011 : Pirates

[Nia Lemond]

The investigation begins with the discovery of a Romulan named Ra’kosh, (former Military) now known to be connected to a group of smugglers willing to do anything for profit, and have done so for some considerable time

The weapon used: Small ornate blade – Ten cm long, with a slim triangular blade, tipped with fast-acting neurotoxin !

Information found on Ra’kosh indicates the group are led by two of a species in a nearby Star System, known as the Yattho: Approx. Two metres tall, very slim, Albino
As yet, the Federation have not seen, or been allowed to make direct contact with the Yattho, so identification is tentative at this point

Other people believed to be high up in the group of smugglers are: A Former Romulan Officer and a Former Klingon Officer



ooo000ooo

Level Fifty-Seven ...
High Security Medical Center ::

Nia Lemond entered the High-Security Medical Center and passed through to the Morgue beyond ..... Doctor Ki Yalo, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Starbase Forty-Seven, and Lieutenant Colonel Dupin were waiting for her:

"So how did we come to find a dead Romulan?" Lemond asked, eyeing the corpse, and vaguely wondering what repercussions there could be if the man died of anything but natural causes, which, given the hole in his back seemed unlikely.

"He suffered a single stab wound..." Dúpin began, pulling the shroud away from the Romulans upper back, before pointing out the injury, "... Approximately six millimetres in diameter, I'd say forty millimetres in length,"

"Surely that wouldn't have killed him, Doctor?" Nia commented.

"It didn't, but it 'was' the device used to get an as yet unidentified neurotoxin into his heart,"

"Interesting..." the Marine Colonel, acting Head of Security said, "... How long before you can identify the toxin?"

"We're testing it next door now, but it might take some time, see here..." Dúpin said, pointing again at the wound, "... There's no clotting, so whatever it was it also contained some kind of anticoagulant,"

"So even if the attacker hadn't managed to get the weapon directly into his heart, it would have worked eventually, and in the meantime, he would have been bleeding?" Lemond asked, seeing the Doctor nod by way of reply.

"We'll need to contact the Romulan representative," Theo Dúpin said.

"I've already done so, so I'd expect someone up here shortly..." Lemond said, shaking her head as another Security Officer approached, "... Lieutenant?"

"Admiral... Colonel... We've sealed off the section where he was staying, I've posted Officers either end of the corridor, I would suggest we activate transporter inhibitors, the Romulans might take offence at being barred from their own citizen's belongings, and I wouldn't put it past them not to try to bypass asking permission,"

"Do so Lieutenant," Dúpin confirmed as his commbadge chirped to life:

=^= Colonel Dúpin .. .. =^=

=^= Sir .. Lieutenant Finch .. I have a Romulan and Klingon demanding access to their 'colleagues' quarters .. They say there are private documents inside that they must have =^=

=^= I bet there are .. .. Standby Lieutenant .. .. =^= He looked at Lemond then made a decision, =^= No one gets access until we have completed our investigation .. If they are unhappy tell them to come to my office where I'll be only too happy to explain how we work to them =^=

=^= Understood Colonel =^= Lieutenant Finch said, closing the comm, but not before they heard someone raising their voice at the Security Officer.

"Have you any thoughts on who would normally carry such a weapon, it sounds pretty specialised Colonel?" Nia asked the Deputy Security Chief.

"Without finding it, no ..... It's something that can easily be concealed, so it could be anyone, our best option would be the neurotoxin the Doctor is working on,"

"I'll get my report to you as soon as viable,"

"Let's go take a look in those quarters," the Intelligence director said, leaving the doctor to his work .....

Deceased Romulan's Quarters ::

The two moved around the quarters, the standard for visitors to the Starbase, there appeared to be nothing out of place, Security was still working on gaining access to the PADD fond next to the body and Nia looked at the stain in the doorway, trying to picture the series of events leading up to the man's death. It appeared the Romulan fell almost where he was attacked given the speculation that the neurotoxin was clearly fast-acting, so even if he had any antidote, he wouldn't have reached it in time to save himself. They checked the terminal on the desk, Colonel Dúpin using his access to open the logs for the device. According to this, he had made no subspace communications since his arrival, in fact, from preliminary checks, the man had hardly set foot outside his quarters since boarding the Starbase three days earlier ..... He had used the replicator for meals, but nothing else!

One of Dúpin's Security came from the bedroom shaking his head.

"What was he doing here?" Theo mused.

"You think he told someone he was coming, because, according to the logs he didn't have any visitors. He was identified as Commander Ra'kosh, former Romulan Military. Boarding and departure logs say he came aboard from a Ferengi Trading Vessal four days ago, presumably under false credentials, We've spoken to the Ferengi who basically took on a paying passenger, no questions asked," the Security Lieutenant informed the two Senior Officers.

"Someone knew, specifically another Romulan, and one Klingon!" Lemond commented.

"You think we should detain them for questioning?" Theo asked.

"No... I'll have two of my people follow them, they may well lead us to others, but in the meantime, we'll go on the assumption this was an assassination, a small puncture wound, middle of the back to the left of the spinal column, whoever killed him knew exactly how to do it, and given the timeframe, I'd be inclined to think he, or she, is still aboard the Starbase!"

She spoke briefly to her office, assigning two Intel' Officers to shadow the Romulan and Klingon while they remained aboard. The investigation would continue, she also instructed Doctor Yalo to use the remaining time he had before the Romulan's claimed the body to run every test he could think of. Yalo said that along with bloods and the usual scans, he would be taking a small section of the termination point of the wound to study further. Nia left Colonel Dúpin in the Romulan's quarters while she headed up to speak to the Section Admiral, hopefully 'before' the Romulan's began banging on his door ..........

[Nia Lemond]

Nia Lemond's Office ...
Mezzanine Level
Command Center ::

Communication between Starbase and USS Enzio ...

=^= As you know .. We have lost contact with the El Alamein .. I had intended to send the Maracanda but she was held up at Earth with engine trouble .. I have decided to take the Enzio to look for her =^= Gheskori said.

=^= I've already begun the investigation into the death of the Romulan Admiral .. I have a feeling there is more to it than a simple family feud .. Good hunting =^=

=^= .. .. And to you .. Enzio out =^= Nia rubbed the back of her neck, which was seemingly aching constantly of late, glancing at the chronometer above the large viewscreen she suddenly felt hungry, she called in her Adjutant:

"Do you have plans, or would you like to join me for a late dinner, Erin?"

"I could eat a horse, figuratively speaking..." the young woman replied, falling into step as the two headed for the nearest turbolifts, "... I hear there's a new Italian restaurant opened on Beta Promenade, newcomers from Earth apparently,"

"Italian it is then," Nia said with a relaxed smile.

Cucina Terra Restaurant ...
Beta Promenade ::

They were shown to a table in the almost romantically lit restaurant and offered a glass of wine while choosing their fare, music, supplied by a small group of musicians played in the background. The Italian Host came over to introduce himself, every bit the suave Italian gentleman, both women were suitably impressed as they pursued the menu. suddenly a shadow appeared on their table and they looked up. Standing a meter away was a large Klingon dressed in civilian garb, he eyed both women as if they were something he would rather not be conversing with.

"You're blocking the entertainment," Erin said.

"You have the body of a Romulan, I demand it be released into my hands immediately,"

"..... And you would be?" the Intelligence Director asked patiently.

"Who I am is of no concern to you, what 'IS' of concern, if you value your lives, is the body you are holding,"

"Well, without any 'official' introductions, I'm afraid I can't help you..." Lemond said with a disarming smile, "... Now, we were trying to pick something off this exquisite menu, so if you wouldn't mind?" her eyebrows raising as if expecting an argument. She didn't change her expression as the Romulan reached for the disruptor at his waist, but grinned as Erin, from beneath the table, raised the phaser she had trained on the interloper when he had interrupted them. For a second the Klingon seemed indecisive, eyes flicking between Lemond and the phaser and back.

"You require a table, no?" someone said, forcing the Klingon to spin around, the young waitress seemed oblivious to the mood as she asked the Klingon again if he was dining. Glaring at the two Federation Officers, and clearly dissatisfied with his confrontation, he spun and headed for the door, but then paused to speak to two others before leaving.

"My apologies," the waitress said, pulling a PADD from her pocket. Erin was already speaking to someone in their department instructions that all surveillance, inside the restaurant and on the Promenade be checked to see if Intelligence could identify the Klingon or his comrades.

"I think I'll try the Fiorentina Steak, medium rare ....." Nia was saying as Erin confirmed her instructions were being carried out.

"Lasagna, please," the Adjutant said with a look of dismay at her superior as the waitress left.

"Steak... I'm assuming that it's synthesised?"

"I bloody hope not!" Nia said with a mock stern look as she picked up her newly filled wine glass.

While they were eating, a new entertainer began a melodic guitar solo, Nia was convinced that the owner had subtly modified the air conditioning in the restaurant to give subtle hints of the sea, beaches, warm sunlight, it immediately took her back to a holiday she had taken with her parents as a child and she grinned at the rising memories. 'Cudos' she thought, enjoying both the ambience and the fare. Once finished the plates were taken away and the waitress reappeared with two plates, she placed them on the table and smiled:

"Sfogliatella... Compliments of la Proprietario... She said, seeing both women looking at the plates, "... It is a small pastry, many layers, filled with warm apple and brandy, you will enjoy, I am sure," she nodded then left.

She wasn't wrong, both thoroughly enjoyed the desert and waited to pay their bill. As Nia stood she motioned to Erin:

"Our friends seem to be waiting," she said with a grin as she spoke, knowing neither of the two outside the restaurant could overhear her.

"No point in disappointing them then," Paquin said, thanking the waitress. But as the two headed for the door, the owner reappeared.

"Ladies, I feel it my duty to inform you that there are two somewhat 'disreputable' types outside, I fear they are waiting for you both?"

"They are indeed, but you have no need to worry," Nia said firmly.

"Then I will bid you both goodnight, I hope to have your patronage again soon, arrivederci," he said, taking a hand in turn before bestowing a kiss on each.

Erin felt the weapon forced against her spine as one of the men grinned before leading her across the Promenade, the other had presumably done likewise with Nia as she was following close behind ..... They were unceremoniously pushed into a darkened doorway of one of the still unoccupied outlets. Neither man seemed worried, presumably given the lack of people at this late hour, they watched the two casually while discussing something neither Nia nor Erin was privy to, then moments later both stepped aside to allow a third to approach, it was the Klingon from earlier.

"Ah, couldn't keep away hey?" Nia asked.

"I know who you are!" the Klingon replied, clearly no conversationalist.

"Then you must know how much trouble you are in, so let's cut out all the incidentals and head off to the Brig before someone gets hurt, shall we?" the Director suggested. Both of the Klingon's henchmen laughed clearly unimpressed.

"..... And why would I want to do that?" the Klingon asked, taking a step back so his colleagues had clear line-of-sight should they decide to rid the Starbase of two Officers.

"Gr'vos, someone is coming!" one of the men said, receiving a blow that knocked him unconscious before his limp body hit the floor. the Klingon glared at the two women:

"I want the Romulan's body, you would be wise not to deny me!" Gr'vos spat before turning to the one standing man, "Pick 'THAT' up, if I see him again I will kill him," he said before striding off without a backwards glance. The man, now outnumbered, raised his disruptor and kicked the unconscious man several times until his eyes flickered open. He clambered to his feet, spitting out a fair amount of blood and several dislodged teeth, he retrieved his dropped weapon then both ran ..... Nia stepped out of the doorway but the Promenade was almost empty of visitors.

"Did you recognise the other two?" she asked Erin.

"No..." Paquin said, looking in the direction both had run, "... I'll have Security track them down, they can't have gone far,"

"Tell them to locate the two but hold back, and have Gr'vos checked too, in the morning will do, I can't see our friendly Klingon taking no for an answer, go get some sleep, I'll see you at zero eight hundred," Nia said ..........

[Nia Lemond]

Command Center
Starbase 47 ::

"..... And how did they manage that?" Nia Lemond asked one of the Intelligence Officers assigned to watch the two unknowns accompanying the Klingon Gr'vos.

"Admiral, we followed them to Level one four three five where they entered quarters, they didn't leave..." the older of the two answered, "... When we scanned the room the next morning it was empty, we entered but the two were gone. We didn't detect any signs of transport, so they must have got out another way,"

"Access conduits?" the Intelligence Director suggested.

"None large enough inside the quarter's Admiral," the second replied, resisting the urge to shake his head.

"Then despite our readings, they transported off the Starbase, presumably to a vessel close-by..." Lemond said, her annoyance at her Officers subsiding, "... What about our Klingon?" she asked.

"He's under surveillance, he is still in his quarters,"

I want a complete scan of the two men's quarters, find anything that could confirm they used a transporter, I'll have Command run a thorough scan of the area around the Starbase for a cloak signature,"

"Admiral, we 'could' use the orbital sensors we set up," Erin Paquin suggested. Nia remembered the ring of sensor array's they had placed equidistant around Starbase Forty-Seven at one hundred thousand kilometres distance on their arrival in the Beta Quadrant. They were initially a second line of defence given their new location.

"Have Command rotate the array's towards the Starbase and begin scans, they got out somehow, and I'd like to know just how they managed it before we get another demand from Gr'vos!" she returned to her office but less than two hours later Commander Dúpin, Head of Security on the Starbase in Admiral Reynolds' absence, asked to see her:

"Commander..."

"Admiral, we've run every scan we could think of, the only thing that showed up was fragments of a degraded ion trail,"

"Leading where?"

"Out towards the Moon..." Dúpin replied, tapping the PADD he was holding to duplicate the information onto Lemond's screen, "... It's possible it was left from when we were salvaging materials from the downed Starbase, but we haven't needed anything from the wreckage since we began getting supplies direct from home," he shrugged. Nia thought for a moment then asked her Adjutant to ask Commander Campbell, the Starbase Chief Engineer to join them.

"Captain... Can we ready a shielded Reconnaissance probe and have it taken out to the location of the crashed SB47?"

"We could, but why?" the man asked.

"Given our latest issues ....." she began.

"The murdered Romulan?" Campbell interrupted.

"Yes... There's a possibility that someone is coming and going without our knowledge. I'm hoping to find something out there to confirm our suspicions,"

"But any ship scanning the wreckage would immediately pick up the probe," the Security Chief commented.

