Away team Alpha: Meeting the Natives

Posted on Fri Mar 30, 2018 @ 8:06pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Lieutenant Commander Miguel Torres & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings & Senior Chief Petty Officer Samantha Summers

4,802 words; about a 24 minute read

Mission: Divide et Impera ~ Chapter 2: Heralding the Chase
Location: Station
Timeline: Coincides with Away Team Beta: XO and Company

[Transporter Room]

The Captain was first to arrive in the transporter room. She was dressed impeccably in a Fleet Intel service dress uniform, one step down from a formal dress uniform. After all, she wanted to make an impression but wasn’t of the opinion full dress uniforms were warranted at this time. Leaning against the console, she studied the sensor data of the area they were to beam into while awaiting the arrival of the rest of her away team.

Penny skidded through the doors and saluted quickly upon seeing the Captain, then stopped. "Oh, was I supposed to change? Are we going full formal?"

Turning at the sound of Penny’s rushed arrival, the Captain answered “I believe in making a good first impression. Especially since we have a second team going over there in less noticeable attire to.. snoop around.”

Torres entered the transporter room just as the Captain had finished her sentence. The way he was playing with his collar, one could tell he was uncomfortable wearing the Fleet Engineering service dress uniform.

CPO Summers walked into the Transporter Room watching the others watch her enter. She didn't like being there, but at least she was able to move about and contribute. She looked at the Captain. " Ma'am, this 'costume' I've been forced to wear. It...'itches,'...and it..'exposes' to much of me..." Summers felt her face turning slightly green with embarrassment. And anger.

Unfazed, Kennit replied “Orders were for this away team to be dressed in service dress uniform. We are here for official business and need to look the part to allow Commander Hunter and his team time to blend in and take a closer look around.”

Summers looked at Kennit with a somewhat look of disdain, but then nodded. "As you wish and order, Ma'am. "

Once everyone assigned to the away team had arrived, the Captain ordered them to take position on the transporter pad. Beaming over to the station, they were met by a small humanoid male with pale skin, and blue hair. By small, Kennit meant small. Administrator Fulvus Finnagund stood all of 4” tall. Despite his diminutive stature, he still managed to stand glowering down at them while looking up at them, clearly annoyed. “Well?” he barked after a moment, the universal translator conveying his words. “Don’t stand there gawking. This way!” With a jerk of his head, Administrator Finnagund turned and stomped off without a backward look.

“Guess we follow...” Kennit said before setting out in the little man’s wake.

Penny let the others pass and brought up the rear, keeping behind Summers as they followed the Administrator. He reminded her of a professor she'd had at the academy, an unnaturally short Bolian who taught Federation History 105 and would step up on a stool in front of your desk and stare at you until you either came up with the correct answer or broke down in tears thinking of it. Few raised their hands in his class unless they were sure of themselves. The Captain often appeared sure of herself, but Penny was giving their team only a 65% chance of getting the whereabouts of Captain Hunter out of this man.

Fulvus walked down the hallways quickly, threading through passers-by and going around corner after corner until they were away from the crowd and stepping through a set of sliding doors into quieter, more orderly offices. He pulled a small rod from his pocket and slipped it into an access port by a doorway, and the doors parted to reveal a small but somewhat tidy office. He came around his desk and sat down, lacing his fingers. "Now," he said, "what is your complaint?"

“Complaint?” The Captain shook her head. “I think perhaps the translation was not as accurate as we hoped. I'd hoped to arrange for a trade. My crew would, I think, benefit from fresh food; vegetables, fruits, cheeses...things of that nature. Something to provide a change from the routine.”

Administrator Fulvus gave a small "hmph" and sat back in his chair. "So why did you contact us? We simply make sure the station is functioning. If you wish to do business, there are vendors around the clock who can help you. No one comes to me unless they need to complain about something."

Kennit smiled a little, “I am familiar with the feeling Administrator. As Captain my days are often dominated by demanding senior staff, my chief medical officer I’m quite certain spends several hours of her daily routine coming up with new and unusual ways to aggravate me..”

She shook her head, “No, I did not request your time to make a complaint of some kind. On the contrary over the years I have served the Federation if there’s one universal truth, it’s that the Administrator of a station such as this is in a position to know everything which is going on. You know who among your regular personnel and business travelers can be trusted. Who is trustworthy. Who is not. I hoped to gain insight about the traders who operate here. I don’t want to make my crew sick with bad food supplies, or arrange to transport items from here back to our operational base only to have the items damaged or lost in transit. I hoped you could point me in the right direction..”

