'You could tell me not to.'
This time she cocked her head and regarded him for a moment. 'Could I?'
'If anyone could, you could.'
'But I won't. Because every time you've taken a stand, Paul Sinclair, you've been right.'
He gave her a rueful look back and walked on silently for a while, thinking that the paths of duty shouldn't lead to an assignment on Mars without Jen.
Special Agent Connally smiled encouragingly. 'You made the right decision.'
'Yeah. What do I have to do?' Paul felt uncomfortable in the sealed room, as if he were plotting against his friends outside their knowledge. He'd managed to get another officer to cover his duty on the ship for a few hours because he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Of course, he'd had to lie about why he needed to be off of the ship, but his fellow officer hadn't noticed. Apparently Paul was a better liar than he'd thought.
'You have to do two things.' Connally leaned back and pressed her fingertips together. 'First, stay alert for unusual activities by either person of interest. Unusual for you people on the ship, that is.'
'So what's unusual?'
Connally looked thoughtful. 'Secretive activities. You know, if it becomes apparent they're trying to hide something from the rest of the people on the ship.'
'Isn't that going to describe me?' Paul couldn't help asking.
'In a way. Also watch for signs of interest in things they shouldn't be pursuing. Things unrelated to their jobs. Messages they shouldn't have access to. That sort of thing.'
Paul rubbed his neck, grimacing. 'Brad Pullman's the communications officer now. He could see any message on the ship. And since Commander Moraine is the Operations officer, there's not a lot she couldn't see.'
'I understand. That aspect of things is going to be hard. That's why we're asking you to do this other thing.' Special Agent Connally held up a small, paper-thin disc. 'This, believe it or not, is a wire.'
Paul stared at it. 'That's it? The entire thing?'
'Yeah. Beautiful, isn't it? Power source, microphone, storage media all in one.' She leaned forward and reached inside his uniform to press it against the fabric. 'See? It affixes here, under the collar. That's all you have to do. It'll monitor everything you hear for the next twenty four hours.'
'Everything?'
Connally laughed. 'You don't have to wear it while you're with your girlfriend.'
'I've got duty tonight, so I'm stuck on the ship. But that was just one of my areas of concern.'
'I can imagine the others. Trust me, there's not a lot we haven't heard. We actually have a very good reason for having you wear it all day on the ship. We want you to forget, as much as you can, that you're wearing it.'
Paul brushed his collar near where the wire rested. 'I don't see how I could do that.'
'Trust me. You'll forget it's there.' The NCIS agent brought out a large data pad. 'This can't leave our office, so I'll have to ask you to memorize it as much as possible. We'd like you to somehow bring up the following topics while talking to Pullman and Moraine.'
Paul took the pad, reading slowly. The topics were fairly predictable, once he thought about it. Money troubles. Recent purchases. Investments and investment advice. Opinions on foreign policy. Opinions on the current political leadership. 'I have a little trouble with some of this. It's not illegal to dislike whoever's in the White House and I don't want to entrap someone into violating Article 88 of the Uniform Code.'
Connally looked at him in surprise. 'Contempt toward Officials? Not a lot of people even know about that one, let alone the right article number.'
'I'm my ship's legal officer.'
'Oh. In any event, nobody's going to get convicted of that charge nowadays unless they're standing on a mountaintop screaming obscenities and threats. You know that. All we're looking for is motivation.'
Paul read the data pad again. 'You think somebody would dislike the president enough to spy on their own country?'
'Stranger things have happened,' Connally noted dryly. 'How well do you know Pullman and Moraine?'
'Do you mean personally?' Paul made a dismissive gesture. 'Neither all that well. Both of them just came aboard a little while ago. I knew Brad in school a little, but just sort of in passing.'
'Then it might be a little hard to start discussing personal opinions and finances with them. Just do your best.'
Paul shook his head. 'I'm not a brilliant conversationalist. If I could get someone else to help-'
'No. I'm sorry.'
'I'm sure Captain Hayes-'
'That reminds me.' Connally leaned forward again, her eyes fixed on Paul. 'Don't talk to your captain about this.'
Rebellion rose immediately. 'I can't do this and not inform my commanding officer!'
'We'll tell him.' She must have read Paul's skepticism. 'I swear. He'll know this evening. But you can't talk to him about it. Where could you get enough privacy?'
'The captain's cabin. We shut the hatch-.'
'There might be a tap in there.'
That startled Paul into momentary silence. 'Are you serious?'
'Absolutely. There's any number of devices that could be concealed in there and be effectively invisible. We don't know whether or not our target has planted one, and there's no way to sweep the cabin for it without tipping off our target.' Connally pointed to Paul's data pad. 'Not to belabor the point, but just a reminder to make sure nothing's put in your data pad about this either.'
Paul couldn't decide if was unhappier about being asked to spy on his fellow officers or unhappier about the real possibility that one of them was spying on him. 'Understood. I guess I just come back here tomorrow and you take the tap off me?'
Connally shook her head. 'No. We don't want you coming here too often. That might tip off someone, too. Is there someplace we could meet tomorrow?'
'Sure. A private place?'
'No. Someplace public.' Connally smiled. 'I'm new up here so I won't be recognized easily as an NCIS agent. And we're old friends! Did I tell you?'
Paul couldn't help smiling back. 'Really?'
'Oh, yeah. We go way back. When I see you I'll be sure to stop by and say hi. Might even give you a hug.'
'Um… I'm engaged.'
Connally's eyebrows rose. 'Just a hug, Paul. I'm not that kind of friend. Or agent. You haven't been watching too many spy movies, have you?'
Paul laughed. 'I didn't mean… That is, it might attract attention. People might talk about seeing us if you hug me because everyone knows I'm engaged and you're, well, pretty good looking.'
'You silver-tongued devil you. And you said you weren't a good conversationalist. Don't worry. Bring your fiance. It'll be good cover. As far as she's concerned, I'm an old friend, too. She's not obsessively jealous, is she?'
Paul thought about that. 'Do comments about ripping my lungs out if I ever cheat on her count?'
'Uh, yeah, but we'll keep this friendly. That's all. Your lungs should be safe.'
'One other thing.' Paul pointed to where he'd seen her shoulder holster on his earlier visit. 'Are you going to have, uh…'
Connally frowned, following the line of Paul's finger toward her underarm. Then her expression cleared. 'Oh. Am I going to be carrying, do you mean?'
'Carrying?'
'That's what we call it when we've got a sidearm. Yes. I'll be on duty. Don't worry. With my jacket on no one will be able to see I've got a weapon in a shoulder holster.'
'I just wanted to sure I didn't react if I felt it.'
