I'll scratch your back if you...

Posted on Friday, 22 January 2021 - 1:25pm by Captain Barret Stillwater & Lieutenant Raith Kolani
Edited on on Friday, 22 January 2021 - 1:26pm

Mission: Operation: Trail of Tears
Location: Captains Ready Room, USS Standing Bear
Timeline: Prior to Soral and Stillwater's promotion

ON:

With the Standing Bear docked at Jupiter station (feel free to change this if I have it wrong), Raith was getting used to being back on his feet now that he was in his recovery phase after waking up from his recent coma on board the ship. Having been brought up to speed by T'Lanna on what had happened on board since he had slipped into the coma and finding out about the recent arrival of Jayce, Raith was rather glad he was now awake and resting.

Having placed on Medical leave, Raith had been catching up on logs from the Operations Department whilst watching the holo transmission of the Federation President in his shuttle convoy. WHilst slowly sipping some hot water, Raith suddenly looked up to ee an explosion in the sky in the exact place where the Presidents Shuttle Convoy should have been.

He was stunned, almost frozen in the spot where he had jumped forward, startled by the noise as the various PADDs went flying to the floor as did the cup and saucer he was using, which both smashed to pieces on contact. Raith stood up as he realised what had happened before his eyes:

The Presidents Shuttle Convoy had been destroyed... Had someone just assassinated the UFP President?

Slowly making his way over to the desk, Raith powered up the link to his private server and downloaded everything he had on his private investigation regarding the First Contact Day Massacre on Utopia Planitia. Recalling speaking to Alex about this not long before he fell into his coma, Raith needed to find a way to get the information to the Captain.

As the information downloaded to the PADD, Raith wasn't sure why, but he knew in his gut that this was connected and felt it was time to trust his CO and see what he thought about the information he had as well as this newest incident that would shake the Federation.

Once complete, Raith moved over to this combadge. "Lt Kolani to Captain Stillwater, I need to speak with you in private," Raith said, before waiting for an answer.

Stillwater had just finished dishing out orders to Soral, Kingsley, and Baciami when his combadge started chittering up a storm. He had at first expected it to be his husband being overprotective and making sure that Barret was safe and sound. After all, Stillwater had only recently been released after being poisoned from a bottle of tainted wine. Though for once in his life, it was not Talarn Zilth contacting him after a catastrophic event.

"Lieutenant Kolani," Stillwater smirked as he heard the man's voice. "Where the hell have you been?" Stillwater inquired. It had been like Kolani had vanished after they brought him back from being abducted by those subspace aliens a while back. "Forgive me. Never mind that, lieutenant. Are you alright? I am in San Francisco right now, but we can meet wherever you'd like, but it may be easier to get back to Jupiter station right now and get aboard the Standing Bear. After what just happened...public transporter travel is likely to be shut down within the next hour or so."

Raith smiled as he heard the Captain's reply and realised that it was obvious he had been missed. "Thank you, Captain, it's a pleasure to speak to you again as well," Raith said. "I woke from my coma a few days ago aboard the Standing Bear, in fact, I'm still on board as I work through my recovery period as per doctors orders."

"Under Doctor Alexander care no doubt," replied the Commanding Officer, knowing Rose was away at a medical conference of sorts. "You make sure that you rest then, lieutenant. I'll need you back on your feet soon" added Stillwater.

"Sir, I have something I'd like to discuss with you before I come back on duty, however, I must insist that I speak with you...face to face if possible. I am willing to leave the Standing Bear and transport to a location of your choice," Raith offered, making sure that he didn't yet specify why he needed to meet.

Stillwater shook his head instinctively even though the man was not there with him. "No, no. You stay exactly where you are, lieutenant. It is bad here...have a situation that you probably have received word of. It will be easier for me to get back to you than for you to get here. I will head back to the Standing Bear, but it may take me an hour or two to get off the planet. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Understood sir, I'll be waiting, Kolani out," Raith said before cutting the comms. He sat back down on the sofa as the images from the news feed continued on mute. Almost staring out into nothingness, Raith wondered how this could have happened and what he could do to assist.

(Two Hours Later)

Raith picked up another fresh orange juice from the replicator before sitting down to go over the contents of the secure PADD that he held before him. Once he was happy that the data was secure and complete, Raith placed it next to him and took a sip of his drink.

Stillwater took a seat across from Raith after having grabbed himself a mug of rooibos tea. "You are looking a lot better," commented the man as he took a seat. "Congratulations," added Stillwater. "I feel like it is appropriate to say so. You are going to be a good father for that child, lieutenant."

Raith nodded as he saw Stilwater take a seat and took his congratulations. "Thank you, sir, it's not exactly what I expected to wake up to however I am glad that I'm feeling well and also looking forward to seeing Jayce," he explained. "Its also good to see that T'Lanna is recovering well too."

"Some end up going to sleep and waking up pregnant," teased Stillwater. "Fortunately, that wasn't your case. What can I do for you?"

Raith paused for a moment before he carried on the conversation. "Sir, I'm glad that your here and its good to see you as well, however, I need to speak to you on an important matter that may be linked to the...incident earlier today," Raith explained.

"You know something about the Federation shuttles that exploded, Lieutenant?" inquired Stillwater "Or about the Cochrane statue that was toppled in Montana?"

