February 2006 - Post Selection (1)
ON: Puzzle Pieces
Stardate: 238202.04
Time: 19.30 – Scene: Security Gate 5
The Counsellor had arrived and Hadley felt a lot better for having another senior officer on duty. It also meant he could think about doing something else besides sit here pretending to smile.
The crowd had begun to filter away although, as the prospect of free food filtered around the deck, more civilians were coming in to grab a bite to eat. Even so, things were starting to go back to normal. The lounge staff had been tipped generously by the mob turned garden party and Hadley even had some hope that Craig wouldn’t yell at him too much for squandering her staff on the station.
As soon as people had begun to leave the T-junction in increasingly large numbers, after Hadley had made good on his claim to take anybody who wanted to on a tour of the docking area, he had quietly sent Ashley back onto the Dark Matter. She was not supposed to be here. Hell, she wasn’t supposed to have been able to get onto the station at all. Which was, perhaps, a very bad indicator of the general friendliness of his security staff. He’d have to have a talk with them about that. It had been nice to see her, and she might have helped avoid a riot, but it was still against regs.
Robert had also reacquired his phaser, as had most of the rest of his staff. They had rearmed surreptitiously and one at a time-- and Hadley had insisted that they only pick up hand phasers-- but they were armed once again. Appearances were all well and good, but while this little part of the outpost had gone quiet, things were hardly back to normal yet. Hadley knew he had been lucky. He’d actually found a crowd of normal, angry people. By all accounts, there were some decidedly more sinister people at work on the station. Berg (npc) had just contacted him to tell him about a series of mysterious stab-wound victims filtering into the Dark Matter’s sickbay. It was troubling.
Hadley looked over at Ensign Reese (npc). “Feel up for a patrol?”
Reese smiled, “That I do. It beats waiting tables.”
Robert laughed. “Don’t tell the kitchen staff that, we’ll have them all enlisting. All right, Ensign, let’s go have a look around.”
Hadley strolled over to where Lieutenant Trewyn was sitting with a small child. Robert wasn’t sure if the woman was a mother or not, so he decided not to comment on it. “Nice to see you again, Lieutenant. Mind if Reese and I here take a stroll around the block? Things look pretty calm, and I think you have a much more relaxing presence than I do.”
Abby looked a little frazzled but smiled up at him, “I think I could manage that.”
Hadley gave the kid another look and raised an eyebrow. “All right then. Just let my staff know if there’s any trouble.”
Hadley turned and set off at a walk down the hallway.
Reese picked up the pace and came up alongside him. “Sir, Captain Persson transmitted a description to the security offices. A really tall, blue-purple alien is now on our wanted list.”
Hadley raised an eyebrow. “The station personnel actually want us to arrest someone?”
Reese shook his head. “Just that he’s suspicious I think. June Craig was, apparently, the one who saw him. I missed it.”
Robert snorted. “All right. Well, if we see any tallish aliens with blue-ish skin who have hair, we can observe him. Or them. Or the dozens of people who likely fit that description.”
The pair turned a corner. And were hit by a run away Ferengi.
Reese stumbled backwards into a wall, but managed to keep a grip on the small figure of Trok (npc), the Dark Matter’s former bartender.
The Ferengi struggled for a minute, but Hadley came up behind the pair and laid a warning hand on Trok’s shoulder. “Well hello, Mr. Trok. Fancy seeing you here. Going out for a jog?”
Trok kept looking over his shoulder. “She’s completely lost it! I always told people she was crazy, but she’s mad! Mad!”
Hadley rolled his eyes at Reese where Trok couldn’t see them and forcibly turned the small Ferengi around. “Who’s mad?”
Trok looked at him, nervously. “I’m not a liar, you know.”
Hadley had his doubts about that, but he didn’t voice them. “When did I ever call you a liar? In fact, when have I ever said anything that would indicate that? What’s your trouble, Mr. Trok? We just want to help.” Or throw the little miscreant in the brig. It’d certainly fall under ‘maintaining order’.
Trok licked his lips. “It’s Craig. June Craig. I saw her! With a knife. She’d just cut some guy open. Left him dying on the floor.”
Robert leaned down. “Murder? That’s a pretty serious allegation, Mr. Trok.” And one which he had to take totally seriously, regardless of the source of the information. “When was this?”
Trok pointed over his shoulder. “Just back there! If you hurry, you’ll find her.” He looked up hopefully. “When you arrest her, will you tell the Captain how much I miss serving onboard your ship?”
