[snip]

As sight returned to them they found themselves in the aft computer/enginerring room for Shanok’s Vulcan science ship. The ship normally had a crew of 10-12 so having only ran into Shanok was quite a mystery of why even a solo minded archaeologist like Shanok and the Vulcan Science Directorate only sent one scientist to dig up an entire ruins site. Even one person equipped with various tools and rigs to do the work himself.

The ship was in low power mode, like a sleeping beast awaiting the return of its master. The air was stale but breathable, only dim standby red lights allowing faint sight in the room. Said room was taking up the larger aft quarter of the ship a small TOS-era Class IV warp core arranged nearby vertically. Two control stations to port and starboard of it. The rest of the room was taken up by an old dutronics era computer core ranging a deck and a half in height along the front of the room in a square cluster. Like much of Shanok’s dig it seems the Science Directorate had given him a ship straight out of the early-mid 23rd century!

=/\= NE Al’ways Re’ady to away team you guys get in ok? Or need anything else beamed over? =/\= the NE asked. As the second round of transport brought the trio over the rest of their equipment like the bomb disposal kit and such.

GM CockRoach

=^=”Roger that NE We are fine for now keep a lock on us though the moment I or any of my team signal Beam us out”=^= she replied she began focusing on her heightened senses of smell hearing and eyesight to try and pick up any signs of danger

Miz’uki

=/\= Aye ma’am, lock is secured! =/\= Al’ways Re’ady replied.

Smells of the area picked up stale air, but nothing alarming off hand, hearing only picked up the breathing of the away team and the faint beeps of computers and systems on stand by and the creaking of the ship in spots but again nothing alarming, sight too was the same nothing stood out as threatening or off kilter to Miz’uki’s senses.

Ranlei started scanning as soon as she was aware of her surroundings, NOthing about this was right. Vulcans would never send one scientist alone on a job like this, They most certainly would not send a ship like this out under crewed. That was just asking for disaster, “Chief? Who told us Shannock was here exactly? Everything about this is wrong. Ships a antique almost a century old. Must be a very fussy lady needing extensive repair schedules. One person couldn’t run this ship alone. Certainly not Shannok. He couldn’t even repair that sonic drill. Half the connections were connected to the wrong inserts. “, and she bit her lip and continued scanning for boobytraps, and possible scan blocking technologies. It wasn’t hard to block scans or feed a wrong reading to a scanner but if you looked for the actual blocking equipment itself it was near impossible to mask.

Ensign Ranlei Greene. Engineering.

As Miz’uki recalled the Ark Angel had just been exploring the unexplored system as far as they knew when they ran into Shanok’s presence and no sooner had they contacted the somewhat surprised Vulcan of their arrival when the Gurdians had interrupted showing up. Scans for boobytraps showed nothing off hand not energy or mechanical based, same for scan blocking technologies.

GM CockRoach

“Looks clear so far.”, Ranlei said she moved over to a control panel and scanned it again before entering commands to bring lighting and life support up to standard levels.

She still didn’t trust things completely but comfort and seeking it were it seemed built into the Orion mentality. Built for pleasure was her usual thought on why she despite being raised by humans seemed to be as self indulgent and hedonistic as all accounts said her race was.

Ensign Ranlei Greene. Engineer.

Commands entered for bringing things up to normal status were easily done with a few flips of switches and dials. With a hum and whir, followed by some beeps the lighting came up and fresh air was soon heard and felt gusting from the air vents to more standard levels. A few more beeps later also showed the ships reactor and computer still on standby were ready for restart.

GM CockRoach

Ranlei hooked up her computer equipment to the console and went into action, with the ship’s computer in standby she could use her portable setup to check for anything in the computer’s boot that might trigger defencive subroutines , Intruder countermeasures or Black Intruder Countermeasures. Her skill with computers and ability to bypass security had brought her to Star Fleet Intelligences attention. Star Fleet Intelligence had honed her skills from a misspent youth into a weapon. She was still bitter at having been blackmailed into serving them. Her plans on graduation had not included actually serving in starfleet back then. She had a promising career in holosim creation looming before her that SI had sabotaged. She was going to get married, but they had sabotage that as well. Yeah I have a past. She thought bitterly. But she had also had a future. Now she had a bitter hatred for SI. But she was no idiot. So she concentrated on hacking into the ships computer while her thought dwelled on what she could do that wouldn’t get her killed and still get revenge. Meanwhile to anyone watching her work she presented the false confidence she always hid behind.

