JEW-EL RPG, Log 24
Laizia
After her latest harrowing adventure, Laizia was still too restless to sleep. So despite being exhausted, she wandered down the corridor towards where the computer had said Lt. Nu'Daq's quarters were. She felt obligated to thank him. He *had* saved her life--and in Klingon terms, that meant she owed him a debt. But being so young, it was likely that even if he wanted to hold her to it, Worf wouldn't have allowed it.
"Hopefully thanking him will be sufficient," she murmured to herself, tucking a strand of hair behind one ear. She tapped his doorchime and there was silence for a moment. For that second she thought she might have had the wrong door, but then a resounding crash from within followed by Nu'Daq's voice bellowing "ENTER!" proved that she had found the right place after all. Steeling herself, Laizia stepped inside--and into a disaster area.
She looked around before finding Nu'Daq, who glowered at her. "Yes?" he demanded.
Laizia's eyes narrowed a little. "I merely came to thank you for--rescuing me. But if I'm bothering you, I'll leave." She was frustrated by what she perceived as his rudeness, even though she was not the cause of it. *Why does every adult take out their frustration on me?!* She folded her arms and waited for Nu'Daq's response.
Jadzia
Jadzia Dax paced the length of the quarters she shared with husband and child. Right now, she was alone; Worf was on the Bridge and Laizia was...
"Computer, where is Laizia Rochenko?"
"Laizia Rochenko is in Lieutenant Nu'Daq's quarters."
Dax let out a sigh of relief; Laizia would certainly be very safe with the chief of security, even if he tended to be a loose canon on occasion.
Now, there were other matters to attend to. The Valjean had gotten so off track with the various situations which had arisen since they had left DS9 and Dax was understandably eager to get back on track. But there was one thing she had to finish up on...
"Dax to Arsinoe..." Jadzia stopped in front of the window and stared out at the stars. So many possibilities, so many more intrigues... would they ever get to their final destination? Would they be able to ever start on this treaty? She sighed. "I'd like to see you in my quarters. Right away. Dax out."
Mora Arsinoe
Arsinoe was sitting in her quarters, eying her roommate suspiciously from behind a PADD, when Dax's voice broke into her troubled thoughts. "Arsinoe here."
"I'd like to see you in my quarters. Right away. Dax out." Arsinoe started slightly but quickly tried to compose herself. She had known that sooner or later she would have to make her report.
Straightening out her shirt as she stood up, Arsinoe walked over to the locked drawer in which she was keeping the information rod that held the information that she would have to give Dax. The lives of the senior staff along with a few other suspicious characters were recorded on the tiny rod, and this record, after given to Dax, would hopefully secure her a safe place on the ship until it was time to complete her own mission.
Arsinoe looked back over at her roommate Veena Pari and now started at her overtly. Pari suddenly feeling the gaze, looked up from what she was doing. She met Arsinoe's stare for a second, but finding it unfriendly, scrunched her already wrinkled nose, and got up and left the room. She seemed so nice at first, Arsinoe thought, as Veena left, who would have known what information she would have found on her. Arsinoe shook her head sadly and unlocked the drawer. No, Veena Pari's background would not be on the information rod. A Dominion conspirator, only in the loosest sense of course, but still... Arsinoe could not trust her but felt that she shouldn't share this one particular piece of information. Of course, she didn't put her own information on the rod either, well, not her real information of course. She had made a small note about herself under the name Mora Arsinoe, but Riona.... no, that name would stay a secret.
She grabbed the rod and slammed thed drawer shut once again and then slipped out of the room before her roommate might think to approach her again.
She strood down the corridors towards Dax's quarters. Considering the meeting place, she had the feeling that this, like their last meeting, would be pretty much off the record. Arsinoe soon arrived at her commander's quarters but stood outside the doors for a moment, composing herself with a deep breath. Suddenly, the doors swished open and Dax stood waiting on the other side. "Were you ever going to come in on your own?" she asked. Arsinoe forced a smile and stepped into the quarters, the doors swishing closed beind her.
Nu'Daq
As the doors to his chamber swooshed open, Nu'Daq recognized the person outside. To his surprise it was Laizia - not the person he had expected. She looked around for him, probably she didn't notice him standing in the dark corner away from the door. She stepped into the room, before Nu'Daq acknowledged her presence with a firm and inquiring "yes?".
The girl turned towards him. She looked a bit surprised at his stern face. And with a hint of resentment she answered with a "I merely came to thank you for--rescuing me. But if I'm bothering you, I'll leave".
