4.1 - Treasure

[Zhukarak Hrisvalar]

While entering orbit it became obvious to Zhuk that Anu’T-Rof was an icy planet. It was almost like home. He knew he would relish setting foot on it.

“Zhuk, set up a team, eight people. Then post a general notice that all shall be allowed the possibility of leave to the station. Remind them not to take any weapons and to respect these people. I just hope they all don’t have the same syntax as this grazerite, I think I would get a terrible headache.”

"Aye, sir!"

Zhuk got busy on his personal terminal at his armrest to send out the general notice. He went ahead and sent high-priority messages to whom he thought should be helping in the investigation. The message was sent out to all senior staff members to include Ensign Danara, as a replacement for Nick Grayson.

The away team would depart in an hour. Zhuk left the bridge to return to his quarters before their departure. He felt the need for a fresh uniform and wanted to grab a quick snack.

Theel'zhiin had plopped himself onto one of the reclining chairs and was chirping gleefully at Zhukarak.

"No Theel'zhiin. You shall not be accompanying us to the planet. You know how other soecies react to a creature they have never seen. It wouldn't detract from the investigation."

Theel'zhiin calmed down in mock sadness with his excitement a bit tempered now.

"If I am in need for you, I shall call."

Zhuk promised, not to upset his companion. Theel'zhiin fluttered his wings once, knowing there could still be a chance that he could visit the planet afterall.

Zhukarak had finished retrieving a fresh uniform and had eaten his snack. There were thirty minutes left before he needed to get to the transporter room. He decided to have a seat next to Theel'zhiin to comfort him and to take a few minutes of rest.

[gracemitchell]

Grace was reading over the report on the 4 criminals when her computer indicated she would be going on an away mission to the planet.

She began to read over the stipulations that Makesh-Toya made in order for them to be on the station. "Well," she thought "I hope Cyle and Danara don't bring any weapons with them."

As Grace left her office she began to think further on being chosen for the away team. "I should stay behind as I can use my mind. Which should be something we disclose to Makesh-Toya, there may be objections to me going on the away team. On the other hand I am very qualified for diplomatic missions and from the sound of it, this will be a very diplomatic encounter. I should talk to Zhuk and get his opinion."

With her last thought, Grace asked the computer to locate the Colonal and headed to where he was.

[Deleted]

Once Melain insured that Nick was settled in and that the medical team was all aware of his condition she returned to her office to fill in the necessary paperwork. She was met with an announcement. They had arrived at their destination and would be allowed some shore leave untill they moved on. As a senior crewmember she would be one of eight allowed planet side while the rest of the crew was confined to the station. Naturally the locals did not allow weapons on the station or planet, Melain understood this.

Before getting ready to transport she pulled up the Anu’T-Rof file from the federation Database. The native species where the Grazerites, a backwards talking race who's native toungue could not be fully adapted using universal translators. She also noted that Anu’T-Rof was an ice world. She had recently orderd a cold weather uniform and thankfully it had arrived before leaving Star Base Assailent.

Melain finished her paper work then stopped by her quarter to change uniform. She'd beam to the Grazerite Station before heading planet side. The Transporter room was abnormaly busy with crewmembers eager to spend their off hours exploring the alien station, Melain expected a long wait, but was shepherded to the front of the line by a considerate transporter chief who felt indebted to her since she cured his migrain the day before.

The station seemed packed with a veriaty of species, Orions, Vulcans, Andorians (looking quiet at home in an enviroment kept at below standard temperature) and countless others. Melain got a few secound glances most likely due to her Federation uniform. The Federation rarely delt with none warp Capable species. She had to admit she was not sure what she was looking for, any news of the Ferengi ship, records of the cardassian vessels, rumours of a treasure never found...

[Zhukarak Hrisvalar]

While Zhukarak was enjoying his last few minutes of respite his quarters chimed indicating that someone was at the door.

"Enter."

It was counselor Grace Mitchell. Theel'zhiin noted this and sat up hoping she would acknowledge his presence. He had grown quite fond of her. Zhuk knew that if anything was to happen to him, Theel'zhiin would more than likely seek out Grace as his next companion.

"Yes Grace, what is on your mind?"

"That's just it, my mind is on my mind. What I mean is are you sure I should be joining the away team? I can use my abilities from the ship. If I come along we would have to disclose that I am a telepath, and this would cause some hindrance toward our investigation."

Zhuk could see her point. He had indicated for her to go ahead and have a seat, while he thought on it for a moment. Theel'zhiin took the opportunity to switch laps and hopped on over to Grace.

"I understand your concerns, but you needn't worry about protocols. I need you along. I'm assuming that your abilities are more focused when you are in the presence of the person that your are reading."

"Yes, that is correct."

"As far as needing to tell them what you are and what you do, we don't need to do that yet. This is a backward planet where criminals are running amok. I'm sure none of them are following proper protocols for the activities they are doing. And, as you said, we don't need to be hindered by giving them knowledge they don't need. With that said, I don't want you to read their minds until the time you feel it to be necessary. Just surface scan them, if you will. I'm sure you have that capability to just sense their minds without going in deep?"

