<Time passes… It is now the early AM ship time.>

<<10 Forward>>

Power problems have continued throughout the day. This had not kept the crew and dignitaries from using the facility. In fact, the Bajoran Vedek and Cardassian ambassador meet for several hours, before the Cardassian excused herself. Afterwards the Vedek and LBH, had a discussion on spirituality and Holograms beliefs in the afterlife, etc…

Around 3 AM, 10 forward experienced a complete power failure causing the LBH to become inactive for almost 15 minutes.

Commander David Nganga lay restlessly in his bed. He had at least gotten a few hours of sleep though. With the news of Biff's new assignment and the arrival of his replacement had managed to make the arrival of Saul and M'tilda Nganga aboard anticlimactic. His parents were off in their own quarters now.

He had been dreaming while he was asleep, and the memories of those dreams were mercifully already passing. And due to having watched those twentieth century "cartoons" of Xiam's, he found himself hungry for spinach. He looked across the room at the food replicator that came standard in each set of quarters on larger ships. Presumably it had a spinach recipe.

He rolled over, and started wondering where he had left his pajamas that morning, ::I really ought to pull something on.::

There was a very faint amount of light coming in through the view port. He could see a female figure putting on a Starfleet uniform. "Do you have to go?" he asked.

"I need to get some real sleep before I go on duty, and if you've woken up too, that isn't going to happen if I stay here."

David chuckled. "Okay. Good night."

"Good night. I had a wonderful time."

She turned and walked to the door. The door automatically slid open. David sensed there was something wrong. There was more hall traffic then one would expect when it was after 0300. After the door closed again, and he was alone, he started wondering if maybe it wasn't his pajamas he needed to pull on.

Jayngo rolled over in bed, feeling fully refreshed after a full nights rest; at least as much of a full night as he needed. Still working on which side of the standard night shift he preferred, the doctor had retired to bed around 22:00 standard ship time. He rolled over to see the clock and noted that he had actually slept in a little; it was now a bit after 02:45 hours. Knowing that his shift wouldn't officially start until 08:00, Jayngo decided to pursue his search for entertainment once more.

When he had first sat down to talk with Ensign Bak, the ops officer highly recommended twentieth century television as a way to pass the time. Unfortunately, the "cartoons" were not particularly to his liking, especially those that tried to derive enjoyment out of animals defying gravometric laws. Jayngo still had other television options, however, and other mediums to experiment with, not to mention other races. "Computer, what forms of entertainment were available during twentieth century Earth?"

=^= Television, radio signals, novels, magazines of various forms, video games, athletics of various forms, bowling ... =^=

"Halt list. Computer, tell me more about these radio signals."

=^= Radio waves began being used to deploy information and entertainment during the late 30's, and became a popular medium during the Earth's World War II. In the 1950s, television made its debut, replacing it as the primary source of entertainment, though radio maintained fulfilling the requirements to a more limited audience. =^=

"Sounds interesting. Give me a random sample, say from the latter part of the century. Begin." Jayngo swung his legs over the edge of the bed and started moving towards the bathing facilities.

=^= We love you Howard, but not as much as we love loving each other! =^= =^= Well now, girls, don't let me slow you down. =^=

Jayngo stopped at the doorway and glared in the general vicinity of the speakers. "Computer, pause playback. What was that?"

=^= A popular radio program from the late twentieth century. =^=

"Well, lets try something a little bit older then. Try from the 1940s instead."

=^= Acknowledged. =^= Jayngo stepped into the bathroom to the sound of =^= Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts and minds of men? =^=

<<Engineering>>

Problems in 10 forward have been persisting all day, and engineering has had difficulties isolating the problem because all of the equipment is in fully functional condition. Each diagnostic run and all tricorder scans show no abnormalities. It has taken many hours to track the problem to software. Someone has used a standard civilian interface to create a looping diagnostic program. Since running a low level diagnostic does not require security clearance, no alarms were set off. The programs would take equipment offline for a diagnostic and then get set in a repeating loop.

When an engineer would run a high level diagnostic, the looping program would be interrupted and the equipment would function normal until the next loop was reached. At 3:01 AM, all 10-forward systems simultaneously went into a looping diagnostic routine, effectively disabling the entire section. The program is quite easily deleted.

Bruno jogged over a console, he hadn't been able to sleep and was reading 2 Samuel when Engineering called to tell him there was a problem, so he raced over, to find the problem solved by Mr. Argyle. But with the problem came the side-affects of the looping system, it was reeking havoc on the internal sensors.

Tiny: Williams, run a level 2 diagnostic and find the problem, if it doesn't work, we'll have to try it again.

Bruno could feel a dull throb in his head start. He focused his attention on what he was doing and continued to work.

<<Arcade, Boardwalk>>

A groggy Mr. Falan is awakened by the Arcade night shift for a so- called emergency. Sleepily, he arrives at the stage set up for speeches. He sees one of his men in gray and green holding a torch (i.e. flashlight) looking under the stage platform. A second crewman, the one who awoke Mr. Falan was solemn, "You better have a look."

As Mr. Falan approached the stage he could see the problem, a pair of legs under the platform was light by torchlight. He bent down and could see the attached body, still and lifeless, hidden in shadows. He tapped his comm badge, "Mr. Skepti you better come to the stage we have a big problem. Come quick, we've found a body."

