead swung her right arm forward, stabbing him in the chest. Pulling the dagger out, the blade covered in blood, she pushed the man back.

Alia chuckled, her lips curling into a sneer, watching Minerva stride towards her, the latter’s heels making clacking sounds. “Seriously Dr. Fischer. You expect to stop us with just those tiny knives.” Some of the other HH members erupted in laughter. Chloe noticed only about half of the security complement remained after Evans’ arrival.

Minerva paused in front of the black woman, smiling sweetly as she spoke in a low, chilling voice, “They all say that every time.” She tilted her head sideways, meeting Chloe’s gaze for a moment. “Yet, they end up regretting it.” The redhead extended her left arm forward, plunging the knife into Jimenez’s stomach. As she abruptly removed the blade, Alia, her mouth hung open and her eyes rolling inwards, gasped before collapsing to the ground, beside a fallen guard.

Kamal put one foot forward, pointing his rifle at the redhead. As his finger hovered over the button, a heavy set Romulan man showed up behind him and with his bare hands, snapped the human’s neck. The security chief, dropped to the floor with a thud, the weapon slipping from his grip, which the Romulan promptly took. Another Romulan appeared, a female with a slender figure, carrying a disrupter of Klingon origin and fired shots at a security guard. Together with her fellow Romulan, they took out all the remaining HH members in the area.

Romulans. Chloe raised an eyebrow, watching the two pointy-eared beings stand beside Evans. So a pair of Romulans was Minerva’s package. The Canadian woman narrowed her eyes, studying the pair and Minerva with suspicion. Why did Minerva rescue Romulans? Was she doing jobs for the empire now? But the agent couldn’t dwell on those questions at the moment, not when she had her own mission to complete.

“This isn’t what it looks like,” Minerva whispered in Chloe’s ear, the latter turning around.

“I’m sure, you have a good explanation.” Chloe gave her a thin smile. “But first we need to get to that control room.”

“They’re not there anymore,” Evans informed.

Kyle bellowed, “What do you mean they’re not there? They better not leave with my property!” He stomped towards the two operatives. Before he could take another step, Minerva brandished her dagger at him, her eyes narrowed, forcing the man to back off.

Nielsen inquired, “How do you know?”

“Let’s just say, I had a nice chat with a certain maitre d’ and she happily confessed,” the redhead said, maintaining a casual tone in her voice.

“Did she tell you where they went?” Chloe hoped neither Tim nor Natasha left the building with the weapon.

Minerva sighed. “They were headed for the private hangar and apparently they will take a hovercraft to the spaceport, where a transport will be waiting to take them off-world.”

“Well, let’s hope they haven’t left yet.” Chloe turned behind at Poorna who shrugged. “Can you take us to this private hanger?”

The Indian woman let out an exasperated sigh, her shoulders slumped. “Sorry, Wilhelmina. I can use my access codes to get us down to that floor but that hangar is only accessible to board members by retinal scan.” Chloe cast a glance at Katie.

“What?!?” The young woman wore a sullen expression, a scowl marring her features. “You seriously think I’m going to help you stop them? Not a chance. I won’t help you ruin our chance of reclaiming what’s ours and preserving what’s left of humanity before aliens wipe us off into oblivion. ” She harrumphed, sporting a smug expression. “Face it, I’m the only one alive who can access the hangar. You’re too late.”

Chloe walked up to Katie, her gaze cold as ice. “Oh you’ll help alright because it must make you feel ill about Tim and Natasha leaving together. Natasha, that bitch who stole your husband and is now getting to run away with him.” She watched the other woman’s cheeks flushed red with anger. “Have you already forgotten that she had you thrown into the cage to be torn to pieces by those filthy aliens? Not to mention, your husband let it happen.” Katie’s fists clenched, her eyes blazing with wild fury. “Are you going to just stand there and let Natasha get away with stealing your husband?”

Katie cried out. “Fine! I’ll help you stop that ugly skank and that pathetic excuse of a husband.”

“Good girl.” Chloe smiled, patting her shoulder. “Now let’s move.” As the group began making their way towards the lift, the blonde grabbed Katie’s shoulder. “If you’re in any way lying, then I will take out your eye as that’s all I need to access the hangar and kill you.” When the brunette nodded, fear shone in her eyes, Chloe let go off her shoulder and pushed her forward.”

