Wreckage Wreakage

Posted on Wed Oct 11th, 2017 @ 12:07am by Lieutenant Renee Salchin

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Cargo Bay 3
Timeline: June 16, 2399 1000

ON:

Renee wandered around the cargo bay an the wreckage from the shuttle explosion. The fact that enough of it was intact enough to even be brought board told her several things. "Well, sir, this wasn't a warp core breach. One of those and there wouldn't be enough to fill a baggie." She crouched and reached out to prod something, then blanched, "P-O Jekky, can we get a bio-bag and a scan team over here?" She looked up at the officer with her, "I think this is a piece of Lieutenant Holt, sir. This is definitely a piece of the controls and this is fused to it." As the junior engineer came over with a medical person to 'contain' the remains, Renee moved off again, this time towards a larger piece that included a piece of nacelle.

Hawk had accompanied Renee to the cargo bay and was looking over the wreckage as she pointed out tje remains of Holt. Man... ain't much left Renee. Horrible way to go. I mean...never mind..
", he said as he looked at the piece she was indicating.

She glanced into the hull structure and saw that it had actual explosive damage. She braced a toe of her shoe against the hull before grabbing the edge and hauling herself up to look in from above. "Sir, can you... Oh..." She pushed then pulled herself to the top of the piece before hooking her leg and 'falling' in head-first so she was upside down hanging from above, "Sir, I've got initial blast damage here. Outwards blow with shrapnel missing. Looking around... Sir..." She grunted with effort and hauled herself back up to the top, "Directed explosive, and if I've got the specs of where I 'am' right now, it went right into the matter flow regulator. If there was even a hiccup of time between this explosion and automatic shutdown of the antimatter flow... An unregulated matter/antimatter reaction. It ate the containment vessel."

Looking..."Whoa...Renee...", he exclaimed as she went head first into the hole. Moving to grab her legs...he stubbed his foot on a piece of wreckage and nearly fell himself. "Bloody mess if you ask me", he said as he bent down to rub the tender spot. " Wait...", he said...letting what she said circulate in his head a few times. "If it was blown outward...", pulling out his tricorder, he scanned it for any explosive residue or chemical compound trace. The tricorder beeped signaling that it had finished its scan and he looked at the results. "Jesus...what do you know...there is explosive chemical residue here", he said, almost shouting.

"Looks like...carbrodine was used to make an explosive device. If you did do that...the densified tungsten-cobalt magnesium used in the coils would burn hot and bright. It would look like a core breach only burn hotter vaporizing most every thing instantly. Question is...was it there before the shuttle was cleared for flight or after?", he stated.

Just then, Charlie McDougal was entering the cargo bay anh Hawk hollered at him. "Hey Charlie, come here man for a moment. Who cleared the shuttle for flight yestrtday?", Hawk asked.

"That would be me...why?", he asked.

"Was there anything unusual with the scans of the nacelles? Did they pick up any foreign object within...say like on or near the field coils", Hawk asked.

"No...why? I checked them first then Johnny and I did a second scan and then my usual visual check. Nothing was attached or near the coils...why?", he inquired.

"Well...someone put a device there to cause the coils to explode the way it did. I found traces of corbrodine in what was left of the nacelle housing", Hawk said.

"Had to be done after I scanned and left", Charlie stated.

"Well ok man, thanks for your help", Hawk said turning back to Renee.

"Well what do you think..." Hawk said.

"You aren't going to like what I think, Joe..." Renee shook her head, "Because it means someone intentionally assassinated half our senior staff." She tapped her commbadge. "Shirley? Can you come to Cargo 3?" She got an acknowledgment, she turned back to Hawk, "My roomie's Security, she might be able to get us into the surveillance "

It was only a minute before a leggy redhead strolled in the cargo bay, "Whatcha got, Nee?" She flashed a winning smile at the other engineer, "Petty Officer Second O'Neil, but call me Shirley, sir."

"Pleased to meet you Shirley", he said smiling.

"Here's what we need, Shirls..." she turned the tricorder scan results towards the security officer, "Someone planted this and killed a bunch of people. We know when the preflight scan was done and departure, but that leaves about an hour in between. Think you can get us into the cameras?"

Shirley patted both engineers gently on the shoulder, "And here I thought you were going to ask me something hard." She led them over to one of the wall consoles and tapped in a long code, brining up the image of a young man heading towards the door, "That's the preflight check guy, McDougal is it? So let's put this in fast forward."

As the recording played out, it didn't show much...just stopped with snow...played on for a few before..."Wait...what happened?", he said. Just before the recording faded out to the snowy portion, he saw a shadow. "Play it again...I saw the shadow of someone before it blanked out", he said. Shirley re-played the recoriding..."Wait...stop there! See I did see a shadow. Who is that?", he exclaimed.

Renee bumped Shirley off to the side with a hip and did her best to clean up the fuzz as best she could. The final result was a shadow that showed an arm, a leg, and something from the head that diverged. "Dammit... That's as good as we got."

"Who the hell is it?", he said. By now Hawk was truly agitated at not being able to see the complete head shot and the fact it was so fuzzy, but for him it was enough for them to go to Mere and the boss with the evidence.

"Come on Renee we have to get this to the bosses quickly and now even more carefully. Something tells me that we might be getting closer to the cause and it would put targets on all of the Musketeers plus a big fat one on J'Loni. Let's go", he said pulling her along with him.

Renee stumble and gasped before she caught her feet and followed behind the officer, pointing first at Shirley, then at the screen in a gesture meant to having the redhead make a copy for her. "Right, coming, coming. But sir, I think I know who it might be... One of our science officers, at least, the shadow looks like it could be."

Stopping so suddenly, Renee's forward motion took her right into him making both tumble to the deck in a heap. Legs...arms...moving all at once...he rolled over and helped her to her feet. "What the hell...wait...you think you know who...a science officer?", he said incredulously. "How?"

"The shadow." Renee looked away from Hawk, "Shadow coming from the side of the head, could have been a long ear... A Ts'usugi ear. Valeria Mordin's ear."

"You got to be kidding...but why...you found a chip in her replicator...okthat was understandable as to her not knowing it was there, but, this puts her in the shuttle bay after it was signed off by McDougal. So...what is the connection? I don't get it. Why her...if it is her...why?", he said scratching his head.

"That's the question. Why? And then why?" Renee shook her head, "If it is her, planting the comm chip and letting me find it could make us not suspect her with us thinking she was franed. This?" Renee closed her eyes and listened to her gut instinct for a few seconds, "She's being framed, but hell if I can prove it. That's what I think."

"Maybe you are right, but this is something for the two bosses to find out not us. Come on, lets get it done before anyone else is implicated. At this point all of us are walking targets and I got a family to think about you know...come on...", he said taking her by the arm and hurrying down the corridor to the turbolift.

OFF:

Lt. Joseph Hawk
Environmentsl/Structural Specialist
USS Wellington

CPO Renee Salchin
Engineering NCO
USS Wellington