[Charlie Fox - Transporter Room 2, Deck 5 -> The Killing Floor, Jupiter Star]

Charlie spared a grin that looked a shade rueful when the Commander spoke, but remained silent. It was a first for her too, but she had no doubt in her mind that the amount of people on the Mac who could appreciate that could be counted on one hand. Subconsciously she sucked in a breath and held it as the Transporter Chief energised their transport.

She should have kept a hold of her breath. Breathing in the stench of the scene that met them upon their arrival was worse than the sight itself. 

Behind her, Olsen's white spotlight clicked on, illuminating the three mutilated people with even more clarity. "F**kin' 'ell." Her lips then pressed together as she scanned the remains, unable to stop herself or look away, as she tried and failed to assign names to these poor unfortunates. There was nothing clean about these kills, in fact there was nothing ordinary about them, at all. She couldn't discern a possible cause of death by glance alone, but any number of their injuries could have been responsible. She thought she was holding it together quite well, until she caught a glimpse of what could only be a humanoid's intestine, flopping out of a jagged hole in someone's torso.

"Excuse me," she blurted out, before stepping to the side and losing some of her breakfast.

Charlie loved to eat. What she loved even more was eating small portions of lots of things; that way she felt she never missed out. And so that morning, in a bid to take advantage of limitless replicator access, she'd had all the components of a Full English, separated, with tea, a pancake, a slice of French toast with berries and maple syrup and a mushroom and cheese omelette. Thanks to her buffet breakfast, there was plenty in her stomach to upchuck all over the Star's bulkheads. Though luckily, she managed to keep a lid on some of the meal. "Oh hi, portobellos." They had been the last thing she'd ate, and the general rule was last in, first out... 

A cold sweat had broken out on her forehead and her skin turned a deathly shade of pale when she noticed where exactly she'd managed to aim. Inwardly she groaned, missing the exchange about splitting up entirely as she stared at the splatter on the shiny, polished boots. Then her eyes traveled upward, slowly, her face twisted into a cringe as her gaze came to a stop when it met Ensign Lieutenant Niles' face.

"I am so, so sorry," she ground out from her hunched-over position, and actually meant it. A little. Meanwhile, her hovering holorecorder was buzzing around, dutifully cataloguing all of the horror.

[Kova Sh'qaleq - Security Office, Promenade, Front Ear Station]

It wasn't a surprise to Kova that the Vulcan had an answer for everything, even if it wasn't a very good one. Of all the reasons he could have given, he settled on bragging rights. It seemed rather shallow for a representative of the benevolent Federation. He then went on to bring the Romulans into this. The only thing that Kova knew for certain is that this was typical Vulcan behavior. Everyone was at fault except the pointy-eared, green-blooded logicians. The only good sign was the cough that left Sven's lips as he began to open his eyes. For some reason a hint of relief washed over Kova. She chalked it up to no longer being alone with the conspiracy-theorist Vulcan.

He remarked that there weren't any secret entryways into the security office. As if she could possibly trust anything he'd say. He then accused her entire species of being skeptics. "We're skeptics?" Kova scoffed. "We're not the ones spying on neighboring systems from monasteries. Andorians weren't the ones that stifled the pink-skins' exploration of space out of fear that they ruin the status quo." Kova rolled her eyes. "Hell, you don't even trust yourselves. Anything that's taboo to your 'logic' is disgraced. Early mind-melders... persecuted. Co-mingling with non-Vulcans... outcasts. And right... the Romulans. Exactly how many light years did your distant cousins put between you all millennia ago?"

It was a debate she was certain she'd put to rest. Nevertheless, it was Sven's questions that refocused her attentions. "It looks like there was some sort of disruption or overload in the power relay systems," Kova surmised. "I think it caused some debris to hit you, knocking you unconscious. Power is out all over the station. Life support and comms are still up. And... we're stuck here... together." The last word was uttered as she glared over at Sorrin.

---

Tag: Sven Aune (& Sorrin)

[Deck 21 - Emergency Batteries]
K'Dex watched as his sole light source moved as he turned his body, trying to understand. The batteries were getting quite warm, warm enough that K'Dex could feel the heat in the air. Not a lot, as there was a lot of air in this enclosed space, but the fact that the air was heating up at all while power was shutdown was not normal. Add that to the few conduits he spotted in the area that had blown out, mostly minor ones which, surprise surprise, also fed most of the diagnostic equipment in the area, and he was quite concerned.

K'Dex snapped his head up, trying to pin the noise. "I'm Here! Keep Shouting!" K'Dex uncharacteristically roared out, quickly pacing about to try and pin down the noise. He found it coming from a hatch into the ceiling, and he reached up, his taller height letting his claws just reach far enough to pop the cover on the drop ladder. It hit the catwalk he was on with loud clang, and he climbed up. He stretched out to the side of the hatch, and began to turn the manual override on the hatch. As it inched open, he helped the PO down the ladder to the catwalk.