Ensign Ranlei Greene. Engineering.

Booting up the computer was as easy as three flips of the old style switches on the nearby control console. A whir and beep later showed the system was online and ready to process commands. No signs of security beyond the basics one would expect in the old system were in place. In fact hacking into it was frankly a joke and probably not even really needed but regardless Ranlei in a moment had full access to all the ship’s logs from the past five years. In fact she even found out Shanok’s password ‘LogicIsEverywhere1!’ odd but there it was. The other fact was log listings showed there had indeed been 11 people on the ship Shanok and a crew of ten others all from the Vulcan Science Directorate under his command! But where were they?!

The logs of five years back started from leaving Vulcan in late 2389 with Shanok making log reports about his theories of the Lawgiver at length going off the brief transcript print out on paper Ranlei got. The details were quite dry really. The logs continued until his arrival at a planet a month away where he spent a year digging there before clues/records he found there led him to this system. From there five years passed in logs of major discovery of the planet below with the ruins, all the usual dry logical Vulcan tones. It was not till a month before the ship’s logs showed it had been put in low power mode that Shanok’s logs grew different he mentioned finding a semi-intelligent ooze creature which matched a lot of the description Ranlei and Miz’uki would recall from the Grave Ooze that had attacked them. He went on to explain in his logs how the creature could attach itself to a host body and use its memories and thoughts to communicate in a primitive way. He went on to note that his fellow Vulcans felt the creature could be dangerous and more lighting put up to ward it off from the tunnels and dig site they had extensively excavated. Shanok disagreed in his last log stating that he would defy their ‘illogical reasons’ and attempt a direct Vulcan mind meld to one of the nearby oozes that the sonic drill had uncovered......the same which had attacked Ranlei and company!

It was after this log there was a sudden stop to all the other Vulcan crew logs, which were mostly dry reports day to day of digging, ship maintenance, tool maintenance, etc etc. Nothing personal really that stood out. The only concerning piece was from the ship’s XO named Shalock that Shanok was showing what he felt were signs of obsessive compulsion in his theories and efforts to get to the bottom of who/what the Lawgiver and their people were. But like the rest of the crew the XO’s logs stop a day after Shanok’s last above log to meld with an ooze creature he found. From there all logs ceased for a whole year until today with the system’s rebooting.

GM CockRoach

Ranlei copied the logs to her portable storage, and sent a copy to the Ark Angel before isolating the relevant ones and reading any of them. She quickly called the others over and let them read while she went to a different console and locked out the Old Vulcan ships transporters so they could not be remote accessed, “I am locking out the transporters so they can’t be used to escape the planet sir. I don’t want Shannok to have so much as a slim hope of escaping. Should I lock out the entire ship so that it can’t go anywhere?”, she wanted to be sick. She had no doubt that the Vulcan crew was dead. Dead and fed to that ooze. But she would let the others discover it and act on it. Her respect for some laws was rather loose. But Ranlei had never fired a weapon at anything alive even on a stun setting. When she did carry one like now it was for it’s possible use as a tool. The idea that Shannok was a mass murderer disturbed her deeply.

Ensign Ranlei Greene Engineering

“Yeah Lock it down but Lets copy the sensor logs as well hopefully they might have been tracking all the others as well and might give us an idea what was going on down on the planet i’m sure they had to have the sensors trained on them so that they could beam back and forth” she purred looking around the ship for any signs of anyone

