Internal Tensions (Attention Novans, FU and DL members)

[The State of Monavia]

Alfegan Embassy
Chalcedon, Monavia

Mr. Cheney had waited for all of a few minutes before he was brought down the hall to the meeting room by the receptionist. He glanced rapidly at the architectural and decorative scheme of the hallway as he proceeded down towards the door. Upon entering, he walked beside the metal table, its surface reflecting the ceiling and laid out in a somewhat unusual fashion in comparison to what he had seen previously.

"I bid you a good day as well, sir. Mr. Tai Kha'no, I was sent to receive this information because of the sensitivity of the situation concerning Senator Lewis and the burglary at his residence." he said.

"Sir, I have no objection to your security measures thus far. Invading the privacy of an embassy would be a severe breach of diplomatic protocol and a violation of the trust which was gained through so much effort in signing the recent Fegosian Union Charter.

"I can personally assure you that I possess no such devices at this time, and would not plan on doing so. Still, I would rather protect the information disclosed to me here than be made into a buffoon for inadvertently permitting it to leave this place." He removed his coat and lain it on one of the chairs as the room began to warm.

"Your offer is most generous, and I will make use of its services whenever it is necessary, though such should not be the case if we are fortunate. Since you have gone through the trouble of coming here and delivering this intelligence, I can only assume that its importance is sufficient to warrant a briefing under these conditions." he said as his eye glanced at the pebble on the table. Something about was significant, otherwise it would not occupy such a central position within the confines of the room, or for that matter, be displayed in plain view.

Mr. Cheney turned himself a small degree, perhaps enough to be noticeable from a short distance, but not so much as to be noticed by anyone across the room.

---

OOC: A sinister typographical error was located on October 28, 2010 and promptly deleted.

[The State of Monavia]

The agent in the room quickly ran the aerial over the man's front and back, checking the small dial on it as it searched for electromagnetic fields. When satisfied, he closed the aerial and replaced the unit, before gesturing to a seat.
"Please sit down. But, I will get straight to the business at hand."

He reached into a small case, before removing an envelope marked "LEWIS". Inside were the paper copies of the documents found on Senator Lewis's computer, each marked on the obverse with the text 'Alpha-04'. He pushed the papers across the table to the Monavian, before tapping the pebble idly.
"Those sheets are copies of documents we were able to recover from the hard drive of Senator Lewis. I hope you are able to make light of them in the same way that we did. Especially if you read the notes found attached to each file as well.
You will ask me how we got that, of course. As I said, I am a field head, in charge of a field operation. In this case, it is the investigation into the arguments that Bates and Lewis hold, and into anything sinister arising from it. In this case, I believe that this is at least enough information to continue our operation here.
We do apologise to your government for the furore that we may have stirred up from the collection of data from the senator's place of residence, but the evidence we have gathered means that we have means to believe that he is up to something."

He picked up the pebble and squeezed it nervously in his hand, waiting for the reaction of the man in front of him, the object not even deforming slightly in his damp palms.

[The State of Monavia]

"Very well, you may continue."

Cheney was somewhat unnerved by what he saw. "This is unusual...I would have never expected there to be any operations going on here."

"So, your government had ordered the search because of your suspicions. Are there any other agencies cooperating in this operation, or are the Alfegans the only ones involved?"

He briefly paused, growing slightly irritated. "I have had, for some time, my personal suspicions of Senator Lewis. I could never prove anything illegal, however, and no operations were really planned until rumors of a secret underground organization, to which Senator Lewis had possible ties began to arise."

Cheney eyed the pebble suspiciously. This was not an ordinary rock to him, and somehow it was important.

"I must know if there is anything else you can tell me about the search which you are conducting."

[The State of Monavia]

For now, it seemed, the Alfegan operation was off the hook. The man surveyed the reactions of his counterpart, before placing the pebble carefully down on the table, letting it spin for a moment as it landed on the metal surface. For anyone paying very close attention, the pebble seemed to hover for a moment before hitting the table, making a quiet clang out of place with the way he had placed it down, and with its apparent weight.

"As far as I am aware, sir, there are none of our operations within Monavia which have been, will be or are presently being assisted by foreign operatives, save from your nation and mine, depending upon your viewpoint of foreign.
As for what we have been doing, I have been given permission to inform you of all current operations run by our team here. Before you ask, I do not know of the existence of any other Alfegan operations save our own in your nation, from which you can draw your own conclusions."

He paused for a moment as he racked his mind, before speaking, ensuring he had remembered all of them.

"In addition to the raid and installation of bugging equipment in Lewis's house, clothing and vehicle, we also have Senator Bates under constant surveillance by a team. Furthermore, we have a remote system hack in place of the government buildings and of Senator Lewis's office, allowing us to view CCTV footage from the buildings whenever is necessary, and are currently attempting to install a hack into Lewis's residential area telephone lines at the telephone exchange, so that we can monitor his every call.

