Robotics Investigations Part 3

Posted on Sat Oct 3rd, 2020 @ 6:49pm by Commander Alexis Agrax (*) & Commodore Ledeya ‘Ed’ Ehestri (*) & Jinx Jorasco & Commander Adamya Ryon & Commander Christopher Mitchell
Edited on on Wed Oct 7th, 2020 @ 6:08am

Mission: Cosmos
Location: Starbase 621, Security
1718 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Alexis looked around the security office of the base and grinned to herself. It was just like the bases she had been before, and why she had requested the meeting there of all places to be nosey and to have a little trip down memory lane. Theo calling had done that to her. The Betazoid knew the base, knew that she and Christopher were investigating, but she wanted to let them know what they had so far. She just had not expected to be waiting alone with crewmen looking at her scared and keep offering her coffee. Did she look that tired?

Jarrett walked into the office from the hallway. He looked up from his padd when he noticed someone else in front of him. "Hello, Commander," he greeted, noticing her pips. He didn't recognize her, but there were still many folks he had yet to meet on the large station. "Lt. Jarrett Moore. What can I do for you?"

Alexis held out her hand to the man to shake. She had heard there had been a new assistant chief since yesterday, and she did not envy the man at all. "I am here for the meeting with the Security Chief?" she questioned, wondering if she had gotten the wrong time or date.

"Oh, let me see." Jarrett pulled up the Chief's schedule, which also showed where he was. "It looks like he's been pulled into a meeting with the station CO." He looked up. "Looks like you've got me instead, if that will suffice.”

"It was meant to be with him, your XO, CO, Intelligence Chief, and my CO, XO." Alexis frowned as the door opened and the Commodore walked in with a few people.

"Sir," Alexis said, standing to attention.

"Sorry we are late, Commander," Ledeya explained, offering a smile. She felt seriously short compared to everyone she had walked down with.

Ash walked into the meeting and nodded to the others, flashing a handsome smile at the attractive security chief from the Cosmos. He hadn’t really gotten to know her well on his trip out here. “Hope I haven’t missed anything,” he said, putting down a padd at one of the seats at the table.

Jarrett gave a welcome smile to the newcomers. "Not at all. Most of us were just getting here." He looked at the padd in his hand before answering Alexis' last statement. "It looks like Lieutenant Commander Th'thialan has passed this assignment to me. I just started as his Assistant Chief, so I imagine he's offloading some jobs to me. A bit of deep-end treatment," he joked. "But if you'll bear with me catching up, I will do what I can to help you out."

Alexis looked at the Intelligence Officer and rolled her eyes. She’d heard all sorts of rumours about him and the women. The Commodore noticed her security chief's expression and quickly stepped in. “Of course. We are still waiting for a few people, and I’m sure Agrax will not mind helping,” she offered, looking around. “Maybe we should head to one of the meeting rooms,” she hinted at the other officers and enlisted milling around.

Jarrett nodded. "Sounds like a plan. This way." He motioned, leading to the nearest conference room.

Kovacs was quiet as he entered. The situation was messy, and he suspected that it was going to prove to be even more so as they investigated. That frustrated him. He also knew that he needed to gather information. He was still playing catch-up, processing the information he had so far in the back of his mind, trying to build the full picture, or something closer to it.

Ash followed the others toward the conference room, falling into step beside Alexis. “Can I get you anything from the replicator before I take a seat?” he asked her.

Alexis looked the man up and down as he stepped up beside her and grinned. "I am a big girl, Lieutenant. If I need a drink I will get it myself. Thank you," she said cooly, taking her seat next to Christopher.

Sensing that everyone was present, Christopher gave Alexis a nod and drew their attention to the large viewscreen.

"We've made some limited progress in the investigation of the incident involving several fleet commanding officers, including the Commodore." He nodded deferentially to Ledeya. "The equipment and the display itself was all paid for anonymously. We've had very little luck in tracing the individuals themselves responsible for making the arrangements. What we have found, however, is the trail left by the equipment itself. The parts making up the robotic unit were shipped through various locations." He motioned to Alexis, letting her explain their progress from that point.

