Interrogating the Aliens

Posted on 15 Jul 2019 @ 9:16pm by Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Commodore Harvey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Lieutenant Jarith Roshe

3,508 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Truth and Justice
Location: Guest Quarters
Timeline: MD 1 || 1000 hours (March 14, 2389)

In a room in the Security Complex, but not in the Brig, Camila tapped her combadge. =^=Lieutenant Di Pasquale to Lieutenant Roshe. Can you meet me in Security, please?=^=

"Roshe here," replied Jarith. "I'm on my way."

The ombre haired woman looked at the taller brunette woman with the swollen abdomen as she came out of the restroom. "I just paiged Lieutenant Roshe. Together, we should be able to find out more from these aliens. Do you want a cup of tea or plate of tacos or something while we wait?"

"Yes," Joey answered simply.

A few moments later, Jarith joined the two women. His Betazoid pupils were dark with excitement. Raking his slender fingers through his thick, black curls, he asked, "How can I be of assistance?"

"Thank you for coming, Lieutenant," Camila said after getting Joey a taco and a mug of tea. "I have a special request for you." She explains the need for him to telepathically scan the aliens minds while she and Joey ask them questions. "If they're lying, you have my permission to telepathically contact me. If they're telling the truth, you don't have to do anything. Do you agree?"

Jarith nodded his head. "Of course," agreed he with a smile. "That sounds simple enough."

Joey looked toward Jarith, then to Camila. "Well, this will certainly be interesting to say the least. Should we have our guests brought in?"

"No, we're going to them," Camila said. "Except Lieutenant Roshe. He'll be here monitoring their thoughts and letting us know if they're lying or not. Do you want good officer or bad officer?"

"I'm thirty-two weeks pregnant, I can't walk six yards without having to stop to catch my breath, my second home away from home is the ladies room, and I'm hormonal. Does any of that scream good to you?" the Intel Chief found herself asking.

"Good point," Camila said. "If you were a telepath, you could...nevermind. Bad officer it is. Do you still have those stun gloves and other bag of tricks from your office?"

"Yes," Joey confirmed, nodding her head. In fact, she had her belt with her, though, it wasn't around her waist as it should have been, but was over her shoulder. Sadly, her added roundness around the midsection didn't leave much room for such things.

"Ready?" the Security Chief asked Joey and Roshe.

Jarith nodded. "Ready, Lieutenant," he said simply.

"I'm ready," Joey said.

With a grunt, Camila checked the charge on her Type II phaser and holstered it on her belt and headed out to the guest quarters where the two aliens had been put despite her protests that they should remain in the brig. She gave a nod to the two Security personnel at the door, then entered her override code.

A short time later, the doors to the guest quarters opened, allowing both aliens to be revealed sitting on the plush furniture in the main room. Seated in the armchair was the mute Boreriri, his pale, sun-deprived skin made him seem vampirish at first glance, and his thin frame suggested there was a long way to go due to the malnourishment he suffered. Atop his head was a single, large and bloodshot eye and two slits for nostrils. Beside him on the couch was his companion, the Triosian whose body was thinly covered in wispy purple hair. His frame, too, was slender from poor sustenance, and his hair thinning much like an older human going bald. Unlike the Boreriri, he possessed two beady black eyes, as well as a humanoid nose and mouth.

"No, don't get up on account of your rescuers," Camila told the two aliens with a hint of sarcasm which she doubted they'd get, then remembered she was the good person. "By that, I mean that there's no need to get up in your current state."

Both aliens just stared at the new arrivals. They'd been poked and prodded several times in the last few days, and not just physically. The Boreriri gently reached out to scan both of their minds, only to find that there were more than two lifeforms that had entered the room. Of course, the woman in red's size should have been an instant indicator to that, though one could have assumed that life was lived to the fullest on this luxury liner.

Joey had been fully prepared to play bad cop with their guests until she saw them. "Camila... how long have they been aboard the ship?" she asked, not moving toward them yet.

"A few days. Why?" the Security Chief asked.

"Are they our prisoners?" Joey asked, ignoring Camila's question for the time being. The 'why' would be answered in due time, but she needed to have her own questions answered first.

