by Becky Miller
STAR TREK
TO BE CONTINUED...
Accusations, part I
1. Busy day
"Good Morning, Sir." Ensign Casparian said when she saw dr. Bashir sitting in the replicator restaurant. He was hanging above a big mug of steaming coffee, looking in a bad state.
"You are up early." she said and sat down at his table with her breakfast.
"Up late." Julian simply replied.
"Been working on your research all night, have you?" Romyana asked.
"Yes I have." Bashir said and sipped his coffee.
"Have you made much progress?" the Ensign wanted to know.
"Yes, I have found several possibilities for theoretical and practical biomolecular replication. Now I am working on my conclusions, so it is almost ready." dr. Bashir said with a deep enthusiasm which died away instantly when he stopped talking.
"And you?" he asked politely.
"Well," the Ensign answered, "the revision of all three upper pylons will be finished today. I will have to make a complete report on that, and I still have to deliver the weekly engineering reports today, so I will have quite a long and busy day."
Romyana finished her breakfast and then said, "I'll be going then. I suppose it is futile to tell you to take it easy and get some rest."
"True." Julian said and sank away in his coffee mug again.
Romyana knew Julian well enough to know that when he was busy on such a project, he would work on it for weeks and would not sleep for days on end.
The Ensign went to report to Mr. O'Brien, who was assisting some technicians with repair to one of the pylons docking ports.
"Morning, Chief. Reporting for duty." she said.
"Mornin' Romyana." Chief O'Brien was in an excellent mood today.
"How are the status reports coming?" he asked.
"Very well, Sir. I will have them both ready by the end of the day." the Ensign replied confidently.
"Excellent." the chief said very pleased, "Oh, and come to Ops at 16:00 hours, then I will show you and some others the technical inns and outs of this stations computer mainframe. I thought you might like to learn something more interesting than how to repair a replicator."
"Yes, Sir. I'll be there." Romyana said and left. The chief was right, she was annoyed that she had to do simple chores like repairing a misused replicator.
Later that day, the Ensign had already finished both her reports well before four 'o clock, and so she still had some time left to visit Julian before going to Operations.
When she entered the infirmary, a nurse came hurrying over to ask what was the problem, but Romyana shook her head silently and moved on around the corner to where Bashir was sitting in his office.
"Hello Julian." she said.
"Oh, hi. Is there a problem?" he asked.
"Yes." Romyana said, "You work too hard. Come on let's take a break, hm?"
"All right. Just fifteen minutes then. We'll have a drink at Quark's." Julian suggested and so they did.
When they got there Rom was behind the bar pouring drinks.
"Hey, Rom. Where is Quark?" Julian asked.
"Dunno. He said he was going to do a very good deal with a human trader." Rom answered.
"As usual." Romyana remarked.
"Thanks Rom." Julian said and started a conversation with the Ensign about his latest findings in biomolecular replication, the research he was working on.
2. Suspicions
At 16:00 hours everyone had assembled at Operations to go with Chief O'Brien on his educative technical tour around the station. He took the group consisting of five persons to various places throughout the station and showed them several important systems. Thus they also went behind the scenes of the Transporter systems.
Just outside the corridor, Quark came passing by. He was in quite a hurry.
"Ah!" he said to Cadet Nommi, "Good that I run into you now. I have just received a new shipment of Foraiga, the ones you like so much."
"Great Quark! I'll come and try them this evening straight away. Thanks." Cadet Nommi said gladly. Quark quickly set off again and the rest proceeded into the Transporter Room.
Everyone was given a try to beam a container to a cargobay and back. Ensign Casparian was the first one allowed to have a go at it. She had done this before and O'Brien used her demonstration to explain about the process.
But as the Ensign was calibrating the sensors and resetting the Targeting Scanners she noticed that the previous settings were very odd. She hadn't more time to find out more about it and she didn't think it was her place to question about previous transports now.
She continued the transport demonstration.
Then they went into the crawling spaces behind the Transporter Pad. Chief O'Brien showed them how to access the transporter subsystems and what to do when repairing or checking them.
When Romyana was inside the maintenance tube, she noticed that all the way at the end of it there were some stacked up boxes.
"Strange to be storing supplies in such a place." she thought, but didn't mention it to the chief.
Afterwards Ensign Casparian and Cadet Nommi went to Quark's to try out the newly arrived Foraiga, a difficult to obtain Bajoran delicacy. The Cadet had asked Romyana to come along because otherwise Quark would keep bothering him.
"I don't understand his kind of humour." Nommi had explained and so Romyana had agreed to join him. The Ensign also tried the Foraiga but couldn't quite see what the Cadet could like about it so much. Then some other Bajorans joined them, apparently friends of Nommi's.
Romyana thought back about the boxes she had seen behind the Transporter Pad, it kept running trough her mind. She recognised one of the Bajorans that joined them to work in Engineering and decided to ask her about it.
"Say, Hitachi. Do you know whether it is normal to stock supplies behind the bulkheads ?"
