Episode 5: Murder in Paradise

||Idriis
||Museum
||April 9, 2388
||1330


"I do not believe that is something that you know," Aria told him, cocking her head to one side before returning to her previous position. "If I had never been assimilated, I would be an entirely different person. Speculation of what kind of person is irrelevant...unless that was a compliment that went over my head."

She blushed having said that because it seemed to her that she was always missing things. People would say things that simply did not make sense and then think her stupid and she was not--she was simply Borg. Once assimilated, always awkward as far as Aria was concerned. No matter how hard she tried to adapt, she just couldn't be completely human if she tried.

Turning her attention to what he had said about the personal logs, she knew that she had been in the wrong, but she also felt like she could justify her actions. While the logs were like a diary, James Corden had been working for Doclin, who had been crippling the ship from the inside out and it seemed like a security risk. She only had the safety of the crew in mind and she paused as they neared a sculpture that she liked, looking up at Dariak and cocking her head to one side again, her fiery hair moving as she did.

"While I understand that such logs are only meant for personal viewing, I believe that the crew is entitled to know more about the Staff Sergeant," Aria explained to him. "He was found in the company of Doclin, a very powerful and dangerous man, and I do not believe it to be an issue that can simply be skimmed over. The crew deserves to know if he is dangerous and if the captain knows more than she is letting on. It is not my place, but I am trying to do my best to protect the crew...to protect you."

As she added in the last part, her arms found their way around his waist, pulling him closer to her because she wanted him to understand that he was becoming incredibly important to her--whether she was in the wrong or not about the personal logs.

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1330


"You're biased on that though because you love me," Lillian responded, capturing Taylor's lips with hers for a moment. "Besides, telling your pregnant wife-to-be that she's anything but is probably a big no-no, right?"

For a moment as Lillian let her hands take hold of Taylor's shirt to pull him in for another kiss, she wanted to rip the shirt off of him, but this was family time. She had sand between her toes and there was beautiful scenery and a hot sun and she wanted to just enjoy the time...she could ravage Taylor later, and she fully intended to. So she just wiggled her eyebrows at him and kissed his nose.

"You're happy, right? This is what you want?" Lillian asked him as Sareth went back to the castle, glad to have felt his brother or sister kick and happy to have his parents so happy and in love. "Me...beach wedding...the baby...us raising our kids...you want it, right?"

She just wanted to make sure that this was everything that he wanted because she remembered how insecure she had felt about Sarah for that little while. Lillian loved Taylor and she knew that he loved her and Sareth and the baby, but she wanted to make sure that she wasn't forcing herself on him or anything. Out of nowhere as Lillian went to kiss Taylor again to let him know it was what she wanted, there was a loud, piercing scream.

"What was that?" Sareth asked curiously.

(Dun, dun, dun...)

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1330

“Well, yeah.” purred Taylor fondly as he cupped her face as he kissed her gently, feeling sunlight dance along the back of his neck as his ears were filled by the sound of water being pulled and pushed by the sway of four moons' gravitational power. If he got used to the sunshine then maybe he'd consider this place home but in all honesty Betazed had been more of a home to him despite him only really being their during conflicts. It was like he knew every inch of the grasslands where he had fought, the streets of Osri city where skirmishes and sniper duels had taken place. He was happy with this because he knew one day he'd return to that planet for a peaceful reason. So he was happy to nod at Lillian's question.

His eyes showed the happiness which was bolstered by the smile on his face. “Lillian Rose Crae. I did not fight off the Dominion Invasion, get nearly blown to bits on Thesa Prime, find out on Starbase Seven, go through a Cardassian special forces unit to get you a cure and then find out once again after months to simply walk away now. This is happening come hell or high water.” Explained the Scotsman. Taylor closed his eyes to enter the kiss deeply before the scream echoing along the beach caught his attention. From family man he switched to the marine, wondering what had caused it. An accident? Animal attack? An assault?

“Sareth, get your mother off the beach and find Auntie Marlo, go!” he yelled as he sprinted off, his boots kicking up clumps of sand as he did.

<tag: Lilly, will do the Dariak one when I get back since he'll comm all of Omega squad when he finds the bodeh.>

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1333


Lillian didn't feel as content as she had before, the scream making her sigh and then groan because it had just effectively ruined shore leave. Sure, it could be something totally trivial, but at that moment, Lillian feared the worst because every time they seemed calm and happy, something bad happened. So looking down at Sareth, Lillian took a deep breath and grasped his hand.

"Time to try and fix the moment, Buddy," she told him, looking up at the sun and wishing was calming.

She didn't even have time to drink in the rays before she and Sareth were moving toward the plaza, Lillian wanting to find Marlo. Lillian also wanted to find Gabe and Marissa and find out what it was that was going on as another scream rang out from the same person. Picking up the pace, Lillian and Sareth ran into Lyra Tam, Sareth's babysitter, Lillian blessing her good luck.

"Lyra, good," she said and sighed a little. "Time to go into captain mode...what's wrong?"

Lyra motioned to the plaza. "It's bad, Captain. Ensign Dolliver...she killed someone--well, that local is saying she did, but the blood on both of them and the victim is...it's enough. I'll take Sareth, you...you, go see for yourself."

"Alright," Lillian said, leaning down as best she could to kiss Sareth's head. "Momma's gotta work...you play, I'll see you later. Lyra? Let him bury you in the sand or something. I'll be back shortly."

With that, she went to find the scene as Lyra took Sareth back to the beach to calm his nerves, sighing when she saw the crowd gathering. Sure enoough, Dolliver and the local were covered in blood and there was a body on the ground Taylor already taking care of things.


<Taggles: the others>

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1330

“Step back, step back now!” snarled Taylor at the crowd that was edging a little bit too close to the scene for his own comfort. He had already gone a once over with the body and deemed it dead, whoever it was anyway and was focusing on making sure that Ensign Dolliver was fine before fishing his comm-badge of out his pocket and using it like a radio. “All Fenris crew members who has communication equipment on the surface. This is Lieutenant Colonel Lucas. There has been an incident with a local member of the population and one of our own. Staff Sergeants Corden and Kat with Ensign Pena will get Omega Squad's gear onto the planet for us to ready up for deployment. Grey and Sondag come to me.”

After his orders had been given he sauntered up to the Ensign to inspect her for any wounds or trauma. It seemed she was just in shock from what had happened. “Come on Ensign, we'll get you cleaned up and seen to, alright?”

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1330

Gabe, clad in little more then a pair of shorts, his button down shirt crumpled beside him, lie on the sand, Marissa in his arms and he did nothing, For the first time in a long time he wasn't running himself ragged, his mind wasn't working on problems. He was simply enjoying himself and for once he was at peace.

“All Fenris crew members who has communication equipment on the surface. This is Lieutenant Colonel Lucas. There has been an incident with a local member of the population and one of our own. Staff Sergeants Corden and Kat with Ensign Pena will get Omega Squad's gear onto the planet for us to ready up for deployment. Grey and Sondag come to me.”

Gabe sighed as he pulled his commbadge from his boot and activated it."This is Commander Sharpe." he replied, still not used to his new rank of full commander, "Tay, do ya best to keep people away from the scene, once i get there I'll set up a crime scene, no doubt the local LEOs'll do the same thing but frankly i trust my senses more then i trust theirs."

He stood and pulled on his shirt and boots, he left the shirt open and kissed Marissa," Looks like shore leave canceled again." He said with a smile, "Ya coming with or ya gonna head back to the ship, get what ya need?"

"I'll get my people and bring them up to date once i know whats going on, which i'm sure you'll tell me once you've found out." Marissa replied as she called the ship, she gave him once last kiss before the transporter beam took her away from him.

Once she was gone Gabe broke into a jog and headed to Taylor's position.

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1330 hours



She was shaking and there was nothing anyone could do about it; Ryder was dead, and it was her fault. The shock had already set in, and she still felt numb, even though he'd been scaring her. Nothing like this had ever happened to her the many times she'd come to the planet to see him, and her luck had chosen then of all times to run out--she'd never harmed a fly, how could anyone say that she, Kira Dolliver, had it in her to kill someone?

