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"Forced Finding"
[previous post was "Floored" by the asserting Hanali]
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Setting: MASQUERADE DREAMS, Deck 28, top of the stairs leading to Deck 29

Stardate: 30153.0650

The orders from Captain Morningstar had been crystal clear, no one was to venture anywhere below decks alone, so as much as she had wanted to go down and start looking for their missing Chief of Security, the Acting ExO / ILO stay put.  Being patient had never been a issue for the Ullian, such an attribute having been needed to deal with some of the more complex memory scans. To rush into a mind could have unexpected consequences that could hinder or even render useless the quest for deeply buried memories.

It was with no small amount of joy that the acting ExO / ILO welcomed the towering Hirogen back, his presence making it possible for the two of them to go down and help in whatever way they could.

"What game are you playing with that merchant, Drask Pharren?" Shar'El asked of the maintenance staff member who had taken point.  "I know that you are not planning on turning Ya'Jun over to him if we actually get to find and apprehend her."

"Not her," Uxtar said, his smile visible even to the women walking directly in his wake.  "But if all goes well, I hope to have the next best thing stand before him. That way we can figure out exactly what his angle is and hopefully discover who hired him to seek out Ya'Jun."

A rapid scan of the Hirogen's memory gave the acting ExO / ILO all of the answers she had been looking for.  "You want to have Ya'Han play the part of her sister in front of merchant. Now I have to agree with Sonja, you are far more a gambler than I or anyone else could have imagined you to be."

"Gambling involves relying on luck," the Hirogen said, his senses trained on every part of his surroundings as he tried to see if he could pick up a hint as to the whereabout of their missing Chief of Security.  "I rely on skills, in my case, those of a hunter.  What you believe to be a gamble, I see as a calculated risk. This way."

Without asking any questions the acting ExO / ILO followed, willing to place her trust in the Hirogen hunter's skills well before counting on he unpredictable hand of fate. After only a few seconds of following the nimble maintenance staff member, Shar'El heard something that drew her attention to something ahead of them.  "There is someone ahead of us," she whispered.

"I know," Uxtar said, never looking back to the woman who had been following him. "I caught his scent about 20 meters back.  I know who is it and I think he may be of use to us."

Before the acting ExO / ILO could say anything else, the Hirogen leaped over several large conduits to land within arm's reach of a Caitian who, according to his uniform, belonged to the Engineering staff of the MASQUERADE DREAMS.

"Someone your size should not be able to sneak up on someone like me," Kytith hissed. "What are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?"

"I don't have time to play games with you today Kytith," Uxtar said as he grabbed the Caitian by the throat and pushed him again the nearest bulkhead. "I know that you have been keeping tabs on one specific passenger, a woman who goes by the name of Ya'Jun.  I also know that you are involved with her on some level, I don't know how or why and frankly I don't care, but I need to know where she is now."

"I... not... know..." The Caitian said, barely able to breath thanks to the crushing hold of the Hirogen.

"You know the lower decks," Uxtar continued as he motioned Shar'El to step closer with his one free hand.  "Where, on this deck could someone go to hide from an unwanted search. somewhere that would give them privacy without the risk of being stumbled upon by someone from the staff?"

Having understood the plan, the acting ExO / ILO gazed at the pinned alien who had been utterly incapable of breaking free from the Hirogen's hold.  It had not taken long before the memory of a specific location came into view of the Ullian, which was what the woman figured had been the plan all along.

"Got it," Shar'El said. "You can let him go before we end up with another dead body on our hands.  I am sure that Mister Kytith here will understand that his continued survival will depend on his ability to keep this little encounter a secret from anyone else."

"Yes... nothing happened," the Caitian said, still struggling to regain his breath despite the fact that Uxtar had released his hold.

"Let's go," the acting ExO / ILO ordered as she took point. The memories she had seen in he Caitian's mind had been remarkably clear and precise despite the stress that the man had been under. "I have a good idea of where this place is, but that still does not mean that we have the right place. We'll just have to hope that we get lucky."

"Lucky?" Uxtar growled. "Luck had nothing to do with this so far and will not determine if we have the right place of not," the Hirogen said somewhat angrily as he moved ahead of the woman to take point, the general heading that she had taken having been all that he needed to figure out where they had been going.

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Tiffany Reeve

Lieutenant Commander Shar'El
Acting Executive Officer / Intel Liaison Officer
USS ANUBIS