An Unwilling Odysseus

Posted on Mon Nov 28th, 2016 @ 8:49am by MERCHANT RANKS Fala Gaz (NPC) & Second Mate Quinton Beck
Edited on on Wed Dec 7th, 2016 @ 5:34am

3,631 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: A good start...
Timeline: May 13th 16:30 2393

-START-
{USS Rampart- Observation Lounge}


J’ano Hern was the Rampart’s resident investigations officer and part time mechanic. He was also Enaran, a visitor from the Delta Quadrant learning about the galaxy and eager to explore. The journey to the Federation from the Delta quadrant had taken fifteen years, but his people had enjoyed nomadic existence for so long that it didn't phase him to think how far away his people were. This also made him the perfect choice when Commander Allen needed a clandestine investigation, she had been explaining her viewpoint for nearly a minute now as he stared out at the stars and the limping broken vessel inexplicably puttering forward. More than half the ship was exposed to space, venting gases and plasma, containment breaches were happening with every misstep, internal dampening was barely holding what sections remained together, yet for some reason a group of people were trying to make it work.


He was here to suss out that simple reason, they knew a Betazoid was on board, and since his people were new to their section of the galaxy and telepathic to boot, he was the best chance at someone able to deflect Betazoid scrutiny. Enarans could absorb memories and transfer them, but that wasnt what she needed. The people on that ship were criminals, currently engaged in theft, but using legal trickery to get away without recourse, she needed evidence of any kind.

Commander Allen continued her speech, she had been winding him up for a while now, and they had finally arrived to the asking.
“I understand imposing false memories is ethically out of the question, please understand nobody is asking you to use your telepathic abilities, however they will probably allow you to block this ‘Othor Jaxz’ from reading your thoughts.”
He was a handsome male, tall and a sterling example of his people. As much of a paragon as he was physically he was nothing to be proud of morally. The time so far in the Federation had shown him much, his abilities made him powerful amongst these people. He found them to be charitable and weak, a combination he had come to appreciate.
“Yes, we can block out most people, but if I may ask… the security report from this ‘Tasco’ character seems to provide a full accounting for the death and destruction we detected. He was oddly cooperative, I’ll grant you that, but the evidence and witness accounts line up too well to be a coincidence. Do you have a suspicion there is more?”

Commander Allen set her jaw, she was angry at the waste of time these legal hurdles threw at them. She’d rather they just take the ship by force, but the Captain assured her, they faced career damage if they handled this poorly. The Ferengi had them bound for the time being, but it only took one little piece of implausible deniability and they could bust that little operation wide open.
“No, nothing specific. However there is baryonic radiation emanating from their cargo bays and shuttlebay, we think it is part of a sensor blind or stealth system. We can't get any kind of useful data, so I’d start there.”

He nodded, if the Commander wished him to investigate, it was his job to do so. He also enjoyed the hunt, even if there was nothing solid to start on, he would find it, or place it himself.
“Understood, and I am to perform this investigation under the ruse of offering routine repairs?”
Commander Allen looked upset as she spoke from a brief hesitation,
“You will be attached to the Landing party assigned to N’tach. However, he won’t know your investigation is occurring, this will help sell your presence.
“So I am to operate without N’tach or other crewmembers knowing as well?”
“Stealth is the key here, we need something solid by the time we reach Beta Ro and they can claim orbital sanctuary.”
“I’m sorry?” the term was unfamiliar to him.
“If they can maintain certain standards of living on board we can’t forcibly remove them. No criminal activity means we have to grant them their rights and privileges under the rule of interstellar laws. They can’t have much fuel so achieving stable orbit is vital for them or they'll be adrift soon and then we can step in with or without permission under emergency assistance guidelines.”
“This seems excessively deferential, if Starfleet wishes to remove them from that vessel why not simply do so?”
“The reputation of Starfleet is fair play by the rule of law, and cannot be tarnished by malfeasance or by allowing these low lives to make off with one of our ships. This is going to set case law and precedent if it doesn't end now. Losing this case due to legalities opens up other Starfleet derelicts to raiders and all manner of legal-”
He raised his hands, understanding her now, he dared to cut her short in interest of her time.
“Or I’ll just see what they are hiding, and end this quick. I can leave right away.”

{Shuttlecraft- “Zephyr”}

“Good lord, they shoved an entire ship in there?!” Loya was incredulous.

