THE DIG

 

 

Tedak walked the promenade of Starbase Assailant with T'Val. As per Vulcan custom, they did not hold hands, but held two fingers touched to two fingers of their partner. Above them, Sev and Nut, the two firelizards Tedak had impressed, were involved in aerial antics, expressing the happiness of their friends.

The two were on their way to Admiral Magellan’s office and they were still early for their appointment, so they took the walk at a leisurely pace. Still too early, they reached the admiral's office and Tedak pressed the chime, waiting for the admiral to acknowledge their presence.

When he finally did, the couple stepped in and Tedak told his two little friends to find a perch somewhere and remain quiet. "They are very obedient," Tedak assured the Trill admiral, who eyed the firelizards suspiciously. "Admiral the reason we have requested this meeting is a very serious one, for us that is. We would like to request of you the honour that is bestowed on Starship captains. Sir, we would like you to marry us. I have asked T'Val back on the Discovery and she has accepted my proposal. What say you?"

Tedak watched Magellen nervously and beside him, he felt T'Val shift nervously on her seat as well. ~A nervous Vulcan?~ he thought ~but of course, one usually only gets married once and I doubt Vulcans can remain impassive about it. It is a very intimate procedure.~ They had not yet bonded for they had not yet found a witness for their bonding.

As if T'Val read his thoughts, she spoke up. "Admiral, besides the custom for marriage, Vulcans also engage in a ritual called Bonding. Would you bear witness for us on this procedure? We would also like to ask Ambassador Saarok, but we have not had the chance to speak to him yet, as he always seems to be on duty. As Commanding Officer of this station, would you summon him for us?"

 

After Saarok took care of the situation and sent of the S31 ships and his deputy commander , with assignments they need to carry out. He withdrew to his quarters to meditate. After several hours of meditating he was interrupted by a hail.

=/\=Ambassador Saarok please report to the office of admiral Magellan=/\=

Saarok didn’t appreciate the fact that he was interrupted at all. But luckily he got his emotions back under control ao he was once again the emotionless Vulcan he used to be.

=/\=I am on my way=/\=

After a short ride with the turbolift he arrived to the office of Adm. Magellan. He chimed and heard

“Enter”

When he entered he raised an eyebrow as he saw T’Val and Tedak inside.

“I was told to report in to your office Admiral”

“Yes ambassador , take a seat , its actually Tedak who needed to speak to you.”

“Yes Saarok , me and T’Val wanted to ask you something , would you be willing to be my best men on our wedding and a witness on our bonding ceremony”, Tedak asked and T’Val was nodding her head

“If you wish me to do that I will do it my friend”, Saarok said

Tedak face turned happy and T’Val was happy as much as a Vulcan can be.

 

I guess thats sorted then" Magellan nodded. " I am afraid I m unfamiliar with Vulcan or for that matter Romulan wedding practices. You ll have me take me through the Bonding Ceremony sometime. The actual ceremony I think I can handle."
"Thankyou Admiral" Tedak nodded. He leaned back on the soft sofa the Admiral had directed them too.
"How go the repairs?"
"Pretty Good thanks" Magellan replied with considerable relief in his voice. "The pirates or whatever you wish to call them didnt actually cause that much damage. Most of it was very localised, really specific strikes to key systems. I have specialists on it round the clock. Having said that its still slower than I d like I m still missing a lot of key staff."
"Running a starbase this size is always a problem" Tedak acknowldeged "Talizar VI had an orbital processing centre, It was always undermanned"
"Was?"
"It was destroyed in the Reman Uprising"
"Ah I see. Very unfortunate" Magellan answered dutifully
Tedak threw back his head in a curt laugh.
"Theres no need to be political, The incident was in the end very fortunate for all invloved, it did bring our two nations closer together. It was a Federation Ship that stopped Shinzon and effectivly returned power to teh senate."
"Perhaps" Magellan acceded.
"If History has taught us anything its that good can be found in any situation" Saarok commented
"Indeed" Tedak nodded "How very philosophical of you Saarok."
Saarok nodded the edges of his mouth curling in that not quite smile he seemed to have perfected.
Their discussion was interupted by a bleep on teh comm.
"Admiral Magellan, sorry to disturb you," It was Zoilip." You asked to be informed when the Asimov arrived."
"Thankyou Commander."
Magellan rose," I m sorry to cut our discussion short but somethings come up. Actually you all might be interested in this. The USS Asimov is bringing an archeaolgy team. They are to survey the site for the new terrafrom centre."
"It looks as if Qarek chose the wrong time to visit Ferenginar, who knows what treasures he'd miss out on" Tedak noted with a smile.
"No offence to Qarek, but I m kind of glad. A ferengi on a dig site! I d have to double, no triple security" Magellan laughed. "Anyways I have to meet them first and then run them through the Starfleet Protocol before they go down to Qualinost. Perhaps we can all meet up later if your interested."
"Of course" Saarok nodded
"If our schedules allow" Tedak added and beckoned for the fire lizards to follow.
Magellan backed cautiously away as they swept up and past him and into the corridor.
"Good Day Admiral" Tedak half bowed
"Thankyou for agreeing to marry us" T'Val said as she passed,
Saarok merely nodded
"Ambassadors"
With the diplomats gone Magellan stepped out in to Ops
"Dockmaster! Where have you berthed the Asmiov" He called striding down the deck.

"We are fortunate," Tedak commented to his fiancée as his firelizards seemed to "catch up" on the news with Saarok's queen and blue. T'Val nodded, but her eyes were shining with joy as she turned to Saarok.

"I am pleased that you will bear witness," she said, "I believe that we should start sending invitations by now. It will be days before the furthest assigned ambassador will arrive here."

Tedak nodded. "I will get on it right away," he said, "please excuse me." He left T'Val standing with Saarok as he moved off to send the invitations to all members of the Diplomatic Corps of Starfleet.

 

It took nearly 15 minutes to reach Dock C where the Asimov had docked. He was still unused to the size of the station and began to wish he'd used a peronnel transporter to the Imigration Centre at the Dock.
The Immigration Centre was a new suite of renovated rooms that were being prepared to accept firstly all the scientific staff for the Qualinost project and then to recieve the colonist once the rapid and highly controversial terraforming was complete. Project Gaia was too close to the failed Genesis project for Magellans tastes but could have the planet ready for colonisation within the year, and with such a pressure in the sector for real estate the Federation couldnt afford to dawdle.
Legs aching, he really should get into shape station life was making him soft, he arrived at the concourse outside the Asimov. The huge shape of the upgraded Nebula Class vessel outside of a wide glass window caused him a pang of regret as he recalled his former command - The Victory.
At the end of the walkway a number of passengers were being processed by security and a few crates were being unloaded by Maintenance.
He could hear the deep throaty baratone voice of his Dr Hyran Sharex, the scientific mind behind the project and Magellans civilian equal.
"... well thats what a Hebitian temple will do for you."
Raucous but polite laughter rippled from the group of civilians near the airlock. Magellan made his way forward and soon saw the Tellarite at the heart of teh discussion.
"Good Afternoon Gentle...beings" Magellan greeted as he took in the whole group. Besides Dr Sharex there were four other scientists, An Andorian with a thick shock of white hair braided into a series of dreadlocks, next to him was a diminutive woman with faint smattering spots at her temples would have suggested she were a trill were the spots not larger and more irregular Magellan pegged her as Kriosian. Next to the Kriosian was a Zakdornand lastly a Vulcan stood laughing heartily at Sharex's joke. Laughing!.
"Ah Here is the good Admiral now" Dr Sharex exclaimed forcing himself past the others to shake Magellans hand.
"Doctor." Magellan acknowledged
"Allow me to introduce the Federation Councils Elite Archeology Team, Dr Ahsrav-nit-al - Team Leader" The Andorian "Dr Shara Nishkor - Architectural Expert" the Kriosian " Mr Kalati - an expert in Xeno Technology and the team recorder" The Zakdorn " and lastly Mr Ravok a student"
Magellan shook each of their hands and nodded politely to them.
"I m very pleased the Council sent its best to us. There is a whole planet for you to explore, although we have narrowed the search somewhat for you."
Dr Ahsrav shot a glance at Dr Sharex
"I was not told of this. My team has complete autonomy."
"Ahsrav please we can work out details later, Its been a long journey why not view your quarters and freshen up."
Ahsrav nodded but still frowned and with a jerk of his head to the rest of the team led them off towards the Habitat Levels
"You ll have to excuse Ahsrav" Hyan explained once the team were out of ear shot. "Absolutly brilliant mind but really poor manners. I was hoping to catch you before you met"
"That doesnt sound good."
"Ahsrav is rather independant, the Asmiov carries all their equipment and they've brought their own shuttle. He wants quarters arranged planetside and no Starfleet interference."
Magellan nearly double taked
"You what! Thats not possible, theres only just enough room in the Hab Dome for your staff and the engineering crews, the recyclers wont take anymore than what we're budgeted for. They were strained to teh limit in the evacuation last week and are still operating erratically"
"Yes yes I know, you dont have to tell me. I lie in bed each night listening to the distribution fans fearing they'll stop and we'll all asphxysiate in our sleep."
"And as for no Starfleet thats non negotiable"
"Thats pretty much what he said"
"No. I don't care about his ethics but his team is having a security detail and a Starfleet Science Officer. I ve heard of too many things going wrong on these sort of things."
"I ll see what I can do" Hyan shrugged, " I ll have a go now. I ll stop by your office later."
"Okay. thankyou."
Magellan watched the lead scientist depart, why was bureacracy so compicated.
He began to retrace his steps back to his office deciding to take a circular route through 'The Arcade' and take in some of the sights and sounds. As usual the promenade area was bustling with a hive of commerce and trade. He paused at a few shop fronts and greeted the few local figures he had gotten to know in the past few days.
"Admiral Im still waiting for you to book a table" Hishar grinned from the entrance to his Bolian and Benzite Restaurant "You ll have the best seat in the house."
"Thankyou Hishar, Perhaps next week" Magellan sighed feeling his stomach heaving at the thought of the unusual cuisine.
Steering away from Hishar's Fine Eatery Magellan nearly stumbled over a man.
"Oh I am sorry." he apologised picking up the mans PADD and returning it to him.
"Oh no I m sorry Sir" the man replied noting the pins on Magellans collar.
"I m only Sir to Starfleet Staff, not civilians"
"Oh yes Sir. Well I am sort of Starfleet, well not really more of a part of by proxy"
"I m afraid your not making sense"
"No Im not am I" the man chuckled and thrust out his hand. "Perhaps I better introduce myself. I m John Monitor Diplomatic Corp Envoy."
"Ah ha another Diplomat" Magellan replied beginning to feel over whelmed. Since Qarek and Tedak had set up embassies the klingons has sent and envoy and just yesterday the Tholians had requested a diplomatic place on the station.
"You might be able to help me actually sir. I ve only just arrived and was'nt prepared for a station this big, and this is well my first posting and I m not entirely sure where I should be... and well as both Base CO and Fleet Commander your as good as the next man."
Magellan smiled and nodded
"Of course Mr Monitor. As Federation Envoy you'll be answering to Ambassador Saarok. I saw him with Tedak earlier, so he'll probably be back in his office by now. Deck 61 by the way, I d take a personnel transporter if I were you."
"Yes sir and thankyou."
"No problem and when you see Ambassador Saarok remind him that we have agreed to mediate another trade dispute between Antica and Selay. Oh and I may have a problem with the Federations choice in Archeaology team"
"I ll tell as soon as I find" John replied and with a curt half bow moved away.
"Thankyou" Magellan nodded and pointed "And the nearest Transporter Station is that way"

 

 

Magellan could feel a headache coming on. Why was it nothing was ever simple. He had enough trouble keeping the station running with upstart Federation Scientists trying to rule the roost. Not only did he have their particular problems to resolve but he also had to officate Ambassador Tedaks wedding, something he had never before been called to do.
He ran his eyes over the latest reports without really taking in any of the information. Having returned from teh Asimov he had discovered the Victory was in Dock, Walker had already been up to deliver his most recent report. The two had chatted a bit but the pressures of duty rosters had called their meeting to a halt.
Well I ll be damned if I m gonna let paperwork drown me he thought to himself and rose from his desk.
He strode out of his office into Ops.
"Zoilip, If anyone needs me I ll be..." he paused, "Unreachable for the next hour or so."
"Aye Sir" the Bolian nodded and then added with a grin, " You ll be on the Victory then Sir."
"Yes" sighed Magellan exasperatedly "I think your getting to know me too well, Its about time you got posted to Bajor or perhaps Cestus"
"Sorry did I say Victory I meant to say Unreachable"
Magellan laughed and exited Ops.
He took the turbolift down to teh dock and stood for a moment looking over the ships exterior from a window.
Then turning wistfully on his heel proceeded to teh airlock and entered the ship.
It felt just the same and he began to make his way to his ready room... no not his, Walkers Ready Room. He wondered if he shouldnt comm ahead and warn the Bridge a Flag Admiral was on teh way, but decided he didnt want any fuss, and besides it was an Admirals perrogative to make snap inspections.

 

Walker sat in his ready room and his eyes were burning from all of the reports he had been reading that day. He was well behind with them since the past couple of days he had been resting up on Assailant. He dropped the padd on his desk and rubbed his face out of exhaustion)

Sokath: Sir Admiral Magellan has just stepped aboard the bridge.

Walker: Ah send him in.

Sokath: Aye Aye.

(The door bell sounded)

*chirp*

Walker: Enter.

(In entered Magellan who for once was not carrying a mission padd)

Walker: Admiral how are you.

(Walker rose from his chair and shook the admiral's hand)

Magellan: Greetings Captain, it looks as though the Victory repairs are going smoothly.

Walker: The crew was very efficient in repairs.

(Magellan noticed the many padds on Walker's desk)

Magellan: Looks like you have your hands full.

Walker: Well they know how to keep you busy.

Magellan: That they do.

Walker: Can I get you anything Admiral?

 

"No I am fine" replied Magellan and he took a seat.
*Chirp*
"I should have turned that off" Walker muttered and Magellan smiled. "Enter"
The door opened and Steve burst in "I have been on this ship for a wile now and you haven't contacted me once!? What kind of a ship are you running here!?" Steve then turned to Magellan "And Admiral, don't get me started on you...." Steve couldn't hold it in anymore and let out a loud laugh.

 

"Good to see you Steve" Magellan grinned extending a hand, "How are you or is that need to know? You intell guys are all cloaks and daggers"
"More like deflectors and phasers nowadays Sir. And I m fine thanks. Still getting used to being... conventional"
"Conventional?"
"Well, back in with the rank and file. Its a different world."
"I m sure it is. Though Walker couldnt have a better Intell Officer."
"Thankyou Sir."
"So Jeff, how long you booked in for."
Walker leaned back in his chair.
"As short as possible. Just long enough to give the crew a break and finish repairs, then back out to the fun stuff."
Magellan could understand what Walker was saying, he still had a stack of paper work and that mess with the Archeologists to solve.
"I suppose I better have a look at her then. I hope the crew don't know I m not here, This isnt an official inspection."
"Well you know what ship grapevines are like"
"Indeed, shall we start with the engine room, and perhaps you could introduce me to your new crew."
"Of course " Walker replied rising from his desk, "Think you can still remember the way?"

***

Dorian shuffled along the corridor, her small antigrav platform scrapped loudly on the metal grille floor. The power cell had long been depleted and where would she be able to get another one. Her whole life was arranged in the assorted bags heaped on the unit. It felt cold today. Although the station was climate controlled the commerce levels were always at the bottom of the pile when it came to power allocation, after all why would industrial units and warehouse cargo facilities need bright lighting or heating.
Like all cities Assailant had its homeless and Dorian was one of them. She had moved to Assailant as soon as it had been constucted and stuck, nowhere else to go.
Suddenly the grav unit stopped. She pushed hard and then harder. It would nt budge, sighing she circled around her life and home to find the obstacle. At first, in the dim light she couldnt make out the problem but then as she got nearer she found a pair of feet sticking out into the corridor. She followed the feet up to reveal a body, an utterly lifeless body. Fighting an urge to run Dorian paused to check the vitals and then stood a moment staring about her, no one else was around, if she went now who would know she'd been here, it would nt be her problem. Backtracking she pulled her grav unit away from the corpse. She managed to make it nearly half a section before her conscience got the better. She paused briefly at a comm terminal, and then fled.

***

Within five minutes Sector 4a of Deck 56 Commerce level was cordoned off.
LtCmdr T'Lor, commander of Watch Station Alpha stood impassivly over the body, Taris and Toboor were combing the nearby sections for clues, whilst Dorega and Franklin were searching for the anonymous caller who had tipped them off.
"Can you determine a cause of death" she asked curtly.
The hunched form of Jill Tsomba (Head Nurse) remained bent for a moment before straighting and standing.
"Thats easy enough, The body has a phaser burn to the upper chest. It was set to kill and caused 3rd degree burns on the periphery and burnt to the bone at the core, death was nearly instantaneous, though I d say he was conscious for perhaps a minute or two after the blast."
"Time of death?"
"Not sure, won't know until the post mortem. But I d guess it was last night."
"Anything else you can tell me?"
"Not really. Like I said I need to run a post mortem, I ll be able to tell you more then."
"Ill need a scan of the neocortex, phaser frequency and full blood work up."
"That goes without saying" Jill replied haughtily "Any idea who they are?"
"I want you to confirm that with a DNA scan. But there Commbadge was registered to an Ensign Carstairs."
"One of ours?"
"No He's assigned to the USS Victory."
"The Admirals old ship!"
"The very same. He's aboard there now. I want all the facts before I inform him."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Sure? Surety is not necessary, it is the logical thing to do. There is no need informing the Admiral until I can answer his questions"
"Well be it upon your head."
T'Lor raised an eyebrow
"It will not be upon my head, I will keep the information in a PADD in my hand."
"Never mind" Jill replied shaking her head "Here sign off on the body and I ll get it down to medical for the Autopsy."
"Of course".

 

As with all starships and starbases rumours travel fast and by the time it got to sick bay the admiral was meant to be on his way around the entire ship with an inspection team. And apparently he wasnt in a good mood.

Jones scowled at the panicking nurses and running around and the constant stream of medical staff coming back from the station to see if they were needed. Jones had found in times like these flapping solved nothing so he calmly went about his business a luxury not easily afforded by most officers but Jones was after all a klingon and all his staff seemed small in comparison.

Jones often wondered why the hell admirals took time out of there day for inspections when really they should be running a fleet. Jones went into his office after he had finished all he could do and decided to complete any outstanding paperwork but he eventually drifted to the admiral’s personnel file. What information was available said that the admiral was a trill and this Jones had always found fascinating.

Jones had overlooked one thing.

=^= Jones to Majeski please report to sick bay you are need to check and prep all the equipment for inspection.=^=

Jones had pushed the rumour further unwittingly but hoped now everything would be ship shape for the admiral.

Jones was disturbed and upon looking to see who the offending member of staff it was none other than an EMH Jones cursed he hated those dam meddling programmes but he realised the EMH carried a duster and wore a pinny somebody’s idea of a joke.

Samantha was sat in the back of a shuttle installing a new piece of equipment, which was meant to make the shuttle a lot more responsive at impulse speeds. Samantha ran her tricorder over the equipment to check it was corrected properly.

“Computer run dialogistic on impulse control system,” she asked.

“Dialogistic will take 5 minutes,” answered the computer.

“Understood, continue with diagnostic,” responded Sam. She packed up her tools that were scattered across the floor and placed them back in the tool kit. Then she placed the tool kit back under the helm and took her seat in the pilot seat. She pressed the control panel looking though the system waiting for the computer to finish the dialogist.

Finally the computer said, “Dialogist complete.”

She called up the results on the control panel. It seemed to have been integrated into the systems.

“Computer begin ran, Alpha 7,” she requested. Her view changed from a shuttle bay to her beginning next to another 9 ship facing a gas giant. She’d always in joined fly and when she lived on Earth she had her own little shuttle that she had built up from an old out of date shuttlecraft to a great racing craft. She had enjoyed entering herself in races when she was in her teens, but now she was in Starfleet the only way she could do this was on the holodeck.

The computer began to count down.

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1,” counted the computer. A torpedo went of in front of her and she engaged the impulse the engines. Slowly increasing speed and scrapping around the edge of the gas giant, she was planning to use the gravity as a sling shot to increase her speed. She really enjoyed flying shuttles that’s why she had done her minor in navigation, but she seemed to get more satisfaction from building them up then flying them. Her commbadge bleeped.

“Computer pause program,” Samantha ordered as she tapped her commbadge.

=/\= Engineering to Lt Cmdr Parker =/\=

=/\= Lt Cmdr Parker here =/\=

=/\= Admiral Magellan is coming abroad, it is rumoured that he is here for an inspection =/\=

=/\= I’ll be here in about 10 minutes, Lt Cmdr Parker out =/\=

“Computer exit and save program,” Samantha order and exited as soon the exit appeared. She headed down to her quarters to changed back into her uniform and then down to engineering to prepare for this inspection.

Spedmo stood for the entire time that Admiral Magellan was on the bridge. His attention was brought back to his station when the computer chirpped. "Daignostic complete," the ship's computer said as it was desinged to. Spedmo took a look at the results and smiled when he finished. He was startled by Commander Sokath. "You should rest lieutenant. You have been working for twenty hours," Sokath said in a concrened voice. "Commander have you forgoten that I do not get tired. I can be opperational for as long as I choose," Spedmo replied. Sokath looked at the andriod in disbelief as if he never considered that thought. "Well at least take a break. I get a relief officer to this station so you can have a little bit of a break," Sokath replied with a grin. Spedmo who didn't feel like pressing the matter nodded and headed for the turbolift.

 

No sooner had Spedmo sat down than he heard a call to return to the bridge. Spedmo was quick to move and before he knew it he was back on the bridge. Many crew members were rumoring about the inspection from Admiral Magellan. The android was indifferent to the arrival from the admiral. He sat at his post as soon as he could.

 

Samantha rushed into engineering tidying up her uniform as she went.

“Is he here yet,” she asked the officer she saw as she rushed though the door.

“Who?” the ensign asked looking very confused.

“The Admiral, Admiral Magellan,” Samantha explained.

“No, I haven’t seen him,” he responded.

“Good, that should give me a little while,” she said and then thanked the ensign for his help. She scanned engineering looking for the duty officer, whom she found working next to the warp core. She walked over to him.

“How are the repairs going?” she asked and before he had chance to answer the doors to engineering slid open. She turned to see Admiral Magellan entering engineering with Walker.

“Admiral on deck,” she announced. Samantha and the rest stood up straight and faced the entering Admiral.

“At ease,” he said quickly and the crew returned back to work. He headed towards her.

“Nice to see you again admiral,” she greeted.

 

Khorne had long since finish his tour with Commander Sokath and had returned to his quarters where he was looking at the roster for science. Lt.Cmd Khorne had always wanted to serve on board a Nebula, he had herd it called the best technical science vessel in the Federation. Khorne was just about to comm his second when the door bell of his quarters rang, "Enter", said Khorne.

A Lieutenant by the name of Bill O'Neil entered the room, he was the second in command of the science department aboard the USS Victory-C. The Lt was of Medium build, about 5 foot 10, with short black hair and dark green eyes. Khorne noticed he had a very strong English accent when he spoke.

"Sir welcome aboard the Victory-C, I have come to take you to the labs so you can familaries yourself with them, also you will meet the rest of the departments crew", informed the Lt

"Thank you Lieutenant", answered the Lt.Commander

Khorne exited the information he was looking at and stood up and left his quarters. While walking along the corridors he noticed the was a mass of people running from their quarters to their departments.

"whats with the mass movements?" asked Khorne

"It's rumoured the Admiral's on board for an inspection" answered the Lieutenant

 

(Walker was walking around with Magellan. Though he knew Magellan wasn't a very uptight admiral he knew most of his crew didn't know that. The presence of an admiral watching over your shoulder isn't comfortable. Magellan and Walker got done looking at engineering)

Walker: Well it looks like the repairs are going well here. Well done Commander Parker.

Parker: Thank You sir.

(Parker immediately continued her work as she tapped her padd)

Magellan: Well engineering appears to be very efficient.

Walker: Not too shabby at all.

(Magellan tapped some notes on his padd which was probably the evaluation of the Victory's performance)

Walker: Where to next?

Magellan: I'm curious to see how your science department is coming along with the new department chief.

Walker: Ah, sounds good. I'm not sure if he is still unpacking or if he will be already hard at work.

(Magellan seemed to be preoccupied as they headed to the science department as Magellan admired his old ship)

Magellan: She is a good ship.

Walker: The name Victory suits her.

Magellan: That it does.

(The last place Walker usually goes is the Science Lab since it is the subject he had studied least at Starfleet Academy)

Walker: Here it is.

(Magellan & Walker entered the Science Lab and saw a bunch of science officers scattered around the large lab. The Victory had a lot more space in the science station seeing as it is a Nebula Class Ship. Walker however knew that Magellan must have been more fond of the science department since he had picked the Nebula)

Magellan: The science lab looks busy at work.

(Walker spotted Lasooux who seemed to be hard at work with some padds and consoles along the wall)

Walker: Lieutenant Lasooux has Commander Khorne reported in yet?

Lasooux: Over there sir.

(Lasooux pointed toward the other side of the room where an officer was unpacking his belongings)

Walker: Thank You Lieutenant.

(Walker and Magellan approached Khorne)

Walker: You must be the Chief Science Officer. I am Captain Walker, CO of the Victory-C.

Khorne: It is good to meet you sir. I look forward to working on a nebula class ship.

Walker: This is Admiral Magellan. He is in charge of Starbase Assailant.

(Magellan nodded toward Khorne)

Walker: Shall we move on Magellan?

 

Jones looked up as did half of sick bay at the nurse who ran through the doors before they had fully opened.

"Well?!" Jones demanded at the nurse

"The admiral has looked at science and at engineering. Nobody knows where he is."

