Third Mission, Part IV

Posted on Aug 23, 2018 @ 7:31pm by Chloe Nielsen
Edited on on Aug 23, 2018 @ 7:32pm

Mission: Section 31

“Third Mission, Part IV”

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Location: Tirithi, NUMINO
SD: [2.18] 0820.2200
Scene: Mountain trail -> Private Lodging

After an early morning jog along a challenging trail, similar to an Alpine run, Chloe Nielsen headed uphill to the summit of a mountain. The agent stopped at the edge, overlooking the granite peaks of the D’olrattia Mountains, a small, circular range in the north-western part of the continent, Ithlirin. The view was breathtaking and for a moment, Chloe forgot she was on a mission. If only she had visited under different circumstances as Numino was a world, tailor-made for persons who’d enjoy the outdoors, the beautiful sceneries, while enjoying activities such as hiking, skiing, boat rides and so on. In fact, each region on this planet had their own unique flair in terms of nature’s beauty such as mountain resorts, gardens and beaches to name a few.

Ithlirin, one of the planet’s five continents, was located in the Southern Hemisphere. The other four were Edorii and Rohirr in the Northern Hemisphere, Simlran at the equator and Anoerin near the South Pole. While not the largest continent (that honour belonged to Edorii), Ithlirin was the most populated, comprising of the only two cities in the world: Ciris, the capital and Tirithi. A large number of settlements with varying population sizes existed in Edorii and Rohirr, while Simlran remained for the most part, uninhabited, except for a few resorts and research expeditions or explorers who visit the tropical continent’s vast and largely unexplored jungle. With most of Rohirr a desert, settlements were concentrated around the small forested strips along the coastline. Anoerin was also uninhabited – in fact Nuimon law prohibited travel there except for scientific expeditions. There used to be a prison complex on the frozen continent but an environmental catastrophe led to its destruction, around a decade ago.

A few weeks had passed since Chloe began working for Eric Mwangi. The journey from Farius Prime to Numino was long with several stops along the way, including a full day at Gateway Station, where they switched to another transport that took them directly to their destination, located fifteen light years from the station. They had arrived at Tirithi three days ago, which also served as the Syndicate’s base of operations on the planet.

For the duration of the journey, Eric assigned simple jobs to test the blonde with Gaven acting as her guide. The tasks were easy as she had done them before as a SFI operative during various intelligence missions as they involved collecting or dropping secret packages, information gathering and threatening or roughing up others, though in this case, dealing with persons who wronged the Syndicate. So far, she was fortunate to not be tasked with killing someone. Sure, she had taken lives during her fifteen year intelligence career but none of the victims were innocent and in many cases, it was either for her own survival or to further mission objectives. However the Syndicate murdered innocents, including families of operatives who betrayed them. She knew an assassination job was imminent for her and the agent dreaded it, hoping she’d not be asked to kill an innocent. She was a spy, not an assassin.

Chloe inhaled deeply, looking up at the clear, blue sky, where the sun shone down on her and then ahead at the planet’s other sun, getting ready to rise. Numino was the third planet in a binary yellow star system and there was a day when both suns rose and set at the same time – what a beautiful sight that would be. Despite being on a dangerous mission, there was no harm in taking a few moments, enjoying the planet’s breathtaking scenery.

The agent turned around, making her way down a path, leading to a narrow pass. She turned right, stopping by a granite wall and placed her palm on it. A low rumbling sound was heard as a section of the wall to her left began sliding open to reveal a huge gap. Sighing, the Canadian stepped through the opening and the wall closed behind her.

She moved further inside her apartment, which included a spacious living and dining area and a single bedroom with an attached bathroom. The apartment design reminded her of a holiday resort in the mountains. Its walls were the same granite rock as that of the mountain with large rectangular windows on one side, allowing the sun’s rays to illuminate the room and a fireplace lining up the other. The furniture was simple, consisting of four sofas around a wooden square table and a dining table in the far side of the room, next to the replicator and the kitchenette.

Replicators were established for the benefit of off-worlders. The local Nuimons preferred consuming food, organically grown – no wonder their food tasted better than a lot of other places. Frankly, it was quite a breath of fresh air, especially after spending weeks on a ship, consuming stale replicated food, reminding her of why she never pursued fleet postings. She liked travelling, just not living in starships, where the view was nothing but space and steel grey bulkheads.

Nuimons were a society, driven by the desire to conserve their environment so they never attempted to industrialize their world. Their technological development focused on eco-driven solutions, where they created a civilization that existed in harmony with nature and not against it like for example Nuimon dwellings were built to adapt to their natural habitat and not the other way around.

Chloe removed her sunglasses and then the hairband to let her hair down, when yellow flashing on the console caught her attention. She glanced at the screen - a message from Gaven stating that Mwangi wanted to meet with her alone at noon and the big boss, Klars would also be in attendance. Nielsen frowned. According to Gaven, Eric seemed pleased with her performance so far and was considering expanding her role to take on more challenging jobs.

