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

[CatInASuit]

Rangin slips in around the side of the others unnoticed by Hardin. He can see the frail figure there and can see that same haunted look of someone who was not only caught but was never expecting to face the consequences. Strange really, if you do something you should really try to know what you are getting into, whether dealing with corrupt officials or falling in love. Rangin had made that mistake before and wasn't going to repeat it. Looking across at Kylah, Rangin tries to see how she is holding up, as she had been attacked not a few hours ago, by the same frail, pitiful man in the bed. The only other thing coming unbidden to Rangin's mind is that Hardin could really use some spores about now. Their loss, perhaps, another side effect of his dealings.

Rangin waits out of Hardin's eyeline for the interview to begin. The other three will be much better at it. Rangin would only be there if there forgot a question or two and besides he had already prepped Graham with the line to take and it would be better coming from Graham than Rangin himself.

[general_urko]

Graham looks at Hardin for a moment. Still without speaking, he takes one of the chairs and firmly but gently brings it near the bed at a forty-five degree angle to Hardin's straight line of sight and turns it around so the back is facing the bed. Graham straddles it and sits, resting his arms on the back of the chair.

"Well, now that we've both stunned each other, I feel we can talk like old friends," Graham says. "I'd say this visit to OC3 hasn't turned out like most anyone's expected, wouldn't you, Admiral?"

[Elendil's Heir]

"No," says Hardin, his voice hushed. "It hasn't."

[general_urko]

"It seems like we have a lot to talk about," Graham replies. "But first, as you might expect, there are some formalities we need to get out of the way." He keeps his voice quiet and even. He tilts his head in Rangin's direction. "Mr. Rangin, if you'd be so kind as to start recording this conversation with your tricorder."

He rubs his chin for a moment, then folds his hands on the top of the chair's back. "You are under arrest, sir, for the murder of Anthony Wilson and assault on two Starfleet officers. You have the right to remain silent. Any statement you make may be later used in evidence against you. You have the right to counsel. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at no cost. It may harm your defense if you do not mention something which you later rely upon in court. You may end your statement at any time. Do you understand these rights, sir?"

After the briefest moment's pause Graham leans forward and asks "And--just out of curiosity--why did you stun me and young miss Kylah here?"

[Elendil's Heir]

Rangin begins recording.

"I understand my rights, yes," Hardin says, calmly but quietly. "I'm willing to make a statement. It's... it's too late for anything else." He holds his head in his hands briefly, and then looks up, his eyes bloodshot. Kylah is struck anew by his unhappiness and exhaustion. "I stunned you because... I still hoped to escape then. To get away from my mistakes. But I know now that it's impossible."

[CatInASuit]

Rangin looks up from his tricorder in astonishment? Did Graham really just mention arrest for murder of Mr Wilson? Considering the footage showing a very real alibi for Hardin?

Rangin wasn't disappointed that Hardin had been giving them the run around the compound for the last few hours through the pouring rain - they were all exhausted and he would be worse than most given his age. Hardin reminded Rangin of some of the Orion Syndicate when they get caught with their hands in the wrong pile of money. And he had precious little sympathy for them.

No, what hurt worse, was the total betrayal of the trust that the Federation had placed with this man. Rangin had joined the Federation in the hope it could help with the corruption of his own planet. It was sad to see that there was no differences, no shining standard at all, they were just as rotten as any from Coridan.

[general_urko]

Graham nods slowly. "Well, you are right about that. There is no escape."

He spreads his hands. "As we speak our crewmates are still working away on the investigation--my Security colleagues, crypto guys, a whole gang. Right here, right now is your chance to tell us some things we don't know--yet. Whether you want to do that for the sake of your dignity, your legacy or family, or just to try to finagle a lighter sentence--hell, any or all of the above is all good with me. But right here and right now is your window." He pauses. "Every little bit helps."

Why'd you come here, now, on this trip?
How'd you get started with Wilson?
How long has this 'relationship' been going on?
Who knows about it?
Now why don't you walk me through the night of Wilson's death...

[Elendil's Heir]

Hardin's voice is hushed but audible. He says, "My dad always told me that confession is good for the soul. I just can't go on like this any more. Killing a man... it changes you. I thought I was ready, I thought I could do it, could live with it, but... I was wrong."

Why'd you come here, now, on this trip?
"I needed to either keep Wilson paying me, or... make sure that he didn't tell anyone what we had been doing."

How'd you get started with Wilson?
"I met him on a cruise on the liner Phryne about three years ago. We hit it off and became friends. He was very interested in my work, and wanted to find a way that we could help each other, financially and in our respective careers. I was... noncommittal, at least at first."

How long has this 'relationship' been going on?
"After the Sandoval Colony was evacuated and Starfleet decided to develop Omicron Ceti III as a resort and medical research center, WR&R was obviously a contender to land the contract to build and operate the resort. Tony contacted me again - I hadn't heard from him for almost a year at that point - and was eager to ensure that WR&R got the job. He was determined to become the director of the resort. He hoped it would win him a seat on the corporate board and, in time, leadership of the company as CEO. He offered me two million credits to pull what strings I could to see that WR&R was awarded the contract, and another half a million a year so long as WR&R kept it. I'm... ashamed to say I eventually agreed. I spoke privately with several of the officers on the selection committee and made sure that WR&R would win."

Who knows about it?
"Some of the committee might have suspected something was up, but none of them said anything to me. I didn't pay them anything; I just tried to persuade them that WR&R had the best bid. Hell, I even believed it myself. Mrs. Hsu figured it all out about eight months ago; I don't know how. She contacted me privately. She seemed to know everything that had happened up to then. She told me that Tony was convinced WR&R would win renewal of the contract on its merits and that he didn't need to keep paying me. I had... made some bad investments, and had come to depend on his payments. I needed the money more than ever."

Now why don't you walk me through the night of Wilson's death....
He takes a deep breath. "Mrs. Hsu was correct; Wilson had told me in a coded subspace message before I arrived that I'd received my last payment. I replied, asking to meet him privately. I said I'd come here, making it look like a much-needed vacation... which it was, actually. He agreed to meet me late at night, or very early in the morning, rather, in the conference room adjoining the resort's transporter room. He said it was an underused space and that we wouldn't be interrupted. He thought I was still under the spores' influence, but I had taken a time-release epinephrine capsule just before my introduction to the spores, so within a few hours I was back to my normal self. We saw each other briefly at the nightclub and he obviously didn't realize I wasn't under the influence. If he had, I would've changed my plan, somehow, but instead I decided to... proceed. I went to the transporter room before he got there, scanned Fastolfe's quarters for the Argelian knives, and beamed one to me, and atomized another as a distraction. A 'red herring,' I guess they call it in the old mystery stories."