Calvin Skepti, a scarred, battered veteran of too many fights and too many stories, sleeps fitfully in his quarters. His right hand and forearm gleam dully, like black onyx, in the few lights apparent in the narrow confines. On the single desk, a PADD containing his report of the discussion between he and the Federation Ambassador at 10-Forward some time earlier. Apparently, the man has a history of keeping record of his goings on. One never knew when information could be used for, or, against you. Skepti was a long-time veteran of that sort of conflict as well. Dreams and nightmares, not so very different from each other. In some ways, the relationship of pleasure and pain might be used as an accurate allegory. Upon the bunk, Skepti's ubiquitous grimace signifies which area of the spectrum his sleeping consciousness might lie. Split second images of confinement among the Cardassians flits across his mind's-eye. One of the more unpleasant terms of his life. Fortunately, Calvin Skepti's dreams, or nightmares, of the night shall be shorter lived than expected.

<..Mr. Skepti you better come to the stage we have a big problem...>

Already on the verge of wakefulness, Calvin bolts upright. His right palm thunks loudly against the edge of his cot. The sound echoing about his cabin and momentarily stealing his attention as he swings his feet to the floor. The surreality between the waking world and the sleeping ebbing at his focus.

::Concentrate Skepti. This sounds important.::

<..Come quick, we've found a body...>

"On the way, Mr. Falan." Skepti pauses only to throw on his jacket and heads out the door. Only the twisted metal along the edge of his bunk in the shape of finger and thumb depressions belying his agitated state.

<<Security>>

The night watch can be tedious and boring. But when your communicator chirps and you hear, "Mr. Falan to security. Please send a team to the boardwalk immediately, we're at the stage platform and we've found a body," it is not time for excitement. Although it his quite natural to feel and adrenaline surge.

Klaus was actually sleeping soundly tonight. Perhaps because he had finally been proactive about things. Was he in for a big surprise....

"Security to Lieutenant Klaus."

Klaus grumbled as he glanced at the time. 3am!!! What was going on? Klaus reached for his communicator on the nightstand. "Klaus here."

"Sir, sorry to bother you but we have a situation on the boardwalk. A body was just discovered by Mr. Falan. He reports that it is of Vedek Tow."

Blast it! Only hours before he planned to implement security measures that would prevent this. Coincidence, probably, but with everything going on he wasn't so confident. "I'll be right there. Send Kais, Rien and a security team to secure the crime scene. Notify the captain and pull all sensor logs of the area and the Vedek's quarters for the past 8 hours. Also pull Mr. Skepti's surveillance logs for the past 8 hours. Notify the forensics team and have them meet me down there. I also want to know the current location of all ambassadors and dignitaries. Any other disturbances reported?"

"No, sir. According to sensors, all dignitaries with the exception of Vedek Tow are located in their quarters."

"Have a security team visually confirm that computer report. Carry on."

"Aye, sir."

"Klaus to Doctor Jayngo."

"Jayngo here. I am assuming you are also on your way to the boardwalk?"

"That's affirm. Let's just say that I'm glad you have a security background."

"Ahh. Worried I'll disturb your crime scene? Don't. I plan on running a scan to determine if anything can be done. If not, then the show is yours."

"Thanks, doc. Klaus out."

Klaus stood, arched his back and felt the joints articulate. He quickly got dressed and left his cabin. One more item of business before he arrived on the scene. "Computer, limit all access in or out of the boardwalk except for security personnel and command staff. Authorization Klaus omicron 2 beta 3."

With that, Klaus entered the turbolift and proceeded down to the boardwalk.

<<SickBay>>

The comm chirped, "Mr. Falan to Sickbay, Please send a med-team to the boardwalk immediately, we're at the stage platform and we've found a body.

Fifteen minutes later, Jayngo was exiting the bathroom dressed in his uniform and ready to begin his day. The show he had been listening to had been enjoyable; a murder mystery with a protagonist with powers beyond those of normal men. The show was getting ready to reveal the identity of the killer when the communicator chirped.

=^= Sickbay to Doctor Jayngo. =^=

"Go ahead, Sule."

=^= There seems to have been a problem up on the boardwalk. Mr. Falan has asked for a medical team. He believes that Vedek Tow is dead, sir. =^=

Jayngo stopped where he was and leaned against the wall. :: How could this have happened? :: The shock and dismay was forced back down into Jayngo's subconscious, realizing that no matter how hard he will try, some people would die. :: But why did if have to be this soon? :: "I'm on my way, Sule. Call and wake up Kuehl. Tell him to swing by a transporter room and pick up at least four portable transport emitters, just in case, and meet me on the boardwalk. I want you to ready a level three containment area around one of the biobeds. We may need to be prepared to do an autopsy, and I want a sterile environment."

=^= Affirmative. Sick Bay out. =^=

"Computer, pause auto playback and store into memory. I'll want to hear the rest of it, but it sounds as though I have a mystery of my own to figure out."

Jayngo grabbed his tricorder and stepped through the door. His communicator sounded again as he did so. =^= Klaus to Doctor Jayngo. =^=

"Jayngo here. I am assuming you are also on your way to the boardwalk?"

=^= That's affirm. Let's just say that I'm glad you have a security background. =^=

"Ahh. Worried I'll disturb your crime scene? Don't. I plan on running a scan to determine if anything can be done. If not, then you get next look. As soon as you are done with your preliminaries, I'll have the body transported so I can begin the autopsy."

=^= Thanks, doc. Klaus out. =^=

As Jayngo headed down the hall, he swore that he would do whatever was needed to find out what happened.

David grabbed his replicated silk robe and put it on. The door to his quarters had shut again, but reopened when he stepped to it.

Heading into the hallway, he stopped a crewwoman wearing blue who was hurrying towards the turbolift. "What's going on?"

"Commander. Someone's died ... been killed." she replied. "One of the dignitaries. The Bajoran, Vedek Tao or Dow or somesuch. In the civilian arcade."

"Vedek Tow." Nganga corrected. "Dammit! Thanks. Go."

