Kaziarl's blog: "My stories"

Stardate 56547.3 1430 hours GAMAZULU The Class-II fighter skimmed over asteroid after asteroid as Cadet Francis Reed piloted it on his final test. It had been four years of hard training, but he had finally come to the final days of his Academy training, and he would be sure this class year would be remembered by everyone. "Falcon squad, this is Falcon 1, do you read me?" he said into the communicator. One by one, the other trainee's responded with acknowledgements. They all knew what he was planning, hell; they were all part of it. They wanted to show the instructors that they were the best of the best. "All right Falcon Squad, just like we practiced." Five fighters came round a planet killer asteroid, all within 150 meters of it. As they approached each other they opened their plasma manifolds, venting a trail of charged plasma. Circling dangerously close, the fighters sped away from each other igniting their trail. Reed looked over his shoulder as he watched the starburst pattern form behind the squad. "Falcon Squad, secure your manifolds." "Falcon 2 Secured." came the first reply, quickly followed by more. "Falcon 4 Secured." "Falcon 5 Secured." Reed waited a moment, and then another which seemed much longer. It shouldn't be taking this long, he thought to himself. "Falcon 3, report!" he ordered. "Manifolds won’t secure, they appear to be jammed." Damn, he though. He looked over his shoulder again to see the plasma fire getting closer to Falcon 3. "Myers! Punch it. You have to out run the fire!" "Trying to Falcon 1, its not working. Manifolds still jammed, engines are beginning to overheat. Flight Control, this is Falcon 3. Mayday Mayday Ma---" All that came through after that was static. Reed pulled his fighter back around as Falcon 3 exploded in a ball of fire. He couldn't believe it. Myers was gone, just like that. "Falcon Squad, this is Flight Control. Power down and prepare to be beamed aboard the Adventurous." Reed hung his head, not knowing what to think as the fighter disappeared around him. Stardate 56548.1 0900 GAMMAZULU Commander Mitchell walked through the doors to his new office. When he first joined Starfleet’s legal corps he never imagined he would be stationed at the main JAG building on Earth, yet here he was. This was even better then he imagined, the solid oak desk, the view of the gardens, even the leather chair he had requested. Mitchell had grown up watching old holo-vids of law shows. Perry Mason, Law & Order, and NCIS from back in the late 20th and early 21st century were some of his favorites, and almost all the lawyers in them had leather chairs. Seeing that after all these years, he knew he had to have a chair of his own. "Commander?" came a voice from behind him. He turned to face a short, bald, yet stunningly beautiful Deltan ensign standing in the doorway. "What can I do for you ensign?" he asked, setting his briefcase on the desk. "Sorry to disturb you sir," she replied, holding out a PADD. "The Admiral wanted me to bring you this." Mitchell took the PADD and scanned the first couple lines. "Ah, my first case," he sighed. "So much for settling in." "Aye sir, the admiral can be like that at times." "So I've heard," he replied. "What’s your name ensign?" "Denalla, sir." "Nice to meet you Ensign Denalla, and congratulations." "Sir?" she returned, puzzled. "You're my new partner. Arrange for transportation while I go over the case, gimme about... 30 minutes?" "Yes sir," she replied as she turned to leave. Mitchell had a guess that it was going to be a long first day. Reed sat in the mess hall with the other members of Falcon Squad, minus Myers. Gorok, the Benzite, sat to his left; Toban Laal, from Bajor, sat across from him, and Prina, the first female Ferengi in Starfleet, was to his right. "Reed?" Gorok broke the silence. "What are we going to do?" "Nothing!" Reed replied. "So far as they know it was just an accident. We stick with that, and we're in the clear." "Yeah?" Toban interrupted. "That’s all great except Myers is dead because of us." "That’s not true." argued Prina. "We didn't cause the manifold to malfunction." "Quiet," Reed raised his voice to get there attention. "Look, we have to stick together, got it? Just like they teach us, if one of us fails, we all fail. So keep your traps shut and hope Myers' folks don't cry for blood." The four of them spent the rest of the lunch period in silence. When the chime sounded over the intercom, they stood up and filed out into the hallway to their next class. Stardate 56548.5 1145 GAMMAZULU A single Starfleet shuttlecraft sped over the terrain as it made its way towards the Academy grounds. In the co-pilot's seat Commander Mitchell read over the files of the cadets involved in the accident. He looked out the window and sighed. They were just kids, the oldest one being thirty, and her race lived at least 150 years according to some. Mitchell sat the PADD down, sighed again, and then turned to Denalla. "So tell me about yourself Ensign," he said, trying to fill the silence. "There is not much to tell Sir," she replied. "My entire life I've had to suppress my nature to do