But first, the blonde decided, she needed a shower.

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TI: 45 minutes later

The door chimed. “Enter.” Chloe glanced behind her shoulder at the front door – the lodging had two entrances – the front one leading to a corridor inside the building, while the other entrance led outside to the pass. The doors parted, permitting a tall and handsome Trill man inside. The blonde gave him a smile and he returned it with more enthusiasm than her.

Gaven inquired, approaching her, “So, how was your morning trek?”

“Great,” she replied. “The terrain was quite challenging but worth it.”

In the past few weeks, she had developed an amicable rapport with Mwangi’s right hand man. Their relationship had recently turned intimate in the physical sense though the two didn’t consider themselves a couple. It was how she discovered that Gaven himself was put in charge of finding Kate MacNeil – information she wasn’t privy to know. During their first night together, she found out about Mirror Kate, when he took an important call, thinking she was asleep. But she wasn’t. The agent never truly slept on those rare occasions, when she needed to get intimate with a target to extract information as she was working – people shouldn’t fall sleep on the job.

Gaven had slowly started opening up about the ‘important assignment’ that he wasn’t permitted to share with her. He hadn’t spilled the exact details of the assignment and only made a couple of slip ups, providing clues. Chloe pieced together the bits of information and passed them to Anaqueen, who was currently following up on a lead as to Kate’s whereabouts, using her knowledge about the doctor from her time on the SHIV.

“Ready to go?”

“Yes.” Chloe nodded, taking a quick look around to make sure she had everything. “Alright, lead the way.”

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Scene: Caverns -> Syndicate cell HQ

Chloe and Gaven climbed down rocky steps until they reached the street and then turned left. It was nearly mid-day and the streets in the cavern were busy with Nuimons and some off-worlders walking past them. The city of Tirithi composed of an elaborate system of caverns at multiple levels that ran across and through the entire mountain range. Buildings and other structures were spotted, carved out of the rocky walls. Since her arrival, Chloe wondered, eyeing the windows whether the price would be higher for apartments or hotel rooms with views of the outside environment than those facing the cavern interior. Since her own accommodations were provided by the Syndicate with an outside view, she never knew about the costs involved in renting the apartment.

They walked up a flight of steps until they reached a platform and stood beside a group of locals. The agent spotted the pathways, built from a type of rock, extracted from the mountains themselves, criss-crossing over each other. The pathways acted as connections between caverns and at all levels from the base to the top of the mountain, thus allowing mobility from one part of the city to the other. While some of the pathways were built for walking, others were constructed for trains, the most popular mode of travel in this city.

Chloe watched the track in silence and looked up as a train approached them. She noticed the train comprised of only two cars, not yet at full capacity. From what she observed during her brief time here, the trains came in varying sizes made up of one to three cars. After the train stopped, the doors to both cars slid open and some passengers stepped off. Then Chloe followed Gaven inside the second car, which was nearly empty, except for an elderly Nuimon woman, who ignored them. The interior of the car didn’t have much in terms of seating other than long black benches lined against the walls. They sat down on the bench on the same side as the doors, when the train resumed moving.

“So,” the blonde asked, leaning back. “Do you know what this meeting’s about?”

The Trill shrugged. “Not exactly but I remember Mr. Mwangi telling me that he was pleased with your performance and you may be ready for the next step.” He gave her a reassuring smile, gently tapping her hand. “Don’t worry, I have confidence you and I will be partners for a long time.”

Chloe nodded, returning the smile. “Hope that’s the case.” They sat in silence for the rest of their trip, which was quite interesting in her view. She glanced through the window as the train zoomed down a steep track, which was part of a parabolic pathway, before slowing down at the bottom until it increased speed when climbing up the other side. They crossed over to another mountain as the train, now moving in a straight line, entered a tunnel and when it exited, the transport began making its ascent, passing many levels. Then the train stopped about a few levels from the peak.

The doors opened and the two, along with the elderly Nuimon got off. Chloe glanced behind her as the train began making its descent before turning on her heel to follow the Trill down the street. They walked a few metres before reaching double steel grey doors. Gaven placed his palm on the panel to the side and the doors parted, allowing them to enter a narrow cylindrical compartment with glass walls on all sides. A loud whirring sound was heard as the lift began making its ascent. Nielsen glanced outside and was amazed at the breathtaking view of the city, spanning across many levels.

The lift stopped and the doors opened to allow them to enter a quiet hallway. Chloe realized they were at a rather high altitude, likely just below the peak. She noticed Gaven speak to someone over his comm device.

“Alright, Eric,” he said. “I will send her in.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow. “They want to see me now?”

“Yes.” The Trill nodded and placed his hand on her shoulder. “You’ll be fine.”

