Clues in the Ferengi market, Part 2: The water.

Posted on Sat Oct 7th, 2023 @ 8:10am by Commander Chalan Kendri & Captain Ryhl th'Zeles & Lieutenant Commander Johanna Lyngstad & Ensign Ivitha zh'Vaoreth

1,797 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: Campor III - Resupply
Location: Grabok Settlement, Campor III
Timeline: MD C11 1300 hours (After Clues Part 1)

Up ahead, Lissa took out her tricorder as she slowed her step and found a nook to stand in so she could plan where they should go first. "So, what’s going on with you and the Commander?" she asked casually.

Commander Tomm turned to Lissa, seemingly very irritated. “Why is everyone so concerned about my social life and Commander Kendri? Is there anyone on board who really cares one way or the other? We are friends. Good friends. Yes, I like her. And we do seem to spend a lot of time together. There is nothing, I repeat, nothing going on between us. Can we put an end to this, please?”

"Mmhmm..." Lissa responded, nonplussed by the security chief's annoyance. "If everyone keeps asking about it, maybe you're missing something, but I can drop it," she said nonchalantly. "Let's keep going, I don't see anything here," she said. She closed her tricorder, but didn't pocket it, heading back into the market, and further away from the entrance.

“Yes, drop it. I would appreciate it. If you’re ready to proceed….” Tomm said and gestured with his arm outward he was ready to move on.

“Stay vigilant, Lissa. I’ll be right behind you.”

Lissa kept leading Tomm, stopping every now and then to scan with her tricorder, but not finding what she was looking for. Before long they were on the far edge of the market, another golden arch marking another entrance. Lissa stopped and stared. The water tower that Commander Chalan had mentioned was just a few hundred meters ahead.

Lissa looked back at Tomm. "We should check that out."

“What do your readings say? The tower looks to be in terrible condition, at least on the outside. Are you able to scan the interior? Could contaminants from the tower be seeping into the water supply? Is that what’s making people sick?”

"I need to tap into the water to be sure. We should take some samples back to the lab," Lissa said. She headed out of the market and toward the tower, scanning for underground outputs. When she found one close to the surface she reached into her bag, and pulled out a kit and knelt down on the ground. Within a few minutes she had collected water samples into testing vials.

She looked up at Tomm. "It's definitely in the water. We should take this back for Alex to run some more tests so we can learn more about how it got there."

“Damn. Now at least we have something to go on. We need to cap this thing. We have plenty of potable water on Columbia we can transport down. Maybe even a purifier. Most important thing is no one can be allowed to drink this water. Nice catch, Ensign. I’ll make a report back to Chalan. See that sample gets analyzed as soon as possible.”

"We should look for the water source supplying this tower, Commander," Lissa suggested. "We need to know how the virus got there. If it's coming from a stream somewhere, versus having been added directly to the tower makes a pretty big difference in how this looks."

Tomm nodded at her, and she tapped her communicator to alert the team.

=/\= Nurse Kerr to the away team. I've collected water samples from the tower's outgoing supply. We do have a positive result for the Ferengi virus. I'd like to trace the water source. Kerr out. =/\=

Commander Chalan's voice responded back, =/\= Unless you and Commander Tomm can detect the source from your location, bring the samples back for Lt. Foley to work on. We may need to use the shuttle or request the Columbia's assistance with locating the water source and ask for transport. Chalan out. =/\=

Kendri looked around at the healthy Ferengi, all working, and presumably living so close to the water tower. She approached the nearest shop owner and held up a strip of latinum. “I have a few questions for you,” she said.

The already short Ferengi seemed to make himself shorter as he looked up at the latinum and pressed his fingers together busily. “Of course, Commander. I am always eager to assist Starfleet ” he said in a groveling tone.

“Are you aware there is an illness in your community?” Kendri asked.

The Ferengi took a step to the side, watching her eagerly as he answered, “Of course, everyone knows about that. Surely that is not the information you are paying for…”

“It’s not,” Kendri confirmed. “Have you been sick at all? Any symptoms?” Kendri asked.

“No, ma’am,” he responded side-stepping over to Kendri’s left as he answered. “Neither have my wife or my children.”

Kendri waived the slip, letting him know she was getting close. “If you need water for anything that you might consume, to drink or in your food. Where do you get it from? The tower?” she asked.

“Oh, no'', the Ferengi responded. He lowered his voice, “We use matter synthesizers. The infrastructure here is not well-established. Unless you are making alcohol, I wouldn’t trust it,” he responded, puffing his chest out proudly.

“Interesting,” Kendri responded, handing over the slip. “Thank you for your time.”

