Chapter Four
Three
weeks later…
The
last week was about to begin, and all the officers in the Starfleet
Intelligence Training facility were feeling nervous. The last week was known to
all as the "Test Week"…The week where their ability as Starfleet
Intelligence operatives would be put to the test and graded by the instructors.
Monday came; the
tests were to begin…
Sylvia and Diane
were woken up by their alarm clock at seven in the morning; they hurriedly
dressed and exited their quarters.
In the hall,
there was a group of officers amassed around something that the two women
couldn't see. They approached the mass of bodies and Sylvia asked: "Hey?
What's happening?"
Some of the
officers let them through…
In the center of
the mass of officers was a body.
The body of
Commander Clover…
* * *
"Jesus
Christ! I just can't believe this!!!" Dave was hysterical, as
he ran towards Small's office accompanied by Sylvia,
Diane and Reff.
"Calm down,
Dave." Reff said, slowly.
"Don't tell
me to calm down, Reff." Dave warned. "She's
dead! Dead! Goddammit!"
They burst into Small's office and Sylvia began speaking:
"Commander,
we have a problem we just…" Her eyes grew wide.
Small was lying,
face down on his blood-stained desk. His eyes open, frozen in their last look
of surprise.
"My
god…" Diane looked away.
"This can't
be happening…" Dave shook his head, his hysteria evaporated…
Reff checked the Commander for a pulse, but shook his head:
"He's also dead…"
"This is
crazy…We need to find Patrickson." Sylvia said.
"Agreed,
let's go." Diane said.
* * *
They crossed the
courtyard and headed for the entrance to the main Starfleet Intelligence
complex, but there were guards stationed outside the door.
"We have to
see Rear-Admiral Patrickson," Dave explained to the guards when they
approached the doors. "There's been a double murder inside the
complex!"
The biggest
guard, probably the one in charge, nodded: "We know...We're here to ensure
that no one leaves the facility."
They stared at
him: "Can we speak to Patrickson?"
"I'm afraid
not…He is actually on assignment." The guard said.
"Great…"
Dave shook his head in exasperation.
"So what are
we supposed to do?" Diane asked. "You have to let us through, someone
has to help us!"
Suddenly, the
guards all aimed their phaser rifles at the group.
"What are
you doing?!" Sylvia demanded.
"Taking
precautions…" The lead guard said. "Our sources say that a Founder
has found his way into your group."
"A Founder???" Diane stared at the guard
disbelievingly. "That's impossible…"
"It's the
truth," The guard replied patiently. "And we will not let him escape,
he obviously has malevolent intentions. Until the investigators arrive I
suggest you always walk around in groups of three or more. Thank you, now would
you please head back to your facility before we shoot you all."
He obviously
wasn't joking, so they headed back.
"So what's
he saying?" Dave began. "That one of us is a Founder? That's
insane!"
"A Founder
has been among us during all these weeks…That's horrible to think about."
Diane said, almost in a whisper.
"One of
us…" Reff said.
"Who?" Sylvia asked, before realizing the
stupidity of her question.
"We can't
know…When the investigators come they'll find out." Dave said.
"If they
come…" Sylvia said skeptically.
"What?"
"I think we
should begin our own investigation already…" Sylvia said. "As fast as
possible, what if the Founder starts killing again?"
"But one of
us is the Founder!" Diane said. "He won't investigate himself,
will he?"
"We'll have
to take that chance…We've got to find him." Sylvia said.
Dave nodded:
"You're right…" He smiled weakly. "After all, we're future-to-be
elite operatives, right?"
* * *
They decided to
investigate the murder scenes first; Sylvia, Diane and Dave went to check out Small's office while Reff and Dan
tried to find something out at the scene of Clover's murder.
Sylvia and her
comrades came to Small's office a moment later, they
had locked the door with an emergency security as a precaution before leaving
and now they needed to unlock it.
"Computer,
open the door. Security code Nine One Eight…"
The computer interrupted:
"The door is already unlocked."
They all jumped:
"Since when?"
"The door
was unlocked at 07 hundred 10 hours."
Three minutes
ago…They had still been in the courtyard at that time.
Someone had
unlocked the door during their absence?
They entered the
office and collectively gasped…
"This may
sound like a stupid question…" Dave said. "But where the hell
is the body?"
The body of
Commander Small was gone, no indication that it had ever been there had been
left.
"Looks like
the Founder paid a visit to this office while we were gone." Diane said.
"Computer,
when was the last time the door was opened from the inside?" Sylvia asked.
"At 07 hundred 10 hours." The computer
replied.
"And did it
open before that?" She asked.
"Negative."
"So the
Founder came into the room by sliding under the door and unlocked it from the
inside after picking up Small's body." Dave
said.
"Probably,"
Sylvia nodded. She tapped her commbadge and said: "Burnel to
"Dan
here, what's up?"
"It looks
like the Founder paid a little visit to Small's
office, the body is gone."
"What?
Shit…" Dan breathed. "Well Clover's still down here if that's
what you're wondering…And she's still dead."
"Okay, we'll
be back in a minute." She said. "Sylvia out..."
* * *
They hastily made
their way back to the hallway on floor 10 where Clover had been killed. The
group of officers was still all amassed around the scene, but now Reff was there, scanning everything with his tricorder, Dan
was watching over his shoulder.
"Anything…?"
Sylvia asked as she approached them.
"Yup, we've
been retracing her last steps and those of Commander Small with the computer,
though. Here's our timeline…" Dan cleared his throat, and read what was
written on a padd he was holding. "At
"Okay,"
Diane nodded. "…And how about Small?"
Dan pressed a few
buttons on his padd: "Small meets up with Clover at
There was a long
moment of silence.
Suddenly, Sylvia
jumped with her eyes wide.
"I've got
it…" She breathed. "Of course!"
"What? What, what, what?" Dave asked impatiently.
"The Founder
isn't one of us, it was Small!" She said proudly.
They all frowned
and pieced together the puzzle, then they almost all smiled: "Yeaaaah…I get it." Dave said.
"He headed for the transporter room to
bury his trail…He didn't use the transporter but shape-shifted into something
else that wasn't picked up by our sensors…He kills Clover on the tenth level
and heads back to his office where he turns himself back, and simulates
death." Diane said.
"They can do
that?" Dan asked.
"They can
simulate a rock," Sylvia said. "So they can simulate death just
fine."
"When we
come into his office at 07 hundred, he hears the security code to lock the door
and walks out before shape-shifting into something else and escaping!"
Dave said. "That bastard…"
"Nice
work…" Someone said.
All eyes turned
disbelievingly to the source of the voice.
Commander Small
stood there, smiling.