A Different Kind of Skullduggery - Part 3

Posted on Fri Jan 31st, 2025 @ 4:58am by Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Bluegarden & Gert'Rudd Barkh & Lieutenant Freya Michaud
Edited on on Fri Jan 31st, 2025 @ 4:59am

1,816 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Season 1, Episode 2: War, Peace, And All That Jazz
Location: Rheuysian Embassy - Deck 16
Timeline: Immediately following Part 2

Previously, on Star Trek: Deep Space K-9:

"So, I've heard back from the Kaiser:" Barkh said in a forthright manner. "She has agreed to share sensitive data on the Kaiser from the Stars' assassination; including the security footage of the moment she was shot. However, as this is a deeply personal matter to both the Kaiser and the Rheuysian people, the Palace has altered the footage to obscure the Kaiser from the Stars' identity."

"As long as that was the only doctorin' the palace did to the recording, I believe we can respect the want for privacy." Rebecca nodded in Freya's direction.

Avoiding pulling a face, Michaud nodded, though she was puzzled that they would want to obscure the Kaiser from the Star's identity. She wondered if there would be another way to find an image of her. They had a cult of personality around the person, it seemed, so the image had to be somewhere.

'I think that would be acceptable,' Michaud managed, not mentioning she would probably make a copy and run it through image analysis to spot any other possible changes to the data.

And now, the continuation:

Nodding, Barkh proceeded to pull down a projector screen, switching the view from her monitor to a projector behind the two Starfleet officers.

The projection consisted of the aforementioned security footage: A conference room of some sort where peace talks were being held. Towards the left hand side of the frame, on what was the Rheuysian side of the table, stood a figure, female in body shape, with an obscured face. As none of the other faces in the recording were obscured, the outlier at the head of the table had to be the Kaiser from the Stars.

The censoring method had been to pixelate the Kaiser's head. As a result, however, red hair could be made out. Naturally, this got the gears turning in Rebecca's head.

That's odd, she observed quietly. Didn't Gundula Rall have red hair?

"This footage shows the Kaiser from the Stars' last minute alive:" Barkh explained. "Watch closely..."

Around 30 seconds into the recording, there was a flash as an energy projectile travelling along a roughly 45 degree trajectory entered the frame from around the top right corner and struck the Kaiser in less than a second. After being hit, the Kaiser collapsed out of the frame to the floor as several Rheuysians moved to either tend to her or take cover themselves.

"As you can see, the Kaiser of the Stars was shot by an unseen assailant. What the security recording fails to capture is that the shot came from the ventilation ducts." Barkh clarified.

"Yeesh, sounds like whoever planned this did some serious thinking. Like they knew exactly where your Kaiser would be in the room and which vent to shoot from."

"Precisely." Barkh nodded, switching to another surveillance still, this time showing a man heading towards the exit of what was a ventilation level. "Our troops found this man on his way out. They did their best to apprehend him, but he got away."

"He's your prime suspect?" Rebecca asked.

"He is." Barkh confirmed.

'How certain are you that the projectile came from the vent?' Michaud asked as she made notes on her PADD for later perusal. 'And, if I may, your main suspect, he was only seen exiting a ventilation level? Not from an actual duct?'

The more she looked at the screen, the more questions were raised in her mind.

"Lieutenant, don't you think that's quite an unfair question to ask?" Rebecca pointed out. "I mean, who puts cameras in ventilation ducts? We don't even do that."

'It's less about cameras, just feeling out what's known about the suspect,' Michaud replied confidently, 'I'm also interested to know in Rheuysian forensic science. The case has to be ironclad. To that end, projectile analysis, a breakdown of crime scene material was recovered, and the like, would be beneficial.'

"Eyewitnesses before the blasts claimed they spotted the barrel of a weapon protruding from a vent above the Kaiser's head." Barkh explained. "Unfortunately, the weapon used was energy-based, thus no projectile was left behind to recover from the body."

"And you know that how?" Rebecca asked.

"We recovered the murder weapon from the vent." Barkh explained, switching to an image taken of the recovered weapon used in the shooting: A high-powered rifle of some sort. "The assassin decided to ditch it at the crime scene."

"Hmm... Looks like a disruptor rifle in sniper configuration." Rebecca observed. "It almost looks... Klingon in design. Would certainly check out with being an energy weapon."

Barkh seemed surprised by how quickly Rebecca made the origin of the weapon.

"I will make sure the origin of the weapon gets added to the case file." She said. "Can you name the model of the weapon?"

"Well, it's been a while since I've looked over Klingon weapons, but I've got one or two ideas for what it might be. I'll just need some time to cross-reference the images."

"Understood. I will make sure they are readily available to you." Barkh nodded.