I know that the majority of these operations count as espionage, which means that me and my team could quite rightfully be executed by your nation, or at least imprisoned for a long length of time. I have a few reasons though to urge you to otherwise not do so. The first is that we are working for a common cause - to solve a potential problem that will affect both of our nations. The second is that we have tried at every stage not to infringe more than is necessary upon your national security, so meaning that anything we have done is merely superficial, especially in light of attempting to preserve your national security.

Thus, I propose that, since we are unlikely to get anything done by working against each other, would it be possible for our two services to co-operate? You have the domestic information that would enable you to track and pin down any further anomalies, and we have the men on the ground and the budget to perform the more physical operations. As well as the 'tools'."

He took a sidewards glance at the pebble, before picking it up and passing it over to the man.

"Just as a taster of what we are able to bring down if we need to on any civil uprisings, as well as a gesture of good will. I've seen you looking at it for most of the meeting, and I guess you realise it isn't any ordinary pebble. It is, in a way, the reason why the room is so secure, both for us and the information we are exchanging. I guess you will want to know what it is. I will let your technical staff work out its function, but I would strongly suggest that you keep it at least a metre away from any sensitive electrical devices, such as a laptop. Tell them that it is more a device of sabotage rather than espionage."

The pebble was curiously heavy, with a strange attraction towards the steel table, even though it was a few feet away. Its entire surface was as one piece, polished smooth as if by a river and with no signs to the visible eye of anything out of place.

"Enjoy it. Just try not to drop it. Your technical staff will figure that one out."

[The State of Monavia]

Alfegan Embassy
Chalcedon, Monavia

"This is good. I would expect other nations, such as Zaheran or Lamoni to send operatives as well, knowing how close their ties with us are and our involvement with their alliances, or, for that matter, any other members of the Delian League or Fegosian Union.

He carefully examined the documents that were found inside of the computer. "Senator Lewis was a bit of a radical, in some capacities, yet he was never known for wanting to incite revolution. This appears suspicious, but is barely circumstantial." He then noticed the small amount of what was actually collected. "Is this all you could find? I find it odd that you could not recover much more information than this."

"This sounds almost like a standard police investigation. I am surprised that they did not do any of this. Obviously, this latest incident of violence caused some trouble, but still, nothing illicit was suspected about either party."

"While these operations are most certainly illegal, in many more ways than I could probably name at the present, at least without consulting a legal guide, your motives must force me to relocate my sympathies on this matter. Should this become a subject at a trial in a court of law, the best defense would be to claim that your leadership believed that our government was compromised and that as allies, you were ordered to carry out these operations in order to preserve the integrity of the Empire and its security.

"Also, given what you have told me, I can now shed new light upon this otherwise shrouded conundrum. Being in my position, I can safely cover up this series of investigation, and keep counterintelligence operatives out, until I can arrange a guise that you were called in later. Still, there may be some questions about this, which is why I must give you these instructions.

"As soon as the trial is over, or your operations are complete, whichever comes first, you are advised to finish it and leave with your personnel and equipment, preferably as soon as necessary. You should not expand your investigations, but rather retain what current operations within as they are, unless you are advised by me to do otherwise."

"I would believe that it is just as likely to be natural as it is to be made synthetically."

[The State of Monavia]

The man stood in thought for a brief moment, before speaking.
"Your restrictions on the scope of our operations, whilst well-founded, may compromise the current investigation if we are unable to pursue leads on the character of Senator Lewis, our man of the moment. We will of course inform you if we are carrying out any operations beyond the current scope of investigation, especially if it leads to something such as sabotage.

As you can guess, we have tried to keep ourselves below public view, though our removal of the computer from the Senator's house may have been difficult. I am sure that your government could put a spin on it for now - if you want, we have sufficient loose ends that we could manufacture for the police and other branches of the intelligence agencies to pursue ad infinitum.

The operations we will continue on Lewis will, as you can assume, be more extensive. Whilst we would be suspicious of such information that we actually recovered, when we removed the computer we found that the majority of files had been corrupted, and of the files we could assemble none of them seemed of gross importance. Therefore, we must assume at the existence of other computers in which data is concealed. As such an operation would involve much more stealthy insertion into the house of Senator Lewis, we would like to request either for a joint team of Alfegan and Monavian operatives to search his home, and try recover any more media devices. Since you could arrange this, a police operation as cover would be sufficient.
I have a hunch that the Senator is hiding something. If you can get us the Police operation cover, I can guarantee you that we will get you results."

[The State of Monavia]

Alfegan Embassy
Chalcedon, Monavia

Cheney looked at the documents again. "Typical," he said, "Lewis misspells things when he is furious about something. The whole basis for the charges of misuse of public funds is tied into the collective fund which Senator Bates had sponsored. Lewis is hoping to convict him on that, but it will not work. I hear that those charges may be dropped."

