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

Graham feels blessed relief as the pain recedes, but also a pang of sadness as he becomes more lucid. He'd take the pain back for his brief hallucination to have been real.

He realizes it must have been Kylah who gasped, then... Oh what the hell, he thinks. The hits just keep on coming.

Kylah seems to have been plastered to Rangin, and now seems to be shaken and upset...

He's not sure what to make of that... At least, well, maybe I can ask Rangin what that was all about, when we have a chance to speak privately. Whatever he thinks of me I'm sure he'd want to figure out what's...troubling...Kylah.

He struggles to sit up. "So what the hell was that headache all about, Doc?" he asks T'Var. "And--is Delaney here? He ought to brief us on those files..."

Rangin's blue uniform shirt and skin show no sign of Kylah's tears.

Thunder again booms outside.

Dr. T'Var looks again at her medical tricorder, then shuts its display lid. She tells Graham and Kylah, "You are both exhibiting similar signs of exposure to a class-4 stun field of some kind. Perhaps because of differences between the Human and Elasian brain, either physiological or neurochemical, you have been more harshly affected, Mr. Graham, but I am confident that the effects on both of you will be momentary and not harmful. Are you feeling better now?" In fact, both are by the minute.

Crewman Harper says to Graham, "Mr. Delaney is still in Wilson's office with Lt. Garcia, I believe, sir. Shall I ask him to come here?"

Ens. St. Croix asks, "Uh, first, shouldn't we be going after Hardin?"

"Well, the good news is no tears, the bad news is, I'm still soaked," quips Rangin quietly trying to ease the tension that he can see written across Kylah's face. "Also, the good news is you're going to be fine, the bad news is you're still going to have to put up with me for a while longer."

Rangin hears St. Croix and can't believe his ears. He looks across at the various security members now dotted around, all looking like they are itching for action, except perhaps, Graham, but that would be understandable.

"You know, running around in the middle of a raging thunderstorm, going who knows where, against adversaries unknown, wielding technology unknown doesn't sound like my idea of fun. We could just leave him where ever his is, wait until the storm ends and when it all clears have the USS Yorktown beam him directly into the brig. Where is he going to go, what's he going to do other than have to sit and wait this out like everyone else."

Rangin frowns for a moment. "Only thing we might want to do is check where Lt. Cmdr. Ebling has been taken for safe keeping. That would just be the cherry on top for today, if they wind up in the same place."

"You're damn right we ought to get after Hardin," Graham says, grunting as he stands up slowly. "We've given him too much breathing room already." He shakes his head, frustrated--although the positives of clearing the cobwebs are balanced by the negatives of a residual ache.

"Thanks Doc," he says, putting a hand briefly on T'Var's shoulder. "I owe you one."

He clears his throat. "Mr. Rangin your concerns are reasonable but one, a core principle in combat is to always force the enemy to react to you, don't wait around for them to force you to react. And two, given what's happened so far I think it's a safe empirical assumption Hardin's not sitting idle wringing his hands with no back up plan to avoid getting plucked like a ripe apple when this thing blows over."

"On the other hand it was Hsu who fed us the intel on his location and we've got Ebling in custody, we'd feel pretty stupid if the tapes clearly incriminated either of them and we rushed off into the rain half-cocked." He gestures acknowledgment to Harper. "Yes ask them to rendezvous here please."

He's been studiously ignoring Kylah because he's not sure what to do or say: his natural instinct is to offer her a hand up... Except...Fuck. You can't second guess everything, Booker.

He extends hand toward Kylah. "Are you OK?" he asks, shaking his head. "I'm sorry about what happened, if I'd been more on the ball he might not have zapped us."

Kylah thanks T'Var and smiles wanly at Velir's words--especially the still going to have to put up with me for a while longer. She listens carefully to everything but feels as if she has missed some important detail. Graham said 'it was Hsu who fed us the intel on his location,' but she does not remember being told where that location is. Has he told them and she was too dazed to hear?

Then Graham's hand is outstretched to her. She is afraid to touch him after what she--they--both experienced; as unfair as it is, and even though she knows it is her own freakish biology that caused it, she resents Graham for the pain that radiated to her.

Unthinkingly casting a helpless look at Velir for support, she then aims her gaze downwards. There does not seem to be a way around it. Clamping her jaw tightly shut in an effort to block any empathic connection, she extends the tips of her fingers to Graham's hand and gets back to her feet. As soon as she is upright, she releases him.

"I am better, thank you. And you are not to blame," she murmurs. "Whatever Hardin used, he did not even move a muscle to do it. An attack like that could not have been anticipated. I have never heard of such technology, not in Starfleet. But sir, may I ask--where did Hardin go? And how did he leave the room? I am sorry but I do not remember your telling us."



Seriously, where/when did we (i.e. those of us in the transporter room) get briefed on what Graham heard from Hsu? I can't seem to figure out how we know where Hardin went.

Patience is a virtue Mr Graham, the thought runs through Rangin's mind, something you just don't seem to want to understand.

But he's not about to call Graham out on it, given there are four other Security people around and all of them are going to be needed to find and stop Hardin. Let Graham play as leader, the crewman will follow him blindly and he was supposed to be the experienced one. Rangin just hoped it didn't get them all killed in the process.