Hadley suppressed a laugh. “I’ll mention it.” He pointed over his shoulder. “There’s a crowd back there. If you grab a cup of coffee and stay with them, nobody will be able to get at you to hurt you. Best I can offer.”
Trok nodded his thanks. “Just hurry! She’s probably getting away right now.” The Ferengi darted around the corner.
Hadley tapped his communicator. “Ensign Munro (npc).”
Munro’s voice came back over the communications channel. “I’m here, Commander.”
“Mr. Trok will be coming your way in about 30 seconds. Please place him in protective custody. Inform the Captain that we’re going to keep him in one of the guest quarters under lock and key. If he tells you to release him, fine, but make sure he knows that it’s my desire that we keep Trok in one place for now.”
“Aye, aye, sir. I’ll get right on it. I think I hear him right now.”
Hadley tapped his communicator again. “Lieutenant Commander Hadley to Ops. Anyone there?”
A voice he didn’t know answered. “Yes, Commander. Lieutenant Corbett at your service.”
Hadley froze for a minute. Lieutenant who? And then he remembered the new personnel files that a courteous young lady had delivered to his office this morning and he hadn’t had time to look at yet. He was way behind, as usual. “Lieutenant, I need you to check to see if June Craig, the Dark Matter’s Lounge Manager, is onboard the ship.”
There was silence over the line for a minute and then Corbett’s confident voice came back. “Yes. She is.”
Either Robert had a Ferengi neck to wring or something very odd was going on here. “Could you do me a favor and double check? And if it turns out she is onboard, I need an officer down at the main airlock with an up to date crew manifest to make sure nobody that’s on the ship tries to get on again.”
Corbett was remarkably quick on the uptake. “Shape shifter?”
Hadley shrugged. “It’s an outside possibility. Being paranoid is my job. Thank you Lieutenant. Let me know if you discover anything odd.”
“Will do, Corbett out.”
Robert turned back to Reese. “Now, let’s go see if we can find Miss Craig’s body double.”
Reese raised an eyebrow. “You really think Trok was telling the truth?”
Hadley shrugged. “We won’t know until we check, will we?”
The pair marched off down the corridor, eyes peeled.
They came around another bend and found an empty stretch of hallway. Reese blurted out, “Boss! Check out the floor.”
Hadley looked down and saw a gooey trail that extended down the corridor and into one of the nearby storage rooms. Or out of. It was hard to tell.
Ah hah. Hadley spotted a handprint on the bulkhead next to the door. Definitely going in then.
Hadley drew his phase and Reese followed suit. They crept up on the door. Hadley leaned over to open it when Reese tapped him on the shoulder.
“Look! It is Miss Craig.”
Hadley spun and saw the unmistakable figure of the Dark Matter’s lounge manager down the hallway. He drew his phaser and fired just as she dived back around the curve of the hallway.
Reese gaped at him. “You SHOT at Miss Craig?”
Hadley shook his head. “If that was Miss Craig, she’s tricked the ship’s computer into giving her an alibi, which means we should be shooting at her. If it’s NOT her, which I strongly suspect, then we should be shooting at her. Plus, I like shooting at people.”
Reese shook his head. “Do we chase her?”
Hadley reluctantly shook his head. “My instincts are telling me yes, but there’s only two of us. This area of the outpost is full of hiding places. We check on this mess on the floor and then we call in a proper team.”
Hadley stepped through the door into the storage area and almost tripped over a hulking body, slumped on the floor. Neither he or Reese had a tricorder, and Robert had no idea how to check vital signs on this species. This species… with blue-purple skin, white hair… He slammed his hand onto his communications badge. “Hadley calling Dr. N’we. Medical emergency. Attempting a site to site transport to sickbay.”
N’we’s voice was calm as always. “We’re ready Mr. Hadley. Fire away.”
Hadley tapped his badge again. “Lieutenant Berg (npc), get your ass down to sickbay on the double. Look for a big blue guy. You watch him non-stop till I tell you otherwise. Craig seemed to think this guy was trouble. I’m beginning to agree with her. Oh, and tell the XO and the Captain.”
“Roger, boss man. I’m on my way. I’ll contact them immediately.”
Hadley called in the transport and watched the blue form on the floor vanish in a flurry of light.
He had one last call to make.
“Hadley calling Lieutenant Winchester.”
“Winchester here.”
