Cascade – Opening the Puzzlebox: Part II
by Commander Karen Villiers & Captain Tasha Tahir (NPC) & Lieutenant Commander Steve Wyman & Lieutenant JG Gralthek Sirran & Lieutenant JG Ronan Larel & (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek & Commander Chelsea Dunham & Lieutenant JG Lance Murdoch
Post Details
[ON]
Sirran tapped his commbadge. "Sirran to transporter room. We're ready down here. Energize."
Outside the quarantined hangar, the interface probe vanished in a shimmer of blue light...
And reappeared just outside the derelict spacecraft. From Counselor Ronan Larel's perspective, he was there himself, standing at the foot of the ramp and looking up at the open hatch. The other interface probe materialized behind him. It was controlled via remote by the techs in the engineering lab.
"Ready when you are, Counselor," Sirran said.
As Wyman couldn't even pretend to know how to monitor Larel's lifesigns, he instead took it upon himself to monitor the functions of the probes themselves. To that end he took up position at the console he had been leaning on previously. "All primary and secondary systems on the prime probe are operational. Connection to the suit are stable." he said, quickly gleaning the pertinent data from the displays.
Karen looked on. As far as she could tell it was going alright ... so far. The ship was oppressive, and seeing it again brought back memories of the heat and the stench when the away team she had led had first gone aboard.
Maybe they should just set it adrift ...
----
Ronan had prepared a bit more for the mission after his test flight. He still didn't understand the science behind the interface, but had more resolved to let himself feel as if he were the one who beamed over to the ship. He'd been told that would be the best way for it to feel natural.
After he was beamed over to the ship Ronan had to fight the feeling of panic for a moment. He knew he wasn't physically there, but he still was a bit panicked regardless. The first thing he did was say "Transport was successful, what do I do first?" He had to admit a small part of him would have enjoyed being on an alien ship without an EVA suit if the situation weren't so serious.
--------
The Captain remained silent during the transport and walk to the support lab, as things had been said in sickbay and though she appeared to have little control on her vocal emanations, Chelsea had accompanied her.
"We'll have a better understanding of what we have brought aboard once we get into the lab." Tasha stated coldly, nodding to the stairway upwards as she began her ascent.
"How will we ascertain that, Ma'am?" Chelsea replied. "Do you wish me to do scans or do you have another means in mind of drawing whatever it is out?"
Tasha stopped. "Chelsea, I have no idea to be honest. We are dealing with an unknown and as you saw, it can influence our thoughts. I think we will play things by the book and I will entrust that to you."
--ENGINEERING LAB--
"Why not walk around for a minute or two, Counselor," Sirran said. "That way you can get a feel for the strange layout of the place. If we're lucky maybe you can get some sort of empathic reading as well." He and some of the others present were huddled behind the the sensor tech, watching the live feed from the backup probe on the monitor. The tech was controlling it manually, using a joystick to direct it while simultaneously entering commands on the LCARS interface. Larel, of course, was standing a few feet away in his interface suit, controlling the lead probe via the direct connection to his brain. From the Counselor's perspective he was down there right now, walking around that ship. But the others looking at the video feed were seeing only the lead probe making its way in a slow hover. Since Larel's perception of the place was more immediate and real than theirs, Sirran resisted the urge to tell him what to do. Villiers, he suspected, was doing the same. They had to let the Counselor be in command of this unusual away mission.
Ronan tried to focus on feeling as if he were on board the ship, while also attempting to use his telepathic and empathic skills. Walking around he noticed that the ship looked a lot different then anything he'd seen before. While he was trying to focus on using his sensors, he also could sense a prescence on board. Quietly he said "I hope your getting readings from my scans, but I sense something is here, and whatever it is, its definitley not happy. I hope it doesn't detect me, or I could be in big trouble."