Nu'Daq was somewhat surprised at this response. "You're welcome, Laizia. Now leave", he said with a grunt - expecting her to run off. But she didn't. Instead she started looking around his room, examining what was left of his small table. She looked at him: "What happened? Did _you_ do this? Why?"
*Kids* Nu'Daq thought. Nosy little brats some times.... "Yes I did. I was angry, and instead of hitting someone, I took it out on that table." Laizia looked curious. "Who did you want to hit?" "None of your concern, Laizia. It's a grown-up problem".
Laizia looked at him, as if he had insulted her. "Why does everyone think I'm a little kid? I'm eleven. I'm almost grown-up." Her defiant little face made Nu'Daq almost smile. She didn't seem to want to let go of the issue. "I bet it has something to do with Dr. Rafko." Nu'Daq frowned, which made Laizia smile. "Hah, I was right. Do you like her?"
*Damn, she just keeps on* Nu'Daq was not sure if he should tell her about it. But then again, it was no secret, that Xenia and him were in love. "Yes, I do. Very much." Laizia examined his facial statement. She looked confused. "Are you going to marry her?", she asked. "None of your concern, kid". She came up to him and poked him in the belly with her little finger. With a firm voice she replied loudly: "Don't call me a kid. I'm not. Now answer me: Do you want to marry her?"
The situation was comical. Here was this little half-klingon, half-trill girl trying to lecture the huge klingon. Nu'Daq smiled. "Okay, Laizia, you win. The answer is: yes, I want to marry her". Laizia removed her little poky-finger and looked at Nu'Daq. "So if you want to spend your life with her, how come you are sitting inhere by yourself smashing your furniture, and not spending time with her?"
Nu'Daq started to reply. "Because.........". But he didn't really know what to say. Not because he didn't want to answer Laizia, but because he didn't really knew the answer. Why wasn't he with Xenia? The obvious answer was, that he left because Leget came to sit at their table, but why was he so upset about that? He tried to convince himself that his hatred for Leget at least to some degree grew out of concern for Xenia. After all she should dislike cardassians as much as Nu'Daq. But she was an adult. She should make the decision who to socialize with and who not. Or was it his own hatred for cardassians, that made him leave. Was his hatred for cardassians bigger than his love for Xenia? The questions started to make his stomach swirl - he wasn't used to all this thinking, this morale dilemma.
Nu'Daq started to focus. Laizia was still standing there, waiting for his answer. He looked at her. "I don't know, Laizia. I don't know. Sometimes life as an adult is very difficult. Sometimes I wish everything was just as easy as when I was a kid." Laizia gave him a questioning glance. "Why do you adults make everything so complicated then? Is it really that complicated?" Nu'Daq just shook his head. He didn't know what to say.
"But as I said: I just wanted to come by and thank you for rescuing me." Nu'Daq gave her a slight smile. "You're welcome. I know you would do the same for me". Laizia smiled. "Now of you go, Laizia. I bet your parents are looking for you". She gave him a hug and ran out the door. As the doors closed, Nu'Daq sat down on the floor. Perhaps some meditation could help him with some answers. But he had only sat down for a minute or so, when the door bell chimed again. "Enter!", Nu'Daq shouted out. But even before the doors had opened, he knew who it was. Xenia. And as she stepped into the room Nu'Daq saw the statement on her face. She didn't look happy
Xenia Rafko
Okal stared after Nu'Daq.
"What is his problem?" she asked.
I shrugged. "Who knows?" I said. "It's always something with him."
"Are you going to go after him?" Okal asked. I looked at the food on the plate in front of me; I still hadn't had a chance to eat and I was starving. Besides, the company was good.
"If you will excuse me," Leget said genially, pushing back from the table. Both Okal and I nodded.
"I'll let Nu'Daq cool down," I said. "I suppose it would be better that way. It's probably something he needs to work out on his own."
"Probably," Okal said.
I leaned forward and said in a low voice to my friend," "So, how is it going with Tate?"
Jadzia Dax
Jadzia continued to pace the length of her quarters. Worf was still on the Bridge; she had made sure of that after calling Arsinoe. She didn't know why it was important that Worf not find about this particular report, but somehow, she had the feeling that Arsinoe would turn up items that would not help the situation on the ship any.
Damn, Jadzia thought, almost angrily. All she wanted to do was get this treaty over and with each new incident, it didn't look like they'd ever get to the conference.
She was also concerned that all of the strange going-ons would reflect badly on Worf, who had desperately wanted this command and had to work hard to be given the chance.
