A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma: Part 5

Posted on Fri Apr 7th, 2023 @ 9:53pm by Commodore Finchley Kerr & Lieutenant Commander Isabelle Savette
Edited on on Fri Apr 7th, 2023 @ 9:57pm

4,188 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: Investigate the Chintoka Shipyard Buildup
Location: Chin'toka shipyard
Timeline: Current.

[Old]

Shon nodded, slipped the disruptor in her belt and looked at Kerr. “You have the map sir, which way do we go?”

"According to this, we're about three sections away from an inspection tunnel that leads to a main conduit tunnel after another two sections" Finchley said, showing them on the schematic "The only thing is we'd still be two sections away from the main reactor, and we don't know who's there."

He folded the schematic up and placed it in his tunic "There's only one way to find out, lets go."

[New]

Isabelle nodded and followed on behind Finchley, “I wonder how our other teams are getting on?”

Shon took the follow up position to better keep an eye on Isabelle. Not that she was not worried about herself but her Vulcan stoicism made it possible for her to know when she was unable to continue. Despite the aural stimulus and the increasing feelings of being watched she was managing. “We should pick up the pace if possible Captain, despite the heavy stun I would not want to meet…” she thought for a minute, “Sir how did you know those goons names, what did you call them ‘Curly, Larry and Mo?” She questioned.

"I don't" Finchley replied "Larry, Curly and Mo were comedy actors from the twentieth century, their collective name was 'The Three Stooges', always getting themselves into trouble and doing things wrong, comically. Those three just reminded me of them."

“Ah, I now understand,I was having trouble trying to work out how you knew them and did not inform me.” She smiled determined to watch one of those comedy records once they returned to the ship.

He picked up the pace to a good solid tramp. Soon they were at the door to the inspection tunnel. He turned back to both Shon and Isabelle "It's your final opportunity to go back to the Blackeagle if you don't feel up to this. Once we go through those doors, there's no turning back. We either find out what's happening, or we die trying. I'm not trying to frighten you or put you off, but this is the Dominion, or possibly another faction, but whoever it is, I'm not leaving till I get answers."

“I’m going with you Captain” Isabelle gave Finchley a determined look. “Those answers maybe just what we need, along with answers to whatever is wrong with us.” She motioned to Shon as well.

“Captain, we may not have started out on a sure footing but I am your Executive Officer and would lay down my life for yours and I am with you for as long as this takes. If I become unable to carry out my duties or become a liability you know what you must do. Yes, I am still seeing and hearing things but I m now using my Vulcan sense in a way I have never done before and,,it is helping me decide what is real and what is not. Please..” she paused, “trust me Sir?”

Finchley looked at Shon and said "Commander, I don't mean this to sound unkind, I did this once before and it all went pear shaped. Give me a little time to get to know you all, then we can build a trust together. I'm going to begin this build up of trust. Seven years ago, Karadis and I infiltrated this very 'yard, we were part of a Black Ops team. Our mission was to capture or kill the then Commander, a Vorta called Athrax. We got in ok, and we managed to get to the Command centre, but we couldn't find Athrax, they'd been tipped off that we were coming. Fortunately, Athrax hadn't divulged to anyone why they'd left, they gave no warning, they just upped and offed. The reason we were sent in was the Federation had had information that biogenic weapons were being tested here and Athrax was the head scientist. Why they never warned anyone we were coming has never sat right with me, however, it allowed Karadis and me to get back out unchallenged. I have a hunch, what's happening with both of you, has something to do with the experiments Athrax was doing. Now, I can't prove that obviously, but I'd stake my life on it being the truth. Do you trust me in what I just told you?"

Shon nodded, “Yes Sir I do, why would you tell otherwise? From our point of view,” she nodded at Isabelle, “we need to know what this is and the best way to counter it. We also need to take back as much knowledge as we can and, hopefully destroy what is left.”

