0x03 - Orion's Aggression

_{The crew of the U.S.S. Purity battles a threat from within as verbal and physical altercations break out across the ship. Can security be restored before things spiral out of control?}

In the depths of space within the Duhan sector, a lonely winged probe about seven meters in length floated around, spinning wildly as it narrowly avoided a collision with an asteroid. A bright flash of light burst forth from behind it; the U.S.S. Purity had dropped out of warp. A few moments later, a tractor beam emitted from the deflector dish, drawing in the small object. The object was brought to the shuttle bay situated just between the saucer section of the ship and deflector dish. The monstrous shuttle bay door sluggishly lifted, leaving a thick blue forcefield separating the shuttle bay from the empty vacuum of space.

Inside, an engineering team was ready to recover the probe. Off to the side stood Lieutenant Edumes, watching the probe as it gently floated into the largely vacant room. "Bring it in nice and slowly, Aribelle," she said.

"Engaging internal tractor beams..." said a young woman standing next to a computer terminal towards the back of the room.

The man standing next to her crossed his arms against his chest and sighed deeply. "Whatever happened to using transporters for this kind of thing?"

Aribelle tapped on the screen, causing a green-tinged veil of particles to wrap around the probe as it jolted from the shift in gravity. "Where's the fun in that?" she said, turning her attention to him and smiling.

"Where's the fun in this?" he asked, turning to look at her and motioning wildly towards the probe as it dangled in the air.

Aribelle looked up in thought. "That's a good question..."

As the probe slowly sank to the floor, the door to the shuttle bay slid open. A Bajoran woman in a blue sciences division uniform stormed into the room with a look of fury on her face. "There you are, you slut!" she yelled as she aggressively approached her.

Aribelle turned her attention to the enraged Bajoran. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I heard what you and T'anik were up to last night. He's mine!"

Aribelle was confused about the accusations she was facing. She had spent the night alone in the astrometrics lab. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

The man stepped between the two, looking back and forth at both of them. "Hey, hey, ladies!" he said calmly. "Jera, we're working here. You can figure out your problems when we're done." he said in an attempt to defuse the situation.

Lieutenant Jera grabbed the man by the collar of his uniform and tossed him aside like a toy into a pile of crates. The crates tumbled onto the floor, spilling a various assortment of commodities ranging from spare uniforms to dehydrated antigen packets.

"Edumes to security, get a team to Shuttle bay 1, now!" she said as she watched a fist fight break out between the two women. "Hey, break it up, that's an order!"

The man had returned to his feet and charged forward, attempting to restrain Lieutenant Jera, but was again grabbed and tossed aside. Lieutenant Jera's rage was unchecked as she grabbed Aribelle by the collar of her uniform and pushed her up against a wall.

"Do you think anyone believes your lies?!" she shouted angrily.

The doors to the shuttle bay opened and a security team entered the room. The human leading the group took aim at the two scuffling women and issued a warning. "Let her go or I open fire."

Lieutenant Jera ignored the warning, continuing to hurl insults and false accusations towards Ensign Aribelle.

"Okay, if you want to play that way..." she said as she opened fire with a compressive blast, knocking both to the floor. She looked down at Ensign Pendo who was wiggling around in pain under the crates. "And you?"

"Don't shoot, I yield!" he pleaded.

She motioned for her team to escort the three out of the room. "Get them out of here. To the brig, separate cells." she said, looking up at the probe suspiciously. "What happened here?"

"I don't know, we were pulling in the probe and the science officer came in and started a fight."

She looked at Lieutenant Jera as she was being carried away. "Jera... That's not like her..." she said, looking back up at the probe. "Are you almost done here? No doubt Lieutenant D'Hok will want to know what happened."

"It shouldn't take long..." Edumes replied, guiding an anti-gravity cargo bed to the probe, still captured in the tractor beam. Edumes walked over to the computer terminal, lowering the probe onto the cargo bed. "Good enough for now, I'll get someone else to clean this mess up..." she said as she disengaged the tractor beam. She followed the security officer out of the room and into the hallways.