As the crewwoman hurried off, David returned to his quarters. He started talking to himself as he removed his robe and then pulled on his uniform. "Well, THIS is going to be a short mission. 'Have a large civilian section. Bring dignitaries and ambassadors aboard.'"

He chose the 'command vest' variant over the 'jacket' variant and pulled on his vest. Making sure his comm badge was in place, Nganga headed out and started for the arcade.

<<Bridge>>

The ship had its all its crew and visiting dignitaries aboard. All was well except for some damn nuisance of a power problem in 10- forward. The Cochrane was well underway toward its first destination. Lt. Commander McGintly noticed that the bridge had new carpet smell. He knew that the carpet had been replicated, so he did not understand why the programmers had included the "new" smell.

McGintly watched the bridge crewmen as they preformed their various functions with typical Starfleet efficiency. He was proud to be chosen as part of the Cochrane's historic crew. Although this mission was purely diplomatic, he looked forward to showing of this vessel. A Galaxy class cruiser was impressive, indeed. Typically, the main viewer shows a visual starscape, but at the moment the Commander was looking at a Navigation view. It showed the ships course, it's ETA, and other vessels and places of interest along the current course.

They would reach their destination just before 0600 hours, and he would place the ship in a standard orbit. Within long rangers sensors the viewer indicated an Oberth class science vessel, an Akira, two runabouts, several civilian transports, and a Klingon d-10 cruiser. All on their registered flight paths. Business as usual until the comm chirped.

=^= "Security to Bridge." =^=

The commander tapped his comm. and responded, "This is McGintly, Go."

=^= "Sir, you should come to the Boardwalk, their night crew discovered a body. Medical has identified the remains as Vedek Tow." =^=

"I'm on my way, out" McGintly looked at the blue skinned Andorian named Indigor, and couldn't believe what he was about to say, "You have the bridge." The commander stood up and walked toward the turbolift. Before entering, looked back at the Andorian and added, "Don't break my ship, ok?"

He entered the turbolift, when the doors shut he sighed heavily. "Deck 10." He tapped his communicator, "McGintly, to Captain Starkin…."

Uriell Starkin slept peacefully, with one arm draped over Danielle, Uriell's wife. They had been apart for quite some time. They both had careers to keep them busy, but it didn't stop them from missing each other terribly, so it was good to be together again.

The past evening went well. The rendez-vous with Danielle at the transporter pad was without incident (although on an almost side note, it was nice to meet Commander Nganga's parents there as well.) Danielle really liked the Chameregalias Uriell brought her, and thought it was especially thoughtful and romantic to bring them to her right there. Uriell showed Danielle some parts of the ship, swinging by the Boardwalk. The Captain introduced Danielle to 'Moss', telling her that he was responsible for the plant. Starkin was just about to fess up to it being his idea when he intercepted and deflected in his disarming way, not giving Danielle's spouse a chance. Uriell then promised to give a more detailed tour the next day.

They spent several hours catching up, talking about important things, talking about not-so important things, and doing some no talking at all. But having Danielle there gave Uriell a sense of completeness to a gap that while often ignored, was never really forgotten.

=^= McGintly, to Captain Starkin…. =^=

It took Uriell a moment to process the call. Was it an anxiety dream? Did she really hear that? She groggily turned her head. "..huhhh..."

=^= Captain, are you there? =^=

Yes, she really did hear that. Calls at 3am are almost never good, and have a tendency to cause a sense of panic. The surge woke her up instantly, causing her to sit up. She took a breath to calm down. ::This had better be important.::

"I'm here, Commander," she said in a low but authoritative voice. "What is it?" ::He's a Starfleet officer. He wouldn't call if it weren't important.::

=^= Captain, you'd better come down to the Boardwalk. We have a situation. =^=

"What happened?"

=^= It's pretty bad, sir. You'd best come right away.=^=

There was an annoying tendency in Starfleet culture for officers to sometimes not answer direct questions directly. Maybe it was because they don't know who else is listening. Maybe it was because they often feel that words cannot adequately describe the situation. Or maybe they like being cryptic and overly dramatic. But given Starkin's current sense of just waking up and quelling the reflexive panic that problems of the unknown at 3am can cause, Captain Starkin wasn't in the mood for it. "I asked you a question, Ned: WHAT HAPPENED."

=^=Vedek Tow's body was found on the Boardwalk. He's dead, sir.=^=

It was as this point that Ned McGintly was first introduced to the muttered sounds of Garman vulgarities, until Danielle hand reached behind and mildly slapped Starkin's knee.

"All right, Commander. Thank you. I'll be right there."

With one more under the breath Garman curse, Uriell got up to change into her uniform. "Well, I was going to be getting up in a couple of hours, anyway..."

Danielle rolled over. "Your own wake up call. How nice of them, 'Captain.'" She dug her head into the pillow and opened them to look at her spouse. "We won't have to deal with this kind of room service every day, will we Uri?"

After rinsing her mouth out, Uriell splashed some water on her face and dried it with a towel. She then was running a brush quickly through her hair as she bent down and kissed Danielle on the cheek. "I certainly hope not." She grabbed her comm badge and affixed it. She gave a quick check in the mirror then turned back to Danni. "I've got to go to work, Hon."

"I know. Come back when you can."

"I will." Uriell lingered. "I'm glad you're here. I love you."

A quick kiss later, "Love you too."

With that she turned towards the door, and Captain Starkin left to face this ship's first major crisis.

Skepti's mood hadn't changed as he strode from the turbolift and across the Promenade gallery. As he stood silently on the turbolift he'd realized he'd forgotten to pull on his glove while his cybernetic prosthetic hung limply at his side, gleaming dully. A horrid, lurking growth disseminating the light in its alien depths of curves and swirls.

