[Docking Ring]
Stafford's eyes could be warm and friendly, but right now they were positively aggressive. The greedy little trolls were disrespecting one of his officers to his face. His mouth opened to spit out an angry reprimand.
But then he saw Naira. She was standing expressionless and strong, not reacting. She wasn't going to give them the satisfaction. The Orion woman was showing a lot more stoicism and maturity than he was about to.
"Sub-nagus, you are invited to my office. Your retinue is not." When they all raised their voices in protest his own boomed out over them. "You fine gentlemen are more than welcome to avail yourselves of the hospitality of the Columbus. As our business has not been concluded I expect you all to respect our rules and regulations."
Drega narrowed his avaricious little eyes.
"Of course, captain. Our takeover of this trading facility will be quicker and smoother than a baby's lobes."
"I'm sure," Stafford said, unsmiling. He waved over an ensign. "See the sub-nagus to my office and that some appropriate refreshments are laid out. Thank you."
Drega quickly departed, his men going in a different direction. Stafford spied Howell and beckoned the other officer.
"Lieutenant Naira, Dan. The Ferengi are here and they claim they now own the Columbus. It's not happening on my watch. Naira, I need you on our unfortunate task of those bodies still. If you like, you and I or you and our new counselor can talk about how those little men just treated you." Stafford was in his element, in command, his voice hard and firm. "Dan, notify all department heads and Tritter of this development. I want everyone on alert. The Ferengi are not taking over our base, not while I'm in command."
[Docking Ring]"Yes, Sir," turning her attention away from the Ferengi, she addressed the captain. "If you have no further need of me, I will be in sickbay, attending to my duties." She gave the man an ever so slight, quick bow of the head before making her exit.
[Primary Sickbay]Sickbay was run by a portly older human man by the name of Adem Bardakci, or Pasha as he was called by those who worked under him. While he may have been considered handsome in his youth, the years had taken a real toll on both his optimism and his appearance. Often the commander could be found sitting in his office thumbing through patient files on a PADD while running a hand through his now thinning, oily dark hair and indulging in a sweet pastry or two.
He was a stickler for routine and insisted that all things should be done his way, even if his way was a little dated. Some of the older medical officers who had been stationed with the man for years could occasionally be overheard whispering how he had lost of his passion for the profession and in their opinion, he was simply waiting out the months until retirement. However, he was still a respected doctor and there was no one who could fill a room with a brash personality quite like he could.
Naira entered sickbay and was immediately greeted with a smile from a Trill nurse who was doing rounds. She returned a smile and made her way over to the Chief Madical Officer's office.
"Well, well, well...that's not something you see everyday. An Orion in uniform." The man dusted some crumbs from his goatee as he inspected her. "So what brings you to my sickbay, lieutenant?"
She was somewhat taken aback by his comment, but she chose not to let it phase her.
"Sir, I am Lieutenant Naira, I just transferred here. The captain has asked me to look into a few recent deaths on..."
"Stafford asked you to look at the bodies?" He cut her off. "Was he not satisfied with my initial reports? Did he think I missed something?"
"I don't know..." She started in.
"You know I bet it's one of the families. They never want to accept the fact that their loved one is gone and they need someone, anyone to blame some kind of mistake on."
"I.."
"Of course you don't know," he said as he turned to yell at the nurse, "Leesill, come over here and help out our new doctor. She needs to look at those bodies. Come on, hop to it girl, stop wasting time batting your pretty little eyes at every patient that walks in here."
Leesill ignored the man's comments and escorted Naira to the far side of the room. She pulled up the patient files they had on the deceased women as well as the initial autopsy report that Commander Bardakci had written on a PADD and handed it to Naira. Naira skimped through the reports as Leesil pulled the bodies out of storage. Though they had been dead for some time, stasis kept their bodies just as fresh as if they had died just hours ago.