"No," Camila said but wanted to say yes while she wondered where Joey was going with her line of questioning. She was supposed to be the bad personnel.

Joey blinked. So, the Boreriri and Triosian weren't prisoners. Their current state made her angry, and she didn't know why. "We undergo physicals regularly in order to maintain our positions within Starfleet, right?" she asked, looking to Camila before turning her attention back to the others. "Eye examinations are part of those physicals. Anyone can see that our guests are in need of medical attention and food." She finally moved toward them after dumping her utility belt back by Camila, keeping her hands raised to show she meant them no harm. "Are you hungry?"

"They've already been to medical and treated for malnutrition both on the planet and here, Lieutenant Geisler," Camila said as she retrieved the belt before one of the aliens decided to. She adjusted it and hooked it around her own waist, then began to check the pouches. "Look," she told the aliens. "We're just looking for a way home and trying to figure out what's going on here. Can either of you shed more light on what's happened in this sector?"

"We have answered those questions already," replied the Triosian curtly to the ombre haired woman. "Or do your memories from the archive fail you?" Looking to the larger woman, he added, "We just ate shortly before you arrived. Our replicator will not dispense more than your spotted doctor will allow."

Joey nodded her head. In their current condition, gorging themselves would lead to nothing good, and it made her feel a little better to know they had eaten something. Now, she needed to figure out how to go about questioning them. "Can you tell me a little bit about yourselves? Maybe, why my fellow crew members came across you in your current state?"

"What species locked you away in there? Why was the archive so heavily defended? What did they want hidden away? Where you able to learn anything else there that you didn't tell us?" Camila began to fire off questions.

The Boreriri could feel the frustration rising in the ombre haired woman. Were it not for the feelings he sensed from the ship's Captain, whom they'd yet to meet, and others, he might have feared for his life. Still, he opened his own mind, pushing back her frustration with his own.

"Again," the Triosian muttered, trying not to get frustrated himself. "We've answered most of these. No one locked us away in there. The archive stranded us to prevent its secrets from escaping. Your... Parks... saw things that even we hadn't, images of another world locked down to not let anything in or out."

Joey tried to hide her annoyance, and she was annoyed for a number of reasons. Only now, she hoped more questions wouldn't be piled on top of what she asked. "What secrets? You said the archive stranded you. Surely, one of you, or someone else, has to know what was being hidden."

"This region was devastated by the Great Conflict," droned the Triosian. "Our ancestors believed that to save all life, and to prevent it from occurring again that all had to remain in a pre-enlightened state. The archive contained technology far beyond anyone's means. Some of it rivals what this ship has to offer. Very little of it surpasses it. In fact, I'm surprised your starship has been allowed to exist."

The Intel Chief remembered hearing about the Great Conflict when they'd first got into the part of space, but the details were lacking. Joey sat near the Triosian and Boreriri, still showing no ill intent toward them. "We aren't from here, nor have we been here very long," she said, unsure how much information she should disclose to them. On the flip side, if she shared with them, then they might be more inclined to share with them. "There are more ships like ours where we're from."

With that being said, Joey opted to get back to her questioning. "This technology..." she paused, wishing to explain a bit before continuing. "We've seen the conditions your people live in, and we know it's not necessarily by choice. Who created this technology, and why would they not allow you and the others to use it for a better life than what you're all currently living?"

"Our ancestors," the Triosian simply replied, his thoughts indicating that his statement was entirely true. "It was the pursuit of a better life that brought about the Conflict. If our societies were allowed to advance one more, then it is believed the Conflict would resume."

Camila hoped Roshe was able to read the aliens thoughts. As yet, he hadn't contacted her mentally and Joey hadn't given any indication that he had contacted her, either. "Your ancestors are the ones that caused the Conflict and sent your society into a stalemate so it wouldn't happen again?"

"Everyone's ancestors were involved." The Triosian sighed and stood up intending to obtain a liquid refreshment from the room's dispenser. "Why else would the entire region be suffering?"

Joey watched the Triosian get to his feet. "Why not use the technology to better yourselves?"