Fulvus gave another "humph" and sat back in his chair. "I can't recommend any one food vendor over another personally, but in general we've made it clear that poisoning customers is bad for business. Any vendor will be happy to tell you why his or her competition can't be trusted. Perhaps you can choose the lesser of the devils that way. As for shipping, all transit is done through one main shipping office on level thirty five. A Mister...." he searched his memory for the name. "Kelba, I believe his name is, oversees it. If you wish to know how your goods will be transported, see him."

“Mister Kelba,” Kennit echoed with a smile and nod of acknowledgement. “Administrator Fulvus, Thank you for your time and advice. If you could point us in the right direction we will seek Mister Kelba out now, and not take up more of your day.”

"Back out the way you came, down sixteen decks, to the blue quadrant and he's at the end of the 31st section," Fulvus said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got other complaints to deal with."

Summers looked at the this 'Administrator Fulvus,' and then back at the group. "What a wind bag," she muttered under her breath.

Fulvus' head snapped up from his computer terminal and his face took on an orange-ish tinge. "Out!" he barked. Tiny ears or not, in a small office with metal walls, they worked well enough. "On your way! Now! Before I have security throw you off the station!" He pointed at the door and reached for the comm unit on his desk.

Penny grabbed Summers and started to pull her back.

The Captains eyes had shifted to nearly black, lit with unmistakable ire as she gazed at Summers in disbelief. She needed the station Administrator on their side, and this ..Romulan.. had just blown that up quickly. A shadow of something ripples along her neck, following the path of the arterial blood flow under the skin, a response of the nanites in her blood stream to the surge of testosterone and cortisol in response to the anger she felt. Never taking her gaze from the junior officer, she said softly yet sincerely “My most sincere apologies Administrator for the inappropriate speech of my junior staff. We will depart, and leave you to your duties. Again, sir you have. My sincere gratitude for your advice. I assure you, I will deal with the rude behavior of my staff..”

Then, to her accompanying officers she said simply, “Out. Now.”

Penny got behind Summers and shoved her out the door. "This is about when they start yelling 'beep beep' at me," she said.

Summers looked back at Penny and whispered. "I'm sorry; sometimes 'she' just blurts out. I try to control her but...but she keeps telling me that *she* is real and I'm just a 'mirage,' if that means anything."

"Yeah, means you're pupule," Penny said.

"Pupule? ' What does that mean?" Summers asked Penny

"Too much crazy root in your poi," she said.

Once Rhea was the last present, she followed her a staff officers out of the Administrator’s office and snapped. “Not a word. We are heading to find this ‘Kelba’.”

"I can take us there," Penny said. "We passed the corridor to the Blue Quadrant about two junctions back."

The Captain didn't answer, she already had the layout of the station well in mind. Scans of the station had been taken aboard the Victory, information assimilated swiftly utilizing the Borg implants in her body to access the data. The information sent by Admiral Bennett was never far from her thoughts either, and she wondered what this station had to do with the threat aboard her ship, the presence of the Orion Syndicate here so far from their own solidly held territory.

And what Bennett was still hiding...

She just nodded, allowing Penny to take the lead as they walked.

Penny kept her grip on Summers' arm as she walked down the corridor. At the second junction she turned right and stopped in front of a large turbolift vestibule with a blue indicator over it. As the doors opened she marched Summers inside and waited as the rest filed in. "Deck eight," she said as the doors closed.

A moment later, they stepped out of the 'lift and she looked at the signs on the wall. "Blue Quadrant to the right," she said, still holding onto Summers' arm. She walked down until she saw a sign for the proper door and stopped outside, looking to the Captain for a cue.

Summers looked at Penny, then at the Captain, then back at Penny. " If you will let go of my arm, I will be 'quiet.'" She slightly smiled.

Penny let go of her arm, but didn't step away.

Summers rubbed her arm. " You're strong..I *like* that...and thank you."

Miguel hadn't said anything the entire time, he was distracted with playing with his collar. He was an engineer not a diplomat. He was actually releaved when the Captain got them out of the office and was now on the hunt for this 'Kelba'. For the moment he wasn't playing with said collar and was instead keep in-step with his Captain.

Accessing the hatch, the Captain stepped through into an enormous, three story promenade area jammed bulkhead to bulkhead with stores, sales carts, gaming tables, eateries, bars, you name .. it was likely here. The environmental systems didn’t even try to cloak the mingled odors of shops, cooking, trash, and beings of dubious hygiene. Individuals of multiple species moved about each on his or her or.. whatever.. own business. Since her cover story was that she sought both to purchase stores for her ship as well as secure transport for goods back to a Federation starbase, she immediately headed for a storefront selling fruit and vegetables of an array of shapes and sizes.

