In the Line of Duty: Part 4: Treason. By Rob Versteegt
Summary:
4th year Cadet Esther Keel, who is temporary stationed at starbase 375, has committed a murder. She did that, because a mysterious man ordered her to do so, in the name of Starfleet Security. This act of murder proved to this man that Esther could be trusted. Now, she is accepted in this man's organisation. However, Esther was now ordered to kill her best friend: Bernadette, a Huanni, who, according to this man, was a spy for the Romulans. With pain in her heart, she followed through with this order...
And now the continuation.
"You bastard!" Esther shouted at the mystery man. She was now back in this man's room, sitting in a chair, facing the man's desk. The man himself, however, was simply walking around the room in his usual silver cloak. He didn't seem to be affected by an emotional Esther sitting in his room, having cried and swore for the last 15 minutes.
"You let me kill Bernadette!" Esther's eyes were red from all the crying, but still she let her tears drop on the floor. "She was my friend, and I killed her because of you!" She hated this man for making her kill her best friend. She hated herself for killing. And she hated Bernadette, for being a possible Romulan spy.
"It was for the greater good..." the man said, in a friendly, yet mysterious voice. "You know that Esther. You know that you did the right thing."
Esther simply looked in the man's direction, with a killing-look in her eyes. "No." She said loudly. "I don't. Explain it to me why I had to kill my best friend! And don't just give me some bullshit about suspecting that she was a Romulan Spy... I want evidence! I want proof!" She quickly stood up while saying this. This, to let this man know she was serious about it.
The man smiled at first. But then he smile turned into a soft chuckle, after which he started to laugh. Soft at first, but louder and louder every second. Esther closed her eyes tightly, and put her hands in front of her ears. She did not want to hear this man laugh. "Stop it!" she shouted. "Stop it!"
The man stopped. "We have proof." He said, calmly now. Esther didn't understand the behaviour of this man. She didn't even know this man's name! But she wasn't at liberty to ask, because the man continued. "We have photo's, taken by one of our operatives on this station, where a known Romulan Intelligence Operative goes to your friends store... he gives her a PADD, and she gives him a PADD..."
"That doesn't prove anything!" Esther shouted at the top of her lungs. "They could just be exchanging recipes or something!"
"After that," the man continued, without even looking at Esther. "We apprehended the Romulan. He had a PADD with him, full of Federation authorisation codes, ship positions, everything." He stopped walking around the room, and looked at Esther's eyes. For the first time, Esther could see something else from this mystery man than just his cloak, or his hands. She saw his eyes. They were bright green, which send a shiver down her spine.
"So yes.." he whispered in her face. "We have proof. Does that comfort you Esther?"
Esther wanted to respond, but she couldn't. It was as if her feet were nailed to the ground, and her ability to speak was gone. She couldn't say a word. She could only look in those big, bright green eyes of this man. Those eyes that scared her so much. They made her turn more calm. She wasn't crying anymore.. she wasn't boiling from the inside. She was calm.
"Now.." the man asked, still looking at her. "Are you ready to accept your next assignment?"
Esther wanted to scream out, tell this man where he could put his assignments.. his orders. But instead, as on automatic pilot, she nodded. She accepted. This horrified her: it was as if this choice was forced upon her. Perhaps it was this man's eyes... perhaps she just got numb by the killing...
"Good." The man said, and broke eye contact, and walked to his desk. "Well.. this assignment is quite simple actually. You won't have to do anything.." He smiled that eerie smile again, which made Esther look away from that man. She sat down with a sigh, knowing that there probably would be some sort of mission briefing.
But instead, she heard the man tap a button, opening a commchannel. "Ambassador Ter'lyss to Starfleet Security... I have found the person you've been looking for.." he smiled, but didn't let that be shown in his voice. "The murderer of that Huanni..."
Esther's face turned blank. A fear crept over her, leaving a cold chill going down her spine. She had been betrayed by the man who gave her orders. By the man she hated. The same man who told her to kill Bernadette, was now betraying her, telling Security about the murder. She could hardly believe it. The only thing she did was look at the man in disbelief.
=/=Don't go anywhere..=/= a voice on the other side of the commlink said. =/=Be careful... this murderer could still be dangerous. We'll be at your location as soon as possible... Security out.=/=
The commlink was closed. The deed was done. Esther had been betrayed. Still with disbelief in her eyes, she looked at the man. She couldn't be angry, although she wanted to. She couldn't stand up and beat the crap out of this man, although she wanted to. She could only open her mouth, and let one word come out. "Why?"
With the same mysterious smile on his face, the man, still unusually calm, answered Esther's question. "For the same reason you killed Bernadette.." he said softly, in his whispering, eerie voice.
"But.. I didn't spy on.." Esther was now interrupted by the man, who moved forward to her a bit, and put his finger on her lips, to silence her. "No.." he said, putting a step or two backwards, at the exact moment the security officers came in, and started grabbing Esther by the arms, dragging her off the chair.
"For the greater good.." he whispered, just as Esther was being dragged out of the room, towards the brig...