It wasn't that he had never done this before, its just that Rangin was a little out of practice. But sneaking up on an Orion mine unannounced was a little bit different to finding someone who knew they were coming and was probably better trained than everyone else here.

Rangin shakes his head and narrows his gaze on Graham. "So, Vice Adm. Hardin's going somewhere, out in the rain...well that narrows down the options doesn't it," he says dryly. "So, about this not going off half-cocked, what did you have in mind..."

Graham and Rangin tell everyone else what they already know. Graham and Kylah feel better with each passing minute.

Delaney and Garcia soon arrive from Wilson's office; Mr. Hsu is with them. Delaney looks uneasy, as if he knows that he screwed up.

Graham nods at the two officers. "Good work cracking those files, gentlemen."

He steps up to Delaney and shakes his head but smiles. "We're going to have to start calling you 'Lucky' for your impeccable sense of timing." He puts a hand on Delaney's shoulder, his expression back to serious. "Don't beat yourself up about Hardin getting the drop on us. There's a dozen things everybody here could have done just a little differently and we might have him in the bag already."

He steps back. "Now, two points--one, do those files implicate anyone else or give us any more insight into what happened. And then--what's the lay of the land in the old colony and Hardin's likely location." He gestures for Delaney and Garcia to respond.

Kylah's mouth parts and she immediately turns to avoid showing her reaction. She is torn between wanting Lieutenant JG Delaney to knock Ensign Graham's hand off his shoulder, and wishing she could smack both humans in the head.

So when she spends time interviewing Lord Fastolfe and his security guard, Graham berates her for taking risks and accuses her of trying to seduce her way throughout the suspect list. But when Delaney blurts out sensitive information exposing a man as a criminal while two fellow officers are standing right in front of this suspect, and gets both of them stunned and nearly debilitated? Well, of course, that rates merely a grin and a chuck on the shoulder. 'Better luck next time, fellow human, could happen to anyone. Perhaps next time you will be able to get the pesky alien slut at my side killed.'

Of course, no one is bringing up the fact that Graham was the one to idiotically accept the communicator hail while still in Hardin's office. Graham is nearly as responsible and Delaney--possibly more. Kylah has no idea why he did not leave the suite before taking Delaney's call, but he did, and as a result of that and Delaney's own stupidity, they were attacked and the Vice Admiral disappeared. Well done, the pair of them.

'A dozen things everybody here could have done just a little differently...' Yes, such as doing precisely what Kylah did? Determining that the man had a discrepancy in his alibi, and then recommending that they leave and confirm the witnesses' accounts? Indeed, she has been saying all along--since the first day of the mission--that it was odd that Hardin chose to vacation on OC3 during a contract renewal, and repeatedly brought up the curiosity of OC3 receiving exclusive access to the spores. Will she get any credit for this? Will she get credit for suggesting that Thalen bring down an expert in cryptography, since it was undoubtedly Garcia rather than Delaney who unlocked the files? Will Booker Graham remember a thing she did that had nothing to do with his fixed belief in her as either a vulnerable innocent or a mindless tramp?

Before she can censor herself, she hears herself saying: "Perhaps you may prefer to hear second-hand interpretations of the files' contents, Ensign Graham. You have men of action to supervise, and I suppose reading is too much the purview of--what did you call those of us in Communications earlier? The 'egghead' types? Well, I would like to read them for myself, if I may be allowed to do so."

Delaney smiles hesitantly at Graham's comments, then glances at Kylah when she speaks up. "Uh... would you still like me to report, Mr. Graham?"

Mr. Hsu seems amused by Kylah's remarks.

Graham blinks. What was that all about? he wonders at Kylah's outburst. He's relishing having a conversation about how he would have sent anyone else back to the ship twice over given her actions today even less than he was before. Wait...'men' of action? Is that it?

Anyway we don't have time for this now, he resolves.

"Hey, some of my best friends are eggheads," he says gamely, more to the group than Kylah specifically, trying to defuse any tension. Then he adds to her "Of course you are allowed, Mr. Kylah, but I'd suggest reading quickly unless Lt. Delaney intends to be overly verbose." He turns to Delaney and nods. "Fire away."

Lt. JG Delaney says, "The files contain information which looks pretty incriminating to me as to other WR&R staff - none of them here on OC3, and there's nothing as to anyone else in Starfleet other than Vice Adm. Hardin. No mention of Lt. Cmdr. Ebling. It looks like Wilson bribed Hardin to pull some strings to ensure that WR&R would get the franchise here in the first place, so that would help Wilson in his climb up the corporate ladder. Then recently, Hardin wanted more money to make sure that WR&R got its franchise renewed, but Wilson was hesitant, or reluctant. It doesn't say why, though. Wilson got his money from some kind of embezzlement scheme within the company, skimming corporate funds somehow."

Hsu looks troubled by this report, but says, "As to the Sandoval Colony buildings, you've seen them already. They're old-fashioned wooden frame buildings, a couple of dozen of them, and they've been kept in good repair. If he's hiding there, he's got quite a few options."