- - - - -

Captain's Log, stardate 69041.4.

Our exploration of the Duhan sector is going along as planned. The U.S.S. Purity's advanced scanners and probes have helped to learn a great deal about the seventeen unexplored star systems in the area. We are currently en route to the NGC-672 system. We have been unable to contact the probe we sent in that direction, so we'll have to investigate ourselves.

On another note, I was informed today by one of my security officers that a fight had broken out down on deck 12 this morning between Lieutenant Jera, Ensign Pendo and Ensign Aribelle. Lieutenant Jera is still proving to be difficult to work with, so I've had her remain in the brig while Ensign Pendo and Ensign Aribelle are currently confined to their quarters. Nobody seems to know what happened to start that fight, and I refuse to believe it's jealousy or infidelity as my security teams and advisors seem to think.

- - - - -

Ameena was strolling down the halls of deck seven, perusing through some crew evaluations that were written on the PADD she was carrying. As she was walking along unattentively, reading the dossier on Lieutenant Jera, she accidentally bumped into Lieutenant Edumes. She looked up in shock, ready to apologize.

Edumes was livid. "Get out of my way," Edumes said, quickly and angrily brushing past Ameena.

Ameena turned around and looked at her as she continued to zoom down the hall. "Excuse me?" she asked.

Edumes stopped in her tracks and turned around. "Out of my way, sir?" she said sarcastically before continuing to her destination.

Ameena stared at Edumes in disbelief as she turned around a corner. "She must be having a really rough day too..." She continued to walk down the hallway, this time remaining vigilant so that she didn't bump into anyone else as she made her way to the crew lounge. As the doors opened before her, she stepped inside, walked over to the bar and took a seat. She looked around the crew lounge, noticing an atmosphere of tension. The room was eerily silent as everyone stared at each other. A lack of trust and suspicion could be seen on most of the crewmen's faces.

The Orion barmaid entered the room from a small kitchen area behind the bar. Noticing Ameena waiting idly, she walked over with a large grin on her face. "Evening, sir! I haven't seen you in awhile!"

Ameena looked up at the green skinned barmaid and attempted to be as friendly as she could. "I hardly get time to myself anymore. Running this vessel is far too time consuming." she said. "I have a few minutes today, a little relaxation here sounds good. Care to get me a drink?"

The barmaid nodded. "Anything specific, sir?"

"Surprise me."

"Right away, sir," she said, turning around to input an order into the replicator. "What brings you down here?"

Ameena leaned forward onto the bar. "Everyone seems to be having a bad day, and it's starting to drag me down, too. I figured a relaxed, social setting would help, but..." she said, looking around the crew lounge again. "I guess I was wrong."

"Yeah, I noticed that!" the barmaid said, placing a dark blue liquid in front of Ameena. "I have no idea what's going on... the ladies seem extra aggressive today."

"You seem as cheerful as ever, at least," Ameena said, picking up her glass and taking a big gulp. The liquid produced a burning sensation, tasting incredibly sour and leaving a bitter aftertaste. She wretched with displeasure, almost spitting it out all over the table. "This is utterly repulsive! What is it?!"

"Synthesized Romulan ale, sir."

She sniffed the beverage, repulsed by the overwhelming scent of synthahol and a fruit she couldn't identify. "I can see why the real stuff is outlawed..." she said, pushing the glass towards the barmaid. "Get me something... better."

The Orion swiped the glass off of the table and poured the remaining liquid into a sink. She then placed it back onto the replicator. As she pressed a few buttons on the screen attached to it, a new, pink bubbly liquid materialized within the cup. She picked it up and placed it on the bar in front of Ameena.

Ameena grabbed the glass and took a small sip from it, nodding. The taste was smooth and sweet, like iced strawberries, but seemed a little off. "Better. Much better." she said, placing it back on the bar. "I never caught your name, by the way."