"Right then people you all get busy now. If you don’t have a job to do LEAVE, I don’t want any of my staff to be looking lazy and will somebody shut of that infernal hologram and where is Majeski if anything goes down wile the admiral is in here I will teach her what klingons think about shirking duties." Jones ranted

Jones turned to the crew members around him obviously shocked at his hostility but then slowly a person started to move slowly and before long sick bay was a hive of activity with people coming and going.

 

Magellan stepped out of the small office in the Science Department Annex.
They had just been about to leave Science when he had recieved a comm from Zoilip, his Aide and Base Tactical Officer. Zoilip insisted that it be made in private and Walker had gracefully granted him the use of Lasoouxs small asst chief office.
"Is everything alright sir?" Walker asked noticing and realising instantly that the Admiral had recieved bad news.
"No. Not at all."
Magellan grasped Walkers arm at the elbow and steered him out of the room.
"I suggest we return to your ready room immediatly, this concerns you and your crew."
"Okay, sure." Walker replied puzzled.
They retraced their steps back to the bridge and into Walkers ready room.
"well...?" Walker began "Whats the big mystery?"
Magellan paced a little, a tell tale sign that he was vexed.
"The call was from Zoilip, theres been an incident on Assailant involving one of your officers."
"Oh no" sighed Walker "Franklins not got in a fight again has he."
"No. I m afraid its not as simple as that. Ensign Carstairs was found dead in an industrial unit on Assailant."
"Dead. How, when."
"Phaser shot, point blank kill setting. And when well thats hard to tell, the preliminary Post Mortem seems to suggest that the body could have been placed in stasis for a limited amount of time, so really from the time anyone last saw him"
"This is... is... well unusual to say the least. I take it crime isnt a major problem on Assailant."
"No not normally. We get petty thefts but not murder, well not since I ve arrived anyway."
"Do we have anything to go on?"
"I m not sure. T'Lor has been handling the case so far. She wants to brief me back on Assailant."
"Can I come."
"Err not yet. I want the Victory locked down. Recall your staff, do a roll call. Oh and check your weapons lockers, we may get lucky and find the weapon."
"You seriously think it was a Victory crew member? Come on Magellan, you know the crew as well as I do, its just not right."
"Right or not, I m considering all possibilities. The body was found on Assailant and so its in our jurisdiction, I m consulting you out of courtesy, and well friendship. We'll be doing the same on Assailant."
Walker sighed
"Alright, but keep me informed. I ll start an investigation here and see what we can come up with."
"Very well, but dont obstruct T'Lor in any way. I ll go meet her now and call you afterwards, by then the labs might have more information for us. I better head go now."
He tapped his badge.
"Magellan to Base Ops. Site to site transport from Victory to Security Station Alpha."
With a shimmer Magellan disappeared leaving Walker to begin an investigation and to break the news to teh crew.

 

All senior crew to the main Briefing Room now," Captain Walker's voice boomed throughout the ship. Spedmo was quicker to react than the other crew members. The lieutenant was one of the first Senior crewmen to arrive. Walker and Sokath were sitting at the table when Spedmo entered the room. The other senior staff were quick to arrive. Once the crew was steated Walker stood.

Walker started to explain the nature of the emergency to his senior staff. He couldn’t go into details about the investigation that was being carried out because the killer could have been anyone on the Victory…even one of the senior staff. With this in mind the briefing was kept short.

“I’ve got some terrible news, there’s been a murder…” began walker.

“but how?...and who?” inquired Jones

“I’m afraid that I can’t tell you much, only that the victim is Ensign Carstairs. If I feel any of you need to know more I will let you each know individually. For now the first thing we must all do is gather all the ships crew back from the station and then begin to compile location reports on every member of the crew since our arrival. Cmdr Gypsy I need you to co-ordinate with station security, help in anyway you can and report back to me. Khorne, help Gypsy and the teams from the station I’m sure they’ll have plenty of work for you to do, but no leaving the ship.” Explained Walker

“aye sir” replied the two officers simultaneously

“Jones, Majeski I have had the reports from the autopsy sent to sickbay for you to look over, the staff on the station may have missed something, report back if you find anything. Everybody else gather the crew and don’t let anyone leave the ship. Let s go people” with that the briefing was adjourned.

Sokath left the briefing room and started to contact the members of the crew still off of the ship.

 

Spedmo was quick to return to his station. He tapped the comm station on the console. "All navigations officers report to me in the next ten minutes," Spedmo said calling the crew from all around the ship. "Fredmo to Ensign Gilles and Ensign Stewart," Spedmo said as he tapped his commbadge. "Gilles and Stewart here sir. What do you need?" Gilles replied. "Return to the ship and report to me immeaditaley," Spedmo ordered as the navigations crew began to arrive. Spedmo stood and began taking location statements from his officers

 

Jones headed back to sick bay with majeski.

"Right if we split i will take alpha and charlie watch and you take delta and kappa and get the reports from the staff" Majeski said to jones

"Very good lets get on it most of the staff have been in sickbay recently we have been expecting an inspection lets go over the post mortom results after. ther is no honor in murder lets do all we can" jones replied

"agreed" majeski agreed

 

Samantha was shocked to here about the murder in the briefing and as she headed down to engineering she couldn’t get thought out of her head, who could do such a thing and why?

Samantha appeared in engineering and walked over to Lt Thomas who had been in charge while she was in the meeting.

“How was the briefing?” he asked. She dismissed the question while she couldn’t talk about it.

“I need you to get all crew to report in and find out when of them went over to the space station,” she ordered. He nodded. She could see he was wondering why, but had the good sense not to ask

 

Steve walked out of the conference room and went to the nearest turbo lift. He wasn't given any one task to do after that meeting so he decided to start his own little investigation.
"Computer, where are Ensign Carstairs quarters?" The computer replied and Steve informed the lift to take him there.
On the way Steve wondered how long it would take for Magellan to contact him. After spending the last 2 years in Star fleet Intel Steve knew things about this sector that only a select number of people has access to and he knew Magellan knew that and that he would want to know if Steve knew anything that could help his investigation.
Steve got to the door of Ensign Carstairs's quarters "Computer, Override the lock out on this door"
"Command code needed" The computer replied.
Steve spoke out a command code he used when he was in Star Fleet Intel but before the door opened he informed the computer to make no record of him being here.

As he walked into the quarters he had a look around, nothing seemed out of place so he walked over to the computer terminal and turned it on.
"Computer list all of logs, including personal logs made at this computer since the Victory arrived at the star base" He read every log that appeared on the screen but found nothing.
"Computer now list all transmissions set from this computer" A List appeared infront of Steve once again but this time there was something.
"Interesting" Steve whispered to himself and got up to leave.
As he walked out of the quarters and up the corridor he saw Walker and some other officers walking towards the quarters. Steve ducked out of sight and returned to his quarters.

 

A few days after making their intentions to get wed known, T'Val and Tedak were on their way down to Magellan's office to request his presence at their Bonding Ceremony, as witness. The admiral had consented to be their witness and so the couple was now on their way to ask if it were possible to do it now, and hold the official wedding ceremony that evening. Tedak pressed the chime on the door and waited to be called in.

"Come" Magellans voice echoed from inside. Tedak stepped forward and pressed the door release. The room was dimly lit, but Magellan himself was lit in the glow of a terminal screen that scrolled figures before his eyes.
"Ah Ambassador, Doctor" He greeted rising a moment to take their outstretched hands, "Come to divert me from my Paperwork I hope"

T'Val took the outstretched hand only by courtesy, as she normally did not shake hands. Tedak on the other hand grinned broadly and nodded. "Yes admiral, a diversion from your paperwork seems quite welcome I see. We have come to ask if you have time for the Bonding Ceremony presently, and then the Wedding Ceremony this evening?"

"Of course I d be delighted. I ve taken the trouble to look into your cultures different ceremonys, and to be honest unless you want it different I feel it may be easier to go for something generic." Magellan replied, "Romulan services are rather... well grey and Vulcan... so dry"

T'Val raised one eyebrow at Magellan's statement. "Dry?" she asked, staring at him questioningly, "Vulcan ceremonies are not dry," she continued, "they are....ceremonial."

Tedak laughed, and squeezed her hand. "I think generic will do fine admiral," he added, "will you be comfortable being in mental contact with both of us for a short moment of time? Only for a short moment, afterwards to witness that the bond indeed exists."

Magellan shifted uncomfortably. He was not appreciative of anyone or anything coming anywhere near his mind. His unusual relationship with Lin, his symbiont meant that his mind at times did not feel his own, and to be connected to two other however brief... No this was silly. "Of course" he smiled weakly "That would be fine"

T'Val eyed him curiously, her trained mind instantly aware of his discomfort. "I assure you admiral, that we will not be entering your mind, you will be aware of ours, only witnessing to see that the bond indeed is there. You nor your symbiont will be in danger. I am trained in performing mind melds, and I am the only one who is actually capable of entering your mind. Tedak is not a telepath, only I. Whe shall need to find a place where we can sit comfortably." She held up a small vial, for both Tedak and Magellan to see. "And I shall need warm water, to prepare the ceremonial tea. Admiral, I suggest you take a cup too, it helps to relax."

"Of course, What about here on the couch?" Magellan pointed to the two couches in the corner of his office and the three of them proceeded to them. Magellan took the tea tentatively, he held it to his nose and then peered inside, looking up and smiling politely at T'Val he took a sip. It was typically harsh for a vulcan beverage but was quite refreshing. He could almost feel his muscles unknotting and the approaching headache was banished completely. "this is very good" He added "Whats next?"

"Now I shall engage in a mind-meld with Tedak, it is a deep mind-probe after which a part of our mind should remain behind in the others. In essence, for a short moment we shall become one person and an echo of the other will continue to linger until one of the partners dies." She sat across from Tedak who suddenly looked extremely nervous, despite the herbal tea. She took his hand and placed it on the katra-points on her face, and then placed her own hand on his face. "Parted from me, but never parted, never and always, touching and touched," she murmured, as she entered his mind.

Tedak felt her enter his mind, but was aware of Magellan watching them intently. His first instict was to resist T'Val, but he felt her reassure him, as she probed deeper, sharing eachother's memories. Then he was aware of her pulling back from his mind. "No," he gasped, as she released him, grabbing her hand. "This is strange....but wonderful," he exclaimed, smiling.

T'Val smiled too, then looked at Magellan. "Whenever you are ready admiral," she said, smiling encouragingly.

Magellan summoned up every bit of courage he had and delved deeply into the part of Lin that recalled Toya, his first host would have loved this. A scientist to the day she died this would have fascinated her. "Okay Lets do it" All trill were partially psychic, or else teh symbiosis wouldnt be as effective. Of course it was only effective between host and symbiont but neverthless he could feel T'Vals prescence entering his mind, like gentle tendrils probing into his consciousness, like thick custard slipping between cracks. Lin too could feel the presence and surpiringly the normally skittish symbiont embraced the mind and all that it brought.

T'Val gently entered the Admiral's mind, at first feeling the resistance and then full acceptance. When she felt the acceptance, she carefully pulled his presence into her own mind, allowing him to sense Tedak's presence in her own mind. Next, she helped him enter Tedak's mind, where an echo of herself lingered. But to let him witness her presence, she had to withdraw herself. She placed his hand on Tedak's face, and withdrew for a short moment. At his nod, she gently broke the meld, and removed her own hand from Magellan's face. "Thank you," she said, and Tedak echoed her words.

"Is that it" Magellan exclaimed before he could stop himself, he had somehow imagined it taking much longer and being far more intrusive. " I...I mean is that all that is required for the Bonding Ceremony?"

"Indeed" T Val replied, "It is merely an efficient way for a third party to witness or declaration to each other, anything extra would be frivolous." " I see" Magellan replied.

Tedak merely smiled, still in wonder about feeling his fiancée (~no my wife~ he corrected himself) still in his mind, forever present. "The wedding ceremony this evening shall be according to human protocol," he said, "there will be no mind-melds involved, merely the exchange of vows. The Romulan way is no different than the human way. We thank you for the honor you present us admiral," he said, smiling, "we shall see you this evening, just before the ceremony. Will you need anything?"

Magellan shook his head, indicating that he had everything he needed to perform the ceremony.

Tedak shook Magellan's hand and T'Val issued him the official Vulcan salute, before they departed the office

 

Tedak and T'Val left Magellan's office, holding hands the Vulcan way, the only physical contact allowed between bonded couples in public: two fingers of a hand touching the partners two fingers of the other hand.

Soon, Admiral Hunter, the retired Diplomatic Corps Chief, would arrive at starbase Assaillant and Tedak had promised to wait for him at the shuttlebay. They had several hours left before the actual wedding ceremony, and T'Val had expressed her wish to meditate alone, and she had also pressed that, according to custom, he was not allowed to see her dress before the ceremony.

Tedak had not argued with her, and he would not do so now. He would have liked to hold her, but they had agreed to follow Vulcan custom in this. He let go of her hand, but did not let her depart before kissing her lightly. "There is nobody who can see us," he said, motioning at the empty corridors. He looked after her, as she walked off, while he took the turn towards the shuttlebay.

He had only just arrived there, when he was ushered out, because a shuttle was arriving. "That is Admiral Hunter's vessel?" he asked, as the shuttlebay operator directed him to the observation deck, so he could see the craft enter.

"Yes sir," the operator said, "please wait here until you receive the signal that the shuttlebay has been repressurized."

Tedak nodded, and waited patiently, but shortly after the signal had sounded, he had rushed into the bay, welcoming the old admiral.

 

Admiral Hunter walked off the suttle doors, he saw Tedak, Hunter smiled, he saw the Ambassador smiling gleefully.

Tedak: " Admiral good to see you, i was only away from the DCS for 5 mins and you have deserted us"

Hunter: "Got to make way for the young sometime, well not really, i am just wanting to spend some time with my wife and do what you are doing"

Tedak: " What they appointed a truthful Ambassador for the federation at last"

Hunter: " No they didnt, they appointed he hahaha"

Tedak: " Well you have an edge like all of us, shall we go up, "

Hunter: "Yes thats fine with me, now whats she like"

Tedak: " A loveley intelligent wormen"

Hunter: "Well you did choose her"

They walked into a room and there was a wormen, very striking and Hunter walked towards he he guessed that she was the wormen that had got the green heart of Tedak.

He moved forward and went to shake hands as she was a Vulcun, but she put her arms out to hug him, he recepirprigated and they hugged

Hunter: "It is an honour to meet you T'Val"

T'Val: "you to Admiral, Tedak has told me a lot about you"

Hunter: " Well i will let you get on, i guess you have a lot to do"

 

Tedak laughed. "Well T'Val wished to meditate, before the ceremony, and well she prefers to do so alone. Also, she thinks it is bad luck for me to see her dress before the actual ceremony."

He caught the glare from his bondmate and laughed harder. "I think we better leave her to it my friend, let's go see Saarok. He is my best man and I am sure he will be delighted to see you. Well, as delighted as Vulcan can get."

He was still laughing when T'Val, her eyes gleaming with joy, practically threw them out so she could get to her meditation. The two men walked down to Saarok's quarters, and Tedak 'rang the doorbell'.

"Ambassador Saarok, are you home?"

 

The USS El Salvador now behind him, Captain Harrias had been transferred once more, now to Starbase Assailant as Chief of Base Operations, served under Admiral Magellan, another trill. He was looking forward to the oppurtunity to serve with the living legend, and as he walked through Starbase, he thought about how Starbase life would seem after years of serving on starships. He had heard conflicting things from different people. His brother had told him that they were dead, and that it would be the most boring assignment of his life, while a couple of other officers that he knew from past ships had told him that they were more frantic than starships because they were bigger, had more people, more resources, just more.

He had decided to just wait and find out for himself. For the moment, he was finding it hard enough to find his way to the Admiral's office, and by the time you reach Captain, you don't go around asking for directions anymore. He therefore made his way towards the centre of the starbase. Unlike on a starship, where some stupid designer had put the bridge on the top, where it was easy to target and destroy, starbases were a little better thought out, with all the decision centres being placed in the centre, out of harm's reach. He knew that once he was there, he could ask for directions without too much embarrassment as different station commanders preferred different offices.

About fifteen minutes later, he arrived in the Command Centre, and looked around at the calmness and serenity with which everything was happening. It appeared his brother had been right. He hollered an Ensign who was passing him and asked for directions.

"Ensign, can you give me directions to Admiral Magellan's office?"

The Ensign looked at him with an expression that implied that the trill was extremely stupid, and then simply raised an arm, and pointed at the door about two metres from Harrias' right arm.

"There." He grunted, and then walked off before Harrias had a chance to speak to him about his manners. He shrugged, and tapped the call button on the door. A couple of seconds later, it changed to green, and the door slid open.

"Captain Harrias reporting in as Chief of Base Operations, as per orders. Sir."

"Ah Captain, good to see you again. I am to be at a wedding tonight. We have sorted everything out -" he passed him a PADD - "the details are here. Also, as you probably know, as part of the Qualinost Project, we are running Project Gaia, basically, we are again making an advanced terraforming programme. The team have made some ludicrous requests, well you'll see. I'll need your help organising that, and the security teams that will be needed. Oh, and welcome to Starbase Assailant Captain." Harrias snapped off a salute, they may not be needed in the modern Starfleet, but most COs took them lightheartedly enough, and he then retired from the office.

It appeared his brother had in fact been wrong. There was a hell of a lot going on for the people in charge, but there were more people to delegate it down to. He sighed, as he was led to an office by a yeoman, and he then settled down to study the PADDs.

 

Harrias barely got out of the restricted Starfleet Section of the Starbase when he was met by a fracas. He followed his ears towards the sign.
At the security checkpoint a young Ensign was stood heavily under vebal attack from a tall Andorian with dreadlocked white hair.
"This is just the sort of hob nailed attitude I ve come to expect from SFSEC"
"Please sir just calm down."
"There is no reason to calm down. I am DR AHSRAV-NIT-AL Professor of Xenoarcheology of the Federation Council. Do you know how many Ambassadors, Admirals and Delegates I know. I can have you reassigned faster than a Flash bug sheds its skin. You are nothing to me."
"Sir, Insults will no..."
"Did I ask for your opinion? No I dont think so."
Harrias paused a moment and then decided to intervene.
"Can I help."
"Ah another Starched- Officer"
The ensign stood up and noted Harrias's pips
"Sir. This gentleman is demanding entrance to the Operations Center to see Admiral Magellan. Only he doesnt have clearance and there are no meetings scheduled for the Admiral."
"I see and why is it that you need to see the Admiral so desperatly."
The Andorian sighed.
"I am the team leader of a galaxy renowned team of archeologists we have been assigned to survey the ruins on the planet below. I have 2 weeks inwhich to do this, and I do not want interruptions. Now I find out I m not going to be allowed to camp on the planet and return here each night, that I ll have a lumbersome security team with us at every turn and that I ll need to babysit some washed out graduate of the Cochrane University whose only way out is to be a Starfleet Science Officer"
"I see" Harrias replied at the end of the tirade "Perhaps I can be of assistance . I m Captain Harrias Chief of Base Operations."
"Hmm, maybe. That is if you have a solution?"

Firstly, we attend to what you shall say as best man," Tedak laughed, poking his friend in enthusiasm. Above them, the four firelizards exchanged a greeting and caught up on the gossip.

The three of them spent quite some time on the wording of Saarok's speech, when Tedak caught a glance at the chronometer in Saarok's quarters.

"Oh dear, I still got about 20 minutes to get dressed and go down to the hall," he cried, startled. He gathered his PADD's and darted out of Saarok's office, Sev and Nut flying out after him squawking in annoyance.

Tedak had only set a few steps when he bumped into someone, hard. He heard a grunt as he fell down to the deck, his PADD's sent flying. He looked up to see who he had bumped into and was startled to see a Trill officer, whom he mistook for the admiral.

ooc: assuming Harrias is Trill? not sure if I read correctly there

"Admiral," he managed, then noticed the four pips on the man's collar, instead of the admiral's bar, "my appologies, you are obviously not Admiral Magellan." He got to his feet and extended his hand to aid the captain back to his feet. "I am sorry, I am in quite a hurry, getting married in 20 minutes. I am Ambassador Tedak, Romulan representative."

Above him Sev and Nut squawked, demanding attention. Sev landed on his shoulder, while Nut took up perch on his right arm. "And these gentlemen are firelizards. THe bronze is Sev, the brown is Nut. They are very friendly, and protective."

Nut hissed at the Trill officer, but calmed as he noticed the man did not seem threatening, and his friend was not taking threat from him. "Again my appologies. I do hope to speak with you again, after the wedding?"

 

Harrias listened to the complaints of the doctor, and then the the trill requisitioned a nearby office, not wanting to return to his own. He looked at the andorian in front of him, and wondered vaguely about the renowned strength of this race, and whether it was a good idea being in a room with him. But he soon returned to his senses, realising that this was a very senior archaeologist, and furthermore, he was a Starfleet Captain, not a person that got attacked all that often.

"Doctor. I can see the reasons for your complaints, and I will do what I can. Firstly, as to the security team, I have to insist on this, but we will make the team as small as possible, and wherever I can, I will assign you officers that also have expertise in your own area, so that they may assist you with your dig. One of our scientists of your picking will also be with you to atte-"

"This is absur-" the scientist tried to interrupt, but Harrias carried on, his strong voice overpowering that of the doctor.

"-d to our own research on this planet. Both of these are absolutely non-negotiable. All I can offier you here is that you may choose who you have. As to staying planetside, as I am sure you are aware, the Hab Dome recyclers would not be able to cope with the extra work needed if you and your team stayed there. Again, I can offer you no solution to this other than the fact that you may select the number of hours that you stay there yourself. We run the Starbase 26 hours a day, so there is no need to worry that we won't get you." The trill Captain stopped speaking and indicated that it was the turn of the archaeologist the talk.

"This is not something I can put up with Captain. I have clearance from your Federation Science Council to do this dig, and that is what I will do."

"Yes doctor, you will. Under our terms. You have heard them, and I hope that you choose to accept them and carry out the dig. Otherwise, I am afraid you will not be able to continue. Now, I have a few other things to arrange, so I'll give you some time to consider it."

He left the doctor floundering in the office, and made his way towards his quarters. On the way he briefly spoke to the Romulan Ambassador, who seemed a nice guy in spite of his race, and Harrias made a note to talk to him later on.

 

Some time later, Tedak was grabbed by his arms, and blindfolded. Only because Mat Hunter whispered to him that they had a surprise, did he not struggle. He let himself being led around the station until they were sure that he had no idea where they were. At last, his blindfold was removed and he was facing a crowd of all DCS ambassadors, delegates and other diplomatic crew.

Present also were Admiral Magellan and Captain Harrias. Ther was only one exception to the males present, the Bajoran female ambassador was also present, and she stood out by being the only female in the room.

Tedak stood stunned, wondering what exactly was going on. A last he found his voice and addressed the crowd. "Greetings," he managed, "you have managed to scare me, now please, what is going on?"

 

Magellan took a step forward and offered Tedak a glass of something green and gloopy, it had the strong smell of alcohol about it.
"It is I believe an Earth custom." He said with a nod towards Hunter "Apparently its called a Bachelor Party."
"I see" Tedak replied "And what exactly does that entail.
"As the only human around I ll guess I ll field that one" Hunter said with a glint in his eye, "For now its a time to party, drink and socialise and later, well... who knows what may happen later."
"Then perhaps I will start the affairs with a toast." Magellan announced holding his own glass of green gloop skyward. "To Ambassador Tedak, may his union with Healer T'Val be long and prosperous."
"Ambassador Tedak" came the chorus.
Tedak sipped tentaively at the drink and found it sweet and very intoxicating. Hunter approached him and led him to one side " Here you remember those two Orion Dancing women on Rigel...."
The story trailed off in the hum drum drone of a party getting into full swing.
Magellan took the time to talk to his new Chief of Base operations.
"You settled in?" he asked
Harrias nodded
"I think so. Its very different from life on a Starship."
"I agree, I dont think I m fully adjusted yet myself."
"I met Dr Ahsrav-nit-al today as well"
"Oh lucky you. Any joy."
"That remains to be seen. I told him straight down the line how it was, its up to him now."
"Good good." Magellan nodded in relief, that was one problem potentially sorted, now he just needed to solve the problems on the Victory.

 

Tedak coughed as yet another, much stronger drink was shoved in his hands and he had tasted it carefully. "What is this?" he exclaimed, his eyes watering.

"whiskey sir," the waiter told him, "and one of the finest too."

"I am sorry, but this is too strong for me." Tedak said, handing him the glass back, "I would prefer something without alcohol or synthehol, I have had too much to drink already, and I get married in an hour!"

~what would T"Val say~ he thought. Above him, Nut squawked an answer. Tedak held out his hand for the little brown to land on. "You are right little friend," he said, "she would not like it. He walked back to the admiral and his guest.

"Greetings Mr Harrias, we meet again. Admiral, I must excuse myself from this party, as the wedding was arranged to be in an hour from now. You are still doing the honors are you not?"

Tedak nodded his thanks, set Nut airborne again and strolled off to a set of quest quarters to prepare, since T'Val had told him not to enter their quarters before they were married.

 

Harrias had to admit to himself that although usually quite expert on alien races and their customs, he was not very familiar with the human idea of a bachelor party. He could not see the sense in the getting the bridegroom drunk and incapacitated just hours before he had to be completely sober to get married. On the other hand, the Chief of Base Operations knew that humans looked for any excuse to drink and have a party, and further, didn't really need an excuse.

He congratulated the Romulan ambassador and had a short conversation with him, but due to the Romulan's stiff neck approach to the party, it all petered out pretty quickly, and Harrias was soon left with only Magellan and Hunter. Hunter excused himself, and Harrias looked over at the other trill.

"I think that is what we could call a flop. Anyway, back to business I guess. Computer End Program." The room disappeared, as did all the mess that had been created, even by such a short and small party. It had been the idea of a Lieutenant in Harrias' department to have the party there, and a good one it seemed. Harrias made a mental note to take a bottle of drink to the man as a thank you.

