Lt. Cmdr V'Lenn / Murder aboard the Odyssey / no tags

[Steve Bruin]

   *** USS Odyssey / Main Bridge ***

:: V'Lenn had returned to th bridge in order to catch up on her duties, now seated at the Enginnering Station she saw Clifton enter and head toward Captain MacLaren's Ready Room.  Returning her attention to the control panel she noted that the gravimetric field displacement manifold was now back to a nearly perfect alignment with the plasma regulator system.  A few hours before there had been a slight imbalance in the ratio, thus forcing her to have the engineering crew look into the problem. ::

:: She was reviewing a few other instrument read-outs when her attention was suddenly caught by a familiar voice coming through the comm speaker. ::

Cutler: =/\= This is Ensign Cutler in Engineering, medical team nedded immediately! A severely injured crewman in Engineering, please hurry. =/\=

:: V'Lenn touched the comm switch. ::

V'Lenn: =/\= Ensign, this is Commander V'Lenn, what is happening? =/\=

Cutler: =/\= Commander, I just got back to Engineering and I found Ensign Taylor.  He's been hurt, I think ... I think he is dead. =/\=

V'Lenn: =/\= I'm on my way. =/\=

   *** Main Engineering / 4 minutes later ***

:: V'Lenn entered Engineering to find two medics kneeling next to Taylor's body.  From the look of what she could see, it appeared that Taylor had died from several severe blows to the head.  Just a few meters away stood two Security personnel, both piecing together what had apparently happened. ::

Security Guard #1: From the way the scene looks I'd say the robot over there entered this room and bludgeoned Taylor here to death.

:: Cutler looked incredulous. ::

Cutler: Impossible, there's no way.  The robot doesn't even have a power source yet, nor had it been programmed.  

Security Guard #2: Well, there's one way to find out.

:: Heading to a nearby monitor the guard inputted his security cod and pulled up survelliance from the last few hours.  After forwarding a bit, he stopped and watched the images on the screen along with everyone else.  On the screen Taylor made a few adjustments to some component on the partially assembled robot, then left for the adjacent room.  Much to everyone's surprise the robot stood and walked in behind Taylor, seonds later was heard a blood curdling scream and then the robot returned to its original place next to a work station. ::

Cutler: I still say it can't be.  Look at the central processor of what we were building, it is still powerless and it could not have walked unless it had basic programming.

:: Instictively one of the guards pulled his phaser and took aim at the robotic device nearby.  Cutler walked over to it and took a look. His expression was more determined than ever. ::

Cutler: See, I told you.  The central power unit hasn't even been totally installed yet.  There is no way this ....

:: Cutler stopped in mid-word as he noted the front mechnical grappler of the robot, it looked to have a blood stain on it. ::

:: V'Lenn took the medical tricorder from the kit of one medic and quickly analyzed the robot's grappler. ::

V'Lenn:  Yes, that is blood and the DNA matches Ensign Taylor. 

:: For a moment the guards did not know how to proceed, the apparent killer was a robot but at the moment it appeared powerless. ::

:: V'Lenn took a closer look at the robot, to her surprise she found that Ensign Cutler was being truthful.  The power unit was only half installed and the C.P.U. was not yet intergrated.

V'Lenn:  What Ensign Cutler says is accurate, this robot was not yet powered, yet all the evidence points to a malfunction which ended in the death of Ensign Taylor.

Cutler:  What do we do, lock it in the brig?

V'Lenn:  I am uncertain, but we definitely must keep it secure and from harming anyone else. 

:: At that point V'Lenn contacted Clifton to inform him of the situation.  When dealing with a homicide, it was best to have the Security Chief present.

Lt. Cmdr V'Lenn

Chief Engineer

USS Odyssey

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