Taking a moment to think, he then issued a correction. "Actually, they may not be dropped. I thought so at first, but now I believe that he may try to pursue them, in order to cast a shadow upon Bates' character."

"I understand your predicament, but I cannot be any more lenient about these restrictions for a while, as public interest is still too strong. Scrutiny by the populace must die down some more if your operations can be safely expanded without any interference.

"The removal of the computer can be disguised. The police are stumped, and I can drop them a brief communication through a secure line about where to pursue a possible lead elsewhere, which shall turn up dead. I must, however, obtain access to the parts of the computer, in order to plant it elsewhere."

"I find it highly suspicious that the files had been corrupted. I would never have expected that. Did you damage the computer as you removed it?" He paused to think again, concentrating on finding out how this could happen. "I should probably take a look at the computer before planting it in a good location," he said.

"I can provide you with such cover, but the search can also be classified as a training exercise and so forth, with additional reasons being added on as needed."

Cheney was momentarily lost in thought. "Tomorrow morning, bring yourself and one of your superiors, if possible, to the MNIA Headquarters. I may have something you should hear about."

[The State of Monavia]

"I guess then that we have an agreement. I will accept your compromised deal, since I guess that's the best that could reasonably be expected. We will inform you of course whether we have anything that we wish to do, so that we don't move ourselves further into the predicament we are in.

So, tomorrow, you wish to see me at your intelligence headquarters? Since you were generous enough to agree to this meeting, we will reciprocate that by coming as you said. My superior, who as I said is flying into Monavia, will also be present, though he may want to ask similar questions to you as I have already. We will bring the computer with you - as you can assume, us keeping the precise whereabouts of our operations secret is critical to our success, so that we don't end up with your police on our backs. I hope that you can enlighten us tomorrow as you have this morning.

Now, if you would excuse me, unless we have any other matters at hand then I must say my farewells and make an important phonecall - as I am sure you would understand. As a final word of advice, remember what I said about that pebble - don't put it near anything electric, and don't drop it."

[The State of Monavia]

"I would be pleased to oblige. Unless you possess any further business, I must take my leave. There are some loose ends which I must tie up." He rose from his seat with the pebble in his front pocket, and exited the room, soon finding himself in the parking lot.

He departed about five minutes later, having stowed the pebble in a lead-lined box, made for carrying small amounts of radioactive material. He had acquired the box at a branch office, and was taking it with him en route to another facility. Since it was not urgently needed, he had left it inside of his car, deciding to deliver it later, after the meeting had concluded. He now took advantage of the box, using it to safely carry the black pebble back to his headquarters.

[The State of Monavia]

After the Monavian official left the room, the Alfegan Operative gave a sigh of relief. The meeting had definitely gone better than he had planned, albeit with a few hitches. After doing a final bug sweep of the room, he left, quickly pacing out down the corridor to the reception. He nodded at the receptionist, before leaving the embassy building. Outside, he paced around the gardens as he took out his mobile phone, attaching an earpiece as he typed in a series of numbers on the glowing keypad. His walk took him through a plant-covered tunnel, vines bearing beautiful sub-tropical Alfegan flowers even during the current season drooping down into the pathway. Ahead was a small structure, the grounds store hut, currently shut tight with a series of padlocks. Behind it, the embassy outer wall towered up, a concrete construction covered with thorny creepers and topped with a tight coil of razor wire. A quiet enough place for his telephone call.

The line rang for a moment, before an automated voice requested that he input a numerical code. After a quick series of six numbers was input, he finally was rewarded with his superior's voice.
"Good day to you, sir. I've just concluded the meeting with the Monavian."
"You'll have to be quick - we're just about to come in to land."
"Alright. The meeting went according to plan, albeit with some restrictions to us. We have been asked to reciprocate by meeting up at their headquarters tomorrow morning."
"An interesting development - their co-operation would be excellent. Did you give them the package?"
"I did. Hopefully it won't come to that, but I think that will at least unnerve them once they disassemble it."
"Indeed. I will be off now. Meet me in the embassy foyer in an hour, and I will fully debrief you."

________________________________

The next morning, a taxi drew up outside the Monavian Intelligence Headquarters, or rather the facade that hid the headquarters. From the vehicle disembarked a group of three people, all wearing similarly inconspicuous clothing so that one would immediately assume they were tourists or foreigners, not an unusual sight in the city. However, all three carried concealed pistols underneath their jackets, Ev'ko 2 service sidearms loaded and ready for near immediate use should the need arise. They quickly paced through into the reception of the building, having tipped the taxi driver, before waiting inside for whoever they were meeting to greet them and guide them the correct way.

[The State of Monavia]

Mohammed had just returned to his desk, sixth cup of coffee in hand, when he heard the knock on the office door. Without waiting for a reply Asad - his supervisor - was inside the doorway.

"Minute of your time please. You should have just gotten a copy of a report forwarded to us by the Monavian intelligence service."

I did...? Mohammed glanced at his box, picked up a sheet of paper. Still warm off the printer. Oh...

