Star Trek RPG - Mission #3: "Some Other Side of Paradise"

[CatInASuit]

Rangin shakes his head miserably as he leaves. "Well there goes another possible theory up in smoke, we could check with the research station but that doesn't bear thinking about and the only other alternative is someone bought them down with them. But that just leaves the few who came down in the last couple of days and I haven't seen anything around that would be similar to that."

Kicking at an inoffensive piece of gravel as he walks along, Rangin is frustrated by the ideas being knocked down. "I honestly thought we could be on to something with that. Something small, transporting in and out and resulting in the loss of spores. It's making just as much sense as the rest of this case."

"Why those three, why not others resident here, what's so important about those three...well, we don't know it was just those three. I wonder if the situation would have been the same if Mr Wilson had given in and Lord Fastolfe had got his way about the guest house."

Looking across to T'Var, "Is it briefly worth checking around the other guest houses? We still have an hour or so to wait before anything. Perhaps the scene where it looks like Mr Wilson died, perhaps we might find something new..."

"...oh wait a moment. Where would be the best place to hide anything like that. Wilson's safe. Why those three, they are the only ones outside of Starfleet who saw the attack on Mr Wilson and know about the knives. Also, why those people possibly, if one of them is a killer, then it would mask the issues with the losing the spore effects from the adrenaline rush of killing someone. But then, why not just pick three random people, well because the killer knows for absolute certainty that at that point in time, those other people will be under the effect of the spores. Not to mention no-one else apparently reported it."

Rangin slumps, thoughts all jumbled and out of place. "Why do I feel I am missing something," he demands of the sky above, "it's like playing chess with only a few pieces and you can't see the other side."

Rangin turns back to the stoic Vulcan alongside. "No, it still doesn't make any sense. T'Var given the benefit of your wisdom and experience, what do you suggest, I fear I am leading us from one blind alley to the next."

[Elendil's Heir]

"You are too hard on yourself, Ensign," Dr. T'Var says. "Each of your theories has been plausible. I think we are very close to a solution. I am willing to check the other guest houses with you." She calls the Starfleet research station and asks Dr. Lucy Anderson to inventory any aerosol dispensers or epinephrine on hand there. After a few minutes, Dr. Anderson gives the same answer as Dr. Halsey had in the Infirmary.

Graham's communicator beeps; it's Delaney. "The decryption protocol for Wilson's hidden safe is in its final minutes, it looks like, Mr. Graham. Want to be here when I open it?"

[CatInASuit]

"Thank you T'Var, that actually means a lot."

Rangin calms himself slightly, to try and put an analytical mind to better use instead of running off whatever he thought of next. "Let's try the other houses, who knows, we might find some more signals...and once we find that common thread it will probably make sense. Who knows, if it was done with dispensers, they may be too powerful for the hotel rooms and may have overlapped into multiple rooms causing a lot more problems. Of course, there is one other thing it could be, I've overlooked and you would probably mention later. I've assumed it was just epinephrine. What if it was also contained a sleeping agent, which would allow any person to enter or exit the guest houses without fear of waking anyone else? It would make getting Fastolfe's knives so much easier...but that makes no sense. It would mean Wilson was killed by something else other than one of those knives as the killer would not have had access to them until after the murder and they would have to have been transported somewhere unknown after the event."

Rangin shrugs, "I'm sure we'll find out in due course, so to the other guest houses I guess. Who knows, maybe we will get lucky. Ok, I know, Vulcan's don't do luck, Ma'am."

[Elendil's Heir]

She smiles a little. "The Universe is a stranger and more mysterious place than we can possibly know, Ensign. Vulcans do not, as a rule, place as much stock in luck as some Humans, true. But we acknowledge that there is always a place for chance occurrences going your way, and some people do seem 'luckier' than others, even when preparation and planning is taken into account."

Tricorders in hand, T'Var and Rangin walk around the park. They find no indications of transporter signatures other than those already known: where Wilson's body was found, and in the guest houses of Fastolfe, Palver and Calvin.

[general_urko]

Graham's leaving the room without much energy or enthusiasm in response to the spa attendant's page when he gets Delaney's hail.

"Hell yes!" Graham responds with gusto. "On my way." He dramatically picks up his pace and moves quickly and decisively, intending to quickly breeze by and take care of whatever the staffer needs and get to the safe on the double.

We've been slogging through 100 kinds of shit on this mission--some of it to be sure of my own making--maybe now we can make a damned arrest.

[choie]

Kylah thanks the hostess, avoiding the dry comment that if Graham were wearing the identical outfit his legs might not be shown to their best advantage, and turns around to wait, her arms folded over her chest. She contemplates what she can possibly do that is worthwhile right now. The only real lead she has is the very dim possibility that she is right about the meaning of that file abbreviation. Pulling out her communicator, she types:

RANGIN: Apologies for bothering you again. May have a theory about one of Wilson's secured files and am wondering where the original files are now? Are they w/Garcia or does he just have a copy? Want to make sure the originals are safe from tampering. Thank you - Kylah

After sending the note, she sighs and looks at the screen. She would rather speak to Velir, but does not wish to interrupt. Even sending the text message makes her feel like a clinging vine, desperate for the sunlight that is Velir's calming presence. But in reality her mood is turning even blacker than the skies at the prospect of seeing Graham again.

[Elendil's Heir]

At that moment, Graham enters the spa anteroom with a full head of steam, headed for the exit. Jill says a little hurriedly, "This other Starfleet officer asked to see you, sir."

[general_urko]

"Other Stafleet officer" hits Graham's ears and for a split second he feels panic: it's Kjaerstad or one of the Security team, I knew I should have sent somebody to find Kylah...

Then as he snaps his head around he sees it is Kylah and feels a tremendous sense of relief. He masks it as thoroughly as he can: since his worries were obviously unfounded, conveying his anxiety now could surely only cause more of some kind of argument.