"Not in this party," mutters Rangin under his breath loudly only enough for Kylah and T'Var to hear in response to Graham's comment about eggheads being his friend.

Rangin talks quietly to Kylah, while the pair of them listen to the reports. "I hate to say this, but now is not the time. Please wait until Hardin has been apprehended, if only for my sake. At some point, Lucky over there will have to explain why he didn't contact me instead of Graham and Graham will have to explain why he decided to take the call in Hardin's room. Also, all those Crewmen are looking to Graham for leadership. Yes, I know what kind of idiot he is, but he is also their best chance of getting through this in one piece, much as I hate to say it."

Rangin peers over Kylah's shoulder looking at the details, "However, afterwards, afterwards is a different matter entirely."

Speaking up after Delaney has finished. "Mr Young is currently revisiting the WR&R Finance records to determine the state of the embezzlement. I would suggest leaving him to it for the moment."

Waiting to see how Graham is going to plan this, Rangin considers a few ideas about what they should be doing already.

(Duplicate post from setup thread; deleted at poster's request).

Kylah's heart pounds at Velir's nearness as well as his words. She understands what he is saying, but she cannot believe he does not see what danger they are all being placed in now, this very moment.

In a low hiss, Kylah says, "Yes, I see what you are saying. And you know I value your opinion, Velir. But you did not suffer what I just did due to their ineptitude. And we might be five minutes from another such result thanks to both of them. You might find experiencing the stun field worthwhile as a scientist, but twice is enough for me." Her arms criss-cross over her chest, hugging herself, and she walks over to Graham. "Excuse me, Mr. Graham," she says, feeling as brittle as a sheet of ice, and very wary of the audience around them. "May I please have a moment of your time. In private. It cannot wait."

Graham starts to answer, going so far as to open and then shut his mouth with something along the lines of "we don't have time for this right now" left unsaid.

Big boo boo.

The phrase springs back into his mind.

Taking in Kylah's tone, posture, and demeanor looking up at him, Graham thinks: something bad has happened to her. Almost certainly not the kind of thing that I'm worth a damn at helping with, but still...she's not standing in front of and talking to anyone else at the moment, is she?

He regroups and says clearly and with conviction as much--or more--for the crowd as for her. "Of course, Mr. Kylah, anytime."

He gestures toward the door and intends to follow her out.

He pauses first. "Mr. Hsu, in the meantime, if you could sketch out with the team as best you can the layout of the buildings, any surprises like the damned hidden access panels in the main facility houses, and the extent of camera coverage I'd appreciate it. I'd like that information at hand on everyone's tricorder."

Kylah is even more alarmed by Graham's last order just as she is walking out the door. For a few seconds her eyes close in disbelief before she turns to face Graham when he joins her.

"First, I am glad you are feeling better, Mr. Graham. But I cannot believe you are in full possession of your faculties right now." She points back toward the transporter room. "Not ten minutes ago we were incapacitated because you allowed Delaney to share incriminating evidence in front of a possible suspect. And now you are doing it again." Her voice lowers to a whisper. "As we know WR&R is rife with corruption, why are you sharing all our intelligence with a highly placed member of its staff?"

She looks out of the window at the storm, shaking her head. "Yes, according to this file, Wilson names no in-house OC3 staff. But he might not have known everything Hardin was up to. Hardin was apparently aware that Wilson was a weak link. If so, why would he not find an alternate contact here?" Kylah returns to Graham. "Mr. Hsu--the man you have placed in our confidence and whom you are trusting with our lives--is not only technically adept at every single system that was compromised in order to ensure Wilson's murder, but is also the husband of someone who may become Mr. Wilson's successor--in more ways than one. Perhaps this is some investigative finesse or scheme you are preparing that is beyond the comprehension of someone of such little experience as I, but... but I am afraid.

"Make no mistake, sir. I want Hardin captured. To be quite honest, the Elasian in me wants revenge, has a base desire to hunt him down myself so I may embed my knife into his throat for what he did to us--not that I would act on it. I am sure you want the same justice. Yet--with respect--you are acting as Lt. Collins did--making decisions without consulting your team, the only people we know we can trust. You are reacting and making quick choices. And those choices are what led to... well... you know what we both just went through. You suffered worse than I. And it was partly because of acting too quickly, of doing without thinking, of wanting everything done now. Of trusting in people we do not know such as Hardin. And now, Hsu."

Her eyes blink as she gazes up at him, not crying but still raw and burning. "I know you think I am reckless and unstable, and inexperienced, and even unfit for this mission. Everything you believe might be true. But I can be of use. I can often take a good measure of people--I can. I suspected Hardin of unethical behavior from the first, and I also knew that he was lying regarding his alibi, and I--I wanted us to leave and discuss such things in private. If I had a chance to do so, we would not have suffered as we did." Kylah's ability to meet Graham's stare falters and she aims her final words at his insignia. "I have been attacked and assaulted in almost every way I can be on this mission, emotionally and psychically and physically. Despite this I have continued to work and pursue our goals. So I hope you do not think me a coward when I beg you to please, please use caution."

