The Truth Revealed

Posted on Sat Apr 8, 2017 @ 7:25pm by Lieutenant Xylia Lischka & Commodore Michael Aravan & Vashkele

Mission: An Orion to Die For
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD 5 || 1000 Hours

After leaving the debriefing, Xylia found herself standing outside of Vash's quarters. The more that was revealed, the more questions popped up. It was time for answers, and it looked as though she was the only one who was capable of getting them. Commander Weisz had her suspicions all along, and Xylia was beginning to think she was crazy... until now.

Taking a deep breath, the Security officer reached out to press the chime, alerting the other personnel to remain outside unless they were needed. Having them inside wouldn't do any good as the Orion woman wouldn't do any talking. Hopefully, this would go well as she and Vashkele had developed a sort of trust over the last few days. Now, though, she hoped the pieces to the puzzle would fall into place.

"Come in," Vash called where she laid on her couch wearing a electric blue Tholian silk robe that must have cost as much as a runabout. She had a plate of grapes sitting before her and a fan blew her red hair behind her while she lounged. Every inch of her quarters had been transformed with items that she had purchased on the promenade and she looked as if she had made the place her home.

Xylia moved inside and looked toward the couch where the Orion woman was lying. It seemed she'd been doing quite a bit of shopping the last twenty-four hours or so. "How are we doing today, Melani? Enjoying the spending account we've provided for you, I see. Not that that wasn't what it was meant for."

Vash looked up with a quizzical look on her features. "I'm doing well, but my name is Vashkele," she said. "A spending account is a spending account and I bought what made me comfortable. Would you like a Betazoid grape? They're quite delightful." She held the tray of grapes out for Xylia.

"That's why it was given to you," she said, moving back to the door and reaching for something before turning with it. In her hand was Vash's hammer, which she recalled the Orion woman asking about at dinner the following evening. "Again, I have kept true to my word."

The Orion woman stood up and went over to where Xylia held the hammer. "May I hold it?" she asked almost hesitantly.

"Don't make me regret it. I've been nothing but kind and truthful with you," she said, holding it out in her direction.

"Thank you," Vash said as she took the hammer in her small hands and twisted the center grip. Immediately, the bars between the grips retracted to make it half its normal size and she stepped back. She gave it an experimental twirl as she tested the weight and balance of it, then spun around facing away from Xylia and began to go through a series of moves with it as if she had practiced with it many times in the past.

"You're welcome," Xylia said, feeling as though she'd made a wasted trip.

Vash turned around and looked at Xylia, then back at the hammer. "When you came in here, you called me Melani," she stated. "Why?"

"Because I saw a picture of her before I came to see you. There are a few similarities between the two of you. Either... you are her, and have had surgeries to make yourself look a bit different, or... you're very closely related. Plus... past conversations we've had point me to the former," Xylia said, watching Vash. "You once said you wanted something that neither I, nor anyone on this ship, could provide you. I jumped to my own conclusions and assumed you want a new life. Only someone of high power, who is betraying something they help build, would want something that huge. Tell me I'm wrong."

"If I were the head of the Orion Syndicate, wouldn't you think that I had my own means of making a new life, if that's what you assume?" she asked Xylia as she continued to toy with the hammer. "Someone that powerful with that much access to so much wealth would surely have an easier time of making a run for it instead of going to the Federation and asking for asylum."

"You would think so, wouldn't you? Unless said head had to depart in a hurry without leaving any kind of trail behind them," she stated. "Then, it would make sense to come to the Federation for help. Start with a ship, then move on to someone who has the ability to grant them what they need."

She moved over to the couch and settled down. "Or, here's another one for you. The head decides to betray the Syndicate... divulge sensitive information that not just anyone would know, then the only option she has is to turn to the Federation. We help take them down, and life it smoother sailing."

"It all sounds so simple and easy, doesn't it?" Vash asked as she toyed with the blades at the end of the hammer's handle. "In reality, it would probably take a bit more doing. Far more than a former slave girl had access to. I knew Raimus' schedule before he owned me for a while. I also knew the location of the slave markets because I was there at both of them at different times."

She hesitated and pulled the three blades off the end of the hammer with a cap attached to them and set it on the table. "But if I were her, what would the odds be of guaranteed success in getting a fresh start?"

"You know far more than a slave girl should know, including pass codes that not just anyone would know," she said. "I can't guarantee there would be a fresh start."

"I told you, I belonged to Raimus," Vash said. "No one ever pays attention to where a slave girl is and he liked me being on the bridge of his ship to show off. They just didn't change the code, I guess. As for you not being able to guarantee a fresh start, why would anyone do more than they had to in order to survive until something better came along?"

