2. Gnycish 2, Tyroth

The alien captain waits for the two guards to step in and sits down cross legged on the bench beside Cole. "Thank you for coming. I understand that you've come to this system to attend the so-called ethics conference on nanotechnologies. The facility that hosts the event was originally built by the Order of the Cosmic Compass. It's a somewhat grandiose name, granted, and their order originally focused on 'Biological and Biotechnological Sciences'. It was disbanded centuries ago for crimes against sentient life that occurred in the very same structure. The facility is well designed, a marvel of unique construction, so it is understandable that it support new ventures. Yet, we remain vigilant."

He brings gestures and a view screen pops on table showing an image before each of you. "It's tethered to the sea bed with cables, has more than a thousand staff, with 39 levels, radioisotope thermoelectric generators for power, has been under operation for 12 years since being reactivated, and of course contains sealable bulkheads and positional force fields throughout. Yet, despite the advanced technology, our ambassador, LL Gillokol was murdered inside one days ago." He checks his data feed, and adds, "Thirty-one of your hours has passed, and they offer no explanation or access to their security systems. Somewhere on that subsea platform is a murderer, and we are growing more convinced that the conference managers are covering up."

He gestures to the room. "This brings us to here. My civilization will not allow anyone to leave the institute before the murder of our ambassador has been solved. If you wish to go down, we will not stop you, but we will not allow anyone to leave. Some of the aliens attending the conference are sublime shapeshifters with technology that defeats even genetic scans. You are free to do what you want, but in the interest of risking this situation escalating into a broader conflict, we ask for your understanding."

Drake doesn't know whether to be excited or petrified. The facility was indeed a marvel of technology and engineering and being resident within would offer a glimpse of so many wonderous things. But being held against their will was another story.

"You could send an escort to take us back. Surely these shapeshifters aren't that good as to be able to seamlessly become one of us without anyone noticing?" Drake hoped he wasn't out of line, but these aliens were violating their rights and surely, they expected some kind of push back.

And just who are you to decide if we can go to that planet and leave it again? Luna DIDN'T say. If that diplomat was as arrogant and obnoxious as this guy everyone could be a murder suspect.

That last thought made her wonder and blurt out loud "How do you know he is in fact murdered?"

Cole took the Captain's words in with a mix of wonderment, at the history behind and technology of the research facility, and astonishment at their drastic measures put in place after their ambassador's untimely demise. At mention of shapeshifters his brow furrowed slightly, eyes narrowing, thoughts drifting to his own experiences with the Dominion War and recalling that Starfleet had leaned on some actions many would have considered draconian.

Making a calming gesture with his hand towards his two security officers, he turned to the Captain, "Under the circumstances I think we can agree to your terms.

"Lieutenant Vilchis does raise a valid, if perhaps a bit blunt, question. Were you told that Ambassador LL Gillokol was murdered? Or were you told he had passed and suspect he was murdered? Or have you been told anything at all or simply lost communications with the Ambassaador?"

Holding his hands up in a display of innocence, "And please don't take the questions as an indication that I, we, don't believe you. I am simply trying to remain unbiased while I gather as much fact as I can before we assess the scene and situation below."

Aurin nodded, making a gesture of acknowledgement with Luna. "We would be very interested in seeing the evidence you have gathered before we commit to locking ourselves under the ocean."

He listens to the conjecture, and says, "We have his body. He was stabbed in the back at a place fatal to us. The precision of the blow indicates familiarity with out anatomy, and a trained hand. We have no doubts that he was murdered. While we have recovered his body, we were unable to detect anything of note regarding the murder, save for one thing."

He taps his throat and mumbles. The viewscreens before you turn to a recording of the scans taken. You see data forms before you that are difficult to make sense out of, given the alien way of communicating ideas.

A Reason+Science check TN 3 will allow you to interpret the scans in a more familiar way.

Momentum: 3
Threat: 4

Aurin narrows his eyes, peering at the data curiously, thumb gliding along the underside of his beak as he tried to decode it.

Aurin-Ahs concentration pays off as he finds the key to interpreting the alien presentation of data. He's seen many ways to show such information, and while this is new, it slowly makes sense to him.

As he focuses and learns the method employed by the aliens, he comes to understand that he's seeing a medical scan of the murdered captain, along with analysis. The anatomical displays show the point of entry of a small object. The edges are clean without tearing, such as from a sharp cutting instrument. Other than that, the hormonal balances are shown to be within expected tolerances, save for adrenaline and fear which indicate that the captain was aware of the danger, but died before he could fight back. (There are no defensive wounds suggesting he got any hits in.)

The unusual part comes from a materials analysis of the murder weapon. Tiny shards of crystallized metal were examined from microscopic fragments in the wound. It's a composite metal-ceramic implement that is likely extremely high tech, even by the Federation's standards. It would not be inappropriate to say that it's 'cutting edge' materials science.

The images on the screen make no sense to Luna, but through Aurin-Ah's explanations, she gets the gist of it.
"So, he was stabbed with a high-end weapon. He knew he was in danger but likely he didn't get a chance to fight back. Is that it, what we know of this murder, I mean?"
She contemplates the facts for a moment. "Where was he stabbed? Was it in the back ... If that is applicable to this life form... Having a back, I mean. Also, why was he murdered? Who stood to gain from it?" she asks

Once the data has been pointed out more clearly to her, she hums in thought. Is anyone missing any items? This is a tech summit isn't it?

After parsing the data for his crew, Aurin leaned back, thumb still running along his lower beak. His bright blue eyes closed as he contemplated.

"We may not be looking for a weapon, per se. The use of such material to make a knife would be... an astronomical waste."

He nodded at the Doctor's suggestion. "If the area is closed, as you suggest, is there a manifest?"

The alien captain says, "You have ideas on how to proceed. Let me propose this subterfuge. We publicly have a firefight in the skies above the planet and your Federation starship drives us off. Then, you attend the summit and discover the murderer. Present to us scientifically credible evidence and we'll ... open formal contact between my people and the Federation."

Drake was speechless. How did they manage to get mixed up in all of this. And the alien captain's idea was an expensive one.

"Sir." Drake addresses the science officer. "Would you mind expounding on your theory about the weapon?

"Well... as the good doctor reminded us, this is a scientific conference. One centered on nanotechnology - and perhaps ironically, its ethical uses and hazards." He turned to face the ensign. "If the material analysis is correct, the weapon could be a component of a scientific instrument or demonstration apparatus. Concealed purposefully, or repurposed for use as a weapon. Such a material's hardness and nonreactivity could have many possible uses beyond... cutlery." He waved his hand, uncomfortable with the thought of swords and combat knives making their way into the conference.

"More worryingly, the murder implement could have been constructed and then disassembled on-site by the technology available. There may be nothing left of it but component atoms in a materials feed hopper for a nano-scale replicator. We must be prepared for material forensic evidence that has been tampered with at perhaps unforseen levels, especially if there is some sort of premeditated conspiracy."