The pair then made their way slowly back to the command centre of the station, although Harrias noticed that Magellan seemed to have other things on his mind.

"Thinking about the Victory sir?"

Magellan Lin stared at him in slight horror, but Harrias barely batted an eyelid.

"I've commanded a couple of ships in my time, I still keep in touch. I know the rip tide that is always trying to get me back there. The slight distrust of the new Captain's ability to stop your ship being blown up. It's a terrible feeling right? Either that or you are worried that you will be late for the wedding, which incidentally starts in an hour, and you aren't even in your dress uniform yet."

"Of course. I, well, if you get any news from the Victory, patch it through to me as soon as you can."

"Of course sir."

 

Finally the time was there, the moment Tedak and T'Val had been waiting for: their wedding. Tedak was waiting in the large conference room, up front on the isle. Admiral Magellan was waiting on the other side of the table, ready to perform the ceremony. Tedak saw him motioning to the pianist, who for this occasion had arranged a real organ, and the pianist started to play. The Romulan ambassador gasped as he saw his bride enter her face completely serene and void of emotion. He gazed at her dress in wonder, a long wide pastel creme dress and on her hair a long veil finished her outfit.

T'Val walked on slowly, in perfect synchronisation with the wedding march, until she reached Tedak. She saw him smile at her, and she permitted herself a smile in return. In perfect unison, they turned to face Magellan.

"Welcome All" Magellan began, "Welcome to this union, union of two worlds, of two people."

He paused and smoothed his dress uniform a moment.

"We are gathered here today, to witness the marriage of Ambassador Tedak of Romulus and Healer T'Val of Vulcan. They have decided to make the greatest decision either will probably face in their lives. To join together, to face life as one. A unified pair a melding of two souls."

Tedak and T'Val looked at each other, and then back at Magellan, waiting patiently for him to recite the traditional human lines, which they would then repeat.

"Do we have the rings?" Magellan asked. After a small amount of fumbling the rings were produced and placed on the upturned palms of Tedak and T'Val.

"Tedak" Magellan addressed, pointing to the ring. Tedak bent picked it up and began to place it on T'Vals finger.

"Repeat after me." Magellan said

"I Tedak"

"I tedak" Tedak repeated.

"Take T'Val to be my Wife."

"Take T'Val to be my Wife."

"To have and to hold from this day forth, for better for worse until the end of time."

"To have and to hold from this day forth, for better for worse until the end of time."

"And you T'Val will you take Tedak?"

" I will" She replied.

"Then repeat after me" and Magellan then repeated the verses.

"Tedak do you take T'Val?" Magellan asked at the conclusion.

" I do" he replied.

"As you both have declared your love for each other and using the power vested in me since ancient times I pronounce you Man and Wife. You may kiss the Bride."

Tedak glanced at his bondmate in hesitation. He knew Vulcans did not really appreciate being touched in public, but when he saw her eyes shining back at him, he sensed her approval. With both hands, he volded the veil backwards and kissed her. Then they both sat down to sign their wedding agreement and Tedak motioned their witness, Saarok forward to sign also. Above them, four firelizards were performing aerials, expressing their joy over the occasion. At last, the couple turned back to Magellan, and thanked him for the ceremony.

"It was my pleasure" Magellan replied. "It is a promising sign that two people from such disparate worlds can come together like this. Perhaps theres hope in the galaxy after all."

"Indeed" Tedak replied. "Everyone" He said "You are welcome to join us in the Fishtank for the Reception."

 

Magellan had only just departed from the wedding when his comm bleeped, there were times he wished that he could just toss the commbadge out the nearest airlock it would be the only way hed ever get a moments peace.
"Yes" he replied tersly,
It was Harrias.
"Sir, T'Lor has just reported something to me I think you need to come up to Ops."
"I m on my way Captain."
Magellan altered course and made for Ops to meet his Chief of Base Operations.
"Well" he demanded before the doors had even closed behind him.
Harrias ushered Magellan out of earshot of the rest of the crew.
"Theres been another murder. Or rather we've found another body."
"Go on"
"It was found by room service in a room on the All Star Sector Hotel."
"I see"
"The woman in question was shot by phaser at pointblank range, just like Carstairs."
Magellan rubbed his temple wearily
"Time of death?"
"Approximatly and hour before Carstairs."
"Any idea who they were?"
"A bajoran civilian by the name of Talorn Nella."
"Any link to Carstairs?"
"Thats the point sir. Talorn Nella according to our records was in Starfleet, she served as a Comms Assistant on the USS Kazak-vulal and then on Starbase 151. Then just weeks after her promotion to Lieutenant she disappeared. A ship arrived at the station and she boarded and didnt return. Starfleet Security ordered that her room be cleaned, and her belongings hand over to them. She was struck of the roster and removed from the Starfleet Database."
"Starfleet Intelligence" Magellan declared.
"That would be my guess Sir. Its common practice for the to recruit linguists and comm experts and they often use Starfleet Security to smooth any ripples they leave behind."
"What about Carstairs"
"Nothing so direct. Many of his crew mates remember him telling tall tales of applying to join SF Intell but that he turned them down."
Magellan paced slightly, it always helped him think.
"Any other links?"
"Yes and its why I called you. The womans room gave a DNA match, someone else was in that room, most likely her killer, the DNA makes a match with a partial fragment found near Carstairs's body."
"A match to who?"
"Commander Steve, formerly of Starfleet Intelligence."
"No!" Magellan exclaimed his jaw dropping
"I m afraid so Sir. I have already despatched T'Lor and a security detail to apprehend him they should be reaching the Victory at any moment."
"You ve what!! Did you at least contact Captain Riker."
"No sir. I did not think it wise to forewarn the Captain, this is a Starbase matter and it is a murder enquiry."
"Awww Hell" Magellan muttered and then to Harrias " Nevermind Harrias, lets hope I m able to smooth things over. And good work, not that I believe a word of it. Steve was once my FO you know. He isnt a killer."
"You may not think so, but Starfleet Intel sure doesnt deliver flowers for a living, he certainly knows how to kill."
Magellan frowned
"Be that as it may I better get down there and try and catch Walker - hes not going to be very happy at all."
"Sir when your down there, could you perhaps get the Captain to check his systems, Cmdr Steve has full access to the Victory. Sabotage may not be a far possibility."
Magellan said nothing and stormed from Ops.
Harrias was good he had to admit that, but he didnt know Steve like he did... like he thought he did.

 

Ops was unusually quiet and Harrias sat quietly reviewing the base schematics. He took up his PADD. He had barely read more than a few passages when a young ensign appeared.
"Excuse me Sir. There is a Dr Sharex to see you."
Harrias recognised the name as the lead Federation Scientist responsible for the Colony Project.
"Show him in to the Office"
Harrias rose and entered Magellans office and took a seat.
Shortly the Tellarite scientist bustled in.
"I m sorry to disturb you.I had hoped to speak to teh Admiral."
"I am afraid he is busy at the moment, will I do"
"Yes I believe so. I can't seem to find the Federation Archeology Team. I had planned to meet Dr Ahsrav-nit-al to try and calm him down a little. But he and his team are no where to be found."
"I See" Harrias nodded, He leaned over to the computer and tapped in a few commands.
"Well we have no reports on him, he hasnt used the transporters and he hasnt boarded any of the civilian craft."
"But what about his shuttle?"
"His shuttle?"
"Yes they brought a shuttle its on the Asimov."
"I was unaware of this." Harrias rose and exited the office Sharex following like a lost lamb.
"Lieutenant have any shuttles left the station for Qualinost."
"No sir. But a shuttle did depart for a sweep of the nebula."
"Do you have it on sensors?"
The lieutenant ran his hands over the console.
"Errr no Sir. Its gone."
"Scan the planet."
"I m sorry Sir. Magnetic fluxes make accurate scanning imposible although I am picking up an ion signature entering orbit."
"Blast him" Harrias cursed "He's decided to avoid both of us and set off on his own. The fool who knows what danger he's put himself in."
Sharex stared meekly
"He was always rather outspoken at the symposiums."
"What is he so desperate to find down there. I thought this was just a routine archeological survey."
"Oh no" Sharex commented "Not to Ahsrav-nit-al, he told me earlier that he's convinced he'll find evidence of Debrune habitation."
"Debrune! Isnt that an extinct off shoot Romulan race"
"Indeed"
"But we're light years from Romulan Space."
"Exactly if so, it would be the find of a life time. Ashrav is very driven like that. Obsessed one might say of making his name. If he can prove the Debrune were out this far it may call in to doubt how we regard Romulan development and for that fact Vulcan. He doesnt believe they are extinct you see... just hiding."

 

(Walker paced the Victory corridors stiffly and keeping a sharp eye for any suspicious activity. There were many people on the Victory now that all crewmembers were ordered to report back to the ship. Walker was passing the crew quarters when he spotted a couple of stealthy looking security officers who he didn't notice. Walker followed the individuals but trailed a ways behind to make sure they didn't spot him. The officers held their hands close to their phasers as if ready to shoot someone. Suddenly the officers turned and Walker thought for a split second that they had spotted him however they simply turned to a console on the side of the corridor. Walker heard a command in the distance)

Officer: Locate Commander ....

(Just then a crewmember came up to Walker)

Victory Crewmember: Sir will you take a look at this.

(The Victory crewmember holds up a padd and Walker grabs it and breaks it in half)

Walker: Later Ensign.

(The crewmember shockingly turns and replies)

Victory Crew Member: ye..yes sir.

(On the way down the corrdiors the officers seemed to be scanning everyone with commander pips as Walker noticed it. Finally at the end of the corridor Walker saw what looked like Steve in the distance. The officers scanned Steve. The two officers looked at eachother and nodded. They pulled their phasers out)

Officer: Commander Steve, you will come with us to Assailant.

(Walker not taking any chances ran over to the officers)

Walker: Excuse me Crewmen what do you think you're doing.

Officer: Do not concern yourself we are taking Commander Steve into our custody.

Walker: Under who's authority?

Officer: Admiral Magellan.

Walker: What the...

(Walker went to tap his commbadge but just then Magellan exited a turbolift and walked over to them)

Walker: Mind telling me what this is all about Admiral?

Magellan: Sorry Jeff I didn't know anything about this until about 10 minutes ago. The order didn't come directly from me. May I speak with you in your ready room?

Walker: Indeed.

Magellan: In the meantime we will need to take Commander Steve into custody though..

(Walker nodded suspiciously and walked away with Magellan)

 

Magellan and Walker started to walk away.
"Magellan don't let them do this" Steve shouted.
"Steve I will be over to talk to you once I have spoken to Jeff but until then your orders are to do everything that my security officers tell you to do. Do you understand?" Magellan barked.
Steve thought for a minute about arguing but by the tone of the Admiral's voice he decided against it. "Aye Sir"
Steve's arm was tugged by one of the officers and he was led away
As he was led across the station in the direction of the security office he noticed Zoilip out of the corner of his eye. Steve had served with Zoilip aboard the Victory B when Magellan was his commanding Officer, for a split second Steve wished that he had never left to join Star Fleet Intel.
They entered the security office and Steve stood infront of a Vulcan Lieutenant Commander.
"I am going to have to confiscate your combadge" and with that it was removed from his shirt.
"I demand to know why I am being held here" Steve shouted at the Lt Commander
The Vulcan just looked at him in a blank stare.
"Until I am told otherwise I still out rank you Commander, so you will tell me why you are holding me here."
"I can not do that Sir, I have orders from the Admiral himself, you will have to talk to him." And with that they put Steve behind a forcefield and left him.

 

Khorne headed to security along side Commander Gypsy as they were walking along the corridors heading in the direction of Gypsy's ofice. Once there the Commander sat at his desk and opened up a link with station security.

"Gypsy to Security, under the instruction of Captain Jeff Walker I have been asked if you could send me updates from the investigation. Also we have been instructed to help you in any way we can, so long as it is on our ship as we are not aloud to leave till the investigation is over", stated the Commander

"I will speak to Amiral Megellan and see if it is ok to send you these updates, If it is verified then I will send them straight to your office", replied the Lieutenant Securiy Detail

Gypsy closed the link and brought up a roster of the crew that were off ship and when the murder happened, the commander scanned through the names looking at the location of where people had been and the times they were there.

=/\=Gypsy to Jones, have they got the time of death from the post mortum yet=/\=

=/\=No Sir, shouldn't be too long I imagine=/\=

=/\=Contact me when you have it please, thank you=/\=

"What would you like me to do Sir?" asked Lt.Commander Khorne

"Well if you could go and find Ensign Paul Green and bring him to me, he past right by the seen of the murder and i want to know if he has seen any thing. You should find him in his quarters on Deck 19, thank you Commander Khorne", replied Gypsy

"Ok Sir, I shall be about five minutes", stated Khorne

With this he turned around and head out of the office leaving Gypsy looking at the roster again, Khorne headed to the turbo lift to proceed to deck 19 but there was a huge crowd of people and in the midst of them was Captain Walker and Amiral Magellan. Also there was two security guards form the station and Commander Steve who had been arrested for some reason

 

Samantha had just crawled out of the jerries tube exit as her commbadge bleeped.

=/\= Walker to Cmdr Parker =/\=

She tapped her commbadge.

=/\= Cmdr Parker here =/\=

=/\= I need you check all system for sabotage =/\=

Samantha walked into her office, shocked by what she had heard.

=/\= Do you have any ideas where it could be? =/\=

=/\= No I’m sorry, you will need to check all systems =/\=

=/\= Understood =/\=

The Comm. Signal was ended and Samantha began to think of the quickest way to go though every system before any sabotage could affect the ship. She decided the best place to start was with critical systems like the warp core and work her way down to the less essential systems

 

From a dark side passage of the docking bay the view of the terminal entrances was perfect. He knew it would be and shifted softly in place. Glancing quickly at the small Padd at his feet he monitored the various secuirty mechanisms in place, all had been bypassed or disabled.
Right on time, like clockwork the airlock to the Victory swished open. Three Starfleet officers emerged, one was bound with handcuffs and steered by the other two.
He checked the PADD once more and then hefted the Phaser Rifle... and squeezed the trigger.
An orange beam leapt from his hiding place taking the left hand Security officer squarely in the chest. The force of the blast ripped open his chest and threw him 2 feet backwards. Reacting faster than he had credited the second officer had managed to shove Steve aside and draw his own phaser. It didnt save him, a second shot was snapped off which silenced the officer permanently.
Steve staggered backwards nearly falling, he knew exactly where the fire was coming from, Intel training was good, good enough to tell him that he was as good as dead. Instead the killing shot never came, in its place he felt the handcuffs release obviously at the command of some remote, freed he scooped up a phaser and took cover. No further shots came and he cautiously approached the site from where the shots came from, nothing was there. Suddenly the alarms went off and the lights dimmed to emergency lighting, whoever had disabled the sensors had re-enabled them, that left Steve with two choices, wait for the security teams and explain what happened, or run and try and find out who was trying to fit him up.

 

Sokath had just made it down to the medical labs when an alert sounded.

“commander sokath, there’s been another incident on the station, weapons fire in the air lock” reported an ensign from the bridge

“get a security team to meet me there and inform commander Gypsy” Replied Sokath as he started to run to the turbo lift. He jumped in and commanded it take him to deck 2. There he would meet a security team before proceeding onto the station in search of the fire fight. Before boarding the station Sokath wanted to clear his actions with the captain.

“Sokath to walker”

“walker here, go ahead commander”

“sir I’d like to proceed onto the station and try to catch up with the assailant”

“I agree, but make sure you keep and eye on everyone u take with you”

“indeed, Sokath out”

With that Sokath and the security team entered the air lock and boarded the station.

 

Jones ran after the xo and saw him as the turbo lift doors shut.

=^=Computer site to site beam to the site of the next stop of the turbo lift=^=

Jones appeared in front of the doors as they opened and faced the XO.

"Sir permission to attend to casualties and assist in the operation."

"How did you find out doc"

"Kept a ear open since the trouble"

"Right well keep your head down.. Um ok" Sokath said pausing as everybody did when they realised they were saying this to a klingon.

"Ok Sir lead the way" Jones said falling in behind the xo Jones slung his medical pack over his back and un-slung his Bat'leth and put his hand on his phaser.

Sokath turned at this and raised his eyebrows and looked at the doctor.

"Safe than sorry sir"

"Very well doctor" Sokath said more formally frowning to himself at the eagerness of a man supposed to save lives.

"I never did read that Hippocratic oath sir." Jones called forward in a deep serious voice that made the xo wonder if this was the truth or a joke.

 

With Jones and the rest of the security team in toe they boarded the station. Almost instantly the doctor was needed as they came across the two injured members of the security team.

“doctor, are they alive?” asked Sokath

“one’s dead, a single shot killed him…but this one is alive for now, but he needs to get to the infirmary. I think it would be better if I stay with the team in case we come across more casualties, the medical teams on the station can handle this. =^= Jones to assailant op’s, two men to beam directly to the infirmary” =^=

“very well doctor” replied Sokath.

Whilst the casualties were being dealt with the rest of the team had been scanning for any life signs in the local area, they didn’t find anything that shouldn’t have been there. Sokath was about to give the order to move deeper into the station when a security team from the stations own staff arrived.

 

Harrias was getting fed up of this 'Dr Ahsrav-nit-al'. First he had decided that he would try and break all the guidelines that had been set down for him, and then when he wasn't allowed to, he decided to anyway. Harrias felt himself getting angry, and quickly tried to calm it down. With slow and steady breaths, he set out a plan.

He wished it was as easy as simply beaming the doctor up, but unfortunately, as they couldn't get a fix on him, that was not exactly a viable solution. Harrias called T'Lor and T'Vana to join him and the doctor in the office once more. The pair of vulcans, heads of Security and Science respectively were both experts in their field, and combined made an excellent search and rescue team. Harrias briefed them on the problem with added commentary from the now frantic Dr Sharex.

Once they were finished, the two vulcans huddled (if Vulcans can huddle, it closer resembled two planks of wood stood next to each other, but leant slightly towards the other) and discussed in virtually inaudible voices the alternatives. Harrias suspected many different odds were being thrown around, and then after a minute of two, they turned, and T'Lor, who had obviously been nominated as spokesvulcan, started to speak.

"Captain, we believe that if we took three shuttles to particular points in the orbit of Qualinost, we could run a scan of the whole planet. Unfortunately, the shuttles will be in extreme danger, and even with these three shuttles the scan will take 2 days, 3 hours, 57 minutes, 11 seconds..."

"Thank you." Harrias cut the Vulcan off before he could go into any more depth. "Set up 6 shuttles and inform me as soon as we find them. I want a team set up and ready to umm... rescue them as soon as possible."

"Captain! That is kidnapping." Dr Sharex exclaimed.

"They are on my planet, without my consent, I call that trespassing. If they are trespassing, then I may prevent that using any means I feel to be necessary." Harrias spoke confidentally, but knew that in fact what he was attempting was in fact kidnapping, and that other than his worry for the scientists, he could give no real reason for 'rescuing' the scientists.

 

Richard made his way back to the Wanderer after leaving the diplomatic offices of Starbase Assailant. He was sure that the Ambassador would get around to him when he had a moment.

It took him about a half hour to walk back to his ship. He was happy to see that the mess of the Nausican had been cleaned up. There were also two Starfleet Security there as well. Richard walked up.

"Excuse me sir. What is your business here?" one of them said, placing his hand on the butt of his phaser.

"My name is Richard Jibb, Federation Courier and this is my ship. I would like to board" Richard informed him and started to push past.

"Petty Officer Vierra, Starfleet Security" the man said and held up his hand to stop Richard's progress. Richard nodded to himself. This was better. He liked security that didn't make assumptions. Richard pulled out his ID, which Vierra inspected carefully.

"Thank you, sir" Vierra said and stood aside so Richard could get to his ship. Richard walked to the hatch, inserted his ID card into the slot and entered the entry code. The door slid quietly open and he walked in, closing and locking the door behind him.

Richard strolled through his shuttle to the control deck, where he could hear his comm system quietly beeping. Unlocking the controls, he accessed the stored message.

"Assailant Flight Control to Shuttle Wanderer. We have been informed that your vessel is on a diplomatic mission. Your present shuttle berth is unsuitable for such purposes. Please follow included flight plan and dock your shuttle in bay A23. Full security will be provided. Flight Control, Starbase Assailant out."

Richard frowned at the comm panel. He had been hoping to keep a low profile here, but the idiot Nausicans had forced him to reveal himself. Well, Flight Control wouldn't be happy till he followed their advice. So...

Richard went back down to the main hatch and stuck his head out. "Petty Officer Vierra, I have been asked to move my shuttle to bay A23. I will be moving shortly. There should be security there when I arrive, so you and your friend there can stand down."

Vierra nodded. "Yes, sir." The two guards turned and proceeded to the exit door while Richard went back to the bridge and moved the Wanderer to the correct bay. There was already a security team present.

Richard went back to his quarters and sat on the bed. He was very bored. It had been a long trip from Starbase 115 and he had no real desire to stay on the Wanderer. Unfortunately, he didn't know anyone here.

What was the word that receptionist had used? The Fishtank. Richard still didn't understand the reference.

"Computer, access Starbase Assailant main computer and find out what a reference to a fishtank might be in relation to a wedding" he said.

"Working" replied the pleasant female voice. "The Fishtank is a reception area on Deck 16, noted for it's excellent menu or Arcarian dishes. Listed specialties include..."

"Computer stop" Richard ordered. A diplomatic wedding reception. Sounded like his Class A uniform would be a requirement. Alex went to the closet.

10 minutes later, Richard was on his way to the Fishtank

 

Sitting in a small shuttle in orbit of the planet, Harrias was feeling the full extent of the battering that the pair of vulcans had been discussing so emotionlessly a few hours ago. In fact, the shuttle was being thrown around extremely easy, and although a seasonsed officer, and indeed a Starfleet Captain, he was starting to feel very ill. In the shuttle with him were sat the whole of one Security team. All three shuttles had a security team in them, and Harrias had gone with the one he had felt was most likely to pick up the scientist. It was close to the facility which was set up for them, but as a number of light EVA suits had gone missing, Harrias knew they could in fact be anywhere on the planet. The trill's temporary plan consisted of getting the archaeologists to the facility and then taking further action from that point. He suspected that it would be difficult to get the doctor off the planet, but on the other hand, there was no way the facility would be able to support this many people.

He knew he was in for a long wait, what was it T'Lor had said? Over 2 days apparantely, but that was the maximum amount of time it would take, and Harrias had always been a very positive person.

Harrias was very fed up. Shuttle replicator food was terrible, he had managed to get no sleep at all, unlike the security team, who had all slept like rocks, and he was getting extremely fed up when the computer finally bleeped. Immediately (being the only one awake) Harrias pilotted the shuttle on a path down to the location of the team. Pulling off a pretty terrible landing, that did manage to wake the security officers, he leapt out of the shuttle, now equipped with a light EVA suit himself. He looked around for a few seconds until he sighted Dr Ahsrav-nit-al and then raised his phaser, a fired, knocking him immediately unconscious. He then ordered two of the security team to put him in the shuttle, which was then flown quickly to the nearby base. Harrias got the rest of the team into their own shuttle, and flew it himself.

On their arrival at the base, he sent all but two of the security team back to starbase, and most of the archaeology team, leaving a small enough group of them on the planet so that the base's facilities could cope.

 

The trill was sat in a small office. He didn't particularly like the office, and liked the lighting effect even less. One of the walls was dominated by a fish tank, with a large variety of fish in it. The whole room was lit by a bright light which came from the other side of this tank. Unfortunately this meant that the lighting flickered terribly, and also that it was near impossible to look at the fish without blinding yourself. In the office itself, the door was at one of the narrow ends, and the desk at the other. The remaining long end of the room was covered in pictures of the planet, topographical scans, photographs from the surface, from space, in fact Harrias suspected that every single angle was covered. Regardless of his disdain for the room, it was in here that he had to interview, or interrogate Dr Ashrav-nit-al. He knew that he was acting outside of all guidelines and rules which the Federation and Starfleet held, but he wanted information.

"Doctor, why did you feel it necessary to break every single rule which we set for you, to take your shuttle without clearance, thus endangering yourself and others, down onto a volatile planet, thus endangering yourself and others, which forced a team to come and find you, endandering others?"

"Because Captain I did what I felt necesssary for the project which I was undertaking. I suppose you know why..." The Andorian was cut off by Harrias, who spoke exhasperatedly.

"That you are excited because you are hoping to find evidence of Debrune habitation? Yes, I have heard all about it. And quite frankly it excites me too. But. For your safety, and that of the others with you, I am afraid that you can only carry this out under the terms which we have set you. If you attempt to try it under any other conditions, which I note, you already have, then the permit that allows you to undertake this dig can be quite easily rescinded, and we can send you packing back to Andoria." Not quite the truth, but Harrias was in no mood to pussifoot around.

 

When Tedak finally got to getting out of his quarters, and was at last halfway up to Admiral Magellan's office, he met up with a human who introduced himself as Richard Jibb.

"Tedak," he introduced himself, "Resident Diplomat to the Romulan Empire. Pleased to meet you, did I not see you at the reception yesterday evening?"

"Richard Jibb, Federation Diplomatic Courier. Yes, I was at the reception briefly, but it was pretty much over by the time I got there. I just arrived at Starbase yesterday and am waiting for my first diplomatic mission."

Tedak nodded. "Well if you wish to join me, I am on my way for a meeting with Admiral Magellan Lin." The two men walked on, but soon found their way barred by security officers.

Richard was suprised. Murder was a very uncommon crime in the Federation, especially since it was so hard to get away with. "Who was killed?"

"Sorry sir, I am not allowed to release that information."

Suddenly, a small flying lizard appeared out of nowhere and chittered at Tedak. Richard raised an eyebrow as he watched the conversation. The lizard flew off over toward the crime scene.

"What the heck was that?" Richard inquired.

"Fire lizard from Pern" Tedak replied casually. "Never seen one before?"

Richard shook his head.

Tedak shrugged and said "Shall we take the 'scenic' route then?"

