Off Limits

Posted on Fri Feb 9th, 2018 @ 12:42am by Second Mate Quinton Beck & MERCHANT RANKS Fala Gaz (NPC) & Master Steward Othor Jaxz Ghost of the Second Star
Edited on on Tue Jan 29th, 2019 @ 8:24pm

3,530 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Meanwhile...
Location: Second Star- Reserve Fuel Tanks (OOS) & Brig
Timeline: 0330

-Start-

Judah knew how to be persistent. Quinton had set several alarms for a time like this but was deeply asleep after a long day. Judah took it upon himself to strobe light the room with high decibel sirens after a moment passed and he did not rouse.

He roused.

"Judah! What?!" Eyes wide open and hands clamped over his ears he yelled in stunned shock at the appalling clamor.

"Activity in the Reserve Fuel systems."

His anger faded fast, he couldn't let himself sleep so deeply, Judah had been right to do so.

"Thank you Judah- pipe to Kas and Avor... Ladyfingers."

His code to them to suit up and secure the hold. Whoever was picking the lock was about to be very unhappy. He rolled out of bed, dressing and moving out the door all at once. The Turbolifts were improved but it still took a minute to arrive to the bridge. He debated if it was Sheila, but decided against it. She wasn't after a single treasure trove, she was after them all.

=0= Kas here, inbound, coordinating with Avor, comms silent.

Beck tapped his foot in the decrepit lift, the long minutes stretching to eternity. Rickety noises sounded and shifting deck plates clattered as he sped there, pistol at the ready.

Judah chimed in to their comms, "All clear, I've screened the area, it's just one entity, they've got something masking their signatures and also blocking holo-projections."

{Reserve Fuel systems Deck34}

Rowland stuck his thumb onto the access pad leading into a secret vault. By every appearance to the contrary, this was no reserve fuel tank, it was a cargo hold for the items recovered from that smugglers paradise they escaped from. Inside... well he had to get inside, the mission wasn't over until he had retrieved his quarry.

The lock changed to green, the DNA slick coating his thumbprint was a thin cellulose smear of DNA. No sooner though did one set of locks twist into place, than another clamped down. Computer access was hardwired to the panel and he heard the click of the circuit closing. His cybernetic brain processed this faster than a Human would but trapped as he was in the moment he could only move so fast.

{Bridge- Beck}

Beck made his decision, he had to trust her. They paid her for this, Kas was not a soldier to be sent into battle. Attempts had been made to locate and break into their vaults since they arrived. None had gotten this far. Judah had barely caught the whiff of fraud on the approval, mainly due to the fact that he had spoken with Avor only moments prior to his alleged thumbprint access request across the ship. That, and the thumb was too cold, Avor was warm blooded to the extreme.

He had lost too many crew, and this was the first test of their preparedness.

He had to crush all idea of scandal and theivery.

=0= Sheila, meet me at the Reserve Tank entrance Deck 34. Come ready.

The very bottom of the ship and the only entrance at all to the secret reinforced hold, he knew she would find it eventually. Sheila was going to eventually be on his side or they were all dead, so no point in hiding it from his actual Security Chief, but Talloc could not find this.

{Garrison- Deck 23}

=0= Sheila, meet me at the Reserve Tank entrance Deck 34. Come ready.

Sheila replied swiftly, despite the hour.

=0= Company respond, Lock and load. Reserve Tank entrance Deck 34. Tactical on standby. Ten clicks on the comm in reply told her the team was on the way.

Sheila activated the uniform she was wearing, a one-way transformation of Starfleet regulation fiber into a skin tight tactical armor.

{Bridge- Beck}

Sheila was going to find their cargo hold one way or the other, But he couldn't play Starfleet against Starfleet if they knew he knew. He had to keep his assets separate for now, He neded Talloc kept away.

=0= Talloc to the bridge, I have stepped away. You have the conn.

He spoke to the holographic emitter on the bridge, "Judah, make sure he stays dumb to this."

Judah would be able to fool the readouts, and had muted all alarms but hopefully Talloc wouldn't scrutinize the situation. It didn't take a clever operator to realize their data was being tampered with, read tension in the air.

He manifested as is holographic self. The projection was solid, now, and even looked like the boy he used to be.
"I've dampened the security alarms in time, but I can't do anything about his telepathic awareness."

Beck smiled, "I know somebody who can." He tapped his com again,

=0= Fala, keep Talloc occupied on the bridge while we sort this.