"Phelle is the name," she replied. "Would you like to meet my... companion?"

Ameena saw no harm in it. She had been wanting to become more acquainted with the crew who served aboard her ship, but didn't have the time to. "Introduce me, then."

Phelle dropped the towel she was scrubbing the bar with and said, "I'll go see if he's busy," before disappearing into the kitchen.

Ameena continued to drink her bubbly, pink beverage, looking around the room. The atmosphere was still covered in dead silence. The only thing that could be heard was the soothing hum of the starship's plasma conduits. The tension that had built in what should be the most congenial and relaxed places on the ship had her worried and stressed. As she swiveled around to attempt to get a better view into the kitchen, her combadge beeped.

"McKenna to Commander Blackmoore."

She tapped on it to respond. "Yes?"

"Looks like this morning's fight wasn't an isolated incident. My team just ended another on deck 17. Security Team Delta dealt with another on deck 14."

"Is everything under control?" she asked.

"It looks like it, for now," McKenna responded. After a brief pause, she continued. "Something is definitely wrong here... I'm requesting permission to coordinate with Dr. Amorise to see if there isn't something going on."

"Do whatever you need for your investigations," Ameena sighed. "And, thanks. I'll deal with setting up the questioning sessions with D'Hok later, I guess, I'm not feeling it right now."

"Sir?" McKenna's voice replied. "I can take care of that too, if you need."

"I'm just having a bad day, don't worry about it. Blackmoore out." She sunk her head into the palms of her hands, trying to rub the stress away. "What's going on..." she muttered to herself.

Phelle returned from the small room with a male Orion dressed in a short, ragged jacket and ragged leather pants. "This is my... esteemed affiliate, Mitar."

Mitar extended his burly, muscled arm forward to shake Ameena's hand. "It's a pleasure to serve aboard your ship, ma'am."

Ameena couldn't help but glance up and down at him with a critical eye. "Sometimes I wish civilian personnel had uniforms too..." she said in a dismissive tone, before drinking another gulp.

Mitar retracted his hand, replying, "I've offended you! I apologize, I will wear something different from now on."

"No, I'm sorry," she said, slamming her empty glass down onto the bar with nearly enough force to shatter it. "No offense, but coming here only made me feel worse. See you around." she stood up and took a final look at the crew lounge before sulking away in disgust.

Mitar and Phelle watched Ameena closely as she wandered back into the hallway. Mitar laughed, then whispered to Phelle, "I'm impressed. You even got to the ship's captain."

Phelle smiled widely. "That should make our mission much easier..."

- - - - -

On the bridge, Malix was seated at the captain's chair, overlooking some crew evaluations. He was troubled about the reports of the fights throughout the ship, as some of them just didn't make any sense to him. He knew that Lieutenant Commander Petyev wasn't the fighting type and was surprised to see her listed as an aggressor. "Prescott, would you mind coming over here for a minute?"

"Sure thing," Alice said, swirling her chair around and walking over towards Malix. She took a seat next to him, leaning in closely to study the PADD in his lap. "What's the problem?"

"These damn fights everyone keeps getting into..." he said, passing the PADD to Alice. "I know you've been a bit busy to work on counseling this past week, but have you seen any hints of this coming?"

Alice looked at the information on the PADD. "Lieutenant Jera came to me awhile ago saying she thought the person she loved was being too distant, but that's about it. I don't know what's going on between her and Ensign Aribelle. Why Jera thinks there's an affair going on between her and T'anik is anyone's guess."

"How about Ensign Pendo?"

"We've got a big crew. I haven't talked to him yet."

"And Ensigns Dentra and Marbrik?"

Alice shrugged. "Haven't spoken to them either, but what about them?"

"Another two fights have broken out since this morning. Dentra and Marbrik were arguing near Astrometrics before punches started being thrown. And now Security Team Delta is reporting another fight on deck 14, near the children's classroom."

