Hello and welcome to another edition of our writers' challenges!

Today we start the two-week run of the twenty-second Literary Challenge: Undeniable Evidence

After a 5-day visit to a planet that is requesting membership to Federation/ Klingon Defense Force, and just when you are about to leave orbit, you get an urgent hail from the surface and are told that a matter must be discussed in private. As you have the communication routed to your ready room, you are told that your First Officer is the prime suspect for a murder that just took place on the planet surface several hours earlier. As the discussion evolves, you learn that there has been evidence found that seems undeniable. But, your gut is telling you that this is impossible, especially since you were with your First Officer almost the whole time. What happened? Did your First Officer actually commit this crime? Or, is there something bigger going on?

This is the writer's thread -- only entries should be made here.
The Discussion Thread can be found HERE.
We also have an Index of previous challenges HERE.

The rules may change from one challenge to another, but I'd like to remind everyone what the base rules are. These may grow as we move on, so also feel free to give feedback!

• Each Challenge will run for two weeks. For 2 weeks we will sticky the challenge and let you make your entry.
• There are no right or wrong entry.
• The background story, questions I ask, and format requested are only to serve as a platform that you can start your writing from. Feel free to change up the back-story or the way you deliver, as long as the entry stays on topic of the original challenge.
• Write as little or as much as you would like.
• Please keep discussion about the entries in the appropriate Discussion Thread.
• In the Discussion Thread, feel free to write what inspired you and what your thoughts on the topic are.
• A few other important reminders:
  • Please heed the rest of the forum's rules when submitting your entry! All of them apply to these posts.
  • Each poster can have one entry per character. Feel free to edit your post to fix typos or add/ remove content as you see fit during the next two weeks.
  • After two weeks time, the thread will be locked and unstickied, as we move on to the next challenge.
  • We'll have two threads: One to post the entries in and one to discuss the entries. **Cross-linking between these two threads is acceptable for these challenges ONLY!!**

G'hargh was seated at his usual table with the best view of the Orion dancers while providing the most direct route to the bar. The Gates of Sto'vo'kor house band was on stage, providing the rhythm the dancers gyrated to. Without averting his eyes from the action, he called for another bottle of Bloodwine. G'hargh leaned back in his chair and smiled in satisfaction as he waited for the waitress to bring him the fresh bottle.

Across the room, a tall lanky alien with a large bulbous head entered the bar. He searched the room frantically. When he spotted G'hargh sitting by himself, he quickly made his way towards him. The aliens pale blue flesh with darker green splotches running along the midline of his bisected cranium seemed to change color as he moved through the bar. The alien stopped next to G'hargh who failed to acknowledge his presence.

He cleared his throat.

G'hargh's attention never faltered, as he said, "What are you waiting for? Just put he bottle down and leave me alone."

Confused, the alien finally spoke, "G'hargh?"

The tone of the voice surprised G'hargh. He had expected Schlep or one of his Ferengi waiters, or one of his Orion hospitality specialists. Schlep knew that he always preferred the Orions. G?hargh looked up and into the tall alien?s cyclopic gaze, and laughed out loud. "Mooni! You old son of a ... What's wrong you mangy pirate?"

Mooni stroked the large meaty tentacles that hung from either side of his mouth like a fleshy handle bar mustache. "I need your advice," he finally said. "My first officer got himself into a rather serious mess and I'm not sure how I should handle it."

G'hargh motioned for him to sit down, as he sighed heavily, knowing that he would be spending the next hour listening to Mooni's story rather partaking in his favorite pastime, Orion watching. As Mooni took a seat next to him, G'hargh called out to Schlep. "Barkeep, we need another mug for my friend here."

The Ferengi entrepreneur called back, "You've got it G'hargh."

G'hargh drained the last of his mug and slammed it on the table, feeling more than a little bit annoyed at the unexpected interruption. "Tell me what happened, Mooni."

Mooni looked around the bar suspiciously as he made sure no one was close enough to eavesdrop. Just to be safe, he lowered his voice before he began his story.

"I had been assigned to the Jurakin home world to pick up their tribute and gifts for the High Council. The Jurakins were a warrior race and were willing to join the Empire and supply our vessels with enough tritanium to keep the Empire's fleet yards busy for generations. It was my duty to simply pick up their cargo and bring it back to Qo?noS."

Mooni stopped abruptly when the waitress approached with the mug and a fresh bottle of Bloodwine for the table. She set the bottle down in the center of the table and the mug in front of Mooni. G?hargh smiled as he said, "Just remember to put the bottle on Korrath's tab. While you're at it, give yourself a generous gratuity."

The waitress nodded, turned, and returned to the bar. G?hargh filled their mugs, while Mooni waited the waitress to get out of earshot before continuing. ?When we arrived, the Jurakins were not ready to load my ship with their tribute. However, they had planned what they called a small celebration for the auspicious occasion. For five days, we celebrated with food, drink, and enough carnal pleasures to make you blush.?

"Bah! You must think poorly of me, Mooni," G'hargh interrupted. "My appetite for carnal pleasures is legendary."

