Talona appeared in a shimmer of blue light on a transporter pad within the Pandora. She gave the crewman operating the teleporter a friendly nod and quick hello before exiting the room.
"Computer, please locate Dr. Redwing."
"Dr. Redwing is currently located in the Medical Bay," the computer promptly responded. Talona nodded and made a beeline for the turbolift. As it took her down to her desired deck, she looked down at the floor and tried to get her thoughts in order. While she had promised War'en to speak to Red, she felt awkward mediating an argument that she hadn't even been privy to. On top of that, Talona hadn't really spoken with Red since he had overheard her complaining to the captain about how he and the rest of the crew had been treating her.
Before she knew it though, she found herself nearing the doors to the Medical Bay. Talona still didn't know exactly what she was going to say, but she hoped that it would come to her. She took a breath and entered. Upon seeing no one around, she looked around.
"Red? Do you have a moment?"
"In here!" came Red's voice from the side. Talona turned to see Red in his office, looking intensely at his computer monitor. She raised an eyebrow, but entered.
"Red, I wanted to talk to you about War'en."
"You're just in time! I found something I want you to help me with."
Talona blinked in surprise. "Wait, what? Red, what are you talking about?"
Red turned his display so that it faced Talona, who took a seat across from Red at his desk. She glanced at the readout and was surprised that it was a detailed entry on a type of magnetic lift. Talona looked back at Red in confusion and disbelief.
"Red, why are you looking up mag lifts? War'en is about to undergo a Joining and you didn't even come with us to wish him well!"
"Talona, will you please just read this!? Specifically the part about its safety features."
Talona gave Red an annoyed look as he completely sidestepped the question, but relented and began to read through the entry. If humoring him was the way to get him to talk, then she'd play along. After all, she had promised War'en. A few minutes passed before she read through the entire entry in its all of its boring detail. When she finally looked back at Red, he was looking at her expectantly.
"Well?"
"Well what? Red, I still don't know why you wanted me to read this."
Red let out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair, which was noticeably disheveled. "What did Captain Oren-De tell you all at the staff meeting earlier today, when he briefed you on War'en's Joining? Specifically, what did he tell you about what happened to the previous host?"
Talona tilted her head. "Not much. Just that the previous host had been Rear Admiral Sadda, and he'd been killed in an accident at Starfleet Engineering. Why?"
"The Rear Admiral was crushed to death by a mag lift that malfunctioned and sped out of control. Specifically, this kind of mag lift. War'en described it as a 'freak accident'."
"Sped out of control?" Talona replied skeptically. "Well, that would definitely be a freak accident. These mag lifts have a number of redundant hardware and software safeguards built into them to keep accidents like that from happening."
"What if... it weren't an accident?"
Talona looked up from the display at Red with a look of incredulity. "You mean tampering with it deliberately? It's possible, but..."
"But what?"
"... but I think you're grasping at straws, Red. I mean, if there was evidence of tampering, don't you think the investigation would have turned something up? On top of that, this didn't happen on some frontier world or on a starship in the middle of nowhere. This happened at the headquarters of Starfleet's Corp of Engineers. Successfully committing an act like that right under Starfleet's nose and getting away with it would be extremely difficult."
Red opened his mouth to protest, but Talona kept going before he could say anything. "Red, please! I know that you don't like that War'en is about to be Joined with a Symbiont, but this isn't helping! You're in denial and you're looking for someone to blame, even if it means looking for a scapegoat where none exists."
Red said nothing in response in first, but instead looked up as he began speaking to the computer. "Computer, please display the findings of the investigation into the death of Rear Admiral Sadda."
"Those files are currently sealed."
Talona let out a frustrated sigh. "Of course they're sealed. It's an ongoing investigation into the death of a Starfleet rear admiral!"
Red calmly issued another request. "Computer, under whose authority have those files been sealed?"
"That information is classified by Starfleet Intelligence. Proper authorization is required." Along with the computer's response, Red's display changed to show a similar typed message, along with the insignia of Starfleet Intelligence. Talona looked at the display in surprise.
"I thought the JAG office normally handled investigations."
"They do. Which means something about this isn't 'normal'."
