Questions and Answers (Part II)

[Vakhtang_Dalsazashvili 0]

Petty Officer 1^st Class Lorenzo Ruiz sat in the mess aboard Maturin station, enjoying a his lunch. He was about half way finished when he saw two gentleman approaching him from the entrance. They were making attempt to hide their intent either, they strode towards him purposefully, their eyes fixated on him. Ruiz spoke first as they approached. "May I help you gentlemen?" he asked, keeping his voice cordial, even if their presence was anything but.

 

"Your presence is requested with our superior" the taller man said.

 

"Not a problem" Lorenzo replied, his tone still cordial. "Just give me a few moments to finish my lunch" he told him taking another bite of his sandwich.

 

"Your presence is requested –immediately-, Mr. Ruiz." the guard countered. It wasn't a statement, it was a demand.

 

Lorenzo looked up at the man for a long moment before finally standing up. He was still hungry, but figured he didn't have a choice in the matter. "Ok then. Let's go."

 

The two men led him into part of the station he had never been. Then again, one did not just wander aimlessly around Maturin , so there was much he actually hadn't seen. After about a 3 or so minute walk, they made their way into an office where a human female dressed in civilian clothing was awaiting them.

 

"Petty Officer 1^st class Lorenzo Ruiz, I presume" she said, her voice carrying a slightly less threatening than that of his escorts.

 

"Yes ma'am" He said, stepping into the office. "What can I do for you Ms. . ."

 

"You can have a seat here at the desk, thank you" she told him, either not wanting to reveal her name or just not taking the hint. Lorenzo assumed it was most likely the former as he took his seat. The door slid shut behind him, leaving his two escorts outside the door.

 

"So you are aware, you are taking part in a temporal/alternate universe investigation" the woman told him. Ruiz, could feel the color leaving his face, it had something to do with the Manticore, he knew that, yet he didn't know how exactly he got pulled into it, unless. . .'Soandso. . .' he thought. It most likely had something to do with his interaction with him. "For the record," she continued. "This is not a full interrogation, just some questions regarding. . .activity. . .of yours that may or may not be relevant to our investigation."

 

Ruiz nodded, making a mental note that he owed Mr. Soandso a stiff knee to the mid-section.

 

"Good," she said, leaning forward, her arms resting on the desk in front of her. "About 1 day prior to the arrival of the Manticore, you downloaded to your personal PADD a certain broadcast, can you tell what that was?"

 

Ruiz assumed she already knew the answer. For this not being an interrogation, she was sure framing her questions as if it was one. "I downloaded the latest episode of a Federation Public Broadcasting program called The First Chair."

 

"And can you tell me the featured guest?"

 

"Maestro Vakhtang Dalsazashvili of the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra" the Soandso connection was now complete. He had asked Lorenzo about Dalsazashvili on board the Pensacola . But he wondered what that had to do with anything related to the Manticore and the investigation surrounding it, other than a Manticore crew member asking him about the Maestro.

 

"Yes," the woman replied in agreement "And why did you decide to download this program?"

 

"I download every episode of this program" he said, producing his personal PADD from his pocket and placing it on the table. "Each episode is on there, save for the newest one being broadcast today."

 

The woman left his PADD sitting on the desk and pulled out her own. Ruiz could not see what she was reading, but he had no doubt she was confirming the information he had just volunteered. There was about 30 seconds of silence before the woman spoke. "Do you have any personal relationship with Mr. Dalsazashvili or any of his family?"

 

Ruiz blinked, not knowing where this was going now. "No ma'am" he said, I know his family runs one of the larger maintenance and parts companies for privately owned starships in the Federation, but other than that, I have never met him on any of his family."

 

"So you would classify yourself as just a fan of Mr. Dalsazashvili's work, then?"

 

Ruiz thought about that for a split second. "Not directly," he replied. "I know of him and knew his rise to music director caused quite a stir within the classical music community, but he hasn't really put out any original works yet, other than the one he just produced as he said in the episode, for anyone to really become a fan of his per se."

 

The woman nodded, she seemed satisfied enough with his answers. There were a few moments of silence before she spoke again "As a member of the Federation Black Ops fleet, you should know that the information I am about to tell you is of the highest levels of security, most definitely above your clearance level. However, given your unique perspective of the situation, I would classify you in the category of "need to know" in this case."

 

Lorenzo just nodded, still not quite following.

 

"The Manticore brought home with them a number of guests not of our timeline" she told him. "One of which is Mr. Dalsazashvili, only this version entered the Academy and became an engineer. He was assigned to the Manticore while it was in the alternate universe, and he was returned with it."

 

Ruiz raised his eyebrows, not knowing how exactly to respond to that. "Oh really?" he heard himself say.

 

The woman nodded. "Yes, really" she responded. "Your orders are to stay away from discussing his other self with him should the two of you come into contact. Is that clear?"

 

Ruiz nodded. "Yes ma'am" he replied.

 

"Good. You are free to leave" she told him.

 

"Thank you ma'am," he said as he stood up, giving her a respectful nod before turning and heading towards the door. It looks like Al was off the hook. The obviously didn't catch his conversation with him.

 

"Oh, and Mr. Ruiz?" she called after him.

 

Lorenzo turned around. "Yes ma'am."

 

"Don't blame this on your friend, Aloysius" She said, a smirk forming on the edge of her lips. "You would have been called in here either way."