"Not if we shield it, hide it in the wreckage and have it scan in millisecond bursts, the rest of the time it should look like any other piece of junk unless scrutinised too closely..." Campbell replied, "... It will take a few hours to configure the probe and add a shield generator, I'll arrange for several worker-bees to head over to the crash site to pick up materials, with luck one of them should be able to hide the probe without being detected doing so,"

"Good, thank you, Commander, let me know when you're ready,"

"I'll send a number of shuttles over at intervals, the one carrying the probe will be among them," Cambell nodded and asked Dúpin to join him in configuring the array.

When the two left she changed the view on the large screen to show images of the two unknown males, despite checking both the Starbase and Federation databases, they were as yet unable to identify the race .....

**********


"We cannot wait any longer. If the Federation find the information within Ra'kosh they will have complete access to our vaults!"

"Do not worry yourself Nokor, it will be the end of you," Gr'vos said, eyes glaring at the Intelligence director on the Promenade.

"We should take her, retrieve the body and LEAVE this place!" the Klingon Pirate spat.

"Killing her would only bring attention, we shall take the body in due course, regardless of her objections, now, Contact Rallos, tell him to return to the arranged coordinates," the Klingon ordered.

He watched the back of his colleague as he strode off to carry out his orders, wondering vaguely if the man was getting a little too confident in his role as Gr'vos' Second in Command, maybe putting him in his place would suffice, maybe not. Either way, Nokor would bear watching closely lest he have thoughts on advancement. Still, in the shadows of an unused unit, he waited until Lemond was out of sight then grinned, from observations he knew she would be in the Irish Bar for approximately forty-five minutes, this gave him the time he needed.

He headed back to the quarters they had secured and began ..... He would need to be extremely careful, but having been a former Officer of the Klingon Defense Force, he had means and ways of getting what he needed. Using the device taken from a Romulan Tal Shiar Officer they were forced to murder months earlier, he scanned the Secure Medical Center on Level Fifty-Seven, where the body of Ra'kosh was being stored. It would take work, but he felt he could gain access, if this proved impossible he would have no option but to transport the corpse from the Medical Center. Ideally, he would take the body away, but if time permitted he would access the data embedded in the man's neural pathways to add to his own, then he would destroy the body to prevent further access to the data.

Again, his frustration grew as he realised that unless the Medical Center was evacuated it would be almost impossible to simply walk in there without casualties! ..........

[Nia Lemond]

Level One Six Four Seven
Drone Storage and Repair ::

Nia was stood off to one side as the Class VII probe was relieved of its drive system, a Dual-mode matter/antimatter engine ...

"..... And removing the engine will ensure it isn't detected?" Commander Campbell nodded as his Deputy installed a small micro fusion powerpack that would run the passive data gathering systems along with a subspace transceiver. The powerpack would only last approximately one week, but hopefully, that would be more than enough to establish who was playing 'hide and seek'

The doors slid silently aside, the stars bright beyond the forcefield ..... A worker-bee shuttle passed through the 'field and lowered itself to the deck several meters away. The operator climbed from the cab and approached the device which was resting on a cradle. Sul Atkinson, the Deputy Chief Engineer for the Starbase replaced the last of the access panels, he turned to the others confirming the probe was ready. The shuttle operator walked around the probe frowning for a second before nodding his head. He informed the group that deploying the probe would be difficult but assured them it could be placed without being detected.

They looked at a schematic of the wreckage of the duplicate Starbase Forty-Seven and picked a suitable location, it would give the Starbase a panoramic view beyond the Moon and could use its subspace transceiver to relay data. Satisfied they had done all they could, Lemond and the others left to allow the loading of the probe, once that was complete the worker-bee followed a second one out of the hanger and the two craft headed towards the Moon. En route they passed two coming in the opposite direction, both holding long sections of hull-plating.

The two worker-bees dropped close to the wreckage and the first began to pull sections of mangled material up and out of the way. Anyone watching would, they hoped, see it was yet another routine task and lose interest. The craft holding the probe moved closer until it was directly below the first. Using one of the remote arms it grasped a small panel and moved it upwards before scanning, again usual practice used to ensure there were no fractures in the section. As it did so, the pilot extended the right arm and lowered the probe, resting it horizontally across two beams. Satisfied it was stable, he lowered the section of bulkhead and moaned to his colleague that they had found yet another section useless to the Starbase. After moving to a second location both began the return carrying sections of bulkhead .....

In the Command Center. Lemond found herself pacing and made a conscious effort to stop doing so:

"How long before we start to get telemetry?" Nia asked.

"I suggest we leave the probe dormant for several hours," Commander Dúpin suggested.

"Fine, I'll be in my office,"

Twenty-Two Thirty Hours
Same Day ::

"Admiral..." Theo Dúpin said from the doorway, receiving an instruction to enter before continuing, "... The probe is online, It is performing a one-microsecond burst scan every ninety seconds, as yet it hasn't picked up anything we don't already know is there, but it's early days, so to speak," the Deputy Chief of Security commented wryly.

"No trouble receiving the data?" Nia asked.

"No, in fact much better than we initially estimated,"

"OK... Thank you, Commander, We'll meet tomorrow, zero eight hundred, review what we have," Lemond replied, watching the man leave her office, she stretched a niggling ache out of her back and decided to call it a day. She was walking towards the turbolift when the Deputy Operations Officer approached and informed her that the probe had picked up something. She asked him to get Dúpin back along with Commander Helgessen ..... On the Main Floor, Nia watched the readings from the probe, it was clear that something had approached the far side of the Moon and was now holding position.

"Images are ready Admiral," Dúpin confirmed. Lemond nodded then looked at the blurred image, almost having to squint to make out a barely coherent shape. Theo worked at the data finally clearing it up but only slightly.

"A ship?" Lemond speculated.

"The probe picked up an ion trail coming around the Moon before holding station there..." he highlighted the trail and the presumed location it halted, there was almost nothing to be seen, in fact, had it not been for the ion trail Nia wondered if there was anything physical out there at all, indeed it could have been dust dragged into the weak gravitational influence of the Moon and was only now settling back to the surface, "... It 'could' be a cloaked vessel of some kind, but definitely not ours, Klingon, I doubt it, or the Romulans, unless they have developed a cloak better than they are currently using,"

"Any way we can get better resolution on that area?"

"We equipped the probe with a second sensor array, it seemed silly to waste all the space once the drive was removed..." Dúpin said as he nodded to one of the Technicians assigned to monitor the probe data, "... The second array should be coming online now, it is a narrow beam scan so we should be able to concentrate on a very small area," The Tach' nodded then put the second set of readings up on an adjacent monitor.

"That's definitely a ship!" Nia said as Dúpin moved to another console, he accessed information sent up from Starfleet Command regarding the region of space they were in, then turned to the others:

"These are the long-range scans we had of the Yattho Star System, the signature isn't exact, but it is similar, maybe?"

"..... And this ship has been approaching the Starbase on a regular basis, is that what you are saying Commander," but Dúpin could only shrug.

"Maybe this is how the unknown personnel have been coming and going unnoticed?" he replied by way of an answer. Nia was about to reply what an alarm sounded, several screens immediately changed to a detailed schematic of the massive Starbase!

"Level Fifty ..... Morgue!" Dúpin read aloud as everyone ran to the nearest turbolift.

Level Fifty-Seven
High Security Medical Center ...
Morgue ::

As they stepped off the turbolift they ran into a dozen Starbase Personnel dousing the final flames from what was clearly a large fire.

"What happened? Lemond asked the closest Security Officer.

"Operations detected a minor overload on one of the power conduits, before it could be shut down it exploded," the man said, wiping grime from his face.

"How long before we can go in?"

"In? ..... In there...?" the man asked almost laughing, realising his mistake instantly as he felt the force of Lemonds glare, "... Apologies Admiral ... We will need to assess the damage and structural integrity, but I can't see there being anything left in there to see. The explosion blew out a section of the exterior bulkhead, forcefields snapped into place likely saving the Medical Staff that foolishly ran to see what had happened,"

Nia looked at the darkened smoke-filled room ..........

[Nia Lemond]

Nia Lemond's Office
Mezzanine Level
Command Center ::

"All fire suppression systems had been deactivated ....." Lieutenant Colonel Theo Dúpin confirmed.

"Just how was that managed, Colonel?" Nia asked.

"We're still investigating, but it looks like someone overrode the safety protocols for Sickbay and the Morgue, the overload was caused by a microfracture in one of the power conduits as we initially suspected..." the Deputy Chief of Security replied, wondering inwardly when his boss, Admiral Reynolds, would be back from his extended stay on Earth, "... Access is open to all Maintenence Staff on the Starbase, We are checking on missing personnel, unaccounted for absences,"

"OK..." Lemond said, frustrated but keeping her thoughts to herself for the moment, "... Where are we on this possible Yattho ship?"

"After some discussion on options, I've asked Commander Campbell to work with Captain Stephenson, to install sensors around the bulk of the Starbase, once active they should be able to detect a cloaked ship," the Starbase Chief Engineer and the Head of the Federation Corps of Engineers both nodded confirmation of their instructions.

"We won't be able to detect the vessel itself..." Campbell said, rising to move to the large viewscreen opposite Nia's desk, "... But if we're lucky we should be able to lick up a vessels 'wake' as they manoeuvre," he pointed out the flashing indicators along part of the schematic of the Starbase.

"How long before they are online?"

"Three days ..... We've completed the work around the Dome and the more sensitive levels, we're now filling in as many gaps as we can hopefully without attracting too much attention. THere's no point in doing all this if our visitors are watching the work being done, they're hardly likely to continue dropping in on us if they know they are going to be spotted,"

"What about repairs, Commander?" Nia asked, addressing the Head of Starbase Structure.

"External bulkheads have been replaced, we're not worrying about refitting the Morgue at this point in time, most of the Primary Medical Center was destroyed as you know, but we should have it back up and running in twenty-four hours Admiral,"

"Good..." Nia stood, stretching the everpresent ache out of her back, "... Anything more?"

"Admiral, we ran another thorough scan and search of the deceased Romulan's quarters and found a coded chip to one of the Secure Storage Vaults... There wasn't much apart from a PADD containing information, coded, that we think connects him to several disgraced Klingons and a small group who have been helping themselves to Romulan and Klingon supplies for years. Given the sensitivity of the situation, I thought it best to keep this between us?" Dúpin replied.

"Yes, you did the right thing, besides, if the Romulans and Klingons can't catch the people plundering their own then who are we to help them out..." Nia said with a wry grin, "... Right, thank you, everyone, we'll reconvene tomorrow,"

"Admiral, talking of the Romulans and Klingons ..... Representatives from both races are still sat in the other office, they are demanding an audience, again," Erin Paquin informed Lemond.

"Determined chaps," Nia said, asking her Adjutant to show the others out through her own office, then take a leisurely walk around to inform the Representatives that Nia could see them whenever they were ready. Once the room was clear Nia deactivated the viewscreen and walked over to pour herself a cup of coffee, her third of the day despite it still only being zero nine hundred hours. Erin managed to make the walk last five minutes, and Nia could head both men well before they were shown into her office. She had been about stand but given their tirade on entering she changed her mind, instead, picking up the hot beverage to take a long sip until both men fell silent, glaring at her.

"Take a seat, Gentlemen," she said, already knowing it was going to be a long long day ..........

[Nia Lemond]

Nia Lemond's Office
Mezzanine Level
Command Center ::

Nia was rapidly losing patience with her guests .....

"I don't know how many times I can say the same thing, Gentlemen... I don't have the information you seem to think I have. We found nothing in Ra'kosh' quarters that aided our investigation into his assassination... As for data files, again we found nothing linking him to any group or affiliation, it was all we could do to identify the body at all, thanks to the apparent reluctance of the Romulan Central Government,"

"I'm afraid we cannot accept that Admiral," the Klingon representative, Gr'vos said darkly.

"..... Well, until we make any further progress in our investigation you are going to have to," Lemond said, rising from her seat to signify the meeting was over, alas neither of her guests thought so, remaining seated. Frustrated, she took a moment to walk over to the cabinet where Erin always kept hot coffee ready. She poured herself a cup and returned to her desk.

"You have information on the unfortunate, explosion... We would like to see what you have along with any records concerning our, colleague," the Romulan representative, Hovak said, leaning forward.

Finally losing the last remnant of patience, she tapped the commlink on her desk and waited for her Adjutant to enter from her adjoining office:

"Erin, please see these gentlemen to the turbolift... Thank you," as she turned back to her guests, Hovak was already reaching for his arm, grinning as he spoke:

"jol yIchu," Nia was reaching for the tab to activate the transport inhibitor in her office when she felt the tell-tale caress. It was too late .....

Unknown cloaked Vessel
Holding Position off Starbase Forty-Seven ::

Materialising, Nia was faced with two men, both holding disruptors on her and Erin, along with Hovak and Gr'vos, who she now realised were not representatives of their respective races, but were part of what was happening.

"Secure them!" the Romulan said before leaving the room with Gr'vos ..... The two armed men jabbed at the two, forcing them ahead, they moved down a corridor until one told them to halt, he placed a small device beside the door and it slid aside, Nia and Erin were roughly pushed into the dark, dank room and the door closed behind them. After a moment both became accustomed to the subdued lighting and began to look around the room for anything useful.

"I don't recognise this material," Nia commented, running a hand along the bulkhead, Paquin nodded.

"Very basic layout from what I could tell, hardly luxury liner, more Klingon scow..." The Adjutant replied a moment later as she examined the door, "... I can't see any control panel for the door,"

"No bunks, food dispenser, no bathroom facilities, so I doubt this is their highest spec suits," Nia said as she tapped her commbadge:

=^= Lemond to Starbase .. Priority One .. .. =^= Unsurprisingly, there was no reply. She repeated the hail with the same result.

"How long before we're missed?"

"You were due to meet the Bajoran Trade Delegation at noon, so a couple of hours, unless anyone needs to speak to you beforehand," Erin replied. With nowhere to sit, the two could only lean on what they hoped was a clean section of the bulkhead. Lemond estimated that they had waited approximately an hour when the door opened. One of the two guards from earlier waved them forward into the corridor then pushed both back the way they had come earlier. This time though they were led further along the corridor from their arrival point before stepping into what was clearly the Bridge of the vessel.

had they been shocked, neither showed it as they looked at the viewscreen ..... They were clearly at high warp! ..........

