The True Masterminds

Posted on Mon Jul 10th, 2023 @ 12:57pm by Captain Tristan Faust & Lieutenant Ty-Yak Novo & Lieutenant Michael Amato & Ensign Peter Novak & Lieutenant Commander Marc Kitchner M.D. & Lieutenant Shinobu Miyake & Lieutenant Antoinette Jenkins

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Mission 3: The Peace Ship
Location: Deck 13: Security
Timeline: M3 MD04 (2268.6.14) 1700-1815

The alert had flashed as Captain Faust had finished his bowling game, which was his distraction from the entire situation involving Novo. As he walked briskly down the hallway on Deck 13 towards the security section he wondered more what to do next, than what had happened in engineering.

The door to the security section opened and Tristan immediately made eye contact with Ensign Peter Novak who was sitting on one of the benches in the waiting area. He looked quite disheveled. His normally slicked back blonde hair was a mess. He sported several bruises and cuts on his pale face and his red uniform tunic featured several rips across it.

"Do I need to ask?" Tristan asked the young man.

Peter sighed, "He put up a fight sir, one I've never seen before out of anyone," he said, "Like a wild animal."

The Captain nodded, "Take the rest of the night off... Tell Cadet Larant the same," he said.

The young man let out a smile and a nod.

The Captain approached the desk sergeant immediately said, "Interrogation Room #1 sir." Tristan nodded and proceeded into the compact room. Lt. Miyake was there, staring through the one way mirror at Novo who was still unconcious and cuffed to a chair.

"Report, Lieutenant," Tristan said as the door closed behind him.

"Looks like you might've been onto something, Captain," Shinobu replied as she handed Tristan her written report. "Eyewitnesses reports from both engineering and security officers who happened to be on duty at the time seem to agree that Lieutenant Novo's latest episode was brought about by an alarm of some sort. It would almost perfectly corroborate your earlier theory of Pavlovian Conditioning, but the question remains as to when and how he was conditioned this way."

The Captain nodded, "I believe you mentioned the specific technique, but yes," he said. He looked at his friend through the one way mirror and then sighed, "Anything is possible," he said, "But most likely the last time we were on Starbase 10." He paused, "How much do you know about Novo's past?" he asked.

"I took the opportunity to read over his file while we had him placed under house arrest," Shinobu reported. "Nothing I found that strikes me as being too terribly suspicious; he was supposedly discovered aboard an unidentified sleeper vessel about 10 years ago, joined Starfleet in 2260, was an honors student in the engineering curriculum, worked in the San Fran Fleet Yards for about four years before he was eventually selected for this specific assignment... other than some minor infractions on his record for drug use, his career is otherwise spotless."

"Not just supposedly," Tristan responded as he turned to face the young woman, "We found him, when I was on the Ticonderoga. Then Captain Anderson and I spent a lot of time with him, trying to help him. He was clearly brilliant in engineering and all things technical, but he had no clue who he was and where he came from. We brought him back to Earth where he worked with several counselors. The Captain helped him get into Starfleet Academy and he went into Starship design afterwards. He was the Midway's project manager. When I found out they were launching us six months ahead of schedule, I needed him as chief engineer."

"My God..." Shinobu muttered, stealing another glance at Novo. "I didn't realize... you were never explicitly mentioned in his personnel file, only that he was eventually discovered by the crew of the Ticonderoga; To think that you had a hand in helping him get here, and to see him like this..."

The Captain nodded, "It also doesn't say that the amnesia has been driving him insane," he said, "He tried all sorts of methods to restore his memories... Mind altering drugs, random alien religions... To say it warped his personality is putting it mildly."

"Likely made him a prime target to be exploited for nefarious purposes as well," Lieutenant Miyake surmised. "And if not for the fact the Romulans pulled no stops in attempting to sabotage us, it's very likely they would've gotten away with it as well..."

"I suppose we'll never know now what happened," Tristan responded as he sat down at the table, "Unless you have any ideas."

"My initial thought was to have one of our Vulcan crew members perform a mind meld on Lieutenant Novo, see if we determine a point of origin for his conditioning," Lieutenant Miyake proposed. "Of course, I wouldn't be violating Lieutenant Novo's right to privacy without your expressed consent, Sir."

The Captain nodded, "Considering his current state, what we need is a doctor to certify him not competent to stand trial," he said, "You don't have any objection to that, do you? Once that box is checked, the ball is in our court."

