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

Wait...I'm going to get eaten by some kind of were-Rangin? Graham thinks. Not how I expected to go out...

Graham begins trying to move first individually concentrating hard on just one and then alternating between trying combinations or one big motion all at once. Might as well try to see if there's a way to push against this paralysis, he thinks. It's obviously not perfect--witness Mrs. Hsu and Hardin not being perfectly brainwashed or controlled.

It's all making sense: they were pawns for Palver. On the flip side, Mrs. Hsu was probably trying to get up here to...get revenge? A better deal? She probably wasn't copacetic with how things went down--but why the hell take the fall instead of playing ball? He would shrug if he could: at least given what we've heard I was on-target with a conspiracy arrest...

From as best he can tell, Kylah and Rangin are seriously upset about what's happening to Rangin. Still, the status quo is unacceptable and he's armed: it seems best to prevent Palver from doing anything drastic to Ranginbefore whatever's happening, hopefully, disrupts Palver's control. I can always stun Rangin and we can get him to Sick Bay, he thinks.

"Hey Palver, did you get a warranty on this whole mind control thing? " he says. "I mean, you said Hardin was resistant, and we intercepted Mrs. Hsu--it seems to me Mrs. Hsu was gunning for you until we got in her way."

Kylah can feel the agitation radiating from Velir, and she is so worried about him that her empathic link is even greater than usual. She wants to scream at her utter inability to do a single damnable thing--she, a person with psychic abilities, is useless in a situation where she should have been able to rise to the occasion.

In addition to being a failure at a weakness she has tried most to conquer in herself, Kylah feels strangely distant from her surroundings. Instead of being an active participant in what is happening, she might as well be a mere audience member forced to watch a play crafted for the amusement of some demented playwright.

As she despairs at her situation, incomprehensibly unable to reach out to Velir despite the fact that she has been able to contact others in times of great stress, she can still sense his alarm and she aches for him, and fears for what might happen. And then...

Her breath catches. She sends her sharp gaze swiftly down toward Velir's feet before glancing up at his face. He has regained some control, she is sure of it. He can move! How? What does it mean? Is it really the Sakathian virus? Or is he somehow... immune? But Coridanites have never displayed any psi abilities before. Kylah has researched such things extensively due to her own strange abilities and knows fully well how few Federation races have ever displayed such skills. Far-flung species, unique societies, yes. But almost none in the Federation itself.

Then again, Rhaandarites are also supposed to be passive, subservient, and without psi abilities either. How can one explain Palver? And myself as well, I am an anomaly. But her differences from other Elasians are somewhat understandable, at least according to her family and the one physician they allowed to examine her. It is a mutation from her birth parents' shameful interspecies union. Is Palver also of mixed heritage?

It does not matter. The truth remains: Velir is either transforming and must get access to the spores as soon as possible, or he is somehow fighting the mental control and must be protected from Palver's attention. If he can act, we might be saved. Or at least two of us might. Someone must distract Palver.

Even as she thinks this, Graham starts questioning their captor. She looks at him keenly. He is a fighter. He is Velir's best chance, if Velir turns out to be ill. Why should he put himself at risk for Palver's wrath in such a way? If anyone is expendable it is Kylah. At the very least, if they all speak up at once he might lose more of his grasp on all of them.

When Graham has finished speaking Kylah spits out: "Do not dare accuse Velir Rangin of lying, you coward. He is an honorable man, something of which you know nothing. It is true, he was attacked by creatures with a contagious virus that turn their prey into vicious beasts--although they were no more vicious than you. Indeed their acts were excusable. They killed because it was their animal instinct, nothing more, nothing malicious. You--you are a filthy criminal who will get exactly what he deserves when the truth is known.

"And it will be known, Palver, no matter how you corrupt our minds. You are not the genius you think you are. You have left too many holes in your master plan. Multiple people outside your sphere of influence already know what you have done--ILG is now tainted and will not get the contract for which you have destroyed so many lives." She lowers her voice. "If you value your life at all, give this up now. Let us go. Or--or at least, let the others go and take me. If money is your prize, I can get it for you. my family is royal and will pay you a bounty worth far more than a contract that is now doomed thanks to your mishandled scheme!"

Palver looks at Kylah crossly, and she finds herself instantly silenced.

In that instant, Rangin senses Palver's mental control of him slip further, and realizes that he can now move even more. Enough to grab my phaser? To throw myself at Palver? He cannot be sure. He tries to flex his toes on both feet, concealed within his boots from their captor, and finds that he is able to do so.

Graham can't fault Kylah for trying to draw Palver's attention and distract him--if that is indeed what she's doing. He's less thrilled about her becoming the target of his ire while he sits helpless nearby.

She clearly made some progress on both as he looks daggers at her and her abrupt silence makes Graham think it wasn't voluntary. "Well, well," Graham says. "Did picking on doddering old men prove too taxing, so now you're turning your attention to tiny young women. Tell me, did you at least give a pencil-neck like Wilson some chance at defending himself, or was that too much for you to stomach, big guy?"