He grimaces and asks for a glass of water. Kylah senses the toll this is taking at him. She believes - but can't be sure - he is being truthful, or mostly so.

[CatInASuit]

Rangin looks up at Graham waiting to see what questions he asks next, because Vice Adm. Hardin's statements read like the confession of a man taking the fall for someone else.

Especially, since Mr Wilson was killed between 11:30pm and 12:30am and the transporters power surges that Lt Delaney found, all seven of them, took place after Mr Wilson was killed. Not to mention that is still left a missing knife from the set of five that Lord Fastolfe had, which Hardin wasn't accounting for. Ditto, the appearance on the tape.

Of course, not to mention the final question of how did frail old Hardin even manage to stab Mr Wilson who was a lot younger and fitter.

Nope, Hardin's statements stank like the birdhouse at Cordas Zoo.

"Here you go, Sir." Rangin passes across a glass of water to the old man, while keeping his voice inflexionless.

[general_urko]

Graham nods at various points as Hardin talks, keeping his expression neutral but attentive, trying to keep the old man's apparent confession rolling along.

When he has a chance, though, he casts a quick glance at each of his colleagues, trying to briefly catch their eyes.. He was hoping Hardin would sing like a canary--that was part of his rationale for arresting him for the murder itself. His gut told him Hardin was at the end of his rope and possibly too exhausted to protest his innocence if he was indeed guilty. And he was certainly guilty of something--however, Hardin's emerging line about being a one-man-show is starting to feel damn hard to square with all the evidence.

Graham decides to keep him going...give him enough rope, as the saying goes, he thinks.

Graham gives him just a moment to have a sip of water. "So you had yourself a knife--and a plan. What came next?"

[Elendil's Heir]

Hardin sets down the glass of water, his hand slightly trembling as he does so.

He says, "I had earlier hacked the resort's security surveillance system. The first time I wasn't able to get in without being detected; the second time, I did. I used R33 encryption, and did it through the resort's own subspace transmitter to further mask what I'd done. I knew no one would see anything on tape after midnight. Wilson met me in the conference room at 0130. The meeting didn't start well. He was laughing at me... arrogant bastard." He frowns. "Thought he had no further use for me. I tried to persuade him to keep up the payments, tried to explain how much more we could do for each other. No good. He said he was going to expose me to Starfleet. I surprised him when I pulled out the knife. He laughed at me again - didn't think I could do anything, still thinking I was under the spores' influence. When he saw I was... in earnest...." He passes a hand over his eyes. "We struggled, very briefly. I was so angry at him... almost out of my mind. He was surprised and off-balance. I stabbed him... twice, three times, maybe? He fell down with a terrible cry, but... died... almost immediately. After that... I was shaking but knew what I had to do. I went back to the transporter room and beamed his body out of the conference room, setting the controls to keep it in the transporter buffer for an hour before rematerializing it, and the knife, in the park near Fastolfe's guest house. I knew that would throw off any estimates of time of death. Then I used the transporter to beam up and atomize all the... blood... spilled on the conference room carpet."

He suppresses a sob and takes another sip of water, spilling a little as he sets it down this time.

[CatInASuit]

Rangin listened to him and sighed quietly in the background, beginning to wonder if the old man had gone completely if his rocker.

There was something wrong about his statements on the transporter timings, something just seemed wrong, and anyway, how could Lt. Delaney not notice the power draw to the Transporter. Also...that was it...Hardin couldn't have carried out that last action to atomise all the blood, because they found it in the conference room.

Rangin wondered it carrying out a medical scan would be of use.

[choie]

Kylah bites her lip and glances at Velir and Graham. This is not adding up. The transporter, the premeditation, the incorrect facts...

She senses Velir has doubts and is less certain about Graham. Hardin may seem truthful but at this point she has no faith in her empathic abilities--one moment they exist, the next they don't, and now they are back again. This planet is wreaking havoc on her physiognomy.

But it is the incredibly convoluted nature of this recitation that is setting off such alarm bells. It is something a cadet with an overactive imagination would come up with, not an intelligent, experienced man.

Swallowing, she tries to think of a way to get the others in a conference. She does not want to raise any questions in front of Hardin, who is apparently determined to reveal every last iota of his supposed guilt despite the fact that they had nothing on him whatsoever. It makes no sense, none of his behavior is consistent with who he is or what he claims to have done...

She must wait to speak to the others in private. What worries her is that Graham may be so pleased to have an apparent solution to the crime, to have caught such a large trophy, that he will not be receptive to any qualms she may have. No. Collins is about winning and competition. Graham... Graham is about justice, even if he defines it differently at times. He will want the truth. Kylah prays she is not overestimating the human.

Casting a meaningful look at Graham and Velir, she hopes Graham will take a break whenever the opportunity seems ripe. With Hardin under heavy guard, she thinks with a quick look around to see whether there is anything Hardin could use to harm himself.

[general_urko]

Graham catches the glances being shot at him by Rangin and Kylah. We need time to talk and compare notes...and, he thinks, I don't want to push Hardin over the edge here.


Graham nods. "Your cooperation is duly noted," Graham says to Hardin. "Why don't we take five here...Doctor," he says to T'Var, "would you be so kind as to take the Admiral's vitals before you join us outside? We'll resume in a few."

As he stands he adds one more question, putting on a puzzled expression. "One thing 00I'm confused about Mrs. Hsu's role," he says. "Obviously, as you said, she didn't go to WR&R or Starfleet herself ...what game was she playing, Admiral?"

In any event before the party leaves the room Graham makes sure St. Croix places an officer in constant visual supervision of Hardin, operating under suicide prevention protocols.

[Elendil's Heir]

Dr. T'Var unlimbers her tricorder and begins a scan of Hardin.

Kylah sees nothing that the vice admiral might use to harm himself.

St. Croix begins the first watch, as ordered by Graham.

[CatInASuit]

Once outside and huddled away with Graham and Kylah, Rangin shakes his head. "It appears that Vice Adm. Hardin is confessing to a crime he did not commit. There are far too many inconsistencies: Storing a body in the transporter buffer doesn't change the time of death like that, it makes it later, not earlier. Also, if it was stored in the buffer, I'm amazed Mr Delaney didn't notice the power drain required to hold it there. Finally, he can't have transported the body away before atomising the area, because we found blood in that room which could only have happened if the atomising was done first."

"It's like he is reciting someone else's story of what happened and not getting it quite right."

"Just for sanity's sake, has anyone done a full scan of him and actually confirmed it is Vice Adm. Hardin? Because he doesn't seem at all like the person we escorted to OCIII?"

[choie]

Kylah listens carefully to Velir and, when he describes the transporter issue, nods vigorously. "Of course! I knew there was a fault in his explanation of the anomalous time of death, but could not articulate it." Working it out mentally, she continues: "Placing Mr. Wilson's body in such a temporal buffer would 'freeze' the time of death at a certain point, so the normal processes of decomposition would be suspended for however long he was in there. Thus that should have given the doctors the impression that Mr. Wilson was killed later than he actually was, not earlier. That is what you are thinking?"