“So, here’s a weird story for you…”
OFF:
Lieutenant Commander Robert Hadley
Chief of Security
USS Dark Matter
Stardate: 238202.04
Time: 19.30 – Scene: Security Gate 5
The Counsellor had arrived and Hadley felt a lot better for having another senior officer on duty. It also meant he could think about doing something else besides sit here pretending to smile.
The crowd had begun to filter away although, as the prospect of free food filtered around the deck, more civilians were coming in to grab a bite to eat. Even so, things were starting to go back to normal. The lounge staff had been tipped generously by the mob turned garden party and Hadley even had some hope that Craig wouldn’t yell at him too much for squandering her staff on the station.
As soon as people had begun to leave the T-junction in increasingly large numbers, after Hadley had made good on his claim to take anybody who wanted to on a tour of the docking area, he had quietly sent Ashley back onto the Dark Matter. She was not supposed to be here. Hell, she wasn’t supposed to have been able to get onto the station at all. Which was, perhaps, a very bad indicator of the general friendliness of his security staff. He’d have to have a talk with them about that. It had been nice to see her, and she might have helped avoid a riot, but it was still against regs.
Robert had also reacquired his phaser, as had most of the rest of his staff. They had rearmed surreptitiously and one at a time-- and Hadley had insisted that they only pick up hand phasers-- but they were armed once again. Appearances were all well and good, but while this little part of the outpost had gone quiet, things were hardly back to normal yet. Hadley knew he had been lucky. He’d actually found a crowd of normal, angry people. By all accounts, there were some decidedly more sinister people at work on the station. Berg (npc) had just contacted him to tell him about a series of mysterious stab-wound victims filtering into the Dark Matter’s sickbay. It was troubling.
Hadley looked over at Ensign Reese (npc). “Feel up for a patrol?”
Reese smiled, “That I do. It beats waiting tables.”
Robert laughed. “Don’t tell the kitchen staff that, we’ll have them all enlisting. All right, Ensign, let’s go have a look around.”
Hadley strolled over to where Lieutenant Trewyn was sitting with a small child. Robert wasn’t sure if the woman was a mother or not, so he decided not to comment on it. “Nice to see you again, Lieutenant. Mind if Reese and I here take a stroll around the block? Things look pretty calm, and I think you have a much more relaxing presence than I do.”
Abby looked a little frazzled but smiled up at him, “I think I could manage that.”
Hadley gave the kid another look and raised an eyebrow. “All right then. Just let my staff know if there’s any trouble.”
Hadley turned and set off at a walk down the hallway.
Reese picked up the pace and came up alongside him. “Sir, Captain Persson transmitted a description to the security offices. A really tall, blue-purple alien is now on our wanted list.”
Hadley raised an eyebrow. “The station personnel actually want us to arrest someone?”
Reese shook his head. “Just that he’s suspicious I think. June Craig was, apparently, the one who saw him. I missed it.”
Robert snorted. “All right. Well, if we see any tallish aliens with blue-ish skin who have hair, we can observe him. Or them. Or the dozens of people who likely fit that description.”
The pair turned a corner. And were hit by a run away Ferengi.
Reese stumbled backwards into a wall, but managed to keep a grip on the small figure of Trok (npc), the Dark Matter’s former bartender.
The Ferengi struggled for a minute, but Hadley came up behind the pair and laid a warning hand on Trok’s shoulder. “Well hello, Mr. Trok. Fancy seeing you here. Going out for a jog?”
Trok kept looking over his shoulder. “She’s completely lost it! I always told people she was crazy, but she’s mad! Mad!”
Hadley rolled his eyes at Reese where Trok couldn’t see them and forcibly turned the small Ferengi around. “Who’s mad?”
Trok looked at him, nervously. “I’m not a liar, you know.”
Hadley had his doubts about that, but he didn’t voice them. “When did I ever call you a liar? In fact, when have I ever said anything that would indicate that? What’s your trouble, Mr. Trok? We just want to help.” Or throw the little miscreant in the brig. It’d certainly fall under ‘maintaining order’.
Trok licked his lips. “It’s Craig. June Craig. I saw her! With a knife. She’d just cut some guy open. Left him dying on the floor.”
Robert leaned down. “Murder? That’s a pretty serious allegation, Mr. Trok.” And one which he had to take totally seriously, regardless of the source of the information. “When was this?”
Trok pointed over his shoulder. “Just back there! If you hurry, you’ll find her.” He looked up hopefully. “When you arrest her, will you tell the Captain how much I miss serving onboard your ship?”
