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ef Administrator Margulis was standing with Oren-De in a room filled with monitors that showed various aspects of the colony. The two were in front of one area that had a large glowing 'Defense' label above it. Prior to receiving the call from Talona, Oren-De had been looking over a large schematic of the colony's defenses. When Oren-De finished speaking with Talona, Margulis looked at him with some concern.
"Is everything alright, Commander? It sounded like you have a problem with a Klingon vulture."
Oren-De frowned as he went back to looking at the schematic in front of him. "Possibly. All the more reason to get your defenses up to a satisfactory level."
A few minutes of silence passed as Oren-De analyzed the console in front of him while Margulis tried and look busy, occasionally taking a very keen interest in some banal data that one of the displays would show. Finally, Oren-De stood back and spoke.
"Your defenses are sufficient for an average mining colony, but far below what I would think appropriate for one so close to the Klingon Front. This may have been fine back before the Klingons withdrew from Khitomer, but I am going to recommend to Starfleet that they send you a number of improvements to your infrastructure, as well as station some personnel here. This entire incident with the
Cosmos has demonstrated your proximity to Deepspace K-7 is not sufficient protection."
Margulis nodded enthusiastically. "Thank you, Commander. I've been trying to tell this to that Commander Wildman for months, but she keeps saying giving me the same tired line about Starfleet's resources being stretched. Hopefully your opinion will help sway her and those back on Earth."
Oren-De said nothing and instead moved to leave the room, with Margulis following close behind. Another few moments of silence passed as Oren-De went over what he had seen of his tour from the colony.
"Mr. Margulis, I would like to speak to my science officer. Where did she and... uh... I apologize, what was her escort's name again?"
Margulis practically lept at the chance to be helpful. "Shion. Dr. Shion. She and Ms. Matoya would be in our main sample analysis laboratory. This way, please."
Oren-De was escorted up several floors. As Margulis led him around with what might have been the most overly official walk that Oren-De had ever seen, Oren-De looked out of the large glass windows that lined the corridors of Woglinde's central administrative building. As he had expected from seeing it from space, the planet wasn't much to look at it in terms of beauty. The view was very rocky and mountainous, with the only vegetation being low-lying shrub and dry brush.
"Here we are," Margulis said as he and Oren-De approached a door that read 'Mineral and Ore Analysis'. The doors slid open to reveal a very clean, white room with a number of impressive-looking scientific instruments. Gauging the ability of such equipment wasn't Oren-De's forte, however, so his eyes quickly passed them over and landed on Maggie in the rear of the room, who was conversing with a Vulcan dressed in very plain attire.
"Lieutenant, what do you have to report?" asked Oren-De as he approached.
The pair turned toward Oren-De. Dr. Shion looked at Oren-De and watched him as Maggie gestured to a rock sample located on a small sample platform next to her.
"Captain, the ore that this colony has been processing here is amazing. It produces an incredibly strong interference that blocks sensor sweeps, communications, and other types of data transmission. However, the field of effect is very contained, so it wouldn't interfere with anything inside a shell made of it. Like a hull, for example."
"Ah. I take it this is the reason why Starfleet views this colony as 'stratgically important.'."
"Most likely," replied Maggie with a nod. "It's also probably why Commander Wildman didn't elaborate. If the transmission were intercepted by the Klingons, or hell, any of the Federation's enemies, they'd be after this colony in short order."
Oren-De turned to Margulis. "Was this why this colony was founded?"
Margulis shook his head. "No, no... we were originally founded a number of years ago to mine materials that, while valuable in the construction of starships, are much more mundane than this ore. This is a pretty recent discovery. It's why the
Cosmos was sent here initially, but I was told by Starfleet to keep this as quiet as possible."
Oren-De frowned. "In that case, I'm increasing my defense recommendations." He then looked at Dr. Shion, who was still looking at him. "Can I help you, Dr. Shion?"
"I apologize, Commander," replied the Vulcan scientist with all of the facial cues one would expect of a Vulcan. "I did not mean to be rude, but this is the first time I have met someone of your species. You are Enhasan, correct?"
"Yes, I am."
Dr. Shion only nodded before moving back to continue her work. Oren-De gave Margulis an annoyed look, which sent the administrator into a rather worried state. "Um... uh, Commander, is there anything else you would like to see here?"
"No... I think I've seen enough." He turned to Maggie. "Lieutenant, as soon as you're done here, return to the
Pandora and assist with efforts to locate that Raptor. It's becoming increasingly imperative that we intercept it."
"Yes, sir," Maggie replied. Oren-De turned and left with Margulis right by his side. Dr. Shion turned to Maggie and motioned to a shelf on another side of the laboratory. "Lieutenant, if you'll follow me over here, I have another sample that I believe you will be most interested in."
While Maggie continued to look at the new ore, Oren-De was escorted to the transporter room within the building. He walked up onto the transporter pad and turned to face Margulis, who was now standing next to the room's attendant.
"Thank you for your cooperation and hospitality, Mr. Margulis. I will make sure to mention it in my report."
Margulis nodded. "Thank you, Commander." He nodded to the attendant, who promptly pulled a phaser pistol out at Oren-De and fired.
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shot hit Oren-De square in the chest, knocking him off his feet and onto his back. The Enhasan lay motionless on the transporter pad. The attendant wordlessly walked up onto the pad and examined Oren-De's fallen form, then nodded to Margulis. Margulis promptly walked out of the transporter room and back to the sample laboratory.
The doors to the laboratory opened to reveal Dr. Shion standing over an unconscious Maggie. She looked at Margulis.
"Subdued. Was this woman able to make any communication with the
"No. The nerve pinch is a very effective technique."
Margulis walked over to Maggie and looked down at her. "Excellent. Soon that entire crew will make fine servants. She will be pleased."
Dr. Shion nodded. "And we will finally be saved."