"Destroy, no" Finchley replied "And this is harder to say more than either of you will ever know...before we took this mission on, SFIHQ recalled me for a specific reason, I'm to gather and take back what I can find on the biogenic tests Athrax had been working on. Let me be clear though, I'm still the CO of the Blackeagle...but at the same time I'm working for SFI. There's two ways we can now look at this, you're Starfleet working alongside Intelligence, or, right here and right now, I have the authority to deputise you both into SFI and we work together under the auspices of SFI."

Shon stopped and looked serious. “What will SFIHQ do with this information. I would hate to think we are letting this thing slip by to be used by us against someone?”

"I've been assured that I'll be placed in charge of the information we garner in regard to what happens with it" Finchley replied "and I already have someone in mind that I can call on to look at it. Tell me Commander, are you familiar with the work of Commander Limar?"

“I want to do what it takes to get this information so yes, I do trust you and am willing to be deputized. Please tell me of Commander Limar?”

"Limar was the scientist who discovered that the Vorta had a sentient link with each other" Finchley replied "that link was also what led him to discover that boigenics was their primary scientific research."

“Ah I see where all this has landed us then, yes I understand what may be asked of us and I agree to do whatever it takes.
She looked at Isabelle.

“Whatever this is..” Isabelle motioned to the growing marks on her skin, it’s obviously something cooked up here. We need to find out just what in the hell is being created here, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

"I'm very glad to hear that Lieutenant, because, as I've already said, I can't guarantee we'll return" Finchley said "The one thing you've got to do for me Counsellor, and I'm not asking this lightly, is drop your scruples. 'If' you both agree to become SFI operatives, then we enter 'grey area's'. Harsh as that sounds, we operate in a different set of rules to Starfleet. If you don't agree, then fairs fair, you stand by your scruples."

“Isabelle are you really sure you want to do this. You could return to the ship and have someone begin to treat you. If you stay you might be asked to do something that goes against your scruples, what you feel deep inside? As for me I understand what I may be called on to do and I feel, I feel the results outweigh the means.”

Isabelle gave both Kerr & Shon a look that said it all. “You want me to drop my scruples? Consider them dropped.” Her demeanour took on a different air. “Say goodbye to sweet little Isabelle, and say hello to me. You want me prepared to do anything, I’m prepared.”

"Then we're on" Finchley replied "According to SFI protocol, I hereby deputise you both into the service. From now on till we return to the Blackeagle, whatever you do doesn't exist, there's going to be no record of it, as far as this mission is concerned, everything stopped when we entered the 'yard."

He touched to the control on the wall, and the doors opened. Entering inside, he started along the tunnel, watching what was on the walls. He could see that there were directions of what work was happening, and he kept them in mind. Eventually, they made the opening to the main access tunnel. Opening it. Finchley stepped out and listened, but all was quiet. He beckoned for Shon and Isabelle to follow him, then started off down the corridor "We step into glory or failure."

“Glory or failure” Shon said softly as she followed him. "This corridor looked much more ‘used' than the ones they had just come from. She trailed her hand along the walls and sills of the windows they passed. “Not much dust,” she whispered, “people have been here recently. We need to look for the labs. Okay Isabelle” she asked.

Isabelle nodded. “As okay as I’m going to be.”

Finchley could hear voices coming from along the corridor so crouched down and signalled for Shon and Isabelle to do the same. As he watched, two figures came into view, one a Jem'Hadar, the other a Vorta. He involuntarily took a deep intake as he whispered "Athrax..."

“Let’s take them now.” Whispered Shon.

"Nooo....." Finchley whispered "I want to see what they're up to first."

Once the two had entered the room off to their right, Finchley broke cover and crept down the corridor. He motioned Shon and Isabelle to follow.

