"A Dixon Hill Moment"

[Kansas_Jones 0]

August 17, 2397

Lt. (jg) M’rrett “Kansas” JoN’s, Assistant Security-Tactical Officer

USS Agincourt NCC-81762

“A Dixon Hill Moment”

 

“Learn to see what people don’t show you, learn to hear what they don’t tell you, and learn to trust your gut.” – pg. 56, Star Trek Vanguard: Harbinger, 2005, by David Mack.

 

Kansas raised a whisker at the gibberish scrolling by on the computer console. “Oh yes, this will help the investigation immensely, at least once communications cracks the codes and language.” She downloaded the data into her tricorder and shunted the information via subspace encryption to the Agincourt’s main computer, alerting the communications chief in the process.

 

Disengaging the tricorder and placing the console on standby, the Caitian moved off to continue working the area for any clues. Spontaneous “what have you found” convos would break out among the investigative team in order to lob theories back and forth or exchange ideas. There really was not a lot to go on, save for their own tactical data, the conversation between the First Elector and the Colonel, and the sketchy report made by Prell prior to the away team’s arrest.

 

Too many questions were present, looming over the team and the captured members of the crew. What had caused the words to be exchanged between Kamala and the away team? Why had Kroells supposedly jumped Kamala? Had Kamala tried to strangle Prell? The Agincourt had a professional crew; they were not known to simply “go off”, so what had changed this time?

 

Dr’s Levy and Couer had also found that Kamala had a weak heart. She glanced into the room where Kamala’s body was reposing. If she had such a bad heart, then what was she doing escorting a first contact team? Did the Pacetrina make it a habit of assigning those in bad health to sensitive first contact venues? Or was the condition previously unknown?

 

With another glance, she took in the control room where she now stood with O’Neill and Rieve nearby. The scene of the murder…which had no trace of said murder. The trics where registering no residuals of any kind. A crime scene was never THIS clean, it just wasn’t natural.

 

And, why were they given directions rather then escorted here. To Kansas, the Pacetrina security methods were worth bantha fodder; you did not allow a foreign investigative team into your territory without an escort, whether it be one person or twenty. The investigative team had the illusion of freedom, but yet were not to leave the crime area. Dr. Couer had encountered a locked door, now there’s a shock.

 

Kansas sighed. She was not at all impressed with these people. She had been careful regarding her true opinion concerning the Pacetrina, but in reality she felt as if they had botched this whole first contact. It was as if Starfleet really was not wanted here, yet the Pacetrina grudgingly contacted them. And now, they were all in a gigantic mess due to the perceived, or whatever their problem was, indecisiveness of these people. For an advanced people, why were they so secretive?

 

The cat smelled a rat.