All the King's Men

Posted on Mon Dec 28th, 2015 @ 3:53am by Captain Charybdis MacGregor & Captain Patrick O'Connor & Lieutenant Commander Siivas McKenzie
Edited on on Tue Dec 29th, 2015 @ 9:37am

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Taking Chances
Location: Zaryx 4 agricultural colony
Timeline: 2265
Tags: Yuna

As they moved in step across the colony settlement on Zaryx 4, the trio appeared to perhaps just be headed to insure that the shuttlecraft unloading was proceeding as scheduled. No phasers were drawn, there was no outward sign of hostility coming from any of the Starfleet officers. They looked calm, cool and collected.

And that was just how they wanted it to look. Because when justice arrived, it was usually a surprise to petty tyrants...

They came into the clearing, a shuttle departing just as they arrived. Several men were lugging large cargo containers onto what looked to be little more than a tractor with a trailer hitched to it. King was supervising and had his back to the approaching StarFleet officers.

"Mr King, I believe we need to have a little talk," said Patrick.

King turned around and saw the three officers, and more notably, the villager that had with them. His eyes widened a bit. "How can I assist you, captain?"

"We have solved the mystery of the stolen meat, and your truffle crisis as well. I thought you would like to hear the results firsthand." said Patrick.

Malcolm King nervously twiddled his thumbs. "Certainly, but be brief if you will. I must deal with the inventorying of this cargo your people have brought down."

"Well, it turns out that this man here has been stealing the meat. Of course, he doesn't it see it as theft, seeing as he believes it to be his. That brought me to a new question, one I think you can answer. Is the meat in fact his? But before you answer that question, I'd like for you to hear what Lt Charybdis and the doctor have discovered regarding the truffles, get your impression." He looked to Charybdis, "The short and sweet version lieutenant."

The pointy-eared science officer cocked her head and smiled mirthlessly. "The myconids... my apologies, I tend to overestimate intelligence. Them mushrooms that was growing in your crops is the border of the fungus that grows underground. They're intelligent and all you had to do is not plant on top of them and your crops would grow good...er."

Charybdis' gaze flickered between the assemblage and the crew. "Was that short and sweet enough, yet in sufficiently provincial dialect to be accessible to the locals?"

Meanwhile Lt Celes stood back and let the Captain do the talking, keeping a firm hand on the cuffs securing the villager who was literally shaking in his boots, he seemed terrified.

"It's ok - I won't let them hurt you" She whispered into his ear. Thief or not he had the right to be protected.

Patrick gave a chuckle. "I have a theory Mr King, one in which you play a very prominent role. Would you like to hear it?" he asked quizzically.

King nodded, beads of sweat forming on his head despite the rather nice temperature and cool breeze.

"You see, I think you are aware of the fungus, aware that it is more than just simple fungi but is in fact alive in some manner of speaking. You may not have known when your first planted your crops, but I think you figured it out as you tried to combat the spreading fungus. It did things that a normal fungus wouldn't do, which is why your people are getting ill."

"Furthermore, you decided you needed to take in other provisions to ensure your safety come the winter months, when it became apparent that the harvest would not yield what you and the colony need to survive plus provide for the Federation bases in the area. You decided that you would take the meat from the colonists living on the outskirts, who had almost independent stashes from the colony itself. The farmers on the outskirts are having no problems with the fungus, and in fact are having great boons with crops. But without the meat that they have stored, they'll die from malnutrition as they won't have enough protein to survive the cold weather. Tell me, am I wrong Mr King?"

With Patrick staring him down like a lion eying at a lamb, King fell to his knees and began to sob. "I didn't mean any harm. I'm just trying to save the colony from that fungal disease. Yes, I know it is alive somehow, but what was I going to do? The rice could be moved, but not the orange grove. We had no other option but to fight. I did what I needed to do for the good of the colony."

Patrick shook his head. "For the good of the colony. I would have hoped that humanity had evolved past such petty excuses, but it seems some things die hard. I will have to take you into custody and have you stand trial for the local magistrate. In the interim, I will have to appoint a new governor I suppose, one that Lieutenant Charybdis can brief on what to do so that this colony can live in harmony with the other life forms on this planet. Lieutenant Celes, please take this man into custody and put him in the brig. We will offload him once we reach the Starbase."

Lieutenant Celes handcuffed the former settlement leader and led him away as Lieutenant Charybdis questioned the locals to gain access to their personnel records so that the Captain could make an informed decision for the new governor. After she had her answers, she stepped in next to the captain and made an observation.

"Very impressive deductive reasoning, Captain. You ferreted out the root causes, the selfish motivations and actually convinced him to confess. Perhaps you should have gone into Security?"

Patrick laughed. "Security is grand and all, but if you want a problem solver, you need an engineer." He flashed a confident smile at Charybdis. The captain looked quite pleased with himself.

Yuna led the now 'prisoner' away as she was ordered to do - still a little miffed that he would be incarcerated for simply trying to feed his family. Not if she had anything to do with it. She made a promise to notify his family of what had happened, even if she had to do it in person herself. They had a right to know why their father would not be coming home today. It made her sick to her stomach, but she had orders to follow, and follow them she would.

Patrick looked to the prisoners. King was certainly guilty, or at least was guilty enough to require an inquiry. the other man though, he simply was trying to look out for his family. "Yuna, Mr. King needs to beamed up to the ship, but the other man, he is free to go. I suspect his only crime to be wanting to protect his family, and i won't harbor any ill will toward him he he is willing to put the issue aside."

The villager was quite happy to be set free. "Thank you sir."

"You did nothing I wouldn't have done myself. You'll be free to get your meat from the storage as well. I hope things go well for you moving forward." He shook his hand and the man walked off.

Celes beamed up to the ship with King, leaving Patrick alone with Charybdis. The two walked back to the infirmary to gather the doctor. It was mission complete in Patrick's book.

 

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