“Two from the looks of it.” J’ano recognized the Aerowing from the briefing, it had a working phaser bank on board but was otherwise not a threat piled under the wreckage of their lost vessel.

“I don’t like the looks of this place, I’m setting down but they didn't make much space for us. I’m orienting the hatch to the rear at least, but this place screams ambush.” Loya was at helm, J’ano nodded in affirmation. Neither of them looked to N’tach for his word, something he wasn’t sure how to interpret.

Maneuvering the small shuttle into the shuttlebay shouldn't have been a problem at all. There was however a problem in that it contained much of the wreckage of the destroyed Icarus class they had called home, and the similarly fated but intact Aerowing. Landing in the bay consisted of close quarters micro motions, resulting in a lean as they settled on uneven flotsam and mechanical brachea. N’tach used the time to analyze the layout of the room, his eyes working fine despite the sensor scattering in effect.


The flyover had shown N’tach much, they had toured the outside of the vessel a bit before settling in here, but nothing could have prepared him for this ship. Despite the fresh and old wounds, rending and tearing with every move, the scars were something he appreciated. “Latlhpu'vaD moH Sor Dunmo' burl.” He spoke his grandfather's words to himself on the trip over, but nobody paid him any mind. His grandfather said the ugliest and most gnarled burl on the tree was the best one for his art. There were few uses for a blind warrior, but he knew woodworking and made beautiful stringed instruments. Even after his sight left him entirely his keen sense to the inner core wood was infallible. N’tach felt a similar, peculiar sense, like fate was guiding his hand, these moments were rare and he had learned to embrace them.

The Shuttle bay doors closed with barely a meter to spare from the rear hatch, the overfilled shuttle bay affording too many venues for ambush. N’tach ran through the names and faces of his people, from this point on they were in a potential combat zone and he would see to it they were unharmed. J’ano Hern, Loya Valdez both had security backgrounds but were presently joined as technicians. This made sense, Commander Allen did not trust these people one whit.
His other two techs were specialists, Frieda Simpako in Environmental Systems, and Erdo-43 a Deltan OPS phenom who had worked with N’tach on other odd jobs around the ship. These two were his closest work associates, but truly he didn't know them. Nonetheless, for the first time since serving Starfleet he found he was excited to be in the field, his day mattered.
Before the hatch dropped, he wanted to speak with them,
“J’ano, Erdo-43, You will be assigned to structural integrity and energy grid systems, I’ll need a diagnostic as soon as possible to begin making my system integrated. Loya, you and Frieda will look into restoration of vital ship systems, cataloguing failed routes and bypasses. Coordinate on the half hour with updates and progress reports. We have no evidence of threatening behavior so we follow standard protocols, no weapons except for myself.”
Erdo-43 was ready, “From the looks on the flyover over half the ship is powered off, looks like they've got exposed grids to atmosphere in many places, so it's safe to assume bypasses over conventional safeties are in effect. Assume nothing.”
Frieda hoisted a large toolbag, her specialty required tools. “Aye aye, I’m bringing my exosuit for those exposed sections, if you need my services call out.”
A hail from the Second Star came in, the shuttle had been at rest over a minute without activity from them. A young human males voice came over the channel,
=0= Second Star to Shuttlecraft ‘Zephyr’ Vicente Escudero hailing… Hello?
=/\= Shuttlecraft ‘Zephyr’ responding, N’tach in command. We are coming out, I am the only one armed, but I am not here for anything other than assistance.
Vicente sounded unsure, as Fala fed him each word.
=0= Understood, Captain Quinton Beck will receive you, please be aware we are armed as well but receive you in the interests of your offer of assistance.”
N’tach raised an eyebrow but said nothing, glancing at his team to see they were ready before opening the hatch. As the rear wall fell N’tach took point, in case there was incoming fire.

{Second Star Shuttlebay}
Othor detected five distinct personalities, the Klingon was a hard read for sure, but there was one crewman in there who was practically a mental void. As best as he could sense, nobody on board had a plan or tactic in mind other than what they said. He remained hidden behind one of the sensor blinding panels stacked in the wreckage, signalling to Kas all was clear. Kas was on the upper decks, hidden beneath a work lamp shining out at full capacity, the rifle scope barely poking beyond the cone of darkness cast beneath the light.
“Going in, gimme thumbs up.” Beck walked towards the open area where the shuttle now occupied every last inch. Fala was striding his right. If there was going to be a fire fight, they had plenty of cover. Quinton looked, Kas signalled ready via handsign, Avor stood outside the Shuttlebay, ready to cover Quinton as well.

