Alia Year 3.5 Cruise

Posted on Sat Jan 22nd, 2022 @ 1:57am by Lieutenant JG Alia Fitzgerald

6,000 words; about a 30 minute read

Cadet cruises took students all over alpha quadrant, broadening the Academy experience with real experience. No two were quite alike and the needs of the students were balanced with the those of Starfleet... and that of the requesting organizations.
Alia sat with Ryan and a cadet she didn't know, a Vulcan named V'tel in Professor Adams's office. She looked sternly at them but not without a hint of satisfaction, "This assignment is quite prestigious, but its sensitive as well. Deep Space 9 was, and is, critically important to Federation security and, indeed, the entire Alpha Quadrant. This is first time they allowed official cadet tours since the war and the region has, perhaps, the highest diversity of non-Federation species in our space. While we don't expect any particular problems, obviously this is a sensitive region and we expect everyone to be on their best behavior. Now, go and make us proud of you!"
After they left the office, Alia asked the others, "DS9? Why is that place so important?"
Ryan rolled his eyes, "The only stable wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant? The war with the Dominion? You've heard of them, right girl?"
She punched his arm hard enough that he felt it... one advantage of the required physical therapy for cadets. "Maybe you might remember that I was not exactly up on current events before three years ago?"
He help up his hands in self-defense and felt a twinge where she had hit him. "Sorry, my fault."
V'tel nodded, "The Bajoran gate has made DS9 a nexus for travellers from both Quadrants." She put the fingertips of her hands together. "So discretion is important. There may be a situation that requires assistance and yet they won't, or can't, request official aid. We represent three separate domains: Med/Ops, science and conn officer. This would combine mobility and investigative skills." She looked at Ryan. "I presume that your muscles are not just for show."
Ryan grinned wryly, "I do okay."
The Vulcan nodded and looked at Alia, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm 80th percentile in short range phaser tests... not nearly as good beyond that."
"And I, of course, am a Vulcan. So we share at least some ability to conduct ourselves in a physical conflict. If my suppositions are correct, and there is considerable room for error, the requestors were trying to combine maximum utility."
"I guess it would look suspicious if they invited a lot of cadets... almost as suspicious if a lot of new Federation personnel started wandering around."
Ryan looked a bit grim. "But cadets are expected to poke around, maybe even get into a certain amount of trouble due to ignorance."
Alia looked startled, "They wouldn't send us in blindly."
He shook his head, "No, but any information we'd likely get after we arrived. If it's a sensitive situation then the less that is transmitted, the better."
V'tel added, "Or, it might be nothing at all."
The others nodded but none of them believed that.
* * *
Mutually deciding that discretion outweighed a need to talk about the mission, they made no mention of their theory to each other or anyone else. All three prepared as best they could, researching the current situation on DS9. The problem was that so MUCH stuff was going through there, it was like trying to trace every particle of a matter/antimatter explosion. At Ryan's suggestion, they made a habit of meeting together 'socially' on the holodeck in the days until their departure.
Alia was resting and watched V'tel and Ryan sparring. V'tel had strength and endurance on her side but the man was obviously much more practiced, specializing in some sort of quick-kill martial art. Alia was no match for either one so she mostly just practiced against hologram opponents.
They weren't using any rules, depending on the safety protocols of the holodeck to keep them from serious injury. While the Vulcan lacked Ryan's talent for inspired mayhem, she was dedicated, studied hard and never repeated a mistake. Finally, he managed to get the upper hand by kicking a rock toward her head which distracted her long enough for him to 'stab' her with a hologram blade. Her outfit turned red at the point of impact, indicating a kill.
He grinned widely, "One more point for me."
V'tel shook her head, "One each."
"What, really?"
Alia pointed, "She got your the artery near your kidney at the same time. Not a sure kill, but close to it."
He looked behind him and saw the red mark, "Sonofa... Good hit!"
"You ignore your defenses just after you pull a 'trick' and it leaves you vulnerable for a brief time."
"Huh. Good to know." He stretched and said, "End program, start marksmanship training program... hmmm... Epsilon level 5."
