Data Mining
Posted on Sat Mar 28th, 2026 @ 10:10am by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke & Petty Officer 3rd Class Emiko Marley & Lieutenant Mira Jayna
Edited on on Sat Mar 28th, 2026 @ 11:01am
3,573 words; about a 18 minute read
Mission:
The Cure: Operation Kakori
Location: Breyet Nor - The Badlands
Timeline: MD004 1500 hrs
Jayna and Emiko split off from the others and slipped down a deserted side corridor as it would give them the best opportunity to find a computer terminal. The shuttle bay wasn't very active, which worked in their favor.
Two minutes later, they slipped silently into a room and closed the door. "I'll get into the computer if you'll find a way to send the data back to the ship without the Cardassians noticing."
Emiko was not sure about Jayna as a person. However, she clearly outranked Emiko. The fact that the two of them were actively communicating in Cardassian, however, did make Emiko feel a bit warmer to Jayna. After all, anyone that could speak with her in another language had some sort of merit. That said, if she had a chance, she might want to talk to Jayna about her accent. It sounded a tad Bajoran to her.
For a response, Emiko answered. "I can do that. Encryption will not be enough. I'm going to have to utilize several different communication arrays and bounce them so we cannot be traced."
"Good." She appreciated that Emiko understood the complexity of the operation. This job would take quick and deft hands. The levels of security and paranoia were high here.
Jayna inserted a data rod into the computer and used a program to get into one of the subroutines and made it look like this particular computer was not currently being used. Then she carefully accessed the secure files, using another program to quickly sort through them. After a minute, a number of files began to appear on the screen. "Here they come," she informed Emiko, then began to pass the files to the other intel operative to send to the Valiant.
Emiko's lithe fingers fluttered over the console. She made no comment as she started her work. The moment that the first data stream made it over to her, she encrypted it and started streaming it towards one communication array in Cardassian space. She then routed it to Bajoran space. From there, she routed it back to Romulan space, and then finally three different communication bouys in the far reaches of Federation space. She called back to Jayna in Cardassian, "How much of this is there? I need to know if I'm going to have to change the pattern on this go around so we cannot be detected."
"No idea," Jayna admitted. "This is only the first of it." They were smart and didn't keep all their important information in one place. Then again, if they had, she would have suspected it of being planted as a decoy. She found scans of the area, power outputs, and internal communications. She focused on where she thought she'd get the most useful information and continued sending it to Emiko in batches to make it more manageable.
Emiko kept up, telling Jayna in Cardassian, "I'm going to change relays. I am concerned about anyone deciphering what I've done thus far. I doubt they could, but I also do not relish the possibility of being caught."
"I agree. The more data we filter to the ship, the greater the chance that someone will notice. I could put some on my data chip, but not as much as we need..." And then she trailed off. "Wait a minute." She opened one message that caught her attention. "Oh, no." She copied that message to her data chip and flagged it for Neil. He would need to know.
"Oh, no, what?" Emiko asked curiously, as the data continued to flow.
A Bajoran woman by the name Esch and a Cardassian by the name of Kuester made an interesting pair as they walked their patrol route. However, New Maquis and Cardassians were in this together whether they liked it or not. The two had been partners for some time and got along relatively well. They talked conversationally and rather loud as nothing out of the ordinary occurred in this part of the station. The relaxed feeling of their chat dwindled when they came upon two women who seemed to have a data link to the computer core. It was Kuester who spoke first his voice filled with the Cardassian authoritarianism. "Who are you and what are you doing here? There is no scheduled computer maintenance." He spoke in Cardassian and then turned to the Bajoran woman and spoke in clear Bajoran. "Are these two with the New Maquis?" She shook her head no and leveled her weapon on Emiko. Kuester drew his weapon and leveled it on Jayna.
Emiko shot back in Cardassian, "Just because you were not informed does not mean we do not belong here. We have a job to do, so put down that weapon." She then switched to Bajoran and said, "Of course we are with the New Maquis. How else could we be in here?" She looked at the Bajoran woman and said in Bajoran, "He obviously is too taken in with your beauty. All the blood flowed to his incorrect head."
