Crimes against decency

Posted on Thu Dec 21, 2017 @ 2:42am by Captain Maritza Soran & Lieutenant JG Andrus Grax & Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis & Lieutenant Benj Amoran

1,882 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Rumours
Location: Soran's office
Timeline: MD09 1130

::ON::

Commander Maritza Soran, on her second day on the job as commanding officer of one of the biggest space stations outside of Space Dock 1, was not having fun. "six dead in two hours, ten in three, fourteen in five hours." She dropped the padd back onto her desk, and looked up at the officers standing in front of her. "And that's assuming no more are found. Where do things stand with the investigation?" She looked up at Trellis.

Lieutenant Trellis looked up from the padd he held in his hand and tried to find the appropriate words. "I'm. . .I'm not certain." He said. "I haven't confirmed it with Medical as of yet, but initial scans of the decedents all show a high level of copper-like enzyme within each of their blood-streams. This is uncommon for Boslics because their blood is cobalt-based, which is what leads to their blue skins." Trellis said.

"You typically see a copper-like enzymes in the Vulcan blood system since it is copper-based." He said. "However, it is a well-known biological fact that Vulcan blood is toxic to Boslic and vice-versa. In fact, Bolian blood is considered corrosive to other species. The only Federation species that might be compatible with Boslics would be Andorians." He explained. "I don't believe that it was an 'accident' that all of these victims suffered exposure to something so specifically dangerous." He added.

"And have you found any links between the victims that suggest this may be accidental? Perhaps they were all exposed to a single source of poison?" She looked to Dr Amoran. "Anything in the autopsies performed so far?" Even in a base as big as hers they probably only had one or two Medical Examiners. And fourteen bodies would take a long time to finish. Even if they'd been up all night, they might have only got just the preliminaries done on three, maybe four at most.

Benj shook his head. "Amia.... er.. Commander Telamon, has joined the autopsy staff but they are still working to finish them all, however one very plain common factor is apparent in those they have managed to complete and that is that they all have systemic shock and total organ failure. They have all ingested or absorbed a toxic element but one thing we haven't found is any sign that it's infectious. The PRELIMINARY.... findings which the CMO will undersign and confirm shortly, conclude poisoning by person or persons unknown. It is too discriminate to be accidental or spontaneous. One person from each family unit is VERY odd, why don't the others have it too? We will confirm the exact nature of the toxin itself and if possible, the means for delivering it, any time now but currently they're finding some inconsistencies in the results on that sole aspect of this." he confirmed.

"I'll start making some enquiries as to whether there are any possible political motivations," Grax added thoughtfully from the side of the room where he had been standing. "At the moment I don't know why someone would specifically target Boslics, but something might be happening elsewhere that could shed some light."

Maritza could think of a reason. "Could this be a response to the latest atrocity on the Promenade two days ago?" Two humans had been found hanging from the awning of the Dilithium Chamber. She suspected that had been a response the Ferengi left stabbed against the shutters of the Box of Delights. Which itself was probably due to the death of the teenage burglar inside The Box being ruled accidental, rather than the homocide Raddon had demanded. What a tangled web.

Trellis sighed as he thought of how to formulate a response to the new Commander's questions. He hadn't made public the additional findings because he was well aware of the racial tensions and how they had become even worse in the past several months. He was on the promenade, he knew how bad things were getting and what would make them worst.

"Ma'am, this was not previously disclosed because of the current environment; however. . ." The Trill began. "We believe that the two bodies found on the Promenade were originally located on DECK 1126, around Shuttle Bays 34-37. When we investigated the area we found signs of a phaser being fired throughout the area as well as the remains of a Boslic." He said as his eyes shifted from the padd before him to the Commander.

"Ma'am, I am reasonably certain that the targeting of the Boslics was in response to the death of the two humans and their being staged so close to the property of the Raddon Corporation." He said.

Maritza pinched the bridge of her nose. Her guess had been right, but she wasn't happy with that, because it was more than just simple tit for tat, but a planned and targeted act of... she wondered what this would count as. Genocide? Ethnic cleansing? JAG was going to have conniptions. "Raddon again." she said flatly "I have had enough of that man stirring shit on this station." She looked from Andrus to Trellis. "Reasonable certainty isn't evidence." She put her hands flat on the table thinking. "Alright. We'll come back to Raddon and his basket of deplorables. What are you immediate needs for the investigation?"

Grax bit his bottom lip. "Now that I'm 'back in uniform and my name's on the manifest, my investigative cover is blown," he explained. "I'd like to requisition a new field agent - someone a bit more incognito - that can back up Mister Trellis' investigations." He indicated toward the Trill security officer.

