Mission 21 - Bad Medicine

[McKeon]

ON:
<<Intelligence Office Day 3 1430>>

Alister leaned back in his office chair with a heavy sigh as he looked at the flood of negative reports on his desk. Nothing concrete had turned up from his contacts about any of the Doctors and they still hadn’t determined exactly what had killed the young Doctor. His gut told him that it couldn’t be a natural cause too many variables where off. Standing up he walked to the corner where a large globe sat and studied the ancient map on it’s surface his hand gently feeling the ridges of the Alps as he thought about everything that had been brought before him. A buzz from his console made him turn around and look at the screen, sitting back in his chair he pressed the acceptance button, “Lt McKeon,” he said, a smile spreading as he saw a familiar face appear on his screen, “What can I do for you Major Kestra?”

The Betazoid woman returned his smile, “I thought it was what I could do for you? The Chief sent me a couple of names to run quietly through our database here. I sent him the results but I could use your help with a mystery that has turned up recently.”

“Alright,” Alister said nodding his head in agreement, “Tell me what you need.” Kestra had been one of the handful of Betazed defense force troops that he had used for the core of his resistance cell during the occupation. After the Dominion had been forced to withdraw she had continued to serve in the defense forces, transferring to Betazed Intelligence and putting the skills she had learned from Alister to use to further her career in defense of her homeworld.

“We recently found a downed attack ship in one of the more remote areas of Betazed,” she responded sending a file over with a handful of pictures of the ship, “Their computer cores where still intact and as far as we can tell where never dumped.”

“Starfleet captured a number of Dominion pieces of equipment, I doubt that attack ship would tell us anything we didn’t already know,” Alister replied studying the ship on his screen.

“It’s not a normal attack ship,” Kestra replied grinning, “It was used by Dominion counter-intelligence, we’re hoping their might be additional information on the occupation onboard.”

“Still trying to track down people that informed on the resistance movement,” Alister replied turning his attention to Kestra, “I thought you had managed to find the bulk of them?”

“We did, but never did find out who managed to lead the Dominion to wipe out those cells in Arandel,” she pointed out, “The computers might have that information, however we can’t crack the encryption and I’m worried that any attempt to hack the system might result in the computers erasing their records.”

Alister frowned slightly, “If it’s Dominion Counter-Intelligence they’ll be using their JL code that they developed.”

“Correct,” Kestra nodded, “We need the de-encryption code, I was wondering if you could give us a copy?”

Alister’s frown deepened, “What makes you think we cracked the code?”

Kestra gave him a knowing smile, “The Chief wouldn’t have passed on my request if he didn’t think you could help.”

Alister closed his eyes briefly, “You still remember that trick we used to cause our messages to hop subspace frequencies?”

“Of course,” her reply came.

“Let me run a few things by the XO here before I start playing around with the ship’s subspace transmitter and I’ll get back with you,” Alister finally said, “However I want to know if you find anything important.”

“Agreed I will turn over a copy of the files once we have them unlocked,” Kestra said leaning forward, “Thanks for the help, if you have time stop by when you’re on Betazed.”
Alister nodded his head and keyed off the comm, before glancing at the time, he would need to speak with XO briefly before sending the message.
OFF:

Post by:

[Ryse]

OOC: Anyone fancy a JP?

<<USS Malinche>>
<Ryse's Quarters, Day 3, 1500>

Ryse had only managed to get lost once in the twists and turns of the ship. So far, he was liking his first assignment; mostly because the Malinche was an extraordinary vessel. He had taken the time to read up on her exploits over the years and found that Captain Kersare was one of the most interesting captains that they had in the fleet. No doubt serving under her was going to be an experience to be sure. He looked around his quarters, which were sparsely decorated even for an ensign.

About the only that he had brought with him from home was his bow, a few trinkets, and a picture of Kal, which was now sitting on his desk. Ryse slipped into the chair and picked up the silver frame, running his hands on the edges of it. He missed his finance deeply, so deeply that despite the passage of time he still felt entirely incomplete without him. When he first arrived on Earth he as shocked to find out that same sex couples were not looked down on as they were on his home planet. The thought that he and Kal could have made a life on Earth and lived happily ever after sent a pang through his heart.

Ryse set the picture down and took a deep breath. Dwelling on the past wasn't going to get him anywhere. Instead he leaned forward and opened up the letter that he was working on for his family. As much as he hated what they did to him, he still felt this need to attempt to contact them. They hadn't responded in over four years, so he doubted that they would start doing so now. For all that Ryse knew, they might simply delete the letter every time that it showed up. It didn't matter, the letters were more for his sake than their's.

"Hey mom, I've finally got settled onto the Malinche, the ship that I was talking to you about. It's pretty impressive, although not as big as our Goliath class destroyers. She has a MVAM, multi-vector-assault-mode that seems be one of the best tactical inventions of our time. I've only spoken with the XO so far but she seems nice and very capable."

Ryse took a breath before continuing. "I don't know why you haven't responded to me or why you hate me so much. I've tried contacting you all for so many years and you ignore me. I'm still your son mom, I'm still the same boy that you raised all those years ago. I know that I make this plea about every month but please contact me. I don't blame you for happened to Kal. I love you guys, take care."

Ryse flopped back in the chair before sending it out. He knew there wouldn't be a response. There never was. He got up, straightend out his uniform and headed out of his quarters. The phaser targeting arrays needed upgrading and now as just as good a time as any to get to work on that.

OFF:

[Kersare]

OFF: This is a slight backpost

ON:

<<Engineering, Day 3, 0100>>

While C'eltor (NPC) didn't usually work the overnight shift in Engineering, it seemed everyone's schedules had been thrown off due to the neurologists' arrival and the death of one of the doctors. Despite this, nothing out of the ordinary had happened during her shift. The El-Aurian hoped that the remaining questions about the doctor's death would be resolved soon...various rumors had already been circulating.

Stepping into Engineering to start her shift, Siri (NPC) nodded to each member of the barebones night crew she passed. She paused as she made her way towards one of the support consoles, noticing a little belatedly the presence of C’eltor. “Good morning, Lieutenant C’eltor,” the ebullient Bolian smiled. “It’s not often I see you here this late. Or early, depending on the way you look at it.” Siri herself was something of a night owl, as a Human roommate had once described it, and preferred working the later shifts.

"Good morning, Ensign," C'eltor replied with a friendly smile. Nodding at the Bolian's observation, she replied, "Yes, this is not my normal shift...with everything that's been going on, though, some shifts have been moved temporarily." From her console, she had been monitoring the ship's power; everything seemed normal at the moment. To be thorough, she decided to check the trends over the last twelve hours and with a few screen selections brought up the power trend graph.

Humming in response, Siri finished the last few steps to the support console she’d originally been heading for, not very far from where C’eltor was working. “It’s a shame, what happened to that doctor,” she said, shaking her head sadly. “Everybody’s talking about it, not that that’s a surprise. It might be some time before things get back to normal,” she sighed.

C'eltor nodded solemnly, "It certainly is. And yes, I would imagine that it will take time for things to settle down. Hopefully finding out what happened will help." As the power trend graph appeared on the console, the El-Aurian frowned slightly. "Well, that's odd...there's a spike in power from about two hours ago..."

Looking up from her console, Siri frowned in C’eltor’s direction. “That is odd. You don’t usually see power spikes in the middle of the night for no reason,” the Bolian mused. “Can you tell where it originated from?”

"Let me see if I can isolate where the actual spike occurred," C'eltor said as she typed some commands into the console. "Hmm...looks like it came from Deck 4's alpha section. The Computer Core is there, as well as Cargo Bay 1, Holodeck 1, quarters, the warp engine... Perhaps I can narrow it down further."

Siri abandoned her console for the time being, drifting over to stand beside C’eltor so that she could have a good look at the readings herself. “Deck 4,” the Bolian muttered to herself, trying to come up with any logical explanation for why an energy spike might originate from any of the options C’eltor had listed. “We’ve been maintaining our course and setting for hours, so it couldn’t be the warp engine,” she speculated aloud.

Nodding, C'eltor agreed, "Quite true...if there had been a power spike with the warp engines, we certainly would've noticed it at the time." The console ran a more detailed analysis and finally beeped to acknowledge it was completed. The El-Aurian raised an eyebrow, "Looks like it came from the holodeck...but there's no record of anyone entering the holodeck or running a program. If the holodeck wasn't in use and we didn't get notification of an issue there, there shouldn't have been a power spike though."

“This can’t be right,” Siri said with a frown, skimming the console’s analysis for herself. As she tried to make sense of the situation, her suspicion that something was off only grew. “Not to… How do the humans phrase it? Not to ‘cry wolf,’ but I fear that the only way that power spike could occur in the holodeck without a program actively running is through some sort of manual interference.” The Bolian, unable to put it in any more euphemistic terms, decided to go all in. “Whether the log shows someone entering the holodeck or not, someone must have accessed the computer from there. These sort of phantom power surges don’t just appear for no reason.”

