Steiner: Stranger no more
Posted on 29 Jul 2023 @ 4:12am by Chief Deputy Marshal: Ridge Steiner - FMS
Mission:
M3 - Into the Deep
Location: USS Pathfinder - Chief of Security's Office
Timeline: M3 D12 1830Hrs
3304 words - 6.6 OF Standard Post Measure
Leaving Sickbay Steiner returned to his office, walking quickly. Sliding into his chair he activated his terminal and downloaded the tricorder, then sat back and replayed Wallace's account, he shut his eyes and just listened to it, playing it over twice.
If Cubo was real, and Steiner was now pretty much totally convinced that he was, with the full name then he could find him in the Service database. Then find out what, and who, he had been working on.
And what was the connection with Korix and the Pyrryx, how had he ended up there?
He had known colleagues killed in the line of duty, but this kind of deliberate torture and mutilation was rare, he had never come across something quite so barbaric personally. If Cubo had a family that would not be easy for them to bear.
He had been removed from his previous case, sidelined to Obsidian Command and had a couple of weeks playing Starfleet, but now he had been handed a new case and this one he was going to follow, even if he had to fight with Shex to keep it .
One way or another he was going to nail the bastards responsible.
Wallace's encounter with Cubo, his description of the torture the man appeared to have been subjected to and what Cubo had said was first hand witness evidence, even from an event several years ago.
A Prosecutor would have no concerns putting the Major up on the stand to recount those aspects. Solid, reliable, a decorated Marine Officer, he was as good as it came.
But much of what Wallace and Ibix had told him was second and third hand, information told to them by others. That was not so good.
It was hearsay and double hearsay, and therefore basically inadmissible in Court, but it was still information that Steiner could use for an investigation. There were details in there that he could use to build a case. To find out producible evidence, that would hold up in court.
He did not have a description of the craft that had delivered Cubo to the island, that was disappointing, he had wanted that.
But he had two names Desorn Koruchan, and Trans-Elliptical!
The first name was unknown, for now, but Steiner had heard of Trans-Elliptical, it was a big logistics company, interstellar freight and supplies, and they were big, Federation owned, Federation contracts, Federation political connections, seemingly legitimate.
They had their own fleet and additionally employed independent cargo vessels too.
Some of whom had carried freight for Belax Corporation, and Belax had their hands dirty with illegal weapons shipments. A case Steiner had been working on for years.
Previously he had not made a direct connection between Belax's activities and Trans Eliptical, the presumption had been as a major Federation corporation, they were being used simply as cover .
But now that might not be the case...
He sat there mulling over the details, what was the connection between a Federation Marshall he had not heard off, ending up tortured to death on an alien planet, controlled by the Pyrryx, whose technology seemed to be the source for contraband weapons production within the Federation?
How had a case he had been removed from followed him all the way beyond Federation territory?
And how was he going to get back on it?
His thoughts were interrupted by a beep from his panel. It was the Bridge Comms Officer. He checked the time, he had been sat there for hours, it was after nine at night.
"Sir, you asked to be notified when we reentered comms range?"
This was good news. "Yes, thank you, I need a channel to connect to the Federation Marshal's Service data link and then eF-eM-eS Precinct on Oh-Cee"
"Sure, but right now all the subspace frequencies are tied up, we are getting a massive data dump and the Captain's reports have priority outgoing" the Ensign replied "I'm sorry it will be a couple of hours at least, well into Gamma shift"
Steiner groaned. "Ok, I'll wait. I'll be here, please have your relief contact
me as soon as they can get me through"
"Will do sir"
Two and half long hours later his panel beeped again, He stabbed the accept key. It was a new Comms Officer, but they had the right message.
"Sir, we have a channel for you now"
Steiner gave them the date link details and moments later the Federation Marshals Service logo flashed up on his screen.
He tapped in his identification, badge number and pass codes, flipped his way through the screens and into the personnel database. He had to reenter his identification and Chief Deputy's clearance to get in.
He tapped in to the query slots.
