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"Freedom Fighters or Foes"
Previous post "From Fear to Funnies"
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"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."
- Plato

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Setting: MASQUERADE DREAMS, Room 24-112 (Erik)
Stardate: 30152.1410

Things had happened very quickly but everything had worked out in the end. Thanks to the unique skills of Commander Shar'El and the rapid intervention of Lt. Uxtar and Ensign Stark, the bomb threat had been dealt with without any problems or casualties, save one, the bomber himself.  As far as the rest of the passengers of the MASQUERADE DREAMS had been concerned, nothing out of the ordinary had taken place and life continued as it should.

"It was rather fortuitous that Uxtar was here to help with this bomb situation," Eve said with a half amused grin, the Cardassian born woman knowing very well that the Native American had not been one to subscribe to the ideas of luck or coincidence.

"Morningstar to Shar'El," Erik said as she shot a unimpressed look at the grinning Counselor.

=/\= Go ahead, =/\= the acting First Officer replied without delay, she and Stark still working on bringing the body of the bomber to a location where it would be able to be beamed back to the ANUBIS.

"As soon as you can, try to get Uxtar to give you all of the details as to his being here," the Native American demanded, his tone of voice making it clear that he wanted answers now instead of later.

=/\= Will do, =/\= the Commander confirmed, understanding all too well the sentiments expressed by the ANUBIS' CO.

"In the meantime, Maya, coordinate with ANI and try to get as much information on that bomb as possible," Morningstar ordered. The fact that the bomber had been stopped had not removed the problem, one that needed to be quickly addressed.  "We need to figure out how they managed to get it on board the MASQUERADE DREAMS and find a way to see if there are any other such explosive devices still present."

=/\= Understood, =/\= the Shillian confirmed. =/\= I will get to work on this matter right away. =/\=

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Setting: MASQUERADE DREAMS, Lower Deck 27, Section 15
Stardate: 30152.1415

Walking about the lower deck carrying a dead body had proven to be a lot more difficult for the undercover Chief of Operations than it had been running with a bomb, still Ensign Stark did is best to move as quickly as possible.  Commander Shar'El had done her best to follow the Ensign while trying to keep an eye open for Uxtar and whoever he had gone to intercept.  Trying to explain how three passengers, one of which now dead, had found their way to the lower decks had been something that the Ullian had hoped to entirely avoid.

"Thanks for the help," Jayson offered all of a sudden.  "Whatever it is that you are doing is making this body a lot lighter."

"I have not done anything," Shar'El stated matter-of-factly, wondering if maybe the Operations Officer had been speaking to someone else.

"Well this body has gotten a lot lighter since Uxtar tossed it on my shoulders," Jayson explained sounding rather confused.  As the Ensign lowered the body to inspect it, both Shar'El and he noted the way the humanoid form slipped to the ground, as if the skeletal structure had someone been removed from the body.

"This can't be good," the acting First Officer noted with surprise as they watched the body of the dead bomber disintegrate at an increasingly rapid rate.

"Shar'El to Doctor Mizore, are you alone?" the dark haired woman inquired with a sigh, knowing all too well that anything they tried doing to bring the body to the ANUBIS at this point would be pointless.

=/\= Yes, why? =/\=

"Stand by to be transported to our coordinates." Shar'El half explained.  "The body of our bomber as all but disintegrated leaving us with very little to work with if we are to get any sort of answers to our questions."

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Setting: MASQUERADE DREAMS, Lower Deck 27, Section 14
Stardate: 30152.1415

It had not taken long for the Hirogen to locate the person he had heard earlier.  After having been assigned to the maintenance crew of the MASQUERADE DREAMS, Uxtar had made a point to carefully study the layout of the lower decks.  His own skills and experiences as a hunter had also greatly facilitated the task.

"Uxtar? What the heck are you doing here?" the Caitian Second Class Engineer demanded, surprised to having found the Hirogen in this section of the ship.

"I heard something and came to check it out," the Hirogen explained, hoping that Kytith would not press the issue.

"Did it sound like a faint walk," the Caitain inquired further, obviously having a very specific idea in mind as he did so.  "Like the footsteps of a woman?"

"Lonely are we?" Uxtar snarled back, presenting himself as a rather sizable living wall for the Second Class Engineer to go around if he wanted to continue on his strange search.

"Nevermind," Kytith sighed as he did a 180 and started to walk back the way he had come.  The Caitian had somehow lost track of the woman he has tasked himself to protect and feared that maybe the Pythron merchant or one of his henchmen had gotten to her.  Not having any time to debate this with the Hirogen, the Second Class Engineer left in somewhat of a hurry hoping that he would not be too late.

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Setting: MASQUERADE DREAMS, Promenade deck
Stardate: 30152.1420

"Disintegrated?" Ya'Han repeated in a faint whispered voice as she looked at the Chief Engineering Officer standing next to her.

"Makes it easier for the clean up crew?" Sonja jokingly theorized, the redhead being just as puzzled as her travel companion.  "Whoever these terrorists are, they are not your usual mindless muscleheads. This is starting to look like a very well planned deal with specific contingencies in place."

=/\= Ensign T'Leia, can you ask Serron and Admiral Balren if they might have any idea as to who this terrorist is or what group he might have belonged to? =/\= The Native American said, at this junction being ready to call upon all available resources to get some sort of clue as to what was happening.

=/\= I will ask, =/\= the Vulcan / Terran hybrid stated, Erik hearing the usual Vulcan nod of the head as the woman spoke.

"Anything you need us to do?" Sonja inquired sensing that everyone had been given some sort of task to perform with the exception of Ensign Ya'Han and herself.  As demanding as being two good looking vacationers had been, the redheaded had been ready to do something a little more challenging and suspected that the Chief of Security had felt the same.

=/\= Sorry to cut in, =/\= Shar'El offered, =/\= but we might have something.  We found a room key on our bomber, or at least what's left of him.  Room 22-049. =/\=

"On our way," Sonja happily stated as she started to walk while still holding on to Ya'Han's hand, causing her to be dragged along.

=/\= How are you planning on getting in? =/\= Stark playfully queried, =/\= we have the key here. =/\=

"I find your lack of faith disturbing young padawan," the redheaded Chief Engineer said in a low, sinister voice.  "You have two very smart, strong and gorgeous women here. I don't think a simple door is going to be much of a problem for us."

"Padawan?" Ya'Han repeated in a whispered voice, not having been familiar with the title or reference, leaving the woman yet again in the dark.

=/\= Try not to punch a hole through the side of the ship, =/\= the Native American offered, sounding rather exasperated while everyone could hear the soft chuckle of the Counselor in the background. 

--==(/\)==--

Francois Charette

Captain Erik Morningstar
Commanding Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC 18501

AND

Lt. Commander Elan Fairborn
Robotics Engineering Officer
NEW ALEXANDRIA