JP - Lt. Ikaia Wong & Arthur Summerside: Tip of the Iceberg (Part 6)

[Lt. JG Kivik]

((Fifteen minutes later, The Jackpot Cargo Ship))

Summerside: ::Looking around with distaste:: Sure smells like a Jackpot in here.

Ikaia wrinkled his nose. There were days he really wished he didn’t have a Klingon’s sense of smell because the odor of the Jackpot was almost overwhelming. He stifled a cough at the smell of it.

Wong: I would certainly say you’re quite correct.

Leroban entered the room. Arthur did his best to hide his contempt for the man. Six years ago, they had faced off across an Ankari Blackjack table on Sikaris. Arthur had noticed the man sliding cards up his sleeve – only when he confronted him about it, no cards could be found. Summerside was sure he’d seen it though, and the two men had engaged in a scuffle that the local authorities had graciously referred to as a “minor confrontation.”

The question of just how Leroban had been cheating still irked Arthur. Perhaps some sort of modified micro-transporter array up his sleeve? Holographic cards? He didn’t know – and he wished he didn’t care. But he did.

Leroban: Well, well, well… Mister Arthur Summerside. Hell of an article you wrote in the Briori Sun - though I’m surprised yours truly didn’t feature at all. ::Looking at Wong:: And who’s this? Your bodyguard?

Ikaia raised an eyebrow at the Brunali man. He certainly wasn’t a fan of the idea that just because he’s a Klingon that it somehow means he’s hired muscle.

Wong: Far from it. My name is Lieutenant Ikaia Wong. I’m the Chief Medical Officer with Amity Outpost.

Leroban: ::A moment of nervousness:: Starfleet? Hey, what is this, a set up?

Summerside: He’s Amity’s Chief Doc. We’re investigating a tainted food shipment that’s making people sick.

Wong: Correct. Right now, the Soros cargo vessel belonging to Siruma is our key to solving this. We have enough here to at least speak to her about it.

Summerside: We need to use your ship to follow another out of here, see where it’s going and who it’s meeting with.

Leroban: ::Incredulously:: Why not just take a Starfleet shuttle?

Wong: Simple - to slow her down if she tries to bolt. I will be showing up on my shuttle not far from you to try to intercept her. She won’t suspect you two being in on the plan. She’ll just see you as another cargo ship flying the same route as her.

Ikaia didn’t think espionage was a good idea for him given that he is a Starfleet officer. Legally, he didn’t think he could do that. However, he could at least give the appearance of inspecting another ship and just so happen to have an incidental run in with her. He certainly wasn’t above that! 

Summerside: Exactly. Nobody will suspect a cargo ship traveling a cargo route. That’s where The Jackpot comes in.

Leroban: Okay, I get how this benefits you… But how does it benefit me?

Summerside: We might be about to bust one of our local traders in some sort of illegal – or at least, morally-questionable activity… Which would mean there could be an open shipping contract available.

Leroban: You mean…?

Sure. This DID benefit these men. But what Ikaia really wanted to do was help the people who were getting sick back on Amity. That was his real goal here. To stop the suffering.

Summerside: Yes, Leroban. If you help us, you might be able to secure a contract to supply goods to Amity Outpost – a station with thousands of people aboard. That’s good money.

A large smile broke out across Leroban’s smug face.

Leroban: You know, Arthur, I ought to like you. You just can’t stop making me richer.

Wong: In any event, how soon do you think you can get us to the Soros?

Lerobran: ::Smirking:: Give me five minutes.

((Asteroid Field - Just outside of Amity))

The Soros slowly wheeled about on its central axis, gliding purposefully through the tumbling asteroids. In the command seat, Siruma’s eyes shifted back-and-forth between the 

Siruma: Where did all these rocks come from?

Esteban: Carried in by stellar winds, Siruma. Can’t be helped. But don’t worry, they’ll just slow us down a little.

Siruma: ::Angrily:: Don’t ever tell me how to feel again, Esteban… ::Calming:: Take us through slowly. I don’t want any accidents. Fortunately, I think it will be some time before those idiots come looking for us.

Just then, a sensor began flashing on the pilot’s console.

Esteban: ::With a nervous look back to Siruma:: Proximity alert.

Siruma: There’s no way it’s those two imbeciles. Who is it?

Esteban’s fingers danced over the console.