what I'm meant to do. That’s about it. "You mean the oath?" "Yes sir." she continued. "I must say it has been difficult. There were one or two occasions where I found someone to my liking, but because of the oath I am not able to pursue it while in Starfleet." "Must be hard," he replied. "I doubt I could imagine my life like that." "What about you Sir?" Denalla asked. "Where are you from?" "Oh, here and there." Mitchell replied. "My parents were in Starfleet, so we moved around a lot. I think our longest time in one place was on the USS Fairchild." "That must have been exciting." "It had its moments," he replied as the shuttle began its final approach to the landing pad. "I remember when the Nimitz was sent on a mission to capture space pirates." "Pirates sir?" "Yeah, no peg legs or parrots, but they were intimidating to be sure." "Commander?" the pilot called from the controls. "We’ve arrived. Watch your step." "Thank you Crewman." Mitchell said as he collected his case and stood up. "Do you have anything else to do today?" "No Sir." "Good, go ahead and take the day off till I call you. I'm sure there are a couple of teachers you'd like to visit? We've all got our favorites." "Yes sir, Thank you sir." he replied as he started powering down the shuttle. Commandant Dravis sat behind his desk reviewing the reports. It was a nightmare, one cadet was dead, four others on the chopping block. He had to explain to Myers' parents why their son wasn't coming home, and that was the hardest thing any superior had to deal with. "Enter," he said, responding to the door chime. "Commandant," Mitchell said as he entered the office. "It's good to see you again sir." "Mitchell," he replied. "You have moved up since you've been here. How's your folks?" "Good sir," he said as he straightened his expression. "Unfortunately I'm here on business sir, not pleasure." "You're the JAG lawyer?" "Yes sir," he replied. "And this is my partner. Ensign Denalla." "Pleased to meet you sir." she said. "Of course," Dravis replied. "So what’s your take on the situation?" "Well sir," Mitchell sat down and pulled one of his PADD's out. "According to the logs the pilots attempted the Kolvoord Starburst maneuver, which as you know is against regulations." "Yes, and since it's been banned it's been tried three times now. Once with that Crusher boy." "Yes sir, so at a minimum we have disobeying standing orders, involuntary manslaughter, and reckless endangerment." "Minimum?" shot Dravis. "That would end their careers. Discharging the Ferengi, Prina, would be a nightmare in of it self. Not only is she the second Ferengi in Starfleet, but she's the first Ferengi female. Starfleet hasn't had to deal with this kind of political pressure since Worf joined Starfleet." "Understandable sir," Denalla interjected. "But we want to send the right message. Everyone is accountable under the same law. And that dead cadet deserves some justice." "Ensign," Dravis responded. "You act as though you think they killed him on purpose." "That remains to be seen." Mitchell said before she could reply. "I think right now we should talk to the Cadets." "Of course." conceded the commandant. "I'm giving you full access for the duration of this case." Mitchell and Denalla stood, saluted, and exited the office. 'I'll have to have a chat with Denalla' Mitchell thought to himself as they made their way to the dorms. 'Talking to a commandant like that is unacceptable.' 1200 GammaZulu Mitchell decided that they should talk to the Ferengi, Prina, first. Through no fault of her own, she was the most watched cadet at the Academy right now, and because of it there were many things that could go wrong. When Denalla and he arrived at Prina's quarters, he couldn't help but notice that she seemed nervous as she invited them in. "P-p-please," she said, gesturing them through the door. "W-wont you come in?" "Thank you Cadet," he replied. "First of all I want to offer my condolences. I know how close a squad can become, even just an academy training squad." "Thank you Commander, but I'm not that close to the others." 'Interesting,' thought Mitchell. "Why not, may I ask?" "Everyone knows how Ferengi women are treated on the home world Commander," she replied. "We aren't allowed to own anything, earn money. Essentially we aren't allowed to live. Everyone here thinks I'll uphold that stereotype and fail, since I'm just simply a female." "So you feel discriminated against?" Denalla asked. "With all due respect Ma'am," Prina responded sternly. "I doubt you would know anything about it. Deltans have been a part of the Federation almost since its birth." "Easy Cadet," Mitchell interrupted, not wanting to break up a fight. "All we want to do is ask questions. I promise we are not trying to single you out." "Sorry sir, my mistake." "Good, now tell me, why did you and your squad try to do the Kolvoord Starburst?" "Fame," she replied. "I've worked very hard to get this far, but then I started hearing things. It's a blessing and a curse for a Ferengi; you just can’t keep a secret when one is around." "I can imagine," Mitchell said. "What kind of things have you heard?" "Well, it started about 3 months ago. I was coming out of a class when I heard someone talking. 