"I guess. Where is it that we are going?" Richard asked.

"I was just on my way to meet with Admiral Magellan. I am sure that you should be introduced as well. So, are you on an official mission right now?" Tedak inquired casually.

Richard was immediately on guard. He was suspicious by nature and a Romulan asking about his job made him even more so. He had several dispatches addressed to Ambassador Saarok and wanted to deliver them as soon as possible.

"No, I have been assigned as a courier to the Starbase. I have been trying to report to Ambassador Saarok, but haven't been able to find him" Richard replied as casually.

Tedak nodded calmly. "Yes, well, I'm sure that he will contact you when he can. This is Admiral Magellans' office here." Tedak gestured at a rather ornate entryway. He and Richard entered and walked up to a receptionist. They stopped and Tedak said "Richard Jibb and Tedak to see the Admiral."

"Go right in..."

Tedak and Jibb knocked before entering the Admirals' office...

 

Tedak and Richard waited a moment at the door whilst Magellans Bolian aide popped inside to see if the Admiral had time to see them. They spent their short time watching the assembled officers busying themselves with the day to day running of a starbase.
Three traffic controllers sat in front of the vast window that over looked half of the inner docking bay whilst a number of Operations officers plotted trajectorys and supply rates.
Two of the large mission specialist screens displayed what seemed to the rest of the staff the most interesting information.
One held a map of the Starbase in the centre with a number of personnel dossiers up one side whilst in the top right a security officer consulted with a medical officer in a video link up. The second screen showed a diagramatic view of the planet Qualinost below them. The image was criss crossed by a series of lines from three shuttle craft icons, Tedak recognised the pattern as a standard Starfleet search pattern.
Commander Zoilip emerged from the office,
"Ambassador. Mr Jibb, The Admiral will see you now."
"Thankyou Commander" Tedak replied with a half bow.

The doors slid open revealing Magellans spacious office. An extra chair had been drawn up to the other side of his desk and as they entered the Admiral stood up and gestured for them to take a seat.
"Ambassador, good to see you. And you must be Mr Jibb"
"Yes Sir." Richard replied "Im Section 47's new Diplomatic Courier."
Magellan nodded,
"You ll have to forgive me, I m rather distracted, we have a.... a number of incidents on the go."
"So I hear" Tedak replied
A soft smile played over Magellans face, he should have realised a Romulan and especially an ex Tal Shiar Romulan would have their finger on the pulse.
"Indeed, things are pretty hectic, I have a murder on the station, a second on my old Command and my Old FO is in the frame, its a particularly sticky situation, and now on top of that we have the problem of Dr Ahsrav-nit-al and his unauthorised actions, but we'll come to that in a moment."
Magellan turned back to Richard,
"Ambassador Saarok is tied up with negotiations with Ambassador Kaskrene of the Tholian Assembly. I m sure you have diplomatic papers for him, I suggest you go to his office on the Dipomatic level and upload them to his system. After that I may have need of your services, Dr Ahsrav-nit-al was assigned to do our archeological survey by teh Federation Council - With your contacts I was wondering if you could verify this, or perhaps find out why he might disobey everyone of my orders, I have three shuttles and 9 officers out scouring the planet for him, thats a lot of resources that are needed elsewhere."
Richard nodded,
"Of course Sir, I ll see what I can do"
"Thankyou and pleased to meet you Mr Jibb, I believe Ambassador Tedak would like a word with me, do you mind?"
"Not at all Admiral, I ll go to the Diplomatic Office now."
"Very good, If you want ask Commander Zoilip to show you the way."
"Thankyou and goodbye sir."
Richard rose from his seat and left the room.

"Now Ambassador, As you seem to know that Dr Ashrav-nit-al has taken it upon himself to conduct his dig outside of my parameters, I m sure you know what he is looking for."
Tedak smiled,
"I heard rumours he believes there is evidence of Debrune Habitation"
"Rumours, exactly that" Magellan answered curtly,
"Whilst I find it hard to believe the Debrune ever came this far across the galaxy you must understand the importance of this find to the Romulan people"
"What find? We have no find yet. For all we know nothing exists on Qualinost. We know that some of the ruins are pre-iconian and the only other habitation we know of is small Andorian colonies"
"Nevertheless..."
"Nevertheless if the ruins are found to be Debrune in origin then you and your government can be invloved."
"Involved, The Romulan Government will not want aything less than full access and the right to bring in their own teams."
Magellan nodded ruefully as if he'd expected as much.
"Lets cross that bridge when we get to it shall we, lets find Dr Ahsrav and then examine the ruins."
"Of course" Tedak agreed

Tedak sat back in his chair and folded his fingers in his lap, staring at Magellan thoughtfully. "So, is there anything I can do, while we are trying to find Doctor ... forgive me, I am no hero in remembering names ... my two firelizards may be of aid in trying to find him."

 

After a long meeting with Ambassador Kaskrene of the Tholian Assembly which lasted more than 36 hours Saarok was as glad a Vulcan can be that they have agreed to sign some additional treaties which were hopefully for a long time peace treaty and the Tholians have agreed to offer financial aid to the development of Qualinost in exchange for a diplomatic office on Assailant and a right for their representative to take part in some meetings of the federation council.

After he got out of the meeting he was heading to his office to drop off some papers and to get in the loop of the recent events as for the past 36 hours all he did was meet with the Tholian ambassador. While he was heading to his office with Aeris sitting on his shoulder and Sephirot flying around him he was about to go thru a corridor when he was stopped by a security officer.

"What is the meaning of this?", he asked

"There has been an incident, i can not let you pass", the security officer answered

"What kind of an incident?", Saarok asked

"I am not at liberty to reveal anything to you , i am sorry.", he said

"Are you not aware that you are speaking to an ambassador of the UFP one of the highest ranking members of the federation on this station?", he said

"I understand sir , but i can not reveal anything you will need to go to Capt. Harrias or adm. Magellan about this.", the security officer replied

He whispered a few words into Aeris's ear and then she took off above the head of the security officer and Saarok went using a different corridor to the office of Adm. Magellan , he was going to find out what has happened there. It would seem all this work have released some of his emotions to the surface and curiosity arose but he didn’t mind it , actually he believed it was more logical to let an emotion or two out it helped him a lot during his S31 time and still does.

After a few minutes he arrived to adm. Magellan’s office and was about to chim when a young human male(hope i got it right) stepped out of the office , the newcomer took a look at Saarok and introduced himself as a federation courier who had some important papers for him.

"I will meet you in my embassy after i have a word with the admiral.", Saarok said

"Understood sir , but could you point me in the right direction?"

Then Saarok took a few moments explaining to the newcomer how to find his embassy and then the newcomer left. Saarok chimed the door and then after convincing the assistant of the admiral to let him pass he entered the admirals office. But just as he was entering , Aeris returned to his shoulder. And let out a few sounds in his ear.

"Adm. Magellan , i would like to have a word with you about the things that happened in the last 36 hours while i was meeting with Ambassador Kaskrene of the Tholian Assembly , i have heard that someone was murdered.", Saarok said and after he said this he saw that Tedak was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the admirals table

 

ev chirped a greeting as the bronze firelizard spotted the queen, Aeris, on Saarok's shoulder. Both firelizards were up in the air instantly, and flew off to find a perch inthe admirals office to 'exchange the news'

"Mr Ambassador," Tedak said, bowing out of courtesy towards the Vulcan, while remaining seated, the turned to Magellan again. "I ask again, is there any way I can assist in resolving this delecate situation?"

He waited patiently for an answer, while Magellan brought Saarok up to date on recent events

 

Magellan quickly brought Saarok up to speed, well up to the same level as Tedak and the other Ambassadorial staff, this was a murder enquiry and the less people knew the better.
"So there you have it Saarok, An unseemly event to say the least but we have it under control."
Saarok nodded but said nothing.
"If we turn to the 'Dig' problem, Saarok, I ve asked your courier to do some research on Dr Ahsrav-nit-al, find out why hes so driven, perhaps you coulkd assist, I m sure you have as many if not more contacts than he. And Ambassador Tedak. As I said before, the Federation will address the Debrune issue once and if its confirmed."
Tedak scowled,
"I think you misunderstand me Admiral, My offer of assistance comes not from the Romulan Senate but from me"
"I see" Magellan replied not sure he believed the distinction, and then curbing his cautious nature.
"Very well Tedak, I m sure you have more information on the Debrune than we do. Perhaps you could help verify Dr Ahsrav's work. Hes in Captain Harrias's office at the moment, perhaps you could help in the questioning, I ll contact Harrias and tell him your on your way."
"Of course Admiral, anything to be of service"

 

Richard left Admiral Magellan's office and headed for the office of Admiral Saarok. It was nice that he had finally met the man after two days of trying, although it sounded like he was busy with some kind of negotiations with the Tholians. Richard had heard that negotiations with that race were usually protracted, difficult and frustrating.

He decided to walk through the main promenade of Assailant. He hadn't seen the area yet. It was large, crowded and busy with vendors and customers of different planets buying and selling at a frenetic pace.

After a few minutes, Richard thought that he shouldn't be here. It was unlikely but possible that he could be accosted in some way. He was carrying the dispatches for the Ambassador with him, and losing the now would be a disaster. He made his way to the nearest turbolift and took it to the Ambassador's office.

Richard entered the resplendent reception area for the second time and checked in. The ambassador wasn't here yet but was expected shortly. Richard walked over the replicator and ordered a coffee and then paused. It would be nice to do some reading as well. This time, he requested The Dream of the Fire by K'Ratak.

Picking up the book, Richard selected a chair that put his back against a wall and the doors in plain view. He sat down, put his cup on the table and started to read while he awaited the arrival of the Ambassador.

Richard Jibb was sitting in Ambassador Saarok's reception area. The Dream of the Fire was an interesting book, but Richard's Klingon was a bit rusty. It would come back.

The unmistakeable clatter of armed personel brought Richard out of his book quickly. He stood up and took partial cover behind his chair and pulled out a hand phaser. As a courier, he had had to deliver messages to some pretty wild places. He had never heard of an armed attack on an Ambassador's office, but had seen stranger things and wouldn't be surprised now.

The two guards at the door of the Ambassadors office also took cover behind the receptionist's desk as 6 members of Starfleet Security walked into the room. It was very tense for a few seconds until a lieutenant from the security squad walked forward, hands carefully away from his weapons. He and the Ambassador's guards conferred for a second and the tense feeling passed.

However, the security team took up positions in the Ambassadors office. The Starfleet lieutenant walked over to where Richard was standing.

"Please identify yourself" the lieutenant ordered, one hand on his phaser. Richard noted that he was being watched from several directions.

"Richard Jibb, Federation Diplomatic Courier" he said, holding up his ID. The lieutenant inspected the ID minutely before handing it back. "What's going on?" Richard asked.

"A Federation prisoner escaped detention and there have been two murders at the station in the last 24 hours. We are securing the station and ensuring that all officials are properly protected. Please stay here until the situation has been corrected." The lieutenant turned and took up station by the main door.

Richard considered his options and decided that he and his messages were safest here for now. Once they had been delivered, he would then decide if it would be prudent to vacate Starbase Assailant for a while

 

After Magellan was finished talking Saarok was not convinced that he told him everything he knew about the murders but he gave no indication of this to the admiral. Instead he decided to go along and investigate this dr. Ahsrav-Nit-All. if this man was the one Saarok thought he was , he will be a difficult man to deal with as he has heard of a doctor of a similar name some years ago and if this is the same one then they will need to be on the look out because that man will do anything to get it his way.

"Thank you for your time admiral , i will withdraw to my office now to receive the messages the courier has got for me , and to look into dr. Ahsrav-Nit-All. I will of course inform you of my findings. Ambassador he said to Tedak , i would like to speak to you later after you have dealt with your pressing matters.", and he left the Admirals office

Then he looked at Sephirot and transferred to him to keep an eye on the murder investigation. After he did that the creature disappeared seconds later , Saarok was confident that his pet will help him unravel the mystery behind these murders as it always fascinated him and the creature will save him time to have to go check things himself.

After he was underway as he was going to the nearest lift, he was intercepted by 2 security officers , both Vulcan , Saarok thought that it wasn’t a coincidence , bud did not show any emotions towards them.

"Can i be of assistance?", he asked

"We are here to protect you due to certain incidents which took place on the station, it is only logical to protect our only ambassador on the station.", one of the two answered

"Saarok rose an eyebrow , what is logical doesn’t necessarily have to be what is obvious , as i am sure you are familiar with everything about me , it is logical that you are not a part of the station security , but that you have arrived here to protect me after he heard of recent events , he is becoming like me , but for now you may accompany me as long as you do not make me loose time, as logic dictates that i resume my duties undisturbed and if i was disturbed he would not like it , would he now?", Saarok said

The two kept their unchanged appearance and stood behind Saarok as he continued on his way to the lift. They soon arrived to it and Saarok requested to be taken to the deck on which his office is located. After a few minutes the lift came to a stop and they exited and continued to his office. While approaching the door he saw a SF security officer standing there. Seems adm. Magellan also wants increased security he though i wander why he didn’t mention this to me.

"Ambassador", the security officer said putting his hand on the phaser as he saw the two Vulcan’s behind him

"They are my security", he said as he entered his office with the 2 close behind him

Inside he saw a whole bunch of security officers. This will never do he thought.

"Gentlemen ", he said , "Leave my office as it is illogical that you should interfere with my duties"

"Im sorry sir but we have orders to protect you", one of them said

"Leave my office and stand in front of the door if you must ", he said , "Or do i need to call the admiral to order you out", he said with a cool face

That obviously did the trick because all of the security officers except the 2 Vulcan’s left his office. Then he looked at the Vulcan’s and they went to stand by the door. Now that he dealt with all of these matters it was time to greet the courier.

"Mr. Jibb i presume?", he asked

"Yes sir", Jibb answered

"I, as you may already know, am ambassador Saarok, representative of the UFP on this starbase", he said, "I hope that my friend here doesn’t scare you", he said showing to his queen firelizard.

"Not at all, Ambassador. I have seen a few flying around the station already. Interesting creatures." Richard said non-commitally.

"I understand you have some messages for me ", the Ambassador said while taking a seat behind his desk.

"Yes, sir. If you will hold still for a second." Richard pulled a small black device off of his belt. The two Vulcan security men put hands on their weapons.

"What do you have there, Mr. Jibb?" the Ambassador inquired calmly.

"It's a retinal and DNA scanner, capable of remote identification of an individual at a range of about 10 meters." Richard activated the device and quickly identified the Ambassador.

"I read your dossier when you were assigned to Starbase Assailant. It said that you were a very cautious courier. Also that you have completed some extremely difficult and dangerous assignments." the ambassador said as Richard put away his identification device and pulled another piece of equipment off of his belt and fiddled with it for a few seconds.

"Yes, I don't seem to get the easy deliveries" Richard said absently as he entered a code into the new device.

"That is a miniature transporter, isn't it? Saarok inquired.

"Yes. I have the optical chip with your messages on it in the pattern buffer, along with a bunch of false ones. If I don't enter the correct code and select the correct pattern, it'll wipe everything." Richard finished manipulating the transporter and the optical chip appeared in the middle of Saarok's desk. He picked it up and loaded into his computer.

"Thank you, Mr. Jibb. I must say that you are more careful than the other couriers that I have met over the years." Saarok said.

Richard finally relaxed a litte. He had completed his mission. "I have come to be that way, Ambassador. I learned just after I started this job that the most dangerous times for a courier are at the start and end of a mission. I can take a thousand different courses between planets, but can only pick up or deliver a message from one person. It is the most vulnerable time as anyone who wants you knows where you have to be."

Saarok thought about that for a second. "Interesting. Is there anything else that I can do for you, Mr. Jibb?"

Richard frowned. "I don't know, Ambassador. I understand that there have been several deaths on the station. Do you think that I should be concerned.?"

 

"Concerned , Mr. Jibb?", Saarok said rising an eyebrow

"I think not , Admiral Magellan , i am sure , has the matter under control and you should not be worried , however while you are on here , and while these matters are not resolved", he signaled to one of his Vulcan guards to call in one man from the security stationed outside ,"i believe you should have a security guard assigned to you due to the nature of your business.", he said

"Lt. you are to guard Mr. Jibb here , wherever he goes you go", Saarok said

"Yes sir", the guard said as he stood behind Jibb.

"Now Mr. Jibb i know you were told to investigate dr. Ahsrav-Nit-Al", he said

"Yes i was", he said

Then Saarok pressed a few buttons on his computer and what he believed , was true Ahsrav was indeed the man he thought he was. He saved the files to a padd and handed it to Jibb.

"Mr. Jibb , i have an assignment for you , take this pad to admiral Magellan , it contains info about dr. Ahsrav-Nit-Al", he said

<tag , Jibb you can say whatever you like about what says on the pad about Nit-Al>

After that Jibb got up and went to find Magellan with the pad accompanied by a security officer. When Jibb went out the door Saarok called the two security guards to him.

"Now , i suppose you have a ship orbiting the station?", he said

"Yes sir , we do"

"Have it run constant scans of the Qualinost planet surface and notify me of any changes , and transports taking place anything at all. And do not let it get detected.", he said

"Yes sir" , one of the guards said just before he beamed away. Moments later another human guard beamed to Saarok's office, "Sir, my name is cmdr. Jackson , i and lt. Torak here will be your security"

"But do not interfere in my duties , or you will be demoted ", he said to Jackson

"Of course sir", Jackson said

So debrun ruins on this planet Saarok thought. This if it is true will get the romulan government concerned , even too much and they might want to excise more right on this planet and that is not in the best interest of the federation. I will need to speak to ambassador Tedak.

=/\=Computer locate ambassador Tedak=/\=

=/\=Ambassador Tedak is in captain Harrias's office=/\=

I will speak to him later , perhaps it is time to visit dr. Ahsrav-Nit-Al, before he vanishes again.

=/\=Computer locate dr. Ahsrav-Nit-Al=/\=

=/\=Dr. Nit-Al is in captain Harrias's office=/\=

This is intriguing he thought Tedak is with Ahsrav-Nit-Al , and he is looking for Debrun ruins on the planet. He got up and went out of his office accompanied by the 2 security officers and shocking the starbase guards who were in front of the door as they saw 3 Vulcan’s enter and only 2 and a human exit.

After a few minutes of walk and riding of transports he finally found his way to captain Erin's office. He saw 2 security guards standing in front.

"Ambassador", they said and Saarok nodded to them as he was about to chim the door

"Sir , im sorry but Capt. Harrias instructed that no one is to bother him , so you can not enter nor chim.", he said

"I assure you the captain will have time to see me , now do the logical thing and chim the door for me", he said

The officer thought for a moment then said:

"Very well sir", and chimed the door

"Who is it now" , came the voice of captain Erin , which sounded annoyed as the door slid open and Saarok stepped in

 

As yet another man poured into Harrias' office, he considered upgrading to a larger office. It shouldn't be too hard he reasoned, after all, he was one of the most senior officers on the starbase. Short of Admiral Magellan, he was in fact the ranking officer. Then and again, he already held a pretty sixable office, and if he upgraded any more, he would be needing a conference lounge. Harrias decided it would be much easier just to stop anyone coming into his office. Ever. As the vulcan came into his office, he showed him as much respect as he could muster. He was about to offer him a seat, when he realised they had ran out. Then and again, Vulcans probably preferred to stand anyway.

Going back to the conversation, Harrias repeated.

"As I said Ambassador, I am sure the good doctor here will let you help in anyway you can. I have no doubt that the records you have on the Debrune will help Dr Ahsrav. In fact, I think that might be a very good idea indeed." Harrias stopped waiting for the archaeologist to start protesting, but instead all he got was a polite nod. At the back of the room Saarok raised an eyebrow, and then spoke quietly to Tedak.

"Gentlemen, while you are in my office, anything you say is recorded, and I can play it back later at my convenience, I would far prefer that you just tell me now however."

Ambassador Tedak nodded. "My fellow Ambassador was just mentioning Dr Ahsrav's... difficultness.

"Yes I had noticed." He glared at the archaeologist, who shifted in his seat. Harrias was pleased with this. Just as he was about to start talking again, his small conputer bleeped. He groaned, and flipped the lid open.

INCOMIONG TRANSMISSION FROM THE TRILL SYMBIOSIS COMMISSION

Harrias' heart did a double flip. He looked up at the variety of civilians in his office.

"Two minutes please gentlemen, you will find my anteroom very comfortable. There is a Kal'toh set out there that may interest you Saarok, it is a new improved one; apparantly. He shrugged, and then watched as they filed out of the room. He then flipped the lid of the computer.

"Captain Erin here, what can I do for you?"

"It is not what you can do for me, but what I can do for you, Harrias." If Harrias was surprised by the use of his first name, he didn't show it, and instead raised an eyebrow in a manner that would have been impressive even for Saarok.

"Go on Commissioner."

"You have been selected to recieve a symbiont Mr Erin. You will need to return to trill in the next few days for the process, and then after an observation period of a week, you can return to duty. Unfortunately however, the host is fast detiorating, so you will need to leave today. We look forward to seeing you, Taylra Out." Harrias sighed. Just what he needed. He sent a short message to Magellan noting what had gone on, and requesting permission to return to Trill, and then he let the three non-Starfleet men back in.

 

"I assure you, I will share (almost) anything I know of this dig with the good doctor, but you must understand that some parts of its history, not even I am aware of, but rather only the Empress and the Praetor."

Noticing that Harrias was getting rather impatient, he pulled the andorian and Saarok along by the arm. "I believe we should better leave and come back at a more convenient time. Doctor, if you have any questions that need answering, ask and I shall do my utmost best to find an answer for you."

Sev squawked an agreement, and chittered in annoyance as he could not take up his usual perch on Tedak's shoulder, due to his friend walking rather briskly out of Harrias' office.

 

Richard stepped out of the Ambassador's office in the company of his assigned bodyguard who was, oddly enough, a Talarian.

"What's your name, Lieutenant?" Richard asked the man.

"Altern Nots" he replied.

"Well Lt. Nots, it seems that we are going to spend some time together. I don' think that there are many Talarians in Starfleet. What caused you to join?"

The lieutenant didn't answer the question, just said "What is our destination?"

Unfriendly sort, Richard thought to himself. Richard pivoted on his heel and left the Ambassador's office. He was getting a higher profile on the station than he was liking. Richard preferred to operate under some anonymity, but wasn't having any here so far. Richard considered quickly losing his bodyguard, but decided against it for the moment.

Richard also wondered why he was being assigned a bodyguard. The ambassador said that the Admiral had everything under control, but being assigned a bodyguard put that into question. Vulcans didn't lie, but didn't necessarily tell you the whole truth. Either the Ambassador didn't think that the Starbase was entirely safe, or he had been assigned the guard for some other reason. Until Richard had a chance to find out some more about Lt. Nots, he would have to be more careful than normal. One thing that he did know about Talarians, they had unswerving loyalty to their superiors.

As Richard walked to Admiral Magellan's office he thought about his mission regarding Dr. Ahsrav-Nit-Al. One of the reasons that he had come from Starbase 115 was to shadow the archaeologist. He had been assigned the job by Fleet Admiral Ballon, whom the good doctor had annoyed for almost 3 months with his attempts to prove that inhabitants of some planet called Mintaka 3 were actually Debrune descendants. He had finally been categorically proven wrong, which hadn't dampened his enthusiasm at all.

However, the Fleet Admiral had also been suspicious of the archaeologist's apparent fixation on the Debrune, thinking he had been hiding something behind that facade. And so, Richard had been dispatched to carry information and keep an eye on things.

Richard stopped at a wall console. "Computer, tell me the location of Dr. Ahsrav-Nit-Al"

"Dr. Ahsrav-Nit-Al is located in the office of Commander Harrias Erin." Richard grunted. That was interesting.

Security guard in tow, Richard continued to walk to Admiral Magellan's office while he thought about what he was going to do next

 

Through force of habit. Richard had decided on a meandering path through Starbase Assailant that would eventually get him to Admiral Magellan's office. He was getting a little tired of Lt. Nots. The man might be a good security guard, but he was as conspicuous as good table manners at a Klingon victory celebration.

"Lieutenant, my ankles are very important to me, and I would like to keep them in one piece. Could you possibly walk about 5 to 10 paces behind me?" Richard said.

"Yes sir" the Talarian replied emotionlessly and stopped walking while Richard continued on his way to the Admiral's office. Richard heaved a sigh of relief and thought about the problem with the Doctor.

Richard hadn't had an opportunity to be close to the doctor while they had been on Starbase 115. Nit-Al had usually been trying to sneak onto Mintaka 3. The doctors blind faith in his Debrune hypothesis had often puzzled Richard, and had infuriated Fleet Admiral Ballon. When the good doctor and his team wasn't trying to sneak onto the planet, he was in Ballon's office getting yelled at.

Richard realized something important. The doctor had been interviewed many times, but as far as he was aware, his staff had never been looked at. Perhaps some inquiries among the doctors subordinates might be useful.

However, he needed to drop off this PADD to Admiral Magellan and lose Lt. Nots. Richard picked up his pace and was soon at the Admiral's office, where he was provided with quick admittance. Richard's bodyguard took up station in the Admiral's waiting area.

The admiral was sitting behind his desk, looking up expectantly as Richard walked in. "Admiral, I have some information from Ambassador Saarok" he said, and handed over the PADD.

Magellan spent a few minutes reviewing the information. "So, the doctor was at Starbase 115 before this, driving Admiral Grog to distraction."

Richard raised his eyebrows. "Admiral Grog?"

Magellan laughed. "Oh, just a holdover from our Academy days. It's a long story. So, you were at Starbase when the doctor was there. Anything to report?"

"No sir. He acted pretty much the same there as he does here" Richard said.

"Charming. So what are your plans at this point?" the admiral inquired.

"I'm not sure for now. I'll get back to you." Richard turned and left the Admiral's office. Starfleet could feel that he was treading on their toes if he stuck his nose into the wrong place. It was best that they didn't know everything. Besides, the Federation had a vested interest in the doctor as he was on his way to jeopardizing peaceful relations between them and the Romulans.

