Season 11: Episode 2 - Diplomatic Disaster

[Lennox Ainsley]

[Conference Room]
James sat at the end of the table and listened to the briefing by commander Wu.  He played with his hand as he began to think about the situation.  He already attempted to recover the video of the attack as Commander Ferris order but was not able to retrieve it.
He  tapped his fingers  on the conference room table as he began thinking.

A member of the crew was killed....statistically speaking most of the time the person that was killed has a close relationship with the killer...the question is that is the relationship and motive?  Rarely....it is completely random.

James train of thought was interrupted...James payed attention to his role and thought to himself

I fully agree

He nodded at Commander Wu and then Mr. Ainsley.  He did not say a word.  James waited everyone to leave in the conference room.  Funny enough, the individual that was assigned to him was perfect for the task.  James smiled as he approach the main view screen in the conference room.

"Mr. Ainsley, this is what we know...I discovered this little thing prior to this meeting".  James then highlighted a piece of a LCAR's basic coding.  He continued explaining "To the naked eye...this might be another piece of code...for me it tells me that someone altered the internal sensor so the data is misplaced a misaligned.  To put it simply, the camera is working perfectly ...but someone misplaced the tape.  This is really smart, because we would never detect a problem because the camera is working"

James paused and looked at the crewman.  "However, it is a double edged sword...meaning there is a recording out there, we just need to find the data.  I agree that there is a correlation between the murder and the event.  That means that our list of suspects should be individuals that have high technical knowledge...and /or high LCAR's access, which means most of the senior staff and high ranking officers and individuals with strong technical knowledge"

James then placed the names of the ship rosters and visitors.  "So in order to narrow down our investigation we need to narrow down the list of possible suspects.  I can already tell you that myself, Lt. Vaughan, Commander Wu are not suspects since we were all in Sickbay around the time of the incident.  I would also consider that the suspect either is in Science, Engineering, Ops  or a Senior Officer"

Hawke figured that he talked for a while.  "Do you have any thoughts? Do you have any suggestions were to start?"  James inquired to seek another opinion in the matter.

Lennox listened carefully to what Mr. Hawke had to say, looking closely at the tape, his brow furrowing as he read the code. He did not like the fact that it had the possibility of being someone on the ship, someone higher up and had more knowledge.

He ordered the list in his mind, wanting to do it strategically and methodically. There was a rush in order to apprehend the suspect but there was far more to be said about covering all their blind spots. As there was a leaning towards it being a technical minded person/ alien, Lennox thought that it would be sensible to start with Engineering and Science.

"Bein' it a high degree of technical knowledge, i presume our best best would be te 'it up science and engineerin' first. But we 'ave te take inte consideration that the code 'ad been altered," Lennox took a breath, looking at Hawke. "Do ye know anyone wit' a 'igher knowledge of alterin' codin', as it could 'elp us narrow down our search even more, sir."

[Tekin Nevir]

[Theseus]

Sukal listened to Tekin as he made his decisions, and the Ops Chief took the burned out isolinear chip, replaced it back in the container, sealed it, and stored it safely in a small pocket on the inside of his pack.  Kneeling down, Sukal checked over his pack for the supplies:  small med kit, eleven pitons, some exceptional rope...no more than four meters worth, but it was better than none, and other items they would need.  Once he checked his bag; Sukal went off to gather the supplies he would need to create the beacon.  The module was not overly heavy, but it was a bit bulky...being nothing more than a powerful transmitter used in the case of emergencies, and not even used for sending and receiving messages...only to send a beacon call out.  Looking it over told Sukal that it had thankfully escaped damage.

Once they left; Sukal sat in the back with his tricorder searching for a hopeful shelter as the thunder crashed closer and closer to their location.

"There is a couple of options according to scans.  One of them is a small cavern about 2.7 kilometers to the southeast.  It does not appear to have come any connection to the volcano, and is high enough up to escape any effects from the storm or other problems.  It would support the three of us, and still be able to house the vehicle," Sukal began as they moved.

Before their departure from the Theseus, Jiseth made a couple of final observations of the craft. After opening the floor access hatch to the warp core she was relieved to see it was completely dark. However, to be sure they were not slowly going to die from a radiation spike that went unnoticed during the power failure, it meant digging up the potential source which was the Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator. Her training at the academy was very clear on the procedure, which was do nothing to it because if it ruptures around humanoids then there are no more humanoids, and the title of the lecture was fittingly "Don't Muck with the Big Box of Tritium, Jiseth, You Idiot."

Auxiliary systems tended to be more crude, yet more robust, than their primary counterparts and little else embodied that more than a ball of decaying matter hidden away for a rainy day when such a thing would be needed. Like today. It was a labyrinth of locks and panels to get through to the device. It did not look too threatening aside from all the vibrate color markings and warning labels. The container itself did not appear compromised, but the circuitry in neighboring areas had been fried. In fact much of the power failure was driving closer and closer to a conclusion that seemed almost unthinkable on a Starfleet vessel.

Sabotage.

After gathering up the solar arrays and securing them to the top of the frame of the buggy, Jiseth accelerated it out of the crash site and up toward the hills. She was still mulling over Tekin's words as she had been quite up until this point and would perhaps remain so for most of their time on the surface. By all legal accounts, she was responsible for all preflight checks and the Ops personnel for the maintenance of the various shuttlecraft. Something was not adding up and if there had been a system failure it was in a place not easy to find though the initial assumption would be she was at fault. Great, another court martial...

