U.S.S. Corsair - NX-011979
Nebula II Prototype
“Sic Parvis Magna”
(Greatness From Small Beginnings)
“Progeny of the Progenitors – Part 11”
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### Sickbay ###
Ramius moved down the corridor like a man possessed as he approached sickbay. During the last four hours he had made much progress in identifying Akina’s attackers. With a contingent of Corsair security officers and the tenuous cooperation of station security, Ramius had blanketed the deck Akina had been beamed from his teams searching for witnesses and clues. His staff found traces of blood and then several witnesses who with some incentives, were able to further direct his security forces. The trail led to three local thugs who upon examination were found with traces of Akina’s DNA thus implicating them in his assault. It was fortunate for Ramius that he had found them about ten minutes prior to the local authorities who he had his staff quietly stall. After a few moments alone with the men he was able to convince them to divulge the name of the person who had paid them a tidy sum to make Akina disappear.
Upon obtaining a name, Ramius, still several minutes ahead of the slow and pedantic station security officers called up a platoon of marines from the Corsair and had them forcibly storm the storefront of a local Ferengi merchant. Though his interrogation of the merchant was short lived due to the rapid response and stern objections from station security and from the station commander, Ramius had at least been able to communicate his extreme displeasure. He had also managed to find several items of contraband and a modest smuggling operation which helped to exonerate his actions. Given that the starbase was under mostly Starfleet jurisdiction he did not have to concern himself too much with the proper obtainment of warrants and other such infuriating red tape. Indeed, Ramius had made it quite clear to the Ferengi in terms only Ramius could convey that if he ever crossed paths with the captain in the future he would require a small army to protect him, among other valuable things….
Ramius was satisfied the Ferengi wouldn’t be a problem moving forward, but that still left the question of why he had felt the need to go after Akina. He hadn’t managed to pry that from the tight-lipped merchant before the authorities arrived and forced a conclusion to their discussion.
Entering sickbay, he quickly located both Doctor Durandal and his patient, Captain Zane Akina.
“Doctor, how is the patient”, Ramius asked moving up to Akina’s bedside.
“He’s doing well. See for yourself.”
“Ramius”, a fragile voice said as Akina turned his head.
“You look terrible”, Ramius said with a slight grin.
“I look better than I feel thanks to the doc”, he replied with a raspy voice.
Ramius wasted little time with pleasantries and jumped straight to business. “Why did the Ferengi come after you? What did you walk into?”
“You really need to work on your bedside manner Ramius. You have lousy tact.”
“If you want tact, chat up the doctor here. I found out who did this, but I wasn’t able to pry the why out of him before station security arrived and interrupted.”
“You didn’t waste any time. I suppose I would have done the same if our positions were reversed. I had the computer look for patterns or similarities in the shipping manifests we were able to download from the Aditus computer. Turns out there were two entries for shipments which were handled by our mutual Ferengi friend. The group uses intermediaries at every turn. Most of the transactions involve phantom delivery services and well disguised suppliers and shippers hidden behind a staggering number of aliases and false identities. Tracking down anything concrete could take a small eternity given the level of secrecy involved. Someone somewhere is being careful to the point of paranoia to cover their tracks.
I can tell you this much; the level of sophistication coupled with these shadow brokers and transports reeks of corporate or government influence. No local group could be this organized. Top level syndicate and organized crime is seldom this careful or cautious. This is big Ramius and I fear it is just the tip of something much larger and far more dangerous.”
“Well judging by your injuries I would concur with your assessment captain, but why was the Ferengi bent on silencing you?”
“I noticed the two occasions where Aditus had utilized this Ferengi merchant so I located his shop and scouted the area for a time. I chose a moment and confronted him near closing having noticed some obvious backroom dealings. I suspected the Ferengi was involved in far more than egitimate business given certain professional instincts. Things became heated and after folding the man’s ears a few times he finally coughed up where he had sent the items. I also learned he is responsible for certain transport activities.”
Akina paused and reached for a glass of water which the doctor assisted his patient with.
“Well don’t stop. Keep going Akina”, Ramius demanded.