Grace was petting Theel'zhiin as Zhukarak was speaking. He had curled up into a ball, enjoying the caresses. All the while, Grace was listening intently and understood Zhuk's reasoning behind his thoughts. It was a sound tactic.

"Yes Zhuk, I can surface scan as you have said."

"Good. Anything else? Actually, I have something to share with you. Harrias, of course, already knows but you are the first person besides him to know this."

Zhukarak could see wonderment and surprise in her eyes as to what it could be and that Zhukarak was willing to share it with her.

"I have received a message that there might be a command position available for me. I don't have the particulars yet, but it seems that I may be leaving the Nevada soon."

Zhuk let the information seep in and awaited Graces response.

[gracemitchell]

"Leaving! For your own command! How wonderful for you!"

"Thank you. I am excited for my own command, but I am sad leaving the Nevada. I have grown fond of the ship and it's crew."

"We will be sad to see you go, and I understand what you mean by the Nevada, it's the only ship I have ever served on. I would have a difficult time leaving it to serve someplace else. I am also quite touched that you told me before an announcement has been made."

"I thought you may pick up my excitement being in close proximity and Theel'zhiin would give me away. He will miss you a lot when I leave, he has developed quite an attachment to you."

"I will miss him as well! He always senses when I need to use my mind and appears, which helps me more then I can express." As she said this there were tears in her eyes. Grace wiped the tears away and apologizes "I'm sorry! I get emotional when my friends leave the ship. But that isn't happening quite yet, we have one last adventure together. Let's make it a good one, shall we?"

"I couldn't have said it better myself. There is a gleam in your eye, Grace at the mention of this mission, why is that?"

"It mostly has to do with the Betazoid artifacts. I've been reading about it since we were assigned this mission and I feel for the Betazoids. Even though I am human, I am more like the Betazoids than Humans. For me being around a Betazoid is like being home, a calming feeling comes over me. I'd like to help find and return their artifacts to them as a show of my gratitude to them."

"I understand how you could feel that way. Let's get going on this away mission, by the way, wear warm clothes, it's an ice planet." Zhuk said this with a smile on his face.

"Well, I can see you and Frek will be right at home here. I shouldn't have a problem, I'm orginally from a place where it is cold seven months out of the year." Grace said as they left Zhuk's quarters and headed to a transporter room.

They met Frek and Danara in the transporter room. Grace had not seen Frek look so happy in quite a while, not since he was talking about his jet powered skiis. "This will be an interesting away mission." Grace thought.

[Harrias Jira]

While most of the crew were making their way to the transporter room, Harrias had packed up a kit for the away mission, and changed into ‘arctic wear’ a reference to terran terms for such clothing. He knew that Zhuk and Cyle would be wearing their marine issue camouflaged jackets and he frowned for a few seconds. The natives (he shunned the use of this word in his head, but could think of nothing better) could take the jackets as a slight indication of aggression, or at least of suppression. He sighed, it was apparent that not everything could be dealt with.

On that line of thought, he started to put some time into thinking about what their aims on the planet should be. As he saw it, there were two main aims. The first was to find this merchant, and extract from him any information that they could. Potentially this was the option that could reap the most benefit. The other was in theory the simpler option, depending upon the level of corruption on this planet. If the cardassian they were searching for had been on this planet, it was likely that this had been recorded in some fashion. He wondered who to put on each task.

Logically, he would head up one team, and Colonel Hrisvalar, the second. However in this case, he had another idea. Although he was slightly dubious about it. It could lead to some dangerous situations. But nevermind.

=/\= Captain Jira to Commander Thelev. Can you meet me in the main shuttlebay. =/\=
=/\= Aye sir. =/\=

A few minutes later he saw the andorian peering around the large bay, searching for his Captain. In response, Harrias tapped a button, and the large rear door of the shuttle he was in swung slowly open. At the sound, Frek startled slightly and then set out quickly towards the shuttle.

- “Captain.” Jira sensed a slight question within the word.
- “I thought we would fly down. After all, should we need a fast escape, we are much more likely to be able to bypass the planet’s defences in this way.”
- “Bypass?” This time a touch of worry.
- “Let’s hope we don’t need to. You can fly.”

Frek took the helm, still looking a bit bemused. This state did not change his skills though, as he ran through the pre-flight procedures far quicker and more efficiently that the trill could have done. A few minutes later they had exited the ship, and were sliding slowly and effortlessly towards the base.

- “I’ve already gained clearance to dock at port three. I thought we could take this time to have a chat.”
- “Sir?”
- “I read in your academy files. Well, quite a lot really – you seemed to be as accident prone there as here. However, I did read that you showed quite good leadership skills when you applied yourself.”
- “They said that?”
- “As I said, it was well disguised amongst the other stuff, but yes. Would you be comfortable leading a team on the planet?”
- “But you and Zhukarak?”
- “We will be accessing government records.”
- “Hence the need for a fast escape?”
- “Maybe. We plan on doing it legally. So?”
- “It doesn’t take you both. Sir.” The andorian seemed wrong footed, and Harrias could understand why.
- “Okay, I will come clean. I have read up on more than just your academy time. According to your records you have been brought up in a family that owned a freighter business. This means that you will have spent a lot of time with merchants and should know how to deal with them.”
- “Oh. Yes, I suppose.”
- “You suppose.” Harrias rolled his eyes. “You are the right man. And I’m not going to send you alone. I was going to send Cyle, Grace and Melain along with you.”
- “No. Sorry, but I don’t think Cyle would be a good idea. Merchants, anyone in business in fact, they don’t like security people. Especially not ones who work for someone like the federation. Cyle can’t come with us.”
- “I don’t want to send you out without security Frek.”
- “It won’t work otherwise captain, no security.” Harrias grimaced before answering.
- “Fine. I’ll put Hannah in his place.”