The computer obligingly changed the scenario to an urban scene... a war-torn city scape filled with ruins and places to hide. Simulated phasers appeared on their hips but Alia also had a half dozen daggers as well. While not any sort of expert, she was a fair shot with the throwing knives at short range.
The Epsilon program required them to get from one side of ten city blocks to the other. The layout was never quite the same and the enemies were varied in numbers, skill and weaponry. After two weeks of intensive practice, they were able to move together with a degree of teamwork.
Ryan took point with Alia covering for him and V'tel bringing up the rear. Despite his size, he was quite stealthy and had a knack for silent movement. Alia's kill percentages, within range, was rapidly improving and V'tel had an excellent tactical sense. At level five, the scenario was quite challenging as it was designed for a squad of four with sniper support. Still they made it through roughly half the time with no losses... as long as they kept to this configuration. Every other combination they tried ended up in disaster.
The city was quieter than usual for level 5... that either meant their opponents were particularly tough or unusually crafty. Alia bit her lip. She didn't mind the tough ones so much... it just took more hits to take them down. The sneaky ones, though... They went up to the second floor of a relatively intact building. The windows were blown out but they could scout out the area better from above and maybe discover a better route through the city.
Ryan suddenly stopped, still silent as a shadow. The two women also paused, trusting his senses. He held up a fist and then four fingers, pointing at a wall. V'tel nodded and waved to indicate a withdrawl... they would bypass this group. Before they could move, the wall was knocked down and collapsed onto Ryan, pinning his legs!
"Crap!" He tried to free his gun arm but the lead attacker kicked his phaser away. Four battle-hardened and red-eyed Klingons roared a challenge and rushing through the opening in the wall.
V'tel dodged around the corner of a wall and laid down some supressing fire... enought to distract them from the downed cadet but not able to get a bead on any of them. If she risked herself any more, she would be vulnerable to their overwhelming numbers. She ducked and fired some quick shots, winging one of the Klingons but it only seemed to make him angrier. En masse, they rushed her as if daring her to even take one of them down! The lead warrior shook off a phaser blast to the chest and yelled, "Hegh qoH!" He raised a wickedly sharp and blood-stained mek'leth to strike down the Vulcan.
Only to be stopped in mid charge by two more phaser strikes to his back! The simultaneous beams disintegrated the warrior and the other three, surprised by the unexpected attack, were cut down by the Vulcan and a Alia wielding a phaser in each hand from behind.
Ryan tried to pull himself out from under the rubble and then laughed and said, "End program," letting the room go back to the simple black room with a grid of white lines. "That was some running and shooting, girl! You went down the back stairs, ran seventy meters around the block, climbed up the other side in less than ten seconds?"
"Well, they would have wiped me out if I had stayed... they were too close to get enough shots off so I had to catch them by surprise. I figured that V'tel would be able to delay them long enough for me to set that up."
The Vulcan nodded, "Logical." She entered her observations into her PADD and said, “Our rate of improvement has diminished markedly. I calculate that it would be illogical to continue this practice in the time we have available.”
Alia was shaking a bit from adrenaline but nodded in agreement. “So what do we do with our time, then? Three days isn’t much.”
Ryan rubbed his legs where there was a bit ‘simulator pain’ lingering from the scenario. “What do students normally do when they are about to go on their cadet cruise… probably their first big trip in years?”
“Well, umm, they normally relax, pack, party… just regular stuff.”
He grinned, “And that’s exactly what we’re going to do! They’re expecting three normal cadets and that’s what they’ll get… apparently.”
* * *
The next few days went by exactly as he suggested. They kept any guesses and suppositions to themselves, not even talking to each other. They came together for the farewell party with friends, classmates and others. It was one of several on the campus during this season, spaced rather conveniently for avid partygoers as not everyone left at the same time for their tours.
Alia, never a heavy partier, was even more sparing than usual. For one thing, she disliked the loss of control that came with drink and, specfically now, she had secrets to keep. But, moreover, the press of people was making her nervous. Her breathing became shallow and fast and her pupils contracted. She could feel the start of a full panic attack... her first in over a year.