"No disrespect intended, G'hargh," Mooni replied with a hearty laugh. However, the jovial moment passed quickly. Mooni stroked the tentacles that hung from either side of his mouth nervously before he continued. "We had a fantastic time, until the final evening. I'm not sure what happened, since I was giving one of the natives a private tour of my ship. But, I do know that there was food, drink, fire, and dancing. The spirit of the celebration even moved my first officer into participating in the festivities."

G'hargh laughed out loud. "I would have paid good latinum to see Mirran dance!"

?If I had known the meaning of that particular dance, I would have ordered her back to the ship long before that portion of the evening began,? Mooni explained. ?Apparently, for the Jurakins, it was a marriage ritual and Mirran had suddenly found herself the wife of the Jurakin chief.?

"What!" G'hargh replied, surprised by the revelation. "Mirran is married?"

"Was married," Mooni corrected.

"Now, I'm confused. "G'hargh replied as he refilled his mug. "So, which is it? Is she or isn't she married?"

"Let me finish," Mooni stated. "At the end of the dance, the newlyweds were to head back to their rooms to ... make it official if you will. And, when the chief tried to persuade Mirran back to his room, she objected."

G'hargh laughed again as he realized where this was going. "I'm sure she did."

"Eye witness accounts state that she pulled her dk'tagh and plunged it into the chief's abdomen. It wasn't supposed to be a serious wound, but she wasn't aware of Jurakin physiology. She had the misfortunate luck to slash every major artery and vein in the chief's body. He bled ferociously and died within seconds. "

"I had received a hail concerning the argument, but by the time I arrived, the chief was dead at her feet, and she still held the bloody dk'tagh in her hand. It was pretty evident what had happened. Before I could find out what happened, the chief's warriors attacked her. Instinctively, I defended my officer and opened fire on them."

"I grabbed Mirran, ordered my entire crew back to the ship, and ran back to it while under heavy fire. We quickly left the planet without our cargo and jeopardized future relations with the Jurakins for the Empire," Mooni explained with a hint of fear in his monocled-stare.

"Ghuy Cha!" G'hargh swore. "The High Council must be upset with you."

"I don't know. I haven?t seen them yet."

G'hargh's eyes widened in fear. "What in the name of Kahless are you doing here then? The longer you put it off, the worse your punishment will be."

"That's just thing, G'hargh. I?ve come for your advice. You've had some bad experiences with the High Council. What can I expect their reaction to be?"

"If they don't kill you on the spot, you'll be sent to Rura Penthe for sure," G'hargh explained. "However, you've got a chance. Someone on the High Council sent you on this mission. They're going to want to save face. Be sure to remind them of the fact. Now, get out of here. If you put off telling them for too long, their punishment will only get more severe.?

Mooni didn't like his answer, but it was worth trying. He drained his mug, nodded at G'hargh, and left him at the table to resume watching the Orion cage dancers.

Remembering something, G'hargh called out to Mooni, "When you get to Rura Penthe, send my regards to the Warden. Tell him his next shipment of Prune juice will be in by the end of the week. He'll make sure you get the choice assignments."

Mooni smiled and left Gates of Sto'vo'kor behind.

The doors to the Selarii Ambassador's office opened silently to make way for Krovennan as he walked in, the Vilscaran Vice Admiral walked quickly to the Ambassador's office and sat down on the chair that had been provided. The chair was designed for the more Human sized Selarii, so Krovennan found it uncomfortable to his 7-8 ft size.

But that was nothing compared to the discomfort that the message he had received gave him.

"Vice Admiral Darksabre, thank you for coming, I know that the terms of our meeting must be difficult."

"Ambassador Kendrari, your accusing one of my crew members of murder just as we are about to set off. This is a serious accusation, and you havent even told me who you are accusing."

Kendrari was a typical Selarii woman, dark blue skin with Human facial features, the differences started in the presence of a chitinous mandible on either side of her mouth, and where their should be two eyes, were four jet black eyes. These betrayed her insectoid ancestry. the Selarii had broken Warp 1.5 just recently, and Krovennan had been sent to evaluate their application to join the Federation. From what he had seen, the Selarii were a community-minded species, with almost all of the population residing in large cities, where their distinctive flowing architecture was most prominent.

"Yes Vice Admiral, I realise that this comes as short notice and is a rather disturbing message, but I'm afraid we have evidence, a recording of the moment of the murder."

"A recording can be altered nowadays you know."

"The murder happened in the vicinity of the mayor of Kervan City's offices, all recording devices there are kept on secure channels with the best security available, they were also given to me as soon as they were discovered, no tampering has happened, I can assure you."

"Very well then, show me this recording."

Kendrari pushed a button on the control panel on her desk, the large panoramic window behind her blackened to opacity as a small projector raised up from a small hatch in her desk. A few flickering moments later and a flat image appeared of a small alley outside of a building, obviously the aforementioned mayor's offices. On the screen was a Selarii man leaning against the wall, there had been unofficial celebrations in that area between the Selarii and the Blacksabre's crew, and many had to take time to relax as the celebrations became more extreme.