"If you detect any hostility pull out," Karen advised, there was more data coming. If things started to go awry it was better to delay, and regroup with additional data - but for how long could they keep doing that before they had to decide whether the ship should actually be destroyed. Knowing now that there definately was a presence, a life form on board made that decision an even more difficult one.
Without saying a word, Steve brought up a menu on his console and keyed in a command to vent the hangar into space. Once the commands were entered, he just left it open, minimizing the menu in case he needed it. He'd take the disciplinary action later if it came down to that - at the moment he was more concerned with the safety of his family and everyone else on the base.
Ronan took a deep breath and replied "Understood Commander". Moving around the small corridor he was in, he engaged his active scanners and tried to detect signs of life on the ship. At the same time he was using his telepathy to get a better sense of the presence onboard. He frowned when his scanners showed that beyond the presence he'd detected there were no other signs of life. He was hesitant to attempt to engage the presence, since he didn't know what he would find. Clearing his throat he said "Commander Villiers, my scans show no further signs of life beyond the presence I detected. I am unsure how you would like me to proceed, since I don't know how the presence will react to my attempts at communication."
Tasha stepped into the lab with Chelsea close behind.
"Report?" She stated simply looking directly at Karen.
"Lieutenant Larel is technically on-board the ship in the docking bay. No direct exposure, hopefully less danger," Karen replied, her eyes on the screen. "Larel, let's pull out for now. I've further data coming, might be safest to have that before we formulate a plan to proceed. Was there anything else, Captain?" she added, turning to Tahir and the doctor.
Tahir eased herself around to Chelsea, took a long and purposeful look around the room.
"Doctor, do you have any medical staff in here?" She asked and before Chelsea could answer, Tasha brought her attention back to Karen with a simple shrug of her shoulders. "I guess not. Commander would you care to explain why you see fit to firstly send a crewman into that thing firstly without a medical team at least on standby and secondly without informing me of your intention?" Her voice rose slightly with obvious stress on the second part of her question even as Chelseas' hand came to her shoulder to which Tasha jerked her upper body away from the semi restraining hand as her nostrils flared in unison with the uncharacteristic raise of her lips appearing as a snarl.
"Ensign Kaelin is a medical officer," Karen snapped, "he's also psionic and thus better placed to assist if there's trouble than anyone else. A medical team who can't reach Larel's mind would hardly be of use. Oh," Karen added through a sardonic sigh, "I thought I was in charge of the away mission and investigation of the ship, but if you want me to report every last detail and request guidance on every decision then I'll gladly put together a dossier of my ongoing investigation.
"After you've read it, we might be in a position to go aboard in say three weeks. I've the wellbeing of the station in mind here, Captain."
"And I have well-being of not just the station, but every crew member, enlisted, civilian and every other species in mind here!" Tasha retorted. "And to my mind," her voice rose, "an ensign is hardly qualified as a medical team Commander. I do not expect a dossier, but a communication of what is currently ongoing would be at the very least helpful to my maintaining a balance of judgement," Her voice was near a scream, "after all, I AM THE CAPTAIN!" She bellowed and felt the grip of that something inside once again that had felt only a few minutes before.
In what world did the term 'Station' not encapsulate all that the woman was raving about! Karen thought but her mind went to the next item before she spoke, "A medical Team is hardly qualified to assist in a psionic event," she said, her tone low and verging on a growl, "I bow to your judgement, Captain," Karen continued her dark eyes ablaze at the temerity of the diminutive woman opposite.
"I am sure that the Captain is fully aware of the respect you pay her by handing over your away mission to her seniority Commander Villiers but I was about to respond to your question Captain the we *have* allocated a medical team to the Commander's first and second parts of the Away Mission, exchanging the two medics who accompanied her team earlier but were themselves hurt, with Ensign Kaelin on this later phase. There are many other medical staff available to the Commander at a single word of request for further personnel and as you may have seen on our way in here, there's a Triage team outside too. I am ready and standing by to provide any medical back up at any time, anywhere on this station Ma'am and Commander Villiers has been in contact to avail herself of that." Chelsea refereed as best she could between the two Titans who were her friends and fellow Command Officers and who both seemed to be acting strangely out of character at the moment.
