The Trill Cometh

Posted on Sun Sep 16th, 2012 @ 8:03pm by Ensign Ian Bren & Lieutenant Norval Tigan & Chief Petty Officer Ganesh

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant

“Lieutenant Tigan, the Trill ship will be here in just around two hours. They’ve requested that Ian Bren be prepared to beam over as soon as they arrive, for assessment and for the ritual. If you’d like to come go over the ritual with him, he’s currently an honored guest in the Brig,” Ganesh grinned at his own wit.

“The Brig?” Norval said aloud, stopping in his tracks on the Promenade. Shaking his head, his right hand went for the comm badge on his chest. “I’ll be there shortly. Have Ian contact his preferred hosts. Tigan out.”

With the commlink closed, Tigan didn’t hear Ganesh as the Bolian said, “Yeeaaaahh... I’ll do that for the kid.”

SB900 Brig

Word of two things spread rapidly to those who cared and those who mattered on the Station’s proverbial ‘grapevine’: one, the Trill delegation was arriving in less than two hours; and, two, the Archadian Queen had been murdered. Ian Bren had heard only one of those pieces of news. With respect to the other piece, he was neither someone who cared nor someone who mattered. Later, he’d be interested, as his life would be impacted by the same man who killed the Queen.

At the moment, Ian was feeling a tenth of the pain of being incarcerated. His Brig digs were cushy, compared to the other prisoners’ cells, though he couldn’t and didn’t know that, as he was in isolation away from any other persons, let alone prisoners. His meals, the two he’d had while in the Prison, were pretty tasty (they should be: one was take-out from Lao’s; the other a sandwich handcrafted by the replicator to his specifications). He also had access to any device he requested; he had requested a hand-held gaming device and was busily navigating a tank and blasting away at other tanks on the thing’s screen. The only thing he couldn’t do that he wanted to do, was leave.

Ganesh disliked disturbing Ian. Why? Because when disturbed, the kid whined and puled about being stuck in protective custody. It was a bit like visiting a particularly cute, soft-eyed puppy at an animal rescue shelter - you could pet it and play with it, but you couldn’t take it home with you. It was a little bit heartbreaking and the big, rotund Bolian was all heart. Well..., and stomach.

Chewing on a piece of Bolian sheram, a fibrous, acidic, vaguely celery-like plant, Ganesh stood outside Ian’s enclosure. “The Trill ship’ll be here in under two hours. We contacted Lieutenant Tigan, to have him come down and continue teachin’ you. We’ve also rounded up your three friends and gotten clearance for them to go to the ship with you. You want something to eat? Something to tide you over till you get back?”

“No, I’m not hungry.” Indeed, he was stuffed. Each time the Bolian had come near his tiny, cramped, little cell, he’d brought a snack or a drink or cookies or something edible with him. Ian wasn’t sure he’d ever had this full of a belly. Between the Bolian’s stuffing and the Bren symbiont, Ian was unsurprised that his pants felt a touch snug.

Norval had been conveyed through Security and into their... surprisingly vacant brig. It seemed they had made Ian chief resident of his very own cell block. “Chief,” he said with a nod to the Bolian, before making his way to the front of Ian’s cell. “Well, I suppose it keeps the lavaflies out, if nothing else,” the Lieutenant idly commented.

“And the boredom in! If boredom were water, I’d be floating by now,” Ian griped, tossing his gamepad aside. “Could you please convince them I’m not in any danger? That Commander - Commander Zeferino - overreacted and had me tossed in here so that no one could get to me. Not even my friends! I haven’t even been able to see Eric.” He glared at Norval through the forcefield. “And... look at this! This cell isn’t exactly comfy. I think the real prisoners probably live better,” he grumbled. He’d wound himself down on the unjustly incarcerated bit and now asked, quietly, “How is my Eric?”

Norval was sporting a bemused grin throughout most of Ian’s little speech, right up until ‘my Eric’ crossed his ears. Not quite frowning, his smile did seem to shrink for a moment.

“Lieutenant Edwards is recovering and doing quite well, Ensign,” Norval used the ranks to put a degree of formality back on the conversation, instead of delving right into the idea of who Eric belonged to. “But you are in danger. Someone tried to murder you, and we have about two hours before your zhian’tara,” Norval keyed the forcefield surrounding Ian’s cell off and stepped inside, “so let’s talk... see what you remember. I still believe filtering Natalia through you is going to be more productive than speaking to her directly, when she can choose to remain silent.”

“What I remember? Let’s see...,” Ian considered his conversation with Jackson and grinned. “I could tell you all about Mr. Banning, if you’re curious. He’s quite handy.”