"There's no way they'd just forget to change the code," Xylia stated as she rose to her feet once again. She was getting nowhere fast, and it was wasting her time. "Our mission is over now, so you'll be transported elsewhere soon. I hope you'll find a way to keep in touch. If nothing, shoot me a message once in a while to let me know how you're doing."

Vash turned the cap with the blades on it over and showed her a chip that was secured under it in a medical foam. "I'm not sure what this is, Xylia, but I know it's connected to me. I knew it was there and I knew I had to have my hammer which is why I asked for it, but I swear I don't know what's on it."

Xylia blinked when she saw the chip. Well... that was pretty unexpected. "Do you want me to look at it?"

"I'd rather go with you to have it checked," Vash said as she carefully pried it out of the foam. It had Orion symbols on it and she gasped. "Slave no more," she read in Standard.

The German woman raised a brow at what Vash said aloud, then canted her head. She wanted to know what was on that chip now more than ever. "Yes, you can come with me," she said, gesturing for the Orion woman to move toward the door. "There are a few officers outside the door per Captain Aravan's orders. They'll be accompanying us as well, but don't have to be in the room while you and I look over what's on here."

"This is a medical chip of some kind, isn't it?" Vash asked, looking and sounding a bit confused as to why it would say 'Slave no more' on it and how she knew it was there. "We'd have to go to Medical."

"That's where we'll go, then," Xylia said.

Vash stood up and put the hammer on the couch and collected the medical chip. "Let's go. I want to see what this has on it."

Xylia walked out of quarters with Vash, then nodded her head to the other officers. They fell in step behind them, following all the way to sickbay where the higher ranking Security officer took them. "Vash... no matter what is on that chip, I want you to know you can still trust me. I've done nothing to show you otherwise."

Vash looked at her as they left her quarters. "While that may be the case, this could change everything," she said. "We'll know when we know."

"All we can do is wait," she said, stopping a random person. "Maybe you can help us. We have a chip here we need to gain access to."

The Bolian medic looked at Xylia and gave a nod. "May I see the chip, please?" she asked.

"Go ahead," Xylia urged her friend.

Vash handed the chip to the medic. "I have no idea what it is, but the language on it is Orion," she said to the Bolian woman.

The Bolian smiled. "Our computer will be able to translate," she said as she took the chip and motioned them to follow her to a side lab. There, she inserted it into a chip reader after making sure it was compatible and waited a moment. Information began to flood across the screen in a torrent of Orion which was translated to Standard and the woman paused. "This appears to be a memory engram chip," she said after a moment. "It contains a large amount of memories."

"Memories?" Vash asked. "I don't remember putting any memories on a chip."

The Bolian picked up a tricorder. "May I?" she asked Vash.

"Sure," Vash agreed. She had already been scanned previously but it was just a perfunctory medical scan.

The medic ran the tricorder attachment around Vash's head and stopped when she got to the back of her neck and looked at the readout. "It appears you've had surgery to cover it, but you had an implant here which I'm sure would have fitted this chip," she said.

Xylia couldn't help but arch a brow. This just got more interesting as the seconds ticked on. "The implant is gone now?" She asked, looking to the area where it once was. "Whatever is on the chip... we need to know."

"I need to know," Vashkele said. "Can it be accessed without an implant?"

The Bolian thought for a moment, then turned to access the holographic terminal in a flurry of rapid hand movements. Finally, she turned back. "There is, but there's no certainty that the data wouldn't be corrupted."

"Whatever you do... don't corrupt the data," Xylia stated. "Make sure you do everything you can to recover it safely. Or, if you feel you can't, get someone from Operations to do it instead."

"The only way we could guarantee that there's no corruption of data is to place the implant into this young lady's brain and then transfer the information from the chip to it."

Vash thought for a moment, then looked at Xylia. "I'd like to do that," she said. "If I had an implant before and the chip was in my hammer, it must be my memories on it."

Xylia didn't like any of this. "Okay, but if anything happens to her, there won't be any member of this crew strong enough to hold me back. Do it," she ordered, moving out of the way.

"We would require the Captain's authorization in that event, Lieutenant," the Bolian woman said.

The Lieutenant tapped her combadge. =^=Captain... your presence is requested in sickbay.=^=

=^=I'm on my way=^= Came the response a moment later.

The Bolian meanwhile continued to look over the torrent of data on the screen and shook her head in amazement. "If I'm not wrong, this is a lifetime of memories," she said.

"As soon as the Captain arrives, we'll know more," the Security officer said, looking toward Vash. "Are you sure about this? It's not too late for you to change your mind."

Michael walked in a minute later and approached Xylia. "What's going that requires my presence, Lieutenant?" he asked her.

The Lieutenant explained their current situation to him. "We require your authorization for it to happen. Vashkele wishes it to, but I'm concerned for her safety. On the flip side of that, I will respect her wishes."