They entered the lift without any trouble. As the group huddled together in a small, cramped space, Mehta tapped some buttons on the panel and entered her passcode. The lift began moving. Within moments, they reached their floor. The doors parted and the group stepped out, with Katie leading them down a narrow corridor, dimly lit with blue lights. They turned around a corner on their left and walked towards a set of large, tritanium double doors, a few feet ahead. As they stopped in front of the entrance, Katie walked up to a panel on the side and leaned forward, positioning her right eye in front of a bluish tinted scanner. Within seconds, the computer announced, [[ACCESS GRANTED.]] Then the doors parted and the group stepped outside on a flat, grey terrace, facing the night sky, marred by the presence of skyscrapers in the vicinity and hundreds of hovercrafts zooming around.

The air was still and this was when Chloe realized, a forcefield separated the hangar from the outside environment. She studied her surroundings and spotted a couple of hovercrafts – about three or four from her count. The agent’s blue grey eyes fixed on a medium sized, silver hovercar, where Natasha and Tim stood, the latter holding a black satchel – the weapon. Several security guards were found patrolling the area. Two men in blue coveralls were loading some tritanium boxes into a small cargo hold at the back of the vehicle. Natasha and Tim turned to face the new arrivals, a sneer forming across her face.

“Ah, so I see you managed to survive,” Natasha called out, her voice filled with derision. “Well, you’re too late, Ms. Henstridge or whoever you are. Our car is almost ready to depart.”

Chloe called back in a similar tone, “You haven’t left yet. Enough time to stop you.”

“And how do you propose to do that?” Volkova chuckled, her dark eyes filled with contempt. “I doubt you can barely move, let alone run. You would end up tripping in those shoes and by the time you get up, we will be long gone.” Noticing Evans and the Romulans, Natasha’s mouth widened to a scornful smile. “Dr. Fischer, I didn’t expect to see you here. Is your package not to your satisfaction?” Her response received a hiss from the female Romulan, who gave the Russian a fixed stare.

Minerva gave her a similar smile. “Oh I’m perfectly happy with my two Romulan friends, Ms. Volkova. In fact I just came here to give you my personal thanks.”

Chloe whispered in Poorna’s ear, nodding in the direction of the hover cars. “Take one of the hover cars and wait there. But if I end up captured or dead, then you must leave immediately.”

“Understood.” The doctor nodded as she and her husband made their way towards the parked cars at a hurried pace, hoping that HH wouldn’t notice and thankfully for them, they didn’t.

“Dr. Fischer,” Natasha spoke, giving the redhead a cold smile. “If you just came to thank me, then why did you bring this fraud?” She pointed her finger at the Canadian. “Are you part of Starfleet too and the two of you are working together to stop us?” Her expression soured, when Evans burst out in laughter.

“Ms. Volkova,” Minerva said, a gleam in her blue eyes. “I’m too good for Starfleet and just a regular interstellar nomad.” Nielsen resisted the temptation to roll her eyes at the nomad comment.

Natasha hissed at them and in a harsh voice, she derided the two operatives. “You both are fools if you think you can stop us in those fancy party dresses and high heels.”

Katie marched forward, glowering at the Russian woman. “You’re going down, bitch. I’m going to kill you with my bare hands.” She barely moved a muscle, when Natasha raised a handheld disrupter of Romulan origin and fired, the particle beam vaporizing the young woman. With a growl, Kyle took a step towards the hover car but stopped when Volkova pointed her weapon at him and made a clucking noise with her tongue.

“I wouldn’t Mr. Ross unless you want to join Katie.”

Ross shouted, “The Syndicate will hunt you down all the way to Earth for stealing.”

“Only if they catch us.” Natasha held her nose up at him. Turning to the security guards, she commanded, “Kill them all.” Both she and Tim went inside the car, closing the hatch behind them. As the guards rushed towards the group at her command, weapons raised, the Romulans wasted no time and ran to meet them. Some of the HH guards went past the pair towards the three humans.

Kyle charged at a large man with long, jet black hair, swinging a punch, followed by a side kick to the gut but the guard managed to deflect his moves, sending a kick to his abdomen. Ross howled in pain, clutching his abdomen as his knees began to buckle. As the guard was about swing a fist, Chloe threw a bird-shaped hair pin at lightning speed, which hit him in the right eye. The big man tumbled to the floor on his back, while Kyle stood up and stomped on his head.