::Perhaps, I should have taken the Atlarian's advice and have the thing removed along with his scars and fix his missing eye. No, these are all trophies and reminders of a past life. The measure of a man's self- worth is what he's learned.:: He lifted the thing and eyed it closely, still not completely certain how it worked or what it was capable of. The lift stopped and the doors whooshed open and Skepti moved out and across the Boardwalk towards Ten-Forward.

Mr. Falan noticed him just as he entered and Calvin watched as his gray eyes flitted towards the arm and widened slightly. Skepti took in a deep breath, ::It doesn't matter. Keep to the task at hand.::

"Mr. Falan, you've something to show me?"

"Slow down, son." said Saul Nganga standing in the hallway and wearing a turquoise coloured nightshirt..

"I can't talk right now, Dad." David said walking purposefully past his father.

"The hell you can't, boy." The older Nganga turned and trotted briefly to catch up and then matched pace with the first officer.

"What are you doing up and wandering around?" David asked.

"Your mother and I have been ... initiating ... our new home, but she wanted some sleep so I decided to take a walk. And I saw a bunch of people come by." He added, "Including my son."

David rolled his eyes. His parents were in their upper sixties. He didn't like thinking about them doing ...

"You know, Dave, you seem awfully alert for it being oh-three- thirty." The older man grinned a knowing grin.

The commander winked at his dad. "Wild oats, Dad." Then his expression sombered. "But seriously, something's come up and I have work to do."

"I understand, Son." Saul stopped and watched his boy enter the turbolift.

"Deck Ten." David said.

::Deck Ten. The boardwalk? I wonder what happened?:: Saul thought as he headed back to his room.

Moving through the halls at a full tilt, Jayngo's mind raced between the situation on the boardwalk and the safety of any crewmen who may step out in front of him. Fortunately, the halls were fairly clear between his quarters and the turbolift. He would have taken the auxiliary stairs except he didn't want to set off any security measures that had been set in place on the boardwalk. Therefore, he waited impatiently for the turbolift to carry him the rest of the way.

As the lift doors opened, he was confronted by two security guards checking ID. A flash of fear entered their eyes when they realized that Jayngo could have just plowed over them, but faded quickly with a smile from the medical officer. He complied for the check, then made his way to the platform. A security team had surrounded the area and was in the process of taping off the crime scene. Failing to see Klaus, he knew that he had beaten the Security Chief to the scene. McGintly stood to one side supervising. He noted that Skepti was in the process of speaking with his assistant. Stepping over the nearest section of tape, he walked over to the officer in charge.

"You must be Doctor Jayngo. My name is Ensign Corbin. Lt. Klaus is on his way."

"I know," Jayngo responded. "He called me. Who are your forensics officers?" The Ensign pointed him in the direction of the three officers hovering around the body. "Thank you."

Moving over to the three officers, his shadow cast over them from the lighting, drawing all three away from their work. "Good morning, gentlemen. I am Doctor Jayngo. What have you found?"

The middle officer was the first to speak. "DNA scans show a great deal of traffic in the area, leading to an inconclusive determination as to how or who brought the body to this position. We have been taking samples and will have to take them to the science labs to date. We have also taken holoscans of the entire area for reproduction of the crime scene if needed."

Klaus approached the boardwalk and proceeded through the doors. What lay before him was at best organized chaos.

He had enough experience to not get upset by this. The proper investigation of a suspicious death scene required the talents of many specialists. It just never failed to shock him at first that anything remotely organized could come out of a tangle as this. He scanned for the tightest concentration of personnel and headed that direction.

Jayngo was already there. Good, he thought. Perhaps we'll be lucky and get some preliminary information. Corbin caught his eye and met him half way. "Ensign, report."

"Sir, we pulled the sensor logs as you requested. Apparently, according to engineering, some kind of self-repeating diagnostic loop was started effectively disrupting audio and video sensors in the entire area. There is no record of any event on this subsection of the deck since 3:01am."

"Blast! What of the LBH? Was he still active?"

"No sir. There was a complete power failure for approximately 15 minutes. I have already spoken to engineering and they are trying to trace back to the precise time and terminal that this program was inserted."

Klaus pondered this for a moment. So much for the capabilities of a starships security scanners. "Okay. How is site security?"

"Excellent, sir. Kais and Rien secured the site and I activated my early response team as soon as I heard."

"Well, that answers my question about the level of firepower in the room right now." Klaus smiled slightly remembering a saying from his days as a special forces grunt.....no such thing as too much firepower. "Thank you, Ensign."

Heads turned as Klaus entered the boardwalk. "You men need to give a report to your chief, and I need to examine .... the body." Jayngo looked over the three men to see Vedek Tow's legs sticking out from underneath the platform. The doctor knew that he had to remain professional; that the man he had treated the previous day and had grown to admire in that very short time was now the body before him. The three security officers moved away, allowing Jayngo access to the body.

Under normal circumstances, Jayngo would have simply moved the platform out of his way to gain better access to the body, or even easier pulled the body from underneath the stands. However, he couldn't disturb the crime scene. Instead, the doctor was forced to drop to his hands and knees in order to see the Vedek fully, making a heavy indention in the grass beneath him. He felt bad about disturbing Marlo's work, but saw no choice in the matter.

Klaus continued toward the body and saw Mr. Kais questioning one of the local patrons. "Mr. Kais. Have you uncovered anything?"

Even though Klaus approached him from behind, he was not surprised. Being a betazoid often had its advantages.... "Yes, sir. It appears that the last 2 individuals to see the Vedek alive were the LBH and Ambassador Atylori."

"Have either of them been questioned?"

"The LBH was briefly questioned, sir. He merely stated that they had a spiritual discussion. Apparently the Vedek left without incident and the LBH was deactivated when the power failed. As for the ambassador, no, she has not been questioned at this time."