"Just seeing it now." He quickly scanned, then looked back up at Asad. "Lewis. That's the man who got nearly killed last week by another Senator."

"I know." Not surprising that he did, that particular incident had led to some raised eyebrows in Manthian political circles. "You're our lead man on Monavian politics, they've mentioned potential underground political activity. And a leading leftist politician gets nearly murdered and then robbed in what looks like a political job."

"You want a briefing?"

"Not me, CCX. Working with the President's office on this."

Asad saw Mohammed's expression and nodded.

"Yeah, that high up. We have a couple people on this now, CCX wants the works tomorrow. I need you to make up a paper covering what we know about Lewis, Bates, the robbery and scenarios for the impact on the broader political situation. You'll do those for CCX tomorrow morning, no time set yet so send out the paper before you leave today."

"End of today. Sure."

"Good, I'll put you in touch with CCX over this."


******


...and the League's image is delicate domestically. The situations in Vetaka and Barronia are a drain on public opinion and the growing number of piratical incidents in Eastern Nova provide another potential source of negative opinion about the League and its effectiveness. Therefore CCX has concluded this is a particularly important moment to be involved in supporting public stability and above all non-eventful peace in other League member-states...

It was true enough. The League had been a sea change in Manthian politics, but not everybody, as it were, was steering with the new wind... Sixty years ago Manthian ships had been bombarding Damiran troops at Lanpao, or Damiran pilots had been strafing the armored advance across the Kadar. Ten years ago the two nations had been fighting by proxy in the Halakan wilderness. And now, the alliance, as the CCX background paper so tastefully put it, was delicate.

Mohammed sighed, turning back to his own paper which was blinking insistently at him from the monitor. He read back his last few lines.

...the cleanest scenario is that in which the burglars are found and identified to be simple robbers. However news sources have reported no leads, and in the absence of a smoking gun the evidence, as well as public speculation is pointing towards a politically motivated burglary. Lewis is already playing with a strong political hand after Senator Bates' attack, and even if he is not able to definitively link the theft to anyone in particular...

Mohammed rubbed his eyes, too a sup from the ninth mug of coffee, and started writing again.

...particular, he will quite likely attempt to link the robbery to the attack, and more broadly to his political opponents, in the court of public opinion. The political situation seems ripe for him to succeed in that, barring any unshakable proof emerging to the contrary...

Mohammed reached for the coffee, and found that more was needed. He would stop by Hayat's office on his way for more, her thoughts would be good in predicting what the broader ramifications of such a claim might be.

[The State of Monavia]

MNIA National Headquarters
Chalcedon, Monavia

Upon arriving at the building, Cheney exited his car and removed the box from the back seat, carrying it toward another building. The complex spanned several large plots of land, including parking lots and grounds. Among the facilities, there was a technical research center, separated from the main building.

Mr. Cheney was within the building, greeted with the usual polite nods and smiles of the workers there. He dropped off the box at one of the laboratories in the rear of the building, before asking where one of the analysts was who dealt with unusual devices.

Ten minutes later, he explained his observations of the pebble in detail, as well as the warning given to him by the Alfegan operative. He then left it behind, confident that the right precautions would be taken with analyzing the device.

---

Residence of Senator Eliot Lewis
Chalcedon, Monavia

In the basement of Lewis' house, a pair of figures was conversing, seated in the dimly lit sitting room that was used for storage. They were seated in a pair of aging leather chairs, the surfaces of which were cracked and weathered with dryness and age. Their battered appearance was concealed partly by the poor lighting in the room, but it did not stop Lewis from conversing with his confederate.

The man across from Lewis was fairly tall and thin, perhaps too much so, and appeared to be withered with age, much like the chair which he was sitting in. He was, at the moment, busying with the slow process of smoking a cigar, while Lewis was nervously adjusting his lapels.

"Senator, a victory for the PLDP in removing that thorn, the ever-persistent Bruce Bates, from our side will serve us well. There is no evidence to exonerate him as of the present, is there?"

"I would hope not, yet I fear that he has more confidence than I would be willing to admit observing. The man is resolved to defend himself. I doubt that he will deny the charges that are more recent, but right now, only the court has power in the matter. The Party is unable to—"

"Forget the Party for a moment. They will not be important until it is time to decide on how to punish him. At the least, he can receive multiple censures or be stripped of his position in the Foreign Relations Committee. At the most..." The shadowy figure now began to laugh as if his nose had been tickled by a feather. He was silenced an instant later, as he coughed loudly in the dusty room.

"You could have chosen a better place to converse, especially one that a man can smoke in without suffocating."

"A wise piece of advice. I will see to it that a better place is found, but this is perhaps the most private at the moment, save for the lower room."

"Why not use it then, Senator?"

"The ventilation is worse down there. The narrow ducts are in need of cleaning and the one grate has to get repaired."