There was a time, Jadzia reflect, when Sisko had noted that Worf probably would not get a command of his own. That had hurt Worf, though the stoic Klingon would never say so out-loud. But Jadzia had known how much this knowledge had bothered Worf.
So she was determined that nothing should get in the way of Worf's first command. This mission would be a success and she was Worf's first officer; she needed to do everything she could to help him achieve the mission.
She took a deep breath as the door chime rang.
"Come," Jadzia said. The doors parted to reveal Ensign Arsinoe. Jadzia smiled. Now she would have the answers she needed.
Catava Okal
Our relaxing impromptu dinner party had slowly dwindled down to solely my friend and I. The aroma of the stew I had just eaten lingered over my near polished bowl. Leget had excused himself, due to I would expect, the rather crass way dear Nu'Daq had left the table. My eyes followed the Cardassian as he left. I never thought I would trust a Cardassian. I never thought anyone would trust me, a Ktarian. My thoughts of social politics were interupted by Xenia.
She leaned towards me as her eyes darted left to right to see if we had any unwanted audience. As if it were some sort of classified information, Xenia asked me the ever-important question in a low voice," "So, how is it going with Tate?" I felt like I was in the middle of one of Julian's holo-programmes.
"I don't know Xenia. I don't know." I was in formal attire, but I slouched in my chair. That stew was too hearty, I think.
Xenia leaned back and swirled her bolian tonic water as if it were terran brandy in a snifter. "How do you mean?"
"I mean, he's not the same Tate I knew in Starfleet, Zee. He's so, so..." I fiddled with my fork. "... secretive. And the tension between he and Nu'Daq is just unbearable sometimes."
Xenia stilled lightly at the mention of those two names in the same sentence. She didn't need the added reminder.
"I know it's because of his sister, but that doesn't seem like the entire reason. I don't know. It seems he's back here with me to try to forget or let go of something he can't get rid of and that he's too afraid to face. Like he's trying to bury himself in aspects of his past."
Xenia poked her steamed azna with her fork. She looked ready to eat, but I knew her meal was done. She ate barely a thing.
"Where has he been these past few years?" she asked.
I sat straight. "I don't know. I try to ask off hand every now and then, but he always changes the subject. He's avoiding talking about something, I know it." I pushed my plate aside and rested my head on one hand with my elbow braced on the table. "I'm just glad he doesn't want to spend every waking minute with me. I don't know where he goes, but if I were to spend all of my free time with him pretending the way things were when we were younger I think he'd be floating out the nearest air-lock." I chuckled in spite of myself.
Xenia put her plate aside and stood. "Sounds like you need a mud bath or a night at Vic's or something. You now have an extra two hours of holodeck time."
"Xenia, there's too much to do! We haven't arrived at the talks yet and the warp core..." I tried to disuade her. She cut me off.
"Ah-ah. Fringe benefits of a doctor friend. Don't make me order you to take them." She waved a finger at me.
"Okay, okay. A steaming mud bath does sound refreshing." I stood and we walked out into the corridor. To the right of us a figure was running, almost knocking down bystanders in his haste.
"What the..." Xenia started.
My disposition soured when he turned a corner and I could see his face. It was Tate.
Arsinoe
Arsinoe walked into the quarters, clutching the data rod nervously. For some reason she felt that if she could just survive this assignment in tact then she would somehow be secure for the rest of the voyage. If both Commander Dax and Nu'Daq protected her until it was time for her mission, then she had a chance of succeeding. Dax motioned her into the spacious quarters. "Please, come in and sit. I believe you have a report to make," she said as they both positioned themselves at her table.
Arsinoe nodded. "I do. I researched the senior staff, as well as a few other notable crew members, and I'm afraid that you won't like what I have found."
Dax narrowed her eyes slightly and sighed as Arsinoe handed her the data rod. "I can summarize my findings if you'd like," Arsinoe said, to which Dax nodded.
"Go on."
"Alright," Arsinoe continued. "What I have found is that almost every member of you senior staff is in some way violent, unstable, or possibly a traitor." Dax's eyes widdened, but Arsinoe hurried on. "Let me explain. I'll start with Lt. Commander Rafko. It seems that during the time of Cardassian occupation Lt. Commander Rafko was experimented on medically and was given a near fatal disease that has plagued her since. She tries to cover its seriousness, but it has brought her deteriorating health ever since then. The Cardassians also murdered her biological parents and so she therefore hates all Cardassians. She joined the Maquis and worked with them for many years. However, I believe that she may have not actually left as long ago as you may believe. I've found connections between her and the Maquis leading up until quite recently.
