Posted by Civilian Jewel Stone (Detective Chief Inspector MCD) in PRSIM- Echoes from the Stars

Posted by Captain Jonathan McBride (CO, USS Centurion) in PRSIM- Echoes from the Stars

Posted by Civilian Joseph Karlson (Police Commissioner) in PRSIM- Echoes from the Stars
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Meanwhile, at the MCD office, one of the juniors on staff (Campbell) had been given the task of running Stellaris’s facial scan through the system in order to see what came up. Obviously, her record from the first arrest came through, but when they cross-referenced it with the other security systems on the colony, that’s where things got rather interesting.

The image in the arrest file showed her with reddish- blond hair: https://imgur.com/a/hs7BcqH. When cross-referenced, the face matched one that came through customs about a month ago under the name Violet Sanders. This same image could be spotted on some of the colony’s public surveillance systems (that were kept in areas of higher crime or near areas requiring higher security, like government offices or Starfleet facilities. In this case, in at least instances, Stellaris was seen near the Starfleet complex. The junior staffer was curious enough to pull the actual video footage of and in one of them it appeared that she was intently watching Starfleet personnel just outside the Complex. People came and went, but one person seemed to be in direct line of sight to Stellaris and appeared to be on a call on an earpiece: Captain Jonathan McBride.

From there it was simply a matter of liaising with one of their Starfleet counterparts to see if the woman came up related to anything Starfleet. When the file came through, Campbell sat back in his seat. “No… can’t be. Really?” Shaking his head, he formed the findings report and sent it to DS Holt and Detective Stone, CCing Constable Blackwood.

In addition to the woman’s various appearances on Oed, she seemed to match a missing person’s report from 2380 for one Evelyn McBride (age 16), younger sister to Captain McBride. When the computer adjusted the older image ( https://imgur.com/a/evelyn-mcbride-2380-SfTxb77 ) for the change in age, it matched Stellaris with 98% accuracy.

Lastly, Starfleet had a Bench Warrant out for a ‘Stellara’ as a person of interest wanted for questioning related to the theft of an ancient artifact from a Starfleet lab. While the image captured of her in the video footage wasn’t as clear as that of others, it definitely bore a strong resemblance to the woman Oed knew as Stellaris.

---

When the food arrived, Stellaris tried so hard to restrain herself. She had managed to push her hunger out of her mind and to be honest she was more tired than hungry right now. But it smelled so good. “Oh Gods, I’m not sure how much I can eat, but it smells amazing.”

~Stellaris

The nutrition worker smiled. “You eat as much as you want. If you get hungry later just call down and we’ll bring up anything you want.” She smiled before leaving. Elaine finished setting everything up and helped place the tray on the adjustable table. On a large PaDD mounted on the wall was all her information, nurses names, doctors, cleaning crew, nutrition, what time checks were done, etc. “Now you see this schedule and these names? If anyone comes in that shouldn’t or comes in at an odd time, you just press that purple button right there.” She pointed to a control on the bed. “It’s not red because that draws attention. It’s purple like our scrubs. We’ll come running. If you need anything, food, medicine, you’re scared, or just bored, you press green one. That’s for the nurses desk, alright?”

Dr. Fayth, DoMSS

Sitting up in bed, Stellaris took in all the info with a keen (if tired) mind. In fact, it took her only a couple times running through the list of name to commit them to memory. She nodded at Elaine. “Thank you, that’s all good to know.” She knew it was unlikely that anyone would show up at this hospital but there was always the chance that she hadn’t been careful enough and that everything would go horribly.

Gazing at the food, it really smelled amazing and so Stellaris dug in first with a forkful of mashed potatoes that she had swiped through the pool of gravy. She closed her eyes and felt overwhelmed yet again. It had been like that on and off through this pregnancy. She hated how easily she cried at seemingly nothing. But even as that thought drifted through her mind , she knew it wasn’t nothing. Here and now was the safest and most seen she had felt in so long that it was hard to comprehend. Well, there was one exception but right now it was a difficult set of memories and she didn’t even want to let her mind go there.

Stellaris ate everything on her plate and while she felt very full she revelled in that feeling. No more fasting!

~Stellaris

Jewel had finished reading through the report, but at the request of Constable Blackwood and DS Holt Jewel did not reach our right away to her boss not until she was sure there wasn’t something else going on. The case seemed off some how and she hoped she could get some details out of the girl. Jewel in he black jacked, white blouse , black pants and black shoes, was far more intimidating than her off duty self. Her long black hair was pulled back into a braided tail. She moved through the hospital with little resistance the perc of being a Chief Inspector, she exited the floor of the maternity ward there were only two lifts in or out of this ward to protect the children and the mothers as well as alarms if any child was removed.