Evans joined the agent in throwing a few of her butterfly shaped pins, hitting one dark skinned male guard’s face, while missing the other, a medium built Hispanic woman, as they dashed towards her. When a third, a young Caucasian man, accosted her from behind, Minerva swung a back kick to his abdomen, followed by stabbing him in the chest. As the female guard neared her, rifle raised, the redhead promptly pulled the knife, covered in blood, out of the other guard and turned on her heel to plunge the dagger into her attacker’s midriff.

As the others were battling the HH goons trading shots, Nielsen marched towards Tim and Natasha as quickly as her legs could carry her. She could now feel a bit of a breeze, which meant the forcefield was off-line – they were preparing to take off. She increased her pace and swore under her breath – damn those high heels. She nearly tripped, when a particle beam streamed past her, barely missing the blonde by an inch. Chloe glanced to her left, a skinny male guard with curly blond hair was running towards her, rifle in hand, preparing to fire again. But she was too quick for him, firing the phaser at the guard, who dropped to the ground.

She inhaled, taking in a deep breath, when a loud hissing sound alerted her attention forward. The hover car lifted from the ground and was rising. Ross let out a roar. “No, you will not leave!” Pounding the side of the car, he made an attempt to jump on top, however a quick swerve by the hovercraft knocked him off, sending him to the ground. The vehicle continued to rise higher. Well, it was now or never. Chloe slipped her hand through the slit and pulled out a miniaturized steel grey cube, tapping on its surface. She tossed the cube to the ground under the car, which was already around ten feet high and slowly moving forward, now inches from the ledge.

“Stand back,” Nielsen called out, noticing both Evans and the Romulan pair attempting to move forward. The cube flashed a bright blue light, indicated the device was activated. A moment later, the car paused mid-air and came crashing down to the ground with a thundering roar, its front cutting through the ledge. The device, specially designed by Section 31 R&D, sent out a high powered EMP to a particular target and in this case, the hover car, disabling its systems. The EMP blast was localized within a short radius, thus the other vehicles and the building weren’t affected.

Chloe made her way to the car, part of it teetering over the edge. The hatch was loosened and pushed open, sending it flying to the ground a couple of feet away. Tim popped his head through the opening before pulling himself out of the car, the satchel containing the weapon, held under his arm and looking disheveled from the crash. The agent narrowed her eyes, zeroing her gaze on the HH member and rushed toward him.

Tim fumbled with a phaser of Ferengi origin in one hand, hoping to shoot the blonde but was too slow as she grabbed his arm, forcing him to drop the satchel. She swept her right foot behind his leg, striking the shin with the blunt force of the heel. Tim yelled in pain, releasing his grip on the weapon, his knee buckling as he began leaning backwards. Chloe wasted no time following her kick with a push on his chest but quickly backed off, when shots were fired in her direction and in the process, one of her shoes came off. Chloe turned to the side, spotting Natasha, limping towards them, disrupter in hand. This also gave time for Tim to recover to a nearly standing position.

Natasha fired another shot, aiming for Chloe’s head, but missed as the agent ducked, the beam flying past her and striking the wall behind her. Chloe glanced behind for a moment and found a hole in the middle of the wall with some of the rubble found on the terrace. As Volkova prepared for another round of fire, Chloe raised her weapon in response. But before either woman could press the button, Nielsen felt a sudden force pushing her against the wall. The weapon flew out of her hands and over the ledge. Nielsen soon realized it was Tim who pushed her and now pressing hard on her shoulder, pinning the agent against the wall, her upper body leaning slightly over the ledge.

In a quick move, stunning Price, Chloe lifted her knee, striking his groin. Tim howled in pain, releasing her shoulder and at the same time, Natasha fired, the beam knocking off parts of the ledge between the agent and the HH member. Tim reached out for the ledge, just near the hole, to hold his balance, hunched over and still reeling from the pain in his groin. The section of the wall, his back was leaning against, broke off, taking Tim with it. Chloe watched as the man fell past all lower floors to his death before turning her attention to the Russian, now a few feet away, the latter’s eyes blazing with fury. Well, she did lose her lover.

Natasha let out an angry hiss, a wild look in her eyes as if she was a hunter cornering her prey. “Oh Wilhelmina, it looks like I will have to finish you off on my own and then take the weapon to Earth myself.” Now less than a foot from the agent, she pointed the disrupter to her head.