"This also connects to Lt. Nu'Daq, who as you may know has a history with Lt. Commander Rafko. He too has always hated Cardassians, not only because of his being a Klingon, but also because of what they did to her. Additionally, I've found him to have an especially violent record, even for Klingons, with the IKC JamoLagh before transferring here. He worked for Klingon Intelligence before that working in contra-espionage and security, but those files are so tightly sealed that there was no way to find out what missions he was a part of. The only other information that I have found on him is that he parents died during a conflict between the Klingon Empire and the Federation during the Dominion war and he therefore blames the Federation for their deaths. He has expressed, on numerous occations, his hatred of the Federation, and one wonders why he truly transferred to this ship."
Arisnoe paused for a moment and tried to study Dax's reaction, but her face was expressionless and almost cold. "Continue."
"Alright. Moving on then. Another crew member who hates Cardassians is Lt. Tenjou Utena. She too blames sickness on the Cardassians, though in her case it is her mother's illness. She is prone to violence due to a bad temper and is trained in numerous martial arts, an unfortunate combination. She does not seem to socialize with the crew, nor did she at the Academy. She keeps to herself and spends a great deal of time in the holodeck where she tries to take out her aggression and hatred.
"Lt. Emallia Janor, whom I believe you know to some extent. She's a genius with a photographic memory who joined the Academy incredibly early. However, she was disowned by her family when she went on the science track instead of the command track and hasn't been home since. What most don't know is that she chose the science track in an effort specifically to annoy her father because she blamed him for the death of her mother which came at the hand of the Dominion. Her parents had gotten in a fight, it seems, and her mother had left all of the sudden on business to get away. On the way her transport ship was destroyed and Janor never forgave her father for the fight. When her two sisters sided with her father, Janor hated them all and left. This is consistant with her personality that is considered stubborn, defiant, and stuck-up by most of those who know her.
"The other senior staff member who has not contacted her family in many years is Lt. Katja. She blamed her parents on the death of her twin sister in a fire when they were both children and hasn't spoken to them she since was a teenager. Although she has unresolved issues she is one of your few crew members who does not seem to have a violent, if not troubled, past.
"That brings us to Lt. Ruk Takei. I was not able to find a lot on him but from what I can tell he is somewhat unstable due to a tramatic experience with the Borg at Wolf 359. He has never seemed to recover and has claimed to be reliving the event constantly in his mind. He has drifted between assignments since then until ending up here.
"Finally, that brings us to Lt. Aleana Lan, who, as far as I can tell, is the only member of the senior staff who has had a completely stable, mundane, and otherwise normal past. She went to the Academy, graduated with honors, and has had a successful career up until now."
Arsinoe stopped finally and regarded Dax's face once more. At the least, she decided, Dax did not seem happy with the information in the report.
"What about the other crew members that you investigated," Dax asked, a hint of anxiousity in her voice.
"Well, I only investigated a few other crew members, but my research has turned up some, um, important information. First of all, I investigated the new Cardassian crew member and I'm happy to report that he too has a spotless record, though I would recommend providing him with some security while on board, at least for a little while, all things considered.
"My research into Ensign Catava Okal did, however, turn up something that is, well, not as good. It seems that she has a connection to another crew member, Lieutenant Taite Bergren, also in engineering. I was able to find almost nothing on Lt. Bergren's past, it was as if he had just disappeared out of the universe for a good number of years only to turn up in time to get this assignment. As far as I can tell he disappeared to the Maquis for those years and then came back now for a reason that I can't figure out. There is something important enough about this mission though that he has returned and risked being on the same ship as Ensign Okal, who, I have fear, has been his informant for all the years that he was missing.
"The thing that I can't figure out is, why she has been feeding him information. She, one of the few in the whole crew, does not seem to have a great hatred of Cardassians, the Dominon, or anyone really. It seems more that he has a power over her, perhaps romantically, that has caused her to be giving him information on the Federation for a number of years now. There were traces of transmissions between the two of them for the entire time that he was missing. The transmissions were covered up and rerouted through numerous places to the extent that I can't determine where he was for that time, but I am sure that it was Okal that he was contacting and getting his information from. As for other information on Lt. Bergren, I can't find all that much, other than the fact that he and Nu'Daq really do not seem to like each other."
"Is that everyone that you researched?" Dax asked as Arsinoe finished.
