The Inquisition - Part I
Posted on Sun May 3rd, 2015 @ 6:38pm by Lieutenant Commander Nicolao & Admiral Ricky Wegener & Lieutenant Commander Robin Swift M.D., PhD
Edited on on Sun May 3rd, 2015 @ 6:41pm
Mission:
Breaking New Ground
Location: Nico's Quarters / Counselor Swift's Office
* * * Nico's QUarters * * *
Nico still stood in the middle of his quarters uncertain just what the hell was going on. The computer said the only one who had entered that morning was him, but he was certain he hadn’t been there. First Dru’s...then the Counselor’s office, the arboretum, then Saturnalia. He reached up to rub his temple and grumbled. A mild headache was stealing in and he felt a little disoriented. A quick look over his sparse furnishings told him that nothing seemed to be missing. Then his gaze fell on the desk with the terminal. His journal. It has been there yesterday.
Fifteen minutes and a thorough search turned up nothing. Perhaps he was mistaken and he’d left it in Robin’s office. Or at Dru’s place. Dru...the thought echoed in in his mind, bouncing around randomly before settling into place. Dru. He needed to get back there….something he was supposed to bring her….the thought slipped away, however, before he could recall what it was she wanted. Deep in the dark corners of his mind an alarm sounded. Something was wrong but he wasn’t sure what. The edges of memory were melting into a grey fog and he shook his head to clear it. That seemed to help a little. Still, maybe he should check in. This was all so strange. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his comm badge, but it beeped before he could activate it.
“Yeah?”
=^= Nicolao? It’s Counselor Swift. I need to see you as soon as you can get here. =^=
Well, isn’t that handy….
“Umm...okay. Be there in a few.”
He closed the channel and took one more look at his quarters. “Computer, begin video surveillance.” He turned, tripped over the coffee table again, then stumbled out the door.
* * * Counselor Swift’s Office * * *
They sat in the session room across from each other. Robin was retelling the story that had been relayed to him by the admirals.
“Essentially,” he said, “they’ve asked me to reach out to you and see if we might try to delve deeper into your mind to see if you can begin to remember about your time in the DMZ. It might help their case and it may point them in the direction of who is actually responsible for this.”
Robin’s words took a moment to penetrate the fog shifting in his mind. “That’s odd.” He rubbed his temple once more and tried to marshal his thoughts. “I suppose it’s worth a shot but don’t you think it’s strange……” His mind wandered off from whatever he was going to say and he couldn’t quite pick up the thread again. “Oh, hey, did I leave my journal here?”
“Your journal? No, I haven’t seen it.” Robin instinctively looked around the room, as if some cursory scan was going to find it. “If I may ask, what exactly do you think is odd and strange?”
“Hmm?” Nico’s attention had wandered around the office as Robin’s did, but the question drew him back. “You were speaking of some Admirals. Which ones want to know?”
“Uh...Wegener and Hawke?” Robin scanned Nico’s face, looking for anything amiss. He appeared fine, not fatigued, didn’t appear medicated, just...confused. “I just went over that with you a few moments ago. Are you feeling okay, Nico?”
“Just a little off. Mind if I get some coffee?” When Robin nodded, he rose and requested it from the replicator. A few sips in and the grey began to recede. “Sorry, Counselor. Not my best day, I guess. Have you ever been somewhere and not recalled being there? But found signs that you had been?” Nico returned to his chair and sat, holding the mug in both hands.
“No, actually,” Robin replied, his curiosity now piqued for certain. “Why don’t you tell me about it.”
“I left Dru’s this morning to come here. After that, I sat in the arboretum for a while, then stopped to get some coffee with that Bajoran I met a few days ago. Then I went home to get cleaned up and changed but my quarters were mixed up. The furniture was in different places. I found out the hard way when I walked in and tripped over the coffee table. Then I noticed the journal missing and the computer noted that the only code used to enter that morning was my own...a couple of hours earlier. I was still there when you called.” NIco frowned, then sipped more of his coffee. “At least that’s how I remember it.”
“So you think that something is amiss? Like you weren’t actually at one or more of these places?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it? I am having the computer run video monitoring of my quarters now, though.” Nico set his mug down on the table. “I don’t discount anything where I am concerned, even the possibility that I’ve slipped sideways a little. I am concerned because when I was in my quarters, and when I got here, things were a little...vague. I feel better now.”
“Sit right there,” Robin said as he stood. He retrieved an old-style black doctor’s bag from the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a medical tricorder. “This is not like you, Nico. With your permission, I’m going to scan you to rule out any medical issues.”
He waited on Nico to nod his approval and began scanning him. After a few moments he frowned, looked up to Nico and back at the tricorder. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Nicolao, but it appears you have been drugged.”
“By who?” Nico demanded. “Sorry, not that you’d know that. How? I’ve been all over this station this morning, even down to Saturnalia. Though down there, I shouldn't be surprised. Should I?”
“It could have been from anything,” Robin replied. “The drug is tropolisine, normally found in flowering plants. Odd that it would be the drug used since we found a cure for humans over a hundred years ago. Although, considering you’re not human, that may explain why it was selected for you. It may have different effects on your race than it does in humans.”
“So can we --” The chirp of his comm badge interrupted him. “Nicolao,” he answered.
=^= Please report to briefing room 2 =^=
Nico looked to Robin and pursed his lips. “Great timing, huh?”
“Not at all,” Robin said. “I’d prefer to have you taken to medical for a full workup, more than I can do with just a tricorder. But,” he said as he stood, “I guess we can’t really dismiss the Admiralty. By the way, you are authorized to have me come with you since you are currently under my care, that is, if you wish it.”
“I do. I don’t know how much I can tell them but at least you can verify that I can’t remember shit.” He grinned at Robin. “Maybe I should take some coffee. That seemed to help.” He ordered another mug and they were headed out.
“I’ll send this information to PMC on the way,” Robin said as they walked into the corridor. “I’ll be taking you directly there after this briefing is over. They should have the results of the scan before we arrive.”
* * * Briefing Room 2 * * *
They arrived at the briefing room and stepped inside. On the trip up in the turbolift, Nico’s anxiety had risen and now it was cresting high enough to prod at Robin. The room held a table at which a woman, an admiral, was seated with a padd before her. He glanced at her, then at Robin, and back to the woman.
“Admiral.”
Admiral Eria Azoulay looked up and replied. “Nico, thank you for coming,” she said. “Commander? May I help you?”
“Admiral,” Robin started, “I am Lieutenant Commander Robin Swift, Chief Counselor. Nicolao is currently under my care and has requested that I accompany him for this briefing.”
Eria narrowed her eyes at him for a moment and then looked to her PADD where she appeared to be finding a way to keep him from being there. Unfortunately, she came upon a dead end and a message from Lt. Benson advising her of the judicial precedent allowing patients currently under psychiatric care to have their physician with them.
“It seems that your Lt. Benson has mentioned that this may occur. Please,” she said, gesturing to the chairs across from her, “be seated.”
“May I have a moment with my patient?” Robin asked. “It won’t take but a moment.”
She nodded and he pulled Nico off to the side. “First and foremost, Nico, you’ll need to calm yourself. I could feel your stress building on the way here. This may be uncomfortable, but remember who you are--a trained operative for Starfleet Intelligence. This sort of thing should be child’s play for you.”
He nodded and took a deep breath. “It is, it’s just…” He shrugged, “I don’t know what it is. Let’s just get this over with.” He sat down across from Admiral Azoulay, sipped his coffee, then placed on the table before him.
“Ready when you are.”
To Be Continued…
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Lt. Commander Robin Swift
Nicolao