All five Starfleet stood waiting, one of them was a Klingon. It appalled him to think they would send a Klingon posing as an Engineer, so for all their sakes he accepted the brutish man was who he appeared to be. Captain Beck put on his best gaming face once more, he extended his hand to the Klingon taking point, insisting with his earnest attitude.
“Hello, I’m Captain Quinton Beck. I wasn’t sure if the offer was on the level, I’m sure you've received the stipulations we sent so thanks for coming over anyway. We just gotta make orbit at Beta Ro, we have some people on the way who can meet us and get us going again.”
N’tach met his hand in a firm embrace, wrist to wrist. “Greetings, Captain, I see you’ve posted men at very strategic locations. No doubt you can mount a formidable defense but please be at ease. We are on a mission to assist and intend on keeping our word.”
“A warrior that can play the statesman,” replied Fala
“Madame, I am what the humans would describe a renaissance man. I only play on stage,” N’Tach grinned, his mouth full of sharpened teeth. “Today I am a helping hand.” He planted his hand on the bit of the ship’s bulwark and extended his free hand to hastily introduce his crew, “Oh and this is my team, Lieutentant Jg J’ano Hern, Technician first class Loya Valdez, Ensigns, Erdo-43, and Frieda Simpoka.”
“I’ve noticed you have two tactical officers with you, with yellow shirts and all.” Observed Fala.
“Erdo-43 is a fine engineer, J’ano and Ensign Simpoka have worked on the Rampart Engineering staff for the last two years,” retorted N’Tach.
“And Loya is…?” Fala pressed the Klingon testing his mettle.
“A compromise...” N’Tach scowled at the man he deemed unqualified and shifty.
Beck smirked, “Well, we’ve got you on board but everything is under control on our end. You can attend to our life support, Internal damage that is critical to vital systems is listed here, and that will be all of the mandated repairs you are… obligated… to provide.”
N’tach shook his head, “Indulge me captain. The fact that getting this…” he began to consider and survey his surroundings, “husk to move at all is a miracle. But getting to Beta-Ro is going to be a troublesome endeavor. But the fact that what was once dead is now resurrected,” He was in his cathedral preparing to paint the frescoes and carve the marble, “this is a sign.” He admired the potential of it all for a moment of contemplative silence. ”Consider this, and we will be able to cooperate more fully I believe.” N’tach had his repair proposal outlined on a padd. He had to step over debris scattered all over his path but he walked to Beck, closing the distance between them. He held it out for Beck to take, knowing the Captain was debating cooperation or insurgency. He found he was relieved when Beck took the padd. Beck seemed to be genuinely interested in what the officer had to say.

As Beck poured over the data, the other Starfleet behind N’tach began taking scans, gathering their tools. J’ano, however, was not scanning with a standard Tricorder, his had a few modifications geared for Forensic detection. So far nothing he saw was criminal, and nothing contradicted the investigations facts. “Yet,” He thought to himself, he would find it, whatever it was. Or make it up if he had to, Commander Allen had been clear.

Beck finished reading and nodded to N’tach, holding onto the padd tucking it into his lapel. “I’ll need to run this by our resident legal expert, but if you are honestly committing to this, I readily appreciate your personal support. Starfleet had to have wanted you to to fail, or certainly not enable us to succeed. Why do you want to help us?”
N’tach replied in an even and sober tone, “Are not the finest instruments made from gnarled and weathered wood? Where others may see a derelict hull long since succumbed to the ravages of time, I see resiliency and a will to live. And as far as I can see the same can be said for her crew.”
Quinton found he liked that answer so damn much he couldn't help but smile. “Well hell, I got an opening or two if you’re interested. For now, let's stick to what’s on fire or venting to space, but let’s talk soon.” He signalled to Kas, who left concealment abruptly, she slid down the rails to the ground floor and crossed to them her rifle slung across her back.
“Kas, escort Ensign Simpoka and Loya, hello by the way, to Engineering, they can start there. Avor, you are with Erdo-43, nice to meet you. J’ano… what's your field? It only says Technician here?”
J’ano only had basic engineering proficiencies, a failed start at the Academy as he realized his innate mechanical knowledge was insufficient to coast through. He had no desire to study or dedicate himself to engines half a galaxy from his homelands, so Tactical had proven a more suitable field. In truth, J’ano had forgotten much of what he had learned, but his ability to beguile was second to none.
“Master of none, but you know what that says about me and my trades, I’m a big brother and glorified wrench turner to the new recruits on board. My specialty is people you could say.”