"Yes," Arsinoe replied, "Oh, other than that Morgan woman that you mentioned. The thing is, I can't find anything on her at all. It's as if, according to all records in the Federation and otherwise, she doesn't exist."
Dax took a deep, almost ragged breath and nodded.
"Other than that though," Arsinoe finished, "yes, that is everyone. As I said before, your senior staff, as well as a few others, seems to be, unfortunately, violent, unstable, and traitorous. Although there are a few of us," Arsinoe nearly crossed her fingers at the lie, "that you can truly trust."
Nu'Daq
Nu'Daq had just been interrupted in his meditation by a knock on the door. It was Xenia. The doors had opened, and she entered the room. She didn't look happy. To be more exact, she looked terrible. Her face was pale, as pale as corpse. She tried to speak, but somehow she failed. Nu'Daq stood up. "Xenia, what is wrong with you? You look sick." She approached Nu'Daq, and her hand (which had been firmly clutched against her stomach) suddenly dropped, and her shirt opened. Nu'Daq couldn't believe his eyes. A huge blood stain was visible. Nu'Daq hurried to her side and caught her, before she fell to the ground.
Nu'Daq gently put her down and opened her shirt to examine her. He gave a slight gasp, as he saw Xenia's stomach. A giant ragged wound had been cut all the way across her stomach. Blood was pouring out. Nu'Daq started giving her first aid, but it seemed impossible. The sight was making him sick, the blood, the smell.... Nu'Daq sniffed. He could smell poison in the wound.
Nu'Daq reached for his communicator, he needed to contact sick bay. But when he touched the communicator, he didn't hear the usual acknowledging chirp from a functional communicator, but a low buzz. A buzz which came from a non-working communicator. He was about to get up and get help, when a loud mourn was heard from Xenia. She was dying. Nu'Daq knelt down by her head. He looked at her, when she opened her eyes. Nu'Daq shook her gently. He knew, she was about to die, and the feeling made him feel nagry, helpless, sick. But before she died, he needed to know who had done this to her. He got closer and whispered: "Xenia, my love. Who did this to you?" She tried to speak, and finally she was able to look him straight in the eye and whisper: "You did, Nu'Daq. You did." Nu'Daq could feel her clenched body relax, her breath stop and her heartbeat falter. She was dead.
Suddenly Nu'Daq could hear an evil laugh from the open door. He recognized it immediately. It was Taite. Just as Nu'Daq got up, the image of the dead Xenia disappeared like a hologram on the holodeck. Then Taite reveiled himself and stood in the open doorway. "How did you like my little show?". He held forth a small device. "A transportable hologram replay device. Quite expensive, but suddenly worth it. Now you know, how I felt when my sister died. Now you know." An evil grin filled Taite's face. He seemed to be content with his little scharade.
Nu'Daq was furious. How dared he? Who dared he mock Xenia and Nu'Daq's relationship with her? Nu'Daq tried to calm his voice. "Taite, this time you crossed the line, Starfleet or no Starfleet. I will now give you a one minute head start, that I will spend on meditating and preparing. Then I will hunt you down and kill you. And noone will prevent me, or I will kill them on the way." Taite looked confused for a moment, doubting the seriousness of Nu'Daq's threat. But when Nu'Daq pulled out his trusty mek'leth and started sharpening them, he realised that he might have gone too far this time. And that Nu'Daq was serious. Dead serious. With a confused look on his face he ran down the corridor.
Nu'Daq as promised gave him a one minute head start. He made his prayers to Kahless, asking for good fortune in the upcoming fight. And as the minute had passed, Nu'Daq started his hunt, following the scent of Taite. And at no point was there any doubt in his mind, that he would kill Taite this time.
The track lead down towards Ten Forward. Perhaps Taite thought, that Nu'Daq woldn't kill him in a crowd of fellow crew members. He was wrong.
Within minutes Nu'Daq reached Ten Forward. The doors opened, and Nu'Daq examined the room. It was pretty crowded - after all it was lunch time. He recognized a lot of people inthere, including Okal and Xenia sitting at a small table in the back, the same table Nu'Daq had left only half an hour ago. He looked at Xenia. She looked tired, but pretty as always. Every now and then Nu'Daq was certain, that he could see an inner beauty shining out from Xenia's face. He could see it now, she was glowing, like a candle in a dark room. He loved her so much. She looked at him, smiled at him and signaled for him to come to their table.
But instead Nu'Daq looked around the room. He spotted Taite at the far corner of the room. And without hesitation he rushed over towards him, lifting his mek'leth. He heard numerous surprised gasps from the surrounding people, as he came up to Taite with a loud "Prepare to die, patagh!"