Breathe... Rangin tries to calm himself as he can feel his body start to respond to his commands.

Breathe... He can hear Kylah's words, how she feels about him, it breaks his heart thinking they may only have a few more minutes together.

Breathe... He can hear Graham pick up when Kylah is silenced, is he trying to buy time?

Breathe... If they are silenced, would Rangin have a chance to do something before he turned. Could he?

...

A hide, a hill over looking a lake, Carran National Park, Coridan.

"What's wrong." asked Lextra amusedly.

"Aaah...pins...pins and needles. I've been sat still for too long." Rangin gritted his teeth as he clutched at his leg.

Lextra laughed quietly as she peered through her image enhancer at the lake outside. "I told you so. You need to learn to relax and practice..."

"...says the person with thirty years experience in nature watching." Rangin was busy pounding at his thigh muscle trying to get the feeling back into it.

"You're young, you'll learn. Especially if you want to do any long term hiding anywhere to watch nature quietly." Lextra admonished him. "They are good techniques, you'll get the hang of it...and if you can hurry up we have an incoming flock of something far more interesting than your right leg."

....

Relax... Slowly Rangin starts flexing his muscles silently and quietly to see what will move. At least that way, he would know how far contagion might have spread through his system and maybe he could use it to his advantage after all.

Palver switches his attention to Graham, and his glare at Kylah is replaced by an unconvincing mask of bonhomie. He says, "I won't bore you with the details, Mr. Graham. I long ago learned that my enemies don't deserve a fair fight. Rather, Wilson deserved death, and I gave him that. As I could still give it to you, or to any of you. Don't test my patience."

Taking advantage of Palver's distraction, Rangin flexes his muscles and thinks he can now move his legs and arms. He moves his head just slightly forward and back, hoping Palver won't notice, and finds that he can move it, too. He also feels better now. He is coming to doubt that his Sakathian infection is returning, but wonders if perhaps it changed him somehow. His mind races. Something about the interplay between Coridanite physiology and the Sakathian virus... something a Rhaandarite esper can't quite understand, or maybe control for long....

Graham would shake his head--if he could. Hard to believe but this may be the biggest shit sandwich of my career. Sitting here, paralyzed, dicking around with this douche bag while I'm waiting for some sort of crazed Rangin-monster's fangs to plunge into the back of my neck...

He's fatalistic enough not to feel panic but he's not at all happy about the fact that next after him from the were-Rangin direction is Kylah, while she's likewise defenseless against Palver as well.

"Enemy? Deserved to die? Do tell," Graham says, returning Palver's false bon homie with simulated curiosity. "I thought he was more like an obstacle--a scheming bureaucrat who just happened to be in the way. Or did he boff your girlfriend or something--our boy Wilson did seem to have a problem keeping his hands to himself."

Palver laughs. You can tell he intends it to be easy and booming, but there is a brittle quality to it. He says, "Quite so. Mr. Wilson never met my 'girlfriend,' as you put it, so he would never have had the chance to make any of what I am sure would be most unwelcome advances. And yes, I certainly knew of his tastes in that regard. But I detest indiscipline and disloyalty, and he embodied both; he had become lost in both. In doing so, he was in my way. His life was forfeit. His death served my broader purposes, and thus he deserved his fate."

Rangin stays quiet and still, letting Palver concentrate on Graham who seems to be doing a fine job of provoking him. Must a be a natural talent, Rangin thinks as he finishes slowly testing out each muscle group.

Casting his mind back, he tries to remember what the next symptoms were from the virus. Flu like, well they hadn't happened yet, but it couldn't be too long. Rangin hoped that Palver's mental block wasn't also keeping the symptoms in check, because if he released it, it was going to hit him like a tidal wave.

Think: best way to stop him, phaser at side. Count how long: One, Two: move hand to phaser, unclip from belt. Three, Four: thumb the setting and aim. Five: fire and damn the consequences if it was a little higher than usual. No, he would face those consequences after they were free. Graham could undoubtedly do that it two, but Rangin was not as well practiced.

Five seconds: how could he distract Palver for five seconds?

There were so few things around to distract Palver: perhaps Omicron Ceti III, perhaps the bar, after all Palver was sat down near to them.

Rangin waited to see how Graham got under Palver's skin next before reacting. But every moment longer meant a little more freedom, but also meant the possibility of the virus taking over.

What a fine line to tread.

Stressed over being able to do nothing, Kylah falls in a dead faint.

"Dammit!" Graham shouts in surprise as Kylah appears to failnt. He roars in frustration as he's trying with every fibre of his being to try to stop her from falling--but can't move. "God dammit...!"

"Kylah", Rangin shouts as he hears her collapse. All thoughts of what may be happening to him are gone and he cannot help but glance across, turning his head slightly, not caring whether Palver is watching or not.