That evening, the police investigation of the burglary was concluded. News programs announced that no leads were found in the break-in itself, as the perpetrators had apparently left no evidence. It was, however, suspected that soon someone might be caught.

Poll numbers indicated that only thirty-nine percent of responders believed that political motivations existed in connection to the robbery, yet it was unknown why it even happened.

The next morning, a letter arrived at one of the news centers. It was from Mr. Cheney. Within was a brief statement, saying that "details of the break-in were known to the MNIA, but could not be released for security reasons, until a separate investigation by the MNIA was concluded."

---

December 3, 2008

At MNIA Headquarters, Mr. Cheney waited in the lobby of the main administration building. Beyond the lobby were myriad offices, yet these were not an immediate destination for Cheney of his guests.

As the Alfegan operatives approached, a security guard asked them to come closer to be searched for possible weapons, due to security restrictions. Mr. Cheney, however, was standing nearby, and told the man to deal with another visitor, as he was expecting these people. He then gestured for them to follow along.

In the laboratory, the pebble and its temporary storage case was locked away in a vault. It was shelved there after a cursory examination by the technical expert produced few results. Items of more pressing importance were being dealt with, and the pebble might languish for a day or two until it was ever examined more closely.

[The State of Monavia]

The three men stood waiting for a few moments, before the Field Head recognised the man he had seen the day before approaching them. Before he moved to follow though, he was confronted by a security guard. With hands reaching inside jackets in anticipation of handing the pistols to the guard, they were interrupted by Cheney diverting the guard's attention. Without a word, they quickly withdrew their hands and carried on after Cheney, into the honeycomb of offices and rooms inside the building.

_______________________

Back at the Alfegos Overseas Intelligence Bureau, the Bureau High Commander sat reading a report from the desk of the Monavian Operations Head, one which he had made a priority to read yet had had difficulty in receiving. The copy that he read now, written the day previous, was one that did not best please him. Whilst all appeared to be going as to plan, albeit with errors, there was one detail he saw that produced a strongly negative reaction from him. He coughed as he read the end of the text, regarding the negotiations with Monavian Intelligence Services. Within a minute, he was on a telephone line to the AOIB Research Division, and within ten minutes of a shouted request, he received a secure digital copy of the file he had requested.

Within half an hour, and further frantic phone calls, the High Commander found himself being connected to his counterparts in Monavia, on a secure line.
"Good Morning to you there - this is the AOIB Bureau High Commander. I need to talk to the person in charge of your R&D division immediately, concerning an item that may have been received about twenty-four hours ago."

[The State of Monavia]

The High Commander soon received a reply from a woman answering the phone. "Sir, can you please provide a description of the item in question?"

Mr. Cheney escorted the three Alfegans through various parts of the building, eventually arriving at the end of a corridor, where there was an elevator. He then took them up four floors, where his office was located. He then proceeded to take them there.

[The State of Monavia]

"... and our intelligence assets in Monavia remain weak. The majority of our people are not insiders in the Monavian government but rather connected to League operations in the country. However we will continue to analyze what intelligence we receive."

Mohammed stood to give his own briefing as the CID woman finished giving her rather short summation of Manthian intelligence capabilities in Monavia.

"You all should have received a detail paper yesterday afternoon." he began, casting his gaze around the room. There were a surprising amount of people here, CCX, CID, and even MID men were present, and the local chief of intelligence for Delian League assets had even showed his face personally.

"There are several basic potential outcomes of the Lewis-Bates affair; I'll be going over projected political ramifications of the more likely scenarios in order of the most probable, as far as we can determine with the information on hand at the moment. This ranking may change as more information becomes available. First scenario, Bates is convicted of assault and censured by the Senate but not destroyed politically..."

The briefing went on along those lines for several minutes, often interruped by the questions from senior staff which were the purpose of these meetings. All the basic information was in the briefing they had already received, after all. Ideas on whether the roughly 40% of Monavians who seemed to believe the robbery politically motivated would be outvoted by the remainder who did not or weren't sure: projections of the impact should it turn out to be an ordinary burglary or indeed a politically motivated attack: analysis of the effects of a potential conviction or acquittal for Bates.

"... to end, an update on new information which has come in this morning. The MNIA has made a public announcement that it knows who was responsible for the break-in and is conducting its own investigation. From an intelligence standpoint this does not settle the question for us of whether there is some political motive behind the burglary - that might be the focus of the Monavian investigation - but it does seem probable that if MNIA knows the details and is declining to release them, it may have been a politically motivated job.

My Department's formal conclusion is that political stability is broadly more likely to be maintained if Bates and his party remain in control, whilst if Lewis and his party gain the government a greater degree of political discord is likely. The Department recommends this information be taken into consideration when considering future actions."

Mohammed paused to see if there were any more questions; there weren't. He yielded to another CID man who began to discuss the potential for increasing intelligence presence in Monavia, only tuning in when he was back seated. Field operations were not his area of work.