Esteban: Looks like it’s… just another freighter, Siruma. Maybe they saw us leaving and decided to brave the danger as well. There’s a few tuggers back on the Outpost who’ve been stuck there since the Expo.

Siruma: ::Squinting in suspicion:: Keep an eye on that ship… I don’t want them getting in the way of our rendezvous, understood? If they get too close… you know what to do.

((Aboard the Jackpot))

Summerside: Where the hell is she going?

Leroban: How should I know? You just said to follow her.

Summerside: Yes, and I said not to make it too obvious. ::Under his breath:: You’re a terrible bluffer.

Leroban: Tell that to my bank account, Poker Face.

Summerside contained the urge to strangle the Brunali man while they were unattended together and, instead, pointed to a new emerging blip on the ship’s long-range scanner.

Summerside: What’s that?

Leroban: Hmm? Probably one of these asteroids. The stellar wind has been carrying them through here for days.

Summerside: I don’t think so. The Soros is headed straight for it. ::Pressing the comms button:: =/\= Wong, you seeing what I’m seeing here? =/\=

There was a moment’s pause before Ikaia Wong’s voice answered from his own shuttle, waiting inconspicuously ‘in the wings’.

Wong: =/\=An unusual place for a ship to be headed for sure. There isn’t too much out here even from a mining perspective.=/\=

Summerside: =/\= I think there’s someone hiding out in the asteroid field ahead and the Soros is on an intercept course. =/\=

Wong: =/\=I hate to ask but do you think you’d be able to figure out if that’s the case? If she’s meeting someone out here, it doesn’t seem good.=/\=

Summerside: ::To Leroban:: You heard the Doc. Let’s press onward, but you know, don’t be too obvious about it.

Leroban: What’s that supposed to mean?

Summerside: I don’t know. Fly casual.

As the Jackpot slowly moved through the asteroid field, Leroban taking it on a roundabout course that kept them on the limits of sensor range, Arthur watched the monitor intently. He was sure that Siruma’s ship was heading directly for the unidentifiable object ahead. oO It has to be another ship. Oo

Summerside: Tell me, Leroban, this ship wouldn’t happen to be equipped with a multifactor subspace key scanner, would it?

The Brunali looked over his shoulder with a cocked eyebrow.

Leroban: Such a thing would be illegal, Mr. Summerside.

Summerside: That doesn’t answer the question.

Leroban: You want to listen in on their comms?

Summerside: That’s exactly what I’d like to do.

Leroban: Say my ship does have such a device. How do I know you won’t rat me out to Starfleet Security after this little ‘mission’ of ours?

Summerside: As if I’d wait to find out for sure before reporting you.

The Brunali considered Arthur’s words.

Leroban: Good point.

Summerside: So do you have the scanner, or not?

Leroban casually flicked a switch and a scratchy pinging sound emanated from the comms panel. The Brunali held up his hands with a wicked smile.

Summerside: I thought so. Patch it through to Wong. ::Grumbling:: I’m not staking my reputation on this. =/\= Alright, kid. Listen in. This is our only chance to ‘bust’ Siruma for whatever she’s playing at. =/\=

Ikaia was a bit uncomfortable with what Summerside was up to. This was starting to border into some very iffy territory for him.

Wong: =/\=Huh? What? Is this—=/\=

Before he could voice anything resembling an objection, he heard another voice over the comms. Ikaia grew silent.

The familiar honey-dripped voice of Siruma could be heard over the comm line speaking with… someone. Though whom, Arthur couldn’t know.

Siruma: =/\= We did what you asked. Now I want my payment so we can get out of here. =/\=

Voice: =/\= We disagree. Your mission failed. The Talaxians were not the target. =/\=

Siruma: =/\= You say that as if you ever told us who your target was. You provided the coordinates and the weapon. We ensured it was where it belonged. Now if you don’t pay me, I’ll turn right around and inform Starfl- =/\=

Voice: =/\= If you are so eager to admit your collusion in the incident, then we will not stop you. =/\=

Ikaia froze when he heard all of that. He was dead certain that they were speaking about what had happened to the Talaxian team during the race. That torpedo caused a ton of issues and was absolutely the reason so many had gotten hurt and right now still hurt. He could only save one patient with Vidiian assistance and because of decisions he had to make, he couldn’t save Suribana with that help. She was currently in the ICU in the Medical Centre still. That memory brought with it its own pang of hurt.

There was a palpable moment of silence.