The evidence was stacked against her considering she had Ryder's blood on her, and there was an apparent witness, and so Kira let the man in green--Taylor Lucas, she believed his name was--lead her away from the body, but not too far from the crime scene, seeing as she was the one accused of murder--though with as many times as she'd been here, she knew what the locals were going to say and do.

Murder wasn't okay in any part of the galaxy.

"Ryder..." She muttered softly, as the silent tears ran down her cheeks.

Kira used the back of her hand to wipe them away as she saw the planet's local law enforcement begin to swarm onto the scene and start to take statements from everyone around. Only one person, a native to Idris, seemed to know what had happened and he was very vocal about it. He had black hair and piercing brown eyes, which stared her down across the gathered crowd.



<tags>

(O.O.C. made up some names, Ryder is the deceased, and apologies for the mini post...Kyla check me and make sure I didn't say too much...even if I did, god-modding can't happen yet anyways . And when Mel comes back I relinquish Dolliver back to her...she did call her after all )

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1333 hours

"Easier said than done, Commander." replied Taylor who was staying near Kira with a protective presence. Judging by the crowd leering at her it wouldn't take long before the abuse rolled in or they attempted to lynch her. An alien killing a local was often dealt with harshly than if it was local-on-local violence. Clipping his combadge onto his shirt he looked around and heard someone claiming they had saw what had happened. Peering closer with his cybernetic eye, Taylor took in his features like an artist's sketch within his mind before continuing the conversation with Gabe. "Local uniforms are on scene and there isn't much I can do about it. I'm the only pair of boots at the scene and until we get set up I'm not leaving Dollier's side to get lynched. Someone is claiming he knows something though so hopefully he won't rabbit when you get here. We need some of Garren's goldshirts here. When Omega Squad comes we'll have to use warning shots to spook the crowd, there's too many for us to deal with hand-to-hand and I'd rather this not get to fever pitch. Less hurry, more speed."

With that said and done Taylor looked at the body once more just laying there like a piece of meat. Thanks to his run and the beating sun he was sweating profusely and he had no quarrel with taking off his civilian shirt, unbuttoning it so it was open before placing it over the man's face and shoulders to give him some form of dignity. With this weather Taylor had no problem in showing off his regimental tattoos and flesh, at least the top half. Once this was done he returned to the 'murderer's' side but he was somewhat confused with her crying. Crocodile tears? Maybe but he wasn't a law enforcement officer nor a detective. This was Starfleet Security territory, not something for the SFMC to handle.

"Can you tell me your name, rank and department?" he said gently to her, petting her arm with some compassion. If she was really shook up it paid to keep her mind off of the body and more on information. It also helped if you didn't go all 'cop-like' and ask forcefully. A gentle pat and a kind word was all that was needed.

<tag: Kira>

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1336 hours


"Not the only one," Lillian said, tucking strands of hair behind her ears and looking Kira over. "Alright, look...the Prime Directive says that this is up to the locals. They will decide what is going to happen, so we're going to have to talk to them if we want to have any say in the matter. Hey...Kira..."

Lillian looked at the young girl and she tried her hardest to be completely impartial here because it was obvious that the girl was in shock. She had just slipped into a informality, but she knew that she needed to get the girl calm enough to make a statement. Everyone was already buzzing about it all, but if Kira said she didn't do it and Lillian could sense that she was telling the truth, then she would fight to get her cleared of all of the charges.

"This is Ensign Kira Dolliver--she's in our Security Department," Lillian spoke for her, looking at her and trying to get Kira to make eye contact with her. "She's in shock..." Lillian said, her medical skills clicking in. "What I really need to do is look over the body but as everyone likes to point out, being a doctor is no longer my job..." With that, she got Elena on the comm link. "Tam? Once the locals let us have a say in the matter, I think you need to be here to help me look over the body..."

Sighing and giving Kira's shoulder a reassuring squeeze, Lillian wandered over to where Marius Kain was accusing Kira of murder, the locals looking at her. She was a pregnant space captain and they didn't know what to think about it, but when she introduced herself to the local authorities, they seemed to give her a little more respect.

"We need to figure this out," Lillian said nodding.


<Tags: Security, Taylor, Kira, Gabe>

|| Idriis
|| Park -> Crime Scene
|| 1337

"So you work in astrometrics, huh? Researched any interesting stellar bodies lately?" Carlos slyly asked the young petty officer beside him. They were both working quickly to finish a fizzy blue drink, the local specialty. Most of the enlisted crewmen and officers at the raucous party were, in fact, and something about the wicked native concoction was lowering inhibitions all around. So…

"Because there's one stellar body I'd really like to investigate…yours," Carlos whispered into her ear, and the other NCO flushed red and grinned.

"Well…" she began, but her sentence and Carlos' chances were cut short by a shout from a little ways away. Suddenly people were dropping drinks and running to assemble around a burly crew chief. Reluctantly, Salazar did the same.

"Get over here, you all, and shut up! Assemble by departments, this is an emergency!" the crew chief shouted, his authoritarian stance not undercut much by his off duty floral printed shirt. "There's been a Starfleet officer murdered, and we're on alert. Form up by department sections and report to your emergency planetary station. Move!" he barked, and the other enlisteds hurried to obey.

Murmurs and rumors of dire circumstances ranging from a Cardassian attack to a bizarre native ritual circulated as the crewmembers made their way in groups to designated emergency areas in the event of an evacuation becoming necessary. Carlos heard none of it though, as there was only one thought on his mind: find the Captain.

As he dashed down the boardwalk, the young NCO noted a crowd forming in the distance, and local security forces rushing in that direction. Reasoning that it must be the crime scene and that at least one of the command staff would be there to direct him to the Captain, Carlos sprinted in that direction too.

He arrived out of breath, but managed to gasp "What's going on, sir?" at Gabe, who he had seen run up to the scene moments before he had.

<Tag: Gabe, others>

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1340 hours

Watching the crowd carefully he saw James, Nayla and Kat dressed in their marine combat armour with weapons slung across their chest plates. James was looking happy to be out but the two women looked sullen that their leave had been cancelled. Of course they knew it was the nature of the beast but they just wanted to unwind between having Doclin try and kill then and Taylor's gruelling combat drills and PT sessions. Now all their steam had been left unblown with an already volatile situation developing. The crowd seemed to regard the arrival of armed and armoured strangers nervously and the local law enforcement officers seemed a little unsure what to do. After all it was one of their own that had been killed by their aliens, who knew what they'd do with their hardware on display. Each of the marines, well, two marines and one Intelligence officer, was carrying a large bag which they placed at Taylor's feet.

The Scotsman took a knee and opened the bag that James had placed down to find his carbine, pistol, armour and an undershirt there awaiting for him. Slipping it over his naked torso Taylor began to put on his armour plates and sling his weapons across him. He noticed Dariak and Aria arriving and the Vulnian instantly followed suit. "Right." began Taylor as he slid his pistol into his thigh holster. "Situation is a local has been topped and we've got one witness saying it's one of ours; Ensign Dolliver from SEC. Commander Sharpe and Lieutenant Garren should be setting up a crime scene soon if the local uniforms let us. Right now it's up in the air who has jurisdiction. Our job is mainly to be on hand for those that need it. Questions?"

"Did she do it?" asked Nayla rather sharply, rubbing one of her eyes as she folded her armoured arms across her chest and phaser rifle. "I mean, do you believe she did?"

Taylor pulled a face at the harshness of the question answered and glanced towards Kira, hoping that she hadn't heard Nayla. In case she did however Taylor kept his voice loud enough for her to hear to buck her up. "Honestly? No. She looks like she could barely handle a phaser let alone kill a man. Judging by the lack of phaser particles on my TED scanner and the amount of blood on the floor I'm thinking blade, close up and personal. Right now I need to speak to the captain so set up; Grey and Sondag I need you walking the perimeter. Give Sharpe the space he needs. James with me. Nayla, tap into local comms as subtle as you can and keep the data streaming. Kay you're up in that bell tower. Want my sharp shooter to have full coverage of the scene. Eyes on. Go."

