S3:E4 ASSASSIN'S CREED

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

Sukal was by the Doctor's side when the announcement was made.  From what he could see of the wound - it seemed a perfect hole was right where Li Sighn'wa's heart would have been.  The damage was considerable, and clearly had been lethal from the moment of impact.  What made the wound seem strange to Sukal was it was not a stab wound.  At first, he had thought the Ambassador had been assassinated via a knife or other melee weapon from one of the people close at hand, but the wound left behind was nothing like anything he had seen such weapons do.  This looked like something a projectile would make, but such weapons were indeed rare on the station so far as he knew.  Even the TR-116 rifles were still rather limited despite being effective sniper weapons.  The odds of such a weapon actually belonging to the assassin was...rather...far fetched.  He felt like he was missing something, but what it was continued to elude him.

"Doctor, have the body moved to Sickbay.  Ambassadors are to be escorted to their quarters by faction," Sukal ordered, and the Security teams started with those closest at hand.  "I apologize, Ambassadors, but you all will have to remain in your quarters until the investigation is over with," he continued as the frenzied aliens and humans began shouting over each other about wanting to go first, wanting Starfleet to do more to protect them, and some calling out that it had been a setup to begin with.  Some voices he heard accusing Admiral Leyton of the assassination - a prospect Sukal had not overlooked.  After all, the Conference had been about uniting the region against Leyton, and possibly finding out more about where he was located.  But, if that had truly been the case - then why had only Ambassador Sighn'wa been killed?

What worried him most was how it had been done.  The number of people he knew off hand were small indeed to who could have pulled such off.  Such, of course, was not his area of expertise.  It was then he saw Lieutenant Commander D'leha Amoreen escorting the Sapphire Conglomerate members away with her team.

"Lieutenant Commander, as soon as you are done escorting your group, come find me in Station Ops.  We have a mystery to solve, and this is your area of expertise...not mine," Sukal ordered her.

"Of course, Sir.  I'll see you in fifteen," she confirmed professionally.

As the party was leaving; Sukal noted how the aide to Emissary Alyssa Winslow had looked back twice.  Even through her fur - he was sure she looked not only uncomfortable, but suspicious.  It was as if she was worried Sukal had figured out something.  He narrowed his eyes at her before she disappeared through the door with D'leha and Alyssa.  He would have to keep that one in his thoughts.  For the moment, there was nothing more to immediately do.

"I need a forensics team to the Holo Conference Room stat," Sukal added to his orders over the comm before leaving the room to let Security and Ops do their job.  He immediately made his way to Operations with his mind going at warp speed to figure out what he was missing.  Something important was escaping him, and it was beginning to frustrate the usually calm First Officer.

[Holo Conference Room - Innominatum]

Maggie looked at Sukal sadly.  "Yes Mr. Sukal.  Since this is erm... an emergency, may I suggest site to site , I'm not sure if the transporters are working for that." Deciding not to worry the man further she tapped her commbadge.

Request immediate site to site for casualty and myself from Holo Conference Room to Main Sickbay room 1.  Authorisation York Three Zero Delta Echo Charlie One Four Six Zero 

"Sir,.." she said turning to Sukal again.  "I shall do full autopsy immediately see if I can determine the weapon used."

As the lights of the transporter beam took her she hoped that Dr. Al-Hambra was in the main Innominatum Sickbay, and she was happy to see the Egyptian's face as the sickbay came into view.

[Main Sickbay, Room 1 - Innominatum]

"What's all the fuss about Magi?!" he said - always mispronouncing her name like she was Caspar, Balthazar or Melchior.  For now she ignored it.

"Ambassador, assassinated, we need to determine weapon used.  Which other than confirming his death and doing the 'paper' work is about all we can do for the patient."  Dr. York said sadly.  "Dead when we arrived, I'd say bullet to the heart going on the wound but... that's for us to determine conclusively."

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

"I need a forensics team to the Holo Conference Room stat," Sukal added to his orders over the comm before leaving the room to let Security and Ops do their job.  He immediately made his way to Operations with his mind going at warp speed to figure out what he was missing.  Something important was escaping him, and it was beginning to frustrate the usually calm First Officer.

[As NPC Ensign Alexandria Winsdor and CPO Andrew McNeil - Sciences, CPO Lena Maghouin, Chief of Security and Tactical - Innominatum]

[Sciences Lab 3 - Innominatum]

When the call came through for a forensics team Alex scooped up a forensics kit and headed for the turbolift.  She saw the Petty Officer and called across to him.  "Call for forensics, not my best sub-discipline but with Mr. Tempest being on leave we have to pull up the slack, want to come and help?"

"Yes, ok Alex!" Andrew said putting down the scalpel with which he'd been disecting a dead Tribble.  He was investigating their reproduction and seeing if it could be cross-bred with animals who had less luck in the breeding stakes.

[Holo Conference Room - Innominatum]

"Ensign Winsdor reporting for duty Commander, you needed a forensics team.  We don't have one per se but it was a secondary discipline for myself.  CPO McNeil is here to assist.  May I suggest that you call for the Security Lieutenant from Athena, he might be trained in Forensics." Alex said presenting herself to Sukal.

