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

[CatInASuit]

Looking back at up Kylah and seeing the happiness in her eyes only serves to make him feel warm and giddy inside as well.

"No, no misunderstandings Kylah of the Silver Weeping Tree. None at all. I do care for you." he says in a happy voice before switching to a grin, "and no, I don't think I have been affected by your tears. I'm still going to call you an idiot if at some point you don't go and get this knee sorted properly."

Squeezing her hands delicately one last time, aware of how much they could hurt, he untangles his and stands up, not wanting the moment to end, but then becoming all too aware of everything else going on. Rangin feels almost resentful that other events are happening and that they could not just be a happy couple at the resort. He sighs and looks down at Kylah.

"I think we need to get back to work, I would love this moment to last, but we still have things to do and the rest of the team will be returning soon. We should talk tonight, if we can, now we know how we feel about each other." He helps Kylah to rise and see how she is on her feet. "Well, how do you feel?"

[anyrose]

"Budgets are the bane of many managers' existence." Collins agrees, although she's not completely satisfied with Hsu's answer. "It's probably time to rejoin the group." She stands up. "Let's go." She goes to the front door and holds it for Mr. Hsu.

[general_urko]

Graham's mildly disappointed he can't set his tricorder to repeat his request to Webb every 45 seconds, but he feels using a recorded message could serve as the basis for a legitimate complaint, while a live request should not. Nonetheless he's enough on auto-pilot that he can hum a little tune in his head to pass the time.

I wished I had you in Carrickfergus
Only for nights in Ballygrand
I would swim over the deepest ocean
The deepest ocean to be by your side

But the sea is wide and I can't swim over
And neither have I wings to fly
I wish I could find me a handy boatman
To ferry me over to my love and die

My childhood days bring back sad reflections
To happy times spend so long ago
My boyhood friends and my own relations
Have all passed on like the melting snow

But I'll spend my days in endless roving
Soft is the grass and my bed is free
Oh, to be home now in Carrickfergus
On the long road down to the salty sea

And in Kilkenny it is reported
On marble stone there as black as ink
'With gold and silver I did support her
But I'll sing no more now till I get a drink'

I'm drunk today and I'm rarely sober
A handsome rover from town to town
Oh, but I am sick now and my days are numbered
So come ye young men and lay me down"


Bennett seems to have a good sense of humor, he thinks. She'd probably laugh her ass off if she could see me now.

[Elendil's Heir]

Hsu asks Collins, "I thought we were waiting for Mr. Delaney and Mr. Rangin to return here with Mr. Wilson's communicator, to try to open the safe...?"

Mrs. Webb still does not answer Graham's repeated calls.

[general_urko]

Graham calls Thuvas over and changes his mantra.

"Mrs. Webb, I am concerned that you may be ill or injured and unable to answer the door. While I understand you expressed unwillingness to answer my questions, please confirm that you do not need emergency medical attention."

He changes the time on his tricorder to one minute and 30 seconds. In between intervals, assuming he's not interrupted, he talks to Thuvas.

"Actually, she did kind of look like hell earlier. Do you guys have an established protocol on dealing with a guest going dark? In about five minutes I'll be happy to officially communicate my concern to resort security or medical."

[choie]

Once she is on her feet, Kylah wipes her eyes free of tears using her sleeve--it is hardly the proper way, but she does not want to risk anything by using her hands--and just keeps looking at Rangin in a sort of dazed disbelief, as if he might suddenly be beamed away from her. "How do I feel," she repeats in wonder. "If you mean physically, my knee must still hurt, but I... I can hardly tell. If you mean otherwise..." She bites her lip, trying to think of how to express her emotions. "I feel as if I have wandered through a storm of ice and snow, only to find someone willing to take me into their warm home, to invite me to sit by their hearth."

She shakes her head. "It is too much to contemplate right now, and as you say, we must return to duty. But..." Kylah moves closer to him and after a hesitation, she tentatively leans against him in a light embrace, whispering the rest: "I may still be frozen, and do not know how long it will take for me to thaw. But you have given me a gift I never thought possible. No one has cared for me without expecting something in return--never. Thank you."