Tenjou Utena
Utena was upset. This wasn't what was supposed to happen.
They were supposed to get to the peace talks, make peace, get the cure for her mother, and go back to Deep Space Nine. That was all she wanted. It was all supposed to be so easy.
She exited the turbolift and followed the corridor to the holodecks. Quickly finding an empty one, she entered it. "Activate program Tenjou-3," she commanded. A dojo dissolved into existence around her.
She sat down and began to meditate. Her thoughts turned to her mother, whose soft smile and serene presence had always been a calming presence in her life. It was always thoughts of her mother that allowed Utena to function semi-normally as a member of Starfleet. The same thing that allowed her to pass the psych exams that were required to get into Starfleet Academy. The one person who kept her from snapping.
As all this went through Utena's mind, she found she couldn't find her center (what she HAD of one, anyway, she'd never been good at meditating for very long).
"End program!" she called out, frustrated as hell. Maybe she could go pick a fight in Ten Foward or something. Then blame it on whoever was stupid enough to get near her. She stood up and left the chamber.
After a few minutes, she reached Ten Forward. Utena took a seat in a far corner of the room, so there would be a minimum of socialization. Her back was facing the wall, and this way she wouldn't have to worry about people behind her looking at her.
A moment after she sat down, another person, whom she recognized as a lieutenant who was one of the Engineering crew, sat down across from her, looking rather smug. She frowned, but didn't say anything. He looked around nervously for a moment, then turned to her, the smug grin still on his face. "Have you ever taken out revenge on someone who deserved it? I mean...really deserved it?"
The frown grew deeper. "I haven't yet had my chance--"
She was interrupted as a shout suddenly quieted the din of the lounge. "Prepare to die, patagh!" Turning, Utena saw the Chief Of Security, Nu'Daq, storm up to the table, mek'leth in hand.
Cooper
I never really realized how relaxing having your own quarters can be, really I didn’t, during the gang wars on Gauntlet we slept wherever we could find a space big enough, when I was a pirate. Well never mind. But now as I sit here it gives me a chance to think, alone. Because there are many things to think about, getting assigned to engineering, Ally, homicide and especially…Ally. During the academy I was an outsider and yet we became friends, perhaps more, anyways we need to talk but I don’t know what to say so I’m sitting here, thinking.
At least I was until my quarters exploded.
Emallia Janor
Emallia paced around her quarters. "How to get out, how to get out?" she mumbled to herself. 'I'm in here for another good, oh, 3 hours. So, who can I get to rescue me. . . Coop! Coop my little buddy, you'll save me!' she said as she took a moment to remember where she had flung her comm badge in a moment of fury."
Ah, there you are!"she said. "Janor to Cooper, how'd you like to be my knight in shining armour once more?"
Nu'Daq
Nu'Daq's fury was bigger than ever. Taite's little show had triggered and released a part of Nu'Daq's dark psyche he himself even did not know existed. All he could think about was to drive this mek'leth into his neck, but Xenia's voice, although garbled in his ears by his own heartbeat and fury, somehow made him hesitate. Her voice sounded angry, but as always he could hear love and concern in her voice, even though she was certainly angry.
Nu'Daq looked into Taite's eyes for a hint of regret, but found none. Only smite. And now even Xenia's voice couldn't hold him back. He prepared to make the kill...... When suddenly the ship rocked. Nu'Daq lost his footing for a fraction of a second, and this gave Taite the opportunity to struggle free and attempt an escape. This made Nu'Daq come to his senses and calm a bit. Enough for him to assess the situation. An explosion had occured, somewhere on the ship. Taite was being restrained by a handful of crew members, he hadn't gotten far. Dax, Arsinoe and a handful of Security personnel was coming towards him.
At that moment the Red Alert started. And the commanding voice of the captain reached everyone through the intercom. "Battle Stations!".
The group of Security personnel reached Nu'Daq's position. But before Dax could formulate the question, she was obviously preparing Nu'Daq spoke to the security detachment. "Take Lt. Berggren to the brig. Arrest him. Now!" The firm voice made them obey immediatly. Arsinoe went for Utena. The young lieutenant did not seem like she would come along volunteeringly. But Dax gave her a stern look, which made Utena lower her weapon. "Ensign, escort the lieutenant to her quarters and make sure she stays there." Dax turned to Nu'Daq. "What is going on here?" Nu'Daq looked at the commander. "It's a long story...." Dax interrupted him. "We don't have time for that. Everyone to their stations. Now!"
