Puzzle Pieces

Posted on Wed Dec 29th, 2021 @ 9:01pm by Lieutenant Aiko Kato

Mission: Sinister Intentions
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: After Return from Nausicaan Ship

As the group rematerialized in the Sickbay of the Washington, Aiko did what she could to help settle the women into their new environment. She could tell they were very scared and suspicious of the Starfleet crew.

She could not blame them.

She could only imagine what they must have been through. There were many questions she wanted to ask to begin putting together the puzzle pieces of a perplexing and alarming mystery. However, she was only a navigational officer. She as no security officer, she was not even a medical officer to render adequate aide.

She quickly found out that she was more often in the way than she was helping. After a few reassuring words to the pair of women she had become somewhat familiar with, Aiko left Sickbay and headed to the Bridge.

First, it was the Breen who were doing strange experiments with children. Now, it was Nausicaans trafficking women into stars knows what. There was a connection between the Breen and the Nausicaans and New Krakow was at the epicenter of it.

It was a very bizarre thing to acknowledge for a Federation colony. She had limited knowledge on colony administration but she knew it was a tough enterprise. It was not exactly easy to try to resettle an entire planet, even with Federation and Starfleet support.

Still, that did not always mean that the colony devolved into a hub of criminal activity that was brought on by, or perhaps reinforced by a refugee and humanitarian crisis.

Aiko had been reading up on New Krakow since it had become their new destination. This was not a typical colony. It was a backwater planet, and that was putting it politely. The conditions on that planet was, or ought to be, an embarrassment for the Federation.

Yet, things had remained relatively unchanged for years. Sure there had been news coverage and political rumblings but besides what seemed to her to be feigned outrage, there had been very little change. Even the addition of a Starfleet contingent to the planet had done virtually nothing to reverse the refugee crisis.

It was moments like this that Aiko truly resented politicians. They talked a good talk but when it came to action, there were always "complications" that seemingly made inaction the preferred decision.

But all hope was not lost, Aiko surmised. After all, there was a reason the Washington had come to New Krakow. If the shady activity in and around this planet was threatening the security of the Federation and its citizens, which seemed to be the case, then there was a reason to act.

She had known Captain Shran a short time but she knew him well enough now to know that if there was someone who would leave no stone unturned to get to answers, it was definitely him.

The turbolift doors opened revealing the command centre of the Bridge and Aiko stepped out and headed for the helm station relieving her support.

She was technically on duty and had only been relieved because she had been part of the away team that had been dispatched to the Nausicaan ship. She rubbed her neck suddenly reminded of how quickly that Nausicaan brute had nearly chopped off her head.

A wry smile played across her face. It was a strange thought to think one misstep and this scenery would be playing out differently. Still, there was no point dwelling on what could have been. She had made it out alive and had managed to bloody a few Nausicaans in the process.

That was not a bad day at the office, she thought.

She entered her access code into the console and was granted immediate access to the ship's navigations systems including the latest update from the engineering and security team that remained on board the Nausicaan ship. She wondered if there were more secrets to be found on the ship and she simultaneously shuddered at the thought of something as worse as she witnessed on that ship.

She took comfort in knowing these apprehended Nausicaans were going to face Federation justice for whatever their part in all of this is. The other reassuring thought she had was that they were well on their way to getting answers and putting the puzzle pieces together for New Krakow, the trafficked women recovering in sickbay and the children that had been abused by the Breen.

It was now, only a matter of time.

She just hoped they could do it quickly enough to avoid any more loss of innocent lives...