“Not a chance.” Chloe gave her a thin, cold smile, unclasping her necklace, a move that bewildered Volkova. With one swift move, the Canadian stepped behind her, swinging the chain around, hitting the other woman’s head as the latter fired again. But the beam ended up all over the place, creating more cracks in the wall. Natasha screeched in a way that would envy even a banshee, when the weapon slipped from her hands and turned around, her hands reaching up for the agent’s neck. But the blonde caught Volkova’s wrists and promptly shoved her through the gap. She watched as Natasha fell to her death.
Chloe turned around, moving away from the edge and her gaze stopped on the satchel, hidden under the rubble. Noticing Kyle standing up, groaning with pain on the other side of the damaged hover car, She quickly bent down, picked up the satchel, all the while keeping one eye on the businessman, who had his back to her. She removed the device, dropping the loose black cloth over the rubble. She attached a holo-emitter over the case, placing the latter beneath a piece of debris and activated the device to camouflage the weapon to blend it with the debris. The agent grabbed the satchel and noticed everything was much quieter, spotting many dead bodies lying around – Minerva and her Romulan friends apparently got rid of the other HH members.

Kyle marched towards her, his expression darkening at the sight of the empty satchel. “Where is it?” He snatched the bag from the agent’s hands and rummaged through it. “Where the hell is the device?!?”

“It might have slipped from either Tim or Natasha when they fell.” Chloe shrugged, giving him a cool gaze.

“Someone’s going to pay for it,” he roared.

Chloe pointed out, edging closer to the tall man, bending down to grab her shoe. “They are dead now.”

The man’s lips curled into a twisted smile. “Not all of them.” He glanced behind at the hover car, where Poorna Mehta and Sanjay Nair waited.

Nielsen’s expression hardened, realizing the young man’s intentions. “You want someone to pay anyway, even though neither Dr. Mehta nor her husband were part of the attempted theft?”

“Wilhelmina, the Syndicate wants blood for the loss of the weapon,” Kyle snapped. “And I have to deliver at least something to them.”

Chloe suggested as the two were a hair’s breadth away, “Then deliver the entire Humanity’s Hope to your bosses. There are still many alive in this building, even though all board members are dead.” HH needed to be destroyed completely and it was better to have the most ruthless crime syndicate rain down hard on them.

Kyle nodded. “Alright.” He smiled, caressing her arm. “Thank you for understanding, Wilhelmina. Now if you will excuse me, I’ll collect Dr. Mehta and Mr. Nair and be on my way.”

“No, you let them leave in one piece and you can deal with the rest of the group as you see fit.” Chloe’s voice was devoid of emotion, sending him an icy stare. “As far as I’m concerned, the remaining members of Humanity’s Hope are doomed no matter where they go.”

Ross argued, his nostrils flaring, “They are part of Humanity’s Hope so they too need to answer for their crimes.”

“I won’t let you take them.” Chloe’s voice was low and deadly, narrowing her eyes.

Kyle’s eyes filled with incredulity, letting out a dry chuckle. “You’re planning on stopping me? I don’t want to have to hurt you, Wilhelmina. Not after what happened with us earlier in the evening.”

“Yeah about that.” Chloe, at top speed, rammed the heel of her shoe into the man’s ear. Kyle opened his mouth, releasing an ear piercing shriek. “Mr. Ross,” Nielsen began, giving him a stern gaze. “You let Dr. Mehta and Mr. Nair go or I’ll end your life right now.”

“You wouldn’t,” Kyle spoke through gritted teeth, struggling against the pain. “You care for me. I…” He let out another scream as Chloe pressed the heel even further inside the ear, where blood started streaming out. “Alright.” His words were muffled.

“Okay?” Chloe asked. Kyle gave her a slight nod and the agent relaxed, removing the heel from his ear. Ross immediately covered it with one arm, trying to stop the bleeding. “You should get that checked at the nearest medical facility.” As she began to turn around, Kyle leapt up, grasping her wrist with his free hand, pulling her towards him.

In a whispery voice between gasps, Kyle said, “I’ll have you, Wilhelmina. One day, we’ll be together because our connection is too strong to ignore.”

Chloe swung her arm forward, forcing him to let go of her wrist. “For your sake, I hope I don’t see you again.” She watched him turn around and stagger to one of the empty cars, closest to him. Lifting open the hatch, the man crawled inside and closed it behind him. The vehicle lifted off and then sped away.

“You know,” Evans called out, grinning. “If you had said the word, I’d have killed the pathetic fool myself.” She tapped the dagger on her palm.

