Chapter Five
Hoshi gathered up a small group of crewman to go down with her to the surface, this time making sure they wore environmental suits to prevent any further contamination. As they collected additional data in their quest to find the truth, Hoshi remembered an earlier conversation she had with Commander Tucker.
"You gotta question Jos, I swear he has to know what's going on," Trip managed to get out between fits of coughing.
Hoshi waited until Trip's coughing subsided before responding.
"Are you sure this isn't a vendetta of yours and you want him questioned because he's wronged you?" she asked, the engineer's temper and lingering anger for the alien still clear in her mind.
"Dammit Hoshi! I listen to your thoughts on matters, listen to me!"
Hoshi was taken aback at first by his response. She looked around sickbay and noticed people were stirring on their biobeds after that.
She touched the glass above her in a calming manner as she continued to gaze at Trip, who was breathing heavily as he leaned against the wall.
"All right," she sighed, promising to question Jos after scanning for evidence on the planet below.
Hoshi grimaced slightly as her team poured through the mess still littering the contamination site.
"Ma'am, it's like these people don't know that finger prints are solid evidence and need to be taken right after something bad happens." Crewman Saunders pointed out. "There are prints everywhere on these containers, and we don't know what is new and what is old."
"What I don't get is why they haven't cleaned this all up!" another crewman piped up. "There's still lots of waste here that's in the soil; no wonder they're still getting sick on this planet."
Hoshi sighed. Dealing with a culture that was rather primitive in its health, biological sciences and technology was quite a headache. It seemed to her that it was only luck that kept them from having an environmental disaster in the past.
"Well, Phlox surely has a cure now and we will share it with these people once we get to the bottom of this," Hoshi said. "Can you match the prints, Saunders?"
The African-American woman nodded her head. "Piece of cake. I just have to scan the people and find someone. It would make it a whole lot easier if they knew what finger prints were and had DNA data on their people."
"All right, let's go see Nak..."
Governor Nak looked up in alarm as a pile of papers on his desk erupted into the air, hitting him full in the face.
Hoshi pointed to the PADD she had just thrown onto Nak's desk.
"I know who had a hand in all of this, Governor," Hoshi bit out between clenched teeth, her EV suit muffling her voice somewhat. "And your people really ought to clean the mess up better."
Governor Nak looked confused. "I don't understand."
"May I sit?" Hoshi asked, plopping down into a nearby plush chair without waiting for an answer.
"You might be surprised the Jos and Malekar were in on the terrorist 'attack.' Then again, you might not be, since you were as well. My question to you is why did you harm your own people."
Nak pressed a button on his desk and several armed men burst into the room.
"I want you and your people to leave here immediately. Leave our world, our space and don't come back."
There was a different look to the old man. He had gone from looking kind and confused to angry and vicious.
Hoshi stood and motioned for the away team to head out the door. She removed her helmet, her long black tresses falling over her shoulders adding a soft edge to her stern face.
Hoshi leaned over the desk and scowled at the Governor.
"This isn't over."
She strode out of the room and quickly called for them to be beamed back to Enterprise.
"It was Nak all this time?" Archer asked. "I would have never guessed."
"His prints matched some left behind at the scene," Hoshi said as she watched Phlox inoculate the captain and others. "He could have gone there after the fact to investigate for himself, but his reaction told us otherwise."
Archer shook his head in disbelief. "Did you send the cure down to the surface?"
"Phlox wanted to, but Governor Nak is refusing any more contact with us," Hoshi said with a shake of her head. "Besides, I have a feeling the terrorists have a cure."
"We've got to do something about Jos and Nak!" Trip interrupted. "We can't let them hurt their own people."
"I'm afraid Hoshi is right, we can't do anything about them. We can't meddle in their affairs," Archer replied.
"I concur," T'Pol agreed. "There is nothing that we can do."
Hoshi half cocked her head. "Nothing? Saunders and I have already planned to do something."
The captain motioned for Hoshi to continue. He wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of whatever a pissed-off Hoshi Sato had in mind.