"You're saying that Vashkele could be Melani D'ian?" Michael asked, just to be sure. "The self-proclaimed Emerald Empress of the Orion Syndicate?"

"Yes," Xylia said. There was no reason to go into anymore detail than that.

"As long as she signs a waiver," Michael said and looked at Vashkele. "Do you wish to sign the waiver stating that we aren't responsible, Miss Vashkele?"

"Yes," Vash said. "I have to know."

Michael nodded and the Bolian went to get the waiver. Vash signed it and Michael gave his authorization on it, then handed it to Xylia. "You're the witness, Lieutenant."

"Yes, Captain," Xylia said, witnessing the waiver. She looked toward the Bolian and nodded toward it. "Everything should be good to go now, so go ahead." She turned her attention to Vash. "If at any second you feel like something isn't right, say something."

"I will," Vash said before turning to the Bolian. "I'm ready," she said.

"Come with me, please," she said. "The procedure should take about fifteen minutes." With that, she headed towards one of the operating rooms and Vash followed her.

Michael looked at Xylia and lowered his voice after the medic and Orion had left. "You do realize that if she's the head of the Orion Syndicate that things just got a lot more complicated, don't you?"

"I'm well aware, Captain," she said softly as the three Security officers followed behind them. Only one would go into the room. The other two would remain outside. Xylia took a deep breath and shook her head. "Was any of what we went through not complicated to you this mission? Because from my standpoint, it was all a bit messy."

"A bit is putting it mildly," he said. "If this could get any more messy, I may end up commanding a garbage scowl in the Beta Quadrant."

"If it gets anymore messy, we'll all be joining you," she said.

Twenty minutes later, Vash came out and went over to the Captain and Xylia. "It's done," she said. "Are there any objections before I try the chip?"

Michael shook his head. "I don't, but if this causes problems, your status of having asylum could be revoked. I offered it to you as you currently are."

"I understand," the Orion woman said before she looked at Xylia. "And what are your thoughts, my friend?"

Xylia took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to be positive about everything. "I will try to remain open-minded to everything. You and I have gotten to know one another fairly well the last few days, so you know that if I need to defend myself or the Captain, then I will. Once you access your old memories, try not to forget what we've been through."

"I won't," Vash said as she took the chip once more. She moved her long red hair aside and felt for the implant in the back of her head, then inserted the chip. Her eyes closed and moved rapidly under the lids before a gasp came from her lips and she reached out an arm as if to get something to steady herself with.

Xylia quickly reached out to grab Vash before she could hit the floor as her brow furrowed. She didn't like this at all, and found herself looking for the Bolian to help. "Vashkele! Say something!"

"Vashkele?" The Orion woman repeated as she got steadied and opened her eyes. "My name is Melani D'ian," she said as she looked around and took note of the Starfleet uniforms on him and the woman who helped her. She closed her eyes again and took a breath. "And you are Lieutenant Xylia Lishka and Captain Michael Aravan, correct?"

Michael groaned inwardly. Maddy and Xylia had been right and he had the head of the Orion Syndicate on his ship and had just fought his way into Orion space and rescued prisoners with her on board. If the Syndicate had known, he was sure the fight would have been much harder. "Ms. D'ian," he said. "I would like to officially welcome you to the USS Triumphant. Do you recall how you got here?"

"Yes," Melani said. "I have no loss of memory. Does my request for asylum still stand, Captain Aravan? I have much information to share with the Federation."

"I need to talk to my Executive Officer about that, but for now, consider yourself a guest with the same restrictions as before," Michael said before he looked at Xylia. "You, Lieutenant, have a better working relationship with Ms D'ian, so I would suggest you help get her set up in a VIP quarters. You have my authorization for whatever Ms. D'ian has up to limits imposed by her guest status aboard the ship."

"Yes, Captain," Xylia said, taking Melani by the hand in an effort to help keep her steady. "I'll have your things moved from your previous quarters to your new ones. Lean on me if you need to."

"Certainly," Melani said as she let Xylia take her hand. "You've been nothing but good to me even without knowing who I truly am. I wish that we could get to know each other more, but there are many things which I need to answer to Starfleet for and it may be some time before they decide to let me go again. Even then, we may never see each other again if they grant me a new identity."

"Well, whatever happens," Xylia began as they made their way out of sickbay with their escorts. "I hope it works out for you. We're going to keep your true identity under wraps as well as keep you guarded at all times. You need them now more than ever. Of course, if word does manage to get out, I know what three to go to first."

"I know I'll be in safe hands," Melani said. "And I know why I had that done to myself, too. You were right about me needing a safe place. I couldn't take the risk that I'd be captured and interrogated by anyone else, so I had my memories removed except for a few key things like Raimus and invented Vashkele."

"The pieces finally fit together," Xylia said, as she escorted Vash... Melani... out of sickbay.