The “Milli-Cochrane Caper" 3.5

Posted on Thu 1st Sep, 2022 @ 2:59am by Commander Paul Graves PsyD & Lieutenant Commander Andrew Eberstark & Lieutenant Commander Alora Baro & Renato Solis
Edited on on Sat 3rd Sep, 2022 @ 7:02pm

1,437 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The Hunted
Location: Brown Sector
Timeline: MD 4, 2000

Previously...

"...I bought thirty of them, they are pulse grenades, Rigelian Bulbs. I put them everywhere ODN junctions meet EPS manifolds, for maximum coverage."

"When are they set to go off?"

"They will respond to any trigger of quantum plasma."

"Can we predict when that is?"

"No, it's based on ambient radiations and the time since the last one, but very soon, today probably."

Renato looked at Eberstark, "Even with his help, they are sensor shielded, it'd take us all day to find them. Dear God, thirty of them.. he presumes..."

And Now ....

The “Milli-Cochrane Caper" 3.5

{Zodiac}

Theo had given them a map, marking a dozen areas and indicating a few addresses within Brown Sector. Eberstark was in charge of the mission at this point, but having endured the previous intrusion of Starfleet, Renato was pressed to ask for an alternative. They had arrived with a cadre of deputies, and a search plan was being formed. Renato joined the small semicircle, hoping to speak.

Making sure everyone around him was paying attention, Andrew made his way to the table where they were all gathered. Taking a glance around the faces of mostly Starfleet security personnel, with the exception of Commander Graves and Lt. Commander Baro, Andrew pointed to the display, "Thanks to the cooperation of our friend, we have the general locations of most if not all of the devices he planted in and around Brown Sector. Time is of the essence, so we'll have to start with the ones closest to us and work our way out."

Looking at the acting Chief of Security, he continued, "We'll divide up in teams of two and cover as much ground as we can. The map should be transmitted to your tricorders. Use it to keep track of the closest marked area to you as well as other team members to make sure we aren't covering the same area twice." He pointed to the closest area from their location on the map. "Commander Baro and I will head here," switching focus to her, "Hopefully once we find that one, we can reverse engineer the cloaking shield to help get exact locations on the remaining devices."

Baro spoke up then, "It's less of a cloaking field than it is a chameleon circuit. Our equipment detects items based on certain criteria we've fed it. That criteria tells the computer it's looking at a phaser as opposed to a shoe. With something like this..." She held up a mock device that was roughly a few inches around, "I made this, if I fiddle with it a bit more it would work fully. Something like this would suppress the actual device readouts and spit out what the computer expects to see, even going so far as to give it a holoplasmic shell to fool the naked eye. Upside is to do something like this, once one knows what to look for, there's a very specific frequency the circuit has to operate under. We can retool the tricorders to look for this energy frequency but we need to be fairly close as it is somewhat weak and will not transmit far. I have a team working on containment."

Paul met the gaze of each of the assembled people present. "Keep your eyes open for at least one more device than is on the map. What Mr. Boule gave us narrows the search locations. He seemed sincere when he presented his map, but I don't think he was. Boule is a man who feels insecure, who was always the average kid, not one of the smart ones. He wants to be regarded as more important than he thinks others give him credit for. He wants to defeat us and to prove to the universe that he was smarter than we were, all along. He despises us for getting in his way. I don't trust him, and you shouldn't, either."

Andrew was about to continue his briefing when he noticed a new gaze enter his view and paused, "Mr. Solis. If you have anything to add, please do it quickly."

"Yes, thank you. The devices located in M are mine, The rest of you have your assignments, but I wanted to add... the people who live here call this home. Starfleet Security already came here once, so today the community is willing to help. Let them. Ask them to search their own areas with you, collaboration, not coercion. Explain what we are looking for. Above all, let them know we are here to help."

Andrew nodded at Renato, "Agreed. Be mindful and respectful of the residents you may come across on your search. Let them assist wherever possible but let them know time is of the essence so we'll need to operate quickly," turning to Baro, "If there is nothing else to add to the briefing, then I suggest we get moving."

"What about dogs?" Paul asked. "There are Earth dogs and animals from other planets that can locate objects by scent. Is that an option?"

Renato thought to the residents of Brown Sector, many of them had dogs or similar enough pets. "Possibly if they are already trained for tracking. I can think of a few names, ahh, F'kul the Andorian has a bloodhound sort of dog creature he uses to sniff out narcotics on his rides, The botanical gardens zookeeper lives near here, she has that Circassian Longtooth cat, I think it's a scent predator as well; she uses it to find vermin. Orie... Orie something she is in Y-8, but yeah if these devices have a unique smell to them that'd help!"

In a lower voice he added, "Paul, can you come with me to M? It's a problem area."

"Yes. Glad to," Paul said.

***

Reon shook his head, handing Kya another device found by a resident of Brown Sector. "Good thing we could set up here in Zodiac to make it easy for residents. How many does that make now?"

Kya had been keeping count, "Twelve, I've been marking where they were found in the search grid, here." She pointed at the display on the wall, a grid constructed by Starfleet to coordinate the search. They had found them at the power boxes as described, and searches of the others would hopefully reveal the majority of them, but there had to be more. The lack of anything found near her home in the Community Center made her especially nervous.

"So, ugh... When did you come to 109?" Kya found the need to talk unbearable, but she couldn't think of anything to ask him.

Glancing at the woman who intrigued him, Reon tilted his chair back and crossed his arms. "I came with Jade Lantz when she first opened Orchids & Jazz, about 6-7 years ago now. I've been with her a long time, since I was barely older than being considered a kid. How about you?"

Kya immediately realized she had suckered herself into talking about things she had rather not have been brought up. Regret welled into anxiety swirling into a flicker of rage at the circumstances of her whole life but while that was Tuesday for most women, in front of Reon it was appalling.

Past a brave face she replied, “Many of the DMZ worlds post Dominion war collapsed into anarchy, and I was sent out into space pregnant with…out the father… at first.... Life brought me here when I was in emergency labor and there was nothing on board the shuttle.

"You know this is ... let's just focus on this, yeah?”

Seeing his friend's discomfort, Reon was sorry he'd placed her in a position where she had to explain something that was obviously a bad memory for her. "Sure," he responded with a smile. "And then, when this is all over, let's find the best meal option and relax for a bit before jumping back into real life."

Without worrying about herself, she just replied candidly, “Can you cook? I always cook. Maybe after all this you make me something sweet?”

Reon's hands stilled. She'd surprised him. "As a matter of survival, I did learn to cook at a young age. I would say I can do anything fancy, but no one would starve with me cooking." He grinned at her and went on with his sorting. "Sweet ... maybe? Again, not fancy, but Abuela Carmelita made apple pie enchiladas that nothing can beat ... even Death by Chocolate Cake at Orchids & Jazz. In my opinion. She taught me to make them, though I never think mine are quite as good as hers."

TBC in 3.75

 

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