Not a Good Day to Die

Posted on Wed Jan 23, 2019 @ 2:02am by Captain Madelina Weisz & Ensign Jonathan Baker & Warrant Officer William Fontaine

Mission: On Slippery Ground
Location: Victorious
Timeline: MD 1 || 1230 Hours

After leaving the bridge and getting as many armed guards as she could spare, which only happened to be two aside from herself, for the next part of her investigation, Maddy made her way into Operations. It seemed like the logical place to start comparing crew to those assigned to be on board the vessel. If there was someone that didn't belong there, she'd find them. "Okay, everyone, we're going to make this as quick and painless as possible. No one leaves here until I've done what I need to do. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Captain," came the response from Jon who stood at the small console which he used for Operations below decks.

Maddy left the others and began to look over personnel. This task was definitely going to be a pain in the backside, but it seemed to be necessary. She approached one of the Ops officers and compared him to the records she had. "Have you noticed anything unusual since we left the ship?"

"No, but with four decks and just me down here, there hasn't been time to check everywhere, but no systems gave any alerts," the Ensign told her.

"None?" she asked with a raised brow, moving over to a console and running her fingers over the sensors. Maddy was looking for anything unusual that might have taken place shortly after launching the Victorious. All systems were go before, then that all changed. Things like that didn't just happen on their own.

"None," Jon responded. "Did Lieutenant Robinson report anything from the bridge?"

"You can go back to your duties, Mister Baker," the Executive Officer said, digging into the system to try to find anything out of the ordinary. With her access codes, she was able to travel deeper than most. Finding anything was the hard part.

The computer made what could have been interpreted as a rude sound before it hesitated, then a long line of code began to scroll down the screen.

"Belay that," she said, pointing at the console. "Come take a look at this and tell me what you make of it." One thing she never pretended to be was an Operations Officer. If only Tom was still in the department.

Jon came over and looked at it, then hit the console with the side of his fist. A second later, an error report came up of a replicated isolinear chip in a subsystem of Engineering along with a Security alert. "Replicated isolinear chips?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "We don't use those."

Maddy narrowed her eyes. "No, we don't, but someone on this ship does," she said, looking toward him. "I'm going to Engineering. If you hear or see anything out of the ordinary, I want to know about it." Security Maddy wasn't gone, but XO Maddy made a return with force, and she was pissed.

"Yes, Captain," Jon said as he went to a cabinet and pulled out an isolinear chip to hand her after a few seconds of looking. "Replace it with this when you find it."

Maddy took the chip. "What is it?" she asked, moving her fingers over the console again. This time, she was looking to see where the chip was replicated and who replicated it.

"It controls shield and phaser variance and monitors Engineering," he responded.

A red brow shot up. "Ensign Baker, how do you have an isolinear chip that controls shields and phaser variance , as well as monitors, when it just so happens that's what we're having problems with?"

"I'm Operations, Captain," Jon said while managing not to blink. "We have backup chips for all the systems on this ship and the Triumphant as well as the fighters."

Another report came up on the screen. "Isolinear chip 30987-A was replicated by Warrant Officer William Fontaine."

Weisz looked at the screen and frowned when she saw who supposedly replicated the chip. Did she really believe William was capable of sabotage? No. Was she taking any chances? No. Just like she wouldn't be taking any now. "A very likely story, Mister Baker, but I'm afraid it's far too coincidental. While this investigation is ongoing, I have no choice but to have you escorted to the brig. No formal charges are being brought forward until all the facts have been gathered and processed." She turned to her Security officers. "Escort Ensign Baker to the brig. See to it that he is kept comfortable for the duration of this investigation."

Jon removed his combadge and offered it to the Andorian Ensign while the heavy worlder female Petty Officer Third Class nodded her head towards the exit. "Yes, Ma'am," they replied as they headed out with Baker.

Maddy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn't like doing this to her own, but someone was responsible, and they had to find out who. Once they'd left, Operations, she looked to the Andorian officer. "No one that isn't cleared comes in here, understood?" But, she didn't wait for a reply. Now, she needed to get to Medical and deal with William "Wouldn't Hurt A Fly" Fontaine.

The journey was a short one, but it was long enough for her to feel as though she carried the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders. "Warrant Officer William Fontaine, what can you tell me about an isolinear chip replicated by you?"

William turned with a hypospray in his hand, but kept his eyes averted. "Excuse me?" he asked, sounding offended. "I haven't replicated any isolinear chips."

"An isolinear chip was replicated, and your account was used to do it," she stated. "So, tell me everyone that has access to it aside from you."

The Medical officer walked toward her. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about, Captain," he assured her, but was still keeping his gaze averted.

"Say that to me while meeting my gaze, Mister Fontaine," she ordered.

Fontaine suddenly jumped forward and attempted to press the hypospray to her. "How's this?" he yelled as he turned his golden yellow eyes her way.

Maddy dodged to the side inside the small sickbay, avoiding being hit with the hypospray, but not avoiding the only biobed inside. She tumbled over it and hit the floor with a curse, rolling onto her back quickly. Years of training prepared her for moments such as this, and found her drawing her phaser and leveling it in front of her. No matter which way he decided to come at her, she'd be ready.