Having seen Kylah crumple his eyes and head snap back upright to Palver to the position they were before.

"What the hell have you done to her, your cretinous, despicable hypocrite. Your pathetic and baseless words are matched only by your actions those of a petty, corrupt official. Attacking the smallest person in this room; you're a lying, conniving miserable excuse for businessman whose experience in the field is as obviously limited as his thought processes. You may be able to sit there and act all lordly, but without that ability, you would be nothing more than someone's. Personal. BITCH."

Rangin rages against Palver, not caring what happens next, his only concern is for Kylah and if that means taking down Palver, no matter what his condition. So Be. It.

As Kylah falls, Palver's attention shifts entirely to her, and Rangin feels the Rhaandarite billionaire's control drop away from him at once, as if a light switch has been thrown. He knows he can now move freely.

The instant that it looks like Palver is going to be spending more than five-ish seconds focused on something other Rangin, while Rangin himself remains unnoticed by Palver, Rangin will pull the phaser and fire as he has already planned out.

Palver is just rising from his seat and reaching into his dressing gown's pocket when Rangin's phaser blast stuns him. He falls to the deck in a heap.

Graham feels Palver's control of him instantly vanish.

Kylah stirs slightly.

"Graham, check Palver, make sure he's unconscious. I'd stun him again to make sure." Rangin orders not caring that Graham is supposedly his superior, or for the fallen Rhaandarite he had just stunned.

Rangin immediately drops down to where Kylah had fallen and tenderly picks her up up and puts her back into the chair. "Kylah, Kylah are you alright?", his voice wracked with concern. Unaware if she is alright or not, he gently moves a few of the strands of her hair from where the had fallen from across her eyes. "Please, please be alright," he whispers quietly to her.

With all that's happening, Graham is at one level bemused that something he'd seen in old Earth vids pops into his mind: Well, Rangin ate his Wheaties today.

That doesn't distract him though. He springs up, drawing his phaser with one hand and communicator with the other. "Graham to Yorktown. Palver is our killler. I need Security team, phaser two's, and medical team, equipped with sedatives and portable stasis field if possible, here, now."

As soon as he can stow his communicator he rolls Palver onto his stomach, places a knee in the small of his back, and uses his free hand to search him. He doesn't know what Rangin's phased was set to, so he assumes the worst case, a very light stun: he starts a mental count back from ninety seconds, prepared to stun Palver again within a window where it's highly unlikely he'll wake up.

He's concerned about Kylah, but given the whole Sakathian thing it's possibly a bigger issue that she's being tended to by Rangin. "Mr. Rangin," he says sharply, "your...uh, status?"

"Status. Concerned. Oh wait, you mean my status..." Rangin shakes his head as he gets his tricorder out and starts scanning himself, dreading to see the tell tale traces of an active Sakathian virus as he did before.

"Give me ten seconds, I know what I'm looking for."

"I just need to know if I need to shoot you," Graham replies to Rangin. "Nothing personal," he adds.

Kylah moans a little and stirs in Rangin's arms, but says nothing. She seems to be emerging from her faint, though.

Rangin's scan reveals no indication that the Sakathian virus is active in his bloodstream. His brain scan is very odd, however - his serotonin, tryptamine and 4-alvaelin neurotransmitter levels are all elevated. He feels very good.

Graham finds nothing on Palver other than, in his pocket, a stun gadget identical to the one Vice Adm. Hardin was carrying. Rangin's phaser-1 was set on stun, as is standard procedure; Graham does not know how long this will keep a Rhaandarite unconscious - especially one of Palver's unusual neural makeup. The billionaire seems totally unconscious, though.

Lt. Thalen acknowledges Graham's message. Within minutes, six pillars of transporter energy shimmer into being, resolving into four Security officers (Ens. Mahmoud and three others), phaser-2s in hand, as well as Dr. Miriam Villa, the Yorktown's Chief Medical Officer, and a medtech. The two in blue go to Kylah and Palver, respectively.

Mahmoud looks around. Despite his friendship with Graham, he is crisply professional. "Orders, sir?"

Rangin falls back with a relieved sigh into the chair next to Kylah before calling across to Graham

"I'm fine, there's nothing there. No virus. So very odd readings, some levels elevated but I'm not going to attempt to rip everyone on the ship into tiny little pieces. I'll probably get one of the docs to take a look, see if they can work out what happened. Personally, I don't care, it's over. Also, I suggets holding off on informing the rest of the crew here about the fate of Mr Palver until after we get some reinforcements."

Rangin scans over Kylah, and takes an initial reading before making a disgusted noise. "Kylah should be fine soon, but may be out of it for a while."

When Dr. Villa does turn up, Rangin hovers nervously over her tending to Kylah waiting to see what the outcome is.

Dr. Villa scans Kylah and frowns. "What happened to her, Ensign?" she asks Rangin.