Hsu brings up a chart of the Sandoval Colony's buildings on the transporter console's display screen, and downloads copies to the tricorders of all of the Yorktown personnel there. He says, "The barns, houses, storage sheds and the sole community hall are still pretty much the same as the colonists left them. There are no hidden access panels; there are all low-tech buildings. There are just four security cams among the buildings - not full coverage of the entire area, because people so rarely go there. It, uh, wasn't a priority for the company. There's been no interruption in coverage since Hardin fled, but my people haven't spotted him in any of them. If he's the one who hacked the resort's security system, it would be easy for him to find out the fields of coverage, and avoid them."

A particularly loud rumble of thunder sounds outside for several seconds.

Rangin watches as Kylah slowly walks up to Graham and requests a moment of his time. She had already mentioned how stupid both Graham and Delaney had been and Rangin had seen her reaction to Graham's casual brushing over of it.

The last thing he wanted was for Graham to lead all of them into tragedy, but it was a given that those security Crewmen were not going to listen to either Kylah or himself when it came to this. The team had been lucky so far, Hardin had only stunned two of them and not killed, but Rangin was damned if he was going to let the same thing happen again to Kylah. He'd lost too many friends close to him, too many he had cared about, he wasn't losing another.

And if Graham did decide to go off half-cocked and as empty-brained as usual, Rangin had a few little suggestions that would be helpful...like standing Graham at the forefront as a target.

"I am afraid."

Graham listens silently to Kylah.

Does it mean you're a bad leader that she's afraid.

Or not so bad because she's willing and able to come clean to you about it.

Or what does it mean if she's afraid because of you...


Thunder cracks, adding some urgency to the moment...

So what'll it be, Booker?

"Elas," Graham says, after a brief pause when Kylah finishes speaking. He clears his throat and checks his volume realizing he may have blurted out his first word a little loudly. "It, ah, sounds a lot different from the Federation. Has it been...hard for you to adjust, to the Academy, and the ship?" he asks gently.

Whatever response Kylah was expecting--defensiveness or hostility, as she would have received from Collins, or a dismissive 'I know best but thank you for your input' virtual pat on the head, as Graham has usually given her--she was certainly not ready for a non-responsive, apparently unrelated question such as this. She stares blankly up at him, her mouth parted in surprise. To ask about her personal difficulties now... he must think her utterly unstable. A madwoman. Or a child. Which would not be out of keeping considering the paternalistic and often far too familiar way he has dealt with her--or, for that matter, the fleeting emotions and images she felt earlier when they were both in such pain.

Is it possible the stun affected his mind?

"Mr. Graham," she says, genuinely alarmed. "Did you not understand my use of your language? I am trying to express what I believe are legitimate worries about your decision to invite a suspect into our confidential plans, and the earlier similar lapse in discretion with Hardin. I cannot comprehend what my background has to do with this. Are you... are you implying that my concern is unfounded, or somehow my fault, an inability to understand how Starfleet works?"

"If I thought you were unfit for this mission, I would not have hesitated to send you--or anybody else--back to the ship," Graham answers with calm conviction.

He wants to take put his hands on her shoulders, or take her hands and clasp them in his his between them, but realizes that probably won't go well at this point. Instead he clasps his own together in front of himself, just below his ribcage. "I'm trying to say that I'm consulting with a member of my team right now, aren't I? Someone I can trust, I hope--" he pauses and spreads his hands apart briefly. "But who's acted--sometimes--quickly, as if she needed to do things now--and alone--" he emphasizes the last word and places a hand on his chest. "Without--without trusting me, and I'm trying to understand why."

He has multiple conflicting instincts: to get the hell after Hardin, to give up on this approach because you're too much of a lumbering idiot for this go well, to handle this in a much more generic way as a mission commander without getting into the uncomfortable details and emotional dimensions of whatever's going on...

To run away from this because this is feeling like the kind of conversation you should have had with Lizzy that you've been avoiding for what, years?

To run away.

Well that's it, then, that's your goddamn job: even if you are going to fuck this up a hundred ways from Sunday, you are not. going. to run. away.

Graham's communicator beeps; it's the Captain. "Report, please, Mr. Graham."

Rangin glances nervously at the door wondering what is taking Graham and Kylah so long. He can see the others around trying their best to look over the details presented.

"Mr Hsu, thank you for the schematics, can you widen it include the area around, the local hills and so on. Also, what power is there over in the colony buildings and is there any power being drawn from the resort across to them or have they just been left as they were?"

Hsu nods and widens the diagram. There are low hills, scrub brush, some trees and rolling countryside in every direction. He says, "The colony buildings draw on our power grid. There are some lights and power sockets, installed when the resort was built. Usually there's very little need for them, though."

Rangin starts looking over the map trying to work out what purpose anyone would run there for.

"There are no notifications of any spores in this area are there, Mr Hsu and perhaps more importantly, there are no guests currently staying in the colony houses are there? It was mentioned some of them liked to try it out. Actually, is it likely there are any guests over there sheltering from the rain?"

Graham nods just slightly to excuse himself from Kylah and takes a half-step backwards.