All of a sudden Krovennan started to notice a shadow coming from off-screen, the Selarii did not see the shadow and continued as he had been. The shadow was moving closer to the man but it was difficult to see who it belonged to in the light conditions. It did not take long for a figure to walk into view, obscured somewhat by the dimness. Suddenly, a glint appeared next to where the figure's hand was, before they reached out and grabbed the man from behind. Then, without hesitation, the figure rammed the object in it's hand into the man's back, who cried out in pain, his face contorting in agony. Kendrari ran a finger nervously through her long dark brown hair at the sight, she was obviously unused to death.

As the man fell to his knees, the figure ripped out the object, which was now revealed to be a knife of some sort, and their face was revealed . Krovennan stared intently at the image as Kendrari froze the image with a press of a button. Krovennan felt utter shock as he was looking directly at the image of the one Officer he least expected. Standing over the body was the unmistakeale long white ponytail and blue antennae of Tallasa, Krovennan's Andorian First Officer.

Kendrari pushed another button on her panel and the office returned to as it was before. Krovennan sat back and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Kendrari waited for a few moments before Krovennan turned back to her and spoke.

"This cannot be true, I was with Tallasa for virtually the entire visit, you cannot convict her over this."

"I'm sorry Vice Admiral, but I can, and my position says I must, thats why a Selarii security force has already boarded your ship via a shuttle, I was informed just as the recording began that Tallasa is now in custody."

"What?! You boarded my vessel while I was down here?"

"Please understand Vice Admiral, I have gotten to know you in the few days you were here, you are fiercely protective of your crew and would never have allowed us to board. So we saw no choice but to wait until we knew you were not on board and remove Tallasa before it escalated into a conflict."

"You know I cannot simply abandon her Ambassador. I will be investigating this in more detail."

"I have to ask that you do not Vice Admiral, our investigators have already checked the crime scene. And we have the proof we need to implicate your First Officer of murder. I'm afraid that until we join the Federation, murder in our society is still punished with execution. Tallasa's trial won't last that long. Maybe it is best that your ship leaves to spare yourself the pain. Some of our forces are still on board questioning your crew to make sure that there are no other crimes that can be attributed to them, once they are done you will have no problem leaving Federation airspace."

Krovennan didn't answer immediately, he simply stood up and straightened his black and grey coat. He walked to the door before stopping in front of it and turning around.

"That is not the way of the Federation, and it is certainly not mine. I won't abandon the life of my First Officer as long as there is doubt in my mind she is innocent. As for whether or not I will investigate this matter, I'm afraid that is not your call to make. I -will- investigate, and I will find Tallasa innocent, and you know what it will mean for your application if you try to use force against me."

"I understand the implications Vice Admiral, and I will of course take them into deep consideration. Where are you going to start?"

"The first thing I'm going to do is get those Selarii forces off my vessel, and then I have a prison visit to prepare for."

With that statement, Krovennan walked out of Kendrari's office, the Ambassador turned in her chair to the window and gazed into the embassy's inner gardens. She put her hands together with both index fingers extended outwards and touching, it was an old habit of hers whenever she was thinking over a dilemma. She moved her hands upwards so that the index fingers were almost on her mouth. The Vice Admiral had layed down an ultimatum, she would have to tread carefully.

Meanwhile, in orbit over the Selarii's home planet, Krovennan materialised onto the familiar transporter room of the Blacksabre-E. The ship's inner architecture had been changed long ago to incorporate the inclusion of Vilscaran technology, the normal silver/blue was replaced with a black/bluish green style that was more reminiscent of a Vilscaran vessel, even the console UI had been changed to a Vilscaran one, so as to best utilise the technology.

Krovennan was familiar with everything in this room, except for the fact the normal Transporter Chief was replaced with one of his Ensigns, a Human woman. This Ensign had only been on board for a couple of weeks, she wouldn't normally be left alone with the transporter, and this peaked Krovennan's interest.

"Ensign Hartman, where is Dale? Surely he cannot be that busy."

"I'm afraid Commander Agostino is being questioned outside his quarters by the Selarii forces that boarded."

"How long have they been questioning him?"

"Half an hour sir."

"I see, carry on."

Krovennan walked out of the room quickly and headed for Dale's quarters, something told him something was not right. As he made his way through the ship, he saw crewmen being scanned or pulled into their quarters for questioning by Selarii forces, he couldnt help but notice the abundance of lethal weaponry they were carrying with them. After a few minutes, Krovennan approached Dale's quarters, but before he went into the junction that housed Dale's quartyers he heard voices of heated discussion from just outside Dale's quarters.

Krovennan hugged the wall just at the bend and leaned over to peek at what was happening. he saw Dale backed up against the wall, two Selarii officers standing in front of him in their usual dark blue carapace armour and helmet, each holding a standard issue rifle. One of the two seemed to be very agitated with Dale, and Krovennan started to pick up their conversation.

"What about that arson four days ago? Was that you?"

"No, for the last time, I never went down to the surface, if you would let me show you the transport logs I could prove that."

"Those logs could be fakes, how am I meant to trust them?"

"Now your just being irrational, this is a Federation ship, not a Klingon Bird-of-Prey, we have more self-control than what your accusing us of."