She walked up to the nurses station with purpose her face masked as to what the purpose was. “Chief Inspector Jewel Stone, I’m looking for Sarah Jones, I need to ask her a few questions” she stated, she new and kept the aliases to her self his girl was in danger but from what or who she did not know.

Detective Chief Inspector MCD, Jewel Stone

The nurse pressed a small button on the underside of the desk. “Yes Chief Inspector. May I see your credentials?” The maternity ward was almost as bad as the security ward. The staff tolerated no disruptions to their young families.

“Oh apologies,” she said pulling out her wallet and showing her, she into her coat pocket and placed her shield on her belt in plain view.
In the meantime an old Klingon woman came up the hall. “I’m Ok’jiv, head midwife. Can I help you inspector?”

Dr. Fayth, DoMSS
“Hello doctor, yes, I’m investigating a few hits in the registry for a one, Sarah Jones, her scans returned something that I need to look into” she said trying not to air the girls past out to the room.

Detective Chief Inspector MCD, Jewel Stone
~Constable Blackwood

The nurse nodded, she’d checked the inspector’s credentials and Ok’jiv noted the authenticity of the badge. “Come with me please.” She led her down the hall. She stopped at the door and knocked before cracking the door. “Sarah, it’s Dr. Ok’jiv. Detective Stone would like to see you. Are you up for a visit?” She purposely shortened Stone’s title so as not to make the young mother fearful and stressed again.

Dr. Fayth, DoMSS

She was resting after her meal and though a part of her really wanted to sleep, another part of her was still on edge. Constable Blackwood had mentioned a ‘friend’ coming to see her, so she wasn’t surprised, but even as she nodded to Ok’jiv, Stellaris was wary.

‘Sarah’ watched the woman enter and her whole body went tense and she forced herself to breathe. Even if she was technically free to go, she had illusions that she could just blend into the background around here anymore. She had drawn too much attention already. This woman’s attire screamed serious business and Stellaris knew this was a big deal.

~Stellaris

Jewel stepped into the room, as much as she wanted to make this woman comfortable, she needed to know how much trouble shes in.

“Hi Sarah, ” she said her voice full of compasion, she was only wanted for questioning she could just be a scared witness. “Im Detective Chief Inspector Stone, i need to ask you some questions, Constable Blackwood and Detective Sergeant Holt brought your case to my attention” she paused, looking at her for signs that the girl knew why she was here. “First you do not have to talk to me” she noted, “you should also be aware that I am her to execute a warrant as well as investigate your pressence in and around Oed, in particular starfleet operations.” She noted and waited for a response.

Detective Chief Inspector MCD, Jewel Stone
~Constable Blackwood

Ok’jiv stood. “Sarah would you like me to stay, or perhaps request legal council for you?” Ok’jiv absolutely would not tolerate the inspector upsetting Sarah. She had a job to do, Ok’jiv understood that, but so did she. This girl was sick and she and her child needed long term immediate care.

Dr. Fayth, DoMSS

The word warrant made her heart sink. Her gaze flicked to the Klingon. “Please stay. I’ll answer some questions and we’ll see about the other.”

‘Sarah’ (who was sitting up in bed with the bed raised to support her) sucked in a deep breath and levelled an even gaze at Stone, attempting to channel confidence she really did not possess. She gestured for her to come closer. “What is it that you want to know?”

~”Sarah Jones” aka Stellaris

Jewel sat down and smiled, “I’m sorry to have to do this, but there is not much time before the case moves to the Starfleet liaison for Starfleet.” Jewel was hoping to get enough information to maybe convince them to at least leave her on the case. “The warrant, well you’ll have to sort that out with them, I’m just here to execute it.” she noted. “Where were you last month on the 14th around 9pm?” she asked, that was the time the artifact was removed if she could place her somewhere else that’s verifiable, then the warrant would go away.

Detective Chief Inspector MCD, Jewel Stone

Her right hand rested just below her bump and clenched. She breathed slowly, despair washing over her face. She could lie but where would that get her? “It’s not what you think. I didn’t do anything. But I was there. Not by choice at first. It was just an opportunity to look for information. I didn’t know what they were going to do.” Stellaris let out a bitter chuckle. “I should have known better.” She shifted her gaze out towards the window wondering what the garden might be like down there. It had been a long time since she had been in an outdoor green space.

