See through one's own eyes

Posted on Fri Jan 26, 2018 @ 1:02am by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings & Lieutenant Arashi Tanaka Mr.

1,342 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Divide et Impera ~ Chapter 2: Heralding the Chase
Location: Morgue
Timeline: 0345 hours

Nicole ran through Sickbay, barely acknowledging her staff. The hallway leading to the morgue was deliberately off to the side and out of the way, and she was glad for the privacy. The morgue was rarely referred to directly in Sickbay, a traditional superstition. Usually it was referred to as "the room" or some such. No one enjoyed thinking of death, so most didn't acknowledge it, and few had to enter it.

As Nicole entered the outer waiting room, she heard the transporter chime sound, knowing the empty examination table would now filled with the remains of Lieutenant Grayson. Nicole set her bag down on a nearby counter and opened it, pulling out a small black tube. She opened it and rubbed it along the underside of her highly-sensitive nose, blocking the odor of death. She replaced the tube in her bag and stripped out of her uniform, putting it in a storage locker and grabbing a sterile suit.

Once she was properly attired, she walked into the morgue and looked over her patient, sighing. "I'm sorry, Martin," she said. She grabbed a tricorder and set about her task. "Computer," she said, "please alert Captain Kennit, Commander Hunter, Doctor Sanders and Lieutenant Tanaka to report to the morgue immediately."

"Acknowledged," the computer said.

Nicole began scanning quietly, waiting for company.

A moment later Cassandra appeared in the entrance of the room. "What happened?" she said, not wasting time with small talk. There was no telling when the circus would begin.

"I don't know, I only just started," Nicole said, quietly. "But according to Penny he's been murdered."

"Damn," Cassandra said, looking at Grayson's body. "Any clue who?" she asked, hopefully.

"Well--"

Alec arrived at the room moments later. He knew Rhea was in her Ready Room and would be here shortly. He nodded at Cassandra and then quickly directed his attention to Nicole as she was already into her exam. "What happened?" He asked unaware that Cassandra had voiced the same question only moments earlier.

"Lieutenant Grayson is dead, that's about all we've surmised thus far," Nicole said. "I only just got here, myself."

The doors to the morgue parted. Captain Kennit entered, her expression neutral but her body radiating tension, anger, and something else which had no immediate description which could be named. Seeing the corpse on the exam table, she snarled out “qaStah nuq jay’?” Realized she’d spoken in Klingon, and repeated in a tone just as venomous as her Klingon words “What the hell is going on?”

Alec turned and faced her, "That's what we're trying to find out Captain. It seems we have an unexplained mystery on our hands." He nodded towards Nicole, "Hopefully the good Doctor can tell us more."

"Yes, unlike the garden variety 'explained mystery', this is unexplained," she said, turning to the body. "No obvious marks above the clothing, livor mortis is clear, skin has pulled back from the hair and nails, and the body is past cold. He's been dead at least fifty hours going by his color, how long he was missing his shifts, and his overall state of deterioration. For the rest I'll need a tricorder and an hour."

Arashi had arrived with Penny when the captain had arrived. He had tried to come up with a possible motive, but things had been so busy that he didn't even get to eat a meal before he arrived. Things were getting a bit dicey now that someone was murdered and he wanted to know who did it. He wanted to get to the bottom of this and take his pound of flesh, such as it was. "We had a suspicious death. We found Grayson dead in his room and no signs of a struggle. There was no sign of forced entry or anything, we didn't find anything but Grayson's fingerprints everywhere. The rest of the details I assume that the Lieutenant will tell us about." He said to the captain, nodding to Penny.

Her expression didn’t waver, though something in her eyes took on a flinty, hard glint. In a deceptively soft voice, she said “So.. there was no indication of any struggle. No sign of forced entry to his quarters. No evidence of...anything...found. And this you find suspicious because.... “

"He's dead?" Penny suggested.

"Beep, beep, Penny!" Nicole and Cassandra said in unison.

"Lieutenant Grayson was a healthy, happy human being a few days ago, now he's dropped dead," Nicole said. "Until I know what killed him, we should treat it as a homicide.

Alec looked at the others, "Then proceeding along those lines, Mr.Tanaka and his security forces should begin a thorough background check of the late Mr.Grayson's activities, where he went,who he was with or if anyone came and saw him. I'm convinced there are clues, we're just seeing them." What he didn't say but was thinking and he was sure w Rhea was as well. This was murder, but it wasn't plain or simple. It was done by a professional who knew how to cover his or her tracks. "I also think any security tapes we can pull to help we should."

"I will get on that right away."Tanaka said. He headed to his office and went to begin his investigation. He wanted to get to the bottom of this and capture the man responsible. It showed in the urgency with which he moved.

"He is wound too tight," Nicole said, watching Tanaka leave. She looked at the Captain and a moment of fear flashed in her eyes. She glanced at the chronometer on the wall and then around the room. "It's almost 0500 now. I suggest we file our reports and prepare for our shifts." She looked at the Captain and XO. "I'll have a complete report for both of you by 0600."

The Captain nodded, her eyes dark and intensely focused. “As soon as possible..”

"Captain Kennit," the computer suddenly interrupted.

“This is Captain Kennit. Go ahead.” She answered curtly.

"The signal you have been monitoring for has been located," the computer said.

“Current course heading and distance from Victory?” She asked.

"Heading 224 mark 315, approximately fifteen light years away and opening," the computer said.

“Maintain current course and speed. Keep the target vessel at the edges of our sensor range, but keep him in range.” Kennit answered. “Adjust our course and speed as needed.”

"Remote probes indicate a space station along his heading, affiliation unknown," the computer supplied.

“Data on the station?” The Captain replied. “Size, defensive and offensive capabilities.. how many other ships present if any..”

"Fifty-three other vessels detected," the computer said. "Data as to composition, layout, defensive and offensive capabilities unknown due to lack of contact with station officials."

With a glance toward her XO, Kennit said “Well. Our orders are to make contact with other civilizations in this region. Let’s go say ‘hello’.”

Alec gave a nod of hois head and replied, "By all means. It's impolite not to say hello and we may be a lot of things but we're not impolite." He grew serious. "Do you want to go to Yellow Alert since we are the crashing the party?"

She shook her head. “No need for that. There is no evidence at this time of hostilities. We are representatives of the Federation. One big happy family..” she added, her voice almost mocking as she spoke. “We have to appear friendly, but stay alert on sensors and com. There’s a difference between being friendly and being stupid.”

Alec caught Rhea's slight mocking tone but made no comment on it. "I quite agree Captain and we are far from being stupid and as far as being friendly that has it's limits."

"Okie dokie," Penny said, "setting one happy and friendly course." She set the replicated meal down on a side counter and rushed out, heading for the bridge.

Nicole rubbed her eyes. "I'll have preliminary autopsy reports ready within an hour," she said. It was going to be a long day.

 

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