As she drove per Tekin's direction, Sukal's advisement caused her to look over her shoulder at him for a moment. Then her attention went to Tekin in the passenger seat. The cavern is in the complete opposite direction though on higher ground at least. It also seemed large enough to be a stable formation which was good because being trapped underground was perhaps one of her biggest fears.

"I'm alright heading there if you are."

(I'm gonna push us to the caves, just go along with reactions)

The ride was getting bumpy, and Nevir was clutching the side with one hand, and held a tricorder in another.  He was following a map of the geography of the area.  But there were tough choices.  The first being that the southeast cave would be better for the storm... but the volcano's directional flow was east.  If activity built up because of the storm, one of the reasons why he was interested in this, then they would be dangerously close to any flow.  No, not unless they really had to.

"Negative." he said, handing the display map showing the tectonic flow.  "Look at the direction of the geography.  If the volcano erupts, it will send the flow close to us.  The cave itself is fine, but the area around it is dangerous.  We'll keep on this path for now, there is a similar cavern about another click or so." he said, ignoring the flashes as lightning started to hit the western edge of their region.

However, things took a turn when they were almost at the cave.  The clouds were above them by now, and there were a few drops of relatively warm rain... probably have 30 degrees or so.  Nevir felt a tingle on his spine, something that he suspected the others felt.

"Stop!  NOW!" he called, bracing himself for the sudden loss of momentum.  He call was good.  A large bolt struck the mountainside near them, and when never looked up, the cavern was just.. gone... buried.

"The southeastern cave... go! Go!" he said, holding on tight as the rain started to get heavier and the thunder more frequent.  By the time they reached the cave that Sukal pointed out, it was clear that the three of them were soaked.  Thank the prophets that equipment was build waterproof these days.  Nevir waited a moment, and then hopped out, making sure they were a good distance away from the entrance.

"Set up camp, Ms. Jiseth. Good call on the cave, Mr. Sukal.  We would have been stuck out there longer looking for something else." he said, feeling another rumble, but this time also from the ground.

Nevir walked forward a bit, just inside the entrance so he could see the peak of the volcano... however the rain made it difficult if not impossible.

"I won't lie to you.  There is about a 90% chance that the volcano is going erupt.  The temperature difference and the low pressure of the storm is going to weaken the cap.  The best we can do is set up the beacon and wait it out.  It shouldn't enter the cave, but it will make leaving a bit difficult." he said, walking back.  He found a spot and sat down, leaning back his head against the cavern wall.

Great... there was no work to distract him now.  He had no choice to let his mind wander.. and wander it started to do almost immediately... to Hrafn.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Bridge]

~~Roughly Two Hours Later~~

Having returned to his chair at the Conn and relieving Lieutenant Webber, Alex turned from his armrest console to examine his exhausted CMO. It wasn't enough that they were missing a shuttle and had a body in their morgue, there was still dozens of other ship related matters to see to. With Briggs still locked into the ambassadorial duties of wading through a political minefield, Alex had been left holding the reins. And he was beginning to feel the hefty weight that normally rested on Kyle's shoulders.

Taking Vaughan's PADD, Alex began to scroll down the report. Thank God I took emergency medicine, or I'd understand even less than what I do now, he thought to himself, brows worrying at the complicated transcription. After several moments, he gave up, dropping the PADD down upon his lap. "Doctor," Alex sighed, gazing over to the woman. "You do realize that I never majored in bioscience or forensic pathology. Would you mind interpreting what is in your very well detailed findings?"

Bridge

Lizzie sunk into the chair that was normally reserved for the CMO or Councillor and looked back at Wu.

"In summary Commander Lieutenant Hobbs was killed by an Alkaline poison obtained from the Borgia plant. Though whoever it was had no real understanding of Toxicology as the dose administered was concentrated enough to kill about 4 earth elephants! The purple marks on the wrist and neck were misleading as they had no direct connection to the cause of death and I can find nothing to explain them. They were simple bruises. Fortunately for Mr Hobbs the death would while painful, have been very quick. I estimate no more than a minute from ingestion to collapse and no more than a couple more until death. There is no known antidote so once it was administered, his fate was sealed." She paused for breath. "The Borgia plant is native to only a handful or worlds, none of whom are within 100 light years of here. Whoever planned this,, went to to a great deal of trouble to obtain the toxin as the possession and sale of it is illegal except for research purposes." She paused again. "I have looked up the Lieutenants next of kin and have included them at the bottom of the report so the Captain can contact them." She finished before licking her lips.

[Eli Ferris]

[Bridge]

"I apologize, Ms. Kaz. It won't happen again.", replied a contrite Alex, frowning from her report. The fact that three of his senior officers were missing at a time like this was...troubling. "Ensign, I want you in charge of finding their shuttlecraft. Their last orders were to collect scans on the weather patterns and surface disturbances upon the planet we're currently orbiting. The flight path should have been tracked and logged into our computer until they lost contact. Any available exterior sensors are yours, tell Science that whatever meteorological scans they're wasting energy on is now secondary to your mission."

"Find me something that can narrow our area of interest so we can send out a team. Ensign Opran should be on his way up to assist you, and draw support from Science and Ops as you require. You've got two hours to get me a search grid and draft a rescue plan, Kaz. Any questions?"