There was just one problem. How to get rid of his bodyguard. The man stood out, and no one would answer a question with a Starfleet lieutenant looming over him. However, losing Lt. Nots wouldn't be difficult. Richard walked into the waiting room. "Lt. Nots, I am going back to my shuttle for some sleep. You're relieved."

"I'm sorry sir, but Ambassador Saarok, ordered me to guard you. There have been quarters put aside for you on Deck 12. I will accompany you there and remain on guard till my relief shows up" Nots said.

What a charming man. "Sorry, Lieutenant. I prefer to sleep in my own shuttle with my own security systems. You're free to accompany me, if you like.

Nots shrugged and the two of them proceeded to Richard's shuttle berth, where there was already a Starfleet honour guard. Nots went and joined them, while Richard entered his shuttle and reengaged the security system.

Richard went to the bridge and started setting the life signal emitters. When he left the ship, they would maintain the illusion that he was still aboard if the ship was scanned.

Richard then set the ship transporter to utilize the Starbases replicator energy guides to conceal his transporter signal and beamed himself into a little used corridor he had discovered in his meanderings around Starbase Assailant.

Free of guards for now, Richard set out to track down some members of the doctors archaeological team

 

With Dr Ahsrav-nit-al practically under house arrest, the remainder of the Federation Archeology Team had taken the time to relax and catch up on their work.
Richard began by checking their quarters. They had each been given guest rooms in the VIP section. The first 2 rooms he tried were empty however the third, Mr Kalati's was occupied.
"Good Evening Mr Kalati, may I have a moment?"
The Zakdorn peered at him.
"I don't know you?"
"No you don't. Allow me to introduce myself, I m Mr JibbI work for the Federation Council"
"Oh I see" Kalati brightened sensing a chance to ingratiate himself with his superiors "Do come in."
"Thankyou"
Mr Kalatis room was immaculate everything was in place and along a long table a number of artifacts were laid out in perpendicular rows ready for cataloging.
They settled into seats and Richard began to dig.
"How long have you worked with Dr Nit-al?"
"hmmm on and off for nearly 15 years. We first met on a dig on Vulcan."
"Was that also exploring the Debrune"
"Of course, Its all Ahsravs interested in. Me I like a little Iconian occasionally"
"What about the others on the team?"
"Well Dr Shara is leader in her field one of the quadrants best. We ve worked with her three times before, once on Mintaka and twice on Vulcan colonies."
"And Mr Ravok?"
Kalati chuckled
"Now he's an odd one, the most un-vulcan Vulcan I ve ever met. I ve heard of certain frowned upon sects in Vulcan society that shun the control of emotions but I'd never thought I d meet one."
"So this is the first time you ve met Ravok?"
"Yes, In fact he's really the reason we're here. Hes a postgrad of Dr Nit-als. He's spent three years working... " Kalati looked round as if someone might hear "working in the Neutral Zone. I know its still strictly forbidden but science knows no boundarys"
"Indeed" Richard nodded, surprised at how compliant Kalati was. He knew Zakdorn were talkative but he had thought he have needed to use some of his skills.
"You said this dig was because of him?"
"Oh yes. When Admiral Magellan and Dr Hyax put in a request for an Archeolgy Team we were going to pass it up, that was when Ravok turned up and jovially, yes jovially presented us with the data he'd collected in the Neutral Zone giving strong evidence that Debrune ruins could be found here on Qualinost. Well that was enough for Dr Nit- al especially when... well its seemed to suggest that Qualinost was well, one of perhaps only three core homeworlds for the Debrune Second Dynasty"
"I see" Richard replied sensing that he may well be on to something.
"So" Kalatis pressed "I take it the Fed Council has a new job for us... me?"
"Maybe, maybe" Richard replied non-committedly "I m really just here to get a little background, its the higher ups that do all the decision-making."
"Of course Of course I understand completely."
"Would you know where I can find Dr Shara and Mr Ravok?"
"Oh they are both in our shuttle going though our initial sensor scans, they think they may have actually located the primary city. All ruined of course but the Debrune did like to build underground so who knows what we'll find. Maybe an intact Bio-acclimating Module!, oh that would make my day, well my year in fact."
"Yes I m sure" Richard replied politely, standing up. "I must get on."
"Yes. Thankyou for stopping by, I hope you'll be able to put in a good word with the Council for me, all that business with disobeying Admiral Magellans orders was all Dr Nit-als idea, he can get really focused at times, and like I said Science knows no boundarys."
"I ll do what ever I can"Richard nodded sidling up to the door. "Good day"
Phew. He thought to himself as he left Kalatis quarters, Zakdorn very efficent with things, not very efficient with words.

 

Qarek stepped out of the airlock after his shuttle docked. It felt so good. He just stood there, believe it or not looking around the corridor and the airlock, just thinking how he missed this spinning space mushroom (the station). As the crew started unloading his ship, Qarek addressed the computer.

=/\= Computer, locate admiral Magellan. =/\=
=/\= Admiral Magellan is in his office. =/\=

Qarek jerked as soon as the response came. There was a stop, or to be more precise, a person he needed to pay a visit. He headed to the arcade and, when he got there, stopped at a bar. The waiter, who was here, in the same bar on this station longer then Qarek, approached him and sat with him at his table. This was Qarek's "connection", a person that was his second pair of eyes and ears on the station, even before he first came aboard. His connection soon filled him in both on the archaeological situation, the murder case, and the andorian scientists little field trip. After the quick talk, it wouldn't be smart to let anyone see them together for to long, Qarek got up and threw his connection a slip of latinum. Then he headed to find Magellan.

He knew his way around pretty well. As he approached Admiral's door he "rang the door bell".

"Enter", the response came from the other side, with obvious confusion in the voice. Well, it was obvious to Qarek's trained ears, at least.

"My good Admiral, I missed you so much!", entered Qarek and headed to shake the Admirals hand.

Admiral didn't know what to do at the moment, because the Ferengi didn't announce his return, but Seeing his smile again (with all the small sharp teeth) he instantly thought to himself ¤ The greater the smile the sharper the knife ¤

"This is a surprise, delegate.", he said starting the conversation, "You didn't announce your return."
"What can I say. The power of the QITC was enough to talk the Grand Nagus and the FCA into letting me leave very quickly. As if something possessed or owned them, wouldn't you say?", finished Qarek but from Qarek's smile Admiral couldn't tell if the trip was so successful or was Qarek just covering up his failure.
"But let's get down to business, shall we.", said Qarek and Admiral started to fill Qarek in into, basically, the things Qarek already knew.

At the end of the briefing Qarek got up from the chair and headed out. He wanted to see this Andorian who managed to slip through Federation's tightly closed fingers.

"Oh, and Admiral, after I'm done with my visit I would like you to meet me. I have a surprise for you.", Qarek said being already at the door. He heard of Ambassador Tedak's wedding so he bought them a present, and also picked up on a promise he gave to Magellan, so he wanted to handle both thing at the same time, "I don't know where exactly yet, but I'll inform you over the comm, if that wouldn't be a problem."

¤ A Ferengi having a surprise for me? ¤ Magellan thought ¤ this I got to see. ¤
"No problem." Magellan said and Qarek exited the Office.

 

Tedak stood outside Harrias office when the Ferengi delegate entered, without even saying so much as hello to them. It almost seemed that Qarek had not even noticed them. The Andorian doctor had gone back into the office, and Tedak thought that it was really unwise, as the Trill captain had not seemed to be in a very bright mood, especially not because of the Andorian doctor.

Tedak had been thinking on this dig and all the secrecy around it. He knew his own Government knew more of the dig, but had felt it unnecessary to inform him of it. The more was his surprise when Magellan insinuated that he, Tedak, knew more of it, while he was probably the only person that was completely left in the dark. But, so not to antagonize the admiral, Tedak had played along and pretended he knew all of it. ~have to get down there~ he thought, then looked at Saarok, who was looking him over with scrutiny.

"Please excuse me ambassador," Tedak said, "I fear I have something personal to attend to. Nut, Sev, come with me." ~and do NOT tell that queen of his where we are going, it is none of his business yet~ The two firelizards twittered in comment and followed without further sound.

Tedak sped down to his quarters. "My wife, I will have to take leave of you for now, unless you wish to come along. I am going downplanet. Magellan and Saarok know something of this dig, as well as the Andorian. Before I talk to them again, I must find out what goes on and what my own government is withholding from me. It is dangerous, therefor I do not ask you to come along."

"I will come along my husband," T'Val said quietly, "I almost lost you once, I will not risk it again."

"Very well," Tedak said, then looked her over, "you may want to dress in something suitable for long walks and digs."

T'Val nodded and the both of them dressed in light travel clothing and sped down to the transporterroom. "Two to beam down," Tedak ordered.

"I am sorry sir, I am under orders not to beam anyone down without clear permission."

Tedak showed him his diplomatic badge and the junior officer gulped at seeing it. "This is my permission," Tedak barked, "beam us down, pronto. And you will not tell anyone that we ahve gone, understood?"

The officer swallowed and nodded, then set the co-ordinates Tedak gave him.

"Engergize," Tedak said, and soon the both of them materialized on the surface of the planet, instantly surrounded by scientists

 

After his little visit to the Andorian scientist, Qarek entered the corridor addressing the computer.

" Computer, locate Ambassador Tedak. "
=/\= Ambassador Tedak is not on the station. =/\=
¤ Not on the station? ¤ Qarek thought to himself, " Is there any information about his location?"
=/\= Negative. =/\=

¤ Strange. ¤ Qarek thought pondering the computer's response ¤ I'll see if the Admiral knows where he's gone to. I wanted to give him his weddig present. ¤

=/\= Delegate Qarek calling Admiral Magellan Lin =/\=, Qarek said.
=/\= Magellan here. =/\=
=/\= Could you join me in The Fish Tank, I would like to show you something. =/\=
=/\= I'll be there as soon as possible. Magellan out. =/\=

Being satisfied with admiral's response, Qarek headed to The Fish Tank.

¤¤¤ later ¤¤¤

Qarek was just finishing his drink when Magellan walked into The Fish Tank.

"So glad you could join me, Admiral.", Qarek said smiling and heading towards the Admiral.
"Of course.", responded Magellan, "What did you want to show me?"
"Come with me.", said Qarek exiting The Fish Tank and headed towards one of the windows overlooking
the space docks. "Once you told me that you were interested in buying a ship of your own, I'm I right?"
"That's right.", said Magellan listening to Qarek's every word, looking for any of the catches Ferengies were well known for.
"Well, while I was away on Ferenginar, I stopped at one of QITC's docks, remembering what you said and looking for something adequate.", continued Qarek.
"Go on.", said Magellan.
"Basically, I found a lot of ships... all types, all races... but I was looking for something special just for you..."
¤ What is this Ferengi up to? ¤ Magellan thought to himself with the Ferengi continuing in the background:
"And then I saw her. To me, she's one of the most beautiful ships ever designed. So I gave her a paint job..."
¤ A paint job?! What's he giving me? And who did it belong to? ¤ ran through Magellan's head listening to the Ferengi.
"A quick refit,", Qarek continued, "And what I got for you in the end was this.", Qarek finished and pointed to one of the docked ships. Magellan looked out and he had something to see.
Qarek continued his presentation: "She's a Cardassian Hideki III class vessel. I took out some ammo and cargo space and a few crew quarters, but I managed to squeeze in a holodeck and a few more commodities: a gym, a reception lounge, a small bar lounge with a big window and a bunch of other stuff."

Magellan was just standing there admiring the new ship.

"Basically, now she can carry up to 20 or 25 people, she has standard hull, weapons and shielding, and a cruising speed of warp 5, maximum 7.5 and emergency 8.9 for 17 hours. The rest of the specs you can look up, I refitted the panels according to Federation standards. Other parts are genuine Cardassian. She was also used two times by the infamous gul Dukat.", Qarek finished, "I intended it to be used as a combination fighter-cruiser, so she would be useful for travelling."

Magellan looked at the ship, giving it all a thought.

" And look at this... Computer identify the ship at dock A."
=/\= Ships identification is USS Lin, registry number unknown. =/\= the computer responded.
" So, what do you think?", Qarek finally finished leaving it to the Admiral to decide.

Magellan was speechless he could barely believe it. Qarek had found an amazing ship. He had half been expecting a merchantman or an old runabout like the Jenolen, but this, this was well unique.
He understood how Qarek had managed it. After the Dominion Cardassia had been forced to disarm, hundreds of ships were order decommissioned by the Allies and the Ferengi were very happy to buy them off the Cardassians. It was a win win scenario, the Ferengi got a huge load of quality ships and the Cardassians got a large quantity of gold pressed latinum to aid in its humanitarian efforts and rebuilding.
"Its amazing." Magellan admitted "Thankyou."
"My pleasure Admiral" Qarek grinned toothily
"And so I guess we come to the crunch... how much?"
"Admiral, money isnt everything. There are other payments available."
Magellan frowned a moment,
"I hope your not suggesting diplomatic favours?"
"Of course not. I am hoping to extend my business contacts on Trill, I was hoping that you would be able put me in to contact with some business men on your homeworld... it will discount the cost of the ship from 70 latinum bars to say 60."
"50"
"58"
"55"
"57"
"Done" Magellan agreed extending his hand
"You bargain hard Admiral, you have the lobes of a Ferengi."
"I hope not" Magellan chuckled "no offense"
"None taken"
"So how was your trip, any news on Grand Nagus Roms reforms?"

 

 

 

Richard quietly left the Zakdorn's quarters and into the corridor. That had been an interesting conversation. It seemed the the Vulcan Ravok was more that just an assistant to Dr. Nit-Al, but was perhaps using the doctor to get to sites that he could not. The doctor would also make good camoflage as officials would deal with him and his erratic behaviour, allowning Ravok freedom to do as he wished.

Richard shook his head. He had to make sure he didn't get fixated on Ravok as Magellan and the rest had with Nit-Al. The doctor or any one of his team might be doing something. He had to pay attention to all.

He decided to take another look at the quarters of the archaeological team. He poked his head into Dr. Shara's room first, and spent a few minutes poking around. There didn't seem to be anything unusual. The rooms looked lived in and normal.

Richard walked out and quietly entered Mr. Ravok's quarters. It seemed much the same as Shara's. Lived in, with archaeological equipment, artifacts, drinking glasses on most surfaces and PADDs everywhere. Richard entered the dining area. It was much the same. The large table was covered with more archaeological equipment and a few more glasses. Ravok wasn't very good about picking up after his meals.

Richard blinked. There were lots of glasses everywhere, but no plates. Richard walked over to the replicator and accessed past replication orders. There were over 20 requests for Vulcan Beryn tea, but not one for food. It seemed that Mr. Ravok didn't like Federation replicators.

Richard finished with the replicator and carefully activated a PADD that had been sitting on the table. He couldn't make heads or tails of it. It was encrypted.

Cursing quietly, Richard left Ravok's quarters and returned to the secluded corridor so he could beam himself back to his ship.

Once there, he accessed Assailant's main computer and asked it to provide him with all establishments that provided traditional Vulcan food and prepared himself to go trolling for information

 

Tedak had beamed down directly to the surface of the planet, only a few meters from the door of the Hab-dome. He had not know that the air was not breathable and that he had needed an EVA-suit. He gasped as he ran out of breath, and took a short sprint towards the Hab-dome, entering it. He fell to his knees gasping for air, but when he looked up he saw that his firelizards were very well able to breathe the 'air' of the K-class planet.

After taking his time to catch his breath, Tedak got to his feet and looked around. The place was buzzing with activity and Tedak walked on, tapping the nearest scientist on the shoulder. "Excuse me," he said, "I am Ambassador Tedak. I wish some more information on this dig, could I see the excavation sites? I have been sent by my Government but I fear that they have omitted a lot of valuably needed information in their briefing. If I am to talk to Magellan about this, I need to know more of this."

"Doctor Shara" The scientist replied, "please have a moment of patience, this experiment is crucial to our findings, I must finish it before we can continue."

Tedak waited patiently until the doctor had finished his experiment, then walked alongside him for a moment, talking quietly to him (her?). He carefully avoided telling the doctor that he was not authorized to beam down

 

Dr Shara worked for a further few minutes and then turned to Tedak.
"Sorry. I was in the middle of an analysis"
"No problem"
"What can I do for you?"
"I was hoping to see the ruins"
"Of course follow me."
Dr Shara led Tedak across a communal space where Tedak was forced to hide from Dr Sharex, the Tellarite Director of Science was bound to ask questions or inform Magellan
and out to a suiting room. Shara gave Tedak a suit and then once both dressed led him to a graage where a hopper stood waiting.
Once in the vehcile Dr Shara gunned the engines and the whizzed out of the Hab-dome and acroos the sandy plain.
It took 20 mins to reach the dig. It was pretty unimpressive from first sight. Just a series of low badly weathered walls.
As they exited the Hopper Dr Shara said,
"We have air for 3 hours maybe 4. If you get into trouble hit this button on the arm. Its a trnasponder and will allow the Hab-dome or Assialnat to beam you up. Of course it wnt work if your near a seam of Kemacite Ore."!
"Understood"
After a breif examination of teh low walls, and what appeared to be meagre dwellings Tedak realised they could have been Klingon for all he could tell.
"IS there anything more... obvious"
"I thought you d never ask. The piest de resistance is over here."
Dr Shara led Tedak to the largest and most intact building. Entering they came to a vast room with a metallic oval in the centre of the room.
Shara pulled out a tricorder and keyed in a sequence of numbers.
Suddenly teh oval pulled up revealing a circular stairway leading downwards.
Shara pulled out a palm light and began to descend. Tedak did the same and cautiosly followed.
The spiral terminated in an antechamberm, as they reached the bottom, some 30 metres the oval above slammed shut. Tedak realised they were in an airlock.
There was a hiss as an atmosphere was established and then a second set of doors opened.
Dr Shara removed her helmet and gestured for Tedak to enter.
Tedak found himself standing on a parapet over looking a vast cavernous chamber.
A walkway led from the parapet that gave access to hundred if not thousands of dwellings built into the rock face. it was incredible.
At the bottom of the deep cavern below them Tedak could just make out the dull glow of some energy source, probably the cities energy core.
"See, have you ever seen anything like it" Dr Shara exclaimed with a wave of her hand.

 

Samantha had been running a diagnostic of the warp core to see if there were any anomalies in the reading that would indicate sabotage but nothing had appear in the results.

“Cmdr Parker,” he said. Samantha jumped and turned around to see a bajoran Lieutenant Jaroan Nal behind her.

“Didn’t mean to startled you, ma’am,” he apologized, “But I have something to show you.”

He handed her a PAD and she looked though it. It appears to be some kind of program on the main computer.

“It’s not a normal programmes and it was deeply imbedded in the computers mainframe as if someone was trying to hide and it appears to be encrypted,” explained Jaroan Nal.

Samantha turned back to her terminal and ended the warpcore diagnostic.

“Could you show me where this is on the main computer?” she requested. He leant over her and used the console to navigate to the area of the computer where it was stored. Then he pulled up a chair and they began to work on decoding the program. They worked for a few hours on the program and from want they could decrypt it was linked to the sensors and force fields. She theorized that it was meant to disable, as then for some sort of emergency escape plan, but at the moment she couldn’t decrypt enough to prove this. She finished her preliminary report.

“Ensign Harrison,” she called as she walked passed. Ensign Harrison came over.

“Could you take this to the captain?” she asked handing her the report. She nodded and walked out of engineering. Samantha and Nal continued their work.

 

Spedmo was so used to shock he decided to remove his emotion chip. Three murders in a 24hr time period. What is this station coming to Spedmo thought to himself as he satrted to write down the statements from each of his officers. He had checked and rechecked the sensor reports from the Victory at the time of each murder and still nothing. His mind kept telling him he was missing some thing but he had no clue what.

 

After seeing Lieutenant Spedmo, Khorne carried on his way down to deck 19 to fetch ensign Paul Green and take him back to Gypsy's office. Khorne sounded the bell of the ensigns quarters but to no response, he did it again but still no answer.

"Computer over ride lock", said Commander Khorne into the door lokcing mechanism

He gave his code and the door swished open, Khorne entered his room and found no one in there. He told the computer to located Paul Green and it replied that he was in his quarters, the Lt.Commander was now suspicious and got out his tricorder and started scanning the room. There were no life signs showing up on the screen but there was however the service number of Paul Green recognised over by the desk.

Khorne walked over and opened a draw, and there was the ensigns com badge. Khorne put the badge in his pocket and ran through the deck back to the turbo lift, barging through a group of ensigns that were in his way.

=/\=Khorne to Gypsy=/\=

=/\=Yes Commander, have you got the ensign=/\=

=/\=No Sir, his com badge was in his room and he was no where to be found=/\=

=/\=I want you to go to engineering and see when some one last saw him, thank you Lt.Commander=/\=

=/\=Yes sir=/\=

At that moment the turbo lift came to a stop at the deck Khorne had told it to, he didn't leave and told it to go to Engineering where he would ask about to see who last saw the ensign and where it was they saw him. With the Lt.Commander helping out Gypsy he had totally forgotten about arranging his science crew.

=/\=Khorne to Lt. Bill O'Neil=/\=

=/\=Yes Sir=/\=

=/\=Bill I would like you to make a report of where all of the science staff were when the murder happened=/\=

=/\=Yes Sir, What would you like me to do with it once I have finished it?=/\=

=/\=Take it personally to Commander Gypsy in his office, thank you Lieutenant. Khorne out=/\=

The turbo lift had just stop and Khorne exited and headed in the direction that would lead to engineering, he got there and the place was busy with activity. Khorne found Commander Parker working at a console trying to decode something.

"Commander I am in search of ensign Paul Green, he has left his combadge in his quarters and is no where to be found. I was wondering if you could help me Marm?", asked Khorne

"At the moment I am busy but i'm sure that ensign Harrison could help you, she is the one that has just came through those doors. I believe she is a friends of Pauls who was a very good engineer, they used to help each other alot", informed commander Parker

"Thank you for your help Marm", Khorne said as the turned and walked over to Ensign Harrison

 

Sokath and the head of the newly arrived team stared at each other.

"I am afraid you will have to reboard your ship"

"Negative i out rank you lt and i am chaseing a suspect who has murdered one of my crew."

"We are well aware od commander steves activities and we are tracking him down as we speak. i doubt he wll be around much longer."

"We will assist you."

"No sir you will not, if you do notretuen to the victory we will detain you, you are biased with actions regauring your crew member we are not."

Sokath opened his mouth to retaliate.

"OH MY GOD EVERYONE ISIN DANGER SIR STEVE HAS LET OF A DIRTY DEVICE WE ARE ALL INFECTED WE HAVE NO TIME ALL OF ARE LIVES ARE IN DANGER" Jones called over the XO. Everyone turned to look at him and jones injected himself with something.

"it had no effect we all must get to a sickbay."

Jones tapped his tricorder and the securtiy team disapeared leaving the victorys party stood alone looking worried.

"Nothing to worry about sir there is nothing here it was a misreading of my tricorder, must be faulty, and the security team have been misplaced in a freak transproter accident, aslo due to this tricorder, whoops, how very unfortunate."

"Very well lets move on" The xo said smileing slighty at the doctor but not enough tha the team could be sure he was happy

 

Steve had had enough of this, why am I running? I have done nothing wrong he said to himself. he also knew how bad the evidence looked against him but he knew he was being set up.
Steve joined the Victory when Magellan was just a commander and the XO. Steve served with Magellan for many years and most of them were when Steve was his XO. Steve trusted Magellan with his life and he knew that if anyone would believe him it would be the admiral.
"Computer, Is anyone in Magellan's quarters?"
"The room is currently empty" replied the computer.
"Right" Steve said to himself, once again Steve used his Intel training and beamed to the admirals quarters with no record of it being made.
Steve said down in the dark room, a phaser in his hand waiting for his old friend to return.