The blonde nodded, making her way across the hallway to another set of grey doors, which slid apart upon her approach. She entered a large, oval-shaped room with wood brown walls and barely any furniture besides a jet black couch and two sofas of the same colour. A wide, rectangular, dark grey metallic desk stood below an oval-shaped window, which overlooked a section of the mountain range. A clear blue sky with one sun’s rays brightening the room and the other sun, its pale, dim yellow outline visible in the distance.

Chloe spotted Mwangi, standing by his desk, the black man meeting her gaze with his own. The agent’s gaze then moved to a man sitting behind a desk – judging from the ridge that extended from his nose to forehead, he was Farian. So this was Mwangi’s boss, Klars – well a holo-projection of him as he was currently on Farius Prime. The hologram was seen smiling at her. The man had short, black hair, neatly combed with a heavy build and his grey eyes studied her with keen interest.

Eric waved at her to come forward, “Thank you for meeting us.”

Well, it wasn’t like she was given a choice, Chloe thought dryly. She nodded, when the Farian spoke, his deep voice, cold and feigning emotion.

“So, Eric. This is the woman I’ve heard so much about.” He gave the dark skinned man a sidelong glance. “I’d say she is a vast improvement over that…smelly Finnean fellow. What was his name? Filth, Smelly or…” He let out a chuckle. “Well, it doesn’t matter. The man never showered from what I recall.” He chuckled again, along with Mwangi.

Chloe pulled a strand of hair behind her ear as she waited for the two men to stop chuckling and get down to business. The agent was curious to know what they planned for her. She watched Klars return his attention to her.

“Eric’s told me a lot of good things about you and from what I hear, he believes you can be valuable to our organization.” He paused a moment, glancing briefly at Mwangi. “Eric and I go a long way back and I trust his judgement completely. He believes you are ready to officially join us.”

Nielsen nodded, though the blonde had the uneasy feeling that she needed to complete a big test and she was right, when the Farian’s expression turned serious.

“And I agree,” he said. “However, you have to complete a very important assignment for us. If you are successful, then you become one of us.” Klars didn’t have to add in the part as to what would happen if she failed. Chloe already knew of the outcome, she’d either die or remain an employee without the privileges afforded to a Syndicate member. It wouldn’t matter once she had succeeded in locating MacNeil and extricated herself out of this situation.

Eric stepped forward, addressing the blonde. “In the last week, we discovered our cell has been breached. Details regarding some of our operations in the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants were leaked, which has resulted in loss of revenue and our operatives were compromised in the process.”

Klars added with contempt in his voice, “Basically, we have a traitor in our midst.”

“A traitor?” Chloe raised an eyebrow. “Any idea who he or she is?”

Mwangi shook his head. “No. But based on the sensitive nature of those operations, it is likely an agent, operating out of this cell.” He gave her a weak smile. “Which rules you out as you’re not yet a member of the Syndicate and would not be privy to such information.”

“Which also makes you the perfect candidate for this assignment,” the Farian chimed in.

“This double agent goes by the alias, ‘Satchel’ and has already leaked information to the Romulans, Klingons, Dominion, Starfleet. In fact, just last night, we lost an operative right here on this planet because of Satchel.” Mwangi’s voice laced with anger. “Our agent was contacted by an anonymous source in Ciris, claiming to possess vital information and headed there for a meeting late night by the lake.” He sighed. “Well, turns out it was a trap. He got ambushed by Jem’Hadar troops and killed.”

Chloe asked, “How did you come across this information?”

“Our lead operative in Ciris obtained it from his contact in Nuimon planetary police.”

Klars informed in a commanding voice, “Your assignment is to find Satchel.” He paused to take in a deep breath. “And once you do, eliminate the traitor and then you’ll be inducted into our organization.” He gave her a cold smile.

That was predictable - an assassination job. “Understood.” She nodded.

Mwangi handed her a data crystal. “Go to Ciris as it was possibly Satchel’s last location and liaison with Lord Percy, our lead operative there. Tell him that you came to investigate the operative’s death and arrange for his body’s transfer. Do not reveal anything about your true purpose as he could be a possible suspect.”

“Understood.” Thus, the meeting was over and Chloe immediately left.

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Location: USS CAMELOT, in orbit over NUMINO
Scene: Bridge

“Captain, we’re being hailed from the surface,” a tall Bajoran/Trill male announced from behind the tactical console. On his red collar were two gold pips and a hollow one.

Anaqueen Spankryz glanced behind from her chair. “From who?”

The Sec/Tac replied, “The Planetary Council. Chief Consul’s office.”

The Trill turned to the viewscreen, currently displaying the planet, the green, brown and blue hues with white swirling around, making it a beautiful sight against the blackness of space. This was her second visit to the Nuimon homeworld, though as far as the Nuimons were concerned, her third when in that one trip it wasn’t her but a doppleganger from another universe.