'There goes that Ferengi slug,' they said. 'She'll be taken care of; it's only a matter of time.' To be honest, it got me scared. I felt I had to do something to prove that I belonged." "So you and your squad decided to do the starburst." he said, guessing. "Who's idea was it?" "Reed's, he was our squad leader." she looked a way for a minute, as though contemplating something. "Sir, this wasn't meant to happen that way. I had the numbers figured out perfectly, as only a Ferengi could do. I just wanted to prove myself." "The problem is Cadet, you already had." he replied in an authoritative tone. "You were two weeks from graduation. You would have gone home an officer, now you'll likely just go home." Mitchell and Denalla stood and exited the Cadets quarters. He felt bad for her, with so much on her shoulders. He could only imagine the pressure on her to succeed, lest the next 3 generations of Ferengi women go by without another chance. He decided that the next move would be to talk to the other two cadets before getting to Reed. He'd have Denalla question Toban Laal, the Bajoran female, while he spoke with the Benzite. Ensign Denalla found Cadet Toban Laal near the large oak tree by the parade grounds. For many this spot was perfect for quiet reflection, studying, or simply getting some time to themselves. Dellana could only imagine how Toban felt as she approached the cadet. "Cadet," she said, bringing the student out of her solace. "I'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind." “Looking for a scapegoat Ma’am?” Toban asked. “No Cadet,” she replied. “Just trying to get some answers.” “There was an accident, what else is there?” “Look, Toban,” Denalla said as she sat down next to Toban. “We aren’t out to get you, but please don’t make this harder then it has to be.” “What do you mean?” “The Kolvoord Starburst is illegal.” She replied. “Every cadet is told this before they start flight training, so you knowingly went against standing orders. That alone can end your career before it begins.” “Look, this wasn’t my idea.” Toban pleaded. “I didn’t even want to do it. But I couldn’t go against my squad, we had to stick together.” “Loyalty is a virtue, but that doesn’t mean you should have put a mans life in danger.” “I know, but Reed and Prina promised it would be different then the other times.” “How so?” “Prina,” she began to explain. “She said she had it all figured out. She said the numbers came easy to her, since she was a Ferengi. We went to a civilian holodeck on our off time to practice; we didn’t want anyone from the academy knowing about it. Then the day came, and I was nervous. But in the simulations we did it perfect, so I tried calming myself down. We went over it again, and then went out.” “Except one problem Cadet,” Denalla replied. “One of your squad didn’t come back. I think that’s all I need for right now. Good day.” Toban watched as Ensign Denalla walked off, and wondered if the prophets would ever forgive her. Mitchell went over the notes he had collected so far, trying to piece everything together. So far he had a Ferengi that was concerned about sexism, and who was saying that the squad leader was the mastermind behind it. She claimed that she had worked out the variables to make the maneuver safe, and if that was true then she should be commended. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more. He was waiting for Cadet Gorok in an auxiliary office space the commandant had offered him for use, while drinking a cup of coffee. ‘The inventor of coffee’ he thought to himself, ‘Now there’s someone who deserves a medal.’ “Sir?” came a voice from the doorway. “Cadet Gorok,” he replied. “Come in, can I get you anything?” “No,” responded the blue skinned cadet. “Thank you sir.” “Alright, well I suppose you know why your hear?” “Yes sir, the accident.” “Exactly, so what happened?” Gorok took a deep breath, then exhaled. “It is slightly more difficult for a Benzite commander. We are raised to be completely loyal to our superiors, no matter what they ask of us. Reed was my squad leader, and therefore demanded my loyalty.” “So he came up with the idea for the starburst?” Mitchell asked. “Yes, but it was Prina that set everything up.” He replied. “She was the one in control during the accident, we followed her instructions.” “I see, so what happened next?” “We finished our objectives for the training flight; it was S&D tactics in the asteroid belt. Afterwards Reed ordered us to start the maneuver. We came around the asteroid, staying low. Circled around each other and opened our manifolds. Prina told us that our closeness to the asteroid would keep a portion of the plasma fire under control, and not overtake our ships. But for some reason Myers’ manifold wouldn’t lock. The fire caught him.” Mitchell stopped for a moment to think. Gorok hadn’t really told him anything he didn’t already know, but there had to be something he was missing. “Can you think of anything else Cadet?” he asked. “No matter how minor it might seem.” “Well… about a week ago…” “Yes?” “About a week ago I