"Captain, we've found no hard evidence incriminating anyone else: Hardin's our only confirmed suspect. Although I--we--are concerned he may have had help. Based on resort Security's surveillance, we believe he is in the old Sandoval colony buildings. Unfortunately cameras are few and far between there."

"Our happiest option is that Yorktown's sensors can find him and beam him into the brig, ma'am. Failing that, we cordon the area and sweep with tricorders until we can isolate him. If that's not possible, physical search."

"Despite the poor weather, given Hardin's canniness so far, I'm inclined to believe he ha a back-up plan and we should actively pursue him now rather than waiting for this to blow over. "

Hsu says, "I don't know of any guests there now, either visiting or staying overnight. We could do a head count of all staff and guests to be sure, if you like."

The Captain replies, "Understood, Mr. Graham, and agreed. Thank you. Carry on. Singh out."

"That is probably well worth doing, especially given the thunderstorm currently raging outside. Wouldn't want anyone caught out in this weather." Rangin smiles at the slight subterfuge. "We can confirm that with Mr Graham when he gets back in, if its an action he would like to take."

Once the Captain seems to sign off, Kylah waits for Graham to lower his communicator before speaking. "If you are in a hurry to find Hardin, as we all are, then perhaps you might properly consult with your team. The only reason you are talking to me is because I asked to speak with you--and when I focus on the mission to advise caution in revealing so much to Hsu, you completely ignore it to question my ability to get used to Starfleet. And yet you wish credit for consulting!"

She turns to look into the room--by now Hsu could have stunned everyone in there and fled. But she cannot see anything from here. Kylah snaps around to Graham. "You wonder why I do not trust you? How can I, when I never know which Booker Graham will confront me next? Will it be the one who treats me like a fragile doll with no experience dealing with evil? Or the one who manhandles me and makes base insinuations about my sexual behavior?"

Her back is stiff and straight as she looks up at him. "There. Now that I have answered your question, may I please make sure that Velir--that Velir and Delaney and everyone are safe from a suspect who might have the same weaponry as Hardin? Or do you prefer to spend time delving into my psyche? Is there some other intrusive question you wish to ask while Hsu learns more and more about our plans?"

Graham purses his lips slightly. Well, there you have it, bang up job, Booker, that went great, he thinks. And you don't have any more time to burn...

"Before we go back in," he asks quietly. "If you were in command--which wold you do: do you keep Mr. Hsu close knowing he'll be privy to our plans but we can keep him under constant direct observation, or send him away, so he's out of our insiders' circle but will have freedom of movement and action out of our sight?"

Kylah bites her tongue. He cannot admit he is wrong and acts as if this was strategy instead of negligence. The prerogative of dictators everywhere.

"With respect," she says with deliberate slowness, "you present me with a false binary choice. I would take a third option: Give him a useful but not mission-critical task accompanied by two of our trusted security team--to watch the cameras, perhaps, under the not-entirely-false premise that someone has manipulated those videos in the past, and may likely do so again. I would give private instructions to the team to keep a close eye on him both as a valuable asset and a potential suspect.

"Further, I would scan him and everyone in the room--yes, including the Yorktown crew--for unknown devices. And once the team and Hsu arrive at the camera room I would have them do the same there."

She pauses and crosses her arms tightly over her chest like a shield. "If I may be allowed to add another observation. Once the Yorktown team is alone, I would speak to everyone, including Dr. T'Var and Lt. Delaney, about revealing sensitive information to potential suspects. Delaney's mistake could have killed us. And because T'Var revealed what happened to us to Hsu, presumably before you had a chance to order her to, we now have no idea whether he was truly ignorant or not, whether he acted with good or ill intentions. Once he saw that Hardin had left the resort, what was the purpose of locking things down? All that did was delay us from opening the transporter room, with no apparent purpose.

"Frankly I have viewed Hsu with a jaundiced eye ever since his crew somehow managed to watch a looped video for multiple hours without noticing, then took several more to get the cameras back online. I would not trust him whether guilty or not--as I have said before, the man is a fool or a knave."

Kylah's breathing has increased and she wills herself to calm down. "Those are my thoughts, Mr. Graham." For whatever they are worth coming from a non-Security officer only two months out of the Academy--one who is merely a naïve, sheltered young Elasian woman, at that. I do not know which he esteems less.

Graham smiles ear-to-ear. Even if things are 99% fucked up, 1% of the time there's a glimmer of hope. Not that she sees this as a glimmer of hope, but it's some basis for...something. Common ground. Team work.

"I was going to send him to 'lead' watching the cameras, as I want to have a couple of our folks there anyway," he says nodding approvingly while he taps his tricorder.

He nods toward the door. "We can go back in, although if you're worried Hsu's standing there while all of our people are unconscious it wouldn't hurt to scan the room first." He then shakes his head and stops smiling.

"Your point is taken, Mr. Kylah, I'm not dismissing it, although at the moment I don't think it's necessary," he says quietly and seriously. "For what it's worth," and now he sighs just ever so slightly. "Thank you for your thoughts." He gestures for her to precede him, being sure to keep his distance.