The Federation’s relationship with Numino was a complicated one – friendly, yet not friends. Numino was an independent and unaligned world - the planet’s inhabitants preferred to live in peace without conflicts with others. It was only within the last decade or so, they were willing to open their world to outsiders for scientific and economic opportunities such as tourism, providing a large source of income as many visitors from all four quadrants came to enjoy the planet’s natural beauty. Compared to worlds like Risa, the number of visitors paled in comparison. While many Nuimons approved of the tourists, there were those skeptical of permitting foreigners on their soil. Permanent residency for non-Nuimons didn’t exist as a vast majority of locals didn’t support the idea of other species settling on their world, though temporary stay for a fixed period of time was granted to mostly business persons, scientists and diplomats.

First contact with Numino was made in 2421, when the Gateway senior staff in the USS STARBLAZER, travelled to the planet, following their CMO, Kate MacNeil’s discovery of her Nuimon heritage. Kate had been searching for the identity of her birth mother’s race for many years prior to the first contact. The mission was a little challenging for the Gateway crew as at the time, the Nuimons were isolationists who only permitted limited trips off-world, which very few took, and forbade any communications outside the Nuimon system – a law now defunct since the first contact.

At that time, the Nuimons were divided with a large faction against their government’s invitation to open talks with the Starfleet officers. This faction worked to sabotage the talks with the help of Spankryz’s doppleganger, brought from another dimension by the Cairons, whose aim was to send the Federation away to fulfill their own agenda. To fulfill their mission, the Cairons arranged for the Trill’s abduction to their home dimension in 2421, which was another harrowing story altogether but eventually she escaped and returned home in the USS PROPHECY. The Nuimons themselves were unaware of the Cairons’ existence due to a decision their ancestors made in hiding knowledge about the past from their descendants, upon first settling on this world over three centuries ago. Their original homeworld was Cairus in another dimension, which they shared with the Cairons till the latter drove them out to the point of extinction. The Nuimons’ arrival to this dimension was due to an accidental trip through a rift during their escape from Cairus. The Cairons were unable to pursue them as they didn’t possess trans-dimensional technology at the time.

The first contact mission was successful but the Nuimons decided to remain independent as a compromise to the population’s conservative segment. During the last quarter of 2424, Numino underwent a major planet wide crisis that had nothing to do with the war, resulting in the deaths of many Nuimons. It was during this crisis that Anaqueen made her first visit to the planet, leading a small taskforce on a humanitarian mission at the request of the Nuimon government. Kate MacNeil was one of the COs in that taskforce, charged with providing medical support. The mission was a success with the crisis averted.

“On screen,” came Ana’s response. The viewscreen flickered, changing the image of the planet to a Nuimon woman seated behind a reddish brown desk. On the wall behind her, there was a large window overlooking the city of Ciris as well as part of a white mountain and the light from one of the suns shone through the glass, illuminating the room. The woman looked in be in her late thirties with a heart shaped face, brown eyes and long, curly, light brown hair, pulled back and tied.

The woman smiled. {{Greetings, Captain Spankryz and the crew of the starship CAMELOT, I am Anuita Hollande, Chief Consul. On behalf of the Planetary Council and the citizens of Numino, we welcome you to our beautiful world.}}

Ana nodded, giving her a polite smile. “Chief Consul, on behalf of my crew, we thank you for your welcome.”

{{My pleasure.}} The Nuimon nodded. {{I also wanted to inform you that our Chief Scientist at the Scientific Observatory in Ciris is awaiting the arrival of Dr. Adeyemi and her team, whom we welcome back and look forward to the continued collaboration between our scientists.}} She paused a moment. {{And Captain, we would like to extend an invitation to yourself and your crew to come down to the planet and enjoy our beautiful sights.}}

“Thank you, Chief Consul for your gracious hospitality.”

{{Enjoy your stay and hope we speak again, soon.}} The viewscreen shifted back to the planet.

Anaqueen sighed, leaning back in her seat. The CAMELOT’s mission was escorting a civilian team, hailing from well-renowned scientific establishments in the Federation to partake in an ongoing research project that culminated about seven years ago, when a joint Federation-Nuimon archaeological expedition uncovered some advanced tech that once belonged to an ancient civilization, now extinct.

A fascinating discovery – a civilization that existed on the planet millions of year prior to the Nuimons’ arrival and this led to the Nuimon scientific guild, with support from the council, inviting Federation civilian scientists to study the findings with them. Only civilians, which prevented Starfleet Sciences from getting directly involved. Nuimons, in general, were uncomfortable with anything ‘military’, which was frustrating, especially when it was those adorning the uniform who helped the Nuimons survive the crisis, nine years ago.

“She seems friendly.”

Ana glanced to her right, where a human woman sat, her brow furrowed. The three gold pips on her red collar indicated her to be a full Commander and the ship’s first officer. The Captain nodded. “I’d take that as a good sign or she’s just a good politician.”

