The Big Clue

Posted on Sun Sep 27th, 2009 @ 11:50am by Captain Vorn Krace

Mission: Into a Devil's Heart
Location: Peter Brown's Quarters
Timeline: MD04 2000hrs

As Vorn stepped up to the door to Peter's quarters, is was impossible to miss the large black device that was affixed to the centre of the door. Vorn had ordered it placed there to seal the door, and prevent anyone from entering it unless they received proper authorisation. Following his discussion with the Doctor the day before, Vorn had decided that he should search Peter's quarters - after all, the doctor had said that he was the one on the ship who knew Peter the best. It logically followed that he would be the one to find any clues that others might have missed.

As he reached up to the device, he gripped it by one of the handles on the side of it's circular bulk, and entered in his authorisation code to the small keypad on its surface. Grasping the other handle, he pulled - hard - and the device camp off with a soft thump. Passing it on to the security guard who had accompanied him, Vorn then entered the code into the door's control panel to open the quarters.

The room was a bit of a mess. After the short battle the ship had been involved in during the mission against the Guarded, it was the one room which hadn't been tidied, since it had been sealed. The shaking of the ship had sent loose items off their stands, and moved small items of furniture out of their place, but nothing large had been moved, and nothing looked damaged.

Stepping in to the room who's door was marked 'Executive Officer', Vorn began picking up the odd items that had fallen to the floor, placing them back where he had remembered them being the last time he had been in Peter's quarters.

As he reached the bedside table, he picked up a photo frame that looked as if it had fallen on its front, and stood it up. On it stood a young Ensign Brown with a stunning young woman, smiling at the camera from in front of a sunny sky on one of the Federation's prosperous colonies. It took Vorn a moment to recall the name of the woman, from the snippets he had heard of Peter's personal life before the Lincoln, and then it clicked, and he called out an order to the computer.

"Computer, playback the message received by me after the systems override was enacted. Audio only."

As Peter's voice once again played back through the speakers, Vorn strained, waiting for what he was looking for.

"Vorn, I know around you the ship is in turmoil. The ship is locked out, command functions are frozen and the warp injectors are locked out.

I know, I am your Executive Officer; that you have placed your trust in me. But what I have done I had to do to save Sara. Abi knows it all and there is one thing I got to say. Goodbye, I consider you an true friend, back from the times of the past we miss.

Remember from the times of the past we miss."

The woman in Peter's photograph - his ex-fiance - had been mentioned in Peter's message - he said he had to save her. From what, though?

He walked over to Peter's computer terminal and activated it. "Computer, search Federation records for personal relations of Lieutenant Commander Peter Brown. Filter by first name; Sara."

"Working," the computer reported, chirping to reinforce the statement. As the list appeared on the screen, he found the one he was looking for and opened her file. "Omega IV... Computer, bring up any and all recent news regarding the Omega IV colony."

The records that came up on screen showed nothing extraordinary. New construction plans for a town centre, a few awards being won by school children... Then Vorn remembered about Peter's father, and the classified nature of the USS Sierra. Anything classified wouldn't be reported in the news. "Computer, access all transmissions sent to Lieutenant Commander Peter Brown from the Omega IV colony."

"Private data requested. Authorisation code required."

"Authorisation Krace-4-9-Kappa."

There was one entry, and one alone. Vorn opened it, and saw the dialogue transcript between Peter and this unknown man, along with a frozen still of the man in front of fires, with children frozen mid-run behind him. And with that, Vorn had his first real clue as to how he could find Peter.

=^=Krace to Walex,=^= he said, tapping his combadge as he left the quarters, leaving the security officer to re-seal it. There was no answer. "Computer, locate Commander Walex."

"Lieutenant Commander Acle Walex is not on board the ship."

He must be on the station, Vorn mused. Remembering that there would probably be others on the station, he realised he'd have to wait until morning to set their course, something which nagged at him even as he knew there wasn't much he could do about it. Resolving to make sure that everyone had reported aboard by ten-hundred hours tomorrow, he headed for his quarters.

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Captain Vorn Krace
Commanding Officer
USS Iapetus