~~Roughly Two Hours Later~~

Having returned to his chair at the Conn and relieving Lieutenant Webber, Alex turned from his armrest console to examine his exhausted CMO. It wasn't enough that they were missing a shuttle and had a body in their morgue, there was still dozens of other ship related matters to see to. With Briggs still locked into the ambassadorial duties of wading through a political minefield, Alex had been left holding the reins. And he was beginning to feel the hefty weight that normally rested on Kyle's shoulders.

Taking Vaughan's PADD, Alex began to scroll down the report. Thank God I took emergency medicine, or I'd understand even less than what I do now, he thought to himself, brows worrying at the complicated transcription. After several moments, he gave up, dropping the PADD down upon his lap. "Doctor," Alex sighed, gazing over to the woman. "You do realize that I never majored in bioscience or forensic pathology. Would you mind interpreting what is in your very well detailed findings?"

[Bridge]

Eli came in for his shift, well aware of the rumblings and goings on that plagued his crew. Greater still was his stress at the loss of a shuttle...and Jiseth.

Being overprotective and worrying won't save them. Eli chided himself. Instead, he straightened his uniform and made his way down the Bridge, footfalls barely registering, his mind a bit of a haze. He noted Wu's presence, and worried for his friend. He took a moment to pause and glance at Wu.

"Sir, is there anything I can do?"

[Leela Kaz]

[Bridge]

"I apologize, Ms. Kaz. It won't happen again.", replied a contrite Alex, frowning from her report. The fact that three of his senior officers were missing at a time like this was...troubling. "Ensign, I want you in charge of finding their shuttlecraft. Their last orders were to collect scans on the weather patterns and surface disturbances upon the planet we're currently orbiting. The flight path should have been tracked and logged into our computer until they lost contact. Any available exterior sensors are yours, tell Science that whatever meteorological scans they're wasting energy on is now secondary to your mission."

"Find me something that can narrow our area of interest so we can send out a team. Ensign Opran should be on his way up to assist you, and draw support from Science and Ops as you require. You've got two hours to get me a search grid and draft a rescue plan, Kaz. Any questions?"

[Bridge]

"No worries." Leela flashed a smile to her XO hoping to alleviate his obvious discomfort. "Acknowledged sir." She began scanning the upper atmosphere. She was no stranger to search and rescue mission.

-Two Hours Later-

After two hours of scanning and usurping the entire lateral sensor array she had finally made some progress.

"Sir, I'm detecting foreign metallic signatures in grid 1741. I recommend we set course and investigate sir. But I'm not detecting warp plasma. It cant be an entire craft." A lump developed in her throat as she had to report that she had located what she believed to be a single piece of the craft.

[Jiseth]

"The southeastern cave... go! Go!" he said, holding on tight as the rain started to get heavier and the thunder more frequent.  By the time they reached the cave that Sukal pointed out, it was clear that the three of them were soaked.  Thank the prophets that equipment was build waterproof these days.  Nevir waited a moment, and then hopped out, making sure they were a good distance away from the entrance.

"Set up camp, Ms. Jiseth. Good call on the cave, Mr. Sukal.  We would have been stuck out there longer looking for something else." he said, feeling another rumble, but this time also from the ground.

Nevir walked forward a bit, just inside the entrance so he could see the peak of the volcano... however the rain made it difficult if not impossible.

"I won't lie to you.  There is about a 90% chance that the volcano is going erupt.  The temperature difference and the low pressure of the storm is going to weaken the cap.  The best we can do is set up the beacon and wait it out.  It shouldn't enter the cave, but it will make leaving a bit difficult." he said, walking back.  He found a spot and sat down, leaning back his head against the cavern wall.

Great... there was no work to distract him now.  He had no choice to let his mind wander.. and wander it started to do almost immediately... to Hrafn.

Stepping out of the vehicle, Jiseth calmly and quietly went about inflating the dome-shaped tent. It was large enough for five people so they'd each have plenty room. After it was in a proper shape, she took her hand phaser and with the lowest setting and widest spread began to heat the material. As she stepped around, bathing it in orange rays, the fabric became a rigid shell and changed color from a vibrate orange to a pale yellow.

Next she set up the lighting sticks inside their habitat which filled it with an eerie green glow and laid out the three sleeping bags for them to use. More lighting sticks were placed inside the cavern so that they did not waste any of the buggy's battery keeping the headlights on. Last but not least she took the rain water collector and set it up just outside the entrance of the cavern,hammering the support spikes into the dirt to keep the wind from blowing it over, before returning.

Reaching into the buggy, Jiseth clawed out several ration backs and hydration bottles, one of which she tossed to Sukal. The other she plopped into Tekin's lap as she sat down next to him. There was a hiss following the clicking of her helmet seal being released and she slowly removed it from her head. Her face has beads of sweat scattered about and some strands of hair stuck to her skin. She released the locks on the gloves as well, freeing her hands to breathe a bit as she began to open the wrapping to her food.

"I know that look... I've got a 2-year old back on the ship. Going to have to apologize to her for missing dinner, but this little excursion will lead to a fun bedtime story I think. That in mind we have a couple of options... The remote link from the buggy to the Theseus may not be able to bring a shuttle back from the dead, but we can at least mess with the torpedoes. Magazine had four loaded. Could detonate a couple to cause the volcano to erupt away from us or at least punch a hole to vent gases and buy us time. The rest we send up towards space like signal flares."

[James A. Hawke]

Lennox listened carefully to what Mr. Hawke had to say, looking closely at the tape, his brow furrowing as he read the code. He did not like the fact that it had the possibility of being someone on the ship, someone higher up and had more knowledge.