"I'm here too, though it's been a while since I had to use forensics!" Lena Maghouin said coming in behind the Scientists.  "Gloves on, I don't want any fingerprints of ours, although let's face it, it's gonna be a needle in a field of needles there were how many people in here Mr. Sukal?, not counting security, medical staff and random Starfleet personnel?  It's a forensics nightmare"

[Sukal]

[Holo Conference Room - Innominatum]

"Ensign Winsdor reporting for duty Commander, you needed a forensics team.  We don't have one per se but it was a secondary discipline for myself.  CPO McNeil is here to assist.  May I suggest that you call for the Security Lieutenant from Athena, he might be trained in Forensics." Alex said presenting herself to Sukal.

"I'm here too, though it's been a while since I had to use forensics!" Lena Maghouin said coming in behind the Scientists.  "Gloves on, I don't want any fingerprints of ours, although let's face it, it's gonna be a needle in a field of needles there were how many people in here Mr. Sukal?, not counting security, medical staff and random Starfleet personnel?  It's a forensics nightmare"

Prior to leaving the Conference Room - Sukal had seen the forensics team arrive.  Without the Chief Science Officer present - secondary officers had to take up the slack.

"One too many," was all Sukal told them in answer to their question of how many people had been present.  "Do the best you can.  I will be in Operations and coordinating the search from there.  Deliver your findings to Doctor York before completion, and coordinate with her before you present your report to me."

Operations Center
10 Minutes Later

"Lieutenant Taray, I need you to send Lieutenant Lek to the Holo-Conference Room to help with the forensics team.  They may need his help considering how odd the situation is," Sukal ordered as soon as he arrived in Operations when he contacted the CHALLENGER.  Lek needed to be over on the station any way in case Lahr needed support with the drug ring operation he was involved in, and the Ops Center had Lek on the ship instead.  With the alert in place, no one could come from the ship to the station without his approval.  He solved both problems at the same time.  He wasn't sure why Lek would be needed, but he never ignored his gut feeling.  Sure, it wasn't a very Vulcan thing to do, but it was quite Betazoid of him.

The Red Alert klaxon had been silenced, but a new Security alert went out from Lieutenant Commander D'leha Amoreen even as he had been waiting for her arrival.

"Security Alert!!  Ambassador Kayla and two officers are down.  I need a Med team to her quarters stat!  In pursuit of assassin on same level.  All teams be on the look out for Sapphire Conglomerate's Aide:  K'roa.  She is armed and dangerous!"

Sukal couldn't believe it.  Not just one Ambassador had been attacked, but two of them, and both of them from opposite factions.  He had figured something was wrong with the Ambassador's Aide from the Sapphire Conglomerate, but he hadn't expected the assassin to be her.  Confused, but trained to react to situations such as this - Sukal checked the map of the station before putting new security protocols into effect.

"Computer, seal off Blue 13 through Blue 15 until released by my authorization:  Zeta-Four-Nine-Theta-Omega-One-Five."

"Authorization confirmed.  Force fields in place, and Security rerouted for maximum coverage," the Computer noted.

Sukal could only hope their specialist in dealing with such cases was up to the challenge.  He had read her file, seen how she moved, and he believed there were few who were as lethal as she was in Starfleet.  If anyone could catch their assassin...it would be her.  Even so, something was plaguing Sukal's mind; though he could not fathom what he was missing.

Blue 13 - Access Corridor

D'leha stalked her prey - for that was exactly what K'roa was now.  She had noticed how the Caitian Aide had been nervous looking over her shoulder at Sukal, and that was simply too dangerous for the Betazoid to take any chances.  She had done well thus far, but she did not dare let the woman live.  Her two team members had been shot by the panicked Caitian, but that was to be expected...even welcomed.  After all, she had brushed her hand on the back of the target's neck near her pulse.  The drug went to work instantly causing mass hallucinations.  She had grabbed the nearest guard's phaser, and shot both of them at point blank.

Of course, it hadn't gone off perfectly as she had hoped.  Alyssa Winslow - the Sapphire's Ambassador had also been shot, but her wound was only to the left shoulder.  That left D'leha to pursue the woman alone - as she had hoped.  It wouldn't be for very long.  Security was in position all over the area, but for the moment she had the woman alone.  A moment was all she would need.

Now, the Caitian woman was cornered in a place she knew there was no active surveillance cameras, and D'leha never hesitated in raising her phaser rifle.  A moment later, just as the Aide turned with widened eyes towards her; D'leha snapped off a perfect shot.  The phaser beam went straight into her skull with pinpoint accuracy, and K'roa fell dead instantly without a sound.  There was not much time, but the Betazoid was use to such close calls.  Her telepathic abilities allowed her to stay aware of anyone approaching, and she knew she had about forty seconds before they closed in.  Swiftly, she pulled out the hidden prototype TP-117, and placed it in the robes of the Ambassadorial Aide.  She had seen which hand the woman had used, and made sure the weapon was neatly placed to reflect that.  D'leha had been wearing gloves - she always did when in such duties; for it made it more comfortable to use the phaser rifles...or anything else.  With that done, she backed away just in before the arrival of two Security Officers with their weapons ready.

"Ma'am, are you okay?" one of them called out as he approached.