Frek gave a terse smile, and Harrias wondered what he was feeling. He considered asking, but before he could, the helmsman become more concentrated, as he started the docking sequence.

Twenty seven minutes later the eight crew members that were continuing to the planet were sat around a large table in one of the cafés they had found on the main shopping plaza. Harrias, Zhuk, Frek, Melain, Hannah, Cyle, Grace and Danara were all sipping at varying beverages. Harrias had run through his plan regarding the two teams to no objection, although both Zhuk and Cyle had been slightly confused when he had detailed the search for the merchant. However, neither saw fit to speak up against him, and for that the captain was thankful.
- “Now that everyone knows what they are doing, let’s get on with it. Frek, if your team takes the shuttle, we will attempt to start our research here on the base.”

[Deleted]

Melain had been playfully bartering with one of the station's merchants about a gift she thought her mother ight enjoy when she was interupted by her comm badge. =A=Doctor, we will be meeting at the cafe Darotech in the main plaza to discuss our next action, please meet us there. =A=

"Duty calls, I'm afraid I have to go." she told the merchant who looked somewhat upset at having wasted his time.

The rest of the away team was seated at a large table being aited on. Melain sat down next to Frek and orderd an ice tea. "So who's in what team?" she asked.

Harrias caught her up on what she had missed. "Right then, we find this guy and talk to him about the cardassian."

(O.O.C I fixed this up, Frek's post helped me find out what exactly is going on)

[fthelev]

Frek stared over his glass to the Captain. For some reason he seemed to be confident he would be able to handle the merchants. Perhaps this wasn’t the time to tell him he was hardly ever allowed to come along when business talks were conducted. At least not after the time he accidentally set fire on one of the client’s quarters. Still, he couldn’t understand why people kept seeing him as an accident prone though. As if things like that happened all the time.

By the time Jira was done most of them had finished their drinks. Frek swallowed the last of his and put the glass down.
“If the ladies are ready, perhaps we should get on our way?” he inquired.
Melain, Hannah and Grace nodded, grabbing their warm lined jackets. The four of them walked across the plaza, following the directional signs to the docking bay. In contrast to the colourful and cheerful plaza with all its shops, cafés and restaurants the rest of the station seemed to be quite Spartan. Although capable of sub-light speed vessels they didn’t seemed to have grasped the idea of artificial gravity.
Although it must be said it was a magnificent sight and it had its charm. As the shuttle dived down towards the planet the huge turning wheels of the space station rapidly grew smaller. Soon the nose of the shuttle started to glow, a sign they were entering the atmosphere.

Earlier they had been provided with a list of merchants that were usually active in the field of supplying provisions to starships. Mostly located in the largest cities with spaceports. That was where they were heading now. The shuttle left behind a clear white condense stripe, a sharp contrast with the sky, a deep blue colour perhaps with a trace of purple, marking their course to the capital city. It seemed the best place to start.

Not long after the shuttle was parked on the spot designated by the Anu’T-Rof flight-control they headed out. A mono-rail gliding on a magnetic field provided the main link between the spaceport and the city itself. The four of them sat in twos opposite to each other as they were whisked away towards an impressive skyline of tall buildings, visible now the snow started to relent. The landscape looked barren, but still seemed to support a variety of flora on its frozen soil.

“So where do we start?” Hannah asked. She was sitting diagonally opposite to Frek, next to Melain.
Frek pulled out a PADD from his pocket and turned it a ninety degrees so they all could see it. It showed a list of names and addresses.
“The suppliers in the town,” he told them, “As you can see most of them are specialized in stocking large freighters.”
“It doesn’t make much sense for someone in a runabout size ship to go to a wholesale,” Grace said.
“Exactly so we can leave those out. Or at least save them for last if the others turn out to be useless.”
“If we want to start out with this one we’ll have to get out at the next stop,” Melain pointed out.

Several hours later they stepped out of the public transport vehicle, again. “That was number five,” Hannah said sombrely. “How much more?”
Frek checked the PADD, although he already knew the answer.
“Three,” he sighed. “We better get going, the sooner we’re done the sooner we can get out of here.”
The plaza on the space station might have been colourful and cheerful, but that certainly didn’t go for most of the city.
He looked at the map and then glanced around to get his bearings. The buildings looked the same everywhere. High, with thick isolated walls to keep the cold out. All grey.
“Should be somewhere over there.” He pointed down a street. It looked like some kind of local market. The street was filled with stalls selling everything. Most of the stuff had probably fallen of the back of a spaceship.
They walked past the stalls; it seemed to go on forever. A vapor of condensating air escaped from them, created by portable heating devices. Frek suppressed a shiver. Somehow this didn’t seem the place you would take someone for a nice romantic stroll under the moonlight.