She nods, because she already suspects that was precisely Velir's point. "If the Vice Admiral truly did as he claims, the death would have occurred an hour before the autopsy results showed us--from 2300 to 2330, or 2345 at the latest. But that cannot be. The video footage shows Hardin in the nightclub until past 0030. And Mr. Wilson did not even leave his suite until 2312. This is a lie. It must be. But why?"

Turning to Graham, she stares intently at him. "Further, I agree with Velir that Hardin's behavior is astonishingly mercurial. You saw what he was like when he--when he shot us. He smiled at us. Smiled. That was not a man about to crumple with guilt. He claims he ran thinking he could escape... On an uninhabited planet? Without, allegedly, access to a ship?

"And this epinephrine pill... What was the purpose of it? We have been reminded again and again that people can be violent while affected by the spores. Besides, why the need for yet a second method to remove the effects? After all, he somehow removed the spore effects from Calvin, Palver and Fastolfe. Why did he not simply use that? And why, if he planned everything to such a remarkable degree, did he forget to duplicate the transporter signals in his own hotel room, or Ebling's for that matter? Someone wily enough to have killed a man and supposedly placed him in a transporter buffer, was so astonishingly stupid as to forget to give himself an excuse for losing the spore effects?"

She shakes her head. "Speaking of this extraordinarily convoluted plan. As he states it, and as we know, it was very, very clearly premeditated. Whoever went to that conference room went there planning to murder Wilson. But why would Hardin do such a thing? He needed Wilson and his money, so he says. Desperately. Wilson had not threatened to expose him yet. Why plan to kill such a vital source of funds?"

Kylah purses her lips, thinking of Wilson again. "I do not even believe Mr. Wilson would have been so reckless as to threaten Hardin with exposure. Why, it would only expose him to an even greater threat: imprisonment for decades of embezzlement and bribery." She looks down for a moment. "I am familiar with such corrupt but highly successful men. They are usually in such regarded positions for a good reason--they are neither foolish nor impulsive."

With jerk of her chin, she gestures to Mrs. Hsu's room. "Is she involved? If he is speaking the truth--at this point I cannot trust anything he says--she was in contact with him before her affair with Mr. Wilson began, at least according to the timeline she gave me, which put their relationship beginning six or seven months ago. If he is accurate, she may have invented Wilson's supposed belief that WR&R would get the contract on its own merit. She may have planned all this to get Mr. Wilson murdered, or to give Hardin a believable reason for killing Wilson.

"The flat truth is that without Mrs. Hsu's actively involvement there is no possible explanation for her to have attempted to escape, much less arming herself. And I cannot help but think Mr. Palver is involved somehow, considering his own behavior."

Kylah sighs and massages her temple. This case may have caused a permanent headache. "Is there... is there any way Hardin could have been controlled in some way? His memories altered? Because something seems to have happened to him between the time he shot us--an overreaction considering we had no proof of anything except the bribery, which any good attorney could have explained as, for example, a sting operation--and your finding him, apparently ready to commit suicide.

"Mr. Graham, I am sorry to have spoken at such length, but... this just seems so very wrong." She folds her arms across her chest, cynical, tired and frustrated. "What do you think, sir?"

[general_urko]

Graham listens attentively to both Rangin and Kylah.

By the end he's nodding as he weighs what he's heard. It's enough that he when he says "You don't have to apologize" in response to Kylah it's almost instinctive rather than forced--as if he were talking to a familiar comrade like Mahmoud.

He rubs his chin. "So, you're right, there's stuff here that doesn't make sense. One option is that he's being controlled or otherwise coerced to take the fall. Anther angle is the fact that, as you say, some of the fine details don't add up. But the bigger point seems to me that if we believe some of the most fundamental things he's saying, the 'how's' and 'why's' don't make sense. One: he says he needed--needs--money. So unless he's a total idiot, he had to have an angle for how to get money after Wilson was dead. That points to Mrs. Hsu--and maybe this Palver character--for sure. Two: if Mrs. Hsu didn't go to WR&R or Starfleet she had to have some angle on this." He shrugs. "I don't see how there's any other explanation than that she had some kind of play--I mean, maybe she was trying to help Wilson and things went south for all I know, but she still had an angle. Finally--if he's desperate for money maybe somebody promised him cash to take the fall. If he owes money to bad dudes like the Orion Syndicate, or he's trying to save family, that could be the leverage over him."

He frowns. "Again, Mrs. Hsu and maybe this Palver could be behind this--although Mrs. Hsu certainly isn't in much of a position to make good on any promises at the moment--although Hardin doesn't know that..."

He shakes his head. "I don't like shooting people, but I'm better at it than this shit... Well, we know what Hardin's told us, none of the other suspects do. Likewise, he doesn't know the full story about Mrs. Hsu yet. So now that everybody is either in our custody or someone who, like Palver, we can prevent from reaching the others, we can try to play one against the other." He sighs. "With the obvious problem that the missus has asked for a lawyer. Maybe this is where we arrange perp walks for each of them to pass in the hallway..."

"Thoughts on next steps?" he asks. "I think we're all on the same page it's convenient Hardin seems willing to take 100% of the fall if our priority was closing the case and getting massages while we're here, but that we don't believe he acted alone..."

[Elendil's Heir]

Dr. T'Var emerges from the room. You recap your discussion so far. She says, "DNA shows that the man in there is definitely Vice Adm. Hardin. He suffers from heart disease and is exhausted and depressed, but appears to be of sound mind. I see no indication of brain damage. It is possible he is under some kind of mind control, but that would not appear on any tricorder scan."

Lt. Thalen calls from the Yorktown. "Mr. Graham, Mr. Wilson's brother-in-law, Frederick Miller, has sent you a subspace message."

[choie]

Finally, someone from his family. His widow never did get back to us, did she? In addition to reminding Kylah of Mrs. Wilson's curious lack of communication, this mention of Wilson's brother-in-law gives her a little mental nudge. "Oh! That reminds me, sir," she says to Graham in an undertone, her hand reaching out as if to touch his arm--but then withdrawing before making any connection. "Unless I am mistaken, we have never found or discussed a will--or indeed any such legal documents among Mr. Wilson's belongings. The distribution of his estate ought to be considered in any such death. I do not know why I did not think of it before." Kylah shakes her head irritably but then continues: "Perhaps you can ask this Mr. Miller when you reply, he might know about such things."

