SD 9-7-02 - "Kzin out of the Bag" #5 - It just goes from bad to worse.
We finally tracked down the captured shuttlecraft - abandoned. No one aboard. Taking a look inside were signs the ship's locks had been hot-wired open while in Ferrengi hands, and the weapons locker had been opened. No sign of any blood or blaster boats, but the cockpit was wet. The bottle of "Sample #23462" had been broken. When it was transported into a container and some lady redshirt tripped while carrying it - she turned into a Caitian!
That Junkeskyo water again. Seems there's no end to that "Spring of Caitian," or was there more than one such spring? K'Lynxyl's already one, but Lera ...
We continued on, following the trail they left behind. Dammers, despite his time in the freezer, has been a big help with the calculations and analysis. It was soon obvious the trail led to outside Federation space - into the Kizin Hedgmony.
Our suspicions were confirmed when the "black box" of the shuttlecraft was analyzed. One of the Ferrengi made a reference to "that Kizinti Chal Ritt" offering a huge payment for "A Caitian female." According to the databanks, Ritt is the commander of their First War Fleet and the brother of their Patriarch.
So, they were behind this - but what would they want with K'Lynxyl?
It doesn't matter, not as far as our destination goes. We're going in.
I just hope that "Barney" hologram is available if things get messy. That is, if Tempress doesn't comendeer it for his three kids ... why did he bring them onto the bridge ... ?