“Give the man some slack”, Durandal tersely snapped. “This isn’t an interrogation Ramius!”
“Please continue captain”, Ramius said with a less demanding tone not bothering to hide the faint note of sarcasm in the statement directed at the doctor.
“Seems Aditus is involved in far more than simple murder. Did you know the station has over one hundred unsolved missing persons cases open?”
Ramius’s eyes widened. “One hundred?”
“Well they didn’t all occur at once, but they have been building over the last year. The cases have been mounting with station security. I fear there are many more undocumented incidents as well. Aditus members appear to be preying on individuals who have fallen on hard times or simply want to clean start by convincing them to move to some utopian colony. This Ferengi merchant organizes the transports for these poor souls who are never heard from again after departing for this so called promised land.”
“Where are they disappearing too?”
“You’ll love this. It’s a planet inside Romulan territory.”
“What?”
“That’s exactly what I said to myself Taverain, but it appears to be true assuming the Ferengi’s confession is to be trusted.”
“What the hell is Aditus doing kidnapping people and sending them to this planet?”
“That I cannot answer. I suspect the local murders are possibly escapees from the group or are those who change their minds about leaving. They probably are seen as being liabilities knowing too much and are quickly executed to prevent any of them from discussing matters with local security.
However there’s more.”
“More?”
The doctor turned from his stool nearby and stopped what he was doing. “There’s more?”
Akina coughed several times but nodded. “I can’t prove it, but there are a number of transactions that I uncovered involving transfers of money. While the trails is too well disguised and expertly laundered my instincts tell me these are payoffs. Someone in station security, perhaps multiple people are on the Aditus payroll. I have no proof but it makes perfect sense and explains why the local authorities have such a poor record in addition to a huge backlog of cases that are not being solved.”
Ramius’s expression hardened as anger swept over him. “That would explain why I’ve received a frosty reception from station security. If they’re being bought then I agree we are dealing with something much larger than a simple local disturbance.”
“Taverain, I can see you are upset, but swallow your anger for a moment. You cannot barge onto the station and demand heads. You’ll tip our hand plus we have no proof just a theory which fits the available facts which are few. We need to find out who’s running this show. Cleaning up the small fry is something we can do later once we have exposed and stopped the kingpin of this operation. If there’s anyone who wants some payback, it’s me for what those punks did to me, however I’m willing to wait to see this case through. If I can wait, so can you.”
Ramius nodded though his anger at the station security forces he had been relying upon was evident to both Akina and the doctor.
“What is the name of this planet”, Ramius asked after a short moment of silence.
“It’s called D’aisnenn. From what the Ferengi said it’s a small planet somewhere near Morendor within Romulan space.”
“I’ll look in to it. Meanwhile Doc, get Akina patched up.”
Akina struggled to sit up only to be pushed back down by the doctor. “You have that look in your eye Ramius! What are you planning?”
“Nothing. I think it’s high time I lean on a few people aboard the station so I can have my hull and engines put back together. It would seem we can no longer trust certain officers aboard the station and if this infiltration runs deeper than security we’re exposed sitting here in spacedock at the mercy of its repair teams and possible infiltration or worse.
However none of this is your concern. I want you to rest and that’s an order Akina.”
“Doctor, would you inform Ramius of my rank. I think he’s forgotten.”
Durandal put up his hands. “I’m not getting involved in any of this gentlemen.”
“Just shut up and get some rest Akina. You may not have to follow my orders, but there’s a few dozen security officers aboard who do”, Ramius said with a slight smile. “Would you like to take a bet on whose orders they would follow?”
“Don’t you have work to do”, Akina muttered with a sour note to his voice.
“Indeed. Doc, take good care of him”, Ramius said turning to leave.
“Don’t I always”, Durandal muttered turning back to attend to his patient. “Someone has to look out for you two boyscouts around here.”
[ To Be Continued… ]
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Captain Taverain Ramius
Commanding Officer, USS Corsair
Captain Zane Akina
Intelligence Officer
Commander Keith Durandal
Chief Medical Officer
(APB Tav)