He ordered the list in his mind, wanting to do it strategically and methodically. There was a rush in order to apprehend the suspect but there was far more to be said about covering all their blind spots. As there was a leaning towards it being a technical minded person/ alien, Lennox thought that it would be sensible to start with Engineering and Science.

"Bein' it a high degree of technical knowledge, i presume our best best would be te 'it up science and engineerin' first. But we 'ave te take inte consideration that the code 'ad been altered," Lennox took a breath, looking at Hawke. "Do ye know anyone wit' a 'igher knowledge of alterin' codin', as it could 'elp us narrow down our search even more, sir."

[Conference Room]

James heard Crewman Ainsley response and pondered his statements.  He crossed his arms, truth be told he did not like the fact that he has to suspect his fellow shipmates.  The situation was tense and he wondered was caused it.

"I think you are correct Mr. Ainsley...I think targeting both science and Engineering is a good strategy.   Creating and modifying computer code should be a basic understanding of the LCAR's system.  However, sneaking it in, means the person knew how to hack a system or just had access.   As we get more information, we can begin to narrow down the list.  It would be easier to find the individual than it is to find where the data is stored or deleted and then decrypt it.  It is like looking for a needle in a haystack".

James took a look at his partner and said "I think we should spend some time narrowing down the list and request authorization, to interview the people in the list, looking at the ship manifest would be a daunting task but it had to be done.

"Mr. Ainsley do you mind taking half the ship manifest and look at their bio if you think they might have the skill or access we might need to flag it"  James said

** 2 hours later **

Hawke had both of his eyes closed as he began to scratch it.  As he finished, he grabbed the PADD right in front of him and tossed it into the ground in frustration.  For the last two hours he was looking at half of the ship names and reading their service records.   He could not believe the names that his searched turned up.

LCdr Safefta Pardek
Ens Leela Kaz
Lt Anton Lichter
Cwm(R) Toreen Paattr
Ens Gavin Van Gelder
Ens Anastasia Zhestakova

Most of the people were shipmates and individuals that he interacted prior to the incident.  He could not just accused them but to think of them as suspect.  That seems bizzare.  It would make sense to look for the data in their personal systems, but that would be a violation of their privacy.
The irony of the situation donned on him.  Out of everyone he would be particularly sensitive about people's secret  but it was making his job harder.  First, he needed to find the data and then decrypt the data.
"I think we have a list here, any individual here you want to interview? We need to start narrowing down the suspects"  James asked
He did not want to start interviewing people but it had to be done.
"Follow me" James said as he grabbed his PADD left the Conference Room

[Bridge]

James entered the Bridge and saw the two individuals he could also trust.  He noticed that the Commander and Dr. Vaughan were both sitting on the center of the bridge.  James approached both of them.

"Commander, Lieutenant sorry to interrupt.  I believe we have narrow the search of the suspect.  I believe the best way is to narrow down the individuals and then look at their personal information  or storage of data or encryption protocols...right now going blind could take weeks checking every single Terabite on the ship"

He handed over a Padd  to the Commander with approximately 20 names.  Most of the visitors were in the list since Hawke did not have their biographical data to eliminate them.  There were also several crewmembers including:

LCdr Safefta Pardek
Ens Leela Kaz
Lt Anton Lichter
Cwm(R) Toreen Paattr
Ens Gavin Van Gelder
Ens Anastasia Zhestakova

As he handed the PADD he waited for a second so the Commander could read the names.  "In short I wanted to see if Crewmen  Ainsley is authorized to interview  some of the individuals on the list.  It would probably take a couple of minutes of their time and we would keep you informed if we need to go deeper into that  individual privacy...Doctor, was there any clue in the autopsy?"  James inquired.

[Alexander Wu]

Bridge

Lizzie sunk into the chair that was normally reserved for the CMO or Councillor and looked back at Wu.

"In summary Commander Lieutenant Hobbs was killed by an Alkaline poison obtained from the Borgia plant. Though whoever it was had no real understanding of Toxicology as the dose administered was concentrated enough to kill about 4 earth elephants! The purple marks on the wrist and neck were misleading as they had no direct connection to the cause of death and I can find nothing to explain them. They were simple bruises. Fortunately for Mr Hobbs the death would while painful, have been very quick. I estimate no more than a minute from ingestion to collapse and no more than a couple more until death. There is no known antidote so once it was administered, his fate was sealed." She paused for breath. "The Borgia plant is native to only a handful or worlds, none of whom are within 100 light years of here. Whoever planned this,, went to to a great deal of trouble to obtain the toxin as the possession and sale of it is illegal except for research purposes." She paused again. "I have looked up the Lieutenants next of kin and have included them at the bottom of the report so the Captain can contact them." She finished before licking her lips.

[Bridge]

"Research purposes could be fabricated." Alex mused, pondering over Vaughan's report. "Well done on finding the smoking gun. The hard part will be finding who was holding it...I had been hoping that it'd be more straight forward and traceable, but perhaps we can use the rarity of this poison to our advantage. If we could come up with a way to track or trace it..." He sighed, rubbing his temples. "I almost wish it had been an accident, but it doesn't seem possible anymore. Good work, doctor. Get yourself down to the mess and find something to eat, I'm sure you haven't taken a break for hours."