“We’ve been walking forever,” Melain commented, “Aren’t we there yet?”
“We should’ve been.” Frek looked around.
“Perhaps we could ask for directions,” Grace put forward.
Frek shrugged. “It can’t hurt.”
They walked over to one of the stalls. One of the two salesmen came to his feet when he spotted them heading towards him.
“Help you with something I can?” he asked, “Lots of things we sell.”
“Perhaps.” Frek looked aside for a moment to his colleagues and cleared his throat. “We’ll buy something if you can help us with some information.”
“We are looking for someone,” Melain added.
Frek showed the name of the merchant to the salesman.
He peered at it briefly. A grin appeared on his purple face. It was one of the distinctive trademarks of the Anu’T-Rof, together with their long manes and the six fingers on each hand.
“Know him we might,” he replied, “Depends on how much you buy.”
“What do you have?” Frek inquired.
The Anu’T-Rof signalled his partner. He disappeared for a second before returning with a box.
Triumphantly he put it on the counter.
“What is it?”
There where some hisses, puffs and clicks.
“Huh,” Frek said with a raised eyebrow, “Can’t understand a word he’s saying. My universal translator must have given out.”
He looked at the others for help, but they simply shrugged.
The first salesman looked from one to the other. “Oh no, like that nothing it is. Sounds like that he always makes when he’s excited.”
He opened the box and reached inside. “Ferengi love dolls. Whole new shipment we got.”

With a sigh he swung the bag over his shoulders. At least they got that one for free.
“You sure the captain will like them?” Hannah asked doubtfully.
“Of course he will,” Frek said confidently, “A nice gift to celebrate he got his command back.”
Then he added with a worried look, “Hope I can declare the costs though.”
Grace stopped before an obscure shop. “I think this is it.”
“Doesn’t look like much,” Frek observed.
“You heard what they said; he’s been out of business for almost ten years.”
Melain tried the door. “It’s open,” she called back to the others.

The place didn’t look much from the outside and it wasn’t much better on the inside. The place was dimly lit and the central heating system appeared to be offline. Needless to mention a temperature difference between in and outdoors was virtually non-existent.
“Hello?” Frek tried, “Anyone in?”
There was some stumbling in the back.
“Hello?” he tried again.
A what probably could be considered old Anu’T-Rof appeared.
“Closed the shop is. Go away.” So much for friendliness. The old man had dusty voice. Almost as dusty as his floors. He looked bad, as if he had fallen down the stairs. Perhaps they could bargain with medical care.
“Are you Boksha-Tayo?” Frek asked, “We would like to ask you some question about a Cardassian you might have met fifteen years ago.”
The old man inhaled sharply for a moment. Grace looked at Frek and nodded. This was the one.
“Help you I can not,” Boksha-Tayo said again.
He kept scratching his head. It could be he had a lot on his mind. Or a flea problem. Either way, he could do with a good hair washing.
“I think you can,” Grace said friendly and stepped closer.
Boksha-Tayo shrank back. He now started to look frightened and nervously looked over his shoulder to the back. Grace followed his glare and suddenly felt something.
“Something’s wrong,” she whispered.
For a split second something green peered around a door post in the back, but it was enough to be noticed. Orion green.
Suddenly the shop was filled with the high sound of a disruptor pistol discharging and bright red lights shot across the room.
It was all over in a few seconds.
The shop was as quiet as before, except for some rumbling noise coming from the other side of the building, made by the escaping shooters.
“Everyone okay?” Someone inquired.
“Yeah, I’m alright,” Frek called back coughing up some of the dust he was forced to bite.
“And I thought weapons weren’t allowed,” Hannah moaned.
“Unlike us, they don’t have to play by the rules,” Grace replied.
Then the Anu’T-Rof groaned. Frek realised it was not them that were the target. They wanted to stop Boksha-Tayo from talking.
Boksha-Tayo started to whisper, clearly it cost him some trouble. “The twins. Go through mist, follow the winking eye. The fourth of the small one. He said…”
It was the last he said. He passed out.

[Deleted]

Melain found herself getting very tired of looking for this merchant, the planet was a hotbed for small trade, finding one Merchant was not easy. She was gradually getting colder and found herself shivering uncontrollably, these arctic uniforms where not exactly perfect and she soon decided that Anu’T-Rof was not exactly top on hr "places I'd like to visit again" list. At last they arrived at another obsucre little shop.

"I think this is it." Grace announced. Melain wonderd how she could be sure, but put her hope in those words never the less. The Merchant was old, one of the oldest grazerites she'd seen. He seemed very stiff, some sort of arthritis, easily treatable with the right equipment, but Meain doubted the Federation would approve of her giving treatment to a sub-warp species without prior permission. Sometimes the Prime Directive was a royal pain in the ....

A load shot caused Melain to instinctivly duck behind a shelf to her left. She waited a moment then peeked out to check the room. "Is everyone alright?" Frek asked, It took a moment for Melain to realise what had happend, they'd encountard the convicts after all. She unshoulderd her medkit and kneeled next to Boksha-Tayo. "He's badly hurt, whoever shot him has a good eye and a cold heart."

