Season 11: Episode 2 - Diplomatic Disaster

[James A. Hawke]

[Briefing Room]

"Just to be clear sir." He started, slightly tilting his head to indicate a question was to follow. "I'll be taking readings on the physical layout of the room, but do you actually want that data, or any other data?"

James looked at Mr. Bryan and responded  out loud "I want you to take actual readings and bring them to Mr. Brooks on Sickbay...mostly coordinates data...I imagine that with the tricorder readings we can create a map and once we extract comm pin coordinates we can make a reasonable calculation where every person was in the deck"   Hawke was careful not to say anything out loud.  He needed everyone to believe that the plan was probable.   But he wanted everyone to act like and actually accumulate data in the event it fails that data might lead them to a different paths to find the killer.

"I'm sure the Science Department will have no trouble. I'll have a few crewmen set up shop with me in Sickbay, we'll try to be inconspicuous, but we'll need a terminal or two down there. You've already got all the badges? You're sure they've not been tampered with already?"

"Ensign Brooks, try to keep the operation as small as possible.  Remember not everyone is cleared to take part of this investigation.  Just carry out this mission with diligence like you would do with any other mission. We need people we can trust than manpower"  James stated

"I don't think it matters who we pick. Anyone on the list has an equal chance, at least at this stage, of being the killer. All we need is what will appear to be a convincing reason for picking this someone. My first instinct is Commander Pardek. Not only does she have the right connections, or at least we can make it appear than way, but without much effort we could give her a backstory too." ...

"OK people, if everyone has heard and understood Mr Hawke's instructions I suggest we get to it. Dismissed!"

James nooded and said "Yes, Ma'am.  I agree with your recommendation Commander Pardek is a logical choice to being our inquiry...I will carry out your wishes"

As she finished giving the order he proceeded to the nearest computer console he pressed a button and said Hawke to Commander Pardek...please report to the briefing room Ma'am..Thank you Hawke out"

As James finished he looked at everyone and said "I recommend that all Comm Badges and personnel other than myself and Lieutenant Vaughan should leave the premises when Commander Pardek arrives"

[Niosa Obrea]

[Sickbay]

Although Laassul didn't really know Obrea, he already noticed a change in her disposition in the short amount of time that she had been in Sickbay. Her headache might not have been getting any worse, but it certainly wasn't getting any better. I wonder if I'm one of the undisciplined minds she's referring to, Laassul thought to himself. The idea began to eat at him.

After staring indiscriminately at a random spot on Obrea's shirt for a moment, Laassul squeezed his eyes shut before opening them wide and blinking them a few times. "Pardon me, madam. Now, where were we?" He stepped back and reached into a cabinet adjacent to the bed upon which Obrea was sitting. He riffled through a selection of bottles before pulling out one that looked no different from the others.

"Here you go," he said as he held out the bottle for her. "The is some pretty standard stuff, but it should still get the job done, and as you can see on the label, it's designed specifically for Betazoids."

He was about ready to excuse himself when he furrowed his brow and crossed his arms. "Madam, if you don't mind me asking, what makes a mind undisciplined? I just thought...well, with a ship full of undisciplined minds, maybe I could do something to mine that would make it easier to be around." His arms dropped to his side briefly before he brought his right arm up and swept his right hand across his head.

Sickbay

Niosa tilted her head to one side as she tried to read what was coming off the Orion.  He was being sincere, at least as much as he could and it suddenly became endearing to her.  She smiled, "Thank you, darling."  She was injected and true to Federation medication, it worked pretty fast.  Instead of working on her nerves the medication worked to block out enough mental overload  to allow her own system to fix itself.  She would have to use this medication until she got used to being on a ship with so many different races.

His question, took her by surprise.  She wasn't a Vulcan by any means but that didn't mean her mind was any less disciplined.  "Well, that's a good question, isn't it?"  Niosa began as she gathered her thoughts.  "Um...how would my teacher explain it?"  She rubbed her dimpled chin in thought and began her best to explain, "I suppose it's like potty training."  Niosa giggled slightly.