"... the establishment of a formal embassy offers the potential to dramatically expand activities in Monavia, carrying along with it the natural suspicion that embassy personnel generally draw, and MID recommends that direct of the Embassy itself be kept to a minimum, and Embassy personnel instead mainly be used to support third parties..."

A CID man interrupted to ask a question, it was answered, the briefing went on. These meetings were far more bureaucratic than a comparable military agency's, but it could be said of them that they were thorough; the wheels ground fine.

[The State of Monavia]

Supreme Court Of the Monavian Empire
Chalcedon, Monavia

While Cheney and the Alfegans were busy with the more covert aspects of uncovering what was going on in the hidden world of political intrigue, a more public drama was playing out. A grand pageantry of trial and decision was to unfold later that day.

At roughly 10:00, Senator Bates departed his place of residence and was driven towards the Supreme Court building. The trip there took little time, though a sojourn of a few miles seemed to take shorter than expected when the traffic was clear, and longer than expected when the vehicle had to stop for pedestrians or pass by an occasional reporter.

Bates exited shortly thereafter, having to ascend the steps as a windy breeze blew past him, nearly knocking off his hat and blowing about his graying hair. The dull, gray rainclouds that passed overhead almost reflected the senator's mood, and the cold air, broken by a slow drizzle every now and then, only seemed to serve as a way to dim the countenance of this otherwise successful public servant.

Bates, preceded by his attorney, filed his way past the spectators, preparing to enter the building. He halted to turn and look upon the scenery surrounding him, perhaps to appreciate the beauty of the city which ruled over the proud people he served, and perhaps to observe the actions of those nearby, but his attentions were soon drawn away, as he looked upon a sight that left many a sagacious onlooker baffled at determining its purpose. It wasn't so much what he saw as what he heard that now appeared to rekindle a fiery spirit in him, for he now saw yet another example of what Lewis and his supporters stood for.

Several Lewis supporters were lined up along the sidewalk, chanting slogans that reflected his usual political rhetoric and waving large signs in the faces of passers-by. Lewis was now approaching them, attired in a manner similar to Bates, though less formal and appearing with the confidence of a gambler who wins his every bet. He met up with them, and borrowed a megaphone, so that he might broadcast his message to anyone who was listening.

"This trial shall serve to clear up the corrupt and decadent forces which conspire to trample on our most cherished values. We will prevail, as I personally have, and with succeed in overthrowing an agent of the old regime, so outdated and inefficient and unwilling to meet the needs of every person under its rule!"

A number of cheers emanated from the crowd, but most bystanders were silent, choosing to judge ideas by their merits and wait for history to happen before arriving at an appropriate conclusion. Meanwhile, Lewis continued to insinuate the Royalists.

"If this trial does not proceed as I would expect of a fair judicial system, then I shall be sure that the injustice is the result of a massive conspiracy between the--"

A burst of thunder, far off in another part of the city, where the rain had intensified and began to pour more aggressively, cut him off, silencing him momentarily.

"...The monarchy and its narrow-minded supporters, the religious fanatics who use this idea of legislated morality and dogmatic precepts against us, but it will not stand much longer."

He avoided employing language that was any harsher, as he did not possess any desire to risk another attack by a Royalist supporter.

[The State of Monavia]

Αέρας Κυρηναϊκή
πτήση 1730

Certain pieces of embassy equipment were too heavy or too inconvenient to travel in the holds of a civilian aircraft - staff cars and helicopter amongst them - and a very few had been deemed too sensitive to be traveling in amongst everyone's personal luggage and the more basic furnishings. Not even embassy staffers and door guards should know everything about what went on inside, after all... Those items were being shipped by sea and had left some time earlier, along with a few advance personnel to get the embassy building ready for occupation.

Nevertheless the majority of staffers and personnel were aboard the Αέρας Κυρηναϊκή R830, which had been chartered for the purpose by the Denomination of Foreign Diplomacy. Most of the party were already well familiar with Monavia and several had visited or studied the country in particular - thus their postings - but still a constant low level of conversation was going on regarding all aspects of Monavian life: culture, politics, food, places to visit.

The future Embassy Security were lounging towards the back of the plane, enjoying the extra legroom provided by the removal of about 2/3 of the R830's seats. A jug of black wine had made the rounds, and towards this end of the plane laughter and jokes dominated any quiet discussions that might have been running.

In what had been first class cabin however neither topic dominated discussion as the plane started final descent. Instead Dimitris Markides, the Union's ambassador to Monavia and head of the diplomatic party, was reviewing a few documents. Recent information on a few of the people whom he might meet in the next few weeks, Denomination profiles on some of his own new staff, a brief on current hot topics in Monavia... intelligence materials...

From what the Denomination was telling him intelligence would start to operate out of his embassy very soon after arrival. The Denomination was either more hostile to or more concerned about the Monavian People's Liberal Democratic Party than he had expected. Possibly both. And while even he didn't get every little detail of the intelligence operations, he could tell from what was not said that some of the proposed operations would definitely need to be kept not only from the public but also from the Monavian government.

