| Stardate: 91336.6 | Report Submitted: CAPT Perim |
On Stardate 91336.0 Deep Space 13 received a docking request from a Romulan transport carrying approximately 2500 refugees from New Romulus and Starbase 234. Since an unknown number of those were reportedly injured, all medically trained personnel were ordered to the medical decks to assist with triage and treatment.
When refugees began to arrive, it became apparent that a large portion of them were not injured. Captain Altais coordinated their transfer to shelter areas in the cargo bays, while the medical staff began to treat patients in order of severity.
On Stardate 91336.1 Deep Space 13 received a distress call routed through the Bomari Subspace Signal Repeater, apparently from the USS Endeavor. Coordinates were included with the message. In light of similar recent events that turned out to be traps, two vessels were dispatched while DS13 attempted to trace the actual source of the signal.
The USS Galatea and USS Dresden arrived to find the Endeavor and all ships in the freighter convoy it was escorting dead in space, with no survivors. Also in the area was a partially disabled Klingon Bird of Prey. One lifesign was detected on the Klingon vessel, so the Galatea moved in to investigate. Meanwhile Dresden began a more detailed scan of the Endeavor and freighters.
Dresden found that the Endeavor and freighters had been damaged by Klingon disruptor weapons, and surmised that no less than 10 distinct vessels were involved in the attack. Endeavor managed to launch a few escape pods, but they were all destroyed by the Klingons. Of significance, it was also determined that the damage occurred at least an hour prior to the original distress call - nobody on the Endeavor could have been alive at the time the signal was sent.
Galatea performed a more detailed scan of the Klingon vessel. Most notably, it was equipped with two Starfleet-issue phaser strips, in addition to its normal compliment of weaponry. The Bird of Prey's warp core was still active and shields were partially operational, but weapons, communications, and engines were all damaged beyond repair. The Klingon lifesign was in main engineering, which was inaccessible by transporter. Captain Pailes ordered a security team to beam over through a gap in the shielding and recover the Klingon.
Galatea's security team beamed over and proceeded into Engineering. They immediately came under fire from the Klingon, who appeared to be the Captain. How he, alone, survived the massive damage to the rest of the ship was initially unclear. The Klingon claimed to be searching for a bomb, that he apparently intended to defuse, but the security team could find no evidence of such a device. However, they did note that the damage to the ship was caused by a number of explosive devices planted throughout the ship. Further analysis on the Galatea would reveal that the engineering section was left specifically undamaged based on the placement of the explosives.
The security team was initially unable to subdue the Klingon with phaser fire, but after a MACO team from the Dresden arrived in support, the enemy was neutralized. He was discovered to have been infected by a neural parasite; explaining both his survival of the sabotage of the ship, and his resistance to phaser fire. It is likely that he was not the saboteur of his own ship, and that he was intended to die in the blast.
After the Klingon Captain was secured, teams investigated the derelict further. Two points of note were found. In the mostly-undamaged Engineering section, there was a small gift-wrapped box, with a note attached. In Romulan, the note read: 'Aurelia t'Veras.' Scans of the box revealed nothing dangerous, the contents apparently being an article of clothing. It is likely that the Engineering section of the ship was left intact because the box was meant to be found and delivered. The second notable find was in the ship's computer. Galatea and Dresden were able to determine that the original distress call was sent from someone aboard Deep Space 13.
As a result of these discoveries, Captains Pailes and Buchanan surmised that someone aboard DS13 was infected with a neural parasite, and was responsible for sending the distress calls that have been luring our ships into traps for the past week. Concerned that someone with access to the station's communications system might also be able to monitor incoming transmissions, Dresden followed Galatea back to DS13 under cloak. Upon arriving, Captain Pailes met with Captain Altais in the transporter room. After a scan to ensure that he wasn't infected, and with suspicions that anyone in the command staff could have been infected, the Captains armed themselves while a MACO team from the Dresden was readied.
Captains Altais and Pailes used internal sensors to trace the original source of the distress call to a console in the sickbay complex. They secured the room and began scanning for neural parasites. When they found one in Doctor Robert Murphy, he attacked the Captains, even using patients and refugees as weapons. Murphy was ordered to stand down, but refused and continued moving towards the exit, even as the Captains opened fire. It was at this point that Captain Buchanan's team transported in and opened fire as well. Under this combined firepower, Murphy succumbed and dropped to the floor. The neural parasite exited his body and was neutralized when it attempted to enter Captain Pailes. Unfortunately, Doctor Murphy did not survive his injuries.
Since Doctor Murphy managed to evade all of the previous sweeps for neural parasite infection, I've ordered the medical department to re-examine our detection methods to determine how he slipped through. In addition, all personnel will undergo another round of screening to ensure that nobody else onboard is infected.
The 'gift' package left on the Klingon vessel has been scanned repeatedly by both the crew of the Dresden and DS13 security. Nothing threatening or of any interest has been found. At this point, I've authorized security to allow SubCommander t'Veras to examine the box and it's contents, to see if she is able to identify any significance.
//SIGNED//
Fleet Captain Neema Perim
Commanding Officer
Deep Space Thirteen