"Okay not the best example but it's simply control of your body functions."  She nodded, "However, most races do not need to control their minds from each other because there is no need too.  You cannot hear what another Orion is saying mentally no more than he can hear what you are saying mentally.  So why bother controlling your thoughts, right?"

Niosa shrugged her lips and continued, thinking she was making sense, "So we're taught to control our mind, just the same way you're taught to control your speech.  This is so we won't bombard ourselves with unwanted thoughts, but at the same time we learn to build shields.  Sort of like developing a deaf ear, in order not to hear everything.  It takes time and some of it comes naturally but a lot does not."

She sighed, "I've been on Betazed all of my life, so the need for me to develop such strong walls was unnecessary since I had little contact with these many races at once.  Actually, besides a party or two, I've never been around this many races at once.  Still, it's a wonderful experience."  Niosa smiled and jumped off the biobed feeling much better.  "I'm sorry, I'm not an instructor and I wouldn't know what to tell you about mind discipline.  Perhaps you should ask one of your Vulcan shipmates?"  She ran her hands down her skirt to iron out wrinkles that were just not there.

Niosa suddenly looked up at him and smiled, "Unless that's your way of asking me on a date."  She grinned prettily, "I know you think I'm attractive."  She followed her teasing tone with a little smile, "I think you're already easy to be around, my dear.  What is your favorite beverage?"

[Kali Reyes]

[Crewman Quarters - Reyes and Yates]

She was in and out of sleep. Being in a starship kind of ruined her sense of spatial awareness ever since she came aboard. When her internal clock relied on the daylight cycle of earth, she found herself trying to adjust to using the ship's chronometers. When a woman suddenly appeared to jostle her to the waking world, Reyes instinctively snapped up and hit her head on the top of the bunk. Bang! She clenched her aching temple and kicked her heels on the bed. "Ow! Someone's going to die for that!"

"It already happened," the voice above her said gravely. "Lt. Hobbs is dead."

Exasperated, Reyes rubbed through her hair and shook her head. "I don't even know who that is." There was a beat. "Who are you?"

"Crewman Yates? We share these quarters!" When Reyes continued to blink at her, the woman gaped with disbelief. "We met a week ago!"

"I'll take your word for it." Reyes climbed out of bed and squeezed her eyes shut from equations trickling down the nearest bulkhead, but Yates wasn't having her mornings antics. Shoved into her uniform and wishing for coffee, she and Yates quickly had to haul their boots for an emergency roll call. She just started - and got sent to Operations instead of the Engineering for her tour of duty. She wasn't even assigned for anything yet. What did they need her for aside from being a fetch girl like a yeoman?

Reyes slacked getting into parade rest with Yates and fought to suppress a yawn.

[Zero Alpha]

[Zero's Quarters]

Since being dismissed from sickbay, Zero had remained confined to her quarters and furious.  Even Ghost, her faithful companion, knew better than to kick up a fuss when she failed to provide him with table scraps after a meal, instead lying at her feet as she worked at her console.

That was one good thing to come of her incarceration.  She had time to work on her personal project:  A better solution to the prosthetics Jiseth had been given by Starfleet Medical.  PADDs full of cybernetic information were littered around, supplementing where her own knowledge failed her.  Genetics was her speciality, not orthopedics and cybernetics, but she was vastly intelligent and determined.  For Jiseth, she would learn.  Until such a time as she was restored to duty, she would continue to work.

[Eli Ferris]

[Shuttle Aegeus]

Leela sat down beside Commander Ferris and began going through the pre=flight sequences for the co-pilot position. The warp and impulse engines looked nominal. She brought the tactical systems online. "Looks good Commander." She glanced at the flight course that had been charted ahead of time, based off the orbital scans of the planet and believed crash sight. "The flight plan has been downloaded by the bridge and looks good. I think we're ready to go sir."

Leela wasn't quite sure what to make of Commander Ferris. He seemed a little to rigid for Leela's preferences but this was a tense situation. From what she could tell, he was the model officer. The kind of person that kept her in check and she could appreciate that.

Eli nodded in a approval, his mind absent. There was trace amounts of worry, and Eli's expression was stoic in his brooding.