[Nia Lemond]

Nudged further forward by the weapon pushed into the small of her back, Lemond tried to look around the Bridge .....

"Feel free to look around Admiral," Gr'vos said amiably.

"I don't recognise the configuration,"

"Nor are you likely to..." the Klingon said as he moved closer to the viewscreen, "... As you can see, it was necessary to invite you along,"

"Who's your friends?" the Intelligence Director asked, nodding to the two people manning what she assumed were Ops and Helm.

"Thay are with me..." a newcomer said, striding from the turbolift before dropping into the command seat. The Klingon guard again jabbed her in the back, forcing her to move around the Bridge until the newcomer could see her, "... We are not part of your 'Federation' ... Despite your numerous attempt to insinuate yourselves," it suddenly dawned on Nia who was speaking but she tried to remain expressionless.

"You think our people are not going to come after us?" Erin Paquin said defiantly.

"Oh I have no doubt they will try my child, but alas, they will fail," the Romulan, Hovak, said with a grin of satisfaction.

"You're Yattho ....." Nia said, completely ignoring the Romulan.

"Indeed..." the man said, standing to approach Lemond, he held out a hand as he introduced himself, "... You may call me, Rallos," he said, glancing from his extended arm to hers waiting patiently. When she didn't return the gesture, he shrugged and lowered the offered hand before moving away. He seemed to be taking his time moving from Helm to Ops, over to what could have been the weapons or defensive systems station, before finally returning to his seat. Another of the Yattho leaned forward and spoke to him, Rallos nodded then waved the man away.

"Where are you taking us?" Paquin asked.

"Well, it seems our last visit to your starbase, needed to be cut short. My, associate here was in error bringing you aboard without my permission, but here we are..." Rallos said, the withering glare at Gr'vos making the Federation Officers wince inwardly, "... "We had 'arranged' for some equipment to be transferred to our vessel, but his suspicions that his subterfuge had been discovered caused a change of plan, now, we are going to a small planetoid on the outskirts of the Klingon Empire, being of no strategic use, it has long since been disregarded by the Klingons."

"You're Pirates...!" Nia said, bursting into laughter. The others on the Bridge remained dangerously quiet as they waited for her to regain some semblance of control, "... Nothing more than a group of opportunists," she finished.

"We prefer, what is it you say, hmm, yes, entrepreneurs," Rallos said, clearly pleased with himself.

"You're a bunch of thieves, nothing more, nothing less..." Erin said, "...... And when you're dragged back to Starbase Forty-Seven you'll be pleading for leniency, you can bet your worth on that!" Hovak, Gr'vos, and the leader of the group looked at each other before laughing. The others on the Bridge, clearly subordinates, all nervously joined in.

"Time to arrival?" Rallos asked.

"Three hours fourteen minutes My Lord," the Yatthite at Helm replied quickly.

"Return them to quarters, we shall converse further on arrival, ladies," the Leader said before turning away, clearly dismissing them from his presence. Again they were pushed off the Bridge and along another corridor, the guard stopped and opened a door, stepping aside while motioning for them to enter. Surprisingly, this room was much better furnished than their last, with a window, two beds, a workstation complete with a powerless terminal, a small settee and chairs.

"Well, at least we got an upgrade....." Erin Paquin said as the door closed behind them .....

Starbase Forty-Seven
Ninty Minutes After Abduction ::


Lieutenant Colonel Theo Dúpin, Deputy Head of Starbase Security, knew the Admiral had a scheduled meeting but wanted five minutes to go over the information he had gathered on the murder of the Romulan Ra'kosh ..... Arriving at the office, he could see the Admiral's Adjutant was away from her desk. It was unusual for Lemonds door to be closed so he assumed Paquin was inside. He had been sat for approximately fifteen minutes before he decided to contact Lemond.

Tapping his commbadge he received no reply, he tried a second time with the same result. He tried to contact commander Paquin but again received no reply. Concerned, he walked back out onto the mezzanine and sought out Captain Helgesen, Chief of Operations:

"Captain, I'm trying to contact Admiral Lemond but I'm getting no reply?" Helgesen frowned and tapped his own commbadge to try himself.

"Computer .. Location of Vice-Admiral Lemond?"

"Vice Admiral Lemond is no longer aboard the Starbase,"

"When did she leave!?" Helgesen asked urgently as both he and Dúpin ran back to her office.

"Unknown,"

Entering her office they only confirmed that it was empty. If Lemond was missing it was highly likely that Paquin was with her so may have gone too.

"Lock us down, don't let anything leave the 'base, we need to find out where she is and who has taken her!" Dúpin ordered even as Helgesen was giving instructions to the Command Center ..........

[Nia Lemond]

Starbase Forty-Seven
Two Hours After Abduction ::

Marine Colonel Theo Dúpin had informed practically everyone in the current 'Chain of Command' on the Starbase but had held off contacting Starfleet Command until he had something to tell them other than bad news. With Admiral Reynolds still on Earth, and the three remaining Admiral's being out of the aforementioned chain, he found himself the Ranking Officer from Security or Lemond's Intelligence Offices .....

"I might have something...!" Helgesen said, rushing into his office. He moved to the large viewscreen and brought up a trace. Dupin could see the Starbase and surrounding space, including the relatively nearby Moon they had recently set up surveillance on following the murder of the Romulan, "... Same warp trace we picked up a few days ago, the one we suspected was coming close to the 'base,"

"Heading?"

"We can't be sure, but it looks like that are bypassing the Yattho System possibly heading towards the Romulan border, even towards the Garci Alliance space, but they're possibly using a cloak, so ....."

"..... And you think they got the Admiral and her Adjutant off?" Dúpin asked, pulling up a list of vessels currently docked before slamming a fist onto the desk.

"Well, I'm not privy to what's going on in the 'cloak n dagger' world, but I do know that ADmiral Lemond had asked me to find a way of tracking the vessel we believe was dropping in whenever they felt like," the Operations Officer replied.

"What are these ships doing?" Theo asked, pointing to the list.

"The Windsor Castle is in for scheduled maintenance, the Duc d'Aquitaine is due to return to Earth erm, tomorrow, via Batazed with much needed medical supplies, and Gibraltar is waiting on a replacement core," Helgesen confirmed.

"So there's nothing in that we can use to go after them!" Dúpin said, his frustration obvious to anyone passing the open door of the office.

"Not at present, no..." Eric was saying but suddenly snapped his fingers as if he'd received some form of divine intervention, "... The Maracanda! ... It's due back in eight hours approximately. It was supposed to be waiting for Admiral Reynolds, but he sent it back saying he'd hitch a lift once he was done on Earth,"

"Contact the Maracanda, tell them to push to get here as soon as possible, they can pick me up and we'll head out aft ....."

"If they change course now, they could intercept the warp trail much quicker," Helgesen suggested.

"They took two Senior Officers off the Starbase right under my nose, I need to ....."

"You need to be here Colonel..." the Operations Chief said calmly, "... You're needed here, at least until someone higher gets back or effectively takes over you are the Seniormost Security Officer on the station," Theo looked at the man knowing he was right, with Enzio, Raven, and the El Salvadore all out on missions, the proverbial 'buck' fell in his lap. He knew Helgesen was right but couldn't find any argument with his statement. sighing he dropped into his chair:

"Maracanda is still raw... Her crew are new,"

"I know Captain Manley, and his Exec'... Raw, yes, but neither would be on that bridge if they didn't deserve to be there Colonel,"

"Send everything we have to Captain Manley, tell him to change course immediately," .......

Pirate Vessel ...
Approaching Planetoid Cestos
Location of Pirates Main vaults ::

"Looks like that's our destination," Erin said, pointing out the window towards a small planet or moon. Nia took a look ..... The planetoid was a rock, there didn't seem to be much if any atmosphere. From what they could see it seemed to be uninhabited, at least on the surface. It looked slightly larger than Earth's Moon but was well outside any local System. They sat watching as the ship slowed before making a geostationary orbit. Truth be told, had she been passing she wouldn't have given the rock a second look after a cursory scan, it looked like a lifeless rock, simple as that.

"Hideout?" Paquin speculated.

"It's a bloody good one if it is," Lemond had to concede as the door opened, the guard from earlier stepped into the room and pointed towards the door:

"Come!" he said. With a look at each other, the two Starfleet Officers stood and inched past the man, he pointed, walking behind them as they retraced their steps to the Bridge.

"Ahh, my guests..." Rallos said, smiling warmly, "... Despite my, associates, misgiving, I have decided to extend my hospitality and allow you to accompany us,"

"Accompany... Where?" Nia asked as one of their captors placed a device around each of Lemond's and Paquin's left wrists, Rallos smiled that smile of his and nodded to one of his men. Nia felt the telltale caress of a transport .....

Materialising, she was admittedly lost for words.

The room was large, lavishly furnished, almost opulent in its ostentatiousness, and at the far end of the room was an enormous panoramic window. Without speaking content, the two Officers walked forward and were again shocked as they looked down on a vast open space. Approximately one hundred metres below were crates of all sizes and shapes, clearly their ill-gotten gains, but neither woman had even thought of just how much the space held.

"The Planetoid has, pockets, I suppose would best describe them, some are small, mere meters in size, but some, like this one, serve us well," Rallos explained helpfully.

"You've heard the old proverb about not keeping all your eggs in one basket I suppose?" Erin Paquin asked the man, who frowned.

"An old Earth saying I believe," the Romulan, Hovak said.

"Ahh..." the Yattho leader replied as if giving the statement some thought before turning to one of his men, "... Please show our guests to quarters, the Blue rooms I believe, the waterfalls are something to behold. We shall speak again once you have had time to freshen up, maybe you would do me the honour of joining me for supper later?"

Before either woman could comment they were ushered out of the room, the door closing behind them, but not before they heard Hovak and Gr'vos protesting to Rallos venomously ..........

[Nia Lemond]

Command Center
Starbase Forty-Seven ::

=^= You understand your orders .. Captain? =^=

=^= Completely Colonel =^= Grant Manley replied from the Bridge of the USS Maracanda.

=^= You are to try to locate the ship or base and report back .. Do not attempt any rescue at this stage =^=

=^= Locate and report .. .. Your information is coming in now .. .. Maracanda out =^=

"Helm, adjust course to intercept the last know heading of the unknown vessel and engage at warp six," Manley ordered as he stood to join his Exec' to go over the information on the kidnapping of the Intelligence Director .....

Several Hours Later ...
Pirate Vaults
Cestos ::

"Any thoughts on what time they eat around here...?" Nia asked, grinning at her Adjutant who was still trying to release the lock on the door, "... I thought you would be tired of fiddling with that thing by now,"

"Anyone would think they had welded the damn thing shut, I've tried everything bar kicking it," Erin said, clearly frustrated with her lack of success. She was walking over to one of the chairs when the door slid silently aside behind her.

"My Lord wishes your, company," the man said, clearly unhappy.

They followed the man through several corridors, their circuitous route apparently meant to confuse them. Though given they couldn't even manage to get through a single door, a dozen lefts and rights hardly seemed necessary in Paquin's opinion. Yet here they were, turning again, but at least this time there was a door ahead of them. Pushing past the two Officers, then without speaking, the man stood a meter from the door and bowed his head, a second later the door glided aside and they were ushered into an extremely lavish dining room, long table, candelabra, burning open fire, they couldn't help but be impressed, though neither voiced their opinion.

"Ahh, my esteemed guests..."

"Is it usual to lock your guests in their rooms until summoned?" Lemond asked.

"You were never locked in, not in the sense you mean, I have a colleague who is adept in psychokinesis, he simply held the door closed, thus your failure to activate any locking mechanism," Rallos said, aiming the explanation at Erin before leading both of them to a chair, in turn, pulling each back before moving it back to seat both women, then he took his place unsurprisingly at the head of the long table. A man, suitably garbed, entered and poured the two wine before offering a glass to Rallos, who nodded, all the while smiling at Nia and Erin. The 'waiter' left the room returning with plates before placing one before each of those seated. He raised his plate, breathing in the aromas, then seemed to realise neither woman was eating, "... Please ... Ladies, do begin, I believe the food to be expertly prepared,"

Erin looked at the plate, some kind of 'bird' of fowl, it reminded her of images of chicken or a Christmas dinner. Tentatively both began eating, pleasantly surprised.

"Good, good, it's hardly the done thing to poison your guests at the dinner table, or so I believe..." Rallos said, grinning as both Lemond and Paquin paused with food halfway to their mouths, "... Apologies, bad timing," he said, continuing to eat.

"While this is all exceptional, I assume you are going to inform us as to why you have brought us here against our wills?" Nia said as she dabbed her lips before picking up the glass of wine.

"Hmmm, I would have thought that obvious..." Rallos seemed to find this amusing and got up from the table, asking the women to join him closer to the warming fire, "... It was very clear that you had no intentions of being helpful to my colleagues, alas, had I been present I would have simply bid you good afternoon and retired from your office. Unfortunately, the Romulan's, and indeed the Klingon's, are somewhat less trusting than me and have a tendency to, over-react at times such as they found themselves in. Once they had taken you it would have been inconvenient to simply drop you back in your office,"

"You're working with a Romulan and a Klingon ....."

"Several of each as a matter of fact..." Rallos interrupted, "... While somewhat, uncouth at times, they do have their uses, so to speak,"

"You're smugglers, pirates, nothing more, nothing less!" Erin Paquin stated.

"I much prefer 'opportunists' young lady, but as you will," Rallos shrugged as he poured two glasses of what Nia already knew would be a very expensive, very good brandy.

"Can I assume that now you have wined and dined us, you will be making every effort to return us to the Starbase?" Nia asked, rolling the brandy around the snifter, feeling the liquid warm under her touch. Before Rallos could reply, the waiter entered and spoke into his ear. The Yattho Pirate Leader looked at Nia and Erin, sadness on his face. He waved the man away then stood.

"Alas, no ..... As I said earlier, we, the Yattho, do not enjoy harming anyone, but unfortunately, my Romulan and Klingon colleagues are more than willing to rid anyone, however sordidly... I am afraid they have decided you would prove too much of a liability should you remain alive, and while I am head of our little group if you will, I do need the cooperation of those unsavoury characters. I have however persuaded them not to dispose of you now as we have obligations that need to be fulfilled, Balokor here will escort you back to your rooms, but I fear your fate is sealed. It is small compensation but you will have the liberty to roam in the waterfall gardens, under observation of course. Please do not try to enter any prohibited area, I fear the Romulan and Klingon members of our group are keen to exercise their right to be rid of you."