"It appears Mr Palver has certain psychic abilities including suggestion, mind control and probably other applications. He was using them on us to keep us sat still while he monologued about how intelligent he was, how he had planned it all, how foolish and stupid we were for thinking we would ever come close to working out his master plan, and generally covering every bad villain trope you could imagine. Ens. Kylah bravely threw it back in his face, pointing out all the inconsistencies and follies he had committed and that he really was not all that clever after all." Rangin says proud of the stand Kylah had taken. "Mr Palver took it rather badly silencing her rather than listen to the truths she so boldly uttered."

"Please tell me she is going to be alright or I will be sorely tempted to ensure Fellim Palver never uses those powers again."

She stands in her black dress, held closely to a strong male form. Sleepy and powerless to stop the dance, she finds it pleasurable but still not right, not what she intended. At first she thinks she is alone with him, but when her partner--he is tall and light-haired, it must be Jan--turns her in time with the music, Kylah realizes that Velir and Graham are watching. Her skin turns hot in embarrassment and she tries to struggle out of Jan's arms. Though her mind issues the command, her body will not comply.

She demands to be released and begs for help. Jan does not listen, and the others do not move, as trapped as she is. Every ounce of her mental will focuses on breaking free, but his will is greater and he forces her compliance. She is nothing but a rag doll, an object to be manipulated. Suddenly she is seated on the edge of a chair, where her captor looms over her.

The chair is now a bed and Jan is climbing on top of her. Before she can think he has removed her knife, her dress, and her dignity. He smiles at her naked form and she starts to scream again--yet this time there is not a sound. Her very voice has been stripped from her. Only her tearful eyes can plead for mercy. When she opens them, she discovers to her shock that the figure above her is no longer Jan, but Fellim Palver.

No longer content with paralyzing and silencing her mentally, he crams his mouth on hers, muffling even the sound of her breathing; his body weighs her down, and his will completely subsumes her own. At last Palver laughs and in one instant simultaneously invades her mind and body.

She is both physically numb and in utter psychic agony. Knowing Velir and Graham are witnessing this makes it all so, so much worse.

Every time she opens her eyes, the sight changes: one second it is Palver and the next it is Jan. She cannot tell the difference. Maybe there is no difference. To them she is just a body to be used, a mind to be enslaved, and there is nothing, nothing she can do. She knows she should have been strong enough to fight this, which only deepens her shame. The embarrassment, helplessness and terror are suffocating her.

All at once the weight is gone. Now someone is picking her limp body and depositing it back on the chair. Though Palver and Jan have gotten what they wanted, apparently they still are not done with her. Dimly she hears Velir's voice, hoarse with concern. That only makes it worse.

"I am sorry," she moans, blinking her eyes and seeing nothing but a blur of red and blue. "It is my fault, I should have stopped it. Forgive me, I failed, I have completely failed you..."

Graham gestures for Mahmoud and the medical team to pay attention as he opens a channel to the Yorktown.

"Yorktown please implement protocols for a Rhaandharite prisoner with an unknown degree of psionic ability-- Palver's manifested some sort of mind control ability--he held us paralyzed, and caused us to move at his direction. He claims he influenced Hardin and Hsu's actions. Range unknown but three of us in line of sight --other than Rangin, eventually--were helpless to resist. Prisoner was stunned just now, but estimated time to consciousness unknown. He's ready for transport as soon as you are."

Graham waits for a response, adding to the CMO "Dr. Villa, my bag of tricks is limited to holding him in the transporter buffer...or stunning him again...I'm sure I and the rest of Security would appreciate your guidance."

"Ens. Mahmoud, this ship will need to be secured and searched, and the crew interviewed: Palver's used it before, and we don't know for sure whether they are just along for the ride, complicit, or under his influence--Palver's clearly been hip deep in all kinds of bad shit, so I'd like you to take charge of making sure we seize his records and leave things tied up with a bow for the Starfleet investigative team that's on its way."

He frowns, glancing toward Kylah--while glad Rangin and the doctor don't seem to think she's in danger, he's still worried about what the hell happened and whether she's all right. It took guts to go at Palver like that. He's even worried about Rangin: on the one hand, he would have assumed Rangin would be squeamish about using force, but to the contrary, he seems ready to start kicking Palver while he's down...

"I'd like to get the team back to Yorktown...and report in to Vargas and the Captain."

Rangin reaches across and gently holds one of Kylah's hands in both his own as she slowly returns to consciousness. It's probably not good protocol and it may raise Dr Villa's eyebrows somewhat, but at this point Rangin doesn't care.

"Kylah, it's ok, you're back now. You didn't fail anyone, you succeeded. Palver has been stopped." Rangin says clearly to Kylah hoping his voice can cut through the grogginess.

Cmdr. Vargas replies over the comm channel, "Acknowledged, Mr. Graham. Stand by for transport."

