Walking Among the Shadows

Posted on Thu Mar 29th, 2012 @ 3:21am by Lieutenant Valkris Edwardson- tSepeS & Admiral Lucius Hawke
Edited on on Thu Mar 29th, 2012 @ 3:23am

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Archadia III

* * * Archadia III * * *

Lucius had been rather circumspect in his directions to Valkris as their arrival reception had broken up, leaving her to her own devices to see what she could discover. True to the Prime Minister's words, she was not assigned an escort, though now and then it seemed that the same face turned up. She might not be escorted, but she was watched, thought her shadow never interfered. As she moved along the capital city's main thoroughfare, she drew more than a few curious looks.

Though she stood at just a bit under 6'3", and considered a giant among most of her female crewmen on the Nine-Hundred; on Archadia, she was just of average height when compared to the multitudes of woman she saw. The only thing that differentiated her from the Archadian women were the slightly pronounced ridges on her forehead. Even her so-called shadow, was of comparable height from what Valkris could make out.

To anyone observing her, and taking note of her obvious alien features and dress, she looked as if she were simply sight seeing. Being able to guage the mood of the populace, and for the city itself was very important in how she would go about rooting out any remnants of the elusive Section Thirty One, if in fact they still were operating here on the planet.

Steeping onto a civilian public transport system, Valkris stood in the back of a tram car observed both the passengers and the skyline of the city as the tram wove through the bustling city center. Her choice of clothing, while not Archadian in design, also was not chosen as to mark her as a member of Starfleet, or any alien government. Her complexion and ridges however were another matter; if she were to continue to move about the city unnoticed, she'd have to do something about them.

The tram car wasn't overly crowded, which suited her just fine; just enough people to both shield her and provide some modicum of anonymity as she made the relatively short distance from their transport location to the site of the old Ministry building that was destroyed a few months ago. Being almost of the same height as most of the women of Archadia, she was almost sure that she wasn't given a second look by any of the other passengers.

Every so often a group of passengers would exit, only to be replaced by almost an equal number to replace those who had left. Valkris just caught a glimpse of her shadow through the crowd. "This is getting to be quite irritating!" she thought to herself, and decided that if she was going to get anywhere, she'd needed some answers first. Weaving her way through the throng of passengers, she was able to observe her target, who by now was holding a PADD up, obstructing their face.

"Good morning, I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of the Interior Ministry Directorate?" Valkris asked.

"You left that some time ago after you first arrived." The woman lowered the PADD and looked Valkris over. "But perhaps what you seek might be at our next stop, if you would like to have an insider's view. I'll be happy to oblige." She smiled, then brushed back her long white hair. "You might as well have a seat here, it will be ten minutes till we stop, and you are already noticeable enough."

Valkris smiled and sat down across from her shadow, obviously miffed at being made by her. "What was it that gave me away?" She chuckled as she sat back in her seat and regarded the other woman "You don't think it was the shoes do you? I wanted to put on something more comfortable and less authoritative!" she replied.

The woman peered down at Valkris' shoes and shrugged. "Nice, I'd wear them. But...no, it's not your shoes that stand out, trust me."

" You no doubtlessly already know who I am; you know who I work for and why I am here." Valkris said to the woman "I on the other hand, have a general idea as to who you work for, and what your mission is but I don't know what your name is. . ."

"I've been on your tail since you arrived, assigned. I knew your face before you even beamed down. My name is Lyro. My job is to watch you, make sure nothing happens to you while you are here." She fell silent, saying nothing more, with a discreet glance at the people seated around them.

Valkris laughed out loud at Lyro's comment "I had a mate that told me that once! Almost word for word too! If you weren't an Archadian, I'd have sworn you may have dated him too!" She replied. "Well Lyro, it's a pleasure to meet you! Now that we've gotten the unpleasantness out of the way, What do you say we skip the ministry and do some shopping? I'm not quite feeling so confident about my choice of clothes the replicator made this morning and since you and I are going to be joined at the hip for a while, why not kill two Targh's with one Vagh?" she added rather loudly. "Oh come on! How many times do you actually get to HAVE some fun while working?"

"Very well." Lyro smiled only a moment remaining silent as the they continued on. Soon enough, they stopped and she stood, leading the way off the tram. The passengers parted to make way for Valkris, watch her with some curiosity. None of them had ever seen a Klingon before, but her tall stature, her warrior's bearing, was prized in this society and thus earned their admiration.

They stood in a busy square as the tram moved away and in the quiet following its departure, Lyro spoke again. "There is the hospital they attempted to blow up. Since I suspect you are here to investigate, I thought we might start here. "

Valkris made a face as she looked where directed to. "Waste of time going there, your own security services have already gone through and taken every bit of evidence that once may have been there.." she said as she continued to look past the building and at the surrounding structures " No, my bet is that if we concentrate on some of the surrounding structures, we may get a clue as to who was seen in the days or weeks before the attempt. Tell me Lyro, what kind of device was planted at the hospital?" she asked as the two women began walking in the direction of the building.

"It was a bomb, remote detonation. The construction was deceptively simple, but had it been successful, it would have taken out the hospital and most of the surrounding buildings. The loss of life would have been enormous, Valkris, and an absolute signal here that your Starfleet cared little for this planet, as long as it's station was secure. Given what occurred previously, that was the plan of course. It is fortunate that those seeking to do such harm were not as smart as they could have been, and good officers came to help." Lyro smiled up at the tall Klingon, her expression serene.

"Let's leave the blaming game out of this Lyro." Valkris replied. "If there was evidence that Starfleet was behind this, we wouldn't be allowed here in the first place." she added.

Continuing to walk along she looked at some of the surrounding structures "I take it your people have recovered the device then?" she asked.

"The crew of the Melbourne diffused it and took it with them. It was my understanding that it would be delivered to Starbase 900." Lyro stopped and pointed to a building that sat at the hospital's southern corner. "I'd start there. Some evidence was found of a stakeout, so the place was being watched. Good luck, Valkris."

"Wonderful, so you're telling me that your people didn't get any information off of the device?" Valkirs replied more as a statement than as a question. "Now that does make things all that more difficult, It was my hope to study the device itself to get a better idea as to who constructed the device." She began to say. "Tracing who made the device could yield more information about who wanted to blow up the structure in the first place! Tell me Lyro, what else can you tell me about the hospital? I trust that your people have a list of who was working there and who was being treated at the time of the foiled attack?" She asked.

Lyro handed over a small data device. "Statements made are all there. If you want to take a tour or need anything inside, ask for Jilan." They had apparently reached the hospital right at the time for shift change as a crowd of people emerged, talking and laughing, making plans for later. They surged around the two women, and when they finally moved on, Lyro was nowhere to be seen.

*********
Lieutenant Valkris Edwardson- tSepeS
Intelligence Officer

Lyro
Informed Local