"I'll do whatever you think is best, Sir," Lieutenant Miyake nodded. "Shall I see about getting Doctor Kitchner down here to perform an evaluation?"

The Captain looked down at his antique wristwatch and nodded, "We may just catch him." He walked over to the wall communicator, "Captain to Doctor Kitchner... Sorry to interrupt your dinner..." He said into it.

=A= You're not Tris. What's up? =A= Marc responded.

"Can you get down to the security office, I need you right away," he said, "I'll explain when you get here..."

=A= Let me grab my bag, and I'll be right down. =A= Marc said closing the comm. He could hear the concern is the younger man's voice. A few minutes later and Kitch stepped towards the office.

Peter Novak was leaving as Kitch was arriving. "I'm good, Doc. Nothing a couple of aspirin and an ice pack can't tend to I promise. And maybe a tailor..." Peter said seeing the utter astonishment on Kitchner's face.

"If you're sure?" Marc asked concerned. He reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle with a half dozen green tablets in it.

Peter nodded.

"Take two now and one more before you go to bed. If you're feeling worse in the morning come and see me," the doctor said.

"Thanks Doc," Peter said taking the bottle.

The desk officer just pointed towards a door and Marc went straight in. "Tris, what hit .... " He stopped mid sentence. "Oh..."

Marc said his voice dropping a little. He knew Tristan's connection to Novo and having to declare him unfit for duty was the roughest thing he'd had to do since coming back on active duty. "Talk to me...."

"Well, we have confirmation that Novo is the saboteur," Tristan said with a sigh, "Brainwashing looks like... But we can't be sure. We need you to declare him incompetent to stand trial so we can continue our investigation. We think a Vulcan mind meld is the only way. His brains are too scrambled for traditional means."

"I know." Marc said looking at the young man who he'd come to like in the past 6 months passed out and shackled to a chair that was itself welded to the deck. "When I was with Dr. Hill back at SB-10, she had the same opinion."

"I can't do this by myself. I need two more medical officers for a declaration like that, but that's neither here nor there. Do you have a willing Vulcan to do the meld?" Marc asked.

"I'm sure Mike will rubber stamp where you and I tell him... zh'Nolon, I don't know her well enough," Tristan responded, "I do have one volunteer, Ensign S'Tare. He's in the Science division."

Marc nodded. "I've met S'Tare. Nice poker face. He bluffed me out of a middle weight flush last month with a cheap two pair and 1500 in the pot." Marc said chuckling. His bi-weekly poker games were becoming a local legend on Midway and in the sector. "Jenkins has to be the third. Don't get me wrong I like Lavinia, but it has to be the Senior Nurse, Senior Resident and Chief Surgeon. Like I said neither here nor there." He saw the look of consternation in his nephew's eyes. =A= Kitchner to the bridge ... please page Dr. Amato and Nurse Jenkins for me. An ask them to report to me outside the security office on deck 13 when they check in.=A=

=A= Certainly Doctor Kitchner. =A= The duty comms officer responded.

"We can fill out the paperwork later. Provided we all agree." Marc said. A few minutes passed and a knock on the door signaling the other two had arrived. Marc put a hand on his nephew's shoulder and stepped outside to room. A few minutes more passed and all three returned.

"Captain if you'll pardon my asking. Are you doing this for yourself or to help protect the Lieutenant?" Jenkins asks firmly.

"My motives are two fold. First, I need to know who is behind the sabotage of the ship. Second, I want to keep Novo out of the stockade and get him the help he needs," the Captain explained.

"Have either of you witnessed a mind meld before?" Jenkins asked Marc and Amato.

"Once." Mike said crossing his arms. Marc shook his head no.

Jenkins nodded her head. "Okay Captain, we're all agreed to back you on this. Tony just wanted to be sure." Marc said with looking at his nephew nodding himself.

The Caption turned to Lt. Miyake. "We need a security team in here," Tristan said, "Mr. S'Tare is a Vulcan but given Novo's super human strength during his last outburst, I want to be careful..." He looked back at Novo, then to the Lieutenant again, "Have the desk sergeant call Mr. S'Tare down here," he added.

"If we're having any doubts, then we'd best not be taking any chances," Lieutenant Miyake replied as she made her way over to the wall-mounted communicator. =Miyake to Osborne... can I get a security team down here to stand guard over Interrogation Room #1? About... eight-to-nine officers, if it can be arranged. I'm afraid we can't be taking chances with Lieutenant Novo while he's being interrogated.=

"Of course Lieutenant, we'll have everything ready," Osborne said over the com.

 

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