Game session: 9/10/18; we got to play with the basic rules a bit and Joe got a scene at the end that ties directly into his background.

Khaleed wakes up when Dr. Ghatorii hails him, “Dr. Bahb, report to sickbay immediately.” He grabs a fresh uniform and heads to sickbay, which is eerily deserted. A padd is sitting on a biobed, and he grabs it. The padd contains a primer on the Cardassian spy he discovered, and the need for discretion. Khaleed grunts and starts prepping for surgery. Meanwhile, Aaron decides to alert Commander Shil’vala, mostly because he realizes leaving her in the dark will anger her once she finds out – and smart captains never antagonize Andorian subordinates. He pages her, and asks her to come to the bridge ‘discretely.’ She walks onto the bridge a few minutes later, awake and alert, and side-eyes the group huddled at the tactical alcove – especially the Bajorans. She then directs a loaded glance at Aaron, clearly telegraphing the question, “What the hell did they do?”

Aaron waves her over and quickly explains the situation. He then frowns as an idea occurs to him and asks if the suicide implant can be removed during transport. Over the intercom, T’kora replies, “Theoretically, but it is highly logical to expect fail-safes triggering in just such an attempt.” Ten agrees, so Aaron orders, “Fine, we stick to the original plan. Commander Shil’vala, remain here and contact Starfleet Intelligence. Kimball, with me to sickbay, and have an additional security team standing by.” They all nod, and Anjohl escorts Darrah Mace back to the cargo bay.

Once Krim Lapas enters REM sleep, Dr. Ghatorii checks her vitals and then gives Ten the signal. Ten beams her to the biobed in sickbay, and Dr. Bahb starts his scans as Aaron, Kimball, and Hel-Torin head down. Bahb finds a second implant; this one is cranial and has tendrils reaching into both hemispheres of the woman’s brain. He toggles the computer to analyze the material and he studies it quickly, concluding it is a data storage device. The computer reports that the implant is definitely Cardassian, and Bahb informs the captain as soon as Aaron arrives. He also recommends having the Bynars on hand to examine the data stored in the device. Aaron agrees, and hails Ten and Eleven to fill them in.

Khaleed starts work on the suicide pill, and swiftly determines it is a false tooth with a powerful corrosive acid tablet. He rigs up a suction device and deliberately breaks the tooth to trigger the acid, hoping to drain it safely in a controlled environment. The acid flows into the suction device but starts to eat away at it. Aaron suggests flooding Krim’s mouth with water to dilute the acid; Khaleed nods and does just that. Then the cranial implant activates, and information starts uploading into the agent’s brain! Aaron slaps his combage and orders, “10011, 01101, hurry. Possible situation developing.” Kimball activates the security fields around sickbay, isolating the chamber from the rest of the ship.

Leaving the suction to Dr. Ghatorii for the moment, Khaleed examines the cranial implant and snaps, “Fail-safes activating.” As if on cue, the biobed registers an adrenaline spike, and they realize the implant is trying to rouse the woman. Khaleed administers a local anesthetic and fits a mouth guard to prevent any of the acid from pouring back into her mouth. The Bynars race inside sickbay and use an isolated computer to analyze the implant. They report that it is a personality matrix buffer and presumably, the implant is trying to upload the agent’s original Cardassian personality. Aaron orders them to block it as best they can.

Khaleed starts prepping for major surgery to extract the cranial implant, but Aaron puts the kibosh on that by stating, “I’m not sure Starfleet Intelligence would like to lose this.” The Bynars report, “If the implant is removed, it may self-destruct and forever erase the Cardassian personality.” That’s the nail in the coffin for Aaron, who orders Bahb and Ghatorii to keep the agent sedated and to monitor her adrenaline levels to prevent damage. Anything further will have to wait until after he’s spoken to Admiral Farhana Shafiq. Kimball asks about notifying Lieutenant Commander Thorir Atli Bjornson of Starfleet Intelligence, but Aaron snorts and replies, “The admiral first. I know who signs my paychecks. I also want a senior staff briefing at 0800 hours.”

Aaron relocates to the strategy room on deck two and hails Admiral Shafiq. The admiral appears on his screen a moment later, clad in a terrycloth robe, with disheveled hair and sleep-filled eyes. She growls, “This had better be about a second Borg attack or some other existential threat against the Federation, captain.” Aaron hurriedly explains, “One of the Bajoran refugees is actually a surgically-altered Cardassian agent.” Admiral Shafiq closes her eyes and emits a stream of words that are very unladylike, very impolite, and definitely in Farsi. Keeping his face blank, Aaron quickly outlines the Cardassian agent’s status. When he finishes, Admiral Shafiq growls, “Captain, you have woken me up in the dead of night. However, as you have provided me with the perfect opportunity to spread my misery to Bjornson, I shall forgive you. This once.” Aaron nods quickly and Admiral Shafiq jabs the channel closed.

Kimball returns to the bridge and starts writing up the briefing. Aaron hails him and orders deep scans of the remaining refugees, just in case. Ten then hails Aaron and reports, “Incoming hail from Starfleet Intelligence for you, captain.” Aaron has them route the hail to the strategy room, and Bjornson appears on the screen, looking fresh and alert. Aaron grumbles, “What type of coffee do you drink?” Bjornson snorts and pulls the ‘I’d tell you but then I’d have to kill you’ routine. However, he asks for permission to come aboard to review the situation in person. Aaron agrees and they’ll meet in sickbay. Aaron sends word to Kimball, who reconfigures the security shields when Bjornson enters the docking clamp. He scans the SI agent, figuring Bjornson would be insulted if he didn’t, and locates sixteen hidden weapons and one jug of something with enough alcohol that the sensors glitch.