The CMO and 2nd Officer was weighing up diagnoses and struggling with some demons and shadows of her own that seemed to be creeping across the horizon of her mind. ~Why is everyone so touchy?~ she wondered. ~Is it me? It feels like these are strangers not good friends and valued colleagues......did I feel like this before today?~ she began to think but somehow, so far, her trained and indoctrinated *Doctors face and monotone of calm* remained in it's habitual place over the top of whatever was going on inside. It was a result of years of training holding out for now.
Chelsea's calming words made Tasha stand back and listen to herself. What she had said, though her true feelings, were not how she would usually put her point across, without tact or concern and that was not a realistic version of Tasha Tahir, the Captain.
Her head dipped and she felt guilt. Not embarrassed, but unabashed guilt and shame and though she wanted nothing more than to apologise, she could not now be seen to back down from the affront she had given and her own tenacity brought forth her best version of an unspoken sorrow.
"Thank you Commander, you have raised a valid stance also. There are other forces at work here and someone with psionic abilities as you have selected may be to our best advantage." She felt her body shiver but not with cold as she stepped back.
"Commander, the deck is yours." Her voice now calm and hushed as she sat in the nearest chair to the wall of the lab and stared down to the deck plate at her feet.
Karen nodded. She had herself under control but the ire still bubbled in her stomach. "Lieutenant, establish where it is the presence is strongest. We've covered most of the ship. We'll start again tomorrow in that location. I'll also arrange for food and water to be transported aboard we show peaceful intent."
Ronan had been monitoring his scans on the ship, keeping a psychic eye on the presence and out of the corner of his mind overhearing the tense exchange in the lab. After hearing the commander's orders he said " From what I can tell the presence is located somewhere near the center of the ship, perhaps engineering or the computer core." After he spoke he added "Now how do I get back 'on board?" The away mission had been interesting, but he was looking forward to being back in his own surroundings soon.
Sirran placed a hand on the tech's shoulder. "Steer the support probe back to launch point." Like everyone else his nerves were somewhat frazzled after the tense exchange. He searched for something with which to busy himself.
'One day. I've been on this base for less than a day and already the command officers are tearing into each other. Damned fools...' Steve thought as he watched the yelling match between his two superiors. After a moment he shook his head to knock loose the mental cobwebs. 'The heck... Why would I think that?'
"I think we've done enough here today," Karen's brow wrinkled as she looked over to the Chief Engineer, "Lieutenant Wyman, when is your information due to arrive?"
"Your guess is as good as mine Commander. I can only figure it's coming, because Drakt hasn't contacted me to say he's come up dry. All I can do is work on the assumption that - since he hasn't let me down before, he won't start now." Wyman mused, wishing he had a better answer.
Tasha said nothing but she needed to get out of here, not just the lab, but away from the accusing eyes that kept glancing in her direction. She wanted to shout at them all and remind them of who she was, but she forced the thoughts deep back into her mind as her jaw stiffened with the effort.
OFF
Commander Karen Villiers
Executive Officer
Lieutenant Steve Wyman
Chief Engineering Officer
Captain Tasha Tahir
CO
Commander Chelsea Dunham
CMO & 2nd Officer
Lieutenant Junior Grade Ronan Larel
Chief Counselor
Lt/jg Gralthek Sirran
Strategic Operations
by Commander Karen Villiers & Captain Tasha Tahir (NPC) & Lieutenant Commander Steve Wyman & Lieutenant JG Gralthek Sirran & Lieutenant JG Ronan Larel & (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek & Commander Chelsea Dunham & Lieutenant JG Lance Murdoch
Post Details
| Title | Opening the Puzzlebox: Part II | |
| Mission | Cascade | |
| Author(s) | Commander Karen Villiers & Captain Tasha Tahir (NPC) & Lieutenant Commander Steve Wyman & Lieutenant JG Gralthek Sirran & Lieutenant JG Ronan Larel & (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek & Commander Chelsea Dunham & Lieutenant JG Lance Murdoch | |
| Posted | Sat Apr 20, 2013 @ 6:07pm | |
| Location | Engineering Support Lab, Deck 1126 | |
| Timeline | SD71, 15:30 |
Sirran tapped his commbadge. "Sirran to transporter room. We're ready down here. Energize."