Norval coughed to cover what otherwise might have been a laugh, his grin back in full force. “Uh, maybe later,” he said, glancing at the wall. It wasn’t like him to be embarrassed, but he really hadn’t expected that to be the first thing out of Ian’s mouth. Or was it in Ian’s... no, no, don’t go there, focus, Norval.

“In the Nexus, you saw the hostess and screamed. Do you know why?” he tried to drive the conversation in a more profitable direction.

He nodded, “Yeah. She’s the one who tried to rip Bren out of Natalia. Bren’s a little scared of her.” ‘Little’ was not exactly how Bren would have put it. “We were... I mean, they... we... whatever. It was a warehouse, I was over Jackson, gloating about beating him. The blonde, Cassidy, was about to be killed just outside the door,” Ian roughly scratched his head, leaving his hair sticking up haphazardly.

“And... the plan was to make everyone think the Archadians had done it.” He paused then looked up at Norval. “Did you know she thought she’d live forever?”

"She was a joined Trill, that was pretty much a foregone conclusion," Norval said with a morose smile, lifting a hand preemptively to stop Ian from correcting him. "And yes, I know that isn't what you meant. But it's good that you remember that much clearly. Staying on the topic of that night, was there anyone else there? Did Natalia have any accomplices?"

“That night...,” Ian’s brow pulled downward and his face clouded over. He shook his head. “Two... henchmen-type guys. One she called Jaques, liking how the name was almost ‘Jack’ or ‘Jackson’. That wasn’t his name. The other had been paid just to guard the pawns. Jeez... she didn’t even know his name, I think.”

"I see. Ms. Wilde believed there was someone else present, but I suppose it's possible even Natalia was unaware of him." Norval scratched his chin for a moment, silently mulling over his options. He could mention Levin, but that might be leading the conversation... and since they had no proof he was at all connected, he didn't want to spoil Ian's friendship with his fellow Science officer.

"I guess that really just leaves us with the million dollar question," he said, borrowing a phrase from Eric. "Why'd she do it?"

“Immortality will be mine!”, Ian whispered, obviously drawing upon some memory of Natalia’s. “All she had to do was...,” he strained, trying to pull the memory from Bren, “...help here, destabilize Starfleet’s relationship with the Archadians, then she’d have any resource she wanted to perfect an immortality process. Oh... they were going to kill the Queen.”

Norval glanced back at the Bolian, Ganesh. "Let Oz know that, would you?" he asked, unaware of what was transpiring on the surface as they spoke. "I assume Section 31 is the 'they' in that recount?" he asked Ian.

Ganesh nodded, but remained silent. Oralia already knew there was a plot to kill the Queen. A successful one.

The younger Trill nodded, too. “But also...,” he frowned and his eyes were unfocused as he tried to recall something, “...her and her partner... damn, she shielded his face somehow. Just blanked on him.” He shook his head and focused on Norval. “I know there’s someone, but who... I can’t see him.”

Norval nodded. He had never expected it to be easy to identify a Section 31 operative unless they wanted to be found. "Okay, that's enough of that, then." Taking a seat on the brig bench next to Ian he offered a reassuring smile.

"Your zhian'tara is swiftly approaching. A word of advice, given your somewhat unique situation: the person you trust the most, unquestionably, should host Natalia's memories, and expect the Guardian to be more than a little odd." The Lieutenant chuckled a moment, shaking his head. "But who can blame them, spending all their time in those caves? Leave the Commission to me, as your Field Docent the joining was ultimately my responsibility. Any questions you want to address now, before they arrive?"

“E’tarna. I trust her most,” Ian nodded. “What do I ask them, Norval? Is this a conversation or am I supposed to grill them about their lives? I already know that one was a criminal, an attempted murderess with immortality fantasies, another was a drunk who had a very healthy love for his wife, and the third... has been quiet as a mouse.”

"This is an opportunity to explore facets of yourself by interacting with them directly... approach it like a conversation and you'll be fine. You won't really have much choice, since their memories are quite literally removed from your consciousness for the duration of the ritual, which is why you need to trust E'tarna to not go rogue with a third of your symbiont's life experiences, criminal or no."

“I’ve trusted her with some... very important parts of me,” Ian assured Norval. “And, despite being part Klingon, she hasn’t hurt those parts yet.”

Interrupting them, Ganesh announced, “The Trill ship has entered SB900’s space; they’ll be ready for transport in ten minutes.”

Ian paled and looked at Norval. He had nothing left to say.

Norval gave the younger Trill a pat on the back. "You'll look back on this experience positively, I promise." Standing, he activated his communicator. "Tigan to Trill vessel. Welcome to Starbase 900. Ian Bren," he used the last name with a definite sense of purpose, "and I stand ready to come aboard at your convenience."

_________________________
Lieutenant Norval Tigan
Part-Time Investigator & Mentor

Ensign Ian Bren
Prisoner of Circumstance

CPO Ganesh
Enabler