"Ah, good," he says perhaps a bit too officiously, gesturing that she should follow him. "Delaney's almost cracked the safe, why don't you..." as he steps closer to Kylah his eyes narrow a bit. Something seems...off. "Why don't you come along."

[choie]

"Certainly, sir." Kylah pushes herself away from the desk and moves toward the exit. "Well done to Lt. Delaney. It is marvelous to hear that the safe might be opened. And how fortunate that I have been allowed back on duty in time to see it." She replaces her communicator in its holster--only successful after two tries, the first one sloppily aimed due to her frustration and perhaps a hint of the wine as well. "I cannot say my detention period was wasted, so I thank you for that, sir. And how did your interview go?"

[CatInASuit]

While walking round the park with T'Var, looking for traces Rangin received Kylah's note.

"Kylah must be busy", he muses to himself and looks across at Fastolfe's house expecting to see the rest of the group still there, but the absence of them guards makes him think. Rangin shugs and thinks that they must just be following some good leads up if they were no longer there.

Kylah: Lt. Garcia in Mr Wilson's Office with terminal and original data. Data should be in safe hands. He will be in contact when decryption of files complete. Hope your theories are accurate. Rangin

"Sorry about that T'Var, Ens. Kylah had a question about the data on Mr Wilson's office terminal. Shall we continue." Rangin picks up his tricorder again and continues the walk. "You know, we never did get to go on that hike and this seems a poor substitute somehow. Do you think we will get a chance after this is over?"

[general_urko]

Graham gestures that they should talk as they walk.

"Surly and sweaty," he responds, shaking his head. As he does so, his eyes narrow.

He can't tell from Kylah's oddly-worded response whether she's being sarcastic or not. Or...he leans down and in closer, probably closer that she'd like but he's done this a hundred times.

"Have you been drinking, Ensign?" he asks quietly but firmly.

[choie]

Kylah pulls off to the side and walks more quickly, looking up at the sky as if concerned the rain will begin any moment--which, in truth, it may very well do. At last she is a few steps ahead of him so he cannot see her face. "Indeed I have, Ensign," she responds tartly. "If a half-glass counts as drinking. You did not put any restrictions on my behavior during those thirty minutes, and I chose to do what I felt necessary. Afterward, since I needed some wine, I had some." She tries to switch the subject. "It is a shame Ms. Goldman was not cooperative. Are Dr. T'Var and Ensign Rangin meeting us to see the opening?"

[general_urko]

Graham swears he's reliving a moment with his daughter: to be sure. all things considered Graham thought she probably had better judgment and made better decisions than he did, but nonetheless she had still gone through her years as a headstrong and impulsive teenager.

There's this moment, Graham thinks, when you didn't know if she was OK and suddenly you are relieved beyond measure: all you want to do is say 'thank god you're safe.' But then as you piece things together you come around to 'what the hell were you thinking' and 'maybe you need to be grounded...' I'm having a moment like this now...

He clenches his jaw. "I didn't know that restrictions were necessary. But perhaps I was wrong," he replies. "We'll discuss this later," he says with finality.

He hails Rangin and T'Var--"This is Graham. Delaney may be about to open the safe if you are free and able to join us for the big reveal."

[Elendil's Heir]

T'Var answers Graham, "Understood; we will meet you in Wilson's suite shortly." She closes the antenna lid of her communicator and says to Rangin, "A hike would be a nice break from this investigation, when it's finally over. Please count me in. For now, have you seen - and scanned - as much as you wanted around the guest house/park area?"

[choie]

We'll discuss this later. Kylah's face burns and so do her lungs as her exertion requires more breathing. Who does Graham think he is? Who does he think she is? A child? No, she is an adult who, if she so chooses, may take some wine with lunch... an early lunch. Albeit, admittedly, one with no food. She might be slightly affected by the alcohol but she is hardly drunk or even impaired.

She did nothing wrong. To the contrary, she may have learned something useful. But does he care? No. We'll discuss this later. Those are the words of a parent--or worse, Kylah thinks darkly, a Guardian.

Snapping open her communicator, she notices the message from Velir. She is relieved that the files are in safe hands, but not surprised. Velir would not forget something like that. Why is he still an Ensign? Kylah wonders, still resentful that she must take orders from someone like Graham. He deserves a commendation for all he has done. He was nearly killed in the line of duty for the last mission. Does Starfleet not recognize talent and intelligence? Is it only bullies and those with seething ambition who thrive in this ideal Federation? Or those with connections, she adds with a thought to her own posting to the Yorktown. If she is an Ensign serving on board such a reputable ship with an accelerated degree fresh out of the Academy, someone like Velir Rangin should be a full Lieutenant by now.

Kylah again puts her communicator away, this time managing it on the first try. She lifts her chin with dignity and walks straight and true to the entrance near the staff residence area.

[CatInASuit]

Rangin puts the tricorder away. "I think I've scanned everything thrice over. If I think of something new, I've probably got a scan of it recorded somewhere. And its not like we don't have some useful information from our work. Hopefully, it will be useful in conjunction with another evidence we might find."

"Ok, Let's see what the excellent Lt. Delaney has managed to uncover. I hope its something useful. If we do, it might make Lt. Collins feel better seeing as she did find it. Shall we?" Rangin gestures down the path to T'Var.

"Do you know how the Lt. is doing?" he asks as they start their walk back to the hotel.

[Elendil's Heir]

Dr. T'Var says, "I cannot go into the details of her care, but last I heard, she is resting comfortably and should be able to return to duty soon."

Graham, Kylah, Rangin and T'Var arrive at the door to Wilson's suite within seconds of each other. Delaney answers the door, lets you all in, and leads you to the bedroom, where his tricorder and Wilson's communicator are set up on a low table. A light on the communicator is steadily blinking green. The young engineer, grinning, says, "The decryption sequence just finished; these Holdfast safes are tough. Ready to open it when you are, Mr. Graham."

[CatInASuit]

"That's good to hear," answers Rangin about Lt Collins.