"Quite so, but I cannot say the same for her.  My phaser was set for heavy stun, but my instincts took over.  I'm afraid she was shot directly to the head," D'leha replied, and then went back over to the body like she hadn't checked yet.  Bending down, she checked her pulse, and shook her head.  "Dead," she declared as she bowed her head.

She took a deep breath before tapping her comm badge, "Amoreen to Sukal, assassin is down.  She is dead.  I am beginning an investigation of the body now, and suggest her quarters be searched.  We'll have the body sent to Sickbay after we look her over, Sir."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO2 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Innominatum Outpost - The Pickled Pakled]

The Pakled was eerily quiet especially after the Red Alert klaxon had been silenced.  Lahr was one of the few patrons that hadn't run off the moment the alarm sounded.  As it was he wondered if he was going to be told to vacate the premise so that they could close in light of the Red Alert.   But Pickle seemed content to let him and the two others - a pair of Klingons one male one female who sat together at a table - remain.   Lahr wasn't sure but it seemed to him the larger male kept glancing his way.  Only one way to test that...

From his seat at the bar, Lahr raised his now empty glass.  "I'll have another vodka and orange... but can you fresh squeeze the oranges?  I know you keep some fresh in the back for garnish."

Pickle nodded amiably.  He locked the till and turned away to fetch the requested oranges.  While Lahr waited and had half expected, the female klingon moved from their seat at a table to sit at the bar seat beside Lahr.  The Klingon male headed for the bar door, locking it shut.

Lahr turned towards the female.  He could tell now that she wasn't full Klingon.. likely a human half-breed.  He glanced over her attire with a smile.  Leather, of course.  Did Klingons... even half-breeds (other than Helga)... wear anything else?  Though Lahr definitely thought he'd like to see Helga in something like what this one was wearing... it'd be worth the beating he'd get for oogling her.

"Hey." he greeted with tip of his head.

The female smiled back a moment.  "Rumor has it that you have a new drug for sale. Is that so?"

Lahr grinned.  "Possibly.  Are you with station security?" he questioned knowing that even if asked directly no undercover security officer would break cover to answer that... but it was good to perpetuate the misinformation.  When the Klingon woman laughed mirthlessly, Lahr figured he had his answer.

"Word travels faster than warp it seems."  He nodded.  "Yeah, I got the good stuff.  I can offer the first sample for free..." he was intending to continue his pitch when her fist suddenly slammed into his face with such force that he saw stars.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NPC Lt Taray - Chief of Security/Tactical
[USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge]

[Engineering - USS Challenger]

Lek frowned at the hail from the bridge as that meant someone hadn't done their job and that not something he'd ever tolerate. He'd just the computer log to see who hadn't notified the bridge later.

"Engineering, Lek here, all systems nominal."

He replied tersely and vowed he'd have words with whoever dropped the ball.

Taray heard the terse response back, mistaking the reason for such a clipped tone.  "Acknowledged, Chief."

The Benzite nearly asked if the Ferengi had an issue with replying to calls from Bridge or if it was just him that Lek had a problem with... but now was not the time to be dealing with such petty squabbles.  Instead Taray turned her attention to Ops.

"I want active scans of the entire area.  I want to know if any ship shows any indication of trying to power-up.  Also look for any sign of a cloaked vessel.  The murderer will likely have an escape route already planned before the deed was done.  We need to find it before they have a chance to use it!"

Rather than just relying on the crew to search, Taray had scans sent to the Command chair to so she could look them over personally.

[10 Minutes Later]

Operations Center
10 Minutes Later

"Lieutenant Taray, I need you to send Lieutenant Lek to the Holo-Conference Room to help with the forensics team.  They may need his help considering how odd the situation is," Sukal ordered as soon as he arrived in Operations when he contacted the CHALLENGER.  Lek needed to be over on the station any way in case Lahr needed support with the drug ring operation he was involved in, and the Ops Center had Lek on the ship instead.  With the alert in place, no one could come from the ship to the station without his approval.  He solved both problems at the same time.  He wasn't sure why Lek would be needed, but he never ignored his gut feeling.  Sure, it wasn't a very Vulcan thing to do, but it was quite Betazoid of him.

Taray and those at the Ops station kept searching but as yet nothing had been found.  She looked up from the Command chair's display when the Commander's order came through.

"Acknowledged, sir.  We'll have him sent over."

A quick change of comm lines and Taray was calling for Lek.

"Taray to Lt Lek.  The Commander has requested your attendance at the Holo-Conference Room on Innominatum to help with the Forensics team.  Make your way there immediately via the docking hatch - all Transporter activity is on hold presently."

[Lek]

NPC Lt Taray - Chief of Security/Tactical
[USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge]

Taray heard the terse response back, mistaking the reason for such a clipped tone.  "Acknowledged, Chief."

The Benzite nearly asked if the Ferengi had an issue with replying to calls from Bridge or if it was just him that Lek had a problem with... but now was not the time to be dealing with such petty squabbles.  Instead Taray turned her attention to Ops.

"I want active scans of the entire area.  I want to know if any ship shows any indication of trying to power-up.  Also look for any sign of a cloaked vessel.  The murderer will likely have an escape route already planned before the deed was done.  We need to find it before they have a chance to use it!"