[Bridge]

Eli came in for his shift, well aware of the rumblings and goings on that plagued his crew. Greater still was his stress at the loss of a shuttle...and Jiseth.

Being overprotective and worrying won't save them. Eli chided himself. Instead, he straightened his uniform and made his way down the Bridge, footfalls barely registering, his mind a bit of a haze. He noted Wu's presence, and worried for his friend. He took a moment to pause and glance at Wu.

"Sir, is there anything I can do?"

Alex turned to the newest arrival, looking haggard and worried. Ferris must've been down on the shuttledeck for ages trying to find a maintenance reason why they lost contact, and it didn't appear he had been successful. "We'll have to think about sending a rescue shuttle sooner rather than later, Eli. There's too much interference in the upper atmosphere to use transporters, even with pattern enhancers." He paused when Kaz approached.

[Bridge]

"No worries." Leela flashed a smile to her XO hoping to alleviate his obvious discomfort. "Acknowledged sir." She began scanning the upper atmosphere. She was no stranger to search and rescue mission.

-Two Hours Later-

After two hours of scanning and usurping the entire lateral sensor array she had finally made some progress.

"Sir, I'm detecting foreign metallic signatures in grid 1741. I recommend we set course and investigate sir. But I'm not detecting warp plasma. It cant be an entire craft." A lump developed in her throat as she had to report that she had located what she believed to be a single piece of the craft.

"Helm, change course to put us directly over grid 1741. Mr.Opran, I want intensive scans of that area immediately, look for the shuttle transponder, lifesigns, anything that's not native to the environment." Alex ordered, inching forward to the edge of his seat. "Eli, I need you flying that rescue shuttle." Alex wished he could take the mission himself, not keen on sending any more of his crew into the maelstrom below. "Once we've confirmed the crash site, Kaz will accompany you down to assess the damage, and if possible, salvage the Argo. It goes without saying, but the priority is to get our people back alive. I'll have Science send you someone to monitor the sensors as well."

[Bridge]

James entered the Bridge and saw the two individuals he could also trust.  He noticed that the Commander and Dr. Vaughan were both sitting on the center of the bridge.  James approached both of them.

Á,"œCommander, Lieutenant sorry to interrupt.  I believe we have narrow the search of the suspect.  I believe the best way is to narrow down the individuals and then look at their personal information  or storage of data or encryption protocols...right now going blind could take weeks checking every single Terabite on the shipÁ,"

He handed over a Padd  to the Commander with approximately 20 names.  Most of the visitors were in the list since Hawke did not have their biographical data to eliminate them.  There were also several crewmembers including:

LCdr Safefta Pardek
Ens Leela Kaz
Lt Anton Lichter
Cwm(R) Toreen Paattr
Ens Gavin Van Gelder
Ens Anastasia Zhestakova

As he handed the PADD he waited for a second so the Commander could read the names.  Á,"œIn short I wanted to see if Crewmen  Ainsley is authorized to interview  some of the individuals on the list.  It would probably take a couple of minutes of their time and we would keep you informed if we need to go deeper into that  individual privacy...Doctor, was there any clue in the autopsy?Á,"  James inquired.

Sighing deeply, Alex bit back his frustration while taking in Hawke's report. It was incredibly difficult for him to respect Hawke's proficiency as he read Safefta's name at the top of the list. He's an engineer, they present facts, and this is about as factual as you can get. Glancing back up at the numerous spectators, Alex swiftly blacked out the PADD and rose to his feet. "Hawke, Vaughan, Ainsley, briefing room, now. Eli, let me know when you're ready to launch, and I want you to keep an open comm channel with us at all times. Mr. Webber, you have the bridge."

With that, he quickly led his three investigators off the bridge and into the briefing room.

[Briefing Room]

Not bothering to sit, Alex rested his arms against the back of a chair, waiting for the doors to close before turning a hard gaze on Hawke. "You've got to give me something better than that list, Lieutenant. I will not authorize the violation of personal rights without some sort of tangible cause or proof, especially not that many. Now, Doctor Vaughan has advised me that she's found the cause of Lieutenant Hobb's death, confirming that this was intentional homicide. I find it difficult to believe that the two incidents are unrelated."

Alex handed the PADD with Hobb's autopsy information to Ainsley. "Combining your information with Doctor Vaughan's, is there any way we can narrow the persons of interest list? Can we scan for traces of the substance, or go through the computer logs to track their movements or location during Lieutenant Hobb's time of death?"

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Bridge]

"Research purposes could be fabricated." Alex mused, pondering over Vaughan's report. "Well done on finding the smoking gun. The hard part will be finding who was holding it...I had been hoping that it'd be more straight forward and traceable, but perhaps we can use the rarity of this poison to our advantage. If we could come up with a way to track or trace it..." He sighed, rubbing his temples. "I almost wish it had been an accident, but it doesn't seem possible anymore. Good work, doctor. Get yourself down to the mess and find something to eat, I'm sure you haven't taken a break for hours."

Alex turned to the newest arrival, looking haggard and worried. Ferris must've been down on the shuttledeck for ages trying to find a maintenance reason why they lost contact, and it didn't appear he had been successful. "We'll have to think about sending a rescue shuttle sooner rather than later, Eli. There's too much interference in the upper atmosphere to use transporters, even with pattern enhancers." He paused when Kaz approached.

