RP Log: UnCoiling Coil's Whereabouts

Roleplay Log
Participants: T'Shaav	LePage Worthington
Location(s): Captain's Ready Room -- USS Buran
Stardate: 123242.7
2022-08-06 19:10

The Captain's ready room is separated by a low railing and a small step, into two sections. The lower tier, the same level the entry door, is for more formal meetings with the Captain, and includes a wooden desk with a single chair on the far side.

The raised tier has a long sofa along the outer bulkhead just below a window. A small glass oval coffee table is in front of the sofa. A food replicator is also available along the far bulkhead.

T'Shaav sits behind her desk. "Gentlemen, before I get into the heart of the matter, please summarize your meeting up to this point. I do not wish to cover ground you already have."

Worthington nodds. "Our meeting was extremely brief captain," he says. "I queried if it had been fully determined that the warp trail led to Cardassian space prior to our return. It did, so that satisfied the question I had. I then pondered the possibility that the mercinary's destination was not Cardassian space, but possibly an outlaw system like Cobliad, though this all depends on who hired the group to kidnap commander Coil in the first place."

"Yeah, I'm not necissarily able to tell based on my projections whether or not they stopped in Cardassian space or if they continued further" LePage adds.

T'Shaav nods. "Very well," she says. "As you may know, my background lies in security, the security rather than the tactical side of that department, and civilian law enforcement," she says. "I would like us to consider this matter from a motives point of view and come up with a list of suspects. You gentlemen have spent much time with the chief science officer on covert missions. Since you have been around him so much, you may have heard him talk of his past. I want you to consider with me all that you have heard and seen with Mr. Coil so that we may derive a plausible list of suspects."

Worthington nodds. "The orion syndicate for one, as Darias was a member. If they found out who he really is, they'd likely not take kindly to him using his past experiences to aid us. Then there are the people who brought the insect infestation to Dreon in the first place. If they learned of commander Coil's role here, they'd be none too pleased either. There's the Cardassians as well, if his relief efforts on Hegh'ta were discovered to be associated with Starfleet. In other words, a lot of individuals on the shadier side of the law who would be none to pleased to see Coil with his present host as a Starfleet officer," he concludes.

"With those relief efforts on the Hegh'Ta, it's not necissarily like he himself was entirely discreet about his identity from what I remember. While he wasn't presenting as an officer, he was still Coil" LePage expands. "So he was somewhat popular for the air he provided and I think that people could probably pick him out of a lineup"

"Does anyone, any individual or any organization, stand out as having prime suspect potential?" She asks.

Worthington considers. "Given the circumstances, none I can name. Any one of the groups I referenced could be behind this. I think we may have more luck if we determine what organizations and crime outfits the Maruh Josor has done jobs for, if this could be determined," he concludes.

"I don't know enough about anyone that Commander Worthington just listed to make that guess" LePage admits. "Nobody that was bothering Coil as of late, he didn't say"

She nods an acknowledgement to LePage. "I have had that thought," T'Shaav says to Worthington. "You mentioned the Coblioad system. Tell me about your mission there."

Worthington nodds. "It involved Dolo station, a lawless port where basically anything goes. They sell illegal weapons, trade goods, maybe even slaves, not entirely sure what all they do, but they don't really care for the most part, as long as people pay their docking fees. Commander Coil used his influence and knowledge from his past syndicate days as Darias to gather information and basically have his way in a few circumstances, including getting the docking fees waved, as the station doesn't charge known members of the syndicate to dock. We also saw the renamed and stolen USS Achilles there as well when we first arrived. We got in and out of there fine, and then began our first relief mission. Dolo Station is where the Romulan and Cardassian weapons we acquired came from."

"I don't really remember making that many enemies there... But I don't have the eyes for telling that sort of thing in a covert fashion" LePage says. "I also wasn't with Commander Coil the whole time" "The weapons, though in the Romulan case, not the power cell," T'Shaav deadpans to Worthington. She might even be teasing him, a little, maybe. "I believe I have heard the chief science officer make an occasional reference to an individual, Marco, in reference to his activities. Does this name mean anything?"