“So three weeks in orbit and leave when the scientists are done.” The ExO, Azula Sol, grabbed the pony tail of her brown hair and immediately let go. “Cmdr. MacNeil, her family and pets…” She nearly snorted, “…are on their way to the transporter room and will beam down to the planet, shortly after Adeyami’s group. I admit I’ll miss the heated debates about Nuimon culture and achievements between MacNeil and Adeyami.” A hint of sarcasm was found in her voice.

Ana nodded, knowing the debates as interesting as they were, ended up grating on her nerves. With Sol trained in Operations and Tactical, the science and medical concepts mostly went over her head. Spankryz, herself, with her background in Operations and Engineering, only fared a little better than the younger woman in terms of understanding the conversation. “Commander, inform the crew that they will have the opportunity to enjoy shore leave on the planet and make arrangements to send them in batches. The Nuimons will not want all of us coming down at once.”

Sol smiled. “They will be pleased to hear and I’ll work on setting up the shifts.” The 33 year old woman had been part of the crew under Spankryz’s command for seven years, first as Chief of Ops and now ExO. Many in the crew, including Sol and herself, were also veterans of the war so returning to the Gamma Quadrant even after nearly a decade, was going to be difficult for a lot of officers.

A relaxed mission with shore leave wasn’t a bad idea, Ana thought, her blue eyes meeting the ExO’s green ones. Once the mission was over and the scientists returned to the Gateway, the Camelot would be on its way to uncharted territory for several months of exploration. Ana was puzzled about Starfleet giving this mission to her crew in place of the USS BLACK SEA, the starship normally assigned to regularly shuttle the scientists back and forth between Gateway and Numino. But all command told the Trill was it wasn’t her problem and that the Black Sea was just merely grounded.

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Location: Tirithi, NUMINO
Scene: Spa/Hot Springs

Anaqueen exhaled, her back against the rocky wall as she settled herself in the pool, her muscles relaxed by the warm waters coming in contact with her skin. She inhaled in the mineral-rich steam, soothing her nostrils and for the first time, since arriving on this world, the Trill from the Mirror Universe felt relaxed. It was a good idea after all to visit the spa and enjoy the geothermal springs, a pool shaped like the figure eight, seeping into two adjoining subterranean caverns, located in the city’s lower levels and with water temperatures set at around 99 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

A rocky staircase from the lobby and change areas, located a level above, led down to the springs. Lining up the walls around the caverns were long, yellow benches, where people sat to relax in silence. Next to the hot springs in both caves, were circular pools, filled with cold water and low, narrow waterfalls pouring into them. Ana watched some Nuimon women leave the hot springs and head to the cold water pool to cool off and spotted a lone male, sitting still under the waterfall.

A thin smile crept across her lips and Ana reminisced of a moment ten years ago in the mirror dimension – the last time she was actually happy. She was enjoying herself at a hot spring, well more like a heated pool imitating one, in Casperia Station and beside her – the Terran blonde woman – suddenly she felt this longing tug at her heart strings. A decade had passed, yet those feelings still felt so fresh to her, and she had only known the woman for three days. She sighed, her mood now soured.

“Hey, it’s me.”

Ana’s eyes widened, her heart skipped a beat as she slowly tilted her head sideways. She felt her mouth dry as her blue eyes fixed intently on an attractive human woman with blonde hair. Suddenly she was lost for words, like in a trance.

“Anaqueen,” Chloe spoke, looking perplexed. “Are you okay?”

Like shattered glass, those words broke her out of the trance and a scowl marred the Trill’s lovely features. She was brought back to reality - the woman in her thoughts not really here but her bossy look-alike. “What are you doing here?” She demanded angrily as if Chloe caused her misery.

“Ana, don’t you remember? We were supposed to meet here,” Nielsen reminded.

“Oh right.” Ana nodded, now remembering of a scheduled meeting with her handler.

Chloe leaned against the wall, closing her eyes. “Don’t worry. I’m wearing a skin patch on my wrist that serves as a signal scrambler so no one should be able to understand our conversation.” At the Trill’s nod, the agent inquired, “Any progress?”

“Yes,” Ana began, calming down a little. “I followed up on the lead and found something strange happening here.”

“Strange?”

The Trill nodded. “For the past few weeks, people have been reported missing. Most of them, off-worlders but few Nuimons have vanished as well and the pattern of the disappearances is something I’ve seen before.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow. “You think it could be MacNeil?”

“Well,” Ana explained, her mind wandering to the past. “The SHIV ran countless raids on others, mostly ships, stations, moons. Many of these raids involved capturing prisoners and assimilating them into the crew. Nothing out of the ordinary.” She inhaled deeply. “But there was one time when the SHIV decided to raid this one moon, a Bajoran farming colony, which received many visitors. However, this raid was conducted differently.”