Klaus thought about the LBH for a moment. "Mr. Kais, please place the LBH program in a protected memory core and coordinate with Lieutenants Tam and Sulu regarding possible altering of the LBH's program. Have them report to my office first thing in the morning."

"Aye, sir."

"Security to Lieutenant Klaus."

"Klaus here."

"Sir, we have confirmed the whereabouts of all dignitaries is accounted for. They are presently all in their assigned quarters."

"Very well. Please restrict access of that corridor to only authorized personnel and place security officers at the turbolift and each of the dignitaries doors."

"Aye, sir."

Klaus sighed and continued on. Coffee would help right about now.....

3 men whom Klaus recognized as the forensics team approached him. "Lieutenant Klaus, we have some preliminary information for you."

"Proceed."

"Sir, we have found no preliminary cause of death. DNA evidence is inconclusive. No trace material such as hair, fabric, skin, etc was left behind that we can find."

Damn! Leads were not very forthcoming. "Thank you, crewman."

He walked to where the doctor was working. The body lay just as it was described. No blemishes, signs of struggle. Nothing.

The situation was not good. It was so very not good. And it was not good in a multitude of different ways. These different aspects kept flashing through Captain Starkin's mind as she headed towards where the Vedek's body was found. She was fortunate to have enough years of experience to handle various crisises in her past, so she was able to keep a level head (Starkin would never have made it through the command track, otherwise.) But it didn't stop panic from at least trying to edge its way in.

She thought of the ramifications ::This ship, it's maiden voyage, to have this happen...:: She indulged for a few seconds to worry about her career ::They're going to use this to take it away from me:: then pressed on to more immediate matters ::Are the other ambassador's safe? Are the civilians safe? Danielle?:: And at that point a sense of violation kicked in, a sense of anger at whoever or whatever did this.

As she entered the Boardwalk, the reality set in that someone who was on this ship under her protection, someone she had started to know, someone she talked to that day, was dead. A peaceful, spiritual man, taken away from the universe. ::I hope he's with the Prophets now.::

The boardwalk door opened and Klaus turned to see who it was. The Captain. While he knew that, as a professional, he could not control everything. But some part deep down inside couldn't shake the feeling that he had some explaining to do.

David had hung back, out of the way. Since he wasn't on duty, and the captain was here, he didn't want his presence to cause problems.

::What was the Vedek doing down here at 0300 anyway? There are replicators in the suites if he was hungry. He must have been meeting someone. Someone must have scene him.::

Nganga started looking around for the holographic bartender. Then an idea struck him, and he stopped one of the engineering crewmen working on the investigation.

"Find the outer edge of the areas affected by the sensor blackouts. We'll need the sensor logs for the regions adjacent, both concurrent and afterwards."

"Aye sir, I'll get right on it." replied the crewman.

"Nganga to Bridge." David said, tapping his badge.

=^= Yes Commander? =^=

"It occurs to me that our murderer may have arrived on board and/or possibly left again in very short order. Transported under the cover of the sensor failures. Please prepare a list of what space traffic has been like in this region of space."

=^= Aye sir. =^=

::Now where is that bartender?::

Withdrawing his medical tricorder, Jayngo began running scans and examining the body. "No signs of struggle, no external contusions, no signs whatsoever of cause of death." As he drew closer to the head, Jayngo's vision was seriously obscured by the lack of light and started to crawl out from underneath the platform to ask for a hand torch. When he emerged, he found a crowd had gathered around him, including Starkin, Skepti, McGintly, and Klaus.

Security briefly stopped Starkin as they confirmed who she was. The mild inconvenience didn't bother her; she was glad security was already in place. She secured her resolve and walked towards the gathering of people. She could see that Mr. Skepti was there talking to Mr. Falan. Commander McGintly was there, looking like he was managing/coordinating efforts. Good, Klaus and Jayngo were there already too, working. It looked like Klaus was giving instructions to security, while Jayngo was scanning the body. She stared at the remains for a moment as Klaus finished up. When Klaus saw the Captain he walked over and Starkin asked him, "Are the other ambassadors alright?"

"The computer says the rest are all in their quarters. I've got a team verifying that now."

"Good." She took a step in. Jayngo looked up as attention drew towards her. She looked around at Skepti, McGintly, Jayngo, and Klaus as she slowly deliberately, and authoritatively asked the inevitable question: "What... happened?"

Jayngo was the first to answer. "Medically speaking, I can't be sure until I get him back to sick bay and can begin an autopsy. There are no clear signs of foul play. The forensics team has taken their scans, and until the body is removed they will not be able to fully examine the crime scene." Jayngo looked to Klaus for confirmation as Kuehl entered carrying the teleport emitters, followed quickly by Commander Nganga. "With your permission, Captain, I'd like to teleport the body directly to sick bay and begin the autopsy."

"That's fine by me," Starkin said, "assuming that all the necessary scanning and information has been gathered before any of it's disturbed."

"A detailed holoscan has been taken, Captain." replied the (middle) officer.

"Very well." She looked at Jayngo. "I want to be updated regularly. Depending on where things are at, either you or one of your staff should in my ready room at 0800 to report on what you've found out." Starkin made eye-contact with Kuehl, who was looking for a definite confirmation. Starkin then turned past Nganga towards Klaus. "Unless you have any objections, Lieutenant..."

"Not at this time," the security chief replied. "All information that can be obtained here has been done."

"Very well, Lieutenant. Doctor, you may proceed."

"Jayngo to sickbay. Place a level 10 forcefield around the Vedek's body immediately after transport. Doctor Jayngo to transporter. Please beam the body of Vedek Tow directly to sickbay." The doctor looked toward the captain and the Lieutenant. "Now if you will excuse me, I have a lot of work to do."

