Chapter 25—Filtering out the noise

Belkadan Survivor—

"I didn't know Hapes was so mountain-y." Allana commented from her seat behind Danni as she stared in awe out the cockpit viewscreen as they started their descent to the Trevi Spaceport.

Smiling at the young girl's enthusiasm, Danni half-turned in her seat, "It looks different from up here, doesn't it?" Seeing Allana's absent-minded nod, she continued, "Hapes is a beautiful planet."

"You should move here." The five-year-old replied, matter-of-factly, finally turning her attention to the blonde pilot. "Since you don't have a home or anything."

"You're right, I don't." Danni replied tonelessly, turning her attention back to piloting the Survivor.

"Allana! Be nice." Gadell scolded softly, clearly embarrassed about the lack of tact from his boss's daughter.

"What?" The girl replied earnestly, clearly not getting the hint. "That's what you said last night. You said that you wanted to help find Ms. Danni a job so she had somewhere to go."

"Did he now?" The scientist asked deadpan, casting a quick glance to her right at a Gadell Vessau who was clearly trying to disappear into the co-pilot's seat.

"Yep." Allana replied. "We spent half-an-hour looking for jobs for you."

Giving her co-pilot a small smile, Danni let the obvious concern and affection coming from Allana warm her soul; it had been a long time since anyone worried about her. Turning her attention back to Allana, "So, what did you find?"

"Well…we found three jobs—and two are in Chume'dan!"

"Nothing in astrophysics, sadly." Gadell added softly, refusing to look at his friend. While he was becoming rather fond of the blonde scientist, he did not feel he could ask her to pick up and move to Hapes just because he thought her an interesting, sexy woman; especially since they had only known each other a month. Shrugging, he tuned the backup radio to the approach frequency they were using, more as a way to avoid looking at the attractive woman sitting a half-meter to his left. "Two were teaching lower level math at Chume'dan Polytechnic, the other was for a research physicist on Febrini." He paused and his voice dropped, "I know it's not astrophysics, but…" he trailed off, not knowing how to continue.

Danni waited for her friend to finish fiddling with the comm panel and caught his eye, "That was very sweet of you." Her comment was aimed at Allana, but she hoped that Gadell would understand she was honored by their thoughtfulness, "I'll take a look after we land."

The security chief smiled slightly as Allana sounded gleeful, "Really?" she asked, clearly missing the subtle by-play between Danni and Gadell, "That would be so-o-o wizard!"

Danni smirked at the young girl's enthusiasm and was about to reply when Approach control came over the comm with new vectors and she had to concentrate on flying the Survivor once again.

_(_)_

Senate Rotunda, Executive Offices Floor, Coruscant —

Part of Rosbi Tyelnis' job as Omas' chief-of-staff entailed answering questions twice a dayfrom the Alliance's press corps. After answering a few easy questions from a couple of high school kids, (initially, it was started as a purely PR move—done to promote civic responsibility and expose a few kids to the 'real' workings of the press—but had become a fun part of his day, and the 'real' press seemed to enjoy mentoring the youngsters) he got down to the nitty-gritty. "What do you make of the story coming from Hapes?" One of the assembled throng asked.

Smiling, "Well, I feel bad for their smashball team. To be undefeated all year and then lose in the sector finals would be heartbreaking." His answer got the laughs he knew it would; even though they tried to ignore it, the press still knew that more people paid attention to sports than to politics.

Giving him an amused look, the reporter in question re-attacked, "What about the report that they and the Imperials are trying to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the Corellian crisis? Did the Chief-of-State know about these talks?"

Nodding as he took a quick drink of water, Rosbi answered, "We applaud the efforts of our Hapan and Remnant friends. They are trying to find a way forward that doesn't involve sabre-rattling and potential bloodshed."

Another reporter, this one from Bakura, recognized the answer as a bit of a dodge. "Did the Chief-of-State know about these talks beforehand?"

Rosbi again nodded once, "He did," he paused and leaned forward on the podium and addressed the throng earnestly, "Look, it doesn't take a genius to know that relations between the Corellians and us are not what they should be." Rosbi looked around the room and saw a few nods of agreement before continuing, "We'll listen to any idea that will keep the Corellians as part of the Alliance family, even if it comes from outside the Alliance proper. The Alliance has had its share of squabbles, but, like all families, we have common ground and years of history. Sometimes we need an outsider's point-of-view to tell us how good our family really is."

Rosbi fielded a couple more questions about the Corellians before the press moved on and asked about fiscal issues, a new executive order, and one question about parliamentary procedure. At the end of the hour, the Chief-of-Staff left the pressroom with a satisfied smile. If Gejjen wants to play hardball, we'll play hardball, he thought as he walked down the hall towards his office.