The proprietor was a medium height, somewhat gangly and thin alien of a race they had not officially encountered but which the Borg part of her recognized. Species 8772. “Megorian”. Without pause, she spoke to him in his own native language, drawing from data forever embedded in her consciousness, the universal translator covering for the others in the away team. “Fair greeting to you Seerah.”

Startled to hear his own language from this alien female, the shopkeeper recovered and replied “Fair Greeting to you Missega. What brings you to my door?”

The captain repeated her story, that she sought fresh supplies for her ship and crew, as well as possible transport to send items of value back to her commanding officer. While Seerah Toj’t could not assist with shipping, he was more than happy to discuss the sale of fresh food items grown planetside and brought in stasis for maximum freshness and flavor. Plucking a large, oval and slightly bumpy skinned melon like plant from a bin, Toj’t cleaned and cut the melon into slices for his customer to sample. Selecting a slice of the offered sample, which had a soft green outer skin with a bright purple inner flesh the Captain noted Miguel still messing with his collar and said, “Stop fidgeting.” Taking a bite of the fruit slice, she considered the taste a moment then nodded at the plate, “It’s not bad. Try a bite. Tell me what you think.”

Miguel unfastened the collar it didn't open up all the way, but it was enough that it didn't feel like it was choking him. However technically that wasn't proper protocol. However he did get the order to stop fidgeting as the as the Captain had put it. "It's okay, nothing to write home about." he replied after taking a bite of the fruit.

The fruit was delicious in her opinion, though it’s deceptive appearance and scent gave no hint of the jalapeño like heat it brought, very flavorful without overwhelming the palate. “This would be great in chili, or a plate of enchiladas..”

Penny took a slice and took half in one bite. She chewed thoughtfully, swallowed and said, "cool. So to speak."

She put the other piece into her mouth and looked around the promenade. Most of the signs were in blue, and as she translated them, her eyes fell upon one far down the opposite side. "Captain," she said quietly," I see section 31."

Kennit paused a moment, considering the oddness of that statement with Bennett’s warning foremost in her thoughts. “Where?”

"There," Penny said, pointing to the sign above the doorway. "Mister Kelba and the shipping office must be behind those doors."

Kennit gave a nod, still focusing on the produce being offered. Listening as Toj’t described the nutritional benefits of other items for sale.

Showing absolutely no sign of the internal turmoil of thoughts and possible scenarios covering the myriad of concerns she had been given, the Captain continued her bargaining with the shopkeeper and they remained there until she’d placed an order for a number of fresh vegetables and fruits, each one tested for nutritional viability with her crew, and arranged payment before moving on toward where they had been told this Kelba could be found.

Glancing at Miguel, the Captain nodded toward a storefront ahead of them to the left and said, “That looks like a distillery. We should check it out, see how their brew measure up against yours...”

"Hopefully good enough to give mine a chance to rest." he replied.

“Rest?” Rhea echoed. “What’s the fun in that?l

Penny didn't get "bored" in the traditional sense. It's not that she felt a pervasive lack of interest, it was just that she'd already absorbed everything in front of her, and until someone did something or said something that wasn't along the lines of what she predicted the conversation would entail, she just turned her mind to other things. So, as the Captain continued to barter, Penny began to wander and browse.

She pulled out her silver wand and scanned a few trinkets, some live animals and various foodstuffs. A few things were not quite what was listed on the signs, but she wasn't there to police. She slowly made her way to the 31st section and stopped just shy of the door sensor, deciding not to give away that she was snooping. Inside was a very untidy desk and a tall, somewhat gangly man sitting behind it, sending things via a tube system and putting other things into containers that were pulled away on a conveyer. She briefly wondered how he kept track of it all.

Strolling up behind Naroot, a glass of a rich scented amber drink in hand she sipped from, six cases of the brew paid for and delivery back to the Victory arranged, Captain Kennit asked “Is this the shipping agent the Administrator told us about?”

Penny almost gave a small jump at being snuck up on and quickly turned around. "Seems like it," she said, "but I don't see any diamonds, nor smugglers. We may have missed him."

“Wouldn’t be very good smugglers if you could identify them easily.” Kennit drawled in response. “As for diamonds .. diamonds are small and easily concealed.” To prove her point, she made a short motion with her wrist, then extended her palm where a quartet of uncut stones rested, closed her fist and again made that slight, short motion and the stones were gone, once more tucked safely away with an easy slight of hand.