Hadley suppressed a laugh. “I’ll mention it.” He pointed over his shoulder. “There’s a crowd back there. If you grab a cup of coffee and stay with them, nobody will be able to get at you to hurt you. Best I can offer.”
Trok nodded his thanks. “Just hurry! She’s probably getting away right now.” The Ferengi darted around the corner.
Hadley tapped his communicator. “Ensign Munro (npc).”
Munro’s voice came back over the communications channel. “I’m here, Commander.”
“Mr. Trok will be coming your way in about 30 seconds. Please place him in protective custody. Inform the Captain that we’re going to keep him in one of the guest quarters under lock and key. If he tells you to release him, fine, but make sure he knows that it’s my desire that we keep Trok in one place for now.”
“Aye, aye, sir. I’ll get right on it. I think I hear him right now.”
Hadley tapped his communicator again. “Lieutenant Commander Hadley to Ops. Anyone there?”
A voice he didn’t know answered. “Yes, Commander. Lieutenant Corbett at your service.”
Hadley froze for a minute. Lieutenant who? And then he remembered the new personnel files that a courteous young lady had delivered to his office this morning and he hadn’t had time to look at yet. He was way behind, as usual. “Lieutenant, I need you to check to see if June Craig, the Dark Matter’s Lounge Manager, is onboard the ship.”
There was silence over the line for a minute and then Corbett’s confident voice came back. “Yes. She is.”
Either Robert had a Ferengi neck to wring or something very odd was going on here. “Could you do me a favor and double check? And if it turns out she is onboard, I need an officer down at the main airlock with an up to date crew manifest to make sure nobody that’s on the ship tries to get on again.”
Corbett was remarkably quick on the uptake. “Shape shifter?”
Hadley shrugged. “It’s an outside possibility. Being paranoid is my job. Thank you Lieutenant. Let me know if you discover anything odd.”
“Will do, Corbett out.”
Robert turned back to Reese. “Now, let’s go see if we can find Miss Craig’s body double.”
Reese raised an eyebrow. “You really think Trok was telling the truth?”
Hadley shrugged. “We won’t know until we check, will we?”
The pair marched off down the corridor, eyes peeled.
They came around another bend and found an empty stretch of hallway. Reese blurted out, “Boss! Check out the floor.”
Hadley looked down and saw a gooey trail that extended down the corridor and into one of the nearby storage rooms. Or out of. It was hard to tell.
Ah hah. Hadley spotted a handprint on the bulkhead next to the door. Definitely going in then.
Hadley drew his phase and Reese followed suit. They crept up on the door. Hadley leaned over to open it when Reese tapped him on the shoulder.
“Look! It is Miss Craig.”
Hadley spun and saw the unmistakable figure of the Dark Matter’s lounge manager down the hallway. He drew his phaser and fired just as she dived back around the curve of the hallway.
Reese gaped at him. “You SHOT at Miss Craig?”
Hadley shook his head. “If that was Miss Craig, she’s tricked the ship’s computer into giving her an alibi, which means we should be shooting at her. If it’s NOT her, which I strongly suspect, then we should be shooting at her. Plus, I like shooting at people.”
Reese shook his head. “Do we chase her?”
Hadley reluctantly shook his head. “My instincts are telling me yes, but there’s only two of us. This area of the outpost is full of hiding places. We check on this mess on the floor and then we call in a proper team.”
Hadley stepped through the door into the storage area and almost tripped over a hulking body, slumped on the floor. Neither he or Reese had a tricorder, and Robert had no idea how to check vital signs on this species. This species… with blue-purple skin, white hair… He slammed his hand onto his communications badge. “Hadley calling Dr. N’we. Medical emergency. Attempting a site to site transport to sickbay.”
N’we’s voice was calm as always. “We’re ready Mr. Hadley. Fire away.”
Hadley tapped his badge again. “Lieutenant Berg (npc), get your ass down to sickbay on the double. Look for a big blue guy. You watch him non-stop till I tell you otherwise. Craig seemed to think this guy was trouble. I’m beginning to agree with her. Oh, and tell the XO and the Captain.”
“Roger, boss man. I’m on my way. I’ll contact them immediately.”
Hadley called in the transport and watched the blue form on the floor vanish in a flurry of light.
He had one last call to make.
“Hadley calling Lieutenant Winchester.”
“Winchester here.”
“So, here’s a weird story for you…”
OFF:
Lieutenant Commander Robert Hadley
Chief of Security
USS Dark Matter