The Mystery of the Black Knight
Posted on 12/03/2021 @ 2:20pm by Commander Aer Feshau-Patton
Edited on on 03/05/2022 @ 5:02am
2,090 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Mini Mission: Lighting Up Shadows
Location: Aer's Quarters
Aer had taken a break from Sickbay and the investigation into the bombings on the station. It had hit all too close to home with Jack being caught in a blast, a cake blast no less that cost the life of an ‘exotic’ dancer and injuries to a good other few.
Slowly they were piecing things together and it looked more and more like it was the work of another universe, a mirror universe. Aer had done some digging into station computers about the mission that seemingly has joined Poseidon Station to the universe in question.
There was a question about the Carlson Nebula. About Commander Valentine. About whom it really was trying to get their attention and why. Aer felt something coming, something that would answer all those questions and more. It gave her a headache.
Aer was lying on the sofa gazing out of the window at the infinite abyss of stars that slowly lit up the blank canvas of space. It was peaceful to look at and she often wondered if there was someone somewhere else doing the exact same thing and looking in her direction. A small flash, a ‘shooting star’, entered the small window frame for but a moment before fizzling out into the nothingness it came from.
That kind of made Aer smile. There was something humbling about knowing your life could be over in a flash, even more so given recent events. Sometimes Aer forgot how other species felt about their lives. She may live to be over 1000, there was just no knowing. Aside from the fact a while back she’d received a call through time from her future self, she was rather self-assured she’d at least see 800. However, time was a fickle mistress and sometimes it would kill you just to spite you. By using time as an excuse to contact past selves, send help who is to say you don’t change it for the worse… or was the fact you did those things that kept you alive?
Her mind was lost in these thoughts, quite philosophical ones for her age, but they were cut short as a call came through on her secure line. She sighed a little as she pulled herself up and swung her legs so her feet could touch the floor. As she stood, she threw a shawl over her shoulders and shuffled over to her desk. It sat on the other side of the quarter’s doors, Jacks was on the other side and was as usual littered with encrypted PaDDs that Aer had organised once more. She hated clutter.
Sitting herself comfortably down she noticed the insignia of the Starfleet shimmering away. Aer put in her access code to unlock the screen to reveal Douglas McLeod, an old Academy classmate.
Aer grinned. “How the Hells have YOU made Commander? Please tell me you haven’t been getting back into your old habits?” she asked rhetorically. Douglas was a bit of a ladies’ man back in the Academy. There were even rumours he’d have a few trysts with female lecturers, but it was nothing more than idol gossip and hearsay.
“Hey Kid!” Douglas almost yelled down the screen. He knew she hated that name, that stupid nickname that purely highlighted how much of a teenager she looked like. “Not all of us have all the time in the world to take it slow. Isn’t that how you failed Quantum Theory?” she joked.
“I failed Quantum Theory because YOU had me out at Galaxy Quest until 5am on the DAY of the exam!” she fought back, albeit with a playful reminisce tone to her voice.
“Could have gone home Kid. No-one stopped you.” Douglas replied.
“You had me handcuffed to you.” Aer said with a serious deadpan tone. “All night… There are parts of you I cannot unsee.”
“Some ladies like those memories.”
“And those ‘ladies’ are probably still in those clubs dancing for latinum and praying on overly energetic cadets with small brains.” Aer quipped playfully. “Doesn’t answer my question though, Commander?”
“You mean you’ve not been keeping tabs on me, Kid? You kept tabs on everybody…” Douglas feigned insult. Aer went to speak but he cut her off. “I have been on a special track; quick promotional ladder and I am on special assignment at the moment. I can’t tell you what, but I won’t insult your intelligence because I know you’ll dig now after this call.”
“Okay…” Aer began.
“You recognise this man?” he asked pulling up a holo of Dr Rik.
“Yes, that is the Breen Dr Rik. My team apprehended him last month on T’Shon Station. He was using the station as a research lab and testing area for his Thalaron radiation weapons he was building for his master. I did not get to question him as he was swiftly taken away from us by individuals whom I assume worked for Section 31.”
“You know they don’t exist, Aer.” Douglas replied almost too quickly for her liking.
“Yes, of course. Totally disbanded and not reformed at all under a different alias or leadership. Nope, not at all.” She replied with no hint of true belief in her words. Aer knew they weren’t gone, not by a long shot. Her contacts, her sources deep within other walls had told her as much and quite frankly she suspected Douglas now of being part of that. “You better not be telling me I arrested a non but real Section 31 person?” she asked.
“He’s dead, Kid.” Douglas replied and let that sink in for a moment as Aer leant back in her seat. She was a mixture of annoyed and stunned. “Somehow there was damage made to his breather system and he asphyxiated right there in his cell. No alarms, no indication on his bio-monitor he was in trouble. We are still trying to find out what happened…”
Speechless. Aer rubbed her face with both hands as if trying to wake herself up from what she’d just heard. Her mind spinning, all the thoughts of who it could be and why, but it all came down to him. “Was there anything left behind?” she asked.