“Sarah Jones” aka Stellaris
She looked at her, “It will be ok,” she said. “if you were forced to go, or did not know, it will more likely be received, if you help the investigation. “I’ll be recording from her out ok?” she sat down the recorder but did not turn it on yet.

Detective Chief Inspector MCD, Jewel Stone
~Constable Blackwood

Her eyes widened with nothing less than terror, but ‘Sarah’ managed to breath through the discomfort. “If I help you, what’s to stop them from finding me?” She leaned forward ever so slightly. “Don’t you understand? These people are dangerous. You’re worried about an artifact?” She laughed bitterly. “I’ve lost everything because of them and I did it with a f-in smile on my face because I didn’t understand. I was too young to understand! You say everything will be okay, but my baby is not okay. I am not okay! And there is nothing you can magically do to make everything okay, so record whatever the hell you want, but understand that there is no where safe I can go. They will find me, even here. It was so stupid of me to come here, I don’t know what I was thinking!” She all but huffed those last words and Stellaris realized how angry she was. But her anger was not at the detective. She was angry at people who would never take responsibility for the harm they had caused. So what if she ended up dead, there would be another to take her place. Her baby though? She knew they would kill her to get her baby, if that is what it took.

Overwhelmed and ashamed, Stellaris covered her face with her hands as she realized just how bad the situation truly was.

~Stellaris

Jewel place a hand softly on her shoulder, letting the recording remain off for now. “Your right there are no guarantees in life, but we can get you into custody and probly in Starfleet protection. I’ll do everything in my power to keep you both safe, but you have to tell me who ‘they’ are.” she asked

Detective Chief Inspector MCD, Jewel Stone
~Constable Blackwood

So intense were her emotions that Stellaris flinched slightly at the hand on her shoulder, but it did make her drop her hands and gaze at Jewel. It would be such an easy thing to tell them everything, but it was forbidden. And yet, wasn’t she already condemned? Wasn’t she already a liability now that she had dared to leave. She was already talking to the police, so it hardly mattered what more she said. Tears in her eyes, she knew deep down it was time. If she was ever to have a chance, she had to trust that they would keep their word and protect her. “You need to record this,” she said softly.

Jewel press record and the timer started to account for, she noted the time and stardate of the interview. “Subject of Intrest; Sharah Jones alais, Stellaris alias unknown actual, she has asked that his be recorded for the record, Witnessed by Dr.Fayth, Please continue Sharah” she said getting the information cataloged for later.

She shifted her gaze to Ok’jiv. “You asked about my tattoo. It was a symbol of reaching the Third Stratum. It marks you as forever a Child of the Order of the Great Echo. It’s very painful and the more blessed you are, the less you react to or even feel the pain of them cutting it into your skin. Then they add a dye that makes the mark more visible. I also got my Cosmic name, Stellara. I used Stellaris when I came here because I have been Stellara so long now that I don’t know how to be anyone else. I thought if I could change even a part of my name it might make leaving easier. It didn’t,” she said with a chocked sob that she quickly stifled. Containing her emotions was somethign she had learned how to do a very long time ago.

Shifting her troubled gaze to Stone, Stellaris continued. “In order to reach the Third Stratum, you have to go through Disconnection. You are not allowed outside connections, not even with family or friends. I was terrible to my family. I’ve been a horrible person, for a long time. Done things I wish I could take back, but it was all a part of the Doctrine of Ascension. That’s what they wanted the artifact for. It was one of the many prophecies and they needed it to make something happen. I was never allowed to know the details, but I overheard them talking about how the artifact was connected to a ritual and that the baby would come at the perfect time. I was the only one pregnant in the inner circle so I knew they meant my baby.

“At the Starfleet facility they wanted me to use some of my skills to block the security system so they had more time to get the artifact. But I purposefully didn’t do a good job and we were forced to get out of there sooner and nearly were caught. They realized my ruse afterwards. I had already been questioning things and I was punished for those questions. This time? He was so angry with me and made sure I understood that disobedience would not be tolerated. I didn’t want my child to grow up treated like that. So once my punishment was over, I fled. The baby’s father helped me escape, but I cut off any communication with him. He doesn’t know where I was headed because a small part of me wasn’t sure I could fully trust him.” Tears carved paths over her cheeks. “I’m alone and the only people who might have been safe are lost to me because I threw them away twenty years ago.”