To relieve the tension, she went out onto the verdana, trying not to run. The night air braced her and she concentrated on her relaxation exercises. She slowly felt the panic ebb and her heart rate slow again.
Tavay, ever-sensitive to her friend's mood, came up beside her. "A little too much, huh?"
She nodded vigorously, "WAY too much! I didn't want a crowd this size but Ryan... it's his party too, right?"
"And yours. Don't forget that." They both looked up at the stars through the clear night air. "Do you know why you are so panicked with just fifty people in there but you were able to stand in front of hundreds during your performances with Rowdy Crowd? Easily over a thousand that last night?"
"I... never thought about it that way. It just seemed to work out." Alia really thought about it for the first time but couldn't reconcile the two. "Are you going to tell me or say I need to find out for myself?"
Tavay laughed and brushed a lock of hair from her face. "If I'm going to be a counselor, I should counsel once in awhile. The reason why you aren't panicked is there's a wall when you were performing. You were on one side, they were on the other. Everyone knew their roles and you were in control of the interaction. The audience could have been fifty times that size and, other than performance jitters, you would have handled it equally well."
"Maybe not fifty times..."
"It's not the number, it's the control. You could have a panic attack if there was only ONE other person in a room." She mimicked a region around herself like a force shield. "You have to mentally and emotionally control your space even during times you can't physically control it. Boundaries are fine, we need them, YOU need them. But they have to be your tools, not your prison."
Alia was silent for awhile. "My tools, is it?"
"Eventually. You have to build up something most people do automatically but you're already better than you were a few years ago. Now just do it consiously and you'll be fine." She turned away from the starry sky, "Probably should go back to the party. It IS for you, after all."
She sighed and drew in a deep breath. "Okay, got it. Shields at 100%!"
* * *
On the day of their departure, there was a small crowd to see them off. A few of Alia's friends (and some fans), a couple of study partners for V'tel and a small throng of women for Ryan. Ryan's well-wishers were significantly over half the crowd and he somehow extracted himself without there being a big scene. He dropped into a seat and sighed with relief as soon as the shuttle's doors were closed. "Whew! That's fun and all but I look forward to a few days of R&R."
V'tel looked at him blandly, "You seemed entertained."
Ryan stretched his lanky body out on the seat. "Oh, it's fun, it's fun! But it's not very restful. And we need to be on our 'A' game in a few days. Time to sleep, do some last minute studying about the station and the like." He pulled out a technical manual but didn't talk about what they might find, not trusting who (or what) might overhear them. "Plus, I'm sure there will plenty of lonely ladies on DS9 that would like to show us... around the station."
Alia, having grown used to his escapades from when they first worked together, found them either tedious or amusing depending on her mood. "Is that ALL you think about?"
"You wound me! Sometimes I also think about dinner. And, when I run out of other topics, the physics of sudden warp-energy transference near black holes."
"You're going to get yourself killed like that, you know."
The Vulcan nodded, "The probability of total destruction is well over 98.4% given the most favorable assumptions."
"Never tell me the odds!"
"A most illogical attitude."
"Maybe so, but it works for me." He leaned back, closed his eyes and covered his head with the manual. "Wake me if we lose pressure or are disintegrated."
V'tel looked she was about to say something but Alia just shook her head and so the first leg of the trip passed in a silence, though a companionable one.
* * *
Other than the occasional automated shuttle, Ryan asked for, and mostly received, permission to pilot the craft used. He had a deft touch and (usually) restrained his more adventuresome impulses when at the helm. The other two tried to absorb as much as they could about DS9 but the sheer quantity of races moving through it and its very busy history made the task daunting. The one thing they determined for certain is that it was a sensitive situation and not really suited to any sort of gunboat diplomacy. The Federation wasn't all-powerful there despite being nominally in control.
At last, though, they arrived at the Bajoran system rested and ready for whatever lay ahead... they hoped.
The entry port was busy. No, calling it busy would be a lie of omission. It was TEEMING with as wide a variety of races as could be gathered in one spot outside of a UFP grand session... but perhaps even more diverse as the Delta Quadrant species were represented as well.