Hsu and the others are waiting for Graham and Kylah. When they walk back into the resort's transporter room, Hsu shows them the downloaded charts of the Sandoval Colony's buildings, and offers to order a headcount of all staff and guests, as he discussed with Rangin. "Come to think of it," he says, as if struck by an idea, "we could have everyone report in by thumbprint over the resort's comm system. That would be a lot quicker than sending out my officers to actually eyeball everyone. But we could do it whichever way you want."

Kylah has no idea if Graham was seriously planning on sending Hsu off on the security camera mission before she mentioned the possibility--it sounds like mere face-saving to her, as the assignment fits neither of his two proclaimed available options. Nor is she certain if he is mocking her by implying she is paranoid in wishing to scan the room. And she is too angry and dejected to waste time reading him.

Instead, with a grimly masochistic thought--It would serve him right if we end up walking into another stun attack--she just stalks back into the transporter room, still holding herself together with her arms. Her relief at seeing Velir and the others safe allows her to relax a bit, but she quickly recalibrates her gaze to 'emotionless' while aiming it at Hsu.

For some reason the first image that springs to mind upon Hsu's suggestion is of someone holding a dead person's thumb up to a comm panel. It strikes her as fanciful but at this point Kylah cannot guess what bizarre behavior is beyond this criminal--or, more likely, criminals.

She says nothing. What would be the point? She is tired, so very tired, of being told her advice is valuable while simultaneously informed that it also will not be followed.

Rangin looks across as Graham and Kylah enter and he wonders what they have been speaking about. Both of them are looking as impassive as they left so whether anything is resolved is anyone's guess.

"Well, Mr Graham, how do we handle this?" Rangin asks clamly.

Graham claps a fist into the other hand, trying to inject some sense of momentum and team spirit into the mix. "Well, first things first," he says. "We've learned the hard way that Hardin has accessed to some unusual tech. Mr. Delaney, would you do the honors of scanning this room--and everybody in it--for listening devices and any kind of non-standard weapon or gadget, anything at all that you think deserves a second look?"

He glances at Kylah and surreptitiously gives her a little "thumbs up" to acknowledge her idea. "Let's make sure we have a clean room before we proceed further."

Rangin looks around the room at Graham's request to Delaney looking to see if anyone reacts badly to the suggestion. It had to have been aimed at Mr Hsu as the only non Starfleet person there, but it would be curious if any of the other crewman were not as happy about the suggestion.

Actually, Rangin had just gone over this room completely only 20 minutes ago, so there would be nothing in the walls, no, it could only be aimed at the people there. Perhaps Graham was even less trusting as things got worse.

The other Starfleet personnel have expressions ranging from calm to slightly puzzled, but none protest the order; a Starfleet flag officer has been very recently exposed as a possible murderer, after all. Hsu's expression is neutral.

If Kylah was numb before, the instant Graham issues his order to Delaney, all that changes. She lifts her head in stricken shock and takes an automatic step backwards. Is he mad? Why would he announce this? How can he not remember what that man did to us, and how...

She certainly cannot forget how curiously calm and still Hardin seemed, his utter lack of suspicious movements, just before the world suddenly went black. Whatever that stun field device is, it obviously takes a mere instant to trigger, and almost no preparation to do so. Even someone as experienced with weapons as Graham, his phaser already aimed at Hardin, wasn't fast enough to prevent the attack.

She swallows, her mouth dry. It is only a dim likelihood that Hsu or any of the hotel staff security are similarly armed. But if they are, by announcing his intent to the entire room, Graham has made them all sitting ducks. Why would he not simply play along and then scan everyone secretly? Or at least separate Hsu and do the scan in private, albeit somewhere visible--find a room with a window, step just outside the doorway, anything--so that if there is some device he's hiding, Graham would be the only one affected. Right now the entire landing party is in jeopardy.

Her breath catches in her throat as she picks out Hsu, trying to read his emotions. Is he alarmed? Suspicious? Confused? Angry? She widens her focus to look desperately around the room. Is anyone giving off any unusual emotions? In a hopeless attempt to forestall someone from reacting, she weakly stammers out: "Mr. Graham, perhaps--perhaps now is not the right time or place..."

"I think I can save us the trouble, "says Rangin brusquely, "I scanned this room completely about twenty minutes ago. It's clean. The only annoyance was the door locking in that time for no reason. Probably to stop us using it. That might be something to consider. The transporter has been checked, its not been used." Rangin nods at Harper and Friedman.

"As for scanning everyone, if you don't trust me, or anyone else here, Mr Graham, perhaps you would prefer it if we reported back to the ship and stayed there..."

Rangin looks around the associated people working out who feels the same way. Graham may be an old dog in Security, but he was brand new to the USS Yorktown.

"...but I will point something out. If Hardin is running for the old Sandoval Colony, in the pouring rain, its going to take him 20-30 minutes. He will be arriving there right about now. We have a transporter right here, which will put us right on top of him....if we decide to trust each other and if you can decide what we should be doing in the next two minutes."

Kylah looks at Velir, for a fleeting instant seeing him as almost the same exaggerated, idealistic caricature that Graham sees. Her heart feels as if it has dropped into her stomach. Why would he say something so petulant? How can he not understand why an abundance of caution is required?