~Stellaris

Ok’jiv stepped over and set an arm around her. “You will be safe. I told you, and I swear it on my honor.” She had already put things in motion.

Dr. Fayth, DoMSS

Her lower lip trembled as she leaned into Ok’jiv’s embrace. “I want to believe you, I really do,” she said. “It’s just very hard to trust that.”

Jewel did not say anything she had no prommis she could give her at the moment. She pulled up the two missing persons photo’s, if it was her which it sure looked like it then her father needed to be notified and as bad as she had been Jewel suspect he just wanted her home. “Is this you? ” she said showing her both photos if it was it would explain why she was stalking him.

Detective Chief Inspector MCD, Jewel Stone

Her eyes widened and she gazed at the brunette girl. She wiped the tears form her eyes and nodded. “If you have that, then that means you know my real name, don’t you?” Was that a good thing? Perhaps. They weren’t stupid. Stone had also mentioned wanting to talk to her about her ‘activities on Oed’. She suspected they knew about her following him around. It wasn’t hard to figure out the situation, but she wasn’t sure if would be a problem or not. Or what would happen next.

~Stellaris

Jewel looked at her, she was a woman trapped between two giants with no where to go, there was little deception in her which was a welcome thing. Perhaps she would make her time with Karina tonight. “I do, and this ties to a missing persons filed by your brother,” she said not wanting to air her real name. “I have to inform my boss who is the liason to starfleet here on OED, and we have to inform our brother that you have been found. ” she paused. “I have to do the first right now, but while I do that please think about how you would like to address your brother I can call him and ask him to come her, or I can call him to the station and talk with him there first. The question is, do you want to see him?” she said tapping her comes.

Stellaris sucked in a breath. He could be here, and soon! Her expression lightened, and despite all her worries and shame, seeing him again face to face was the thing she had wanted most.

=^=” DCI Pangolin, DCI Stone, I have a potential case for you sir, case file Alpha four four one Niner four alpha clearance zulu” =^= She said making notes that the interview and confirmation was still in progress at the hospital. =^=”Sir the Identity has been validated, we are talking about how to notify her brother on the matter will update, Stone Out.=^=

=^=Pangolin here, yeah hold on=^= There was a pause as Pangolin accessed the files =^=Ok I’ll be there in a few to do an assessment, I’ll send a few uni’s over=^= He moved to the in house Transporter and was taken from the MCD HQ to the Police Transporter pad just outside Sacred Heart.

=^=”Thank you Sir, I was hoping you would send over a detail, definatly something going on her that is way off the mark. “=^= Stone said in respose.

She looked back at the woman. “If it were me, I would want to see my sister again not matter how bad things were, he filed the missing persons for a reason.” she said noting that her behavior in the stocking suggested that she was scared to talk to him.

Detective Chief Inspector MCD, Jewel Stone
~Constable Blackwood

There was that. All this time she had assumed he hated her- he had good reason to, after all- but it seemed on the surface that that might be a wrong assumption. Stellaris nodded. “At the facility, when I pretended to do the thing for them, I was really looking him up, to see if he was still in Starfleet. He is why I came to Oed. I don’t think it’s safe for me to go anywhere near my home colony, but I thought this place might be okay. If he wants to see me, yes, I’d like to see him.” She wasn’t going to get her hopes up though.

---

Pangolin entered the room only a few minutes after closing the call. He was a tall man, close to 190 CM, broad-shouldered. He was dark skinned, had slightly pointed ears, somevague black spots on his neck, and his eyes were fully black. This collection of features inferred Vulcan, Trill, and Betazoid ancestry, he looked to be in his late thirties but with his Vulcan ancestry it was unclear how old he really was. He wore a dark grey wool coat over a Grey suit Jacket, Blue trousers and a red tie.

Jewel rose slightly when he came in, leaving the recording running. “Chief” she said and then sat down. She patted Shara’s shoulder again lightly.

The newcomer instantly made Stellaris wary, and her heart rate increased. Her brown eyes tracked his progression into the room.

An mouthed. its ok as she sat back down. Well all she could do now was listen for details until the Chief told her otherwise.