Alia kept chanting to herself 'shields up, shields up' as she scanned the crowd warily. “Where to first?”
V'tel said, “We should speak to the head of the station as a matter of courtesy.” She raised an eyebrow implying other things.
Ryan nodded. “Right-O!” He murmured into his Starfleet combadge and was unsurprised that it worked on this station. After a few seconds of listening over the noise around them, he turned to his teammates. “We are expected. Let's get this show on the road!”
* * *
A uniformed woman with an elaborate ear decoration was yelling at at a well-dressed Ferengi who was was unfazed by her tirade.
“I do NOT care what the rules of acquisition say in these circumstances! Someone nodding while unconscious from alcohol poisoning does not constitute a valid contract!”
“My dear Colonel, can't we take a more... enlightened view on this matter? The contract is quite lucrative and I wouldn't be adverse to sharing the wealth my good friends. In exchange for an understanding between station security and...”
“Good plan! Security!” she bellowed. “Make sure to escort Quark back to his establishment and tell the salvage crews that ships that are behind on their docking fees are not automatically subject to space salvage laws.”
“There's no need to be nasty.” Quark managed to look both dapper and hurried as he avoided being manhandled by grim-faced security officers.
Kira saw the three cadets and waved them in. “Enter. Sit.” She waved at the chairs near her laden desk. “Computer, do a security sweep.”
“Working... working... audio recording device discovered.”
Scowling, Kira followed a convenient light and found a thin device that exactly matched the color of her furniture. She crushed it rather savagely and muttered. “I hope that was really expensive.”
“First, welcome. Second, you three know that being here isn't exactly an accident. I need reliable people that won't be suspected.” She frowned. “Well, not more than usual.”
V'tel said, “What are your orders, Colonel?”
“Officially, I can't give you orders, but I can point out we have a situation and if you just happen to find out something that can help, I'd appreciate it.” She fixed them with a steely gaze. “I don't expect any of you to risk your lives or reputations on this! Your advantage is that people might be less wary of you because of your age and experience and you might find out things that my security can't ferret out.”
Alia tilted her head to one side slightly. “Why is that, ma'am?”
She frowned. “There are strangers coming through here all the time but the permanent population is only a few hundred. Everyone literally knows everyone else by sight and possible personally in that small population. Any move made by one of the semi-permanent residents is noted and prepared for. The half-life of any agent I can get is maybe a week before they lose effectiveness. I know it, they know it.”
“Who are 'they', if I might ask?” Ryan grinned, already planning to dive into the chaos of the base.
“Who? Who! All of them! If I got rid of every suspicious person on DS9, I'd be alone before the day is done. Cadet cruisers such as yourselves are expected to check in with me, so you haven't raised any serious flags with the nosy types... yet. But, after about the next ten minutes, you shouldn't contact me or any of the base personnel until you are ready to report. The second you show up back here or are caught in communication with us, your usefulness is done.”
“Fascinating. Quite the exercise in subterfuge. The side with theoretically the stronger force is actually weaker due to circumstance. It reminds me of the T'gel opening...”
Ryan cleared his throat as he sensed a 3-d chess analogy coming.
Alia jumped in. “The situation, ma'am?”
“Right. Someone has been smuggling Cardassian weapons and technology through DS9. There are stockpiles... somewhere... we don't know where. There are also a very limited number that are used for research purposes but those are highly regulated. Ship to ship transfers are watched carefully and we pretty much insist on scanning any ship from the Gamma quadrant that wants access to the Alpha quadrant and vice versa. Our sensors are very highly tuned for contraband like that so getting past us.”
“How about shieldiing?”
Kira grinned savagely... an expression a Klingon would appreciate. “If some area is so well shielded we can't scan, we make sure to inspect it PERSONALLY.” She shook her head. “At any rate, go poke around. Have fun. SAFELY. I received three cadets in good shape and I intend to return you the same way. Even if you spend the last part of your tour in the brig. Understood?”
