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"The Mathematical Probabilities of the Situation"
(Previous Post: "Mystery Intriguing")
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Setting: MASQUERADE DREAMS, Crystal Ballroom, Upper Balcony
Stardate: 30151.2200

Until now the Shillian scientist had closely watched those present in the ballroom without actually focussing on anyone in particular, making notes on the oddities of several individuals for possible later investigation.  This global research pattern came to a sudden alt when Ensign Ya'Han began to reveal the nature of her origins, a revelation that had been a rather emotional one for obvious reasons.

The Chief Science Officer had quickly made a comment about how far the stated world had actually been, the fact that it stood deep inside Ferengi space had only made things that much more complicated when considering the escape that the woman had made almost a full decade ago.  Crossing the Ferengi / Federation border might not have been such a difficult task, but the lack of any solid diplomatic or trades agreement between the two powers had insured the journey to be a potentially troublesome is not a dangerous one.  It had not been uncommon for independant freighter undertaking such a long journey to fall prey to piracy or sabotage all in the name of acquiring wealth in the truest nature of the Ferengi Alliance.

From where she stood, the Shillian could see how the attention of the other crew members had changed to be directed onto the confessing woman.  Everyone appeared ready to offer support in one form or another but their current situation, that of being undercover Starfleet Officers amidst a crowd of people potentially of interest to the Intel group, had made any direct interaction nearly impossible. Luckily for the raven haired Ensign, the crimson haired Lieutenant in charge of Engineering had already been next to her and appeared to be doing great at providing the emotional support the Chief of Security needed.

With the situation being as much under control as it could be, the Shillian Scientist resumed her observation of the crowd below, noting that the tall blond Pythron man who had been escorted by the green haired woman had both left the ballroom along with their two bodyguards.  Normal procedures would have had them followed by one or more members of the team, but given that all of them were on board a cruise liner for the next three weeks had insured that they would be running into them again sooner or later.  Of course the Chief Science Officer had every intent on making sure that a repeat encounter would happen sooner rather than later.

For the time being it had been best to keep the incident that had taken place as low key as possible and for the crew of the USS ANUBIS to continue on with their primary mission; to gather as much Intel as possible from as many different people as possible.  In the world on Intel it was not infrequent to discover that people and events which originally appeared to be completely unrelated could in fact be linked in some strange way.

There had been a mathematical probability that the green haired woman had simply been on board the MASQUERADE DREAMS as the escort of the Pythron merchant and that she had, by simple and unaffected chance, come across the undercover Chief of Security. Under the same ideas of mathematical probabilities though, it had been conceivable that Drask Pharren and Ye'Lan had orchestrated this entire affair to confirm that Ya'Han had in fact been whom they had suspected her to be.  According to these same probabilities, the incident could have been designed to also test the surroundings of the Chief of Security so as to see how many others had been here on the ship with her.

To act without confirming the woman's true identity would have caused unwanted commotion and possibly brought forth the attention of people who had been best kept out of the entire affair.  Sending Ye'Lan to 'test the waters' as the Human saying went, had been a sound tactical move, one that the Shillian Scientist could not help but admire.  Of course this almost meant that the two individuals had been part of a much larger and darker plot, one that raised a great deal of questions, namely in the part of their presence on board the MASQUERADE DREAMS having been a strange coincidence or had they been here for another reason, one that might or might not have involved the raven haired Chief of Security.

"ANI," the Shillian whispered to herself.  "I will need a complete historical review of the travels of Mister Drask Pharren and is companion Ye'Lan.  I will need all data pertaining to date and time of ticket purchases as well as location.  Might help to also have a copy of his financial records."

=/\= Am I to understand that you are questioning the potential reasons as to their presence on board the MASQUERADE DREAMS? =/\= the Avatar of the USS ANUBIS replied in a way that leaned to the android possessing humanoid characteristics which should have been well beyond her programming.

"Coincidences and nothing more than mathematical probabilities that had not been considered," the Chief Science Officer added, already looking forward to returning to her quarters to review and analyse the information that she had requested from ANI.

=/\= I will have the information transmitted to your quarters on a secured channel as soon as it has been compiled, =/\= the Avatar said complying with the request with her usual efficiency.

For the time being the Shillian would continue her observation of the crowd below while she silently calculated the mathematical probabilities of all the various possibilities that would have lead to the two individuals in question to being on board the MASQUERADE DREAMS at this specific time.  Not having one to believe in coincidences, the Chief Science Officer had already help high her expectations of finding something of value in the data that would occupy her time during the night to come.

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Jessica Solarik

Lieutenant Commander Maya
Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS

&

Captain Selene Fiona Iverson
Commanding Officer
USS BASTET

"To see the world in a grain of sand,
and a heaven in a wild flower.
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
and eternity in an hour."
- William Blake (British, 1757-1827)