Worthington nodds. "Oh, it most certainly does. You don't get on the wrong side of Marco, though he's not known for kidnapping, he just remotely kills people. He does a lot with computers, can infultrate basically any security, and when commander Coil failed a mission for him back when he was attempting to learn more about the humanist crisis, he hacked the Hegh'ta, causing it to fly toward a star, and the crew had to work hard to prevent their deaths. His approach to Dasalich, well, he didn't even give him a fighting chance. He beamed him into space for his failure to pay. He's the same person who told us to not get in the way when he did this, and then stole USS Achilles, completely by remote control. He's not someone to cross, but kidnapping, that doesn't sound like his style to me."

"Maybe he's running out of his conventional resources..." LePage muses. "But I would just as soon believe it could be someone else based on that assessment"

"Or," the Vulcan says, "it is possible that Mr. Coil is such a high value prise that this Marco would rather kidnap him to extract information from him rather than simply kill him. Criminals can adapt, gentlemen," she says. "A point. We have been proceeding on the assumption that this was a targeted abduction, that Mr. Coil was the intended abductee. Is there any reason to believe otherwise? How do you rate the possibility that Mr. Coil happened to be the one who was taken in an indiscriminate search for Starfleet commbadge signatures?"

Worthington nodds. "0% likelyhood," he replies. "There were 3 Starfleet signatures there, including a more senior ship officer if they were targeting our crew. Assuming no knowledge of individual persons, just going by commbadges and uniforms, you'd take the security officer over the science officer, not knowing the true value of the science officer as an intelligence prize. Thus, whoever took him had to know his true value, ruling out indiscriminate kidnapping. The kidnappers themselves were intermediaries as well, not the kind of people who take the initiative, but get paid by others to act on their behalf. That does indicate remote planning, and if Marco thought that commander Coil had valuable information, perhaps he did kidnap him. That is one option. That's why I think investigating the past actions of the Maruh Josor and her crew may help us narrow the suspect list by giving us an idea if they regularly contract for anyone in particular, or their general trend of clients, compared that against a list of commander Coil's known associates."

"I counter" LePage says, "At least for the sake of playing the devil's advocate, that if I was going to kidnap anybody out of your three, the high ranking blueshirt is the best target for me. Least likely to fight back and high enough ranking to make a stink. We have to ask if these people are taking him for his knowledge, for a personal transgression or for the sheer posibility of having a bartering chip for some transaction they want to make. That's my line of thinking anyhow"

"Both logical enough, if necessarily speculative," the Vulcan says. "Let us consider the events on the surface. Mr. Worthington, detail for us again what took place at the point of the abduction. Your report says something of a passerby, and the transporter signature."

Worthington nodds. "Correct. Someone ran past us, heading straight to the spaceport. See Ensign Znaiyu's report on that captain, and that still needs some followup. Shortly after that, first, I noticed the launching of an unidentified ship from Dreon. Then, I saw and heard the transporter signature that took commander Coil. I then used my uplink to conduct an active transponder scan. The transponder could not be identified, so a visual record of the vessel was utilized, which is where the name Maruh Josor comes from. These events happened in rapid succession, and the target ship warped away immediately thereafter, being lost to sensors seconds after that."

"So that takes out some of my theory about a more hands-on kidnapping... did that person who ran past contact Commander Coil in anyway, maybe with a marker beacon to speed up the transport process by pre-establishing a pattern lock?" LePage asks of Worth.

Worthington shakes his head. "None that was observed, and speeding up the lock wouldn't have been difficult. Just precisely how many joined trill would you find on a planet that small? It is likely that he was the only one, and as he was with a human and a caitian, that grouping would be easy enough to pinpoint on a planet of predomimantly Bajorans," he concludes. "They had time to lock on, and just beamed him away when they launched."