“Yes ma'am!” “Yes Colonel!” “Aye aye.”
“Good. Now get out of here.”
Getting away from the base commander's office lest they get associated with 'the powers that be'. “Wow, that sounds...” Alia was at a loss for words.
“Amazing, right?” Ryan's eyes shined with excitement. “This is going to be great! Okay, first thing, we need to split up. Stay in contact but we only have a week or so and a whole station to cover.”
V'tel nodded, followed by Alia, though reluctantly. The vulcan said, “I'll investigate the scientific community.”
“I'll poke my nose in less savory places. I might start at the Ferengi's club.” Ryan rubbed his thunb against his forefinger knuckle. “Nothing like a big winner or a big loser to loosen some tongues.”
Alia took a deep breath. “I'll head to the docks. Everything that doesn't go through the central office, goes through there.”
* * *
There were two types of cadet cruises. The first, and more common, type is where the cadets were integrated into the workings of the post where they were stationed. Taking over tasks normally done by full officers and generally learning about the nitty gritty of being a Starfleet Officer.
The other type were more like mini-vacations with minimal duties, if any. Basically, don't cause trouble and then go home. Of course, everyone had to pretend it was the first type... even if everyone knew it wasn't.
To all appearances, the three were just goofing off and doing what pleased them. Alia had her guitar case slung on her back as wandered over to the docks. The sheer quantity of ships was daunting and it looked like they were mostly waved through after a scan without anyone personally boarding them.
Though no social butterfly, she had developed a few tricks over the years. Being SOCIAL without being INTIMATE, as it were. The guitar was one of those tricks. You could attract attention, positive attention, but it also kept people from getting grabby.
One of the stevedores said, “You best stay out of the LUL zone, girly. Lots of stuff coming through here.” He was a tall, rough-looking human but not unfriendly.
“Sorry! Is there a good place to stand?”
He pointed to an area between the foot traffic and loading zones. “Not much happens in that spot unless we have cargo overflow, so you can busk over there.”
“Thanks!” She hadn't planned her next step but his suggestion did give her an excuse to be there and observe things. She opened her case and in a tradition that had existed for many centuries, left it open for tips as she played. In most planets of the UFP, this would be impossible due to a lack of currency or a lack of need to make a simple living. But DS9 was a crossroads of too many cultures, many of whom didn't trust electronic currencies of other races. So cash was king here in denominations large and small.
Alia set amplification to minimum on her guitar and switched to a mellower sound. Most of the time, she like the more authentic, raw sound of her axe but she knew it too extreme for some audiences. Her repertoire had expanded tremendously but there was a lifetime of music on a datapad she kept in her guitar case to fill in the gaps. She started with a few pieces she was very familiar with. But better than her playing was her singing which caused more than one person to pause or even stop and drop a few coins in her case as she played.
A pair of armored humanoids approached her menacingly. They were armed, smelled of alien sweat and what might be blood and even the smaller one was a nearly a foot taller than she was outmassed her by at least a factor of two. The larger one stared at her, eyes narrowed and growled. “Do you know any Klingon music?”
“I... no... but I have something you might like.” She flipped through her datapad to get the percussion up, flipped her fender back to its rawest settings and then dived into Holy Wars.
The Klingons took a step back at the wave of sound assault them. Within seconds they were nodding to the song and let out a roar at the end! “wejpuH!! Truly, a warrior's song!”
She grinned and wiped some sweat off of her face. “T-thanks, I'm glad you liked it.”
The other nodded. “Truly, human culture is deeper than I thought.” He dumped out his purse into her guitar case. “batlh bIHeghjaj.”
The two walked into the station singing Megadeth as they went.
After a few more songs, another person approached, a woman this time. No, a Romulan judging by her clothing. “Most impressive. I had no idea what you play for those two.”
“Well, art knows no boundaries, right?”
“Jolan Tru. My name is Kalenna and I think you might be able to help me.”
Alia said hesitantly, “You have a song you like?”
The Romulan smiled. “While the answer to that is 'yes', I been watching you watching the shipments and I think we might have a similar goal.”