Tired and more than a little fed up Magellan finally put down his PADD and decided to call it a night.
He stood up and righted a pile of PADDs he nearly sent flying all over the floor.
He walked briefly through ops and called to the Duty Officer as he left,
"If there are any problems, I m not here, Call Harrias"
"Aye Sir" the fresh faced Lieutenant nodded.
Magellan toyed with unwinding with a strong drink in 'The Fish Tank' but decided that would lead to a slippery slope - if he had a drink every night he had a bad day then very quickly he'd be a drunken sot. No, far better to get to his quarters have some food and then perhaps a nightcap.
He avoided the crowded spaces and dodged some of his more talkative personnel. The turbolift ride very nearly sent him to sleep, its rhythmic sound and gently rocking action were soothing in the extreme.
Pulling himself from his drowsy half sleep he stumbled out and along the corridor and into his quarters.
One advantage of being Admiral of a city sized Starbase was that the quarters were much nicer. His own were large, nearly 5 times that of those he'd had on the tiny Victory B and 3 times those on the Victory C. He had a lounge, seperate dining area, two bedrooms and a fully en suite bathroom. Its was decorated simple, a number of Xenobiogical Lithographs hung on the walls, a hang over from his previous host, Toya. She had known how to decorate a room and that particular skill had come in very handy when he had been faced with colour swatches for carpets and linen.
"Lights" he grunted as he kicked off his shoes and tugged at his jacket. He slung it over the back of the sofa and began to loosen the vest. He paused suddenly his sixth sense stimulated. He wasnt sure if all Captains got one but it seemed to be a standard on all Starfleet Officers that ability to sense however vaguely that something wasnt quite right.
He turned slowly to see Commander Steve sat casually in the easy chair in the corner. Despite the lighting he still remained half in shadow.
"Commander" he greeted evenly eyeing the phaser Steve held in his grasp, its wasnt pointed at him... not yet.
"Admiral. You work long hours, I nearly gave up on you."
"Yes well... burden of command I suppose" He replied circling round to his desk. He kept a phaser in the draw.
"You ve led us a merry dance Steve" Magellan continued "You shouldnt have run Steve."
"Aw come on sir. Someone took a shot at me, wouldnt your first impulse be to get the hell out of there."
Magellan shrugged,
"I suppose so."
He had reached the desk now, and there eyes met across the room. Magellan knew that Steve knew there was a weapon in the desk.
He stooped and pulled open the draw.
"Come on then Steve" He said pulling out a bottle of light blue liquid "Join me in a glass of Andorain Ale."
Steves face lightened and he placed the phaser into his hip holster.
"I thought you'd never ask."
Magellan poured two long glasses and they took seats, he placed the bottle on the table in front of them.
"Any ideas then?" he asked
"Hundreds, Intell work sorta causes you to make enemies"
"Well can you narrow it down to one?"
"I m not sure. They have to be in Starfleet, they know our procedures, better than any alien intelligence agency. And so far they've done a pretty good job of framing me."
"Granted. But what about the link to Carstairs and the other victim."
"I knew Carstairs from the Vic, Talorn Nella well I m not so sure. The name rings a bell. I knew a Talorn Ravel. In fact I think I see a link, but it doesnt make sense."
"Go on..."
" Last year we were assigned to a top secret reconnaissance mission in Romulan Space. There were 4 of us Talorn Ravel, Myself, Idik and Julie Lonet. We were infilitrating a Romulan Science facility, they were developing an interphasic cloak or so we thought."
Magellan kept quiet, noting the involvement of the Romulans, how ever hard he tried he had difficulty believing that they would ever be anything but enemies, although he had to admit Ambassador Tedak was like a breath of fresh air - open and helpful.
"We had managed to get into the main lab and had begun the system download. Julie was covering the corridor, I had three hostages and Ravel was doing the download. Idik was up in the Base Comms Officer monitoring the survelliance. We had nearly completed the download when a shuttle arrived carrying a Tal Shiar Commando Team. Download complete or not I ordered an evacuation. We had nearly made it to the runabout when we heard that Idik had got himself pinned down. There were too many of them to fight and what little information we did have was needed urgently. We decided, the three of us to leave."
Magellan nodded beginning to see a possible motive,
"So you left Idik behind?"
"We had no choice."
Steve seemed to notice Magellans glance, the Admiral was a leave no-one behind kind of guy.
"Intell works different Sir. And our superiors agreed with our actions."
"Okay" Magellan replied ruefully, "But where does this leave us."
"Well Julie Lonet is Carstairs' step sister. And I d bet Ravel is related to Tallorn Nella. I m guessing either Idik survived the Romulans or a relative of his is after me. Some sort of revenge thing."
"Well it seems to tack together. The problem now is finding who and where they are."
"Thats my problem Sir and why I came to you."
"Yes?"
"I think there are too many Base Personnel on the Starbase, too many for us to trust."
"Perhaps" Magellan admitted, not even he had managed to meet all his new staff yet.
"What do you propose?"
"We use the Victory staff to root out this criminal, perhaps use me as bait. All I m asking is for you to allow me to go back to the Victory, use my friends to solve this, use the people you and I both trust."
Magellan sat silently for a moment
"I can't call off Base Security, your a wanted man, and until theres firm proof theres nothing I can legally do."
"But..."
"But, I can pretend I never saw you. And if you were to transport directly to the Vic, and If you and Walker were able to find whoevers behind this then well... everyone wins."
"Thankyou Sir." Steve smiled standing up.
"Good luck Steve"
"One to transport to the bridge of the Victory."
Steve shimmered out of view and Magellan slumped into his seat. What a day!

 

After everyone had cleared out of Harrias's office including the good captain who had to leave. Saarok and Ahsrav were left alone in the office with the 2 security officers standing in front. Saarok sat there looking at Ahsrav. Not saying anything and the doctor looked like he was going to run thru the door any moment now.

"Doctor , i understand that you are most determined to go to the planet surface without any federation security teams?"

"Yes i am , i do not need any chaperons with me , they would only be in the way and they could damage some very important artifacts.", he yelled

"So you are certain that there are Debrune ruins planeside?"

"Positive , it all adds up , if only i could somehow get down there without these federation dogs, I’m sure you understand , it not logical to drag 20 security officers when on a delicate expedition, after all imagine what would happen if we found a fully saved artifact and one of them security damaged it.” he said with a calmer voice

Saarok thought for a moment and joined his finger together

"Very well doctor i have a proposition for you , i will get you down to the planet if you agree to take me and two of my security down with you, i believe this is a most reasonable suggestion or offer you will get.", Saarok said

Ahsrav was just to complain when he gave some thought to it and agreed:

"We have a deal ambassador, but how will you get me down there", he asked

"You leave that matter to me", he said

And Ahsrav and Saarok went out of Harrias's office and went towards the transporter room accompanied by the 2 security officers and Sephirot as Aeris was observing what the admiral was doing. When they were nearing the transporter room he saw T'Val enter. And a few moments later him , Ahsrav and the security officers entered it and saw T'Val arguing with the transporter chief about beaming her down.

"May i ask what is going on here?"

"Saarok", T'Val jumped a bit as she knew that Tedak told her no one was to know where they were going

"Ambassador , the healer here wants me to beam her down to the planet , she says she has permission from ambassador Tedak and yet he can't be found on the station"

"Tedak has went down , has he not?"

T'Val looked at Saarok and she could not lie to him.

"Yes he did", she said

"It is too dangerous for you to go down", Saarok said, "I and the doctor here are going down , and I will find him and send him back up you need not worry , he will be fine , but you are more needed here , now go and return to sickbay"

"But Saarok i would like to see the ruins and Tedak what if something happened to him you will need a doctor», she finished

"Very well , but stay close to me and do not touch anything" , he said

Ahsrav was about to complain but after looking at Saarok he decided against it.

Then he looked at the transporter officer

"You will transport dr. Ahsrav , T'Val , these 2 gentlemen and myself into the dome on the planet. You will not contact admiral Magellan for permission", he said and enter a code into the transporter console before the officer could say anything

After the officer looked at the console he agreed to do it without any questions asked so the group got to the transporter padd and moments later they found themselves on the planet surface inside the dome. The scientists working in there were shocked with all the traffic going thru. And Dr Sharex saw Ahsrav and Saarok and immediately ran to them.

"What is the meaning of this , what is he doing down here without a security team.", he said

"Doctor here is the security team", he said pointing to the 2 officers , "And i assure you we have every right to be hear and with the guidance of the good doctor we will inspect the ruins.", he said

Dr Sharex saw that he wasn’t going to get anywhere by arguing with a Vulcan so he agreed to let them pass and he went back to his work.

"Now dr. lead the way", he said to Ahsrav

"Follow me", he said

As the doctor lead them to the other part of the dome where they were equipted with an environmental suits and where Ahsrav go this equipment, he was going to prove it is Debrune this time and with this Vulcan along no one was going to doubt his results. He thought.

After all of them were equipped Ahsrav took them to a "digger", and asked them to enter it. After all of them did it. He sat at the controls and laid in a course across the desert plains.

"Hold on , here we come Debrune ruins", he said as he smiled

 

 

 

Tedak stood awestruck as he gazed out over the ancient underground city. "No," he beamed, "I have never seen anything like this, it is amazing!" Above him, the two firelizards were involved in aeareal <sp?> antics and were chittering wildly joining in Tedak's awe. "They like it too," Tedak explained to Shara, "can we go down there and walk through the buildings? I am sure there is a lot of information so that we can figure out who these people were."

Suddenly, Nut dove down and settled on Tedak's arm, is talons digging deep into the skin. "Ouch!" Tedak exclaimed as he urged his little friend to loosen his grip. Nut complied but his eyes were whirling orange/red in alarm. Sev had suddenly gone quiet too and had landed on Shara's arm...doing the same. "Sev, behave! You are hurting the lady," Tedak berated his other friend, then peered at Nut, who was clearly alarmed.

"Someone has entered this site," he suddenly said, "a group of guards and three other people." Then the little brown's eyes turned green and Tedak felt him relax as he received images of two of the three other people. "T'Val," he beamed in relief, "and Ambassador Saarok. Nut did not recognize the third person. T'Val is my wife doctor, a healer."

He noted the bloody spots on her clothing where Sev had dug his talons into her skin. "I appologize for his behaviour doctor. My wife may be able to heal your injuries. Do you wish them to come down or shall we go up?"

 

Richard took a look at the list of establishments on Assailant that served fresh Vulcan food. There were only 3, The Dustcloud, Eridani's and T'Pau's Rest.

The Dustcloud was a little hole in the wall on Deck 125 with a rather dubious reputation. Why it was serving Vulcan food was beyond Richard. However it was owned by a Ferengi named Dakkar, which made it as good a place to start as any.

After spending a few minutes picking up some necessary supplies for this kind of a trip, Richard stepped off of the Wanderer to see Lt. Nots and the rest of Starfleet honour guard. He would have to get the Ambassador to get rid of them soon. They were an unnecessary distraction and a bit of a nuisance, although Lt. Nots would have his uses today.

"Lieutenant." Richard said, and Nots came to attention. "Are you ready to do some more guarding now?"

"Yes sir" the Tellarian said so Richard and his guard set off for The Dustcloud.

After a rather long trip, the two of them arrived at the secluded restaurant, which was located in a dilapidated section of the Starbase. Richard pushed Nots into a small alcove and they watched the comings and goings for about 15 minutes. They weren't quite riff raff, but close.

After satisfying himself that the place was worth a look, Richard turned to Nots and said "Lieutenant, I need to go into that place alone. Could you wait here for a few minutes?"

"Sorry sir, but I have been asked by the Ambassador to guard you. I am required to accompany you at all times" Nots replied.

Richard smiled inwardly as he appeared to think for a second. "Hmm, perhaps you could go in ahead of me, take a look around and satisfy yourself that it's alright, then come back out."

Nots nodded and calmly walked into the bar. Richard carefully stood clear of the area of the front door to avoid the stampede.

Right on cue, about a half dozen former patrons of the place started quickly finding other things to do. That was something about places like this. The ones with something to hide rarely wanted anything to do with a place when a very large member of Starfleet Security started poking his nose into the corners.

Lt. Nots left about 5 minutes later and pronounced the place as being safe. Richard thanked him and waited for another 10 minutes before walking in.

Richard left disappointed. His careful questions regarding Mr Ravok and archaeology got him nothing but blank looks and shaken heads. Apparently, this was not the place he was looking for.

Richard got much the same response at Eriadni's. He and Lt. Nots made their way to T'Pau's Rest.

It was a nice place on Deck 51, with an entire wall taken up by large windows allowing a view of the local planetary system. Lt. Nots felt that this place would be alright, and allowed Richard to enter alone.

From the computer search he did before leaving, Richard knew that the restaurant was owned by a Vulcan named Pon-sing and that it catered to a higher class of clientele. Richard had really been expecting to find some evidence of Ravok elsewhere. Perhaps there was some place that he had missed.

Richard nearly missed a step in surprise as he entered T'Pau's Rest. Almost as soon as he had walked in the door, his wrist alarm had gone off in a vibrating pattern he had only felt a few times. He had programmed the transporters on his ship to keep a constant pattern lock on him when he wasnt' aboard in case a quick beam out was required. Hiw wrist alarm was vibrating with a pattern that indicated that the pattern lock had been lost, which meant that some kind of a weak dispersion field was operating nearby, interfering with transport fields and sensors.

Someone at T'Pau's Rest had something to hide

 

As Saarok and his team were approaching the ruins, Sephirot started flying around Saarok madly. What is it my friend he thought and the message came back to him somewhere beneath them were Tedak and a female doctor of science called Shara. After the transport came to a stop Ahsrav took them out and they could see the upper level of the ruins.

"Dr. Ahsrav, we would like to see the underground of this dig site."

"The underground, how do you know about it", Ahsrav thought those Vulcan’s, you can never keep anything from them and i wanted to surprise him with it, "Never mind, follow me", Ahsrav said

And he took them to the same room thru which Tedak and his companion passed thru , then Ahsrav used his tricoder and typed a few codes , a few seconds later the metallic hatch opened and they went inside. As they were beginning to descend the hatch closed and began to repressurize.

"The air down here is breathable , which also proves my theory that the Debrune built this", Ahsrav said

As they began to take their helmets of and indeed the air was breathable. And it was already impressive as they were descending further bellow. While descending Saarok sensed his commbadge signaling him that transport lock on was not possible down here and neither was any communication with the outside he soon noticed. After some descending they found themselves at the same place Tedak and Shara were and it was impressive and even the two Vulcan’s were impressed by the underground city. After the initial impression passed. T'Val walked to Tedak and gave him a look which gave no indication of any emotion but it was an apology for bringing all of these people down and he wanted to sneak around alone.Meanwhile Ahsrav was shocked to see the Romulan down here and went on to yell at Shara for bringing him here.

"Mr. Tedak", Saarok said

"I see you decided to come down without letting anyone know where you were going?"

 

"Obviously," Tedak replied, letting go of his wife. ~please, not in front of a crowd~ he thought, though he was glad to see the public display of affection. Up above, the four firelizards greeted and exchanged news. Raising an eyebrow, he indicated the arguing Nit-Al and Shara. "Obviously your companion does not agree."

He led his friend forward and showed him the view of the city. "Amazing is it not? I have Shara's permission to explore, would you care to join me?" He did not include T'Val in his invitation because to him it was natural she went along. "Dr Shara, would you please lead us the way? This is more exciting than arguing, would you not agree Dr Nit-Al?" He turned to the Andorian. "Come, let us stop arguing and be the scientists we are and explore these ruins. I am sure there is much to find. Afterwards, we shall all report our findings to the brass."

 

"Next time you decide to go down on the planet without anyone's knowledge , Tedak , cover your tracks better", Saarok said with the closest thing the Vulcans had to a smile

After Tedak said that he had Shara's permission to explore Ahsrav got angry and yelled out:

"This is my project i am the team leader here and only i can give permission to explore as may know dr. Shara"

Saarok saw this was going to end up in a argument so he decided to make a compromise:

"Everyone calm down , dr. Ahsrav , would you care to lead us?", Saarok said

"I've not yet had a chance to explore down below. But you can come along" , he said as he didn't particularly enjoy showing something that could very well be Debrun ruins to a Romulan but he wanted to prove to Saarok they are indeed Debrune so he agreed to take them down.

With Ahsrav and Shara leading , Tedak and T'Val right behind them , and Saarok with his 2 guards in the rear the part started to descend into the city. The city was quite large but they decided to got to the power source and try to figure out which race it belonged to. After a moderately long walk to the center of the city they entered a building which had an energy reading.

When they arrived Ahsrav and Shara immediately started to explore and scan the power source trying to detect its origin. And Saarok stood aside talking to his guards and to Sephirot who even thought was down here could connect to Aeris and therefore inform Saarok about what was happening on the station

 

 

Richard slowly walked across T'Pau's Rest. The place was about a third full, mostly Vulcans, although there was a smattering of human and Bolians as well. The place was very quiet, but there was a Vulcan calmly strumming a lyre on the small stage in the corner. He was pretty good.

Richard walked over to the bar to give himself some time to assess the place. He could see a few people glancing at him out of the corner of their eyes. Once he arrived at the bar, he ordered an Altarian Water, and spent a few minutes examining the blue liquid as it bubbled and sparkled in the glass. Richard took a swig as he slowly turned around and surveyed the place again.

The prevailing colour was a muted red, probably to simulate the planet Vulcan which Richard had never been to. There were two waiters wandering around, a Vulcan and a Human. Richard continued to watch and then chose a table in the human's section and waited for him to come over.

"Can I help you?" the waiter asked.

"What's good today?" Richard asked, by way of starting a conversation.

"The plomeek soup and Leola root stew are both excellent" the man said.

Richard thought for a second. "The Leola root stew please."

The waiter left, leaving Richard time to examine the establishment some more. Because of the way the restaurant was shaped, Richard couldn't see into one corner, so he stood up and walked over to the windows. The view was magnificent, and he spent a minute drinking it in. Turning around, he could now see all of the place. There were two Vulcans sitting at a table in the back corner. Richard returned to his table.

As he sat, the waiter returned with his order. The stew was steaming and didn't look half bad. The waiter turned to leave and Richard quickly reached into his pocket and placed an item that he had picked up from his ship that was usually very useful on excursions like this on the table by his place, then said "Excuse me, could I get another Altarian Water?"

The waiter turned back and Richard saw his eyes widen slightly at the strip of gold pressed latinum that had suddenly appeared on the table by the empty glass.

"I am looking for a friend of mine, a Vulcan archaeologist named Ravok who eats here a fair bit. You know him?" Richard asked quietly. The waiter nodded.

"Who does he spend the most time with here?" The waiter looked over toward the main bar area and then back. Richard casually looked over as well and saw the Vulcan waiter standing alone at the bar, waiting for an order.

"Does Ravok have a regular table when he comes here?" Richard inquired. The waiter started to look more nervous, but gestured slightly at a table about 4 over from where Richard was sitting. Richard nodded and said "Thanks, I'll get that water now." The waiter deftly scooped the glass and strip of latinum and returned to the bar while Richard gave his stew a try. It was hot but fairly tasteless, typical of Vulcan food, he had heard.

Richard finished his meal quickly, paid his bill and stood up to leave. He already had a small tricorder that had been among the items that he had picked up from the shuttle in his hand and he walked toward the exit, making sure that he would pass near the table indicated by the waiter. He then accidentally knocked over a chair at one of the tables. Richard leaned over and picked the chair back up while taking a fast scan of the area under the table. He then made his way back to his shuttle, picking up Lt. Nots on the way.

Once he had returned to the Wanderer, Richard connected his scanner to the main computer of the shuttle and downloaded the results of the scan. After analysis, Richard determined that the area was the centre of the dispersion field in the bar. At the range that he had managed to get to, the field couldn't hide the fact that there was a concealed compartment or access hatch underneath the table.

Richard sat back in his command chair as he decided what his next move would be.

 

Samantha was having quite a few problems decoding this program. Everytime she managed to decode one bit she would hit a wall with the next part. It was beginning to annoy her. She must have been working on this program for hours now and didn’t seem to get very much head way.

She stood up and turned to Nal who was sat next to her.

“Would you like a drink?” she asked. She shook his head. She walked over to the replicator.

“One cup of coffee,” she requested. The coffee materialised in front of her and Samantha lifted it up and took it back to her position.

“That’s your firth cup,” commented Nal.

“It’s the only way I’m going to get this program decoded,” she responded taking a sip of the coffee.

“You should really get some rest,” he suggested. She shoot him an annoyed took but he continued to try and persuade her.

“I fresh mind will give you a new perception of the problem and it could be easier to solve,” he continued. She though for a second, reviewing what she had all ready found out.

“Ok,” she said reluctantly, “a few hours.”

He nodded, “I will also take a break.”

They turned of the program and headed out of engineering together. Nal walked Samantha to her quarters and they spent the time discussing new approaches to decoding the program.

“Good night,” he said.

“Good night too,” she said back and entered her quarter. She lay back on her bed and as soon as her head touched the pillow she was asleep.

 

Walker was one of the few officers still awake on the quiet Victory-C. Incase another murder occrued he wanted to know about it immediately. He had been awake for about 24 hours and was beginning to form bags under his eyes)

Walker: =^= Computer Coffee=^=

*Whir*

(Walker reached for the coffee and placed it in front of him on his desk. He brought it up to his face with his hand trembling and took a large sip of it. All of a sudden a starfleet officer materialized in his room. Walker nearly jumped out of his seat. His instincts told him to take his phaser out. Walker was more than surprised to see Steve)

Walker: What are you doing here Commander?

Steve: Please allow me to explain first Captain.

(Walker was still cautious. Though he believed that Steve was innocent he still had his doubts)

Walker: Did you shoot those security officers Steve?

Steve: Absolutely not sir please give me a chance to explain what has been going on.

(Walker reluctantly signalled to the chair across from the desk. However he did notice the phaser in his holster and Walker decided to keep his phaser near placing it in the open bottom draw of his desk. Steve began explaining his story)

*45 Minutes Later*

Walker: Damn.. These intel cases can be tough.

(Steve nodded in agreeal)

Walker: Have you told anyone else.

Steve: Under the table yes I have told Magellan.

(Walker was not surprised by this. Magellan was always a trustworthy officer)

Walker: You need to be hidden somewhere. We are currently having trouble with the sensors.

(Walker sat for a moment and thought to himself of where he could possibly put Steve out of detection. Suddenly it came to him)

Walker: Why don't you hide in The Captain's Yacht for now. I need to sort this out with Magellan.

Steve: That sounds like a plan sir.

Walker: But just remember if you are double crossing me and you attempt to take the yacht out we will not hesitate to take the yacht out Steve.

(Steve was surprised that Walker would even think he was double crossing him after the whole story but he still nodded. Walker left the ready room and entered the bridge. Sokath was sitting in the center seat)

Walker: I'll be on Assailant Commander.

Sokath: Yes sir.

(Walker got into the turbolift)

Walker: Deck 8.

(The turbolift swooshed down to Deck 8 and the doors slid open. Walker twisted a few corners until he reached the docking bay doors)

Walker: Computer open the docking bay doors, authorization Walker Alpha 1.

*Beep Beep Beep*

(The door slid open quickly and he entered the Starbase. The decks were dark, darker than the Victory was. Though they were both just as quiet and eery. Walker looked around but saw no other officers in the area. He walked down the hall towards the turbolift. The area he was in now was offices and he figured by now that Magellan would be asleep or close to it. As he was walking down the corridor his commbadge fell. Walker went to kneel down to pick it up and a phaser shot flashed near him just high. If he had been standing the shot would have probably killed him, leaving a burn spot on the carpet. Walker didn't have time to pick up his commbadge. He rolled over towards a doorway and waited a minute. He heard no more gun shots and then hesitantly reached for his commbadge. He didn't bother reporting it to security since he knew he couldn't trust base security. Walker cautiously paced towards the turbolift and entered)

Walker: Deck 80.

Dud dee do.
...
Dud dee do.

"Computer. Time" a weary voice came from the dark.
"The time is 03.22"
"ooooohh" Magellan groaned

Dud dee do

"Alright Alright I m coming."
He swung himself out of bed and pulled on a robe,
"Lights. LOW."
Stumbling out of the bedroom and into the lounge.
Rubbing his eyes he tapped the door panel. The light flooded in and hurt his eyes. As they adjusted they focused on the form of Captain Walker.
"Jeff! Do you know what time its is?"
"Yes"
Magellan paused waiting for more, none came.
"You better come in then."
Walker entered and the two took seats.
"Steve came to see you."
"Offically No"
"But unofficially Yes."
"Yes. I ve got involved as I can. I maybe an Admiral but theres only so much I can do. Steve is being expertly framed"
"Yes and from what Steve says we have a line of enquiry."
"Its possible its someone from that failed mission yes. But we cant be sure. I ve got security jumping all over me. T'San isnt having a bar of it. Shes a Vulcan and goes by the evidence and the evidence says Steve did it."
"Come on just order her off the case."
"I cant do that. She'd be over my head to the Judge General Advocate like a shot, even I answer to someone. I ve managed to, or rather ordered her to lift the restriction on the Victory crew being resticted to the ship.
That way your free to track down the attacker. I d start on the Factory level, someone must have seen something. Theres a small population of homeless people there, they tend to avoid security, but you could try plain clothes."
"Theres nothing more you can do?"
"I ve done more than I should. Like you I know Steves innocent. Tell you what I ll redirect security for a few hours, it may help."
"Thanks sir"
"No probs. Now can I get some sleep"
"Of course" Walker grinned
"And Captain... We never had this talk... Understand"
"What talk?"
"Thats the spirit"
"Good Night Sir."
"Night"
With Walker gone Magellan called for the lights off and within seconds had fallen back asleep in his chair.

 

Spedmo shot down the deck. He was moving quickly to talk to Commander Parker. He stopped running when he got near engineering. He saw Samantha hunched over a console. "Have you been here all night?" Spedmo asked when he neared her. She looked up at him with a determained face. "No I slept for about six hours than woke up and came down here," she replied as she sat back. "I am having a huge ammount of difficulty decoding this program," she said gesteuring to the console. Spedmo looked at the readout. "I think you should try to get more rest. I will try to decode this for you because I am able to work for hours on end," Spedmo said as he sat down beside Samantha. "Spedmo thank you. I wish you luck," she said as she stood up and left engineering

 

Samantha hoped Speedo would have more luck decoding the program and maybe even tracing it back to who wrote. It seeming more and more clear that this program was written as an escape plan probably by the murder if they were caught. She wanted to trace it back to it origin and had kept hitting walls. Also if she could get more decoded, she could possible put counter measures in place to stop it from ever being used and have more conclusive evidence of what the program was meant to do.

She could feel her stomach rumbling and she tried to think to the last time. She’d accuracy ate something; it had to be yesterday morning. She entered the turbo lift.

“Messhall,” she requested. She wanted something to eat before she could go to bed. She entered the messhall that was fairly full with people having breakfast.

“Computer what’s the time?” she asked.

“0930 hours,” it answered. She though it was earlier. She walked over to the replicator and ordered herself a full English breakfast and a jug of coffee. She was feeling extremely hungry.

Half-hour later she finished the breakfast having a good chat with a Lt from Tactical. She didn’t feel tired any more so she headed back to engineering.

Speedo looked surprise to see her.

“I though you were getting some rest,” he enquired.

“All I need was coffee and breakfast, I’m fine now,” she explained. She looked over his shoulder.

“How are you getting along?” she asked.

“I’ve found something,” he responded

 

"What is it?" Samantha asked as she came closer to the android. "See this pateren here. It is a computer configuration marker," Spedmo replied. The CEO looked a little confused. "Every computer download leaves a marker on it. This is to tell when a computer last downloaded information. Someone used a PADD with this configuration downloaded from a computer with thie configuration. It was used by scientists to prevent others frim stealing their ideas. Every computer device be it PADD, a Desktop Computer or a mainframe computer uses these markers. This marker can be used to trace it back to the original owner," Spedmo explained while wishing he had his emotion chip to show how excited he was. Sam nodded and smiled. "How did I miss this?" she asked. "Simple this information was given to me after I was created and also I require no sleep so I never miss anything. Whereas when humans get tired the tend to miss stuff," Spedmo said sheepishley. "I need your help to trace this marker Spedmo," Samantha said without missing a beat. "No problem. What are friends for?" Spedmo asked as Sam sat down and started going over the info with the android.

