Securing Releases

Posted on Thu Sep 27th, 2012 @ 8:43pm by Captain Li Hawke & Lieutenant Commander Kh'ali & Ensign Kai Sarkozi & Admiral Ricky Wegener & Commander Oralia Zeferino & Lieutenant JG Quentin Dobry

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Archadia III

Given the serious nature of the events that called Ricky and LI down to the planet, the Admiral’s yacht was drawn into service. Li had taken a moment to use Ricky’s washroom to replicate and change into a dress uniform, as had he. Then Lt. Dobry was summoned and the three of them were now settled in and preparing to launch. As Ricky dealt with the controls, Quentin brought them both up to speed on the latest details coming in.

=^= Admiral Wegener, you are clear for launch =^=

Without a word, Rick launched the ship and accelerated quickly. Due to the station’s orbit above the planet, they would have to go to the far side of the planet’s surface to get to the palace and the location of their personnel. As he piloted the vessel, however, he could feel his face go flush. He was unbelievably pissed that any of his personnel could even be suspected of such treachery. He knew Li was looking at him.

“I’ll calm down before we land,” he said dismissively, then thought to himself, “I’d better or I’ll get every single one of us kicked out of the Delta Quadrant.”

Near ten minutes later they had finally landed not far from the royal landing pad, at Rick’s insistence. Being the Admiral in charge of the quadrant for Starfleet did have its perks, sometimes.

Archadia, Royal Airfield

The Captain of the Archadian Queen’s Guard stoically watched the Admiral’s yacht land and its occupants as they disembarked. She had changed her uniform as the one she’d been wearing before had been soiled with blood, not the Queen’s, and torn during her scuffle with Commander Zeferino. She was also now wearing a flesh colored bandage on her left jaw; a bruise was outgrowing the bandage.

“Admiral Wegener, Commander Hawke,” she greeted the two and barely cast notice upon Dobry, “It is distressing to have you come here under these circumstances.”

As the sole woman in the group, Li spoke up first. “Captain, I could not agree more. This is Lt. Dobry, of our Diplomatic department.” She had noticed the Captain’s skipping over him and didn’t appreciate the slight. “I believe the Prime Minister is expecting us?” This was Li’s own little slight as she had no intention of wasting time with someone who apparently wasn’t very good at her job.

“She should have been, however, she is currently meeting with Parliament and that may take some time,” the Captain smiled slightly; the expression was anything but friendly. Her tone, as she continued, was dismissive, “You could return to your station or we could accommodate you at the Palace.”

“We’ll do neither of those,” Rick said, stepping forward, his large frame towering even over the Captain’s. “You will take us to Parliament now and she will speak to us as soon as she is finished.”

“Admiral, I am not--”

“You are, and you will, Captain!” he bellowed. “Under the guidelines of the treaty between Archadia Prime and the United Federation of Planets that make your planet a protectorate of the Federation, it states, and I quote, ‘...the senior-most civilian of the Archadian government, the Queen, or in her stead, the Prime Minister, will have uninhibited access to the commanding officer of the quadrant, his facilities or his staff. The same will apply for the commanding officer having access to the senior-most civilian of the Archadian government.'” He glared at the Captain of the guard. "I think you know what that means," he said. "If I want to disrupt your Parliament session so that I can sit down and play patty-cake with your Prime Minister, I can damn well do so!"

Her brow rose slightly. She knew she could claim that the treaty had been breached by his personnel, but she worried (1) that doing so might cause the vein in the Admiral’s temple to burst; and (2) that the statement was an untruth. Glancing at Commander Hawke, she wondered how this woman put up with having a male in charge. Sighing, she shrugged, “Very well.”

Turning slightly, she told her lackey: “See that they are unimpeded on their way to the Parliament’s Antechamber and have a runner take a note to the Prime Minister.”

To the Admiral, she said, “The Sentinel will escort you to where you wish to go. I have another duty to attend to at the moment and may rejoin you shortly. Excuse me.” With that, she left them in the Sentinel’s care; the Sentinel, in turn, directed the three to a livery vehicle and then to the Antechambers.

Parliament Antechambers

They arrived at the antechambers and the escort departed, after giving Li a wistful once-over. She noticed and once he was gone, shook her head.

“I should remind him I’m too short. Not a suitable match.” She smiled at her own joke. “Once we’ve spoken to the Prime Minister, Dr. Harding should be finished with his examination of the Queen.”

Rick had scowled at the escort, and essentially any other Archadian that crossed their path, because of the foul mood that he was in. He hadn’t been on the planet when it occurred, but he knew that his people were not guilty of the crimes that they’d been accused of. It galled him to no end that the Prime Minister could even allow his personnel to be held in suspicion of the act, but despite his feelings on it, he knew he would have had no choice but to do the same had this have happened on the station.

