Strangers in Distant Lands

Posted on Sat Mar 28th, 2026 @ 7:59pm by Lieutenant JG Kahlin & Lieutenant JG T'Lar

1,036 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Mission 4 - Siphoning of Stars
Timeline: [Backpost]

The mess was, for all intends and purposes, quiet. There were some people grabbing food, or a chat, depending on what the enjoyed. Kahlin wasn't. Sure, she had eaten. One had to keep strength up. But Federation food, at least what she had been offered through the years, was bland. She had become partial for noodles, or things with hot peppers. But if she overindulged the heartburn was vicious. There were limitations to the human body, as she had always known.

In front of her, she had a logic puzzle. One of those small ones that she had heard were popular. She had always liked puzzles and games that employed logic and even deceit. This one was the Zebra Puzzle, illustrated in a small hologram from the base of the game, that spoke the puzzles. The base was where she could input her answers and keep track.

For this puzzle, it was correctly identifying the order of events, based on testimonies from characters during a mutiny, as well as the ringleader.

"If the engineer saw the warp core off line, he could not have initiated the assault on the bridge," she said to herself, aloud in Klingon even if the universal translator made it Standard, pushing down the character in the timeline.

T'lar approached and took notice of the woman and the logic puzzle. "You are attempting to solve a mystery?" She inquired. "May I join you?"

Kahlin's lip rose in something of a sneer, which did not look quite as intimidating on a human as a Klingon. But it softened a moment later as she looked at T'lar, realising it was conversation that had pulled her from her focus, not an order. "Sit, these things are best done in pairs," she invited, motioning to it. "You have to find the ringleader of a mutiny, based on statements in interviews. It is fiction."

"Fascinating, what are the pertinent facts?" The Half Vulcan asked as she sat down.

"The Chief Engineer saw the warp core go offline. The First Officer was sleeping, as was the Captain. The Chief Counselor said they were in sickbay but the Chief Medical Officer cannot confirm it. Chief Security was on the bridge but can't give testimony as they're dead..." Kahlin showed her the rest of them. The interviews of the survivors, all pointing fingers at each other. "What is interesting is that no one mentions the Chief Operations Officer."

T'Lar considered the statements for several moments. "The logical conclusion would be that the Operations officer is the Ring leader, however; it is the obvious answer that is more often than not a distraction. The Counselor's whereabouts are easily confirmed with a computer search. Logic would dictate that no one would pay attention to the Security Chief if they are believed to be dead. There are several compounds that may simulate death if ingested. it would be simple to simply wait for everyone to be distracted and not paying attention; then remove their comm badge and slip away.

Kahlin nodded, a soft growl escaping her of sheer annoyance. "A coward's gambit," she said softly, a contract to the sound she had just made. "Yet one that...makes sense. If everyone can be accounted for in some way, the dead...no one notices the dead."

It would give the Security Chief the opportunity to direct the Mutiny undetected if, for instance; they swapped comm badges with someone who WAS already dead or incapacitated in some other fashion.

Kahlin looked at the details, taking a deeper breath. "We need to track down the evidence," she said and rolled her shoulders. "Ship's internal sensor reports."

T'Lar studied the internal sensor data. "Internal sensors, biometric data and comm badge location pings confirm the counselor was indeed in sickbay during the incident. curiously enough there is no data for where the chief engineer's location was those logs are either missing or deleted. If they "saw" the warp core go offline, the logical conclusion would be they would be in Main Engineering; but what if they were on the bridge and readying the Engineering display as the warp core went offline?"

"Then that would change everything," Kahlin said and looked at her, giving her a nod of approval. "And there's ways an Engineer can create a surge that corrupts the login data. It's...quite discreet."

"What about visual feeds from the bridge? it would be a simple task to verify or disprove our theory of the Security Chief faking Their death by verifying the body is still there on the Flight data recorder." T'Lar suggested.

She looked at the Vulcan with interest, raising an eyebrow. "A visual verification rather than relying on the sensors..." she nodded and used the PADD to bring up what they needed.

The two women watched the FDR. The recording confirmed T'Lar's theory that the Chief Engineer was indeed on the bridge, not engineering and that they had caused the warp core to go offline. It also confirmed that the Chief Of Security was indeed dead. The recording had focused on the Engineer pulling their phaser and firing but the recording was corrupted and did not show what it was they were firing on.

"Good call," Khalin said with a bow of her head before she sat back, motioning for her to input. "And then...the game ends."

The Half Vulcan Raised an eyebrow at the conclusion of the game. "That was an agreeable logic exercise." She said with what would pass for having fun for a Vulcan.

"I find them...interesting," Kahlin said as she looked at T'Lar. "Klingon culture does not have many games like this. Most are of chance, or brute strength. I like games of intelligence to hone my...mind."

"I would surmise they would not no. This was Quite agreeable. It is a worthy pursuit to better oneself and keep your mental skills sharp." T'Lar replied.

"Perhaps we can meet up again then," Kahlin said boldly as she held T'Lar's eyes. "And we can do this again, from the beginning."

T'lar considered Kahlin's offer for a moment. She inclined her head slightly. "I believe I would..." She paused for a moment to consider a better word. " ... Enjoy that"

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