Duty Log ~ MCPO Caine & Imrol Kessek ~ "A Drop In the Water, A Look In Your Eye" Part I of II
Posted on Thu Mar 26th, 2015 @ 4:37am by Master Chief Petty Officer Rik Caine
2,174 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission: A Spot To Kill
Rik was left standing in the gardens as Nya cut the comm. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his spare hand. He looked back down to the mini-PADD and started to assimilate the data contained in the packet that Nya had transmitted. It seemed that the lawyers were hoping to confront and charge Kyym, and her cohorts, with a range of criminal offences; attempted rape, kidnap, extortion and blackmail as well as a raft of offences related to treason. Rik didn’t pretend to understand the subtleties of the law Nya was referencing but he knew enough to know that the proof had to be solid on this one. He scanned the reference material and looked over the news reports, the name was consistent throughout. Imrol Kessek. The man who could make these charges stick. Closing his PADD he headed back to the palace sending an encrypted message to Amelia to keep her in the loop.
Walking the marble corridors he couldn’t help but be impressed by the grandeur of the palace, in another time or under different circumstances the beauty of the planet could be appreciated. As it was, it sent a cold chill down Rik's spine. From what he knew and had observed these people couldn’t be trusted. Turning a corner, Rik decided against going back to the rooms. He hadn’t spent much time there, favouring walking the gardens and kipping on benches than using the quarters provided. Hearing the hum of society around him helped him think. Then he spotted an opportunity; an unguarded security office at the end of the walkway.
He hurried over, silently gliding across the floor until he reached the doorway. He looked around, the corridor was empty. He took a quick glance inside the small room and it appeared empty also. Seizing the moment, and in one motion as smooth as an elaborate dance move, he was inside and had closed the door behind him. He knew he didn’t have long, moments like this rarely lasted. Getting to work he sat himself down at the desk and begun tapping at the console, thankful that the system had been left unlocked. It meant whoever occupied this space, however, had only stepped away for a brief moment. 'Risky move, Caine', he thought. Searching for Imrol Kessek the system returned no results. "Damn," he said with an audible annoyance.
Getting up from the chair he looked around, a case with files in stood open on the cabinet. Figuring it was worth a look, Rik started to rifle through the collection of digital data devices. It appeared to contain files on citizens, some with a red emblem marked in the top left corner of some of the screens. If he'd had more time, Rik would have made copies but as he spotted a name, the name he needed, by some miracle stroke of luck. He heard footsteps and murmurings echoing down the corridor.
Rik knew he didn’t have long; fifty paces at most, minute maybe two if they stopped. He didn’t have time to copy the entire file, skimming it he read:
Last known sighting: Namor's Emporium
Status: Termination Approved
Rik cursed, shoving the data device haphazardly back into the file and took a hidden position behind the open door. The voices were louder, they were directly outside now. Rik wasn’t concerned with the topic of their conversation. He looked around, he needed a distraction. Getting caught at this stage wasn’t an option. He spotted an ornament on the table and a metal pillar outside the open window. He grinned, picked up the spherical and smooth ornament, throwing it up and catching it in his hand like a baseball. With a solid throw he hit the metal post outside causing it reverberate and make enough noise to catch the attention of the two guards who were still talking.
"What was that?"
"Not sure, came from out there - lets check it out… I bet it's those Starfleet causing more problems"
The hurried sound of footsteps away from the door gave Rik enough time to slip out unnoticed as several other guards hurried past, ignoring him in the corridor, to the scene of the noise. Clearly their response time was good. Useful information to have.
***
When Rik arrived at Namor's Emporium, he took a look around at his surroundings. It had a different feel to the rest of the places on the planet he had seen. It felt rougher, more real. Less showy. Stepping inside he looked around, he'd managed to find a cloak to cover his Starfleet uniform, but he knew his looks made him stand out a mile. The walls were cracked, plantation growing in the few spaces that showed. The bar, simple wood, and the burlier looking Atlantean that tended it eyed Rik suspiciously as he moved closer. The patrons within mostly ignored him. Rik took a seat at the bar next to a hooded gentleman who was nursing a distinctly green beverage of some description.
"I'll take one of those," Rik said pointing at a bottle of amber liquid. Not speaking the bartender sized up the man, decided he probably wasn’t a threat, and poured him the drink. "First one's on the house," he said gruffly.
"Cheers, bo," Rik said raising his glass and taking a sip. It was a strong, unusual flavour that he couldn’t place. He coughed a little. "Good hooch," he lied.
The bartender shrugged his shoulders, scoffed, and went back to wiping the countertop.
"Say, bo, I'm looking for a joe by the name of Kessek. You know where I can find him?"
A few people stopped what they were doing and looked over to Rik. The bartender himself scowled and looked around as if the walls were listening. For a moment, in uneasy silence, no one did anything. Rik spotted it then, the man to his left, face covered by the hood shifted on his seat and clenched the glass a little tighter. Without warning, he got up and headed outside into the night air.
"Get out. Now," the bartender said slowly.
"Don’t worry 'bout it bo, wrong joint. I don’t want no trouble," Rik said slowly as he downed the remaining drink and headed outside looking up and down the street for the cloaked man. He spotted the edge of the cloak disappear around a corner and hurried on foot after him. He was certain the man knew where he could find Kessek, assuming it hadn’t been him.