"No, we don't do that! That is where we have cargobays and supply rooms for. What supplies are you talking about then?" the Bajoran colleague said.
"Oh nothing." Romyana quickly said, realising her mistake to ask her about it like that.
"If you want to store something, the best thing you could do is go to the quartermasters. He'll know where to put your stuff. Besides, the spaces behind the bulkheads should be kept free in case we need to be there to do repairs or perform routine checks." she continued.
"True, we need to work there. It would be silly to stack things behind bulkheads." Romyana said.
Hitachi agreed and let the subject alone. But now, Romyana had an even bigger desire to find out what was in the containers and who had put them there. She decided to go and have another look straight away.
When she got to the Transporter Room, she saw Odo just entering the room. The Ensign decided to walk around a bit more until it was less busy there. Some time later, the coast was clear and she went inside.
"Evening." the operator said.
"Oh, erm. Good evening." Romyana had not quite planned how to get behind the bulkheads without arising suspicion with the operator. She had to think of something quick.
"I ? have lost my ? hairpin! ? and since I have been here this afternoon, I thought it might be here. Have you found it?" she said rather nervous whether he would notice it was a lie.
"No, I haven't seen it." the operator simply replied. In fact he had just been warned by Odo to watch for any suspicious behaviour in and around the Transporter Room and to report this to him. Odo had now also discovered the unlawful use of the Transporter. So the operator just waited to see what she would do next.
"Well, I could check behind the Transporter Pad, we've been in there too, you know." Romyana said, trying to be casual. The man did not reply, so with some hesi
tation the Ensign opened the door and wormed her way into the maintenance tube.
Of course she hadn't lost anything but it was a nice excuse to investigate the boxes at the end of the tube. They were not standard issue Starfleet containers and they had strange markings on them. The Ensign tried to open the top one but they were tightly sealed.
"I should have brought my Tricorder with me, then I might have been able to scan what is inside." she thought. She took one more careful look at the markings and memorised them. She also noticed another hatch door which led to the same space, so she memorised the doors serial number too. Then she quickly returned to the room.
The Operator was still where he had been and still didn't speak.
"Well, I didn't find it, so I will look for it somewhere else. Thanks anyway." the Ensign said and hurried out. She didn't look where she was going and neither did the person she bumped into, apparently.
It was Rom and he also didn't look to be very relaxed. Without even saying 'sorry' they both resumed their way.
Quickly the Ensign made her way to her quarters. There she began searching the computer for the meaning of the markings. After using several algorithms from the translator matrix, she found the translation saying how much of what was inside. It was definitely not something Starfleet would need as supplies. In fact, it was strictly prohibited to trade or even posses there goods in the United Federation of Planets.
Searching through several databases she found that Amothenian Glitter, as the substance was called, is the basis for a narcotic drug which Cardassians and Klingons like to use to artificially stimulating their sense of wellbeing.
"So they get high on that stuff." Romyana said to herself. Though when administered to more sensitive species, such as Humans or Bajorans, it could be lethal, according to the file.
"This all sounds too suspicious, I must have misread the writing on the containers. And why didn't security know about any of this? It is their job to prevent illegal activities on this station." she thought.
"I could report this to Odo and let him handle it." If she wanted to do this she reckoned she would need more accurate information before making any accusations. She needed to know whether it was really that Amothenian Glitter stored inside those containers.
Romyana planned one more visit to the mysterious boxes, this time bringing her trusty Tricorder. She used the computer again to plot a route to the other hatch door. The easiest way was to access the maintenance tube system from the Engine Room, which was situated three levels lower, so it would prove quite a climb.
3. The arrest
The following morning Romyana was all set and ready to go spying. She should have been working on the weekly report but instead she went to the Engine Room. She tried to avoid being noticed by any officers but as she was almost in reach of the entrance to the maintenance tubes, Chief O'Brien came into view.
"Oh, no. How am I going to talk myself out of this one?" the Ensign thought. She was thinking heavily of an excuse when, unknowingly, Cadet Nommi came to the rescue. He swerved by and attracted the Chief's attention.
"Oh, Chief O'Brien. Could you help me with something?" Nommi said, he needed help with some strange readings he had conjured up on a control panel somewhere in the back of the room. This meant the coast was clear for Romyana to climb into the crawlspace.
The Ensign approached the containers carefully, reached down her left thigh for her Tricorder and flicked it open. She initiated the scan, but before she could decipher the results, the door at the far end of the crawlspace opened. Romyana immediately recognised Lt. George Primmin, the stations Security Officer, and he had a look on his face as if he had just found the crook of the year.
He had startled her so much that Romyana dropped her Tricorder at once and fled through the other hatch door. As quick as she could she made her way back through the cramped passages she had came from. When she was only ten feet away from the last door exiting the maintenance tubes, someone outside opened it. Romyana stood still at once, deciding her next action.
"All right, game over. Don't try anything silly now." a voice came echoing through the passage. It was clearly Odo's calm voice. "I suggest you come out calmly and come with us quietly. There is no need to make a scene."