“How?”

“They didn’t launch a direct attack against the colony. Instead, a small landing party of marauders was sent down to the moon, disguised as merchants.” Ana gulped down the bile rising inside her. “For many weeks, they hid in plain sight, targeting people, mostly off-worlders as they wouldn’t be missed by the locals, and captured them. The prisoners were then brought back to the ship and…”

“And?”

“They became subjects in MacNeil’s experiments for a bioweapon that the Captain planned on testing at a few places and then selling it in the black market.” The Trill shivered, recalling the horrors she had witnessed on the pirate vessel. “None of the subjects survived.”

Chloe questioned, “You think the missing persons here were abducted by MacNeil for her experiments?”

“Yes.” Ana nodded. “And I don’t believe she’s acting alone.”

The blonde sighed, pondering the Trill’s words. “It all makes sense. MacNeil’s most definitely not doing this all on her own. I think, whoever is backing her is not only powerful but dangerous and we need to find out who.”

“The Syndicate?”

“No.” Chloe shook her head. “They’re looking for her. It’s most likely not any of the major powers like Romulans or Dominion, considering she arranged for invitations to be sent to pretty much anyone possibly interested in creating a bio-weapon. But we’ll still need to investigate further to be sure.”
Ana nodded, sighing. “So what now?”

Nielsen informed, “I’m leaving for Ciris tomorrow. The boss is sending me on an assignment. For now, you remain here and continue digging.”

“Okay.”

The agent grinned. “In the meantime, I’ll go get some hydrotherapy before heading back to my apartment.”

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Location: Riivenvale, NUMINO
Scene: Front porch, near waterfalls

Kate MacNeil smiled as she materialized on the front porch of her birth mother’s home. Her violet eyes, which changed to hazel, glinted under the bright sun, her expression filled with immense joy. She wasn’t the only one delighted. Her family, comprising of her wife, Grace, her half-brother, Horaciin, her two children, Hamish and Josephine and the pets, shared in the excitement. A chorus of squealing, meowing and barking, broke the ambient silence of their natural environment. Feeling a familiar brush against her leg, Kate glanced down with warmth in her eyes at William Wallace, a beagle and then at Grace, a beautiful Orion woman with a lithe figure, though the latter’s short black hair was greying. The green skinned woman only managed to muster a tiny smile.

Kate took a quick look around her surroundings, closing her eyes for a brief moment, basking in this wonderful moment. When she reopened them, the half-Nuimon was left in admiration of the beauty of her mother’s hometown. The town of Riivenvale sat in a deep U-shaped valley, hidden between mountains with high peaks. These mountains belonged to the Cerean range, also known as ‘The Great White’, because of its white rocky surfaces. The range extended from the south end of the D’olrattia Mountains, running along Ithlirin’s west coast like a long chain, all the way to the ocean, south of the continent. A river, originating from melting snow, high up the mountains, and numerous streams from the adjoining mountains, formed waterfalls that cascaded throughout the valley until they reached a large lake at the bottom. The valley was also heavily forested.

The town was constructed amidst the waterfalls, where homes and other establishments were built into the mountain walls, beside, above or underneath the falls. In fact, the waterfall was the symbol of entire district of Riivenvale, owing to the existence of the numerous waterfalls in the valley. The buildings were connected to each other by stone pathways and bridges with some crossing over or through the cascades. Modes of transportation were simple, which included walking, hiking or using carts but not hover vehicles.

The front porch, MacNeil and family, were standing on, was really a stone platform, sitting just above a waterfall, a staircase cascade on one side and narrow, high falls on the other, the latter beside her mother’s home – a two storey structure, with round and oval windows on its walls. From what Kate remembered of her last visit here, some of the rooms were found directly behind the falls, a wonderful sight to wake up to in the morning.

“You lied to me, mummy.” Her moment of peace was interrupted by Josephine’s whine.

Kate blinked in confusion and inquired in a calm voice, “I don’t understand what you mean, lass.” She felt something breezing past her arm and looked to see a white Persian cat had leapt by her and rushed towards her son, who held a small, blue case, emblazoned with multi-coloured fish. A soft meow alerted the tall woman to a black kitten, a Scottish fold, following the older feline.

Josephine said, pouting and hands on her hips, “You said Mama Bessy couldn’t come because she won’t fit in a ship.” The green skinned girl, struggled to hold her corgi puppy, which broke free, jumping to the ground beside a golden retriever puppy. They began yapping and chasing each other in circles.

“Aye…I did,” the auburn haired woman said slowly, folding her arms across the chest, wondering why Josephine was bringing up the family cow.

“You always said only naughty bairns tell lies,” she said and soon Kate realized what her daughter meant. “But the ship is so big it can fit a thousand Mama Bessys, million Prudence Margarets and I can ride my pony around.” The two puppies broke their circle and ran around.