She stepped forward, strolling into the space with a confident air as her gaze swept the area, looking for someone whose bearing meant this person was in charge.

Mister Kelba glanced up from his desk and gave a perfunctory smile. "Good afternoon, what can I help you with?" His skin was pale, but almost lavender colored, and his large eyes were a pale white and were darting back and forth over the items he was working.

Kennit smiled slightly, “Good afternoon. I am Captain Rhea Kennit, in command of the Federation starship Victory. I was advised by the station administrator that I could find assistance here in procuring a means of shipping some items back to our primary base of operations which lies in sector 44982. I have orders which require that I remain in this area, yet at the same time my commanding officer Admiral Harv Bennett has expressed that I should see these items to him as soon as possible. The administrator assures me that I would find trustworthy transport arrangements to be made here.”

"Well I'm sure I can find a few transport pods once some return," Kelba said. He reached for a padd and handed it to the Captain. "Just fill out these forms and sign the appropriate waivers and I can see about sending your goods out, potentially tomorrow."

She shook her head slightly, “I’m not looking for a remote transport pod. I would prefer a vessel with a trustworthy crew to convey a sample of manufactured diamond for potential use in commercial applications. I have a potential source of the raw material however before any actual negotiations can take place the samples must be analyzed by Starfleet. I don’t have the necessary testing equipment and we need to send these samples to a facility where it can be properly analyzed. The quality is unmatched..”. As she spoke, she placed a large stone, rough cut and unpolished on the desk as an example. Though it had in truth been created aboard the Victory, it was utterly and completely indistinguishable from a true, naturally formed diamond. In most other cases, a manufactured diamond was identifiable by its chemical composition. Using the bussard collectors combined with the intense heat and forces generated by the warp coils, creating these stones had been tricky, but after a few attempts they’d gotten it right.

"Oh...I see..." Kelba said. "Well, chartering a crew is possible but it may take a day or two. Once I have your paperwork processed I'll be happy to see what ships are in the area. I didn't realize all those diamonds were for a military operation."

Keeping her voice carefully neutral, Kennit answered in an almost distracted manner as she neatly filled out the paperwork he'd handed her, her handwriting elegant and neat as she deftly filled out the required information. "As far as I'm aware I'm the only one who has encountered a source of the manufactured diamond suitable for use. It's tricky.. for the material to be really of use it not only needs to be of the correct purity levels but also formed into the correct structures for use. Once this stuff hardens after the initial formation during manufacturing, it's of no use for our needs in creating the components we use, though when cut, shaped and polished they do make nice trinkets.." Glancing up at him, she added "You sound as if you handle items like this on a routine basis.."

"Well we have all kinds of materials, including jewels shipped. Diamonds of this size are a bit more rare, but just today I had another shipment go out. I assumed you were part of their regular shipments."

She gave a slightly disinterested shrug as she finished the paperwork and handed it back to him, the documents indicating the stones were to be shipped back to Admiral Harv Bennett at Stabase Ceti A6. “Nope. Though if these shipments are of manufactured diamond of suitable quality I am authorized to negotiate a good price for any interested in doing business.”

Kelba gave the Captain an apologetic look. "Client information is strictly confidential without express consent, but if you care to fill out a release form, I can pass your information to them the next time they arrive."

Amicably, Kennit answered "That would be most appreciated Mister Kelba. I can promise, I can make it well worth the time for any business interests who are able to come to a contract agreement with the Federation for the materials we need here in this sector. My commanding officer is very interested in developing strong trade agreements to provide sources of the materials needed for the manufacture of repair parts and other equipment."

Kelba held out the padd again, but the Captain's combadge interrupted. "Sanders to Kennit. We have a situation. Commander Hunter...has gone missing."

Having just taken the padd from Kelba, Kennit froze. She didn’t move, her voice remained at the same pitch as she’d just spoken however, her entire being radiated the shift in focus. “Kennit here. What do you mean, Commander Hunter is missing. Where are you?”

"Commander Hunter thought he saw Captain Hunter and took off after him. He ran down a corridor and Doctor Anderson, Lieutenant Tanaka and I pursued. We entered the cargo bay at the end of the corridor, but he's not here, and there doesn't seem to be any trace of where he went."

Summers looked at the Captain. "We must find him, and quickly. This whole situation smells worse than a Klingon Brothel..."

Kennit didn’t speak right away, instead she stood slowly from her seat and turned eyes gone dark and vicious toward Kelba. “Mister Kelba. It appears that our business venture must regretfully take a turn due to unexpected situational developments which have been discovered.” Kennit’s voice never wavers from its soft, congenial tone though the blackness which had taken over her eyes did not match the friendliness of her voice. “You had a manifest on your display with cargo listing and destination for a vessel registered as the S.S. Caroline, commanded and owned by a Captain Hunter... I am going to need to have full access to those records..”