overheard Reed and Prina talking.” “What were they talking about?” “I didn’t catch all of it, but she sounded obsessed. Reed was saying no to something, and then Prina raised her voice. ‘I don’t care if you won’t help me then,’ she said. And ‘I’ll do whatever I have to do to ensure more women on my world know they can leave, even if I have to go through you.’” “Is that all?” “Yes sir,” replied Gorok. “She walked off after that, and the next day when I saw her, she seemed fine.” “Thank you Cadet, that will be all.” “Aye sir.” Mitchell dismissed the cadet as Ensign Denalla walked in. “Commander, I just had a talk with Cadet Toban.” “Good, what did you get from her?” “Well, it seems that although the initial idea was Reed’s, it was Prina that did all the planning.” “Yeah, I got that impression too,” he replied. “And I think there is more going on then meets the eye. Did they do an analysis on the debris?” “I believe so, but not a thorough one.” “Have them re-do it.” He ordered as he stood to leave. “Check everything.” “And where will you be sir?” “Checking a hunch.” Mitchell beamed aboard the USS Adventurous, and jogged to the hanger bay. The Adventurous was an Excelsior class that had been decommissioned and refit as a fighter carrier for academy training missions, and as such there wasn’t much of a crew. Mitchell had guessed it would be easy to slip in, do something, and slip out without much notice. When he arrived in the hanger bay he was awestruck by the size of it. It seemed as if the entire secondary hull had been hollowed out. Near him he could see the 4 remaining falcons, and the wreckage of the 5th. He walked over to the control console, and brought up the security camera records. Since the accident had occurred in space, no one really thought to check the records, but now he was convinced something was there. The events of the last several days sped past on the screen, as it showed cadets coming and going for training. Some would hang around and talk to the controllers, or other squads. Others would come, do their flight training, then leave. Mitchell wasn’t concerned about them though, his eyes were focused on Falcon Squad. They sat there, quietly observing the cadets and other fighters, waiting for their turn to be taken out. Then something caught Mitchell’s eye. “Computer, replay last 15 seconds, normal speed.” The computer complied, rewinding the record 15 seconds. A man came onto the screen, dressed in a civilian contractor uniform. The man approached the group of fighters, and pulled something out of his utility case. “Computer, enhance the object in that persons hand.” The computer zoomed in and cleared up the image for Mitchell to see it better. It was a canister, used for storing exotic bacterial samples. ‘What was in there?’ Mitchell asked himself. “Computer, can you tell who that is?” “Negative, individual does not match any known civilian contractors.” “What about public records?” “Negative, individual does not match any known public records.” Mitchell switched off the screen as a group of technicians entered the bay. He approached them before leaving, telling them to get the report to him as quickly as possible. They nodded, and he returned to the transporter room. When Mitchell returned to the academy grounds, he had Denalla meet him outside the exo-biology labs. The pieces were starting to fit together in his mind, but he had one last thing to check. He waited a few minutes after the last class let out before pressing the door chime on the instructor’s office. “Come in,” said the reply as the doors opened. “Instructor Spyk, we’d like to ask you a question.” Mitchell said, wanting to get straight to business. “You’re that JAG investigator aren’t you?” he asked. “Yes sir.” “What could I have to offer your investigation?” “I want to know if you’re missing any samples.” “It’s hard to tell Commander,” replied the instructor. “Many of my students take samples for study on their own time.” “Could you check sir?” Mitchell asked. “It would be very helpful.” Spyk stood up and walked over to the sample case. He checked the log to see what had been taken out, and compared it to what was still there. “Interesting.” “Yes instructor?” “It seems I am missing a sample.” He said. “Category number 44398-b. It’s a subatomic bacteria that feeds of the material in the hulls of most ships.” “Is there a way to tell who took it?” “Not really,” he replied. “As I said, many of my students take samples. If they didn’t note it here, it’s almost impossible due to the sheer number of students I have.” “Thank you, that’s all we need.” As Mitchell left, his communicator beeped. “Mitchell here.” “Commander Mitchell, this is Chief Technician Bradley, I think we’ve found something.” “Evidence of subatomic bacteria?” “Yes sir,” the technician replied. “We missed it the first time because the explosion killed the bacteria itself, but the stress patterns were a perfect match.” “Thank you chief, forward your report to my office.” He ordered. “Mitchell out.” “So, we have a missing canister of a subatomic bacteria,” Denalla said. “Evidence that it turned up on the fighter, and what did you find