[CatInASuit]

Rangin nods at Kylahs more comprehensive explanation about the transporter and smiles deeply. It was exactly what he had had in mind

"Let's see what Lt. Cmdr. Ebling has to say about Hardin's confession, see what her reaction is. Of course, we could also just turn around, go back in and confront
Hardin with the truth, however he may find it. Actually, it mihg tbe worth asking how he came up with this plan. If it was someone else's it's unlikely he would be able to say"

"There is one other piece of evidence we have, we haven't looked at yet, that might be easier than Hardin's datapad, and that is Mrs Hsu's datapad, the one she was carrying when she was trying to escape. It's currently back in the CP, in the safe. Might be worth setting Lt. Garcia at it. It might give us something more about Hardin if it is the case that she knew in advance."

[choie]

With nod, Kylah gives a grateful glance back to Velir. She wants to return his smile but is too aware of Graham's presence.

"You are right," she says quietly, just in case Graham needs to speak to Thalen or hear the message. "There could well be something valuable on that datapad. After all, Mrs. Hsu was so desperate she escaped through a crawlspace in a bathroom. In such circumstances I can understand grabbing a weapon, assuming she was in such a frantic state of mind. But taking a datapad? It must have something she needed or was afraid to leave behind."

A thought occurs to her. "Except... we must still wait on the search warrants, mustn't we?"

[Elendil's Heir]

Graham nods. He reads Miller's message to the others: Thank you for notifying my sister of Tony's death. She was away from home at the time, offworld, and your message only just caught up with her. She has taken the news very hard, as you might expect. We're all in mourning. Please do your best to find Tony's killer and let us know if there's anything at all we can do to help.

[general_urko]

Graham shakes his head after reading the message. "Hell of thing, isn't it," he says, posing the question to everyone and no one at the same time. "Is it better or worse for the widow and kids not to know Wilson was a cheating scumbag or not?"

He sighs. "All right, good points all around. I'll ask Miller--couching it gently, as leaving absolutely no stone unturned--to provide us with any will or related documents...of course, he'd be dumb to have anything openly incriminating, but it could still be useful." He grimaces. "You're absolutely right about Hsu grabbing the datapad--but our hands are tied until we get that warrant. Likewise, I want to know what the deal is with her trying to get to Palver's ship. Now that we have both Hsu and Hardin in custody, it opens the door to taking another shot at Palver..." he shrugs. "We could go in with the angle they both are incriminating him, if we think it might create an opening. I'd appreciate your input on whether that's likely to work, given your interaction with him," he says, glancing at Kylah, and then Rangin. "And Mr. Rangin, I like your idea..."

He pauses for a moment, almost smiling in amusement as he realizes realizing what he just said. "Ah, I mean talking to Ebling. She obviously knew more than she was telling us. Before we take another crack at Hardin, let's see if we can get more out of her."

He rubs his chin. "Unless anyone has strong feelings, I'd say we keep folks in custody while giving Garcia and hopefully our warrant requests some time to bear fruit while interviewing Ebling first. Now that this storm is clearing we should have plenty of personnel so anybody who needs a break can take five or rotate out."

[Elendil's Heir]

Chief Engineer Cheverez shortly calls from the Yorktown to say the storm has passed enough for normal transporter operations to resume.

Soon after that, the First Officer calls. He says, "The Federation District Court has issued search warrants for Mrs. Hsu's person, office, and quarters, and the same for Mr. Hsu. Unfortunately, the court was unpersuaded by our affidavit as to Palver, either in person, his quarters, or his yacht - at least for now. You're authorized to arrest anyone you think necessary, but the Starbase 27 JAG officer strongly recommends you be sure you've got charges that can stick."

[CatInASuit]

"Well, I guess that answers about the datapad and what to do about the Hsus as well. Looks like we are going to have more work going through their stuff as well. This does lead to one problem though, there isn't anyone in charge of the resort. I think Mr Young is going to have to step up and take charge unless there is anyone else more senior. Also, we might want to consider talking to whoever Mr Hsu's second is and getting them on board as well. You also might want to tell Russell and Harper not to let Mr Hsu go anywhere as well, just in case he gets the idea to go and delete something important."

"I'd suggest starting with Mrs Hsu's terminals to see what she has on them as well as that datapad. If she did know anything, I wonder if she noted it down as well."

[choie]

Kylah scowls, frustrated but not surprised by the court's decision regarding Palver. They have little to pin on him. In response to Graham's suggestion about going to Palver and claiming that he was being named by one of the Hsus or Hardin, she makes a little grunt of disapproval. "You do not know how complacent and calm this man is, sir. He will see through our bluff, if we genuinely have no information from Mrs. Hsu or Hardin implicating him.

"The likeliest connection between him and the others--Wilson, the Hsus or Hardin--is financial. We need to know more about Hardin's financial troubles. He claims bad investments led him to take bribes. What precisely was he investing in that created such a deficit worthy of committing a crime? Multiple crimes, if he had any part in the murder?" She squints at the entrance to Hardin's room, thinking. "If he is willing to take all the blame for a murder he could not have directly committed, something or someone frightens him even more than a prison sentence. We must find out what."

She looks at Graham. "I think we should confirm with Delaney his findings from the transporter. We know there were several power surges that night, and unless Velir's and my recollections of Delaney's findings are mistaken, Lt. Delaney gave no indication that any of them was so powerful or lengthy in duration that it would indicate a body was being held in a buffer for an hour. Due to the timeline it is already certain that this part of Hardin's tale is false, but I would like to get definitive physical proof of it. Honestly, I do not understand how a knowledgeable man such as Hardin could have made such an elementary mistake by making this claim. How could he not understand what placing a body in a temporal stasis would do to the time of death? I am certainly no scientific expert and yet I worked it out myself.

"This sudden desperation to implicate himself only makes me more certain he is under greater pressure, pressure he did not feel earlier." Kylah gnaws on her lower lip. "Could something have happened between the time he shot us and his eventual discovery in a near-suicidal state? And he says he thought he could escape... Is it possible he spoke to someone after he bolted? Could he have contacted Palver, expecting to find refuge on his ship--just as Mrs. Hsu did--only to be turned down? And threatened with something worse than prison? Unless I am mistaken, Hardin's account--the one where Wilson was funneling money--was associated with a bank with links to both Orion piracy and other criminal syndicates. If Palver is connected in such a way, Hardin could very well be in fear for his life. Or his family's."

She frowns again as she checks her tricorder, where she has easily called up the data she has accessed so many times. "His biography told us nothing about any living relatives. We need to know if he has someone to protect in addition to his own life. And in looking at this, I realize there is a mystery we have not yet solved. There were two accounts at the Bank of Velssere--one 'H,' presumably Hardin, and one labeled 'Q,' which was more recently active than Hardin's. To whom or what does that last account refer?"