"Captain, I'm very sorry, but I cannot give out information from our clients," Kelba said.

Kennit actually smiled at his response, unfazed by his refusal. She nodded once, and then with a speed and fluidity of motion that was born of the Borg, she moved around the desk and forcibly hauled the merchant up from his seat to slam him back into the bulkhead support. “You misunderstand.” she stated, her voice still icily calm. “I was not asking.”

Kelba’s bodyguard fired a phaser, three bursts in rapid succession. Every shot found its target, only to be deflected, absorbed by a green haze of protective energy which flared into existence around the Captain’s deceptively slender frame. Shocked by what he saw, the guard fired again, only to see the weapons blast deflected by a green tinged shimmer of a Borg deflector shield.

Annoyance in her expression, Kennit turned and with a motion so fast it seems only a blur she slashed at the guard, taking the phaser from his hand with such force the bones of his hand shattered. Holding the weapon in her hand, she deliberately crushed The phaser with her left hand as she said, “Stop that!” Then, gaze boring into the astonished guard who stood clutching at his hand she added, “Sit.”

Her attention shifted back to Kelba. “The information. You can give it to me, Or I will take it. The choice is yours.”

"I--I don't know where they go! I'm given coordinates and the pods take the materials!"

"Captain," Penny said, "if that's the case, we can simply follow their ion trail and then scan to see who is picking up the material." She had run the probabilities of the Captain actually killing the shipping clerk, and while the odds were under 45%, she felt a bit of a nudge lower was needed.

Kennit didnt relent. As Kelba spoke, she noted a number of physiological indicators: The pause before he answered. The way he’d moved his head slightly as if to hide his mouth and eyes as he spoke. The convulsive swallow before he finally spoke. All of which were indicators of a lie. “I just filled out quite a document in order to ship a small consignment...I know he’s lying. He has more information than he’s letting on and I’m not leaving until I have it. My First Officer is missing, and it appears that Captain Hunter is involved..”

Kelba tried to protest again, but the Captain twisted her grip and he let out a yelp. "All right! I...I know where the pods are sent. I tracked the coordinates. I meant to say, I don't know where they end up! There's nothing at the coordinates I'm given! No system, no rogue asteroids, nothing! It's empty space! If they're intercepted, I don't know by whom! The pods' systems are wiped clean when they return!" He let out a whimper. "I swear, I don't know anything else! This isn't a place where you want to ask a lot of questions!"

“I’m going to need the data from the transport pods, as well as the coordinates each delivery was sent to.” Kennit answered, “The real question here being, can I believe that you will provide accurate data, or should I take more extreme measures to ensure the veracity of the information provided.” Holding him with her right hand, as she spoke she’d leaned in close to place her left on the desk where he could see the tips of her fingers, and the glint of metal as the assimilation tubules within her hand extended for the briefest of moments from her fingertips...a subtle yet unmistakably lethal and terrifying threat unspoken.

"File number A16849-Q!" Kelba shouted. "Shipments are always sent to the same coordinates! The delivery man's been coming like clockwork for weeks! Please! I'll give you the file!" The fear in his eyes was genuine and his body shook violently with fear. Assimilation was a particularly persuasive tool in the Delta Quadrant.

Releasing him, though she didn’t move back, Kennit said “Download the data to a PaDD. I am unaccustomed to asking. Don’t make me ask twice.”

Kelba couldn't have dived for his desk faster if he had wings. He grabbed a padd and typed out the coordinates and everything else he could remember about that area of empty space and held it out in front of him like a talisman to ward off a demon.

Accepting the PaDD from him, she glanced at its contents long enough to determine that he had indeed transferred his files on his mysterious client as ‘asked’ and then handed the device to Summers for the moment. Leaning over, she said in a soft, seductive voice “Rest assured. If I find this data is falsified, or that you have lied to me.. You will beg me to kill you..many times..,”

Summers looked at Kelba then back at the Captain. "Oh Captain, can I break just a few of his bones?" She asked with a wicked smile on her face.

Kelba's eyes darted between the Captain and Summers, and back again, his skin paling in fear.

Straightening, she looked to those with her and said “We have what we came for.” As she retrieved the PaDD from Summers. We need to reconnect with the others...find out exactly what has happened...”

As they walked out, Kelba slumped against the wall behind his desk and contemplated the benefits of an early retirement.

 

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