Beck didnt believe one word of it, and knew Kas had just put an invisible peg on the man. Something was wrong with him, he’d need to talk to Othor later.
“Well looks like you were assigned to Erdo-43 by N’tach, that’ll be lots of energy grid work... does that work for your… skillset?”
By asking and openly questioning the man, he hoped to convey that they were not fooled by an easy smile, J’ano seemed to understand. N’tach had to step up to save face, his crew assignments were final, though he was savvy to the odd interaction from J’ano and Beck.

“I have assigned them as I see fit, please do the same for your crew. These are all volunteers, we cannot provide specialists by the shuttle at just any behest, I am grateful to them for their service.” N’tach left the statement dangling, knowing Beck would say his part to keep the social compact intact.
“As are we. If you will follow us then.”

{Rampart- Bridge Ready Room}

-12 hours later-

Captain Douglas and Commander Allen listened as J’ano piped through a communication, he spoke in lowered and hushed tones, they didn't realize he spoke to them from inside the head, the only place he could guarantee privacy.
=/\= Scans in the occluded area only show an assortment of parts and materials. The bodies in their morgue are consistent with all reported facts… well let's come back to that. From what i can see, a few pieces of cargo are considered contraband but only within Federation space. Here and now… we have nothing to impound or board this ship on. Your advice on how to proceed?”

Captain Douglas was not pleased at all, if they arrived at Beta Ro and that ship was viable, they’d never leave it, just get refit and resupplied… They had to have something, anything to just give him a reason to forcibly remove them and scuttle the damned ship like it should have been decades ago. They had exchanged a token repair effort for the chance to get an officer on board digging up dirt, but it had not gotten them anything useful, and now they saw parts of the sip lighting up which had been inert. The stupid Klingon was actually succeeding, damning them all with this unexpected competency.
With calm and calculating precision he spoke back, “Let’s focus then, on crew bio’s, and ship history. Have you gotten DNA scans on all the crew, or a copy of their records?”

The hushed tones came over the comm in a rush, “There are no sensor logs, lost when the ship went up, we have the Aerowing data, no changes made there as far as we can tell. I have Fala Gaz, but her record is impeccable. I have yet to meet the Betazoid named Othor, the older human, Akio, or the young human Vicente. No criminal records for any of the Andorians, Beck has a few entries you may enjoy, but nothing damning.”
Commander Allen looked to Douglas for permission to speak, he granted with a subtle nod. “You mentioned something about the bodies in the morgue?”

J’ano replied after a moment, “There is a body in cold storage, near as I can tell there is an ODN line routed into the casket, and power traces from inside, though biological activity is not present. Listed as “deceased, Judah Capek. That name is a dead end by the way, so is the name “Akio Itachi”, zero results for either one past five years ago.”

Douglas picked up on the thread, “And five years ago, they signed onto a Rigelian Freighter named Second Star didn't they?
“Affirmative.”

Douglas stared into Allen’s eyes, a decision point being reached between the two of them. How far would they go to get their way? With Douglas and his chosen second, the answer was always,
‘Whatever it takes.’

“J’ano, Commander Allen will prepare the intel on this side of the fence, we need you to install evidence on the Aerowing datacore. We may find something in those crew histories, but we can't bank on that. N’tach shows twelve more hours at most before we can expect a warp test, once they are able to live and breathe on their own we lose any power over this situation. So long as it is a crime scene, we are able to make plays understand?”
J’ano smirked, Starfleet played nice when it suited them, but he could approve of these tactics too. He was learning much from this Human captain, it was easy to see why the Federation Starship Voyager made such an impact on his people, they got work done.
“Yes sir, send over the care package anytime, I’ll get it where it needs to go. J’ano out.”

The Captain of the Rampart stared at his Second, he silently asked her if this was the right thing to do, but reminded himself; ‘I will not be the captain who let renegades and criminals lay claim and steal a Starfleet Starship.’

To Commander Allen, though he felt uncertain, his unwavering discipline compelled him. Looking at her with a deadly gaze he simply said, “Get it done.”

-TBC-

Quinton Beck

Fala Gaz

N'tach

 

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