“I’m sure that no matter what he finds, forensically, the Archadian security forces won’t accept it because he’s Starfleet personnel,” Rick said, clenching and unclenching his jaw. He hated waiting.

“Doesn't that make you wonder Admiral? That they were so quick to jump on our people?” The padd Li held beeped and she gave it a quick scan. “Dr. Harding just replied and he’s finished with his exam. There’s also a report from Aure’l that she, Darwin, Gilroy and Marcinko have arrived on the Trill ship in pursuit of....Jonas Levin? This day gets gets weirder and weirder.” Tapping her comm badge, she put a call through to the station, requesting details on that surprising bit of news.

Before Li could get those details, a page appeared and directed them to come with him. They were led down corridors and through doors till, finally, they arrived at the Prime Minister’s office and were shown in. The Prime Minister wasn’t in residence, yet, but the trio were offered drinks and told their wait wouldn’t be long.

Without hesitation, Rick helped himself to a drink and plopped down in the Prime Minister’s chair. “I’m sure you’ve noticed, Li, but I’ve had it with the bullshit,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s the stresses of diplomacy with these...idiots, or if I’m finally getting to the age where I don’t give a rat’s ass what anyone thinks, other than me and a select few.” He turned to Li. “Present company included in those few, of course.” He winked and put his feet up on the desk.

He caught the look she gave him. “I know, I know. I’m not exactly doing my due diligence as an Admiral, am I?” Shaking his head slowly, and looking at the glass of green liquid, he said, “Li, when you’ve been around as long as I have, and met as many different races, you begin to know which ones are worth the trouble and which ones are going to be more trouble than they’re worth.”

“I am quickly coming to the conclusion that this one may not be, if the people they trust in such important positions are so dim. Which leads to the conclusion that they are not, but have another purpose in mind.” She skipped sitting, choosing to pace instead.

Quentin watched her for a few moments, then nodded. “Here’s what is interesting. With the death of the queen, their political situation enters new territory. She died without issue, so according to an old but rarely invoked provision, in such a case, the Prime Minister will take the throne and a new Prime Minister will be elected. Given that the Prime Minister’s position is the one of real power here, if Commander Hawke is correct in her supposition that they have another purpose in mind, it occurs to me that someone wants the current Prime Minister out of the way. This may not be about the Queen at all, but opening up the hot seat.”

Rick mulled over the information he’d been presented. “Li, have some of our people work on finding out who the next PM candidates would be. Backgrounds on them all so that we may vet them--all secret-like, of course. Don’t want them eyeballing us for checking up on the new candidates right after their Queen was killed. Could cast an odd suspicion on us.” He then removed his feet from the desk, sighed heavily and stood. “I, however, find it weird that their monarch has less power than the prime minister but it’s a position that the PM would move into.”

He began walking the perimeter of the office, never having actually been in it prior to this date, and looked at the images that hung from the walls.

“Will do.” Li decided not to go the comm badge route so as not to be overheard. Instead, she sent a message off to the Intel department to get them working on it as soon as possible. “So now we wait on the woman of the hour.”

The doors across the room from the group opened suddenly and the Prime Minister walked in, escorted by a small group of security personnel. She stopped abruptly. “I was not told that you were here,” she said, as snobbishly as usual, then continued past them and stood at her desk. “Someone has been in my chair.” She glared at Rick with slitted eyes.

“That was me,” he said, trying desperately to reign in his anger through gritted teeth. “I can’t say that I enjoyed it. It’s very uncomfortable.”

“What is it that you need, Admiral Wegener?” she asked, sitting in her uncomfortable chair. “I was in a meeting with--”

He cut her off. “I’m well aware of what you were doing, and I absolutely do not care. What I do care about is getting my people, who are innocent, out of incarceration and a very swift apology from yours truly.” He wasn’t being diplomatic at all.

“I also suggest you have a talk with your Chief of the Guard,” Li added. “She assured us she would inform you we were waiting. She also seems to be incapable of any sort of logical investigation.” It occurred to Li that she sounded a lot like her husband at the moment. “We are truly sorry for the loss of your Queen but it is a simple matter to track their movements from the time they left the station till the time they entered the room and called for security. According to Dr. Harding, based on the amount of blood loss, the timing makes it impossible for our crew to have done it.”

Dobry nodded. “We received word from station security that they are tracking the one they believe is the culprit. If he is the one, he has ties to those who previously caused you so much trouble and it possibly points to a greater conspiracy to get you out of the seat of power.”

“Complain as you will, Admiral,” Maline replied, “but my security staff are well within their rights to hold your people. And the Captain of the Guard is the brightest and most successful warrior we have. You must be incorrect.”

“Why you little--” Rick started to say, but Li cut him off.

