S1 - Mission 6 - Killer Cove

[Kirok]

[Sickbay]

The Romulan officer followed directions, but was taking the time to glance around. She'd never been inside of a Starfleet sickbay before. The Nova class vessel was an older one, but she was noting the technology and the officers around her. They may have dressed themselves up like smugglers, but there was an efficiency to their movements that could only be born of Starfleet training.

[Sickbay]

Zex laid the blood sample kit on the bio bed.  Rolled up the woman's sleeve and prepared to draw the sample.  "You'll feel a little pinch" the Delta said.

[Non-Playing Character 2]

[Sickbay]

Zex laid the blood sample kit on the bio bed.  Rolled up the woman's sleeve and prepared to draw the sample.  "You'll feel a little pinch" the Delta said.

[Sickbay]

At the sight of the blood kit, Mevan hurriedly sat up in the biobed, shying away from the kit. She looked alarmed.

Kex, from his place near the male officer, hastily waved his hand and spoke.

"I'm sorry, little lady, Susan and me don't do blood tests or transfusions," The human appearing man said. "She's from earth, and she was one of those religions that doesn't allow it. Along the way she managed to convert me. No taking or giving blood, please."

"We are Jehovah's Witnesses," Mevan clarified. "We believe that to sustain life we should not shed blood, a precious gift from God."

The Tal Shiar had been thorough and trained her well. The woman looked concerned, even frightened, and her voice was just the right mixture of haughty and threatening.

Of course, Mevan knew that a blood test would give either of them away, and the small touch of having a little known earth religion would go a long way towards establishing their credibility.

[Katheryn Brighton]

En route to Sickbay

The rest of the lift journey passed in relative silence leaving Katheryn still unsure what to make of Commander Black but she would at least continue to be honest with him. These thoughts didn't last for long as the lift stopped and opened. She didn't wait for him knowing he would no doubt catch her up as she walked towards the trio of security officers she had instructed to join them. " Baker, Kemp and Cooper I want you to remain outside of the main Sickbay doors and guard them " she said. The three officers all offered her an acknowledgement then she gave them a brief smile and turned back to wait for Black before going inside.

[Thomas Jett]

"Unlike my former betrothed, you did not become alarmed and question my mental health when I jested. Perhaps demonstrating my skill with the lirpa was an inappropriate time for such levity. But the fact remains, I find your company agreeable. Living with humans has undeniably made me perverse."

He approached the Vulcan and looked at her Green eyes.  As he heard the statement Jett could not help but chuckle.  People thought Vulcan's can't be funny but sometimes they surprise you.  That statement as simple had so many interesting aspects on it.  "heh, I wish I could have seen that.   Ohh boy, I can't believe that you were engaged"  The humor was there and for a moment, for the first time in the mission, he drop his guard down.  Without realizing it he was talking like his old self "Nah, you are not perverse, at the contrary...you are upholding the traditional value of Vulcan Society, your humor is  the true embodiment of  Kol-Ut-Shan and something that both Starfleet and Vulcans need more off"

He stood there with his arms crossed waiting for the arrival of the rest of the team.   For a second that sentence reminded him of his Starfleet self, understanding different cultures and way of life.

"I do not do well with pretense, Mr. Jett. I know exactly where you went, and why you are suddenly so interested in kelbonite. The main reason being it would mask life signs from a scanner."

Busted Jett thought to himself.

He thought his next move.  He could deny or lie, but if she saw what he was doing then his situation was compromised.  In the heartless world he lives in, the best course of action is to remove the threat.   He could do such an action but he stopped and thought to himself how horrible the action. Was.  He remained silent.

"I would like to assist you in your subterfuge to bring the child to safety. I could not in good faith, leave her here, with the knowledge that I could have done something. I know you have no reason to trust me, but my offer stands if you desire my help. If not, you had better be successful or I will come back myself. Either way, the matter will not be in my official report."

This last statement shocked him and surprised him.  She already could turn him in, in fact she had enough information to get him in trouble not only the Captain but Starfleet.  His face was a little shocked about the situation and he did not know how to react.

After a couple of second the shock began to wore off.  He took a second and swallowed his saliva as he wondered.  He needed to do something that he was reluctant to do.

Trust her.

He tried to play this game alone for a reason.  He tried not to get anyone involved for a reason.  It was a moment that he needed to make a decision.  If he casted her away, it would have leave her alone and plan something else.  Right now his best move is to keep her close.