"Indeed," the El-Aurian said with a frown... "If they were accessing it from there, they likely didn't want anyone to know and covered their tracks afterwards. We'll need to alert the Command Staff and investigate further..." This was certainly not a good development. In conjunction with the death of Dr. Keel, it looked even more suspicious.

Exhaling in a huff, Siri turned away from the console and walked a few steps across the floor, turning the implications over in her head. Needless to say, she didn’t like the situation at all, but the more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that something just sort of sinister was going on. “The only question now, I guess,” she said, having returned to stand beside C’eltor, “is which member of the Command Staff do we wake up at this hour of the night?”

C'eltor frowned, "I doubt that any of them would be particularly thrilled, but we should probably let the Captain know. She'll need to be alerted anyway, so we might as well go straight to the top. I'll inform Captain Kersare...in the meantime, see if you can find out anything else."

“Right,” Siri nodded. The Bolian was almost glad that it wasn’t her responsibility to contact the Captain. No one liked to be the bearer of potentially bad news, especially at such a late—or was it early?—hour. “I might make a quick trip to the holodeck in question and have a look around in the meantime. There probably won’t be much to see, but you never know.”

"Good idea. If you find anything, let me know," C'eltor instructed before adding, "And Ensign...be careful. If someone has been hacking into our systems, they may not be too happy about us investigating."

OFF: JP brought to you by:

Ensign Siri Melat (NPC)
Damage Control Officer
played by: Cdr Zeral

and

Lieutenant JG C'eltor (NPC)
Power Systems Officer
played by:

[Ryse]

OFF: This is a backpost.

ON:
<<USS Malinche, XO’s Office, Day -1, 0855>>

With shoreleave officially drawing to a close, Nora was once again spending a good amount of time in her office, attending to the usual reports and daily tasks that came with her position on the ship. One of the more pleasant duties of being an XO, or so Nora found, was meeting with new crewmembers recently assigned to the ship, and according to her schedule, one such new crewmember was due to arrive at her office at any moment. Quietly sipping her chamomile tea, the Betazoid retrieved the crewman’s personnel file and began to peruse it in preparation for the impending meeting.

The Malinche was bigger on the inside than Ryse thought it would be, which was evident by the time that it took him to find the XO's office. He straightened his uniform before pressing the door chime on the panel to alert his new XO that he had arrived.

At the ring of the door chime, Nora hastily swallowed a mouthful of tea. “Come in,” she called out, setting her mug down and rising to her feet to greet the new crewmember.

"Ensign Ryse reporting for duty," Ryse spoke, standing at attention.

“At ease, Ensign,” Nora smiled. “I’m Commander Nora Zeral, ship’s Executive Officer. Welcome aboard the Malinche.” Before retaking her seat, the Betazoid gestured to the two chairs set before her desk. “Please, make yourself comfortable,” she invited. “Did you only just arrive on the Malinche?”

Naz sat down, trying his best to not look to nervous. He knew that his XO was a Betazoid and was the ships consular before that, so there was no doubt in his mind that she was very capable of reading body language - and his current emotional state. He tugged at the bottom of his uniform after he sat down.

"Yes sir," Ryse responded. "I only left Earth this morning. The Malinche will be my first posting."

Nora threaded her fingers together on her desk, her smile turning even warmer. “How exciting for you. And for us too, of course. We need young and fresh minds like yours, I think.” Reaching for the PADD set close beside her, the Betazoid pulled up Ryse’s file once more. “Well, I see that you graduated in the top 2% of your class. That’s certainly impressive. How did you enjoy the Academy?”

Naz nodded. "I did sir. Earth is a lot different than G'Lith, the Iradri homeworld."

Nodding, Nora looked up again from the PADD. She’d noticed during her perusal that the Ensign was from a planet she was unfamiliar with herself. “Bit of a change for you, was it?” Even for the Betazoid, the Academy—and more specifically, Earth—had taken a little getting used to. She could only imagine that plenty of young people went through something similar during their years at the Academy.

Ryse considered his response a moment. "Yes sir. G'Lith has a lot more buildings and industrail areas than earth does, that took some getting used too. Earth seems more...tolerant than my homeworld as well."

“Well,” Nora mused, “I think you’ll like it very much here on the Malinche as well. Like many starships, the Malinche is remarkably diverse, and, I think, very welcoming as well. I have no doubt that you’ll fit right in with the rest of us.” Setting the PADD down on the desk again, the Betazoid smiled. “Now then, what sort of questions do you have for me?”

"Nothing really sir," Ryse responded. "The Malinche is my first posting, I guess I'm not really sure what to expect."

Nora nodded in understanding. “Well, if you haven’t already done so, you’ll want to check in with your direct superior in the Security/Tactical Department. The computer will also point out the way to your new quarters. Familiarizing yourself with the Mess Hall, Lounge, Holodeck, etc. couldn’t hurt, either.”

"Will do sir," Ryse nodded. "Also...does the Malinche have a counselor aboard?"

“As a matter of fact, we have an entire Counseling Department,” Nora replied, a hint of pride in her voice. Though she was now the ship’s Executive Officer, she felt that she would always still be a member of Counseling in spirit. “Dr. Dallas is our Chief Counselor, and she is truly excellent. She would be glad to meet with you for any reason, I’m sure.”

"My academy instructor pretty much insisted that I keep seeing someone after leaving," Ryse said, looking a little embarrassed. "He thinks that I still have some issues that need worked out."

Nora smiled crookedly at the Ensign. “There are many of us who have “issues that need worked out,” to quote your academy instructor,” the Betazoid said softly and not without some humor. “And I say that as a former counselor myself. As I said, Dr. Dallas would of course be happy to help. Any of the Counseling staff would be. You can make a formal appointment if you like, or even just drop by when you have a free moment.”

"I'll do that sir," Ryse responded. "If there isn't anything else I'll get going. Still lots of areas on the ship that I need to check out."

“Of course. I think we’ve covered everything here, so you’re free to go,” Nora smiled. “If you have any questions or need anything in the meantime, you have only to ask.” As she rose from her chair, the Betazoid extended her hand towards Ryse. “Welcome aboard the Malinche, Ensign Ryse.”

OFF:

A JP By:

Commander Nora Zeral
Executive Officer
USS Malinche

And....

[Ryse]

<<USS Malinche>>
<Phaser Control Room, Day 3, 1540>

For the fourth time in less than half an hour, Ryse wanted to toss the whole LCARS operating system out an airlock. The latest upgrades that they Malinche had recived had worked wonders for most of the systems on the Promethues class vessel but had knocked their targeting sensors out of alignment slightly. Now, getting the computer to accept commands to realign them was proving more than problematic. He was a tactical officer, not an engineer. He briefly thought about calling engineering for help but decided against it. He would figure this out, after all it was technically his job and he didn't want anyone something that with a little work, he could probably figure out himself.

What was that old earth saying that his academy peers had been so fond of saying? , he thought. Pride comes before the fall? He smiled slightly himself. He hadn't spent all that much time on earth yet he found himself using their sayings and idioms more and more. No doubt a side effect of completely immersing himself in human culture in an attempt to alievate the loss of his owm cultural ties. He took a deep breath and took a look at the screen again before tapping in a new set of codes. There was an annoying beep that indicated the process hadn't worked again.

"Having problems with verision 6.9?"

Ryse spun around, silently cursing himself for letting someone get that close to him without noticing. Standing behind him, wearing a board grin, was a young ensign dressed in operations attire. He wasn't overly tall (neither was Ryse for that matter) and had short cropped brown hair and blue eyes. He filled out his uniform well and just for a split second, Ryse had some very unofficer like thoughts go through his head about how this ensign would look out of uniform.

"Apparently," Ryse responded. "I don't think that we have met. I'm Ryse."

"Cody," the ensign said, extending his hand. "Cody Weaver, I'm a security officer. You're that new Iradari right?"

Ryse nodded. "How did you know?"

"Our CO made sure to keep us updated on new transfers, sorry I haven't stopped by to say hi until now, things have been kinda of crazy around here lately."

"So I noted," Ryse said. "Is it always like this?"

"Sometimes," Cody responded. "Though at least we aren't having MVAM drills at 0300 anymore. That would put everyone in a crappy mood for days."

Cody moved past Ryse to the terminal he was working at. "The trick with the update is to disable every single subroutine that interfaces with the controller pathways and then reinialize them after you are done, like this."

Sure enough the computer happily accepted the new commands, leaving Ryse standing their looking and feeling a little upset.

"Don't sweat it," Cody smiled. "It took me a month to figure it out. Neary slagged the whole torpedo bay in frustration. I need to get going, it was nice to see you Ryse."