Rather than just relying on the crew to search, Taray had scans sent to the Command chair to so she could look them over personally.

[10 Minutes Later]
Taray and those at the Ops station kept searching but as yet nothing had been found.  She looked up from the Command chair's display when the Commander's order came through.

"Acknowledged, sir.  We'll have him sent over."

A quick change of comm lines and Taray was calling for Lek.

"Taray to Lt Lek.  The Commander has requested your attendance at the Holo-Conference Room on Innominatum to help with the Forensics team.  Make your way there immediately via the docking hatch - all Transporter activity is on hold presently."

[Engineering --> Docking Hatch - USS Challenger]

Lek was already irritated over the delayed reply to the bridge when he received orders to report to the holo-conference room.

"Forensics team? What in the Vault of Eternal Destitution have I got to do with Forensics?" He growled loud enough that one of the engineering crewmen jumped in surprise. Lek ignored him as he replied in an even tone.

"Understood. On my way."

Lek shouted for Gianetti to take over.

"I have no idea what I'm supposed to accomplish, so I have no idea how long I will be gone. Make certain we can depart without delay if you need to. Don't wait for me, with the transporters locked down, it will take too long for me to get back if they need us in a hurry."

Lek then exited engineering and made his way to the docking hatch. He would wait to see if anyone was supposed to escort him for five minutes then he would just go to the holo-conference room on his own.

[Zavrol Gohun]

[Mjolnir En route to DS9]

[As Ruth|T'ealc|Arya|Katya]

"What about fun things to do?  While we intend to study hard, everyone needs a break and something other than reading textbooks! Parties, cinema, sports..?" Arya asked.

"Do they have Parises Squares teams?" Katya asked "Always wanted to try that!"

T'ealc laughed "Be sure to take along a medical cadet if you're doing that Katya, I've never known a practice not end in at least a minor injury of some sort, some rather major ones!"

Ruth chuckled "Won't be the first bone she's broken Petty Officer!"

"Broken...bones...in a game?"  Katya asked.

"Oh yeah, very physical game!  But sorry I'm taking away from your sister's question... do tell us about non-study activities Crewman." T'ealc drew the conversation back to leisure activities.

"That's a cool idea Mr. Litt.  We'll hear from Mr. Gohun first and then we'll play a round or two of this game.  Anyone want food or drink, I'll play waitress!"

As Gohun started to regret his decision to go to on this short trip he remembered his anxiety about joining Starfleet.
"I know we have a team in Parises Squares but I never followed the activity, to be honest. There also was the entire planet earth to have fun on and one could even get to mars on good shore leaves. There are also plenty of bars to have fun in. "
With that Gohun checked on the ETA to Deep Space Nine.
"Are we there yet?"

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO2 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Innominatum Outpost - The Pickled Pakled]

The stars had just begun to stop dancing about his head when Lahr was roughly hauled to his feet and half dragged to a darker corner of the bar.  There the beating continued for several minutes.  Lahr was held down and kicked and punched in the gut several times by the Klingon female.  With each strike she passed on a message.  It was the message that assured the Andorian that this was just a 'friendly' visit and not something more permanent.

"This outpost... is ours, Andorian.  Your goods.. are ours now.  Your source... ours....You can ... either work for us... or die. Choose."

At this point the beating stopped and Lahr groaned.  "Not much of a choice is it?" he painfully remarked.

But his comment wasn't appreciated by the female Klingon.  "I'll take that as a refusal." she said with a scowl and nodded to male Klingon.

Lahr cringed back and held up a hand rather pathetically. "Whoa, hey...  chill! I'm in.  I like breathing too much to give it up for a few extra credits or latinum."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Engineering --> Docking Hatch - USS Challenger]

Lek was already irritated over the delayed reply to the bridge when he received orders to report to the holo-conference room.

"Forensics team? What in the Vault of Eternal Destitution have I got to do with Forensics?" He growled loud enough that one of the engineering crewmen jumped in surprise. Lek ignored him as he replied in an even tone.

"Understood. On my way."

Lek shouted for Gianetti to take over.

"I have no idea what I'm supposed to accomplish, so I have no idea how long I will be gone. Make certain we can depart without delay if you need to. Don't wait for me, with the transporters locked down, it will take too long for me to get back if they need us in a hurry."

Lek then exited engineering and made his way to the docking hatch. He would wait to see if anyone was supposed to escort him for five minutes then he would just go to the holo-conference room on his own.

When Lek arrived at the docking hatch, he was questioned by the two security enforcing the lockdown.   They contacted Lt Commander Sukal to confirm Lek's orders then at the confirmation had a second pair of security guide the Chief Engineer to the Holodeck Conference Room.

[Lek]

[Docking Hatch --> Holo-Conference Room]

When Lek arrived at the docking hatch, he was questioned by the two security enforcing the lockdown.   They contacted Lt Commander Sukal to confirm Lek's orders then at the confirmation had a second pair of security guide the Chief Engineer to the Holodeck Conference Room.

Lek followed his escorts and on reaching the holo-conference room he looked around and could see things had not gone to plan. There was a dead person on the floor, lots of security and a very harried looking first officer. Not knowing why he'd been summoned, he did what you did in such situations.

