Commander Anacostia-Bolling and Lieutenant-Commander Alara Ley; had both headed off to Sickbay, in order to have one final word with Doctor Sunny, before anyone beamed down to the planet.

Doctor Tanzim Sunny, by virtue of being the only doctor currently serving aboard ship was the Chief Medical Officer; he had under him two nurses, an orderly and the ships EMH.  It was their combined role to treat and care for the 77 strong crew of which they were currently part of.  Like the two female officers, he was a veteran of their previous posting.  He had been the doctor who’d been forced to perform the emergency operation that had resulted in Alara receiving the symbiont that had resided inside her late husband.  She may have resented him for that at first, but she knew it had been unavoidable, so the friendship and trust she’d shared with him had soon returned.  Alara was still growing accustomed to her new life as a host and all the thoughts and memories that came with it; however her life was more settled now.

The nurse on duty pointed them in the direction of his office, and they waited outside a moment, before he called them in.  “Ah, Commanders.” He smiled, in a way that indicated so far today he hadn’t had to deal with any crewmembers doing in his view; stupid things, to get themselves injured.  He waved a hand at the two chairs on the opposite side of his desk.  “How can I help?”

They both sat. “Well as I’m sure you’re aware; we’ve reached Tartarus II.” The Commander announced.  “The plan is, once we’ve been cleared, Alara here, will beam down with her party.  Whilst she keeps this Mr Kilcannon busy, you and a couple of others can take a look around the facility.”

“Very sneaky and clandestine.” Sunny commented, folding his hands in his lap.

“What exactly is it you’re hoping to find down there?” The XO enquired.

“A room full of Bio-beds or Regeneration Alcoves.” Was the answer he gave her.

“Are you talking, Borg Regeneration Alcoves here?” The Trill asked with concern.

“Not exactly.” The doctor replied. “I believe someone has been studying the technology and has made an equivalent device.”

“Your basing this on the bodies we recovered?” The Commander chipped in.

“That is my opinion, yes.” Sunny replied.  “Several colleagues have expressed the same thoughts”.

“They’ve been attempting to bring their dead workers, back to life!” Alara gasped. “That’s horrible, but why?”  It was Ley, her symbiont that provided the answer first. ‘A cheap work force who’ll never need paying and that will never complain about the conditions.’

“I believe their brains; have been augmented by cybernetic and positronic equivalent components to replace what was damaged when the Borg severed the link.”

If this genuinely was what the Hana Corporation were doing down on that planet, this was one of the most inhuman acts imaginable, they had to be stopped; and the best way to do that was to gather the proof.

**********

Another hour passed before the defence satellites finally went into standby mode and allowed the da Vinci to get within safe transporter range.  Roughly five minutes later, three figures appeared a few metres from the door at the base of the Control Tower; which was where Maintenance Technician Kilcannon had said he would meet them.  Lieutenant-Commander Alara Ley stepped forward and introduced herself; along with her two colleagues; Lieutenant Grav, the Tellarite Security Chief and crewman Niroc who was an engineer with computer programming skills; listed amongst his talents.

Kilcannon seemed a little weary and on edge, as he shock their hands.  He tried to act friendly; but it was clear he didn’t want them there.  It was clear the Company as a whole, didn’t want them there, but had run out of any excuses to prevent them; without making the situation any more conspicuous than was already the case.

As the Maintenance Technician led them into the building; Grav noted and pointed out, discreetly the damage to the outer door.  It had not been caused by the Borg during their attack.  This was a replacement door, yet there were indications one or more heavy objects had been bashed against the outside; creating indentations in the metal surface.  There were also two new looking sturdy padlocks hanging on the inside.  If Kilcannon was the only living person on the planet and there were no large wild animals around; who or what had been trying to force its way in?

As they walked up the central spiral staircase; another thing caught the attention of the eagle-eyed Security Chief on the third floor of the four story building.  Glancing into a room on that level, through a half open door, he could see a bunkbed with covers and pillows on both matrasses.  Was that an indication that at least two people had been sleeping within this building?

The top floor had three rooms the largest of which was the Control Room and took up just over half the space available.  More than half of the computer terminals dotted around the room appeared to be switched off or possibly inoperable.  Along one curved side, large windows gave a birds-eye view of the landing area, main warehouse and other buildings.  The second window from the left had been covered over with a metal plate.  It was the window through which Ramesh, the Flight Controller had made his jump to escape the Borg.

“So what exactly is the reason for Starfleet dropping in?” Kilcannon asked as he took a seat by one of the computers that were currently functioning. “Your Captain didn’t really say much in that regard.”

“What do you know of the Borg attack that took place here, around 7 months ago?” The Lieutenant-Commander asked, grabbing a chair for herself.

“Not much, I wasn’t here.” The man mused. “I know the Company lost a lot.”

There it was again; the constant and recurring reference to those loses made by the Hana Corporation and not the lives lost.  It was as if the company didn’t care about its workforce and the notion had been drumming in so hard, that even the people had stopped caring about each other.

“People died here, Mr Kilcannon!” The Trill exclaimed with frustration, before adding with a softer tone. “Doesn’t that concern you?”

The man’s eyes flitted between the three Starfleet members, spending longer on the gruff looking Tellerate leaning against the doorframe, as if to emphasize; escape was not an option.  For his size, Grav was fairly good at looking intimidating, even when in a good mood.  Climbing all the way up to the top floor of the Control Tower; had not put him in a good mood.  He didn’t consider himself unfit, but that had been an effort.

“As I said, I wasn’t here.” He blurted it out, as if that was somehow meant to make a difference.  He clasped and unclasped his hands several times, his left leg shaking and foot tapping on the hard floor.  The Lieutenant-Commander asked him several questions.   Much like those at the Corporations head office; he didn’t seem to have a clue as to why the bodies of individuals supposedly killed during the Borg attack had somehow ended up on a stolen Federation vessel.  Commenting on the fact they’d had their brains tampered with, made him gulp. But when she mentioned two of them had apparently sustained major injuries, months after being killed; that’s when he visibly jumped.

“What aren’t you or the Company telling us, Mr Kilcannon?” She put to him bluntly.

“I can’t, you don’t understand!” He exclaimed.

“What don’t we understand?”  The Security Chief commented.

“Why don’t you explain it to us?” Alara added.

“Can’t you just leave and tell them everything is fine?” The Maintenance Technician asked nervously.  “It’s nothing more than a mix up, the company will sort everything.”

The rest of the conversation was brought to an abrupt halt, as without warning a klaxon sounded loud and clear, like a screaming banshee; both inside the building and from various speakers dotted around the site.  What colour had been in the cheeks of Kilcannon started to drain rapidly. “You three did come alone?”

The Lieutenant-Commander nodded and gave her reassurance that that was the case; whilst hoping the second team weren’t in any danger.  Lieutenant Grav had two of his best men out there; sneaking around the facility with Doctor Sunny, but such was the level of uncertainty, that even he was concerned by this sudden development.