Miz’uki

When Ranlei accessed the sensor logs from a year ago there were indeed scans to be found five of them were last reported where Lieutenant Timothy Frogue the chief science officer was currently investigating a ‘lake’ which wasn’t on any known maps or scans. The logs would report a beam down of the five Vulcans followed by Shanok with portable holo-emitters and equipment which the engineering team could see could be used for sensor blocking purposes. Only Shanok an hour and a half later though returned, the logs would note the five Vulcans had spread out in what seemed a search pattern then one by one life signs had ended by unknown means. The other five were shown in logs to have beamed down near Shanok’s sonic drill site where the grave eating ooze creature had been and which Shanok had supposedly tried to mind meld with for some reason for answers to his Lawgiver Theories. These logs showed the five had beamed down armed with Type-1 cricket phasers from the mid-23rd century not long after their beam down Shanok also beamed down equipped with several portable high frequency fusion reactors taken from the ship’s impulse drive as well as a large crate of high powered lights. A half hour later logs showed all five of the remaining Vulcans near the sonic drill had their life signs wink out all at once by unknown means. No return beam up by Shanok was then reported only a signal from the planet by Shanok for the ship to go into low power mode.

GM CockRoach

“Go Ahead and copy that Ranlei we need all the evidence we can get if we are to figure out what is going on here.” she said sharply looking around cautiously waiting for Ranlei to finish up “After you do that let’s erase every sign we were here and put the ship back into low power mode” the caitian added she was eager to beam back to the Ark Angel before they were discovered

Miz’uki

Ranlei looked at the Caitan in disbelief, “Mam what we have here is enough evidence to assume Shannok murdered his crew and like fed them to that ooze. He’s at a minimum a threat to our landing party. Ido not think putting his ship in any mode that might allow for him either returning to it or potentially trying to escape in it. But the more important thing right now is telling the captain what we found here so she can at least warn the away team that there is a risk.”, Ranlei was decidedly emphatic about what she said. She had no doubt that Shannok was guilty of heinious crimes. Maybe not the ones she suspected but certainly something. “As for our being on this ship mam, why we are well within our rights to inspect the ship system for faults . It is very old after all and Shannok is at best a inept technician We were mearly concerned that the ship was not in proper repair. One thing led to another and cascading discoveries forced us to review the ships logs . In short mam we have probable cause for everything we did here. And Mam if there is blame cast on us I will take the fall for it. I exceeded my orders. I’m Orion. People assume I am guilty even if I am up to nothing. Shouldn’t be hard to convince anyone I’m at fault.” , she said putting on her best cute smile.

Ensign Ranlei Greene. Engineering.

“Actually Ensign I have an Idea! and its why I asked for us to leave no trace we were here!” she purred a devious smile coming to her face. “Let me at that computer, I am going to plant a Virus in this computer!” she purred softly. “Just encase he does try to come back up here and flee.” the Caitian despite having retractable claws, and very Feline like hands, began to play the console like a Musical instrument, It was like poetry in motion. She had a very unique coding style. Miz’uki was able to create a virus quite quickly, one that exploited every weakness in this Early 23rd-century ship’s systems. “What this will do is, if he sets a course outside of the system it will lock out all controls here in the ship. Then autopilot kicks in and moves the ship into tractor beam range with the Ark Angel, even the transporters will be locked down. So we will literally turn this ship into a prison cell for him!” she said, as she finished her work. “Now lets get the Ship back into low power mode, and hide any trace we were here!” she giggled.

Miz’uki

With the virus in place, it wouldn’t be hard then to shut things back down. Though it probably wouldn’t hurt to check in with the Captain before hand make sure she didn’t have anything else she wanted them to do before returning especially with what they found out.

GM CockRoach

Miz’uki got on her comm badge, as she and her team finished hiding all evidence of their presence. =^=”Lieutenant Miz’uki to Captain Andone, Is there anything else you would like us to check for while we are here, I also have the Preliminary information for you. However, it may be a good idea to, for now, speak in private about this.”=^= she purred, trying to keep her voice sounding calm and not alarm the guests that she knew would be standing by the Captain at the moment.

Miz’uki

OOC: Pasting in Ranlei’s split!