 

As they got to work tracing the marker that could be the key to who wrote the program, Nal appeared behind her.

“Good morning,” he said looking well rested.

“How’s it going?” he asked.

“I think we have a way to find the person who wrote the program,” she said with a smile, “It’s all thanks to Lt Speedo here.”

He handed her a PAD and she grabbed it.

“It’s so new algorithms I would like to try to decode the data,” Nal explained. Samantha day seemed to be getting better by the minute. She looked the PAD though it seemed promising.

“It’s amazing what good ideas you come up with a good nights sleep,” he commented.

“Is that some kind of hint,” Samantha said slightly offended by the comment.

“No, ma’am,” he said trying the get himself out of the hole he had just dig for himself.

“Good,” she said handing him the PAD back, “Would like to run these algorithms now?”

He nodded and sat down at a nearby station and began to work. Samantha turned to Speedo who seems to be getting somewhere.

----------------------------------An few hours later-----------------------------------------

Samantha walked back from the replicator after having another cup of coffee.

“I think I’ve found a marker,” said Speedo. Samantha face lit up and she came rushing back to seat to see.

 

"It looks like it belongs to a PADD belonging to an Ensign Joseph Johanson," Spedmo said as Samantha sat down. "This also looks like it also came from his own Desktop computer," she said as she started pacing. "His record states that he has an enginering degree. He is a science officer on this ship," Spedmo said to his counterpart as she tapped her commbadge. "Parker to Commander Gypsy," Samantha said as Spedmo started writing a program that would undo the damage done by the ensign. "Gypsy here. Go ahead commander," Gypsy replied. "We have discovered the indentity of the sabotouer. It is an Ensign Johanson. Please intercept him ASAP," she said as she stopped her pacing. She noticed how quickly Spedmo's hands were moving. "Acknowledged and thank you Samantha," came the reply. "Do not thank me. Thank Lieutenant Fredmo," she said as she threw him a warm smile. "Well than thank you Mr. Fredmo. You seem to be full of surprises," Gypsy said as he cut off the transmission. Samantha sat by the lieutenant as she started assisting him.

 

 

Cursing profusally, he quickly jumped up and checked the setting on his phaser. All his plans seemed to be going awry.
He had spent months arranging this, this revenge, this retribution on those who had killed, yes killed his brother.
His eyes shone a moment as he let his fury take him a moment. He was glad he had been monitoring the internal comms system, otherwise he would never have known that a) Parker and Fredmo had found his booby trap and b) that they had tracked it back to him, his cover as Joseph Johansen was well and truly blown.
The plan had been simple. First deprive each of the team members of those they loved or in Steve frame him for murder, then once Steve had been disgraced kill him. He would have to step that up now, Admiral Magellan had been very slow to act on Steve and he now had no time to wait - Steve had to die now.
He crossed to his terminal and with a swift tapping of keys entered the virus to disrupt the security devices on the ship - no sensors and no forcefields would keep Gypsy occupied.
"Computer Where is Commander Steve?"
"Commander Steve is in his quarters"
Good Joseph thought to himself. First I'll kill that interfering Engineer and her android side kick then I ll finish Steve.
He will learn that you never leave a man behind, especially not a brother of mine.

 

After spending some time analyzing the power source and looking around it the team hasn’t found out anything useful from it and they decided to move on and examine nearby buildings. After some convincing Saarok was able to convince Ahsrav to let them split into two teams and go search the city and if they find and solid clues about are these ruins Debrune they would contact the rest.

The teams were Tedak , T'Val , Shara and Lt. Torak team 1 and Saarok , cmdr. Jackson and dr. Ahsrav team 2. Team 1 went south and team 2 went north. Both teams hoping to find some clues about to whom do these ruins exactly belong. And so they split up.

Saarok and Ahsrav were discussing Debrune as Ahsrav saw that this Vulcan had a satisfactory knowledge of the Debrune , which was a relief for Ahsrav as he wasn't use to having people who are familiar with the Debrune around him except some researchers and he didn’t want to share what he knew with them as they might could have stolen his research.

After some walking they approached something that looked like a storage building. They did some scans but the scanners weren’t able to penetrate the insides of this building so they decided to enter it. But they were not able to open the door. And Ahsrav seeing that there isn’t any other way , agreed to cmdr. Jackson’s suggestion to cut the door open with a phaser.

But that wasn’t as easy as they thought. After trying several phaser settings they were not able to cut open the door. And just as they were thinking what they will do next the door opened up all by itself. Saarok raised an eyebrow to this and Ahsrav and Jackson were quite surprised. But they had to see what’s in there and so they entered the building

 

After finishing his conversation with the Admiral, Qarek decided to look his other friends up. The twists and turns in policies and politics on Ferenginar due to the "revision" of the ROA and "equal rights", about witch he just told Magellan, had a strange way of upsetting him. The Admiral was very understanding but that didn't change the fact that no one knew how the markets are going to behave in the near future or how will these new rights affect the tax policies. All in all, Qarek needed a break from those ridiculous power fights that brought nothing good, for sure. Going to check on his shop in the arcade he realised that the station was busier then earlier, before he left for Ferenginar. Then he remembered the project and the dig that was going down on the planet, so he decided to have a better look at it as soon as he got to his computer. Unlocking his shop, witch closed for the time he was away, he realised that that was very bad for business. Of course, he would have been aware of it before but he was in such a hurry, because many things and a lot of money were at stake, as it is always when the FCAs taxmen start running a muck, that he didn't even think of stopping for a moment to hire a merchant to replace him. After a long time he sat at his desk and said:

"Computer, locate Ambassador Tedak."

=/\= Ambassador Tedak is not on the station. =/\=

Qarek sat down in his chair remembering that he ran this question by the computer earlier. He picked up a pad and started putting together an add for a merchant for his shop. He was going to post it on the stations information board and send it to the QITC headquarters, because that's were people go, in both cases when they look for jobs. Putting together those few lines he popped another question to the computer:

"Oh, yeah, right. Computer locate ambassador Saarok."

=/\= Ambassador Saarok is not on the station. =/\=

¤ What? ¤ he thought to himself ¤A Romulan disappearing is unusual but normal, but a Romulan and a Vulcan?¤ Qarek stopped for a moment and thought for a moment ¤ The last time they disappeared together was to save me. ¤ he thought and then it was obvious ¤ Something is happening. They are on to something. ¤

He turned to his computer on the table in front of him:

"Computer, retrieve the information from the PADD and send one copy to QITC HQ and post another on the stations information board."

=/\= Acknowledged. =/\=

"Now,", Qarek continued, "Acess all transporter logs and crew roosters for the past three days."

The computer listed the specified logs but neither Tedak nor Saarok were on them. ¤ Of course, stupid me. Even if they went they would cover up their tracks. ¤ he stopped at that for a moment ¤ Let's give this thing Saarok's type of approach. Where would they go considering all the facts? ¤ Qarek thought listing all the circumstances currently on and around the station in his head. He didn't have to think long. The archaeological dig down on Qualinost. HE was informed of this by Magellan but he had no details and basically nothing to work with if he was to inform his employers or to make some money. Realising there was no time to waste, ¤ They probably found something valuable down there. Why would both of them disappear like that. And probably without informing the Admiral. ¤ , Qarek flew into his storage room and got a holo camera. Realising that he wouldn't be allowed to beam down to the site just like that, he needed some special help.

"Computer, list the ships docked at the station preparing for departure."
The list came out on the screen of his computer and Qarek flew quickly over it.

¤ Good. Yaloon is here, I'll use his transporter. He'll probably have an EVA suite on him as well, I'll need it for the planet. ¤

Qarek said realising that one of the smugglers... ugh, sorry, traders he used to work with was "in town". He quickly closed his shop and went to Yaloon's ship.

¤¤¤ Later ¤¤¤

Qarek, entering the dock where Yaloon's ship was, called to the Computer:

"Computer, send the message to the bridge of the ship docked at dock 3, and inform me if the message is received. Also return the response through the comm system to my location. The message says: Hello Yaloon, It's Qarek. I need to talk to you and quickly. I'm coming onboard your ship this instant. Qarek out. "

The next minute Qarek was at the docking bay airlock. It was closed so Quark had to wait for Yaloon to open it. He didn't want to just march inside, because, no matter how good friends he and Yaloon were, someone could shoot him for coming uninvited onboard. Yaloon's response came soon.

=/\= Incoming message for Delegate Qarek. =/\=

"Put it through the comm system directly here."

=/\= Greetings Qarek, Yaloon here. We'll meet at the airlock and you'll come onboard. I'll be glad to help you. =/\=

Just as the message was played to the end the airlock doors opened and Yaloon was waiting on the other side:

"Hello, Qarek. Long time no see."
"Yes.", said Qarek with a smile, "But the chat will have to wait. I need you to do me a favour."
"Sure, friend. For a fee everything is possible."
"Good. I'll need an EVA suit with an extra tank of oxygen, a transporter pattern enhancer with a very strong signal amplifier, and the best tricorder you've got. Oh and I'll need you to transport me to the surface of Qualinost on your way from this place. "
"Oh my, you're really in a hurry. May I know way?"
"As you said, I'm in a hurry. I don't have time to explain it to you now. I'll contact you in a day or two. Now, can we get going?"
"Sure Qarek, what ever you say."

Qarek stepped onto the ship and they begun to prepare Qarek for his little adventure.

¤¤¤ 20 minutes later in the transporter room ¤¤¤

The ship was out of the starbase and almost in orbit around Qualinost. Qarek was all suited up and ready to go. He was not, under any circumstances, allow himself to miss the action or any of the findings Saarok and Tedak acquire for their governments.

"Here.", said Yaloon handing Qarek a backpack, "Inside is everything you wanted."
The backpack contained a Romulan tricorder and a Ferengi transporter pattern enhancer. Qarek wanted to be ready for anything. He swung the backpack on one of his shoulders and headed to the transporter padd. They had to be quick because the ship in orbit around Qualinost would be very suspicious.
"Make sure you beam me to the spot we selected."
"Don't worry you'll be a five minute walk away from the dome."
"Good. I can manage from there.", said Qarek putting on his headgear.
"Energising.", said Yaloon and Qarek was beamed of the ship.
The next moment Qarek appeared on the planet with the dome just in site. Yaloon was true to his word.

 

Richard sat in the command chair of the Wanderer and wondered what his next move should be. It seemed that Mr. Ravok was doing something that he shouldn't, and that he had help from the Vulcan at T'Pau's Rest.

However, what Ravok was doing was still unknown. As such, Richard could see only two options, going to talk to Ravok or going to see what was in the secret compartment at the restaurant.

Unfortunately, Richard didn't have anything to talk to Ravok about. Richard could make some empty accusations, but doing that to a Vulcan might have the same effect as throwing a snowball at him. Which meant that he would raise an eyebrow and say how illogical humans were. His better option was to try to find out what was in the compartment, which meant that he would have to make a very late entrance to T'Pau's Rest.

Richard spent an hour getting his supplies ready for the attempt, and then went to bed in preparation for his reconnaissance

 

“Force Fields and Sensors are down,” an ensign called in panic from the other end of engineering. Samantha turned to Speedo and then to Nal.

“I think it has been activated,” Nal said as he looked down at the code in front of him.

“Was it something we did?” asked Samantha thinking that one of them had accidentally activated it and hoping that was the case.

“No, it was activated from the orgin,” informed Speedo. Samantha felt a knot in her stomach.

Samantha clicked her commbadge they had to inform security what was going. But she just got a disputed signal.

“Comm systems are down,” she said. She turned to the two officers next to her.

“Are first priority is to get the sensors back online,” she informed, “I’m going to try and route them to see if the virus can find them that way, Speedo can I have your help?”

He nodded, “Lt Jaroan keep working on that program see if you can get them back up from there.”

Samantha sat down and was beginning to access the sensor systems. Speedo had gone to get check the sensor system more directly.

The doors to engineering opened and an officer entered. He turned to the first officer he saw, which was Nal.

“Do you know where I can find Cmdr Parker and Lt Speedo?” he asked politely as he looked at what Nal was working on. He recognised to the program.

“Cmdr Parker is working over there and Speedo has just gone to the sensor relays and should be back shortly,”

“Thank you, for your inference,” he said. Nal looked at him blankly and as the man smacked him in the face with the edge of his phaser. Nal feel back into the console and placed his hand on his face. He looked down at his hand seeing blood from his wound. He looked up seeing the man preparing for another blow. He tried to move out of the way. This time it hit on the head and he feel to the ground unconscious.

He would deal with him later. Samantha turned hearing Nal thud to the floor. She walked over to him to see what was wrong. She lent over him checking that he was still alive. A phaser shot hit her on the arm. She turned around to see a man stood there.

“You will pay for your interference,” he said. She ran for cover and as she ran the man shoot her in her leg. Her arm and leg were stinging from phaser burns as she divided for cover. She pulled out her phaser and shot it to where he had been stood. She searched around for him.

Then she felt an arm around her neck and phaser against her back.

“Now it’s time for you to die,” he said

 

The moment Spedmo heared phaser fire he ran behind a console. He saw the individual as he grabbed Sam and put his phaser to her back. When he saw this and started running with the emotion chip in his quarters he had no fear. The officer turnned to late only to see the andriod jump off the ground and extend his right leg. Spemo caught the young man in the midsection. "Computer activate twenty gigawatt emergency force field. Authorization:Fredmo-29-Orion-Theta," Spedmo said as he rose from the ground. The officer growled as he rose the phaser and pointed it at the warp core. With lightning quick reflexes Spedmo managed to jump through his force feild, get the phaser away from the young man and use the Vulcan Neck Pinch on him. The combatant dropped like a ton of bricks as the security team arrived. "Why are you here?" Samantha choked as she tried to catch her breath. "We heard there was phaser fire in Engineering so Commander Gypsy despatched us down here," security Lieutenant Shienland said. Samantha smiled at how quickly Gypsy reacted to the phaser fire. "Please get Nal to sickbay and this person to the brig," Samantha said as Spedmo helped her stand. "Computer deactivate force field," Spedmo said calmy as the gaurds started to move. Within a few moments the security team left. "You saved my life Spedmo. For that I thank you," she said as she hugged the android. The sweet moment was short as three ensigns entered main engineering. "Commander Parker. We have the anti-virus finished and it works perfectly," Ensign Davey said excitedly. "I will set up an inoic pulse to send it through the station. Configure it to piggypack on a station wide low level ionic pulse," Spedmo ordered as he approached the console the junior officers were standing by. Samantha headed for the turbolift. "I am going to check on Nal. Finish this up and meet me for dinner in the Mess Hall later," she said with a huge grin as she entered the turbolift.

Jones had nal on a biobed, he had recived two heavy blows and they had caused serious damage to his head. he had recived a broken cheekbone and nose from the impact to his face.

"Kapoor sort ou the bleeding."

"Yes doctor" Kappor replied calmly as he set about his work, jones walked to some panaels where things wer not looking good, they could stop the bleeding but it would just rupture somewhere else. nurses brought equipent back and for as jones pused a blood corterizer to the wound.

"Jones that did it but there is a risk of clotting. And applying heat to his brain like that could cause irreperable damage"

"i know, but more blood loss could kill him it will be a while before we know what will happen i want him under constant observation. keep him under sedation untill he is stable." Jones said smoothly as the two doctors stood back from the biobed.

"Nurse jones see to the facial wounds please." Kappor said

"Yes doctor" a nurse nearby replied, at that parker hobbeled in and gasped at the sight of her caompanion.

jones rushed over to her and assited her to a bed near the door purposely taking her away form Nal.

"It wont be a minit before i am done her commander. Rumor has it you caught a sabator in engineering."

"Thats true enough, i am just wondering if it will relate to commander steve."

Jones injected a blood detoxication syrim adn a pain suppressor and rubbed a dermal regenerator over the wounds and made them look as good as new. Parker sighed as the pain faded.

"How will he be Jim" Parker asked seriously.

"Hard to tell at the momnet but he is stable he should be fine but he might require further surgery to his brain, i had to proform a unothadoxed procedure to counter blood loss to stop him hemerageing."

"Can i see him"

"I dont see why not but he is uncounsious."

Parker got up and walked to the side of nal his face sorted he looked far better but he was pale and his head was a mess.

"You can stay as long as you want commander, i have matthew in my office, if you need me just call and any pains in your arm or leg report to me no matter how insignificant. better safe than sorry"

 

Samantha stared at Nal who seemed to be looking better. She felt guilty that it was he lying there when she was the one the saboteur was after. She had heard that people could hear what people were saying even when they were unconscious. So she began to talk to him.

“We’ve caught the saboteur,” she explained, “He’s currently being held safely in the brig and the virus should be out of our system shortly thanks to you and your work.”

She carried out speaking to him explaining about everything

 

Things seemed to be looking up. The Victory crew had come through and managed to solve the murder. Minutes ago Captain Walker had contacted him explaining that the murderer- a Joseph Johansen had been caught.
Making his way swiftly to the Victory, he was met by Walker and Steve.
"Things have worked out then" Magellan smiled
"They sure have" Walker nodded
"Was it as we thought?"
Steve nodded gravely
"Yes Joseph was Idiks kid half brother. He was devastated when we left Idik behind in the Romulan Base. He was in Spec Ops too an admin worker, thats how he found out who was in the team. Once he knew he set about getting revenge."
"Sometimes I wonder if SF Intell isnt more trouble than its worth" Magellan mused "All that cloak and dagger, it very nearly ended your career and your life"
"Well I m out of it now"
"You were out before Joseph came after you" Walker noted
Steve looked uncomfortable.
"Well I did a lot of things in my time, I guess I ll just have to live with it."
"Easy Words" Magellan replied darkly, " Good Luck with it. Now I better see the two heroes of the piece"
"Of course Sam's in sickbay and if I know Spedmo he'll be there too.

Walker and Magellan made their way to Sickbay.
"Dr Jones" Walker nodded as they entered " Commander Parker?"
"Over there with Nal."
"Thankyou"
"Congratulations Parker" Magellan greeted, "I understand you discovered the computer virus and other sabotage, revealed the identity of the murder and then assisted with his apprehension"
Parker stood up smartly
"Yes sir. Well no sir I mean I got the virus and the identity but teh capture bit was more Spedmo"
"Neveretheless, it was outstanding work. I ll be putting both you and Spedmo up for a Commendation from Command. You really saved Steves bacon."
" Yes Sir Thankyou sir. Just doing my duty I suppoose is what people usually say"
"Well criminal work like that isnt usually a part of engineering duties though is it"
As he spoke Spedmo entered.
"Ah Spedmo, congratulations on your fine work. Myself and Captain Walker are very proud of you."
"Thankyou Sir, but I was just operating in a fashion so as to minimise risk to all parties."
"I m sure you were and we are all grateful you did. Now Captain Walker I suggest these two get some leave."
"I agree sir. You two get some rest and make sure you hit Steve for some drinks, he owes you two a lot."
"Aye Sir" they replied.
Magellan nodded and with Walker exited the sickbay
"Well with that done I better get back to my office and track down my missing Ambassadors"
"Missing Ambassadors?"
"Long story, if it isnt missing Ambassadors its missing Scientists. Can you get security to transfer Joseph transfered to our prison. We'll arrange his trial and detention."
"Of course Sir."
"And get yourself some rest, I ll have new orders for teh Victory in the next few days so make the most of it."
"Yes sir"

 

 

Tedak walked with his wife by his side, alongside the security officers, Drs Nit-al and Shara, and Saarok. Above the four firelizards took turns of flying ahead and reporting back to their friends.

"This is truly amazing," Tedak exclaimed, upon entering one of the ruins, "I cannot imagine that my government would want this to be kept a secret. It reminds me of ruins I visited on Earth, on the island Crete, this is even more impressive. I cannot wait to find out who ruled this city, this culture."

He turned to the two archaeologists. "We must inform Admiral Magellan, he must see this. I will beam back aboard and go get him, this is just too...." He was at a loss for words, as he glanced around again. He gave T'Val a quick kiss on her cheek and races back to the dome, Saarok in his wake, shouting something after him which, in his excitement, he did not hear.

He lost his footing several times on the loose sand, and once he fell face forward, sprawling into the sand. Paying no heed to the sand in his clothing, and his scraped hands and face, he raced on. Finally, he reached the dome and he had himself beamed back, Saarok still in his wake.

Tedak rushed into Magellans office, past his secretary. "Admiral!" he shouted, "admiral, this you must hear, it is truly amazing!" He skidded to a halt when he found the Trill admiral to be absent from his office. "Computer, locate Admiral Magellan Lin."

=^= Admiral Magellan Lin is not aboard this station =^=

"Where is he then?" Tedak enquired, raising an eyebrow at Saarok, who had caught up with him.

=^= Unknown =^=

Tedak gave Saarok a sheepish smile. "Seems I am not the only one capable of disappearing around this station."

 

Not to be on the station does not mean one has disappeared, the admiral is most likely visiting the USS Victory the ship he used to command. Now you did not need to run to find the admiral and show him that dig site because he has other more pressing matters to tend to."

"This site is important Saarok," Tedak said, spinning on his heels to face his friend, "and he should know about this. And it is not like the admiral to disappear like this. Not even his secretary knows where he has gone off to, but yes him being on the Victory is very possible." He held out his hand to Nut, who was obviously smarter than his bronze brother Sev, and held the brown before his face, picturing Magellan and the Victory. "Go find him little friend," Tedak said, then gazed at Saarok. "Why did you follow me?"

"I have followed you because i made a discovery in one of the storage buildings on the dig site which is undisputable evidence to whom this city belongs to and it is logical that you should know of this as it will change a lot of things.", Saarok said

When he finished talking Aeris landed on his shoulder he had not seen her for a while since he sent her of to observe the actions of the admiral.

"So what is it that you discovered that I should know of?"

"The city is Debrune , and it is undisputable", he said turning his eyes away from Aeris and looking at Tedak

"And what have you uncovered to prove that? I have found pieces of evidence that a Romulan colony has lived here a very long time ago."

"I have discovered pieces of items which are unique to them , and also a skeleton which has been identified to belong to a humanoid and dr. Nit-Al confirms that it is in fact a Debrune. " , Saarok said

"So maybe both cultures lived here, at the same time....perhaps the Debrune are of Romulan origin....we both have uncovered unique evidence....." He looks up at Sev who is chittering that Nut had found Magellan. "Nut found the admiral, but he cannot return back. Nut will stay with Magellan for now."

"The logical and the correct solution is that the Debrune have lived here and that this is their city as to if after the disappearance of the Debrune the Romulans could have come here but the Romulans are in fact a race which comes out from Debrune as the Vulcans do."

"The Vulcans and Romulans come forth out of the Debrune? Now that is something to laugh at," Tedak said, giving his friend a scamper laugh, "I doubt these ruins are even THAT old. No my friend, I think both cultures lived here at the same time, and they too may have sprung forth from the Vulcans. Now, we should get to Magellan and see what he thinks, before these scientists get to him and tell him of our little unauthorized trip."

"I do not believe that my trip was unauthorized my friend , it was fully authorized as we as diplomatic officials have a right to visit those ruins as anybody else does , but let us go to him now", Saarok finished and the two accompanied by the firelizards went of to find Magellan.

 

Magellan, satisfied that matters on the Victory had been satisfactorily concluded, decided it best to return to his office, and track down some wayward Ambassadors. Diplomats seemed hard to keep hold of than frogs in jars - They had a habit of jumping out all over the place.
As he exited the airlock a sqawk brought him up short. Coming up the corridor a brown Firelizard appeared. Sev he believed Tedak called it. That meant the Ambassador was back on board.
Sev span around his heard agitatedly.
"I guess I ll follow you"
Sev swooped down narrowly missing the Admirals head and shot of down the corridor. Magellan sighed and jogged after him.
Sev led Magellan to the primary planetary transporter Pad where Tedak with Saarok stood patiently.
"Admiral. We have made some rather interesting discoveries." Saarok greeted.
"You have?"
"It appears Dr Nit-al was right" Tedak noted "There is incontrovertable evidence that the Debrune once lived on the planet."
Magellan nodded. This was both good and bad news. Any archeolgoical find was important but with it being Debrune rather than Iconian meant that the Romulans would want - demand even greater involvement.
"I guess I should see this for myself."
"Indeed its is spectacular" Tedak replied.
The three men stepped on to the pad and transported down. They led Magellan to the vast cavern and on it to the city.
"This is incredible, we could speed colonisation up markedly. Imagine if we could begin repairing this city. We can start taking refugees straight away and have space for a larger scientific team."
"Once the archeolgy is completed" Dr Nit-al grunted from a corner where he was bent over a skeleton.
"There are also questions with links between Vulcan and Romulus, we need a lot of careful work here, but this place could be vital to the reunification Ambassador Spock has been searching for for so long."
"Then this place must be protected. We'll keep it quiet for now" Magellan noted "Get all the studies complete and go from there, is that acceptable to you Ambassadors?"

 

Tedak nodded. "But the Romulan Empire will require a full report on this dig," he said cautiously, narrowing his eyes as he stared at the admiral. For some reason, he felt the admiral had kept information from both him and Saarok. "I suspect the vulcan government will want a copy also, as there is clear evidence that there has been Romulan and/or Vulcan colonisation at the time of the Debrune colonies."

The four firelizards hummed in agreement as they settled down. Saarok's queen landed on his arm, as the blue sought refuge to Nit-Al's shoulder. The Andorian flinched as the dragonet landed, but said nothing <yet>. Sev landed on Magellan's shoulder as Nut settled on Tedak's arm, rubbing his head against the Romulan's shoulder.