O O(_)O O

Prime Minister's Office, Coronet—

"You lied to me!" Vol Barad practically yelled at Dur Gejjen, throwing a current copy of the Galactic Times on his desk. "Worse, you had me lie to Parliament," he added hotly, tossing today's edition of the Imperial daily, Der Spiegel, on top of the Times. "You've made us look like fools; like we are incompetent." Which, to a politician, is the worst type of insult. Everyone knows, perhaps even expects, that politicians are…flexible…with the truth—but to be incompetent? The kiss of death. "The opposition party is going to be at our throats over this. You've made Omas look…presidential." He picked up the Times and read from the front page, "…'perhaps it is time Corellia start acting like a responsible family member…'" the older man quoted before chucking the news flimsi back on his boss's desk, "Tyelnis has hit upon a great sound bite, and they are going to flog us with it until it gets stale."

None of this was new to Gejjen, of course, as he listened to his second-in-command rant. In all honesty, the Hapan 'leak' had caught him off guard, and he fell back to his tactics from the campaign trail: obfuscate, deny, attack. Indeed, he had called the story coming from Chume'dan a '…flight of fancy by the Hapans to look important…' Cringing at his words, he finally realized that the older man was staring at him, clearly having run out of steam. Using his best placating voice, one he had learned as a backbencher, "You're right, of course; I reacted out of instinct and without thinking." Shaking his head, "But all is not lost. We offer a contrite apology; most think me too young to be in this job, and we can use that as an excuse—that I let the pressure of needing to say 'something' override my common sense. We can use my inexperience as a way to gain sympathy in the Senate. Perhaps gain some concessions."

The older man shook his head, "Omas is not going to concede independence." He pointed at the Times again, "Read between the lines: We're not going to get a chance to stop 'being family'.

Dur shook his head, "Then we take it. If they won't give it to us, we grab it from them."

For a long moment, neither man said anything as the grey-haired gentlemen glared at his boss. "This is not a fight we can win." He replied, clearly defeated, "The Alliance is too strong."

"That's where you're wrong. We don't have to win…we just don't have to lose."

Nodding, "I hope you know what you're doing." He replied as he left the Prime Minister's office.

O O(_)O O

Fountain Palace, Hapes, two days later—

Gadell answered his office comlink on the first ring, "Vessau."

"Boss, you'd better come down and take a listen to this." Replied the voice on the other end. "It's from Corellia."

The Director of the 'Commerce Attaché office nodded, "Be right down."

Walking down the hall, he stuck his head into Anhaje's office, "I'm headed down to the sub-basement for a minute; shouldn't take too long." The Queen's secretary only nodded in response as she continued to work on whatever it was she was doing and he resumed his trip down the hall.

Getting off the 'lift, he turned to his left and entered a door with the innocuous title Communications Room. In truth, all the communications coming into and out of the Palace went through a different switchboard on the main floor; this room was used solely by the Attachés to gather reports from around the galaxy.

Immediately upon entering, he was met by the shift supervisor. "We got a file from Cobalt twenty-three yesterday," she said as she steered her boss towards a small office at the back corner of the room, referring to the agent on Corellia by her assigned identifier. "There was quite a bit of data and it took us a while to sift through it."

"I can imagine," Gadell replied, hearing her at her apologetic tone; he knew just how hard intelligence gathering could be: listening to hours of mundane conversations hoping to overhear something interesting. "Whatcha got?" He asked as they entered the smaller room.

The young woman nodded at the tech sitting in front of a bank of computers who immediately hit the 'play' button and a calm voice sounded over the room's speakers. …then we take it. If they won't give it to us, we grab it from them. Gadell's eyes widened at the unmistakable voice of Dur Gejjen. After a pause, a different voice sounded, This is not a fight we can win. The Alliance is too strong. Commander Vessau grimaced at Gejjen's smug reply, That's where you're wrong. We don't have to win…we just don't have to lose. The mystery man's voice came again over the speakers, sounding resigned, I hope you know what you're doing. The sounds of footfalls on thick carpet came sounded, followed the quiet 'thunk' of a door being closed.

"Whose voice…" Gadell started to ask before the tech held up her hand, indicating that there was more on the recording. After another couple of seconds, Dur Gejjen starting talking again, apparently on a comlink. It's me. A short pause. Yes, I'm aware I stuck my foot in it, he retorted angrily at the unrecorded rebuke, followed by another pause. I know this will erode support in Parliament, Gejjen replied, sounding desperate, and Vessau almost felt sorry for the man. We need to accelerate our plan to get the opposition to back off a bit. Another short pause followed, Lost it? He sounded incredulous. I didn't think you could lose anything. Just audible from Gejjen's comlink was the unmistakable sound of a woman's laughter came over the speaker as she apparently started to explain how she could have lost whatever it was. Fine. Dur replied, sounding exasperated, Execute the plan when it turns up. Happy hunting. With that, the distinct 'beep' of a comlink being disconnected sounded and the tech stopped the recording.