"Lieutenant Lek reporting as ordered."

And waited for instructions.

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

As Gohun started to regret his decision to go to on this short trip he remembered his anxiety about joining Starfleet.
"I know we have a team in Parises Squares but I never followed the activity, to be honest. There also was the entire planet earth to have fun on and one could even get to mars on good shore leaves. There are also plenty of bars to have fun in. "
With that Gohun checked on the ETA to Deep Space Nine.
"Are we there yet?"

[Mjolnir - En Route to DS9]

[Ruth|T'ealc|Arya|Katya]

Recognising both that the crewman was either immature, bored, anxious or all three Lt. T'ealc moved to Gohun.  "I'm not a keen flyer either, I'm fine on a starship because it's so big and the transition is smooth you forget you're in them.  And there's generally plenty to do.  In a smaller craft you hope that there isn't anything to go wrong and..."

There was a loud **CLUNK** Ruth swore in Icelandic as the steering went a little funny.

"Space junk I think.  Now what's actually causing this to be about 4 degrees off..." she slowed to Warp 2.  "We don't have an Engineer with us dammit... I am sure there will be tools in here somewhere but we need to find out what has gone wrong first."

She did a few experimental weaving turns... then her screen output went black.

"Ó fyrir helvítis sakir!¹" she exclaimed.  "I think whatever it was is out of the steering but now we're flying blind.  I'm going to come to a full stop, and see if we can get this sorted.  OK anyone have any engineering skills?"

She silently prayed under her breath to Odin and Freya.

"And crewman, no we are not there yet, nor are we likely to be unless you can magic some tools out of that 'overnight bag' you brought along with a strategy to get our computer systems back up and running... and then I estimate that we have another 36 hours, 24 at full warp before we reach Deep Space Nine.  We were running to schedule.  However, if you are bothered once you've made yourself useful if you can with trying to solve this problem then I can have Lt. T'ealc sedate you for a while, the trip might not seem so long then."

"I thought this thing was new?" Katya said, who already had the panel off on the side of the pilot's controls.  She held up a blackened chip.  "Do we have a spare?, some of the wiring seems to have been cut too.  That I can't fix.  I can swap out chips but we only did very basic engineering at high school.  This has been sabotaged."

"Litt, since neither of us are flying anywhere, contact Innominatum and copy it to Lt. Sukal, have anyone that worked on this shuttle arrested, have them check the security footage too. Then advise DS9 that we shall be sometime late, calculate our last known position working with Arya, and see if a rescue crew can come out with a spare part if you or Mr Gohun can't McGyver this to work at least nominally.  We need to get the girls and their gear to DS9 by 42 hours time maximum.  If need be, although I'm loathe to do it, we could have them pick up myself, the twins and their stuff and send an engineer with a part slower. Arya and Katya cannot miss that shuttle."

"Mr. Litt we are at this point on the Fenenginar/Argus/Maxia/Denobula sector crossroads near enough, possibly about 4 clicks north of that.  Would the AR-558 station have any supplies? Could we limp into there?" Arya asked.

"We could if we could see where we were going Arya, but flying blind in territory I'm not familiar with is not something I want to do.  Tell you what.  Mr. Litt you contact Innominatum and the Challenger.  Basically alert them to our situation and ask for the security feeds to be checked for the Challenger shuttlebay where Mjolnir was kept.  Of course it's entirely possible that this happened before they arrived.  Also advise that they go over the Delta Flyers for the outpost with a fine tooth comb.  Arya you contact DS9 and AR-558 explaining our predicament.  It could be that DS9 can send out some swift craft for us and pick you two and myself up and AR-558 can send out an engineer and part.  See what you can do.  You are all crew and crews pull together in crises."

¹TRANS: Oh FFS!!!

[OOC: REFERENCE - I/J 8/9 on map and Alpha Sector]

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Meanwhile in the Innominatum Sickbay...about 4-5 hours later]

[As NPC Dr. Maggie York Challenger CMO and Dr. Karim Al-Hambra Innominatum CMO]
Maggie and Karim (Dr. Al-Hambra) slowly walked out of the room they'd used for the postmortem and gave each other a puzzled look.

"Ok... Maggie... say it!" Karim said.

"Say what? That we haven't got much to work on but we have one very dead Ambassador, and a dead aide that .... hmmm let me check a few things." Maggie said puzzled.

"Well you haven't said it in as many words, but it boils down to 'something doesn't add up here!'!!" the Egyptian doctor said, his head on one side.

"Bear with me one sec, in the meantime can you be looking up what weapons use Titanium bullets, and wounds from them.  Or contact Tactical and ask them to look in their files." she asked, while signalling to a nurse she didn't know.

"Be an angel and get us 2 coffees a very large round of BLT for me, Cheese and Pickle?..."/color] her Innominatum counterpart gave a small nod of appreciation of her remembering that he didn't eat any meat. "... c&p sarnies for Doc Al-Hambra please, and thanks, get yourself a little something if you like, I don't think either of us are in any mood to complain and we medics, at the moment, need to take our breaks on the run!"

"Yes, Ma'am." the nurse answered with a grateful smile, she'd been holding the fort while the postmortem was underway and there had been a lot of panicked people thinking Leyton was loose on the Outpost.