Briefing Room

Kyle held up his hands is if defending off an attacker. "Sorry, Lieutenant. I'm still dealing with the negotiations. And I'm gonna take a look into our missing crew members and shuttle with Lieutenant Ferris. This investigation is all Commander Wu's." he said with a nod toward the First Officer. "He'll let you know how to proceed." With that, he offered everyone a nod and turned for the door. "Good luck, Number One." he called back over his shoulder as he exited the Briefing Room.

"Briggs here, Commander. I'll be your contact now while Commander Wu is dealing with the other issue." he said. "You're clear for launch. Go get our people, Eli." he added.

=^=Aye, Captain.=^=

Eli could only get a vague sense of Kyle's worry. Ti him, it all blended together in a sea of emotions that threatened to engulf him. Despite preparation, or perhaps because of it, Eli couldn't feel less ready. It was a weird paradox of knowing he was equipped and feeling woefully underequipped to handle the crisis.

[Shuttlecraft Aegeus]

Leela nodded as she heard the Captain through the shuttles communication system. She opened a signal back to the Dscovery. "Acknowledged Captain, we'll get 'em back." With a single fluid movement she closed the channel and began the final steps for departure. Unsure of what they would find, she felt apprehension with each command. Part of her was thrilled to for the excitement this mission would bring. However, the experiences of her past hosts lead her to fear the worst. Juval and Preta both had done more than their fair share of these types of search and rescue missions. Unfortunately their experiences did not give Leela high levels of confidence in the safe return of the missing officers.

The shuttle hovered above the deck plates of the hangar bay as red lights and an alarm sounded, indicating it was time for departure. As the shuttle exited the Discovery Leela activated the external sensors and began scanning the grid where the metallic fragments.

"Commander Ferris. I've gotten a lock on the metallic fragments we located on the bridge."

Leela adjusted the ships approach angle.

"Sir, I've adjusted our approach vector. We should reach the planets atmosphere in approximately 1 min. I'm activating the shields and preparing for entry. Arlan, can you confirm the shield frequency?"

In contrast to this feeling was Leela. Ever present in her attention to detail, it allowed Eli a brief respite and focused on flying, something that was second nature to him. As she asked him again if they were moving in, Eli's eyes were on the planet's atmosphere, dark eyes searching for the patterns in the clouds.

"That weather might be a little rough. Adjust our shields to match and we're going in."

The shuttle breached the upper atmosphere with a slight lurch, even as Eli compensated slight, adding a minor variation to his flight plan to adjust to the wind. It took but a moment to clear the first layer and get a glimpse of land formations down below.

[Leela Kaz]

Eli nodded in a approval, his mind absent. There was trace amounts of worry, and Eli's expression was stoic in his brooding.
=^=Aye, Captain.=^=

Eli could only get a vague sense of Kyle's worry. Ti him, it all blended together in a sea of emotions that threatened to engulf him. Despite preparation, or perhaps because of it, Eli couldn't feel less ready. It was a weird paradox of knowing he was equipped and feeling woefully underequipped to handle the crisis.
In contrast to this feeling was Leela. Ever present in her attention to detail, it allowed Eli a brief respite and focused on flying, something that was second nature to him. As she asked him again if they were moving in, Eli's eyes were on the planet's atmosphere, dark eyes searching for the patterns in the clouds.

"That weather might be a little rough. Adjust our shields to match and we're going in."

The shuttle breached the upper atmosphere with a slight lurch, even as Eli compensated slight, adding a minor variation to his flight plan to adjust to the wind. It took but a moment to clear the first layer and get a glimpse of land formations down below.

[Shuttlecraft Aegeus]

"Acknowledged sir." With a few buttons Leela made the necessary adjustments. Looking through the view port, Leela couldn't help but take a moment to admire the beauty of the clouds as they swirled over the large landmass that they were heading towards. From space, the beauty was calm, however, Leela knew the violence that the storm could be capable of.