"A Selarii is dead because of that antenna-head, the ice witch is going to die for her crimes, and when I find what you are guilty of, you'll share the same fate."

Dale's demeanour changed from exasperated to enraged almost immediately, Krovennan always knew that Dale was fiercely loyal to the ship and crew and he had a short temper, though he might have been outmatched by this Selarii.

"How dare you! Don't ever speak of Commander Tallasa like that, she is above such things and that will be proven, and you'll find nothing on me or any of the officers here. I can't wait to see the look on your face when we get her out, I'll have you down on one knee apologising for what you called her when that happens."

The Selarii officer all of a sudden started smiling and paced to the other wall, Krovennan moved in closer for a moment to avoid being seen. the Selarii looked down to his rifle and chuckled as he brushed some dust off it.

"I'm afraid that won't happen, because as far as everyone else is going to be concerned, you pulled a phaser on us when we got close to revealing your guilt, and we had no choice but to enter a struggle with you, that we will have obviously won."

"What are you talking about? I don't have a phaser in my room."

"No, but you "borrowed" one from one from your crewmates..."

At the mention of that, tjhe second Selarii, who was smiling as well, lifted a phaser into view, obviously he had stolen it from another crew member when the two had questioned others.

"...when you found out you'd be questioned, which you must have known before all else as the ships Communications Officer and Transporter Chief."

Dale caught on to what was being eluded and made to call security, but was stopped when the second Selarii officer slammed the butt of his rifle into Dale's sternum. Dale doubled over in pain and the first officer moved over to rip the combadge from him and throw it aside. the second Selarii officer then swung his rifle by the barrel like a baseball bat, hitting Dale in the face and throwing him to the ground, the two Selarii then proceeded to stand over Dale and beat him.

Rifles, fists and boots impacted Dale over and over again, with no time to react all Dale could do was throw up his arms and try to ride it out. Before long however, the two Selarii Officers suddenly felt themselves being pulled backwards, as the two were thrown back a strong hand helped Dale upwards. As the two Selarii regained their balance they saw Krovennan had intervened to save Dale and was now helping him up.

The more angry of the two Selarii simply shouted and aimed his weapon at Krovennan, but before he could fire, Krovennan roled forward, picking up the phaser the Selarii had dropped. Coming up as quick as he could, Krovennan fired directly at the Selarii's rifle. The weapon started glowing where the phaser hit before it started sparking. Krovennan stopped firing as the Selarii dropped his weapon, and shielded his face as the weapon's energy matrix exploded. The matrix wasn't particularly powerful, but still caused damage to the corridor, although thankfully no-one was hurt.

Krovennan stood up as the two Selarii simply stood there, one was weaponless and the other seemed too suprised at all that was happening to lift his weapon. This made it all the easier for Krovennan to walk up to the one who fired and render him unconcious with a single hit. He turned to the other and removes his weapon from him, removing the energy pack and dismantling the weapon in one fluid motion. Krovennan threw the pieces to the ground before taking the second Selarii by the collar and slamming him against the wall.

"Your investigation is over, each one of your officers will surrender their weapons and turns themsevles into my security forces to be searched for any signs of further theivery and false evidence. After that, you will return to the surface and inform your superiors that if any armed forces set one foot on my ship again, they'll be met with extreme prejudice. Am I clear?"

The Selarii officer nodded before Krovennan released him, the officer began relaying Krovennan's demands to the other officers quickly, before taking his unconcious friend and dragging him away. Krovennan turned to Dale, who was using a support to keep himself upright. He walked over to Dale and offered him a shoulder to lean on, which Dale graciously accepted.

"Come on, lets get you to Drehera, and then I have to visit a friend of ours."

The prison block was immaculately white, transparent metal walls along each prison cell corridor as the only window in or out. Tallasa was sitting on a raised part of the floor in the centre of the cell, apparently it was used for when a prisoner needed to be questioned, and apparently Tallasa would be needing it soon.

Tallasa didn't have to wait long before she heard the door outside open, as she looked up she noticed Krovennan enter, thankfully shunning the guards away, Tallasa had been subjected to their invasive questioning already, she didn't want to deal with it again. A piece of the flooring outside her cell rose up, in exactly the same manner as the platform she was sitting on, and Krovennan sat on it, facing her. There were small holes dotted around the glass, which allowed sound to pass through easily.

"Its good to see you again, sir."

"You don't need to call me sir Tallasa, we've known each other since we were both Ensigns, you know I hate people calling me sir unless necessary."

"Very well, Krovennan, so has my trial been decided yet?"

"I contacted Ambassador Kendrari, she says the trial happens in two days. I don't plan on letting them try you without finding the real culprit."

"Its good to hear someone on my side, everyone else has made it clear of their beliefs about my guilt."

"Yeah, Dale received the VIP treatment from a couple of the ones on the ship earlier."

"What?! Is he OK?"

"He'll recover, but he'll be in Sickbay for the rest of our stay. Now, I need to get some answers from you about what happened."

"Of course, what do you need to know?"