The Merchant's voice was raspy and light green blood bubbled up through his lips "The twins. Go through mist, follow the winking eye. The fourth of the small one. He said…” Melain's tricorder went haywire.

"Dead" Frek asked.

"Not yet, I can't treat him here I need direct transport to the ship." Melain replied, doing what she could to stop the bleeding.

[hannah]

Hannah was tired of this search and hoped this would be the right place. As they entered the room, she hoped it would be warmer than outside as she was beginning to feel the cold, little to her satisfaction it was about the same temperature. Hannah listen as Frek questioned the man who seemed to own this shop, if you would called it a shop.

Hannah slammed onto the floor as a phaser shot was fired. She rolled over quickly looking where the shot had come from, but she was to late to see anything.

“I though weapons weren’t allowed,” she moaned as she stood up dusting herself off. She thought it would be pointless them going after who ever had fired the weapon, as they were probably long gone and had no weapons of there own, so would be a severe disadvantage.

Then she noticed the merchant on the floor. Hannah listened as the last words came out of his mouth before he passed out. She started to wonder what they meant and all the word binary appeared in her mind.

“That could be astronomic directions, twin could be a binary system, mist some sort of nebula, wink of the eye maybe a star, fourth small one, the fourth planet in a system,” Hannah suggested waiting for anyone’s response.

[gracemitchell]

Grace went to help Melain with Boksha-Tayo. They managed to slow the flow of blood. Grace asked the group "Any suggestions as to how we can get him to the ship, since we are unable to beam him there."

Just after Grace spoke they heard a noise coming from the back. Frek and Hannah went to investigate.

[fthelev]

Frek thought about Hannah’s interpretation of the cryptic remarks the Anu’T-Rof merchant had made. It made sense.
Grace had heard the noise first. Frek followed Hannah, to track its source.
He glanced around. “Hold up for a moment.” His voice was a soft whisper.
He picked up a piece of wood from the floor. It had probably belonged to a very unfortunate chair that was no more at this particular moment. By the looks of the wood it couldn’t have been a very sturdy chair in the first place. It probably wouldn’t much good as a weapon either, but it was better then nothing.

He signalled Hannah. “Okay let’s go.”
Slowly, trying not to make a sound and very carefully they walked to the back. If that guy that shot Boksha- Tayo was still there it could be very unhealthy. Especially if he was still holding on to that disruptor.
Hannah glanced around the corner of a door. She shook her head. No-one there. Frek was peeking into the room next to it. Empty as well. That left only one on the ground floor and the noise didn’t seem to have come from upstairs.

Frek swallowed. He could feel the tension building up in his body. They each stood on one side of the door, ready to burst in and hopefully not get shot. At least the light in the corridor was as dim as in the shop, which would make them at least a bit less visible. The room itself was shrouded in darkness.
Frek nodded. “Let’s go in.”
They both stormed in. Frek held the miserable remains of the chair-leg raised above his head.
Something squeaked. His heart raced. He could feel a cold breeze touching his cheek. His eyes shot over the place.
There was the squeaking again. Then with bang the window flew open by a sudden gust of wind and shattered as it hit the wall.
The room was empty.

He let out his breath; he had been holding it for at least some ages. Whoever said you needed oxygen should have been here. He would’ve been proved wrong.
“It was just the wind,” Frek sighed, relief shimmering in his voice.
Hannah looked at him and nodded. She looked rather relieved as well. She suddenly frowned and looked at an object lying next to Frek’s feet.
She pointed. “What’s that?”
Frek looked a bit confused for a moment.
“Huh?”
“To your left. Next to you.”
He looked down at the object. It didn’t take him very long to figure out what it was. Actually recognized it instantly.
“Let’s get back to the others,” Frek said as he picked it up. It was still warm.

“Did you find anyone?” Grace asked.
Hannah shook her head. “No, but we found something though.”
“Yep, this.” Frek held up the disruptor they found.
He gestured with it at the Anu’T-Rof lying wounded on the ground. “This is what they’ve probably shot him with.”

The sentence had barely faded from when a sharp scream pierced the sky. It came from outside. They all turned to see what was happening. Outside, in front of the window shop two locals stared to aliens standing in the room. It wasn’t hard to guess what they were thinking. You could almost see their eyes alternate between the gun and their fellow Anu’T-Rof lying on the ground. A look of horror and fear in their eyes.
It couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity that nobody moved and just stared at each other. Both Anu’T-Rof’s turned around simultaneously and started to run.

“We might have a problem here.” Frek’s statement was otiose and very true.
“What do we do now?” Melain asked, “They probably think we’re responsible for this.”
She gestured at her patient.
A sound came from outside. It was the sort of sound you could recognize everywhere. It might be different on almost every planet, but when you hear it, you know what it is.
“Are those sirens?” Grace’s hearing ability must have been excellent; she was the first one to notice the window squeak as well.
“Seems like it,” Hannah noted. “What do we do?”
They all looked at Frek, since Captain Jira had placed him in command. For a moment he could feel despair boiling up, not knowing what to do, but quickly managed to suppress it. Or at least camouflage it.
“Well,” he said and not completely illogical, “I suggest we run. This must be a set-up.”
Grace nodded. “There’s no way the police can be here that fast.”
“What about him?” Melain asked and pointed at the wounded man, “We can’t leave him behind.”
“Do we have a choice?” Frek returned the question.