"It is hard to better oneself when you can't escape the archive on your own," the Triosian observed. He tapped one of the pre-programmed buttons to produce two glasses of tepid water. With those in hand, he returned to the couch and gave one to the Boreriri who promptly put his left hand in the glass to begin absorbing the contents.

"But, you've escaped now," the Intelligence Chief pointed out. "And have access to what was inside the archive. Why not use it to your advantage?"

The Triosian chuckled, his tone quite haughty. "How can we possibly use it to our advantage when we are still in confinement. Yes, we have plush furniture, and an actual place to relieve ourselves, but these... quarters... are just a facade for another prison."

Camila was digging around in Joey's belt and pulled on a pair of elbow length black gloves and clapped her hands together. "Of course, all of that can be taken away. What planet did you come from before you found yourselves prisoners?"

Joey looked toward Camila and arched a brow, rising to her feet. She moved toward her former Chief and extended a hand for the gloves she'd just put on, keeping an eye on their guests from the corner of her eye. "I'd like to know the answer to that as well, but I'd like to add to it. Aside from the planet you came from, how did you come to be at the archive?"

"We assume you are here because something compelled you to see what was on the other side of the barrier." The Triosian sighed before taking a sip of water. "Many of our brethren have tried to escape this level of hell. We have not heard back from them, so we had assumed that the barrier was impossible to penetrate. We hoped that the archive would carry a secret. Forty of us tried to brave the archive. We are the only two who survived."

"What do you know of the Guardians?" Joey asked.

"Fascists who want to maintain the status quo." The Triosian nearly spat on the ground to further demonstrate his disdain. "The fact that you've been allowed to get this far into the zone suggests that they are not at all able to stop this ship. Not without risking their entire fleet."

"How many ships are in their fleet?" Camila asked. "And where do they operate from?"

"Only the Guardians really know. They're stationed everywhere. The last time I counted, there were more than a hundred. But they have outposts and checkpoints everywhere. Always traveling in groups of three or..." The Triosian's voice trailed off as he looked at the Boreriri, whose singluar eye was narrowed and fixated on the two human women. He looked back at the women. "My friend says that you've encountered the Guardians before, and easily disabled or destroyed them."

Joey wasn't going to deny anything. After all, it was the truth, but there needed to be a little clarification. "We have encountered them, yes, and we defended ourselves. Have you ever known them to go to the archive?"

"You..." The Triosian looked at Camila. "Well, you were the first people we've seen since we first arrived to the archive. I suppose there was no need to monitor the archive if nothing could get in or out. Until you."

"Do us a favor and stay out of our minds," Camila said, wishing Roshe would give some some indication if the aliens were telling the truth or not. As soon as she though that, she started thinking about Deep Space Eleven and all the horrors that had happened during the Consortium crisis. "How many species make the the Guardians?"

The Triosian sighed, wondering how much more of this questioning they would have to endure. "There are twenty different species in the zone, not including the hybrids that are starting to pop up. The Guardians have at least each pure group represented."

"So, we're looking at at least twenty," Joey said, pinching the bridge of her nose. She didn't even know if they were getting anywhere or not, or if any of this would help them on this side of the barrier, but the Intel Chief had to keep trying. Maybe, just maybe, they'd get lucky and hit the nail on the head. "Do you know why the Guardians would want to keep everyone on this side of the barrier?"

He shrugged, trying to think of an acceptable response, or at least a response that wasn't a total lie. Perhaps a lie of omission would be sufficient. "Probably to reduce the chances of spreading what happened here to the rest of the galaxy."

"Any race that can achieve space travel should be a civilized society in the first place," Camila said. "The restrictions that they place here ensures nothing but stagnation. I don't buy it. That's worse than what you claim happened in the first place. There's space stations with games that keep the losers as servants and other places that are so dismal that people would sell their own offspring to escape, or make a desperate attempt at going through the barrier. We're proof that things are better on the other side, so why keep everyone in here?"

"I do not make the rules." The Triosian gestured at himself. "And this is the price we paid for trying to break them."

"And who does make the rules? Perhaps, we'd like to speak with them," Joey stated, studying the Triosian.