"Helm, change course to put us directly over grid 1741. Mr.Opran, I want intensive scans of that area immediately, look for the shuttle transponder, lifesigns, anything that's not native to the environment." Alex ordered, inching forward to the edge of his seat. "Eli, I need you flying that rescue shuttle." Alex wished he could take the mission himself, not keen on sending any more of his crew into the maelstrom below. "Once we've confirmed the crash site, Kaz will accompany you down to assess the damage, and if possible, salvage the Argo. It goes without saying, but the priority is to get our people back alive. I'll have Science send you someone to monitor the sensors as well."

Sighing deeply, Alex bit back his frustration while taking in Hawke's report. It was incredibly difficult for him to respect Hawke's proficiency as he read Safefta's name at the top of the list. He's an engineer, they present facts, and this is about as factual as you can get. Glancing back up at the numerous spectators, Alex swiftly blacked out the PADD and rose to his feet. "Hawke, Vaughan, Ainsley, briefing room, now. Eli, let me know when you're ready to launch, and I want you to keep an open comm channel with us at all times. Mr. Webber, you have the bridge."

With that, he quickly led his three investigators off the bridge and into the briefing room.

[Briefing Room]

Not bothering to sit, Alex rested his arms against the back of a chair, waiting for the doors to close before turning a hard gaze on Hawke. "You've got to give me something better than that list, Lieutenant. I will not authorize the violation of personal rights without some sort of tangible cause or proof, especially not that many. Now, Doctor Vaughan has advised me that she's found the cause of Lieutenant Hobb's death, confirming that this was intentional homicide. I find it difficult to believe that the two incidents are unrelated."

Alex handed the PADD with Hobb's autopsy information to Ainsley. "Combining your information with Doctor Vaughan's, is there any way we can narrow the persons of interest list? Can we scan for traces of the substance, or go through the computer logs to track their movements or location during Lieutenant Hobb's time of death?"

Briefing Room

Lizzie followed Wu into the briefing room and waited for the doors to close before responding.

"Estimated time of death is 16:42. There is a margin of error of no more than 5 minutes either side of that. As to the suspects, while I have nothing concrete on any of them, Romulans are one of the few races that openly trade in the Borgia plant. The Tal Shiar used it to create a very potent method of execution. They could draw death out for hours using this method!" She remarked getting a nasty taste in her mouth when she thought about Romulans. "Does Commander Pardek have contacts within the new Romulan republic?" She asked, hating to point a finger but feeling the others needed to know.

[James A. Hawke]

[Bridge]

James stood in front of the Commander and tried to red his face.  Even thought he was making a good attempt to disguise it he was not pleased with the report.  He did not like the names of the list but he could not allow his personal feelings interfere with the investigation.  There was data and he was going to follow that data until he was reasonably sure he found the right person.   He then said

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"Hawke, Vaughan, Ainsley, briefing room, now. Eli, let me know when you're ready to launch, and I want you to keep an open comm channel with us at all times. Mr. Webber, you have the bridge."

With that he proceeded with his fellow crewmates to the briefing room.

[Briefing Room]

This room was feeling a little more familiar for the last two hours, James and Lennox was attempting to narrow down the list of suspect of more than 500 people to 20.  Every single person in the list was there because they could have done it.  They did not have a motive, camera and much clues to go around all they had was the data they have accumulated.

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. "You've got to give me something better than that list, Lieutenant. I will not authorize the violation of personal rights without some sort of tangible cause or proof, especially not that many. Now, Doctor Vaughan has advised me that she's found the cause of Lieutenant Hobb's death, confirming that this was intentional homicide. I find it difficult to believe that the two incidents are unrelated."
Combining your information with Doctor Vaughan's, is there any way we can narrow the persons of interest list? Can we scan for traces of the substance, or go through the computer logs to track their movements or location during Lieutenant Hobb's time of death?"

James looked at commander Wu straight in his eyes.  He wanted a handful a names and James brought 20 of them.  He did not like the names of the list but he cannot clear individuals until he was recently certain that they were no threat.  He clenched his teeth as he held his voice.  Before he could response she heard Lizzie

"Estimated time of death is 16:42. There is a margin of error of no more than 5 minutes either side of that. As to the suspects, while I have nothing concrete on any of them, Romulans are one of the few races that openly trade in the Borgia plant. The Tal Shiar used it to create a very potent method of execution. They could draw death out for hours using this method!"
"Does Commander Pardek have contacts within the new Romulan republic?" She asked, hating to point a finger but feeling the others needed to know.

James then proceeded to drop the PADD in the table.  "With all due respect Commander, I think you are letting your feelings cloud the investigation.  I want to follow the data and information to whenever it may lead.   In two hours we have narrowed down the list of suspect of more than 500 individuals to 20."

Hawke then  went into the terminal and pressed a couple of button to show the investigation.  "Here is what we do know.  First, the sensors were modified and encrypted at the time of the death.  Second, we don't know where on the ship is the data.  We are operating under the assumption that these two events correlate with one another"

James then proceeded to show the team the crew manifest "Operating under this assumption, we know that the individual needs to have the following.  First, they need to know basic LCAR's coding which does not narrow down the search.  Second, they need to have the ability to hack into our security systems or have override access.  In short, the person either has high degree of technical knowledge of our systems or has access to them like most of the senior staff.  This includes most of our officers and several crewmen in the Ops, Science and Engineering Section."

Hawke took a deep breath "With the added information, the person must have access to the Borgia Plant and sucks at giving correct dosage to humans, so we should rule out people with strong biology backgrounds from science".