He gave the doctor a nod as he looked around the room “I’m Detective Chief Inspector Pangolin” He introduced himself to Stellaris “I’m DCI Stone’s boss as well as the liason between the Oed Police and Starfleet” He dragged a stool closer to the bed and sat down, putting him at eye level, but still not too close, so as not to intrude on personal space. He spoke calmly and maintained eye contact “I’ll need to ask you some questions regarding the danger you are in. Right now there are four uniformed Police officers working with Hospital security to secure this hallway. Only staff, patients and registered family will be allowed, under the oversight of the Charge Nurse” He always put his officers under the Charge Nurses, it gave a clear chain of command that ended with hospital staff, and allowed for Doctors and Nurses to do their jobs properly, he also had a healthy amount of respect/fear for Charge Nurses. “The questions I need to ask may be hard to answer, but they are important. Do you feel up to it?” He asked

DCI Pangolin

OOC: Left some space for a conversation before Pangolin arrives - Hjortur

He was intimidating but straightforward. She could at least appreciate getting right down to business. Stellaris chuckled bitterly. “After everything I’ve been through, I think I can handle a few questions. Besides, your probably won’t be harder than the ones my brother will ask.” She shrugged. She was exhausted but the meal had helped a great deal to give her a bit more stamina.

~Stellaris

Pangolin nodded, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an actual notebook and pen. Opening it about a third into the book and put pen to paper “Is there a specific danger you are in if you are ever located? Violence physical, mental, emotional? And do they have a presence on Oed that you are aware of?”

DCI Pangolin

“They aren’t here,” Stellaris said with some certainty. “They probably haven’t even heard of Oed Five before. The home base is a long ways from here. They have some ships but use them mostly to gather things they require. Artifacts and such. But it does mean they are mobile and there is a small chance I was followed. I tried to take as many precautions as I could, but”-she shook her head-“it’s impossible to be 100% certain, especially with them.”

His first question was not hard to answer, but it was an emotionally layered one. “I left. No one leaves The Great Echo. No one. Ever. Do you understand? By questioning and rejecting the doctrine, I am anathema. I am dangerous to them for the exact reason we’re experiencing right now: I can talk. And if I can talk to people, they can’t maintain their secrecy. And their secrecy is what has allowed them to go unchecked and commit all kinds of crimes. Like the theft of the artifact. I can guarantee that you all here know more about them than any of the best intelligence and security folks in the Federation. They are that good at hiding themselves.”

“They will want me dead one way or another, but they want my baby first. So that means either forcefully delivering the baby early and leaving me for dead and hoping she survives, or waiting till I give birth and then killing me.” Stellaris closed her eyes and rested her hands on her belly, close to crying again. When she opened her eyes, she leaned towards Pangolin slightly. “I don’t know all the details, but there is a prophecy they think my baby has something to do with and there is a ritual. I didn’t stick around long enough to learn the details, but even if this child were to survive it, she would be raised by them, and that cannot happen. I won’t let them do to her what they did to me. I won’t let them brainwash her into thinking everyone else that doesn’t believe is evil and should die. And that any interaction with outsiders taints you. I want her to grow up allowed to be curious about many things, and not just what they want you to learn. And if she asks questions they don’t approve of, they will punish her like they did me.” ‘Sarah’ looked down, avoiding their gazes. For a thirty-seven year old, there were small moment like this where she seemed no more than a frightened child. “It depended on what you did wrong, but pain was seen as humbling. Fasting was a way to make yourself worthy of enlightenment.” She half-laughed, half-sobbed for a moment. “I did a lot of questioning in this last year, and I was severely punished for it, sometimes by our leader himself. The last time was when I failed to help them at the Starfleet facility. I was locked in a room and allowed two sips of water a day, but no food. For a week. I stopped being able to feel the baby move and it scared me so much! That’s when I knew I had to leave.” She looked up, her eyes now fierce, angry. “Does that meet your criteria of being in danger?”

~Stellaris

Jewel just listened and did not respond, he was lead now she would speak if she thought she had information he did not but for now he would ask for insight if he needed it, of that she was sure.

Detective Chief Inspector MCD, Jewel Stone

Pangolin looked up from the notepad as Stellaris finished and nodded “It does.” He said simply then looked at Stone “I’m assigning RRU3 under your command for the protective detail” The Oed Rapid Response Teams although trained mostly for tactical situations were on occasion assigned as bodyguards. He turned back to Stellaris “Is it safe to assume that they know of your original name and identity? If there’s a risk of your name raising flags within the system that could lead to them discovering your location we need to know.” He’d have to make sure that the flagging in the system for her face would not leave the Oed system, which meant they’d need Starfleet here soon. This would also go to the Commissioner, he’d have to make sure it was mostly handled by them before the old man sent The Klingon after those people.

DCI Pangolin