Shon looked at Kerr and tapped her ear to indicate she could hear what they were talking about. The Vorta had a higher more refined voice than the Jem’Hadar. “Where is it?” She could hear him say. The Jem’Hadar mumbled something unintelligible and Shon heard Athrax threaten to cut of his supply of white. “We might have been discovered, I want everything downloaded and then the lab destroyed. Now we can deploy it as a weapon we can wipe out a world in seven hours,” he laughed, “in the most painful way possible.” Shon felt sick as she relayed the conversation to Kerr and the listening Isabelle in a whisper.

Isabelle looked at the marks on her arms, she just hoped whatever they were talking about wasn’t what was wrong with her, if it was the clock was ticking.

Finchley listened as Shon relayed what she had heard. What was this weapon, and how was it to be deployed?

There was a real choice to be made now. Do they go in and try to capture them both, or do they go in and kill them both?

"Kill or capture?" Finchley asked, honestly looking for an answer.

Shon answered immediately, “capture, we have to find out where this weapon is and how, when and to whom they want to deploy it. We cannot allow this abomination to be used. We could go in stun them both to maximum, then whilst they are out we can look around but, if what Athrax said was true they were looking for it as well. Whatever, wherever it is we must make them tell us.” Shon was momentarily surprised at what she said but her Vulcan part was made of steel.

Finchley nodded in reply, then drew his phaser and crept further down the corridor. The doors were still open and he listened as Athrax spoke "Four years I've been waiting for this moment to arrive. Four long and painful years, hiding, on the run, but now it's time to strike back. The humiliation of our defeat at the hands of the Federation and it's allies will be ended and a new era of Dominion dominance will be born. Kevar was right, the breakaway was what was needed, and he we are, proving 'ours' is the true call."

"The download is complete" the Jem'Hadar replied, handing Athrax the PADD he had.

"Set the detonation sequence for two hours, it will be enough time for us to get away and re-join the fleet" Athrax said. The Jem'Hadar soldier said nothing, instead, he headed towards the door .

Now joined by his two colleagues, Finchley stepped into the doorway and said loudly "FIRE!"

Shon stepped up beside Kerr and fired her phaser on heavy stun then set to kill in case the stun setting did not work on the Jem ‘Hadar. Both went down surprised looks still on their faces.

Isabelle did as instructed opening fire on heavy stun, hoping it would be enough to take down their enemies.

"Tie them up" Finchley said pointing at the Athrax and the Jem'Hadar soldier "Keep Athrax legs fee but gag and remove the white from the Jem'Hadar, that'll stop them in their tracks when they regain consciousness ."

Isabelle nodded, setting about removing the white from the Jem’Hadar as she helped with gagging and tying them up. “Let’s hope this’ll be enough to hold them.

“We can always stun them again if we need to but we are going to need them conscious at some stage.

He moved over to where the PADD was and picked it up. It was encrypted, and not a cipher he'd come across before.

"Commander, when you're done there, have a look at this PADD" he said to Shon as he placed it on the desk near him "See if you can work out the cipher to decode it."

Shon took the PaDD with the cipher and studied it, it was like nothing she had seen before but, there was something familiar about the way it was written. “As far as I can see it is possibly a Homophonic or a Polyalphabetic substitution cipher….no wait I think it is a combination of the two, devilishly clever.” It seemed just then there was someone standing next to her, so near she could feel the breath on her neck. She started and gasped, “sorry” she said as she concentrated on the puzzle. “It’s dependent on the mixture of two languages juxtaposed with one another…if I can just crack……” the PaDD computed thousands of combinations. “One is Ferengi,” she announced “and the other is……got it, Andorian!. She entered that into the PaDD and, once again it began placing and replacing random letters from both languages. “This might take a few minutes.” She announced. She walked over and checked the prisoners, satisfied they were still unconscious she checked their bonds.

"Lieutenant, troll the record console over there" he said, pointing "See what you can come up with in regards to how many of 'them' are here, also, look for any outgoing and incoming messages, they have to be getting their orders from somewhere and I can't imagine that anyone of importance to their cause would lower themselves to come back here...a sign of their ultimate defeat. If any recurring names or places come up, keep a note and let me know."