Alice leaned back in the chair, staring blankly at the floor. "Just what is going on..." A thought came to her as she snapped her fingers. "It seems like all of the crew involved, with the exception of Pendo, are women, sir. That's what I find the weirdest."

"I didn't even think of that," Malix said. "Any ideas?"

Alice shook her head. "Unfortunately no, sir. Maybe it's just a coincidence."

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to believe that," he said, tapping on his combadge. "Commander Ronae to Dr. Amorise."

"Let me guess, another holodeck injury!" he joked.

"No, not that. Have you been keeping up to date with what's been happening today?"

"Yes... A few fights, but nothing major. I have Lieutenant Commander Petyev here with a broken nose that I assume she suffered during one of these fights, but she's proving to be a bit of a handful."

"Give her a full examination. Blood samples, brain waves... hell, check the atmosphere controls if you have to. See if there's anything causing this other than blind jealousy."

In sickbay, Dr. Amorise was going through his supply cabinet, looking for a sedative to calm down Petyev, who was flailing around violently in an attempt to escape the constraints on her bed. "I was just about to on Ensign McKenna's suggestion, sir. She seems to think that the probe we picked up this morning is causing this somehow."

Malix and Alice looked at each other approvingly. "I admire her initiative. Get back to me or Commander Blackmoore if you find anything. Ronae out."

Petyev was struggling against her restraints, snarling into a roar as Dr. Amorise approached her timidly. "Get away from me!" she shouted in anger. "There's nothing wrong with me, let me out of here!"

"Ma'am, if you'd just be so kind as to calm down..." he said, pressing the device to her neck and pressing the button. The whistle of pressurized air escaping was heard as she fell limp on the bed. "Nurse! The patient is ready, bring the osteogenic stimulators and let's make her pretty again!"

- - - - -

An engineering team was inside of the shuttle bay, disassembling the probe and removing the data matrix. The small, plastic-like cube that held all of the data from the probe's exploration slid gently out of the computer core of the probe into the hands of a science officer.

"I'll get this to the astrometrics team right away," the science officer said as he carefully handled the cube.

"Not yet, we have to put it through the decontamination chamber for a few moments first."

The man smiled shyly. "Right. I forgot." he said, bringing the cube over to a small container on the side of the room.

The doors to the shuttle bay opened and Ameena walked inside. The crew inside saluted enthusiastically as she approached. "Hands down, everyone," she abruptly and aggressively said. "What's the status on the probe here?"

"We're just getting started on it now, sir," a Benzite engineer said.

Ameena stared at the Benzite. "Just starting?" she asked. "What do you mean? This was supposed to be done already!"

The crew looked at each other nervously.

"Can I get an answer out of any of you?"

The Benzite stepped forward. "This is a misunderstanding, the fight that broke out in here earlier prevented us from beginning, sir!"

"You can stop calling me 'sir'." she said angrily.

"Yes, s--" he started, stopping himself. "This should not take long. We are all very efficient workers."

Ameena laughed in frustration as she walked over to the sciences division officer. "And you, what are you doing?"

The officer looked at Ameena cautiously, quickly trying to fabricate a lie. "Uhh, scanning the contents into the ship's computer for analysis!"

She smiled. "You know, you're all pieces of work." she said, patting the science officer on the shoulder. "Except you." She turned her ire back to the rest of the crew. "If you were as efficient as you claimed, this would have been started shortly after the fight this morning and finished already."

"It's been a rough day for all of us," The Benzite engineer stepped up to her and put his hands around her shoulder in a peaceful attempt to remove her from the room.

Ameena furiously slapped his hands away from her. "Get your hands off of me, fish boy! I'm your captain!"

"I know that, sir." he stuttered nervously, remembering that he was asked not to call her that. "But that doesn't give you the right to verbally abuse me or my fellow engineers!" he said boldly, standing up to Ameena. "If you don't leave us in peace, I'll have security escort you out."

"Why should I?" she said angrily. "You oafs can't be trusted to work properly."