[Deleted]

Melain did not like the idea of leaving behind a patient. Of course we have a choice! I we can stay and help him." she argued. "if we run we are going to look very very guilty, if we stay then we can get this sorted out, if he get's treatment and survives he can testify we did not shoot him, if he dies because I abandoned him then we are forever on the run for this." she gestured at the Anu’T-Rof who's head lay on her knees.

"We haven't got time to deal with this, whoever shot him is already one step ahead of us on the location of the relics, if we loiter here they'll gain ground." One of the other's argued.

"Then I'll stay, I'll take the blame and you guys can keep going." Melain offerd.

"I won't allow that, we need you when we get to the planet. Something made the Cardassian's crazy and if anyone is going to find out what it was it's you." Frek pointed out, and Melain hated him for it.

"Then what do you suggest we do, ethically what is the right action?" Melain asked. The sirens grew closer and she realised it was not the time to debate morals, but what Frek was suggesting did not, would not, sit well with her

[fthelev]

Nervously Frek looked out of the window and back at Melain. He didn’t feel particularly comfortable at this moment. It wasn’t just because they needed her on that planet that he didn’t want to leave her behind.

This was one of those moments that he really felt helpless.
“Melain,” he said softly, “What they want is to delay us. That rainbow of villains probably bribed the local law enforcements to hold us while they get away. They already got what they want from him. The local authorities will give him the medical care he needs.”

He sincerely hoped it was true. On the other hand he could see no reason why they shouldn’t after all, the damage was already done. If they were apprehended here, on the crime scene, they would all be taking into custody. And the Nevada wouldn’t probably be allowed to leave until this whole thing was sorted out, and that could take ages. If they managed to get away there would be no substantial evidence against them and that would make it hard for them to keep the Nevada for breaking orbit. At least on murder or attempted murder charges.

Melain didn’t look entirely convinced by his reasoning.
Neither was he.
Frek put his hand on her shoulder. “He’ll be alright. I promise, but we really have to go now.”
He glanced at Grace, hoping for some support. He sincerely hoped his promise would last. But time was running out, they had to go. Now. Before it would be too late.

He sneezed a couple of times and sniffed. That damned dust. Frek straightened his back and looked at the rest in the party. “Let’s go.”
They could debate about his decision later.

[gracemitchell]

as they left the building, Grace walked by Melain, hoping to help ease her conscious "Melain, the local physicians will try to heal Boksha-Tayo. You did a marvelous job of slowing his bleeding down. Whether we remain or go, either way the authorities would assume we were to blame. After we finish this mission we can check back here to see how Boksha-Tayo is. In the mean time we have our mission to complete and we can't do it without you."

"I know you and Frek are right, but how can you just leave a person injuried? It's against the Hpocratic oath?"

"If it is any consulation, I am having a difficult time with that myself. I must also confess that Boksha-Tayo told me in his unconscious state to leave him and find those who hurt him. That is why I can leave him, he asked us to."

Melain took what Grace said into consideration, but it still bothered her to leave a patient to probably die. She looked like she was going to argue more, then held her tongue.

Grace felt sad, because she knew Melain was angry at her and Frek. Hannah remained silent, but watchful. Frek looked like he was trying very hard not to sneeze again, trying to maintain silence as they continued on their way back to the shuttle, before any authorities caught up with them.

If the situation hadn't been so dire, Grace felt like she could laugh at their situation, it seemed like something out of a bad espionage movie she saw way back in her former life. "Leave it to me to find a humor in a bad situation." She thought.

[Harrias Jira]

There was a strange thing about governments. As one went higher and higher up the chain, the people tended to know less and less, but they would try and convince you that they knew more and more before referring you to the next person in the chain. So it was that Captain Jira was now talking to the Vice Chancellor of Anu’T-Rof, and still making very little headway. At first he had been searching through the public domain for any records of the cardassian they were searching for, but suddenly his access to this had been terminated, and noone had given him a reason why.

While he was arguing, Colonel Hrisvalar and Danara had been trying to follow slightly less legal approaches at gaining access to the material. Just as the trill started to make a point about the finer points of language (namely the definition of public) he received a thumbs-up signal from his tactical officer.

- “My apologies for wasting your time Vice Chancellor, it appears that the problem was technical, not bureaucratical. Captain Jira out.” He turned to his two officers. “So, what have we got.”
- “We don’t have any specific information on the cardassian. What we do have is bank balances. More specifically, that of Mr Vice Chancellor, and a number of technical people on this facility. Each of them received a… boost.”
- “So someone is paying good money to keep us from finding out more. Which means that there is definitely something more to find. And something juicy. How is Cyle doing?”

[hannah]

They walked away trying not to draw attention to themselves, they would have enough people at the scene pointing which way they went never mind even more on there way. Hannah kept a look out behind making sure there was no one following them.