Rallos walked to the guard and spoke, the man nodded, then again bowing as his Lord left the room.

"You will follow me," he stated. Clearly more an order than a suggestion. Nia put her glass down as did Erin, and they followed the man out of the room, this time they only made one turn then the guard motioned to their room.

"I have been instructed to allow you access to all rooms on this level as well as access to the gardens and, waterfalls. I suggest you do not give me any reason to rescind that freedom!"

He turned to exit the room and grasped a small handle before sliding the door closed. Erin waited several seconds then approached the door, listening intently she reached forward and took hold of the handle on their side, with a breath she applied pressure and was surprised that the door opened with no resistance. Lemond was sat watching, almost grinning as the door opened. She sat for a moment then, using her thumb, applied a set pressure against her left hip.

"Fancy a stroll in the gardens?" she asked ..........

[Nia Lemond]

Cestos Planetoid
Pirate Vaults ::

"Fancy a stroll in the gardens?" Nia asked casually.

"Gardens?" Erin Paquin repeated confusedly. Lemond grinned and took her Adjutant's arm before strolling out of their assigned rooms ..... Once in the gardens, Nia quickly realised that no one was following them, no one was guarding them, 'hardly surprising' she thought, given it seemed they were inside a cavernous space within a dead world, and as such had nowhere to go.

"When did you realise Admiral?" Paquin asked, unintentionally enjoying the warmth, the scents and aromas of the lush gardens, the faint caress of water droplets from the nearby waterfalls.

"About Hovak and Gr'vos? ..... I didn't at first, but their assistance on seeing the body of Ra'kosh was making me wonder if they had ulterior motives for getting at the body..." Lemond explained as they found a bench beneath one of the multitudes of 'falls, "... My only problem was I couldn't risk contacting either man's Government in case they claimed jurisdiction,"

"So when they came into your office, you already suspected they were involved more than they were letting on, so to speak?" Erin asked.

"I wasn't too sure until I mentioned the Romulan Central Government and saw the reaction of Gr'vos. Unfortunately, I couldn't react fast enough to prevent our being beamed off the Starbase,"

"You think they will release us?" Erin asked nervously, Nia put an arm around her friends' shoulder but didn't answer her question as she watched the blue-green water falling into the pool below the cliff .....

Starbase Forty-Seven
Level One Six Eight Seven ...
Decompressed Section ::

"As I said, I am pretty sure we could have re-routed the power conduits from the warmth of our office," Petty Officer Third Class Deakins said, adjusting his breathing mask for the thousandth time.

"Are you 'EVER' going to stop whining, all you do is complain, complain, complain, no one forced you into doing maintenance, you could have gone into catering," his friend and boss PO First Class Eifors said with a grin.

"The relays should be down this way," Deakins said, pointing into the semi-darkness of the dimly-lit corridor. They walked in silence for several minutes before passing large doors. They had gone several paces past when the second Tech' paused. He looked back at the doors, wondering why there was an atmosphere indicator blinking on the access panel:

"Hey, hold on..." Eifors called, letting go of the handle of the tool case he was pulling.

"What is it?" his friend asked, turning around before walking towards the same doors.

"I thought these Levels were decompressed, so why is this Cargo-bay showing gravity and atmosphere?"

"It's got to be a glitch, forget it, we're assigned with connecting the relay then we're done for the day, I don't know about you but I have a lovely young nurse I'm supposed to be taking out for a meal later,"

"You go on, I'm going to check this out..." Eifors said, walking back to his equipment case to retrieve a scanner and several tools. Sighing, his friend sat on his tool case and waited patiently, "... There's atmosphere and gravity in there..." he took out a PADD showing the Levels above and below along with a more detailed schematic of the area they were assigned to work in. It showed that the Cargo-bay was supposed to be open to space, artificial gravity and life support should be off-line.

"Are you done?" Deakins asked impatiently.

"I'm just going to take a look, give me a minute, you'll get to your date don't worry..." Eifors replied with a laugh ..... He checked the PADD for access override codes then inputted the code into the panel. The doors, groaning through prolonged misuse, slid aside, the internal bay lighting rising to the standard level, it took a moment for his eye to acclimatise, then he gasped, "... BLOODY HELL!" he said, forcing his colleague to walk over to into the Cargo-bay, which was almost full of packing crates!

"Let's just report what we've found and get our job done," Deakins said as he too entered the Cargo-bay and began looking at individual crates, a frown forming.

"Why would we be storing Romulan and Klingon and who knows who the hell else's cargo?" Eiforsasked as he pried one of the crates open, his eyes widening as he moved to another, then another, before tapping his commbadge:

=^= Erm .. PO2 Eifors to Commander Gordon .. .. =^=

=^= Petty Officer Eifors .. Commander Gordon? =^=

=^= Commander .. We were assigned to check and repair several severed power conduits on Level one six eight seven =^=

=^= Are you having problems down there? =^=

=^= Commander .. I think you should contact Command .. Security .. Whoever you think best .. .. =^=

=^= What are you going on about? =^=

=^= Commander .. We checked a Cargo-bay that was showing atmosphere and gravity .. We've found who knows how many crates of weapons .. All sorts of stuff all marked with Romulan .. Klingon .. Plus a text I don't understand =^=

=^= Crates .. There shouldn't be anything in those 'bays =^= Sasha Gordon replied, checking the inventory lists.

=^= Well there are dozens maybe hundreds down here .. Weapons .. All sorts of stuff! =^=

=^= Stay put .. I'm on my way =^= the Starbase Head of Structure informed them before closing the comm. She thought for a moment then left her office, seeking out Colonel Dúpin, Head of Security in Admiral Reynolds absence:

"I think you need to come with me..." she said, heading for her office, frowning, Colonel Dúpin followed the Engineer, once inside she asked him to authorise a site-to-site transport, and quickly gave him the location they needed to get to, " ... Two of my Technicians have found something you'll want to see," she insisted, and after a moments' thought, Dúpin nodded.

"Computer... Initiate site-to-site transport... This location to Level one six eight seven Section Delta... Authorisation Dúpin-Gamma-Two-Beta-Charlie-Three."

'Authorisation confirmed. Stand-by' ..... Materialising, they were met by Eifors and Deakins.

"What's going on Technician?" Sasha asked.

"See for yourself," Eifors said, pointing at the still open doors. Several weapons had been pulled from their crates, Dúpin looked at them recognising Romulan rifles, Klingon disruptors, grenades, percussion charges, along with what were clearly replicators, but the most disturbing was the racks of photon torpedoes! ..........

[Nia Lemond]

OOC : Posting as Captain Grant Manley ...

USS Maracanda ::


The Maracanda had been heading back to Starbase Forty-Seven when they were contacted:

=^= You understand your orders .. Captain? =^= Dúpin asked again.

=^= Completely Colonel =^= Captain Manley replied.

=^= You are to try to locate the ship or base and report back .. Do not attempt any rescue at this stage =^=

=^= Locate and report .. .. Your information is coming in now .. .. Maracanda out =^=