Dr. Villa frowns more deeply and asks Rangin, "But why did Ens. Kylah faint? Was it something Mr. Palver did? I see nothing wrong with her."

The doctor says to Kylah, "Just lie still, Ensign. We'll be taking you back to the Yorktown shortly."

Then she says to Graham, "I'll sedate Mr. Palver. No need to stun him again." She speaks quietly to the medtech, takes out a hypospray from her medkit, selects a vial, and injects the billionaire.

Mahmoud replies, "Understood, sir. I know there are eight crew aboard. We'll secure the ship; consider it done." He and his team move out.

Whiloe Kylah is waking up Rangin frowns at Dr Villa. "Nothing. Really? How odd, here are the readings from my tricorder taking several minutes ago. Its not a full medical scan but I did notice a few things." Rangin reads off the data display from his earlier findings. "Heightened epinephrine levels, blood pressure exceedingly high, slight toxic shock in most muscle groups, brain patterns and some chemicals signatures all over the place, even for an Elasian. I would guess that Palver realised he was about to lose control of her and overdid it. Slight constriction to the carotid would have done it and left no trace by now. It was only when he turned his full attention to her that he seemed to completely lose control of me. Before I forget, there are also some readings from myself as well that I can't make head nor tail of. Could you take a look?"

Dazed and disconnected from her surroundings, Kylah is not certain where she is or who is crowding her. She feels someone take her hand and immediately receives a flood of emotions--pleasure, elation, energy--from whoever it is. Instinctively she tries to pull away but cannot. All the talking noises sound distorted, as if she's listening from underwater. One man's soft but firm voice talks for a long time. His tone is calming but she cannot understand the words. She feels the grip around her hand tighten, not painfully.

Something one person said gets through to her at last. "Lie still," she repeats, and shakes her dizzy head. "No, no, I need to move. I must move. I cannot breathe, I--" She blinks and at last recognizes the man holding on to her. "Velir? It is really you?" Lifting her free hand, she touches his face in wonder. "You are not hurt," she exhales. "What--what happened, is Mr. Graham all right?"

Her heart starts pounding again and, grabbing Velir's shoulder for support, she tries to stand up. "Where is Palver? Did he--" She looks down in confusion as if expecting to find herself naked, but then flushes and again attempts to turn around. "Where is he?"

As Kylah struggles up, Rangin lends a hand helping her stand. "Graham's fine and so am I. Can't believe it, Palver must have been more worried of you than he was of Ens. Graham. So very brave, indeed. Without you, we would probably be mind wiped and back on Omicron Ceti III saying how helpful Palver was and that he had nothing to do with the crimes below." Rangin squeezes Kylah's hand in appreciation of her bravery.

"As for Palver himself, he's over there, sleeping the sleep of the stunned and now heavily medicated. He won't be doing that to anyone again."

As Kylah tries to follow Velir's explanation, she stares first toward Graham to make sure Velir is telling the truth, and then down where his tilting head has indicated Palver's prone body.

"I, brave...?" She frowns, trying to remember. "No, Velir. You were the one. I knew you were breaking free. I just tried to distract him--then he stifled me, and I could not speak or do anything. It was too much." Her head shakes over and over again, not wanting to remember how helpless, suffocated and small she felt. "But you were able to move, when Graham and I could not. How did that happen? I knew but could not understand why--"

Kylah realizes what she is saying and stops abruptly, her lips still parted. After a quick search for an excuse, she stammers: "I... I think Palver accidentally pushed some of his thoughts into mine, and he knew his hold on you was slipping. That is how I knew it too. I was clearly too weak to resist his mind control."

This much is the truth, at any rate. Her failure fills her with shame, even though none of the others can possibly understand. "No, I was not brave. But I suppose you were the one to stun him? Then you saved us. It was you." She turns and searches out Graham for support, desperate to take the attention off herself. "Is that not what happened?"

Graham's relieved to sees Kylah awake--although he also can't help but notice that she and Rangin are perhaps having a tender moment...?

He thanks the Security team and Dr. Villa then takes a few steps toward the pair. "Nice shot, Mr. Rangin," he says with a nod. He shrugs and smiles slightly. "I'm sure you must have been tempted to use a wide-angle setting that caught me in the back as well, so I appreciate that you stayed focused on the mission...."

More softly and seriously he asks "How are you feeling, Mr. Kylah? I think you startled us all--but that included Palver, to good effect, as it turned out."

"I feel better," Kylah says quietly. It is not entirely a lie. Her heart is still racing while her head continues to swim, but at least now she seems to be getting enough oxygen. "I wish I had been of more use, instead of..." She shakes her head, unwilling to use the word victim even though that is all she is. "But what I wish most is to understand what happened. Palver gave us nothing but what he wanted us to hear. We must try to make sense of it, for he will never tell us the full truth."