Dr. York to Lt. Commander Sukal and Security Chiefs.  Report incoming on the Ambassador's postmortem.  Do we have a seating plan of who was sitting where in the conference.  Highlighted in report will possibly help eliminate some people. York out

REPORT:

Tiny traces of Titanium (Ti) around wound entry/exit suggest that the bullet was made of this metal.  Recommend (we are looking) Security look for weapons which might take these kind of projectiles.

No powder residue or burns around the wound, blood had congeled but not burnt.

Suggest that bullet travelled no more than 8-10cm before penetrating flesh, this because density of Ti is 4.43g/cm³ thus it is approximately ¹/₄ the density of steel.  Thus a weapon would have to be fired at point blank range for it to have penetrated the 4 layers of robes, skin, the entire body, and 4 layers at the other side.  Bullet was not found amongst clothing thus suggest that it will be embedded in seat or somewhere close to where we found the body.

~ END REPORT ~

"Maggie...?"  Karim began.

"Hmm?" she answered her brain trying not to go off in 4 different directions.

"I've found a couple of reports from Dr. Bashir, Chief O'Brien.  Something to do with a micro transporter suppressor that was Ezri Dax worked that one out..."

"Oh I've heard of that, I think Starfleet used something like that against the Borg, but they abandoned it in favour of the regenerative phase rifles.  Forward the references to Sukal, see what he can use."

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

Lek followed his escorts and on reaching the holo-conference room he looked around and could see things had not gone to plan. There was a dead person on the floor, lots of security and a very harried looking first officer. Not knowing why he'd been summoned, he did what you did in such situations.

"Lieutenant Lek reporting as ordered."

And waited for instructions.

[Holo Conference Room]

[As NPC CPO Lena Maghouin, Chief of Innominatum Security]

"Hi Mr. Lek.  At the moment looking for a needle in a sack of needles, obviously looking for a murder weapon and a bullet, although I don't have autopsy res.... oh maybe spoke too soon." Chief Maghouin smiled ruefully.

[Meanwhile in the Innominatum Sickbay...about 4-5 hours later]

[As NPC Dr. Maggie York Challenger CMO and Dr. Karim Al-Hambra Innominatum CMO]

Dr. York to Lt. Commander Sukal and Security Chiefs.  Report incoming on the Ambassador's postmortem.  Do we have a seating plan of who was sitting where in the conference.  Highlighted in report will possibly help eliminate some people. York out

REPORT:

Tiny traces of Titanium (Ti) around wound entry/exit suggest that the bullet was made of this metal.  Recommend (we are looking) Security look for weapons which might take these kind of projectiles.

No powder residue or burns around the wound, blood had congeled but not burnt.

Suggest that bullet travelled no more than 8-10cm before penetrating flesh, this because density of Ti is 4.43g/cm³ thus it is approximately ¹/₄ the density of steel.  Thus a weapon would have to be fired at point blank range for it to have penetrated the 4 layers of robes, skin, the entire body, and 4 layers at the other side.  Bullet was not found amongst clothing thus suggest that it will be embedded in seat or somewhere close to where we found the body.

~ END REPORT ~

"Hmmm does this make any sense to you Mr. Lek... ring any bells??" Lena asked showing him the report.

[Lek]

[Holo Conference Room]

[As NPC CPO Lena Maghouin, Chief of Innominatum Security]

"Hi Mr. Lek.  At the moment looking for a needle in a sack of needles, obviously looking for a murder weapon and a bullet, although I don't have autopsy res.... oh maybe spoke too soon." Chief Maghouin smiled ruefully.

REPORT:

Tiny traces of Titanium (Ti) around wound entry/exit suggest that the bullet was made of this metal.  Recommend (we are looking) Security look for weapons which might take these kind of projectiles.

No powder residue or burns around the wound, blood had congeled but not burnt.

Suggest that bullet travelled no more than 8-10cm before penetrating flesh, this because density of Ti is 4.43g/cm³ thus it is approximately ¹/₄ the density of steel.  Thus a weapon would have to be fired at point blank range for it to have penetrated the 4 layers of robes, skin, the entire body, and 4 layers at the other side.  Bullet was not found amongst clothing thus suggest that it will be embedded in seat or somewhere close to where we found the body.

~ END REPORT ~

"Hmmm does this make any sense to you Mr. Lek... ring any bells??" Lena asked showing him the report.

[Holo Conference Room - Innominatum Outpost]

Lek looked at the report and became even more confused as to why he'd been summoned.

"Autopsy reports, ballistics, tritanium traces, this was security work not engineering."

He thought and was baffled that anyone would think he would know anything about any of this information.

"I am sorry Chief. Everything you have said or shown me is security related. I can tell you about ship mounted weapons, but I am not a personal weapons specialist. I didn't know anyone still used weapons with bullets, let alone a bullet made of something as specific as one made with tritanium. I can research such a weapon, but it's nothing I've ever heard of."