The red alert kept ringing, but Dax's command seemed to resolve the stalled situation in Ten-Forward, at least for now. Everyone rushed to their stations. Nu'Daq rushed to the bridge along with Dax.
As they reached the bridge, Dax ordered a situation report. While Nu'Daq assumed his position at Tactical, Worf oriented them of the situation. A small vessel had approached them and fired a shot at the ship. It had knocked out part of the weapons array and shielding, after which it had turned and started a run for it. The Valjean was in pursuit travelling at warp 9 and slowly gaining on the ship. "What happened down in Ten-Forward" the captain then asked, but Dax only responded: "Later."
Nu'Daq assessed the situation at tactical. The ship was running at warp 8.9, probably the maximum speed of the vessel. But something bothered Nu'Daq. Why would a small and inferior ship like this one attack the mighty Valjean? Every muscle in his body made him feel suspicious. He looked at the damages. The shields were at 54%, and only half the phasers were operational. It seemed like a power relay had exploded on deck 7, right next to some crew quarters. But Engineering was working had on restoring full power to the Tactical Systems.
Nu'Daq's attention returned to the ship in front of them. It was a small vessel, quick and agile, but not very powerful. It had had a free shot at the Valjean without shields, but had only made minor damages. The attack was futile and stupid, since it couldn't even outrun the Valjean. Nu'Daq scanned the vessel thoroughly. But somehow it was imprenetable to the scans. A flashback from one of his missions from his time in Klingon Intelligence came to him. He modified the scanners and used a pulsating Arrhenius field to determine the composition of the small ships shielding. It was a duranium-titanium alloy with trace elements of niobium and bohrium. And suddenly Nu'Daq remembered: He had been on an undercover mission within the ranks of the Orion Syndicate, when he had served on a scout ship run by Syndicate members. The ship had been fitted with a protective shielding of the exact same composition.
Nu'Daq scanned the area of space ahead of them. They were approaching a large type 6 nebula, a perfect hiding ground for an ambush.
"Captain, I think we are headed for an ambush. The ship in front of us is an Orion ship, and I believe the attack was designed to lure us into a trap in the nebula ahead." Worf rose from his chair and looked at Nu'Daq. "I've had the same thoughts." He looked around the bridge. "Helm, ETA at the nebula?" The response came swiftly: "1 minute 20 seconds". "Suggestions!?" Lt. Janor looked at her scans. "Captain, the nebula contains small concentrations of jannicka particles. If we fire a controlled phaser burst into the nebula, the jannicka will ignite and disable possible ships hiding in the nebula." Worf looked at Nu'Daq: "Make it so!"
Nu'Daq immediately modified the phasers. And within seconds he was ready. "Prepared to fire, captain". "Fire at will", Worf ordered. And Nu'Daq pressed the fire button. Everyone watched, as the phaser shot hit the nebula and caused a fluorescent ignition in the nebula. And two dozen small attack vessels became visible. Several of them took extensive damage to their power grids and started to float aimlessly in space. Only 5 of them started to approach the Valjean in a standard attack formation. "Lt. Nu'Daq, disable the ships, fire at will".
Within minutes Nu'Daq's phaser fire had disabled the attacking ships with only minor damage to Valjean. "Nice job," the captain said. "Prepare to beam any survivors aboard." But before anyone culd respond, a large transport ship emerged from the nebula. "What the heck?", Worf uttered. The transport ship beamed alle the small ships aboard and then cloaked. "The Orion Syndicate are not supposed to posses cloaking technology", Dax mumbled. But Nu'Daq knew better.....
30 minutes later the senior staff was assembled in the Observation Lounge. They were debating the recent attack on the Valjean. Nu'Daq was silent. This didn't seem to surprise anyone, since he was not much of a talker. But this time it was because he was struggling with himself. He knew why the Orion Syndicate attacked them, but could he tell the captain? Should he?
Suddenly a call came into the Observation Lounge from the brig. "Captain, Lt. Berggren has escaped from the brig. He has removed his communicator and cannot be found." Worf looked at Nu'Daq: "I am not sure what happened between you and him in Ten-Forward - yet. As Chief of Security you must coordinate a shipwide search, but you cannot take part in the search, not before the issues between Berggren and you have been resolved. I was told you almost killed him."
Nu'Daq growled, but accepted the order - hesitantly. He got up and left the meeting. He set up the search parameters for the security detail and then went on his way to his private quarters.