The Benzite sighed and tapped on his communicator. "Security, please get a team here to Shuttle bay 1 again."

Ameena laughed. "You're just wasting more time."

The door opened and a lone security officer, Ensign McKenna, walked into the room. After quickly analyzing the situation and feeling there was no threat, she asked, "What's the problem here?"

"The captain isn't allowing us to work in peace." the Benzite said. "She has been nothing but verbally abusive since she arrived to inspect our work."

McKenna looked at Ameena in confusion and disbelief.

"If these idiots knew how to do their job properly..."

"Look, you're having a bad day, sir. Nobody is going to blame you for that. But we should just let them get back to work and cool off." she said, placing her hand on Ameena's shoulder.

"You too! Keep your hands off of me!" she said, pushing McKenna away.

McKenna stood back up and brushed off her uniform. "If you want to get rough with me, then I'm going to have to place you under arrest."

"Piss off," she said. She turned to the crew who were watching the shouting match unfold. "What are you all looking at? I don't see any work getting done!"

"I hope I don't get a court martial for this..." McKenna mumbled to herself before aiming her rifle at Ameena's back. The rest of the crew working within the shuttle bay ducked for cover as Ameena turned around. Before Ameena could react, she opened fire with a stun beam.

Ameena fell to the ground. Her attempts to stumble back to her feet were met with failure.

She let out a deep breath. "Sorry, sir..." she said as she tapped on her combadge. "McKenna to Commander Ronae."

"Commander Ronae here. I'd like to commend you for your initiative in figuring out what's going on."

"Thank you, sir, but..."

"But what, Ensign?

After a long pause, she continued. "It looks like you'll be in command of the ship for awhile. The captain was just involved in... it's a long story." she said as she looked down at Ameena who was rolling on the ground in pain.

"Excuse me?" Malix asked in disbelief.

"There's something seriously wrong here. I'm requesting permission to coordinate with D'Hok to lock the ship down until further notice."

Malix looked to the floor in deep thought. He shook his head in disbelief as he said, "Get it done. Find out what's going on. Commander Ronae out." He turned his attention to Ralis who sat at the communications station. "Lieutenant Katr... yellow alert."

"Aye... sir..." Ralis said with suspenseful hesitation. He clicked a button on his screen and the lighting dimmed. Yellow lights flashed along the panels and screens aboard the bridge.

Malix shook his head in disbelief, pacing back and forth. As he did so, he tapped on his combadge, wondering what to say. "To all Starfleet personnel aboard this vessel... this ship is being placed on lock down until further notice. If you are currently on duty, remain at your posts. All civilians and off duty personnel, return to your quarters and remain there. All security personnel, on duty and off duty, report to Lieutenant D'Hok."

There were murmurs of disbelief and fear on the bridge as the yellow lights continued their flashing.

"Effective immediately, I am also taking command of this vessel. Redirect everything that would reach the captain to me until further notice." He turned around to look at his bewildered crew. "I really wish I knew what to say. I don't. I hope you'll work with me to remain calm until we figure out what is happening."

- - - - -

Acting Captain's Log, 69041.8. Commander Malix Ronae.

It's been a tense day aboard the U.S.S. Purity as Commander Blackmoore has no doubt noted in her daily log. The ship has been locked down for nearly eight hours now. I can't even count the number of fights or security breaches we've had. This ship and her crew are falling apart.

Our best lead so far is something Dr. Amorise found. There were traces of a very potent neurotoxin of unknown origin found in Lieutenant Commander Petyev's bloodstream. This same toxin has been found in some of the other officers as well. Unfortunately, he has been unable to determine how this toxin entered them or how to even combat it.

I have one last idea before I give up and call for outside assistance. If it comes to that, I can only hope that there is a Starfleet vessel nearby. With the way the crew is falling apart, I doubt we'll have the manpower to make it back to a starbase alone in one piece.