Kylah sighs. "More questions, I know. We need a plan. If I may suggest, sir, two of us should take on the search of the Hsus' suites, offices and any datapads or terminals they have used. Of course, Garcia will probably be needed for any decrypting. I also strongly recommend we stay away from Palver until we have something, anything, to connect him to this--right now all we have is Mrs. Hsu's attempt to flee to his ship. That ship..." Kylah shakes her head and looks up, as if she can see the Trimalchio through the ceiling. "The more I think of it, the more I want to test the possibility that Hardin assumed he could get safe passage on Palver's ship after fleeing. It seems the only logical explanation for that escape attempt. He did not come across as desperate or unhinged when we confronted him in his suite, even right before he stunned us--he seemed like a man with a plan. Do you not agree, Mr. Graham?

"But clearly the plan fell through, so perhaps if he hastily contacted Palver for help, when rebuked--and maybe even threatened--that is when he became suicidal. I do not remember, have we checked his communicator to learn of any incoming or outgoing activity? If so, I would like to do so. And if I can be armed with more information about his background, I would like to attempt to gain his confidence. He is broken now. Something might leak through."

[general_urko]

Graham starts to pace. He grunts acknowledgment at several points as Kylah speaks.

"Good points, people." He punches a fist into his other hand. "OK, operating theory--doesn't mean it's right, but it feels like the right direction. One: something changed between when Hardin stunned us and we found him. Some plan fell through, or some threat emerged. If he's mixed up with Orions, well, the Syndicate is more than capable of making somebody wish they were in a Federation prison--or dead--rather than in their hands," he adds, his voice flat. "Two, something changed with Mrs. Hsu to make her up and--what? Attempt to flee?"

He scowls, wondering who to assign to which tasks. "Ah...all right, Mr. Kylah, Mr. Rangin, you two search the Hsus' stuff. Draft Garcia as you need him." He pauses. "I'll take care of some of this other crap--getting somebody officially in charge of keeping this place running. And I'll get with Delaney and go over the transporter data in relation to Hardin's story and check his communicator. If nothing else interferes I'll find Ebling as well." He pauses. "Doc if you think Hardin's fine without you riding herd on his condition, I'd welcome the company."

[choie]

With a nod, Kylah agrees to the assignment. She adds: "I think I already know why Mrs. Hsu chose that moment to flee, Mr. Graham. I had just confronted her with the fact that I knew her alibi was false, and told her I would be speaking with her husband to determine why he was backing her up in the lie.

"It wasn't the mere fact that she'd lied about her alibi--such a silly lie anyway, so easy to unravel considering she spoke to Wilson in a nightclub full of people. But exactly why she left her suite to speak to Wilson, what she said to him... and the fact that the rest of her activities that night are up-in-the-air... The possibility that I would keep pressing her on these issues, combined with her husband getting involved, might have been enough reason to flee at that moment.

"Especially given that we were depleted of security staff, she may have the time perfect for an escape. What astonishes me is that she was willing to risk transporting through the storm. Even though it was nearly past, it was still not considered safe. I do wish we could know whether the Trimalchio was expecting her or not."

She darts a look at Hardin's door again. "Which reminds me, sir. If Palver's involvement--or that of any third party--is truly a possibility, then I think we need as many people as possible in both Hardin and Hsu's rooms. I almost preferred it when there was no way to transport between the planet and the ships. Now anyone could be removed from our grasp by a beam-out and it will take a few moments before we know where they have gone. In fact..."

Her attention returns to Graham. "We have Hardin under arrest, and we ought to take Mrs. Hsu into custody as well--she is involved, there is no denying it, even as a vital witness in the event Hardin's story is accurate and she contacted him directly and knew about the corruption. Should we have them beamed to the Yorktown for safe keeping?"

[Elendil's Heir]

Dr. T'Var says, "We could do that, certainly, or we could set up transporter jammers near them here on the surface. We have them available on the ship."

[choie]

Blinking at the doctor, Kylah tucks a lock of hair behind her ear in embarrassment. "Oh yes. I had hoped something like that was possible, but did not want to admit I was unaware of our technological capabilities." She suddenly smiles shyly. "Of course now I look worse. Thank you, Dr. T'Var, that would be ideal. It is far better for us to have them nearby and available for questioning."

[Elendil's Heir]

Dr. T'Var says with a smile, "A Communications ensign cannot be expected to be aware of every single piece of equipment aboard. But I have had some previous experience with them, and thus knew."

[general_urko]

"OK, OK, we've got a plan here--uh, for the moment," Graham says. He calls St. Croix over. "Our immediate next steps are to hope we uncover something good in the Hsus' files and Hardin's. Hardin is--obviously--under arrest, and..." he smiles grimly. "It's a slam dunk probably for more than he actually did."

He scowls. "If the JAG wants something that will stick--" he shakes his head and sighs. "They always do...we don't have jack, really, on Hr. Hsu, and if push comes to shove I'd go with threatening a Starfleet office on the missus, but with what we have in hand murder's a stretch...so, my point is, let's see if we can dig up something more, folks, before they either insist we let them move freely or we have to arrest them for something." He shrugs. "If we have to do it, and the JAG rips me a new one later for a crappy arrest...well, it won't be the first time."

"St. Croix, you'll secure this scene and our, ah, prisoners. With transporter jammers as suggested. If anybody tries to go anywhere, let me know immediately. And as you mentioned, let's help Mrs. Hsu connect with an attorney--unless she changes her mind about it, we're on thin ice talking to her again before she does so."

Graham bounces on the balls of his feet a little, trying to raise his own energy and add to that in the room. "We're almost home...something's got to give soon," he says. As he does so, he glances from person to person, his instincts momentarily thwarted by second-guessing himself...in the end after vacillating a second he gives Rangin an encouraging gently punch on the arm. "Let's get to it, folks!"

[CatInASuit]

Oh grief, thinks Rangin to himself, Graham is in some kind of happy mode. It's probably for the best that Graham, at least, has a few tasks to occupy his brain. Perhaps if Rangin handed some rocks across, he could keep Graham amused for hours on end.

He turns to Kylah, "Ready when you are, I'd suggest starting with Mrs Hsu's office and see what we can find there. Or do you think there might be somewhere she is more likely to have hidden any secrets of her own."

[choie]

When Graham makes his odd punching gesture to Velir, Kylah flinches a bit, but it seems to be meant without malice. Or if there is malice, Kylah cannot detect it. Not that she can rely on her mental powers at this point.

"Yes. I mean no, you are right that the office is the best physical location--it is where I last saw her before she escaped. But now that we have a warrant for Mrs. Hsu's belongings, that datapad is probably the most important item on our list. Of course it may be encrypted--but if it is, I might be able to handle it. I have some codebreaking skills myself. Should we stop at the CP first, or go straight to her office? It is up to you."