She moves closer to him but tries to include Velir and Dr. Villa in her questions. "Can Hardin's mind be returned to normal? He was obviously part of the conspiracy but I do not, I can not believe he was actually at the scene of the crime. Palver seemed intent on forcing us to believe that he was, one absurd story after another." Kylah's legs seem wobbly and with a whispered apology she holds on to Graham's elbow for support. "Will we bring them all up to the Yorktown to keep in custody? The two in the infirmary, as well as Mr. Hsu?"

The mention of the infirmary makes her frown. A stray thought is bothering her. She looks uneasily back up at Graham, then to Velir. "May we speak for one moment in private? Palver... Palver said something. Something he should not have known."

The tiny hand grips his elbow...but so lightly, so fretfully.

Elizabeth shifts under the covers and moans slightly.

Ten minutes later.

"Look, Booker, it's a new mutation of the virus, but the civilian docs have got it licked, I wouldn't bullshit you about this, she'll be fine."

"In five to seven days," Graham replies to his former shipmate, Dr. Yuri Kurosawa, on the video screen. "Too long." He glances over his shoulder back toward the bedroom of the apartment on Earth he'd only reached on family leave twenty-four hours ago.

Kurosawa frowns. "I know how you feel--I have a daughter too..."

"And she still has a father--even after Tau VI," Graham interrupts. "You must have something better. Tell me you've never slipped an Admiral something out of military stores for their kid..."

The doctor sighs. "Dammit Booker, the relevant shit is stocked in case the Klingons hit us with a bioweapon...I could get in big trouble for this..." He shakes his head. "All right, give mean hour...the meds I'll get to you should get Lizzy back on her feet within the next twenty four."

"Thank you, Yuri," Graham says quietly.

Graham is surprised and momentarily disoriented when Kylah takes his elbow. For an instant he's afraid she might fall, and his opposite shoulder goes so far as to twitch into motion to support her--until he realizes it's not necessary.

He clears his throat. "Uh, well, the arrests for Hardin and Mrs. Hsu clearly stand--they were involved. Hopefully--they can be, ah, freed from whatever influence, and they ought to have a lot more incentive to come clean if Palver's the architect of this thing. And sounds like, whatever his embellishments, he's the worst of the lot anyway..."

He trails off, distracted by the situation: you're an idiot about stuff like this, Booker, so you're probably all wrong. But... after the Ferguson thing, that Jan character...should I be relieved there's a--uh, Kylah and Rangin thing...Or...

Could anyone need to be protected from Rangin?

Well, Palver apparently...

Dr. Villa looks at Rangin's tricorder, seems puzzled and says, "These readings for Mr. Kylah can't be right. There's no way her condition could change so quickly." She recalibrates the instrument. "Hmm. Well...." She sees Kylah try to rise and says distractedly, "No, please, remain on the deck, at least for now, Ensign."

She looks at the earlier scan of Rangin himself and raises her eyebrows. "This is also... extraordinary. Your neurotransmitter readings are significantly elevated, and your endorphins are pegging the meter, too. All right, I want you both back in Sickbay on the double."

She says to Graham, "Shall we all return together, Ensign, or would you rather remain here?"

"Let's go - the ship's in good hands with Mahmoud," Graham replies. "Most of what you said is Greek to me but I agree I'd like these two to get fully checked out ASAP, and I'll start tying up loose ends from Yorktown."

The thought of more scans makes Kylah alert, and she unconsciously tightens her grip around Graham's arm. "Doctor, I am all right now," she says, trying to keep her voice free from the emotions churning inside her. "I was terrified. A murderer was in control of my muscles, he had turned me into a statue and threatened my life, and then suddenly I could not even speak. It was overwhelming, I felt as if he was stifling me, and so I... collapsed. It is shameful to be that weak, but I was, and now that the situation has passed I am better." She turns back to Graham. "Sir, please, I do not want to be left out, there is something I must tell you first. With Vel--Ensign Rangin."

"If its about the case, we had better get it sorted out now instead of after a trip to sickbay or at least, give Graham all the info so he can follow it up." Rangin nods along, "it should only take a minute or two, and besides, I feel excellent. I would hope our abnormal good health given everything is not a cause for alarm, ma'am?"

"OK, ok, let's wrap things up from here first," Graham says nodding. "Please carry on, then, doctor, we'll catch up..." After a brief pause he adds "Mr. Rangin, Mr. Kylah, just give me one second, though...."

He hails the Yorktown crew on OC3 and reports that the situation is under control and they've arrested Palver--"for your ears only, further details will follow."

Using his free arm, Graham hails Yorktown and asks that Cmdr. Vargas re-submit a search warrant request for Palver's ship: "Given all that's happened sir, I expect it'll be a no-brainer, but we might as well dot-the-is and cross-the-t's sir...I've asked Ens. Mahmoud to take control of the vessel for the time being--we'll return to Yorktown shortly."

He also pings Mahmoud: "Ensign, I'm intending to head back to Yorktown shortly--please let me know your status and if you need anything. I apprised Yorktown and asked for a search warrant."