"Tell me what happened from before the time of the murder until you were first taken off the ship."

"Well, as I recall we were attending a historical play at the theatre in the town that the murder occured, I could barely keep my eyes open for it frankly. After that you went to attend a dinner at Ambassador Kendrari's house."

"Thats the only time you were away from me, so what happened then?"

"I decided to go explore the streets. And I chanced upon a group of our crew partying with some civilians in a park in the Hesalon District."

"Hesalon District? Thats about 10 minutes on foot, what happened then?"

"I decided to join in on the party, had a drink or two, danced, the standard thing."

"How long did this go on for?"

"It went on for about an hour, if the time it died down is any indication."

"Died down?"

"As time went on and the drink became more depleted, the partygoers went their seperate ways, many in pairs to some cheap room or in a group with a Human-sized container of alcohol slung over some shoulders."

"And you?"

"I hung around until the party was dead, then I saw a group heading to the park in the district you were having dinner in, I was able to persuade them to give me a ride back to the Ambassador's home."

"Ah yes, I remember you got a ride to us, that also explains the slight smell of alcohol on you."

Tallasa smirked at that statement, Krovennan was very liberal in his crew's off-duty antics, as long as they did nothing illegal or caused him any headaches.

"I have to let my hair down at some point Krovennan, remember shore leave on Risa back when Captain Geralds was in charge?"

"Ah yes, was it three or four people you woke up with?"

"Five. But we're getting sidetracked and anything that gets me out of here is high on my list of priorities."

"Right, so, after we regrouped we went back to the ship, did anything happen after that?"

"Not really, I went to sleep, woke up in the morning, had breakfast and prepped the ship for leaving the system when you were called to the surface. Next thing I know a Selarii shuttle latches onto the ship and demands that I surrender myself or they'll take the ship by force, I couldn't risk the lives of the crew, so I surrendered. They finally told me of my apparent crime when I was halfway to the planet surface."

"That seems to match up to what I know of, and you have an alibi for the time we were seperated. I'll have to get Drehera and Gruturu down ton the crime scene and do some investigating."

"Best bring Kri'gak and Saavip as well, this murder has made the locals very suspicious of us if the guards are any indication, Kri'gak should keep them in line. And Saavip will be helpful if you need to mind-meld anything out of anyone. Besides, you might need her if one of the locals rubs Kri'gak's ridges the wrong way."

"I'll keep that in mind, get some rest Tallasa, they'll undoubtedly try to get a confession, and I won't allow you to give them one."

"That an order?"

"Only if it has to be."

"Aye, Vice Admiral."

Tallasa made a mock salute which made Krovennan chuckle slightly, the two stood up as the makeshift seats retreated into the floor. Krovennan straightened his coat and walked out, the guards opening the door for him to leave. Tallasa lay on her bed and stared up at the cieling, hands behind her arms. Krovennan wouldn't let her down, he hadn't done so yet.

She only hoped this time wouldn't be the exception.

The scene looked like any other murder scene, an area stained in the blue blood of the Selarii victim, and a holographic representation of the body, which had already been taken away. Krovennan, Drehera, Gruturu, Kri'gak and Saavip were at the scene, surveying the area. Krovennan walked up to Drehera, who was taking readings with her Omni-Visor.

"Any luck?"

"Nothing, but that doesn't narrow it down, who, or what, did this may have been able to mask whatever they used to frame Tallasa, or whatever they did simply doesnt give off any readings."

Drehera turned around to face Krovennan as she scanned around the area, Krovennan was about to speak again when he noticed something by the bottom edge of Drehera's visor.

"Whats that?"

"What?"

"That, under your visor."

Drehera looked away quickly, taking a moment before speaking, her face solemn.

"It's nothing."

"Its something Drehera, show me."

"I...I can't."

"Drehera, don't force me to order you. You know I will. If something has happened I want to know what."

Drehera, still looking to her left, sighed in a retiring fashion before pressing hidden buttons on either side of her visor, seperating it from her eyes. As Drehera lifted the visor, revealing her blind eyes, she turned to face Krovennan and also revealed a deep purple bruise just underneath her left eye. The eye itself was ringed with black, but nowhere near as bad as the bruise itself. Krovennan looked at it solemnly as Drehera put her visor back on.

"The Selarii?"

"Yes, when we were first questioned. They were trying to interrogate my patients and I intervened, they decided to turn their investigation on me all the harder. One of them made a pass at me and threatened to arrest me and plant evidence of some crime or another if I refused. When he got the call to give up I made a stupid retort, he lashed out at me before Security dragged him off."

"You've been in combat before, why would you hide this from me?"

Drehera didn't respond, she merely clutched her left elbow with her right hand and looked away and down to the floor. Krovennan pondered for a moment and suddenly understood.

"Its the Far Flown incident isn't it? It still affects you, doesn't it?"

Drehera simply nodded as she walked over to the building, letting the others continue investigating. She leaned against the wall and stared into space.

"I've been in combat yes, I've fired a weapon, even killed without one. But back then, as they strapped me to a chair and beat me over and over, I sensed their delight at my suffering, their abject hatred for me. But worse of all things, I was helpless, all I could do was hope that you or one of the others would come and save me. But no-one came, I couldn't even sense you. I was more alone than I had ever been before."