=0= See Quinton, here we are playing your games again, and this is a dangerous game with a telepath, but Ferengi minds are superior after all."

Quinton poked the bear a bit,
=0= Oh are Ferengi really all that superior? I just thought you had nothing for him to read worth reading is all-
=0=!Quint!-
=0= Keep him occupied, Beck out.

{Deck 34 Turbolift}

The doors to the turbolift whisked open. A simple corridor which shared a purpose for maintenance access and refilling antimatter safely lead to a Large blast door, its welding offset by color and design by necessity showing it was placed here. It was a vault, the very best Fala could afford.

A T shaped split was ahead of Sheila and her team. Kas and he people already in place.

Deck 34 was largely meant for wheeling antimatter pods in and out back in an older age when storage and refill was much more dangerous. Now these systems were obsolete, for that purpose at least. A straight, long and wide corridor, one way to the right lead to the vault, and one to the left, the refill port. Kas was already there, waiting behind cover in the two door chamber airlock. Avor was one deck above, at an EPS station ready to power the trap.

Avor had control of a gravity plate under the floor near the vault, but he had to be above them to operate it. It would be a field of unbearably strong gravity, impossible to cross. Transporters were a nightmarish prospect so close to the Engines anyway, and Keldonite was cheap enough to coat the ship and vault in.

"Quick take down is preferred. Any weapons?" Sheila asked quietly.

Kas shook her head.

"Okay team you're up. Sir, Captain Beck requests you let us proceed." Sheila whispered to Kas. There was a moment where Kas considered her reply then she powered off her scope and stepped back.

Thankfully they were facing the door, back to them. It appeared the gravity trap was engaged, but not in force yet, they hadn't broken the plane yet.

Sheila scanned the entity in shroud, and got little usable data.

"They're obscured, recommend EM neutralysis, site to site tags."

A silent confirmation lit her display, one of the team had a shot.

"Confirmed."

Rowland heard none of this, the noise of the engines and machines masked whispers perfectly.

His thumbprint seemed to register correctly, but the computer wouldn't accept it no matter how he tried to peel away the security. This computer was unlike anything he had tried to access, and the minutes ticked by without alarm.

So when he felt the micro transporter tag rip into his back just below the shoulder blade, he knew he had been beaten at this game. However, Rowland had little intention to be kept away, he would escape, and be back before long.

{Bridge}

"What's going on?" Lid'a took her station at Ops, the relief crew were called in early, but no alarms were sounded. What alarms were there when you were in Spacedock?

The Captain must always look dignified, but when someone was about to find your hidden treasure you waddled a bit. He didnt even stop as he just extorted, "as you were..." on the way out.

=0= Avor to Beck, Team has secured the scene, en route to brig.

=0= Beck here, We have a brig?

=0= Yes, fit for the Borg from what I hear, we should talk about that too I think.

=0= Agreed, that's another matter, for now, make sure our secrets at least are under wraps. What ones remain...

* * JTubes Security Deck 13 * *

Carson was reading a scintillating review of the latest Grimoire off of Rigel, he never read the books themselves, the reviews were detailed and he could borrow critics phrases for himself.

Judah appeared suddenly, a materializing form transporting into the brig. The holographic projection was now grabbing the burden of a Human female, unconscious and moving impossibly considering the weight of what he held. She was bleeding from a wound on her back, it looked like a slug to carson, not a burn from a phaser.

"Call medical." Judah instructed.

Carson had no idea who this hologram was but knew his job had gotten interesting today, "Calling," he replied.

Judah gently laid the woman down on the bunk, taking off her shoes, belt and anything else including a PADD, and removed the cuffs. Activating the transparent window to the cell, he moved to the replicator and got a drink sitting in the main chair with full view of their first occupant while he waited for the doc to arrive.

Akio came into the bay, a slippery personality accompanied by mincing steps, hushed tones, and glances over his shoulder. He had been hiding this whole time, afraid Starfleet would realize who he was and arrest him. However until the CMO came on board Akio was their physician. Judah had already explained to him what was going on in simple terms though he painted a picture of a thief and saboteur.

Akio had never been in the brig before, he stayed away from his nightmares usually. The cells were set on either side of a corridor, the front of each was open, sealed with a transparent covering, giving the prisoner no privacy except for a little bent cubicle alcove with a toilet.

"What happened?" he asked Judah as he knelt beside the woman and began to scan her.