After confirmation from Starkin and Klaus, Jayngo and Kuehl placed the transporter emitters around the deceased body.

"Jayngo to Doctor Sule. Vedek Tow is ready for transport. Activate the containment field around the Vedek's body immediately after arrival."

=^= Confirmed, sir. =^=

"Doctor Jayngo to transporter."

=^= Gordon here, doctor. Go ahead. =^=

"Please beam the body of Vedek Tow directly to sickbay."

The doctor looked toward the captain and the Lieutenant as the body disappeared from view. "If you will excuse me, I have a lot of work to do."

With that, Jayngo and Kuehl left the Boardwalk

Captain Starkin watched Jayngo and Kuehl leave, then turned back towards Klaus, staring intently. She then stepped toward Skepti, giving him a similar look. She let the silence linger and the awkwardness increase. She opened her mouth, inhaling as if to say something, then stopped and looked down, pondering, keeping them waiting.

Finally, she turned and spoke in a soft but forceful controlled voice, "This should not have happened. We already know this." Her eyes went back and forth between them. "What we need to know is HOW this happened... how this COULD have happened... and WHY. And we need to know it soon." She took a step back and started to pace. Her voice remained even. "In a few hours, most of this ship is going to wake up, and news and rumors of this is going to spread. I want to be sure the people on this ship are safe. Safe and unafraid. But I don't think I can do that until we figure this out." She stopped and looked firmly at Klaus. "And know this can't happen again."

She backed up again. "Lieutenant, I want you to devote whatever... " (she paused at the word) "... manpower.. you can or need to work on this. I suggest bringing T'Vala in on this to help - I'll send her back to security. Right now I need this solved a lot more than I need a tactical officer."

"Mr. Skepti, I'm sure we'll need to determine the whereabouts of all the Boardwalk personnel, particularly those with after-hours access. Work with and help Mr. Klaus as much as you can with that, and anything else he may need."

Skepti's lip curled oh-so-slightly as he nodded in agreement. The rest of his features were stony. He'd gone through too much not to have learned a great poker face. ::Wonderful. Just wonderful.::

"Like I told Jayngo, I want to stay informed. Be in my ready room at 0800 to report on where things are at.. if at all possible." She took in a deep breathe. "We have a lot of work to do. I won't tell you how to do your jobs." Some edge crept into her voice. "I'm just telling you to do them. Dismissed."

The brow visible just above Skepti's black eye-patch flutters momentarily as it rises slightly. ::I see. Now, I'm to be involved in Starfleet business. "You're not good enough to be there unless you've done something wrong, Cal. Of course. Wonderful. Just wonderful.::

As the Captain and the other officers moved about on their duties, Mr. Skepti motioned for Mr. Falan to join him. Falan's eyes flicker at the dull, black of Skepti prosthetic.

"Concentrate, Mr. Falan. It seems our first task is at hand." Skepti's voice was a barely controlled, low growl as he reached up to grab Falan's shoulder. The other man barely flinched as the cold weight of it fell on his deltoid muscle. "I want you a detailed investigation conducted on all Boardwalk Personnel activity. Extra detail on the ones with after-hours access."

Mr. Falan gave a quick nod, suppressing his relief as Skepti lowered his hand. Skepti growled as he stalked off, leaving Falan to his duties, "I've got other business."

Shit.

Klaus knew that this was a VERY unprofessional thought to be having at the moment....he just couldn't help himself. It's not that he has never been at the receiving end of a senior officer's negative stare before. It's just that it was starting to feel a little personal. Not that these events were being targeted at him. That was just an unwanted side effect....catch me if you can! No wonder cops had a habit of keeping a little alcohol in their desk drawers. Enough of this, Klaus thought to himself, rubbing his temples. THINK!

What was going on here was obviously WAY beyond anything petty squabbles or revenge. Politically motivated probably. But to what end? He needed more information. That would take time. The captain made it clear she wanted answers now. Well, this was going to be fun....

"Klaus to Lieutenants Sulu and Tam, please report to the security office on the double."

"Klaus to Ensign Hurt."

"Hurt here."

"Please have a security team escort Ambassador Atylori to the security office at once."

Hurt could tell by the Lieutenant's tone that only compliance would be acceptable. "Aye, sir."

"Klaus to security. Inform all senior security staff to report to the security office in 15 minutes." Klaus thought for a moment. The captain was concerned about safety and the perception of safety. So was he. It was about time security was seen. "I am also declaring a level 2 security alert."

He reviewed in his mind what that entailed. Armed security guards will be placed in all vital areas, transporters, hanger bays, and other pre- designated areas. Computer access and communications will be restricted and all personnel will be tracked. Maybe a little overkill....but it was time for some counterintelligence. Maybe by dropping the hammer he could get lucky.

"Very well, sir."

Klaus walked over to Ensign Corbin. "Ensign."

"Yes, sir?"

"For the immediate future, your team is on babysitting detail. Until further arrangements can be made, I want your men as personal guards for all of the ambassadors. I also want them quartered in the same corridor and I want that corridor restricted. I also want all replicators in that corridor inspected for tampering and isolated from the computer network. Also, coordinate with engineering to have a transport inhibitor field placed around the corridor. Every room is to undergo random sensor sweeps. I would also like you to coordinate with the doctor and see what trouble it would be to have tracking communicators outfitted with biosign relays. In short, Ensign, I want the security for the....remaining....VIP's to be as tight as we can make it. Understood?"

"Absolutely, sir."

"Very well, dismissed."

Klaus left the boardwalk and headed for security. Time to make a call to Starfleet security headquarters....