The brief closeness is all she can manage for now, and she does not let the hug last longer than her words. She limps to the door--the knee is stronger thanks to the tight support of the bandage, but like her emotions, the pain is still there. When she reaches the corridor she looks back at him, her chin lifting slightly. "By the way, if you must address me by that absurd name," she says with a mock indignation, "then kindly use the proper formation: Kylah of the House of the Silver Weeping Tree." And then her gaze softens, her lips curl with a gentle smile, and her low voice is infused with warm affection: "You should remember that... Jeril."

When she walks down the corridor toward the exit where she will leave to find Graham, her gait remains uneven, hesitant and painful. But she is still smiling.

[Elendil's Heir]

A moment later, Mrs. Webb's voice crackles through the commlink set into the doorframe. "I'm not ill or injured, dammit. I just want to sleep. Go away and stop bothering me."

[general_urko]

"Well ma'am, I'm truly sorry doing my job conflicts with your apparently sincere desire for sleep," Graham replies. "But...see, the fact is that my shift doesn't end until 1700 hours, so I can ring this bell all day. I'll tell you what: my tricorder's counting down from a minute and a half. Answer me one question honestly and I'll go find something else to do in precisely 90 seconds: did you see or hear anything unusual happening in this park last night?"

[CatInASuit]

Jeril...Rangin smiles at the affection shown to him. As upbeat as he can be, that warm glow of happiness slowly running through his body. He had not felt this good in ages. And most importantly, as much as Rangin cared for Kylah, she cared for him as well.

Sighing with joy, he packs away the first aid kit making a mental note to get it refilled and he puts it back on the shelf. As he looks round the room, it is all clear, he wonders what they might say to each other tonight.

You love me Velir, don't you?
Yes, you know I do, more than you could imagine.
I can imagine a lot, you know, as much as the moon and the sun?
Very funny, you know I love you because I'm right here, what else matters.
Nothing, you'll always be mine, won't you my Velir?
Of course, I will, you know that. Hey, look a shooting star, make a wish...
I wish...
Don't tell me, keep it secret, otherwise it won't come true...

I wish you to always be mine, Velir Rangin. Always.

Rangin stops dead. Such bittersweet memories, a night they had gone stargazing, a night from the past. She had never actually said what her wish was, but Rangin knew. He looks at the door, where Kylah had gone, wondering if she was the same, but no, Kylah was different, not like her...her...even after all this time he didn't want to say her name.

No, there is nothing he could do for now. It would depend on Kylah and himself. Picking himself up, he heads for the door to go to Mr Wilson's apartment. Delaney should have arrived and the others would be starting to crack the safe. Time to go to work.

This time it is going to be different, Rangin vows to himself. He isn't going to make the same mistakes again. He had already fallen in love once before and now he was doing so again...

...and the thought of getting it wrong, terrifies him.

[Elendil's Heir]

"I'll hold you to that," Mrs. Webb says. "And my answer is 'no!'"

[general_urko]

"Well, thank you for assisting with our murder investigation, Mrs. Webb. I'll leave you to your rest," Graham replies, making an effort to sound authentically grateful. "Sweet dreams," he mumbles, turning away from the door and stretching his legs and the arm he'd been using to repeatedly press the chime. He almost chuckles out loud as he contemplates requesting a close-proximity photon torpedo barrage from the Yorktown after just enough time for her to fall asleep.

He looks around to see if Kylah's come back, starting to reach for his communicator in the event he doesn't see her.

[choie]

Kylah finally manages to make her slow and still awkward way back to the guest cottages, and when she moves past a bunch of trees to find the low-numbered houses, she is surprised--and, she has to admit to herself, somewhat gratified--to see that Graham is still in front of Mrs. Webb's door. It does not take her empathic abilities to guess that he has had no more success in getting Webb to talk than Kylah did.

Considering the emotional journey she's just taken with Velir, from utter despair to tremulous joy, Kylah is better able to confront yet another member of the security staff with whom she's argued. No, it was not an argument. He did not respond. I did not give him the chance. She still suspects his 'mother' comment might have been intentionally poking at scar tissue that Collins created, but... right now, she cannot muster the indignation. And she wants to believe she was wrong.

None of this means she can't be amused that this man who so often refers to his lengthy experience in law enforcement has apparently met his match in this strangely grouchy and stubborn guest.

