The Marine Has Landed

Posted on Wed Oct 12th, 2011 @ 6:26am by Lieutenant Commander Leto & Major Patrick Smith

Mission: In Our Time of Need
Location: Intel Offices

* * * Intel Offices * * *

Nenita sat back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. With Li in sickbay overnight, the list of things to do landed on her desk. the search for Kh'ali continued and the longer it took, the more worried Nenita became. On top of that, without Li and Nick in the office trading insults and jokes, it felt lonely.

"Okay, what's next?" She picked up the padd to check her list when 'what's next' walked through the office doors.

Patrick walked through the door and saw her lifting the padd and immediately thought she had his files. Gotta behave now then I guess . "Hey lieutenant. Your boss said she wanted to see me. Not sure how's she's going to find time mind with one of the senior staff missing."

"Oh, it's you, the flyboy." An amused smile lent a twinkle to her eyes. "I've got a bone to pick with you too. Park it." She pointed to the chair in front of her desk. "The other night at the Nexus, you said there was no way off this station. We now have a puzzle. You and I left the Nexus at roughly 0100. Not together. Unfortunately. Anyway." Nita cleared her throat and continued. "Twenty minutes later, the Speaker, Kh'ali, Commander Zeferino, and the Speaker's guards exited that establishment. They talked outside the door for a few minutes, then Oz escorted the Speaker and his guards home. He sent two of the guards to see Kh'ali home. They reported that she entered her quarters unharmed, and they retired for the night. Fifteen minutes later, the computer reported that Kh'ali was no longer on this station. Give me a theory."

Patrick knew most of that already and had done some thinking, he just didn't expect to be asked even if he was a senior officer. "Well if they had left on a ship we'd have them, or if they'd transported off we'd have caught that on sensors and got them. So that leaves us with what the computer says cannot be." Smith stood up again and headed to the console on the wall and pulled up a chart of the Starbase. "This base is massive. There are tens of cargo bays and hundreds of nooks and crannies. My bet is that Kh'ali is still on board but they've found some way to mask the signature. Did they find anything else at her quarters that might give us a clue?"

Nenita sat back in her chair, studying Patrick. He intended to move to Intel, he'd have to learn to live with Nenita and her so very direct ways. She watched his back, looking him up and down. Nice view in her opinion. "Yes. Chroniton particles. They have popped up in random locations on the base. Starting with Kh'ali's quarters. Oz has science working on it now, and that's their party. Our question is, why Kh'ali?" Nenita smiled now as she waited to see how his mind worked.

Smith spun the base around on the console looking for pockets not covered. "I'm not sure yet about Kh'ali. Maybe because she was the diplomat closest and done the most work with them. Also assuming they are divitian then they won't appreciate her as a person either. As for the particles I might be able to speed up the search." He pulled up the specifications of a Valkyrie fighter and another of his own peregrine the Blackbird. "These will help."

"Marines always have the best toys. Explain."

Patrick smiled and turned back to the console yet again this time pulling up a the specifications for one of the Valkyries Modules. "Ok so when I was a test pilot I got to use all kind of gadgets. One of them is this, we called it the robospy. Yea not very tactful. Anyway its an advanced sensor package similar to that which would be used on the newest starship but for fighters. It can be used to scan for anything." He flicked to the specifications of the Blackbird. "None of our craft are kitted out to use it. We would have to replicate then install it. The Blackbird is a prototype Peregrine which uses the same modular system as the Valkyrie, however as it isnt kitted for combat it has this advanced sensor package installed. So a question for you. Assuming that they hid her someplace where noone will go, which is the fastest way to search for them?" Patrick moved and sat back down on his seat. If he was guessing correctly and that she was hidden in a cargo bay or something. The powerful package on board would enable them to search both thermally as well as looking for the Chroniton Particles.

"I get you, and I like what I'm getting." Nenita paused to smile for a moment. "Any tools that will help Security find her, we're all for. At this point, my suggestion is to take this to Commander Zeferino and start planning with her. When are you intending to move to this department officially?"

"I'll take it to her once we are done here. I'll need someone to fly shotgun to use the package while I concentrate on not hitting the base or something daft." He thought about the second part and mused for a second before grinning. "I'll start when you guys want me too."

"Honey, that would be about ten minutes ago." Nenita smiled back at Patrick. "Once Li is out of sickbay, she can handle the paperwork."

"Then why are we still here? We have a diplomat and a kidnapper or two to find," Patrick asked rather as a hint than a question, and all with a smile.


"That we do. Go make your plans with Oz." She stood moved towards the door. "I have a telepath to find. And welcome to Intel, flyboy."

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Lt.(Jg) Nenita Quidley
Welcoming Committee

Marine Captain Patrick Smith
Intel's eye in the sky