As his squad dispersed Taylor and James walked towards Lillian like it was old times. The marine was glad to see James as he was used to; in his green marine armour with a support phaser in his hands. They had a lot to talk about later however. "Ma'am." he said to Lillian. "Omega squad his been deployed to give a full coverage of the scene until our people can get to work. If I may; this scene is all wrong. Something is...off. Daylight, blood and no energy weapon discharge or chemical burning of a projectile weapon." He tapped the TED over his eye to show how he knew that. "Meant a blade with that amount of blood and with the crowd the killer would have to approach unseen or perhaps as a friend. They would also know local anatomy to maximise their lethality; much like knowing a Bajoran's heart is along the horizontal axis of the body and not the vertical. I'm not buying it that Dollier did it; that's too good for acting but it would pay for Garren or Sharpe to check into their history. She seemed to know the guy. Plus we need to know about our vic...job, home, relationships...Garren is better suited to this than I am in all honesty."

(Tag: Any)

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1340 hours


Kira honestly couldn't believe anything that was happening and ended up sinking to the ground and curling up into a ball. She cried into her arms and ignored the blood all over her, knowing how this looked and replaying the scene over and over again in her mind.

There had been so much screaming--so much anger.

Why was he dead?

Nothing had been this way the first time that she had been to this planet and she couldn't believe that this had played out the way that it had. Everything pointed to her and she knew that she was going to pay for this because the locals were stubborn...even if they were Starfleet. This was a Starfleet outpost and she knew that to some extent the others would find out the truth, but she just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Right now she didn't want to be here anymore--just wrapped back up in Ryder's arms and enjoying the sunlight on her skin. Why had this happened? Why?

"Oh God, Ryder..." she sobbed.

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1340 hours


"We will only let you look at the body because this is your crew member and you are the Federation as well," the local Chief of Security, Commander Dorrin Lunn told her. "You will not get in our way and you will not take her back to our ship...Captain."

Lillian nodded at that. "I understand. I will do my job and have my men do a sweep of the area and see that we can't help you. She still has yet to plead guilty or innocent."

"Just don't get in our way..." Commander Lunn explained to her.

Nodding again, Lillian glanced over at Kira and then walked toward James and Taylor, motioning for them to come with her. Elena was on her way, but Lillian wanted to do the preliminary look, so she squatted a little and removed the shirt that Taylor had covered the body with, turning the body onto his back and looking him over. When she saw a bite mark, she just laughed a little bit and she nodded, looking up at Taylor and James and pointing at the bite mark.

"That...is a sex wound. Taylor's had one just like it from me not more than a month ago." Lillian told them winking at her husband to be and then looking back at the body. "Ensign Dolliver was involved with him, that's for sure. Now..." her eyes traveled down the body to his thigh. "No doubt about it, he was stabbed in the femoral artery and that's why there's so much blood...he just bled out. What we need to do is find the weapon and figure out if Ensign Dolliver actually stabbed him or not..."


(OOC: Security or Marines, find the weapon--but it has no fingerprints on it--and if Marissa doesn't show tomorrow, I will NPC her until she returns.)

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1342 hours

At the small revelation into both his and Lillian's sex life a scarlet flush crossed Taylor's face that couldn't be put down to sunburn. James just gave him a sly smile as he watched the man who had stormed Cardassian gun positions during the Dominion War not long after jumping from a shuttle just stand and sputter at his fiancée."Can we...can we at least pretend to be professional, Captain." he stammered with rapid blinks of his eyes as he simply tried to direct his attention elsewhere. He looked to James for some sort of life line away from this particular conversation and he got one, barely.

"Bleeding out takes time, even for an arterial wound. He must have noticed he was stabbed or at least...leaking. Someone must have. It makes no actual sense." explained the staff sergeant with his support phaser cradled in his arms.

Taylor knew what he meant by experience of being stabbed a few times by Jemmy bayonets. You just noticed, blood loss or not. Even before the feeling dulled along with motor function and sense of self you'd notice the sharp pain of a blade being stuck into you. "So she's covered in blood because she tried to stem the bleeding? Makes sense I suppose but if this was a daylight murder then the blade would have to be tiny." He frowned inside before tapping his comm-button. "Omega, we're looking for a discarded bladed weapon, would be covered in blood. Make sure you've got your hand armour on since we don't want to contaminate the evidence."

"Comm traffic for the LLO is squawking about the murder but nothing worthy of note." reported Nayla who stepped up to Taylor, Lillian and James with a discontented look on her emerald features. "Stuff about cordoning off the scene and getting detectives there but other than that nothing we need to worry about. Unless...we don't want them around when we do our thing."

Shrugging Taylor tapped his gloved hand against his armoured thigh with a small groan as he looked up at the sun before blinking and looking back down. "Find me that knife Ensign." The Orion nodded and proceeded to look as did Taylor and James. He didn't know what Aria and Dariak were doing so he assumed the same but Kat was already in the bell tower set up. The Andorian peered through her scope at Nayla, catching a glimmer behind some boxes.

"Hey Green, Kat here. Something by one of your dainty little feet behind the cargo containers."

With a puzzled look she peered around the boxes to find a blade soaking in blood. Satisfied she waved at the bell tower in thanks before picking it up with her armoured hand, walking towards the scene and showing it to Taylor. "Romulan blade by the looks of things. What would a Romulan want?"

"Origin of the weapon doesn't denote origin of the user." explained Taylor as he looked at the small knife. "One step closer though."

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1344 hours


"It's just you, me and James at the moment, Baby," Lillian said with a devilish grin. "I didn't feel the need to censor myself--he knows how I became 6 months pregnant. When I explain it to the rest of the crew, I won't even mention you."

She was smiling a bit to herself and thinking how adorable Taylor looked flushed. He didn't seem the type to be so shy about these things judging by what he'd said in public before to others about his relationship to her, but he was in 'marine mode' right now and she was simply in 'Betazoid mode'. It seemed like a piece of information worth pointing out to make her point, so the words had just come right out of her mouth.

"Besides, it's bound to happen again," she teased again, and then promised she'd be good and looked at James. "As to the artery, my dear Staff Sergeant, this particular artery can make a person bleed out in 2-5 minutes. Especially if someone tried to stop the bleeding by applying pressure--that just kills the person faster. This could have happened in little more than a moment or two. Stab it in deep enough, apply some pressure: dead man."

Lillian used Taylor for some support as she stood up, taking a deep breath because she was 6 months pregnant and trying to kneel over bodies. She couldn't even imagine what she would do two months from now, but she was content and she frowned a little when the local authorities led Kira off because she didn't like this--not one bit. What she really wanted, was to be able to talk to Kira when Kira was calm and use her natural abilities to lie detect...seemed like a good idea to her.

As Lillian thought it all over, she realized that she was completely enthralled by all of this even if she was annoyed about it. It was a murder mystery and she was getting to play detective, but she had a feeling that she wouldn't get to do as much as she wanted to. Taylor would never let her do a questioning by herself if the native appeared dangerous and while she didn't trust this Marius man, she certainly didn't think he did it either. Still...Taylor would sooner leave her on the ship than let her lead an investigation.

Sighing at that, she smiled a bit when Nayla showed up. "So, we have a murder weapon. I don't want to have fingers pointed at me for hiding evidence, Ensign, so you have to turn that into their authorities. After all, it was one of their own that was murdered. I do, however, want you to scan it first so we can run an investigation of our own. Looks like someone is covering their tracks...what we need are background checks. Where is Garren? Salazar! Sharpe! Come here...oh, there you are, Tam. The body is all yours until they decide to tote it away. Make use of it."


<Taggles: Carlos, Marlo, Gabe>

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1344 hours

Knelt on one knee Gabe, surveying the site of the murder, ran a tricorder over the area taking as many readings as he could while also making a visual sweep.

Massive blood loss, consistant with a stabbing wound to the femoral artery, as stated. Knife seems to be of the right size and shape to be the murder weapon. He thought to himself with a frown. thus far everything looked like an open and shut case, which was exactly why he didn't like it, things were rarely that simply.

He opened up the black case he'd had sent down from Fenris and pulled out a 3D imager, snapping off shots of the scene before dropping the equipment into the pockets of his shirt. He looked around, looking for anything that could help. He started with the corpse, following an invisible line between him and Ensign Dolliver, then to the cargo crates near where the murder weapon was found. He judged the distance and figured it must have been a good throw from where the body was found, that or a really lucky one, he couldn't be sure at the minute.

