Baiting traps (part II)
Posted on Mon Nov 2, 2020 @ 8:08am by Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis & Captain Maritza Soran & Commander Amia Telamon M.D.
2,103 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Things Past
Location: Q'uit's Bar
Timeline: MD 07 0120
Tags: Hex, Ahjess, Trill Symbiosis Commission, Q'uit's, murder
OLD:
He took a slender case from the inside of the leather jacket, opening it up to reveal a hypospray. "And I'm afraid you're wrong about me needing all those chemicals to stay on top. I've always been on top, no chemicals needed. But what I do need them for is to make sure someone stays dead. In the right combination, like this one, it will cause the brain matter to disintegrate. Even if they get you to the hospital, there's nothing they can do. What's more, it rots the symbiont too. Two birds for the price of one."
A tear escaped Nessia's eye, and rolled down her face, but she could no nothing more. She was going to die. Zuul was going to die. She was so scared, and she was stuck and she couldn't move.
Hex leaned over and gently brushed her dark hair back from her neck, then swiped the tear away with his thumb. He looked at the glistening bead of liquid, and then sucked it into his mouth. "Good bye, Nessia Zuul." He touched the hypospray to her neck, and killed her.
He sat back down to watch while she went. She couldn't move, there was no gasping, no shaking, everything was locked. "I'm going to use this on the head of the Symbiosis committee when he gets here. And after they find you, he will come."
He finished his cigar, and ground out the stump on the thick pad of scar tissue in his left palm. Then he gave her a critical glance, and carefully felt for a pulse. It was gone. Hex drained his drink. "Goodbye Nessia Zuul. It wasn't personal."
NEW:
Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis was incensed.
There was no better word to explain what had happened. He stood up and walked away from the body of the Trill woman formerly known as Nessia Zuul of the Trill Symbiosis Committee and host to the Zuul symbiont. But now she was just a dead patron in a shithole of a bar on his station.
=/\= "Trellis to Sick Bay, I've go...I've got a deceased female, Trill, inside of the Q'uit's Bar." He said through clenched teeth. Due to the sensitivity of the investigation he couldn't even fully disclose who the decedent was or what she was doing inside the bar. He closed his eyes and sighed as he turned his attention towards the Klingon Owner.
=^= Sickbay here, Telamon speaking. I'll get a team out to you right away Lieutenant Trellis. =^= came the reply through the comm but it was more background noise and rhetoric so it needed no formal response.
However, true to her word and without delay, Amia requested River to take a team to Q'uit's bar to recover a patient, reportedly deceased and get them - both of them - since this was apparently a joined Trill so there would be two life forms for them to check on so a rapid response might be necessary, depending on how long ago the host had expired.
River picked two of the paramedics she trusted and they all took themselves to Q'uit's via an Emergency Medical Transport, the blue shimmer reconstructing them neatly at the door, their medikits in hand and a hover gurney between them to bag up the deceased and transport them to the mortuary with dignity and respect.
Q'uit's was being questioned by Lieutenant Deborah Kato for the past five minutes. Unfortunately, he was refusing to provide even the most basic information.
The Klingon stood behind his bar, arms crossed, insisting he "didnt see nuthin"
"I'll finish this..." Trellis said as he stepped in to relieve her. "Begin gathering any biographical information you can on the victim while we wait for Sick Bay Morgue to arrive." He said as he turned back the Owner.
"What do you know?" Lt. Trellis asked, hoping to cut straight to the point.
"Wisest is he who knows he knows nothing." The klingon said.
"You have no idea the absolutely shitstorm that is about to rain down on you, Q'uit's." He said in a lowered tone. "Security has turned a blind out to what goes on in here for a long time. But a dead body crosses that line." He said, gesturing towards the prone form of Agent Zuul. "Talk, or I promise that you will not make another dime of profit in this place again." He said to the taller Klingon while leaning over the bar.
"Even I wanted to help, I can't; she came in, she bought a drink and went in looking for someone. I don't know who. But it was fairly obvious she wasn't one of us. A dozen different people could have made her and taken action. As for who?" The big Klingon shrugged. "The air filters are on the fritz, it was pretty hazy in here. I didn't see anything."
Lt. Trellis leaned back on his heels. "Oh. . .so it's an environmental and mechanical problem you're experiencing. . ." He said as he stepped away from the bar counter. "Let me see if I can alleviate that for you." He said as he turned to face the patrons.
"Attention, ladies and gentlemen. I've just been informed that this establishment has experienced numerous and significant problems to its environmental system. In order to ensure your protection as well as to assist in our ongoing investigation, this facility will need to be closed so that station Operations can come and properly diagnosis and repair any necessary problems." He said as he gestured to the security staff standing near him.
"Unfortunately, we will need to close this facility for the foreseeable future in order to carry out the necessary repairs; however, before you leave, my Security personnel will need to perform a brief biographical interview in which you will need to provide your name, contact information, as well as a necessary biometric and DNA information in case we need to follow-up with you for. . .medical concerns." He said.
"Lieutenant Kato, please contact Main Security and let them know that we'll need additional hands down here to help with the interviews." He said.
