Chapter Ten – Second Day, Third Quarter
"What do I have to do to convince you that-" McCoy argued fiercely as the door suddenly swooshed open to the lead researcher's office.
A fully armed guard with broad shoulders walked into the room, he nodded at McCoy with a smirk before his eyes settled on Slox. "For what purpose do you keep the Enterprise's chief medical officer locked away in your office, Slox?" he asked in a no-nonsense voice.
"You know why," the Denobulan said but he never once glanced up at the guard, his eyes focused entirely on McCoy.
"No, I don't," Ka'la countered as he nodded toward the two guards posted inside the room.
They nodded immediately and left their posts.
Slox opened his mouth to protest but the senior lead guard beat him to it. "You're barking up the wrong tree. Doctor McCoy is just as much a victim in this as the rest of us."
"Well, thank you," Bones drawled sarcastically. "I'm glad somebody listens to reason."
"Call it a product of good teamwork and cooperation," Ka'la replied as his lips broke into a faint upward curl. "Someone broke your encryption key when you sent the data to Doctor Slox. We have reason to believe it's the same group who killed the research assistant and took off with the body."
Slox glanced down at his feet for a moment and gathered himself. He sighed deeply and turned to face his professional colleague. "It seems I owe you an apology, Doctor McCoy," he said ashamed.
Bones leaned forward over the table toward the Denobulan. "You're damn right," he concurred. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll head back to the ship. There's too much excitement down here."
"Actually, Doctor McCoy, your presence is required at the conference," Ka'la said. "Captain Kirk is waiting for you in the lobby."
OOOOOO
Kirk surreptitiously glanced around the room, his eyes narrowing. "I have a feeling we're being watched," he mused carefully.
"Actually, captain, we are," Spock deduced as he turned to his friend. "More precisely by four different cameras whereas one also records sound and sends it back to the central guard station. You're also being watched by several civilians and delegation members across the room and hallways."
Kirk rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Spock," he replied sarcastically.
His second in command appeared lightly amused, an expression only a Vulcan could wear, as he arched an eyebrow lightly. "I do know that's not what you meant," he countered. "There are two guards and one Tellarite whose feigned disinterest in us is actually a disguise. The Tellarite is sitting behind the bar a few meters to your right whereas the two guards are on each side of the room."
Kirk glanced cautiously directly into the main camera for a few seconds, "Check it out," he mouthed knowing Ka'la would be there to pick up on his train of thoughts.
"Jim, Spock!" McCoy hollered as he charged through the corridor as subtle as an angry bull.
"Bones," Kirk cautioned in a low voice.
"You can't believe what I-"
"I am sorry for not getting you out of that mess earlier," Jim said apologetically.
The doctor frowned. "I don't know about you but I'm getting a little antsy being treated like a criminal. What's this anyway? Since when did the Federation indulge in this type of activities?"
"Calm down, Bones," Jim cautioned. "A few things have come up. We leave on orders now. I need you to take care of our babysitting job in there. Take Chekov and Sulu with you back to the ship as soon as the conference is finished for the day. I'll file the reports for you to read."
"Now, hold on just a second-" McCoy said.
"There is no time, Bones," Jim said softly. "If anyone wonders where I am, or Spock for that matter, Admiral Carter will explain to them that you're better suited to oversee the last part since it's about trafficking and other shady business involving human lives."
"Jim," he protested. "I don't like it."
The captain sighed wearily. "It's going to be fine, Bones," he said lightly.
McCoy snorted. "Yeah and the road to hell is paved with good intentions."
OOOOOO
Admiral Carter silently sat down next to Nogura and nodded toward G'ahetti. "Anything interesting happening?" he whispered.
Rear Admiral Nogura made a face. "Only highly-strung members among the allied forces that accuses Starfleet for shady business," he said darkly. "The way this is going we might have internal affairs breathing down our necks."
"What do you mean?" Carter demanded in a low tone.
"While you were gone different members have directed suspicions on us. We're losing credibility fast. The mystery ship is out in the open and also the fact that we haven't been able to get to it. The disappearance of the assassin has left a bad taste and several of the parties feel unsafe."
"Why place the blame on Starfleet?" Carter whispered sternly.
"Because discrediting SFC means discrediting UFP. If the Federation is seen as an organization in trouble Coridan has the right to call off the conference and use the right to order protection elsewhere."
"There is no one else offering what we do," Carter persisted.
"No," Nogura deadpanned. "But with the Federation out of the picture the Syndicate can continue their work in the dark with having to worry about any interference."
"Great," Carter mused in annoyance. "What's the latest around the table?"
"Human trafficking," Nogura replied wearily as he noticed McCoy slip into the room and join the two ensigns from the Enterprise.
"Fifty children have already vanished this year, the records are blank, no one knows where they disappeared too," the first chancellor of Coridan said. "The corruption is widespread among the ranks, we need to be able to stop this trafficking before it's too late. Before our planet is no longer safe for tourists and families."
"The federation has been taking part of the investigation and it is a troublesome read-" Ambassador T'Lan began.
"So, if it is such a problem as you claim it is. What are you going to do about it?" The second chancellor asked dryly. "What is a Coridan life for you anyway?"
"I don't like what you're implying," the President replied in a low yet diplomatic voice.