sir?” “Someone snuck onto the Adventurous the night before and released an exotic bacteria canister onto the plasma manifolds.” “So it was sabotage?” “Looks that way,” he replied. “Come on, lets find Cadet Reed.” Reed was walking across the Parade field, on his way to the dorms when Mitchell and Denalla caught up with him. “Is there something I can do for you Commander?” he asked. “Yes there is Cadet,” Mitchell replied. “Tell me, do you get along with the rest of your squad?” “Well yeah, I guess,” Reed said. “I mean everyone’s got there differences, right?” “Did you ever have an open argument with any of them?” “Not that I recall,” he relied. “But I don’t think I understand what this has to do with the accident.” “According to our investigation you had an argument with Prina about a week ago,” explained Mitchell. “We were told she was somewhat threatening. We also found evidence of sabotage, and a missing canister of a dangerous life form.” “What, that?” he asked in astonishment. “She wanted me to help her spread news of her graduation to her home world. She thought if I, her squad leader, went with her to Ferenginar that it might help women there get more independence.” “So then why the argument?” “I told her no,” he replied. “I mean have you heard about their weather? There language has seven different words for rain. Not exactly my first choice for vacation. She became angry, saying a good squad leader would help out a member of her squad. Then she said she’d find a way, even if she had to go through me, and stormed off.” “You didn’t report this?” Mitchell asked. “Starfleet takes threats seriously.” “No sir, I figured she was blowing off steam,” he answered. “And besides, if I had it could have ruined what she was trying to do, and I didn’t want to risk that.” “Alright Cadet, we’ll let you know if we need anything else.” “Aye sir,” Reed replied as he continued on his way. “Denalla, what do you think?” Mitchell asked. “Someone is hiding something sir,” she replied. “The question is who.” “At first I thought Reed, now I’m not sure.” “I think we need to search the rooms.” “Good idea, lets go.” The searched the different quarters and found nothing, and finally they came to Prina’s quarters. The found several Ferengi artifacts, but nothing of consequence. Denalla was scanning things with the tricorder. “Over here,” he called. “An exotic bacteria container.” “Here to commander,” she replied holding some kind of device. She pressed a button and an energy field formed over her body. A moment later her image was someone completely different, and Mitchell recognized the image as the man on the security recordings. “Holographic camouflage,” Mitchell muttered under his breath. “There’s just one problem, you aren’t tall enough.” “Sir?” “On the security log, the person I saw was taller then you,” he explained. “Which means it couldn’t have been Prina who used it.” “You think it matches the users height?” she asked as she deactivated the device. “Yeah, I do.” He replied. “Come on, let’s find Prina.” Mitchell, Denalla, and Cadet Prina met in the office that had been given to Prina. “So Cadet,” Mitchell started. “What was your problem with Myers?” “Sir?” “We found the camouflage device,” Denalla said. “And the canister of Bacteria.” “Sir, you have to believe me. I had nothing against Myers.” “Then why kill him?” Mitchell asked. “It wasn’t like that,” she pleaded. “The lobe-less fool used the canister on the wrong fighter.” “You were going to sabotage your own craft,” Mitchell guessed. “To gain publicity and sympathy for Ferengi females.” “Sir, I’m so sorry.” She cried out. “If the right ship had been affected then I would have been the one. The only difference is I knew how to get ahead of the fire. It was all about number. I had to do it, don’t you see that. I had to make the universe open to Ferengi females, no matter what the cost.” Mitchell signaled the two security officers to come in from outside his office. The came up beside the Cadet and restrained her. “Cadet Prina, you are under arrest for conspiring to sabotage Starfleet property, theft of Starfleet property, involuntary manslaughter, dereliction of duty, and disobeying standing orders.” Mitchell listened to the list of charges as she was taken away. He slouched in his chair with a contemplative look on his face. “Denalla,” he said quietly. “I know she’s guilty, I know what she did was wrong.” “But was it for the right reasons?” she asked. “Yeah.” “Commander, my father told me a story once,” she replied. “About a creature that tried to help a man. The creature even went so far as to fall in love with the man, but became so obsessive and sheltering that the man ceased to live. In the end the creature was alone and sad, and even though it felt its reasoning was right, its actions were wrong.” “And because of Cadet Prina’s actions,” Mitchell said. “Females on her home world might have to wait another hundred years before they gain equality.” Mitchell sighed. His yeas as a JAG representative on deep space starships hadn’t prepared him for the political aspect he had just encountered. And he wouldn’t be surprised if it got worse down the road.