"She was attempting to break into the vault, One of the mercs shot her with a transponder tag but it broke through the skin, infiltrating four centimeters into her thoracic cavity."

Akio heard what he needed, simple enough to fix.

"Do you want her awake?" He asked almost in a bored fashion.

Carson had his job to do, injured prisoners were handled differently. "Is she injured? I gotta get some paperwork on this-"

Judah didnt even flinch, sending all the appropriate forms to Carson, along with Medicalplans for her care.

Akio withdrew the transponder from the unconscious woman, no local applied to numb her. "She will have a mild concussion and if I do nothing will stay unconscious and wake up with a headache, and sore as can be in about three hours."

"Can we wake her now?" Judah was eager to interrogate.

"Yes, but she will be in more pain so son after my surgery. The auto-sutures are still setting."

"Oh I'd imagine the Captain doesnt mind that."

Akio shrugged, he never took the Hippocratic oath, his medical knowledge was self taught. Preparing a hypo and injecting it, he waited till there was appropriate life signs. There was a curious reading from his tricorder, as though the bio metrics were being altered at the same time as they displayed on his screen. He wasn't tryingt o solve a mystery though, and resolved that it was his shoddy equipment.

"She will wake up soon, in great pain, but stable."

{Bridge}

=0= Captain Beck to the brig your guest is awake.

Akio's voice carried over, despite the drama of the situation Akio sounded bored. The man had a genius that often burdened him with mundane tasks that really werent mundane at all. He was usually stuck to his books or tinkering with Judahs interface to the computer.

Quinton hit the com.
=0= Kas, get to the brig, and we need an intelligence officer by the way. We got to much already without having to play counter intelligence games.

=0= Aye aye. Also, Ms. Rohbards is en route, seems she thinks its her jurisdiction.

Quinton wasn't ready for this so soon. He just wanted eyes away from the vault.

=0= Hell Kas, it might be. Like I said we need a spook to counter the spooks. Right now you are my boogeyman from Andorian Imperial Guard. We need the specs on who sent her and from where.

{Deck 34- Reserve tanks}

Fala and Avor analysed the lock. Intact, but defeated by a DNA trick.
"How close did she get?"

Fala was irate at the intrusion. They hadn't even left drydock and there was trouble in the vault.

"Minutes away, I can't believe it frankly. She also broke the scanner seal on the door. Contents were leaked most likely."

"More great news then?" They carried unknown items, many dangerous or banned. It was like sitting on a pile of wrapped gifts but their parents were watching them so they had to pretend like they had nothing at all. Now this data was out there, people would talk.

"So we need to have the discussion with the crew now then?"

Fala nodded, the writing on the wall.

"Yes."

=0= Quinton, we need to gather the crew and discuss how to behave.

Over Comm he erupted,
=0="Dammit! I was really hoping not to have to beg for the crew to "be cool" while INSIDE a Federation starbase! Make sure the ones we know about are stuck at work.

The line went dead, Avor dared to hope he was going to be let go to resume his duties.

=0= Quinton to Avor, We need to have a ship wide briefing. Line it up, first thing tomorrow after department head meetings. The Shuttle Hangar will do... no... the Agora.

=0= Agora isn't ready yet, but I'll make it happen. Avor out

Beck turned on Fala, he was angry,

=0= Everyone always tries to get what you have. Make this lock better, make the security better, Dammit Fala I am not playing games with people. I dont want to kill anyone over this stuff so make this impossible ok?

Fala knew his heart was in the right place and forgave his anger. She had gotten the best style of locks and anti theft devices but there was only so much one could do. She resolved to do more though, she would find a solution.

Beck left her to her work, his prize was almost slipping from his fingers, it felt like every force in the galaxy was trying to take all he had.

Beck stopped. His father had never tried anything this ambitious. A criminal and scoundrel, he had made a small fortune but always scraped and lost as much as he won. Quinton had higher hopes and ambitions, this wasn't a personal fortune but a chance to uplift all of his people and any other worthy soul that came along. Anyone who stood in the way of that basically chose themselves over this community. To hell with that.

=0= Beck to the Kas... cancel that, just be ready to act on the intel i get.

Quinton didn't know where it was, "Judah show me to the brig please."

Judah materialized, a fraction of the boys potential bifurcated to a holo program that lead him down the path. As they crossed Arcadias zone Judah's image froze for a moment, he wasn't able to broadcast himself into Arcadias leased decks. Another sore point for another time, everyone had secrets.