“That’s a strange question to ask straight off, Aer. As a matter of fact, there was.” Douglas frowned.
“If you had this man in your custody then you know what he was doing, who he worked for. Please don’t insult my intelligence by feigning surprise Douglas. You’ve known me long enough and know me well enough to be straight with me.” Aer replied.
“It’s not as simple as that anymore, Kid. Lines are drawn, ones I cannot cross openly.” He said scratching the back of his head.
“Okay. He worked for the person I call Shadow Man in my report. A mysterious figure shrouded in shadows concealing everything about themselves. Dr Rik was one of his Lieutenants and is now dead. Probably the Shadow Man cleaning up his loose ends, although I am surprised it has taken him this long.” Aer theorised.
Douglas simply nodded. “Possibly.” She knew him, how he spoke. His words were carefully positioned and more of an affirmation to her than anything. “I can tell you some things, there needs to be a legitimate investigation into this group alongside ours.”
“Group?” Aer asked hearing the key word. “I knew Dr Rik wasn’t working alone, obviously, but there are more players here?” she asked.
“They are called The Unseen.” He said and Aer rolled her eyes. “I know right? Super scary but makes sense given their leader and data shard we found on Dr Rik when giving him a thorough cavity search.”
“We didn’t find anything…” Aer added suspiciously.
“Aer, we searched EVERYWHERE. Trust me…” Douglas said with a slight shiver. “On this shard he had been collecting data for those he worked for. An insurance policy that ultimately never was much use to him, but it’s opened our eyes. The Unseen has a hierarchy. Shadow Man, 7 Lieutenants and then 8 enforcers. That’s just what we know of course. Rik was one of the 7.”
“You know less than 5 minutes ago you told me you couldn’t tell me anything?” Aer pointed out to him. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“Yeah, well I’ve been told to run with this on my side and instigate a proper investigation. Can’t do that if you don’t know where to start. Though with Rik now gone, that leaves a vacuum. This criminal organisation will look to fill but right now I think it’s still up for grabs. In Riks cell there was a figure left on his bunk. A black knight, as in a chess piece.”
“Interesting… they referred to Rik as Bishop during that investigation. Never did find any chess pieces though but that would give clarity to the 7 Lieutenants. Shadow Man is the King. The rest, his Lieutenants, make up the rest of the important pieces on the board. Then the 8 are the pawns, or enforcers, of the organisation. This is bigger than I thought.” She said puffing her cheeks out as the realisation hit her.
“That’s the conclusion we reached as well. Thing is though, Kid, we think Rik’s death was an inside job. We just cannot prove it. There is literally nothing but the Black Knight.”
“Can you send me that?” Aer asked trying her luck.
“Already have, Kid. Should be with you day after tomorrow. It’s addressed to Colonel Patton but listed as miscellaneous home goods, and it’ll only open with your bio-sig.” Douglas added.
Aer nodded. “When you say inside job… do you mean like inside your not real organisation or further afield?” she asked.
Douglas looked as if that hit a nerve. His face shifted and you could see the annoyance and frustration. “Unclear. There might be someone here who is acting as an enforcer but if it is one of the 7, I doubt they’d get their hands dirty at this level. We may be looking at someone higher up that wants this investigation silenced before it starts. It is definitely someone with a large reach.”
“Great. Julatara in a nugredo.” Aer sighed.
“Needle in a haystack?” Douglas asked a little confused.
“Why would anyone put a needle in a haystack?” She returned the confused question.
“Means hard to find, Kid.” Douglas laughed a little.
“Yeah, that’s what I said. Julatara in a nugredo.” She shrugged. “Although it doesn’t translate easily.” She admitted. “I’ll need to get into this with my team Douglas. Lay our cards out and see what we can turn up.”
“You trust them?” He asked. “It is important we maintain control of the narrative on this Aer.” He said more seriously, even using her name.
“I don’t care about the narrative. I care about catching them all before they do more damage than they have. If someone comes out of this with a bloody nose, then maybe they aren’t as clever as they thought.” Aer replied defiantly.
“It paints a target on your back, Kid.”
“Good thing I have a small back.” She replied before frowning at herself. That barely made sense even to her. “You know what I mean. I can take care of myself, and I trust the team I will bring in on this.”
She saw Douglas look behind him and a look of concern flashed across his face. “I’ll be in touch, Kid. Stay safe.” And then the screen returned to the Starfleet logo spinning slowly blissfully unaware of the conversation just moments passed.
Aer had tried to say something but ultimately there was just not time. There was a part of her that suspected her old friend had given her more information than she was meant to have but she would put it to good use.
The Unseen had a name, they had a structure of sorts and a reach that no-one knew as of yet. Her team would need to find out exactly that and shut it down. This Black Knight was their only lead and the details surrounding Rik’s death.
Inside a secret facility, died by mysterious means through a piece of technology they’ve used for a long time with a fault in sensors to allow the death to go unnoticed until it was too late.
Investigation open.
Lt. Commander Aer Feshau
Chief Intelligence Officer
Poseidon Station
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