Chloe sighed, returning the grin. “Well, he’s gone and we must leave too.”

Minerva informed, “While you were occupied by Tim and Natasha, I took the opportunity to place a grenade, which, upon detonating, will send out an EMP surge through the entire building, thereby shutting down everything.

“How long do we have?” Chloe inquired, impressed with Minerva’s tactic. An EMP surge would make HH vulnerable to outside attacks.

“Two minutes.”

“Well, we better get going so you and your friends there…” She glanced briefly at the Romulans. “Get inside the car with Poorna and Sanjay, while I retrieve the weapon.”

There were sounds of rumbling behind them. Chloe turned around, spotting projectile energy weapons crashing into a neighboring building, ripping a chunk at the top. This was followed by flashing light – photon grenades and saw fires erupt from some distant buildings. This city was falling apart and they needed to head to a safe location.

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Scene: Hotel Room
TI: Six hours later

After departing from the HH building in one of their hover cars, Chloe, her assets, Minerva and the Romulan pair, headed to the ‘Anonymous Hotel’. Around that time, the city had fallen into disarray with the various factions in an all-out war, leading to chaos and destruction. It was fortunate the street where the hotel was located, was a narrow, quiet one, left untouched by the ensuing mayhem that was happening elsewhere. They ditched the car a few blocks from the hotel and walked the rest of the way without incident. Chloe recalled how everyone moved in such tense silence, having to remain alert at all times and keep an eye out for any hostiles, heading their way.

They remained there for the entire night as it was too dangerous to go to the spaceport. Chloe booked an extra room for Poorna and Sanjay, while Minerva took a room for herself and the Romulans. It was a tense, waiting game as she was laying on her bed, unable to sleep and checking her portable console from time to time for the status of the city. The agent felt a dull ache in her feet from wearing high heels for a prolonged length of time.

Immediately upon entering her room, Chloe, using her watch-like bracelet device, released nanobots out through the window as they traversed all paths between the hotel and the spaceport to monitor the conditions. The device was now connected to the console, where she could monitor the status of the city, hoping the conditions would become favourable for them to go to the spaceport.

The door chimed. The blonde sat up straight, her face hardening. She sighed with relief, when a familiar voice spoke through the comms. [[It’s me, ‘Red Mistress’.]] Well, of course she’d use her code name instead of her actual one, just like Nielsen would have, when speaking over communications devices during missions.

“Enter.” At her command, the doors parted, permitting a red haired woman inside.

Minerva produced a weak smile. “So can’t sleep?” The lithe woman sat down beside the blonde.

Chloe shook her head. “No and I’m guessing you slept well?”

“No, not with those two in the room.” Minerva’s tone was dry, rolling her eyes. “They’re just restless to leave here and go home.”

“Yeah, speaking of your Romulan friends.” Chloe narrowed her eyes. “Who are they?”

Evans sighed, closing her eyes for a brief moment. “I needed to repay a debt.”

“Debt?” Chloe raised an eyebrow. “To the Romulan Empire?”

“No, this had nothing to do with the empire.” The redhead’s voice was solemn. “Look, I sense a lot of skepticism within you about my loyalties but this debt was personal, not something that endangers the Federation.” They were silent for a moment. “Those two Romulans are civilian traders, who frequently conduct business in the Triangle, mostly in the areas closer to the Romulan border. A couple of years ago, I was in a perilous situation somewhere within Romulan space and was close to dying, when I ran into a retired legate, who rescued me and kept me hidden until I was fully recovered. I asked him why he risked his own life to save a disgraced, believed to be dead, Starfleet spy, one with enemies amongst the Tal’Shiar. He said it was because of a Romulan woman he once loved and lost, my grandmother.”

Chloe nodded, remembering from the Section 31 files on Evans that the latter was one-quarter Romulan, from her father’s side, even though the other woman didn’t have pointed ears or she likely had them surgically altered to make them more human. From the information, it didn’t seem that Minerva ever met her Romulan grandmother, a Tal’Shiar agent who was captured by Starfleet Intelligence in 2368 but then nothing was heard from her ever since.

“When he helped me cross the border out of the empire, he said he’d contact me again someday for a favour and he did two months ago.” Minerva inhaled a deep breath. “The man’s nephew went missing, along with his business partner during one of their runs in the Triangle and he reached out to me to find and help them return home.”