For a long moment, Commander Vessau stood still, clearly trying to process this new information meant. "Any way of figure out who was on the other end of that call?"

Grimacing, the audio tech grimaced and shook her head, "We just don't have a large enough sample. It's female, obviously, but aside from that…" she trailed off, sounding chagrined.

Sensing her tech's embarrassment at not being able to give the Commander what he needed, the supervisor quickly told Gadell some better news. "We've got a contact inside the Corellian's Holonet switching station…she might be able to find something."

Nodding his appreciation at her initiative and at her desire to protect her subordinates, Vessau asked about the other voice from the first half of the recording. "Ah. There we are on firmer ground." The tech replied, clearly glad at being able to provide some useful information, "We believe the other person is Vol Barad, Deputy President of the Five Worlds."

Gadell whistled tonelessly, Vol Barad had not been heard from in quite a while and many in Hapan Intelligence had assumed he was killed as part of Gejjen's coup. Clearly, the rumor of his demise was exaggerated. "How sure are we?"

The tech shrugged, "Seventy, seventy-five percent. Most of our recordings of him are a couple of years old."

"We need to make sure. You two," he gestured to the tech and the supervisor, "come with me, we're going to take this to Fleet Intelligence and have them take a listen." The two women nodded as they gathered their things and followed their boss out of the Palace.

_(_)_

After running it through their voice-recognition software, the signals office confirmed that it was indeed Vol Barad's voice on the recording. With a satisfied nod, Gadell addressed the lieutenant, "Excellent. Can you ask your boss to meet us down here? Tell her it's important." The Intelligence officer nodded in reply and Gadell picked up the nearest desk comm and called the External Affairs Ministry. "Minister Xana'a? It's Commander Vessau. I need about fifteen minutes of your time down at the Signals Office. Yes, it's important."

Hanging up, he walked over the audio player and pushed 'Play', wanting to hear the whole recording again. As he did, the two Attachés joined him in front of the speakers, the supervisor looking at him questioningly, "What's this all about, sir?"

Gadell let out a deep breath, shaking his head as he did, "I don't know, yet."

Thirty minutes later….

Captain Serva, Chief of Naval Intelligence, let out a long exhale. "Is this authentic?"

"It is." The Palace and Navy audio techs answered simultaneously. After giving the other woman a small smirk, the Attaché tech continued, "I ran this through the filters about forty times and couldn't find any evidence of tampering."

Nodding, Minister Xan'a addressed Gadell, "The Corellians run a pretty sophisticated counter-surveillance sweep; how'd she get this?"

Gadell shook his head and tried to hide a grimace, "I don't know."

"You don't know, or you won't say?" Captain Serva asked pointedly. The intelligence services were supposed to share technology, and she was clearly perturbed that the Attachés had found a way to circumvent the Corellians counter-intelligence sweeps.

Vessau looked the Captain in the eyes, "I don't know. Nor do I know where she got it."

Placated, Serva looked back at the External Affairs Minister, "Can you use this?"

"I think so." Xana'a answered slowly, as the idea started forming. "Barad is obviously not in favor of Gejjen's plan to 'grab independence', and he still has a following in Parliament." She looked around at the two intelligence professionals, "If we put our negotiator in touch with Barad, we could quietly let him know that we could assist in creating bad press for Gejjen, leading to a no-confidence vote."

Gadell nodded, "I agree. We'll to more digging to find some dirt on Gejjen...give Barad something to sell to Parliament."

"You'll need to run this by the Queen." Serva observed, clearly not confortable with what the other two people were contemplating. In her mind, governments should not get involved in the affairs of others.

"She's on vacation." Gadell replied. "I'll get the Crown Prince to approve this." Vessau knew that Isolder, unlike Captain Serva, had no problem taking Gejjen down a notch.

"What about the second half of this recording?" Serva asked pointedly. "Is there anyway to find out who he was talking to?"

Vessau shrugged, "It's a tall order, but we've got someone at the switching station that might be able to narrow down the list of calls." Letting out a long sigh, he continued, "It'd help if we knew what Gejjen's comlink frequency was."

The Naval officer gave him a quick smile, "I think we might be able to help you with that…" and she proceeded to tell Vessau some of the information Signals Intelligence had been gathering by eavesdropping on Coronet.

_(_)_

A/N: So starts the final segment of our little saga. Sorry about the delay…been a busy month.