He caught sight of a small glass object near where he'd seen Ensign Dolliver. He walked over and knelt beside it.
He picked up the bead and turned it over in his hands.

"Looks like a stone from a ring." He said to himself as he heard Lilly call him, He stood up and walked over to her. "So far all i can confirm is what we already know. I know i know not what ya wanted to hear I'm gonna have to go over most of this stuff again, the locals don't seem to be that good with crime scene integrity." he said with slight annoyance, "Once they've stopped trampling around like elephants i can have a good look around."

"I did however find this," he said showing her the ring stone, "May be nothing but at a time like this, everything's evidence until proven useless."

(Tag y'all))

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1344 hours


Elena looked over the body and she heaved a heavy sigh because it wasn't just open and shut there--not at all. Something had happened to this body and she needed to talk to Marius and Kira. Or someone had to. At this point, what she needed to do was get all of her scans done because they weren't going to let her take the body into custody. The local authorities were already starting to swoop in and take care of it themselves and she hated this, she really did.

"There are signs of a struggle," Elena explained as she looked over the body and scanned it with the medical tricorder. "He was beaten, but the bruises aren't fresh--they're not from today."

Marissa shook her head as she joined the group. "Well Dolliver wouldn't hurt a fly let alone beat up a man. She only got here with the rest of us."

"Which might exonerate her from the beating, but there was definitely fornication happening here and the bite mark looks like more signs of that than the other signs. The knife wounds? Both from today and there's pressure on the wound. It might have been an accident." Elena explained as she stood up. "This doesn't look good for Dolliver on the murder charge."

"What do you suggest we do then?" Marissa asked.

"I suggest we find a way to be part of this investigation, or it's up to the locals what happens with our own," Elena said, catching a glance at Elena. "Perhaps Ensign Pena and I could look over the data and she could give me a thorough report on the weapon..."


(OOC: Marissa NPCed)

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1355 hours


Everything was cut short by the local law enforcement coming in and taking the body away from them, as well as the knife, which they all knew was bound to happen. There was a look thrown Lillian's way that she did not appreciate and for a moment she just stood there because it wasn't as if she could just yell at the man for looking at her like she was incompetent. She could do her job still even though she was pregnant and without even a word to them other than telling them it was their investigation, they were gone, leaving the group alone.

"Well, what we need to do is talk to Ensign Dolliver, but as you can see, she's been escorted off by the local security force, who just took all of our evidence. So...Garren needs to talk to them about letting us see her because while I could do it, they don't seem to want to listen to the pregnant woman, what can you do?" Lillian asked with a gentle laugh. "It's Garren's officer anyway."

Marissa nodded. "I'm on it, Captain."

With a look thrown Gabe's way, Marissa went to talk to the local law enforcement and Lillian looked at Elena and Nayla, shrugging. They really needed to do whatever it was that they could do until they heard back from Marissa, so right now it seemed like they had to go about their business. The planet had their own clean-up crew and Lillian had calls to make. So much for a nice, relaxing shore leave.

"Tam? Pena? You're both on research duty with Bakel. I want to know as much as you guys can tell me from all of the evidence." Lillian explained, rubbing her temples. "Omega Squad? I want you to keep a safe distance from the witness, but I want to know where he is at all times. Marius Kain is the name I caught from my very uneventful talk with the leader of the police force around here. He did not take kindly talking to me, so perhaps Sharpe can talk to him instead, in case he'd rather deal with a male, so yes--Sharpe, talk to Commander Lunn and see what you can do about getting some of us on to this investigation."

She smiled as they began to disperse and then looked at Taylor and James again. "I have a very special assignment for you two that you're going to hate, but I'm Captain and I have to talk to the Federation Command around here in the Embassy. So...can you get Sareth off of the beach please and take him back to the ship and then come down and talk to Marius? I trust you two to get that job done and see if the witness is lying through his ass. I have to deal with some very angry Federation higher ups and I'm not looking forward to it."

Lillian sighed and then kissed Taylor swiftly because even though it wasn't professional, she was on shore leave...now it was time to get yelled at by an admiral or two...


(OOC: I needed my Security, so I NPCed Marissa for this post, but I'm going to need Gabe, Marlo, Taylor and Lilly to 'question' Kira in the local jail, after Gabe talks to Lunn, so...we can do that whenever.)

||Idriis
||Surface>Idriis Law Enforcement Center
||April 9, 2388
||1356 hours


After leaving Lilly and the group Gabe took another look at the scene as he started the search for this Commander Lunn. He looked again at the bruises. He knelt down and gently moved the corpse's arm so he could get a better look at the corpse's torso.

"Huh, some of these bruises are purple, means these are at least 2 days old, interesting." He said to himself as he heard footsteps behind him. He reached for the ID in the black case, the well made fake ID that marked him as a member of the Starfleet Criminal Investigation Service, sometimes it paid to have friends in high places.

He stood and turned to meet the person behind him and saw the Security uniform, "Gabriel Sharpe, I'm looking for a Commander Lunn."

"He will be in the middle of the Law Enforcement Center," the man told him, pointing up past the Plaza. "The big building in the middle...I can show you."

He led Gabe all the way to the Law Enforcement Center, a large collection of buildings in a central part of the planet, all with a very tropical, but secured feel to them. Then he led him into the main building and past the secretary, motioning to a bench outside of an office for Gabe to sit on. Because of the murder, Commander Lunn would be right him, and then he took his leave and went back to his job, Commander Lunn showing up fifteen minutes later and seeing Gabe waiting outside his office.

"First the pretty Security Officer and now you," Lunn told him, sighing. "Come on in."

Gabe smiled as he entered the commander's office, "Gabriel Sharpe, Sorry if I'm catchin' ya at a bad time, given the current situation I can imagine you've had a short lunch." he started, "I'm here on behalf of Captain Crae to see about the possibility of getting a few of my people in on the murder investigation."

I really hope this works. He thought to himself,

"I'll be honest, I don't like the idea of a member of his crew going down for this murder without knowing for sure of their guilt or innocence myself, the only way to do that is to be on the case."

"I understand where you're coming from," he said nodding. "Right now she's in shock and my forensics team is looking over the body and the weapon to get their own clues. I let your Captain do what she would before my crew got it under control, but I understand the need..."

He knew he couldn't very well keep them apart forever, but it was in his best interests to do as much as he could. He hadn't wanted Lillian to look over the body first, but he had to admit that she hadn't altered the scene or kept information from them yet, so they could be trusted. Lunn was just in control and he wanted it to stay that way for as long as possible.

"I'll tell you what I told your pretty Security Chief: my men are doing their findings and earliest I can give you some run of the place is tomorrow. We're very thorough and I want our checks done before we all start getting in each other's way. That Ensign of yours is still in shock and we'll keep her comfortable. For now, you all should get a good night's sleep in and then come back fresh at 0700 and help us to solve this."

"If that's the best offer I can get, I guess I'll have to take it."Gabe replied, staring out the window at the black haired woman he'd see twice so far. "In that case I'd like a copy of any files pertaining to this case, I'm one of those people that likes to see everything, helps with drawing conclusions."

"I'll get you that information when my men get it to me," he said shaking his head. "I know everyone wants this good and done, but there are loose ends and your ensign isn't talking much--all she's doing is crying and hugging herself. Tomorrow we will have more to go on, so meet me here and I'll give you all of the information we've collected and you can add it to your own. Have at the crime scene, but I have to do the paperwork to let you all on board. After all, we lost one of our own and the witness says it was one of your people."

Commander Lunn hated the position that he was in, but he was just staying true to procedure and right now his hands were tied. He wanted this figured out and soon, and he didn't mind Gabe being on the case, just not yet...he could wait while his men did their jobs on their own. At this moment, Lunn just wanted Kira to talk...

"In fact, come here at 0600, and we'll see if I can't get you in to interview our suspect," Lunn said with a nod. "That's all I can do for you, right now, Commander."

"Well to be honest that's more then i expected, so thankyou." Gabe said," I'll return at 0600 tomorrow then, have a good day commander." He then turned and left the Commander's office, now he had to see a woman about other issues.