'And the forensic evidence from the vent itself?' Michaud asked, terrier-like in her want for the evidence. 'And if I may, how do people get in and out of the building? Do they need a pass? Sign in? Anything like that? May help us with that suspect.'

"We found traces of DNA inside the vent." Barkh explained. "DNA which we later matched up to inhabitants of the planet Umbra, which we tracked the fugitive to. As for access matters, the talks were taking place in an orbital facility. Everyone present at the talks were required to present ID. The only oversight was facility maintenance staff. They were the people who worked to keep the facility in operation, so we didn't believe it necessary to apply extra security measures to complicate their jobs."

"Wait, back up a smidge:" Rebecca said. "You said you tracked the fugitive to where?"

"Umbra." Barkh responded. "At least that's what the inhabitants of the planet called it. The trail went cold from there."

Rebecca turned to Freya.

"If I was reading the star charts right on my way in here, sounds like they've crossed into Eifie space at least once..." She said.

'The Umbran population is made up of Eifie?' Michaud asked Barkh, looking for clarification. 'And, if so, would you normally employ Eifie as maintenance workers? Or is that unusual?'

"The conference was held on what was considered 'neutral ground'." Barkh explained. "The talks were on Ka'Tann's pending membership to the Reich, and who they employed on the station wasn't our business yet."

"You mean to say that Ka'Tann wasn't a prior protectorate?" Rebecca asked. "That's certainly what I got out of that."

"It is true that after the Kaiser from the Stars' assassination, Ka'Tann was placed under direct military occupation." Barkh admitted. "After all, we had offered a gesture of friendship to the Ka'Tannians, and they responded in kind by killing our Kaiser."

Michaud pulled a quizzical face, then asked, 'but I thought you said the Eifie were responsible? The Ka'Tannians are not Eifie. Are the Umbrans? Or is the Reich in the habit of meting out punishment before the crime has been fully investigated?'

"The Ka'Tannians hired Eifie as cheap labor to serve on their space stations." Barkh explained. "The suspect was positively identified as being Eifie. I'm not sure if I can put it in any clearer words for you Federation types. Are you expecting that we meticulously extracted every last trace of DNA from the crime scene?"

Sighing, Michaud shook her head, 'a clear picture of who we're dealing with, and what species is from what planet, helps us understand what is going on.' She looked the Representative straight in the eye, 'someone had reason to have your Kaiser assassinated, and it is utterly crucial investigate it properly, not leap to predetermined conclusions. I'm merely working my way through what occurred.'

"I suppose we should back up and take things back to the beginning:" Rebecca suggested. "So, Ka'Tann, that's listed as a Rheuysian colony. But you're saying five years ago, it wasn't?"

"That is correct." Barkh said. "We had discovered the Ka'Tannians had some rather robust mining operations. The Kaiser from the Stars decided that our people needed the resources that the Ka'Tannians were mining. As you can imagine, Rheuys itself was decimated by the Great Freeze and Annihilation War, and the goals of the Reich were outward expansion to secure resources that had become unavailable to our people."

"So, the whole reason you were meeting in the first place was to discuss a trade agreement?" Rebecca asked.

"Precisely." Barkh said. "The Reich would offer protection from pirate operations in exchange for the resources the Ka'Tannians were mining."

"So, the Ka'Tannians were an independent people, and they hired Eifie, primarily from the planet Umbra, to work their mining operations, correct?" Rebecca questioned.

"Yes. As I said; five years ago, we had no control over how the Ka'Tannians conducted business." Barkh said. "We were well aware of Ka'Tannian hired laborers, and were told to pay them no heed when they agreed to meet to discuss terms."

"Sounds to me like these Ka'Tannians created a loophole in security:" Rebecca deduced, turning to Freya. "Probably armed one of these so-called 'yokels' and gave them specific instructions on where to go and who to shoot at."

"You are suggesting that the Ka'Tannians acted in bad faith, when the evidence we have collected suggested that the assassin worked alone." Barkh stated. "We interviewed the workers and supervisors on the station, and not one soul said a peep hinting to a larger conspiracy against the Reich. So, either you are calling us liars, or this conspiracy you are trying to create is so well-kept that everyone interviewed kept their mouth shut when they had every incentive to come forward about it!"

Barkh slammed her hands down and pushed up to her feet.

"I'm getting pretty sick of being insulted in my own office." She growled. "So, I am going to give both of you five seconds to make yourselves scarce, or I will have you both forcibly removed from sovereign Rheuysian soil!"

"Of course." Rebecca stammered, getting up from her chair. "We don't want to cause any trouble this close to the talks. Thank you for your time." She turned to Freya. "Come on, let's give the ambassador some space before she blows her top."

'Probably for the best,' Michaud agreed with a nod. 'We're unlikely to get anything more from them - I'm not sure their investigative power are all that valuable, Commander.' She had had quite enough of the Representative for one day.

To be continued...

 

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