When he finishes stretching and looks around, Kylah moves closer so that when he turns to her she is only a few yards away. "I apologize again for my delay, Mr. Graham," she says before glancing at the door. "Have you only just finished your interview? What did Mrs. Webb say?"

[CatInASuit]

Rangin quickly makes his way back to Mr Wilson's room, regaining control of his emotions and taking a few deep breaths to relax and focus.

The journey is quite short and he wonders how far they have got. Has Delaney managed to find the right key in Wilson's communicator? Is there another way to open the safe? Did Collins get anything useful out of Mr Hsu? Did Kylah really say those things and once again Rangin cannot help but breakout into a broad smile and then laugh at himself. She is going to be distracting...in all the right ways, he hopes.

At the front, and not seeing anyone else, he knocks on the door and enters.

[general_urko]

"Heh, such as it was," Graham answers, smiling. "Charming woman. I suspect she feels something special for me," he adds, tapping his chest.

"She said 'no,' as in 'no I didn't see or hear anything unusual last night.'" He shrugs. "Much as I'd like to spend the rest of the day antagonizing her in order to complete a proper interview, at this point there's no reason to believe she's got more to offer us." He chuckles. "And if she was a guest Wilson was messing around with--hell, maybe he is better off dead."

He's genuinely entertained by this little bit of old-school gallows humor--it evokes the sort of moments of camaraderie found by generations of law enforcement or military personnel who find themselves in tragic or disturbing situations over and over again and that's part cynicism, part coping mechanism, but however perverse it may seem "from the outside" enables them to stay human through it all. But it briefly occurs to him that a very young woman, from a different field, might not appreciate it as much as an old guy who's been a part of that culture for as long as she's been alive. That's countered by a mental image of Rangin blowing a gasket and reading him the riot act for the next hour about appreciating the sanctity of life or some such thing like that, which he finds even more entertaining.

He forces all that out of his mind to focus back on the mission, and more specifically, Kylah. Look, Booker, no matter what she's certainly in no mood for jokes of any type, he thinks. You damn well ought to focused on her well-being rather than your own amusement.


"Ah, anyway, I'm...glad you see you're all right and able to continue." He pauses a second. "Ah, are you all right...?" He asks, earnestly, giving her his full attention. Then he quickly adds, "Your knee, I mean."

[Elendil's Heir]

Delaney has arrived at Wilson's suite just before Rangin with Wilson's communicator/PDA in hand, and has tied it into his tricorder. He says, "I'm going through the subroutines on Wilson's gadget, trying to find one that might be an 'open' command for the safe." Collins and Hsu watch him at work.

[choie]

Graham's self-deprecating humor in response to Mrs. Webb's rebuffs puts Kylah more at ease--although she cannot help suspecting that he would likely be more suspicious if it were a Mr. Webb whose behavior was so abrupt and unhelpful.

When he asks about her injuries she lifts her hands slightly, showing the bandages. "I feel somewhat better, thank you. Mr. Rangin took better care of my wounds than I could by myself." Her words strike her as more meaningful than she intended, and she glances down at her knee to hide whatever might show on her face. "But my knee is more than scraped, as you see, and is still difficult to walk on--"

The sight of her bare legs suddenly brings Kylah up short. "Oh! They were going to open a shop early just for me so I could get new stockings, and I completely forgot! I do not know how I could left the building so mindlessly..." She shakes her head, embarrassed. Of course she knows why: she was thinking only of Velir. Even now she finds herself hard-pressed to keep from smiling: even though she regrets her having caused someone such inconvenience, she is glad that for once, her preoccupation was due to something pleasant.

"I must contact the front desk to apologize," she says, looking around for Thuvas, but then, catching herself, stops and looks back at Graham. "And... and I should do so to you, as well. I regret reacting as I did earlier. I... I assumed you were referring to something Lt. Collins told you, but I was wrong to do so. I can only explain that I got very little sleep and my nerves were raw, and..." She pauses and gives a helpless sigh. "You continually see me at my worst moments, Mr. Graham. I would not blame you for believing whatever anyone says of me."

[CatInASuit]

"Excellent sir," says Rangin, "here's hoping you will find some at least some keys on his communicator."