From a short distance, T'Val and Dr Shara looked on, as they were examining what appeared to be a medical laboratory from the Debrune history. It appeared that their medical knowledge had been quite advanced for that period of time, and T'Val felt a lot could be learned from them.

 

 

Richard materialized in the deserted corridor near T'Pau's rest. It was abandoned, as he had hoped. He would have to remember to find a new way to conceal his transporter beam soon. If anyone found out he was secretly beaming away from his security team, he could have to answer some awkward questions.

Richard consulted his PADD. There was an access hatchway to the ventilation system up the corridor. He quickly found, opened it up and crawled inside, taking care to seal it behind him. Then, he activated the device that would conceal his trace from the Security devices that usually inhabited Starfleet ducting.

Richard quickly crawled through the shaft, until he was looking through a grate and into T'Pau's Rest. Pulling out his PADD, he scanned the grate. There was a standard IR security beam and motion sensors in the place. Alex initiated a program on the PADD that was from his less respectable days as a blockade runner. An Yridian thief who had managed to get himself into a lot of trouble on Garran 4 had paid Richard for quick passage out of the system. To pass the time, the Yridian had taught Richard some tricks of the trade.

The program infiltrated the security system and caused a feedback loop in the control software, but would look like a natural glitch in the system for whoever repaired it.

Richard opened the unprotected grate, lowered himself to the floor and quickly walked over to the table in question. Scanning underneath, Richard clearly detected the access hatch, but the dispersion field still hid whatever was behind it. Richard was considering his options when he was surprised by the sound of a door opening behind him.

Luckily, he was out of sight of the door. Hugging the ground, he quietly crawled away and hid behind another table and watched as a set of feet walked toward him. Richard pulled out a phaser and got ready.

However, the feet stopped at the table he had just left. A pair of hands reached down and waved a device near the floor, and the hatchway popped open. The hands then removed several items, all of which appeared to be Debrune artifacts Richard noted with some surprise.

The hand finished their work, and the hatchway closed as the feet walked back towards the door. Richard risked a quick look and saw without surprise that it was the Vulcan waiter. The door opened and closed behind him.

Richard materialized in the deserted corridor near T'Pau's rest. It was abandoned, as he had hoped. He would have to remember to find a new way to conceal his transporter beam soon. If anyone found out he was secretly beaming away from his security team, he could have to answer some awkward questions.

Richard consulted his PADD. There was an access hatchway to the ventilation system up the corridor. He quickly found, opened it up and crawled inside, taking care to seal it behind him. Then, he activated the device that would conceal his trace from the Security devices that usually inhabited Starfleet ducting.

Richard quickly crawled through the shaft, until he was looking through a grate and into T'Pau's Rest. Pulling out his PADD, he scanned the grate. There was a standard IR security beam and motion sensors in the place. Alex initiated a program on the PADD that was from his less respectable days as a blockade runner. An Yridian thief who had managed to get himself into a lot of trouble on Garran 4 had paid Richard for quick passage out of the system. To pass the time, the Yridian had taught Richard some tricks of the trade.

The program infiltrated the security system and caused a feedback loop in the control software, but would look like a natural glitch in the system for whoever repaired it.

Richard opened the unprotected grate, lowered himself to the floor and quickly walked over to the table in question. Scanning underneath, Richard clearly detected the access hatch, but the dispersion field still hid whatever was behind it. Richard was considering his options when he was surprised by the sound of a door opening behind him.

Luckily, he was out of sight of the door. Hugging the ground, he quietly crawled away and hid behind another table and watched as a set of feet walked toward him. Richard pulled out a phaser and got ready.

However, the feet stopped at the table he had just left. A pair of hands reached down and waved a device near the floor, and the hatchway popped open. The hands then removed several items, all of which appeared to be Debrune artifacts Richard noted with some surprise.

The hand finished their work, and the hatchway closed as the feet walked back towards the door. Richard risked a quick look and saw without surprise that it was the Vulcan waiter. The door opened and closed behind him.

 

After Jibb saw that the Vulcan was behind him , the Vulcan draw his phaser and fired a shot at Jibb but Jibb was able to duck from the shot but the shot was detected by the station internal sensor system which caused a reaction.

 

Richard sprawled onto the floor as his command chair evaporated to vapour. The vulcan was lining up a second shot as Richard shouted "Computer, bridge cross seal!!" The vulcan depressed his trigger again, but the beam deflected off of the force field that Richard had just established and into the engineering controls. There was a large explosion and the vulcan careened across the floor, but quickly leaped to his feet.

Richard had already stood up and said in a calmer tone "Computer, scan vessel and initiate confinement protocol." The vulcan was buffeted by an unseen wall and suddenly found himself penned on all sides by force fields, and having to bend over to have enough space.

"You'll never get anything out of me, human scum!" the vulcan screamed angrily, and Richard shrugged.

"You might want to relax. You'll exhaust the oxygen in the cell faster. Computer decrease volume of confinement cell by 50%." The vulcan looked at Richard with surprise. "I never said that I wanted anything out of you. I don't like it when people break into my ship, and calling me nasty names definitely irritates me." Richard calmly walked over to inspect the damage to the engineering station. The control system for the dynamic gyroscope was fried.

The vulcans chest started to heave as the air in the box ran short, and he stared unbelievingly at Richard, as he sat hunched over in the tiny force field confinement cell. "This is murder" the prisoner said desperately.

"Well, technically yes, but I am in the diplomatic corps, and we have diplomatic immunity, so I might get a slap on the wrist, but as I was eliminating a...Vulcan...spy, I don't think that I will be too badly off." Richard knew this wasn't entirely true, but he doubted that the prisoner did.

Saarok was just telling the admiral that Vulcan will undauntedly want to send one of its own scientists to examine the ruins on the planet surface. When all of a sudden the station light went red and an alarm sounded.

=/\=Magellan to ops=/\=

=/\=Ops here go ahead sir=/\=

=/\=What is happening, what is this alert about=/\=

=/\=Someone fired a phaser in the docking area, security is underway=/\=

=/\=Understood im on my way too, Magellan out=/\=

"Excuse me gentlemen i have to go", Magellan said before he stormed of to the transport

"My friend", Saarok said, "We are not going to miss out on the fun , are we?"

"No, we are not", Tedak said

And the two accompanied by Saarok's security guards ran after Magellan to the docking bay. After a few moments they arrived there and already saw a bunch of security personnel scanning the area the alarm was still going, seems like no one has bothered to turn it of. The two sneaked past the security and started their own search.

 

The man was starting to pound at the walls of his tiny cell with his fists, as Richard waited calmly. Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. The external monitors were noting a number of people running around. Richard took a closer look and saw that three of them were Admiral Magellan, Saarok and Tedak. Richard entered the security code and released the main hatch, and the three of them surged onto the Wanderer. Richard turned back to his captive.

"Do you have any last bits of Vulcan wisdom to pass on?" Richard asked. The man had stopped pounding the walls and had collapsed, panting. hearing Richard he looked up, just as Magellan, Saarok and Tedak walked in.

He screamed with his last breath. "I'm a Romulan! A ROMULAN!!"

Richard raised his eyebrows with some surprise and said "Computer, end confinement protocol."

The romulan sprawled to the floor and his weapon skittered out of his grasp

 

Tedak stared at Richard Jibb in amazement. "A Romulan?" he asked, eyebrow raised, as he walked forward and knelt besides the unconscious man. Turning him over on his back, Tedak studied the man's face and turned it side to side.

"I am not sure about him being a Romulan, but it is quite possible," Tedak said, "without medical equipment it is hard to verfiy, but it is very obvious that he was indeed not a Vulcan. I can also see that he has undergone plastic surgery to look Vulcan, but there is only one one to determine what exactly he was before. T'Val can remove any DNA tags this man has received, and can determine by analysing his blood factors if he is indeed Romulan."

He looked up at Magellan, and then at Jibb. "If he is Romulan, I wonder why he was sent. I was not informed of any undercover agents," he added, just to prevent the men from uttering accusations at his address.

"Mr Jibb, he is your prisoner, what do you wish us to do with him?

Richard gazed back at Tedak. He was starting to distrust the Romulan ambassador already. Amazing how quickly Romulans did that to him. They were almost as bad as Klingons.
He doubted that anything could be made to stick to the Romulan government, if they were involved or not.

"Unfortunately, this man isn't the entire story. He's working with Mr. Ravok from Dr. Nit-Al's archaeological team. I have evidence that they have been planting Debrune artifacts on the surface. I believe that our friend here..." Richard nodded at the unconscious man..." was smuggling Debrune artifacts onto Assailant and providing them to Ravok. In turn, Ravok was using his position within the Federation to figure out ways to get them to the surface using the USS Asimov. I have no proof that anyone else in the team was involved. As for our friend here, he should be remanded into Federation custody and questioned. Along with Mr. Ravok and the rest of Nit-Al's team. It would be interesting to discover the source of the artifacts and exactly who initiated this plan" Richard said, staring pointedly at Tedak.

The Romulan Ambassador pointedly ignored the jab

 

Tedak ignored the last remarks. "yes, questioned he should be, but not only by Federation security. I request to be present, and I am sure Mr Saarok here will want to be present also. As for the source of the artifacts, I have no doubt they come from the Debrune ruins. There is clear evidence that, among the Debrune, there were also Vulcan as well as Romulan colonists."

Tedak gazed right back into Jibb's eyes. On his shoulder, Nut chittered in dissatisfaction, and hissed at Jibb. "He is not going to harm you," Tedak hushed his friend. Sev, still sitting on Magellan's arm, hissed also, digging his talons into the admirals arm. "Sev, you are hurting him," Tedak said, "please calm down. I am sorry admiral, if he really is hurting you just send him aloft and he will find another perch."

 

Richard shrugged while Tedak requested that he be present at the questioning, yet cautiously watched the little reptiles as they fluttered about. The seemed harmless enough when they were happy, but their talons came out when they were agitated. Much like Romulans.

"Whether or not you are at the questioning is up to Saarok." Richard turned to the Admiral, who was manfully trying to ignore the little lizard imprinting marks into his shoulder. "Admiral, I do suggest that a Security team be assigned to pick up Mr. Ravok and the rest of Nit-Al's staff. There's no telling how quickly Ravok will find out that he's been picked up."

Magellan nodded and began snapping orders into his communicator. In short order, a security team arrived and started to truss up the captive. Richard was feeling increasingly uncomfortable. There had never been this many people aboard the Wanderer before, and he was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic. He made sure that the security team did their job as quickly as possible, then decided that it was time to clear the rest off of the Wanderer.

"Ambassador Saarok, I am willing to present my evidence regarding the captive and Mr. Ravok as soon as possible. If you could arrange an appropriate conference room and invite whoever you think might like to see it" Richard said.

Saarok nodded and the four of them left the Wanderer in search of a more suitable location.

 

Magellan gratefully raised his arm and allowed the firelizard spiral into the air.
"In actual fact he's my prisoner" Magellan stated "Despite what anyone else here may think, this is still my station the last time I looked."
"Of course Admiral" Jibb said, "But he was captured aboard my Diplomatic Ship"
"Which is in my Dock" Magellan raised his arms before anyone else could interject, "nevertheless, never let be said I m not a reasonable man so we will share the responsibility. Number One the Vulcan/Romulan whatever will be moved to Assailants detention block. Number 2 we will return to my office where Mr Jibb will exlplain his investigations step by step. Number 3 Nurse Tsomba we assertain our guests species, before finally number 4 we interview him."
Jibb shuffled,
"I dont want to stand on any toes but I suggest we also apprehend Ravok."
"Good Idea" Magellan replied "I ll have Base Security round him up."

****

Jill walked nervously along the detention block. She disliked having to come down there, down with all the crooks and murderers. The security guard accomanying her was a broad Zaldan. He stopped her at a cell containing a Vulcanoid - the object of her study.
The man, who still refused to give a name, lurched towards them, the guard deftly caught him and placed him in a strangle hold grip.
"Now, quickly Whilst I still have a hold of him"
Jill dashed forwards, ducking a flailing arm. She shoved her tricorder up towards the man and lifted up a hyposyringe and extracted some green blood.
"Done" she called retreating hastily from the cell.
The guard span the man round and shoved him roughly back into the cell, he stepped back and flicked on the forcefield.
"Thankyou" Jill said and hurried from the room
"No probs Nurse Tsomba" the guard called after her.

****

Comforatbly sat in Magellans spatious office, Richard carefully retold his story. He edited it slightly, he didnt want people knowing how he had slipped Saaroks guards or any of his little investigation techniques.
The two Ambassadors and the Admiral sat politely and heard him out. They were interrupted at the end of the tale by a comm call for Magellan.
The Admiral took it in confidence and then scowled.
"It appears Delagte Qarek has taken himself down to the archeology site as well. What is it with you Ambassador, why wont you stay in your embassies"
Neither Tedak or Saarok replied perhaps assuming it was a rhetorical question.
"Nevermind" Magellan shook his head, "I ve asked Dr Nit-al to keep any eye out for him and to make sure nothing becomes... ferengi property."
Just then a bleep came from the door.
"Come in" Magellan ordered
The door slid open revealing a short African woman.
"Ah Nurse Tsomba please come in. Have you managed to get any answers?"
Jill nodded and held up her tricorder
"I sure have. Not necessarily what you'd expect."
"No?" Magellan asked indicating for Jill to take a seat.
"Is the man Romulan?" Tedak asked, he had not had chance yet to contact the homeworld and establish if the Tal Shiar had any operations on going in the area, this could cause a major diplomatic incident, Magellan was distrustful of Romulans as it was, and this Mr Jibb had certainly made his feelings clear.
"Not exactly"
"Then hes Vulcan?" Saarok noted, already playing through his mind a number of avenues, perhaps this man worked undercover for the V'Shar, or perhaps he was a deviant.
"Not exactly either no" Jill replied
"So what is he?"
"Ah well thats the rub. I ll put it in laymans but he has 20% of the Romulan Genome and about 16% of the Vulcan. I ve also cross - referenced the genetic information with the Proto-Vulcanoids on Mintaka the Rigellians and several other species living in the Neutral Zone. This unknown man has genetic markers in common with them all. I'd need a wider sample but if I were to go out on a limb I d have to say that this man is related to them all."
"Thankyou Jill" Magellan said "Looks like we need some answers - I guess you all want to be in on the interview?"
Three eager faces met his look.
"Very well" he sighed and then tapped his badge.
"Magellan to Security Have the prisoner brought to interview room 1, we'll be there shortly to question him"

 

Somewhat more... educated, Harrias was on his way back to the starbase. His mind was still awash with new memories, and he wasn't completely used to having so much going on inside his head at once, but he felt invigorated by it. He had already gone through the proper procedure with Starfleet, and his file had been editted to include his new surname, that of his symbiont, Jira. Harrias Jira; Commander Jira; he had been playing around with the name in his head for a while. The past hosts were quite varied people, and he barely knew any of them yet. He made a mental note to chat with Magellan about it all sometime, but he had an idea that now wasn't going to be the time. He had been reading the information that the Admiral had sent him, and it made very interesting reading.

After a few short hours, he returned to the starbase, and in many ways, he was a new man. He made his way straight to Interview Room 1, which was where the security officer who had met him had said that Admiral Lin had gone to. Assembled in the room as he entered were Admiral Magellan, Richard Jibb, and ambassdors Tedak and Saarok. Harrias nodded at all of them, and then turned back to his superior.

"Commander Jira reporting back to duty sir." The older Trill smiled at him, and then motioned for him to sit down.

"We were just about to get started Commander."

 

Richard looked up as the unfamiliar officer entered the room. He had never seen Commander Harrias, but had read a quick synopsis of his record jacket on his way to Assailant and recognized him from his picture.

"Commander Jira reporting back for duty, sir" the man said. Richard looked over the commander again. He was certain that he was Commander Harrias. Then he took a closer look at the man and figured out that he was a Trill, and probably recently joined as well.

Well, the more the merrier. Richard relaxed as he tried to make sense of what the doctor had told them about the waiter. His name had turned out to be Draisin Palex and Richard was sure Security was trying to find out his background and how he ended up on Assailant. Richard was curious about his genetic background. It was odd that one person have so many distinctive genetic markers. Richard could only see two possibilities at the present time, that the man was a genetically modified individual, who had had all these markers artifically added to his genetic makeup, or he came by them naturally. Both possiblities were fairly unlikely. Hopefully, the truth would become apparent after questioning.

The waiter, Draisin Pralex, was brought into the room by two members of Starfleet Security, who turned and went to stand guard outside the door that they closed behind them. The man stared defiantly at his questioners, but paled when he saw that Richard was there. It seemed that his confinement in the force field box had stayed in his memory. Richard smiled in a cruel fashion, to keep the man off balance and nervous and Pralex squirmed in his seat in response.

It appeared that Richard would be the bad cop, today...

The small interview room was positivly over crowded, Two Starfleet Officer, 2 Ambassadors and a Courier and of course the prisoner, the now identified Draisin Pralex.
The vulcanoid sat bolt upright and appeared to be the picture of composure and somehow Magellan didnt feel that it was an act.
"So then Pralex, you want to explain the artifacts I found?"
"Not really, And I guess your vaunted Federation won't apply the thumbscrews.
"Maybe not. But I m sure I could extradite you to the Romulan Star Empire" Tedak noted cooly
Pralex seemd to waver a little
"On what grounds. You have no right"
"Maybe maybe not but I m willing to bet that at least some of the artifacts in your possession are stolen and no doubt from the Romulan Institute of History"
Pralex seemed to pale, obviously the comment hit home.
"I can assure you the Tal Shiar have no qualms, whatsoever on anything."
Pralex eyed them with renewed focus.
"Okay I ll talk but it won't matter much"
"Let us be the judge of that" Harrias said coldly
Richard leaned forward.
"I take it you were planting the material on the surface to discredit the findings, when they were catalogued Dr Nit-al would be found to be a fraud. Did Ravok put you up to this, Did he pay you to ruin Nit-al"
Pralex laughed.
"Ravok works for me. But yes you ve pretty much worked out what I was doing just not my motives."
"So care to enlighten us" Saarok asked.
"Oh it is so sad. So sad to see how you" he pointed to Saarok "and you" he pointed to Tedak "Have fallen from grace. We always knew better than the council and now I have proof"
"Council, Proof?" Tedak asked.
"Ah that you may never realise. Well not before its too late"
Magellan sat listening to Pralex acutely aware the man could be leading them astray, nevertheless something here seemed to tack together.
"You were trying to make it look as if the Debrune artifacts were planted, you wanted Nit-als work discredited - but not because of Nit-al..."
"But because the site is Debrune" Richard finished catching up on Magellans train of thought.
"Ah so there are some brains out there."
Suddenly Pralex cocked his head to one side.
"Yes that would be nice" he said to no-one in particular.
Harrias leapt up tricorder in hand he levelled it at his head.
"He has some kind of implanted transponder, its just become active"
The lights suddenly dimmed to red and alert klaxxons went off.
Magellan was on his feet instantly
"ops. Report" he Barked
"We have an unidentified ship decloaking of the habitat levels"
"Raise shields"
"Too late Admiral" Pralex grinned standing to his feet.
"Whilst not all of us agree, be sure that those of us who do, will not allow descration. We are coming home." he paused and then said softly "Ready."
In a shimmer of crimson light he disappeared.
"Damn it." Magellan cursed "Harrias with me." he then turned to the others "We'll be in Ops

 

One thing that Richard could always say about Starfleet types, they were efficient when there was trouble. One of the advantages of a hierarchial command structure.

Unfortunately, it left him sitting in a room with Tedak and Saarok, as the Admiral, Commander and two security types had disappeared nearly as quickly as Pralex had. At least those little lizards weren't in here, although Richard would bet two strips of gold-pressed latinum that they were lurking about outside somewhere.

"Well gentlemen, what did you think of that?" Tedak asked.

"Fascinating, in its' way" replied Saarok. "Pralex left some interesting clues, but no proof of anything. It's a shame that he managed to escape."

"Yes, and quite easily too. I wonder how he managed to do that while aboard a supposedly secure Federation Starbase and in a Security area" Tedak mused accusatorily. "It's too bad we weren't aboard a Romulan facility. Pralex would still be here to ask."

Richard rolled his eyes inwardly. The unending Romulan superiority. He doubted that the outcome would have been any different anywhere else. He was still more surprised that Pralex had managed to get aboard the Wanderer undetected, than he was that he could get out of a Starfleet Security area. The Wanderer had some home made security systems aboard that would make a Starfleet Security person eyes pop out of their heads. If Pralex was anything, it was certainly well prepared and equipped and informed. So well informed that it made Richard decidedly nervous.

"Yes, quite" Richard replied to Tedak "and he escaped aboard a cloaked vessel, too. Perhaps Pralex would have felt so comfortable in a Romulan facility he wouldn't have wanted to leave." The implication hung in the air like a chill fog, while alarms continued to sound quietly in the background.

Tedak eyes narrowed dangerously. "I don't think I like your tone, Mr. Jibb."

"That's good, Ambassador Tedak, because I know I don't like yours. If we are taking anything Pralex had to say at face value, I have to note that you and Saarok were both singled out for having fallen from grace, which implies that you were both higher in our former prisoner's esteem at one point, plus that of whatever council he is referring to" Richard said. "Perhaps some examination of events leading you to Starbase Assailant would yield some valuable information regarding Pralex or this unknown Council."

"I assure you I have no idea what Pralex was talking about" Tedak protested. "It's ridiculous to accuse myself or Saarok of anything based on Pralex's unsubstantiated rumours!"

"Gentlemen" Saarok interjected, "that's enough from both of you. Everything that man said could have been the complete truth or an utter fabrication. There is no logic in firing useless threats at one another. We would be better served to try other avenues. Although it is clear that Pralex was spirited away, perhaps Mr. Ravok was not. The logical course is to question him next to see if his knowledge can either confirm or deny anything Pralex said."

At that moment, the Starbase shuddered slightly and the lights in the Conference room flickered, causing all to glance upward uncertainly. Richard winced as he considered the amount of power required to disrupt anything as massive as a starbase at all and suddenly wondered what was going on. The alarms outside intensified.

"Well, this has been fun" Richard said as he stood "but it seems that things might be happening quickly right now. I think that I am going to get to the Wanderer for a while. Pralex caused some damage which needs to be repaired. Gentlemen." Richard left the room.

Tedak closed his eyes and concetrated on this fire lizards. Through their eyes, he could see the back of Richard's head rapidly becoming larger as they circled him angrily. Tedak let this behaviour continue for a second then called them to find a place to perch.

Tedak and Saarok looked at one another with some alarm as the Starbase shuddered again.

 

There was little anyone could do. The base staff acted swiftly. They raised shields and had even managed to get a few shots off by the time Magellan and Harrias made it to Ops.

“Status” Magellan barked

“Shields up and holding. One opponent it made one pass firing heavy disruptors”

“Configuration?” Harrias asked coming to stand at the tactical console.

“Unknown sir, it doesn’t match anything in our database.”

“Okay rotate frequency, bring on line the torpedo launchers, target engines and thrusters, lets disable her. Have Sergeant Thorpe ready her Marines for a boarding action.”

“Negtive Sir. Shes moving off and…”

As the young ensign spoke the grey vessel shimmered and disappeared

“… is cloaking”

“Damn it” Magellan cursed “Warp trail? Anything”

“No Sir nothing.”

“Well contact the CO of the Asimov tell them to get the Asimov out there and search for them.”

 

Despite exhaustive searchs for the strange ship and for Ravek on the Starbase neither turned up leaving many questions unanswered and only one certainty, things concening Qualinost were far from simple.

 

 

 

 

Qarek was standing in front of the airlock, waiting for the door to open. He was mad as hell. He was stuck on the planet for a lot longer then he expected, someone was constantly looking over his shoulder, a behaviour Ferengies didn't enjoy even if they weren't planing anything, and he couldn't get the sand out of his clothes no matter what he did. The only bright light in the whole situation was that he managed to acquire the reports of various station personnel, so he managed to keep track. And that fact also had it's special, downhill kick. A prisoner that was apprehended on the station managed to escape before he managed to talk to him, or inform anyone of his identity. Finally the Airlock door opened and Qarek headed through the docking ring towards his shop in the Arcade. He was there after just a short walk, still very angry, just as Admiral Magellan passed by. Forgetting everything he knew about diplomacy, Qarek stormed a few steps and stood in front of Magellan, who was just on his way to his office.

"Next time you hire some nut to watch me, when I get back to... wherever I make it, I'll make sure you won't be able to buy a drink in a bar any where from Risa to Romulus!"

Magellan usually wouldn't stand for this kind of behaviour, but he got fond of this Ferengi over time and he knew that it took a great lot to throw a Ferengi out of his suck up mood. An besides, no matter how non-Ferengi Magellan was, he couldn't totally neglect the quality of the ship Qarek provided him with. Any other Ferengi would surely give him a run for his money. After taking a deep breath Magellan started calming down Qarek:

"Calm yourself, Ambassador. I'm sure that, what ever happened, was not that bad."

"Not that bad, you say?", Qarek said, "That lunatic of a scientist, after you told him to keep an eye on me, decided that he needed to keep 8 eyes on me. He assigned 4 men to follow me everywhere, and when I wanted to leave with an acquaintance of mine, he said that that wouldn't be possible."

Magellan was trying to keep a straight face, eventhough this Ferengi blowing of steam was very funny.
¤Seems that the archaeologists were better at keeping the Ambassador in one place then me¤ Magellan thought to himself smiling inside.

"He said that he couldn't let me go anywhere without security. For my own protection, he said. My protection! I dodged Klingons and hid from Romulans on my own numerous time and he was worried about my protection.", Qarek continued but Magellan interrupted him, putting his hand on Qarek's shoulder, "Calm down, Qarek. I'll make sure this will never happen again. Let's sit down, have a drink and we'll find a way to sort this out."

Qarek looked at Magellan, still angry, but the longer he looked at his calm and smiling face the calmer he was. After a minute or two he turned and headed for his shop.

"Follow me.", he said, slowly shifting his frown to a smile, "I think I have a bottle or two of good ale in the stock that need opening."