“Aye Sir” Isabelle nodded as she made her way past Athrax to the console. Truth be known she was starting to feel pretty off, her temperature was definitely rising, and she was starting to feel weaker.

”GOT IT” Shon exclaimed. “It’s a formula, actually several that should be added together to get..OH Surak,” she swore. “Just one drop of this airborne can destroy a planet. It is designed to kill all living things, plants, animals, people and can make land uninhabitable for eons.” She stopped talking as anything else she said would be superfluous but she suddenly wanted to harm the Vorta asleep on the floor.

Finchley was stunned by what Shon said. It was difficult to believe that a single drop from this...mega virus could kill everything on a planet.

"Ok, we need answers and we need them fast" Finchley said. Walking over to Athrax, he kicked him between his legs and watched as the Vorta doubled up. Grabbing him by the collar, he hauled him to his feet and dragged him towards the doors "Mr Athrax and I are going to have a little chat outside, both of you carry on with what I told you to do.

“Aye Sir!” Isabelle nodded as she watched Finchley go.

Shon began to investigate the console that Isabelle had been looking at. She looked at her colleague. “Lieutenant you look like death, sit down please. That’s an order.” She began to look over the data taking directions not indicated, each dead end led to a live one. Then the information began to make sense and, again she took a deep breath.”No” was all she said.

Isabelle took a seat at the console, pouring over what information she could get access to. There was so much here she ideally needed to download it to take back to the ship.

Once outside the room and into the hallway, Finchley punched the Vorta in the stomach "Where's the virus?"

"I don't know what you mea..." Athrax began, so Finchley punched him again, and again, and again.

"I don't have time for this shit, tell me where the virus is or I kill you where you are" Finchley said, reiterating his question and threat by taking out his phaser and holding it to Athrax head.

"I don't kn..." Athrax began again.

Finchley had had enough, he dragged the Vorta back into the room and over to the Jem'Hadar. Kicking the soldier several times till he was awake, Finchley then turned back to Athrax "My patience with you is thread bear. I have a shipyard being rebuilt by would be Dominion forces which possibly means another war could be imminent, two sick colleagues because of the shit you were experimenting with here before and now a mega virus that can kill an entire planets lifeforms and its ecco system from just a single drop WHERE IS THE VIRUS?"

"I don't know..." Athrax said.

"...where it is" Finchley finished for him. Pointing his phaser at the Jem'Hadar, he maximised the setting and fired, killing the soldier where he lay.

He untied Athrax hands, removed the power cell from his phaser, placed the phaser in Athrax hand then said "Commander, Lieutenant, what did you see?"

“Was there anything to see Sir?” Isabelle looked across at Finchley. “I didn’t see a thing.”

Shon looked at Kerr and then with distaste at Athrax, “I saw nothing sir, but I would like to ask him something, with your permission?”

"You can't do that, you can't just kill someone!!!!" Athrax shouted at Finchley.

Rolling down his sleeve, Finchley pinched the cuff and took the phaser back off of Athrax and placed the power cell back into it. Throwing the phaser down on the ground next to the dead Jem'Hadar, he looked at Athrax and replied "Do what, you just killed a Jem'Hadar First using a Starfleet phaser, your finger prints are all over it, plus it'll show that it's been fired. Now, if I were you, I'd start to make better choices in how you answer questions, beginning with the one Commander Dex is about to ask you."

"By all means Commander, carry on" Finchley said, looking at Shon.

Shon dragged the Vorta up and sat him down in chair. She smiled a friendly smile, licked her finger and wiped a streak of blood from the corner of his mouth. “There” she said, “all shipshape and Bristol fashion. I am so sorry my commanding officer hit you, I can assure you I will not.” She smiled again at him. She pulled up another chair and sat down in front of him, Shon could see he was a little confused over this change. “Now Mr Anchovy what do you know about a beautiful planet known as Visalia?” She stopped smiling.

“Where,” he said, “never heard of it.