James turned off the monitor.  We have several options "We can configure our sensors to look for any Borgia plants on the ship.  I highly doubt that the killer would keep the murder weapon next to him or her but we might get lucky, it has been more than two hours since the death, in all likelihood the killer washed his hands"

He then looked at the Commander "We can also interview the suspects and rule out those that have an alibi...everyone is s suspect until we can be reasonable certain they are not. "
James took his pip and placed it into the center of the table.  He paused and then gently said

"Commander, everyone on that list even Commander Pardek is a suspect.  She has the access codes, she knows LCAR's and as the good Doctor is explaining she is the person that might have contacts to obtain the poison, we don't have knowledge of her location at the time of the incident and she has the access code and knowledge of our security systems.  I don't want to accuse people until we have proof but she is a strong suspect and either we investigate everyone the same or I don't want to take part of this..if she does not have an alibi we might need to start digging deeper."

As he finished he looked at everyone in the room

[Lizzie Vaughan]

Hawke took a deep breath "With the added information, the person must have access to the Borgia Plant and sucks at giving correct dosage to humans, so we should rule out people with strong biology backgrounds from science".

James turned off the monitor.  We have several options "We can configure our sensors to look for any Borgia plants on the ship.  I highly doubt that the killer would keep the murder weapon next to him or her but we might get lucky, it has been more than two hours since the death, in all likelihood the killer washed his hands"

He then looked at the Commander "We can also interview the suspects and rule out those that have an alibi...everyone is s suspect until we can be reasonable certain they are not. "
James took his pip and placed it into the center of the table.  He paused and then gently said

"Commander, everyone on that list even Commander Pardek is a suspect.  She has the access codes, she knows LCAR's and as the good Doctor is explaining she is the person that might have contacts to obtain the poison, we don't have knowledge of her location at the time of the incident and she has the access code and knowledge of our security systems.  I don't want to accuse people until we have proof but she is a strong suspect and either we investigate everyone the same or I don't want to take part of this..if she does not have an alibi we might need to start digging deeper."

As he finished he looked at everyone in the room

Briefing Room

Lizzie nodded in agreement.

"We have to investigate everyone equally Commander. Not to do so would not only be morally unjustifiable but would go against Starfleet regulations." She paused for a few seconds. "According to those regulations, I as the senior Medical Officer on board, am the Acting Coroner for this case. I therefore have to conduct a formal hearing where evidence must be presented. It will likely be a short hearing as I have already determined that the death is by person or persons unknown. My next responsibility is to let the nearest Starbase know of what has happened and conduct an investigation to gather as much evidence a possible before handing it over to the local investigations division." She paused again and licked her lips. "They are based on Columbus and could be here within a few days. But most likely what would happen is that the ship will be escorted to the Starbase and taken to a secure dock where everyone on board will be interviewed and none allowed to leave until the guilty party is caught. This will more than likely destroy the reputation of several of those on board and probably fatally interrupt the diplomatic negotiations. Our best way forward is for Mr Hawke and myself to interview these personnel on an informal basis to try and whittle down the list. If we can do this before the hearing I present the report to Starfleet with the the party already apprehended and that will be the end of the matter. Oh and as for scanning for the Borgia plant, I wouldn't bother. To get the poison you need to process the sap which cannot be done on board. The amount needed is very small, less than 50 CC's. Even if our scanners could pick it up, which is doubtful, there might be nothing left to pick up. Unless more murders are planned." She finished with a grimace.

[James A. Hawke]

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Briefing Room

Lizzie nodded in agreement.

"We have to investigate everyone equally Commander. Not to do so would not only be morally unjustifiable but would go against Starfleet regulations." She paused for a few seconds. "According to those regulations, I as the senior Medical Officer on board, am the Acting Coroner for this case. I therefore have to conduct a formal hearing where evidence must be presented. It will likely be a short hearing as I have already determined that the death is by person or persons unknown. My next responsibility is to let the nearest Starbase know of what has happened and conduct an investigation to gather as much evidence a possible before handing it over to the local investigations division." She paused again and licked her lips. "They are based on Columbus and could be here within a few days. But most likely what would happen is that the ship will be escorted to the Starbase and taken to a secure dock where everyone on board will be interviewed and none allowed to leave until the guilty party is caught. This will more than likely destroy the reputation of several of those on board and probably fatally interrupt the diplomatic negotiations. Our best way forward is for Mr Hawke and myself to interview these personnel on an informal basis to try and whittle down the list. If we can do this before the hearing I present the report to Starfleet with the the party already apprehended and that will be the end of the matter. Oh and as for scanning for the Borgia plant, I wouldn't bother. To get the poison you need to process the sap which cannot be done on board. The amount needed is very small, less than 50 CC's. Even if our scanners could pick it up, which is doubtful, there might be nothing left to pick up. Unless more murders are planned." She finished with a grimace.

[Briefing Room]

As Lizzie was talking James tried to read the eyes of Commander Wu and nodded in agreement towards her.  He understood the Commander's hesitation and protection.  After all he probably knows the names of the list better than himself.  It was an uncomfortable situation.    This is precisely why they needed to be transparent, this is not about the crew there was also a diplomatic mission underway.