Name Dredan Cubo
Badge Number Seven One Two One
Rank Senior Deputy Marshal
Assignment: He left that blank
There was brief pause and then the screen changed to a Service Profile.
Senior Deputy Marshal Dredan Cubo; Badge number; Service number; Date of Birth; Academy Class; three before Steiner's own Training records; Weapon serial numbers; Assignments; Case records...
And along side was an identification image, dated seven years ago, when he had been promoted to Senior Deputy.
It was all there, but flashing over it in red was an unexpected warning note Internal Affairs Division: Absent without leave - Detain for questioning and a file reference.
"They do not know what happened to you and so IA issued a detainer" Steiner assumed, he ignored the link for the moment and went on looking over the personnel file.
Male; Bajoran; Thirty Seven years old; that would have made him Forty Three now; One point Eight Two meters tall; Eighty-Four kilos; Green eyes; Fair hair; Bajoran Earing.
Lean looking, but handsome, slight trace of smile in the eyes, Steiner liked him. "Hey Cubo" he said softly "And I'm sorry brother."
He tapped into the Assignments tab and the Case file.
Last Assignment: 2390: Independent Criminal Investigation Marshall: Sector 653 Ferenginar Border. Operating out of Deep Space Sixty Two
Last Case: ICIM Sector 653: Illegal Weapons Commerce #33A-821-7719
He tapped the link but it would not open and he got a Case Sealed notice.
"Huh" That was odd, but it might have something to do with the Internal Affairs notice. He went back, clicked on that and read through it, what he found shocked him.
Internal Affairs Division: Absent without leave - Detain for questioning: Senior Deputy Marshal Dredan Cubo, suspected involvement in disappearance of spouse, Dredan Lupala, and daughter Dredan Teano: Last know location Risa, 2391
Steiner opened the Internal Affairs file and began reading.
According to the report Cubo, his wife and daughter had gone to Risa for a vacation.
There were landing pass records, they had arrived separately. Cubo had hitched a ride on a commercial ship from DS Sixty Two. His family had taken a cruise ship from Bajor. They had arrived a day apart, Cubo first.
He had stayed at a hotel in the capital, then when his family arrived they had traveled to their vacation destination, a beach bungalow resort on the coast of one of the larger island chains. They were booked in for ten days.
The family was found to be missing from their bungalow on the third day, by the morning maid.
There was no evidence of forced entry but the place had been smashed up, there was DNA from all three, but disturbingly, there were blood stains from the wife and daughter.
The resort bungalows were fairly well isolated from each other, none of the other guests had seen or heard anything. The family's luggage was still there.
No one had seen any of them leave but a small boat was missing from the resort dock . That had been found four days later, washed up on a beach several miles away. It had capsized, partially sunk and there was no reliable forensic evidence recovered.
The disappearance had been initially investigated by the Risian police, but they had brought in the local FMS Field Office within hours, as soon as they had identified Cubo as being a Marshal.
There had been no leads, no sightings of any of them, after the second afternoon at the resort when they had been seen on the beach. The case had been filed originally as a suspected abduction.
"And you turned up near to death on Korix, but what happened to your wife and child?" Stiner wondered, having a unpleasant feeling about what Cubo's torturers might have done to the woman and girl...
He continued reading. The abduction suposition had been changed after the inclusion of two supplemental reports.
The first was from the Bajor Field Office, a background investigation had found that Cubo and Lupala had been estranged for over a year prior to their disappearance and she had started divorce proceedings.
Cubo had been stationed way out on Deep Space Sixty Two, Lupala and Teano had originally been there too, but returned to Bajor eighteen months before the Risa trip. Cubo had apparently not been happy about the separation.
Steiner knew this situation well enough, a law enforcement career played hell with relationships. The long hours, extended time away from home, work focus, the people you mixed with, the crimes you investigated, it was toxic. The whole culture and lifestyle was just not conducive to happy families.
He read on. The second report was from Internal Investigations, they had checked into the families financial records. Lupala had opened her own accounts on Bajor, after returned home but the couple still shared a joint account. The day they had arrived on Risa a large credit deposit had been made to that joint account. A very large deposit, running into the millions.
