[SB] LtCmdr Sky Blake, "Operation Safe Harbor."

[Deliera Jay]

((Sickbay))

::She'd finished up a regenerative therapy session when they'd all been called to Sickbay - convenient, really. It wasn't until Rahman started talking about Outpost 3, and drugs hidden *within* Outpost 3, did Sky start going back into the old Operation Safe Harbor work mode.

::But then, there was the matter of her experience on Outpost 3.::

((Flashback, stardate 239406.30 - Outpost 3))

Blake: Cormac?

::She maneuvered herself around a live hanging electrical conduit, eyes peeled in the darkness. Her ship's scans had been inconclusive, forcing her to search on foot. If he’d been injured, if he lost consciousness in one of these areas, there was no way she’d hear him. She’d have to check every one of them.

::But today, she was lucky. Out of nowhere, a phaser discharged, missing her narrowly and causing her to throw herself behind a piece of debris that would work as cover. Despite her not being in it’s way any more, it still fired towards where she *had* been.::

Blake: Hold your fire! I’m here to help!

::The phaser stopped. Off towards where it’d come from, something clanged against the deck plating, the sound of someone perhaps slumping to the ground following.::

::It was a risk, but she holstered her pistol, carefully stepping out with one of her hands raised, the other holding her torch to shine her way.::

Blake: I’m here to help.

::When she’d reached the bulkhead the phaser’s owner had slumped behind, she’d almost fell over in relief. There, covered in soot, dirt and blood, was Brandon Cormac.::

Blake: Noree, Cormac. I thought you were dead.

::He wheezed a laugh, letting Sky tend to him, submitting to scans from the tricorder and the such.::

Cormac: The hell are you doing here?

Blake: Elis was worried. You missed check in.

Cormac: Wait, ::he coughed, stopping her from tapping her combadge when she'd deemed it safe to transport him.:: You check for survivors?

Blake: Escape pods were launched. The rest onboard are dead. I’m sorry.

Cormac: We had a station compliment of twenty people. How many bodies?

::She hesitated.::

Cormac: *How many bodies*?

((End flashback))

::Nine. Nine bodies, including the two security officers there supporting him.::

::But now she had an understanding as to *why*.::

Rahman: Commander Blake, you have extensive experience with this drug. Perhaps you can give a quick overview to the others assembled here.

::She pulled up a general report, sliding it from her PADD onto the holodisplay.::

Blake: Felicium was an addictive narcotic originally used to combat a viral plague on Ornara - since the plague's been cured, felicium has been refined twice over, and it's trade sustains Brekkian economy. Veritas has confiscated one or two different types in varying quantities as part of Operation Safe Harbor, but according to the analysis, this is good old fashioned felicium requiring a pressure injector, giving immediate sedative and pain relief.

Rosek: Response?

Tuk: Response?

Sepek: Response?

Ryan: Response?

::The captain crossed her arms.::

Rahman: Is there any way of knowing how long it's been on the station? How old it is?

Blake: The injector would give us a *batch* date for this stuff, assuming it's on the outpost, but I can't give any concrete answer to how long it's been on the outpost. The place was abandoned for two months before Core arrived with the repair team, and it was staffed by civilian personnel and three Starfleet officers before the attack. Without concrete records, we can only speculate.

::Cormac swore black and blue that it had been unprovoked - there was no way he'd have known about the felicum. And the lack of action from both Starfleet and the Marshals had infuriated him, causing him to throw in his commission and book it back to Shadow's Edge, working with *their* branch of marshals he knew and trusted. He'd spent ten days on the outpost as the last survivor, waiting for rescue, and for his efforts, he got Sky, whom had only shown up because Elis had caught her on her way back to Shadow's Edge from the Embassy, freaking out that no one found it even remotely curious that a civilian outpost near Antor II had missed their coms deadline, and the Annex couldn't send someone out to check on them.::

::Seeing Core's reports as to what condition the outpost had been in when he'd gotten to it, she imagined Cormac would have died from the place collapsing in on itself if she hadn't gotten there when she did. To make matters worse, the families of those two deceased officers wouldn't find out about their deaths until weeks after it occurred. It certainly hadn't been the most pleasant conversation she'd had with Kinan Venroe.::

Rosek: Response?

Tuk: Response?

Sepek: Response?

Ryan: Response?

::Rahman nodded and then turned to the chief medical officer.::

Rahman: Is there a way to test for current users of the drug? I highly doubt it originated from the repair crew, but it would be good to clear them now of any connection to the hidden stores.

Ryan: Response?

Rahman: Lt. Tuk, Ensign Sepek, I want to know more about the Klingon pirate attack on the outpost that nearly destroyed it. I'm wondering if there's a connection somehow. Also, look over the station's last manifest. See what you can find.

Tuk: Response?

Sepek: Resposne?

Rahman: Lt. Rosek, I'd like you to beam aboard to the station to assist Commander Core and his team with the repairs, but see also if you can find anything else unusual with the station while you're over there, perhaps left by its last inhabitants.

Rosek: Response?

Blake: Captain, I'd like to go ahead and catalogue the find. If the felicium is high in value, it's possible the outpost could expect future visitors coming to reclaim it.

Rahman: Response?


Tbc . . .

LtCmdr Sky Blake
Ranger
USS Veritas

C238803SB0