Commander Blackmoore will be questioned about her day. She was fine until she took a break... there has to be something she can tell us, if she'll cooperate. The others have not been cooperative, so my hopes are not high.

- - - - -

Commander Ronae was pacing about on the bridge, frustrated with the lack of progress in solving the mystery behind the strange behavior. He looked around; dead silence and the confused gaze of the crew greeted him. Even the hum of the electro-plasma systems seemed to fall silent. The intercom beeping finally shattered the silence.

"D'Hok to Commander Ronae. Commander Blackmoore is ready to be questioned." a deep, Klingon voice said.

"Good. Has she calmed down any?" he asked.

"She seems to have forgotten her manners, but I've seen worse! Will you be joining us?"

"I will remain on the bridge." he said, before looking at Alice. "I'll be sending Lieutenant Commander Prescott down in my place. The two are good friends, maybe she can get through."

"Aye. D'Hok out."

As Alice walked towards the turbolift at the back of the bridge, Malix pulled her aside. "Stay safe, and keep an eye on Lieutenant D'Hok. His... questioning methods concern me sometimes."

Alice blinked, shocked at the warning. She wondered what she would be able to do if D'Hok had lost his temper. "I... I'll try." she said and made her way to the turbolift. As she stepped inside, two security officers followed her, making her feel a bit uneasy. She had never been escorted by security before.

- - - - -

D'Hok was staring through the window of the interrogation room at Ameena, seated at a table with a smug yet confused look on her face. "I can't believe it!" he said excitedly.

"Neither can I," McKenna said. "She always seems so calm, even when she's pushed to her limits. There has to be something she can shed some light on."

D'Hok crossed his arms. "And what if she doesn't?"

McKenna silently stared at Ameena, trying to analyze her facial expressions. She pinched her eyebrows in stress and broke the silence. "Malix will have a plan. I don't know what I'd do in this situation, but he will."

The door to the interrogation room opened and Alice stepped inside. The first thing she saw was her best friend restrained within the small, bland room, a heartbreaking sight. She turned to McKenna and D'Hok and asked, "Have you gone in yet?"

"Not yet. Commander Ronae made it clear to wait for you." D'Hok said. "Now that you're here, let's begin."

"I'd like to go in first," Alice said. "I'm her closest friend aboard the ship. She might be more open with me."

D'Hok silently nodded as McKenna offered her support for the idea. "Alright. But we're coming in if you can't get anything out of her."

The door to the small room opened as Alice walked in. She took a seat in front of Ameena and clasped her hands together on the table. "Rough day, huh?"

Ameena sneered. "You have no idea. Everyone's been out to ruin my day, and I'm sick of it."

"I'm not here to do that," Alice replied. "We need to figure out what's going on, can you help with that?"

"I don't see how I can be any help. I'm just having a bad day, alright?"

"You've had bad days before, but when is the last time you've been that abusive towards someone else?"

"High school, I think, Ameena sarcastically remarked. "Besides, every crew needs an iron fist in the face every now and then. Ya know, for motivation. perhaps you'd like to be next."

Alice looked through the small, mirrored window behind her. "I guess I was wrong. Feel free to come in." The door opened and D'Hok and McKenna walked in.

"Oh no. You're bringing in the beast to question me?" she asked.

"Ha! I'm glad you hold me in such high esteem, Commander." D'Hok said. "Now, answer our questions and I'll be nice. And I'm never nice."

"Alice, you might be right. Forgive me." she said, genuinely sorry for the insult. "I never act like this..."

McKenna leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. "What happened since you left the bridge this morning?"

"What does that matter?"

"The crew reported that you were acting normally this morning. Something happened in that half hour. We need to know what."

Ameena's memory of the day was foggy. "I... umm..." she stuttered, then continued to think. "I don't remember much."

McKenna slammed her hands on the table and leaned over Ameena threateningly. "Think! Think, sir! When did this start?"

Ameena rubbed both of her hands over her face in an attempt to calm herself down and think. "I... remember wanting to get a look at the shuttle bay to check on something... and something snapped."