The funds had come from a account in a bank on Ferenginar. There had been no name or details with the deposit. Enquiries with the bank had drawn a blank. The institution had simply fallen back on claims of Ferengi commercial sovereignty and privacy and simply refused to answer any questions.
Then the evening of the family's disappearance the account had been closed. Their bank had received a directive from Risa, from Cubo to transfer the funds to a new account and close the joint account. The transfer had been to an account in Cubo's sole name at the same Ferengi bank the deposit had come from.
That bank had again simply refused to disclose any information about the new account.
The institution was listed as The Profitable Exchange Merchant Bank of Ferenginar another name Steiner knew!
He had found links to PEMBF through his own investigations. The Belax Corporation had accounts there and members of the Rule Forty-Seven Gang had laundered finances through there.
In fact PEMBF it had been on FMS files for decades as a clearing house for illegal and elicit transactions by criminal enterprises across the quadrant. It did a great deal of business in the Federation, much of it still outwardly legitimate and so other Federation financial companies still traded with it.
That gave PEMBF financial clout and powerful political friends. There had been several attempts to pass legislation to limit such operations but they had always stalled in the various Federation Council financial committees.
Between Federation banking regulations, and Ferengi sovereignty it was virtually impossible for the FMS to legally track it's activities. Since there was a distinct lack of internal Federation political drive, and with Ferenginar not being a part of the Federation, there was no way to shut it down.
Back in the IA report, it continued to describe Cubo's last case as being an investigation into illegal weapons trade with a Ferengi connection but that after nearly two years work he had failed to gather any evidence, or at least present any. Then he had mysteriously destroyed all his files and reports the day he departed Deep Space Sixty Two to travel to Risa.
Steiner reached the report's conclusion and had to read it twice over, not really believing what it said.
The conclusion had been that Cubo had taken a bribe, some kind of payoff. Then arranged to meet his wife and daughter on Risa, with the intention for them to then reunite and disappear together with his new wealth. Something had gone wrong and it had ended with him doing them harm.
Steiner snorted, it was all rather far fetched and based on a whole lot of suppositions rather than hard facts. He scarcely believed anyone could have approved of such a conclusion. He scrolled down to see what idiot had dreamed this all up.
"Sonofabitch!"
Senior Deputy Marshall Jolwut; FMS Internal Affairs Division
"Jolwut! Well that explains it!"
"Jolwut was a Bolian and fellow member of Steiner's Academy Class. They had taken a mutual dislike to each other pretty much from the first week when Steiner had caught Jolwut trying to steal his passing grade range target in a shooting class and swap it with Jolwut's failing one.
The Bolian had made a big fuss of claiming it was an innocent mistake but Steiner had seen right through him.
Jolwut was a weasel, but a highly accomplished ass-kissing weasel and a weasel with a powerful Rabbi, who had smoothed his way.
A Rabbi in law enforcement was a mentor, usually of the same ethnic group or species and of superior rank, but not within the same chain of command. Someone who knew the rules, knew the ropes, gave good advice, and who could bring the rookie to the attention of senior ranks.
Jolwut's Rabbi had been a Bolian FMS Sector Chief, some distant family relative and with his influence Jolwut had somehow passed the Academy, despite usually being in the bottom percentile of every class. He had then received a lucrative first assignment to a Diplomatic Protection detail, despite his abysmal performance.
It had taken Steiner six years, and two attempts to get a DPD posting. By the time he was there, Jolwut's Rabbi had pulled more strings and Jolwut was in Internal Affairs, where their paths had crossed again.
While escorting a group of Diplomats to a world seeking Federation membership there had been a demonstration by some locals opposed to the plan. It had been peaceful initially, but then some xenophobic agitators started causing trouble, with several of them throwing animal bladders filled with paint and dyes at the Federation personnel.
Steiner and another Marshall had chased one up onto a second story roof; then the troublemaker had jumped off. trying to escape, breaking both his legs and pelvis in the process. He had claimed Steiner and the other Marshall had thrown him off!