As Rik turned the corner he felt a sharp blow to the windpipe sending him to the floor gasping and choking. Picking himself up, and coughing, he looked at the cloaked figure towering above brandishing a disruptor.
"You work for her don’t you?"
"Depends who you mean… by her, bo" Rik said coughing and gasping to get his breath back.
"The self-appointed ruler of this once-great world."
"Commodore…"
"No… Kyym, the one who believes she has a right to that damned throne."
"Not by any stretch, bo. Look…" he moved his hands slowly to open up the cloak and reveal the distinct Starfleet uniform and emblem.
"Not convinced - time to die traitor!" the cloaked man hissed.
Without much thought Rik spun his leg out, catching the man behind his ankle and sending him to the floor with a loud thud. The disruptor spun away, clattering in the alleyway. "Look, I'm not your enemy Imrol… I need your help." Rik guessed getting up and pulling out his own phaser just in case.
The hood had slipped on the cloaked man that now lay on the floor. He was elderly, striking white hair and features typical of the Atlantean people. He eyed Rik with both fear and distrust.
Spotting this, Rik lowered his phaser and holstered it, raising his hands to show he meant the man no harm. Taking a couple of steps forwards, Rik offered out a hand to the man who took it and got to his feet.
"I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to harm you, I just can't be too trusting with a price on my head," the man spoke with an aged sorrow in his voice.
"Imrol Kessek?" Rik asked simply.
"At your service, Starfleet." He responded.
"We need your help, Kyym is plotting something and Commodore Ivanova is the target. We have a legal case to bring… but we ain't specialists in this, we need your help." Rik explained, knowing they didn’t have much time.
"My loyalty is with the true ruler of this world, the one you call Commodore. Not that treacherous creature that is poisoning our world… I have hidden in the shadows for so long, not knowing how I could change what is happening here on this world. Perhaps with Starfleet, I can help at last. I have something nearby, it is of great importance. Come." Imrol said, looking around nervously as if he expected to see someone step out of the walls. "We can't talk here."
The two men moved through the streets on foot. Imrol constantly looked around with nervous suspicion at the slightest of sounds. Eventually, they turned down a street. A battered hover car was parked in front of a battered doorway. Walking up to the door, Imrol knocked loudly, four times. Rik heard the sound of locks being undone and kept watch of the street, the nervousness of his new acquaintance causing his own adrenaline levels to rise. The door opened, and small boy stood in the entry looking up at the man whose face immediately softened. He hugged him, and hurried them all inside. "Be good, go and play in the back room," Imrol said as he ushered Rik into the front room and followed his son.
Rik looked around, the walls were cracked and the décor peeling away and fading. It was dirty and in a severe state of disrepair. There was a mattress in the corner, on the floor, and a single thin sheet. In the other corner a worn table and a battered sofa. The window was boarded up and the only light came from a lantern that sat on the table. Rik felt like he was in a Victorian England slum, something he had experienced in the holodeck.
Turning his head as Imrol returned he sighed, "your kid?"
"Yes, my son, he means everything to me; I cannot let anything happen to him." Imrol said with a pleading in his eyes. "Tell me, what did you need to know?"
"We believe we have Kyym on charges of attempted rape for the forced bond-paring she is putting on the Commodore. We understand that would fit the criteria of the offence. Our lawyers are also looking at charges of kidnap, extortion, blackmail and a variety of treason related crimes based on the research we've done…" Rik explained.
"Kidnap, extortion, blackmail?" Imrol queried as his eyes widened.
"She unlawfully had one of our crew detained; citing some nonsense about Cardassians as justification, however, nothing in the records shows that kind of law exists."
"Ahh, yes… that’s because it doesn’t. We have laws relating to those other offences you mention though, I can provide your lawyers with the necessary case and statute to support that. I have a disk; it contains notes and communications regarding seizing power in this place. Kyym is guilty of murder, inciting terror, conspiracy to commit an act of treason and torture if the documents on there are to be believed. I do not have the technology to verify such things, but I'm sure you people can. If nothing else, she can be toppled with the allegations alone." Imrol said, with a previously unheard hope in his voice. "She is a tyrant; she must be stopped for the good of the Atlanteans." He added.
"Ok, grab the disk and the books you need, we'll go back to the palace and once the Commodore is found we can end this damn charade." Rik said slowly getting up from his seat. He paused and raised his hand to stop Imrol moving as he listened. Silence. A feint hum.
Imrol ignored the hand gesture and stood up, moving to the bookcase. "DOWN!" Rik yelled as he jumped towards Imrol, pushing him down to the floor behind the seat as a loud explosion ripped the door open sending a ball of fire inside the property. From the back a boy's screams could be heard before gunfire. Silence.
"Rik Caine, Imrol Kessek, you are hereby detained for crimes against the Atlantean people. Surrender now or we will kill you!"
Imrol let out an anguished yell as what happened hit him. Rik knew he had to get them both out. Had to help the crew wake up from this nightmare.
=/\= Continued in Part II =/\=
Master Chief Petty Officer Rik Caine
Security Investigator/Chief of the Boat
USS Vindicator, NCC-78213-E
Imrol Kessek (NPC played by Rik)
Atlantean Legal Scholar and Political Dissident
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