"Helm, adjust course to intercept the last know heading of the unknown vessel and engage at warp six," Manley ordered as he stood to join his Exec' to go over the information on the kidnapping of the Intelligence Director .....


~~~~~~~~~~


Despite the Maracanda's recently upgraded sensors, they were having trouble maintaining a lock on the warp trail left by the unknown vessel ..... It was clear that whoever they were they were making every effort 'not' to be followed, making random course changes. Several times they had lost the sensor lock and had been forced to zig-zag in an attempt to reestablish. They had a rough heading to track, and all Manley could do was hope they came upon the unknown ship again .....

"Any idea why we're going after this phantom?" Frank Scober asked.

"Well, you heard the conversation..." Manley replied, clearly as frustrated with the lack of information as his Executive Officer, "... Ours not to reason why I suppose, and besides, anything is better than sitting at the Starbase waiting to shuttle the brass here and there around the Federation like some glorified taxi service,"

"Captain..." Lieutenant Jarves said from Tactical, Manley and Scober approached the station.

"What is it?" the Exec' asked.

"I'm picking up a sub-space transponder signal," Manley looked over to the Second Officer who was currently seated at Comms, Erin Wilkes checked the panel then shook her head.

"Why are you picking it up and Comms isn't?" Scober asked as Wilkes tried to get a lock on the transponder frequency.

"This can't be right..." she said, frowning as she double-checked her reading then looked at Manley and Scober, "... If I'm reading this right, this is an Intelligence Division frequency,"

"Can you get a lock?" Scober asked Jarves, who nodded before turning back to his panel, a few seconds later he gave a heading for the signal:

"Helm, change course to the heading Lieutenant Jarves has sent you, increase to warp eight...!" Manley ordered, moving over to the Helm "... What is on our current heading?"

"Three Star Systems, all uninhabited, approximately fifty-eight bodies in total, eight planet-sized, otherwise a whole lot of rock," the Helm Officer confirmed.

"Any with an atmosphere?" Frank Scober asked.

"Nothing we'd want to be breathing in, no..." Jarves replied, rechecking his readings, "... The transponder signal seems to be coming from one of the larger Moons in the second System,"

"Is there anywhere we can monitor the signal without being spotted?"

"Well, we 'could' position ourselves in the asteroid field on the outer edge of the first System, That way we'll be practically invisible unless someone makes it their business to look for us... The other thing that is puzzling me is the signal itself... The frequency is very low, almost background, the transponders are not used over massive distances, especially light-years. I did that time at Starfleet Command, prior to being assigned to Maracanda. What I'm saying is: Only someone monitoring for the individual frequency would be able to recognise it,"

"You're saying there's an Intelligence Officer on one of those Moons?" the ships Senior Marine, Major Hurst asked.

"It would seem so..." Grant replied, admittedly confused, "... Helm, get us into position in the first system and keep an eye on that transponder." .... The USS Maracanda rolled as she made a swift course change then dropped from warp as they approached the asteroid field. Positioning themselves so they had direct line contact with the transponder signal, Grant dropped into his seat. Once relatively stationary in relation to their surroundings they powered down as many systems to hinder detection.

"Open a comm to Starbase Forty-Seven..." Manley ordered, "... I want to speak to Colonel Dúpin.

"We have the Starbase Captain," Wilkes confirmed then put the image on the main viewscreen.

=^= Captain =^= Dúpin said noncommittally.

=^= We seem to have found something interesting .. .. .. =^= Manley said before reporting what they had found thus far ..........

[Nia Lemond]

OCC : Posting as Captain Grant Manley ...

USS Maracanda ::


As the comm closed, Manley looked up at his Exec' ... The look on Frank Scober's face said it all ... They were no wiser than before speaking to the Starbase Forty-Seven Deputy Security Head .....

So, did he say there 'was' an Intelligence Officer on the Moon, or did he try to avoid the question?" Scober asked.

"Well, despite his being unforthcoming, I think we can take it that someone from Intelligence is down there," Onizuko said from Opps.

"I've been checking star charts... Jarves said at Tactical, "... The Moon we're picking up the emergency signal from was designated as part of a larger asteroid field, It seems six of the larger Moons were flung out but this one was held somehow. According to the files it was named Cestos."

"I remember, it was looked at for viability of placing a communications relay, but its orbit was too unstable," Erin Wilkes added.

"Well, it looks stable enough now..." Scober said, "... So, do we go in?"

"No ....." Manley said, getting up from the centre seat to stretch the nagging ache in his lower back, "... Is there any way to identify who the transponder belongs to?"

"Afraid not, they are pretty much generic, given only Intelligence have access to that frequency, it's obvious it's one of them transmitting." Jarves said.

"Could we get to the surface in a shuttle, without being seen?

"There isn't any sign of long-range sensors to track anything approaching, but given it would look like a dead rock in space. There's one large cavernous opening on the eastern side as we see it, otherwise, nothing but rock" Onizuko replied.

"..... and communication is out?" Michael Smythe asked from the Engineering Station.

"Even if we knew whoever is down there was carrying a communicator, we have no way of knowing if he or she is alone, we could be warning the very people we're trying to avoid,"

"A shuttle it is then..." Manley said with an exaggerated sigh, "... Frank, Gregory, you're with me... Erin, the ship is yours, keep out of sight as much as you can,"

"I suggest we drop a short-range communications buoy on the far side of this rock, it is low powered, so unlikely to be spotted by anyone on the Moon, and we can keep in touch without line-of-sight to the ship?" the Comms Officer suggested.

"OK... Let's go," .....


Shuttle Eliza ::


The shuttle departed the Maracanda heading away from the Moon towards the far side of the asteroid they were hiding behind ..... As they picked Cestos up on their instruments, Scober released the communications buoy then waited for it to impact the surface. Seeing the confirm signal, he sent a brief word to the ship and received one in return.

"Comms OK," he informed the others.

As the shuttle aligned itself with Cestos, Scober increased thruster output for ten seconds, then shut everything but minimal sensors and life support off ..... For three hours they coasted towards the Moon and as they passed the far side the Exec' brought systems back online. He turned the shuttle and 'dove' towards the surface, using the thrusters again at the last minute to avoid slamming into the barren surface. Using minimal thrusters to avoid contact with the surface, Scober navigated towards the aforementioned cavernous sector of the Moon. He touched down five hundred meters from the opening behind a high rock face with an overhang, which they hoped would hide the shuttle from anyone coming or going.

The three clambered into 'EVA' suits and when ready Jarves activated the door, which slid aside in the vacuum.

They began their long walk, Scober checking the transponder signal on the panel set into the arm of his suit. Every few minutes he indicated a slight change in heading ..........

[Nia Lemond]

Cestos Planetoid ...
Pirate Vaults
Day Five ::

Over the last few days of their captivity, Nia and Erin had gained a modicum of trust from the people hired by Rallos ..... At first, Balokr and Vimas would follow them from their quarters to the dining area, out to the gardens, even the makeshift gymnasium and pool, but now they pretty much left the Federation Officers to their own devices, clearly deciding that gambling between them was more important and enjoyable. Lemond and Paquin would hear the two arguing, almost coming to blows at times, but copious amounts of contraband Romulan Ale usually put them to sleep quickly. It was then the two could roam the facility freely!

It was around three in the morning when the usual argument succumbed to alcohol and their guards passed out:

"It's only a matter of time before one of them pulls a weapon," Erin said as she looked down on the unconscious guards from the walkway. During their explorations, Paquin had been making out which rooms they had managed to get assess to under the mattress of her cot. Tonight they were going to reconnoitre the rooms close to when they assumed was the docking area.

Moving quickly, they entered the corridor on the opposite side of the dining area and the two guards. After checking several rooms they were feeling they were never going to find anything useful ..... Nia touched the small lump on her hip where the transponder was located. It was warm to the touch, but not uncomfortable. Silently she hoped someone had picked up the signal and had reported it. They searched the next room and were about to leave when Erin stopped:

"Look!" she whispered. Nia joined her and looked through the windows out onto the cavernous entry to the cave system. silently, light from the far-off Sun barely glinting off its hull, was a ship!

"Rallos?" the Adjutant commented.

"No... Differant ship..." Nia squinted against the dirt-encrusted plexiglass, "... Could be Ferengi, but I can't tell. Let's go to the dining area, we might see who's arriving,"

"What if they're here for us?"

"Our quarters are only one level below us, so unless they go straight there we'll get back before they can reach us, We should hear the 'lock cycling if they are coming to the dining area,"

The two left the room and returned to the long overhead walkway, crawling on hands and knees until they got into a position where they could see the airlock but 'hopefully' not be seen from the ground level. They waited, nerves on edge, and finally, they heard the 'lock activating ..... Two Ferengi and a Klingon emerged glaring around the room as if expecting to be met at the door. The Klingon noticed the two unconscious Yattho and strode over. He reached forward, grasping both by their tunics, then with a growl of disgust, flung them across the room.

Both slid across the floor, impacting hard with the granite wall.

"WHY ... Are you not guarding the PRISONERS as INSTRUCTED!" he bellowed, his d'k tahg moving from one to the other menacingly. Despite the Romulan Ale imbibed, the two sobered up very quickly, both stuttering feable replies.

"Time we got to bed," Nia aid, turning to crawl back the way they had come, Erin following. Once in the corridor, they sprinted for the rough-hewn stairway down one level then along the corridor to their quarters. Both of them had barely managed to get their quickened breathing under control when the door slammed open, light flooding the room. Feigning being woken unexpectedly, they saw the Klingon eyeing them suspiciously. Nia realised that with their boots still on, neither could tell if the blanket was fully covering them. But after a moment the Klingon grunted and left, slamming the door for emphasis.

Sighing deeply, both lay quiet as their captor stormed back to the steps and out of earshot.

"Bloody hell, that was close," Erin said, trying to calm the tremor in her voice.

"Did you see the two Ferengi...? Lemond said, growing deeply in the darkness, "I could have sworn I've seen him before somewhere,"

"Really?"

"Yes ..... On the Starbase ..... Let's try to get some sleep, I have a feeling we won't be roaming this place while they are here," Nia said, trying to remember where she had seen the smaller of the two Ferengi before.

It was definitely on Starbase Forty-Seven, but where, when? ..........

[Nia Lemond]

As usual, the Federation Officers were left to their own devices ..... It was clear that Balokr and Vimas, the two Yatthu Pirates had had their fill of the two women .....

"When do you expect them back?" one of the Ferengi was saying as Nia and Erin entered the Dining Area.

"Tomorrow, maybe the day after, Rallos didn't feel it necessary to keep me apprised," Balokr said, eyeing the women causing the Ferengi to turn. They glared in obvious disgust as they passed, eyes still on them as they ordered from the replicator and sat at a table. Clearly, dining in the same room as the Ferengi was the last straw for one of them!

"YOU ..... HUUMAAN!" Nia and Erin both turned to the irate Ferengi:

"Are you addressing us?" Lemond asked,making a show of checking the room for other Humans while realising, with an inward sense of relief, that neither of them was the Ferengi bar owner from the Starbase.

"Take your food... LEAVE... NOW!"

"Oh, I don't think so, we kind of like the view from here, the stars alwa ....." Nia had begun, but stopped when a plate of something missed her head by centimetres. The second Ferengi, Kowon, had picked up his plate and launched it towards the women. Erin grinned, wondering vaguely which of them would suffer a coronary first, but her grin only enraged the two men further. He turned to the two Yattho:

"YOU... You are supposed to be guarding these, these, HUUMAAN'S so why are they here?"

"Listen, Mont, we are more than happy to confine them to their meagre quarters, alas there are no replicator facilities in their rooms,"

"..... AND that is an issue why?" Kowon asked the Yattho sarcastically.

"It is an issue 'FERENGI' because I am not paid to wait on houseguests, if you desire the honour of taking food 'back and to' to their quarters, then feel free. They were brought here by Rallos and Hovak, if you have an issue with their presence I suggest you take it up with them, otherwise, clear up the mess you have made, and finish your meal in silence," Balokr looked over at the Humans, he didn't like them and wasn't happy about his role as 'babysitter' but he hated Mont and Kowon more.

Kowon spun, his phaser aimed directly at Balokr's head. The Yattho, rather than react, simply returned his attention to his evening meal.

"What does he want with these Huumaan's anyway?" Mont asked, throwing a look of disgust at the women.

"You don't recognise them, interesting," Vimas commented, nodding knowingly to Balokr.

"Why would I, as long as they do not interfere with my transactions with Rallos, they are of no concern,"

"It certainly doesn't sound like it..." Vimas said with a grin, clearly trying and succeeding in infuriating the Ferengi, but this time he was ready, as Mont turned his phaser in a wide ark he came face to face with the business end of Vimas' own weapon, it was held rock-steady less than a centimetre from the Ferengi' face "... I stronglysuggest, you sit down before there is an accident. I am hungry, and wouldn't want to deprive your 'friend' here of a meal as he mops up your remains,"

The standoff lasted thirty seconds before the Ferengi grinned as if the exchange had been a joke, Mont replaced his phaser to his hip and took a seat. The room fell silent as everyone continued to eat, after a few moments Nia stood, winking at Erin before approaching the table where the two Ferengi were sat, she leaned past Mont and picked up a salt cellar:

"Mind if I borrow this, there doesn't seem to be any on our table...?" she asked politely. Mont had barely begun to jump from his seat in rage when her fist slammed into his neck. The Ferengi flew out of his seat, landing under a nearby table, "... You know Erin, I think we'll finish our meals near the waterfalls, the company here is, annoying," Lemond said with a wry grin at the two Yattho. Vimos stood and leaned forward as they passed:

"I suggest you refrain from goading the Ferengi further, while they are colleagues of Rallos, they owe him no further allegiance,"

"Don't let our continued health worry you .... Unless of course, your survival is connected to ours," Lemond said with a smile.

"You know he'll kill you the first chance he gets," Erin said, referring to the semiconscious Ferengi being helped up by his associate.

They walked through the short tunnel that led to the pool and waterfalls, as they sat, Nia felt something cold rest against the back of her neck, a hand reached over her shoulder to pluck a piece of fruit from her plate:

"..... And here were us thinking you needed rescuing,"

The two Intelligence Officers turned to see Grant Manley, the USS Maracanda Commanding Officer, standing behind them. Off to either side, were two others, both watching the tunnel Nia and Erin had just passed through ..........

[Nia Lemond]

Cestos Planetoid
Pirate Vaults ::

Lemond and Manley spoke quietly, updating each other on their now combined situation ..... Manley wanted to take the Intelligence Director and her Adjutant off the Planetoid and back to Starbase forty-seven immediately, but Nia disagreed, she wanted to see more of the smuggling operation and how the Pirates acquired most of their contraband. They knew from listening to the two Yattho guards that they had hijacked several vessels outside the normal shipping lanes, relieving them of any salable cargo before disabling their communications systems, and leaving the vessel with little or no power for their warp engines, which allowed the Pirates time to escape.

Manley informed them that they had set up transporter pattern enhancers, which would cut out having to trek through the heavily wooded area to where the shuttle had been concealed.

"Have you managed to get a look at some of the equipment they have here?" Nia was asking as Jarves suddenly appeared, motioning back down the long corridor.

The Maracanda Officers slipped back into the thick undergrowth out of sight. Nia and Erin continued eating their meal.

"WHO WERE YOU SPEAKING TO?!" one of the Ferengi demanded, his phaser waving back and forth erratically.

"Do you 'see' anyone else here?" Lemond asked casually waving a hand to encompass the waterfalls and woods surrounding them. The Ferengi, Mont, slapped the plate off Lemond's knee, his phaser a centimetre from her forehead. The other Ferengi, Kowon, kept moving his own phaser at the forest while glancing at his superior every few seconds, "... You might want to go back in there and get me a fresh plate of fruit," she said, clearly trying to goad the Ferengi.

"You 'WERE' speaking to someone else, a deeper voice," Mont said, before randomly firing a dozen times into the forest.

"YOU... YOU...!" Kowon said, jabbing at Erin with his phaser, "... You will entertain us while we await our, associates,"

"Entertain yourselves," Paquin said defiantly, knocking the phaser away. The hand came from nowhere, slamming into Erin's face knocking her to the ground. Kowon, spurred on by his success leaned forward and grasped her tunic. pulling hard enough to rip it. Erin grasped at the jacket, cowering as Kowon raised his phaser as if to hit her with it.

"Leave her alone!" Nia said darkly, glaring at Kowon.

"FEEEMALES, why your race allows you to walk around clothed is, is, disgusting to us..." Kowon said, clearly at a loss as to how to end the sentence. He reached down and dragged Erin to her feet, "... You will disrobe and, and DANCE!"

"Neven going to happen," Lemond said, allowing her right arm to fall by her side before forming a fist, towards the undergrowth, knowing Manley would understand her unspoken instruction to hold still.

"You have no rights here, HUUMAANS!" Kowon said, eyeing Erin up and down as if speculating a purchase.

"You will disrobe, you will swim... Then, you will dance for us," Mont said, a look of expectation on his face. Balokr and Vinas had entered the wooded area and were shocked to see what was happening.

"You must leave these women alone, they are here und ....."

"They are plunder..." Mont said with a smirk, "... As such, they are available to all of us, as with every other item we acquire. If you do not wish to 'partake' of the entertainment, LEAVE!" Kowon clearly took his superiors' words as permission to continue his attentions on Paquin. Replacing his phaser into its holster, he took out an ornately engraved knife. He ran the needle-point tip along her cheek, then down the curve of her neck before taking a step back:

"I have been patient, HUUMAAN, now my patience is at an end ..... Disrobe and dance, or I will cut you from head to t ....." The beam lanced from the corridor, passing through the Ferengi before hitting the rock behind to falling water beyond the pool. Kowon had time to look down in shock at the three-centimetre hole bored through him before he fell back, dead. Mont spun but faced with Rallos and three of the Klingon Pirates, all holding weapons, he clearly knew when he was beaten. He dropped his phaser and waited as the four joined them. Rallos looked the seated Nia, then at the split in Erin's lip before turning his attention to the remaining Ferengi:

"Our 'arrangement' is over. You will take 'that'..." he spat, pointing at the corpse, "... You will board your vessel, and you will leave ..... NOW!"

"You cannot do that, we have an, have a ....." Mont spluttered but realised the conversation, and his partnership with the Yattho was over. Picking up his phaser he walked over to where his former colleague lay. He noted how little blood there was given the wound inflicted as he grasped the man's booted feet and began to drag him away.

"I must apologise, Ladies, the Ferengi are uncouth, backward, they should be purged from society," Rallos said.

"Yet you were in partnership with them, it doesn't say much for your scruples,"

"Our, association was a necessary, albeit temporary one. I had hoped to part on better terms, but alas..." he waved his hand as if denoting the reasons for the termination of the partnership, "... My subordinates inform me that you have been 'exploring' while we were away, I hope our abode kept you busy. I would hate to think of you sat aimlessly whiling away the hours,"

"Whiling away the hours until what, we meet the same fate as the Ferengi...?" Erin asked defiantly. Before the Yattho could reply, the whole forest area was illuminated with white-blue light which subsided as quickly as it had materialised, "... I assume you won't be having any further concerns about Mont?"

"It is always wiser to sever ties completely I believe," Rallos said with the hint of a satisfied grin before he turned away and began walking back towards the tunnel.

"RALLOS... The Women!" the Klingon, Gr'vos shouted.

"Leave them. There is nothing more they can discover anyway. Until tomorrow Ladies, sleep well," With a look of disdain, Gr'vos stormed off, the others followed, leaving Nia and Erin alone.

"Now can we leave?" Manley whispered from the undergrowth ..........

[Elena de Luca]

OOC :: Excerpt from Intelligence Assignment ::

"I understand your wanting to go after the Admiral, had it been my superior I would have been just as determined... But you have just gone through a very difficult and tiring assignment, and you need rest, not to mention the turnaround time needed for the El Alamein, so please, humour me and take the downtime. If anything changes, you have my word that you'll be the first people I call....."

"Thank you, Colonel..." David said rising, the others following suit, "... Oh, what about Mox?" he asked as they reached the door.

"He's a Ferengi ..... It's only a matter of time before he does something to bring him to our attention. Incidentally, the Ferengi Government want nothing to do with him. Apparently forcing him back to their Homeworld will benefit him more than the Nagus. So they're happy for him to be our 'problem' ..... I've put Security on all four of them, We'll be releasing them in due course and have assigned quarters that can easily be monitored,"

"He's not enquired about Orpk?" Iezeld asked.

"No, but it's a given he will make his way to Orpk's Emporium before long. We have it covered," Dúpin said. Tan nodded, and they walked out of Lemond's office to the railing of the Mezzanine Level, overlooking the Command Centre.

"Well, I don't know about you lot, but I need a drink," Tan said, heading for the turbolift. The others looked at each other then fell into step. They entered the 'lift:

"Alpha Promenade .. Level One Five Five One," Tan ordered ..........

IC ::


O'Tooles Bar & Grill ...
Alpha Promenade ::


They stepped from the turbolift on Level one five five one ... At this time the Promenade was still fairly busy, Most people were Civilians grabbing the last couple of things before moving on to whatever arrangements they had for the evening ahead.

Elana smiled at a young girl, four, maybe five years old, carrying what was clearly her newest toy. As they crossed from the shops over to the entrance of O'Tooles, she turned as David made a comment, but in the corner of her eye, she saw something, ignoring Tan she turned her head as a little girl waved, lifting the doll she was carrying as she and her mother passed them.

"Did, did you see that?" she asked, looking back along the Promenade trying in ain to catch a glimpse of the girl and her mother.

"See what?" rosa Noon asked, glancing over DeLuca's shoulder before turning back as they entered the Bar.

"I could have swo..." Elena said, a frown forming as she stepped aside to allow two Klingon Officers to exit, "... Hell... Maybe I 'do' need a drink too,"

"Whoa! .... Long time no see," Elena turned at the voice, surprised to see Calli Valente standing behind her, a half-downed pint of something or other in her hand as she threw her free arm around Elena's shoulder.

"Wow, still trying to keep up with the men-folk I see," DeLuca said as they separated.

"No such thing... I'll drink any of these 'amateurs' under the table for a free drink,"

"When did you get back," Calli asked.

"Earlier today... You heard about Admiral Lemond being taken?" Elena asked as they reached the bar.

"Yes, any news...?" Valente asked as one of the bar staff began taking their order, "... Orla?" she pointed at the now almost empty glass indicating her need for a refill as Elena continued:

"Colonel Dupín gave us a briefing, emphasis on the 'brief'..." she said, clearly unhappy at their seemingly being left out to the proverbial 'loop' so to speak as David turned and handed her a glass.

"We'll be told what we need to in due course," he said as if closing the topic. Calli thought for a moment then as Tan turned to put his back against the bar she spoke:

"Ermm, correct me if I'm wrong, but in Admiral Lemond's absence, aren't you in charge of the day to day running of Intelligence?"

"Don't you start," Tan said as Clancy joined them, taking the offered glass and downing the liquid in one before waving at Orlá behind the bar for refills, as the others grinned ..........

[Nia Lemond]

Planetoid Cestos ::

"RALLOS... The Women!" the Klingon, Gr'vos shouted.

"Leave them. There is nothing more they can discover anyway. Until tomorrow Ladies, sleep well," With a look of disdain, Gr'vos stormed off, the others followed, leaving Nia and Erin alone.

"Now can we leave?" Manley whispered from the undergrowth ...

"Not right away. I want to see if this incident is causing a rift between our pirates... Stay here, we'll be back," Lemond said before she rose and Paquin followed their captors.

"Stay here ..... In the woods," Manley said, raising his eyebrows before looking for somewhere to sit, Scober and Jarves followed suit .....