"I'm going to cut the inertial dampeners by 40%, sir. I'm reading wind speeds in excess of 80 knots. It will make for a bumpier ride but you'll have more control maneuvering the craft." As Leela reduced the power to the dampeners she felt the ship start to rock from side to side.

She looked over her shoulder towards Arlan. "Hope you don't get motion sickness?" With a slight chuckle she focused her attention back to their rescue mission.

"Commander, I've re-calculated the coordinates of the metallic signature. The weather looks a little better at our projected landing site. Everything looks good for atmospheric entry."

[Safefta Pardek]

[Briefing Room]

James nooded and said "Yes, Ma'am.  I agree with your recommendation Commander Pardek is a logical choice to being our inquiry...I will carry out your wishes"

As she finished giving the order he proceeded to the nearest computer console he pressed a button and said Hawke to Commander Pardek...please report to the briefing room Ma'am..Thank you Hawke out"

As James finished he looked at everyone and said "I recommend that all Comm Badges and personnel other than myself and Lieutenant Vaughan should leave the premises when Commander Pardek arrives"

[CSTO's Office]

Despite the investigation proceeding, Safefta had not been actively involved. Her skills were apparently better spent shuffling the needs and security provisions of the visiting diplomats. Unfortunately, this meant sifting through the complaints and the commentary and the schedules for each and every one of them. By the end of the first stack of PADDs, Pardek was certain she was going to lose her mind.

Diplomatic affairs were never to be classified as fun. Her mind was wont to wander and consider the murder investigation, which, far from her to call it more 'fun', would still be more interesting than her current occupation. As such, when her combadge tweeted to alert her of a transmission from the current investigation team, she wasted no time leaving the drivel of the diplomatic affairs behind her.

=/\=Acknowledged=/\=

Even for all of that, she still sounded just as deadpan as ever.

[Briefing Room]

Safefta entered without much ceremony, and regarded those still in the room with some degree of interest.

"I assume you've found something worth noting?"

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[CSTO's Office]

Despite the investigation proceeding, Safefta had not been actively involved. Her skills were apparently better spent shuffling the needs and security provisions of the visiting diplomats. Unfortunately, this meant sifting through the complaints and the commentary and the schedules for each and every one of them. By the end of the first stack of PADDs, Pardek was certain she was going to lose her mind.

Diplomatic affairs were never to be classified as fun. Her mind was wont to wander and consider the murder investigation, which, far from her to call it more 'fun', would still be more interesting than her current occupation. As such, when her combadge tweeted to alert her of a transmission from the current investigation team, she wasted no time leaving the drivel of the diplomatic affairs behind her.

=/\=Acknowledged=/\=

Even for all of that, she still sounded just as deadpan as ever.

[Briefing Room]

Safefta entered without much ceremony, and regarded those still in the room with some degree of interest.

"I assume you've found something worth noting?"

Briefing Room

Lizzie looked up as Pardek entered. She gave a nod.

"Please sit down Commander. We have a few things to discuss." She said indicating the seat opposite from where She and Hawke were sitting. She then turned to Hawke.

"If you could outline what is about to happen Mr Hawke. We can then answer any questions before we proceed."

[citrus_xsinensis]

[Briefing Room]

James looked at Mr. Bryan and responded  out loud "I want you to take actual readings and bring them to Mr. Brooks on Sickbay...mostly coordinates data...I imagine that with the tricorder readings we can create a map and once we extract comm pin coordinates we can make a reasonable calculation where every person was in the deck"   Hawke was careful not to say anything out loud.  He needed everyone to believe that the plan was probable.   But he wanted everyone to act like and actually accumulate data in the event it fails that data might lead them to a different paths to find the killer.

"Yes sir!" Joseph said with a sharp nod.

"Ensign Brooks, try to keep the operation as small as possible.  Remember not everyone is cleared to take part of this investigation.  Just carry out this mission with diligence like you would do with any other mission. We need people we can trust than manpower"  James stated

James nooded and said "Yes, Ma'am.  I agree with your recommendation Commander Pardek is a logical choice to being our inquiry...I will carry out your wishes"

As she finished giving the order he proceeded to the nearest computer console he pressed a button and said Hawke to Commander Pardek...please report to the briefing room Ma'am..Thank you Hawke out"

As James finished he looked at everyone and said "I recommend that all Comm Badges and personnel other than myself and Lieutenant Vaughan should leave the premises when Commander Pardek arrives"

Again, Joseph gave another sharp "Yes sir" before moving towards the door. He stood to one side of it, not blocking it, but ready to leave and simply waiting. He thought while he stood still.