She turns to Graham and T'Var with a nod. "Good luck," she says, and glances over to St. Croix. She hopes more security officers will be placed around the infirmary, just in case. Then, with a tilt of her head to Velir--how nice to be paired with him again, she thinks with a little lift in her spirits--she exits to the corridor.

[Elendil's Heir]

St. Croix takes out her communicator and calls for three transporter jammers to be beamed down from the Yorktown. She will see that the Hsus are given subspace communications access to a lawyer(s). She asks, "Shall we first advise both Hsus that they're under arrest?"

Kylah sees that Hardin and both Hsus each have two Starfleet guards. Another redshirt is posted outside the Infirmary.

Rangin and Kylah go to Mrs. Hsu's office; it is much as it was before. They have just arrived when Ens. Rawlings calls to say, "Mr. Palver is leaving the library. I think he's headed back to his guest house."

[choie]

Kylah looks around the room while she listens to Rawlings. It is hard to believe all that has happened since she was here last. "Thank you, Mr. Rawlings," she says, turning to Velir automatically when she learns that Palver is leaving. "I am not in command any longer, but... I would strongly recommend you follow him discreetly. As best you can. But you should probably confirm that with Mr. Graham in case he thinks there is a better option." She pauses and then wonders what might happen if Palver were to beam away... "While you are speaking with him, can you please see if a transporter jammer can be placed near the guest houses? I have no idea if this is legal--but let our mission commander decide."

Assuming Rawlings has no further questions, she will cut the connection and maintain her eye contact with the man beside her. "What do you think of all this, Velir? How does all this connect? Mrs. Hsu is obviously involved, but I cannot shake the sense that she is not the murderer. And Hardin is out as well. Every word from his mouth is suspect, he will apparently say anything at this point no matter how absurdly impossible it is. I think he is ashamed and guilty, but also terrified--and only just became so, as well. As I said earlier, he did not display any of this desperation before he stunned us--not even when he overheard Delaney revealing his corruption to us, or even when Graham then attempted to arrest him, much less the moment he used that stun device."

Kylah looks through any file drawers in the room, trusting Velir to take charge of the terminals. She continues murmuring her thoughts: "And then Palver. He is proven to be lying about his medical condition, this selective amnesia he seems to have developed supposedly as a result of the spores, or whatever wore them off. Thus making his alibi a complete shambles, as well as the excuse for why he lied about being in the nightclub when we first asked him about his activity the night of the murder. And he also claimed not to have spoken to Wilson after the introduction, and that was proven to be a lie as well. As far as his attitude toward us when we spoke with him... well, you saw it. As near-hysteria as Hardin was, Palver was his exact opposite: he was far too calm and collected. Almost... smug. As if he was daring us to find some flaw, to prove our suspicions.

"Velir," she says, swiveling back to look at him again. "What do you think of my idea--the possibility that Hardin escaped with every intention of being beamed aboard the Trimalchio, once the weather cleared? If he and Palver were connected--if Palver planned to use Hardin's influence to gain control of the resort through that group with which he is involved--Hardin could have expected Palver to assist him. But if he got in touch with Palver as he fled and was then turned down... that could have been enough to make Hardin feel there was no escape. Especially if Palver threatened him with something worse than the Federation justice can mete out."

Kylah tilts her head, concentrating hard on Velir's face. "That explains how Hardin could have gone from the calmly assured man who stunned Graham and me to that--that pathetic creature we saw in the infirmary, babbling about using backwards temporal buffers to accept guilt for a crime he simply could not have committed. Do you agree this is possible?"

[CatInASuit]

While Kylah speaks, Rangin listens to her while getting started on the terminals, bringing up Mrs Hsu's schedule, correspondence and everything going back a year or so, beyond the point that Hardin alleged Mrs Hsu found out about the bribery going on. As she outlines her theory, Rangin sits back in the chair and politely waits for her to finish.

He nods in agreement, "Yes I do agree it is quite possible. In fact, if its true, it is quite possible Fellim Palver has being playing more than one side in this affair. After all, it was his ship that Mrs Hsu was attempting to get on board. I wonder if we could find anything to link all four of them together. Let's see Hardin said he had already been in touch with both Wilson from several years ago and Mrs Hsu from a few months ago. Actually, as his flag officer, wouldn't or perhaps shouldn't Lt. Cmdr. Ebling be at least aware if someone like that had contacted Hardin? We know the affair between Wilson and Hsu, so we can link the three of them together. Of the three ships there, perhaps it does make more sen for Hardin to seek refuge on the Trimalchio."

"Of course, if Mrs Hsu was heading there, she isn't going to turn up empty handed, she needs to have something that Fellim Palver would want in order to get passage out of here. It may not prove a link straightaway, but she would have to have a reason for it. I mean given everything, why didn't she just demand to speak to Capt. Singh and give over all the evidence about Hardin, assuming she had any, of course. Maybe, she is as worried as Hardin is."

Rangin frowns as he looks at the huge lists of data he is going to have to trawl through. "We need that datapad, the one in the CP. It's likely to have what she could offer, if anything. I mean would you leave behind anything which might make you look culpable. Garcia is going to be busy on Hardin's datapad and I could have a lot to go through here. What do think? You cracked Wilson's datapad, do you think you could do the same for Mrs Hsu's? "

[choie]

Tapping her fingers on the file drawers, Kylah considers Velir's points. "I only cracked Mr. Wilson's communicator," she corrects him absently, but still bobs her head. "But yes, I can certainly try--assuming her datapad is encrypted, which I think is rather likely. If I go to the CP I can link the Yorktown's decryption program in the same way as I did with the communicator."

She stands from her semi-kneeling position. "I wonder what connects them all. If Palver truly is behind all this... yes, Mrs. Hsu might have correspondence with him, and so might Hardin. I wonder... maybe Mrs. Hsu did learn about the corruption from Wilson, and she did contact Hardin about it--that part of his so-called confession might be true. Then, desperate for funds, Hardin decided to change allegiance to Palver, who had far more money than Wilson could ever offer him. He would have told Palver that Mrs. Hsu was a threat, and Palver could have offered Mrs. Hsu some inducement of her own. A chance to become administrator for the new resort, for example. Of course, Wilson would get cut out of such a deal, and perhaps that is what led to his death. Palver had to get him out of the way, and ruin WR&R at the same time, and..." Kylah runs a hand through her hair, the possibilities dizzying. "I am getting ahead of myself. First we must link Mrs. Hsu with either Hardin or Palver, and Palver with Hardin."

Moving closer to Velir, she tentatively touches his sleeve. "Does it sound as if we are, perhaps, making some sense of this muddle?" she says with a fleeting smile. "Either way, good hunting, Velir. You were the one to find Wilson's files, which implicated Hardin. I am sure if there is something to find, you will."