Krovennan walked over and leaned beside Drehera before talking, Drehera's face was sullen and expressionless, the pain of reliving that event cutting her deep.

"We both have scars from that event Drehera, some less obvious than others. I was caught up in the idea of meeting my long-lost brothers and sisters so much that I was blind to the madness around me. I let you down Drehera, I will admit that. I should have been more careful, and as much as I want to, I can't change that.

All I can do, is work to heal your scars, to prove my worth to you again. Even with the scars I carry I will be behind you every step of the way. I probably don't deserve it, but I need you to trust me Drehera, I won't let that happen again."

Drehera thought for a moment before smiling a little bit as she faced Krovennan.

"Thank you, I know you won't let me down."

Krovennan was about to talk again when he heard rustling from some bushes nearby, Krovennan looked over and saw a scrawny Selarii, most likely one of the very few homeless, fall out of the bush, apparently having been listening in. Krovennan thought this guy would know something, he may have even been here at the time of the murder.

"Hey, you over there. Come over here a second."

Before Krovennan even finished talking, the Selarii scrambled to his feet in a panicked manner and began running away from the group as fast as he could.

"Hey wait! Kri'gak! After him, he may know something!"

Kri'gak snarled as he caught sight of the man and gave chase, Krovennan and Saavip close after him. Gruturu and Drehera did not have the increased muscle strength of the others and couldnt run as fast, but still went after them anyway.

Kri'gak used his Klingon strength to propel himself after the Selarii, the scrawny man was fast, but Kri'gak was slowly gaining on him. The Selarii bolted out of the garden gate with Kri'gak in hot pursuit. Krovennan followed right behind him, vaulting over the low fence, Saavip running through the gate directly after him. The Selarii ducked into an alleyway suddenly, Kri'gak had to stop himself as fast as he could just to make the turn.

As Krovennan and Saavip caught up, they noticed the alleyway was empty. However, it was also a dead end, meaning that the man was still in the alleyway, hiding somewhere.

"Kri'gak, with me, Saavip, cover the exit."

The two others nodded, Saavip standing back as Krovennan and Kri'gak advanced slowly, searching behind boxes and whatever else was around. Drehera and Gruturu finally arrived, doubled over as they tried to catch their breath, Gruturu complaining that her lobes hurt from the exercise.

Kri'gak searched the right side of the alleyway, Krovennan the left, boxes were pushed aside, shadowy areas behind generators were checked, but they could not see where this Selarii had disappeared to. Krovennan then had an idea.

"Drehera, scan for heat signatures, anything Human-sized."

Drehera nodded and begun scannong, her Omni-Visor changing its scan parameters though it's neural interface, meaning Drehera needn't even move to change it. Drehera only needed to scan for a few seconds before she picked up a heat signature that could belong to a living being.

"Kri'gak, over there! In the third box behind you!"

Kri'gak turned to face the box Drehera was talking about, the container was made of a type of wood native to the Selarii homeworld, and was highly brittle in comparison to most woods. Kri'gak tore the box open with no effort, revealing a frightened Selarii curled up inside. Kri'gak took a hold of the man and pulled him out. On closer inspection, Krovennan, who watched from just behind, noticed the man was filthy, he was definitely one of the few remaining homeless, and from the look of his face and clothes, a long-standing one.

Krovennan moved up to the man, who Kri'gak had pinned against the wall, and wiped off some of the dirt from his face, he examined it closely and noticed something.

"This dirt is only found at the scene of the crime, the mayor here keeps rare plants that need this equally rare soil to grow. Our little friend hasn't left that garden much in the last few days, he must have seen something. Now then my dirty friend, are you goin to tell us what you saw?"

The Selarii looked to Krovennan, trembling slightlym on account of the fuming Klingon holding him against the wall.

"I-I ain't telling you a damn thing off-worlder!"

"Thats fine, we'll get what we need one way or the other. Saavip? Get what you need from him. Kri'gak, keep him still."

Krovennan folded his arms as Saavip walked over to the Selarii, who was struggling ever harder in Kri'gak's hold. Saavip placed her fingers on the side of the Selarii's face and closed her eyes.

"My mind, to your mind..."

Captain's Log: Stardate 88486.6

I hate Politics. I hate politics and baby sitting. I can't help it. I prefer action to words, but words can prove just as powerful, if not more than a phaser. Needless to say when Drake's ugly mug popped up on my private terminal, I didn't really have a choice. The Lecterians were a standard Federation applicant, so why Section 31 seemed interested was beyond me. They were a standard military based society, very security oriented. In fact there was hardly anything about them as a whole that would make them a beneficial or detrimental to the federation. What was Section 31's interest in this? Why did Drake keep sending me on these babysitting missions? The sickening thought crossed my mind that like usual he knew more than he was letting on and frankly the U.S.S. Geist was just the crew for the job.


