A Cold Case Request
Posted on Fri Mar 7th, 2025 @ 12:37am by Captain Marc Kidd & Lieutenant Siadra Molaur
Edited on on Fri Mar 7th, 2025 @ 1:01am
1,856 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
Episode 2 - The Sins of History
Location: Captain's Ready Room - Deck 3 - USS Artemis
Timeline: MD012 1300 hrs
Siadra idly paged through her journal, the one she had started right before she joined the Artemis. Coming across an entry, a small statement just leaped to her attention. It was that of when she first arrived on the Artemis, and her little bit of telling Captain Kidd he was handsome, and there it was, he had given out an invitation to her to have lunch with him sometime.
"Good heavens, how long ago was that? I've yet to take him up on having lunch or even a meal with him." Siadra looking at the time, it was her day off and hoped he wasn't busy.
Drawing in a breath, Siadra sent out a message, "Captain, if you have the time, would you be available to have a meal with me after your shift is done?"
Marc had been sitting at his desk in the Ready Room. He had not realized that it was close to lunch time or that he was even hungry until the call came over the comms. He decided that he could eat while on duty. Hell it was Captain's prerogative. Although, he did wonder what Siadra wanted. "I am free now Lieutenant. Feel free to come to the Ready Room. Kidd out."
Now? Not a problem she can do that. Making her way to the Ready Room, the door opening as she neared it. "Hello Captain, thank you for seeing me." With Siadra being on her day off, she was not wearing a uniform, instead she was wearing a simple outfit, a dark blue skirt which hit below the knees, a light blue blouse and slip on shoes. "I am on my day off so hope you do not mind my attire." Siadra remarked. "I don't think I have ever dined in the Ready Room of the Captain before."
"Not at all have a seat. What's your pleasure?" Marc said as he pointed to the replicator. "It is rare that I have a crew member dining with me in the Ready Room. Is there something particular you needed to discuss?"
"I would like a bowl of pepper steak ramen with some green tea to drink." Siadra was in the mood for something slightly spicy. "As for anything in particular wanted to discuss? I wanted to see how you are doing, and honestly I don't know much about you, and does anyone truly know much about you other than, you are the Captain of the ship, and you do that rather well."
Marc placed the orders into the replicator the ramen for Siadra and a BLT for himself, a pitcher of water accompanied the food. He set it all out. "Well you see a Captain has to have a modicum of anonymity with his crew. Professional detachment they called it in command training. But all in all there is not much to tell. I was raised in a small town in New York and from there the rest is history." He chuckled at his own attempt to stay vague.
Giving a chuckle in answer to Kidd's chuckle.
"Oh, a man of mystery, how extraordinary." Siadra was now grinning.
"New York? The state that has the city that never sleeps?" her hands clasped together, under her chin and has stars in her eyes. "One that is so rich in history especially theater, Wall Street, Central Park? Oh yes there is a lot of history there. Oh I have memories of attending a few plays by William Shakespeare at the Delacorte Theater. Macbeth being one of them." Unclasping her hands
"The Three witches around their cauldron. 'Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg and howlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Cool it with a baboon's blood, Then the charm is firm and good "
"Yeah the city is great. But give me the farm life any day of the week. I grew up in a small farm town. I love the smell of farmland, and the orchards in the autumn. I mean the city has its appeal to me it is simply a great place to visit, just wouldn't want to live there. Kind of ironic that I chose to live out here in space. But that is another story I guess." Marc took a couple of more bites of his food. Then something occurred to him. "How does a Trill become so familiar with Earth?"
"It is due to a particular Trill wanting to explore Earth being drawn to Manhattan Island, Broadway, the Garment district, and this host." Siadra gesturing to herself. "I went to see it, before I became joined, and before I even knew I was a candidate and visited the New York Hall of Science. It was fascinating to be walking there. Also being at Starfleet Academy, sure you study history and go into the sciences, it can be more educational to be at the place to gain a hands on experience."