He greets Booker and Kylah at the door with a nod. "Hope you have had better luck than I have," he says quietly to Kylah with as they all enter, "and I hope we find something evidentially worthwhile inside."

He waits alongside the others for Graham to give the word.

[choie]

When Kylah sees Velir again she feels a strange ache inside her chest. It is not painful and might not even be physical. She is glad to see him but still torn about her discussion with Jan, not to mention Graham's accusations about her behavior with men. She does not move nearer, though she wishes to, and just shrugs noncommittally to Velir's question.

She looks at the safe, genuinely curious but also guarded. A worried thought occurs to her. "Lt. Delaney, I do not suppose... is there any possibility that opening this will trigger some sort of defensive device, perhaps put in place against anyone who accessed the safe by hacking into it? Might it be prudent to place some sort of containment field around it? Assuming that is even possible," she finishes in a murmur.

[general_urko]

Graham raises an eyebrow. "It's your call, Lieutenant, I'll rely on your judgment as to whether opening this thing is going to kill us all or not. Whenever you're ready, let 'er rip."

[choie]

Delaney's call? Kylah shifts her gaze briefly to Graham, then back to Delaney. Has Graham forgotten that despite his exalted position he is a Security officer? What happened to his all-consuming need for caution and vigilance? Should it not be better to be safe than sorry? She swallows and keeps her mouth shut. If Delaney does not recommend precaution, she is uncertain what to do. She does not wish to leave the room and reveal cowardice, but she is not willing to be exposed to some strange security measure like a blast of tear gas or an electric pulse or heaven only knows what. And she certainly does not want the others harmed either. Perhaps T'Var will step in? The Vulcan seems to value safety.

Let us see. Collins' leadership nearly got two of our people killed. Perhaps Graham wishes to top her record. An unusual goal for a pair of Security officers, but at this rate nothing surprises me. Kylah almost laughs and she lowers her head slightly to keep the instinct at bay. Perhaps the wine has affected her. She is not usually this giddy even when afraid.

[Elendil's Heir]

Delaney says confidently, "I've given it a thorough scan. There's no indication of a boobytrap or any other hazard. I think we'll be fine; I'm certainly not going to leave." He presses a small tab on his tricorder's display panel, and Wilson's communicator chimes softly three times.

At once, on an otherwise-plain wall of the bedroom, previously invisible to the naked eye, a large, waist-high rectangular opening appears. A matte black drawer slides out into the room, and its lid, also black, rises as it does so. You can all see that the drawer is about two-thirds full of paper, plastic and rare metal currency. Most money matters are handled via computerized data transfer these days, of course, but here is a small fortune in hard cash: Federation credits, Proximan crowns, Rhaandarite monits, United States dollars, Russian rubles, Japanese neoyen, and Andorian standards. Most of the money is still neatly-bound in the original wrappers of the respective central banks. There is also a small handheld data pad.

[general_urko]

Graham whistles softly. "Somebody had his hand in the cookie jar," he says to no one in particular. He claps Delaney on the shoulder. "Also, good job getting his bad boy open. And not killing us."

He glances around at the team. "I'm guessing this may not be encrypted since it was stored here in Wilson's own little Fort Knox - shall we find out?" he adds, gesturing toward the data pad.

[choie]

Kylah exhales in relief and tries to make sense of the wealth in front of her while Graham speaks. "Yes, congratulations, Lt. Delaney," she says sincerely as her eyes roam the money. Bribery, she thinks at once, doubting that she needs to say the word--it is so very obvious a possibility. Or even blackmail?

She switches focus to the datapad. Her fingers almost itch with the desire to snatch it up, and since she is the crew member who deals most with information, she does not hesitate to reach forward for the device.

[CatInASuit]

There is a low whistle from Rangin, "That could buy a lot of things," he says as he peers further inside, "I guess we know how he paid for the safe, if he always had that kind of money. Wonder who else knew about it?"

Rangin notices a movement next to him, "Wait...", he reaches up and catches the hand reaching forward, "...it's a safe full of evidence. Who knows whose fingerprints are over that cash and that datapad." Realising he is holding Kylah's hand, and seeing her beginning to redden, he pulls it back slowly, and lets go. "Sorry." he apologises, looking slightly guiltily, "I just think it might be prudent."

Looking back round at the others, "Did anyone bring any evidence bags and gloves, because this is something we definitely want to log. We don't want to be accused of seeing any of this going missing."

[choie]

Surprised by the touch of Velir's hand, Kylah does not draw away and turns to him. She then realizes her mistake and flushes in embarrassment--both for being so careless and unthinking as to wish to grab evidence, and of course because being in contact with Velir in front of everyone makes her feel as if a spotlight has suddenly been aimed at them. Foolish. When he lets go, she pulls her hand back, holding it against her abdomen. "Of course," she says under her breath as she turns back to the safe. "Perhaps we--you could test for a transporter signature? It might determine whether anything was hidden here recently."

[general_urko]

Graham's more bemused than anything else that in response to what he intended to be an invitation for input from the team Kylah attempted to pounce on the data pad, followed by Rangin--correctly enough, to be fair--intercepting her as if Graham weren't even in the room.

Well he thinks I'm an idiot, he thinks, so that's easy enough to understand. Maybe she's just eager to get back to the ship. I sure am...

The thought of giving Bennett her gift pops into his head and he feels himself skin start to flush. Jeez Booker, what will be even more embarrassing is turning beet red in front of everyone for no reason. He pushes the idea (and his increasing misgivings about it) from his mind.

He doesn't bother to try to credit ideas or explain his original intent--no one wants to hear it anyway, he muses.

"Yeah," he says, "full workup, scans and physical examination, I think you all know the drill after the last couple days--first please scan for transporter signatures, Lt. Delaney, so we get a clean read, then I'll have Yorktown beam down anything we don't have on hand."

After Delaney completes his scan Graham requests any items they need.