"I have just the one light, so stay close." He said, as he considered. "These batteries are still pulling energy somehow. We'll need to shut off the EPS trunk lines in this section, which will take forever manually." He said, glancing his head back and forth, examining their current position on the crosswalk. He slowed short, thinking he'd seen something. It was just a flicker he assured himself.

"The closest emergency supplies will be at the main control panel for these batteries. It's a few J Tubes away, this way." He said, before slowly moving away. He made sure to twitch his tail rapidly, knowing his dark color would make his shape disappear if not for the flashlight on his shoulder, leading the way.

K'Dex stopped short in the J Tube as he heard a slightly ping of his PADD reconnecting, and he heard a few distant consoles boot up. He swung the pouch around and yanked out the PADD. "Computer, close all EPS Trunk lines beginning from deck 21 set for emergency power. And send an environmental status to engineering for Deck 21."

"Emergency Trunk Lines closed. Unable to send status. Diagnostic equipment non-functional." K'Dex almost pawed his own face in his forgetfulness at what had concerned him at the beginning of entering again. He turned to the PO following him "It's fine, just need to get to Engineering."

They quickly made it to the control area for the Emergency Batteries. K'Dex clawed open the emergency locker under the consoles, and passed a wrist light to the other PO. "Unless you have somewhere else to go, we can climb down to Engineering, just 2 decks down. Should avoid the turbolifts." He said, before making his way to the main ladder down.

K'Dex began to feel more comfortable as he made his way down the ladder, the lights guiding him. Until they weren't. Then he felt uncomfortable again, and stopped for a moment to click his shoulder light on again. He was about to continue stepping down, until he saw a small shadow cross right in front of him. He shook his head, wondering if his light was failing on him. Either that, or the flicker was from odd light angle in the cramped quarters. K'Dex stopped as they came to the side hatch that would dump them on the upper level of Main Engineering.

---

[Deck 23, Main Engineering]
K'Dex had just cracked the hatch open when an odd smell of burnt materials wafted out to him. Obviously, they'd been having a lot of interesting things happening here. He curled up and rolled onto the upper level of Main Engineering, and made his way down, spotting the main officer yelling orders, the assistant Chief. "Lieutenant! I've shut off the EPS lines from deck 21, something was heating up the batteries with a short somehow, even with the system down for diagnostics. What do you need from me?" He happened to glance to the office behind the Lt, and glimpsed a burned Chief Engineer, and reacted without thinking with a short hiss.

---

Tag Ozu Saya (Ozu & George)

[Charlie Fox - The Spotty Alibi, Promenade]

Without looking away from the domestic unfolding at Table 11, Charlie finished the message and sent it with a swipe of her thumb. She placed the small pad down on the table, still unable to tear her eyes away from the strange meeting. The Deltan was having none of this man's kink, it seemed.

She was direct, and had somehow managed to master it without coming off as offensive, at least at first. But Van the Man pressed, and then Xyla's eyes fell shut again. When she reopened them, she was shouting. Charlie's stomach clenched, and her hand curled tightly around her lukewarm beer bottle.

Eyes were drawn to them from all over the bar. Charlie openly stared then, realising she'd probably look more suspicious if she didn't. The woman stopped briefly and looked behind her at her would-be companion, and then moved off. Between the breakneck mood change at the table, and the lack of words exchanged during Xyla's dramatic exit, Charlie could only surmise that her initial deduction was accurate: she was missing half of the conversation.

Telepathy. It made getting the juice so much more difficult.

She slid from her stool and moved toward the entrance herself, in no rush but wanting to keep both of them in her field of vision. When they split she slowed, glanced down at her black boots, and made a show of going to one knee to tighten up a loose lace. While she was down there she plucked a card from the floor, one that she'd actually just slipped from her own sleeve, and stood up. Holding the card before her between index finger and thumb, she set off in the Deltan's direction.

She did not approach until the Saurian at the doorway of the Bang-Bang shop showed the Promenade his back, and then strolled straight up to the Deltan. "Hey, miss... You dropped this." She held out the card to her; a colourful orange electronic key with The Twilight Hotel & Casino emblazoned on the front, and Room 212 scrawled on the back. "Never know, there might be something helpful in there. Or someone." To anyone nearby it might come off as a weird exchange, but hardly suspicious. Without offering anything else, Charlie smiled benignly, and wandered off, weaving a little as though she had had one too many in the Spotty Alibi.

Just as she reached one of the open seating areas of the Promenade, the small device she'd been messaging on chirped with an alert. She pulled it out, read the response, and let out a low, unpleasant string of curses.

There went her chance of shadowing Van Morii. Muttering something about the fragility of the man's ego, she tried to ignore her growing urge to smother Bennett in his sleep with his hypoallergenic pillow, and continued toward the casino.

---

Tag: Kova Sh'qaleq (Xyla)