“I see.” Chloe nodded. “And your investigation led you to Humanity’s Hope.”

“Yes.” Minerva sighed. “Now, my task is to put them on a transport that will take them to Limbo station and then my debt is paid once I hear they reached their destination safely.”

“What about you? Where will you go?” Chloe asked, knowing she wasn’t going to get a straight answer from the other woman.

Minerva grinned. “Oh, nothing in particular, just some travelling around the quadrant.”

“So, what were you doing all these years after your vanishing act over a decade ago?” Nielsen grinned, deciding to press Evans for answers, even though the former SFI agent wasn’t going to reveal anything. “We still have some time for a chat over a cup of tea.”

Minerva’s smile widened. “Oh I’d love a cup of tea.” Her expression turned serious. “But I cannot answer your questions and I know you have a lot, at least not yet.”

“Okay.” Chloe shrugged, leaning back on the headrest.

“I’m sure we’ll meet again…soon and then we can have a nice, long chat.”

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Location: Toronto, Canada, EARTH
Scene: Hallway -> Apartment
TI: Several days later

It had been many days, since Chloe left Beta-525 and now the blonde casually strode down a quiet hallway, waving at one of her neighbours, a middle-aged Tellarite woman. She stopped at the entrance to her apartment and upon entering her access codes at the side panel, the door slid open. Chloe stepped inside, hauling her luggage and halted in the middle of her living room. Leaving the bags and suitcase beside the couch, she walked towards the window, removing her gloves, woollen hat and a long, black coat, which she dropped on a table nearby. The agent peeked through the window at the cityscape outside, still quite busy, even at midnight. It was like returning to civilization after a long trip in the wilderness and the Triangle was akin to that. West city was a hellhole and she was glad to leave that place behind, hoping to never return again.

Speaking of West city, Chloe recalled her own departure. On that day, when the sun was about to rise, she noticed on the console that the situation had calmed down on two of the routes to the spaceport. So the agent decided she should take advantage of the calm before another storm erupted. Since the trains were not in operation, Chloe signaled her rental hover car, which had promptly arrived at the hotel entrance and that was when she parted ways with Evans. Minerva also had a rental car, which she called to take her and the Romulans to the spaceport.

The agent and her assets travelled in the vehicle to the spaceport, taking the faster of the two available routes without any problems. They made it to a small shuttle, piloted by an SFI asset that she personally recruited a few years ago and left the planet. After leaving the Triangle, the trio switched transports at a Federation starbase to a civilian cruiser, which carried them all the way to Earth. After reaching their destination, Chloe made sure Poorna and Sanjay went straight to Starfleet Security to give their statements on HH. Also, Section 31 planned on arranging the transfer of data, she gathered on the organization to SFI and Starfleet Security to keep an eye on any surviving members entering Federation space.

Chloe, after splitting with the couple, went to Section 31 HQ in San Francisco to drop off the weapon, artifact and her equipment. It was already late so the blonde didn’t wait long there and transported immediately to her home.

A beeping sound was heard behind her. Chloe turned around, walking up to her desk, where there was yellow flashing on the computer screen. A communique on a secure channel from Section 31 HQ. Odd, an order to send her on another mission, this soon. After accepting the call, the screen changed from a blue background to the visage of the organization’s administrative assistant.

“Georgia, what can I do for you?” Chloe inquired in a professional tone.

{{Debriefing scheduled tomorrow at 0900hrs,}} Campbell informed promptly, her deep voice containing traces of irritation. {{Don’t be late.}}

“Understood.” Chloe then made a casual remark. “You’re working late.” Well, it was about 2100hrs, where the ebony skinned woman was located.

[[Thanks to you agents for keeping me busy with so much paperwork.]] From the harshness of her voice, Chloe noticed the administrator was annoyed for some reason. [[It’s a miracle I get any sleep at all.]]

“Well, have a good night,” was all Chloe could say.

[[I will see you tomorrow,]] Georgia said abruptly before closing the channel.

Chloe wore a bewildered expression, returning to the window. “What was that about?” She shrugged. “Oh well, not something to worry about tonight.” She would use the downtime to get some sleep and then take an early morning jog through the park, with snow covered paths and temperatures well below freezing levels before heading over to San Francisco for her debriefing.

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NRPG: And that’s it for this storyline. Stay tuned for Chloe’s Third Mission :)


~*~
Ranjani S.
Writing for

Chloe Nielsen
Section 31 Agent