After thinking (and listening to any immediate responses)he lowers his communicator. "OK, I'm all ears."

Dr. Villa says, "You're in very good shape, Ens. Rangin, especially as to neurochemistry." She scans Graham, and says, "There's nothing wrong with you, Ens. Graham, although nothing 'abnormally good,' either. As for Ens. Kylah... I still don't know why she fainted, which is cause for concern... but I can find nothing wrong with her now." She thinks for a moment and scratches her ear. "I suppose a slight delay before we return to the ship would be all right."

Cmdr. Vargas thanks Graham for the update, and will have the Starbase 27 JAG officer submit another search warrant request for the Trimalchio, based on recent events. He says, "Well done and congratulations, Mr. Graham, to you and your boarding party. Be advised, the Pyongyang, with the Starfleet investigative team, is expected to make orbit in the next ten hours, and the Silver Heron, which I understand is carrying the resort's new director and some other WR&R brass, isn't far behind. In any event, I look forward to a more complete report when you get back to the Yorktown. Vargas out."

Lt. JG Haakon Kjaerstad, as the senior Yorktown officer on the surface, has assumed command there, and also acknowledges Graham's message. He passes the word to Ens. Rawlings, still at Palver's guest house, and the others on OC3.

Ens. Mahmoud soon returns to the luxurious sitting room and reports that the Trimalchio is now secure. "We've confined all eight crewmembers to quarters, at least for the moment," he says. "The captain isn't pleased. He said he didn't know anything about Palver's crimes. For what it's worth, I'm inclined to believe him. Palver had asked him to set a course for Valca IV and prepare to break orbit within the hour."

Dr. Villa permits Kylah to stand and walk around the room - leaning on Rangin, if necessary.

It is now 1800 hours. You are all a bit tired and hungry.

Now irritated with Dr. Villa--Are Starfleet Officers not allowed to have panic attacks?--Kylah walks as far away from Palver as she can and shares her thoughts with Graham and Velir.

"I just want to make certain whether there is a procedure to prevent that man from affecting anyone, once he regains consciousness. Until his mental abilities are neutralized we cannot trust anything. And Dr. T'Var should be closely examined as well. Even though I am certain he was lying about influencing T'Var--yes, he may have tried with Dr. Halsey, but the simple fact is that neither of them could have faked the autopsy records without Dr. Villa noticing--we cannot be too careful."

Kylah focuses on Graham. "He told us so many lies, as did Hardin and the others, that the crime and its timeline are still nonsensical. He claimed he cannot operate a transporter. But he must have--one of the first things that made me suspicious of him was the fact that he got here a day earlier than we did, which matches the timing of the transporter signatures in Fastolfe's room. Kjaerstad insisted that those signatures could not have been made the day we arrived, placing them at the earliest, two days before the murder. Then, when he checked with--with a transporter expert on the Yorktown--the engineer stated that the very earliest could have been one day before Wilson died. And that coincides with Palver's arrival. So what did Palver do to create those signatures in a then-empty house, and why?

"We do not know how he removed the effects of the spores from Calvin and Fastolfe, and why he did not use the same method to implicate Ebling; I assume that he purposely neglected adding a transporter signature to Hardin's room so that we would be suspicious of him, furthering his story that Hardin was solely responsible for the crime. Meanwhile, we do not know why he stole three knives from Fastolfe rather than just one, or even two. We have no reason for the abrasion on Wilson's wrist." Kylah switches her gaze to Velir briefly, then returns to Graham. "Further, not to cast aspersions on Ensign Mahmoud's instincts about the verity of the Trimalchio's crew, there is the attempted breach on the hotel's security. Is it not likely that this originated here, on board?"

Kylah takes a deep breath and steadies herself, realizing she is still a bit lightheaded. "Palver mentioned he had operatives aware of what was going on between Hardin and Wilson. That needs to be checked as well--if someone is spying on high-level Starfleet officers, we must learn about that. Or, if the spies were on Wilson's end, then they may still be here on the planet. Finally, Wilson's behavior is not fully explained and I suppose we may never know the full details about his financial dealings, but perhaps Mrs. Wilson can get access to the information if she is his beneficiary. To whom does that Q account refer? Is there yet another Starfleet official in Wilson's pocket? And what of the Hwuen--Hardin and Prolun Jaxo were both evasive on their connection, and more should be uncovered about that before the Hwuen are allowed to leave."

She raises a hand to her forehead, rubbing it again. "I may be forgetting something. I just wanted... I want to make sure we do not forget that there are unanswered questions. You were not here for this, Mr. Graham, but after our last mission, there was much left unknown and due in part to our quarantines, we could not follow up on the facts that eluded us. I do not want that to happen here. This case has some very grave implications for corruption in Starfleet and I... I am not certain we can be sure it stops with Hardin." Kylah again shifts from Graham to Velir and back again. "Do you feel the same way?"