We need people we can trust more than manpower ... obviously that's true in a murder case, but wow. The phrase stuck with him. The weight and implications that it had almost shocked him. Of course they were the same implications that would exist after any murder, but to hear them put into words, and such poetic words at that, made them seem incredibly more important.

[Briefing Room]

Safefta entered without much ceremony, and regarded those still in the room with some degree of interest.

"I assume you've found something worth noting?"

As Safefta entered the room Joseph snapped back into salute, only exiting the stiff backed position after she had fully passed to his left and through the entryway. As she did, he left without a word. He exited the briefing room and headed for the turbolift.

"Deck five" He said as he spun around to face the closing doors. After the short time through the ship, he exited into a corridor and immediately headed to the cargo bay, general supplies storage section, to retrieve a tricorder that was more science and/or security based than his standard engineering one.

After his short trip, he headed back to the turbolift ... and hesitated about five feet from the door.

Hang on ... Mess Hall ... Mess Hall: Deck 5. Cargo Bays: Deck 5. ... ... Huh ... well that's convenient.

Looking as though he was lost or simply completely new to the ship (and he was both of those things) he rotated on the ball of his foot and pulled a 180 to head toward the Mess Hall.

Alright, so I'm acting ... trying to pull the suspect out of the shadows and make him nervous ... trying to be suspicious ... so I guess instead of studying from a corner and trying not to cause concern, I'll just start from the middle of the room, where I'll be as obvious as I can be without shouting or standing on tables.

The last thought to pass through his mind quieted his thoughts for a solid three seconds as he considered it.

Should I contact security and let them know what I'm doing?

He considered again.

Eh, we'll see how it goes.

The doors parted and he entered the Mess Hall, promptly and quickly (without actually running) moving to the center of the room, where he flipped open his tricorder. Before actually getting started on the readings, he made sure to take a slow, long glance at everyone in the room, just for dramatic effect.

He was only barely able to keep the smile off his face as he did so.

[Leela Kaz]

[USS Aegeus]

As the ship descended upon the planet below the clouds that had seemed so serene from orbit quickly grew violent. The grey clouds surrounded the craft and the Aegeus violently rock back and forth.

"Commander, I'm lowering the inertial dampeners again. Taking them to 32%. It didn't seem quite this violent from orbit." With the command executed the violence dulled for a moment. With a flash, a bolt of lightening whizzed past the vessel and the shaking intensified again. As dangerous as Leela knew this could be, there was something exciting about being in a shuttle in the middle of the excitement. With the obvious exception of Jereda; Kaz had quoite the adventurous streak running through the symbiont and this was one of the moments that reminded Leela exactly why she was out here, helping to explore the great unknown.

"Exhilarating! How are you holding up back there, Arlan."

"Might be a good idea to grab the flash lights and try to get their attention that way once they get low enough!"

Taking one of the power lines that went to a solar panel, she plugged it into the access panel to the active fuel cell on the buggy. The other end went to the transmitter. Sukal had been kind enough to not close the circuit and two wires stuck out from it. Contact between them would be what was needed to send out a signal which was not dissimilar from ancient telegraphs. Aiming the dish upward, she made sure to run through the Morse alphabet in her head before setting about tapping the wires together.

... --- ... / ... --- ... / ... --- ... / -.. .- -- -. / .. - / ... --- ...

[SOS SOS SOS DAMN IT SOS]

As the ship lowered further into the atmosphere and towards the surface the violence quelled and the skies begin to clear slightly, still tinted in grey, but the visibility improved markedly. As the closed in on the surface a bright flash emitted from the surface, through the viewport it caught the Trills attention.