Perhaps because he did not stand in front of the presumably trustworthy Comptroller of all of Starfleet and get stunned unconscious for ten minutes. Ten helpless minutes, during which time anything could have happened to them. Kylah shudders from the thought of having been so vulnerable, so unable to defend herself.

And the agonizing pain afterwards. Velir did not experience that, either.

"If you wish to aim your contempt at anyone, Mr. Rangin, you may focus it on me," Kylah says tightly as she walks closer to him--and Mr. Hsu. "I was the one to advise scanning personnel. Anyone with whom we come in contact, regardless whether they wear a Starfleet uniform. It was no less than a Starfleet Vice Admiral who attacked us.

"And, with the great respect you know I have for you, unless that scan you took twenty minutes ago managed to create a time portal and thereby examined everyone who has since entered the room, I see little reason to be pacified by it. Forgive me," she adds in a quieter but still brittle voice, "but I just awoke to find myself sprawled on the floor like garbage, or--or a corpse. I do not wish a repeat of that incident, nor do I wish to be in that position permanently, simply because we chose not to hurt some feelings."

She is now behind Mr. Hsu and Velir, facing Graham. "But by now someone in possession of that weapon could have blasted us ten times over. Scanning will do no good when performed in public having been announced in advance. If you are still accepting my suggestions, Mr. Graham, I agree that we should ask for a head count, as Mr. Hsu proposes--followed by an attempt to transport to the Colony.

"I also recommend that you send some of our security team to view the surveillance camera set-up themselves. Someone with a lot of technical knowledge got into that system before; since we still have no idea how that was accomplished, much less by whom, I think we should place a high priority on ensuring that this does not occur again."

She continues to measure Hsu's responses, if at all possible. He has not proven to be as difficult to read as Hardin was.

Rangin waits for Kylah to finish as she runs through. When Kylah mentions that she and Graham had spent ten minutes unconscious, Rangin mentally kicks himself. Kylah had said earlier she had lost ten minutes, but Rangin had glossed over it more concerned with making sure she was alright instead. She had obviously been hurt than he had thought.

But to consider scanning everyone, such a knee-jerk reaction, trusting no-one, well Hardin may have given her a solid reason as to why. It was still wrong though, an impetuous action, and to say that it anyone who disagreed has hurt feelings, well that was a dangerous path to walk down. So many freedoms removed just from the precedent of just this once. In what was this this better than Graham spying on everyone with the resort's security. Rangin is genuinely quite angry with Kylah's proposal, especially from her, the sodden clothes doing nothing to cool his temper.

When she finishes, Rangin answers Kylah as she stands behind him, while staring ahead. "No contempt, just a general disagreement in principle on the matter of trust. Now isn't the time for that particular discussion though," he says coldly.

He looks across at Graham, not caring about scanning anymore, "Suggestions? Head count is a given, let's find out who else, if anyone, is missing. I'd also recommend cutting any power to that area. Any energy signatures will then be Hardin's. If he knows to avoid the cameras, there is no point having them on. You could also stick a couple of spotters on the hill over here," Rangin gestures on the map, "and watch to see if he sticks his head out."

Rangin calmed himself with thoughts of the animals he knew, let Hardin be the prey, why search by sight alone. "Also, if no-one else is there, the only person around will be Hardin. He'll be the only body heat and animal signature for a mile or so around. This is OC3 after all. He will stand out like a sore thumb leaving heat traces everywhere even in this rain."

There was another grim smile, "and that little modification to my tricorder from Lt. Delaney will come up a treat. A scent trail over open fresh grass and ground. Those don't vanish in the rain, unless he does."

Rangin's anger at Kylah turns into a slow burn against Hardin as well. A traitorous flag officer, no longer standing for what the Federation meant, destroying trust in friends and corrupting others. Rangin was now itching to get his hands on him.

Her gaze shifting to take in the rigidness of Rangin's stance, Kylah knows he is disappointed in her; she can feel the warmth of his anger. She crams down the pain of having elicited such a reaction--she earned it when she claimed responsibility for the scanning idea.

Of course, the only person she actually begged Graham to check was Hsu. But now that Graham has broadcast the plan to everyone, of course he had to pretend the entire group was under suspicion--and she followed his lead, taking the virtual phaser fire in Graham's stead. Why not, if it will defuse the situation and throw Hsu off the scent. Her teammates might be annoyed with her seeming paranoia, but it will not be the first time, nor likely the last, where she has been despised by her colleagues.

Velir being one of them, however... that hurts more than she would have thought possible.

She hopes she can explain things to him later. If there is a later.

Graham reminds himself to ask Mahmoud if there's something in the water on the Yorktown that gives people distemper...

"Let's stay focused on the fugitive people," he says, shaking his head. "No disrespect Mr. Rangin, but you're a biologist, not an engineer. Whatever Hardin had was unfamiliar tech to all of us--if you'd just tuned up an alien warp core 20 minutes ago I'd still like Delaney to look at that too." He nods at Delaney. "Please conduct that scan, sir...and check the transporter while you're at it, so we don't conveniently beam ourselves into space thanks to a booby trap Hardin left behind."