"You destroyed one of their ships already." The Triosian calmly took a sip of his water, having made a statement using information pilfered from the women's minds. "Sounds like you missed your chance to speak to them."

"They weren't feeling very talkative. In fact, they would have preferred us dead," the Intel Chief stated, wondering if one of the two aliens present would actually answer their questions, or if they'd all just keep going around in circles. "So, I'm going to ask again. Who, exactly, makes the rules? The Guardians? Or do they answer to a higher power? One that keeps you all living in, what I'm sure can only be classified as, hell."

Camila activated the stun gloves. fully intent on using them. "Tell you what. How about I just start slapping the answers out of you, one setting at a time," she said.

"Violence, just like talking, isn't going to get us anywhere with them," Joey said, holding her hands out for the gloves once again, and this time, she expected them to be placed in her hands once they were deactivated. "I'll take those back now, if you don't mind."

The Security Chief glared at the Intel Chief and then deactivated the gloves and took them off to stuff back in the belt. Then she removed the belt and handed it back to Joey. "Here. Maybe you can have better luck than I had the first time around. I'm going to go get some coffee." She looked at the aliens one more time, then turned and left the room.

The moment she was outside of the guest quarters, she took a deep breath and tapped her combadge. =^=Di Pasquale to Roshe. Are you getting anything at all?=^=

Jarith responded,"I am. They have tried to keep me from sensing what they are thinking, but to no avail. They are lying by omission. They are answering in such a way that they are giving you half truths. I think they are aware of my scanning their minds on the periphery. It may help if you return with me at your side. What do you think?"

=^=LIes by omission?=^= Camila asked. =^=Maybe you should come in.=^=

TAG: Roshe

Joey watched as Camila walked out of the room, but quickly turned her attention back to the aliens. She had to get something from them. Something useful so this wouldn't be a wasted trip. "Look... I'm going to level with you. These gloves," she gestured to the now inactive gloves in her hand. "Are nasty. She was ready to use them on both of you to get answers. I prevented that from happening. I think that's worth some useful information."

"It amazes me," the Triosian said, rising to his feet to take his empty glass back to the replicator, "how dense your cultures are. We have told you everything we know, yet that does not satisfy you. Your hunger for more is dangerous, and I fear it will cost more than you can afford."

The Intelligence Chief shook her head. This wasn't going to get them anywhere no matter what they tried. "I don't know what the Captain wants done with you, so you're going to have to sit tight for now. As for being dense, I'd watch who you were calling that. After all, we're not the ones who continue to live like you and your people have been."

"No," The Triosian said while the Boreriri pushed a feeling of anger in everyone's minds, "You might not live like us, but your entitlement mentality will not help any of us. In fact, it might be what could doom us all."

Camila came back in the room with anger on her face and in her mind. "Exactly what are you not telling us?" she demanded as she headed up to the Triosian until she was in his face. "What are you holding back and why? Tell us or I swear that I'll petition the Captain to leave you in this hellish space when we leave!"

The Triosian sighed, shaking his head at the ombre-haired woman. "That is your choice. But we have told you all that we know. At least this prison is a step up from our last one."

Joey turned her attention to Camila, pinching the bridge of her nose in an attempt to ward of her growing headache. "I don't think we're going to get anywhere here."

"You're right, we aren't," Camila agreed with the Intel Chief. "Neither have a desire to tell the truth."

"We've already told you the truth," the Triosian said, returning to the couch. He folded his arms and looked up at the three Starfleet officers invading their private luxury prison. "You're just choosing not to hear it."

The headache she felt was building, but Joey planned to push through it. She'd heard everything the aliens said, but it wasn't anything useful. Did the answers lie in what they weren't saying? Maybe, but that left a wide range of them that she wasn't sure she could even begin to piece together. "Are you good to wrap things up here, Lieutenant?"

"Yeah," the ombre haired woman responded and glared at the two aliens who obviously thought they were stupid. "Let's get out of here."

With a grunt, Camila turned and motioned the others out, then had the door personnel double check the lock before she headed off to make a report for the Captain after the others were out.

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