Lt. Maniersi: Flight Officer's Log, Stardate 40330.7
Lt. Maniersi: Flight Officer's Log ..... Joran Maniersi ..... Star Trek: The Triangle Missions
After restoring Deep Space Research 3 to normal operations, we continued our way through Steven's Nebula into the Triangle. Our first stop was at Baker's World to return their President and his entourage from their meetings on Starbase 27. The diplomats stayed to themselves for the trip and didn't make any appearances. I'm sure they interacted with some of the crew, but I didn't hear any stories or complaints later. I hope this isn't an indication of cooler relations with the Federation. The Triangle is a strategic sector that we can ill-afford to ignore. Captain Koyanagi seems like a dedicated officer, so I'm sure she offered all the courtesies possible. My duties as a new crewman on their first starship cruise, in addition to my shifts at the Flight Control station, prevented me from interacting with any of the delegations. A missed opportunity, as my world's heritage would provide an excellent foundation to build relations between the Federation and The Association of Outer Free Worlds. We didn't stay long enough for shore leave to be issued, but Lt. Cmdr. Hazor Dyan made a special request to the Captain to beam down for some personal leave. I wonder what was so important to him?
Leaving Baker's World, we received a distress call from an Orion freighter, the O.S. Camarain. The Captain ordered an intercept course and we engaged at Warp 8. Upon arrival sensors showed that the Orions had 24 souls on board were definitely in trouble, but it didn't look like the damage was due to an attack. The freighter's captain, Smüg, hailed us and requested engineering assistance as they were on a time-sensitive delivery run with medical supplies for Psellus III aboard. Lt. Cmdr. Dyan beamed over with a repair team and determined that radiation leaks were a threat to both crew and the medicine. We beamed out the crew and the medicine, and began repairs on the ship and treatment of the crew. The time required to get the freighter safely underway under its own power would put the Orion's past their delivery date, so I suggested we use the tractor beam to tow the Camarain under warp to Psellus III. Lt. Cmdr.'s Dyan and Akoval agreed it could be safely set-up, so the Captain ordered us under way.
We brought Smüg's shuttle over with the medicine, as it's too sensitive for transport. The Captain had the medicine placed in one of the cargo bays under containment field. The orions settled in well and enjoyed the amenities offered in 11 Aftward. I spoke with several of the crew and found out they make the regular run from Cardassia Prime to The Triangle, which was where this shipment originated. A little while after I got back on shift, the sensors detected deactivation of one of the containment fields around the medicine. I alerted the Captain who sent Lt. Cmdr. Akoval to investigate. He reported finding Smüg "checking" one of the medicine crates, and the cargo bay under guard by the Orions. His double-check of the logs revealed original sensor readings of 24 on the Camarain, but only 23 beamed off. New sensor sweeps didn't reveal any unknown lifesigns back on the Camarain, but reconfigured internal sensors by Dr Matthew O'Grady did reveal a life sign within one of the medicine containers.
We had arrived in orbit around Psellus III at this point, so the Captain ordered me down to the cargo bay with her to sort out the inconsistencies with Smüg. We arrived to find Lt. Cmdr.'s Hazor and Akoval there already arguing with Smüg about opening up the medicine container to get a look inside. Smüg was refusing permission under the claim that it was his property and that any premature opening of the medicine would inviolate their delivery contract. Things quickly escalated to threats of diplomatic incidents, with Lt. Cmdr. Hazor attempting to step in and smooth things out, to no effect. I decided to establish some definitive facts by using my mental abilities to scan the container. I did detect feelings of calm and confidence, but when attempting to determine species via telepathy, I encountered a strong Mental Block! Not only was there a stowaway in the medicine container, but they were an intelligent, psychicly trained individual. I informed Captain Koyanagi and received permission for an attempt to simply beam the individual out of the container with Smüg none the wiser! I contacted Chief Harald Lysander and informed him of the plan. He took a few minutes to calibrate the transporters and then made the beam-out. He didn't relay any information after that, and it seems like the next thing we knew the bridge was calling down with news that the Captain's Yacht had undocking and headed away from the ship. Captain Koyanagi ordered 'Red Alert', and none to soon, as this was immediately followed by the announcement that a Klingon battlecruiser had decloaked and was hailing us.