"Neither sir," Raith began. "I believe I have information about a moment in Federation history, a very dark moment, that took place over ten years ago...The Utopia Planitia disaster."

"Dark moment indeed," replied Stillwater.

Raith let the comment stand for a moment before he carried on. "I have here a PADD that contains a private investigation and all of its data that I have kept on a secure and secret server and from the actions that took place today, I believe that the two incidents are related."

"Interesting," Stillwater replied. "I would not expect an Operations Officer to be poking about as a private investigator," said Stillwater. "While you were having a nap, we were doing some investigating of our own in regards to my poisoning, but we uncovered some things that may be tied to Earth's incidents."

Raith sat forward slightly. "I lost my whole family in one go on that day, sir, like many others, however to me a lot of things didn't add up at the time and to be honest they still don't..." Raith paused as he took in what Stillwater had said.

"They tried to poison you? My god what else could be going on here?" he asked feeling a sudden level of bewilderment.

"Successfully," replied Stillwater with a dismissive gesture. "Bottle of rosé, a good year, bad intentions. It was a loaded pistol and I was playing Russian roulette with my wine rack for years unknowingly. Unrelated to what's been going on, but I gifted it to the Director of Starfleet Intelligence. We poured two glasses in her office, and she wasn't as fortunate. They couldn't save her."

Raith considered what Stillwater said. "So, even if it was for you, it still had the effect of killing one of Starfleet's highest officers and then today, someone manages to take out the Federation President...that's too many coincidences for me in one day sir, if I may," Raith offered. Looking at the PADD, he handed this over to the Captain.

"Sir, this is everything that I worked on from day one after the incident at Utopia Planitia. I've kept this secure and safe, on separate servers at various locations that are known only to me. I feel that this may be of some help to you with the current crisis...because I feel that this is all linked somehow to what's going on and could...maybe offer some clues as to who could be behind these incidents," Raith explained.

Stillwater accepted the PaDD. "There have been a lot of conspiracy theories and avenues pursued after the attack on Mars. Why did the Synthetic beings, our Androids do what they did? Did they act alone, were they merely puppets on a string, and if so, who or what pulled those strings?" The man shook his head. "I left Starfleet when they started shutting down androids and any synthetic life when they turned their back on the Romulans and started pushing ex-Borg out of prominent postings and removing their commissions," explained Stillwater.

"There were some pointing their finger suspiciously at anyone and everyone as holding responsibility for the attack. Some felt and still feel the Dominion were behind it, payback for losing the war. Others considered a more insidious thought that the Cardassians were slyly doing so. Hell, I have even heard people accusing the Klingons of such a cowardly act, but we do not know. Even a few years have passed and we know so little. There are some out there who feel we were not even the target and it was the Romulans that were the target, we were just the message. I would love more than nothing to know the truth of that day."

Raith smiled as he nodded in agreement. "Its is concerning that for such a huge event that affected one of the major powers of the Alpha Quadrant in one day, there are so many theories despite the apparent facts out there," he said.

Raith leaned forward. "Captain, once I am fit for duty, I want to be involved in the investigation in any way that I can be of help." before pausing for a moment, Raith carried on. "I also feel that the information I have gathered may also provide either some insight or further clues for both the Day of Fire and what has happened today." Whatever was going on, Raith wanted to get back in on the job and be a part of the crew again.

Stillwater nodded. "I will go through all of it, analyze it, and try to give it another set of eyes," replied Stillwater. "We should routinely meet, the two of us. We can keep working on this and if it does turn out to be interconnected with what has happened on Earth, we will bring everyone in."

"I'd like that very much Captain," Raith agreed. "I should... I should also let you know that I have also discussed this information with Lieutenant Alex Kingsley a while ago...we share a common interest in that we both lost family during the Day of Fire and that she was also interested in helping with this investigation."

Raith took a breath before carrying on. "I did agree not to share that but I feel that as you now know about my investigation, it's only fair that you know the both of us have looked at it and worked upon it further...Alex... has a very clever mind and is very good on the details, sir. I want it clear that I don't wish to get her in trouble in this matter," Raith explained. The last thing he wanted to do was cause any issue but he also wanted to help.

"In trouble for what?" replied Stillwater. "Examining a public incident and looking at it with a different set of eyes? What you two do on your own time is of no concern of mine nor the Federation so long as it doesn't violate any laws. As far as I'm aware being sleuths is not a crime." Stillwater nodded "Lieutenant Kingsley sees things as a scientist. She's an asset for sure."

"Thank you, sir, I appreciate that. With your permission we'll continue sleuthing as it were in our own time...and keep you in the loop if that's acceptable?" Raith offered to his superior, hoping that what he knew could assist further.

Stillwater nodded "You have my permission to proceed with your sleuthing, lieutenant," replied the Commanding Officer. Then, he cleared his throat. "Anything else you'd like to discuss?"

Raith shook his head slowly. "No sir, that's all I wanted to discuss with you. I'm just looking forward to completing my recovery and getting back on duty, as well as spending what time I can with both T'Lanna and Jayce," he admitted.

"Make sure that you make time for them both when you can, when off duty, and of course when you take a bit of a break from sleuthing. If you go at this too hard too fast, and too often, you'll get sucked into it. Trust me when I say that you do not want that, Lieutenant. I'll see you and speak to you again shortly. Now, I must get ready for a meeting."

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