He approached her and looked down for a second "Alright, let's assume for a second that you are right.  There is a supposed child...then I could use the help, but be warned this is dangerous, you might be messing around with the wrong people.   They tend to get pretty pissed off, when you steal from them.  It's against Starfleet Regulations, dangerous, and if we get caught...it can be the end of your carrier or worse your life, there is no cavalry and you can only rely on yourself...are you still up to it?"  Jett asked

He extended his hand as a gesture of welcoming her into the scheme...

This conversation was interrupted when....

"Jett, return to the ship." The captain said. "Find out what's going on with that freighter we're helping."

As he heard his orders he turned to looked and said "Luke...be on your guard...I don't like all these coincidence assume the worse"

As he finished he nooded to the Captain, he made eye contact with T'Prina too and walked away.

He pulled out is handheld communicator and said

Jett to by the book ship, one to beam up directly to bridge

Jett waited as for the transporter to kick in.  Something was wrong...smugglers would steal from the ship and not help people.  They were marked as Starfleet, the question was how did their cover got blown.  Maybe pain was necessary to get the truth of the people they were helping.

[Alexander Wu]

[Sickbay]

Kex coughed lamely. He'd forgotten that part, but perhaps that was to be expected.

"I may have passed out, I'm not sure." The man said. "We'd be happy if you could help us repair our ship. We were hauling an industrial cleaning agent, by the way. Nothing too exciting."

[Sickbay]

"Well, nothing reacts well to plasma fires, exciting or otherwise. It'd help if you could narrow down the actual product." Alex replied scanning the elbow with the tricorder. "Hey Doc, he's got a olecranon fracture, probably from falling on a console or something. Nothing too urgent, he's been wiggling his fingers. Can I give him anything for the pain?"

[Sickbay]

At the sight of the blood kit, Mevan hurriedly sat up in the biobed, shying away from the kit. She looked alarmed.

Kex, from his place near the male officer, hastily waved his hand and spoke.

"I'm sorry, little lady, Susan and me don't do blood tests or transfusions," The human appearing man said. "She's from earth, and she was one of those religions that doesn't allow it. Along the way she managed to convert me. No taking or giving blood, please."

"We are Jehovah's Witnesses," Mevan clarified. "We believe that to sustain life we should not shed blood, a precious gift from God."

The Tal Shiar had been thorough and trained her well. The woman looked concerned, even frightened, and her voice was just the right mixture of haughty and threatening.

Of course, Mevan knew that a blood test would give either of them away, and the small touch of having a little known earth religion would go a long way towards establishing their credibility.

"Jehovah what?" Alex ran a hand through his hair, frowning at the two. "Hey, that's not one of those whack religion cults that don't believe in latinum, is it? Cause we're being nice here, but this here help ain't gonna be free." If these two were on the uppitity-up, he didn't think Luke would end up collecting, but Alex reckoned they all had their part to play. He didn't think Zex would stop treatment in either case, being against the law and their oath.

[Almar Dah el]

[Bridge]

There was a lot of background noise on the bridge: the constant hum of the turbolift, the electronic hiccups from the consoles, the occasional cough or sigh from a crewman. Almar found it both relaxing and welcoming. He never enjoyed eavesdropping, and focusing on his duties and drowning out all the rest with the buzz of the ship itself was the best way to ensure that everyone's business was there own.

Minutes passed and, following procedure, Almar checked the various sensor readings his small console managed. Almost everything was mundane, thankfully, but near the final scan of his eye just before closing out the latest scan result, he found something... of. With his head cocked to his side he dived further into the raw data. Interesting.

"Commander Howell," said Almar, loud and clear to get his attention. "We're detecting something odd from the Tripoli. A signal I'm curious about. I'll look into it, but, thought you should know."

[Michael J. Tritter]

[Killer Cove - Underground]

Stafford stared at the beast that Tritter had snared in revulsion. It looked like a cross between an earth rat and a crab. It was streaked with filth and gave off an indignant squeal at the chief's rough handling.

From the darkness, the captain heard a few more squeals. His eye went to Tritter's wound, the blood dripping into the mucky liquid pooling around their boots.

"You're right," Stafford said suddenly. The rifle was in his hands and at port arms before he quite realized he'd done it. "Step off, all of you. Son, do you think you can lead us there, fast as you can?"

"Yes, I'll take Mike there," the boy said, grinning up at the big security chief. Stafford belatedly realized that the little fellow had assigned to Tritter superhero status due to his calmness and size.

A mass of fur, teeth, and legs launched itself from the darkness, straight at Stafford's face. He was swinging the rifle in a smooth economy of motion. It was instinctive, and it worked.

The beast took a blow from the rifle solidly in its body, eliciting a feral snarl of rage and pain. It was enough to deter it, but more skitters of tiny feet and excited, hungry squeals were coming from the darkness.

