Breakthrough

Posted on 15 Apr 2020 @ 3:28pm by Ensign Kat Walker & Captain Mallory Thorne

1,358 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Changing Faces
Location: Cargo Bay Two, Deck 27

=/\= "Ensign Palmer to Captain Thorne. Uhm, ma'am? The - uh ... AI is asking for you. Down in cargo bay two." =/\= He sounded a bit nervous. Only freshly out of the academy, this was his first posting. And what a hell of a posting it had proven so far!

Well, that was interesting, Mallory thought wryly. "I'm on my way."

Passing the conn, she got up and made her way off the bridge and down to the cargo bay where the defunct craft and its not-defunct AI were being kept. She was curious and maybe a little nervous about what this might be about, and to her mind, it was understandable. Shit would just not stop going wrong around here!

She entered the bay and looked for the AI, walking over once she'd located her. "You wanted to see me?" she said, managing a pleasant--if tired--smile.

The holographic avatar stood waiting, motionless like a statue only revealed to be a hologram by intermittent artifacting, her systems still being damaged. As Mallory approached she might notice the external power supply, hooking the craft up to ship's power. When she spoke though, Kat smiled and gave a nod.

"Captain, yes. I believe your crew is investigating the death of the Seelie Ambassador's Aide, during the party. I might have some information that could possibly be useful in that investigation." she spoke, her voice pleasant.

The captain just blinked in surprise for a moment, since this certainly wasn't what she'd been expected. "I see," she said. "Just what information might that be?"

"The location of everyone at the party." Kat replied. "As part of my collision avoidance software package, I continuously scan my surroundings, reducing it to a simple-to-interpret schematic that updates every point-oh-three-three of a second. Although my roaming holographic avatar does not have infrared capabilities - it cannot see in the dark - I do have data on where everyone was prior to the blackout and when the lights came on again." the AI explained.

She stepped aside, making space for a larger hologram, projected by her chassis' nose mounted projector. It was a schematic representation of the banquet hall on deck 14, with her own location represented by a blue figure and Madison's location by a red one. In a certain diameter around Madison were green figures, brighter ones nearer by, fading to the off-white of other people further away.

"This is directly pre black out. The green figure is me. The red figure is the deceased. The green figures are those nearby enough to make it to the deceased and back to their post black out locations during the duration of the black out." Kat explained.

Color the captain impressed. She looked over the various green figures and the red figure. "Can you identify who these figures were or simply that they were there?"

At Mallory's question Kat motioned to some of the green figures, and a picture of what they looked like at the party appeared above them. "I do not know the names of most people present, but I have their appearance on file. Maybe that would help you identify them, Captain."

"If I can see a face, it'll be enough," Mal agreed. While she couldn't swear to know every face on the ship by heart, she knew most and the computer could do a search on the rest.

"These are the ones who were wearing a Starfleet uniform and were near by the victim." Kat offered. With a wave of her hand the hologram indicated a number of the green figures, displaying an image of their face above the figures, with a line connecting them.

"These are the ones I have seen interacting with the victim and were near by the victim." Another wave of her hand, now a different portion of the green figures had an image linked to them. All from the Seelie delegation. "There are no more unidentified people sufficiently close by the victim."

Mallory folded her arms over her chest, frowning and pursing her lips in thought. "Was anyone from the Terran Union delegation anywhere near the victim right before or after the event?" she asked.

"I can only identify people based on their clothing, Captain. To my knowledge nobody from the Terran Union Delegation was near the victim prior or post blackout." She motioned at the hologram again, lighting up a few people in yellow. "These are the Terran Union delegates that I know of. "Another wave of her hand, a few people lighting up in teal. "These people I do not have an identification on, I never had a clear line of sight to them while at the party."

"I see," the captain said. "The problem is that she was poisoned and it was something she consumed. I don't suppose you ever caught sight of what she ate or drank, did you?"

"I'm afraid I do not know much about poisons, Captain. No files on that subject." She motioned with her hand again and the representation of the banquet hall faded, replaced by a holographic image of Madison, in full photographic detail. She looked pensive, holding a glass of a drink in her hand. "This was a moment or two before the blackout, when I had line of sight." Kat explained. "I did not see her eat, but, as you can see, she did have a drink."

Mal's thoughts raced. "Let's suppose that the poison was in the drink. The next point is to find out who might have had access to it in order to place the poison. In theory, it shouldn't have been anyone but the bartender and the victim, although maybe someone did so when she looked away or during the blackout..." She trailed off, still thinking.

"I do not know, Captain," Kat replied. The hologram of Madison disappeared again, replaced once more by the representation of the banquet hall, with the color coded figures.

"Are you able to show any earlier times around the victim? Any time where you might be able to give me insight as to who was around her at earlier points in the evening? Or when she got the drink?" the captain asked. "I understand if you can't as I know that's asking a lot."

"I have full records of the entire event, at least the parts I was present for." Kat explained, motioning her hand at the scene and rewinding it. "I can be certain of things happening in my line of sight. Everything else I would have to extrapolate. Are you looking for something in particular? Or would you like to see a replay of the event with people marked?"

Mallory thought it over for several moments before replying. "I'm trying to figure out who might have had access to her drink," she said. "The reaction would've happened quickly, so the toxin had to be in the drink in her hand. When did she get that drink, and who might have been close enough to put something in it?"

Kat wound the hologram back to right before the blackout, then played it backwards at two times speed, highlighting Madison and her drink. After a few moments they saw Madison take a sip of her drink. Kat paused the reverse playback. "She took a sip here, which did not affect her. Logic would suggest the poison was introduced between now and the blackout," she said, resuming forward playback at twice speed.

The captain watched, and her frown deepened as her confusion grew. "I don't...see anyone," she said slowly. A thought came to her that she would have considered outlandish before, but maybe... "Thank you, Miss Walker. I need to go talk to Commander Petrova."

"Of course, Captain. I will keep these files for as long as I need to." Beat. "I hope I was helpful, Captain." Kat asked in a somewhat meek voice.

"You were very helpful," Mal reassured her with a smile. "We'll talk again when this is sorted, alright?" She nodded once, then headed out.

"Thank you, Captain." Kat spoke, with a nod. As Mallory left the banquet hall hologram and her holographic avatar flickered out of existence.

 

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