"What the hell is that?" Leela watched for a moment. "Is it sometype of communication? It looks like a pattern?" She asked, looking to Eli for clarification.

[Kyle Briggs]

[Bridge]

Kyle stood and paced the Bridge. This was turning into one hell of a trip. The negotiations between the  Dazasanian and the Federation was starting to work itself out. Which was much to Kyle's liking as he did not want to have to go back in there. This left him to deal with the murder investigation and the missing shuttle. Eli was making his way down to the surface to try and rescue the others. Communications weren't the best and that added to the worry. But he trusted his crew and knew they would handle things. With that thought, he decided to see how the other thing was going. He headed for the rear of the Bridge.

"Lieutenant Galen. You have the Bridge." he told the young Bajoran woman at the Ops station. "I'll be in the briefing room if you need me."

The doors closed before he could hear her reply. A few seconds later, he was entering his location.

[Briefing Room]

He walked in to see Lieutenant Hawke and Doctor Vaughan sitting across from his Second Officer. This slightly troubled him. He wasn't sure what was going on but he knew it couldn't have been an interrogation. Not his Second Officer and Chief of Security. she was the last person Kyle would ever suspect. He knew very little about her past but she had come highly recommended. And that wasn't something he took lightly.

"Report." he ordered.

[Leela Kaz]

[USS Aegeus]

"Accessing the universal translator now." It was apparent to Leela that the lights were indicating a pattern. She was positive that it could only be coming form their people but she was concerned that they could be trying to relay vital information. With a few keystrokes she input the pattern into the universal translator.

... --- ... / ... --- ... / ... --- ... / -.. .- -- -. / .. - / ... --- ...

[SOS SOS SOS DAMN IT SOS]

"Damn!" Leela muttered under her breathe, echoing Jiseth's sentiment. "There's our people. As the clouds cleared the ground came into focus through the viewport. "Reversing thrusters and stabilizing the decent." The craft quickly decelerated and leveled out. Hovering above the ground, momentarily, while Leela finalized the landing coordinates.

A gust emitted from a shuttle as the landing procedures gently set the shuttle on the surface of the alien world. With a slight jolt the team had arrived to their destination. "Everyone in one piece back there?" She said with a smile as she secured the vessel. "Guess its time to take a walk into the great unknown." 

[Kali Reyes]

[Mess Hall]

Emergency roll call was little more than a dress down because quite frankly the rest of the ship can't stop operations over a murderer in the vicinity other than strapping on a phaser and keeping an eye out. It didn't matter much to Reyes, which was why she paid more attention to her corn flakes than the gossip mongering her table was stirring up.

"-but Ms. Reyes isn't worried," Anderson noted with a grin.

"Reyes wouldn't care if a Klingon warbird suddenly dropped on us," Yates countered, and Reyes could feel her heavy gaze on her shoulder.

She put down her spoon and realized it was her turn to save her dignity. "Misinformation everywhere. I said a Romulan ship, not Klingon." When humor failed, she settled for exasperation. "Guys, relax. Let Security take care of it, because unless one of you is the murderer I really doubt I need to watch my back during shift. Report suspicious activity. Those were the orders. Sunshine and roses."

Anderson looked directly over her shoulder. "Does that count as suspicious?"

Á,"œThe doors parted and he entered the Mess Hall, promptly and quickly (without actually running) moving to the center of the room, where he flipped open his tricorder. Before actually getting started on the readings, he made sure to take a slow, long glance at everyone in the room, just for dramatic effect.

He was only barely able to keep the smile off his face as he did so.

"Alright, just a little," Reyes agreed as she pushed her cornflakes away and stood up. To her companions' surprise, she made her way over to the man with purpose and no doubt wondering how nicely she'll ask what he was doing.

She stood directly in front of him. "You there, you suspicious person," Reyes said shortly. "Why are you scanning the Mess Hall? Taking a reading on Lt. Zyzxz's fruit platter?"

As subtle as a Klingon on a tribble farm.

[Tekin Nevir]

[USS Aegeus]

"Accessing the universal translator now." It was apparent to Leela that the lights were indicating a pattern. She was positive that it could only be coming form their people but she was concerned that they could be trying to relay vital information. With a few keystrokes she input the pattern into the universal translator.

