Three scans later, Roger set the tricorder on the coffee table.  “The room is clean.”

“Three scans?” said Lori.

“Like you said, we don’t take chances, especially now that we’ve talked with Klunt.”

There was an awkward silence as the two stared at each other.

“Sit, Doctor.”

Lori kicked off her shoes and sat on the couch, her hands resting in her lap.

“The fight was a set up?  Explain yourself.”  Roger was angry, but he kept it inside, for the most part.

Lori didn’t say anything.

“Doctor Weaver.”  Roger’s voice was stern.

Lori brushed a few strands of hair away from her eyes.  “While you were in the shower getting ready to go out with Ted and Erica, someone knocked on the door.  When I opened it, there was someone from housekeeping..  She offered me clean towels.  I said we didn’t need any, but she insisted, shoving them into my hands.  When she was gone and I closed the door, I found a hand-written note folded in one of the towels giving me instructions about the fight at the poker table.  SFI knew Klunt found my file and they felt Kavi winning a fight would be an incentive for him to reach out to us.”

“Our handler sent you that information and you didn’t tell me?” said Roger.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because Kavi Rozen doesn’t tell things to her underlings unless they need to know and you didn’t  need to know.”

Roger was so taken aback by her answer, it took several seconds before he could say anything.  “Kavi is the lead on this op, but I’m still the ranking officer.  We’re in this together and I need to know as much as you do.”

Lori seemed to be considering his words, but there was a look of defiance on her face that made Roger feel queasy in his stomach.  He was beginning to wonder if she was losing herself to her undercover persona.

“Do you still have the note?”

“No.  I recycled it through the replicator.”

Roger crossed his arms over his chest.  “What’s happening here?  Is there something you need to tell me?”

“Sir?”

There was a tiny bit of snark in Lori’s voice.

“Do we need to end this?” said Roger.

Lori leaped off the couch, almost stumbling over the length of her evening gown.  “No!  This is an important mission.  We have Klunt’s interest.  Nobody is pulling me from this!”  Her eyes were lit up like phasers.

“All right, Doctor, we keep going.”  There was so much more Roger wanted to ask, but their mission was so important, they couldn’t stop, even if one of them lost their true self along the way.