They needed to get away from anywhere public, as they were aliens and stuck out like a sore thumb. Frek lead the way and gestured them down a dark alley out of the view of any observers. Hannah kept alert, the alley didn’t seemed to be the safest place to walk, but they didn’t want to get caught by the local authorities so had no choice but to take this root.

Hannah lift out her tricorder and she looked at the screen that was scanning for the Starfleet power signal of the shuttle. They exited the alley way and her tricorder bleeped indicating they that it had picked up the signal

“This way,” she said pointing to the right, “We can’t risk using public transport as the law enforcement agency would have circulated our description by now, so looks like we are going to have to walk back.”

Hannah continued to lead and Frek was following up the rear, watching that they weren’t being followed. She wished they could just use the transport and beam themselves back to the ship or even the shuttle. Then a thought crossed her mind.

“What’s going to stop the local authorities from picking up the power signal like I did,” Hannah said, “They could be waiting for us by the time we get back.”

She knew it was a long walk back to the shuttle and the cold was really starting to get to her.

“We need to get back quicker,” Frek commented.

“We can’t take public transport so what do you suggest?” Lorre asked.

Hannah noticed what Frek was looking at it was some sort of land based shuttle, like an old Earth car.

“Can you drive that thing?” she asked Frek.

He nodded, “Probably.”

“That doesn’t make me feel very safe,” Hannah responded feeling nervous about having to get into that vehicle, “But I guess we don’t have much choice.”

[fthelev]

Frek grinned. The vehicle looked very much like something he had built with some friends in his younger years. It even worked. Eventually.
“Don’t worry,” he comforted Hannah, “It’s been very long time since I caused an accident in something like that.”
It had also actually been a very long time since he drove something like that. Best not to mention that.

“You think that’ll take us back to the shuttle fast enough?” Melain asked.
He seriously doubted it. Spaceport security was probably already present. But the shuttle was probably still the best way to get off the planet. They would need some sort of diversion. But that was something they could worry about when they got there.
He hoped they wouldn’t be watching the roads.

“We need to let the Captain now what has happened,” Frek said.
It was something they all agreed on.
“If we do the local authorities might intercept the signal,” Grace noted. She was starting to get into the mind of the locals. Anticipating what actions they would take.
“I’ve noted masts at regular intervals,” Hannah said, “They might be part of the planets communication system. Maybe we can use it to hide our signal.”
It sounded like a good plan. “We’ll stop at one of those towers once we’re out of the city.”

They walked around it inspecting the vehicle. It seemed to be made out of some sort of composite material. It had a smooth aerodynamic shape to reduce air friction. It seemed to be big enough to hold the four of them.

“How do you plan to get in and get the motor running?” The question Grace asked seemed to be quite valid.
Frek looked at Hannah. Time for her to show some engineering skills. “I can get the door open; can you get the motor running Lieutenant?”
“No problem…sir” she said with a smile and gestured at the door.
He raised the disruptor he was still carrying and shot at the lock. There wasn’t much left of it.
“That wasn’t very subtle,” Melain said.
“A lower setting might have worked as well,” Hannah agreed.
“Hey look, the door wasn’t even locked in the first place,” Grace noted.
Frek looked at her in dismay. “Oh yes, and of course nobody thought of mentioning it to me.
“Aren’t you going to let us in?”
“Yes, be gentleman.”
“Show some manners.”
Frek sighed. Sometimes he really wondered what he was doing here.
He held open the door and made a wide gesture. “Ladies first.”

[Deleted]

"Great, we are on the run from the law and we've now commited grand theft auto to top it all off." Melain commented as she crammed into the back seat beside Grace.

"You sound like Danara." Frek commented, taking the pilots, or rather the drivers, seat. "Now let me see here..."

Frek fumbled with the controls and the vehical gave a violent lurch, Melain hung onto the seat like a child on a rollar coaster. "If we crash it's going to be a great deal easier for them to catch us."

The vehical veered around corners, dodged other transports, nearly hit a pedestrian, but all in all Melain had to admit Frek was doing a much better job them she would have. Then again they never would have left the Merchant's shop if she'd been in charge. Perhaps this was why Frek was always first officer when Zhuk or Harrias where out of commision rather then herself.

"There, a signal tower. Pull over so we can contact the captain." Melain leaned back to let Hannah point out the window on her side.

[gracemitchell]

While Hannah tried to signal the captain, Grace suggested she should try to drive. "I seem to remember having a license to drive way back when. I also have a program on the holodeck where I race cars and motorcycles. I haven't forgotten how!"

Melain wholeheartedly agreed that Grace should do the driving. Frek finally gave in reluctantly. "I guess you couldn't do worse then me. What about your race car driving program, can anyone try it?"

"Sure, I'll get you in, when this is all over. I think we may need the relaxation after this mission. I have to confess I prefer the motorcycle one better. It's more exhilarating. Actually, it's motocross."

"What is motocross?" Frek asked.

Before Grace could answer, Hannah interrupted with a report from the captain.

[hannah]

Frek slammed the breaks on and the vehicle skidded to a halt a few meters past the mast.

“I’m glad these things have seat beats,” Hannah said as she slammed back into her seat after being flung forward.

They all got out of the vehicle and Hannah moved over to the mast and scanned it with her tricorder.

