Jasmine, Lynette, And The Three Stooges
Posted on Jan 14, 2018 @ 2:36pm by Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Edited on on Jan 14, 2018 @ 2:37pm
Mission: Bramatine: Truth, Justice and the Federation Way
“Jasmine, Lynette and the Three Stooges”
(contd from Susan, Sarah and Alix’s ‘Nothing to See Here’)
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Location: USS CAIRO
SD: [2.18] 0113.2217
Scene: Interrogation Room
Jasmine and Lynette settled down on chair on one side of a rectangular table, while the MCO, Sgt. Curly sat across from them, with the two security officers, Moe and Larry, both ranked Lieutenants, Junior Grade level, standing beside him. Moe, Larry and Curly, Jasmine wondered with mild amusement, sounded like names from a cartoon or comedic holo-series. Then again, the young woman wasn’t well-versed in 20th century Earth entertainment. Yu eyed the three Cairo crewmembers with trepidation. They seemed to want to help them. But why? Was it a ploy to lure Ryan and herself into a trap? But they didn’t really have much choice and the Asian decided, it was best to take the chance to listen to what the marine had to say.
“Alright, Sergeant,” Jasmine spoke in a calm voice. “Please tell us what you know.”
“You came to the right place, ma’am. Need answers.” Curly pointed at himself. “I’m the guy, who has been involved in the thick of things.”
Lynette opened her mouth, glancing at Yu. “Permission to speak freely, Lieutenant.” At Jasmine’s nod, the engineer continued, narrowing her eyes at the three men, her voice filled with skepticism. “Why should we believe you? For all we know, this is a trap. I can retrieve all the missing and corrupted files from the computer on my own.”
“She does have a point,” Jasmine agreed, having the same doubts. “Ensign Ryan is more than capable of gathering the proof we need from your system.”
The marine sported a weak smile, his eyes shifting to the engineer. “I know you can, Ensign. But I’d advice against it, not without taking our help.”
“What do you mean?” Lynette looked displeased.
Curly sighed, learning forward, his elbows on the table. “Well, if you go into engineering blindly in the hopes that the ‘Chief’ will allow you to use one of the computers to perform the retrieval job, then you won’t make it past the door. Not to mention the Chief is…very difficult…”
“A downright ogre,” Larry interrupted but stopped when the MCO glared.
Jasmine asked, raising an eyebrow, “Are you suggesting the chief engineer won’t meet with us?”
“Oh you will get a meeting alright.” Curly nodded. “But don’t’ expect the ‘Chief’ to be cooperative. See, word around engineering is that the ‘Chief’ is a dictator and runs a tight ship…”
“A monster, everyone’s scared of…”
“Be quiet, Larry,” Moe yelled, slapping the back of the other man’s head.
“Yeah like my boss,” Lynette grumbled under her breathe, referring to the Phoenix chief engineer. But the others paid no heed to her remark.
Curly said in a firm tone, “Bottom line is ‘the Chief’ will make sure to block you at every turn if you so much as sneeze at one of the computers there and that’s why you’ll be needing our help.”
Moe quipped, “Yeah, take a wrong turn and you’d end up like Huh?”
“That’s right, don’t want the same happening to you like Huh?” Larry joined in.
“Huh?” Lynette let out a frustrated sigh. “What do you mean?”
Jasmine arched a brow. “What happened to this person you call, Huh? I’m pretty sure that’s not his or her real name.”
Curly cleared his throat. “All part of what I’m gonna tell you. So just be patient, ma’am.”
“Go on.” Jasmine nodded, her eyes fixed on the marine, listening intently as she leaned forward in her chair.
“Look, no one can hear us,” the Sergeant informed, giving them a look of reassurance. “The security cams are off-line for…maintenance.” The hesitation in his voice indicated that wasn’t the real reason the security cams in the room were down. Either Curly or the other two, did something to sabotage it to allow for this meeting to take place. This whole situation took a strange turn. Upon their arrival at the Cairo, Jasmine initially thought the MCO watching her and Lynette like a hawk, was to ensure they don’t find the information needed to incriminate the Horizon class vessel. Now it turned out her initial assessment of the Sergeant wasn’t accurate. Yu glanced at the PADD and checked the manifest to find out who the chief engineer was before turning her attention to the marine.
“So,” Yu began questioning. “Is there a connection between the Cairo and Pangeos Pathways?”
“Yes, a deep connection between some of the crew and the company,” Curly answered and thus a confirmation that a link existed between the starship and the transport company was made. Now what they’d need was proof, which Yu initially thought they could glean from the computers. But they were deleted from the ship’s databases and now relied on the marine for the information. However, something struck her as odd. If only a few of the CAIRO’s crew were involved with Pangeos Pathways, then why all the looks of suspicions or hostilities in hers and Ryan’s direction.
The Phoenix Sec/Tac asked, “Any of them, members of the senior staff?”
The man gave her a solemn look and nodded. “Yes, including the Captain and the first officer.”
Jasmine closed her eyes, sighing. This wasn’t good. The CO and ExO, possibly breaching Starfleet regulations by working with a private entity. “Was it Captain Leki who ordered the files to be deleted and corrupted?”
“Nah.” Curly shook his head. “See, remember what I said earlier about how there are clearances above you, us and above all of us.”
“Yes.” The Asian felt her muscles tighten, now wondering whether this corruption went even higher than the Cairo’s CO.
“Well,” the marine continued, “let’s just say the buck doesn’t stop at the Cap.”
“How high does it go?” Yu asked, grimacing, knowing she wasn’t going to like the answer.
With a huge wave of his hands, Curly’s mouth opened wide. “Very high, like all the way up.”
“Up as in Starfleet Command? An Admiral?” Ryan asked.