Cody gave him another smile an then headed out of the room, leaving Ryse standing there. Even if he wasn't able to conenct with anyone on the Malinche, at least he would have some pretty good eye candy. Ryse shook his head, grabbed his PADDs and then headed out the door as well.

OFF:

[Zeral]

<<USS Malinche, Counseling Suite, Day 3, 1214>>

Jacob (NPC) was just taking a sip of his freshly replicated coffee when Lena Olson (NPC) walked through the doors, looking pale and agitated. Jacob had seen Lena on a few occasions before, but he’d never quite seen her like this. “Lena,” he said, hastily setting down his mug. “This is a surprise. What brings you to Counseling today?”

“Hi, Dr. Trelani,” Lena said, mustering up a smile. “I, um… Could I talk to you for a minute?” She hated the slight tremor in her voice, embarrassed that, even now, she was on the verge of tears. Although no one else was around them currently, Lena didn’t think she could stand the mortification if anyone did happen to walk in and witness her crying like a baby. The sooner she could go somewhere quiet with the counselor, the better.

Jacob nodded and gestured politely for Lena to follow him into one of the adjoining rooms. The space was not very large, but it was quite comfortable and very quiet, perfectly ideal for the counseling sessions it had been designed for. “Have a seat, Lena. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Tissue?” He quirked his lips on the last suggestion, his smile knowing and sympathetic all at once.

Lena laughed shortly, reaching into her pocket. “No need. I brought my own, actually,” she said, and then promptly began to cry. She barely registered that Jacob had quietly escorted her to the couch, and her tears rapidly turned into watery hiccups. Even without a large audience, it was horribly embarrassing, and it took a few moments before Lena could pull herself together again. “I’m so sorry, Doctor. I, um… Well, I’ve had a pretty bad day, all things considered.”

Seated across from Lena, Jacob nodded in understanding. He had wondered if they’d be seeing some of the lounge staff in the wake of the unfortunate death the whole ship had been talking about. “I’m sure that you have,” he gently concurred. “Were you on duty last night, at the VIP dinner?”

“Yes,” Lena quietly replied, her voice quivering a bit in the wake of her tears. “It was so awful, Dr. Trelani. It was so, so, so awful. I’ve never seen a man d-die before, and I know I didn’t actually know him, but it’s just so sad, and now people are starting to say that he was actually… That he was…” She took a great gulp of air. “They’re saying that he was murdered. Right there in the Lounge. Can you even imagine?”

Jacob couldn’t. But then, he hadn’t been there, and he really didn’t know much of the particulars. “I can believe that it was awful,” he sympathized. “Did you know the doctor? Meet him before or during the dinner, perhaps?”

Lena sighed as she set about wiping some of the tears off her face, exhausting her own stock of tissues completely. “Not exactly. I was on duty, so I wasn’t really there to chat,” she shrugged. “But he seemed very nice, and everyone else seemed to like Dr. Keel a lot too. I gathered that much while I was running back and forth.” She sighed again. “That’s why, as awful as it was to…to see him die, in a way it doesn’t seem real. And honest to God, I feel terrible about that. I think half my tears are because I feel so bad that I didn’t know him, that I can’t really mourn him, if that makes any sense.”

“Certainly,” Jacob nodded. “It sounds as though you’re feeling guilty because you think you might be more distraught by the experience itself rather than the fact that a man has died,” he surmised. “But even if that were the case, you shouldn’t feel guilty about it. The experience was, in fact, traumatic, and you didn’t know the man. These are the facts, and they don’t make you any less human.”

Nodding slowly, Lena took a long moment to just think, feeling tired and somewhat numb after her downpour of tears. She thought that Jacob was probably right, but she also wasn’t sure exactly what she was feeling. She wasn’t even sure that there was anything the counselor could say that would make it feel better. But that was all right, she realized, because all she really wanted was someone safe to talk to anyways. “I hope it wasn’t murder,” she said after a long silence. “That’s the only thing that could make it worse. Bad enough that a man had to die. But murder? And in our Lounge? That’s…that’s just awful.”

“Do you want to talk about what happened? What you saw, experienced, felt?” Jacob inquired gently. He imagined that she’d already gone over the events in detail with Security, particularly if there was any suspicion of foul play.

Lena shook her head slightly. “I’m not sure. Maybe. It’s… I mean, everything was perfectly normal, and everyone was having a good time. Well, everyone except that Cardassian,” she added. “And then, everything went crazy. I had a tray in my hands, and I was still trying to figure out who got what, since there were so many people there, and suddenly people are yelling and Dr. Keel was just…gone. And you know what the worst part of it is? One of them, the Cardassian—I don’t even think he cared. He watched it all as if nothing was wrong, and I even heard him complain that we didn’t get his order right. Someone was dead, and all he cared about was his food.”

Jacob paused at that. “There was a mix-up with his order?” he asked, and almost instantly felt like a terrible counselor. That was hardly the most pertinent question to ask, after all. But there was something about that detail that was bothering him.

“I guess so,” Lena replied, frowning. “I didn’t really think about it that much, except what a jerk that Cardassian was for yelling about anything other than Dr. Keel’s death.” She thought back, pursing her lips. “The Cardassian doctor wanted his stew cooked a certain way. It was a Cardassian stew, and he was very particular about how it should taste. He even put in his order with the cooking staff ahead of time.” Lena rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I guess I must have accidentally given him just the usual stew, the same as everyone else who ordered it was getting.”

“I see,” Jacob said. “Do you remember what Dr. Keel ordered?” Security had surely been through all of this with her… Unless they weren’t officially investigating the death as a murder. If that were the case, then the matter of what Dr. Keel actually ate was probably of rather greater importance.

Lena’s frown deepened. “Dr. Keel had the stew, I think.” Following Jacob’s line of thinking, she looked at him with wide eyes. “You don’t think… I mean, if he was murdered, and it was in his food… But his food wasn’t his food at all…”

Jacob instantly back-pedaled, concerned that he might be causing Lena even more distress. “It’s not necessarily that grave,” he hedged, though he couldn’t shake the growing feeling that something was not right here. “I don’t want you to worry too much about it now. Perhaps, though, it would be best if Security was told.” In fact, Jacob had already decided that he would be telling Nora about it as soon as his session with Lena was over. He rather suspected that the former Chief Counselor would be interested to hear it and could relay the details to Security if she too thought it was important enough.

First, though, he had Lena to think of. Right before his eyes, the poor girl burst into tears all over again, and it was clear that their session had only just begun. Reaching for a nearby box of tissues, he made a mental note to send Nora a message afterwards, then turned his attention fully and completely back to helping Lena.

OFF:

Lieutenant JG Jacob Trelani (NPC)
Counselor

and

Lena Olson (NPC)
Waitress

NPCs played by:

[Ryse]

<<USS Malinche>>
<Armory, Day 3, 1605>

While technically it wasn't his job; Ryse was in the armory, looking over the various weapons. Given what had happened earlier in the day, he thought that it might be a good idea to make sure that none of their shipboard weapons were missing; thankfully they weren't. The Malinche did have a pretty impressive stock of weapons though. It wasn't really a surprise given the fact that she was a tactical vessel at heart. As he continued checking through the various lockers, his thoughts drifted back to his conversation with his first officer and then when he ran into Cody in the phaser control room.

He shook his head. Letting himself open up to people was something that Ryse found hard. He barely managed to get along with his roommate at the academy. It wasn't that he didn't want to - in fact the thought of spending the rest of his life lonely was something that filled him with dread. He wanted to open up and let others in but something stopped him every time that he tried. He wanted to say that it had nothing to do with the fact that his whole culture had pretty much rejected him but he knew that was probably the case.

Well, that and the fact that his finance was murdered right in front of him by his father. Ryse winced, realizing that he probably did have a lot more problems than he thought. It was one of the reasons that the doctors at the academy wanted him to keep seeing someone when he arrived on station. They said it would help him open up to his shipmates, something that he needed to do desperately.

So far everyone on the Malinche had been very friendly; so it wasn't like it was something that should have been overly hard to do. Still, it was like he needed a push...one small nudge in the right direction. He made a mental note to go talk to someone; maybe the XO again, she seemed pretty nice and had a background in psychology. Either that or he would talk to the counselor that he knew was aboard for this very purpose. With that resolved or at least a plan in place, he went back to work.

OFF:

[Setak]

ON

<<USS Malinche, Ready Room, Day 3, 1535>>

"Tetrodotoxin," Setak spoke excitedly as he strode up to the Captain's desk and began to catch his breath. It hadn't been necessary to run to the turbolift but in his excitement he had none the less. "A form of it at least..."

Isabel raised an eyebrow and glanced at Nora and Sirak (NPC) before turning her attention back to Setak. "Tetrodotoxin? What exactly did you find, doctor?" Obviously it was something important - the Vulcan had asked herself and the others to meet in her ready room immediately...

