All Hands on Deck

Posted on 10/17/2023 @ 10:01am by Captain Cara Letsul & Captain Cornelius Harrington & Lieutenant Commander K'doc Valadorn
Edited on on 02/25/2024 @ 7:24pm

1,993 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Mission 23:Pages...
Location: Jackson Porter's Quarters
Timeline: MD 5 1100

The time was nigh, and people were lining up for the book signing of Jackson Porter's latest book. Cara also had her own reason why she was there. In her hand, she had some notes she had taken and wanted to ask Jackson some questions afterward. She figured he'd be fashionably late; it was part of the dramatic flair he'd done before. However, the time for a grand entrance soon passed by, and those who were waiting on him were becoming restless. Cara stepped away for a moment to make a call via her commbadge.

"This is Commander Letsul. Would you send someone to go check on Mister Porter please?"



Security promptly responded, dispatching two officers to the diplomatic suite. Despite multiple attempts to contact Mr. Porter, one of the guards resorted to an override and entered the room.

"Security," the man called out, "Mister Porter?"

Still, there was no response.

"I don't like this," the elder officer exclaimed. "Something isn't..." He fell silent as the scene unfolded before them. He grabbed the other guard's shoulder and pulled him back.

"Hey, what the hell," the younger man exclaimed.

"Look," was the only reply. Before the two officers, Jackson Porter's body lay sprawled on the floor. Several PADDs were scattered around him. Tapping his comm badge, "Commander Valadorn, we need you in the diplomatic quarters immediately, Sir."

K'Doc answered his com. " What's wrong with the little princess Now?" He asked. " The water temperature not to his liking?" He stated snidely and then paused. " Did you say bring the CMO? I'll be right there. " He grabbed his tricorder and took off at a sprint out of the office. he nearly plowed down several people getting to the diplomatic suite.

"Bring the Chief Medical Officer with you, Sir." Without missing a beat, the officer turned to his partner. "Go outside; no one gets in here, no one!" The elder man sighed, tapping his comm badge, "Commander Letsul, I think we are going to need you as well."

"I am on my way." Hearing the urgency in the man's voice, Cara excused herself from the book store and went to where Jackson was staying. She arrived and had the security officer who was standing let her inside; she was getting a distinct feeling that something was terribly wrong.

Ben heard the call over the Infirmary com system. “On my way.” He quickly grabbed a med kit and gestured for the closest nurse, he hadn’t even had time to learn her name yet, to follow him as he trotted across the promenade for the turbolift.

K'doc arrived on scene and went in to check on the officer and receive the report. The large Klingon tapped his combadge. " Investigations: I want full video and audio around the diplomatic quarters checked and all persons in the area identified. Also run a full environmental sweep for anything out of the ordinary, That and check for any power surges that could have come from a transporter. Do it now!!" He growled. He looked up as Cara entered the room. " Porter's dead. "

Cara's face turned pale, feeling rather shocked at this. It wasn't too long ago that she had taken Jackson on the tour. She mentally shook her head, to regain her composure. "I will stay out of the way. Just.. just it is shocking. I saw him not too long ago maybe a day or so ago. I had taken him on a tour."

Ben trotted into Porter's quarters and surveyed the room before finding the dead man on the floor. Quickly he slung the medkit from his shoulder to open it as he kneeled next to Jackson, reaching for the medical tricorder. "What happened?" He called out over his shoulder while running scans.

" I'm not certain as of yet Doctor. I only arrived about thirty seconds before you did. " Responded the large Klingon. " My tricorder showed no life signs on the victim, I'll start scanning for any evidence while you work on the deceased. We'll compare notes when we're done. " K'doc kept a keen eye on the doctor as well just incase that he uncovered a clue that was needed for the investigation. " Doctor Woods, Could you establish a time of death? "

Woods scanned the deceased writer. No puncture marks, no wounds of any kind. "This is strange. He seems to have died of a heart attack. He looks to have suffered sudden severe stress on his heart but I cannot determine why." Ben looked at his tricorder perplexed by the readings before shaking his head and closing it, moving to stand. "Unfortunately I won't be able to give you a time until I have to perform an autopsy and review his medical records. By all accounts this man should be standing here with us, healthy as a horse." Ben quietly gave orders to the nurse to prepare the body for transport to Sickbay.

Approaching the group, Ben continued. "What I can tell you is the man has no puncture wounds, no injuries, not even from when he fell. My best preliminary guess is within the last six to ten hours, based on the body's temperature and the celluar decomposition. I wish I could tell you more."


K'doc stroked his beard briefly as he thought. " Hmm. Six to ten hours you say? at least that gives me a time frame to work with. " He tapped his combadge. " Commander K'doc to security investigations, I need you to do a Bio Tracking on our VIP guest Jackson Porter and find out where he's been in the past sixteen hours and who he's talked with and I want to know who the last person who saw him alive and have them brought to me, I would like to have a chat with them. "

The reply came swiftly. Investigations acknowledges Commander. We'll inform you as soon as we know anything, Investigations out.

