So, about this guy you met...

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2020 @ 5:47am by Cailus Griffin & Lieutenant Commander Mindo
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:33pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Mindo's Quarters
Timeline: Current

The news was now public: a murder had been committed on Paradise Station, and evidence implicated a member of the Pandora's crew. The investigation was in full swing, with dozens of yellow-shirted security officers working hard to uncover the truth while on the station, their counterparts did the same. Lieutenant Cailus Griffin, the Chief of Security and therefore the man charged to lead the investigation, had a thousand things to go and not nearly enough time to do half of them, but nevertheless, there was one thing he was determined to do as soon as possible.

Thus, barely an hour after returning from Paradise Station, Cailus made his way to Mindo's quarters. It was relatively early in the morning, before the alpha morning shift was due to start, although Cailus looked as if he had been at work for several hours already. The phaser on his hip, ever-present when the taciturn man was on duty, left no question as to whether it was a social call.

Upon reaching Mindo's quarters, he tapped the chime before standing formally, his hands behind his back.

Mindo was eating his breakfast before going down to the warp core for what was sure to be a very ho-hum shift. He liked it better when the ship was moving, and not docked at a space station with the crew quarantined to the ship leaving Engineers nothing to do but diagnostics and touch-up maintenance.

He was curious who was at the door at this hour. "Enter," he said. He wiped his mouth with a napkin, but did not stand to greet his guest.

As the doors opened, Cailus stepped through, inclining his head slightly in greeting. "Apologies for the early visit, Mindo. Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Sure," said Mindo, "as long as I can finish my breakfast." Mindo got up and grabbed an empty glass on his coffee table. He proceeded to pour some orange juice into it and returned to the table, handing Griffin his drink.

Bemused, Cailus accepted the glass awkwardly before shrugging. "Thanks," he said stoically taking a sip, more grateful for the drink after hours of work than he was prepared to admit. "It's about the murder investigation, Mindo. I understand that you got to know another Fesarian lately, someone you met on the station?"

"Yes," said Mindo, sitting back down. "His name is Terrekal."

Cailus waited a moment before he realised that Mindo wasn't going to elaborate, and he frowned out of habit. "Right. Did he leave you any contact information? Any details on why he's in the Expanse, what ship he's on? Terrekal is the only suspect I have who isn't on our crew, so we need to have a way of finding him if necessary."

Mindo thought for a moment. "I haven't been to his ship," he said. "I'm not even sure where it's docked. But I can find out easily. If you want I could contact him."

"Please," Cailus said, nodding. "We're on the clock, and I don't want to waste time later on tracking this man down." He paused, considering Mindo for a moment. "The security logs showed that he stayed the night. Did he stay with you? I know it's been a long while since you saw another Fesarian."

Mindo stood and headed over to the wall monitor nearest the table. "Um," he stammered. "Yes, actually... he stayed here. The Captain's aware of it, though, and Lieutenant Sandoval and I went through security before we brought him aboard. He and Sandoval did a quick partial tour for which I was not present, but he was with me for the rest of the time." Mindo paused then, finger in midair about to activate the terminal. "He did let himself out, though. And I did get a weird message. I thought maybe it was a prank, but... maybe you should read it." Mindo's stomach turned. This did not look good; a stranger letting himself out, a very suspicious message, and Mindo in front of it all.

Seeing Mindo perturbed was a rare occurrence indeed. Cailus stepped up to behind Mindo and, finally, his tone and gaze softened. For all their history, much of it troubled and some of it deeply sordid, he and Mindo were friendly if not actual friends, and it didn’t sit well that Mindo was unsettled. “Mindo, relax,” Cailus reassured him quietly. “You have nothing to worry about. Let’s just see this message and work from there.”

Mindo's posture eased a little, and he took a breath, letting the air out slowly. "OK," he said. His fingers moved onto the terminal and within a few moments, the message came up. The warbled voice was still unrecognizable. The attached document was likewise difficult to read.

"None of this makes sense to me," said Mindo as Cailus saw the message and the attachment.

"What the hell?" Cailus muttered, his brow furrowed as he read. "Terrekal is an SI operative? So why...Chase. He worked for Admiral Chase. Dammit." The curse was softly spoken but full of venomous anger. Vice Admiral Bradford Chase, a high ranking admiral within Starfleet Intelligence, had caused a great deal of pain to Mindo. There were even suspicions that Chase had been behind some of the awful crimes inflicted on Shae and her daughter. Either way, he was a serious threat, regardless of the uniform he wore.

"This is a damned serious problem," Cailus said worriedly, crossing his arms as he re-read abbreviated 'Terrkal''s service record. "If this message is accurate, he could be after you. Or Aoife. Or even Shae. Or he could be the one responsible for the murder and trying to cause problems for the ship. Mindo, why did you think this could be a prank?"

"Because I didn't want to believe it!" Mindo yelled. It was the first time he'd ever yelled at the Security Chief. He immediately regained his composure. "I'm sorry," he said. "The night before, Terrekal and I had talked a long time. He tried to convince me to join him. To leave Starfleet. He's leaving Paradise in the next two days and wanted me to come along. I still haven't given him an answer."

Unfazed by the shouting, Cailus simply considered Mindo for a long moment, looking down at him with an unreadable gaze. "Would you have said yes?" he asked quietly.

"What do you think?" asked Mindo, quietly looking up at Cailus.

Cailus held Mindo's gaze for a moment before sighing. "I think that it's none of my business. It's your life to do with as you please. Shae and Aoife would miss you, as would many others onboard, but you choose your own fate. Stay in Starfleet and on the Pandora, or leave to make a different path...just do what makes you happy." Then Cailus' eyes hardened. "Just do me a favour, Mindo. Don't trust this man. I will try to verify that he works for Starfleet Intelligence but they won't tell me a damned thing without good cause, and I don't expect that Lieutenant Smith will know either. This message could be a deception of some sort, but I seriously doubt it. It's all too damned coincidental for my liking. Someone is playing games with you, one way or another."

"There's one thing we haven't addressed," said Mindo. "Who is Uno, and can we trust him? If Uno has access to such documents, how do we know he isn't working for Chase?" Or she for that matter, thought Mindo.

"Agreed," Cailus said curtly. "We just don't know enough at this point, which means we can't trust anything. Combined with the murder, the other strange things that have been happening onboard, the history that you, Shae and Aoife have with Chase...it's a mess. I thought we'd left all this rubbish behind when we left Federation space." The Security Chief rubbed his face wearily. "I'll tell Shae about this when I see her for lunch, just in case she has any familiarity with this from her experience. In the meantime, I'd appreciate it if you could get more information on Terrekal. Maybe find a way to get him back onboard, just in case he becomes a person of interest in the murder. I can't question him, or arrest him if necessary, if we don't get him back on the ship."

"I'll do what I can," said Mindo. "Is there anything else?"

"No," Cailus said. "Thank you for informing me about this."