“I can interface with the system and send a signal along it to the captain’s commbadge,” Hannah informed Frek, who was speaking to Grace at the time.

“It will reduce the risk of being tracked or incepted, but keep the message short, the longer it is the greater the risk,” Hannah continued while writing a program on her tricorder to create the interface.

[Zhukarak Hrisvalar]

A communications specialist from the Nevada had just sent down a message for Zhuk that he was to report back to Starbase Assailant as soon as possible. Zhuk looked over at Harrias with a questionable look. Harrias simply smiled.

Placing his hand on Zhuk's shoulder he said, "I knew this was forthcoming. I had just hoped it would wait until this mission is over with, but I guess Section 47 needs you more than I do."

Zhukarak was now trying to figure out what was so important for Section 47 to pull him away from here, in the middle of a mission. "Captain...Harrias, what do you know that I don't?"

"It seems they have found a command for you, and that they are going to need you to fill that position now. You are to be the new Commanding Officer of the USS Jefferson. Like I said, I just wished they would have waited until this mission was over and until I found a decent replacement for you as my First Officer."

Zhukarak was speechless for a moment. He was going through his mind the countless voyages he had spent next to Harrias, being his right hand man. He wasn't sure he wanted to leave just yet. He had gone through all of the required training to become a Captain, but he didn't think it would be this soon.

Harrias broke the silence. "You have your orders, Zhukarak. Go on and get going. the Jefferson is waiting on you. She is a great ship, also a Sovereign Class."

Zhuk finally found his speech. "Thanks, sir...Harrias. I don't know what to say other than I'm sorry for leaving you like this. Thank you again."

"Yeah, yeah. Now go. I'll break the news to the rest of them. You'll still here from me, just wait and see."

They briefly shook hands before Zhukarak made his way back to the Nevada to catch a Runabout headed for Assailant, and his new home...his first command...the USS Jefferson.

.. .. ..... .. .....

[gracemitchell]

While Zhukarak was packing he told Theel'zhiin they were leaving for a new ship, right away. Theel'zhiin asks "Grace go with?"

"No, Theel'zhiin, Grace will stay here. This is her home."

"Say good-bye?"

'Why don't you send her a telepathic message good-bye. You can not go in between, the Anu’T-Rof authorities may think you were using a transporter beam and send you to prison. That would not be a good thing right now. It could endanger Grace and the rest. Theel'zhiin, ask her not to tell the others, this news can wait until they are back on board the Nevada."

Theel'zhiin sent Grace a good-bye telepathically.

As Hannah was relaying what the captain had said, Grace heard Theel'zhiin, she momentarily lost focus on the others and listened. As tears were beginning to form in her eyes, she turned away and sent her good-bye to Theel'zhiin and Zhuk. Then she wiped the tears away as unobtrusively as possible, hoping no one would notice them. She didn't want to break her word to Zhuk.

Theel'zhiin relayed Grace's good-bye to Zhukarak, "Good-bye. Good luck. Miss all ready."

Zhuk had felt sad to take Theel'zhiin away from his friend. Theel'zhiin picked up on Zhuk's feeling then asked "I visit?"

"I think Grace would like a visit from you now and then, yes you can visit her anytime."

Theel'zhiin started to not feel so sad with the thought of visiting Grace. "We go."

[Deleted]

Cyle left sickbay as Nick was put into a come like state, to rest and heal properly. "Dont worry about him, we'll keep an eye on him" one of the nurses said as Cyle reached the doors.

Cyle slowly walked back to his quarters, he knew he would need to deal with his own problems, so he decided not to tell the captain about bo'Tija.

' it'll be better i think, if they dont know, so they wont try to keep me from doing anything'

When he entered his quarters, Cyle bent down and picked up the PADD, tossing it on the bed with the others.

With a sigh he layed down on his bed, contimplating about what will happen

[Deleted]

As Hannah worked to contact the Captain, Grace (who had taken over the driver's seat) steered and Frek, well Melain was not sure what he was up to, Melain toook out her tricorder to scan for the approching law enforcement.

"They're closing in on us, Hannah you need to close things up so we can get moving." Melain reported. "Our shuttle might be under guard, any idea how we can get there without risking capture?"

"We can't beam there, we'll have to drive as close as we can and book it for the shuttle." Frek suggested.

"We need a destraction. They will be looking for this vehical, is there anyway you can make it go without us inside?" Melain asked.

"Put a weight on the accelerator, they do it all the time in 20th century holoprograms." Grace recammended. "Is there something heavy back there?"

Melain looked around. "No, but there might be some rubble around here, a large block of concrete will do the trick. I see a construction site up ahead, pull over there."

They grabbed a suitable sized block, hopped in the vehical again and plotted on how theyd pull the stunt off. Hannah wonderd about speed since they could not control that with the block. Frek was worried about if it would work since it would be obviose no one was in the car, Grace wonderd about how they'd get to the shuttle once the cops were occupied and Melain voiced concerns about casualties.

"So what's the best way to do this then?" Melain asked.

<Tag away team>

(O.O.C I know I'm moving this a little fast, but it's been a tad slow and I'd like to see us get of this planet sooner rather then later)