K'doc turned his attention back to the Doctor. " Doctor Woods, would you inform me when you find anything or if you require and assistance from security to help you out for this investigation? "

"Of course, at once Commander," Ben said with agreement as he began packing up the medkit.

From some corner of the station, Neil had already caught wind of the recent gossip about Porter missing his meeting. The Captain wasn't the least bit taken aback. The man's tale had already circulated through most of the station. "No doubt he's recuperating from a night in the station's more mature sector," Neil sighed. Assuming their guest to be hangover, Neil had just requested a coffee when the call for Security came in.

"No," he murmured.

At that moment, his heart sank. Something inside him convinced him that this was not good; it was very, very bad. Leaving his coffee in the replicator, Neil headed for the VIP section. Passing by the Security Officers, he entered the main room. He didn't require an explanation; the scene painted a vivid picture. "I suppose the directive to treat him as an important guest was lost in translation," Neil sounded irked, and rightfully so. He had been tasked with looking after Porter. "Finding his lifeless body wasn't exactly what Starfleet had in mind," the Captain concluded.

Cara turned to look at Neil; her lips pressed together in a grim line. "I wasn't expecting this either. How this could have happened, this was a secure place. Did someone use a specialized transporter just to get to him? Much like what K'doc is going to be researching into? " she paused and took a look at the doctor that was there. "Wait, when did we get another doctor added to the Station's Roster?" Cara pulled out her padd. "Doctor Benjamin Woods. Doctor Vedan is no longer the Chief Medical officer. Guess I was a bit busy taking our former illustrious guest on a tour."

Cara casting an eye back over Benjamin. "This is certainly a different way to meet a new addition to the crew. I am Commander Cara Letsul part of the command team." she then turned her attention back to the body of Jackson Porter, feeling a bit cold.

K'doc came over to where Neil and Cara were talking and he didn't look happy about the situation. " The doctor is attempting to determine the cause of death as well as the time. So far it has been narrowed down to the last six to ten hours. I have an investigative team backtracking his movements to see who was the last person who was seen with him and bring them in for questioning. Furthermore, I have another team checking for any power fluctuations that could explain a transporter or even for a glitch in the security systems. He was very arrogant and not well-liked overall, this does little to narrow down the list of suspects. I have been personally conducting the security scans here in the suite, so far there is nothing to report. " Said the large Klingon not looking very satisfied with the outcome so far.

Ben nodded to the Commander respectfully in greeting. It seemed the most appropriate, given the situation. Turning to the captain, he spoke up. "With your permission, Sir. I should get started right away. Permission to beam Mister Porter to the Infirmary?" he asked.

Cara looked towards Neil, then back to Doctor Woods. "I have no problem with that, this does need to be looked into."

K'doc spoke up and his voice dropped nearly to a growl. " You might not have an objection to it, But I do! " His eyes narrowing. " Mister Porter is not only the victim of this crime, but he is also currently the only piece of evidence that we currently have. Transporter beams can be intercepted, and where would we be if we lost our only piece of evidence? " Asked the Chief of Security. " Instead we'll get and enclosed anti grav engineering sled that has been sanitized and four security dressed as engineering staff to take it to sickbay, that way no one suspects anything and we keep our evidence and it shouldn't delay anything more then about fifteen minutes. "

"Do it," Neil replied, his voice giving off a certain sense of urgency to this. "I don't care how we get this done, but everything needs to be above par here. No shortcuts, no loopholes," he folded his arms behind his back as Maisy's voice came over the comm channel, alerting him to an incoming call from Starfleet.

Neil rubbed his temple, "great." He looked around the room, "personal feelings aside, I realize that Mister Porter wasn't the friendliest person we've dealt with.. this is priority number one. Whatever you both meed to ensure this gets solved and the person responsible brought to justice." Without any further advice, Neil turned and headed out of the room.

Cara saw the wisdom in what K'doc had said. "You are right, Commander, what with all the strangeness that has happened, as what Captain Harrington had said. Do what you need to do to get this solved."


K’doc nodded and turned his attention to the Doctor. " Doctor Woods, I shall have my team deliver the body to you shortly. I believe our time is limited and the Captain and Starfleet are going to wanting answers, The clock is ticking, and you and I are on the clock and under a microscope at this time. So let us do our duty and solve this. "


Ben simply nodded grimly. He didn't agree with the transport through the station, but it wasn't his call. "I will make the preparations for the autopsy. See you in Sickbay, Commander." He confirmed as he slung the medkit on his shoulder and left with the nurse to prepare Sickbay.

---

Capt. Neil Harrington
Commanding Officer, SB50

Lt. Commander K'doc Valadorn
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
Poseidon Station

Commander Cara Letsul
Poseidon Operations Commander
Chief Counselor
Poseidon Station

Lieutenant Benjamin Woods
Chief Medical Officer
Poseidon Station

 

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