~~~~~


Rallos, Balkor, and Vimas were sat at one table, Hovak, and the two Klingon's, Gr'vos and Nokor at another, the remaining Ferengi Pirate, Mont, had wisely taken the hint and had boarded his ship and left. Nia and Erin sat down:

"Trouble in paradise, Gentlemen?" Lemond asked, a smile crossing her face.

"You would be wise not to make too much light of the situation..." Rallos said, glancing at the Romulan and Klingons, "... Kowon was something of an 'asset' to our group, he could bypass practically any security, Mont too, in his way, was of value. Perhaps I will allow him back after a day or so wondering when he will be killed,"

"Friendly little group," Paquin said, earning a scowl from the Romulan and glares from the two Klingons.

"We NEED another Ferengi!" Gr'vos spat.

"..... And we will acquire one, fear not my good friend, corrupt Ferengi are, in Human terminology, 'thick on the ground' am I using that right...?" Rallos asked the two women. Surprisingly, neither replied, "... Well, clearly my knowledge of Human vocabulary is limited, nevertheless, we shall get a replacement for our recently departed friend,"

"Just out of curiosity here..." Nia began, seeing everyone turn in her direction, "... It occurred to me that, given you have allowed us free reign to wander about your 'impressive' hideaway, I take it you are not about to allow us to leave?"

Rallos got up and poured himself a drink from the large selection, then seemed to mull Lemond's question over before coming to a decision:

"I don't see any advantage to killing either of you. Your demise would only bring more people into the equation. No doubt in due course they would discover our Vaults, here, and our two secondary locations, but no, in my view, killing you isn't an option. I cannot vouch for my trigger-fingered colleagues of mine, so I would not do anything to occur their wrath," he said, finishing the drink.

"Just out of curiosity..." Erin said, forcing Rallos to turn to her, "... When, exactly, will you be allowing us to leave?"

"In due course my dear, in due course..." the Yattho Leader said with a smile, "... Now, if you will excuse me, I have things to do," he gave a nonchalant wave and left the Recreation Area. It was clear the Federation Officers were not going to get the same level of conversation from those remaining, so both women stood.

"Well, I think we'll turn in," Nia said, brushing past the Klingon's as they too left ..... Once in their quarters they decided to give it two hours, then they would go back to the waterfalls and the waiting Maracanda Officers. In the meantime, they needed to come up with a way to surreptitiously relieve Rallos and his friends of numerous items from his catalogue ..........

[Calli Valente]

Starbase Forty-Seven ::

The Raven had been back at Starbase Forty-Seven for two days now. Thus far, Calli had stayed on the ship, preferring to work, apart from the odd excursion onto the Starbase. Having worked a double shift, she had managed to arrange two days off in succession ... She had planned a trip to one of the holosuits with Kara Devlin, the O'Tooles Bar Manager had got her hands on a holo-program she assured Calli she would enjoy. Having rummaged through her wardrobe she realized that she had hardly replaced anything for some time. So she was wandering Alpha Promenade checking what 'new' fashions had come into being while they had been away.

Several times her eyes widened, wondering who would wear such items, but 'the young are the young' she thought to herself with an inner sigh. Hell, it wasn't as if she was old, just no longer a 'teen' .....

She was looking in the window of one of the shops when she heard someone behind her:

"I have, information," Calli looked around and realised a Ferengi was standing watching her, between darting nervous glances back and forth along the Promenade.

"Whatever you are talking about, I'm not interested," Valente said, moving along the window to look at some of the dresses on show.

"You... Huumaann! .... I am Qal, brother of Orpk." the Ferengi said, eyes locked on Calli. She leaned forward, lowering herself to eye-level with the obnoxious man:

"I won't say this again. I don't care 'who' you are... Go... Away... Or I will have some of my friends see to it that you depart this Starbase, with or without the use of a ship!" She stood, glanced over the Ferengi's head, then moved off. She had reached the next shop and was looking at swimwear when she felt something at the base of her spine, it didn't take much imagination to decide the Ferengi had escalated his efforts to speak to her. Of course, she could simply disarm the man and throw him halfway across the Promenade, which while satisfying her and the numerous spectators to the event, would undoubtedly anger the Ferengi to the point where he might actually consider himself sufficiently insulted to retaliate.

"You really are risking serious harm," she said, by way of breaking the silence, the Ferengi seemingly at a loss for words after his latest move to get her attention.

"I have information which could profit us both, I want to meet you in private, where our conversation will not be overheard,"

"You are holding, what I can only hope, is a phaser... We're on the Promenade in full view of everyone passing by. I'm not sure how you think this is private in any way, shape, or form... I will say one thing though ....." she paused as if for effect and the Ferengi, impatient as ever stepped around her. She reached down and took the phaser before slapping the man theatrically across the face. Qal staggered back as if poleaxed, eyes flicking back and forth before finally locking once again on Calli. She took a step forward, her right arm moving as if to strike him again. Qal cowered before finally finding his voice:

"You will 'DIE' for strin=king me, Huumaann!" he reached forward to take his phaser back but Calli put the hand holding it behind her back.

"Who's your friend...?" Both turned to see Kara stood about two meters away seemingly having enjoyed the entertainment. Calli grinned as the Ferengi, Qal, looked from one woman to the other as if trying to decide which he had been speaking to seconds earlier. He smiled at Kara, giving Calli a side-on look as if expecting her jealousy to get the better of her, "... I didn't realise someone was joining us,"

"He isn't," Calli said, waving to a passing Security Officer. She handed him the phaser, asking him to dispose of it before someone got hurt. Qal spluttered that the weapon was his, but when the Security Officer informed him that carrying a weapon of any description was forbidden, and could result in detention, his expression changed to one of surprise that the man had found the phaser lying around unattended.

