008 : Orpk

[Nia Lemond]

"Not quite the talkative type eh ...." Nia said, instructing two Security Officers to place restraints on the man posing as Agent Tribecy, ".... Orpk ?" she queried, addressing David.

"Dead." Tan replied, nodding to their prisoner.

"Right, I want this section of the Promenade to remain sealed until we're done here. Commander El Sayed, escort our guest here up to High Security, Level one one six five please, We'll interview him in the morning. I want two Officers on duty in the Brig at all times, plus two outside. Post the corridor out of bounds to all but authorised Personnel .... Oh commander .... I want Medical up there, I want a positive identification before we have that long overdue chat." El Sayed nodded, then they watched as 'Tribecy' was taken from the Emporium and led to the nearest turbo-lift. Nia looked at the door of the holosuite then spoke to the Technicians:

"I want this stripped to the bare deck plates. Take extra care with that phase technology, I'm sure we'll be able to put it to use once we know how it works." she turned to her Officers, "You managed to deactivate the device."

"No ... At least, not that we know of ..." David replied as Massa handed over the two devices he'd been examining earlier, "Those were found on our friend, Milo did almost freeze us all to death while, playing with one of them, the other didn't seem to be activated." the El Alamein Officer explained. One of the Technician's took the two turning them over in his hands:

"This is a portable access device, presumably to make changes to the running program ... As for this ....." he looked at it closely then grinned, "This basically activated and deactivated the phase variance gizmo, you likely deactivated the system without knowing it. We don't currently have anything like this, interesting." he said, placing it in a small case before activating the lock, he handed it to one of his Colleagues then headed into the holosuite itself.

"We do now." Iorte Clancy said to the retreating Technician.

"So how did Orpk die ?" Lemond asked.

"Tribecy, or whoever he is, We were in a desert scenario, there was a twentieth century oil tanker, He pretty much threw Orpk from the deck into one of the holds."

"Damn." Nia said. "Right, Commander Van, Commander Massa, you can return to the El Alamein, I'll expect your reports in the morning, and thank you." she nodded then turned to the Intelligence Officers, Murdoch, Ogden, Higgins, you're dismissed, have your reports with Commander Paquin first thing please."

"Yes Admiral." the three said in unison before leaving the premises.

"Righto, let's go have a look at what he was using shall we." Nia ordered. Tan, Clancy, and de Luca followed their Commanding Officer back into the holosuite they had escaped from only minutes earlier.

Needless to say, none of them were over-eager ..........

[David Tan]

Intelligence Offices
Upper Level - Mezzanine
Command Center
SD: 2405.03.0924 - 22:30 hrs ::

David was sat in his office adjoining Nia Lemond's .... He rubbed his eyes, the tiredness getting the better of him .... He had spent most of the day like the last five, interrogating the man who had initially claimed to be a former Intelligence Officer named Richard Tribecy. Only when proof was put before him that a desiccated body, identified as the Intelligence Officer had been found on one of the uninhabited Levels of the Starbase, did he hold up his hands in mock surrender.

Now identified as one Paul Kell, resident of Earth, and suspected member of Section thirty One, Kell had suddenly fallen silent.

It had been put to him that the technology, used to shift the interior of the holosuite in Orpk's Emporium, had been acquired from a race in this region of space. Again, Kell had simply shrugged, refusing to answer questions.

The 'Phase Device' a six square meter cube with absolutely no outward controls, had been removed from the holosuite five days previously and was being studied in the Restricted Research and Development division on Level nine zero one, but as yet technicians had had no luck in even gaining access to the cube, let alone begin trying to discover how the Alien technology operates. Speculations were many and varied, but useless unless they could actually gain the aforementioned access ... Kell pointedly refused to acknowledge he had any association with indigenous species from this region of space and discussions were ongoing as to how to possibly lure his unknown associate back to the Starbase.

Had they still been in their former location, Kell would have been transferred to Earth, where more 'rigorous' forms of questioning would plausibly be entertained. Alas, they were here ... It hadn't stopped David, Iorte, and even Elena suggesting that, given the possible jeopardy to the Starbase should one or more of Kell's associates become concerned that their technology had been taken, it may be prudent to employ alternative means to gain access to the information they require. Admiral Lemond had of course said in no uncertain terms that they would get the information through normal means. David silently believed that that decision may well be amended in due course.

Kell was a multiple murderer, and as such, would face the highest sentence open to the Judge Advocate General. maybe it was David's exhaustion getting the better of him, but if it was his decision, Kell would be put in an airlock and the oxygen depleted over several days. That, or he'd simply shoot the man for his crimes and be rid of him, Orpk was a smuggler, trader, thief, and who knew what else, but his activities had been seriously curtailed since their relocation, but he didn't deserve his fate for falling under Kell's spell, he was a Ferengi, and their desire for wealth tended to overrule whatever conscience he had. Kell had used the man then discarded him when he was no longer useful, simple !

Both Intelligence and Security were jointly interviewing Kell, that simply wasn't working in his opinion. He looked up at the time, realising that it was almost midnight and decided he would call it a night. Standing he stretched, trying to force the stiffness out of his spine and failing miserably, he looked through to Nia's office, it was in darkness. He shut down his terminal and left ... Despite his weariness he decided to jump off the turbo-lift on Alpha Promenade ...

Level One Five Five One
Alpha Promenade
O'Toole's Bar & Grill ::

Promenade wasn't too busy. Making his way over to the bar he entered. Even at this late hour it was pretty busy as it usually was, he went over to the bar, Sharon, the Night Manager noticed him and walked over:

"A little late for you David .... Usual ?"

"Yes, thanks ..." he replied as Sharon took a bottle from behind the bar and poured him a drink, "So has Sean turned in for the night ?"

"Oh, you won't have heard .... He won trip, holosuite obviously, not for real." the woman said, shrugging, "Three days on the Orient Express no less, he took Kara too."

"Lucky him." David said, enjoying the cognac despite his tiredness ..........