[CatInASuit]

Rangin looks across at where Kylah is touching his sleeve and he gently pats her hand twice before removing his own, the contact reminding him of how he feels about her. "Thanks, and I have every faith in you that you can find something on Mrs Hsu's datapad."

"I'll be looking on here for any more hidden files, things changed or removed, any correspondence which might match up with what has been said, although I don't think I'm going to strike lucky twice as I did with Mr Wilson's files. As for Palver, lets see if we can find a link and work from there, although I do wonder who the Q account belongs to. Given Mr Young's inability to find anything, I'm wondering if Mr Wilson was running a dual set of accounts, so the day-to-day running wasn't noticed. But then who would he be paying. Hardin seemed to think he was the only one, maybe someone else is just as compromised as Hardin. And I wonder if Mrs Hsu also found out about it as well. With any luck, we could solve that part of the mystery as well."

Rangin smiles back at Kylah. "I'll contact Graham to ask Ebling about Mrs Hsu, see if anything is known that way. Good luck with the datapad."

[choie]

With a final look at Velir, drinking in the confidence he has in her, Kylah hurries off from Mrs. Hsu's office back downstairs and the now-familiar route to the CP.

On the way, she mulls over the many unknowns in the case, including the curiosity Velir mentioned, just as she had earlier--that second bank account. Q. It is such a rare letter in Wilson's language. What names could begin with it? Quincy. Quinn...

She taps her thumbprint on the door and enters the CP. If Garcia or any of the others is still in there, she greets them and explains what she is doing. As she reaches the safe, she opens it and pulls out the datapad, her mind still working on the various puzzles. Taking the pair of evidence gloves she has kept with her, she removes the device and looks it over, taking her tricorder and doing a quick scan for fingerprints. There is no reason to believe anyone but Mrs. Hsu has handled it--well, outside of Velir and any of the others who may have touched it accidentally while removing it from Mrs. Hsu's possession.

Once through and noting any results carefully--even if they are just Mrs. Hsu's prints--Kylah begins the process of gaining access, first the easy route, and then taking the more aggressive options if necessary. Even as she does, her brain nags at her to figure out the Q conundrum.

Of course, the bank account label does not have to refer to a North American name. It need not even be a name, or for that matter, a Terran word at all. That opens things up. In fact, the first culture Kylah can think of--one with which she is extremely familiar--is rife with Q words and names. Even the planet itself.

She shakes her head and scowls, not liking the direction of her thoughts. Besides, she reminds herself. Humans know almost nothing about them. Willful ignorance and bigotry. She is certain not even Starfleet, an organization supposedly filled with explorers, ever refers correctly to the Klingon home world as Qo'noS. And what possible connection could Wilson have to Klingons?

Kylah redoubles her efforts to focus her attention on accessing Mrs. Hsu's data.

[Elendil's Heir]

Rawlings says to Kylah via communicator, "Acknowledged. I'll follow Palver and will advise Mr. Graham. Rawlings out."

Kylah finds nothing of interest in Mrs. Hsu's office before leaving. Garcia is indeed in the CP and nods to her as she comes in. He asks, "Have we heard anything yet about the search warrants?"

Mrs. Hsu's datapad is, as expected, encrypted. Kylah establishes a subspace link to the Yorktown, brings up the decryption program and starts it running.

Rangin sees that there are several hundred files on Mrs. Hsu's terminal, and thousands of messages in her correspondence archives for the past year. Would he like to refine or narrow his inquiry?

[CatInASuit]

Rangin starts to narrow his search.

For files, anything accessed in the last couple of days. Also, anything encrypted or generally hidden. Also anything related to financial matters especially amongst those already highlighted from Mr Wilson's datapad.
For messages, anything sent offworld and not to WR&R head offices.

Also anything in the above involving Vice Adm. Hardin, Lt. Cmdr Ebling, or Fellim Palver.

[choie]

Kylah tells Garcia, "We have search warrants for Vice Admiral Hardin and both Mr. and Mrs. Hsu. None for Mr. Palver, unfortunately. At least, not yet. How are you doing with your own decryption?"

She uses the time while waiting for the decryption program to search all the data from the investigation for anything involving Palver and his background. Scrolling through the virtual reams of information, she comes across the first interview with Palver. Again she is struck by the ridiculousness of his claimed schedule for the evening of Wilson's death, which makes her shake her head. But it is the financial information that Collins elicited that intrigues her.

"Interstellar Leisure Group, Ltd," she murmurs, noting the name of the rival resort company Palver named for which he has controlling interest. She moves over to a new terminal and, connecting to the subspace net, enters the name to perform some research and see what, if anything, comes up.

She also looks over the info Graham learned about the Bank of Velssere. Along the Orion frontier, where an increase in hard-currency transactions have been noted in the past year, she reads, this time to herself. So someone, or some group, may have been undertaking a presumably profitable money laundering industry of some sort.

That probably accounts for some of the cash in Wilson's safe. And given the stated rumors about Palver's underhanded financial dealings, it is not impossible to believe he is somehow connected...

Her gaze down the screen freezes when she lands upon the highly classified information Graham mentions: rumors that the Klingon Empire might be conducting some kind of economic warfare against the Federation or its allies.

Only moments ago she had been thinking about Qu'onos. It is just a coincidence, she thinks grimly. Do not run away with yourself. You know why Klingons are a touchy subject. Still, sheer impulse leads her to run a search on the investigation data for any mentions of Klingons.

Immediately popping up: one of the witness statements. They thought Wilson was a Klingon agent, Kylah reads with her eyebrows raised. He... he did not seem the type the Klingons would do business with--not a human, surely?

The whole thing seems strange. Are the Klingons really engaging in some campaign involving finances? Such matters are far from their area of expertise. Waging bloodless battles is not the Klingon way--how would they boast of earning batlh--what Terrans would call 'honor'--in such scheming? Klingons are only known for war. Not--

Unbidden an image permeates her mind: the Yorktown Bridge, battered and damaged, with bodies everywhere... and a looming Klingon battle cruiser outside the viewscreen. That dream, she realizes, shuddering unconsciously. The one the night before the mission started.

Again she forces herself to clear her mind. Do not be absurd. Kylah knows dreams mean nothing before a fact. They are the mind's way of processing knowledge one already has, they cannot act as some gateway to the future. Besides, the only reason Klingons had been in her mind was simply the fact that only a few days earlier...

Kylah's eyes open wider, and automatically she reaches for her communicator. "Kylah to Rangin," she says quietly, not wanting to disturb Garcia--or to let him know where her conspiracy-theory-addled brain is taking her. "How are things going with your search? I--I am running the decryption program now." She swallows, not wanting to sound like a paranoid fool. "This may seem like a non-sequitur, but I just wanted to ask you... do you remember, while we were traveling to the planet, learning of an issue regarding Klingons in the vicinity? A disturbance of some kind?"