"Thank you, Lieutenant..." Kara said, waving to the young Officer before linking her arm with Calli's, "... Bye then," she said cheerfully, patting Qal on the head like an obedient pet before the two walked off giggling.

~~~~~~~~~~

Calli, like most ship-based Officers, tended to take temporary quarters on their home Starbase, if only for the change of pace from being aboard the ship constantly. Both she and Kara had made a couple of purchases, before going to one of the newer restaurants on the Promenade to eat. It was quite late when Calli arrived at her quarters, she entered her access code and stepped inside, the lighting was dimmed but enough for her to see by as she kicked off her shoes and dropped the bags onto one of the chairs. She went into the bedroom and took a long-awaited shower, enjoying the 'real' water as it ran across her shoulders and down her back. Done, she towel-dried and wrapped the towel around her head to soak up the dampness of her short hair. She put on pyjamas and went back into the living room area.

"I think we can continue our conversation, undisturbed now," she turned to see the Ferengi sitting on in of the plush chairs. Part of her wondered if he'd been in the room all along, and how she hadn't managed to see him sat there. But her thoughts changed to the newly acquired phaser he was holding, the smirk on his face already annoying her ..........

[Nia Lemond]

Cestos Planetoid ::

Lemond and Paquin had changed from the flimsy clothing they had worn through the warm 'day' inside the Planetoid Cestos ... Now, dressed in dark, functional clothing, they tentatively checked the corridor where the two Yattho, Balokor and Vimas usually parked themselves to seemingly gamble away whatever profit they earned from being associated with the Pirates. As usual, both were drinking heavily, and already into their continuing disagreement over who cheated whom.

Nia and Erin left their quarters, sealing the door behind them before making their way along the corridor to the Recreation Area. Quickly they crossed the large open area and entered the tunnel leading to the wooded area and the waterfalls. The light, same as normal was akin to dusk, the light and heat seemingly coming from nowhere. Manley stepped into the open, close to the tunnel Scober and Jarves were watching for unexpected guests:

"So what's the plan?" the Maracanda Captain asked.

"It's clear these people have been at their task for a long time..." Nia began, taking a scrap of paper from her pocket before handing it to Manley. He looked at the list, his eyes widening as Nia continued, "... That is just a fraction of what we've seen so far. If we decided to take everything out of here in one go we would need two, maybe three bulk carriers."

"Then we don't take anything..." Scober said from the tunnel entrance, "... We bring the Maracanda here, give that bunch of ingrates seconds to depart, then lob a couple of photon torpedoes into the entrance,"

"We can't do that, there is 'WAY' too much equipment here to simply destroy it ..... No, we need to come up with a way to get everyone out of here without raising any suspicions, then get as much as we can onto the Maracanda," Erin suggested.

"It could take hours to decide what to take, and even then it would only be a fraction of what's stored here..." Jarves said, still keeping a wary eye on the Recreation Area through the long tunnel, ".... Doing it ourselves would take a dozen trips at least, there's no way we could get away with multiple visits without being seen, or these people noticing things are suddenly going missing,"

"I think we're missing the proverbial 'Elephant in the Room' here ....." Erin said suddenly, clicking her fingers, "... Five of us. There are seven of them, that we know of, so two, maybe three ships docked ..... Let's take them down while they have no idea of your presence, then we can recoup the contraband at our pleasure?"

"..... And if we get into a firefight?" Scober queried.

"There's another issue too..." Lemond said quietly, "... Every time they have arrived or departed, either Balokr or Vimas go into a room adjacent to the airlocks,"

"They have to drop the forcefield to allow a ship in or out of the interior...!" Erin said.

"So one of us goes back to the surface, we contact the Maracanda, and have Onizuko park her at the entrance," Jarves said.

"Which is concealed by holographic projectors ..... Besides, the ship will be picked up on their defence fields well before it gets anywhere near this planetoid, and from what we've glimpsed they have a serious amount of firepower concealed in craters throughout the rock..." Nia said what everyone had already realised, "... So we have to make a decision as to how we move forward. Personally, I'm inclined to allow one or more of them to leave, contact the Starbase and have them put Security on whoever turns up. Once we're reasonably confident they have no need to contact the others, we arrest them. At that point 'we' take whoever is left here?"

"What about the airlock you entered by, any issues there?" Lemond asked.

"No, they clearly didn't envisage anyone coming 'in' via that route..." Scober said, shaking his head, "... In fact a child could have got in without raising any alarms,"

"..... And getting out?"

"Already sorted, the airlock will read as sealed regardless of whether it's open, closed, or cycling," Frank confirmed.

"OK, Greg, you go back up to the surface, update the Maracanda on our situation, and tell them to stand by," Manley ordered. Jarves nodded and left the group.

"Right, bedtime I think," Lemond said, getting to her feet off the damp grass.

"Great, well we'll erm, go hide then," Manley said, only half joking, as the two Intelligence Officers walked cautiously back down the tunnel ..........

[Calli Valente]

Calli Valente's Quarters on SB47 ...
Suite 293, Level 1416
Section B ::

"I think we can continue our conversation, undisturbed now," she turned to see the Ferengi sitting on in of the plush chairs. Part of her wondered if he'd been in the room all along, and how she hadn't managed to see him sat there. But her thoughts changed to the newly acquired phaser he was holding, her personal weapon, the smirk on his face already annoying her. He was looking her up and down, like some market commodity up for auction, and she realised that the table lighting was making her already flimsy nightwear practically transparent.

"How did you get in here?" she asked, moving slightly to her left before dropping into the chair opposite her intruder, much to his annoyance apparently.

"We Ferengi have ways and means of achieving what we want..." he said, still frustrated that she had taken it upon herself to sit down, "... I was able to acquire what I needed from an unscrupulous character you won't have met,"

"Indeed," she said, raising her eyebrows while making a silent note to enhance her security.

"Yes... In fact, Huumaann, I do not remember allowing you to sit, you will stand as before, in front of the light, THERE!" he said, waving the phaser.

"..... Oh I don't think so. There should be laws about deviants like you, so, what is it you want with me... Hurry up, I'm getting tired of your company,"

Qal jumped from the plush chair as if electrocuted. He stormed across the gap separating them and leaned forward, the business end of her phaser mere millimetres from her mouth. She risked glancing down at the weapon seeing it was set on 'stun' so he wasn't about to kill her should he discharge the weapon accidentally, but it would still knock her cold, 'and who knows what he might do faced with an unconscious Human female' she thought with a shudder.

"GET UP ... HUUMAANN!" he barked.

"No..." she replied, knowing she could very likely take the phaser from the man without any problem, but he had taken the time to get into her quarters and was doing his best to assert himself, so the least she could do was hear him out, but she wasn't going to do so while giving him a free peepshow, "... Now, I'm only going to ask once more... What do you want?"

He stood glaring at her for several seconds, then moved back to the chair:

"You are somewhat 'lacking' even for a HUUMAANN... I may decide not to, acquire you," Calli almost laughed out loud, but kept her face expressionless.

"You're hardly a catch," she said.

"Catch?" the Ferengi said, clearly confused.

"Are you planning to drag this encounter out all night, if so I'll need to change my breakfast arran ....." she stopped speaking as the beam from her phaser lanced across the room, missing her head by millimetres, before hitting the wall behind her. She watched her captor, trying to figure out if he'd intended to fire, or it was accidental. Either way, she obviously couldn't risk annoying him further.

"HA... SEE... Now, you will listen..." he said, grinning, "... As I tried to explain earlier on the Promenade, my name, is Qal, I am the brother of Orpk, who until recently, owned and ran an establishment on Beta Promenade,"

"..... And you broke in here to tell me this, why?" she asked. Folding her arms to stop the Ferengi leering.

"Due to some, disreputable business dealings, my brother found himself in trouble,"

"Ahh, I remember seein, hearing, about it, something to do with his 'holosuites' wasn't it?"

"That is a distinct possibility, he had made some tenuous modifications to one of the suites, allowing him to, well, that is not important. What is, is the fact that his former colleagues, seem to think that regardless of being dead ...."

"Missing," Calli corrected him.

"Missing, dead, it matters not... His former colleagues seem to think that he owes them a great deal of gold-pressed latinum,"

"Again, I don't see what this has to do with me," Calli said with an audible sigh. She realised that Qal was getting more nervous by the minute, he kept glancing towards the door as if expecting to be disturbed before he could finish what he came here for. She moved slightly, the hand holding her phaser didn't move, so he was distracted enough. Lowering her arms she shifted position, but this time the weapon moved.

"You will get me access to Orpk's establishment, where I can search for whatever he has hidden there,"

"Just go to Security... Once you prove who you are and that your claim to his 'estate' such as it is, is genuine, they will release the seals for you," she said.

"You don't think his friends KNOW THIS?!" he spat, waving the phaser around in frustration.

"I can't help you, Qat, Qan, or whatever your name is," Calli said, standing, despite his aiming the phaser at her midriff.

"Qal ..... And you will in fact be more than willing to help me ..... I am thorough, unlike my brother, I took time to research who I needed to 'persuade' to help me in my little venture, and you can imagine my surprise when my informer told me you are in fact Starfleet Intelligence and have been seconded to the USS Raven-C, where you serve with your Stepbrother, Fleet Admiral Torek!"

"My current deployment or my connection to Intelligence makes no difference, I can't break the seals, it's as simple as that," she said with an exaggerated shrug, but knowing the man's patience was wearing thin so she needed to be careful.

"Maybe a little 'enticement' would help you make your decision in my favour?" he said, his eyes narrowing, the annoying smirk returning.

"HA!... If you think for a second that threatening Admiral Torek is going to make me leap through hoops, you are more disillusioned than I thought,"

"Who said Admiral Torek was the subject of my, enticement?" Qal said, his expression making Calli worry for the first time, "... I believe his wife and daughters are currently on their way to Earth?"

Calli suddenly realised he had been playing her all along ..........

[Nia Lemond]

Cestos Planetoid ::

Nia woke, slightly bewildered at how late it was .....

She clambered out of bed and went to shower. Dressed, she knocked on Erin's door, and getting no reply she entered her Adjutant's room, surprised to see the bed empty ..... Leaving, she walked down to the Recreation Lounge and as she entered, she could see Erin sitting at a table, her face expressionless ... Frowning, Nia began to walk towards her, then realised they weren't alone ..... The two Yattho henchmen were at a nearby table, and sat between them was Greg Jarves!

"Ahh, good morning, Admiral. I trust you slept well...?" Rallos said as he entered the Lounge behind her. Nia said nothing as she sat next to Erin, "... As you can see, we have an unexpected guest," Nia took the time to look closer at Jarves... He had tried to wipe the blood from the cuts on his face, but it was clear he had been on the wrong end of a severe beating. Both Yattho were grinning, evidently pleased with their handiwork. Nia looked over to Erin and could see that the right side of her face was reddened, a bruise already forming under her right eye, she had been crying but had tried to hide the fact.

"Beating women... You must be very proud of yourselves!" she spat, but Rallos was immediately repentant:

"I must apologise for my 'colleagues' they were told to bring your friend quietly. Apparently, she had other ideas..." Seeing the confusion crossing Lemond's face he continued, "... Oh, I'm sorry, but you were both drugged before you retired, unfortunately, young Erin here didn't finish her drink, so she woke when these two 'idiots' entered your rooms."

"Very gallant," Nia said, the comment oozing sarcasm.

"We knew you had been conversing with someone. There were only two options: You had managed to conceal communicator, or someone had managed to get inside our vaults... We came across your friend here trying to clamber into 'my ship' of all places..." Lemond realised that when the Maracanda Officers knew they were being searched for, one of them made a run for the Dock hoping to allow the other two to escape, "... It's given me quite a conundrum to solve, he can't have stowed away on my ship, these two have been nowhere near your Starbase, so unless he walked here, the only conclusion I have been able to come up with, is that he somehow got onto Mont's ship. Those Ferengi, sneaky little buggers at the best of times, but a little dim where security is concerned ..... Yes, I will have to discuss this lack of awareness with the man before I decide on whether he returns to our fold. Very lax of him," Rallos mused as if talking to himself.

"So beating this man half senseless was your way of finding out how he got here?" Lemond asked.

"Oh, he hasn't divulged any information, not even his name... Alas, Gr'vos is less patient, and a great deal more violent than I... I'm sure he will get the information we require, once I release him to do so that is,"

"Kowon hired me....." Jarves whispered, just loud enough for one of the Yattho to hear, the man leaned closer and Jarves punched him in the throat! ..... Vimas fell backwards, his hands clutching his throat as he struggled to get air into his straining lungs. Balokr leapt to his feet, putting distance between him and the Human. Rallos couldn't help but laugh.

"ENOUGH!... GIVE HIM TO ME...NOW!" Gr'vos growled, but Rallos just held up a hand to silence his Deputy. He walked over and sat beside Jarves, watching the man closely for a moment before speaking:

"Kowon hired you you say, how may I ask are we supposed to verify that statement?"

"He thought you were cheating him out of his fare share. He approached me on the Starbase after finding out I had been held for attempted theft," Jarves said, spitting a copious amount of blood onto Yatho's boots.

"Really... Attempted theft, hardly a glowing recommendation?" Rallos replied, somewhat surprised, given he'd half expected Mont to try to challenge him at some point, "... Hmm, you never can tell, it's always the quiet ones they say,"

"HE'S LYING YOU FOOL!" Gr'vos yelled, his frustration reaching hitherto unknown heights, even for him. Rallos turned his attention to the Klingon, his eyes narrowing as he spoke:

"I suggest, that if you cannot contribute constructively, you keep your own counsel,"

"He needs help," Erin said suddenly. Rallos shrugged, allowing her to fetch a bowl and cloths to tend to Greg's injuries.

"Now, you said Kowon hired you, to do what, exactly?" the Yattho Leader asked.

"I was to tag anything worth taking, quick profit, items you were unlikely to miss..." Jarves began as Erin started to wipe away the dried and drying blood from his face, every few seconds he winced, but continued, "... He was going to find a way to separate himself from Mont, then come back here while you were all on one of your runs. He'd take a few items at a time, sell them, then once he was satisfied he had his fair share, he was going to blow this place into atoms,"

The three Yathho burst into fits of laughter, even Gr'vos, who clearly wanted to harm Jarves, couldn't help but smirk at the statement.

"SO... Explain how you managed to get in here undiscovered?" the Klingon demanded darkly.

"He, Kowon, gave me a small amulet-type device. He told me to never let it be more than a meter from me. Once we had docked, and it was relatively safe, he brought me here," Jarves said as if the explanation was obvious.

"..... And the, device?" Gr'vos asked.

"Kowon took it off me when he brought me to the waterfalls," Jarves said with a shrug.

"So, if we are to believe this, story, of yours, you were employed to take items belonging to me?" Rallos asked.

"From the lot of you... Yes,"

"Then given your 'employer' is no longer with us, how do you propose to proceed?" the Yattho asked quietly.

"That would depend," Jarves replied.

"ON WHAT!" Gr'vos demanded.

"On whether you're going to kill me, or make use of my talents,"

"THIS IS RIDICULOUS..." Nokor said, stepping forward, before slamming a fist into the Maracanda Officers face. Erin was so close she heard the man's jaw fracture as he fell to the ground, blood pumping from his damaged mouth. Nia, sat facing the waterfalls, saw the beam of almost pure energy lance from the trees, seemingly in slow motion as it connected with Nokor's head, which disintegrated into a mass of atoms even before his body knew he was dead. The Klingon fell back in complete silence, and for a fraction of a second nothing, no one, seemed to move. Nia dove at Erin, slamming into her before both fell to the ground.

The firefight started ..........

[Nia Lemond]

Cestos Planetoid.
Asteriod Field ::

As Nia and Erin threw themselves to the floor of the Recreation Lounge, phaser fire crisscrossed over their heads .....

No one was gaining any advantage, Manley and Scober were staying behind the treeline, while the Pirates were firing wildly while trying to reach the tunnel. Erin heard a scream as Vimas was hit, she could see him spin from the impact before falling to the floor right beside her ... Trying to see where the others were, she risked stretching out to pull the dead Yattho towards her. She flinched as his body twitched from another phaser hit.

Nia could see the mans phaser, less than a meter away ... Risking being hit she rolled to the next table, grasping the weapon as she passed. Pulling the table over to protect herself, she began firing blindly in the direction of the Pirates. It was unlikely she was hitting anyone, but her sporadic aim was at least keeping them in place, thus hindering any chance of escape. She looked over to where she had left Erin, shocked to see two holes in her table, both less than a meter from her head!

She looked at the phaser, then fired another random volley.

"You're not getting out of here... Throw out your weapons and we'll take you in unharmed!" Manley shouted from cover.

"You underestimate my ingenuity Sir," Rallos replied, a moment later she heard an unmistakable sound, a phaser set to overload.

She looked back at the wooded area, thinking Rallos couldn't hope to toss the weapon so far when a moment later she heard a 'thud' against her tabletop and realised exactly what he had planned! ..... She scrambled to a half-crouch and sprinted across the two-metre gap between her and Erin. Mid-air she felt agonising pain as a phaser beam pierced her waist above her right hip, she rolled/fell behind the table as the whine from the overloading phaser reached a crescendo. Erin had a second to pull her back before the weapon exploded.