Dimitris sighed and pinched his nose as the captain's voice came on, informing all that landing would be in twenty minutes.

The President could have a sense of humor sometimes, like when asked for a 'quiet posting.'

[The State of Monavia]

Supreme Court of the Monavian Empire
Chalcedon, Monavia

The sight of Lewis and his supporters on the sidewalks had done nothing to ease the troubles that had taken up residence in Bates' mind. He turned around and continued on his way toward the building. Within seconds, he had made his way up the steps and under the overhanging roof of the front portico, just in time to avoid being drenched with a sudden burst of rain. The storm had intensified, and the wind had blown aside his umbrella. The roof alone stopped the rain from hitting him.

A porter opened the door for him and his attorney. He nodded in approval, silently walking into the lobby as he folded up his umbrella. There was a throng of people there, milling about and waiting for the trial to begin, which was to happen in ten minutes. Outside, a different scene was playing out.

Lewis had walked under the portico, looking about at the passers-by who lined the sidewalks. The tall, thin figure of a man in black approached. He carried what appeared to be a cigar in his pocket, and asked for a lighter. Lewis handed it to him as he coughed loudly. The chilly air had not done much good for his breathing.

"Thank you. It has been a while." the tall man replied. "I cannot say much here, but I will caution you that Bates may suspect something foul is afoot. It would be unwise to permit him any advantage which he could use too effectively against us. Also, above all, do not permit the secrecy of our operations to be compromised."

"I believe that I can manage that fine without any assistance. What else do you need?"

"I can tell you something of great importance, which I am sure you will want to know. I cannot remain much longer, but I will tell our contact the news. I have done some investigating into the MNIA, in the form of watching from a house across the street. I saw a truck from them drive up, and a pair of agents emerged. They took a look around, and then left. They seemed to be looking for something. One of them had an unusual device with him."

"That will do. I must go inside now."

"I will meet with you this evening."

The pair parted, the man to his own destination, and Senator Lewis to the lobby, where he sat down at one end of the room. Bates had exited and stood under the portico.

The man dropped his cigar into the trash bin, since the rain had wetted its tip and ruined it, extinguishing it.

[The State of Monavia]

On the phone-line, the man paused as he fished through details, before finding an image of the device in question.
"It's probably in the form of a stone of some sort, of a dark colouration. It'd be about fifteen to twenty centimetres long, similar pattern all over, and would weigh a surprisingly large amount. Do you have such an item in your department?"

______________________________________

The Alfegan agents followed blindly through the corridors, making mental notes of the structure they moved through. It was a typical Monavian development, modern architecture meeting bureaucracy in a perfect tangle of corridors without any form of distinguishing landmarks to aid navigation. It was an absolute nightmare in terms of being a structure to escape from, not that the Alfegan agents were planning to. After passing through an elevator, the men finally found themselves nearing their journeys end, entering the office of their Monavian counterpart and preparing for the meeting they were to have.

[The State of Monavia]

MNIA National Headquarters
Chalcedon, Monavia

"I believe that such a stone exists. I can attempt to retrieve it, however, I am uncertain as to its purpose. Could you wait for one moment?"

[The State of Monavia]

"Alright. I'll wait - but make sure you do hurry a bit - I don't want to sit here all day."
The man sat listening, awaiting a response, whilst moving over to read the documentation again.

[The State of Monavia]

MNIA National Headquarters
Chalcedon, Monavia

The woman replied, "I will look for the item." A minute later, she then added, "I have one item that fits such a description in the documentation log. I will inform my boss about it and he will retrieve it shortly."

[The State of Monavia]

MNIA National Headquarters
Chalcedon, Monavia

Cheney reached his office. "I will be in there only a minute before meeting with you. I need to put a few things in order first." He unlocked the polished metal doors of the office, which shone much like mirrors. The bright color was a pale shade of gray, resembling silver, but was slightly darker. The Alfegans soon noticed their reflections before them. Cheney emerged a minute later.

"Pardon me for holding you up, I had a mess of papers which had been left by some of my subordinates on my desk and it was an unsightly morass in need of removal. In addition, I needed to pull out this." He held a short stack of papers with details about the trial. "A list of charges against Senator Bates is detailed here, as well as several details about the nature of the evidence which has been viewed by the court. You may read it once I make sure all of the pages are here." He led them into the office.

The interior was richly paneled with stone tiles and ornate marble friezes running around the ceiling. Paintings, hanging from the walls, graced the spacious room, and enhanced the effect provided by the immense colossus of white oak that was Cheney's desk. The desk itself was large enough to serve as a dining table for six people, being a yard wide and over a fathom in length. Upon it sat a number of personal mementos, such as a pen set, photographs, a stapler, and other ordinary objects. Among the assemblage of devices was a typewriter, old yet maintained well, with paper mounted in its rack. It was not, however, the primary source of Cheney's documents.