He looks across at Mr Hsu and Lt Collins, "Now, there are possibly a few questions that perhaps need answering above and beyond opening the safe itself."

Rangin starts with Mr Hsu. "Mr Hsu, is there a possibility that it was installed by WR&R for the private use of the resort manager, can you check to see if any record of it exists with them. Also, given that the safe was put in after the walls after they were constructed, could WR&R have left behind someone to install it. If it wasn't them, then who was it who installed it. Of course, the implication there is that Mr Wilson had an exterior party he was working for, which brings us on to the next point. If it wasn't WR&R, who was it."

Rangin looks across at Lt Collins. "So, if Mr Wilson was not only the resort manager, but perhaps carrying out his own business, then a background check on his activities both before and during his residency here might be advisable."

[anyrose]

"It's as good a place to start as any, Ensign," Collins agrees "Have at it."

[general_urko]

Graham rubs his chin. "Look..." he says softly, "if I have one thing going for me, it's that I've seen enough to be able to make up my own mind, no matter what anyone else has to say."

He pauses briefly. "And...well, you should find it believable when I say that if I have a problem with someone, I'll tell them straight-up, in no uncertain terms." He shakes his head. "I get it, that someone like you has no interest in being friends with someone like me." He can hear Rangin's voice yesterday: "I'd hate to be your daughter." He'd said it was low, later, in apology--but he didn't say it was inaccurate.

He must seem like a relic at best to some of his younger--and more idealistic--crewmates. "But unless you, ah, really, really work at it, I am not going to be an enemy. You can count on that." His voice is a little firmer, and he nods sharply. "In fact you damned well better count on that." He clears his throat. "It...matters to me that everybody comes back from a mission safe and sound. Don't let any confusion on this get in the way of that." He pauses. "Please."

"Uh, now look," he says, picking up his pace and tone. "If you feel up to going after Aubrey, once you've made you call--" He holds out an arm. "You can lean on me while we walk. I'd do the same for anybody." He shrugs. "But no offense taken if you don't want to."

[Elendil's Heir]

Hsu says, "I'll use his computer to see if I can learn how or when the safe was installed. I'm as surprised as you are that there's no record of it in the official construction plans." He leaves the bedroom and goes back into the home office.

Delaney checks his tricorder and says, "Still no luck getting through. Once I find the right program, it might still need decryption for any password."

Dr. T'Var walks through the park and finds Graham and Kylah. She sees the Communications officer's bandages and frowns. She puts a hand on her medikit and says, "May I help you, Ensign?" Kylah knows that the doctor will be able to easily heal any scrapes or cuts so that she won't need bandages.

[choie]

Kylah watches Graham warily while he begins, but his words are reassuring and as far as she can tell--not with her empathic sense, just through the man's tone and expression--he appears sincere.

The more she listens, the more times she is tempted to interject--especially when he says someone like you has no interest in being friends with someone like me; she keeps her mouth shut, however, and lets him finish.

When he does and proffers his arm, Kylah begins: "Thank you, Mr. Graham," she says quietly. "I admit I am uncertain what what you mean by either 'someone like you' or 'someone like me' -- and I cannot tell who comes off worse in that comparison. But I hope that--"

She both senses and hears someone approaching, and turns around to find T'Var. The doctor's arrival is awkward: Kylah has been trying to avoid her since they were called out earlier this morning, and especially now. Fortunately, T'Var has a typically noncommital reaction to the injuries -- typical for most Vulcans, but even more so for T'Var.

Kylah nods at her offer. "Yes, please, Doctor. I fear the left knee is sprained and I do not mind that bandage as it helps, but if you could help the scrapes on my hands and the other leg..."

She slowly strips the bandages from her palms, feeling a strange pang of regret followed by amusement at herself. Sentimental over gauze merely because he put it there! With an almost imperceptable shake of her head, she holds out her hands for T'Var.

[CatInASuit]

"Good call sir", he beams at Collins, "I'll go and give Mr Hsu a hand now with Mr Wilson's computer and details of construction. I'll put the request in to the Yorktown for Mr Wilson's background when we get back to the command room." Rangin checks the time, "that should be in about twenty minutes. I guess you will be calling everyone back at that point for a debrief, sir."