Joint Post by the lovely
as Commander Lunn and of course

||USS Fenris
||Lydia's Offices
||April 9, 2388
||1400 hours

Lydia breathed as contacted her brother. She didn't know how well he was going take her telling Alyssa that he was coming, and that Alyssa had figured out her parents were coming.

"Hey, sis." Darien spoke.

"Hi, bro." She replied. "Well, I told Alyssa you were coming liked you asked."

"And?" He asked.

"She figured out that her parents are joining you."

"Did you give anything away?"

"No, but I had tried to talk to her about it when I first got her."

"Well, she has to deal with this. Her parents want to talk to her, and this is the only way to get that to happen."

"Why can't we wait? We don't know what happened between them. Alyssa doesn't want to talk to them. I understand that we should push her to do this, but maybe it's wrong."

"She has to deal. Don't worry. We've got each others backs, and we need to do this for her. There's a very got chance that she won't ever talk to them again. There's is no harm in trying."

"Okay. Just know that she may stop talking to all of us."

"I got it. We'll be there soon." He replied. "Love you sis."

"Love you too bro. See you soon." She replied back, ending the call.

She breathed deep. Hoping everything would go well.

||USS Fenris
||Science Labs
||April 9, 2388
||1415


Alyssa was sad to leave Kalen on the surface, but she had a duty to do. She was actually thankful to be called into work. She walked into the science labs, not exactly know what she would be doing other than standing guard and putting her two cents in.

"And we have Security," Elena said happily. "Alright, we should compile all of the information," she said as she brushed across Nayla for the PADD of data. "I have the information from my preliminary look at the body. The victim was beaten a day or two before now, so Ensign Dolliver couldn't have done it...she was here. I've been looking into her personal records and she's been here before...I think she was sexually involved with the victim and the worst part? Her fingerprints are on the weapon..."

"Means nothing, Doc." offered Nayla with a small shrug. Her lips turned into a smile to reveal a set of pearl while teeth as she spoke to the good doctor. She found her fun company, an introvert but that wasn't often a bad thing. Maybe once all this was over and done with she and Kat would invite Elena out to their drinking sessions. It would be fun to see the prim and proper doctor staggering around with the blue and green duo. "After all, the blood on her uniform would be from the arterial spray caused by the removal of the weapon. If she was sexually and emotionally involved with the victim then it would be in her best interest to remove the knife, or so she thought. Standard Starfleet medical practice, as you know, is never remove a blade or object in a person till proper medical equipment to dress the wound such as bandages or a dermal regenerator can become available. She may have merely tossed the knife away and by chance it landed behind some boxes."

"She's got a point Doc. And just because she's been here before doesn't mean she's the one who killed him. She could removed the weapon thinking there was something she could do the help. Then she may have tossed the weapon after she realizing she couldn't do anything. If only we could talk the them." Alyssa commented, wanting to know both sides.

Nodding gently to Alyssa and then looking at Elena, the Orion intelligence ensign decided to make another point. "Also, Colonel Lucas identified the weapon as a Romulan assassination blade. Given their xenophobic tendencies Romulans tend to never really export weapons, even blades, in any official capacity which is why most pirate and freelance crews are armed with Federation or Klingon weaponry. Either our killer has well connected smuggling contacts and a love of Romulan weaponry or he's a Romulan. We know Ensign Dolliver and our victim were romantically involved but what about him? Job? Family?"

Marlo sighed as she set down her shopping bags, carefully, because she'd stowed the vial from Sully at the bottom of one of them. So much for shore leave. Weren't they supposed to be enjoying themselves before Lilly's wedding in the next three days? Marlo herself couldn't enjoy her vacation anymore now that she knew that Sully knew exactly where she was, and that her lizard was dying. Marlo hadn't expected Melon to live as long as she had, but it was distracting her from the mission at hand.

"They're keeping a tight lid on his information, because they're pretty sure Kira's guilty, but I don't think so. There is definitely something fishy going on here...at times like this I'm glad we have a telepath. They may let Captain Crae get close to either Ensign Dolliver or our supposed witness, and she can get information that way but it's not material evidence. Give me five minutes, and I can hack into Idriis's security so we can get a look at their citizen information." Marlo suggested.

It'd been a while since she'd been able to hack into anything, and Marlo was looking forward to it.

Remy stayed back as she watched the meeting occur, she didn't have much to pitch in as she was running through procedures in her head she could run to find more evidence, "If all of you don't mind, I would like to run some research on the uniform. I agree that the blood found on it is most likely from the victim, but there is potential of other evidence to be found that I would like to extract and research. I would also like to do more scans on the weapon to rule out all other possibilities."

She looked up and scanned the faces, "I like to be thorough with my work. Is there anything else I might do to help?"

"I love that we all think Ensign Dolliver is innocent, but our job here is to the truth and there is just as much likelihood that she is guilty--a woman scorned, maybe?" Elena said shrugging. "All I'm saying is that we don't know for sure, we just need to look all of this over and come up with as good a theory as any. That Romulan blade? Anyone could have picked it up--there's a Federation Outpost here, which means that everyone goes in and out, so it's a moot point, but a really good observation and if we had more resources, then we would be able to figure out more about it, but Ensign Dolliver has been here before--a year ago, it's in her logs."

Elena turned to Remy now as she tried to piece it all together. "As for scanning the blade, Lieutenant, I'm afraid that's not possible. We don't have any material evidence as this isn't our jurisdiction yet--the local security force confiscated them. All we have are the scans and it looks like it's not going to be enough. I'm leaning towards she tried to save him and applied pressure when she shouldn't have. To be fair, the femoral artery is deep enough in that she could have just thought it was any other wound and she accidentally killed him faster--it's not in her nature to hurt people. When Marius has been questioned, we might know more, but we need to talk to Kira because her prints are all over the blade and they're the only prints...that kind of rules out our witness...and look at this. Dolliver's clear. Her psych evaluations say she is calm and courteous and I just don't see her killing someone in cold blood. Self defense, maybe? Whoa!"

While she had taken scans, Elena had spent more time judging the outside of the body because she knew it was going to be carted away from her and she wasn't sure quite what to think. Though, she believed they were all on the right track because what she had just found could very well make and/or break the case. All this time speculating and while it was still speculation, she knew that this was going to help them build a case for Kira--it would just help more when they could talk to Marius and Kira on their own.

"He has a high level of alcohol in his system," Elena said as she nodded. "Higher than what humans, Betazoids and Trills can take so unless this species can hold their liquor far better than them, he was most definitely intoxicated, so perhaps Dolliver was simply protecting herself and it turned out worse for her...unfortunately, she still killed him...I need to figure out how long ago she gave him that sex wound just in case this was kinky sex gone wrong..."

Alyssa listened, but knew she needed to leave. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to leave now. I don't want to detain my Commanding Officer, and there's not much I can do right now. Call me when you think you'll need my services." She then left the room. As much as she liked things illegal, she didn't want them to know that.

Marlo nodded slightly as Alyssa left. She understood where she was coming from, but was busy covering her tracks, because they didn't have jurisdiction here yet. They were waiting for a signed order from Starfleet, and until they got it, what she was doing here was illegal; but she had to do it. Murder was a serious charge, and without all the facts they were sitting blind--which is why she braved hacking now.

"We haven't ruled Kira out, Tam, but she's innocent until proven guilty." Marlo muttered. "Got it, I'm in the system, now to find out what the authorities are hiding."

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1402 hours


He let the kiss happen given that there wasn't much he could do about it at this point. Shaking his head with a smile he and James walked along the beach to meet Sareth and his current chaperone. Of course it was a bit of a walk to where he was and that meant James and Taylor had a lot to talk about. One of the topics burning on each of their minds was what they had both done during their time away from the marine corps and the Federation itself. James had already chewed the fat with Taylor on that subject and his explanation had spared him from a long trip back to Earth. As far as Starfleet was concerned he had taken an early retirement and come back when offered to by an old friend. It was a feasible reason enough for him to come back.

“Kat.” began Taylor who tapped into the squad's comms. “Keep an eye on that witness of ours. Lieutenant Sondag and Petty Officer Grey you will secure the jungle road leading towards the space port. If our guy was an off-worlder he may be trying to make an escape. Chances are the local forces won't have done that already so who knows. Keep an eye out. Staff Sergeant Corden and I will be checking out our witness soon. You've got your orders, Lucas out.”