“Maybe this isn't the best place to talk, Kalenna.”
“No no, this is the perfect place. If you want to stay hidden, stay out in the open. Play something you know well and I'll smile and throw some coins in your case, eh?”
The cadet did so, curious as to where this might lead and not afraid. After all, what could happen in the middle of a crowded loading bay with witnesses and sensors everywhere? “So what goal might we share?”
“You're looking for opportunities for smuggling and wondering how certain items are getting through this station despite all the technology in the world.”
“That is an interesting theory.” She changed to “The House of the Rising Sun” which a complete novice can play in their sleep.
“Please. You're a cadet, even if you're out of uniform, I can tell. You've been spending far too much timing watching WHAT happens here rather than WHO is walking around and potentially donors to your music fund.”
She decided to draw the Romulan out. “Tell me more, please.”
“Oh, coy are you? I don't mind showing a few cards first. Someone has been smuggling contraband through the station. My problem is they are using a Romulan waystation as part of their plan. I need to shut this down before we're dragged into a conflict that the empire would much rather not be involved with. The last war did us no favors and the consensus is the next one, if there is a next one, would be worse.”
“Fair enough. We think it's Cardassian items... weapons.”
Kalenna sucked in her breath and muttered a curse under her breath. “We seem to have a common goal, then, cadet.”
“Please, my name is Alia.” She paused and had to ask. “Was I really so obvious?”
The Romulan laughed, “No, not that much. It's just you were standing exactly where * I * wanted to stand to keep any eye on things and I was able to piece together the situation out of annoyance.”
* * *
For the next three days, the cadets investigated separately and shared information under the guise of meeting for dinner. V'tel learned a lot of how they tracked and scanned for Cardassian items (and about their technology in general) while Ryan had been traversing the seedy underbelly of the station. He had gotten into at least two drunken fights (he was much less drunk than he appeared) and was now a regular at Quark's casino.
Alia only ever referred to Kalenna as 'my friend' as the information they were sharing was much more sensitive. “My friend says there may be another shipment soon. Maybe a day or two.”
V'tel nodded. “Let's examine the facts. Due to the sensitive nature of the artifacts, every ship is scanned for them. The only regular shipment are ones that are loaned out for research purposes but those are scanned coming and going to make sure they are returned. Once out, by whatever route, smugglers are using carefully prepared routes so they can get past any other detection.”
Ryan nodded. “There's a lot of people willing to pay for those weapons but there don't seem to be anyone spearheading the smuggling from what I've found out. It's a nice closed loop, so they aren't depending on local hoodlums as ad-hoc muscle or suppliers. Whatever they set up, it's tight.”
“I wish I could examine the examine the scanners and the ships myself.” Alia groused. “They say the items are on there properly but we can't be sure.”
“Actually, each item loaned out has been returned and checked carefully afterwards. They may be going out but the item is back safely each time. As to your desire to examine the ships themselves, I have acquired an item.” She opened a box with a curious eyepiece inside attached to a head clamp. “It's a cardassian virtual sensory display. It can interface with cardassian technology and also functions as a sensor array. There are side effects to using it and it's rather obvious but it might prove useful to you.”
“Oh?” Alia put it one with some instruction from the Vulcan and soon saw images directly beamed into her optic nerves. “Oh! Wow, this is pretty fun.” There was a slight twinge of pain when she focused on things too closely. “You said side effects?”
“Pain if used too long. Possible blindness and madness depending on the race of the user. All can be avoided as long as it's not used for more than a few hours at a time.”
Alia took it off hurriedly. “Madness?”
“It's really only made for Cardassians neurology. I advise you to follow the guidelines.”
Ryan leaned back in his chair, “So items go out, the only ones that are allowed. They always come back because you've actually seen them. Yet things are still being smuggled out. It's like a shell game except with weapons rather than a pea.”
Both of the women looked at him, puzzled. He caught their expression and laughed. “It's an old Earth gambling game but it mostly involves slight of hand and a certain amount of cheating.” He got the replicator to make three small cups and a ball. He demonstrated the various ways that the eye had no way of following what was going on.
