Just the Facts

Posted on Wed Dec 27th, 2017 @ 10:11am by Fleet Admiral Donatella Figueroa & Commander K'Niras Sh'howul

Mission: S01E02 D-8 With the Devil
Location: CMO's Office

ON:

Lieutenant K'Niras Sh'howul followed Captain Donatella Figueroa into the Chief Medical Officer's office. He didn't really wait for anyone to get comfortable, but instead went straight to the replicator. "Raktajino, double sweet..." he ordered. "Can I get you anything, Captain?" His long multi-colored tail bounced up and down behind him, nervously, showing his indecisiveness, mostly about where to start. He pulled his cup of Raktajino from the replicator and turned a little to look at Fig over his shoulder. "What's going to happen to the Le-Matya, Captain?"

The Captain declined to drink anything. The last thing she needed was any caffeine right now. “Nothing for me, thank you for offering though,” she said, dismissing the hospitality pleasantly. The Captain smiled. “Well, the creature appears to be as simple as what it looks to be. Unless it turns out to have some magical properties to bend space and time or something...” the Captain chuckled. “As far as I’m concerned, the next planet we find that’s not inhabited by any sentient life and it can live in... I'm happy to let it roam free. We may even be able to take it back to Vulcan,” she said with a smile.

K'Niras sat on the edge of the desk and sipped his Raktajino. "I'm not sure the Vulcans will take it back..." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his whiskers vibrating with his effort. "I'm still not sure it wasn't Klingons... some of those wounds looked like they were made with bladed weapons. I'm not saying that the Le-matya isn't capable of devastating wounds... I'm just saying that I've been a hunter most of my life... and I've never seen anything like that. "It wasn't energy weapons... They leave distinctive patterns and sometimes even signature residue and there was none of that..."

“Klingons have been known to slice and dice as it were,” replied the Captain nodding in agreement. “It wasn’t the Le-matya. I know that much just from the damage to the files recovered. I’m hoping they...” said the Captain motioning to the main part of Sickbay. “That they are able to confirm that and clear the creature's name for the most part. You are correct, the creature may be too much for the Vulcans,” she confessed. “I’ve heard rumors of a species though... I cannot recall their name. Some say they are some sort of animal whisperers,” she said with a long sigh. “They could just be a galactic myth though.”

K'Niras looked thoughtful for a moment, his long tail swinging back and forth slowly. "I think I know what you're speaking of... but I'm not sure. There was a planet called Kazar... it was rumored that the people there were ecologists that could communicate with animals, but I was always told they had telepathic abilities to communicate with. My teachers on Cait spoke of them when I was a child... but it's been so long my recall is a bit rusty."

Fig snapped her fingers and looked at the Communications Officer. “Yes, then. That’s them... Kazarites I believe. The Federation has never tried to make any sort of formal contact with them,” the Captain said. “We came across one of their starships once. Very little contact was made, we more or less just passed on by one another, but that was a good 30 years ago,” she added.

"Do you think that maybe they might be able to talk to our only witness?" K'Niras meant the Le-matya, of course. "I don't see that it's a bad idea, but how far will we need to go to get a Kazarite and are they going to be willing to help us at all? I mean, granted it's a witness to murder and pillage... and I'm afraid there might be more of this behavior if we don't find out who was responsible." He tipped his head back and forth, weighing their options. If they didn't find out who it was it could happen again, but finding the answers they needed might take longer than they had. Not that they were on any sort of time limit, but the clock was ticking against them in light of another attack, of course where and why would have to be answered before they could prevent anything.

The Captain weighed her options. “I want to see what the autopsy reports uncover and the additional scans of the facility. There’s answers in the data we uploaded. It’s just a matter to decrypting what we have and trying to patch and repair what’s been disrupted,” she said calmly. “I want you on that,” she added.

K'Niras nodded. "You got it Captain. I'm actually quite skilled at decryption. I have a good ear." He grinned, just showing his front teeth, his whiskers twitching. "I sort of have... a rather obsessed attitude about it." He sort of half-shrugged, in embarrassment. "I love puzzles... encryption is just another puzzle."

“As for our friend... potential witness or not, I’d like to try to reach out to the Kazarites and see if they are willing to take him and give him a home. He doesn’t deserve to be a part of some sick menagerie,” said Fig. “I will have the Science Department work with Navigation and see if we can pinpoint Kazar on any known star charts,” she added.

"Good. I'm glad. I would hate to see him destroyed just because of his species. Perhaps the Kazerites can convince him that he doesn't have to be quite so hostile." He chuckled. "But thank you Captain, for considering him in all of this. I really do appreciate it. Animals are often not given any consideration, especially animals such as that. His kind already suffer because even on the planet that they're from they are being pushed to the point of extinction and not allowed on the animal preserves there. Granted, the beast does drink blood..." He chuckled again. "But thank you."