As he passes Lt Delaney, Rangin smiles, "Sir, if it was easy, anyone could do it. You'll crack it sir, just give it a little bit of time. If not now, then after the debrief. A coffee and some doughnuts or pastries and it'll all work out. Actually, its a shame we can't get some of the resort delicacies instead of from the replicator. Ah well."

As he walks out of the room, to help out Mr Hsu in looking for any records on Mr Wilson's computer, Rangin wonders if Collins will pick up on what he said. It would be interesting to see the others faces if Collins did turn up with several boxes of doughnuts as a peace offering and then ran a reasonable debrief. He wonders if he should make her a cheat sheet, or more properly an agenda before they head back, just so she has something to go on. He could add a few hints to it about making sure everyone got a turn speaking and so on.

He smiles at the thought. Mr Wilson's office has some paper and pens, he could make one while helping out Mr Hsu. Several birds, one stone. Maybe they could all run as a team at some point.

[Elendil's Heir]

Delaney keeps trying to find the right command subroutine.

Hsu checks the resort's archives and says, "There's no record of this safe being installed. As far as I can tell, it was never authorized by WR&R Corporate, and wasn't paid for with company funds. I think he must have arranged for it, and paid for it, himself. But what kind of secrets did he have, that he felt compelled to do that?"

Dr. T'Var asks Kylah to sit on one of the park benches, and scans her with her medical tricorder. Then she takes out an anabolic protoplaser and heals the young officer's cuts and scrapes; the bandages are now unnecessary. T'Var heals her sprained left knee as well but says, "The body must still do its work in healing from within; please do not place undue strain on your leg for at least two days. Sit down whenever possible." She also gives Kylah a hypospray dose of a mild painkiller.

[CatInASuit]

Rangin looks across at Mr Hsu, "I can think of many reasons, some good, some bad. Personal security, job security, blackmail, corporate espionage. It could even hold something ripped from his killer and transported there as a final clue for someone to find. Who knows, because we won't know until we see what's stored inside."

"Actually, I've a more technical question for someone in your line of work. That is not a standard safe in that wall. Could you find out what kind of safe it is given what we know and the likely ways of getting into it?"

[anyrose]

Yeah Collins thinks real coffee as opposed to the goo the replicator spits out. She checks the chronometer on her tricorder The café should be open by now.
"Okay," she says aloud so Rangin, Delaney, and Hsu can hear. "You see what you can do here, I'm going to find the others and head back to the conference room. Join us as soon as you have something."

She makes her way to the café and orders two large pots of coffee and one of hot water, a selection of teas, and an assortment of pastries and breakfast breads to be delivered to their conference room shortly. Then she goes looking for the other half of her crew.

[Elendil's Heir]

Hsu runs a crosscheck of the tricorder readings with Memory Alpha's commercial database. He and Rangin find that it appears to be a Holdfast Corp. JL337 safe, very advanced, very strong, and made of a patented sensor-reflective alloy. The safes are somewhat uncommon and not inexpensive (they cost over 200k credits), and installation doesn't come cheap, either.

The counter clerk takes Collins's order and asks, "Will that be billed to you personally, or to your ship, ma'am?"

[CatInASuit]

Rangin leans back and lets a a low whistle before calling through to the bedroom. "Sorry sir, we think we found what type the safe is, you aren't going to crack it. If you do, the company who builds it will probably want to sign you up to a non-disclosure agreement about how you did it."

He turns back to Mr Hsu, "Ok, I think we need to split effort now. Can you find from the resort records any sign of any construction team, finishing team, redecorating team that would have been around just after the resort opened. Did Mr Wilson get his room personally redecorated at some point after he arrived. I'll go and see if I can get a background check on him. If he personally spent that money, there should be a trace somewhere. Not to mention that he would have to have had the money in the first place not to mention the connections to get it installed."

Rangin stops for a moment and then sighs, "Of course, if we were being sensible, we could also contact Holdfast Corp, ask them how to get the serial number and see what records they have on that particular safe."

[anyrose]

Collins thinks a moment, then says "Please put it on the Yorktown's tab." Singh can take it out of my account later if need be she thinks.

[CatInASuit]

Rangin contacts Lt Collins by Communicator, "Sir, I've got some more details on the safe and some info requests to place. Heading back to the CR now. Is there anything else that needs doing?"