Shards of metal and synthetic marble flew in every direction, piercing other furniture, the walls, the entertainment screens, even slicing leaves from trees as pieces penetrated the treeline. Black, acrid smoke rose from the meter-deep crater left by the self-destructing weapon. Both women began to cough as scorching smoke filled their lungs. She could feel someone dragging her along the floor, feeling pieces of destroyed table ripping at her clothes, her skin. Then she felt ice-cold water being poured on the wound in her thigh. She fought back a yelp as more water followed, feeling as if she were about to lose consciousness, then she heard someone speaking to her:

"Admiral... Admiral?" She opened her eyes, closing them for a second as the acrid air stung, then she tried again, this time managing to endure the pain as she looked at Erin, she was ripping a part of a table cloth, holding it against the wound. A hand appeared as if from nowhere, handing Paquin a small pack. She moved the cloth and replaced it quickly with the gel-pack, Nia felt the cold of the anaesthetic-laden bandage and gave an inner sigh of relief .... It was then she realised someone was helping, she scrambled for the phaser she had earlier, but Erin held onto her arms:

"It's OK Admiral, it's OK," A face swam into her line of sight and she was relieved to see Grant Manley looking down at her, a frown on his face:

"Do you intend to get 'everyone' killed before we can go, Ma'am...?" he asked. Nia didn't reply as she tried to turn to look in the direction of the tunnel, "... They're gone," Manley said simply. She could have screamed but feared how much it would hurt to do so. Then she could see Jarves being tended to by Commander Scober. Remarkably, the beaten man had lain unconscious throughout the shooting.

"How many did you get?" Lemond asked as she forced herself into a sitting position, despite her Adjutant's objections.

"Just the one, and there isn't much left of him after the explosion. Whoever threw it got lucky, it landed right on top of the man, so apart from the odd bit hanging from a light fitting, there's nothing left," Manley shrugged.

"So five of them escaped?" Erin commented as she finished securing the bandage.

"If you say so, we weren't counting..." Scober said as he knelt beside Lemond, "... Greg will be OK, he's got a broken jaw, lost four teeth, but hey, he wasn't that pretty, to begin with," a bloody towel landed on Scobers head, presumably thrown by the aforementioned Gregory Jarves. Erin used a hypo to administer pain relief to Lemi=ond then tentatively helped her to her feet. She looked around the Recreation Lounge, looking nothing like it had thirty minutes earlier. Everything, including their clothing, was covered in burn marks where superhot molten material had charred through to the skin beneath. she looked at the table Paquin and herself had hidden behind a fraction of a second before the phaser exploded. It resembled more a pot-marked crater than a table, the blast had pushed the table to almost breaking point, but thankfully it had held long enough to ensure the two women would survive.

**********

Lemond and Paquin had replaced the tattered clothing, Scober had gone out to the surface to contact the Maracanda, which was no in orbit two hundred kilometres above the once concealed entrance to the planetoid's cave system. Manley had ordered teams to scour the vaults and catalogue everything inside. Surprisingly, the majority of the plunder was low-grade stuff, almost petty black marketeer goods any amateur could fence, but there were two vaults, now completely empty .....
Nia told Manley what they had seen in the two vaults, and both felt a shiver run down their spines: Hundreds of photon, triphasic, and unless the crates were mislabeled, quantum torpedoes, surface-bourn phase cannons, capable of destroying a vessel in orbit with little or no trouble. Hand-held weapons, replicators, both domestic and industrial, along with a myriad of other items!

"You're sure about the numbers Admiral?" Manley said in disbelief.

"Well, we didn't do a full count, just estimated, but yes, we're pretty sure," Erin Paquin answered.

"Bloody hell ..... He could supply a planet with defences," Scober said, shaking his head.

"You're forgetting the ships," Erin said.

"Ships?" several Maracanda Officers said in unison.

"Yes..." Lemond said, "... We know for a fact that he has at least six, maybe eight heavily-armed Type 11 shuttlecraft, one Cargo Carrier, type unknown, but given the empty space, it must be pretty big, I'm pretty sure he has at least one Danube Class Runabout. From what we could gather, the leaders: Rallos, we think he's Yattho. Gr'vos, a Klingon, Hovak, he's Romulan, and a Ferengi they seemed to have fallen out with, Mont, each has a vessel at their disposal, Rallos' ship has a cloak,"

"Is that it?" Frank Scober asked with a grin. A grin that rapidly disappeared when Erin Paquin answered him:

"Oh, yes ... They have a Defiant Class Starship," to say everyone was in complete shock at her revelation was an understatement.

"You're kidding, right?" Frank Scober said laughing. But quickly fell silent when Nia didn't respond.

"Do I look like a stand-up comedian to you Commander?" Nia asked. The unnerving silence was broken when one of Jarves' Security Team approached.

"Sir... Sir?"

"Sorry, go ahead David," Jarves said.

"The USS Midland has arrived to oversee the retrieval of the goods in the other vaults,"

"OK, good, get everyone back on board, we'll be leaving soon," Jarves said, looking at the others as if someone was going to say that the Defiant jibe was just that, a joke.

"Where now, Admiral?" Manley asked.

"Back to Starbase Forty-Seven... There's no way Rallos will lay down and right off his losses, which are clearly considerable. Like all 'entrepreneurs' he has obligations," Nia replied.

With one last look at the burnt-out Recreation Lounge, the group transported up to the Maracanda ..... Two thousand metres to their Port, the Transport Vessel Midland was already beaming everything they could from the vaults. As the Maracanda got underway, six quantum torpedoes, transported from the Maracanda herself, lanced from beneath the Midland's Saucer Section. They travelled the six kilometres into the now uncloaked cave entrance, then slammed into solid rock ..........

[Nia Lemond]

OOC : Posting as Rallos ...

IC ::

"That would depend," Jarves replied.

"ON WHAT!" Gr'vos demanded.

"On whether you're going to kill me, or make use of my talents,"

"THIS IS RIDICULOUS..." Nokor said, stepping forward, before slamming a fist into the Maracanda Officers face.

Rallos was the first to realise something was amiss, maybe he had seen one of them glance towards the waterfalls, and the tree line on either side, though he doubted that scenario, maybe it was pure luck, but to an outsider, it almost seemed as if he was already falling to the ground as the beam from the unseen phaser lanced across the space between trees and Nokor's head and beyond!

They returned fire, but given there was nothing to hit, the Pirates were firing blindly, hoping to at least hit someone before they were overrun. He had no way of knowing that there were only two people firing at them.

He looked down at his weapon, realising they might have a way to slow down the atters. he set his phaser to overload, then looked at the tunnel allowing them access to the docking ports. He tried to judge the distance to the trees, realising instantly that he couldn't throw the weapon that far ... The Yattho were not known for their athleticism, tall, most over two metres, thin, pale-skinned, they were thinkers, problem solvers ... Then he saw Vimas get hit, the Yattho fell forwards, landing behind the upturned table at least one of the Federation Officer was hiding behind. Grinning he pulled his arm back and threw the phaser, which landed on his former colleague.

He ducked, avoiding being hit as he listened to the whine of the phaser as it approached its final seconds of existence, then .....

The shockwave from the detonation knocked everyone off their feet as the large room filled with acrid, burning smoke. Rallos shouted to the others and in the confusion, they made a crouched run towards the tunnel, phaser fire still passing above and around them until, their attackers succumbed to the toxic air.

Rallos ran to the Airlock, cycling it as he looked back along the tunnel hoping not to see anyone coming towards them.

He stepped into the 'lock, Balokr, Gr'vos and Hovak behind him. The 'lock cycled and the outer door slid aside. Rallos and Balokr ran to their ship, while the Klingon and Romulan ran to Gr'vok's.

Powering up, he activated a preprogrammed protocol that would beam select, more expensive, items from the vaults into the ships Cargo Hold ... Via Comms, they arranged to meet in three days. Gr'vos was already making veiled threats about being doublecrossed as Rallos closed the comm, and turned his ship to face the cloaked exit. He fired the ship forward without another word, barely avoiding impact with the overhang that helped hide the entrance as he passed the threshold into open space. Before Gr'vos and Hovak could emerge he jumped to warp!

"Federation Security will be searching for us more intently now," Balokr said as he dropped into the seat next to Rallos.

"Let them," the Yattho said, successfully hiding the fact that he was seething inwardly. Merchandise valued in the tens of millions of bars of gold-pressed latinum had been lost ... He wasn't going to allow that to go unanswered! ..........

[Calli Valente]

"Who said Admiral Torek was the subject of my, enticement?" Qal said, his expression making Calli worry for the first time, "... I believe his wife and daughters are currently on their way to Earth?"

Calli suddenly realised he had been playing her all along .....

She sat in complete silence, for so long in fact that Qal was convinced she hadn't heard what he had said, he was about to repeat himself when Calli leaned forward:

"That was your third, and last, mistake Ferengi," Qal grinned, nothing she could say could give her the upper hand, but he felt in the mood to humour her:

"Explain... HUUMMAANN!"

"Your first mistake, letting yourself in here... Your second, threatening me... Your third, and biggest mistake, threatening my family!" she said darkly.

"Now that we are both aware of our, mistakes, you will do as I instruct you HUUMMAAN, or I will have my associate arrange an unfortunate accident involving those two children. I would cause such heartache for your cooperation, I am sure Admiral Torek will be somewhat disturbed to find you could have prevented their deaths but did nothing to help them?" They both knew that she dared not risk calling his bluff. Finally, she sighed in resignation.

"If any harm comes to them, Qal, I will guarantee you that no one in your family will live long enough to enjoy old age," she spat.

"..... And you would achieve this how, if you too are no longer among the living?" Qal said, laughing, but distracted for the fraction of a second she needed. She leapt from the chair, covering the distance between her and the Ferengi so fast that he had no time to raise the phaser. She landed on him, turning the chair over, both of them tumbling onto the carpet. She slapped the weapon out of his hands, punching him several times before dragging him to his feet. She released him, intending to pick up the phaser then contact Security, but as she turned away he raised one hand.

"Stop..." Qal said, shaking from the unexpected attack. Calli turned to face him, "In my palm, just beneath the skin, is a small disk... Amazing little trinket... It was designed by the Orions, to keep track of their slaves. This one is transmitting my Beta-wave activity in millionths of a volt, to a receiver in my associate's possession. Should the device cease to transmit, be that by tampering, interference, serious injury or, my death, my associate will know he must act immediately. I assure you, HUUMMAANN, those children will be dead well before any warning you could send could be effective,"

"So I suppose chopping your hand off is out of the question then?" Calli said, trying to think.

"I fear you misunderstand, Admiral Torek's family are already dead, so to speak, they are, as you Huummaann's say, 'Living on borrowed time' ..."

"What have you done?" she asked.

"My associate is also onboard the USS Kōshū ..... On the first night of their, adventure, he released a slow-acting odourless, colourless, neurotoxin into their cabin. Even if they were aware, it is highly unlikely that without the toxin's antidote ....."

"I'll make you a deal Qal, instruct your colleague to release the antidote now, and I give you my word as a Starfleet Officer, to help you all I can," she said, knowing it sounded more like a plea than an offer to comply.

"I would like to think that you, like most members of your Starfleet, are indeed honourable, but alas, I cannot risk your reneging on your agreement, if I were to agree, there would be nothing preventing you from killing me where I stand, or at any time in the near future. No... I'm afraid I must keep my bargaining chip in place, you, I think, would do likewise if our positions were reversed,"

"I wouldn't hold children to ransom, but then, you're Ferengi, there's clearly nothing you wouldn't do to get your way,"

"Morals, another Huummaann failing. Now, you will come with me," Qal said, raising the phaser.

"I'd like to get dressed first," Calli said.

"Feel free, but in here," the Ferengi said, licking his lips in anticipation.

"I'm not wearing anything under these..." Calli said, tugging at the pyjama top, "... If you think I'm going to undre ....."

"Then you will go as you ARE!" Qal said, pointing the weapon at the door, then back at her. she give it a moment then turned to walk into the bedroom, Qal a few paces behind her. With her back to him, feeling ill as she heard the man snigger. She took pants and a top from one of the drawers and began to dress, she was about to reach forward again when he informed her that her hidden phaser was no longer under her clothes. Sighing inwardly, she pulled her top over her head and stood waiting. Qal looked her up and down, clearly disappointed that she was now clothed, then he stepped back into the living area.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"We are going to visit my brothers' establishment,"

"It's sealed, you know that,"

"Indeed, but we have another stop to make first," they walked out of her room, Qal one pace behind her. Stepping into a turbolift he requested Level one five five five. Section 'B' .....

As the turbolift stopped they stepped into the semi-lit corridor and Calli realised what he wanted.

"We ca ....." he poked the phaser into her ribs to shut her up. He handed her a data chip and prodded her forward.

"That contains the coordinates of where I would like to go. It will also simultaneously erase any record of the transport, or our presence on any security monitors... All it requires is your Intelligence Access Code," With no options open to her, she entered the Emergency Transporter Room and inserted the 'chip. Qal was already on the platform as she reluctantly entered the code.

"The chip," he demanded as she walked away from the console. Turning she plucked it from the reader and handed it to the Ferengi. He grinned, placing it in his pocket before waiting for her to get into place, then raised his eyebrows, waiting.

"Energise," she said. Waiting as the transporter began to cycle, a second later they rematerialised into complete darkness. She remained perfectly still while her eyes were accustomed to the dark, then she heard Qal snigger. He prodded her forward and she realised they were in a bar, presumably Qal's brothers' on Beta Promenade. He told her to sit with her back against one of the beams then tied a thick cord around one of her hands, passing the cord around the pillar before binding her other hand. Moving around to face her he took a long piece of material from his sleeve and put it in her mouth, tying a tight knot behind her head.

"Remain here and cause me no trouble and I will release you once I have completed my search, give me reason to, and I will allow your family to die," he walked away, somewhere behind her. She could hear him opening drawers, cupboards, knocking glasses and bottles aside in his haste. Finally, frustration getting the better of him, he came back to her and pulled the gag from her mouth.

"You will help me search, HUUMMAANN!"

"For what, exactly...?" she asked, and realising instantly that he didn't even know 'what' he was looking for, she laughed in his face, "... You don't even know, do you? ..... All this, threatening me, my family, risking your own freedom, and for WHAT!" she asked, grinning. Her goading had the desired effect as the Ferengi tried hard to fight back his frustration, finally, his patience reaching breaking point, he swung the phaser, slamming it into her face in desperation. She could taste the blood from the cut inside her cheek but continued to grin ..........

[Nia Lemond]

SD: 2406.1112 .. 02:40 hrs ...
Admirl Lemond's Office
Mezzanine Level
Command Center ::

"The USS Maracanda had returned to Starbase Forty-Seven ..... Having docked, Nia, Erin, and Grant Manley had gone straight to Nia's office. En route, Erin had contacted Colonel Theo Dúpin, the Deputy Head of Security for the Starbase.

"Colonel..." Nia said as she crossed the office before dropping into her seat. Erin had gone to the large viewscreen mounted on the wall opposite Lemond's desk and had called up the relevant information before going to put the coffee on, "... I am sorry to drag you from your beds at such an unholy hour, but given the situation, I felt it required immediate attention. I trust you have had time to go over the data sent back by Captain Manley?" she asked, Dúpin nodded.

"You think this Yattho, Rallos, came straight bach here then?" he asked as Erin handed cups of very hot fresh coffee around.

"If he had a single iota of sense, no, I don't ..... But given we have very recently relieved him of the income of a small planet over the last few days, I expect he's none too happy and will want to take his frustration out on someone,"

"I'll arrange for a Security detail to shadow you Admi ..." Dúpin began, but Nia held up a hand.

"That won't be necessary Colonel,"

"Why bother to come here at all, if we've taken everything he has then surely he'll want to begin recouping his losses, one way or the other?" the Deputy Security Chief speculated.

"We don't think we have..." Erin said, "... I overheard several conversations, it's surprising how 'invisible' you can be if you just ignore those around you. We have a feeling that the Yattho, Rallos, has at least one more place to store his goods. We know for a fact that he has several Shuttlecraft, possibly Type Eleven's ...."

"Oh, and talking of hardware, did I read it right that he had managed to get hold of a Defiant Class Starship?!" Dúpin asked in complete disbelief.

"Yes... The Lau Tzu, it was reported lost while en route to meet the road Amundsen which was at the time on Deep Range exploration..." Lemond confirmed, "... It never made its prearranged rendezvous. An extensive search was carried out as you are well aware, but it was never found, though several other vessels reported seeing a Defiant Class with no Identification on her hull, and no transponder signal. So make of that what you will," she said, picking up her own coffee.

"So what's our next move?" Dúpin asked, rising to refill his cup.

"Rallos has a cloaked ship... We're guessing it isn't the Deviant Class, so it could be anything. Our problem is that he can transport on, or off the ship, while cloaked!" she said, trying to stifle a yawn.

"With respect, Admiral, that can't be right," Theo said, shaking his head to emphasise his disbelief.

"It is, Colonel, I assure you," Erin Paquin said.

"Look, I think this Rallos and his band of not-so-merry men have limited options in the short term... I can't imagine that he doesn't owe a lot of people a 'LOT' of money..." Lemond said, yawning before continuing, "... He was using Starbase Forty-Seven as his base of operations if you will, and as such will have kept his most important, most vital, information, here. I could of course be completely wrong, lets just call it a hunch,"

"We shouldn't be able to miss this Rallos if your description is correct,"

"Well, he's been wandering around the Starbase for who knows how long, so good luck with walking right into the man, Sir," Erin said.

"OK, let's turn in, We'll reconvene in the morning after I have updated Admiral Torek," She dismissed the others and left her office. Five minutes later Nia was in her own, very secure quarters. She sat on the bed reaching down to take her boots off when tiredness got the better of her and she slumped sideways into a deep sleep ..........