Kate immediately directed her beagle, “Go lad. Make sure Phoebe and Papu don’t stray far.” William Wallace let out a bark and trotted behind his little siblings. Returning her attention to the Human/Nuimon/Orion hybrid girl, she exhaled before retaining her composure. “Lass, I wasn’t lying. There really was no place to keep Mama Bessy or your pony anywhere on the ship and as for Prudence Margaret, she’s a chimp, a wild animal and they cannot come aboard a starship. Don’t worry, she’s with Mary Sue in the sanctuary till we return home.”

“Says who?” Now the lass was getting a little impudent. “Did you ask auntie? She’s captain of ship.” There she was at it again, apparently the wee one thought that starship captains were called aunties or uncles, depending on gender.

Kate sighed. “Jo-Jo, auntie…I mean Anaqueen told me Prudence Margaret couldn’t come with us.” The doctor recalled the Trill Captain’s very matter-of-fact, pointed conversation, regarding the transport of the pets. Ana clearly told the Scot, no wild animals were permitted on board the starship. Certainly no farm animals, though Ana never said that as she wasn’t aware Kate had a cow and a pony at her farm. She also remembered Spankryz telling her about the pet daycare, established on the ship, to keep all pets in one place, while their guardians were on their shifts. Ana had mentioned, she understood the comfort they provided to her crew as their missions spanned many months. But the other purpose was to keep track of all the critters, making sure none of them wandered around the ship, thereby taking away valuable resources and time to search for them.

“Mum, you lied to me too,” her son chimed in, pointing his finger at her and eyeing the white feline nervously as it sniffed around his case.

Kate groaned, really they had to do this now. She gave Grace and Horaciin a pleading look but the two merely shrugged. “Hamish, we talked about this.”

Hamish glared at the cat, which meowed. “You promised Crumpet won’t come with us.”

“I did…but your sister.” She sighed, shaking her head. On the night before embarking on the Camelot, Jo-Jo approached her, looking very innocent and asked if she could bring another suitcase for her dollies. And Kate just believed her after all Josephine played with both her puppies and dolls. She didn’t find out until after they beamed on board the ship, when security reported the presence of a stowaway - Crumpet, hiding in Jo-Jo’s second suitcase, snug and comfortable. Oh how embarrassing and worried she was about Anaqueen’s reaction. It was fortunate because the lass snuck a cat, Ana allowed Crumpet to stay but apparently the Trill was displeased as the little fiasco delayed their departure by ten minutes. Anaqueen ran a tight ship and expected everything to run on schedule.

Grace touched her son’s shoulder, calming him down. “It’s okay, Hamish.” She pulled him closer. “Look, you can leave Bo and Cho with me. They will be safe from Crumpet, I promise.” Hamish nodded, clutching the case holding twin goldfish inside, close to his chest. Meowing, Crumpet padded towards the ledge overlooking the staircase cascade with Muffin, trailing behind – the kitten sticking close to her big sister.

Kate mouthed a thanks to the Orion. Perhaps there was hope for her family to have a great time and see her wife smile more often, now that they were on Numino. Sounds of footsteps caught her attention as the hybrid’s gaze shifted forward, her smile widening. A tall Nuimon woman, around 60 years old with shoulder length brown hair, approached the group, a warm smile gracing her features. Kate and the Nuimon shared an embrace with both women standing at the same height of six feet. Horaciin stepped towards them as they broke off and the Nuimon greeted her son with a hug as well. The Scot spotted three more Nuimons arriving, an older man in his early sixties and two young women – one in her late twenties and the other around 19 or 20 years old.

MacNeil’s mother, Dahlis Alenvin, greeted, addressing the visitors in a jovial tone, “Welcome back…” Her mouth widened, noting the presence of the animals, when Papu and Phoebe trotted towards the Nuimon family, sniffing around their legs. “Kate, wow, look how much your family has grown.” She grinned and gave her grandchildren a warm smile. “Hamish, Josephine, you’ve gotten quite big since I last saw you two.”

“Hi other granny,” Josephine greeted, making her mum nearly groan.

“Jo-Jo, you may want to leave the ‘other’ out,” Kate softly chided but Dahlis laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay, Kate.” Alenvin was a former Chief Consul, having held that position for six years. It was during her tenure that the first contact with Starfleet took place, the same time, when she and Kate found each other. She was popular yet also a controversial and polarizing figure amongst her people. There were several Nuimons on the planet who resented her for inviting the Federation to their world. They even blamed her for the crisis in 2424, when her popularity hit rock bottom and she was nearly ousted from her position by the Council but survived by one vote. However, many others believed it was her strong leadership that enabled the Nuimons to weather the storm, leading them to their present condition.