He looks around the room and adds--with a little bit of old Earth John Wayne--"Anyone thinks I'm being an asshole they can get in line, I'm sure they'll have plenty of company." He points over one shoulder with his thumb as if that's where the queue should form. This has the added benefit of aggressively flexing his deltoids and bicep as he does it.

Now there's a little bit of command theatre, he thinks, amused. Rangin will probably need a sedative--at least the Doc's right here. He has to resist shaking his head. Maybe it'll help convince the Security folks someone's actually in charge of this chicken outfit...

"As I've already discussed with the Captain," he says calmly but with some emphasis, "our first best option is detecting Hardin with the ship's sensors, hopefully well enough to get a lock on him. It cascades down from there to house to house if necessary. So your points are well taken, Mr. Kylah, Mr. Rangin. We'll get to it in just a minute."

This time he does shake his head. "Speaking of being an asshole--thumbprint check-in would be efficient--and keep your officers out of the rain, Mr. Hsu," he says, with some sincere regret for making fellow group-pounders' job that much more unpleasant. "But I have to conclude that since we still haven't figured out how core systems were hacked we ought to do an in-person count of guests. Maybe I can get them a round of nice warmed brandy when this is over."

"Now, finally, I've got a couple officers of our own in the Security office--but they won't know squat compared to you about operate cameras and power systems...as Mr. Rangin points out, being able to manage those systems strategically could be an extra edge ...I'd appreciate if man that station personally, Mr. Hsu."

Kylah senses that Hsu is a little excited by the situation, and puzzled by the discussion among Graham and the others, but doesn't seem to be deceptive or striving to hide something. He says, "The Sandoval Colony isn't that far away. Hardin could have made it there by now, especially if he was running."

Delaney unlimbers his tricorder and scans both the people and the room. "Nothing out of the ordinary here, Mr. Graham," he says. He adjusts the controls. "Now comparing my readings to Rangin's from earlier... and they appear to match." He then checks the transporter, running a full diagnostic, and finds no booby traps or dangerous settings.

Hsu says, "OK, I'll go to the Security Office now, and start the headcount of staff and guests. It could take awhile, but we'll begin right away." He leaves.

There is a long, louder rumble of thunder outside, and the lights dim for a moment before coming back up.

As soon as Hsu leaves, Graham hails the Yorktown Security officers at the Security Office and asks them if he can speak to them privately.

If they say yes,he gives them a quick rundown: Hsu is not a suspect at this time and has been cooperative, but that we can't rule him out, so stay alert and keep an eye on him and let Graham know of anything weird.

Kylah looks at the floor for some time, takes a deep breath, and then walks up to the mission commander. When he is through speaking to the security team, she speaks quietly, the words aimed at his chest.

"Mr. Graham. I believe both you and I--and likely everyone on this team--know that I will be of little further use in the effort to capture Vice Admiral Hardin. I have no technical, strategic or fighting skills. I am more a liability than a help, just one more body you will have to worry about. If I brought anything of value to this mission thus far, which is debatable, it was in performing interviews. Should you find Hardin, I highly doubt you will be in need of that service."

She swallows and shakes her head. "On the other hand, perhaps looking at past evidence might be helpful. At least, it is one thing I can reasonably expect to accomplish. Even I cannot fail at reading." Finally she lifts her gaze to meet his, briefly, before looking past his shoulder. "With that in mind, I request permission to return to the CP."

Achoo. The sound of Rangin's sneeze echoes through the transporter room.

"Oh that's just great isn't it." sarcasm dripping from every word. The last thing Rangin wanted was to have to stop now, but he'd been left soaked and standing up for the last five or ten minutes. The rooms may have been warm, but standing around in wet clothes was never good for anyone, well apart from a couple of mer-species on some planets where it was necessary.

He was not surprised Graham hadn't noticed. In between his posturing, his ego and general lack of respect for anyone not in Security, Graham would have happily let anyone stand there like that all day.

Rangin glances across at where Kylah and Graham are standing, not wanting to say anything until, at least, they have resolved what Kylah was going to do.

Kylah's words are punctuated by a loud sneeze from Rangin, and Graham can feel his chest tighten. If it's not one thing it's another for God's sake...

He starts opening his mouth to reply and then what she's said starts sink in.

Wait--just out of the Academy. On top of everything else, she's probably never been stunned before...All this shit's happening on your watch, you owe it to her to help navigate that path between being sensibly afraid, and letting fear dictate your actions. Between realizing you screwed up and deciding you're good for nothing... Everyone has to learn to do that as an officer...

The realization hits him with a hell of a lot more force than Hardin's stun device: Just the way you've handed it as a father, eh Booker?

What have I done...?

He feels like he's staring at the side of the young woman's head for a hundred years. The echo of his sins of the past ten years over and above his mistakes of the past few says are like the thunder outside wrapping around the sound of a single drop of rain hitting the ground....

What

have

I

done

to

her?

It takes him closing his mouth and swallowing a couple times to reply at barely more than a whisper.

"You've earned the right to be a part of this mission in any way you want. If you hadn't you wouldn't be here now."

He clears his throat. "Still a lot of loose ends. If anybody can make progress on them, it's you and Garcia in the CP if you want that assignment."