[Stryker]

[Cargo Bay 8 - Innominatum Outpost - Earlier]

Tal looked at the burly Security Lieutenant and then down at the deceased.  "It would appear, Sir that someone had an aversion to this gentleman going about his business.  He appears to have a knife in his back, and I'd go as far as to hypothesise that this was indeed the murder weapon.  I made some tentative enquiries and it appears he came to the outpost yesterday on standard transport according to the security camera footage, and didn't book a room.  Looks like he was expecting to be in and out as soon as possible.  I suggest however, that you question patrons of the Pickled Pakled for information, since that was where he spent the majority of his short-lived visit."

Sukal was by the Doctor's side when the announcement was made.  From what he could see of the wound - it seemed a perfect hole was right where Li Sighn'wa's heart would have been.  The damage was considerable, and clearly had been lethal from the moment of impact.  What made the wound seem strange to Sukal was it was not a stab wound.  At first, he had thought the Ambassador had been assassinated via a knife or other melee weapon from one of the people close at hand, but the wound left behind was nothing like anything he had seen such weapons do.  This looked like something a projectile would make, but such weapons were indeed rare on the station so far as he knew.  Even the TR-116 rifles were still rather limited despite being effective sniper weapons.  The odds of such a weapon actually belonging to the assassin was...rather...far fetched.  He felt like he was missing something, but what it was continued to elude him.

"Doctor, have the body moved to Sickbay.  Ambassadors are to be escorted to their quarters by faction," Sukal ordered, and the Security teams started with those closest at hand.  "I apologize, Ambassadors, but you all will have to remain in your quarters until the investigation is over with," he continued as the frenzied aliens and humans began shouting over each other about wanting to go first, wanting Starfleet to do more to protect them, and some calling out that it had been a setup to begin with.  Some voices he heard accusing Admiral Leyton of the assassination - a prospect Sukal had not overlooked.  After all, the Conference had been about uniting the region against Leyton, and possibly finding out more about where he was located.  But, if that had truly been the case - then why had only Ambassador Sighn'wa been killed?

What worried him most was how it had been done.  The number of people he knew off hand were small indeed to who could have pulled such off.  Such, of course, was not his area of expertise.  It was then he saw Lieutenant Commander D'leha Amoreen escorting the Sapphire Conglomerate members away with her team.

"Lieutenant Commander, as soon as you are done escorting your group, come find me in Station Ops.  We have a mystery to solve, and this is your area of expertise...not mine," Sukal ordered her.

"Of course, Sir.  I'll see you in fifteen," she confirmed professionally.

As the party was leaving; Sukal noted how the aide to Emissary Alyssa Winslow had looked back twice.  Even through her fur - he was sure she looked not only uncomfortable, but suspicious.  It was as if she was worried Sukal had figured out something.  He narrowed his eyes at her before she disappeared through the door with D'leha and Alyssa.  He would have to keep that one in his thoughts.  For the moment, there was nothing more to immediately do.

"I need a forensics team to the Holo Conference Room stat," Sukal added to his orders over the comm before leaving the room to let Security and Ops do their job.  He immediately made his way to Operations with his mind going at warp speed to figure out what he was missing.  Something important was escaping him, and it was beginning to frustrate the usually calm First Officer.

Cargo bay 8

Sven sighed, and gave Tal a look. "Ya, I don't think that knife grew legs and threw itself at this man. Obviously someone wanted him out of the picture." he straightened up and received the call from Sukal. "On my way." 

A short bit later Sven was back in Holo conference room 2

Holo conference room 2

Sven surveyed the room. What a mess.

"I want to know who was assigned to what seat." he said. "Did anyone have the seating assignments?"

[Sukal]

Innomitaum Station
Operations Center

Lieutenant Commander Sukal faced Lieutenant Commander D'leha Amoreen...his face unreadable as she gave her report on the death of Ambassadorial Aide K'roa.  Every word of what she said seemed true, but he found he could not read her mind.  Of course, she was a full Betazoid, and she had been properly trained to guard her thoughts - even against torture.  Not that Sukal would ever resort to such methods, but it made him curious as to if she was hiding anything.  Without anything else to go on; all he could do was listen.

"I found this on her, Sir.  I have only seen two in my time.  They are a prototype ballistic pistol based off of the TR-116 Sniper Rifles Starfleet reinstated after their effectiveness at the Battle of Sector 001.  It uses a tritanium shell, and is considered extremely lethal in the correct hands.  Even an advanced weapons scan would not have picked it up as it has no energy signature, and...as you can see...it is rather small...about half the size of the new Type-II Hand Phasers.  I suspect she used that weapon to murder Ambassador Sighn'wa, Sir, but forensics will have to judge that for themselves.  Her quarters are still being searched," D'leha finished.

Sukal turned to face to viewport showing the USS JAMARAN on patrol in the distance.  It was a well laid out report just as he would have expected from someone with her attention to details, but he couldn't shake an uneasy feeling.

"I see.  Well, you did well, Ms. Amoreen.  I want this report completely written up in detail before you are moved back to your ship.  The Captain, and more importantly, Starfleet Command, is going to want a full explanation of what happened today," Sukal told her...his voice quiet, but clear.

D'leha nodded as she replied, "It will be on your desk before tomorrow morning, Sir."