"Mike, pick that kid up," Stafford ordered brusquely. The boy could tell them where to go just as easily as leading them there. "Run!"

Tritter was not a fan of the creature either, it stunk, looked weird and was violent towards him. But once he made the hint to it with the rifle, not pointing it at the creature, but giving the creature enough of a suggestion to figure out what he meant, he would drop it and tell it basically to get out of dodge. He would than turn his head to face Captain Stafford, to which, he would nod slightly and state, "Yes, let's move" The boy took a few steps before a few other creatures came out, to which the Captain rifle butted in the center of mass. Tritter fired one round at it and sending it running off as well. Tritter looked towards the young boy when Luke mentioned carrying him, he pondered a moment about how to do that and not be tactically deficient.

He than kneeled down infront of the the boy, he than offered his left arm to the boy, he than stated "Come here", the young boy walked infront of his arm and Tritter scooped him up, he told the boy to hold on tight, he still had use of both of his hands, but he kept his rifle in his right hand, he than stated to the boy "Tell me where to go" He pondered why he used that exact phrase, but he figured the boy was too young to tell him to go to hell. He would than follow their directions, it would take them about twenty minutes to get to where the boy directed them. He would use his phaser rifle to deflect the creatures, although one did manage to bite him in the leg, to which he basically kicked a field goal with it. Their end destination was by an offshoot of the cavern they were in, barricaded with a heavy metal door. He would set the young boy down and he looked towards Stafford, than the boy motioned towards Tritter.

The large man would kneel down and the boy whispered to him, he would say "They are in here" Tritter nodded slightly, he motioned over Captain Stafford, he didn't want to speak too loud. His second in command also looked at him, he would make a few hand gestures, the team would than fan out to protect them while they focus on making entry to where the researchers are, he didn't want to speak too loudly, so he waited for Stafford to come over, as he knew someone or something must be listening to them.

[Non-Playing Character 2]

The Ensign had been focused on some necessary checks on the Gibson when he was interrupted by a more Senior Engineer who walked over to the man while he was working. The Lieutenant looked over towards the Ensign and said, "You will be boarding the Tripoli to assist with their situation, there will be a Security detail waiting for you at the pad. If the away team is back in a timely fashion, Chief Tritter will join you" The Ensign would reply with a "Aye Sir", he was a bit nervous about it, but having the detail and the Chief would help him calm down. He was an Engineer, not a Security type, so this type of thing was nerve wracking to him. He would proceed to gather up his specialized Tricoder, as he was enough of a nerd to have made his own. He dared not take a phaser, he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with one.

He didn't move very quickly, again, he was an Engineer and didn't feel a need to rush. He got the equipment he needed and he started his way towards the transporter pad. He walked at an average pace, he took his time if you will. Perhaps he needed  to calm his own mind as well, he would than look towards the Transporter Officer and say, "Ensign Davis arriving as ordered to be transported over to the Tripoli" The other Ensign would reply with, "Understood, the Security team is here. I am under orders to stand fast for Chief Tritter for fourty five minutes before we send you guys over without him" The Engineer sighed a bit, he would simply find a spot to wait it out, as he wasn't really a fan of just doing nothing. But he had no choice as the higher ups had dictated accordingly.

The transporter Ensign than received a request from Jett to return to the Gibson, the man's hands easily danced across the key pad as he tapped in to transport Mr. Jett back to the Gibson, before long, the transporter would hum as it started to transport Jett back to the Gibson.

[Vem, son of Motag]

[Gibson- Mess Hall]

A great clattering in the mess hall disturbed the few patrons who passed by. This was swiftly followed by a dense swarm of curses in Klingon and the emergency of the dreadlocked Chaplain of the starbase.

How had he gotten here? Vem wracked his brain for the details but they were somewhat foggy. He'd been participating in a Tellarite oathing ritual and there had been a fair amount of drinking, the use of an odd thorned vine, and several small mammals that one had to let run around a small ring placed on one's head. He had remembered heading to a restaurant for food and it had been closed. His memory was a bit foggy after that but something told him that the Gibson had a decent food replicator on it and the rest was... unfortunate. At least he had pants on.

He could tell by the ship's gravity that they were not on the Starbase anymore.

" Cap'en... this is Vem. I hav' completed da' Tellarite oathing ritual required of us for the new contract fer' da' dilithium... but I seem to hav' found myself in da' kitchen of da' Gibson. What is da' current situation? Was there a dramatic shift of space time er' sumpt'en? I am missin' several hours."=/\=

[Daniel Howell]

[Bridge]

There was a lot of background noise on the bridge: the constant hum of the turbolift, the electronic hiccups from the consoles, the occasional cough or sigh from a crewman. Almar found it both relaxing and welcoming. He never enjoyed eavesdropping, and focusing on his duties and drowning out all the rest with the buzz of the ship itself was the best way to ensure that everyone's business was there own.