Things had been going by the books, diplomatic meetings, assessments, and negotiations. Commander Keating, my first officer, had beamed down for his part of the briefing and after an hour and a half of security measure and biometric scans and another three hours of politics we finally made it to lunch. As we were walking to the he stepped away to use the bathroom. With all of the security measures and meetings you think the Lecterians were under the impression that we never had to go. He wasn't even gone a minute when I heard the alarms and guards. I turned just in time to see Keating with a table knife jammed as far into our Federation ambassador. I was stunned. There was nothing I could do before security was dragging him away and taking the Ambassador to the medical ward. I'm not even sure if they'd be able to treat a bolian.


By the time I'd managed to work my way through their system and regulations it was too late. The knife had hit a primary nerve cluster which had shut down his system. Had I been able to get to him sooner we'd have been able to get him beamed aboard the ship and Dr. E'Saul would have been able to save him. I was beyond livid. There was too much bureaucracy. It was against their laws to examine the body until after all investigations were made. It was hard enough just getting in to talk to Keating. It wasn't like the Commander to do something like this. He was a military man, a by the books and to the letter type. Why he would suddenly do something this insane. Even he wasn't sure what had happened. One minute he'd been walking to the washroom and the next he was being arrested for murder. We couldn't even get a medical scanner in to check him to see if he'd been drugged or not.


It was three days before we could even get the security recordings. I had my entire senior staff working around the clock studying the recording in the holodeck as well as going over the crime scene with every possible scanner that we had on board. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Everything pointed to him being guilty. I was no longer wondering if but why. I couldn't believe that he'd been capable of doing such an act even though I'd seen it myself. The evidence was too overwhelming. We were even getting ready to dust off an old Psychotricorder when it happened, entirely by luck. Wraith came in to drop off the latest engineering report to Chief Fine when he spotted something. It was almost ironic that Wraith and his augmented eyes would notice the smallest chance that Commander Keating was innocent. There was a small fraction of a moment where the image of the Commander fluctuated. It was a holographic imaging device.


We needed to get in to their office and with all their scanning equipment that meant sending in Wraith. I've always tried to stay away from using him like this but frankly the situation demanded it, and as it turned out was a matter of life and death. I count my blessing that the Angosians had an alleged hand in making the boy, he was undetectable by their sensors. When he infiltrated the main offices of the embassy Wraith found everything. Keating had been innocent the whole time. When he'd left to wash up he'd been transported into stasis for a moment while a Lecterian officer committed the murder disguised as my first officer. Moments after he was beamed from stasis to a cell with a make shift holo emitter to make him think he'd been led there by security. What was found to be more disturbing was that the Lecterians were a cannibalistic race. One who believed that to understand and integrate with a new race, one of it must be consumed. This being the first official meeting with both Bolians and Humans the Ambassador and Commander were selected during the extensive biometric scans which they later used to make the holographic Keating suit.


Once Wraith was out of city limits and beamed back aboard the Geist was in red alert. We were able to get Keating with ease do to the element of surprise. But getting the Ambassador's remains was a bit more difficult. We separated into MVAM to throw off their fighters for a tactical advantage at first, but once they adjusted their defensive tactics we were barely able to get our fallen Ambassador, leave orbit, and activate a transwarp jump straight to Sol system. Unfortunately due to the Prime Directive we can't get involved. The Federation cut all ties as well as put an embargo and even an advance subspace warning beacon. It kills me that these people will never see justice or change their ways. That they'll continue to do as their archaic tradition demands and that the federation will not be able to do anything about it.


I think the part that bothers me most is that Section 31 sent me there. Drake knew more than he was telling and it cost an innocent man his life and almost killed my first officer. Probably just to verify his suspicions. I know he'll be reading my personal logs after this fiasco, and frankly I want him too. He and I are going to have a long talk about this next time we meet.


Supplemental: It would seem our lucky break was even more of one than we initially believed. As it turns out the holodeck's emitter array was misaligned. Chief Fine found this on a routine inspection and found this to be the cause of the fluctuation. We'd almost lost a good man to a terrible fate had it not been for sheer blind luck....

Captain James Charles Donovan

Kri'gak hauled the unconcious homeless Selarii into what appeared to be a makeshift home he had created for himself. The man had resisted during Saavip's mind-meld and it had resulted in him knocking himself unconcious, but Saavip had been able to get the information she needed regardless. Drehera was scanning the man for any sign of further damage. Gruturu had opted to visit the nearby travel office, she wanted to see if any strange arrivals had been listed in the last few months, so as to get a list of suspects.

Krovennan and Saavip were a few paces away from Kri'gak and Drehera, Saavip had just finished relaying the information she had gotten to the Vice Admiral.

"Your sure that this is true Saavip?"

"There is no room for doubt Vice Admiral, he saw the murder happen 30 minutes after we left the theatre, and then saw the murderer head towards the Chevalin District."

"Completely in the other direction, and it would have taken Tallasa at least 40 minutes to get there on foot. And no public transportation was available at that time of night. Tallasa could not have been here. Did he notice anything else?"

"No, nothing else."