Kylah recalls that panic attacks resulting in fainting can be medically disqualifying for Starfleet service, since stressful situations are of course not uncommon. Fortunately, this is (as far as Dr. Villa knows) the first time it has happened to her.

Does Kylah not wish Ens. Mahmoud to hear what she says?

"Agreed," nods Rangin, "there are a lot of loose ends that make no sense, and you're right, this matter is a whole lot larger than just one murder in a resort."

Graham listens carefully, forcing himself to stay focused despite feeling increasingly hungry and tired. His acknowledgment of Kylah's concerns and Rangn's endorsement is sincere: "You don't have to convince me that Palver's a liar, nor that he probably left a trail of bodies behind him. Or that Hardin being able to get away with graft for so long suggests there might be more rot in the system within Starfleet."

He scratches his head. "All of this should be in your reports...and, of course, god willing, if our arrest--and incapacitation--of Palver makes Hsu or Hardin open up in short order, that's great..." He pauses and shrugs. "But the fact is it's just as likely Hardin or Hsu won't be cooperative until a week has elapsed, or it takes some pencil-pushers a month to unwind the web of financial transactions."

He frowns slightly, recognizing how hard it can be to let go of an assignment--especially when you're young and haven't had to do it, whether willingly or kicking-and-screaming, a hundred times before--but concerned that neither of his colleagues seem to be feeling much satisfaction for having taken down a billionaire murderer with mental powers and what sounds like an extensive history of bad shit.

"Anyway, Pyongyang is on its way to bag up the garbage and carry on any further investigation... After you both get checked out, you've got some time to get every detail into a full report, or, ah even to try to wrap up any loose ends--I'll take your suggestions, there...but, ah, you should feel good now, the team did good work."

Kylah also knows that she's been attacked or stuck in dangerous situations four times in two days, with three of those occurring in the space of about two hours today. So frankly even though Starfleet and Dr. Villa only know about the last three events, they shouldn't be surprised at a tired neophyte officer having a physical reaction to that much stress. If that causes her to be sidelined, Kylah thinks, so be it. She is not hugely impressed by Starfleet's ability to judge fitness for duty in any event, considering Vice Admiral Hardin's venality and the seemingly never-ending line of security officers exhibiting extraordinarily poor judgment.

No, Kylah did not want to include Mahmoud in this discussion.

Kylah bites her lip while listening to Graham, knowing he is speaking from experience. "I do not expect everything to be wrapped in a bow by the time Starfleet's clean-up crew arrives," she says softly. "But I do not like the thought that much of what we know about this--this conspiracy--might be brushed under the carpet. Further... and I know you will not recommend this, but I do wish you would consider it: I would like the opportunity to go down to the planet once more." Kylah lifts her chin. "Lord Fastolfe deserves an apology for the way we treated him."

Rangin sighs. "I'm sure we will hear lots of platitudes about how they will uncover it all, but I've seen what happens with reports that ask more questions than they answer, especially when it comes to high level corruption. They get added to the bottom of someone's pile whose only desire is to keep things as status quo as possible." Rangin looks across at Graham. "You honestly think that anything is going to come of this. The Comptroller General, as corrupt as they come, as headline news. Not a chance. we're going to hear nothing, and be told to be good little Ensigns and forget all about it. Depressing isn't it."

A wry smile crosses Rangin's face, "I hate leaving unfinished work behind, but I doubt I am going to get a choice. So I'll be damned if I'm going to stop at the reason we were originally here, a resort report about whether WR&R should continue running this place. There are also a few things to sort out planetside I can think of that do need wrapping up, one of which Dr Villa can certainly help with answering."

"You know if I can help, I'd be glad to. For now, though, let's get you back to the ship." She takes out her communicator. "Yorktown, five to beam over."

Graham, Kylah, Rangin and Dr. Villa beam back home, along with Palver, whom Dr. Villa has deeply sedated and whose brain function she now monitors with her medical tricorder. Mahmoud and the medtech remain on the yacht.

When you rematerialize, Chief Harrison is behind the transporter console, as is Cmdr. Vargas. Lt. JG Jeremi Collins steps forward to welcome you back. She looks happy and healthy.

"I'm sorry I missed all the fun," Collins tells her shipmates. "Who wants to catch me up?"



eta - if she knows generally what has happened, having been brought up to speed by Vargas, then she wants the dirty details; if Vargas hasn't filled her in, she wants one of the other PCs to do it.

Assume she knows the broad outlines of the mission so far, just as you do from reading this thread.

Before they beam up, Rangin will ask Dr Villa, if there has been any progress on getting Fujishiro spore therapy to see if it would help cure her at all.

Back on board: "Good to see you up and around again, ma'am." Rangin says agreeably to Collins, before nodding to Cmdr. Vargas, "Sir."

"I could fill you in but it would have to wait until after a visit to Sickbay, followed by a good meal. It's been one of those days." Rangin continues dryly to Collins.