"Damn!" Leela muttered under her breathe, echoing Jiseth's sentiment. "There's our people. As the clouds cleared the ground came into focus through the viewport. "Reversing thrusters and stabilizing the decent." The craft quickly decelerated and leveled out. Hovering above the ground, momentarily, while Leela finalized the landing coordinates.

A gust emitted from a shuttle as the landing procedures gently set the shuttle on the surface of the alien world. With a slight jolt the team had arrived to their destination. "Everyone in one piece back there?" She said with a smile as she secured the vessel. "Guess its time to take a walk into the great unknown."

[Unknown Cave - Planet]

Nevir was about to ask why she didn't just try the automatic distress signal, but leaning against a wall he felt something metallic.  Some sort of... deposit?  He went for the Argo, reaching in and pulling out a tricorder, and did a scan of the cave they were in.  Standard communications were inoperative... the deposits in the cave were preventing anything better than the beeps and tones she was using the transmitter to send out.

"Prophets... good thinking, I never even bothered to check the cave, I just assumed that communications would be down." he said, looking up to see that the winds and rain were calming down.

"The eye is coming over us now.  I doubt anyone is coming right now, but it wouldn't hurt to try." he said, grabbing a pair of binoculars and walking to the mouth of the cave.  He brought up the sights and began looking, trying to find their own shuttle.  He thought he spotted it in the distance, but then something caused him to look back at the craft.  There were figures over there... Starfleet figures.  Either they just beamed, or that was a second shuttlecraft.

"Jiseth, I think I see something.  By the Prophets, someone braved the storm... there is another away team over there.  Are they crazy?  There isn't time to take off... we need to get over there quickly.  Sukal, watch the cave for now, we'll need a guide if visibility gets low." he said, climbing into the Argo.

"Let's get them before the backside of the storm hits."

[James A. Hawke]

[Briefing Room]
James looked at his fellow officer to leave the briefing room.  He looked down and took a deep breath.  As he exhaled and let go of the air accumulated in his long he thought about the plan.  They were plenty of risks in the plan.  However, it was unconventional and hoped that the plan would be something that the killer did not think about.

He looked at the room as he saw all the officers leaving.   The door of the briefing room opened.

"I assume you've found something worth noting?"

As soon as she walked in, James took his seat next to the Doctor he remained silent at the initial.

"If you could outline what is about to happen Mr Hawke. We can then answer any questions before we proceed."

James first looked at the room to make sure it was empty.  "Commander, as you are aware we are investigation the murder of Mr. Hobbs.  During the investigation, I attempted to recover the sensor data and noticed that it was moved and encrypted.  Unless we know where the data is we can't retrieve it.  It's like our security cameras were not working"  James said

His faced turned serious  as he continued "Only a individual that has high enough security clearance or detailed knowledge of the operation of internal sensors or data could have done this.  The fact that his occurred near the time of the incident, leads to the reasonable suspicion that they were not wholly independent actions"

James took a small sip of water.  He figured that the next part was the hardest one to hear.  "We made a list of all possible suspects.  You name was on the list...the data would lead to the logical conclusion that you might have the connections of the poison, no strong alibi, have the security clearance and technical knowledge to hide your tracks...I think there is a strong case that might be the killer"

James waited for a second and continued "But, neither myself or Doctor Vaughan don't think you are the killer...I think we are playing into their trap...and we have a plan to catch the killer and we need your help."

James handed a PADD with formal charges.  "The plan is simple; Mr. Brooks is right now assembly our communication badges in an effort the recreate the sensor data.  Since Engineering and Science might be compromised he will be storing all the material and data in Sickbay.    Mr. Bryan is also helping and storing the data there.  You will be formally charged and announced to the ship.  Then we will act confident that the DATA will show the killer.  You will then, act like you have committed suicide...I am sure the Doctor and help you and we will store your body next to the data and comm badges.  We will then wait...until the Killer comes to us to destroy the data.   We are going to do the opposite or what is logical and trust you"