Minutes passed and, following procedure, Almar checked the various sensor readings his small console managed. Almost everything was mundane, thankfully, but near the final scan of his eye just before closing out the latest scan result, he found something... of. With his head cocked to his side he dived further into the raw data. Interesting.

"Commander Howell," said Almar, loud and clear to get his attention. "We're detecting something odd from the Tripoli. A signal I'm curious about. I'll look into it, but, thought you should know."

Bridge
Some time had gone passed and so far everything was running a smoothly as it would be able to given the current situation. At that moment a loud voice broke the silence of the bridge, that being Almar. Dan swiveled around in his chair to face Almar replying "Thank you for informing me, please update me in due course." and with that Dan swiveled back round in his chair. Suddenly Dan found an overwhelming sense of urgency to repair the tripoli and get the team out, it was as if things were starting to not add up.

[Non-Playing Character 2]

[Sickbay]

"Well, nothing reacts well to plasma fires, exciting or otherwise. It'd help if you could narrow down the actual product." Alex replied scanning the elbow with the tricorder. "Hey Doc, he's got a olecranon fracture, probably from falling on a console or something. Nothing too urgent, he's been wiggling his fingers. Can I give him anything for the pain?"

"Jehovah what?" Alex ran a hand through his hair, frowning at the two. "Hey, that's not one of those whack religion cults that don't believe in latinum, is it? Cause we're being nice here, but this here help ain't gonna be free." If these two were on the uppitity-up, he didn't think Luke would end up collecting, but Alex reckoned they all had their part to play. He didn't think Zex would stop treatment in either case, being against the law and their oath.

[Sickbay]

"You'll get your payment," Mevan said. This time she didn't need to fake any kind of disgust in her tone, and it came across well. "We have barter items on our ship. But no blood. If you can't treat us without drawing or giving it we'll be on our way."

It was a gamble, but she was willing to bet that these humans would bow to their demands. They were forever helping the weak. She didn't think that they would play out their act as smugglers to the point of not treating their 'injuries.' And even if they did they were already on the ship. Nothing could stop them now.

[Hust Kinun]

[Sickbay]

Hust thought for a moment. The two visitors had the upper hand, but he was at a loss of what to do now. He decided what to do and walked over to his boss, whispering in his ear.

"We may not be acting as starfleet but we still have to follow Federation law. If they deny treatment we cannot force it upon them." he said, a soft tone. "I don't like it either but we don't have a choice."

He turned to Mevan. "I don't think that will be necessary... tell me, what can we do to help you, if we cannot draw blood?" he asked, genuinely taken in by their facade and truly wanting to help them.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

Tritter was not a fan of the creature either, it stunk, looked weird and was violent towards him. But once he made the hint to it with the rifle, not pointing it at the creature, but giving the creature enough of a suggestion to figure out what he meant, he would drop it and tell it basically to get out of dodge. He would than turn his head to face Captain Stafford, to which, he would nod slightly and state, "Yes, let's move" The boy took a few steps before a few other creatures came out, to which the Captain rifle butted in the center of mass. Tritter fired one round at it and sending it running off as well. Tritter looked towards the young boy when Luke mentioned carrying him, he pondered a moment about how to do that and not be tactically deficient.

He than kneeled down infront of the the boy, he than offered his left arm to the boy, he than stated "Come here", the young boy walked infront of his arm and Tritter scooped him up, he told the boy to hold on tight, he still had use of both of his hands, but he kept his rifle in his right hand, he than stated to the boy "Tell me where to go" He pondered why he used that exact phrase, but he figured the boy was too young to tell him to go to hell. He would than follow their directions, it would take them about twenty minutes to get to where the boy directed them. He would use his phaser rifle to deflect the creatures, although one did manage to bite him in the leg, to which he basically kicked a field goal with it. Their end destination was by an offshoot of the cavern they were in, barricaded with a heavy metal door. He would set the young boy down and he looked towards Stafford, than the boy motioned towards Tritter.

The large man would kneel down and the boy whispered to him, he would say "They are in here" Tritter nodded slightly, he motioned over Captain Stafford, he didn't want to speak too loud. His second in command also looked at him, he would make a few hand gestures, the team would than fan out to protect them while they focus on making entry to where the researchers are, he didn't want to speak too loudly, so he waited for Stafford to come over, as he knew someone or something must be listening to them.