[anyrose]

"Make sure we have access to Wilson's suite later if we need it," Collins says "and invite Mr. Hsu to join us."

[choie]

"Thank you very much, doctor," Kylah says, tentatively bending and unbending her knee before standing up, still keeping most of her weight on the right leg. "That feels a great deal better. And I will try to be careful until it is fully healed." She slips the elastic bandage beneath her utility belt and hopes the others don't notice. Absurdly sentimental or not, she wants to keep it. If asked, she will say that she might later wish the extra support.

"Were you asked to attend the interviews?" she continues to T'Var, curious. "We were planning on visiting a guest in one of the yellow houses next, a Sylvia Aubrey."

[Elendil's Heir]

Remember it's the CP - Command Post - and not the CR.

Hsu turns back to the keyboard and nods. He says, "I'll see what I can find out. I'll also change the lock to this suite so that you and your other team members can get back in here when you need to."

Dr. T'Var replies, "I waited ten minutes alone in the CP and got bored, frankly. I decided to see if I could be of greater use elsewhere. I'm glad to see that I have been."

[general_urko]

"Doc, if you want to keep at Mrs. Webb, you can try ringing her damned doorbell constantly for a couple hours," he says to T'Var. "Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely thrilling work--but my arm is tired." He chuckles and smiles. "For our part--uh, I think," he says, glancing at Kylah, "you're certainly welcome to participate in the Aubrey interview if you have no other orders."

He clears his throat. "But we ought to get in gear. Aubrey, Fastolfe, and now Mrs. Hsu are key people to talk to. And we're slated to catch up with the others soon."

[choie]

"Yes indeed, let us see Ms. Aubrey before we are summoned back. I regret having wasted our time by suggesting that we check the empty houses first." She does not wish to say anything regarding T'Var. She is a higher rank than they are, anyway; the Vulcan may do as she pleases.

Still, Kylah cannot help but add: "Although... I wonder if three Starfleet officers arriving to interview a lone civilian might be seen as rather... intimidating."

She leaves them with that thought as she goes to ask Thuvas to contact the front desk for her, quickly explaining the situation. "Please send them my regrets," she finishes, "and ask the concierge to inform the store employee that I will be there as soon as I can--and assure him or her that their inconvenience and indulgence will be appropriately compensated by me, personally. This was a private request and should not go on any Starfleet tab."

[Elendil's Heir]

Dr. T'Var smiles slightly and says, "I have never been told that I was particularly imposing. But if it would be better for me not to come along for the interview, I will not. You are the Security officer here, Mr. Graham, and I will follow your lead."

Thuvas makes the call as Kylah requests.

[CatInASuit]

"Yes, sir, will do, Rangin out."

Rangin isn't sure why Collins has asked for Mr Hsu to come along, but she probably has good reason, probably to keep an eye on him more than anything. Although having him there during the debrief could be considered unwise given the hairs she had found in Wilson's bedroom.

Looking over the shoulder of Mr Hsu to see what he is looking at, Rangin starts to gather the papers on the desk. "I'd better take these down to the Command Post for a read through, see if they contain anything of interest" followed by gathering the waste paper basket and the torn notes. "Changing the access on the suite to give us access is appreciated, could you do the same for his office as well. It's likely to be somewhere else we will need to look over again. Also, Lt. Collins has invited you down to the Command Post, so when you're ready, we can head down, if you're interested."

[Elendil's Heir]

Hsu says, "OK, I'll make that change to his office, too. I should just be a few more minutes here; you go on ahead with me and I'll meet you there."

[CatInASuit]

"Don't worry about it, I can still hear Lt. Delaney furiously cracking through all the subroutines on Mr Wilson's communicator, he'll probably be a few minutes as well", replies Rangin, "besides, given everything, a second pair of eyes to confirm anything you might find is always useful."

Rangin looks back over Mr Hsu's shoulder at what he is working on. "Any luck?"

[general_urko]

"Don't underestimate your potential, Doc," Graham replies, smiling. "I had a partner once, a Vulcan, a very..." he starts to raise his hands, palms up, in front of his chest, then remembers who he's speaking with, blushes every so slightly, and anchors them at his hips. "Ah, a very attractive woman. She'd be all nicey-nice until she suggested saving everyone some time by taking the information we needed right out of their minds..." He adds quickly, "Not that she ever did that, but the threat was very effective."

