“Check, check.”

Using the subdermal implants to maintain an open comm channel meant that Wescott and Young would hear everything that happened once he stepped into Renos’ hotel room. Wescott responded almost instantly, “We hear you loud and clear.”

Forrester was thankful for the dim lighting in the corridor. It hid the worst of the hotel’s ‘charms’ from him, but even the low light was enough for him to make out a few details. The threadbare carpet had what looked like occasional burn marks on it, the thin film of grime coating the walls. What the low light couldn’t hide was the smell. It was a good thing his team had strong stomachs.

Renos’ room was about halfway down the corridor, and it didn’t take Forrester long to reach it. He found the door unlocked. Pulling his coat back, Forrester revealed an old Klingon disruptor at his right hip. He wrapped his fingers slowly around the grip and removed it from its holster.

“Standby,” Forrester muttered before he pressed the control to open the door. If he thought the smell in the corridor was unpleasant, it was nothing compared to the stench when the door slid open. He recoiled momentarily and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, pressing it against his nose as he stepped inside with his disruptor raised.

The lights were off, but the room was bathed in an ethereal green glow from the lights outside. It was enough for him to make out the figure of someone sitting in a chair in the middle of the room. Their wrists were shackled behind them, their head slumped forward.

Forrester moved deeper into the room. Satisfied the seated figure wasn’t going to move, he ducked into the bathroom to find it empty. “Room’s clear,” He announced as he approached the figure.

“Renos?” Wescott asked.

Crouching in front of the figure, Forrester looked up into the lifeless eyes of Penn Renos. “He’s dead.”

“How?” 

“That’s what you’re going to tell me, Doctor,” Forrester replied. “Get in here. Both of you.”

Since they’d only been waiting down the corridor, it didn’t take long for Wescott and Young to arrive.  “It stinks in here,” Wescott spoke through the handkerchief she held against her mouth, “smells like-”

“Death.” Forrester helpfully finished for her. He turned his attention back to Doctor Young, the only one of them not holding something against his nose to shield him from the smell. The Medical Officer was crouched beside Renos’ body with a Cardassian medical tricorder in his hand. “What can you tell me?”

Young didn’t reply immediately. His attention was focused on the tricorder’s screen and what it was telling him. It was only when Forrester asked again the responded. “He died from a single disruptor blast to the chest at close range.”

“How long ago?”

Young consulted his tricorder again before answering Commander Wescott. “About forty-eight hours ago, give or take.”

“Around the time we arrived on Janea,” Forrester commented. As much as he hated Renos, he didn’t want to see him dead; he wanted to see him stand trial for what he did and be punished according to Daroxi law.

Wescott moved towards a panel on the wall. “The heat’s been set on high. That explains the advanced state of decomposition; and the smell.”

“There’s something in his hand.” Young reached out and removed a baseball-sized sphere from Renos’ left hand. The device began emitting a high-pitched whine almost immediately.

The room was momentarily filled with a blinding flash of light emanating from the device. The three Starfleet Officers crumpled to the floor, the light the last thing any of them remembered.

He’d been watching everything from a nearby room on a sensor feed from a device he’d hidden in the room. Once his trap had been sprung, he left his companion and made his way to Renos’ room. The Daroxi man had been a loose end, one that had been dealt with. Now, he could focus his energies on Forrester.

He found the Starfleet Officers unconscious on the floor. He ignored the two he didn’t recognise. They were of no consequence. He was here for Thomas Forrester. Removing a small scanner from his pocket, the man scanned around Forrester’s shoulder. Sure enough, he detected a small implant just below the elbow. He pulled a knife from his best and made a careful incision in Forrester’s skin.

“What are you doing?”

His companion, a young Rakhari man named Ashon, stood in the doorway watching him. “The Captain has a subdural implant for communication and tracking,” He explained as he used the tip of the blade to remove the device. “I’m removing it.”

“Should I go back and wait in your bed?” Ashon asked. He had been a pleasant distraction while the man waited for Renos and then Forrester to arrive, but his use, like Renos’ had come to an end.

The man removed the knife from Forrester’s shoulder, a tiny implant on its tip. “No, I’m afraid our association is at an end.” He tapped the blade of the knife on the ground, causing the implant to fall to the floor beside Forrester.

“But, you said you were going to take me with you,” Ashon cried, visibly upset. “You said my eyes reminded you of a sunset on Romulus. You were gonna take me there and show me.”

Standing to his full height the man moved to his companion. “My dear,” He placed a gentle hand on the back of Ashon’s neck, causing the young man to look into his eyes, “Romulus is dead.” In one swift move, he pulled his disrupter, placed it against Ashon’s stomach and pulled the trigger. “Something else you have in common.” He muttered as Ashon’s now lifeless body fell to the floor.

“Come, Captain,” He said to Forrester’s unconscious form, “It’s time for us to leave.” He removed a small device from under his sleeve and attached it to Forrester’s neck. Within seconds they were dematerialising in a green transporter beam.