[Elendil's Heir]

There is no transporter signature anywhere in the room, or indeed, in the entire suite. The only fingerprints on the datapad and the other contents of the safe are Wilson's. Graham asks the Yorktown to beam down evidence bags and sterile gloves, which soon arrive.

[general_urko]

Graham's not sure what to make of the interaction between Rangin and Kylah, which seemed a little...stilted...

On the other hand, based on what she's told me she's coming from a tradition of a hundred kinds of weird within Elasian culture, and he seems to be some sort of Coridanite version of a flower child, so should I expect their interactions to make a lot of sense to me? he thinks.

He clears his throat while pulling on gloves. "Well, suit up," he says to the whole group. "When you're ready, you are our comms specialist," he says to Kylah, gesturing again to the pad, at the same time looking closely to try to gauge her mindset and mood, wondering if he's helping or harming her--and the investigation--by giving her the lead with it.

[choie]

With a nod and a cool, quickly murmured "Yes, Mr. Graham," Kylah pulls on the gloves. She keeps eyeing the money in doubt. "How could there be no fingerprints but Mr. Wilson's?" she says, almost to herself. "Unless he created them himself from a replicator, someone else must have handled these credits and bills at some point. Dr. T'Var, Ensign Rangin... I suppose there are no traces of biological matter, either--hair, skin cells, DNA, anything?"

Confounded, Kylah shakes her head and reaches toward the datapad again. She taps on the pad and begins her attempt to access whatever might be stored within.

[Elendil's Heir]

Dr. T'Var says, "Most if not all of this currency would have shown obvious signs of having been replicated or transported, if it ever had been. I have read that it is a common anti-counterfeiting safeguard, but it means that the money must be physically moved from place to place, and not beamed anywhere. That is one of the reasons hard currency is somewhat rare nowadays, although there are always some uses for it. And not all humanoids routinely leave behind scannable traces of hair, skin cells, DNA and so forth, Ensign. If, as appears to be the case, this currency is fresh from the engravers or printers, or from a bank, it could indeed be as pristine as it appears."

The datapad is password-protected.

[general_urko]

"Crap," Graham says, seeing that the pad is password-protected. "Another delay--although I'm sure our crypto guy, uh--Garcia--can crack it." He gesture at the currency, trying to take stock of how much of each type is there and how it is distributed. "T'Var's doubly right, in that bad guys moving dirty money take great pains to use pristine currency and keep it that way. Any trace or even blemish can be something which could be tracked or used as evidence. One of the prime uses is getting transactions completely off the grid in ways that any kind of electronic transfer can't."

He scratches his chin. "We need to record and photograph the order of what money is where--on top, on the bottom, what's next to what--before we disturb it. Then count it of course. Unless someone has their heart set on doing that, I'm inclined to get a couple Security officers with good forensics skills and frosty attention to detail in here to do this while Garcia works on the pad. This group--" he spreads his hands. "Theories based on this discovery? Any dots connect for anybody now that we've discovered Wilson's secret stash?"

[choie]

The already frayed edges of Kylah's temper are beginning to unravel, but she is able to keep her voice casual. "I see, thank you, Mr. Graham and Dr. T'Var. It just seemed odd that Wilson was a human who presumably perspired, bled, and shed skin cells and hair, yet even he left nothing other than fingerprints on money he handled, or on a datapad he presumably used, or anywhere else in a safe he owned for years. I am sorry for wasting time in mentioning what I felt was an anomaly. But I suppose everything is unusual to a neophyte," she adds with a shrug and a distant smile. Then she resolves to say nothing further. It seems pointless to respond to Graham's request since she is sure she has nothing unique to add.

Without much hope or enthusiasm she makes another attempt to get inside the datapad using the same password from Wilson's communicator along with likely permutations before returning it to the safe so the others can take their images and scans and whatever else they all do.

As she does, she muses that it does seem highly ironic that she is constantly being stymied by some impossible-to-crack code when she herself is skilled enough to have created her own secret codes in order to communicate illicit information with her uncle right under Starfleet's nose. Perhaps the Berthold rays are inhibiting her, she thinks dryly.

[Elendil's Heir]

Kylah gets that lucky break she's been waiting for; the datapad has the same password as Wilson's communicator! The Communications ensign sees that there are six files on the datapad. At a glance, it appears that four of them track money taken from WR&R operations accounts in increasingly-large sums, untraceably and cumulatively, over the past 14 years. The other two appear to be records of disbursements or transfers to two separate individuals over the past three years. No names appear, but one is designated "H." and the other is "Q." Each had a numbered account at the Bank of Velssere. Graham immediately recognizes the name; it is notorious for asset concealment, and has long been rumored to have ties to Orion piracy and criminal syndicates.

[CatInASuit]

The sight of the money was certainly impressive but it was just that, a lot of money. It may as well be a pile of dilithium crystals for all the help it would be. "Nope no ideas, just more dots to try and figure out. It looks like Mr Wilson was either embezzling funds or laundering money. Possibly both. If so, its probably as good a motive as any for his murder. H, that could be anybody. Q, might have a bit more luck with that one. Wonder who was around the resort three to four years ago or so with that initial."

Rangin turns to Kylah. He felt a little responsible for the the comments she had received about the fingerprints, it had been his though in the first place which had raised the subject and he was surprised, they hadn't been aimed at him. "I wouldn't worry about it, I was expecting a little more than just traces of Mr Wilson inside the safe. Shame really. By the way, when was the last transaction on that datapad, anything from while we were here or a little while ago? Can we tell when the safe was last opened?" The question is also aimed at Lt Delaney.

Looking back into the safe, Rangin continues, "Know what's really annoying, this is one of the few shielded places in the resort and we have a pair of knives out there with a unique chemical signature that we can't find. If they are not here, then where are they? "This also doesn't appear linked to the transporter signatures Dr T'Var and I found in Calvin's and Palver's guest houses."