Ledeya smiled at her two officers, one who looked fresh faced and one who looked like she had been partying all night to the trained eye. She glanced at Christopher, raising an eyebrow at them both. "We have been using my sources onboard that I made from our last time here, and people we were lucky enough to have onboard." She mused. "Some from the planet below and some from far and wide. This was planned down to every last detail." She moved over to the view screen and pointed to several items on it from the robot and where they had come from. "There is something we are missing here. Is there anything that Strat Ops has?" she asked, looking at the two men.

Shaking his head, Ryon replied, “I’ve passed our evidence on to Obsidian Command.” The Bajoran tapped his padd to make sure he had not received any new notifications in the last few minutes before adding, “We are currently pouring over incidents involving smugglers and suspicious manifests. It could be awhile. I have my own ideas, but it’s just conjecture at the moment.”

"There's a lot of moving parts," Kovacs commented. "Which is why it succeeded, but the coordination required in order for that to happen was immense. That we had no idea this was coming is a concern to me. I do not believe this to be the work of a government intelligence agency, sanctioned or otherwise.'

"We agree," Christopher nodded. "There are scattered names and aliases around, but no clear links to an established organisation. It's likely the parts for this robot were smuggled aboard during the commotion with the terror strikes on the station, perhaps using it as a cover. Whether there are other nasty surprises lying around we may never know for sure. Not without talking to the people directly involved."

“Pure speculation here,” Ryon began as he scanned his padd for station history. “Starfleet used a large number of contract workers to repair the station in record time. That’s more people and supplies in and out than can be successfully monitored.”

"So what you are all saying here is we really have no idea what is going on in this region of space?" Ledeya said.

"No, sir, just that there are a lot of moving parts," Alexis said. They knew the what and where, but not the who.”

"That's the gist of it, Commodore," Ryon added. "It's a math problem. We know what X equals, but we don't yet know how to read the problem."

"We can extrapolate from what we do know, which I suspect is more than we realise," Kovacs suggested. "There is an unknown player involved, presumably they've already made a number of moves, this was just the first we've seen. I suspect we'll see their next move soon. The alternative is that they overplayed their hand here and the operation is too complex, too well executed. We likely wouldn't be looking at this the same if it was a messy job."

“I can reach out to some more people. I know people who are in the business of...moving things discreetly or service those who do. They might have heard something. Who was in charge of the conference and approved the booth? Someone had to sign off on it.”

"There is an unknown player. We learnt his name." Alexis spoke up looking at Christopher for a second before she pulled up the conference details they had learnt. "The unit was registered in the name of 'Corvinius'. No second name. Minimal details. Nobody claims to have seen anyone setting up." She repeated Christopher's words back to the group.

Jarrett hurriedly took notes. "Corvinius sounds like a name people would recognize. I'll ask around and see what I can find out. Also, I'll check the records to see if we have any frequent visitors who might know any details." He looked up at the others. "Should I forward anything I find to everyone here, or one point person?"

“Send it to Commander Adamya as my Strategic Operations Officer and your own Chief Security Officer. They can filter it to who and when,” Ledeya spoke up.

“Do you mind if I investigate with you, Lieutenant Moor?” Alexis spoke up, interested in having another round of investigations from people others knew or considered.

Jarrett nodded to Ledeya as Alexis spoke. "Me?" he answered, slightly surprised at the request. "Sure, but I just got here, literally, a week ago. I'll help however I can, but I don't know how much new intel you'll get with me."

“You are fortunate that Commander Agrax has worked on numerous bases and was involved in the bombing investigation. I am sure she will kick start your knowledge of the base,” Ledeya spoke up quickly, smiling a little at Alexis. “So we all have jobs, let's get going.”

Ash nodded and downloaded the data to his padd, working over in his mind what they’d learned so far. He flashed a smile at Alexis as he stood up. “Nice to see you again, Lieutenant.”

“It’s Commander, Lieutenant. But it is nice to see you are settling in well here,” Ledeya said, trying to not sound amused as the man trying to flirt with the woman who was clearly not interested.

Kovacs slipped out as quietly as he'd entered, still frowning, deep in thought. He had some ideas, and a few calls to make, perhaps a favour or two to call in. This was still a mystery. He didn't like mysteries.