The Bridge officers of the Bristol, minus Yilaan and the captain, were gathered in a meeting room on the station, discussing what happened and waiting for Yilaan. The latter was in a meeting with the station's top brass, listening to reports concerning how the investigation of the apparent attempted assassination was proceeding. They waited anxiously as she would no doubt have news to report. While they waited, Jevor was entertaining the officers with tales from his past which included Hanarran, another Andorian currently visiting the station, and one of Jevor's best friends.
"So then, after we'd climbed the trees, we waited," Jevor was saying excitedly, clearly coming to something he felt would be climactic. "When Han's older brothers, who were still looking for us at the time, stopped briefly under the trees, we soaked them with the buckets of Gilarri juice we had up in the trees with us and sped off." Jevor laughed heartily at the recollection from his youth, while the others merely smiled, not knowing what Gilarri juice was. "Needless to say, we stayed well within sight of our parents for the next couple weeks."
"How long have you and Hanarran been friends?" Lt. Reiv, the Bajoran helmsman inquired of Commander Jevor.
Jevor wrinkled this brow, thinking for a moment. "Oh, probably close to 28 years at this point," he responded finally.
Reiv looked pained. "All of my childhood friends either died or fled to parts unknown as a result of the Cardassian occupation," Reiv said, the anger in his voice evident to all. Then, noting the somber mood he'd helped cast on the people in the room, he proceeded on to brighter subjects again. "That story was funny Jevor; tell us another."
Commander Jevor looked up and smiled at him. "Very well, Lieutenant. Let me think. Ah yes, I have the perfect story! One time, when he was 13 and I was 11, we......," Jevor started to say, but was interrupted by Yilaan's abrupt entrance into the room. "You look troubled Commander," Jevor said to Yilaan after she'd thrown herself into a chair a few feet from the round table the rest were sitting around.
She looked up at Jevor with weariness in her eyes. "It was a long and tedious meeting Commander. However, I did find out some interesting things," Yilaan said, her dark eyes flashing for a mere instant as she looked straight at Jevor.
Jevor smiled easily back at her. "Well, don't keep us in suspense; what's the mystery Cecilia?"
The Betazoid Yilaan straightened in her chair, tugging her uniform slightly. "The mystery," she began, "is very complicated. However, I have some news for you that you may not wish to hear here." She then glanced around at the other officers.
Jevor took her meaning, "Commander, we're all friends here, you and I and the other Bridge officers. Please, continue; what is this news?"
Cecilia Yilaan took a breath and began, "They've been able to analyze one of two monitoring cameras in the hallway; unfortunately, it's the one that's much farther down the hall from where the explosion took place, and there are other halls that intersect in between. So, in other words it's not the most reliable. Anyway, parts of the imagery were garbled and the angle was poor, but it shows several people spending inordinate amounts of time in the hallway during the two days before the explosion. However, thanks to the garbled condition of the tape, a general background check of all people known to be visiting or stationed here was completed."
The other officers looked at each other briefly before Yilaan continued, "It concluded that it could only be one of four people on the station, three of which appear on the tape."
"Why is that?" Lt. Reiv asked.
"Because only certain people on this station have the technical expertise necessary to pull off something like this. The explosive was a very sophisticated device, designed to remain inert and undetected until a specific lifeform was detected on a miniature scanner. The device was then charged and it waited until that lifeform -- the Grizzelans in this case -- came within it's preset range. That's the guess, based on a comparison of fragments of the device to known records. Anyway, the thing was placed in such a way so that the average inspector would just assume that a power conduit had ruptured. Hence my initial reaction of 'Oh this was a terrible accident' as compared to the base commander's reaction."
"So, let me guess, I'm one of the four suspects," Jevor said flatly.
Yilaan cringed slightly, "Well, yes, unfortunately you are. Since the captain is away at that conference on Tryalla Eight and won't be back for awhile, I take the responsibility of clearing your name."
"Should be easy since I didn't do it," Jevor said with an increasing edge to his voice.
"I am sure you didn't Jevor, okay?" Yilaan said. "People here are innocent until proven guilty; I'm sure you have nothing to worry about."
"Who are the other suspects?" Dr. Giovanni inquired.
"A Tellarite merchant's son, Biln Falor, who spent an inordinate amount of time in the corridor in question. He is the main engineer on his father's ship, though he's a merchant in his own right," Yilaan began, counting off people on her fingers. "Our esteemed Chief Engineer, of course." She smiled at him and was greeted with an annoyed stare.
"Of course," he said somewhat sarcastically in a retort of sorts of her attempt at cheeriness.
Her smile faded as she continued, "There's also a Human named Edward O'Rourke, who runs his own ship, carrying goods and passengers and such. For an appropriate fee of course," she added, winking at no one at particular. "Last but not least, an Andorian by the name of Hanarran, who...."
Jevor stood up and interrupted her. "That is ridiculous! Han would never do anything like that!"
Yilaan, startled by his outburst, started to say something, but Jevor cut her off again, angrily raising his voice, "I'm going to see about this. They can't just go around accusing anybody they want for this. They damn well better have some real evidence or they can just take their lynch mob somewhere else!" He shoved his chair hard against the wall and stormed out of the room.
"Commander!" Yilaan yelled after him as the doors closed behind the angry chief engineer. She then sat down and shrugged her shoulders, "I guess he's dismissed." Getting back to business she continued, "I take it Hanarran is a friend of his or something?"
Lt. Ivanovna nodded. "They've been friends since childhood," the tall, strong, chief of security said simply, her Russian heritage clear in her accent. Her sparkling blue eyes flashed, "If he wasn't a Starfleet officer, I might be worried."
Yilaan shook her head, "Oh come on Katrina! Everyone here knows him well enough to know he didn't do it."
Katrina Ivanovna looked down and shook her head twice before meeting the commander's gaze again. "That's not what I meant," she paused. "You saw his anger; a man might do whatever it took to protect his friend in a situation like this."
"What are you saying?" Reiv asked.
"You know what I'm saying; I'm saying what needs to be said as the Bristol's Chief of Security and nothing more. The man's got more integrity in his left hand than most people do in their whole body, but something like this puts a strain on a man. Especially if Hanarran asks him for help," Ivanovna responded.
The crew looked about skeptically. "I'm sure we won't have to worry about Jevor," Yilaan said matter-of-factly.
Katrina shrugged. "I'm not saying we will. It's just that I've been where he is before, and it took all my strength to do the right thing. I lost a good friend in the process, who thought that I'd betrayed her, but I could never have lived with myself if I had intervened on her behalf." Finding everyone staring at her, she continued a bit more protectively, "That event isn't something I wish to share. All I'm saying is that I've been there, and I've gone through what he'll no doubt be going through." Her face then brightened somewhat, "I'm hungry; anyone care to join me for lunch?"
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