Lieutenant Trellis looked briefly from the man standing on the other side of the room. "Commander, I believe my department is fully capable of handling this matter without any outside assistance." He said pointedly. He had no clue who the man was; however, he had a feeling that he might have been from the Intelligence side of the Station.

"I will make contact with individuals from the Raddon Corporation and give you a update once I have more information, ma'am." He said.

"Mr Trellis, your department is capable, but matters are escalating and we need to do more. Mr Grax will be managing the Intelligence Department for the forseeable future, and I hope you can work together to get something," she paused, and gave both men a look, to emphasise her next words, "admissible in a court of law, if we want to put an end to this. If Raddon is behind this, we need evidence."

Grax nodded politely. "I agree, and, while I have no doubts in Mister Trellis' department's abilities," - that was a lie, but, having already clashed with Soran earlier in the day, he decided that perhaps not upsetting anyone else was the more discretionary approach - "However, with Commander Locke's transfer, the intelligence department is understaffed. My request still stands."

Soran raised an expectant eyebrow at her fellow Trill.

Lieutenant Trellis could feel his teeth grinding in frustration. Part of him wanted to jump from the chair and argue, vigorously, as to why his department should be handling this investigation exclusively without the unnecessary assistance of some unknown intel officer. However, he knew that such an outburst would not go over well with the new Commander. So instead he resigned himself to a simple acknowledge.

"Yes. . . .ma'am" he uttered with little enthusiasm.

It wasn't Amoran's place to get into any of the push and shove over who was able or not to do the detective work on this. It was medical's place to get the Autopsies done and present facts. If they could find anyone not dead who they might save, that would help enormously but it did appear that the poison being used was a quick death and they weren't being brought in fast enough to find a savable patient yet. Without that, he had nothing to contribute to the current debate so he kept his peace for a few moments longer.

Maritza tapped her fingers on her desk. "Alright, what do you plan to do next, Mr Trellis?"

Lt. Trellis sighed and allowed the frustration to ebb away before he responded. "For the time being we should speak to Mr. Raddon and his employees and get a timeline of their location and activities around the time of the incident. We'll want to know the names and locations of their employees on board the station so we can begin interviewing them and piecing together what happened." He suggested.

"Good. Tell Mr Ryan I'll expect regular updates on your progress. If there's anything you need, let him know." Soran looked at Amoran. "How can we expedite the autopsies?" It was far more than most sickbays would see at any one time. "Do you want a seconded assistance from Science?"

Benj looked a little put out but covered it well. "No Ma'am thank you. Although we do already have a lot of support from our own Medical Scientists and Lab Rats.... " he started, not really meaning to sound so lightweight in the nicknames of the technicians. He began again with more serious detail. "I mean we have Consultant Histopathologists, Consultant Microbiologists, Consultant Radiologists, Autopsy Specialists and plenty of other 'backroom Lab people' to pull in. Our Specialists are the best and in a Station this size with Civilian Medical staff thrown in as well, we're pretty impressive once we get the anthill stirred up. I think you'll be surprised how quickly and efficiently we can get these done once we've set up the templates on the first ones through. There are patterns to look for which start to emerge within the first few victims and even our Junior Doctors can input the data so I hope to get you a lot of information real soon!" He promised.

"Good. And if you do want extra bodies, say so, and I'll ask Dr Wells to give you whoever you need until this is done. When do you think you'll be finished?"

"We'll work as fast as we can without sacrificing accuracy and detail Ma'am?" Benj replied "It may be a day or two, hopefully only that...?" he tried to guesstimate although he did feel obliged to shrug a little too. He was sad to not be able to be more precise but he could definitely promise to do their best to get results as quickly as was possible.

Lt. Trellis shook his head. "No ma'am, there is nothing further to report. I will provide an update once I have completed my preliminary conversation with the Raddon Corp." He said.

"I'll get in contact with Intelligence on Earth - see if I can get another operative out here in the next few days. In the meantime," he shot a look at Trellis, "you know where to find me if you need anything, Lieutenant."

Maritza wished she could be fly on the wall for Trellis's chat with Raddon Corp. though he may have difficulty getting through the door. Trill like themselves wouldn't pass Raddon's antiquated and hopelessly unenlightened door policy. "Very good. Carry on, gentlemen."


::OFF::

A JP between:

Lt. (j.g.) Andrus Grax
Senior Intelligence Officer, DS5

Lt Amoran, Benj
Asst CMO, DS5

Lieutenant
Si'Lar Trellis
Security Investigation

Commander Maritza Soran
Commanding Officer
DS5

 

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