Well, if he was stumped, perhaps it would be time to call on the person with the most experience here see if he could be any use or whether there was nothing to Graham after all. He was the one with the many years of security and so on. Cmdr. Vargas had put him in charge, so he must have been capable of something at some point. Or was he going to be as washed up and anachronistic as his actions so far had made him out to be.

"Frankly, I'm all out of ideas. so, " Rangin turns round to Graham, "Sir, what, in your experience, should we do next?" Rangin says it as smoothly and diplomatically as ever, holding Graham's gaze, and waiting for his response.

[general_urko]

Graham practically slaps his forehead and yells "ah ha!" as Kylah's unexpectedly strong response makes things fall into place for him. She's been implicitly or explicitly or both to need approbation, approval--given what she told me about the Elasian Grand Poobah or whatever the hell it was, probably specifically from men... He's not sure what to do with this information--but at least I have a lead as to what might be going on and how to do something about it, he thinks.

But speaking of leads... Graham's pleasantly surprised Rangin is voluntarily asking his advice.

He punches his fist into his hand. "First...Bank of Velssere. Long suspected to be a conduit for crime syndicates and Orion pirates. Those sons of bitches..."

He can't hide the heat in his voice.

The officer's image on the subspace comm screen blurs for a second as he shakes his head. "The investigation was inconclusive, that's all I have for you. I'm sorry."

Booker has to resist punching the console. "Dammit Johann, we served together. She was my wife."

His former colleague and the lead investigator into the death of Jane and her companions frowned. "Jeez Booker...look, off the record, OK?"

Graham's jaw is clenched so tightly he can barely speak. "Off the record."

"Orion pirates, that's my...best guess," Lt. Johann Barnes replied softly. "Well, it's what I'd put in the report if I had any hard evidence at all."

A few minutes later, one of his shipmates asked Booker where he was going in such a hurry. "I'm going to AWOL to find some Orion pirates, and kill them," he replied flatly. His colleague laughed--"Ha, ha--you Security guys have a strange idea of fun." And Booker continued on his way to the shuttle bay

He clears his throat and brings his mind back to the present. "Those sons of bitches bite down hard and don't let go. If Wilson was involved with them, he'd be an utter fool to think he could double-cross them to his own benefit and survive. That makes it more likely that he wanted out...which brings me to the Admiral and Ebling. He reacted a lot more strongly than I would have expected to the news of Wilson's death, and I swear she was coy about their dealings with him. We need to see what they know about this."

"Second...'H and Q.' Maybe they're people, we should crunch some data including correlations between occurrences of both. But maybe it's a cute way to say 'H.Q.' as in headquarters... Maybe WR&R is laundering money or double-dipping somehow..."

"Third...where the hell are the damned knives?" He shakes his head. "We need to scan the whole rock and see if there are any shielded areas at all besides this one."

"Finally...could something have changed hands or been passed in the sporing up session we attended...information, something physical? The transporter signatures were in the houses--the rooms--of the other non-Starfleet folks who were there. As if someone were looking for something. Could the spore exposure carry...I don't know, something?" he asks, glancing at T'Var.

He shakes his head and shrugs. "That's all I got, but those are for to-dos, with number one top of my list." He sighs. "Wish I had more...thoughts?" he asks the team.

[Elendil's Heir]

The most recent transaction on the datapad, a payment of FC5000 (five thousand Federation credits), is from six days ago, to "Q." The most recent transaction for "H" is from more than two months ago, a payment of FC2000. There is no way to determine when the safe was last opened.

Delaney checks WR&R records and sees that there have been several hundred people with first or last names beginning with "H," including guests and staff, since the resort opened. There have been 27 with first or last names beginning with "Q."

Upon request from Graham, Lt. Cmdr. Roble scans the surface of the planet using the Yorktown's main sensor array, and does not detect the missing knives, with their unique metallurgical composition, anywhere. He finds no other shielded areas either.

Dr. T'Var says, "I'm afraid I don't understand your question, Mr. Graham."

[general_urko]

Graham laughs. "That's because it might be totally stupid, Doc. I was wondering if the exposure process to the spores could have carried--or also carried--anything else: memories, bio-markers, brainwave patterns, something that would come out in someone's dreams..."

[choie]

Expecting failure only to see the pad open up after her efforts... Kylah actually feels weak with the surprised relief that sudden floods through her. She sinks into a chair before examining the information and passing everything along to Graham. No one acknowledges her for opening the pad that they thought was yet another obstacle, but she is glad for the achievement nonetheless.

She thinks about it all. "Embezzlement for such a long time, and in increasing sums..." she murmurs. She is not unfamiliar with different forms of corruption, although it is relatively new to label it as such. On Elas, secretive payments between business owners and a member of the government who could influence legislation or award a government contract is called Ru-haleer, roughly translating to 'obeisance.' It is a normal, even expected, part of doing business with the government. The higher the fee paid by the Ru-hal--the donor--to the Council member, the more respect and confidence he was showing his or her patron.

It was only when either side did not follow through on the implied bond--either the Ru-hal could not make the agreed payment or the patron demanded more but delivered less--that the situation became an ethical matter.

Kylah ruminates on the possibilities of one of these being similar to what happened. "The increasing amounts for more than a decade may indicate that the thief either grew bolder over time, or had more demands on him. If it was the latter, I would lean toward blackmail or extortion. People with a victim under their thumb tend to insist on more, they will take as much as they can get, because their victim only grows weaker the more she compromises her--" She stops abruptly, wishing she had not said quite as much, and then hurries on. "I just mean, the more someone gives in, the more advantage others will take on them.'

She moves on as quickly as she can. "As for these new transfers in the past three years... That is about as long as the resort has been in business, is it not? So I would think it possible that the transfers are connected with the resort itself. Not just this contract renewal, but before. Perhaps the winning of the bid in the first place."

