Cmdr. Rayek tr'Lhoell[USS Amalthea - Deck 8 - Sickbay]
NPC Ensign Lared tr'Movel
[USS Amalthea - Deck 8 - Sickbay]
Every minute that the mind meld lasted, Lared was burdened more and more. Instead of relaxing with time, he became more restless and impatient, wanting it to be over soon.
He winced slightly when he heard Rayek's voice in his head again. He took a few deep breaths. Actually, he didn't want Rayek to go any deeper. He hesitated. But he thought, now he had gone this far before ...
"Yes," he answered and took another breath. He tried to imagine the situation in the shuttle, the moment Rayek had described.
Despite Lared's verbal answer, Rayek could read his true thoughts. Like Rah'ul, Lared was extremely uncomfortable with Rayek's presence in his mind. If the need for this information was not so crucial, Rayek would have withdrew right then; but Lared was his best and last hope of finding out who had sabotaged the shuttle, killing Lieutenant Verlock.
With permission given once more, Rayek didn't waste time acknowledging or offering apologies for the discomfort. Lared would be happiest with Rayek being swift... but the nature of this search meant that Rayek had to slow down the memory of Lared's time in the shuttle cockpit so that he could study each memory engram for the remote access details. This could literally take hours.
Rather than start at the very beginning of the mission and work his way through chronologically, Rayek tried to put himself in the role of the assassin and look for times when the shuttle was already busy with information coming and going where one screen blip would have been least likely to be noticed. Even so... the process of searching was lengthy; and Rayek was fully aware that Padrini was already not approving of this meld. It would only be a matter of time before the doctor said enough was enough and ordered Rayek to stop. So the Romulan was racing with the doctor's patience.
Thankfully however, Rayek had similar training as that of the Tal Shiar assassin and his guess as to when the remote connection was initiate was spot on. What could have taken hours to find in Lared's mind, took only 45 minutes. With the information located, Rayek mentally 'flagged' it for Lared's easy access from then on.
With that complete and the information he need obtained, Rayek withdrew from Lared's mind. He removed his fingertips, from Lared now sweating temple and realized that own was just as damp. The meld had been far more exerting than he had anticipated. He was fortunate Padrini hadn't forced a separation before now. He clapped an appreciative hand over the shoulder of the bedridden Romulan.
"Thank you, Lared. I'm sorry to have put you through that." he dipped his head showing his respect for the other man.
"Rest knowing that the knowledge gained will point to the saboteur."Rayek stood up, and swayed slightly feeling a bit disoriented within his own body after searching Lared's memories for so long. He glanced to the chronometer on his PADD and noted that the Department Head meeting was already in progress. That Padrini hadn't left his patient to attend the meeting said a lot about the doctor and his dedication to his work. At times like this Rayek found it hard to dislike the man. But that feeling usually didn't last long, since Padrini was always looking for ways to criticize Rayek and would always speak his thoughts when Tess wasn't around.
"I'll leave you to your patient, Doctor." Just as he was about to exit Sickbay, the doors opening for him as he made to stride out, Rayek nearly bumped into Aide tr'Hei. The portly figure looked momentarily alarmed to see that it was Rayek he had collided with. Rayek noted that the man's hand moved to his belt... where a Romulan disruptor might have been located had weapons not been banned from the visiting Ambassadorial staff. After the initial shock the hand dropped and the aide made a point of bowing obsequiously.
"Commander, my apologies at my inattentiveness. I hope all is well with you and yours." the man all but fawned in an obvious attempt to make up for the incident.
"Yes. All is well. Just visiting Ensign tr'Movel. Now if you'll excuse me I have somewhere urgent to be." Rayek stated as he began to step around the other who remained blocking the doorway.
For a moment, as Rayek passed in close proximity to the aide, Rayek felt a strong sense of familarity and he turned his head to glance back at the man. tr'Hei remaining the doorway offering another slight apologetic bow.
Rayek shook his head to clear the feeling and continued on his way up to Briefing room. Along the way, he double checked the information he'd discovered in Lared's memory and found it confirmed. Rayek's expression hardened as he tapped away on his PADD - issuing orders and prepping himself for settle things one and for all.
...
[USS Amalthea - Deck One - Briefing Room]A few minutes later Rayek entered the briefing room. His arrival, briefly disrupting the Acting Department Head of Science as he gave his daily report.
Rayek inclined his head politely.
"My apologies at my tardiness." He quickly took his seat and then waited for his turn to speak.