Both men broke into a light jog with years of combat and PT drills giving them all the stamina they needed to do so. Even with all their equipment not one of them had to stop for breath unlike Carlos who was obviously too soft around the edges. Taylor mad a mental note to make him run ragged around the holodeck to remind him the importance of keeping fit. With that to make him chuckle they both slowed when they came to Sareth and his babysitter on the beach, looking pretty scary in their armour.

“Alright Wee Yin! Time to go back to the ship.”

Sareth saw James and Taylor approach and looked at Lyra, who had been burying in the sand much to her displeasure on the matter. Still, she was his babysitter and she did what made him happy to a certain extent and it was fun on the beach one way or another since she didn't feel comfortable watching him swim. Sareth pouted though and turned on his puppy dog eyes, not ready to leave the beach yet and wondering where his mother was.

"But Daddy..." Sareth protested. "I want to play some more."

Lyra looked at him. "I don't think talking back to your father is entirely acceptable."

"Where's Momma?" Sareth asked Taylor after shrugging at Lyra. "I thought we were playing on the beach today..."

It took a lot for Taylor not to buckle at Sareth's pouting face and instead of snapping at the young half-Vulcan's defiance he stooped to a knee so that his armour dug deep into the sand. During the war many of the marines in his platoon had been young, single and childless but a few had family and even children. How could they walk away from faces like that when 'momma' or 'daddy' was leaving to fight a war in their marine armour draped over them? People often accused marines and Starfleet crew members for abandoning family for a life of adventure. In Taylor's eyes they were the strongest people in the galaxy for being able to be away for so long to come back. If they came back at all.

With a small smile he let go of his phaser carbine so it hung lazily on the sling across his chest so he could pull his step son in for an embrace. "Well, something has come up and there has been a wee bit of an accident. Your mother and I have to help some people but of course we need to make sure you're safe. So...we're going to escort you to the ship. Imagine being able to tell that in daycare? That you had your own marine escort?"

Sareth nodded at that and gave Taylor a quick hug before he dug out Lyra's legs and went to take Taylor's hand. He wanted to walk with his stepfather and Lyra wanted to get back to a bit of shore leave and gossip, so with an approving look thrown James' way, she was off. Even though he wasn't the happiest about the turn of events, Sareth knew he had to heed Taylor's words and he took a deep breath.

"Will we have time to spend together before you and Momma leave?" Sareth asked him. "You two will go away for a bit after the wedding on Betazed and I wanted time. Is Uncle James coming too?"

"Oh you know me buddy." said James with his Hispanic slight on his voice. "Wherever Taylor goes I'm just close behind. However when those two scamper off after the wedding I'll be forced to stay behind." he explained gently as he walked beside them, looking at Lyra with a wink as he walked passed before looking out to sea. "Sometimes they both have to go cause trouble without me around."

Taylor seemed to chuckle at that as the trio walked along the beach towards the ship. He did feel somewhat robbed of time with this whole murder investigation and no doubt after they had deposited Sareth at the ship they' be led on a mercy chase for clues and some such. "Now, when we get to the elevator we're going to let you be a big boy but you can't tell Momma. We'll put you on there and then you go straight to our room on deck 2 all by yourself like I would, ok?"

"Lesson Number One: Momma always finds out," Sareth told Taylor, nodding matter-a-factly. "I will go straight our quarters," the boy promised. "I know you have things to do. Can I color while you're gone? I don't like being on my own..."

He didn't, and while he could just watch things on one of their consoles, he figured it best to just do something quiet. Besides, maybe he could go to the Daycare instead and work with clay--that sounded like more fun. He would still be safe and sound on the ship, and surrounded by other people, since not everyone was down on the planet enjoying themselves.

"Can I go to Daycare instead? I'm making something for you and Momma that's not done yet," he explained.

When they reached the foot of the elevator Taylor seemed to give an unsure expression though it was simply in jest. "Oh...I dunno, Uncle James what do you think? Do you think we should let him go to Daycare and see about him making something?" said the marine to James who seemed to join in the joke.

"I'm not sure. I mean only the really big boys get to go to Daycare by themselves." said James with a nod.

Once Taylor had put Sareth on the elevator he knelt down in front of him and kissed his forehead before giving him a gentle embrace. "Alright, you can go to Daycare. But straight there and no dawdling." With that said and done with Taylor stepped off of the elevator, giving him a wave and letting the kid use it under his own power. After all he had to learn to do things on his own somehow.


JP by these lovelies

||Idriis
||Surface
||April 9, 2388
||1402 hours
"M" for sexual situations


“Confirmed Colonel, we shall do so at once.” replied Dariak who nodded to Aria. “It seems we get to wander the edge of the jungle for a moment. Just like home.” he said to her happily, leading her towards the jungle path. Part of him just wanted to abandon the path and just walk amongst the trees and just feel their shade on his face. Of course with his armour on it would be somewhat awkward with all the broken twigs and discarded branches. Yet somehow he felt it would be somewhat fine. “Let us take the unbeaten path.” he to Aria as he pointed at the trees. Gently he tugged on her arm and walked underneath the canopy of foliage leaves.

“Wonderful, now all we need to do is set up here and wait for anyone walking past.”

Aria was more than happy to go off the beaten path because she wanted more than anything to enjoy her shore leave. She was trying to be more human because it was her goal to be accepted back into their society even though she always thought of herself as Borg. For a moment she paused as they wandered through the forest, reaching out to take Dariak by the hand and stepping up close to him with a slight smirk on her face that she almost never used.

"Since it is most likely that we will have to wait to be able to do anything imperative to the investigation...perhaps we should enjoy a little more shore leave..." Aria suggested.

A frown seemed to cross Dariak's face as he kept one hand on the pistol grip of his phaser rifle as he looked back at Aria, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Petty Officer Grey....Aria..." he said with a serious tone first before his voice became all the more softer. "We are no longer on shore leave mil chial. We are now currently on duty and with that smirk on your face I can only surmise exactly what you wish to do. What is it you want to do exactly at the edge of a jungle?"

"Quite the contrary," Aria said quite seriously. "According to Federation law, this not in our jurisdiction until we have been granted permission to officially participate. Until then, logic dictates we are acting of our own accord, so..." she said as she unclamped one of his armor clips, "if logic says this is our own time...shouldn't we use it the way we see fit and still follow orders?"

With a sigh Dariak unslung his rifle from across his chest and gently placed it onto the ground by his feet as Aria unclipped one of two of the thorax plate clips, the other being at the back. "Yet the Starfleet code of conduct would clearly see this as a breach of trust. I am the executive officer off this squad and you are my subordinate. Perhaps you feel pressured into this? Besides this is against regulations and if we were discovered we could be transferred away from one another." Despite his protest he didn't seem to have any problem removing her pelvic and leg armour plates, kneeling in front of her to do so.

Aria began to remove her armor as well. "I do not believe the Captain would have us transferred for showing affection. Even the Colonel seems to be at a position where he could not judge as he is marrying the Captain. Also, I am initiating contact...how could you be forcing me to comply?"

She felt a little better with the shade on her skin again, her left shoulder exposed because of her shirt, but soon her torso was, just her skin, a couple small implants and a strapless bra, and her slacks. She let her shirt fall to the ground and her fiery hair cascaded gently over her shoulders.

"Unless you do not wish to continue..."

"I never said that," he told her, looking up at her as he placed gentle kisses along her toned stomach and even along the metal of her implants. People may have shunned Aria for her past as a Borg drone and the metal that adorned her body in some places but Dariak found them all the more fascinating. Sometimes he'd spend some moments just focusing his kisses and caresses on these parts of her body to let her know that he was not afraid of her nor did he find any part of her repulsive. "The colonel seems to have found the balance between duty to the Captain and duty to the Federation. We must be careful and not cross that line..."

With that said, he reached around to his back and unclipped the second clip of his thorax armour, removing the plate that protected his back and chest. Next came the arms and finally the legs. He didn't even bother with the armoured boots as his armour and equipment were strewn hap haphazardness around them. With his powerful figure on display for her, and only her, she could have him right there and then if she so desired, clothing now being added to the pile of discarded items.