Kendri turned to catch up to Johanna and Sarah and barely heard the Ferengi calling out, “Pleasure doing business with you!”

Kendri and Ivitha found that Johanna and Sarah hadn’t made it far from the entrance yet. She approached them and motioned for them to huddle together. “After Lissa’s comm, I asked one of the shop owners if he drinks the water. He said no, he and his family use a matter synthesizer to make their water.”

Sarah listened carefully, munching on the Moonberries after offering them around. "I had these fresh from a tree the other day, they're quite good, you should try them," she said.

After the Orion nurse mentioned that she had found out that the water was contaminated, Sarah nodded. "The man who sold us the fruit tried to get me to buy into water from the tower," she said. "It felt strange," she said.

Johanna ate a Moonberry. Yes, they were good. They would make a great addition to peanut butter on a sandwich. Johanna nodded as well as she learned of the contaminated water. "The point now is how did it get that way."

Kendri snapped to attention when she saw Johanna put something in her mouth. "Ensign bet Ira, are those the berries that made Ensign Sar ill during your mission at Star Point?" she asked.

Sarah froze. How did she know about that? "Uh...um, yes, ma'am, they are. I didn't feel any ill effects..." she blushed deeply. "Why?" Maybe she HAD felt ill effects, and that's why she'd kissed him. Oh no... "Lt. Lygnstad, be careful..." she said.

"Perhaps it's best if no one eat any more until we know more about them, " Kendri warned, looking at the crew around her.

=/\= Chalan to Tomm, What's the status on the water source? Will you be able to get to it from where you are? =/\=

Tomm's voice responded. =/\= Negative, we are on our way back with the samples. If one of our liaisons can't give us the coordinates, we'll need broader range sensors to find it.=/\=

=/\= Understood. See you both soon. Chalan out. =/\=

Lissa and Tomm showed up, Lissa now carrying the lab kit she had brought out in front of her rather than over her shoulder.

"Any word on why no one here is sick?" Lissa asked as the group started walking back.

Commander Tomm interjected before anyone could answer. “Even with both of us using tricorders, we were still unable to pinpoint the underground water source. The data we gathered shows the water table is pretty high, but the track still eludes us. There might be materials in the soil, such as radioactive isotopes or refractory metals that make it difficult to scan. A geologist I am not, but given the information we have, it’s my best guess. Do these people have another source of water we don’t know about, Commander?” he asked Kendri.

Sarah started. "I am not sure about the ground water, but I know that one of the booth keepers was trying to sell me "access" to the water tower," the young woman said, pointing in the direction of the large aqueduct. "So, I assume that like, on Earth, they all buy in to the water in the tower and don't drink the ground water," she said. "OH! Did they water the berries with ground water?" She looked like she might vomit directly onto her CO's shoes.

Kendri placed her hand to her head as if she were fighting a headache. "Ensign Kerr, the one individual I talked to said that he and his family only use water from their matter replicator, and that no one in his family has been ill. He mentioned not trusting the local water sources because the infrastructure here is not well-developed. Once we've returned to the hospital, I will relay that to the Ferengi team and have them look into this further and talk to their people and see if this is an isolated occurrence or might be a lead on who gets ill and who does not."

"Either the water is contaminated at the tower itself, or the source is likely a nearby stream or or lake. Not that ground water can't be contaminated, but it is much less likely. So that's what we'll be looking for. Either way, we need to get back to the hospital, and to our lab so Lt. Foley can start analyzing the samples that Ensign Kerr collected."

Sarah piped up again, the crimson heat coloring her cheeks. "When...Ensign Sar and I were at Star Point, I know the water there was fine. It was a freshwater stream. More like a river. I realize we're in a different part of the planet now, but I'd wager that the freshwater sources here are all connected-Sar alluded to that, anyway-and so it must be the tower? And if it is, then the contamination is coming from the inside..." She stopped, allowing the quietly unsaid parts sink in. "I am prepared to return to the hospital, Ma'am." She said, falling quiet again.

Kendri gestured to the group, "Alright, let's head back. We'll get some food and water from our replicator and regroup before our next move."

Commander Chalan Kendri
First Officer
USS Columbia

Lt. Commander Johanna Lyngstad
Chief Science Officer
USS Columbia

Lt. Commander Kobi Tomm
Chief Security Officer
USS Columbia

Ensign Sarah bet Ira
Operations Officer
USS Columbia

Ensign Ivitha
Science Officer
USS Columbia

Ensign Daisheliss Kerr
Nurse
USS Columbia

and Rhyl Th'Zheles as the Ferengi Market

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