He rubs his chin. "Anyway, you're right Ensign, intimidation isn't our objective--at least not yet. But I like the fact T'Var's a doctor. Anybody in their right mind would wonder why we have a doctor along. Never hurts for people to be a little uncertain what's going on and what we have up our sleeves." He shrugs.

"So if we're one big happy family, let's get to it."

[Elendil's Heir]

After several minutes of research, Hsu says, "There were almost a dozen subcontractors here in the months after the official opening of the resort, doing various odds and ends, finishing touches, that sort of thing. Holdfast wasn't one of them. No record of an added task of installing the safe, either." He looks up at the ceiling, thinking aloud. "Hmm. Wilson might've bought the safe elsewhere and had one of the authorized subcontractors install it, paying them under the table, or hired someone personally to come and do it. Maybe someone from Holdfast who didn't identify himself that way at check-in. Either way, it would be off the books."

Kylah again consults the list of guest houses:

1 - currently vacant
2 - Fellim Palver, Rhaandaran
3 - Mrs. Webb, Luna
4 - The Ettoo-Oms, a family of Aurelians (perhaps those seen last night in the lobby), Pacifica
5 - Lord Fastolfe, Proxima Centauri
6 - Samuel and Bella Gold, both businesspeople, Earth
7 - currently vacant
8 - Prolun Jaxo, a top Hwuen government official
9 - Rosemary Calvin, author
10 - currently vacant
11 - Terrance and Claire Hutchinson, retirees, Earth
12 - Sylvia Aubrey, an actress, Cochrane V

The three Starfleet officers, two in red and one in blue, go to house #12. After they ring, a tall, lordly man in a dark suit opens the door. He raises his eyebrows fractionally and asks, "May I help you?"

It is now 0913.

[CatInASuit]

"You're right, it would be off the WR&R books. Not necessarily Mr Wilson's books though. I wonder if he kept his own finances somewhere. Either way, I don't think you are going to find much more on that computer unless we can narrow down what we are looking for. It's time to head back anyway, we should gather Lt. Delaney, lock up here and head back. Actually there is one last thing you can help me with before we leave."

Rangin pulls out his tricorder. "As far as we can tell, he spent no time in most of these rooms when he got back last night. There are a couple final rooms to check and then we are done here for the moment. All we are looking for is some sign he spent some time in the room. Otherwise we have a much longer gap than we want when he is absent."

"Up to lending me a hand?" he enquires of Mr Hsu.

[Elendil's Heir]

"Of course," Hsu says. "I'm your man. Where else did you want to check?"

[CatInASuit]

"Thanks", Rangin replies. "Right, we've done the kitchen and dining room, the bedroom and the office. That just leaves the two bathrooms, utility room and study. Bathrooms first, then utility room, finally the study. We can lock it when we finish. Let's go"

Rangin will be using his tricorder to find any extra DNA in the rooms, but will store it for later research. He will also be looking for any sign that Wilson used the room, however Rangin expects he went straight through and out the door at the back.

If Mr Hsu asks, if Rangin has found anything, Rangin's comment will be along the lines of unsure, will need to do some further analysis on it.

[Elendil's Heir]

Hsu has a civilian scanner of his own, which he uses, but it does not have nearly the capabilities as a Starfleet tricorder. He checks in the utility room.

Rangin finds that both bathrooms are clean and tidy. The one closer to the master bedroom has Wilson's DNA on one of the drinking cups, in the sink trap and the toilet. His fingerprints are on several surfaces where they would be expected: drawer pulls, shower and toilet handles, and so on. There are several other fingerprints, as well - at least four different people's, it appears. There is also fragmentary DNA from at least two people other than Wilson. One person has handled and apparently drunk from the other cup, and someone else has used the toilet. All of the trace evidence appears to have been left in the past two or three days, judging by its freshness.

The other bathroom has some fingerprints, none of which are Wilson's, but no discernable DNA. It appears to have been used much less than the first.

[CatInASuit]

Rangin happily stores all the fingerprint data and trace DNA knowing he has access to the full set of WR&R employees data, not to mention that Lt. Collins has the data from the bedroom, before moving on to the next room.