Romyana did as told. She came out the crawlspace followed by Lt. Primmin. Many of her colleagues, including Nommi and Mr. O'Brien were standing around watching. Both officers escorted the Ensign to Odo's office. It was the worst walk through the stations corridors she had ever made. Everyone and everything seemed to stare and seemed to know.
Once inside the Office there was time to talk. Romyana protested to the accusations made against her and pleaded to be totally innocent. Though Odo agreed she was innocent until proven guilty there were some facts which pointed in her direction.
He also pointed out that her breaking an entry to a restricted area and trying to escape from the Security Officer, on themselves were actions which were enough to confine her in the brig. At least until Odo had concluded the investigation on the suspicious containers.
When Romyana sat in her sad looking little cell for a while, everything she had done began to sink in. She had been arrested and imprisoned, just because she was stupid enough to go and stick her nose in things she had nothing to do with. She realised that if proven guilty she would be expelled from Starfleet Academy. No more Starfleet career, it would be the end of her pursuing her dream.
A tear crept down her cheek, dropped on her uniform and broke up into hundreds of sparkles of light, which faded quickly into the grey background of her surroundings.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
STAR TREK
TO BE CONTINUED...
Accusations, part II
Last time in Accusations, part I.
When Ensign Casparian joined Chief O'Brien on a tour around the station's internal systems, she found in the crawlspace behind the Transporter array some suspicious containers. She decided to investigate on these on her own and broke regulations doing so. Odo also found out about the suspicious activities on the station and thinks Romyana is involved in illegal trading of prohibited drugs. He caught her trying to scan the content of the mystery boxes but she made the mistake to run away from the Security Officer. Odo arrested her shortly after and confined her in the brig until further notice. Romyana realised this affair could cost her a career in Starfleet and will most probably be expelled from the Academy when found guilty. Now the conclusion?
1. Time's up
"Hey Quark!" Bashir said very well spirited when he sat down at the bar after his evening shift.
"Evening, doctor." Quark said and poured him his usual drink. Every week, he would come during his break to have a drink at Quark's and meet up with Ensign Casparian for their weekly discussion. Ever since Bashir had noticed the Ensign to be a worthy discussion partner, he found it pleasant to have conversation with someone of his own level and interests.
Usually she would be the first one to arrive, but the doctor hadn't spotted her yet.
"Have you seen miss Casparian yet, Quark?" Bashir then asked.
"No." Quark simply answered, being too occupied with staring at one of his Dabo-girls collecting the winnings of the game of chance, Dabo, which provides Quark with a big profit.
"Haven't you heard then, Sir?" Nommi said, who happened to sit next to him at the bar. "She has been arrested this morning and has to stay in the brig for at least a few days."
"What?! How, why? It is nothing like her to get arrested." Bashir said with shear amazement.
"It is said, she broke entry into a restricted area and when discovered tried to make a run for it. But what she was doing in those maintenance tubes, we don't know." Nommi explained. Quark was overhearing the conversation, ( it's them big ears) and suddenly seemed to be in a hurry to leave.
Bashir too left in a rush. He went out to have a chat with Odo on what really happened.
***
"
So you see, it is much bigger than you would expect from the outside, but even before the Bajoran gratitude festival I was on their trail. Only recently I have found where they store their trade goods. This way I am trying to disturb their organisation, get some movement and see who is really behind these smuggling practices." Odo explained the situation.
"Aren't you being a bit hard on her?" Bashir complained.
"It's not her I am after. I am trying to catch the big fish." Odo said.
"And she is just the bait ? " Bashir added. "Did she confess?" Julian wanted to know before he left.
"Look, doctor. I cannot give you any more information. I already told you too much." Odo said agitated.
"All right. I will be back tomorrow then." Bashir said.
"What for?" Lieutenant Primmin fell in. Bashir looked at Odo, he gave a nod indicating Bashir was allowed to tell Primmin.
"Her semi-annual medical check." Bashir simply said to Primmin.
"Great timing." Primmin replied mockingly.
"I'll keep it short." the doctor remarked and left the Security Office, heading back to the infirmary to start his second shift of the evening.
***
The following morning Romyana was still asleep when she was awoken by one of the guards.
"Ensign, Doctor Bashir to see you." he said loudly. Bashir appeared in front of the force field, he was carrying his medical case.
"Stand back, Ensign." the guard called, warning the Ensign not to stand too close to the opening in case she would try to escape as soon as the force field was lowered. But she had no intention of escaping, yet. The doctor stepped inside the holding cell, the field was raised behind him and the guard went back to his post.
"I'm not sick. Why are you here?" Romyana asked.
"Your semi-annual health check, remember?" Julian said. Romyana was puzzled, it was not policy to do that in the brig unless there was an emergency.
"I wanted to do it before I go, to be sure." Julian continued.
"Where are you going then?" Romyana wanted to know.
"Ah, you haven't heard yet, of course." he said.