Aaron meets Bjornson in sickbay, and Bjornson hands him the clay jug. Curious, Aaron pries it open and takes a sniff; he immediately realizes it’s mead and incredibly potent. Bjornson smirks and says, “That’s homemade, and can probably drop a Gorn.” Aaron takes a shot and feels the honey liquor slide smoothly down his throat – and explode like a photon torpedo when it hits his stomach. He smiles widely and muses, “I definitely have a place for you.” Bjornson smirks and Khaleed calls out, “Captain, I’ll need to… analyze that beverage. For your health.” Aaron firmly replies, “No.” Bjornson snorts as Khaleed sighs, and then gives them a quick update. He pulls up the most recent scans of the implant and grouses, “Does Starfleet Intelligence know about these things?” Bjornson replies airily, “Yes, we do,” and Khaleed winces.

Bjornson studies the scans and surmises, “This is Borg-inspired.” Aaron swears, but Khaleed frowns as the true nature of the implant finally registers and he exclaims, “We’ve been going about this backwards! We want it to upload her original personality!” Aaron eyes him and says sarcastically, “It only took you an hour to figure that out?” Khaleed shrugs but Aaron decides they have to move up the staff briefing – to fifteen minutes from now. Khaleed brightens at the thought and tries to fob off the agent so he can attend, but Hel-Torin claps him on the shoulder and tells him gravely, “One of the benefits of being CMO is I get to delegate. You’re staying here.” Aaron snickers at the Trill’s crestfallen expression.

Aaron escorts Bjornson to the mess hall so he can grab a quick bite and stashes the mead in his cabin on the way. Kelly and M’Belaa are roused and attend the meeting, but from their mutual expressions, they’re the only ones who have no idea what’s going on. Kimball launches into a detailed briefing at 0415 hours, bringing them up to speed and everyone onto the same page. Bjornson then takes over and admits, “This implant is definitely inspired by Borg technology. We’ve suspected the Obsidian Order has acquired some of the scans taken by the Enterprise at System J-25 a year and a half ago, but this is the first circumstantial proof. SI will take her off your hands immediately, and we’ll use her to play the tiresome ‘We know you have one of ours and we have one of yours’ trade. Also, in light of this, I will recommend we also take the Bajoran refugees off your hands as well, damn the political fallout, and that the Boston depart tomorrow for her mission instead of Monday. If you have no objection, captain?”

Aaron shakes his head and Kimball remarks, “We’ve already cancelled all leave.” T’kora adds, “The repairs will be finished later today anyway.” Bjornson nods and replies, “Excellent, I’ll speak to Admiral Shafiq later this morning. Before that, however, I must borrow your chief science officer and bring him to my office briefly.” Kelly looks startled, but Aaron deadpans, “Return him alive, please. And intact.” Bjornson retorts, “He’ll return alive and un-cloned.” Kelly shrugs but is willing to go, and Bjornson announces, “Excellent. Prepare for the brainwashing.” Aaron smirks and the meeting breaks up. As Kelly follows Bjornson off the Boston, Aaron and Kimball decide to grab a nap before alpha shift.

Kelly follows Bjornson to his office on Starbase 211; it’s an unmarked door that leads to a space overlooking the space dock. Kelly has a good view of the Boston’s portside hull and notes the only personal touch is a photo-realistic painting of a Japanese mountain estate in winter. Bjornson settles in behind his desk and waves Kelly to replicator if he wants to grab some breakfast. Kelly shakes his head, but appreciates the offer, and sits down in the only other chair. Bjornson says, “I apologize for dragging you here, but I wanted to talk to you without prying Bynar ears. It’s about Captain Maria Danning.” Kelly tenses, and Bjornson carefully asks if he ever met Danning’s now ex-husband, the prime suspect in her mysterious death. Kelly shakes his head and replies truthfully, “I never met the man.”

Bjornson nods and reveals Madison Danning somehow made it off Earth without detection, which is no mean feat. However, he left a note claimed innocence, and local authorities have reason to believe his claim is actually genuine. Kelly frowns and then Bjornson states, “I now have to ask you about Ensign Hector Ludivico.” Kelly looks at the SI agent blankly, and Bjornson grunts, “Well, that answers that. Ensign Ludivico was Captain Danning’s… friend.” Things click into place for Kelly, and they dance around Maria Danning’s decade-old ‘indiscretions.’ Bjornson then says, “Ensign Ludivico’s career has suffered due to his prior association. More importantly, he’s AWOL – and vanished on the same day of Captain Danning’s death.”

Kelly goes stock-still as he processes the implications, and then carefully asks, “Why are you telling me this?” Bjornson sighs and replies, “We have reason to believe one or both men are heading here, to this region, possibly to seek you out. What I’m about to say next will be in Klingon, which you don’t speak.” He then outlines SI’s theory – in perfect Federation Standard – that the Orion Syndicate is involved. Captain Danning would be targeted for blackmail because of her indiscretions, and SI believes she was killed after refusing. Ensign Ludivico’s career stalled after the affair became known, so he was another disaffected officer the Syndicate could target. Kelly gets angrier as Bjornson outlines their theory, but he realizes it makes perfect sense. Bjornson the changes tack and asks about some of Kelly’s old surveys and studies, as the Syndicate seems very interested in his research – and Setlik III.

Kelly looks pained and admits Setlik III may have been a possible location for one of the Matruse Devices, but he didn’t include it in his reports as that was when he changed focus to his Starfleet career. Bjornson winces and asks, “Was that Captain Danning’s advice?” Kelly nods and Bjornson mutters something under his breath¹⁾ before asking about Kelly’s NNOO theory. Startled, Kelly admits he’s let that theory languish. Bjornson suggests revisiting that theory, as it actually has supporters within the halls of Starfleet and asks if he can dig up any data not submitted to Starfleet. Kelly agrees, and departs.