Hoshi gathered up a small group of crewman to go down with her to the surface, this time making sure they wore environmental suits to prevent any further contamination. As they collected additional data in their quest to find the truth, Hoshi remembered an earlier conversation she had with Commander Tucker.
"You gotta question Jos, I swear he has to know what's going on," Trip managed to get out between fits of coughing.
Hoshi waited until Trip's coughing subsided before responding.
"Are you sure this isn't a vendetta of yours and you want him questioned because he's wronged you?" she asked, the engineer's temper and lingering anger for the alien still clear in her mind.
"Dammit Hoshi! I listen to your thoughts on matters, listen to me!"
Hoshi was taken aback at first by his response. She looked around sickbay and noticed people were stirring on their biobeds after that.
She touched the glass above her in a calming manner as she continued to gaze at Trip, who was breathing heavily as he leaned against the wall.
"All right," she sighed, promising to question Jos after scanning for evidence on the planet below.
Hoshi grimaced slightly as her team poured through the mess still littering the contamination site.
"Ma'am, it's like these people don't know that finger prints are solid evidence and need to be taken right after something bad happens." Crewman Saunders pointed out. "There are prints everywhere on these containers, and we don't know what is new and what is old."
"What I don't get is why they haven't cleaned this all up!" another crewman piped up. "There's still lots of waste here that's in the soil; no wonder they're still getting sick on this planet."
Hoshi sighed. Dealing with a culture that was rather primitive in its health, biological sciences and technology was quite a headache. It seemed to her that it was only luck that kept them from having an environmental disaster in the past.
"Well, Phlox surely has a cure now and we will share it with these people once we get to the bottom of this," Hoshi said. "Can you match the prints, Saunders?"
The African-American woman nodded her head. "Piece of cake. I just have to scan the people and find someone. It would make it a whole lot easier if they knew what finger prints were and had DNA data on their people."
"All right, let's go see Nak..."
Governor Nak looked up in alarm as a pile of papers on his desk erupted into the air, hitting him full in the face.
Hoshi pointed to the PADD she had just thrown onto Nak's desk.
"I know who had a hand in all of this, Governor," Hoshi bit out between clenched teeth, her EV suit muffling her voice somewhat. "And your people really ought to clean the mess up better."
Governor Nak looked confused. "I don't understand."
"May I sit?" Hoshi asked, plopping down into a nearby plush chair without waiting for an answer.
"You might be surprised the Jos and Malekar were in on the terrorist 'attack.' Then again, you might not be, since you were as well. My question to you is why did you harm your own people."
Nak pressed a button on his desk and several armed men burst into the room.
"I want you and your people to leave here immediately. Leave our world, our space and don't come back."
There was a different look to the old man. He had gone from looking kind and confused to angry and vicious.
Hoshi stood and motioned for the away team to head out the door. She removed her helmet, her long black tresses falling over her shoulders adding a soft edge to her stern face.
Hoshi leaned over the desk and scowled at the Governor.
"This isn't over."
She strode out of the room and quickly called for them to be beamed back to Enterprise.
"It was Nak all this time?" Archer asked. "I would have never guessed."
"His prints matched some left behind at the scene," Hoshi said as she watched Phlox inoculate the captain and others. "He could have gone there after the fact to investigate for himself, but his reaction told us otherwise."
Archer shook his head in disbelief. "Did you send the cure down to the surface?"
"Phlox wanted to, but Governor Nak is refusing any more contact with us," Hoshi said with a shake of her head. "Besides, I have a feeling the terrorists have a cure."
"We've got to do something about Jos and Nak!" Trip interrupted. "We can't let them hurt their own people."
"I'm afraid Hoshi is right, we can't do anything about them. We can't meddle in their affairs," Archer replied.
"I concur," T'Pol agreed. "There is nothing that we can do."
Hoshi half cocked her head. "Nothing? Saunders and I have already planned to do something."
The captain motioned for Hoshi to continue. He wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of whatever a pissed-off Hoshi Sato had in mind.