As he looked for the bartender, the Commander walked over to the one person on board who out ranked him, "Captain."

The captain turned and acknowledged her first officer.

"Keeping you in the loop, I'm having Engineering look into the sensor logs for the area beyond the blacked out field. And I've contacted the Bridge about..."

=^= Indigor to Commander Nganga =^=

"Excuse me, Captain, this may be part of what I asked for." David tapped his badge, "Nganga here."

=^= Commander, during the period of the sensor blackout in Ten Forward, we weren't in transporter range of any vessel on short or long-range sensors. We're still researching ship contacts since we left Earth. On our present heading and speed we'll be in visual and transport range of the IKC H'tennek at 0430 hours. =^=

"That's almost an hour away, so that could still change. Thank you Lietenant."

The captain looked at Nganga, "You contacted the Bridge about what ships have been nearby in case the murderer escaped by transporter."

"Or arrived, or both." Nganga said. "Although, mentioning the H'tennek reminded me that routine scanning won't pick up cloaked vessels, dammit."

Starkin sighed. "I know, you're right. Perhaps we can run a more detailed scan - see if we can detect any anomalies or warp signatures." She looked at her first officer and wondered if he felt as tired as she did. "I must say, Commander, I wasn't expecting you up and here already."

"I was already up." The faintest of smiles crossed David's face.

Starkin raised her eyebrows. "I'm impressed, Commander. It's good to know you stay on top of things."

Remembering earlier in the evening, David's smile became a little less faint as he suppressed a chortle. "Thank you, sir." They started to walk together. He sobered again as she spoke.

"This is bad, David. Very bad... Bad for us, bad for this ship, bad for Starfleet..." She glanced at where the body was found. "Obviously bad for Vedek Tow..." She closed her eyes. "And for Bajor."

"We'll find out who did this. We have a good team."

Uriell wiped the unsure statement off of her face and forced a smile. "Yes, we do." She changed the subject, "Did your parents seemed quite nice. Did they get settled in alright?"

"Yes, they did." ::Maybe a little too well...:: "How about your wife?"

"Oh fine, fine. But she didn't appreciate the rude awakening... any more than I did."

"I'm sure there will be a lot of rude awakenings this morning."

"Especially for the Vedek's entourage... and any family he may have."

"Do you want me to talk to them?"

She shook her head. "No, I'll handle it." She walked towards McGintly, Nganga beside her. "But I will need something from you. Both of you." Ned turned to listen. "As news of this spreads, there are going to be a lot of questions - a lot of people nervous, unsure, afraid. Both from the civilians and possibly the crew. We need to be ready for and handle it."

"I can take care of that, ma'am. I'm great with people," McGintly said, flashing a smile. It wasn't nearly as charming as he thought.

Starkin said politely, "We'll all have to deal with it, Commander, especially while you're sleeping. But I appreciate you spearheading that. Have Counselor Dekelley assist if necessary."

"David, I want you to keep with what you started - see what you can find and share it with Klaus. Give him and Jayngo support if they need it, and help coordinate our teams' efforts."

"Yes sir."

"Ned, since I'm up, you should get some sleep. You'll need to talk to people during the day." McGintly nodded and Starkin turned to Nganga. "David, you're technically not on duty yet, so you can get a little sleep too, if you want."

"Not likely, but I'll try."

"I'm having a meeting in my ready room at 0800, getting reports from Klaus and Jayngo, so I'd like you to be there." She turned to face both of them and inhaled deeply. "And now..." she said quietly, "I have some people to talk to."

Doctor Jayngo and Yures Kuehl moved through the halls in silence and in a fast pace to the nurse's standards. The aide had worked with the massive doctor for less than a week, but had seen his current attitude before in others; the disdain for the loss of a life. He knew that the doctor was beating himself up, even though there was nothing to be done. However, he also knew that there was nothing to be said to comfort, so they continued to move in silence.

As soon as the pair had cleared the sick bay doors, Jayngo moved directly to biobed one and got ready to start working. Moving gently through the status field, he started to reach for a tricorder while looking down at the body. Doing a double take, Jayngo turned to Sule and said "Was there a transporter malfunction in beaming the body over?"

"Not that I know of, Jayngo. Nothing was reported. Why?"

"Grab the Vedek's medical PADD and come on over here."

The two assistants looked at each other questioningly, but followed directions, stepping into the status field. As Sule handed the Chief Medical Officer the PADD, he tried to see what he was talking about. Jayngo held the PADD next to the Vedek's face, showing the picture. "You two see the difference?"

Kuehl answered first. "There's something different."

"He's missing the gray hair and wrinkles," stated Sule.

Jayngo nodded in the affirmative. The scattering of gray hairs in the Vedek's temples and the crow's feet from around his eyes. "OK, lets take this by the numbers. We have an oddity to deal with, but we need to go about this in order. Computer, analyze and sort any and all DNA other than that of Vedek Tow."

=^= Processing. Twelve variant forms of DNA have been discovered and cataloged. =^=

Jayngo had begun doing scans of his own while the computer worked. "Send those results to Lieutenant Klaus in Security and Lieutenant Sulu in Science, marked as forensics." Plugging the tricorder into the computer terminal, the doctor continued working. "Computer, display bioscans just taken and those on file logged yesterday at 17:34 hours." As ordered, the display above the bed showed two sets of scans. While Jayngo studied the results of the two scans, he asked the computer to switch to DNA results.

Kuehl asked the question on all three men's minds. "So what killed him?"

Jayngo looked over at the aide and said straightforwardly "His heart stopped."

"But what caused his heart to stop?"

"That's the one million gold-pressed latinum question. All scans show that this man should not be dead. The only reason he is not alive is because his heart is no longer pumping. In fact, his heart is currently in better shape than it was yesterday. Computer, zoom to identical strands." Following direction, the screen switched.