She looks down at her hands as if still seeing the datapad screen. "There have been too many H references to think it a coincidence. First the message Wilson sent himself regarding the H file. Then another file labeled H and S. Now we add Q." Scowling, she clasps her hands. "Vice Admiral Hardin is... it would be foolish to ignore him as a possibility. I am also thinking back to the interview Ensign Rangin and I had with the Hwuen. Several times--I did not mention this to you, Velir, I am sorry--when we spoke about the Hwuen's dealings with the Federation, and Hardin specifically, I had the distinct impression that Prolun Jaxo was lying.

"The first time was when Ensign Rangin asked him whether he knew about the contract renewal, and the Jaxo claimed he did not. Next, when I asked him about whether the spore therapy had worn off, and he said no. Then, a bit later, when I wondered if he would consider a partnership of some sort with the Federation--well, this did not seem a lie as much as... discomfort. Awkwardness--which from someone as arrogant as 'the Jaxo' was noteworthy." Kylah takes a deep breath. "And finally, when I spoke of Admiral Hardin. Jaxo claimed he had heard of him, but was unaware that he was currently at the resort. I did not believe him."

She casts a glance at the doctor. She knows her descriptions may be useless--she certainly cannot reveal how she knew the Hwuen was lying, much less awkward. T'Var will know, but with the others, Kylah can use nothing but 'intuition' to explain her feelings. To be honest, the emotions she sensed from the Hwuen were so strange and inchoate that she herself wasn't certain of them at the time.

Finally, after a longer pause, she says with some reluctance: "Also, there is the matter of the other secured file. The one with Co Bd on it. Not long ago when I was--on a break--I had a conversation that made me reconsider what those abbreviations might mean. You see, he... the person I met with is an investment banker involved in communication, timber, and--and colonial bonds. These bonds raise money for exploration and colonization of new land--or construction on an existing colony. As for as he knows, WR&R did not require such bonds itself. But... still. I just thought... I thought the possibility that such bonds could be related to the file name might be worth mentioning." Kylah's voice drops in volume on the last sentence until she falls silent.

[Elendil's Heir]

"Ah," says Dr. T'Var. "No, there is nothing in the research to date to suggest that the spores would have that effect, Mr. Graham."

Delaney listens closely to Kylah and says, "That could be. If only Wilson weren't so damned cryptic in naming his files! But why, specifically, did you think the Jaxo was lying about Vice Adm. Hardin?"

[choie]

Kylah looks blankly up at Delaney, glad she cannot accidentally--or purposely--transmit emotions rather than receive them. Because if she could, the senior officer would be wondering why he suddenly felt such overwhelming annoyance.

"It is difficult to explain precisely, Lieutenant, without your having been there to hear what I heard, and to see what I saw. I can only say that as part of my upbringing, I was fortunate enough to be present while my family entertained races from many different planets. One skill I developed--and enhanced, thanks to my Academy training--was the ability to quickly learn different languages. Including the subtleties of body language. Do not get me wrong, I am far from infallible. But I would not recommend trying to bluff should we ever play a game of poker."

Her smile is slight and fleeting. "In any event, as a result, despite my unfamiliarity with the Hwuen, I noted a difference in the Jaxo's behavior when asked a simple question he would have no difficulty answering, such as the length of his stay, as opposed to something he seemed to prefer to remain hidden."

Kylah moves smoothly to a new subject. "As far as being cryptic... it is true Mr. Wilson was extraordinarily secretive, apparently for good reason, but not completely opaque. The prime consistency is the constant repetition of the letter H. Whether it is a person's name, or title, or race such as the Hwuen... this H seems likely to have been his primary contact, partner, victim, or tormentor--the role depends on exactly what this money represents. As to the Q: may we see a list of those guest names?"

[CatInASuit]

If Wilson was working with the Orion Syndicate, then someone did us a favour, thinks Rangin.

"No apologies necessary about Prolun Jaxo, Kylah. It was difficult enough for the pair of us. I felt like I was talking to a brick wall, but that's why you're in Comms and I'm in Science. At least someone was capable of working out what he was or wasn't saying. Well done on the password, was that the same one as his communicator and do you think it would work on those encrypted files as well? The ones that Lt. Garcia is working on? Might save some time, if it was."

Rangin turns to Lt Delaney, "I do have one question, the transport signal showed a small item being transported in and out. Would that count as one power surge or two. If it's two, that accounts for all the power surges found."

"Whatever it was that was beamed in and out was done over the course of the night. The guests didn't see anything when they went to bed and likewise when they woke up. Dr T'Var and I also checked Hardin's and Ebling's quarters but found nothing there. We also checked levels of ephiniphrine from the infirmary and research station, but levels are accounted for. So someone bought their own."

"Another thing that is bugging me about the knives, I checked the video footage, what there was of it, from the night before. Couldn't see anyone going in or out of Fastolfe's house, other than him and his entourage, which makes getting hold of those knives to murder Wilson really difficult. If those missing knives are anywhere now, they will be destroyed on the Yorktown or the Chariot. Only two places left to look."

Rangin scowls slightly, "One thing, if this was the Orion Syndicate, it probably means one of their agents is still around...somewhere."

[general_urko]

Graham’s mood is lightened by the constructive discussion among the team and the focus on solving the problem at hand. Why the hell can’t we stay that way, he starts to think—and then answers himself. At least Collins had an excuse, he thinks, remembering her lying in a pool of her own blood. And not that she probably gives a damn about my opinion at this point, but T’Var’s been rock solid, I should make a note of it in my log…

“All right then, we’ve don’t have a clear answer, but we have some new theories to pursue. If anyone wants to bet, I'll put my money on ‘H’ and ‘Q’ being ‘headquarters’ and ‘co bd’ being ‘company board.’ I’ll give Wilson the benefit of the doubt and say maybe he wanted out of a long-running scam. I’m keen to talk to Harding and Ebling about what we’ve found.”

He turns to Kylah and tries to sound as affirming as possible. “On the other hand. ‘Co bd’ meaning ‘colonial bonds’ is a good idea…ah, a very good idea, it may very well be right. And ‘H’ could mean ‘Hwen.” He pauses. “If this is true, it may point at Starfleet—was the whole deal rotten? Or is Starfleet using WR&R or this facility for some kind of covert operation?”