Ranlei watched the CE and shrugged as her boss put her ideas into effect while claiming credit for them. She did as told since doing as she was ordered was her job after all. Taking credit wasn’t her goal in any case and was eve preferable as letting others do what needed to be done and avoiding responsibility for the action was standard procedure for intelligence anyways and keeping in practice was likely in her best interest. The lights and computer system returned to standby. She removed the automated logs of access. They were never here as far as the ships computer was concerned. Miz’uki was actually good with computers so she had very little bulletproofing to do to ensure the lockouts couldn’t be bypassed by anyone but Ranlei herself. She also dug into the transporter and rewired it so that it would short out in a way that would appear to be a natural occuring failure. Should it be called upon for remote access. Shannok had to have pattern enhancers somewhere on the planet . She was sure of that.

Ensign Ranlei Greene. Engineer

=/\= Only for you to find the information we sought as discussed earlier. One moment while I go to my ready room. =/\= Drudoc said pausing the comm line.

Ten seconds later the line resumed =/\= Very well then Lieutenant what is it you have found? =/\= She asked eager to hear the results of their mostly legitimate beam over and information digging into personal effects of a Federation member.

GM CockRoach / Drudoc Andone CO

=^=”Well captain Honestly I would recommend beaming our away teams up now and arresting Shanok We have found evidence that he may have killed the 10 other Vulcans that originally showed up with him he also apparently attempted to mind-meld with the Corpse monster that scalped me…Even I a Caitian can tell would be a bad idea even for the late great Ambassador Spock!” she said “Who Knows how it might be affecting his mind”=^= she growled clearly agitated motioning for the team to get ready for beam out

Miz’uki

=/\= Getting the away team out is difficult with the interference still lingering except where the transport enhancers are placed near his tent. While many are still there, the Operations team and their security escort are now below ground in a buried government building and lieutenant Frogue and his two NE security escorts have located what seems a holographic lake concealing something below the surface. They’re still seeing if they can find the source of it but there are hints it might be tangled in with this interference. Do you suspect there is a life threatening danger to the away team just from Shanok alone? =/\= She inquired leaving the choice up to the new young CE

GM CockRoach

=^=”Captain I do think he is a great Danger to the teams however if its too difficult to just evacuate the crew Maybe we could at least warn the teams Maybe have security put Shanok under arrest for further questioning?”=^= she suggested simply as she made one last double-check of the ship before their beam out

Miz’uki

=/\= Unfortunately with the interference it’s impossible to get the whole team immediately, and calling all the team back to the central beam out site would tip our hand quickly of knowing something was up if Shanok is dangerous. Sending a shuttle or two would equally be a give away to him and one I do not wish to take right this moment. For now I concur with you Lieutenant we’ll proceed carefully and have security and the other teams assemble closer to Shanok and the Operations team once we are better gathered we will then apprehend him for further questioning and investigations. There is still too the matter of our Gurdian guests seeking the Lawgiver’s Fifth Scroll. Helping them find such a scientific artifact would be a boon for diplomatic relations for the Federation. Did any of your evidence or the logs turn up anything on this? =/\= She asked.

Drudoc Andone CO

=^=”No captain, I did not see any information about the scroll, but I can double-check real quick.”=^= she said, rushing back to the computer and searching for any info on the Scroll itself she wanted to hurry just encase Shanok decided to come back up for some reason while they were there

Miz’uki

A log search quickly found one recent log from just before Shanok found out about the Grave eating ooze creature. The file played =/\= I have found evidence to support my theory of the Lawgiver’s Fifth Scroll. From what clues we gathered in the previous system this planet was a central government outpost to The Lawgiver’s realm. I have identified three possible spots for its location. One I am currently drilling with our sonic drill rig over what seems a large burial ground. Given what I have discovered the Lawgiver often buried important documents with certain subjects. The second location is a small crater where I have found a primitive holographic projection unit buried in a large tree disguised as a lake. I have placed a dampening field around it for now to begin a careful later scan and excavation once we determine where the emitter power lines are. The third is the most likely place a buried government building. However, it is quite deep and local power relays are playing havoc with our drill and other more technological means. I am hoping by use of a dampening field we can taper down this problem to more easily reach the building for a through search. =/\= Shanok said looking a lot more calm and ‘Vulcan like’ then he had in Miz’uki’s limited experience with him.

GM CockRoach