Before anyone could respond the Cardassian stepped forward and backhanded Emiko across the face. A large red mark could be seen almost instantly raising on Emiko's cheek. "You are speaking to a senior officer. You will speak properly. Or shall I remove that mouth from your face so you cannot speak again." Esch stood there and kept her phaser level. The New Maquis and the Cardassians did work together. But she knew better than to step in when a Cardassian had their temper up.
Kuester loomed over Emiko who was now on the floor. "You will apologize..." He then turned to Jayna. "...And you will tell me what you both are doing here and who you are, or would you like a worse fate than a simple back hand."
"We're new, arrived today. Go ahead and verify it," Jayna replied coldly in Cardassian. "We're here to prove we're as good as we say." She nodded to Emiko. "I apologize for her mouth. That's what got us in trouble on Prometheus II. We're lucky we got away at all after she insulted the praetor's mistress in front of him."
Kuester calmed down slightly and stepped away from Emiko. "And what pray tell are you proving by accessing the station's main data cores?"
Jayna smiled serenely. "That I can get into any Starfleet computer. But since I can't prove that here, I've been given a series of tasks I can do." She nodded to the monitor, glad she'd switched to reports on waste reclamation levels when she heard someone coming. "Now, since we're on a time crunch, can we finish?"
The Cardassian's head snapped to look at Esch his hair whipping around as he did. With a look he conveyed that he wanted the story verified. She reached for a PADD that she carried in a pouch on her hip. A few short taps later she spoke. "Verified. These two are authorized to clean the back logs of files that are slowing the main computer down. Just arrived a few hours ago." Kuester did not calm down but he did acknowledge the Bajoran's report. "There is still the matter of this one apologizing." He said as he stepped back toward Emiko. There was a glint in his eye that spoke of some torture that he looked forward to should the apology not come.
Emiko looked over at the Cardassian with a deranged smile. In Cardassian, she told him, "I apologize that I overstepped my place. I now know I am not worthy to do more than kneel before you."
Jayna tried hard not to roll her eyes at the younger woman. Emiko needed a refresher course in how to behave when under cover. "I apologize for taking up your time. If it will help, I'll make sure my associate scrubs the room down before we leave."
Kuester looked at Jayna. "That would help. And when she is done you may bring her to my quarters." He then turned to Emiko and smiled rather letcherously. "You may kneel before me later." He signalled to Esch that they should be about their business and began to head down the corridor.
Esch for her part rolled her eyes at the Cardassian's remark to Emiko and holstered her weapon. She then fell into step with Kuester and they disappeared around the corner.
Emiko waited for the pair to leave before whispering to Jayna in Bajoran, "A shame he is with the bad guys. Let's get this stuff and go." She then went back to her former location to route data.
Jayna nodded. "If anyone else walks in, let me talk." Then she went back to digging for data. Worry about the Sobols made her pay more attention as she searched, just in case there was any more information they could use.
She paused as she came across a report about a Commodore Samantha York who was from temporal universe 06100233. "Odd. This place seems to be gathering intelligence on Starfleet." She saved that to her personal data and kept going. "And here's something about Gul Valtox and Vedek Aloris having an affair."
"I'll definitely let you talk. You are more experienced than I am at that. While I find this rather mission exciting, it is my first under cover. I'm a linguist by trade. But you talk, I'll learn quickly. I promise," Emiko replied eagerly.
"It is unsurprising they are gathering information on Starfleet. We are gathering information on them. But why is the affair important to them? Bribery?"
"That, or blackmail. If you need one of them to look the other way, just threaten to make the information public." Jayna shrugged. It might be worth looking into, but for now, she sent it to Emiko with the rest.
"If you're interested, I can run you through some undercover training programs on the holodeck when we get back to the ship." She didn't look at Emiko, but she was paying attention to what was said and to any noises that would indicate they had more company.