The Captain smiled. "I value and respect life in all forms. The creature is a lifeform and as a Starfleet Officer, I am sworn to protect the creature. Regardless of its beastly behavior, it is only acting in its nature. I would prefer to send it to the Kazarites who may be able to work with the creature or at the very least keep it away from killing citizens. Just because it drinks blood does not make it bad," stated the Captain. "I have met a few Admirals over the years that I suspect have a bit of a blood thirst... at least they come off that way," she added.

"Well I appreciate it. Where is the material to decrypt? Already in the main computer system?" he asked, tipping his head to one side and looking at Fig. "Of course, I'll finish up my reports first, but I'm rather anxious to look at the files." He shook his head and tipped his gaze back to the floor. "Something was wrong there Captain. Something was very wrong."

Fig shook her head. "No, we thought it ill advised to put it into the main computer system in case it was a Trojen horse. Too many cases of our ships uploading and downloading data and other files into ship's main computer and things getting terrible corrupted. We were able to pull a computer unit from ship's storage and keep it disconnected from the primary network. Feth thought it a good precaution."

K'Niras nodded. "A wise precaution. Where is the unit located now? I'd like to get to work as soon as possible. Of course, after I finish my report. Captain, I don't know what to tell you about this except that something is wrong in this situation." He stood and pulled on his uniform to straighten it. "You know... it's funny. Once we got the air cleared I could smell the Le-matya. What I didn't smell was Klingons. I have a very sensitive nose, sir. It's very rarely led astray. I don't want to jump to any conclusions."

"The slaughter and havoc looks to be Klingon... but looks are not everything," commented the Captain. "I think trusting that nose will lead us in the right direction. I hate to rule out Klingons because I am not a fan of theirs, but underneath the cosmetics of damage is deception. Files that were destroyed, stuff that is missing. It is not the Klingon modus operandi as I have come to know it," she stated. "It is down on Deck 10," added the Captain.

"Then that is where I will spend my time. I would very much like to get to the bottom of all of this. As much as I love solving puzzles... this isn't the sort that I enjoy in my free time." He chuckled a little bit. "Do you have any more questions for me, Captain?"

Fig shook her head. "No, I do not have any more questions," she said confidently. "However, I do have a few statements to make," she said with a bit of a smile despite the rather grim circumstances. "Lieutenant, you have performed extraordinarily well ever since you came aboard. Though your transfer aboard may have been rather sudden in order to fill our vacancy at communications, I just want you to know that I have no regrets in my decision to name you Second Officer. You have proved that to me by leading a team over to the transit facility and bringing them all back home safely. I will be making a note on your service record of your leadership abilities."

K'Niras' ears lay back with embarrassment. His people did blush, but it wasn't really visible under all the fur, but his body language spoke volumes of how flattered he was, his long tail had stopped bouncing and curled around one of his legs. "Thank you, sir," he said softly. "I only wish to do what any Starfleet officer would do for his Captain and crew. I am glad that you are pleased with my team's results. They were also exemplary."

“I was indeed pleased and impressed with everyone’s performance. I think that they will all have successful careers in Starfleet,” said Fig. “I just wanted to reassure you, Lieutenant that you have done a remarkable job leading a boarding team. It bore the markings of a Captain in the making,” added Fig.

His ears rose slowly and he tipped his feline head to one side a little, looking his Captain in the eye. "Thank you, sincerely, sir. I hope that one day that will be a reality." He grinned a little, showing his front teeth. "I am definitely not above ambition," then he wiggled his eyebrows. "I am very flattered. I hope that I can continue to do well. I was unsure of my ability to lead, but your confidence and giving me an opportunity helped tremendously. I feel confident that I can handle it in the future." He glanced toward the office door. "How long do you think it will take them? And what are we going to do with the rest of the deceased?"

Fig lowered her head for a moment out of respect for those who lost their lives. She then looked at her Chief Communications Officer. "It will probably take them a couple of hours to thoroughly come up with some answers and sometime to identify the deceased. If you could, please have a look at the station's manifest and coordinate with Medical. Provide them details of the station's personnel in order to properly identify the bodies. I do not want Starfleet notifying families without confirmed identifications," said the Captain.

K'Niras nodded seriously. "Yes, sir. I am afraid though that I already know that the count meets the manifest.
I counted, but I will do it again." He shrugged a little. "I admit that under the circumstances my count could have been off. I would be glad to have a second look." He shook his head. "And what about after, Captain? Do we return them to their people? Most of them are Terran. I know I seem overly concerned with burial practices, but I wish to do right by the souls that were lost."

"Do as you feel is wise, Lieutenant" replied the Captain. "I will confer with Admiralty as to what we are to do about them. I always try to do the right thing. Right now, we need to focus on finding answers. So, you need to get to work on what we've covered and I need to take control of things back on the Bridge" the Captain said with a firm commanding tone. She gestured the lieutenant towards the office doorway, the Captain follwed behind.