"You claim that one of the Federation's greatest assets is Starfleet. The earthbound organization wouldn't care less about what happens to off-worlders," the chancellor argued fiercely.
Nogura couldn't sit quiet any longer. "As you're aware, chancellor, Starfleet can't act outside Federation jurisdiction and the Syndicate very well knows that – they use that to their advantage," he said darkly. "We wish to protect anyone within our territory but as of now you're not within our territory. We've tried to lend you a hand anyway but without success."
"A cooperation would be in everyone's interest," T'Lan spoke up. "We're looking forward to bring justice to those who deserves it."
OOOOOO
Kirk cast a glance at Spock in the copilot's seat as he finished the preflight check. The Vulcan sat quietly, appearing as calm as ever as he studied the monitor in front of him with renewed interest.
With a sigh Kirk leaned back in his chair and started drumming his fingers on the dashboard.
Suddenly a sharp signal sounded over the loudspeakers and then the bay around them started to depressurize. "I take that as our cue to leave," he said as he quickly straightened, then grimaced.
The action didn't go unnoticed by the Vulcan who turned slightly in his chair and arched an eyebrow at his friend. "Indeed," he deadpanned. "Captain, are you feeling unwell?"
Kirk frowned at the careful concern directed at him and the corners of his lips turned slightly upwards as he schooled a perfectly innocent expression. "I must have been sitting in an awkward position. Nothing to worry about," he said cryptically.
Spock still didn't look convinced, weary of the white lies his friend had used earlier but he let it go and settled for the explanation he was given. It simply wasn't logical for the captain to lie at a time like this, to jeopardize such a high-risk mission by a compromised health. But then again, Kirk was a gambler.
OOOOOO
Pegasus Chief Engineer John Carlton walked into the conference room looking smug.
Rodgers eyed him quizzically from his position at the edge of the table. "Wipe that smug look off your face Johnny," he drawled unamused as he returned his focus to the screen before him.
"You'd be smiling too if you'd just received and downloaded all the data on the new shield harmonics and realized that we've already done half the job," he countered.
Rodgers turned his head to look at him with a frown.
Carlton wiggled his eyebrows as he sat down to the captain's left. "Our hasty work that saved our butts the last time we meet those lovely pirates means that we already have the upgrades required to plug in most of the program and harmonic deflectors. The maintenance crew did a good job while in space dock and upgraded our circuitry functions. That in turn means that we have enough to be able to handle all the juice required."
"Is that Carlton I hear?" Thom drawled amusedly as he walked through the doors. Talking like a true American wannabe of the twentieth century – juice instead of electrical power and so on."
"Gentlemen," Rodger's cautioned trying to keep a straight face.
"I blame it on you who was supposed to be in charge of the screen shows this month. I hadn't even seen an automobile before last week," Carlton replied innocently.
Thom shrugged as he stole a casual glance around the room. "What can I say, I wanted to escape reality for a while. I hate sports, we see enough space raids in real life and news is depressing-"
"Speaking of depression," Carlton mused as the young CMO appeared in the room. "Here comes a guy with serious problems. He's afraid the shield harmonics will do something to damage his fidelity."
Thom bit his lower lip so as not to laugh out loud.
Rodgers cocked an eyebrow. "Let's leave the bickering outside this room," he cautioned. "So, how long until we have everything ready?"
"Give me a few hours and we should be able to at least partly visualize a blimp on our screens. We can use our sensor array the way it is with a few software modifications. That would tell us an approximate position of the ship lurking out there," Carlton explained.
"What about our shields?" Rodgers asked. "Will they prevent damage from the vessel should we take a direct hit?"
Thom pursed his lips his eyes suddenly downcast as he mumbled. "Only partly." Feeling his commanding officer's eyes upon him he straightened and met his gaze squarely. "If we focus on one shield at a time like we did when we had the professor onboard. The problem with that being we don't have much time to figure out which one they'll aim and fire at."
The captain sighed. "Well, keep working on it. I don't think I'll have to remind you that this is top priority."
"No, sir," a chorus of voices came from around the conference table.
He brightened. "Good, then let's get to. Dismissed," he said.
OOOOOO
Mr. Scott whipped his head around at the sound of static and saw the viewscreen blink and then go dark. "What the-" he began in confusion.
"Sir, there is some kind of interference," the beta shift helmsman said.
The engineer hastily made his way over to Spock's station and began a wide search for anything out of the ordinary. "Go to red alert!" he ordered sharply.
The bridge was immediately cast in the red as the ship went into battle mood. The klaxon shrilled in the background, heightening the sense of alert among the crew.
"The shields are up and running at one hundred percent," the navigator and Chekov's replacement reported.
Scotty nodded at the man who immediately got out of his chair and replaced the acting commanding officer at the scanners.
The chief engineer went back to the captain's chair and called up main engineering. "Lieutenant Gregory report," he commanded.
"Nothing to report, sir," came the immediate reply. "The core is stable, the dilithium crystals are holding."
"Good, keep it that way," he said and turned to Uhura whose fingers were flying over the console.
As if sensing his eyes on her Uhura cast a quick glance over her shoulder. "Something is jamming our communications –
Scott nodded toward the ensign at the scanners. "Check for an ion trail!"
"I am sorry, Scotty. I can't break through," Uhura reported in frustration. "I can't contact Babel."
OOOOOO
To be continued