Instead of coming over the biobed, the person or thing pretending to be Fontaine turned and ran out of sickbay, turned the corner and headed in the direction of the Warhead Control Room faster than a human had a right to.

When no one dove after her, Maddy was on her feet and running from sickbay. She spotted William, or whoever it was, rounding a corner and took off after him. Sweet baby Vulcan, she thought, tapping her combadge as she ran. =^=Captain Weisz to all available Security personnel. Report to deck two. Block all exits and set phasers to stun. If you cross paths with Warrant Officer William Fontaine, take him down. Non-lethal force. I repeat, non-lethal force.=^= She tapped her combadge again to end the transmission as she rounded the same corner to see him make a dive for the door leading into the Warhead Control Room. "Computer... lock Warhead Control Room door. Authorization Weisz, Madelina Alpha-Two-Six-Nine-Zero!"

Luck was on the imposters side as the computer's sensors opened the door just enough for him to leap through it before her order closed it again.

Sonofabitch! Maddy shouted in her head. Sadly, that wasn't the only profanity she was thinking. The redhead got to the door and punched in her code to open it, then activated the sensors so it would open. "William, this game of cat and mouse is definitely losing its luster. Why don't you come on out so we can talk?" Her phaser was ready to be fired at a moments notice.

The Fontaine impersonator turned his gold eyes toward her while he stood over a photon torpedo, his right hand inside of it. "Come any closer and we'll all die," he told her.

Maddy stopped where she was and cocked her head to the side. "See, that's where you're wrong. When I woke up this morning, I didn't say to myself today would be a good day to die. Quite the opposite, in fact," she stated, lowering her phaser to her side. "So, since I'm doing what you've requested, you can show me the same courtesy by answering a couple questions and fulfilling a request for me. Who are you? What do you want? And finally, give up and there will be some leniency."

"We just need to stop you long enough for the Apollo to make it to a set of coordinates and take the cargo," the man told her, his hand not moving from inside the torpedo casing. "That's all. I was just supposed to stall you long enough for that to happen."

"You didn't answer all my questions," she said, tossing her phaser aside to show him she was no longer a threat to him. "Nor, did you fulfill my request. At least take your hand out of the casing. No one here wants to die, and I don't think you want to, either."

Reluctantly, the man removed his hand from inside the torpedo, but rested it in the very edge of the opening. "My name is Jarash," he said. "and I told you what I want."

"I congratulate you, Jarash. You've accomplished what you had to do. You've stopped us," Maddy said, unable to keep the frown from forming on her lips. She looked defeated, like she'd given up. Raising her hands, the redhead took a step back. "I'm not a threat to you. You can come down."

"I don't think so," Jarash replied and didn't move an inch. "Not until I've heard from the others and ready to transport off this ship."

Maddy lowered her hands and clasped them behind her back. "Where is Warrant Officer Fontaine? The real William Fontaine. He has a son, you know, so I hope you didn't do anything to destroy the lives of his son and his son's mother."

"He's back on the ship," Jarash responded. "Unharmed. I merely took his combadge and he never got the message to report to the Victorious and I took his place here."

"Smart," the redhead said. "But, there's something you didn't think about... something that makes you a little less smart."

"What's that?" he asked.

The Captain smiled a slow predators smile. "How full of shit you are. You see, my background is in Security and Tactical, so I know these torpedoes like the back of my hand. It would take you ten seconds to arm and detonate that. With my arrival, I estimate you had just enough time to get the panel off. Nothing more," she said, knowing he'd be a bit distracted by what she was saying. Maddy utilized that time to grab the phaser in the waistband of her pants at the small of her back and brought it forward. " I've called your bluff, but you didn't call mine." And with that, she fired.

Jarash didn't get a chance to respond when she phasered him, but he didn't go down right away. He grabbed onto the side of the torpedo as his form changed from Fontaine to a hulking shaggy humanoid with the same yellow gold eyes. He tried to thrust his hand into the panel once more, but it was now too big to fit.

Maddy thumbed the control for a higher stun setting. "A Chameloid? Interesting. Now I know what to tell the others to look for," she said, firing again.

This time, the Chameloid went down and stayed down.

After the big bastard went down, Maddy tapped her combadge. =^=Weisz to bridge, the perpetrator has been apprehended. Once he's been secured in the brig, I'm going to Engineering to help fix the ship's problems. In the meantime, relay to Triumphant we're looking for members of our own crew, only they're not. They're Chameloid. They'll know from the yellow eyes. The Apollo and her cargo are the intended targets.=^=

This wasn't over yet, though. She tapped her combadge for what felt like the millionth time. =^=Release Ensign Baker, and ask that he report to my office before the day is over,=^= she ordered, then continued. There was someone else that would be taking the Ensign's place in the bridge soon enough. A someone that wasn't likely going to be getting out any time soon.

With the help of another Security officer who showed up from the initial call, and after a bit of razing from the XO about better late than never, the Chameloid was taken to the brig and placed into a cell. Now, Maddy was on her way to Engineering to help get things back on track. She just hoped the information Jarash supplied wasn't too late, and they'd be able to catch the others.