"And thats what concerns me, Tallasa smelt of alcohol, she had obviously been drinking at the street party in the Hesalon District. If it had been Tallasa, he should have been able to smell the alcohol off her. The smell of Selarii alcohol is slow to both get on and off clothing. There is no way it was faked, she was in the presence of a lot of the stuff for a long while."

"Then this means her alibi is solid Vice Admiral. But we still don't know who, or what, is responsible, or how they managed to frame Commander Tallasa on an incorruptible holo-recording."

"If it is truly so incorruptible, then the tampering has to be at the scene itself, something designed to fool the recording itself."

"Perhaps a hologram Vice Admiral?"

"Impossible, there are no holo-emitters here, and there was no mobile emitter."

"Could it have possible been an Undine? Or a Changeling?"

"Possibly, but that means that our murderer could be anywhere. We can't blood screen everyone. If it is a Changeling, we need definitive proof of who they are."

"Then it would be prudent to wait until Commander Gruturu returns with any possible leads."

"Indeed, until then we sho-"

Krovennan was interrupted when the sounds of Selarii engines roared overhead. A Selarii police shuttle landed just ouside the alley. Krovennan sighed, he knew this was going to cause problems. The front hatch opened on the vessel, and a Selarii security force spewed forth. The group of about fifteen Selarii Security Officers formed a semi-circle around the entrance of the alley, guns pointed at the group. Krovennan merely faced them, arms folded, Saavip took his left side while Kri'gak and Drehera tended to the man.

The Selarii parted the semi-circle to make a corridor leading to the shuttle's front hatch. As Krovennan turned his attention to the shuttle, he noticed Ambassador Kendrari step out of the near perfect darkness within the shuttle. She had put her black hair up into a ponytail and was wearing a ceremonial Selarii dress, a floor length dress skirt, split halfway up the front and back to offer movement, and a long open trenchcoat reaching almost as long.

She was also wearing a ceremonial breastplate that kept the upper quarter of her midriff exposed, inlaid with obsidian gems, and a strange headpiece that clung to the end of her lower jaw. Kendrari walked through the corridor of Security Officers and approached Krovennan, the guns of the Selarii still trained on the group.

"I told you not to interfere with this investigation Krovennan."

"Kendrari, you can point all the weapons you like at me, you can dress up in the fanciest of clothes. But I am not going to be dissuaded, I thought I made that clear."

"Keep your bravado to yourself, and explain why that man is unconcious."

"He wasn't being co-operative, and as it turns out, he had decisive evidence that proves Tallasa's innocence. So when he refused to answer our questions, Saavip used her mind-meld to get the info we needed. He still struggled, even though we told him it would do that to him. Its his own fault."

"Krovennan, he had no obligation to co-operate with you. I rescinded your diplomatic powers on Selar IV this morning, we won't take your evidence into consideration for Tallasa's trial tomorrow."

"What? Ambassador Kendrari, if you do this, Tallasa will be killed."

"I know Vice Admiral, but the evidence we have speaks for itself. You'll have to accept that she did it, she killed a man, and now will have to pay the price for it under our laws. Just take your ship and go. I don't want you to witness her death."

"That won't happen."

"Then I'm ordering you, I want your ship out of the system by Commander Tallasa's execution or I will send a full squadron of Selarii cruisers to remove your ship, by force if necessary."

"You said it yourself Ambassador, until the Selarii officially join the Federation, our powers are seperate. I answer to the Federation and the Vilscaran Empire, not the Selarii. If you do indeed plan to fire on my vessel, rest assured that my crew will defend themselves. And their training far surpasses your militia's."

At the mention of their training, Drehera and Kri'gak took up positions on either side of Krovennan and Saavip. The Selarii weapons were still trained on the group, but the unwavering stances and daring glares from the group was starting to make some of the Selarii falter. Kendrari began to feel the unease from some of the Selarii officers behind her.

"My order stands Vice Admiral, if your not gone by Tallasa's execution, your ship is next."

As Kendrari turned to leave, Krovennan noticed the hilt of a dagger at her waist, she had been hiding it under her coat, but her turning revealed the weapon. A disturbing thought just crossed Krovennan's mind, it added up, but he'd need more evidence. Kendrari disappeared inside the shuttle, her security escort following in quick succession. The shuttle closed it's front hatch once the last Selarii was onboard and raised up slowly. As it sped off into the distance, Krovennan turned to address the group.

"I think I may know what is behind this, but I cannot tell you for certain yet. We'll need to wait for Gruturu to report on what she finds. until then, we need to return to the ship and call a meeting of senior staff. We need to make a plan."

"What are you planning sir?"

"Simple Kri'gak, I'm going to break into Ambassador Kendrari's house and confirm my suspicions, then if I find what I need in time, we are going to stop them before they kill Tallasa."

The group looked to each other for a second before nodding in acknowledgement and beaming up to the ship. Krovennan beamed up last and immediately called the meeting. They had less than a day to plan everything out and get everything ready. If even the slightest thing held them up, Tallasa would almost certainly die.

Wow! Some great stories this round Thanks to those who participated!

If you have not participated yet and would still like to, feel free to post your story in this thread. I am going to unsticky this now as I prepare to post #23.

Cheers,

Brandon =/\=