Smiling hugely, "Oh the experience seeing something in live theater. Yes there are theaters in California, they just are not the same as those on Broadway." realizing she was gushing over what there was Siadra lowered her gaze to where she concentrated on eating a few bites of her ramen, her cheeks going to a dark pink.
"Perhaps, it could also be that I have just become used to ship life. For me if I want to see a play I will experience it. Put myself in as a character and join the story as it unfolds on the holodeck. But, as I said that is probably just because I am used to the life of an officer in Starfleet. Sadly, it will probably be quite some time before we get back to Earth for any sort of experiences like you have mentioned. It is fascinating how your people live with all of those voices in your head. I an barely get along with my own voices." Marc laughed and took a few more bites of food.
"The voices don't always agree, either with them or me. It makes for a good exercise in diplomacy. Its quite the experience." Siadra reached for her glass of water, and took a drink placing it down, she looked at the Captain. "What, sort of plays do you put yourself in? What sort of characters?" Siadra could feel the former host's attention caught by what Kidd had said. Well actually it could be all of them, very, very interested.
"Ironically enough I usually put myself in detective stories. I have done some of the Sherlock Holmes that was developed by Lieutenant Commander Data. Sometimes I like to try to solve the mystery before the detective in the story does. So, tell me what brings you to law enforcement? Your history does not seem to be something that would lend itself to that." Marc smiled as he realized that this lunch may have turned into an interview. This was something that he did not mind.
"Perhaps at the beginning, I was just into science on different levels, then I noticed that there were crimes that didn't seem to be solved or the cause found. I had a friend named Keema, she was a shop owner near the academy. She made such lovely outfits. She was kind, gentle. She even made me a dress for my graduation from Academy. I still have it." Siadra played with the glass of water, rotating it as she continued. "Having some time off I had gone to go see Keema and found that her shop had been closed. Not long after that I was summoned to Trill, that is when I found out that Keema." her voice with low, "had been severely injured and she was dying. When I became joined, I wanted to find out what happened to her. I wanted to find out who attacked her. And why would anyone want to attack a person who wove and made clothing. It didn't make any sense to me. I want to solve that case, and to find out who killed the other previous host. Might seem strange but, it would be nice to find out why and who." she lifted the water to her lips and took another sip.
Before he approved Siadra's transfer to the Artemis Marc made sure he familiarized himself with everything about Siadra. This included her previous hosts and their lives. "I was always under the impression that you could not have contact with your previous host's lives. Would investigating and solving what amounts to your own murder count as breaching that rule?"
"I do not feel that this would be a breach. It would be solving a crime which has been unsolved for quite sometime. If it can be solved at all, at least we could be finding out why the hosts were killed. I would love to know.From what I know there are no lovers to contact, as they are dead, and the same for acquaintences " Siadra taking a drink.
"Have any of the case files transferred to the Artemis. I will have a chat with Admiral Ford and make sure that this is not seen as a breach of the rules by the Trill Symbiosis Comission. If that checks out and the Admiral gives his blessing than I don't see why we couldn't take this case. It does seem like a rather precarious situation so we have to do it by the book." Marc did not know much about Trill rules or anything of that nature. So, before he allowed one of his crew to chase down their own murderer he wanted to make sure every i was dotted and every t was crossed.
"I will make certain to get them organized and sent to you." setting her glass down. Her food had been eaten and she enjoued the company. "And thank you, Captain. Both for lunch as well as hearing me out. And Captain, if it okay with my asking you this, may I accompany you on one of your murder mystery stories sometime?"
"Sure every good Holmes needs a Watson." Marc said with a smile. "Once the dust settles on this case I will set us some time in the holodeck." He watched as she left as the thoughts of her request played through his head. It was an odd request for sure. But, one they were uniquely equipped to handle. The major question that he had was why would Siadra want to solve her own murder.
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Siadra Molaur
Chief Forensic Science Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Captain Marc Kidd
Commanding Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
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