Despite there being local news video of the man jumping off himself, his allegations had created an incident and as the senior officer Steiner ended up in an Internal Affairs review conducted by Jolwut.
Their interview had not gone well. Instead of exonerating Steiner, Jolwut had declared the allegation .unproven leaving a stain on Steiner's reputation. He had had to submit two formal disciplinary review requests and wait six months to get it removed.
That was the last time he had seen Jolwut, but seeing the name now it did not surprise him the weasel would produce such a shoddy report.
He was going to discount the report completely, but he stopped and thought it over, putting aside his personal feelings about Jolwut. He matched what he knew against the report's conclusions and realized that even though he now believed that Cubo had been tortured and taken to Korix to die, that did not in any way substantially alter what Jolwut had concluded.
He could have taken a bribe, then tried for more and whoever tortured him had not been satisfied he would stay quiet and disappear, they had covered their bases by dumping him on Korix.
But if so, what of his wife and child, what had happened to them, had Cubo really harmed or killed them on Risa?
Part of the selection for the Marshal's Service was a whole battery of psychological tests and interviews, including several sessions hooked up to a lie-detector, with the explicit aim of not handing out badges, authority and weapons to those mentally unsuitable to have them.
He recalled squirming around himself at some of the questions posed during the regular interview sessions, that had gone on throughout training and during probation. Plus an annual psychological review ever since then.
Could somebody with the potential to murder their own family have slipped through?
It was possible but unlikely he concluded, or at least he did not like to think so. But where did that leave him, still with unanswered questions.
He brooded over it for a while and decided it was time to get some sleep, just before shutting down his terminal he decided to put in a call to Lofthammer on Obsidian Command.
He checked the relatives times, it was one thirty five in the morning on the ship, seven thirty in the morning back on Obsidian. He put the call through.
A few moments later Lofthammer answered, he was in his quarters, in a t-shirt, towel round his neck.
"Morning Chief! Was just heading to the shower" Lofthammer grinned "Where you been?"
"Way out of our jurisdiction that's for sure." Steiner replied "We should be back sometime tomorrow, I'll fill you in then but found something strange out here, you ever heard of a Dredan Cubo, Senior Dep, Bajoran?"
Lofthammer's face changed from interested to totally surprised in a half second. "You ran in to Dredan Cubo, out there?!"
"You know him?"
"Yeah, he was at DeeEes Sixty-Two about five, six years ago, I was based there doing prisoner transports for a while. He up and disappeared after a vacation, just never came back." Lofthammer nodded "You found him?"
"Not exactly..." Steiner went on and explained the story he had heard from Wallace and Xeri.
Lofthammer listened grimly. "Tortured? Geeze..."
Steiner outlined the Personnel File and reports on Dredan's disappearance.
"Well that's BeEs!" Lofthammer snorted. "He and Lupala never separated, he sent her and his daughter back to Bajor because he was worried about their safety!
He was working some smuggling angle across the Ferenginar Border and he started upsetting the wrong people, there was some kind of threat made towards his family and he sent them back to Bajor.
No way he did anything to hurt either of them, he doted on that little girl"
"You're sure about that Sven?"
"Hell yeah! We put in there maybe a year after they left, Cubo and I had a few beers, all he could talk about what how much he missed his wife and kid and how he had had to force them to leave for their safety.
He was real tight about his case though, just that he was getting somewhere and was expecting to be requesting search warrants real soon.
I think that was the last time I saw him, I got transferred to Sector Two-Eighty after that. Oh and no way he took a bribe either!
Both his Grandparents on his mother's side were executed by the Cardassians for refusing to collaborate, they were resistance heros. No way he would have done anything like take a bribe"
They chatted a little longer, Lofthammer's insight giving Steiner even more questions.
"Alright, we'll talk more tomorrow" Steiner concluded. and ended the call.
He got up and headed for his quarters. Tired as he was sleep would not come and he lay there thinking of the murdered Dredan, his wife and child.