"Yes Captain, Tetrodotoxin. It's a neuro-toxin produced only by a handful of fish species on Earth..." Setak explained. The blank expressions on the faces of the officers assembled urged him forward. "My initial examination of the bod... Of Janor, revealed no evidence of foul play. I felt as though I was missing something however and this morning I decided to run another examination of the deceased. Again, the scans revealed nothing out of the ordinary." Setak paused and he noticed that arms had crossed, it was time to get to the point.

"It occurred to me that I had seen this sort of fatality elsewhere, during my time with the Klingons actually... They had discovered a way to enhance this naturally occurring toxin to kill far more quickly and leaving little evidence behind. I searched the Starfleet medical database for the enhanced molecule but couldn't find it. Apparently nobody in this universe has had the notion to invent the thing. Until now that is... I actually had to replicate the correct equipment to isolate the toxin..."

“Gods,” Nora murmured on a breath, her frown deepening as Setak finished his explanation. While she was by and large sad and dismayed by the Vulcan’s findings, there was a small part of her that couldn’t help but be impressed that he’d located this…this neuro-toxin at all. “How is this sort of toxin transmitted? Did the Klingons use any particular method, if you can recall?”

"It can be administered in a variety of ways," Setak replied, fully prepared to list them all. He stopped however and selected the most obvious answers, "directly into the bloodstream of a victim would traditionally be quickest but with the enhanced toxicity of this substance even ingestion would be fatal after a matter of seconds."

Although it was certainly preferable to have an correct cause of death, the new information troubled Sirak. "Doctor, exactly how lethal is the toxin - either after ingestion or via the bloodstream? Could Dr. Keel have ingested it earlier in the day, for instance?"

"That would not be possible Lieutenant," Setak said with a more even tone. Sirak always seemed to bring out the inner Vulcan within him, "the bio-chemical reaction that occurs after the substance contacts the nervous system is nearly instantaneous. Dr. Keel would have to have come into contact with the toxin a very short time before his death."

As realization dawned, Nora’s dismay only grew. “His food. It was in his food,” she said, shaking her head slowly. If she’d thought her headache was bad before, this new wealth of revelations was not going to help things much. “Captain, now is as good a time as any to tell you that the stew Janor ate at the dinner was not the stew he ordered. If I understand correctly, there was a mix-up in the kitchen. I believe that Dr. Keel ate the stew that was meant for Dr. Brun (NPC).” She sent an apologetic look Isabel’s way. “I would have told you sooner, except that I only just heard it myself a few minutes ago.”

Isabel frowned, "I do seem to recall Dr. Brun saying something about his food not being right at the dinner, but amongst all the confusion..." It was a disturbing thought, but it seemed they were headed towards the truth. "If that is the case, it would seem that Dr. Keel was not the intended target after all."

"Indeed. This new information would completely alter the course of the investigation. We were already investigating the other doctors and those at the dinner, especially with the suspicion of foul play. However, our questions were geared towards the idea that Dr. Keel was the target, which seemed unlikely," Sirak explained. "I will need to coordinate with Intelligence to look into Dr. Brun's past more thoroughly."

“It may be prudent to keep a more watchful eye on Dr. Brun, if only for his own safety,” Nora suggested. “If he really was the original target, then there’s no guarantee that whoever tried to kill him the first time won’t try again.” The Betazoid sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She did not make a habit out of investigating murders, and she wasn’t so sure that she was really cut out for the job. Thank goodness Sirak and the other members of Security were on hand to help.

"I must caution you that this plot was the work of a very dedicated mind," Setak interjected, his tone dark. "To create such a toxin from scratch would be an impressive feat on it's own, to do it without anyone noticing would require careful pre-meditation and an array of rare resources. Whoever has done this is likely a very dangerous individual."

"Is this something that the killer could have created after coming aboard the Malinche, or would the killer have had to bring it along?" Isabel asked Setak, with a glance towards Nora. Considering the fact that engineering had discovered evidence of hacking, she had to wonder if the killer was covering their tracks regarding the toxin. Of course, he or she could have been covering their tracks about something else entirely too.

"Without record of the toxin in our databanks it is likely that the ship's internal sensors wouldn't register the compound as a threat," Setak replied evenly. Something occurred to him then that hadn't before, "however... It might be possible to search the transporter logs for the molecule. It would lead us back to whoever brought it on board."

Looking over at the doctor, Sirak said, "Actually, Dr. Setak, two of the doctors transported aboard, and the rest came aboard via Spacedock. Searching the transporter logs might help us determine if those who transported over brought any with them, though."

“It’s a good place to start,” Nora said. “Although I don’t think we should rule out anyone else who came and went on the ship during shoreleave. I see the logic in making the doctors our prime suspects, but it’s still within the realm of possibility that someone else could have done this, working for someone outside of the ship, perhaps.” Having met and fraternized with most of the doctors, Nora had a hard time believing that any of them were murderers. She’d sensed no ill intent from any of them, though it was plainly obvious that none of them particularly liked Dr. Brun.

Isabel nodded, "Not only that, but we did take on some new crewmembers at Spacedock as well. Regardless, the investigation will need to shift gears and concentrate on who would want to kill Dr. Brun. It might be prudent, though, to not let on that we realize Dr. Keel wasn't the target..." She looked over at the Vulcan woman, "I'll leave the decision to you, Ms. Sirak, but you may want to increase security with all the doctors just to be safe."

"Of course, Captain. I have a few officers who can assist with that while we refocus the investigation," Sirak answered.

Turning back to Setak, Isabel asked, "Is there anything else we should know, Doctor?" While she was glad that they finally knew exactly what had killed Dr. Keel, she didn't want any additional surprises if it could be helped. Between the toxin and the apparently switched meals...not to mention the hacking...well, it certainly cast the situation in a different light.

"That is all from my end Captain," Setak said as he stood straighter and clasped his hands behind his back. The moment had passed and his initial excitement over his discovery had faded, the harsh reality of what was happening was beginning to set in. "Except that whoever the killer is, they may still have more of the toxin in their possession. If they feel that we're onto them... Well, it's needless to say that we should all be mindful of our surroundings, especially where food and drink is concerned."

Nora nodded, agreeing with Setak’s practical advice. “You’ve done well, Doctor,” she commended the Vulcan. “Would that the news were different, but at least now we have a better understanding of the severity of the situation.” The Betazoid turned to face Isabel. “What can I be doing to help the investigation from here?”

Isabel considered Nora's question for a few moments before responding, "Check in with Engineering and Ops to see what they've come up with. You might also coordinate with Engineering and Dr. Setak - perhaps we should check the replicators as well..." If the killer was the person who hacked into the ship's systems, it was possible he might have hacked the replicators - at least the ones of his target.

“Of course, Captain,” Nora said, rising from her chair. “Dr. Setak, perhaps we could go to Engineering together. No one can explain better than you what they ought to be looking for.” And perhaps if they were lucky enough someone in Engineering had made some progress on the mystery of the hacking and could fill them in there.

Setak lifted a brow as he stood, he hadn't been to Engineering in quite some time. He gave the Commander a nod of approval and moved to join her before turning back to Kersare with another nod, "Captain."

OFF

A JP brought to you by:

Captain Isabel Kersare
Commanding Officer
USS Malinche

and

Commander Nora Zeral
Executive Officer
USS Malinche

and

[Kersare]

OFF: This is a backpost

ON:
<<Counseling Suite, Day 3, 1100>>

Sirak (NPC) had been asked to head the investigation into the death of Dr. Keel and, once word had been received that the doctor's death was in fact not natural, she felt it best to seek out the counselor for additional insight. In fact, Aaron had encouraged it. The Vulcan had contacted the counselor beforehand, so she would know to expect her.

She strode into the counseling suite and glanced over at the young woman at the desk, "Counselor Dallas is expecting me."

"Of course, Lieutenant, go right in."

With a brief nod, the Vulcan's calm demeanor remained intact as she stepped forward and entered the counseling office itself. Sirak surveyed the room briefly before her gaze settled on Karyn. "Greetings, counselor."

"Hello, Lieutenant," Dallas offered with a nod. "If you like, feel free to sit. May I get you a refreshment?" Dallas wanted to be polite even though she doubted it mattered to the Vulcan.

"No thank you, counselor," the Vulcan replied simply as she took a seat in one of the chairs. "I would like to get started; the sooner we are able to catch the murderer, the better. Thus far we are still en route to Betazed and we need to resolve this situation quickly."

Dallas nodded. "What can you tell me about what you've discovered so far in your investigation? I want to make sure I know all the pieces before I advise on a profile."

