Sleight2

    “Captain,” she said in greeting. “Commander.”
     “Good afternoon, Lieutenant,” said Commander Vaughn. Mansel said nothing, but continued to stare. Though he was a starship Captain, he was twenty-three, and his desire for a lifelong companion was still great. It had been curbed somewhat by the enormous responsibilities of tending to his starship, but with a glance at the beautiful Lieutenant, his desire was once again aflame.
     Commander Vaughn took over the interview as Mansel took great lengths to control his heart rate. “Lieutenant, you were the last one to see, Davis, correct?”
    “Yes sir. Just like Fleury, I was looking at him, and then looked away. When I looked back, he was gone.”
    Lieutenant Commander Fleury rubbed at the growing amount of stubble on his chin. “I think we should check the surface,” he said finally. “Send a team down there and have a look around.”
    “Is Palla able to sustain human life?” Mansel asked Commander Vaughn.
    Vaughn shrugged. “I don’t know, sir.”
    “Find out. If so, take Lieutenant Commander Ames and an away team down to the surface. Poke around and see what you can dig up.”
   “’Poke around’, sir?”
    “Yes. Try and get behind the scenes. If they have nothing to hide, then they won’t mind.”
    “Right.” With that, Commander Vaughn left Engineering, heading off to find Lieutenant Commander Casey Ames, Chief of Security. Mansel turned back to Lieutenant Commander Fleury and Lieutenant Patterson. He thought once more about how radiant she looked. Her Engineering uniform, a slightly lighter shade than Mansel’s was neatly pressed and creased. Her hair, though against regulations, shone in the ship’s light. She had high cheekbones, a cute nose, and a nice smile. All in all, Mansel though, she ain’t bad lookin’. He briefly considered asking her to get some dinner, but reclined. His luck with women wasn’t the greatest. After his breakup with Makeisha Lee, now UNSF Intelligence, he had reserved to stay far away from women. They were a dangerous and unpredictable species.
    “Captain?” Lieutenant Commander Fleury asked, “in the meantime, what shall we do?”
    Mansel couldn’t think of anything, so he said, “sit tight and pray.”

    Commander Vaughn’s away ream materialized in the office of Regent I’vanich Postov, governing official on Palla.
    “Welcome,” said the regent, spreading his arms wide to indicate the planet. “Welcome to Palla. I wish we met under different circumstances than this.”
Commander Vaughn nodded his agreement. “We wish the same, sir. You sure you haven’t received any outside visitors as of late?”
     Regent Postov shook his head. “No, no,” he said quickly. “All visitors must log in and out of this guest book.” He pointed to an enormously huge book sitting on his desk. Lieutenant Commander Ames dimly wondered if there were any UNSF names in that book.
    Before Commander Vaughn could say anything else, Regent Postov ushered them outdoors. The sun was setting on Palla, making the slight green tint of the planet even more pronounced. “Come on, I will give you the visitors tour of the planet.”
    Commander Vaughn was about to object, but Lieutenant Commander Ames touched his arm and shook his head slightly. “Sounds great,” Commander Vaughn said with forced cheer. “Lead the way.”

    Vaughn, Ames, and the “redshirts” were cruising along in the little groundskipper, following Regent Postov on the tour. The Regent was in his personal groundskipper, leading the way. He pointed out various attraction spots and famous buildings along the way over the speakers.
    “Alright, Ames, why are we on this trip?” Vaughn asked, not taking his eyes of the ground as he piloted the skipper.
    Lieutenant Commander Ames shrugged. “Who knows?” he said. “We might find something out of place. For instance,” he continued, “have you noticed who everything he shows us is on the right?”
    Vaughn had noticed. That’s why he had intentionally kept his attention focused on the left, when he wasn’t watching the road. All he’d seen were green mountains, nothing overly suspicious. He head to admit, it was a pretty sight, though.
    “I wonder what’s over those mountains?” an Ensign commented. He brushed some lint off his red shirt and shifted uncomfortably. “I hate this color,” he stated.
   “Commander Vaughn found Lieutenant Commander Ames looking at him. They were thinking the same thing.
   Tonight, they went on a little recon mission.

    Lieutenant Commander Ames was not surprised at all to see that there were guards posted outside their door. Regent Postov shrugged and said it was for security reasons.
Commander Vaughn looked out the window and saw a guard underneath, despite the fact that they were five stories up. “Ways out?” he asked Ames.
    The security chief grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.”
    At about 22:50, it was pitch-black on Palla. The away team, dressed in black (which made the redshirts much more comfortable), made their move.
    Commander Vaughn flung the doors to their suite open, startling the guards posted on the other side of the door. “Quick!” shouted Vaughn, “something’s wrong with one of my men!” Daze and confused, the guards rushed into the room to see Lieutenant Commander Casey Ames hovering over one of the away members with a worried look on his face.
    The guards had no time to access the situation. They were ambushed and stunned by two other members of the five-man away team. “Works every time,” said Lieutenant Commander Ames with a grin.
    “Let’s hustle,” said Vaughn.
    They met no further resistance until they reached the front door. “Do you think there’s a guard on the side?” one of the redshirts asked with a worried look on her face.
    Lieutenant Commander Ames nodded. “If they’re smart, then they’ll have someone there.” He shifted his carbine from his left hand to his right. If there was one thing Ames prided himself on, it was the ability to shoot perfectly with both his left and right hands. “Ready your guns,” he said. “Stun.” He put his hand on the doorknob and waited until everyone was ready.
    When they were, he quickly turned the knob, opened the door, and rushed out, carbine at the ready. The rest of the away team filed out, with Commander Vaughn bringing up the rear.
    Scanning the area, they found the guard asleep in a chair propped up against the side of the building.           “That’s cheap,” a redshirt muttered, “so much for the action. Let’s get to the groundskippers.”