"What exactly happened?"

"I confronted... whatever his name is. That fish boy engineer. I don't even remember what it was about, but it pissed me off."

D'Hok shouted angrily, "This is getting us nowhere!" before he left the room.

Ameena pointed at the door as it closed behind D'Hok. "Now that guy, he has some issues."

"Before you were on deck twelve, where were you?" Alice asked.

"Uhh..." she said, searching her foggy memory. "The crew lounge, was it?" she asked. "I think that's where I was... yeah, the barmaid gave me some Romulan Ale, I remember that very clearly."

McKenna's eyebrow perked up. "Which barmaid? I've never been to the crew lounge, but I imagine there's more than one."

"You really are a loner, aren't you?" Ameena asked. "Barmaid, barmaid... what was her name..." she muttered as she tried to think. "She's an Orion, and an ugly one at that, that's all I remember."

Alice and McKenna looked at each other. "Orion barmaid?"

The Orion barmaid was mentioned by Lieutenant Jera when she was questioned as well. "This is the third time I've heard about her today." McKenna said.

"Sounds like we have something worth investigating," Alice said. "Thank you."

"Figure something out..." Ameena groaned.

The two left the small room, leaving Ameena alone. The two were confronted by D'Hok who had returned from a small walk to calm his nerves.

"Did you find anything useful out of her?" D'Hok asked impatiently.

"The crew lounge... Two of the others mentioned that as well. Specifically, they mentioned the Orion barmaid." McKenna said.

"That Orion!" D'Hok roared. "I knew we could never trust that petaQ!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, D'Hok," Alice said. "If you go in roaring and waving your phaser rifle around, things will get ugly."

D'Hok glared at her and wrapped his massive hand around the collar of her uniform. "I will not be told to calm down, not today! This Orion is going to answer for her crimes!"

"Hands off of her," McKenna said, trying to separate the two. "D'Hok, I know you're excited, but please. We don't need your sense of honor clouding your judgement. Alice wants the best outcome for this situation."

D'Hok looked down at McKenna, then back at Alice. "Fine," he said roughly as he let her go. "I do forget that Starfleet does things differently sometimes. I apologize."

Alice looked up at D'Hok as he stormed out of the room, then leaned over to McKenna. "How do you work with him?" she whispered.

"It's just something you have to learn," she replied, following him out of the room and into the corridors of deck seven.

As D'Hok stormed down the empty hallways of deck seven, he tapped on his combadge. "D'Hok to Commander Ronae, we've found something."

"Yes, what is it?" Malix's haggard voice replied.

"It's that treacherous Orion barmaid! The captain and two of our other prisoners have all mentioned her."

"Phelle?" he asked. "I knew something wasn't quite right about her."

"We're at the crew lounge, ready to enter. D'Hok out."

"Good luck."

The doors to the crew lounge slid open. The room was completely empty with the exception of an Operations division officer who was sitting down in the corner of the room. His presence in the crew lounge was in violation of the tightened security aboard the U.S.S. Purity, a distraction for the three.

The man looked at the three as they approached him. "Can I help you?"

"You can start by returning to your quarters immediately." D'Hok barked the order at him angrily.

The man took a sip from his drink. "Mmm... I think I'll stay here. It looks like things are about to get very interesting."

"I could send you to sickbay with an injury you'll remember for years to come if you'd prefer," D'Hok said menacingly as he walked towards the man.

The man rose from his seat and began to back away as fast as the menacing Klingon approached him.

McKenna was annoyed at the way that D'Hok was acting. "Sir, forget about him. We're here for the barmaid."

"Phelle?" the man asked. "She's been hiding in the kitchen since I arrived." he said, pointing towards the closed door behind the bar.

D'Hok glared at the disobedient officer, then turned his attention to the door to the kitchen. He approached the kitchen with McKenna following closely behind, taking cover on the wall next to the door. "Prescott, stay low. We wait until backup arrives."