Saul shook his head. “Nope. Even higher.”
Jasmine’s eyes widened, briefly meeting Ryan’s gaze, the latter just as shocked as well. “The Federation Council.” The dark haired woman lowered her voice. “One or more council representatives are involved?”
“Are you talking about the ‘Man in Black’?” Larry chimed in.
Lynette furrowed her brow. “Man in Black. Okay, now I’m confused? Who is he?”
“A scary dude,” Moe remarked, eyes widening. “You don’t wanna mess with him. I mean look what happened to Huh?”
The engineer asked, “Can someone tell us who Huh is?”
“Yes, I agree.” Jasmine let out an exasperated sigh. “Who’s this person?”
“Alright,” Curly said. “Now, the ‘Man in Black’, is none other than Councilman Gavaar of Tellar and he’s the one who’s been calling the shots around here.”
“How’s he connected to Pangeos Pathways?” Yu inquired, having an inkling of what the answer was going to be.
The marine replied, “How’s he connected? Well, he runs the whole damn organization.” Both Jasmine and Lynette sported shocked expressions. A member of the Federation Council, secretly running a private enterprise – that wasn’t permissible under the law and if it was public knowledge, it would create quite the scandal.
“How does he get in touch with the Cairo and with whom?” Jasmine pulled a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Well, our XO. Seems they both go a long way back,” Curly explained. “I know that XO owes Gavaar a huge favour, some Tellarite crap that I can’t understand but here is what I do know. Roffagh has a brother working in the company.”
Lynette commented, frowning, “Oh well that explains it.”
“So it was at Gavaar’s orders to Commander Roffagh that led to the files’ deletion,” Jasmine said. “What about others?”
Moe jumped in, “Well there’s our boss, Lt. Jeemix. She’s like their attack dog to keep the rest of us in line and not interfere with the mining operation.”
“Yeah, you better watch out for her,” Larry warned.
“Yes we’ve already met her,” Lynette said in a dry note, remembering that hostile encounter in the bridge with the Talaxian chief of security.
Curly said, “Jeemix is a big reason why we brought you two here and why you need Moe and Larry here to act as your escorts. Plus, she has you watched already, which will cause problems for your investigation. Like a dog, she follows Leki’s and Roffagh’s orders to the letter.”
“She was kinda mad, you refused security escorts,” Moe added.
“And when she gets mad,” Larry said, feigning a shiver. “Then you’re in trouble. Look what happened to Huh?”
“Okay, now you tell us who this Huh Is?” Yu demanded calmly, though hints of frustration were found in her voice.
“Oh alright,” Curly said, wiping the sweat off his brow. “Getting hot in here….Anyways, Huh? Is the Cairo’s former Ops officer, Lt. Francesca Hawkins, who was believed to be transferred but we all know better…” His voice trailed.
“I’m guessing she wasn’t transferred.” The Asian swallowed a lump, feeling a chill down her spine.
“Nope.” Curly’s expression was grim. “Lt. Hawkins was a good officer but very ambitious so was an active participant in this whole scheme. Leki promised her a promotion but somewhere down the line, I guess from seeing all those kids working in the mines, Hawkins developed a conscience and tried to back out. She confided in me that she planned on blowing the whistle on this whole operation to Starfleet Command. I tried to talk her out of this but no she didn’t listen. Somehow the top brass found out and no I didn’t snitch. Basically, Jeemix took Hawkins out in a shuttle and returned alone.”
“So what happened to Hawkins?” Lynette asked.
“No one knows.” Curly shrugged. “She could be dead for all we know. No body was found.”
Jasmine narrowed her eyes. “Sergeant, why are you coming forward now?”
“Because this is all wrong.” The marine’s voice filled with outrage. “People are dying for others’ greed and some on this ship have been enabling this greed. It’s gotta stop.” Silence followed for a couple of moments.
Yu cleared her throat, breaking the silence. “What about the inspection of the mines that your engineers conducted following the earthquake? Why did they declare the structural integrity to be sound, when our people didn’t think so after they took a look?”
Curly informed, “Captain ordered the ‘Chief’ to bury it so that no one can ever find a copy.”
“So it wasn’t entered into the system?” Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow. “It’s still around somewhere?”
Jasmine implored, “Please, you need to help us find a copy if it still exists, because that report is what we need to get JAG involved.”
“It still exists.” Curly nodded. Both Jasmine and Lynette let out sighs of relief. “And we know where it is. But it’s gonna be difficult to obtain it.”
“Where is it?” Yu asked.
“It’s on a PADD, hidden in the Jeffries Tubes by the ‘Chief’,” the marine informed. “Moe and Larry found it earlier and can help you get to it but…”
“But there is a problem?” Ryan frowned.
Larry drawled out his answer, “Well, uhm…the entrance to the particular section of the Jeffries Tubes can only be accessed from Main Engineering.”
Jasmine leaned back, taking a moment to think. “So we go to Main Engineering and meet with the Chief Engineer like we originally planned and ask about the missing and corrupted files, as well as the inspection of the mines. We request permission for Ensign Ryan to gain access to one of the computers there, allowing us both to roam freely around Engineering. That’s when we find that particular access point to the Jeffries Tubes and get the PADD.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Curly nodded with approval. “And Moe and Larry here will be your escorts there and help you.”
“Yeah,” Moe said. “Should keep Jeemix off your scent. She thinks we’re idiots and don’t bother with us.”
“That’s because you’re idiots,” Curly muttered under his breath.
Jasmine stood up. “Okay then, let’s head to Engineering.”
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NRPG:
Phillip: Tag!
~*~
Ranjani S.
Writing for
Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Chief of Security and Tactical
USS PHOENIX