The Vulcan takes all this in. "A supposition, gentlemen," she says. "1. A party created the crisis on Dreon Seven, with the idea in hand that Commander Coil would be part of the response. Or, 1A. a party discovered that Commander Coil was party to resolving the already extant crisis on Dreon Seven. 2. Said party confirmed when he had left the Buran through observation, and 3. he was then abducted." "That's believable to me" LePage agrees. "This all does seem rather targeted now that Commander Worthington lays it all out like that"

Worthington nodds. "Not option one, as we did not decide to travel to Dreon until the last minute, and took steps to disguise our route. The insect crisis has been manifesting for some time. Option 2 however is quite plausible, and would indicate that the people responsible were monitoring the situation on the ground. Furthermore, commander Coil was at the speerhead of the entire operation, so not exactly in the background. Finally, this does call into question just why he was on the surface at all. It was to examine a potential second infestation. I'd like to know who told him there might be a second insect species on the planet, prompting him to return to the surface, as there could be a link there as well captain," he concludes.

"Indeed," the Vulcan says, nodding to Worthington. "Additionally, there is that unknown scan that triggered our red alert just prior to Versailles's destruction. Related to this matter? Perhaps. Perhaps not."

LePage blinks. "I had forgotten about the scan in the wake of what ended up happening" he admits. Worthington considers. "That was an active scan captain, I believe a damage scan possibly if memory serves me. That precludes this vessel, as it had stealth technology, but not a cloaking device, and given its size, likely not high-grade short range sensors at least for ranging. It is far more likely that we were scanned by a cloaked contact at that moment, yet that does not preclude those events being related. It is possible that they indeed are, though in that case, why would the mercinary ship head into Cardassian space and risk being followed, when they could hand off their prize to a cloaked vessel without either being observed? It raises more questions than it answers captain, unfortunately."

T'Shaav nods. "I concur, Mr. Worthington," she says. "I will tell you both what I have already said to others today. We will not simply sit and hope for Mr. Coil to be returned. We must act as best we can. Mr. Worthington, it was your idea to contact intelligence and request details concerning the Maruh Jozer's previous employers. So, do so. Tactfully," she adds. "Work with our intelligence unit, and get to me any list that Branch Admiral Kemper's office can supply. That will be your immediate assignment. Mr. LePage, you may now be aware of the technical angle I have initiated. It is a lengthened shot," she pauses and looks to Worthington, "is that the proper expression?" Back to LePage. "But if you have further technological ideas for avenues to pursue, tell me so."

"It's nothing so insane..." LePage nods. "Commbadges have come a long way in a hundred years, I think it's certainly doable to try and keep tabs on him that way. My department is working on it right now" Worthington considers. "A long shot captain," he corrects. "I will get in touch with intel, though may find it easier to liaise directly with USS Copernicus. Admiral Kemper did offer to consult privately, particularly regarding any matters, as he put it last night, that you'd rather not have stored on Memory Alpha, or something similar to that captain. I'll contact him and see if we can dig up anything on the history of the Maruh Josor with your leave, and see what all we can find sir."

T'Shaav nods. "Convey my compliments to the admiral. I have not seen him face to face in some years, and I am, of course, available to speak with him if he so requires. Still, you have begun this with him, and I trust you to continue this line," she says. "I will be speaking with the magistrate and this witness if possible. I will take along whosoever is available at the time of that landing. And Mr. LePage has his angle to work with. Is there anything else we need to be considering, gentlemen?"

"I suppose just what to do about rescue efforts once we can paint a more full picture, but that's Commander Worthington's venue" LePage shrugs.

Worthington considers. "Not that I can think of at this time captain," he replies.

"When we have somewhere to go," the Vulcan says, "I suspect we will then retrieve the Heqta and do so. But that will depend on circumstances and needs of that time." A beat. "Very well, this meeting is ended. Mr. LePage, you may go. Mr. Worthington, remain a moment longer."

LePage nods and leaves the room.

Worthington nodds to T'Shaav. "We may find retrieving the Hegh'ta slightly problematic. To protect it's location, we explicitly did not keep a record in our systems. That information lies with one person, as it is his ship. That person, well captain, is not available at this time."

