The Case of the Mysteriously Disappearing Cargo

Posted on Wed Aug 14th, 2024 @ 4:43pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Petty Officer 1st Class Baris Demir & Petty Officer 3rd Class Keith Potter

2,039 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Interlude 1 Gamma Quadrant
Location: DS18

[ON]
Baris Demir stood in the dimly lit cargo bay of Deep Space 18, hands balled up on his hips. The hum of the station's systems created a constant background noise that was, in spite of impressive engineering efforts, almost disturbingly tinny. His own team's effort was equally impressive, not that most people noticed. After days of constant activity receiving, logging, and distributing supplies Demir had a deep, solid knowledge of exactly what his hoard contained, and where. Yet, Demir felt a gnawing sense of unease as he scanned the inventory list on his PADD. Two boxes of cargo, logged just days before, had vanished.

The cargo bay was a cavernous space, its high ceiling lost in shadows. Crates and containers of various sizes were stacked in neat rows, each meticulously labeled. But somewhere in this labyrinth of goods and supplies, two boxes had slipped through the cracks. Demir had a reputation for thoroughness. He had immediately requested a full security sweep of the base. Captain Llwyedd had assigned him Potter.

"Potter, is that you?" said Demir, hearing the cargo bay open. "You're almost two minutes late."

Potter sauntered into the cargo bay and smirked as he heard the Quartermaster's terse statement. "Only two minutes? That's unacceptable. I'll try to do better next time, Baris. I'm sure that those two boxes you lost are around here somewhere you haven't looked."

"Obviously, since they wouldn't be missing if I had looked where they are. Since you're so precise, can you guess what I am going to ask you to do next?"

Potter opened his mouth... and then closed it. He thought for a moment and then spoke. "Actually, I have no idea what I am doing here. I'm a transporter specialist. Why would you need my help finding a couple of cargo containers?"

"Good, you're thinking. On my family's freighter, we dealt with many thieves. Everyone thinks they have a way to steal." Baris showed his PADD to Potter. "See these lists? Every shipment in and out. Every cargo list. Every badge access, work shift, crate location. Except two. They simply vanished. I discussed with the captain and after seeing everything he assigned you to this. Now I think you can guess how the crates vanished."

A lot of people thought Potter was dumb but he wasn't. He would admit, to himself, that he was lazy and considered that a good trait to have. But he saw where this assignment was headed and it sounded like work.

"You think someone transported the cargo out of here," he said. He looked around and saw the cargo transporter in one of the corners of the cargo bay. "Let's go over and see what we can find out. What exactly is in these crates that made them worthy of stealing?"

"Bah. They were transported away. The log tells me nothing except a small energy surge. A blip. Enough for the right eyes to notice." He followed Potter, still scowling as though he expected complaining to begin. "The crates have hyposprays, disinfectants, and biobeds parts. Backup supplies. Nothing that most people would not miss until they are needed."

Potter activated the transporter console, taking in the unusual layout. "These transporters are for cargo use and emergencies. They have a much more limited range because of the lower power feed," he said and pulled up the transporter log. "Nothing showing on the log. However..." He typed in a command code which gave him more access than the standard user. He navigated to a sub-folder and then nodded. "Whoever took your crates knew a little about transporters. They were smart enough to erase the log but didn't know that a sub-system keeps track of them as well." He read through the log and then sighed. "Looks like the crates were transported to Deck Four."

"Deck Four, good. You have solved it! I knew the captain had a good reason to send you even if I could not make sense of it then." Baris set down his PADD and thumped Potter on the back. "Now you can send us the coordinates and I will have my crates back."

"Send us to the coordinates? Why... how..." Potter sputtered and rubbed his hand on his forehead. "Listen, Baris, you don't get off the ship much. In fact, I don't ever remember transporting you with any away team. What you don't know, and what I know really well is that transporting off into the unknown usually ends up with a trip to sickbay. Have you seen the doctors they have over there now? Holograms and worse! Why do we have to go? Let's get someone else who is lower rank and send them."

Baris watched Potter as he slowly reached towards Keith's shoulder. Tapped on his rank badge. "I am sending someone lower rank. You and you're the expert, too. Find out what is there on Deck Four. I'll scan for life signs. We don't transport until you're ready. So get us ready."

Potter's thoughts turned to methods that he could immediately use to get out of what the Quartermaster was demanding. He had a couple of great ideas but they all ended up with him in the brig and he didn't want to go there again.

"Fine," he said and turned back to the transporter console. Most people focused on the part of the transporter that moved people from place to place. That was important, of course. But transporter specialists like Potter knew that in many ways, the advanced sensors embedded into the transporter system were far more important. He tapped on the console and zoomed in on the destination on deck four. He spun a digital dial, zooming in, and then rotated the scan to give him a three-dimensional view.

"It looks like the cargo crates materialized on a catwalk. Deck four is part of the maintenance infrastructure for the bottom of the station. It looks like there's a lot of power systems down there that run directly to the warp core input system," Potter said. "That catwalk is pretty high. I hope you're not afraid of heights."