"It appears that Doctor Keel was actually poisoned; he didn't die of natural causes. The poison was extremely difficult to detect, hence normal tests on his body did not detect it. The doctor seemed to be well-liked by his colleagues and acquaintances; we have not found any evidence to suggest that someone would want him dead. Security was also notified this morning that someone hacked into the Malinche's systems. Thus far we have not been able to determine if this is linked to Doctor Keel's death, but we suspect it is," Sirak explained. "People are still being questioned, so I don't have results from that yet and I believe a recreation of the crime scene is also being done."

Karyn nodded in acknowledgment as she considered all that had been shared. "If possible, I'd like to be included in that briefing as well, as it will give me a complete picture of everything and perhaps help me eliminate possibilities. Based on what you've told me so far, I'm inclined to think Doctor Keel's murder was orchestrated by more than one person with a specific agenda that has little to do with Doctor Keel personally. A single person with a personal grudge could have killed him long before now, and before a large scale Starfleet investigation was kicked into gear, but this death was meant to be public. It's also telling that whomever was responsible went to great pains to mask the manner of death while hoping the cause would be chalked up to something natural. This suggests the killer or killers are more invested in the impact Keel's death will have on people and on situations than they are in making sure others know Dr. Keel was deliberately targeted."

Considering what the counselor said, Sirak nodded thoughtfully. "I am certain you will be included in the briefing, counselor. Obviously we do not yet have all the facts, but your insights are reasonable considering the circumstances. I will be sure to keep them in mind in the meantime and pass them along to the proper people. Is there anything we should keep in mind while investigating and potentially speaking with the murder or murders, considering your insights?"

"Just keep an open mind," Dallas offered. "Someone like this is capable of feigning any emotion or persona just to keep us from suspecting him or her. I wouldn't expect our killer to be easily rattled unless we somehow challenge whatever message he or she is trying to send."

The Vulcan nodded again, "Thank you for your insights, Counselor. I have a few things to take care of, so I need to go for now. I will keep in mind what you have said and hopefully we will soon have our killer..."

OFF: JP brought to you by:

Counselor Karyn Dallas
Chief Counselor
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

Lieutenant JG Sirak (NPC)
Security Investigations Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
played by:

[Kersare]

ON:
<<Armory, Day 3, 1630>>

Following her meeting with Isabel, Nora, and Setak, Sirak (NPC) checked in with the officers who had been keeping an eye on the doctors. So far, everything seemed to be in order. Still, she felt it best to increase the security escorts and have them be more vigilant. Of course, everyone needed a break from time to time and there was a limited pool of security/tactical officers to choose from. Considering the circumstances, the Vulcan was hesitant to use the newly transferred members, but she was running out of options.

After speaking with one of the newly transferred security officers, she decided against putting him in the rotation and was now heading into the armory to speak with another, Ensign Ryse. Sirak had not yet met the young man and he was fresh out of Academy. The door slid open and the Vulcan stepped inside calmly, her eyes moving slowly about the room until she saw him. She made her way over to him and greeted the young man, "Good afternoon, Ensign."

Ryse looked up just as the Vulcan entered the armory. "Good afternoon sir, is there something that I can help you with?"

"I may have a revision to your current duty assignment, but need to ask you a few questions first to determine if you would be suited to it," Sirak answered, seeing no reason to, as the Terrans put it, beat around the bush. "This is your first assignment following Academy, correct?"

Ryse nodded, although he wasn't sure why she was asking. It wasn't like Vulcans to be this curious about those that they worked with. All the ones that he met at the academy wanted nothing to do with him or anyone else for that matter. Still, he was slightly curious as to what kind of reassignment she was talking about. "Yes sir, that's correct," Ryse nodded.

Sirak regretted not having a chance to fully review the new members of the crew before the unfortunate circumstances of the previous evening. It would have been preferable to have a basic understanding of, at the very least, those who were in the same department as herself. "Have you had any experience or training on being part of a security detail or security escort during Academy?"

Ryse had undergone a lot of training at the academy; a good deal of it being security and tactical courses. "I finished in the top 2% of my special weapons and tactics class at the academy sir," Ryse stated. "I also spent several summers training with an all Maran squad at the academy, though they mostly focused on small group tactics. I also passed the Close Quarters Security Course and the Battlefield Triage Course."

Nodding slowly, the Vulcan listened as the young man answered her question. The training he mentioned wasn't exactly ideal for what she had in mind, but he also wouldn't be by himself on a security detail. "At this point, you are surely aware of the situation we have on board; one of our guest neurologists died last night and the remaining doctors have had a security detail assigned to them. We are piecing the information together, so I do not want to go into too much detail, but suffice to say that the Captain has asked that we increase security. For your revised assignment you will be aiding another Security officer in providing a security watch on one of the doctors."

Ryse tried not to let his confusion show. He was more suited to assault operations than security measures; though he supposed that they needed all hands on deck for this sort of thing. "Excuse me sir but my training is more...well aggressive in nature. Are you sure there aren't other officers aboard that might do a better job?"

"Ensign, allow me to impart on you some wisdom that some might find...odd...coming from one such as myself," Sirak began. "Regardless of what type of training you are used to, you will come across situations where it may not always be the best option. There may be times that your 'aggressive' training will be necessary and other times you will need to have a more deft approach. I do not entirely disagree with you that other officers may be more qualified. However, we only have so many Security/Tactical officers and the same ones can't be on duty all the time...not to mention that there is an investigation underway and normal department tasks that must be done."

Ryse considered her words, though technically it didn't seem like he would really have a choice. She outranked him. "Very well sir, I guess I'm the man for the job."

Under normal circumstances, if Sirak sensed hesitation about an assignment from someone, she simply wouldn't assign them to the task. She knew she really didn't have a choice though. The Vulcan nodded, "First thing in the morning you will report to the quarters assigned to Dr. Brun (NPC). You'll be relieving the night shift with another officer."

"Understood sir," Ryse said. "Can I ask who the other officer is that I'll be working with?"

Sirak considered Ryse's question for a moment before responding, "Barring any changes to the schedule, you will be working with Ensign Weaver. He has been on board for several missions and is a capable officer." Based on her earlier scheduling analysis, Cody was one of a few officers who would be available for the shift and she felt he would be able to handle the Cardassian neurologist. Teaming him up with this new crewmember seemed logical.

Ryse tried to keep a neutral face, though he was sure that the Vulcan saw right through it. He was almost positive that Ensign Cody Weaver was the same ensign that he had run into earlier. The same cute, charming, and friendly ensign at that. Hopefully, he could get through his time with him without doing anything too embarrassing. "Very well sir," Ryse finally answered.

Raising an eyebrow only slightly, Sirak simply nodded. She got the impression that Ryse knew Cody; whether that was good or bad, she wasn't sure. Regardless, she was confident Cody would be professional and keep their newest officer in check. "If you have additional questions about the assignment, please contact me, Ensign. For now, you can get back to your work."

OFF: JP brought to you by:

Ensign Ryse
Tactical Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

Lieutenant JG Sirak (NPC)
Security Investigations Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
played by:

[Ryse]

ON:
<<Holodeck 1 Day 4, 0530>>

Ryse was still more than a little nervous about his new assignment. He meant what he said when he told Sirak (NPC) that his training was better focused on aggressive threats; not idly guarding visiting personnel. And then there was the fact that he would be working with Ensign Cody Weaver, who was the same cutie that he ran into earlier the day in the phaser control room. He just hoped that he could keep his cool around him. Ryse shook those thoughts off as he entered the holodeck.

"Computer ran training program Dawn 112A."

"Program complete."

Ryse would have loved to just use his kinetic bow but the thing was slightly hard to store. He was working on making another one that would be compact enough to conceal slightly better but had yet to finish it. It would have gone faster if he could access the databases at home. No, G'Leth wasn't his home anymore - the Federation was. He needed to keep reminding himself of that fact. He pulled the phaser rifle up and thumbed the safety switch off. He took a deep breath, watching the open courtyard around him.

A volley of phaser blasts erupted from the trees, sending Ryse diving for cover. He hit the ground, rolled, and then came up on one knee, searching out the source of the attack. He spotted movement in the trees and let loose with a three round burst, dropping his attacker out onto the courtyard. He dove sideways again, as phaser blasts tore into the ground around, digging out chunks of stone. He got himself behind a downed pillar before nearly being cut in half with incoming fire.

Ryse smiled to himself and popped up and fired off another series of three round bursts, dropping another faceless attacker. The return fire was instant, reducing the size of the pillar considerably. This went on for another ten minutes - Ryse moving from position to position and taking out any target that happened to present it's self. When all was said and done, 20 minutes later, he was a sweaty mess - though he felt considerably less anxious about his new assignment.

"Computer transfer holo recording to my personal database, mark for review."

"Transfer complete," the computer stated.