[general_urko]

Graham grimaces at St. Croix's question. "Let's let the question of arrest ride for the moment: all Mrs. Hsu knows is she's probably on the verge of being arrested...let's leave it like that for the moment. But if she tries to leave...well, then we'll just make it so."

Directly or through the resort switchboard he asks for Mr. Young to meet him in ten minutes or so at reception.

Graham then finds Delaney and asks him if it's possible to get activity history out of Hardin's communicator, then lays out what Hardin said about use of the transporter and how it fits with Delaney's previous analysis: prior to the murder, beaming one of Fastolfe's knives and atomizing another; after the murder, holding the body and a knife in the buffer for an hour, then dropping it in the park; and atomizing the blood in the conference room.

[Elendil's Heir]

Rangin finds that Mrs. Hsu accessed several dozen files in the last couple of days. Nothing is encrypted or hidden, but two folders appear to have been deleted in their entirety, and very recently - in fact, from the activity logs, it was just after Kylah left her office and just before Mrs. Hsu made a run for it. Mrs. Hsu did not access anything related to financial matters, other than routine and minor budgeting issues for the resort, in the past two weeks. It does not appear that Mrs. Hsu sent any offworld messages in the past nine days. Rangin can find nothing substantive relating to Hardin, Ebling or Palver except their being listed among other recent guests.

Garcia looks up from his work station and says to Kylah, "The encryption on the Vice Admiral's datapad isn't as robust as it was for Wilson's secret safe. I should have it cracked in, I dunno, ten minutes or so."

"Understood, sir," St. Croix says to Graham.

Young agrees to meet him in ten minutes at Reception.

Delaney looks at the ceiling, thinks a bit and says, "Everything about that claimed transporter usage sounds feasible except using the buffer to throw us off as to time of death. That's an hour going the wrong way, obviously. Low-level power consumption for a body and a weapon held in the buffer could be concealed and then wiped from resort records; I'd have to look into that further. Atomizing the blood - that kind of cleaning-by-transporter - might not pick up everything, as I said before. I wouldn't be surprised that very faint traces were left behind, as we found." He will get started looking over Hardin's communicator.

[CatInASuit]

"Hello Kylah. Search not going so great, it looks like she deliberately deleted anything important just before she left the office which means its probably on that datapad. Nothing exciting over the last few days in her correspondence. I'm going to look further back in time to see if I can find anything in the last year or so."

Rangin thinks back over the journey to OCIII, "Sorry Kylah, I don't remember any details about Klingons causing trouble in the vicinity, though that's not to say they weren't. You would have to check with Security, I guess to see if they know anything, although Graham probably won't know if he was only getting settled in on the way here. I would have suggested asking Collins...but..." Rangin's voice tails off as he remembers what happened.

Rangin taps in a query on correspondence for the last year about Hardin, Ebling and Palver to see what turns up before responding.

"Kylah, do you think there may be something linking the Klingons to this at all?"

[choie]

Listening, Kylah glances back at the terminal working on the decryption program. "I was afraid that she might have had time to remove data. But yes, if she did, it may well have been copied over to the device, in which case... The encryption is not as easy as Mr. Wilson's but I think I will be successful. Or at least, the program will."

When Velir mentions Collins, Kylah nods. She remembers the security officer being on the Bridge at the time. "I think I will send a message to her. Knowing her--as little as I do--I think she might be glad to be consulted, even during her recovery." And even if it is by someone she despises.

She hesitates at Velir's final question. "I... I have been pondering a possible connection. It is very far-fetched, and I--" Again she pauses. She can hardly tell him it is partly based on a dream or her knowledge of Klingon culture. Then again... it is no secret that Elas was a hotly contested prize between the Federation and the Empire. It still is, of course, but no one in the Federation can know that.

If anyone would understand a planet being vied for like an heiress with a massive dowry, it will be Velir. Of course he is not the only person in the room.

Leaning forward, she forces herself to stick to only the basic facts. When she is in private with Velir, she might feel more comfortable revealing more. "In addition to the incident I mentioned from a few days ago, I re-read Graham's report about the Bank of Velssere. In it, there is a reference to the possibility that the Klingons are using some financial scheme to gain advantage over the Federation. There is also a reference in the staff witness statements to some of them having heard that Wilson was a Klingon agent.

"They do not believe these rumors," she says hastily, "And frankly I find it difficult to credit myself--but it is precisely because it is so odd a juxtaposition that I have to wonder why anyone would have associated Wilson with the Klingons in the first place, even in a mere rumor. It makes me think something is in the air.

"So... If the Klingons really are engaging in what Graham's research report on the Bank calls 'financial warfare,' it occurred to me that an outsider would probably be involved. Ideally not a human, at least not directly, knowing the prejudices on both sides. And that leads me to Palver. A financial mastermind, with no real allegiance to anything but amassing money as far as I can tell. Would he not be ideal for their purposes? We need to find a connection between the Klingons and him--or particularly, the company in which he has a controlling interest, called ILG, which he told us is a rival for WR&R's contract.

"If WR&R loses their license in ILG's favor, and the Klingons really do have some connection to it? They could gain control over a portion of the planet, and access to the spores and plenty of Federation money, without firing a shot. It is not their standard behavior, but influenced by a financial insider such as Palver, perhaps they are changing their tactics."

Kylah feels her stomach begin to churn. What would her uncle say about her siding against the Klingons here? Her dual loyalties have never been challenged so baldly. Fortunately it is all unlikely to be true and she is worrying for nothing.

"But surely I am wrong," she says quickly, almost hoping Velir will agree. "I do not understand much about financial dealings and this sort of intrigue..." Her voice fades. She cannot pretend to be ignorant; Velir probably suspects she is not as naive as she is making out. "What--what do you think?"

[general_urko]

Graham sighs. "Yeah, that hour's a pretty big cock up in the story," he says, shaking his head. He checks to see if T'Var's available to come with him and then heads to meet Young.

[CatInASuit]

Rangin listens carefully to Kylah's theories as she spells them out quietly over the communicator. Something seems odd with the way she is talking, either she is embarrassed to be thinking such things or perhaps something else. But it was difficult to know over the tinny sound of the communicator as opposed to being able to listen to her voice and see her body language at closer quarters.

"Overall, I think you are perhaps reaching a little too far in what may or may not have occurred here, Kylah. We still have no proof that Palver is involved despite our beliefs in that direction, let alone that anyone else may be involved. I'm no expert in that direction, so I'm not sure what to say. You could try Collins, maybe she might appreciate being told what has happened here, asking for her insight, although you might want to check with Dr. Villa that she would be good to take the call."

Rangin shrugs as he watches the terminal tick over, "I guess keep it in mind, and we may find a link in the future. Who knows, but let's see what we can find on the Hsu's and see if anything leads in that direction. I'll keep looking here."