"Dismissed," he said, but he did not look back.  He could feel her leave, and that made him realize he suddenly had a rather impressive headache.  Sukal frowned at this strange sensation.  He usually only got such massive headaches when he over used his telepathic abilities, or if something happened to the Space/Time Continuum in his immediate area.  But, so far as he knew nothing had been reported of any strange temporal phenomenon in the area - much less the sector.  He had been brushing his mind against D'leha's in the hopes of getting something from her, but he hadn't been pushing all that hard.  There had been nothing he could get from her, and rather than be invasive - he had backed off.

Dr. York to Lt. Commander Sukal and Security Chiefs.  Report incoming on the Ambassador's postmortem.  Do we have a seating plan of who was sitting where in the conference.  Highlighted in report will possibly help eliminate some people. York out

REPORT:

Tiny traces of Titanium (Ti) around wound entry/exit suggest that the bullet was made of this metal.  Recommend (we are looking) Security look for weapons which might take these kind of projectiles.

No powder residue or burns around the wound, blood had congeled but not burnt.

Suggest that bullet travelled no more than 8-10cm before penetrating flesh, this because density of Ti is 4.43g/cm3 thus it is approximately 1/4 the density of steel.  Thus a weapon would have to be fired at point blank range for it to have penetrated the 4 layers of robes, skin, the entire body, and 4 layers at the other side.  Bullet was not found amongst clothing thus suggest that it will be embedded in seat or somewhere close to where we found the body.

~ END REPORT ~

When the Doctor stated she had a report for him; Sukal was quick to go to the PADD and download it immediately.  The report he read seemed to collaborate Ms. Amoreen's report just made to him.  A tritainum shell was used.  It would have had to have been fired at point blank.  Considering The Sapphire Conglomerate and the Scorpion Triad were sitting in close proximity - this also panned out.  The weapon she had recovered from K'roa suggested it would need to fired at point blank range.  Everything matched beautifully.

Everything...except his instincts.  There was no logic to him thinking there was something missing.  So far, everything lined up neatly, and thus did not give room for him to think of a missing piece.  Yet, the sensation was there, and he simply couldn't shake it.

"Sukal to Lieutenant Aune.  I have just been informed by Ms. Amoreen that the weapon responsible for the Ambassador's death is a TP-117 Pistol - based off of the TR-116 Rifle.  Considering her background in counter-espionage, protection, assassination, and other such duties - such seems quite logical.  I want you and your team to look over the site carefully to see if there is anything further to collaborate her report with Medical's.  Time is of the essence, Lieutenant.  If Lek is there, and he can help as Chief O'Brien did, excellent, but if not have him carry on with whatever duties he needs to take care of," the First Officer ordered before going to the Commander's Office to sit.

His head was literally throbbing, and Sukal had the nasty feeling that D'leha was the cause.  He couldn't prove it, but he had been fine before she came to give her report, and when she left he was suddenly hit with this headache.  Something was far from right here, but without anything solid to point out - Sukal could only wait until more answers came up.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO2 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Innominatum Outpost - The Pickled Pakled]

Lahr cringed back and held up a hand rather pathetically. "Whoa, hey...  chill!  I'm in.  I like breathing too much to give it up for a few extra credits or latinum."
...

The Klingon female held up a hand to stop her partner from making good on her threat to kill him.  Lahr laid back on the floor in relief.  His ribs ached from the abuse taken so far... several were likely cracked... and he definitely had some internal bleeding.  Undercover work sucked!  Explaining this to the doctors was gonna be fun.   'I tripped' wasn't gonna cut it.

"So Andorian.."

"I do have a name y'know.." Lahr interjected from his place on the floor at her feet, testing the Klingon woman's tolerance, now that he'd 'switched sides'.

"... your goods.  Who makes them?" she continued on as if he hadn't interrupted.  The male however gave Lahr another kick... supposedly to point out to him that they weren't 'friends' now.

Lahr doubled over in renewed pain, groaning.   Because of this he didn't answer right away which only upset the Klingons more.  A few choice insults were thrown his way, as the burly male picked him up by his shirt collar.  Lahr struggled weakly.  "No more..." he pleaded.   "Look I don't know the source. I'm not the brains of this venture.. I just have the gift of gab.. so I am way better at sales than he.  But I can arrange for you.. or rather your boss... to meet with him."

The woman scowled. The Klingon male gave Lahr a rough shake.

"You'll contact him now to have him meet us."

"Now?! During a Red Alert?  Is that even smart?"  His remark earned him yet another punch to the gut from the female.  The only thing that kept Lahr standing was the Klingon male holding him up.

"I didn't ask for you to comment.  I told you to contact him.  Do it!"

Lahr's antennae drooped and he nodded weakly.  "Yeah, okay.  My bad."

Lahr went to reach into his pocket to pull out his communicator, when the woman grabbed his hand to stop him.  She checked his pockets, pulling out the communicator and a handful of sample packets that he'd been looking to distribute today.   She stuffed the small packets into her cleavage before handing Lahr his communication device. "Call.  Tell him you need to speak to him in person urgently."

"Yeah sure thing..."

Lahr opened the communicator and called the Ferengi on the Chief Engineer's personal PADD - audio only.

"Lahr to Lek."

During a Red Alert, Lahr figured the Chief Engineer would be in Main Engineering... so his chances of getting through to Lek were not good.  But that could work out for the better.... as long as Helga's evil twin didn't take his failure to contact his partner out on him physically.