"You've raised a lot of questions here and provided very few answers. If it wasn't for the dozen sheriff's deputies and the huge crater in the ground that can confirm at least part of your story, I'd have said that you two were in need of vacation," Rivers said.
Scalla looked at Mullen and then replied, "Yes sir, we realize that."
Mullen then leaned forward and added, "Sir, I think it's also worth noting that there haven't been any more hauntings."
"What?" Rivers asked.
"The reason we were out there to begin with sir. We were investigating a series of strange disappearances; the Native Americans there were convinced it was their ancestors, coming from beyond the grave and stealing their children. Now admittedly it's only been a couple of days," Mullen replied, letting his sentence trail off.
"I don't think that's long enough to draw any sort of conclusion," Rivers commented.
"Still sir, that's one factor that needs to have a close eye kept on it," Mullen responded.
Rivers shrugged his shoulders, "Very well." He then stood up, "Well thank you both again. If I should need anything else from you, I'll know where to find you." The two Agents got up and nodded and left the office. Rivers watched them leave before going over to a side door and opening it; a man in a suit then stepped into the room.
"I hope that was useful to you," Rivers said to the man, handing him a copy of the Agents' reports. Rivers had a distinct edge in his voice and his eyes narrowed somewhat as he appraised the man.
The man in the suit put the reports on the table and lit a cigarette. "I think it was," he replied simply.
"What's going to happen now?" Rivers asked.
The smoking man smiled as he put away his lighter. He took up the reports in his left hand and removed the cigarette from his mouth with his right. "Don't you worry, we'll handle it from here." The man then exited the room using the same door he'd entered from, closing it behind him as he departed. Rivers grimaced as he sat back down in his chair and ran his hands over his thinning hair while staring across the room.
***
Captain's Log, Stardate 90211.7. We are within a few hours of reaching Starbase 123. We are a week behind schedule after being diverted from Starbase 78 to 123. During this period of time the ship has been experiencing occasional glitches; odd momentary power fluctuations and random computer errors. We have not been able to come up with any reasons for these problems.
"Captain, we've exhausted just about every avenue of investigation," Commander Jevor was telling his captain in Nine Port as the two enjoyed a light dinner. The conversation had inevitably strayed to work, and Jevor was at a loss to explain what had been happening to the ship's systems.
"Well do you think a system wide re-boot might be order?" Freeman inquired between spoonfuls of soup.
Jevor shrugged at sat back in chair. "Well sir, I don't know. It very well might come to that. Certainly if this doesn't clear up by the time we're ready to leave the base, we should go ahead and do it. There's no place safer to shut everything off than in a Starbase."
"Commander Jevor, this is Lieutenant Reiv," the Bristol's helmsman called over the intercom from the Bridge.
Jevor pressed his comm-badge, "Yes Lieutenant? What can I do for you?"
"Sir, you have a subspace message coming in; it's coded private and important," Reiv informed the engineer.
Jevor shot Captain Freeman a glance; the latter nodded his head, "Go ahead Commander, I think we're finished here for now."
"Thank you Captain," Jevor replied. "Lieutenant, please channel the message to my quarters; I'll take it there," he then told Reiv. Jevor left for his quarters; a few moments later, Freeman departed for the Bridge.
Commander Jevor arrived quickly at his quarters, proceeding immediately over to his desk and switching on his computer console. "Computer, display incoming message," he ordered, as he stood, hunched over the screen. The expression on his face moved quickly from concern to anger to sadness as he read, finally culminating with anger as he slammed his fists on his desk. With a yell of despair, he pushed his computer console off the table and dropped into a nearby chair like a sack of flour, covering his face with his hands.
Meanwhile, on the Bridge, the brown-haired, dark-eyed First Officer of the Bristol was relating an anecdote concerning her as an Ensign fresh out of Starfleet Academy, when she suddenly stopped mid-sentence and whirled around, half out of her chair.
"Cecilia? Is something wrong?" Freeman asked, appraising the sudden change in demeanor of Yilaan.
She smiled and shook her head, "Sorry Captain, I could've sworn I felt something brush by me. It must be nothing." Yilaan went on with her story, "So at any rate, my so-called friends had me thoroughly convinced I'd flubbed my Academy finals and that I'd been assigned to Deep Space Telescope 73." Seeing that her shipmates didn't quite follow, she explained, "The telescope is light years away from anyone, and is a one person craft. Typically such assignments don't lead to promising careers aboard starships; only more of the same."
"So how did you figure out you were being tricked?" Lieutenant Ivanovna asked from her Tactical Station.
"A chance meeting with a young Lieutenant from the Lexington; he was familiar with me because I was being assigned to his section. He seemed confused when I didn't understand what he was talking about and showed me the crew assignments," Yilaan said, smiling ruefully at the recollection.
"However, that wasn't the end of it. I had an extra transporter credit, so I decided to reverse the trick on my friends. Once it came time for me to join the Lexington, I instead went for the transport to the Telescope. My friends knew when enough was enough and tried to convince me they'd played a trick, but I wouldn't hear of it. I went ahead and boarded the transport; and their expressions of horror were priceless. However, unbeknownst to my friends, I'd already arranged for the base's transporter to beam me off the walkway which led to the transport and on to that for the Lexington before the starship could depart. I contacted them a short time later and found them all properly humbled," Yilaan finished, sharing a laugh with the other Bridge officers.
As the laughter subsided, the aft-port turbolift opened, and Commander Jevor stepped out onto the Bridge. His eyes were red and his face ashen, "Captain could I see you in your Ready Room?"
"Yes, of course, you have a status report?" Freeman assumed. Jevor didn't reply and made quickly for Freeman's Ready Room. Sensing something was amiss, Freeman followed wordlessly, while Yilaan looked on with concern; she didn't have to open her mind to sense Jevor's pain.
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