"Hmm, doesn't look like he used here last night. Next room."

[general_urko]

"Good morning," Graham says professionally. "I'm Ensign Graham, Starfleet Security." He gestures slightly at each of this colleagues. "This is Ens. Kylah, and Dr. T'Var. We need to speak with Sylvia Aubrey."

He cocks his head slightly at the man. "And you are...?"

[Elendil's Heir]

Rangin and Hsu find nothing of interest in the utility room, just a few of Wilson's fingerprints on the environmental controls and laundry machine. The study is much the same - some of Wilson's fingerprints on the table and chairs, and some other scattered smudged, partial fingerprints. No DNA traces in either room other than Wilson's.

The man in the doorway says, "I am Simon Banks, Miss Aubrey's Personal Assistant and Traveling Companion." You can practically hear the capital letters in his titles as he says them. "May I ask why you wish to speak with her?"

[general_urko]

Agony knifes through Graham's heart and mind like a bat'leth through his midsection.

"Why am I such an idiot to travel around the galaxy getting shot and stabbed instead of going for a job like that is" the joke that ought to come to mind.

But instead:

You had the job offer, in your hand

To be Jane's traveling companion

Her security

And you turned it down


"It's a...pleasure...to meet you, Mr. Banks," he replies, spreading his arms in a gesture of openness and saying "Mr. Banks" as if this jerk off was actually important. "It concerns a criminal investigation of an incident at the resort," he replies. He wants the earth to swallow him, the sky to fall on him. But he swallows it all. He collapses a little in on himself, but steels himself to speaks gently but earnestly, as if Banks has given him food for thought that he has carefully processed. "Unless you also happen to be her legal counsel, I believe it would most...appropriate...if we spoke directly and privately with her."

[choie]

Kylah is standing slightly behind both T'Var and Graham, having been the last to reach the door--and the shortest, which makes it hard for her to see this Mr. Banks person except through the slight space between her crewmates. When Graham first made his a blunt request, if one could call it a request, to see Ms. Aubrey, Kylah clamped her teeth together and wondered if security officers are biologically incapable of treating strangers as anything but obstacles to be battered into submission.

The instant Banks responds, a sharp wave of emotion causes Kylah to inhale sharply but silently. It is powerful: Guilt? Grief? Self-loathing? She knows it is not T'Var, and she hasn't been focusing on Banks since she cannot even read his expression from this angle. It must be Mr. Graham. She has not tried to reach out to him in the least, and yet something has inspired a reaction in him with the emotional equivalent of a concussive explosion.

She moves tentatively closer, letting her shoulder brush up against him, and then touches his arm gently as if asking him to let her pass between him and T'Var. "I beg your pardon," she murmurs when she walks toward the front--and adds a slight squeeze of her hand, a light pressure that is probably not even noticeable. She cannot help herself. Something has distressed him terribly and she has no idea why. It is none of her business. But... he has seen her at her worst, just as she said earlier, and in his own way tried to assist. She feels obliged to do the same. Then, after a quick searching glance up at Graham, she directs her attention to Mr. Banks.

"Forgive us, sir," Kylah says when she's more visible to Banks. "We know it is still very early, and likely a great inconvenience. But as my colleague says, there has been a crime committed on the resort premises, quite close by, I am afraid. In order to ensure the guests' safety as well as talk to everyone in the vicinity to see if anyone has heard or seen anything, no matter how minor, that was unusual or noteworthy. We only wish to speak to Ms. Aubrey confidentially--and you as well, of course--just as we have with all the other guests who have been courteous enough to receive us this morning. I do hope you will assist us? Could you please let Ms. Aubrey know we are here?"

[CatInASuit]

Rangin looks at the final readings he and Mr Hsu have gathered.

"Well, I've seen nothing here which says Wilson stayed for a while and then left later. It really does look as though he got back to this suite and then just left. It really make you wonder what he was up to and what happened for that final hour or so."

Shaking his head at the lack of data, he looks across with a resigned sigh.

"I think that's enough for now. Time to catch up with the rest of the team and see what they have found. We can start by politely dragging Lt. Delaney away from his travails, secure the side and front entrances and then head for the command post. Ready?"