"Gul Typhon Prenar?" Jayna paused again to send that data to her crystal. "He's supposed to be dead, but this says he's the head of the Obsidian Order. SFI will be interested in this."
"I am interested," Emiko answered swiftly. "Though, I do not understand what I'm seeing in this data stream. It says something about the Emerk Orion Syndicate having found their son in Starfleet. Does that make any sense to you?"
"No. I've heard of the Emerk Orion Syndicate, but nothing more. Maybe Commander McGowan will know," Jayna replied. But it was interesting, and definitely worth reporting. "There's also something here about the Federation authorizing a timeship." She shook her head. "I can't imagine any of the admiralty allowing such a thing."
Then she saw something that made her stop again. "This says Breyet Nor is powered by a Romulan black hole. We'll need to pass this on as son as we get back to the Valiant." She marked it and saved it to her data crystal, then passed it, along with another batch of information, to Emiko.
"A time ship? That can't be possible, can it?" Emiko asked skeptically. "Is this data the equivalent of what was that ancient earth fake news magazine again? The National Enquirer?" She then got back into her professional voice. "Taking a new route. I think I detected a trace."
"Good. We don't want them figuring out what we're doing." To be safe, Jayna stopped long enough to switch to a different back door program and kept one doing the "official" work they were sent to do.
In the new batch, she found something about the Ashen Hand working for the Obsidian Order. That bore more investigation. But that was for the Valiant crew, not her. She'd mention it to the captain and Amy.
Emiko exhaled. "How much more? I think someone is starting to figure out what we are doing? I'm having to get creative here."
"Five minutes, tops. I've changed programs three times and gone in through five different paths to get the data. I agree we don't have much time left."
Jayna noticed one more batch of information that might be of interest. This, however, wasn't as easy to access. She had to slow down and carefully weave a tiny path through the encryption, masking it as she went. Once she grabbed a piece of data, she closed up the gap and opened a separate one. She found data on the station commander and some woman. And a bit on Quaid himself. All of it went ot Emiko.
"Done." With a quick command, all evidence of their unofficial access was gone, as was evidence of her programs. All that was left was the "official" work they were doing to prove themselves.
Jayna slipped her data chip into her bellybutton ring and waited for Emiko to send the last batch before the half-Vulcan transmitted the official report of their official work to their new "boss" to prove they hadn't been slacking.
Emiko noticed the chip go into the belly button ring. Not that she desired such a piercing, but Emiko found that uniquely handy. She would question Jayna more about it later. Emiko then asked, "So, do we have enough data to show our 'boss' that we could achieve what we said we could?"
Security Officer Sashos sat at her console at Ops. She was not just a security officer, but she was also a computer expert. It took some time but her expertise had led her to learning that somehow, they had spies aboard the station. She had already dispatched teams and sent the silent alarm. Now she worked feverently to re encrypt the data and push the interlopers out of her system. She already managed to conceal and quarantine the attack plans. So, at least they would not get that. Thus far all they had gotten was some basic gossip Intel that they gathered. She sent a message to the interlopers. They may as well know that they have been discovered. "You are now prisoners of the Order. Set down your instruments and await the Security Officers. No harm will come to you. This will be your only warning. Should you fail to comply you will be killed."
Emiko looked over at Jayna, looking for guidance. That message did not bode well. This was her first away mission and capture was not on her list of things to do. How in the world had she traced them? She had been careful. She took this moment to swear in perfect Klingon, and decided whatever Jayna was doing, she was, as well.
Jayna immediately went back into the computer. All signs of her previous entry were gone, but there was evidence of Emiko's transmissions. She couldn't fault the petty officer much. This was new to her and she'd done her best. It was just that the station had someone better.
But Jayna had over thirty years experience doing this type of work and immediately began to make it look like she was trying to track the hacker before security arrived. They knew the two were there, so it was do this, or try to evade them long enough to get back to the shuttle.