"End program," Ryse said, as he exited the holodeck. He would look at his performance later, maybe he could find something that he was doing wrong. His time with the program hadn't improved much over the past few weeks, which meant that he needed to see why that was. Maybe he wasn't moving fast enough? Maybe they were getting too good at outflanking him? Whatever it was, Ryse intended to figure it out.

OFF:

[Kersare]

ON:
<<Mess Hall, Day 3, 1800>>

After reading through the remaining department updates Isabel had received, she asked the computer for Lieutenant JG Roen's current location and had just arrived. Thus far she hadn't had a chance to meet the new Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer, but she needed the Bajoran to assist with the investigation and she had checked out. Stepping forward, Isabel waited for the door to swish open before entering, allowing her eyes to sweep the room before spotting Linara and heading in her direction.

The Bajoran was walking toward a table with a cup of coffee steaming in one hand and a Padd in the other. The Malinche was a change of pace from her previous assignment, mostly due to the promotion of duties. She almost reached the table in the corner near a window when the Captain caught up.

"Lieutenant JG Roen?" Isabel asked as she neared the short haired woman in services yellow. "We haven't had a chance to meet yet, but I'm Captain Kersare. Welcome to the Malinche," she said, extending her hand.

Linara smiled awkwardly and quickly put her items on the table to straighten up to receive the gesture. "Thank you, Ma'am," she replied with a slightly nervous grip. She had been caught a little off guard and was trying not to show it. The Captain on the Thunderchild was a much more intimidating person who avoided off duty contact unless needed. "Would you join me," the Lieutenant asked with a motion toward the table, hoping for a more social demeanor.

Isabel nodded and smiled, "You're welcome...and yes, I'll join you. Let me just go get myself a beverage." She'd already eaten, so she wasn't really hungry. At the moment she wasn't particularly thirsty either, but she didn't want Linara to feel awkward having a meal while she simply sat and watched.

Linara sat down at the table and sipped her coffee which was beginning to cool down. The Padd was still activated on the current mission briefing that she was catching up on, which she skimmed quickly and a little nervously.

Heading over to the replicator, Isabel ordered a hot chai tea, and then headed back to the table, steaming mug of tea in her hand. She chose a seat across from the Bajoran and sat her chai tea down as she took a seat. After taking a sip, Isabel asked, "So, how have you been settling in?"

She nodded. "It is a switch. I mean the ship class. I'm used to seeing pilots and engineers all over related to the flight deck and the noises from it." Linara glanced toward the room, then back. "Dare I say it seems more... relaxed."

Isabel chuckled slightly, "Appearances can be deceiving; we've had our share of excitement with our missions. Normally I would say that this one is rather straight forward, dropping doctors off on Betazed, but considering what's happened since they've been aboard..."

The Bajoran smirked and stirred her drink slowly. "Scuttlebutt had it that this ship encountered a few interesting scenarios. I don't know the validity of them but on Thunderchild I had quite a few shuttles and transports come through with stories. Some were a bit intriguing." She paused. "If I may, Ma'am. This is a new experience for me, having a drink with the captain. Thank you."

"Of course," Isabel answered with a smile as she took a sip of her chai. "Sometimes it's nice to be in a more relaxed environment. And I have joined crewmembers for holodeck programs at times as well. It's a balance." Setting down her mug, she said, "A little while ago I sent you information about recent events to bring you up to speed. I know you probably just got it, but have you looked at it at all?"

Linara nodded. "I have, although I am still trying to make sure I understand it all correctly." She glanced at her Padd that was laying on the table. "Sometimes the written words are a little lacking compared to the full picture. When given the chance I find the most efficient use of time is the face to face." She paused and leaned forward on her elbows thoughtfully looking at the captain. "Were there any little 'tidbits' not in the report that I should be aware of?"

"I believe all relevant information was included. I sent you the report after the updates I received earlier. You might get some additional information from Lieutenant JG Sirak (NPC), who's been heading up the investigation from the Security/Tactical department side, or from Lieutenant McKeon - he's been using his sources to look for information," Isabel explained.

"I see." Linara replied, settling to one arm and letting the one relax. "I have yet to meet Lt. Sirak. At least from the personnel file she seems like she would be good choice for the task." The Bajoran appreciated the orderly nature of Vulcans, particularly in security and investigative work. They tended to be better at observation than most of the investigators she had dealt with. "Is there anything I should know about the previous ACSO?

Isabel nodded after taking another sip of her tea, "She has done an excellent job thus far. Of course this type of work is what she's specialized in." Sirak had been on the Malinche for several years and in that time, Isabel had found that she was an officer who could be counted on. Honestly, she was likely due a promotion...something Isabel would have to discuss with Nora. "During the two missions we had an Acting Assistant Chief, so there's not a whole lot to tell, really. For the past three years, Lieutenant Masterson has been our Chief Security/Tactical Officer. It'll be nice to have an actual Assistant Chief."

The Bajoran nodded thoughtfully. "Hopefully I will live up to expectations, Ma'am." Linara said with a subtle smile. "From the looks of it we have the perfect mission to start out with." She was somewhat nervous about the nature of the mission being her first in a new role, but the driven side of her personality balanced it out. That ability made it hard to tell what she really felt at times, sometimes even blocking from her conscious thought if she let it.

"I'm not sure that any mission is the perfect one, especially one where a guest is murdered, but it will certainly have you jumping right in, I imagine," Isabel commented as she finished her tea. "I have some other business to attend to, I'm afraid, but I'm glad we had the chance to talk, Ms. Roen. If you need anything, please let myself or Commander Zeral know."

"My appologies for the choice of words, Ma'am." Linara stated as they stood up. "Thank you for your time." She hoped her last statement was not going to be a poor impression, but tried to block that from her thought process as they exited the table.

OFF: JP brought to you by:

Lieutenant JG Roen Linara
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

[Roen]

ON:
<Intelligence Office, Day 4, 0845hrs>

Alister looked at the most recent communication on his desk assigning a new Security Officer to assist him during the investigation. He turned to his desk computer and pulled up the officer's file giving it a quick over. She would need to be brought up to speed on the information before they called in the next doctor, =^=Lt Roen, if you could please report to the Intelligence Office at your earliest convenience.=^=

Linara tapped her badge in response. "On my way." She had been preparing to go on-duty, walking down the corridor to the turbolift. "They don't waste much time on this ship." She sighed to herself. It took a little while for her to find the way to the office but she found it soon enough, straightened her uniform and walked into the office.

"Reporting, as requested." The Bajoran said in a plain tone.

Alister nodded his head as he pushed his thumb print onto a PADD an returned it to one of his people, "Thank you for coming on such short notice," he said giving the Bajoran officer a quick glance from head to toe, "I'm Lt Alister McKeon the ship's CIO, if you'll follow me into my office." He motioned to the door set off to one side, "We can get started."

She stood at attention, feeling the on the spot check and then responded with a nod. Even though she was Security, CIO's usually had a demeanor that put her on a defensive stance. She continued to try to size him up as he walked around the room.

"Would you care for anything to drink," he asked motioning to one of the chair's facing his desk.

"Sure. Iced mocha with 3 sugars. Thank you." Linara sat down in the chair and crossed one leg neatly over the other in a demure manner as he handed her drink to her. She took it with both hands and took a sip. "Terran Mocha is so much better than the coffee they gave us on Bajor."

Alister moved to the replicator and replicated the mocha and a regular coffee for himself, "I never have sampled Bajor's coffee, the only beverage I'm familiar with is Spring Wine." He handed her the drink and sat back down behind his desk, "I've only been to Bajor once in my career during a meeting in the final stages of the Dominion War, between the various Allied Intelligence branches. I got the sense of a much older culture than what I'm used to back home."

She nodded slightly. "Very old culture indeed." She sighed. "Old yet young if you count the Occupation. That made a challenge to work for law records back home. It will be a long time before they get that completely fixed." Then she leaned back against the chair back, and stated in a matter of fact way, "Anyway, we have some matters to get to."

Alister placed the cup of coffee on the corner of his desk, "Very well, down to business," he would a preferred a bit more personal interaction to get a better feel for the Bajoran, but he could adapt. He pushed across a PADD, "On here you'll find the information we know so far, which unfortunately is based far more on guesswork and hunches than I would prefer, but we have been instructed to keep our search quiet." He closed his eyes briefly as he leaned back in the chair, "To sum it up, we had an attempted assassination of Doctor Brun, however the wrong person received the poisoned food. That would typically be seen as the act of an amateur, but the poison used was rather unique and they did not panic when I had Doctor Banks pulled in openly by Intelligence rather than a normal Security contingent"

"Interesting enough." Linara remarked, scrolling the Padd. She could tell he seemed a little cut off, but as a security officer she wanted that to be the initial impression. "Who is included in this circle of information, if I may? Obviously this is not the typical investigation."

