Murder in Cargo Bay 1

Posted on Fri Mar 1st, 2024 @ 2:06am by Captain Tyler Driskill & Lieutenant JG Gulati

1,032 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Mission 1 - Project Concord
Location: Deck 14 - saucer section | Cargo bay 3 | USS Concord
Tags: Nixie Wilde

Ensign Tullos was usually in a good mood and that’s how the mission started out. He was excited to be part of the crew going into the Delta Quadrant, but everything went wrong and no one knew why yet. Tullos didn’t mind hard work but they had all been pulling at least sixteen hour shifts since the accident and all the damage to the ship. Now he was in charge of reorganizing cargo bay three.

Like all Bolians he had blue skin and eyes and had no hair. He had would rather be listening to Bolian opera but it was four in the morning. He was humming and putting cargo back where it should be and checking to see if anything was damaged.

A peaceful Bolian Starfleet officer doing his duties and moving cargo about, logging it bit by bit. Seemingly alone, he had not noticed Bevan and O'Reilly when he entered the cargo bay as they were obscured by a stack of cargo containers and Federation barrels lined up.

The only evidence that he was not alone was Ensign Sean O'Riley's red uniform jacket draped over a nearby barrel. If the Bolian had ears like a Vulcan he probably would have heard the breathing of O'Reilly and Petty Officer Bevan from Operations. His humming obscuring their presence, but something thudded against a barrel nearby.

Tullos stopped humming and listened for a moment before his curiosity got the best of him and he walked around the stack of cargo containers “everything okay?”

Bless Bolians for generally being open and embracing of things. Ensign O'Riley blushed as he pushed Petty Officer Bevan off top of himself. "Ensign Tullos" he said and started to get himself back upright.

Meanwhile Bevan scrambled to straighten what was left of his uniform. "Sir," he said still catching his breath. "We..." there was no excuse that explained what they had been in the middle of trying to do. "I'm sorry. We didn't think anyone would come in here at this hour."

“It’s” Tullos smiled at the two “I’ve just been here working on cargo.” Ensign Tullos looked down at his PaDD unsure if he should even acknowledge what he caught them doing, but looked up and smiled but didn’t say anything else.

"We were just going" O'Riley stated and grabbed Bevan's hand, leading the man away from the Bolian and the two of them away from getting themselves into more trouble. They were fortunate that they were just being young and dumb, and not to the full extent of stupidity when the Bolian had caught them.

Still, he had seen them and if her were responsible enough of an officer, he may not have cut them any slack. There could be serious ramifications coming there way. A few minutes later, the doors to the cargobay opened again.

As Tullos went about his work, he had not so much as turned around to notice he was yet again not alone. A force rammed into him from behind and sought to knock him to the decking and loomed over him as the Bolian opened his mouth to scream and reach for his communication's badge, but his screams were short lived. He had managed to activate his comm badge yet nothing got through.

Lieutenant Gulati had gotten to know Tullos a little, having someone else with blue skin aboard had caused the two to have something to bond over even though they were of two different species with vastly different cultures. When she entered the cargobay, she was not expecting to discover the man unconscious and unresponsive.

Gulati immediately rushed to the man's body and was on her knees lurched over him and checked for a pulse. There was none. Quickly tapping her communications badge, the Benzite acted. "Gulati to Sickbay, I need medical in Cargo Bay 1 immediately."

Then her mind dabbled. Security or the Captain? "Captain Driskill, somethings happened in Cargo Bay 1. It's Tullos...he's dead Sir."

“Dead?” Driskill repeated and was already on his way “I’m on my way.” The Captain needed to get to Cargo Bay 1 and assess the situation. Tyler Driskill was in the turbo lift and walking through the Cargo Bay doors faster than he thought he could. “Lieutenant” he called out when he saw an officer he had quickly come to trust.

"I already called for medical, but I don't think there's anything they can do for him" she stated. "He's cold, sir. I suspect he's been down here like this for an hour or so."

Gulati looked at Tyler. "I didn't alert security and I didn't tell medical he was dead. I am starting to not trust this crew, no offense, but there's been probable sabotage and...not to jump to conclusions, but a Bolian his age doesn't just drop dead for no reason."

Gulati opened the Bolians mouth after seeing residue around his lips. "Peculiar" she muttered.

“How so?” Captain Driskill ask as he knelt down next to the Lieutenant and started looking over the body. It wasn’t really Tyler’s field of expertise but as a Starfleet Captain he had some training and experience dealing with dead bodies and possible homicides.

"This....jelly like substance here" she said pointing to his lips. "There's more inside his mouth and throat. I don't think I'm looking at the remains of a jelly donut." She looked over at Tyler. "Tricorder" she instructed.

The Captain retrieved a tricorder form a near by storage locker and handed it to Gulati. “Should we call Lieutenant Wilde” he asked joining Gulati.

"Yes," she replied. "Protocol would say yes. There is a deceased crewmember and we may have a murderer aboard" she said. She took the tricorder and took some readings being sure to have them shared to a location she could later access them.

Captain Driskill tapped his comm badge “Security to Cargo Bay one” he looked over at Gulati.

"If you'll excuse me," she said. "Security can find me in one of the science labs. I know they will want my statement, but I have tests to run."

“Very good, Lieutenant” the Captain would stay and wait for security to arrive.

 

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