Aria moved to kiss his chest, taking her time with him and letting her fingertips trail along his skin as she kissed and nipped at his flesh. She'd been trying to learn new things because she was attached to Dariak and she didn't want to let him down in this department. He was her first everything and he had hundreds of years of experience under his belt, so she felt as if she needed to step up her game a little bit and keep the Vulnian interested...she also simply enjoyed being with him.

Something about him made her feel safe and cared about and she knew she was falling for him--that much she couldn't deny, but she didn't know entirely how to express it. Aria was terrible at expressing herself and while she did not lie and she did not see the point in keeping secrets, she had yet to blurt out how she felt. Instead, she was enjoying the moments that she got with Dariak and he was right...they had to make sure that they didn't cross the line.

"I read something you might enjoy..." Aria said gently, getting down on her knees and looking up at him, kissing his thighs tenderly, while keeping eye contact. "Forgive my inexperience...I simply wish to explore..."

"Mmm?" he said rather blank mindedly at her as he found his armoured foot propping up against a well embedded rock as he leaned against a thick tree trunk. As Aria kissed along his thighs, Dariak allowed her to hear the deep grumbles of his approving moans. Soon his hand wormed its way down into the red locks of her hair as he allowed access to his most intimate area of his body, not that this was the first time she had ever been there but no in this way, oh no. "You do love to read..." he said with a deep croon.

"I must stay educated," Aria responded, nipping at the flesh of his thighs hungrily.

The fingers in her hair were a very good sign, as were the sounds that she was making escape his mouth. She was Borg, so such things had been assimilated, but the Borg did not keep the information that was irrelevant to the Collective, so mostly, Aria had gotten this from Lillian's personal logs. If Taylor found this enjoyable, Aria was curious to see if Dariak found it equally enjoyable.

She continued to kiss and nibble her way up higher until her teeth found their way to his most intimate parts, letting them skim over his skin. Aria wasn't entirely sure if she was doing this correctly, but fundamentally, this was what she was supposed to be doing as Lillian had outlined it. There were certain places to nip at, and places to trace with her tongue, and Aria simply did as she had read about, nipping harder and sucking gently when Dariak's sounds spurred her on...she must be doing something right...

||Idriis
||Forest>Housing
||April 9, 2388
||1426


Marius had a terrible feeling that he was being followed--he didn't know that of course, he was just paranoid because of the recent events. He had pointed fingers at on of the Fenris crew and he was sure that they were out to get him at this point...suggesting one of their own and all. So he was hurrying to his house as quickly as possible to make sure that he could lock himself in nice and tight.

"They don't know a thing...she'll go down for sure..." Marius muttered to himself.

He was practically fleeing through the forest, keeping his mind on his current goal and hurrying to his home, where he promptly went inside. Marius locked himself in and took a deep breath, going and making himself some tea with a shaking hand. He knew why he was nervous, but he wasn't about to let that on to anyone else because he was an expert liar.

"They'll pin it on Kira...they have to..."

The pace of Staff Sergeant James Corden and Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas had gone from a mild jog to a careful creep as soon as they had entered the foliage of the jungle. Being members of the marine task force that had assembled to retake Thesa Prime's jungle region from an Orion Cabal had sparked memories of ambushes from the green-skins who's natural pigmentation had given them the edge when coupled with life sign dampeners. The plates of the marines' armour had gone from plain olive drab to a more intricate pattern of greens, browns and black stripes to help break up their image and keep them hidden from any unwanted eyes.

According to Kat who had stalked Marius from the city square he had moved into an adobe, probably his home. This made Taylor smile since it meant that he was both secluded and out of the public eye. Once they had reached the 'garden' of the residence Taylor led the way to the door before banging his armoured fist against it. Of course they had both slipped their helmets on to obscure their faces from the man.

"Open up, Starfleet Marine Corps."

The fact that it was Starfleet was banging on his door, made Marius jumpy--so they were watching him...so much for this being a somewhat peaceful evening. Taking a deep breath and slipping into character, Marius opened up the door and appeared quite calm indeed. He and the victim had been best friends, that much was apparent from some of the pictures around the place and the locals would vouch to that claim.

"May I help you?" he asked calmly.

"Hopefully, sir." said Taylor in his 'I'm-just-a-marine-not-a-colonel' voice like he would be when it came to dealing with the public. "Sergeant Lucas and Corporal Corden from the 14th Infantry Regiment's police section just at Fort Tolsa? We're helping local security forces come up with the investigation details. One of them mentioned that you may have information into the murder that happened at the plaza today and we were hoping to get a statement. He failed to mention if you had spoken to any security officers and we've been sent to collect a statement."

Marius waved to them to come in and then shut the door behind them. "Would you like something to drink?" He was very calm and he was being very inviting, wanting them to know that he was perfectly alright. "What exactly do you want me to tell you? How I saw Ensign Dolliver stab Ryder? How she started screaming like she was going to pin it on me? I just turned in the culprit--she murdered my best friend in cold blood and she deserves to pay for it."

Shaking his head Taylor declined the drink as he wanted to keep his helmet in case the man recognised him fron the plaza. Looking around he saw that he knew the victim rather well. "Federation law states innocent till found guilty. She's a suspect, nothing more." stated the marine calmly. "However since you claim to know what happened, I'll need to know what you know."

Taking a PADD out Taylor was prepared to take notes as needed for the investigation. This guy could go to ground if he was actually the murderer or if they waited for prior approval. He seemed a shifty sort so Taylor was keeping a close eye on him in case he tried anything drastic.

"Kira and Ryder were having an altercation," Marius explained to James and Taylor, even though he was feeling nervous without getting to see their faces. "She took out a knife, he pleaded...she said something about how she wouldn't put up with it all and then she attacked him as I came running over to stop her. She seemed so remorseful, pulling the knife out and trying to stop the bleeding, screaming and telling me it was my fault. Kira snapped. Pure and simple. Please...have some tea..."

"We will have to decline." Stated Taylor flatly who was bust taking notes from the statement of the man who, to Taylor, seemed edgy. Of course his friend had just been murdered so there was some kind of justification for that. "What was the knife? Small, large? Also had Ensign Dolliver and Ryder been acquainted?"

"I don't feel very comfortable talking to men who won't show themselves," Marius said as he shifted in his chair. "Makes me feel like you're hiding something..."

With that, Marius stood up and then he went into the kitchen and began to make some tea for James and Taylor as he wanted desperately to see their faces. They were making him uneasy and he had to know that because they were being ominous instead of understanding and cooperative. If they weren't going to be cooperative, than neither was he.

"Tea?" he asked them.

Sighing Taylor looked to James and nodded which was the signal for both men to remove their helmets and reveal their features to him. "We're not the ones standing in the plaza screaming accusations to a member of Starfleet so if anyone out of us has anything to hide, it's you." said the Scotsman with a growl-like tone as his patience was tested. To show that he was in no mood for games he stared right at Marius and tapped his finger against the screen of the PADD in a rather impatient way. "The knife, sir. Was it a small blade or was it a large blade. How did both Ensign Dolliver and Ryder know each other? From today? Earlier?"

James decided to pitch in to hopefully draw heat from his friend. "Did Ryder have any enemies? Rivals? What did he work as?"

Feeling a bit better about the situation, Marius poured them both cups of tea and put them on the coffee table, leaning back and looking at him. He was going to be helpful since they were being open with him now and he was glad that they were because he felt more comfortable. At this point, he was more than willing to give them any information that they needed and they needed a lot of it...

"Kira and Ryder were together about a year ago," Marius explained to them. "It was a small knife that she used and honestly? Maybe she didn't mean to at first, but Ryder was wound up...I don't know how it all started, I just saw her pull out the knife and use it and they were arguing with each other. What would you do if the person you loved suddenly got on your case and looked like they were going to kill you? Wouldn't you kill your lover?"