“It’s not too far from here I believe, full of exotic plants, blue oceans, forests and mountains, oh and a pre warp civilisation. Are you sure you don’t know it?”

He shook his head then looked at Isabelle, Kerr and then back at her. “Well I shall ask our good Captain here to take us on a little trip there, you look like you need a good rest, we can drop you off…..”

Athrax turned white as Shon stood, put her foot in his midriff and pushed the chair back onto the floor. “I know this is where you tested the virus, I found your excited reports on that console. All your evidence of planetary death, no living being or thing, no plants, trees, oceans all dead, no life for thousands of years, a civilization snuffed out! You know I am half Vulcan?” Athrax shook his head. She took her right middle finger and placed it on the side of his forehead and pushed. He screamed a high, shrill scream. “I know so many pressure points that are oh…so much more painful and I could do it all day. Now where is the virus?”

He shook his head, “I don’t know what you are talking about you Vulcan bitch!”

“Well how about this then.” She took the same finger and placed it on his groin and pushed. He screamed again and his bladder failed him.

“IN PLAIN SIGHT, IN PLAIN SIGHT’ he screamed.

She turned to Kerr. I know where the virus is sir.”

"Where?" Finchley demanded.

“Hiding in plain site sir just as he said. Back in the surgical suite we found when we first came in. Where the Lieutenant and myself got a dose of something that, I suspect was used as a test prior to the destruction wrought by just one drop.

"But if both of you got some of that virus on yourselves, why aren't you dead?" Finchley asked, somewhat confused

“I can assure you sir this is not the virus, we would all be dead if it was, no, I suspect this is just one ingredient of said virus which, if was combined with the rest of the viral load combines to make the full virus. Looking over the records I found this was not thought to have the correct result, that is why the Lieutenant and myself have different symptoms. I am not yet sure what will happen to us, if it will lead to our deaths.”

"I'd much rather it didn't if that's all the same Commander, the paperwork is horrendous!" Finchley replied. He walked over to Athrax and looked down at him, then back to Shon "Right, I'm going to head up the corridor a little ways, see what's there. You and the Lieutenant get back to that surgical unit and tear it apart if you have to, I want that virus found."

He headed for the door, then stopped and looked back at Shon "Oh, and kill that...thing" he said, pointing to Athrax "he's not of any more use" then disappeared out the doors.

Shon was feeling the increased effects of the virus as the room seemed to be changing around her, walls moving in and out moulding themselves into different shapes, doors opening and windows appearing showing green pastures and a forest of trees beyond. She turned expecting to see Isabelle but sitting there at the table was her father. Shon gasped. The last time she had seen him they had argued badly about something simple and stupid and she had felt bad about it. She moved towards him stumbling onto her knees. “Addtha, she said, I am sorry.” She smiled and leant to hug him. “Why are you tied?” She exclaimed and undid his bonds.

As they fell to the floor Athrax could hardly believe his luck, instead of pushing her away he embraced her taking the phaser from her belt. He aimed and shot her point blank. Shon’s eyes widened in surprise and pain as she went down unconscious. Athrax pushed her off onto the floor and gestured towards Isabelle. “He grabbed her and placed the phaser against her. “You’re getting me out of here” he said brutally pulling her towards him and pushing her towards the door.

Isabelle looked worriedly at Shon, there was little she could so for her colleague right now, all she could do was be forcefully pushed along by Athrax. “You do know you’re holding someone infected by your virus, aren’t you afraid of being infected?”

Finchley had gone some way up the corridor before her heard the voices. Crouching down, he moved forward slowly till he was at the edge of a doorway, then stopped.

"He's late!" someone said.

"He'll be here, relax, you know he said it would take a little time to get what he required" another answered.

"I still don't trust him, why would he take a risk like that?" the first one asked.

"Because..."

At that point Finchley stood up, took out his phaser, and rounded the doorway "Because the risk to gain success far outweighs the consequences of not trying at all and failing" he finished the sentence.

TBC

 

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