Quinton heard the clamor in the room, smelled Arcadias lizard thing, and entered without preamble.

{Brig}

Kas sat on top of the brig reception counter, Carson doing his best to not to look at her shapes. She glanced across the room to where Quinton approached, glaring at him. They hadn't talked much since... really since Dure died. She did her job and he knew she would come to him soon enough. Carson didn't rise from where he sat, directly opposite the cell that the thief was in.

She sat with a plain and bored expression on her face, as though waiting for the next thing albeit death or a meal with so little as a lifted brow.

"Meet Vikki Rose, aka Rose Vickers, aka bullshit." Kas picked up the PADD witha ll the data Judah had decrypted. The decryption lead to a fake identity, a well made one but still useless.

"She was given plans of the ship, and a number of places to search. There's a list of item she's looking for. Her computer and other equipment were traced, memory was secured to the ninth degree, good thing Judah knows how to read it though."

Quinton knew the secret was up, people were curious what the vault held but at least they couldn't see inside of it. Someone cracking the lock without knowing what's in there made for an interesting motive. She had specific items in mind did she... almost certainly red herrings.

He ignored "Rose", focusing on Kas, and also speaking to Judah.

"Judah get her image to Fala, locate and secure the items in this list, have the Exo's do it if you need.

He took a moment to glare at Rose, but knew she was a damned thief and spared not one moment of pity. She was here by secret, she could damn well languish in their prison til she coughed up answers.

Kas moved at that point. "Let's move the darling to the secured padded interrogation room, and can we please sedate her so she can't take my head off. I'll be back shortly." She picked up the PADD and headed towards the security door.

Quinton considered the dilemma, clearly the secrets were out for anyone to try and guess. Fala had agreed with him, it was time for a very important talk.

=0=Vicente, schedule a department heads meeting for tomorrow. then, assemble the crew in hangar afterwards for an address.

=0= Acknowledged... Is it for the Tiburon arrival, that isnt til 2500."

The Tiburon.... How had he forgotten? The guts of his old ship in a new shell, repurposed for their usage and serving them still.

=0= The Agora then, help Avor get it ready, and we will also have a talk about the areas of our ship that are not allowed.

The turbolift was a month away so he took a moment to consider what they carried. Four containers full of relics and treasures unknown, every time they opened it something new came out. Should it be a secret, or could this just be the way things are?

One last call, he needed counsel before making a decision like this. He needed Othor.

=0= Summons to the ghost of the Second Star... Meet me in the Agora please.

=0= You sound upset Quinton.

Othors baritone was a balm on the irritations of the day.

=0= Set up a table and one of your famous drinks. I'll be there soon, I've got to make that speech tomorrow and well theres some phrasing I could use help with.

=0= Understood i shall bring my autoscroll, and Aldebaran Whiskey. You bring your boots cowboy.

Quinton laughed, a much needed spot of sunshine. Still, the speech he needed to make had gotten complicated, there were certainly places both personal and literal that were off limits, how to say this without making curiosity their worst enemy?

{Bridge}

"Furthermore Talloc, Temperance can be assured through the divine exchequer by use of an acolyte of Sollk."

Talloc was trying to keep Fala engaged, she was his employer, he had to indulge her chatty behavior. However it was almost certainly a cover, there was something going on they didnt like his eyes near.

He replied, listening in one ear while tapping console padd on the XO chair.
"Solk, the same Solk as the one who sold his mother to the husband who had her killed for making profit?"

Fala shook her head though she was stunned that he remembered that. She had been telling him tales of the Ferengi God Pantheon after he had foolishly fallen inyo the trap she had laid asking him if he liked her head scarf. Nearly an hour later she had run out of material, and he had found the ability to listen to her and pry into the goings on.

"No Talloc, Solk is who you are talking about. Sollk is the only Ferengi to be revered for what some would say is aversion to temptation."

"I dont hear any difference-"

"Well it's there."

"Fascinating Fala, but its been a long road and I have much-

"Consider that he turned others from temptation, I would love to share with you his wisdom"

=0= Fala, we got Ladyfingers in the lounge...Out.

They were all clear. Somehow, she had lasted long enough in her inane ramble.

"Or not, times up." Fala turned on her heel and went to her office/lounge.

Talloc was left confused, what in the hell had just happened on this ship under his nose?

-End-

Shane
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