On a table adjacent to the massive desk was his computer, and to the other side was the typewriter. Adjacent to it was a bronze sculpture of a horse in full gallop, a gift from the Minister of Defense, Carl Blake. Cheney sat down and thumbed through the pages.

[The State of Monavia]

The Alfegan delegation walked into his office after the Monavian intelligence chief had ordered his affairs, quietly and professionally noting the interior decor. The man that sat before them took a different view in their eyes, as they surveyed the desk - a man, it appeared, who went for grandeur. Whilst the desk initially caught their eye, the large bronze statue took the focus of their attention, followed by the typewriter. The head of the group smiled as he looked about, before speaking.
"I see you are one, like myself, to hang onto the memories of times gone past. Pray, may I take a look?"

The man was intrigued, having never seen an English typewriter before - in his office, he had when he first joined the agency have his secretary utilise the equivalent of four typewriters to write out messages in simplified Fegosian, the entire page angled to allow for the vertical nature of the script. Those had been phased out within a year of him joining, replaced by an Aerlingish keyboard for his liaisons with freelance airship traders his department had used during the times of unrest. He looked over the layout, keeping his hands a polite distance away, before turning back.
"You said that there are a significant number of charges to be levelled against Bates. However, as I'm sure you are aware, there are two sides to any case. What dirt do you have on Lewis, apart from the current documents we have retrieved from his computer?"

[The State of Monavia]

Office of MNIA General Director James Cheney
MNIA National Headquarters
Chalcedon, Monavia

"My issues with Senator Lewis begin with another generation. His father was not always the mopst scrupulous man, and it was said that Lewis' mother lived loosely. That was forty years ago, however, and my personal mistrusts of him go back to that time. He was never the most honest student at the school I attended with him and was known to have secret meetings with his 'club' of friends.

"Lewis was not engaged in any illegal activity, to my knowledge, at least at that time. His staunch, anti-Royalist views on politics garnered him much attention in the public square when he moved to another province and ran for office, promising vague progress and so forth. He really did not define his positions on issues with much precision, which is why he lost the election to the Senate on his first attempt." Cheney looked at the papers nervously for a moment. He had forgotten where he placed the documents he kept secret in his office on the matter with Lewis. "Excuse me, I must find some papers which may shed some light on your query."

Cheney arose and walked over to a filing cabinet, and began to turn a combination wheel, in addition to needing a key to unlock it. After releasing the doors, he pulled out a drawer filled with files about individuals who Cheney considered suspicious. Cheney kept tabs on people who he personally mistrusted, and had a whole cabinet devoted to them, thus he had to dig through the thousands of documents before finding what he wanted.

"I have here some collected information on Lewis. It includes surveillance, correspondence, and a few other things." Cheney sat back down and pulled out a few sheets to show to the Alfegans. The first was a report about a mysterious man who kept showing up at Lewis' house, and it was clear that his identity had yet to be discovered. Cheney pointed out photographs and diagrams which he had included as he explained a few details from the files. "The stranger had a penchant for smoking cigars, and often spent hours over at the house before leaving. He always showed up in the evening, or late at night, and left at odd hours. Finally, he raised my suspicions by appearing to avoid appearing in public much and not showing his face whenever he went near the house."

"This next file is about an unusual signal which was recorded when construction work was done near the house. During a road construction project, in which a new sewer line, some cables, telephone lines, and water pipes were added before the pavement was replaced, the communications companies recorded a signal coming from an electrical box. The signal did not belong to any of the wires, so the workmen sent out by the company to conduct maintenance on the box investigated the signal, tracing it to Lewis' house. They could not identify why it existed, as they were told to ignore it later.

"Curiously enough, the foreman who directed the inspection and maintenance on the box worked was told by his superiors to leave it alone. One of the company workers who held this power was later convicted of taking bribes from others to keep secrets under wraps, and conspiring with organized crime. I believe that he may have been connected to Lewis, and was bribed to keep the signal hidden.

"We dispatched a pair of agents to search for the signal a day ago, but they found very little. They detected a very weak electrical flow underground, but they could not pick up much else. We will send them out again today, with more powerful equipment." Cheney seemed to have run out of breath, as he had said so much.

"Lewis must be communicating with someone through a secure and covert network, separate from the public terminals. We could not secure a warrant for searching these things yet, as we were quite close to doing so when the violent assault on Lewis took place, and the media firestorm had broken out just in time to make it impractical. The warrant will have to wait.

"Right now, I will need to have a way to keep Lewis busy so that he doesn't get more suspicious. He appears to know how to avoid surveillance, which complicates matters. The data corruption system made a mess of things. I will need to have the technical files on the system, as well as all data retrieved from his computer. I have reason to believe that he used an MNIA-based program to delete and corrupt his files, as the program you described sounds vaguely familiar. If he had access to it, then it means that he is connected to someone who can steal our information and provide it to him."