That nugget of information seemed to interest Taylor a lot as he listened to Marius speak. With a raised eyebrow he made sure that piece of information was logged on the PADD. His eyes then turned to the tea which he blatantly ignored. "Thank you for the tea." he said without so much as taking a sip. "Personally I would simply back down and let the situation cool down but sadly it seems not everyone can apply my common sense." Sense was one thing this case made none of. For one Dollier couldn't have brought the knife from the ship seeing as how everyone was screened for weapons again and again. Not exactly foolproof but unless it was premeditated, which he doubted, she had no real link to the knife other than it was stuck in her lover's thigh.

"You did fail to answer the corporal's questions however. Did he have many enemies? Any rivals at work? What was his actual profession, places he frequently visited?"

"Look, I don't know why that's important," Marius said, shaking his head. "Kira had the knife and she stabbed him with it. End of story. There is nothing left to say when I saw it with my own two eyes. There's no reason to ask about others when the person who stabbed him is right there in a cell. Go talk to her. Ask her why she stabbed him--do your job."

Both Taylor and James had heard the 'do your job' quip from civilians plenty of times after the Dominion War when they had been used as a humanitarian force than a fighting one. Needless to say, it rubbed them the wrong way. "Other people are handling Ensign Dollier's questioning, sir. Right now my job is you. You say you saw her stab him however studies have shown that the majority of stab and slash wounds are around the torso and face area, not the thigh. Ensign Dollier is also part of a ship's compliment which means she has to pass high detail weapon's screening which also means that something like...a Romulan military blade found at the scene of the crime is something usually picked up by the screening. Romulan weapons are rare on metropolitan worlds let alone little slices of paradise such as this planet."

He leaned forward with the look of a man who wasn't a police marine trying to slowly draw out the questioning but a man who was looking to [i[beat[/i] answers from people if they didn't stop messing him around. "Answer the questions or so help me you'll be in the next cell for stalling an investigation. Perhaps we'll let you two share."

"Just because something is rare, doesn't mean it can't be found," Marius responded, not worried about the threat because he knew he was safe. "She and Ryder were together since she beamed down and she's a Security Officer--she could smuggle something if she wanted to. We are done here. I told you what I saw and it's time for you to leave my house. You have no warrant, you just wanted to question me. You got my answers and that's that--something is fishy here...you should have Ryder's information in the database..."

Marius was starting to feel threatened again and it was making him shifty, but he knew how things worked because he'd been through this a time or two. They would know that if they were who they said they were and it made him stand up and point to his door because he wanted them to go and he wanted to be on his own. They were Starfleet and he didn't want to be with them anymore and he was starting to get jumpy again.

Despite the request neither Taylor nor James budged. In fact it seemed like things were getting rather interesting. "So...it's gone from a stabbing in the simple heat of the moment to smuggling arms through security checkpoints? That means she planned to kill him, Mr Marius which means it would have been somewhere out of the public eye. As a security officer she'd also know about the whole witness possibility. No, you're not making any sense here. In fact, I'm not sure you've even said a shred of truth. First you say how she did it in a mad dash of a heated argument and now she's a cold blooded assassin with a seemingly clumsy disposition. Which is it?"

"I just suggested that you two are clearly not doing your jobs," Marius responded, heading for a console. "I tell you one thing, you assume it's obviously something else because you're Starfleet and how could a Starfleet officer do something like this? I'm calling the other officers--I want you off of my property..."

"No, you suggested that she now wanted to kill him from the get-go." stated Taylor who stood up, placing his helmet over his head. "We'll be back with that warrant. Don't leave the planet, we'll have that starport locked down nice and tight...." Shaking his head he gestured to James that they were leaving. Once outside Taylor sighed and took his helmet off, reaching for a packet of cigarettes from a magazine pouch and lit one up, taking a hefty draw.

"He is lying through his fucking teeth." said Taylor to James as they walked along the jungle path back to the city. "He's like Lars, too fucking evasive in how he speaks. Everything has to be answered with a question or a counter point. Nothing is ever done straight."

Chuckling in agreement James nodded and took the cigarette off of Taylor to take his own toxic draw before handing it back. "What's the plan boss?"

"I'm going to Tam to see what her and Nayla have dug up alone with our own little findings. Hopefully we can get a warrant for this guy when we collate."

Marius played By

||Idriis
||High Garden Plaza
||April 9, 2388
||1445


Gabe lent on the railing and watched the crime scene from a distance. He'd not had the time he needed at the scene before they local LEOS had contaminated it, now they were getting ready to clean up.

He tapped a PADD on the back of his hand as he watched the security force do their job before he looked over his shoulder. He knew he'd have a visitor soon, afterall he'd already seen her twice that afternoon. She'd kept herself out of the picture for now, which told him she was up to something, which didn't surprise him, Karina had a habit of getting herself into places she really shouldn't, it was an Intel officer thing.

"What is that woman up to and why do I feel like I'm not gonna like it?" he said to himself.

Karina had been waiting for the right moment to set things in motion, making sure it was the most opportune moment for her before striking. Taking a deep breath she casually strode up to Gabe and stood next to him, looking things over. It hadn't taken long for the locals to act and she knew why, but it was important that she remember her leverage and use it accordingly.

"Looks like you're in quite the stand still," she told Gabe calmly.

Gabe nodded as he handed over the PADD, "I'm on holiday...technically. It's ya that's here working...technically." Gabe said with a smile, "That's everything I have for Cally. "

"I'm guessing ya've already taken a look around the scene, since I've already seen ya twice now, what's ya got planned next?" He asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer. Karina may have been SCIS but her training in the Intel Department had never really left, it just made her a better investigator.

"Creative investigating," Karina responded with a wink in his direction. "There are things you can do to get around the law here, you just have to be willing and make sure you don't get caught."

Karina glanced around a moment before looking ahead of her. "So all I'm proposing here is that you and I find more out about the victim. I know where he lived, I know what he was doing prior to the incident with the Ensign, and I can get you in and out without being noticed. You may not have jurisdiction until tomorrow, but it'll give you a head start. What do you say?"

"So let me get this right, Ya wanna break into the victim's house and have a poke around?" He said in a serious tone, "Sounds like a plan."

Gabe nodded to her as he turned and started to walk away from the the railing, "But first what else do ya know about this whole situation?"

"Honestly? Not as much as I would like too, but something is off," Karina admitted nodding. "Victim's family is off world, his girlfriend shows up, he breaks sobriety and then he dies. His house will hold the answer, I'm sure of it."

Motioning her head in one direction, Karina headed for the house, ready to get her hands a little bit dirty with some information. She wanted this to look as casual as possible, so when they got to the location, she opened up a window with her gloved hands and she climbed right on inside. No one was here yet and that was a good sign, but she also wasn't sure exactly what it was that they were looking for.

"He definitely knew her," Karina said, pointing to a picture. "Look for a photo album of some kind."

"Which makes this all the more interesting. Could be a lovers tiff that went badly." he said as he flicked through the pictures, "They sure look like a couple."

He moved through the room, making a mental checklist as he went of points of general interest.
"This place looks like a fairly standard home, all that's missing is a pet or two. Find anything else back there?"

"He worked at the museum," Karina told Gabe, looking over some of Ryder's belongings with her gloves. "Kira has brought him a trinket or two over the years and it kind of looks like Marius might be bigger here than I thought...look at how he looks at her in some of the photos. I don't know about you, but I think it's puppy love on his end."

She shrugged and picked up a family photo. "He has two parents and a younger brother as well--this was taken a couple of weeks ago. Looks to me like he had a pretty charmed life until your ship showed up and Ensign Dolliver got off of it..."

"Yea." Gabe replied, "There's nothing here that we've found that would seem to give a reason for Ryder's murder." he started stroking his chin, "Something about this whole case feels wrong, I just can't place it right now. It all seems so outta place, almost last minute."

"His family's off on vacation without him, he was clearly good to the witness and the good ensign...prehaps it was an unlucky accident?" Karina suggested looking at Gabe. "What if it was just an unhappy accident instead of premeditated murder?"

"If that's so then we just broke more then a few laws for nothing." Gabe replied, "We'd best think about getting outta here, this place isn't giving us anything and the local LEOS (Law Enforcement OfficerS) will be no doubt heading here soon enough."

Karina nodded and rested her hand on Gabe's shoulder. "Take a couple things and we'll ask the good Ensign what she was doing here. Looks to me like this is just the tip of the iceberg."

Jp by