Siruma: =/\= I’d rather just complete our business arrangement and be on my way. Starfleet’s already on my ass. And that means they’re on yours as well. Transfer me the latinum. =/\=

Voice: =/\= We will agree to half of the agreed-upon amount. =/\=

Siruma: =/\= Fine. The sooner the better. I want to get out of here. =/\=

With that, the comms crackled back to silence. Arthur stared, wide-eyed, at the console. Whatever ship Siruma was communicating with, Leroban’s scans could not identify.

Summerside: =/\= Wong, you thinking what I’m thinking? =/\=

Wong: =/\=That she’s responsible for the torpedo during the race at bare minimum. This… this has gotten a lot bigger than just a rash of food poisoning incidents. Much bigger.=/\=

oO And indirectly cost me the health of one of my friends, never mind the health of countless others… Oo

He had to shove those feelings of hurt and anger back down inside himself. That would be between him and his therapist later. Right now, professionalism has to prevail. If he wanted to get any degree of justice for all those impacted by Siruma, he had to remain calm. However, he couldn’t help but to marvel at how the callous actions of one person could have brought about so much harm.

Summerside: =/\= Seems like Siruma was up to some dirty business… something to do with that incident at the Antarian Rally. And if she was improperly transporting a torpedo in her cargo hold… =/\=

Wong: =/\=Then she is actually responsible for the food poisoning incidents as well as the unauthorized torpedo launch.=/\=

Summerside: =/\= Right. That’s the source of our food poisoning – and then some. And whoever’s in that other ship was behind it. =/\=

Wong: =/\=Hmmm…. I also wonder…. ::Drumming his fingers on his chin:: …. If she was responsible for one of the attacks on the Vidiians upon their arrival to Amity. However, we have no proof of this… yet.=/\=

Summerside: =/\= I recall hearing that they were attacked by an unidentifiable vessel as well. Maybe there’s a connection. But she doesn’t appear to be pulling the strings. =/\=

Leroban: What the hell is this? I thought we were investigating food poisoning. I’m taking us back to the Outpost.

Arthur grabbed Leroban by the collar of his shirt and held him out in front of him.

Summerside: If you turn this ship around right now, they’ll know we’re up to something. You want to wind up getting blasted out of the cosmos like the Vidiians almost were?

Leroban simply swallowed. Arthur set him back down in his seat.

Ikaia could hear some commotion on the other side of the comms. He tilted his head curiously.

Wong: =/\=What’s going on?=/\=

Summerside: ::Clearing his throat:: =/\= I don’t think either of us are prepared for a battle, kid. Best to let them finish their transaction and part ways. Once Siruma’s moved on, we can pounce. We can leave the interrogation up to Iovianus once you escort her back to Amity. =/\=

There was no way Ikaia was equipped to fight ANYTHING on his shuttle right now if he found himself backed into a corner. And he abhorred fighting all together.

Wong: =/\=To which I agree. My shuttle would easily get torn up in such a fight and I’d rather not have you two in harm’s way either.=/\=

Summerside: =/\= Well, whoever Siruma’s friends are – if they are responsible for the attack on the Vidiians – are a lot more heavily armed than the Soros. It is just a freighter after all. Probably how she avoided detection carrying the torpedo to the race course. Who’d suspect a lettuce barge? =/\=

Leroban: I should’ve known better than to trust you, Summerside.

Summerside: Yeah, you probably should have. But then, you never could read anyone across the table, could you?

Ikaia sighed as he leaned back in his seat.

Wong: =/\=I still need to get on that ship to gather evidence. I can’t convict her of anything based on things we’ve overheard. =/\=

Summerside: =/\= This is your shot, kid. You do what you need to do. Just be careful she doesn’t try to run. =/\=

Leroban: I hope she does run. Evading a Starfleet health inspection is tantamount to admitting guilt anyways. ::Shrugging:: Either way, I get my contract.

Wong: =/\=Getting onto the Soros is a risk I’m willing to take. But Mister Summerside, I think you should stay behind this time. I don’t think you’d be walking away with just a black eye this time.=/\=

Arthur looked around him at the Jackpot.

Summerside: No kidding. I think this piece of s%$# might just fall apart in the stellar wind.

Continued in Part 7 / 8…

Lieutenant Ikaia Wong PA-C

Chief Medical Officer

Amity Outpost

V239711IW0

Arthur Summerside

Civilian Journalist,

Amity Outpost

V239806K11