V'tel was particularly annoyed by the game. “Logically, there's no way we could fail to detect the ball every time unless there is no ball there. And yet there is.”
Ryan laughed and flipped over all three cups and then showed the ball hidden in his hand. “But even played honestly, you'd have no better than random chance of guessing where it was. With even bets, you'd lose in the long run because the hand is much quicker than the eye.”
“What if that's what we're dealing with here?” Alia took the cups and the ball and showed them what she was thinking.
“That's brilliant! Not guaranteed, but it fits the facts and it's best idea we've gotten so far.”
“Logical,” V'tel said, the best compliment she had. “Let's test this theory.”
* * *
Alia met Kalenna at their usual spot of busker and fan. Fortunately, Alia's performances were entertaining enough that this was not at all suspicious. When no one was within earshot, she said, “We have an idea how they are getting out. I need to get close enough to use this.” She briefly showed the Romulan the inside of her bag.
“A cardassian VSD, how novel. So you want to scan the outgoing ships? Keeping that thing on too long is not very good for you, you know.”
“Not the outgoing ships, the INCOMING ships. Really only one a specific one and if we're right, that will be all it takes.”
“My. My my my. Let's see how scanning an incoming ship will determine how things are being smuggled out, then!”
“Can you get me close to this ship?” She gave the designation of the ship in question.
“Certainly. I've scoped out most of the best places to spy... errr... observe matters here.”
“It won't take long. Just say when we need to go and I'll close up here.”
One of the stevedores yelled over and requested a favorite song. Alia smiled and waved back and started playing again, her 'break' over.
One of the advantages of having a good idea about the method, was that it gave you a good idea who was responsible. Both V'tel and Ryan were near two suspects and Kalenna vowed she could get a message to DS9 security without tipping off anyone to the source.
Alia made her way to the spot Kalenna had told her about and she slipped on the VSD trying not to remember the warnings she had been told. The ship in question slid into the dock and she started her scan. It was disorienting to see through the ship but she kept at it until she was certain. She tapped her communicator and sent a message to Kalenna and the other cadets. “There's no pea.”
While things were happening through the station at her message, she kept an eye on the scanning operator until station security took him away.
* * *
Colonel Kira was very pleased at the conclusion of the operation. “All the smugglers were caught and quickly turned on each other once in custody. I'm curious thought, how scanning an incoming ship told you how the contraband was getting out.”
“It's something Ryan showed us. A game of shell and peas. Your job is find where the pea is hiding.”
“I'm familiar. I had to shut down something similar at Quark's since his men were cheating so outrageously.”
“The trick is that the only items allowed off-station were ones that were strictly watched going out and coming back. That means outbound ships were scanned very carefully, but inbound ones not so much.”
“But the weapons were returned to the secured science lab, every time.”
“That's because they never LEFT the station. The smugglers would send out the contraband weapon to a 'researcher' working with them. The incoming ship was only ever scanned by someone else in on the scheme. When we saw that a ship was coming back empty, we knew the legitimate item was just hidden for awhile and then returned to storage. A perfect scheme...”
“As long as no one looks at the incoming ship.” She looked at the cadets, rather pleased that her longshot scheme had worked. “Good job! There'll be commendations all around... with the details redacted, of course. Unofficially, you can enjoy the rest of your stay without duties weighing you down. V'tel, the science department would love if you filled in for their incarcerated colleague.” She looked at Ryan resignedly. “Please try to keep your exploits to a minimum.”
He shrugged, “Can I help it that I'm loved by both women and latinum?”
Ignoring that, she told Alia. “You can also keep that display you asked for. It's not contraband and they have dozens in storage. Just don't use it for anything unsavory on station. In fact, just keep it stowed until you leave, okay? Cardassian artifacts aren't too popular here.”
“Aye aye!”
As they left, she touched a photograph of Odo on her desk. It seemed odd to have such an unchanging remembrance of someone so fluid. Then again, the things she loved most about him never changed. “These kids aren't so bad, huh? You'd have liked them.” After giving herself a minute, she smiled slightly and got back to work.

 

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