There was clearly something making all the inhabitants of the bar quite agitated when the Medical Team materialised. One or two of the patrons started to attempt to leave in a huff and were being detained and others were looking unhappy, muttering and grumbling.
River went straight over to Lt Trellis and the other two moved towards the 'patient'. "Medical team - would you like us to examine the deceased here, or are you happy for us to take her back to Sickbay?" she asked.
Perspiration was continuing to accumulate around the spots on the Trill's forehead. He was trying his best to remain calm despite the situation, but he was not doing too well in keeping his composure. Not only was an Agent dead, but a Symbiont had been lost as well, one of his people's most prized and valued beings.
Once word got back to the Symbiosis Commission there was no telling what lengths they would go to to cover-up the fallout. He needed to get in front of this before he found himself standing before a Commission Inquiry. He looked towards the Doctor and spoke in a quiet tone.
"This autopsy needs to be handled delicately." He said to her. "Withhold transmission of your report to the Captain, Lieutneant Tessaro, and Trill Home Government for at least 48 hours." He said uneasily.
River looked at the Lieutenant and tried to weigh this (and him) up. "Withhold my report to the CO? To Security and to the Trills?" River replied, accepting his quiet tone and privacy of conversation but looking at him oddly. "Surely all three of those are authorities you should be reporting to without question or delay and at least two of them are authorities that I should be too. Do you have any reason to give me to join you in this rather nefarious plan of events?" she asked, not looking as if she was going to comply.
Lt. Trellis could tell that she wouldn't give him the time that he had asked for, but he still needed some time to respond. "Fine. ..fine..ju...just give me 24 hours before you make your mandatory disclosure." He pleaded with her. He was ran his hand over his head as he tried to think of his next course of action.
"Is 24 hours good doable?" he asked.
River looked at him with some curiousity and no small amount of sympathy. She'd found herself backed into corners like this herself in her time and although she did want to be helpful, she hadn't got to Lt-Cmdr by breaking rules flagrantly nor by drawing attention to her own .... foot-dragging....
On the other hand she was no angel and she had been obliged to scramble up by whatever means she could. She would be mad to step off a cliff for someone else just because she felt sorry for the guy.
"Okay, but don't forget my CMO was married to a joined Trill and her daughter is therefore half-Trill, obviously therefore, this will all be of great interest to her. We can't delay handing it over too long or it will attract her attention as well as the Commission - oh and if questions are asked, I'll throw you under the bus, make no mistake, sorry, nothing personal - 24 hours, not a minute more!"
River turned on her heel and rejoined her fellow medics waiting with the hover-gurney holding the body, respectfully covered. As she got to them she flicked her comm badge. =^= Morgan to Sickbay, three and one deceased on a gurney to be transported by EMT to the Morgue Suite =^=. They all vanished in a blue shimmer.
"Hey!" Q'uit protested as River moved away. "You can't shut me down. I've done nothing wrong. I've got a lease!"
Lt. Trellis walked back over to the bar and made sure to speak loud enough that he could be heard. "I'm sorry, but you're mistaken. I'm not shutting you down," The Security Officer replied. "I'm merely responding to a health and safety issue." He added. "In fact, I'm more than positive that once Operations gets done with their necessary inspections and installation of various sensors and other necessary equipment and then they coordinate with Medical and Security, then this place should be back open for business in no less than 6 weeks." He said, as he fingers gripped the bar rail even tighter.
"By the time we get done collecting all of the biometric and DNA information from your patrons, I'm positive that we'll be able to clear up a few unsolved complaints and criminal investigations within the Security department." He said, knowing that a Starfleet DNA registry was the last place that the patrons of this bar would want their information to be stored within.
". . .unless that Air filter of yours wasn't so screwed up that you were actually able to see who the woman was talking to. . " he said much lower.
Q'uit glared at him with enough impotent rage to crack a bulkhead, and then said. "One of Ibalin's boy-toys. Skinny, long hair. Blonde. Trill. Don't know his name. He's not a regular."
Lt. Trellis could feel the tension in his back rising up to his neck. It was a familiar sensation when his stress was getting the better of him.
What he wouldn't give for a drink. . or three right now.
"Skinny, long hair, Blonde Trill. . ." Lt. Trellis repeated, but mostly to himself. "Good enough." He said to the Klingon as he turned and signalled to Lt. Kato. "Nevermind on the interviews, just focus on collecting whatever forensic data you need and head out." He said to the Bajoran.
"Everone else: stand down everyone, assist Lieutenant Kato in gathering the necessary information before turning over the scene to medical." He said to the small gathering of Security officers.
He knew that he did not have much time before things became a lot worse for him in ways that he did not want to imagine. He knew that he had to work fast during the brief lull that currently existed.
Lt. Trellis made his way out of the Bar and towards the nearest lift. The clock ticking and Hex knew that he had become a target for the Symbiosis Commission.
Q'uit
Owner, Q'uits Bar
DS5
NPC by Soran
Si'Lar Trellis
Lieutenant
Security investigation Officer
Deborah Kato
Lieutenant
Forensic Investigator
Lt Cmdr River Morgan
Asst CMO - DS5
NPC by Telamon
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