"Yes sir," she said, taking cover in front of the bar and poking her head above to look around.

As the group waited, the door slid open and Mitar charged out. He locked his attention on D'Hok, grabbing him by the collar of his uniform and tossing him over the bar. D'Hok crashed into a table, snapping it in half and knocking the chairs around it over. McKenna was stunned by the surprise attack, reaching for her phaser rifle and aiming it, but was also picked up by Mitar and thrown across the room before she could react. The two Starfleet officers shrugged off the attack as best they could.

The disobedient Operations officer laughed and joined the fight, jumping on top of D'Hok in an attempt to restrain him. D'Hok grabbed him by the arm and slammed him into the broken table, knocking him out. McKenna took aim with her phaser rifle and fired a shot at Mitar. His muscles stiffened and he fell to the floor with an audible thud.

"Bloody hell, I wasn't expecting that!" she said as she rubbed her shoulder in pain. "They're onto us!"

D'Hok pressed his combadge. "Security Team Alpha, hurry up!" he said as he rushed over to the bar and aimed into the kitchen.

The standoff was silent for about half a minute before a compact beam of green energy flew out of the room, burning a hole into the bar. Phelle emerged from her hiding spot and opened fire again before retreating to a new position.

"Cover me," McKenna said as she crawled over to the door. D'Hok fired continuously into the room as she snuck inside. She made her way to the end of the room and began to look between each row of tables and other furniture within. As she looked around a corner, she saw Phelle kneeling down with her attention locked onto D'Hok. She capitalized on the element of surprise by firing a compressed bolt of energy directly into her.

Phelle reeled in pain from the attack and attempted to return fire, but fell to the floor before she could.

"I think I've got her, sir!" she said as she carefully approached the Orion. After kicking her disruptor pistol away, she rolled Phelle onto her back with her foot and pointed the phaser rifle in her face. "It's over."

"No... it's just begun." she struggled to say.

D'Hok leapt over the bar and walked into the kitchen. "Good work, Ensign." he said, smacking her shoulder. "But you have forgotten the most important rule of being a security officer and a warrior: Always wait for backup."

McKenna looked down and took a quick, deep breath. "Got it." she said, her attention turning towards the door as three security officers filed into the room one by one.

"Round these three up," D'Hok said, stepping out into the crew lounge. "To the brig, all of them. I'll begin questioning them shortly."

"Aye, sir!" one of the security officers said with a salute before he and another picked Phelle up off of the floor.

He looked at Alice, then back at the disobedient Operations officer. "Go easy on him. He made a stupid mistake, but he's not an enemy."

Alice approached the two as they walked out into the center of the lounge kitchen. "You make it look so easy..." she said, watching Phelle and Mitar being thrown against the bar and restrained.

"Keeping the peace is never easy, but it's something you get used to." D'Hok said.

She politely nodded in agreement even though she did not agree, tapping on her combadge. "Alice to Commander Ronae. Lieutenant D'Hok, Ensign McKenna and I have taken the bartender and her companion into custody. They're being escorted to the brig now."

Malix' voice came in through her communicator. "Good work you three. It's going to be an awkward recovery for a lot of people, so I want you to help where you can, when you can, Prescott."

"Understood. I'll try. Prescott out." she said, watching as the two Orions and the Operations officer were hauled away.

Phelle eyed Alice and a devious grin widened across her face. She turned to Mitar and said, "Prescott? Mitar! It's the girl we've been looking for! The boss is gonna pay us well!"

Mitar stopped sulking and looked up at Alice, a similar grin coming across his face as well.

McKenna gave Phelle a forceful push with the stock of her phaser rifle. "Shut your mouth and keep moving."

Alice watched as the two three were escorted out of the crew lounge, confused. She looked around at the now empty room, looking at the damage the scuffle had caused. She shook her head and walked over to the bar, taking a seat. She stared at the floor, deep in thought, trying to piece together what Phelle had meant about her.