Five people came around the corner moving at a jog. There were two Cardassians, a Klingon, a Bajoran, and a Human. It seemed that the Bajoran was in charge of the group, or at least she was in the front. All of them were armed with the weapons at the ready. "Right then. Hands where I can see them. Step away from the consoles slowly, and no harm will come to you. Make a sudden move and Chal here will have to show you exactly how sharp that Bat'leth of his is."
Jayna stepped back. "If you'll take a look, I'm trying to find out who hacked into the computer--besides your estimable colleague." She didn't point, but she wondered if any of them would bother looking. "We just arrived on the station and were doing some work here when it looked like someone was moving data. Then we saw the message. I thought I could help."
The Bajoran glanced at her team and then back at the two women. "That is a likely story. Ops traced the hack directly to that terminal." She pointed toward Emiko before she continued to speak. "So, either you got a good look at the hackers, and failed to stop them, or you are them. I wonder which one it is."
"No matter. I will find out and report to you. It would be a pleasure." The Cardassian stepped forward to be at the Bajoran's shoulder. There was a sadistic look in his eye. The Bajoran held up a finger to indicate that the Cardassian should stay his hand for the time being. "So, which is it or do I let the Cardassians do what they do best."
"We've been working here for a while. Ask command, who sent us here. Or ask the pair that came by fifteen minutes ago," Jayna replied, remaining calm and logical. "It is more likely whoever it was transmitted from this terminal and not actually here. That would mean they hacked in from somewhere nearby and made it look like it was we did it to cover their trail. If someone did try to mask their location by sending data out from here, it could also be traced back to the original source from here. And that is what I am trying to do."
For her part, Emiko said nothing. Jayna was doing a fine job of explaining the problems. She just wondered how she was caught. She was careful and she was changing things up. So, how did she get caught? She needed to know so when they managed to get out of this, she did not mess up again. Something was obviously missing from her knowledge set and she did not like that one bit.
The Bajoran considered for a moment, and arrived at the same logical conclusion. Although her method of getting to the bottom of the mystery was a bit different. "You may be right. But we will take it from here. It is after all our job. If you are right, then you will be free to go. If not Maldek here will have some fun today." The woman snapped her fingers and the Klingon and the Human stepped forward. They brought Jayna and Emiko to their feet. Maldek the Cardassian took Emiko's place and began to work at that station. "I am beginning the trace now." He called over his shoulder.
Emiko hoped that her work was covered well enough. She thought it had been, but yet, she had been caught by someone. She kept a calm exterior while she waited.
Jayna didn't think either of them had the skill to detect her manipulation of the data and where it originated. All she needed was enough time for her and Emiko to get back to the shuttle and warn the others. And to create another diversion along the way if necessary. Still, she was mentally preparing herself for what she would do if this failed.
Maldek's fingers moved across the console. There was a lot of work here to unsort. He could see that the data was routed through a number of systems. They even managed to crack some of the Cardassian computer encryption. "Whoever did this really did a lot of work. It is going to take more time than we have to unravel it all. But at the moment it seems that the data streams were redirected. Some of the data was sent to this console. However, I cannot tell if it was taken here or if these two were stealing the information themselves. Recommend detention in the Brig until we can sort this out." He returned to his work.
The Bajoran looked at Maldek and then looked toward Emiko and Jayna. She was torn on what to do and it showed. "Right then. Chal, take them to the Brig."
The large looming Klingon and his human partner stepped forward and took possession of Emiko and Jayna. "Come on then." He growled.
Emiko rolled her eyes and sighed. "Someone is going to get into a whole bunch of trouble over this." And that someone could be me, she reflected.
As long as the data made it to the Valiant, Jayna was good. For now. They couldn't wait around for long, but hopefully going to the brig would give her time to figure something out. The Marines would consider the two of them collateral damage, so it would be up to her and Emiko to save themselves. She didn't want Neil to risk himself and the mission if she could help it.
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Mira Jayna
Intelligence Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Petty Officer Third Class Emiko Marley
Intelligence Communications Specialist, USS Pioneer
Commodore Tyler Malbrooke
Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer
tag open
Could end here???
Stuart: I think so. Not sure what can be added.
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