"Wrong," the Vulcan says. "We may refer to the Heqta as Commander Coil's ship as a convention, but it is neither his command by order of Starfleet, nor is it his personal property. I suspect you recall approximately where it was. We may need to decloak it with a tachyon pulse."

Worthington considers. "It is in the vacinity of Starbase 129, but was hidden deliborately to make just that type of thing difficult. I believe a light year or several light years above the starbase and not directly above it either. It was hidden rather well captain, so unless commander Coil left a padd of the approximate location lying around his quarters, it will be difficult to locate. We can only search a 50000 light second radius at a time. The amount of space to cover however, is considerable sir. I do not rate our chances at recovery without a precise fix at anything higher than low to remote," he concludes.

T'Shaav nods. "Hopefully the commander will recall more or less where he left his craft. Otherwise you and I will both likely be held to account for losing it," she says. "Very well, another matter for now. Please explain to me how Ensign Znaiyu came to be left aboard Admiral Kadn's flagship when this vessel left system. I am not satisfied with that outcome, Commander."

Worthington nodds. "She was loaned to admiral Kadn for a ground operation on Dreon, specifically, working to identify the person we saw running to the spaceport. She was the only one of us who took an active interest, so had the best chance at identifying that person. We split at that point, and I gave her leave to depart with admiral Kadn, as he intended to investigate groundside. We then attempted to follow the warp signature to cover both fronts at once. We were running rather thin on senior officers at that point as well, so leaving anyone else behind to conduct this operation would have been unwise from my perspective captain. Ensign Znaiyu was in good hands, and their part of the mission concluded before ours did. At that time, we had only 2 leads captain, the person on the surface that was observed, and the Maruh Josor's warp signature. Had that signature not entered into Cardassian territory, it is likely we would have continued to follow it. At that point, arranging a roundezvous with the Endeavour, given our low warp speeds and their slipstream capability, would have been trivial, and a safe transfer could have been easily arranged to continue a more prolonged operation. This turned out to not be the case however. We did identify the warp signature leading into Cardassian space, and made the decision to not violate the boarder in consultation with admiral Kemper. The goal was to determine if the course actually entered the Union or if it diverged again, as we had made 3 course corrections up to that point captain."

She nods. "That is a more satisfactory account," she says. "and not unreasonable per se." A beat. "One final point. I am considering a search of Lieutenant Commander Coil's quarters and personal logs to see whether anything there may point obliquely to a suspect. Do you consider this worthwhile, or gratuitously invasive?"

Worthington considers. "I would consider it worthwhile if done tactfully. He has a past that he would rather not have made public record captain, so details may be obscured or not included in logs, though there may be a private log he keeps not uploaded to the ship's computer. If such data remained confidential and not a matter of public record, I would not see that as gratuitous sir. The question is, is there anything there in the first place.

Commander Coil's not the kind of person to describe in detail, for example, his time with the orion syndicate, on any medium, public or private, though thoughts and his perspective on past missions may provide some insights," he concludes.

T'Shaav nods. "We will hold that option in reserve," she says. "If a search needs to be done, I will do it myself. I would rather, as his captain, be the one to explain why I violated his privacy alone, rather than ordering someone else to do it and report their findings to me."

Worthington nodds. "I trust your logic captain as always," he replies. "In the meantime, aside from present duty orders as discussed in today's meeting, is there anything else you wish me to make a priority?"

"Our other mission items remain, the analysis of the Versailles's warp core, and the transmittal of fertilizer to the planet, provided we can determine whether a second insect species was involved. But Lieutenant Commander Coil is our top priority. His life may be measured in days or hours at this point," she says. "Very well. Carry out your orders, Commander." She gestures to the door and turns back to the displays. "Computer, resume biographical extract, Lieutenant Commander Kellen Coil."

Worthington nodds, stands, and salutes. "Yes captain, he most certainly is," he replies, conducting a smart about face and heading out with purpose.