Turning The Tables

Posted on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 3:00am by Cailus Griffin & Captain Nycolas Temple & Commander Owen Nash & Lieutenant Kalin Brennan-Griffin PhD & Lieutenant Krysia Kaleri-Smith & Lieutenant James Smith
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:43pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Deck 2 - Conference Room

ON:

Nyx paced around the conference, blood boiling. He was fighting the urge the throw the tastefully appointed furniture around the room - as satisfying as that would be. He hated feeling powerless, especially on his own ship, and he was sick of always being a step behind their traitor-come-murderer. He wondered if he'd spent too long in an officer's uniform that he'd lost his nerve. There was once a time when he could track down a target and silently eliminate them before breakfast, but now he was feeling constantly outmanoeuvred by a member of the Pandora's own crew, right under their noses. It had to stop. No more deaths, no more guessing. It was time to turn the tables.

Owen made his way to the Conference Room, having received the call from Nyx to meet there with the other members of the Investigation team. The last few hours seemed to drag by as the crew looked to find out what had happened to their fallen comrade and who was responsible.

He was also concerned by the rising fact of the Breen being in control of the station with Katya being the face of Paradise Station. This was a new twist the Pandora didn't need, however it was also a situation that they didn't have to involve themselves in, as much as the crew wanted to. That was a cause for another day.

As the senior investigators arrived, Nyx was able to regain his composure a little, though his heart continued to beat loudly in his chest with the anticipation of action. He greeted Nash, Griffin, Parrino, Brennan, Kaleri, and Smith as they entered the room with a steely gaze, allowing them to sit down before he did so as well.

"Lieutenant Griffin, what's your status?" He asked tersely.

The stern Security Chief glanced at Natalia briefly before looking back at the Captain. Cailus looked as unruffled as ever, his uniform neatly pressed and his black hair neatly combed, but in reality, he was exhausted. The investigation, conducted under severe time pressure under threat, had had the Security Chief running ragged.

"We believe that we have identified the traitor, sir," he said finally, nodding at Natalia and James. "Lieutenant Brennan and Lieutenant Parrino discovered pertinent data on the station that supports our current understanding of events. There is still considerable uncertainty, though. All of the evidence is circumstantial and we have minimal primary evidence, certainly none of which would hold up in a court martial. Right now, I cannot progress further with the investigation without direct action on our part. Otherwise we would be waiting for the traitor to make their next move, which would be extremely dangerous given their displayed capabilities thus far."

Owen looked at Cailus before asking what seemed an obvious question. At this point, circumstantial evidence was all they had, but Owen suspected that there was a potential prime suspect on the list.

"And by direct action, what do you mean? What action do we need to take?" He asked.

"I don't know, sir," Cailus admitted with a frown. "Given this much uncertainty, I recommend against directly arresting our primary suspect. If we're wrong, it could force the real culprit to do something desperate which could result in even more casualties."

Krysia sat listening to the conversation. "Perhaps a trap would be the right course of action. We just need to set something up that would tempt our suspect just enough to lure him or her, without it seeming too good to be true." She shrugged her shoulders. "Which is easier said than done!"

James nodded, “I agree, we need to set a trap, entice the culprit with misleading information that could be used to draw out not only our murder but also the Breen on the station. Let him or her have access to a computer terminal with the right information we will flush him out.”

“What about the messages?” Nyx thought out loud. “You figured out the encryption key, correct? We could send a message arranging a meeting on Paradise.”

"If you do that you'll need someone there to act as bait. Someone our killer would willingly approach, which rules out both of you." Krysai looked at Nyx and Cailus. "But he or she might trust a woman enough to get within a good enough distance to be caught. I doubt he or she would find me much of a threat."

"That would depend entirely on the motivations of the killer," Shae pointed out. "He or she has killed two men so far, and the basic psychopathology of a serial killer, if he or she were to attempt a third killing, would denote that the killer would stay within their preferred target demographic, meaning men. Besides, sending out a pregnant woman as bait, even with the appropriate backup, is beyond reckless. If you're going to insist on the basis of being a minimal threat, I would much rather go in your place; I do not look like much of a threat either, but I can defend myself."

“I don’t want to risk anyone else.” Nyx said, his voice threatening to crack as he considered the people already destroyed by this traitor. “We also don’t know who on Paradise our suspect has been conversing with. It could be a member of the Breen occupation or the resistance trying to unseat them. We just need to get them in an isolated room in Paradise Station, Griffin and I will make the arrest.”

