pNPC Lieutenant JG Zel Rohan - My Paranoia Senses are Tingling
Jamie LeBlanc
((Engineering Labs – StarBase 118 Ops))
Zel dug around in one of the many pockets that he had ferreted on him, some built unto his duty fatigues, some underneath. He was like a walking packrat, because you never knew what weird tool or piece of flotsam would get you out of a bind.
Zel: That is new and unused – or at least unused by me.
He handed over a shiny siler cell, that looked like it would fit a standard non-Starfleet issue disruptor pistol.
He didn’t use it because he didn’t need it, but the dealer offered a bundle price. Again, not something Zel would have taken in his civilian days where he had to pinch every slip of latinum he came across, but he had a small share of latinum for the undercover work, and he knew he was now coming back to the Federation and something nagged him in his brain to take it.
Now he was glad he did. It gave another same to check against, to see if the Temurians were shady or simply selling poorly made parts.
T’liss: And it already exhibits signs of stress. :: She paused. :: And there was no indication anything was amiss?
Zel: That’s the thing, the parts fit perfectly. The shield generator was easy to install and powered up immediately. So they were selling fast.
Still, he could see her data and see where she was going. An unused power cell already showing signs of stress merely from being transported and test-fitted. A shield generator that couldn’t maintain shields at warp 3.
This was a failure in the fundamental way the power cores were made.
T’liss: Selling fast. Indeed. :: She set the disruptor core on the work bench next to the scanner, which had nearly finished, though it was almost certainly a formality at this moment. :: Even the false promise of limitless power would be very enticing... especially in such... grey areas.
He chuckled drily.
Zel: Absolutely. Everyone wants a bargain out in the fringes. Nobody wants to join the Federation, though.
The Federation which solved the problems of scarcity, provided food and water and medicine and shelter to its people. Zel was amazed, every day, how good it felt to sleep in a safe bed with regulated temperature and a guaranteed breakfast. The fringes were not like that.
And yet he also knew that there would always be people who chafed at the perceived control the Federation imposed. Who believed the system didn’t serve them. And so they left the system.
And on the fringes the stories of the Federation were wildly exaggerated. Every misdeed blown out of proportion, every fear magnified until there were people who wouldn’t go anywhere near the Federation if their life depended on it.
Zel used to be one of those people. Now he understood how easily you could lie to yourself.
T'liss: There's a reason the Federation hasn’t attempted to harness this technology... it is difficult to do so correctly. A core large enough to power this starbase would be larger than one of its four fusion cores, more energy dense than all four combined... and if it failed it would be orders of magnitude more destructive. :: She paused. :: Even the Borg haven't attempted to perfect it.
His blue eyes widened. He could imagine, the feeling of being on pins and needles if the core would fail – and all the while there being 100,000 blissfully ignorant civilians who could get atomized if something went wrong.
No, he would much rather have the standard cores that 118 had. Maybe in his youth he would have argued that, but in age he felt that reliable, with plenty of backup systems was the better option.
Zel: I can see why. Too easy to mess up. Too easy to blow yourself – and everyone else – to smithereens.
Smithereens was a word he had picked up from Rustyy Hael, Zel understood it meant tiony little pieces, and it was the most fun Terran word he had heard in a long time. So now it was his word. He claimed it.
T'liss: If these cores were selling as well as you say...
He sucked a breath in through his teeth.
Zel: We could have a lot of ships and devices with some very dangerous power cores in the sector.
T’liss: ?
Zel: Is there any way we could identify these if they come onto 118? Maybe Hernandez in cargo control could help?
Oh, he was just asking for an ear chewing. She would make him go to sickbay. But she was also very good at her job.
T’liss: ?
Zel opened his mouth, ideas forming on his tongue, but the shields that were already up in the engineering lab flashed faintly, as if an energy wave was passing though the Trojan Class II StarBase.
He almost felt something. Almost. He and T’liss were safe inside their little protected lab.
But immediately Zel’s hackles raised.
Zel: What was that?
T’liss: ?
The Starbase systems appeared unaffected. A small power surge would be easily routed away from critical systems. Backups – and backups to the backups – would all protect the cores.
But whatever it was could affect civilian systems.
Zel never even considered that it would, instead, affect civilian minds. Even less that it would affect Starfleet minds.
Zel: I mean I’m always paranoid. But paranoia keeps me breathing, so… ::he shrugged.:: Is there anything big, new or unusual going on?
It, of course, wouldn’t be the first time strange things had passed through StarBase 118. There were many unexplained phenomena in space, and all systems were reading green.
But that nagging gut feeling gnawed at Zel’s brain stem.
T’liss: ?
~*~
tags/tbc
~*~
pNPC Lieutenant JG Zel Rohan
Helm Officer
~Julian Beck
E239010ST0