Lights Out

Posted on Mon Apr 3, 2017 @ 10:51am by Lieutenant JG Rhe'la Daughter of the Forty-ninth House & Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis

1,117 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Rumours
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: MD 5 1400

Ensign Deborah Kato stepped off the turbolift and looked around the spacious area for several moments. "Ex----e---" She tried to say to an Engineer that whisked by her. It was not everyday that the Security Investigation Officer made her way down to Engineering, but it still seemed as if she was out of place among the typical activity that occurred.

"Excuse me!" She said a bit more excitedly to a passing Engineering. It was enough to get the older Denoblian woman's attention. "I'm trying to locate Chief Engineer Rhe'la." Ens. Kato said exasperatedly.

Though taken aback by the outburst, Chief Eklara smiled warmly at the new arrival. "The Lieutenant is in her office; head straight through here and bear to the left. It's right next to the fusion reactor."

"Thank you" Ens. Kato said as she made her way to the pointed direction.

Just as the Denobulan had said, Rhe'la was in her office with her forehead down on her desk. The sensor scrambling was taking her mind off of the fate of her alternate history counterpart, but she still hadn't managed to figure out how it happened. It was frustrating her that she couldn't crack it.

When she heard her door chime go off, she didn't lift her head up. Instead she just defeatedly muttered, "Come in..."

"Oh....hello..." Ensign Kato said, a bit caught off-guard at seeing the Department Chief sitting with her head down on the desk. Ens. Kato was not familiar with Rhe'la's species so she did not feel comfortable assuming that they all behaved in such a manner.

"Should I come back at another time?" She asked.

Having been expecting one of her engineers (they regularly found their boss looking like this), Rhe'la sat bolt upright in her seat when she heard the unfamiliar voice. "No! No - you're fine, Ensign. Uh... I was... I was just... thinking. Yes - thinking! What can I do for you?"

"Oh...well, then...I wanted to speak with you in regards to the request you sent to Security regarding the sensor malfunction during the murder of the Ferengi Ambassador " Ens. Kato said as calmly as she could, still feeling a bit awkward.

Still coming down from the shock caused by Kato's appearance, the little Zarnac quickly tried to regain her composure. "Oh, yes. The sensors had a strange malfunction right as he was attacked. But the system didn't read a malfunction, which leads me to believe that something external was scrambling them. But I haven't been able to figure out who did it and how. It's frustrating..."

"Yes ma'am, I agree completely. Whomever possessed such a device must've known how to tune it directly with our sensors. Considering that this is a Starfleet Installation and such schematics and information wouldn't be freely distributed, I'm assuming that they had a source on the inside that provided them with that information." She said. If she was right then that meant they were dealing with more than just an outside threat, but a threat from within as well.

"However, I'm still not certain how they were able to localize the disruption to such a confined area and in under a short period of time.

Someone on the crew? She hadn't thought of that. "So who would have access to the internal sensor frequencies - engineering, operations, security, and the command team. Our needle is still hiding in a stack of needles. I think that's how the phrase goes."

"Whomever was responsible either had a portable subspace dampener on their body, or knew how to hack the sensor grid in the lift car. But we haven't found any signs of tampering, which leads me to think it's the former." Rhe'la added.

Ens. Kato's brow furrowed. "That's not something you can just find at a local merchant." She said. "That's sophisticated and expensive technology" She said with even more concern. "Just off the top of my head I can think of at least 3 regulations that forbid non-military personnel or at least Command-level civilian from obtaining or using it."

"I'm pretty good at what I do, but I don't even think I could make one. At least, not one that's small enough to be concealed. So we're talking about someone with either a stellar mind for engineering and murder, or someone with the means of acquiring one." the Zarnac thought aloud. "And a mind of murder. That's still a constant."

Means of acquiring one "Well who would have access to tactical-grade devices without some kind of Security clea-- oh my God. . ." She said as an idea suddenly came to her.

Noting the sudden shift in tone, the little engineer arched what passed for an eyebrow among her kind. "What? You seem like you're on to something."

"Who else would have access to that type of device except someone who previously had access to Station Security?" She asked rhetorically. "Dorian Gabriel, former Security Chief and now Head of Security for the Raddon Corporation." She said flatly.

It certainly made sense. She didn't know the man, but he had a reputation for running with a fairly xenophobic crowd. It was part of the reason Rhe'la hadn't made any effort to seek him out; being probably the most alien looking member of the crew

"It certainly makes sense. But did he carry out the act himself, or just supply the device? Either act is reprehensible, but it's a matter of murder or accessory to murder." At least, that's what the Zarnac thought - she was no security officer, after all.

"I'm not sure ma'am, my investigation so far revealed that the sensors went out within the turbolift lobby. That's probably where the attack began." Ens. Kato stated.

"But why move the body to such a public location? More importantly, the blood was found pooled in one location, so that means that the Ambassador was killed where his body was discovered. Why perform such a gruesome and public act?" She asked.

The lizard looked up at Kato with a somber look in her beady black eyes. "To prove a point."

"But that begs the question of who the murderer was proving a point to? Was it to the Ferengi, or to the non-humanoid population at large? No offense to the Ferengi, but I hope it was directed just at them." she shuddered, hoping that there wouldn't be another victim - especially her.

Ens. Kato shook her head. "I'm not sure, but I'm sure that if we don't figure this out sooner rather than later, then Nazl will not be the last victim. . .on either side." She said.



Deborah Kato
Ensign
Security Investigation

Lt. JG Rhe'la, Daughter of the Forty-ninth House
Chief Engineering Officer

 

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