He looked to Smith, “Work on creating the message with Parrino. Few details, just a meeting place and time.”

Natalia nodded, her mind already brainstorming possible variations.

James nodded, “Let’s go catch us some rats, We will get the message sent immediately.”

“Captain what about the children?” Krysia looked at Nyx. “I promised them we’d get them back to their family.”

Natalia had pretty much forgot about the children with the murders. She was glad the counselor had asked.

Nyx nodded, "From your report, Del'al believed the children's family were in orbit of the station. Once they're finished their check up with Doctor Alves, go with them to Lieutenant Sandoval. He can help arrange a transfer over as soon as possible. Perhaps we can use the Irokari as an intermediary?"

“Yes Sir” Krysia smiled and nodded. She hadn’t known the children long or gotten to know them very well but she almost wished they didn’t have to go. Although it was better for them to be with family.

Owen listened to all to the suggestions raised and was grave about the one he was about to raise. "Captain, as First Officer, it's my duty to raise alternatives that may not be considered as well as making sure of the safety for the ship and the crew," he began. "Whilst I applaud the idea of trapping our suspect, we also run the risk of the safety to the Pandora with our prolonged stay here. Whilst I want the suspect to be found and brought to justice, I have a feeling that the longer we're here, the longer we'll be attracting attention to the Breen."

Owen looked at Nyx directly. "In short, whatever we're going to do, we need to do it soon."

"Agreed," Nyx nodded. "Katya should be able to help us spring the trap, but we would have to do so without the Breen knowing. We also risk attack if they were working with the traitor. Given we know so little about Breen physiology, is there anything else you can suggest that would somehow impede them?”

"Besides the obvious outlook of a Breen, with them using refrigeration suits, isn't there some way that we could use some sort of short-range ionic pulse to interfere with or disrupt their suit operations for a short period? Something that could be attributed to a malfunction on board the station perhaps?" Owen offered what he had thought of on the hop, knowing that there had to be some sort of advantage they could gain from this.

The Captain nodded enthusiastically, "What if we used their Guard helmets to do it? There must be some kind of communication and translation system in their Guard suits, meaning they are connected together. And that silver would make a good conductor for such a pulse. Katya will need to give us the location of the central control to do it. Smith and Parrino, once we get the location, we'll beam you with Lieutenant Mindo directly to the control room and you can set off the pulse."

Natalia gave a slight nod although she wondered where in her job description this fell. Such was the life a Starfleet Intelligence Officer though!

Smith nodded as well it wasn’t the first time he had been given an assignment like this and is probably wouldn’t be the last, but in the end it was time to catch a murder.

"Kaleri, anything else you can tell us about your recent discovery that can help us lay the trap?" Nyx turned to the Chief Counsellor.

Krysia nodded. “I think so Sir. The children had a secret room on the station, the Breen found it and took it over. We could use that against them as they don’t know we know about it.”

“Excellent. We have our meeting place.” Nyx nodded, "Alright, are we ready to lay the trap?"

"Let's bag us a prime suspect," Owen said.

Nyx smiled at the XO's response then turned back to the others, "So here's the plan. Smith and Parrino send the message for the suspect to meet on Paradise in the secret room. We will announce that we have named Vicuno as the murderer and will be departing soon, giving them a chance to leave the ship. Nash, you will command the Pandora as it leaves the station, but we will leave the Captain's Yacht docked where it is. Have Ensign Fick at the helm in case you need to make a quick getaway and have Boucher prepared with his Starfighters to defend the ship. It is important that the Pandora is seen to have left Paradise before we act, so as not to spark a war with the Breen."

Owen nodded as he understood his part of the plan. "Leave that part with me, we'll make it look good. Just make sure that yacht comes back in one piece," Owen cautioned before looking at both Fick and Boucher before nodding.

"At the same time, Mindo, Smith, and Parrino will beam across to the control room and trigger the ion pulse across the Guard's system. Griffin and I will meanwhile hide in the meeting spot, where we will wait for our suspect and make the arrest. We will allow Katya and her people to take back control of the station on their own and deal with the Breen themselves. Once we have the all clear, we will take the Yacht to rendezvous with the Pandora." Nyx concluded, before giving a deep sigh. "It's risky, but it's only way we can help Paradise and catch our suspect.”

"Let's get to work," Nyx said with a firm nod, calling the meeting to a close.

OFF