Must Stop the Signal, Part 1

Posted on Tue 24th Jul, 2018 @ 2:23pm by Lieutenant Damion Ildaran
Edited on on Sat 28th Jul, 2018 @ 5:30pm

1,384 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Oblivion
Location: Deck 1557, Section 23-Beta
Timeline: MD 2, 1015 hours

When the lift doors opened on deck 1553, Damion shouldered past the two Bajoran and Andorian women with a terse "Excuse me!" and made his escape. He hurried to the fire exit and swiftly descended the stairwell, as the Jeffries tubes would only have slowed his descent.

Deck 1557 had divided functionality. It was primarily used as storage space for Tivoli Gardens, but some areas of it had been put to use as less expensive living quarters than could be had three decks above, and there were a few convenience shops and restaurants available for Tivoli Gardens residents who didn't want to have to go all the way up to the Promenade to do their light shopping or to eat a quick meal out.

Tivoli was where the tourists went; deck 1557 and the handful of decks surrounding it above and below contained the hole-in-the-wall places that only the locals knew about. Some called it Lower Perry Gardens (for 'peri-Gardens'); others called it the Tivoli suburbs or just 'The South 'Burbs,' which corresponded with 'The North 'Burbs,' where Durant Repair Services was located. Damion had visited the deck briefly, soon after learning the initial range of the station given for where the mysterious signal might have originated. He had been well on his way to installing signal detectors on deck 1557 tuned to the mysterious transponder's output but hadn't reached it yet.

Damion emerged near the central core but saw no Security personnel close by. He presumed they had already arrived from the security substation on deck 1555, as they could override a turbolift, something he couldn't do in his undercover role. He headed toward section 23-Beta and took out the small tricorder he normally used in his Durant persona to scan for electronics malfunctions. He held the device close to his face and murmured to it, "In silent mode, scan for beam weapons consistent with Federation phasers or known types of disruptors."

He found the security team, deployed in a standard search pattern--two teams of two, with a fifth person to cover rooms when something, such as a body, required closer investigation. He also saw a sixth weapon--not his own--at a short distance away from the five phasers carried by the approaching security team. Presumably, they had their own scanner and were aware of it.

"Ildaran to Security," he muttered into his combadge, "Inform the team on deck 1557 that I'm approaching their six, and I'm armed."

"Acknowledged, Lt. Ildaran," came the reply in his ear a moment later. "They're aware of you and will coordinate. You should make contact with Lt. Perry."

That was the name of the Security Chief, Damion recalled. "Very good. Ildaran out."

Damion kept his eye on the unidentified phaser at the edge of his tricorder screen as he moved quickly to join the security team. The sixth blip remained in one place--which could mean that its owner wasn't moving or that it was secured in a locker; there was no way to know beforehand. At last, he found the security team. "Behind you," he said in a quiet voice. The rearmost of the detail, a dark-skinned woman, beckoned him forward without looking backward, and Damion approached.

"You're the guy who called this in?" The security officer spoke in low tones.

"Yes," Damion said. "This subject has been transmitting clandestine signals from Vanguard to parts unknown. We don't know how many or for how long. We've got to find out why he's doing this and whom he's talking to--so we need to preserve him and the transmitter, if we can."

"That means either blitz him, or grab him outside the place he's holed up in; otherwise, he'll just phaser the thing to slag."

"Exactly." Damion glanced about their location. "I've been on this deck recently and had a look about, but you lot probably know the place much better than I. Am I right in thinking we're near a residential section?"

"It's a mixed neighborhood," the Chief of Security answered quietly. "Some high-end guest quarters, medical bays, transporter rooms. I think the orange groves are a deck below us, and Middle Auxiliary Environmental Controls might be on this deck. I didn't have a chance to sort it all to specific decks, but that's the sort of thing that's between about 1400 and 1900, generally. I've sent my people to cordon off this area. There aren't any living quarters in this corridor, but they are nearby."

A security guard came over and spoke to Perry in a low voice. Isabella nodded her head, and he moved off. Turning back to the Lieutenant, she said, "Everything is secure, and we're ready to enter. The warehouse owner has given us the key code and permission to enter. Seems no one should have access to this storage space; it's supposed to be empty pending delivery of goods. I'm sure you can take care of yourself, by the way you hold your weapon, but I'm compelled to say ... don't get in the middle of crossfire."

Damion nodded to the lieutenant from Security. "You lot are the experts at this. It's nice to not have to go it alone, for once."

Seeing that her men were stationed to block all exits from the corridor and at least eight phasers were trained on the door, Perry nodded at her station sergeant to lead the break-in. Keeping his shield in front of him, the sergeant banged on the door and stepped back, while demanding, "Starfleet Security, open up!"

There was no sound from inside. Perry spoke into her combadge to the waiting forensic computer expert at the local station, "Disengage door locks and open door."

The sound of a metallic snick was heard, as well as the required chime that let occupants know the door lock was disengaged. As the door slid back into the wall, two security personnel dropped to the floor, phaser rifles trained on the opening. Two more quickly moved to either side of the door, and the rest hung back to see what developed.

For a moment, there was nothing at all. Then a woman moved into the light. She was not beautiful, but there was something that deserved a second look. Was it the long, straight, blonde hair that hung almost to her knees? It wasn't the clothing, as Isabella had seen far more beautiful gowns than the pale gray one the woman wore. Perhaps it was the confidence she exuded as she stood in the doorway, hands down at her side, with a slight smile on her face.

"All you had to do was knock," the woman said in a voice made for soft-pillow nights. "What can I do for you boys?" She looked right at Perry, and raised her eyebrows, "Or for you ... lieutenant, isn't it?"

Remembering the woman who had killed Captain Drake, Perry had no intention of being taken in by another one and shot the woman dead-on. As she crumpled to the floor, Isabella ordered, "Detain her in your station, as soon as we're sure she's alone. Go softly and do it by the books, boys," making a mockery of the woman's own words.

"That is not what I expected," Damion muttered as he moved forward to scan the unconscious woman to see if she was armed or had the transmitter on her person before touching her. He re-checked his tricorder and nodded to the security team. "This is where the signal originated from." He knelt to manually search for any weapons the tricorder might have missed and paused to recalibrate the device, so he could examine a ring the woman wore.

"Bloody hell!" Damion frowned as he studied the tricorder readings. "Mind this ring she's wearing," he said to Perry. "It'll poison you with a neurotoxin if you touch it in the wrong spot." He turned the woman's hand over and showed Perry his tricorder readings. "This little piece here," he said, pointing to a tiny needle on the underside of the band. "See? She can push it out all the way with her thumb and stick a person with it. We won't be able to remove this; it's embedded in her finger. It'll take a medic to get this thing off without poisoning someone. How good is the CMO here?"

"The best there is in Starfleet," Isabella promised.

 

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