"No," Baris replied simply. "No life signs in the area but there's too much interference so we assume someone's around. My plan is to teleport a sonic disruptor to the location and show up when it runs out a few seconds later. Are you ready?"

Potter wanted to say no. "Yes, sir! Ready," he said. The two of them moved the sonic disrupter that the Quartermaster had made appear as if by magic, onto the transporter pad. He did a quick scan of the controls and then, on Baris' nod, sent the disrupter away in a blaze of light. He watched the sensor scan and could tell when the disrupter had activated.

"Here we go, Baris," he said and then set a countdown on the transporter. He and Baris moved onto the two pads and, a moment later, disappeared.

[Deck Four]

As Baris appeared on Deck 4 on the space station, the dim lighting pushed his shadow into the long, eerie shades spotting the corridor. The walls were covered with patches of peeling paint and scorch marks, remnants of a fierce battle and intermittent repairs. The air was cooler and more stagnant here, and the strained hum of the station's life support systems was more pronounced. Baris jutted his chin towards a pair of scarred storage units standing open.

"See that, Potter? Terrible construction, and poor use of interior space. That's the kind of dumb thing that makes my job harder." He made a sign with one hand that Would have meant nothing to a non-Boslic but was certainly not nice. "Any other signs of life?"

Potter pulled his tricorder out and swept it in a circle. He frowned. "Two of them. One is about 15 meters below us on a different catwalk and it appears to be... Ferengi?" Potter said in surprise. "It's not moving but the life signs are stable. The second one is fifty meters down the catwalk. There's some kind of control hub there." He looked up at the Quartermaster. "What do you think?"

"We grab the crates and go. Set up a teleport lock while I see what, if anything, those miscreants stole from us." Baris knelt beside the nearest crate and then looked back. "You didn't say what the other life sign is. Is it even alive?"

"Uhh. Yeah, it's alive. Actually... it's headed our way," Potter said. "Fast." Potter looked down the catwalk in the direction of the contact. He thought he saw something headed in their direction and then he felt a slight vibration under his feet.

"Typical. They make us search all over and then pretend like it's not our rightful property," said Baris. He stood with his phaser drawn. "Get a transporter lock on us and the crates. If that ktrosh gets here before you're done they'll have to deal with the quartermaster. Move, Potter!"

"On it!" Potter said and used his tricorder to link up with the transporter. He quickly locked onto their position and tapped the screen to get them back to the cargo bay but instead of them beaming out, the tricorder made a sad, off-key sound. Potter stared at the screen for a second.

"Something's blocking the transporter, Baris!"

And then the Wuc came fully into view. It was big and broad of chest and looked like a Centaur from Earth stories that Potter had read as a child. It wore some kind of heavy armor that shielded its chest, arms, and head. Most terrifying though was the heavy blade it gripped in two hands and its face was scrunched in a snarl.

Potter dropped the tricorder, pulled out his phaser, and then backpedaled away from the onrushing beast.

"Don't run Potter, aim for the legs!" Baris tallied his own shots at the Wuc but didn't notice where they hit. He raced to the far side of the storage units and shoved his shoulder into the side, driving his feet forward. Complaining as they fell, the heavy units crashed between them and the rushing Wuc. "Or better yet, maybe figure out how they're blocking the transporter."

Potter heard the Quartermaster yelling at him just fine. He fired two quick bursts at the Wuc, one of which connected. The massive alien stumbled and slowed but didn't stop. Potter decided to use the extra time to try to figure out where the jamming was coming from. His tricorder quickly confirmed that the Wuc had some sort of jamming device on it and it was strong enough to prevent anyone from going anywhere. He looked at the alien again.

"Baris! Shoot the square box on that thing's chest. It looks like a small cargo crate!" Potter yelled.

Baris found the small box, barreling towards him like a 600-pound target in a game of Velocity. Staring at anything except the Wuc's thick fingers wrapped around a gleaming blade was not easy but he had been a soldier before a quartermaster. He fired three shots while backing up before striking his target at the same time the Wuc barged through the storage units. Baris was forced to dive into a forward roll to create space between them.

Potter's fingers were a blur as he plugged in the emergency transport request. Using the emergency code meant that they would be the top priority for resources, most importantly power, which was still not at full capacity. As he selected himself, Baris, and the cargo, his eye caught on the other form, the Ferengi, and he tapped it too. The whole thing took him two seconds.

"Energizing!" Potter yelled and the two Starfleet personnel vanished in a golden blaze of light, along with the cargo. Below them, unseen, the unconscious male Ferengi also disappeared.

The Wuc, already recovering from his momentary stun, let out a primal scream.

[OFF]

Petty Officer 1st Class Baris Demir (NPC by Leed)
Quartermaster
USS Firebird NCC-88298


Petty Officer 3rd Class Keith Potter (NPC by Llwyedd)
Transporter Specialist
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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