"What are we looking for?"

"If this were a clone, a DNA strand would still show a difference. As advanced as cloning technology had gotten before being outlawed, it was still based on taking a sample and modifying it. Therefore, even a clone's DNA would be different from the originals. These, however, are identical. This is truly Vedek Tow. I need you gentlemen to assist me in disrobing the deceased."

After several minutes of careful and considerate work, the three medical personnel watched as the scanning platform moved back into place. "According to his medical records, when did Vedek Tow contract the Cavora virus?"

Sule, who was currently holding the chart, replied "nineteen years ago during the Cardassian Occupation."

"That helps narrow things down. He is missing both the scar tissue from the virus sores and the torture. Computer, compare a tissue sample taken now with that of one taken from log file and make an age comparison."

=^= There is a difference of twenty years, two months, eight days, ten hours, twelve ... =^=

"That's enough. A twenty year differential." The doctor had slowly been gaining a perplexed look on his face. "Computer. Run scans for tachyon emissions on both the body and the boardwalk."

=^= No tachyon emissions found on either the body or the boardwalk. =^=

"I cannot go to the Captain with this big of a question unanswered. Do you gentlemen have any idea of what could have caused this man to regenerate twenty years worth of tissue?"

Both men looked toward the ground, essentially answering Jayngo's question.

"Computer, download ALL accounts of age manipulation and tissue regeneration to my office computer. Gentlemen, redress the Vedek and lower the status field to surround the biobed only. We will need to put him into a level five status field for future examination and transport back to Bajor."

Jayngo turned and entered his office while the two subordinates got to work.

Dekelley was pleasantly dreaming of his boyhood home on Betazed. He was remembering the day he first met his bonding partner. Many on Betazed no longer practiced the ancient ritual of childhood bonding pairs. Evory was proud and happy that his family followed the old ways. But he was lucky, his bonding partner would be his Imzadi, his beloved. As a child he did not understand this, but he knew they became fast friends long before they would grow up and become lovers. Even in his dreams she was his perfect mate, but in real life she was even more perfect.

He did not want to be awoken from his sleep. Whenever awoken from sleep shipside, no good news would follow. Why didn't Starfleet ever wake its officers with good news, "Wake up Dekelley, you just won the Ferengi national lottery, there is a ship arriving with one million bricks of gold pressed latinum." But he knew who ever just woke him, would have work to do and it would likely be unpleasant.

The comm. beeped again, =^= "Starkin to Lt. Commander Dekelley." =^=

He tapped the comm. badge resting at his bedside, "Dekelley here, go ahead."

The Captain's voice continued, =^= "Sorry to awaken you with bad news. We've had an incident on the Boardwalk. Vedek Tow has been discovered dead. We're still investigating the circumstances of his death. Please come to my ready room, and I'll brief you." =^=

"Understood. I'll be there momentarily. Dekelley out." The Lt. Commander replicated a fresh uniform and nearly tripped while dressing on the departure from his cabin.

David had received a direct order to go back to bed, and to try to get some sleep. So he headed into a turbolift to head back to his quarters on Deck 8. As David Nganga stepped off the lift, he nearly bumped into Lieutenant Norallah Tam.

"Good morning, Commander." the Trill said.

"No, it hasn't been." David replied, "What are you doing up at this hour?"

"Klaus called me to his office. Almost didn't recognize the call, though." Norallah said.

"Eh?"

"He asked for Lieutenant Tam," she said.

"Ahh" David said, recognition crossing his face, "And ever since you started your training to receive a symbiant, you've answered primarily to 'Norallah' since eventually..."

"I thought I'd be giving up the name 'Tam'." she finished. "Any idea what it's about? Why I was called?"

"Vedek Tow was found murdered."

Norallah gasped.

"Klaus is, presumably, tightening security, and wants to coordinate with Operations." David finished.

"What about the murderer?" the lieutenant asked.

"We don't know much yet."

=^= Engineering to Commander Nganga =^=

"Yes?" David said, looking at the ceiling.

=^= The dampening field diminished beyond Ten-Forward, at a roughly inverse geometric rate. It was down to 70% effectiveness a meter out from ten-forward. 50% effectiveness at three meters and 25% at seven meters, with a consistent rate of effectiveness between points. After seven meters the effect is negligible. The overall area of effective distortion was a ten meter diameter circle, within a larger circle of lessened effect. =^=

"Anything else?"

=^= We had assumed the distortion was limited to Ten Forward, but right before the blackout ended, the distortion field did move through the boardwalk. We were able to track it to the VIP deck, but we have sensor blocked on the VIP deck... =^=

"... To ensure the ambassadors privacy." Nganga completed the explanation. "Thank you. You'll be routing this information to Security?"

=^= And Science for further examination. =^=

"Good. Nganga out." He looked at Ops Manager, "Well, you'll have something to share with Klaus."

"Yes. I better run, though. Get some sleep David." Norallah disappeared into the turbolift and Nganga continued on to his quarters.

Doctor Jayngo read through the files presented by the computer.

:: Well, we can rule out the radiation / adrenaline case, as his aging was natural. Both transporter cases can be ruled out because the sensors would have registered it and we would have received a report from Ops. But the Jameson case ... ::

"Computer. Download the herbal and chemical compounds used in the Cerebus II process and check for the same compounds on file in Vedek Tow's system."

After a few seconds had passed, the computer answered =^= All chemical and herbal compounds have been found in Vedek Tow's system. =^=

"Tremael!" (The Atlarian version of "Bingo".) "We now know how, that just leaves who."

Prologue	Part 1	Part 2	Part 3	Part 4	Part 5	Part 6
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