Searching the Gardens (part 1)

Posted on Sat Nov 5th, 2016 @ 1:45pm by Commodore Samantha York & Lieutenant Illise Hale & Lieutenant Rembrandt 'Remy' Batiste & Keelan & Logan & Spock The Monkey

1,117 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Shadow Dance

ON

The wing of the palace holding the garden where Kali had been abducted was eerily quiet. There was none of the usual traffic in this part of the palace today. Illise briefly wondered what reason had been given for the closure of the wing and grounds that would not arouse suspicion among the court. It was however, of no importance to the investigation, so she hadn't bothered to ask.

Place guards stood at intervals along the corridor and around the perimeter of the garden, making their presence felt even though they remained outside. Illise also spotted a few extra sentries posted in adjacent rooms as she approached the doors, and drapes had been drawn on all the windows overlooking the garden. The effect was a near-total isolation of the garden, as though it had been shunned by the rest of the palace.

Although the palace security had assured her nothing that had been touched, Illise eyed the guards a little as she passed them.

Illise stopped just inside the entrance to the garden, looking across the landscaping at the scene before her. There were obvious signs that a struggle had taken place within the garden. She could see scuffs on the paving stones, disturbed soil along some of the beds and several damaged plants. All spoke volumes as to what had happened here.

Illise removed her tricorder from its holster at her hip and began by performing a scan of the garden as it was, before the investigation began. It was important to have a clean record of the scene before anyone could contaminate it. Unfortunately, even with the security's assurances, it was possible that some contamination had already occurred. Still, Illise wanted the record all the same.

"Put that tricorder away, Lieutenant." Remy said suddenly, the short man smirked from ear to ear. "You wont be needing that. All we need is this large fellow right here and his remarkable set of skills." He added as he tapped on Logan's raggedy cloak.

Logan let out a deep sigh, shaking his head slightly. "You realize, I am not the trained monkey. He is." He pointed to his shoulder where Spock, the Capuchin, sat upon nibbling into a date. The monkey looked up, gave a smile with his cheeks full of food, than continued to eat.

"True, my large feline friend, but the Captain agreed to have you brought down to help us track the Princess." Remy said with a smile as he continued. "And might I add, having saved a Princess in distress, helps you in the long run. You never know when you need to call in that particular favor."

Logan shook his head slightly. "This would be so much easier if we had the Horus in the air running scans." He paused a bit, raising his brow as he looked down toward his small friend. "You didn't tell her your idea of adjusting the external sensors on the shuttle meant taking it out of order for a while, did you?"

"What she doesn't know won't hurt us, Logan." Remy replied quickly, gesturing toward the Hale. "Now, go on. Do your thing. Spock! Let's let the big fellow show off, shall we?"

Spock immediately stood up on Logan's shoulder and leaped ff onto the ground, making a quick dash to Remy, only to leap back up and position himself on the Little Chief's shoulder.

Logan walked slowly over to Hale, giving her a nod as he approached before removing the hood from over his head and looking around. "My apologizes in advance, Lieutenant. The Chief's head seems much bigger than it appears." He added a bit of a smile before looking around. "This ground has been disturbed quite a bit, but not enough to stop me from picking up a trail. I could use your assistance in a few areas, if that's alright."

Illise tapped a few controls on her tricorder, logging the scans she had taken into it's memory, then closed the device as Logan approached. She smiled up at the big Catian. "I'll accept them, in advance." She replied. "I would be glad to assist you. Perhaps with your skills and a few readings, we'll get this mess sorted."

An old, thin Jenefran was trimming an ornamental tree near one of the fountains. He nodded to the strangers as they passed.

The strangers were heading towards the fringe of the gardens; a place not as well trimmed as the rest, it was at this time that Murrtah, who had been working with the elderly gardener, decided he should tend to the outgrowths and keep himself moving. These strangers might not be as polite with the impressions passed along.

He knew where he had to be during this; how the strangers were given free reign to look about his gardens.

Illise moved further into the garden towards a flowering bush which had some blossoms hanging loosely from bent stems. She leaned down for a closer look. Several inches of each stem hung limply at the ends, bent but not actually broken. A few scattered leaves lay on the ground at her feet. Illise frowned down at the plant. The damage was approximately knee-height, implying that it had been brushed up against or kicked at some point.

Illise gripped a stem on the other side of the plant and tried to break it. It bent easily, but when she let go of it the stem slowly straightened. She tried again, this time applying more force - certainly more than a leg brushing against it would have caused, until there was a slight snap within the stem. She let it go and watched as it hung just as limp as the others. Standing, she looked back to Logan. "What do you make of this?" She asked him.

"That's the Borabarro bush," the old gardener said, watching what the woman was doing. "The fibers are woven into mats because of their resiliency. The flowers are used to make a popular perfume." He moved closer to look at the broken flowers. "Pity someone would want to break them like that."

Illise turned to face the gardener as he approached and listened to what he said about the plant. Frankly she was surprised that he was even in the garden during the investigation. However, she had no desire to be rude to the man. "I'm sorry for damaging it further." She told him, following his gaze to the other broken flowers.

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Illise Hale
Chief Science Officer

Old Gardener
NPCd by Samantha York

Lieutenant Rembrandt Batiste
Chief Intelligence Officer

Logan
Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer

Spock
Intelligence Monkey

Murrtah
Gardner
NPCd by Keelan

 

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