“Finally I suppose we can’t rule out ‘H’ standing for Halsey, the guy certainly seemed weird. Any thought on that from folks who spoke with him?”

“The next step clear in my mind is talking to the Admiral and his assistant. But I’ll take input and recommendations…”

[Elendil's Heir]

Delaney chuckles. "I'm no good at poker, Mr. Kylah, so I'll have to take your word for it." He accesses the WR&R staff and guest rosters and brings up all of the Qs. None of the names seem familiar or significant to anyone in the Yorktown landing party.

Lt. Garcia tries the same password, when told of it by Kylah via communicator, but it does not work on Wilson's office computer. "That's OK, though," he says. "I tweaked the decryption algorithm a few minutes ago, using a Stanislaus variant, and I think I'm onto something here. Should have an answer for you in, oh, the next hour or so. Hopefully sooner."

Delaney says to Rangin, "An object such as an aerosol dispenser could be only partially rematerialized, do its work, and then be beamed out again, and it would still show as only a single transporter event. It would take a pretty skilled operator, though."

"Dr. Halsey is a somewhat odd person, even by Human standards," Dr. T'Var tells Graham, "but I have sensed nothing from him to suggest that he is a murderer."

[choie]

As Rangin compliments her and makes his suggestion regarding the secure files, Kylah nods gratefully and sends Garcia a message with Wilson's password. It is hard to believe Wilson would be so sloppy as to duplicate passwords, even if he did with both his communicator and this incriminating datapad. She is not surprised when Garcia responds in the negative.

She listens to the theories put forth by both Velir and Graham. Headquarters. Really? And I suppose the mysterious S stands for Starfleet. She says nothing to object to this, however. When the others finish speaking, she addresses Delaney first. "As you say, transporting a possible epinephrine dispenser so quickly would require a skilled transporter operator. But we already know he or she managed to transport two or three specific knives, at least three unidentified objects from three different guest rooms, a dead body, and possibly the murderer himself, all in a fairly brief period of time.

"And the logs were wiped. These plans required pinpoint accuracy, excellent timing, and good fortune. Clearly this was no cadet on his first day of training," she says with another little smile. She does like Delaney, despite his annoying habit of raising niggling doubts at inopportune moments. She has not forgotten he was the one who insisted Wilson had never referred to a woman living in the yellow house, when quite clearly the man had done so.

Next she turns to Graham. "To answer your question, Mr. Graham, I would just mention that the other H names to consider are Hsu and Hardin. Hardin's role as Comptroller cannot be avoided when considering we are talking shifting funds around." Her brow lowers in a slight frown. "Actually, considering the currency and the bookkeeping details, one notices that the incoming funds appear to be varied, while the outgoing money is all in Federation Credits. That may suggest money laundering. And I do wonder, with H having received that last payment so long ago... one wonders if this person, or entity, was being cut out of the loop. Maybe Mr. Wilson went rogue, as it were. And perhaps H did not appreciate this fact."

She says nothing about the colonial bonds. She realizes she is fortunate enough that Graham did not ask her precisely whom she met during her break. But something is tickling her mind about H. "Velir," she begins, "when Mr. Graham and I went to the CP, you were in the process of looking through the notes left in Mr. Wilson's trash. Was there not one that referenced someone with the initials HY? Something about a filing, whatever that meant? It is probably completely unrelated, but any time I see an H in this case I believe we must consider it carefully. Admittedly the only person with a Y name I can recall is Prolun Jaxo's aide, Yonil I believe his name was. He was the one who stayed behind while the Jaxo was out the night of the murder." Kylah looks up at Velir. "Do you remember what I mean?"

She shakes her head and turns back to Graham. "In any event, yes, I would very much wish to speak with Vice Admiral Hardin, or at least be present when you do, Mr. Graham," she continues quietly, reflecting on the fact that it would be useful to get some reading on the man whom she has never spoken directly with. "And as I said, there is still Mr. Hsu. Although it is increasingly unlikely that this murder was personal or a direct reaction to Hsu finding out about his wife's infidelity, I simply cannot get past the fact that there are so many points at which security failed in a single twelve-hour period.

"Someone knew these systems inside and out, or had the schematics at any rate. This person pulled things off right under the noses of the security team, such as replacing the video after Wilson was dead, deleting the transporter logs, transporting a dead body just at the right time to avoid one of the patrolling security guards. In the best-case scenario, Hsu and his staff are inept; at worst, he is complicit. So I agree Hardin must be interviewed, but so must Hsu--using our original plan, perhaps altered to take into account some of our new findings."

[CatInASuit]

Rangin listens to the discussion going round, partly paying attention and partly trying to quell a sense of anger. If this was an Orion Syndicate operation, he wanted to do something about it, find who did it, stop it in its track. A little payback for times past. But he would do it properly, as a Starfleet officer, not as he might have once done without qualm where the end was justified by any means necessary. But they were so few here, with so much to do. Well, few in this room, but plenty of people to help out.

Graham was just going to concentrate on what he was going to do, well it was time to get everyone involved. Split it down, hand it out.

"Well, Q could just as well be the pet name for his wife and its their retirement fund. Or perhaps its a fancy lawyer on retainer. I don't think its guest related, but if there are any Q's who turned up three years ago, it might be worth a look. As for Co. Bd, I think Kylah is on the lright lines, but I'd go with a more generic Corporate Bonds than something specific to colonising the planet. Its still all about the money though."

Rangin nods for a moment in thought, "Right. I remember those notes, they just appeared to be scraps of memos to jog Mr Wilson's mind. I didn't pay them that much attention and they didn't seem that important. Then again, as we have access to his terminal, it might be worth trying to match them up with any correspondence or action over the last week or so, see if any of them stand out. Lt Garcia is there, lets give him something to do while waiting for the algorithms to complete."