A splash turned heads in the direction of the staircase cascades and a moment later, Horaciin returned, carrying Crumpet, drenched in water, squirming in his arms. “Hey, look who decided to go for a swim.” The cat wore a sullen expression, releasing a loud angry meow, while everyone burst out laughing. As Horaciin placed her down, the feline shook herself with a furious vigour, splashing water in all directions. Muffin padded around the young man and then made her way to Dahlis, producing soft meows.

Dahlis waved at the group, “Come on, everyone, let’s go inside and get all of you settled before dinner.” So everyone went with Alenvin across a short bridge to the house.

-------------------
Location: Unknown, NUMINO
Scene: Laboratory

“Doctor MacNeil,” a female voice called out. “The Lady wants to know if you are satisfied with the shipment.” The room was small, dimly lit with a neon blue hue light, creating an eerie atmosphere. There wasn’t much furniture, except for few consoles, a long metallic grey table and a tall, tube-like structure standing at the corner, its glass walls, covered in blue goo mixed in with green and copper stains. The room was silent, except for a mixture of noises, originating from the adjoining storage area, consisting of chirping, howling, hissing, croaking and so on.

A tall, Human/Nuimon woman, adorned in a midnight blue lab coat, smiled, answering in a cold voice, devoid of any emotion. “Aye, I am. Tell the Lady I’m satisfied and also, let her know, I need more subjects.”

The messenger, a middle-aged Nuimon woman with short, black, curly hair, wore a nervous expression. “Doctor, about the subjects. Maybe we should temporarily halt the sentient trials…” Her voice began to crack, when the doctor’s indigo eyes turned icy cold as they bored down on her. It didn’t help that Kate was a few inches taller. “The Lady believes if we continue on our current path, then we risk getting unwanted attention from the authorities.”

“What alternatives do you propose?”

“Perhaps,” the Nuimon suggested, sporting a weak grin. “We can use the creatures the Lady sent us and perform tests on them. No one’s going to care if anything happened to them and then after some time passes, we can resume sentient trials again…” Her voice trailed as the Scot sent her an icy stare and moved closer until the two women were barely an inch apart.

The doctor said in a low voice, her cold gaze on the Nuimon, “How about a better solution, lass? Perhaps you and the staff can become my subjects.” She smiled, watching the other woman’s expression pale. “I can’t guarantee your survival but your deaths would be a worthwhile sacrifice for a noble cause.”

“No,” said the Nuimon meekly. “I don’t wish to be a subject.”

Kate narrowed her eyes, her voice containing menacing undertones. “You don’t have to but if you or anyone else harm my wee ones, then you’ll be punished. Understand?”

The other woman gulped. “Yes, doctor.”

“Now leave and relay my demands to the Lady,” She commanded and the Nuimon scuttled out of the lab in a hurry.

“Those disgusting fools,” MacNeil remarked harshly. “Animal testing is such a barbaric practice. The pain those precious ones are subjected to by these monsters in their experiments, fills me with rage. It seems even in this universe, I’m the only enlightened one here.” A soft whimper was heard from behind and a warm smile graced her lips as she turned around.

Trotting towards her was a Siberian husky puppy with snow white fur. The puppy, only a few weeks old, had almond shaped bright blue eyes that looked up at her with love. His mouth opened, releasing a soft howl.

Kate kneeled down, her eyes filled with affection for the puppy and cooed, “Awww, you’re hungry.” She gently lifted the puppy and held him close to her chest. “Don’t worry, my precious baby. I’ll make sure to get you some food.” The husky let out another howl. “See, you’ll grow up to be just like William Wallace.” Her eyes shifted to a holo of an adult dog, the same breed and colour as the puppy but with more wolf-like characteristics, and then back at the pup. “Soon, my exceptional intelligence and abilities will be recognized in this universe and everyone will be begging for my services.” The puppy howled again as the doctor set him down on the floor.

*************************************************************************************

NRPG: Here’s Part IV. Now Chloe, along with my 1st ed. characters, Anaqueen and Kate, and their mirror universe counterparts are on Numino. This post was a set up for the rest of the mission with questions. In the next couple of installments, things will start to connect and you’ll have a clearer picture of what’s happening. I may reveal Mirror Kate’s backstory in a future post.

The first contact mission with the Nuimons was done in 2006, the 2nd mission of a trilogy (which I created). This trilogy involved the Gateway and Prophecy (only in 3rd part) crews, Neo-Essentialists, Nuimons and Cairons. I created both the Nuimons and Cairons, the latter not in this Section 31 mission, only mentioned due to their connection to the Nuimons and my old characters. Also I wrote two novellas between 2009-2013 that covers the Nuimon planet-wide crisis in 2424 so that story arc wasn’t part of the 1st ed (written after I left the game in 2009).


~*~
Ranjani S.
Writing for

Chloe Nielsen
Section 31 Agent

And

Special Appearances by

Captain Anaqueen Spankryz
Commander/Dr. Kate MacNeil