"At the moment, the senior staff, my department, Security Officer Sirak, and yourself," Alister replied, "Other information might come up that's more restricted but I will let you know if it does, I've placed the remaining doctors under covert surveillance, all outgoing subspace communications is being monitored by my staff, and a team is on stand by if the assassin takes a more direct route to eliminate his target."

"Understood." Linara replied. "If there is any way I can be of aid let me know. Of course I don't know everything in this department yet but I offer full cooperation in anyway necessary." Even though offering was more of a gesture, she figured it would be a good one to make. On other assignments there was no such openness and it cost the efficiency of the missions.

"Actually you have been assigned to work with me," Alister said leaning back comfortably in his chair, "You will be replacing Officer Sirak as the Security Officer present during the rest of the interviews."

Linara nodded with a subtle smile. "I am flattered, sir. Do you have any interviews scheduled as of yet?" This was getting off to a good start. She was not fond of the scenario but the level of working latitude was a marked improvement over her last assignments.

"I wasn't planning on scheduling any, they will get pull in the same way as Doctor Banks, with no warning on who or when," Alister replied, "I want them off balance as possible when we do get to talking with them, the only exception is Dr. Brun. We're going to have to ask for his cooperation or else the Cardassian Union will raise holy hell about it."

The Bajoran raised an eyebrow as she heard the Cardassian reference. It was no secret why the dislike but she did her best to block that out of her judgement. "That they would. Cardassians do like it their way." She shifted her position slightly to the other side, then decided to change it up a little since they seemed to be done with business. "What province did you visit on Bajor?" as she sipped her drink further.

"I was at the planetary Capitol," Alister replied taking a sip of his drink, "They chose it, do to all the security cameras the last thing they wanted was old scores being settled by the different Intelligence agencies taking out key rivals. We had a few scheduled trips to some of the monasteries, give everyone time to clear their heads and it was my belief to hope some of that peace entered the conference."

"That was quite an occasion if I recall the reports on it." Linara mused. "Mother and I went there once before she died. It was a different experience coming from a war torn fringe town. The peace took hold but reconstruction had been slow to say the least." Bajor had actually been farther from her thoughts until he reminded her, since there was little for her to return to as far as family was concerned. The conversation brought up old feelings but she did her best not to show them, whether or not it was successful.

"You where born during the occupation I take it," Alister said picking up in her slight change of mood, "I've read a few of Starfleet Intelligence's reports about what the Cardassians did while they where there." He sighed briefly, "I know there was debate for a long time about supplying the Resistance movement through third parties, especially when our border skirmish with the Cardassians went hot."

"Yes, actually." Linara sighed. "My parents were split up during the work camps and I never saw my father or was able to find record of him. Frankly, it always disappointed me that the Federation didn't do more to help. It was such a rough time on my mother to work as a single parent. I just have this feeling that my father is still around somewhere if I could find him. Does that seem like an odd notion or hope?"

"The almighty Prime Directive," Alister replied, "I'm sure you had that pounded into your head during the Academy." He paused as he thought about the last part of her statement, "It sounds like someone wants to find their family. If you want I have some friends on Bajor that should be able to help look into it?"

Linara looked surprised but in a good way. For him to offer that was significant even if it was not to be acted on for a while. "Actually, Sir that would be nice...sometime. That would mean a lot to me, if anything for the closure. Prime directive..." She smirked. "A simple concept that is so complex to execute at times."

"Let me know when you want to begin and I'll send the information on to the," Alister replied smiling slightly, "Well it's difficult because not everyone plays by the same rules, feels like the Federation has one hand tied behind their back at all times." He paused as a chime sounded from his computer, "As much as I would love to continue our chat, I have an incoming message that I need to take. I'll let you know when our next scheduled interview is, and forward any information we dig up in the meantime."

The Bajoran stood up almost at attention. "Thank you, Sir." With a nod she turned and walked out of the room, almost with a smile. What had initially been apprehension turned out to be a rather positive encounter.

OFF:
A JP by

Lt. Alister Mckeon
Chief Intelligence Officer
Uss Malinche

and

[Dallas]

<Chief Intelligence Officer's Office, USS Malinche, Day 3, 1300 hrs.>

With the recent discovery that Janor was likely not the intended victim of the unusual toxin that killed him, those working on the investigation, including Karyn, had to do a complete mental shift and tackle the investigation from an entirely new angle. Though she had been collaborating with several departments indirectly on the matter by offering a pre-liminary profile of the offender, she decided it would be wise to meet face to face with one of the handful of people to interview all Janor's colleagues. Karyn had seen the reports, but believing several heads were always better than one, she decided to approach McKeon for a chat.

Ringing the chime exactly at her appointment time, the hoverchair-bound counselor waited to be allowed entry.

The door opened a young Trill wearing the pips of LTJG nodded a greeting toward the counselor, "Good afternoon Doctor," she said smiling slightly, "I believe Lt McKeon is expecting you in his office." She moved aside to allow the counselor entry before leading her back to a side door, keying it open. The stations where full of people either working away or appearing to catch a quick nap while a program or call was waiting to be completed.

Alister stood up from behind his desk and walked toward the door as it opened, "Doctor, glad you could make it," he said giving a nod to Tirania dismissing her. "Would you care for something to drink before we get started?"

Karyn had yet to get used to the "Doctor" title even after all these years. She wasn't a medical doctor, but she had earned advanced counseling training which added up to a doctorate on PADD, so all who referred to her as such were correct and showing respect, but she had been just "Counselor" on other postings or simply "Karyn" so long it felt foreign to her.

She shook her head. "No, but thank you. Any more raktajino and I'm going to launch myself into orbit," she added with a grin. "Feel free to call me Karyn if you like."

"I have other things besides coffee or what you can get from the replicator," Alister said with a slight grin, "Being an Intelligence Officer does have it's benefits, and it's Alister." He waved a hand to an area cleared in front of his desk before returning to his seat, "I assume you're here about the recent interviews?"

"Thanks, Alistair. I'll take some water." In response to his question, she nodded. "I just wanted to see if I could offer some assistance, if that's welcome," she added, knowing at times intelligence officers could be particular about their turf.

Alister got a glass of water for Karyn and closed his eyes briefly, "That would be helpful, but at the moment I'm not sure with what? So far except for hitting the wrong target I would say we're dealing with a professional. I didn't drag the Doctors in so openly, just for my own amusement, I was hoping to beat the bush and get someone to trip up and give me something I can use."

Karyn accepted the glass and took a sip before nodding and offering, "My sense of the person or persons responsible is they're not easily rattled, and have been planning this for some time. The killer or killers had to know we'd investigate thoroughly, so I'm not sure what that buys them exactly."

"My problem is the wrong target getting hit, it just seems sloppy," Alister replied, "It also would have been easier to strike in a busy station with ships coming and going if a longer acting poison had been used. However I think without the ship's doctor knowing of a similar poison being used in the alternate timeline the death may have been written off as natural causes. The only good news that I can see, is that I've been working off the assumption that Brun was the target, so I don't have to worry about shifting around resources too much."

The admission surprised Karyn. "You've believed the wrong man was targeted right off? How did you get there?"

"I received background packets on all of our guests, Janor's had nothing in it that would make him a target," Alister replied shrugging his shoulders, "Brun's on the other hand had a number of large gaps in his history, particularly around the time of the occupation of Bajor. I requested additional data and Bajor supplied what they had which was rumors that he was working with the military during the occupation on something, using Bajorans as test subjects. That strikes me as someone who is a more logical target, then a Trill who has a clean record."

"It does, but then again, in my line of work, sometimes the seemingly clean ones are the most deceptive. That said, we know now the poisoned food was delivered to Janor by mistake, so that lends credence to your theory, certainly. Rumors are hardly facts, but if there's any truth to them, we have a number of people who could be responsible, perhaps not all of them known to us. Have we been able to identify how the poison got onboard and into Janor's food?"

"No, we haven't been able to ID how the poison got onboard," Alister said shaking his head, "I believe Security is looking into the matter, the type of poison used points me to the scientists that came aboard. How they put it in the food is another matter, I will have my assistant look into the people preparing the dish to see if they remember anything or if at any time the poison could have placed without their knowledge."

Karyn nodded. "Have you spoken to Brun since learning of these rumors? I'd be interested in his reaction to the news he was the intended target."

"Not yet," Alister replied, "It's one of those things on my list of things to do, but I can't simply hustle him in here like the others. It has to be done far more carefully, last thing we need is for him to go to the Cardassian government with an official complaint."

"I could be with you when you talk with him," Karyn offered. "It'd give me a chance to assess his reaction, and if he turns out not to be involved in any way, I'm there to help him cope with the traumatic news that he was the intended victim." Dallas could imagine such news would be difficult to hear whether he was involved in illegal activities or not, and as a counselor, she felt obligated not to leave someone to deal with that sort of trauma alone. Of course, she also wasn't naive to the fact that her presence could make the situation look less like an interrogation, which would lessen the chances the Cardassian government would be up in arms about the whole matter, but would still give them an opportunity to ask the hard questions.