He exited the turbo lift in a bad mood. Not only had Berggren slipped through his fingers, but then he had to accept the humiliating task of just sitting in his quarters, while his security forces searched the ship.
He entered the room, and immediatly he could smell the blood. Human blood. And fresh. He took out his mek'leth and went further into his quarters. And in the next room he found Berggren, lying in a big pool of blood. A klingon d'k thag was protruding from his back. He was barely alive. But before Nu'Daq could decide whether to kill him or to call for medical help, the door behind him opened, and Xenia entered. A surprised look spread across her face. She looked as if she thought Nu'Daq had stabbed Taite. Nu'Daq got up and approached her, but before he could speak, the security detail entered the room and saw the dying Taite on the floor. The reached for their phasers....
Utena
While Dax had ordered Utena to her quarters, the one after it, commanding everyone to her stations, had counter-acted it. Dax looked at the helm officer as she entered the turbolift with the rest of the Bridge crew, and raised an eyebrow. "You ordered the senior staff to their stations, ma'am. I'm chief helm, aren't I?" Jadzia stared at the pilot for a moment before nodding.
She took her place at the helm; after a short moments she plotted a course after the fleeing ship, until she heard Nu'daq's voice. "Helm, ETA at the nebula?"
"1 minute 20 seconds," Utena replied immediately, not evening needing to look the readouts that told her as much.
Next came Janor's voice. "Captain, the nebula contains small concentrations of jannicka particles. If we fire a controlled phaser burst into the nebula, the jannicka will ignite and disable possible ships hiding in the nebula."
"Make it so!" bellowed the Captain's voice.
"Prepared to fire, captain." Nu'daq stated.
"Fire at will," Worf ordered.
The lieutenant tore her eyes away from the console to watch the phaser blast ignite the nebula...and watched as about two dozen small vessels decloaked. Some of them floated off, while a few still pressed forward to attack.
Captain Worf barked out more orders. "Lt. Nu'Daq, disable the ships, fire at will!" Minutes later, they were all disabled, then another larger transport ship left the nebula...
Later on, everyone was assembled in a staff meeting. Utena was the only other silent person person in the room besides Nu'Daq. She was only here to fly to the peace talks and back, and save her mother. At this rate...she shuddered inwardly. She didn't want to think about it.
Utena didn't really hear the comm chime, but shortly after that she realized the meeting was dismissed. As she stood up to leave, she registered Commander Dax's voice speaking to her.
She approached her commander, eyes nervous. "Yes, Commander?"
"Pending your actions on the Bridge, I'm going to let the unauthorized phaser use in Ten Forward slide...especially since you were merely trying to break up the fight."
"Thank you, sir." Utena said, nodding.
The Trill's statement softened, and she put a hand on Utena's shoulder. "I know this can't be easy for you, Utena. Just keep your head up, okay?"
"I'll...I'll try."
Jadzia pat the young ensign's shoulder. "Good. You're dismissed."
Utena trudged back to her quarters, where she fell asleep thinking of her mother.
Rafko
I stared at the body of Taite Berggren. Blood pooled around his head, his body, and I didn't even need to whip out my tricorder. He was dead - or close to it - bleeding out of his jugular, among other places.
"Take the body-" I swallowed hard, forcing myself *not* to make eye contact with Nu'Daq - "back to the sickbay. I'll meet you there."
"Yes, Doctor."
Nu'Daq was standing off to the side, his fists tightly clenched at his sides. I couldn't help but think that he had finally done it - that he had gone off and killed Taite for some stupid reasons of the past. With a sigh, I turned and left his quarters, unable to speak, as I knew my own horror at what had just happened would surely show through.
Once in sickbay, I threw up; so much blood. Yes, I'm a doctor, but truely, Taite's death was beyond repulsive. as I wiped my lips, I looked up to see Okal staring at me.
"Come in," I said. "I thought you'd come by."
"So he's dead," Okal stated.
"Yes."
"I'm..." Okal sighed. "Any suspects?"
I bit my lip.
"You think it's Nu'Daq?" Okal asked quietly. "Over what happened between him and Taite's sister?"
"Oh why the hell not," I said angrily. I wiped my hands on the towel. "It's as good of a reason as any. With him, I'm not even sure anymore and I don't like how that makes me feel."
Okal nodded and immediately I felt sorry for her. she had just lost her lover and here I was, wallowing in self-pity. I squared my shoulders and made a decision. It would have to end between Nu'Daq and myself; I could not take this volatility. Much as I loved him, I didn't think - no, I knew - I could not stay with a murderer.
****
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