“In that case, I insist on getting the security feed to look over. This is the palace, everyone and everything in it is monitored round the clock. It will be a simple matter to track our crew start to finish and put an end to this, since your captain is unwilling to do so. I would also remind you of our Admiral who was the target of a bomb produced by your military. The Federation might begin to see this as a strike against the station and its crew and you know what trouble that might lead to.” Li’s tone softened. “The point is, if there is a conspiracy afoot, you were just removed from your position and all your power will be handed over to someone who may not have your best interests in mind. I know if it were me, I’d be curious, since you’ve done so much good in your time.”

Quentin cleared his throat gently. “To be blunt, you’ve just been sidelined and your allies imprisoned in a manner guaranteed to cause dissention between your planet and us, effectively cutting you off.”

Maline steepled her fingers, thinking about what Dobry had just said. His words had sunk in more than those of Li. She may become the Archadian Queen soon, but while she still held the post of Prime Minister she couldn't handle it haphazardly and leave an enormous mess for her successor.

After a deep sigh, she tapped at a control panel on her desk. "Captain Dorinel," she said, speaking to the Captain of the Archadian Security Forces, "on my order, release the Starfleet personnel from incarceration. They are not a flight risk and we will be able to call them back should any evidence point to them." She arched an eyebrow at Rick as she said this, to drive the point home.

"At once, Prime Minister" came the reply. To Rick it sounded as if she didn't appreciate the news either.

"Dobry," Rick said with a slight jerk of his head, "see to it. I'll meet with them shortly."

“Aye sir.” Dobry rose and hurried out to find the Captain and the 900 crew.

Archadian Jail

“About time,” grumbled Oralia as the jailer twisted an archaic key in the lock and opened the door to her cell. “I was starting to think I might actually have to see what Archadian food is like.” She strode out of the cell and was led down a hall to where her new arch-nemesis waited, a sour look on her face. “Captain, lovely to see you again.”

The Captain’s eyes narrowed and she gestured at the Starfleet Officer, “I’m sure the pleasure is all yours. Come, you’re to be taken back to the Palace.”

Fortunately, the trip to the Palace was short, though just long enough for Oz to get a gander at the bandages on the Captain’s jaw. She smirked; she’d given as good as she’d got, at least, though the Captain’s longer arms and heavier body did mean that Oz had bruises in places both visible and not.

Once at the Palace, the Captain left her with a guard and, after a moment, Dobry joined her. “Lieutenant Dobry, I’m glad to see you. What’s going on?”

Palace Dungeon

Standing just outside of Kh’ali’s dank and dimly lit cell, Dorinel waited for the keymaster to open the cells holding the Starbase personnel. “You and yours are being released; you’re still under suspicion and should any hard evidence point in your direction, you’ll be right back here,” she said it as harshly as she could.

“Really?” Kh’ali gave the Captain her sweetest smile, which might be rather frightening coming from the half-Klingon. “I can’t wait. It made me a little reminiscent of home.”

“I’ll remember that the next time you’re a guest in the Palace, then,” Dorinel quipped, “This can be your new guest quarters.” With the other five also released from their cells, the Captain gestured, “This way,” and led the six up to where she’d left Oralia Zeferino.

On seeing Kh’ali, Kai and her four officers, Oralia grinned. “Are you ladies okay? All in one piece?”

“I’m fine,” Kh’ali answered. “I’ve stayed in worse. What about you? I saw the shiner you gave Dorinel and I’m impressed.” She glanced back at Kai for a moment. The small woman was silent and seemed to be all eyes at the moment. “I don’t think she liked it too much.”

“Yeah... that shiner was thanks to my hard head,” Oralia winced. “I think I have bruises in places I forgot I had.” She certainly had one across her clavicles. “Dobry was just here; the Admiral and Commander Hawke are here. They negotiated... forced?”, she smiled at Kh’ali, “...our release. Dobry said we’ll beam out in a minute or two.”

“Good. I’m fine, I think your team is good. Kai needs a good stiff drink and a dose of Gilroy being all protective and she’ll be fine. I think.” Kh’ali looked back at the crew and smiled. “Let’s get home, girls.”

Two things distracted Oralia. One was news that Kai was the lip print she’d teased Gilroy about; the other was a wound on one of her officer’s hands. “Yeah, let’s...,” she moved to that officer and touched her shoulder. “Traline? What happened to your hand?”

“Electrical shock. When I touched the button to open the Queen’s chambers, I got zapped,” the woman shrugged.

“Get it documented in Security before going to Piper Medical.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

When Dobry returned to join them, all eight of them disappeared in a shimmer of transporter harmonics and lights.

______________

Vice Admiral Ricky Wegener
No Longer the Diplomat

Commander Li Hawke
Putting Her Foot down

Lt. Quentin Dobry
Making Sense

Lt. Commander Oralia Zeferino
Ready to go Home

Lt. Commander Kh’ali
None The Worse For Wear

Ensign Kai Sarkozi
Ready To Scream