[Killer Cove - Underground]

They didn't have to wait long. Their patience was rewarded by the arrival of a nerdy young man with pale skin and a butch haircut. He took one look at them and to his credit did not panic at the sight of three armed, roughly dressed and filthy smuggler types.

"I'm Dr. Stone," the young human said briefly. "Follow me, we don't have much time."

He led them around a corner and seemingly walked into a wall. Stafford stared at the section of craggy rock that the young doctor had walked into. It was seemingly normal.

"A hologram," He said over his shoulder to the boy, Tritter, and T'Prina. He disappeared into the wall, too.

[Research Facility]

Stafford wasn't sure what to expect, but it wasn't this. The room smelled of burnt ozone, offset by the usual dank and toxic odor of Killer Cove. But other than that it was plain as could be. A few pieces of lab equipment, modern LCARs science terminals, instruments. Other than that everything had been hewn directly out of the rock. There were a half dozen beds and two replicator units, a single bathroom. These people hadn't lived in very much comfort for the past few years.

"Dr. Salek is dead," The captain said bluntly to Stone.

"He is," Stone said. "I am his assistant. The others have all been killed, as well. I am the only one left. Captain, I am sure you know that I cannot hand over the product of so many years of top secret research without..."

"Of course." Stafford said.

Stone moved towards him with a medical tricorder, and a medical kit. The young doctor waved the instrument over him and consulted it. He nodded, and plugged an instrument into the medical kit.

"You are who you say you are, alright." Stone said, more to himself. "I can't believe after all these years..."

"Doctor, we're on a timetable here, and we've been wounded." Stafford waved at his team. "The research."

"You're right." Stone said. He withdrew a single data chip from his lab coat pocket, handed it to the captain. "You're not to view this data chip, you know. I can't let you. And if we are not able to brought home you know what to do."

"Let's hope we don't have to," The captain said, and examined the single chip in his hands. So basic. It reminded him of when new officers brought their favorite recipes from ship to ship when they were transferred. Was this what Dr. Salek and his people had given their lives for, what they all could die for?

"You have a ship in orbit?"

"We do. The Gibson."

"Excellent. Let's get on board, but we have one final thing to do." Stone said. "This facility needs to be destroyed. The chance of discovery is too great."

Stafford glanced at T'Prina. "Show him."

[Kirok]

[Sickbay]

At the sight of the blood kit, Mevan hurriedly sat up in the biobed, shying away from the kit. She looked alarmed.

Kex, from his place near the male officer, hastily waved his hand and spoke.

"I'm sorry, little lady, Susan and me don't do blood tests or transfusions," The human appearing man said. "She's from earth, and she was one of those religions that doesn't allow it. Along the way she managed to convert me. No taking or giving blood, please."

"We are Jehovah's Witnesses," Mevan clarified. "We believe that to sustain life we should not shed blood, a precious gift from God."

The Tal Shiar had been thorough and trained her well. The woman looked concerned, even frightened, and her voice was just the right mixture of haughty and threatening.

Of course, Mevan knew that a blood test would give either of them away, and the small touch of having a little known earth religion would go a long way towards establishing their credibility.

[Sickbay]

"Very well" Zex replied.  She moved the blood sampling equipment off the bio bed.  Then she allowed the bone scan to be run.

"You have a few broken bones, Miss.  I'll need to manipulate them back into place.  I can give you something for the pain, it that is permitted" the Delta said.

[Non-Playing Character 2]

[Sickbay]

Hust thought for a moment. The two visitors had the upper hand, but he was at a loss of what to do now. He decided what to do and walked over to his boss, whispering in his ear.

"We may not be acting as starfleet but we still have to follow Federation law. If they deny treatment we cannot force it upon them." he said, a soft tone. "I don't like it either but we don't have a choice."

He turned to Mevan. "I don't think that will be necessary... tell me, what can we do to help you, if we cannot draw blood?" he asked, genuinely taken in by their facade and truly wanting to help them.

[Sickbay]

"Very well" Zex replied.  She moved the blood sampling equipment off the bio bed.  Then she allowed the bone scan to be run.

"You have a few broken bones, Miss.  I'll need to manipulate them back into place.  I can give you something for the pain, it that is permitted" the Delta said.

[Sickbay]

"Any treatment except the taking of blood is acceptable." Kex mentioned from his place near Wu. "Acts 15:28-29 prohibits--"

"I don't think our gracious hosts want to hear a sermon," Mevan said, smiling warmly at Zex and dropping a grateful hand on her sleeve. "Painkillers are just fine, doctor, thank you."