Picking his way backwards slightly, attention darted between looking up at the cliff face and down at the broken ground to be sure of his next footing. Pointing section of the cliff that protruded slightly. “Eckan, you’ve walked these cliffs, is that a ledge?”

“It is. The path to it begin’s in this direction.” The Romulan indicated with an outstretched arm, although now standing he seemed to have not changed position in relation to the body.

“We’ll take a short cut.” Jimmy responded with a grin, he looked over towards Heidy, caught her eye holding the gaze for a moment before flicking his head and eyes upwards in the vague direction of the ledge. Her exception went blank, almost frowning as she mimicked the motion, this melted into a warm look and three slow deliberate nods. His eyes flicked to the young Romulan scout, then to the ledge, then to Heidy his glaze was a searching one now but soft enough not to pierce and cause discomfort, Heidy bobbed once which was a prompt, Beltha to turned her head and he to repeated the gesture, but her face wore a frown, eyes narrowed and searching until Heidy leaned forward and whispered the previously unspoken question, this prompted a thin smile combined with a slow nod of agreement.

“Carmaca to transporter room three, set coordinates to a stable ledge fifty feet vertical from my current position, four to transport when ready.”

“Let’s not flirt with danger or with edges.” Jimmy commented tricorder in hand, but for a moment his attention on Beltha who seemed drawn to the lip of the ledge. She looked at him blankly, then down as if seeing the edge for the first time eyes widened as she backed away until she stood just off the shoulder of Heidy.

“Electrostatic filter is showing a few blips.”

“What about adding a bio-chem filter or overlay?”

“If your filtering for romulan, you should take this coding, i’ll transmit freely”

“We might get some residuals.” A pause. “Look for patterns, see if the patterns turn to trails, follow the trails.”

“Sixty-Two percent probable. heading up.”

“Forty-Nine percent probable, heading down.”

“Let’s pair up and explore both options, Beltha and I will head down.” Heidy started with a gesture between the two of them and an intensity in her gaze that was not for refusals or alterations.

“Works for me.” Jimmy responded

As they followed the path upwards a blood trail became evident prompting the unconventional partnership to continue despite the path up varying wildly. Sometimes wide enough, gradual enough for Jimmy and Eckan to walk side by side. Frequently they were single file. At times enclosed on both sides by rock. Other times they had to hug a rock wall because of the shear and unprotected drop. All on a switchback path that threaded its way up the cliffside.

They reached a wider ledge just as the path switched directions, halting for a moment to take on water. “Jimmy we’re at the lower end of the path with nothing significant to report.” Heidy’s communication cut through the silence of the location. “ It’s given me a good workout but other than that not much else. Anything significant on your end?”

“We’ve still got strong readings and a definite blood trail. We’re going to continue the climb. See where it leads.” Carmaca responded confidently. Now wanting to find the cause and an explanation, just as he would in a technological troubleshooting exercise. But this instance had a lot more social and moral implications.

“Cheyenne to Carmaca, hold position.” A second urgent call broke into the conversation. The voice belonged to Vilgi Morr, their Captain, and prompted immediate attention. “Doctor Baird had finished his preliminary scans. There’s a stab wound, a deep one, that is the most probable cause of death for the scout . Combine that with the fact the summit of the path you’re on is being masked from our sensors. It’s prudent to adjust our approach.”

These two pieces of information cause a shift in mood and attention for Jimmy. The drinks container was put away; his tricorder taken out but in his least favored hand. The other is now resting on his belt. “Of course sir, how would you like us to proceed?”

“There’s an adjacent hill we can get proper readings off. There are good sight lines to the masked summit. A ledge that will provide an adequate observation point.” Morr stated, painting a verbal picture of the intended location. “You’re too set up to observe and report back. We’ll then act accordingly. Prepare for transport.” Then outlined the task.

“Standing by.” Jimmy stated. There was silence for a moment. Then a hint of movement. The sound you might expect from a foot shifting on a rocky surface. He shifted position. Turing away as if to move back downhill. Which prompted a fleeting movement right on the edge of his view. He tensed an unconscious reaction to two instances, just before the transporter beam dropped around him.

==

The four re-materialized just short of the summit of an adjacent hill. The wide area dotted with clumps of a native shrub that back in the settlement had been cultivated and used extensively to define areas and property boundaries. Out here they provided useful cover for a fifth transporter beam. Jimmy moved around to check on what had been delivered, finding a pair of Starfleet issue equipment crates.

The holofield generator was now positioned and configured in such a way that the four could move around with relative ease and safety. Three tricorders from three different points were now feeding the multi-band data processor unit. Layer upon layer of data began to build up forming a picture of the camp and its occupants.

“Yiridians most definitely.” Heidy affirmed without looking up from the sensor screen.

“It’s not too much of a stretch I suppose.” Jimmy responded also without looking up from his task. Microprobe in hand and pulsing at a calibration port. “They have always been information brokers and dealers. This is a window into how they obtain it.”

“But killers? That’s not the done thing for them.” Heidy stood up, arms folded, eyes turned upwards, and wearing a frown.

“As a rule I would agree. but then again.” Task acomplished he set the tool back in its holder. Hands either side of the crate leaning on it slightly he shrugged. “Federation colonists engaging in acts of sabotage counter to a Fed treaty was not the done thing as a rule.” His tricorder was off his belt and in hand. occupying at least part of his attention.

“Fair Point.” Heidy relented while strolling to his side. 

“Drone up.”

A spider-like object rose quickly and rapidly above the Starfleet/Romulan camp and hovered for a moment. The operator takes a few precious moments to run the calibration of the sensor scatter field, the signal and motion dampening field, and the micro impulse exhaust.

Satisfied, the drone flew rapidly upwards and forwards. Coming to a halt at a pointed high above the adjacent cliff, specifically the Yirrdian camp. Next it sank, gradually closing the range and allowing the band of sensors that ringed the ventral surface to be more effective. Reaching a range that kept its presence hidden but allowed the said sensors to cut through the natural and manufactured interference.

“Five Yiridians. Three data gatherer modules, their position likely optimized for gathering intelligence and staying undetectable.”  Related Heidy, crouched next to the data unit, reading the raw telemetry from a secondary screen. 

“There’s a sixth life-form.” Jimmy added as he caught a glimpse and then rotated the flight path of the aerial vehicle to get a better look.

“Getting that now. That’s not Yirrdian. Data indicators point to it being Nausuacan.” The shock and barest hint of terror coming though in her voice. “Well that changes things.” She added.

“Does it?” Jimmy queried

“A tangible threat to an ally. That’s the threshold for a ground strike. The Cheyenne is more than capable.”

“You’d be willing to hit them from space. Remove the obstacle for our peoples survival.” Eckan responded quickly.

“That’s not our decision to make. We present the data. Let the CO and XO make the final calls.” Jimmy responded calmly, his head turned to address the elder Romulan, who stood dead straight and still, apart from the opening and closing of both hands into fists. “They might have other data that combined with ours will build a more complete picture.”

“Back to the ship then.” Heidy responded bluntly her tone heavy with frustration and worry.