"Maybe, I will think on the matter," Alister replied before a knock on the door interrupted the conversation and one of Alister's people entered with a stack of PADDs in his hands. Alister closed his eyes at the sight and sighed at the thought of even more paperwork, "I'm afraid we're going to have to stop here, I will be in touch Karyn."

"Sounds good," Karyn replied. "Just let me know ASAP so if you need me, I can keep my schedule clear. Otherwise, I'll look forward to hearing your assessment. Thanks for the update." With that, she turned in her hoverchair and departed.

***

Lt. Alister Mckeon
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Malinche

and

[Zeral]

ON:
<<USS Malinche, Intelligence Office, Day 3, 1445>>

Alister stepped out of his office and glanced around at the people busy working on their consoles, "Chief, I'm going to speak with the XO, anyone calls for me let them know I am in a meeting."

"Yes, sir," the Chief replied with a nod of his head.

Walking into a small storage room, Alister grabbed a couple of small items and headed out into the ship's corridors, the computer stated that the XO was in her quarters and he made his way to her door. Flicking a glance up and down the corridor more out of habit than for any real reason he pressed the admittance button.

<Zeral's Quarters>

Nora was stealing a few moments from an otherwise busy day to water her plants. It had always been a calming and soothing activity for the Betazoid, and considering the day she was having so far, she felt in need of all the calm she could get. When the doorchime rang, Nora quietly sighed to herself, wondering if Gel (PNPC) had returned from wherever it was he had wandered off to. Setting her watering can down, she called out a simple, “Come in.”

Alister stepped into the XO's quarters, "Thank you ma'am," he said looking around the quarters and seeming to take note of every detail. "I am sorry to be bothering you, but something as come up that you should be made aware of." Reaching into a pocket a pulled out a PADD and started a program on the screen, "Are you currently alone at the moment, what has to be said is highly classified?"

Momentarily surprised to find the CIO there and not her erstwhile fiancé, Nora offered Alister a brief welcoming smile. “Only me,” she confirmed, wondering to herself if her day was about to take another turn for the worse. “And you certainly have my full attention. But please, make yourself comfortable first.”

"Thank you," Alister said seating down and placing the PADD in front of him, "I am sorry to bring this up, but either you or the Captain must be brought into the loop. Since it concerns Betazed, I decided to bringing it to your attention." The PADD gave out a soft beep and he glanced at the screen before looking up at the ceiling, "Computer seal the room, priority code Alpha, authorize McKeon Alpha seven five Bravo."

Nora watched in curiosity, one eyebrow raised slightly. Her first assumption was that Alister had something to tell her about the ongoing investigation of Dr. Keel’s death, but the mention of Betazed had left her puzzled. Evidently, whatever it was he had to say was serious indeed, judging by the measures he had taken to ensure their privacy.

Turning his attention back to the XO he took a deep breath, pulling out a second piece of equipment and turning it on, "I received a call today from Betazed it was in regards to the information I requested about the Doctors onboard. Major Kestra requested my help with a rather unique problem, a Dominion attack ship was discovered in remote area of the planet. It belonged to Dominion counter intelligence, and they hope it has information aboard about what happened to the resistance cells in your home city." He looked directly into the XO's eyes, "How much do you know about what happened in Arandel during the occupation?"

Nora regarded Alister levelly, considering his question only for a moment before answering. “I am fairly well acquainted with what happened in Arandel. My family home is there, though, fortunately, neither I nor any members of my immediate family were there at the time. However, many of my friends and extended family were.” Two of her cousins and an aunt on her father’s side had died in the invasion and subsequent occupation, and any number of childhood friends. Though she’d made peace with the tragedy long ago, it still wasn’t easy to recall some of those losses, even now. “I’ve heard a number of firsthand accounts, and, of course, I’ve read a good number of the official reports since.”

"It has never been proven, but it's always been believed that Dominion Counter Intelligence had a mole that infiltrated any attempt to form a resistance cell in the city," Alister said leaning back in his seat. "Every time a cell formed within a couple of weeks it was discovered and eliminated by the Dominion. We tried every trick we knew but they always seemed to be one step ahead of us," Alister gave a shake of his head before he could be sucked to far back into his own memories of the Occupation. "Dominion Intelligence ran a special code that we termed the JL code, and used it throughout the war."

“I’ve heard of it,” Nora nodded. She was also familiar with the belief that some Betazoids had worked against their fellow Betazoids to help the Dominion maintain their hold over the planet. It was a terrible thought, but one that had persisted all the same. “My understanding is that the code is unbreakable,” Nora said, frowning slightly. “Unless… Is that what this is about?”

Alister smiled briefly, "It is, the code was broken roughly half way thru the war by Intelligence. It is still one of Intelligence closely guarded secrets since Dominion Intelligence still uses the code." He leaned forward into his seat and reached out to take one of Nora's hand, "Major Kestra has made some strides in trying to discover who did support the Dominion during the war and if it resulted in the deaths of those who fought against the occupation. She believes the ship could hold the key to putting together all the pieces, however it could cause severe issues for Betazed, if it does contain names of informants and turncoats. I want your opinion on whether I should give her the means to decrypt the computers, I am afraid my own memories of the occupation and the resistance might be clouding my judgment."

Nora’s surprise bordered on shock. She hadn’t so much as suspected that Alister’s visit would lead in this direction, and she wasn’t so sure that she was the right person to give an unbiased opinion. Even though she’d been far from Betazed at the time of the occupation, she too knew pain and anger when she thought of all the Betazoids that had suffered under the Jem’Hadar’s ruthless regime. Taking a deep breath, searching for calm, the Betazoid considered her answer carefully.

“Uncovering proof of Betazoid informants will certainly cause issues, as you put it,” Nora said quietly. “But I think, speaking as a Betazoid myself, that the Betazoids would much prefer to uncover and confront the truth rather than hide from it. It may be painful, but that does not necessarily mean that it should be avoided. Answers provide catharsis, and there are still many Betazoids who long for that.” Nora gave Alister’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “I would, however, strongly suggest that Major Kestra work closely with the government of Betazed in this, allowing them to decide what should be done with the list of names that may be uncovered. The matter is…delicate, and you certainly don’t want to risk starting a witch hunt.”

"I know Major Kestra well enough to know she'll turn the information over to her chain of command," Alister said, "She was the Betazoid, I trusted the most during the occupation. Ended up running the original cell we started allowing me and the Chief to work on coordinating different groups in the area." He closed his eyes briefly wrestling back memories of the desparate struggle on the planet, "I think back to those times and wonder how any of us survived."

Though she had been a young teenager at the time, Nora had often wished that she had in fact been on Betazed during the occupation, if only to try to help in some way. Ultimately, it had been men and women like Alister who had ultimately done the most good. “It’s thanks to the sacrifices of people like you that there’s any Betazed to speak of today, at least Betazed as we know it,” Nora assured him, her gratitude manifest in her voice. “Thank you for that. Truly. I may be just one Betazoid, but I can’t tell you how thankful I am that my home remains safe and free.”

"A lot of the fighting was done by Betazoids," Alister said giving her a gentle smile, "We gave them the training and the know how but your people fought for their freedom." Relaxing back into his seat, he released Nora's hand, "I will have to make some temporary modifications to the Malinche's long range comms equipment to insure secrecy," it was as if a switch had been flipped in the Chief Intelligence Officers head, as his moment of hesitation was replaced by his confident and controlled self.

Sensing the change in Alister, Nora nodded, accepting that the moment had passed and it was time to move forward. “Of course. I’ll leave it to you to ensure that every necessary precaution is taken,” she smiled. Though she hadn’t known the CIO for long, Nora still felt confident that if anyone could be relied on to get a job done right, it was likely Alister. “In the meantime, though, I suppose I should probably return to work. This day… It just never seems to end, does it?” the Betazoid laughed softly.

"This day is thankfully almost over," Alister said smiling, "Try and get some rest a ship's XO is always the hardest working officer aboard, you've been pushing yourself rather hard these last few days."

“I’ll see what I can do,” Nora said, not making any promises. Maybe, if she were lucky, she could go to bed a little earlier than usual after her work for the day was finished. Somehow, though, she didn’t see that happening, not with the current state of both her personal and work affairs. “The same goes for you, Lieutenant McKeon. Try not to burn the candle at both ends. If there’s any other way that I can help you, in the investigation or otherwise, please don’t hesitate to tell me.”

"I will keep you informed," Alister said standing up from his seat, "I'll let you get back to your duties."

OFF:

This JP brought to you by:

Lieutenant Alister McKeon
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and