Rangin turns to Lt. Delaney, "Sir, if what you say is true, then its possible there are three more transporter signals around. Finding them should also be a priority. We have plenty of security around keeping an eye on the place,"

and then looks across at Graham, "perhaps they can sweep the resort for any more signals. It's likely to be faster than Dr T'Var and I trying to do the lot ourselves."

before turning back to Delaney, "Also, would someone have to be in the transporter room to be carrying out this kind of operation or could it have been done remotely. If yes, where could that have been set up, I'm guessing the average guest room wouldn't be suitable?" Rangin hopes the young Lt. will either go looking or ruin it and say it could be done from anywhere..

Rangin starts to pace back and forth, "the other thing we are missing is a motive, both for Mr Wilson's death and for the incidents in the three guest rooms. Why those three, why not any others, or perhaps more people. frankly the only connection with those three guests is three missing knives. What do they know which other guests don't. Why target them, other than they were in the last introduction when Fastolfe pulled that stunt. It can't be a spore issue, the readings I got from the plants then and afterwards were confirmed as correct by the research station and no-one else has been re-introduced at least from the resorts stocks. And none of them are 'H' or 'S'. There are probably a couple of thousand people or so at this resort. Might take a little while, but a list of all names and species beginning with H or S won't be as large and we can probably discard a lot of them from alibis or lack of involvement, narrow it down to a list of couple dozen if possible. See how remains who fits. That'll be a fun job," Rangin finishes deprecatingly.

"And I guess one last question to ponder. Those seven transports took place between 0137 and 0151. Wilson was killed somewhere between 11:30 to 12:30. Someone was sat there with his dead body for at least an hour setting this up and going through with it. Might be worth checking out the conference room again, to see if we missed anything." He is looking at Dr T'Var as he finishes. She would easily be the most experienced to work out if they had missed anything from either the transporter room or where Wilson looks to have been killed.

He stops pacing, turns back to Graham and inclines his head with a wry smile. "Well, you did ask for some input and recommendations..."

[Elendil's Heir]

I assume the "HY" to which Kylah refers is from post 2349.

Delaney crosschecks the WR&R staff and guest listings and sees only one "HY," Hiram Young, an accountant on the WR&R staff here.

Lt. Garcia begins checking on the notes from Wilson's trash: Ask J. about pool budget, Dinner w/ ML next Tues., Check on R's Form 817, Tell HY about Simmons filing.

A tricorder sweep for transporter signatures confirms those already known, and also reveals a large one in the conference room adjoining the resort's transporter room. No other signature is found.

[choie]

Yeah I don't know what went wrong with that link, sorry! Was supposed to link directly there.

Nodding, Kylah listens to Delaney. "Even if this Mr. Young has nothing to do with any of this, it seems to me an accountant might be able to assist us with determining just how Mr. Wilson managed to get such unfettered, unnoticed access to WR&R funds for such a long time. Which reminds me... I cannot recall if we have access to Mr. Wilson's employee file. If so, perhaps we should take another close look at it through this new prism of information about his apparent activities."

She thinks for a moment. "I have been wondering about the mysterious 'S' reference as well. Perhaps Sylvia Aubrey might rate another look. I would like to perform some basic research on her background--her birthplace, her biographical data--which I assume should be easily accessible."

After a pause, she finally returns her gaze to Graham, waiting for him to say something, give some feedback, instigate some activity.



I don't remember, is there an internet (or the Alpha-quadrant equivalent) where we can just look people up?

[general_urko]

Graham can imagine that Rangin could come up with many recommendations for him--like 'volunteer yourself as s subject at Starfleet's primate research lab,' he thinks. Nonetheless the streak of oh, five or so minutes of everyone cooperatively focused on the job further buoyees his mood. He shrugs amiably. "The only person you know for sure is wrong is the one claims to know everything," he replies to the scientist. "I just hope Mr. Kylah doesn't rub my nose it when she turns out to be right about 'c-o-b-d.'"

He scratches his chin. "All right, so we've got one new insight we can use..." he points to the contents of the safe. "Wilson's secret pile of cash. We've also got mysteries that are as opaque--or more so--than they were earlier: all the transporter activity, and why those three specific guests."

"In that light, I think our best course of action is this: Kylah and I will talk to Hardin and Ebling. Rangin and T'Var, you find this accountant guy and do the same. In the meantime, Delaney--uh, I mean Lt. Delaney, I'm hoping there's some magic you can do about this transporter stuff...if you focus on it for an hour, is there more you can learn about when, what, and where from. Is there any evidence n off-world transporter was used...that could get us access to Fastolfe's ship. Or even...was the Starfleet research station's transporter used that night? Aim to brief the lot of us when we can put our heads together on this again."

"I'll also ask Yorktown personnel to research our three special guests, the bank accounts, and for that matter any cases or rumors of Orion pirate or other criminal activities associated with WR&R or its staff, with our new discoveries in mind. Hopefully, all this will shake something loose...Any questions?"

He's energized by getting back into action with at least some hope of a breakthrough--but also apprehensive, as experience suggests his last question might somehow trigger some sort of blow up...

[choie]

"Yes, Mr. Graham," Kylah says, her heart sinking a little at the thought that she will still be paired with him. She asked for it, there was no possible way he would not take on the Hardin interview, nor would he let her see the Vice Admiral alone. Still... Her resentment over his accusations is still cold and rock-hard in the pit of her stomach.

"Two days ago we asked the Yorktown for a background check on Mr. Wilson. It was supposed to take two or three days. I know it is likely longer, but I wondered if we might follow up on that. And I also think we must follow up with Barbara Wilson. I find it peculiar indeed that she has not contacted you after learning of the death of her husband under mysterious circumstances. Requiring some time for her to process her grief is to be expected, but the fact that she has shown a total lack of curiosity or even anger is... odd.

Mrs. Hsu gave no indication that Wilson was the type for such underhanded activities. Perhaps Mrs. Wilson knew more of his personality--I should hope so, given their marriage. Perhaps she knows something of his financial needs than anyone here."