James waited a second to hear Commander Wu's response.   And stood silent for a couple of
second.  He looked at Lizzie and said "You mentioned we cannot scan for the plant or the poison or it would be highly unlikely.  Scanning for 50 cc of a substance means the scanner would to be very sensitive and we would probably get a lot of false positives, if at all possible.  Does this poison needs to be stored it at a specific temperature?  Or a specific materials like glass, plastic or aluminum.  Maybe we can't find the poison but we might be able to find where it was stored.  Any ideas Doctor?  James inquired

[Lizzie Vaughan]

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[Briefing Room]

As Lizzie was talking James tried to read the eyes of Commander Wu and nodded in agreement towards her.  He understood the Commander's hesitation and protection.  After all he probably knows the names of the list better than himself.  It was an uncomfortable situation.    This is precisely why they needed to be transparent, this is not about the crew there was also a diplomatic mission underway.

James waited a second to hear Commander Wu's response.   And stood silent for a couple of
second.  He looked at Lizzie and said "You mentioned we cannot scan for the plant or the poison or it would be highly unlikely.  Scanning for 50 cc of a substance means the scanner would to be very sensitive and we would probably get a lot of false positives, if at all possible.  Does this poison needs to be stored it at a specific temperature?  Or a specific materials like glass, plastic or aluminum.  Maybe we can't find the poison but we might be able to find where it was stored.  Any ideas Doctor?  James inquired

Briefing Room

Lizzie turned to James.

"There are no specific storage conditions for the toxin except that, if you don't want to risk contamination you need to store it under level 4 biohazzard conditions. This would mean a portable vessel with its own power supply and security seals. It does not vaporise and is only poisonous if ingested or otherwise got into the stomach. Injection or dermal absorption is not effective. Unless you can get the victim to eat it, you have to inject it directly into the stomach. However if you get some on your skin, you risk ingesting it as at this concentration it is toxic from 50 parts per Billion and washing in anything other than a decontamination shower will not remove it." She replied.

[Eli Ferris]

[Bridge]

"Research purposes could be fabricated." Alex mused, pondering over Vaughan's report. "Well done on finding the smoking gun. The hard part will be finding who was holding it...I had been hoping that it'd be more straight forward and traceable, but perhaps we can use the rarity of this poison to our advantage. If we could come up with a way to track or trace it..." He sighed, rubbing his temples. "I almost wish it had been an accident, but it doesn't seem possible anymore. Good work, doctor. Get yourself down to the mess and find something to eat, I'm sure you haven't taken a break for hours."

Alex turned to the newest arrival, looking haggard and worried. Ferris must've been down on the shuttledeck for ages trying to find a maintenance reason why they lost contact, and it didn't appear he had been successful. "We'll have to think about sending a rescue shuttle sooner rather than later, Eli. There's too much interference in the upper atmosphere to use transporters, even with pattern enhancers." He paused when Kaz approached.

"Helm, change course to put us directly over grid 1741. Mr.Opran, I want intensive scans of that area immediately, look for the shuttle transponder, lifesigns, anything that's not native to the environment." Alex ordered, inching forward to the edge of his seat. "Eli, I need you flying that rescue shuttle." Alex wished he could take the mission himself, not keen on sending any more of his crew into the maelstrom below. "Once we've confirmed the crash site, Kaz will accompany you down to assess the damage, and if possible, salvage the Argo. It goes without saying, but the priority is to get our people back alive. I'll have Science send you someone to monitor the sensors as well."

Eli felt no need to recap his troubles to his superior. The simple fact was, the answers were elusive and Eli was stumped by the problem, and Alex's worried mirrored the growing frustrating within Eli.

I can't fail again.

"Of course, sir. I'll make the preparations. Also, I would recommend a small security detail."

With that, Eli left Alex to his headaches and moved in to his own. If he had his choice, it would be a small detachment, but the risk to the shuttles was great enough. Eli didn't like the fact that he would have to include more crewmembers, and exposed them to greater danger.

[Leela Kaz]

[Bridge]

Arlan looked at Leela and paled as she approached him at the Tactical station, his voice soft.  Still, despite what was obviously mortal terror written all over his features (for no reason other than being on the bridge and manning an unfamiliar station under the eye of the ship's CO), he kept up his sarcasm and general sense of humor.  All, it seemed, was not lost.  "Don't tell me.  Let me guess.  The shuttle they launched went missing.  With Lieutenant Pardek aboard.  And now I'm the highest ranking Tactical officer on board this ship.  Plus, there's probably some other emergency.  And one of the former hosts of Kaz knows exactly what we're supposed to do here."

[Bridge]

Leela smirked at the assertion that at least one of her previous hosts would know what to do. She leaned over and whispered, so that the rest of the bridge couldn't hear. "Not a lot of tactical officers in my past. But I'm sure Juval would have something inspirational to say. Unfortunately for you, I'm not Juval." She let out a slight chuckle as she leaned back towards her own console.

"Helm, change course to put us directly over grid 1741. Mr.Opran, I want intensive scans of that area immediately, look for the shuttle transponder, lifesigns, anything that's not native to the environment." Alex ordered, inching forward to the edge of his seat. "Eli, I need you flying that rescue shuttle." Alex wished he could take the mission himself, not keen on sending any more of his crew into the maelstrom below. "Once we've confirmed the crash site, Kaz will accompany you down to assess the damage, and if possible, salvage the Argo. It goes without saying, but the priority is to get our people back alive. I'll have Science send you someone to monitor the sensors as well."

"Acknowledged sir." Although the circumstances weren't joyous Leela was thrilled at the prospect of a little adventure. She looked to Arlan and smiled. Then back to Commander Wu. "When do we leave?"