Outside the quarantined hangar, the interface probe vanished in a shimmer of blue light...
And reappeared just outside the derelict spacecraft. From Counselor Ronan Larel's perspective, he was there himself, standing at the foot of the ramp and looking up at the open hatch. The other interface probe materialized behind him. It was controlled via remote by the techs in the engineering lab.
"Ready when you are, Counselor," Sirran said.
As Wyman couldn't even pretend to know how to monitor Larel's lifesigns, he instead took it upon himself to monitor the functions of the probes themselves. To that end he took up position at the console he had been leaning on previously. "All primary and secondary systems on the prime probe are operational. Connection to the suit are stable." he said, quickly gleaning the pertinent data from the displays.
Karen looked on. As far as she could tell it was going alright ... so far. The ship was oppressive, and seeing it again brought back memories of the heat and the stench when the away team she had led had first gone aboard.
Maybe they should just set it adrift ...
----
Ronan had prepared a bit more for the mission after his test flight. He still didn't understand the science behind the interface, but had more resolved to let himself feel as if he were the one who beamed over to the ship. He'd been told that would be the best way for it to feel natural.
After he was beamed over to the ship Ronan had to fight the feeling of panic for a moment. He knew he wasn't physically there, but he still was a bit panicked regardless. The first thing he did was say "Transport was successful, what do I do first?" He had to admit a small part of him would have enjoyed being on an alien ship without an EVA suit if the situation weren't so serious.
--------
The Captain remained silent during the transport and walk to the support lab, as things had been said in sickbay and though she appeared to have little control on her vocal emanations, Chelsea had accompanied her.
"We'll have a better understanding of what we have brought aboard once we get into the lab." Tasha stated coldly, nodding to the stairway upwards as she began her ascent.
"How will we ascertain that, Ma'am?" Chelsea replied. "Do you wish me to do scans or do you have another means in mind of drawing whatever it is out?"
Tasha stopped. "Chelsea, I have no idea to be honest. We are dealing with an unknown and as you saw, it can influence our thoughts. I think we will play things by the book and I will entrust that to you."
--ENGINEERING LAB--
"Why not walk around for a minute or two, Counselor," Sirran said. "That way you can get a feel for the strange layout of the place. If we're lucky maybe you can get some sort of empathic reading as well." He and some of the others present were huddled behind the the sensor tech, watching the live feed from the backup probe on the monitor. The tech was controlling it manually, using a joystick to direct it while simultaneously entering commands on the LCARS interface. Larel, of course, was standing a few feet away in his interface suit, controlling the lead probe via the direct connection to his brain. From the Counselor's perspective he was down there right now, walking around that ship. But the others looking at the video feed were seeing only the lead probe making its way in a slow hover. Since Larel's perception of the place was more immediate and real than theirs, Sirran resisted the urge to tell him what to do. Villiers, he suspected, was doing the same. They had to let the Counselor be in command of this unusual away mission.
Ronan tried to focus on feeling as if he were on board the ship, while also attempting to use his telepathic and empathic skills. Walking around he noticed that the ship looked a lot different then anything he'd seen before. While he was trying to focus on using his sensors, he also could sense a prescence on board. Quietly he said "I hope your getting readings from my scans, but I sense something is here, and whatever it is, its definitley not happy. I hope it doesn't detect me, or I could be in big trouble."
"If you detect any hostility pull out," Karen advised, there was more data coming. If things started to go awry it was better to delay, and regroup with additional data - but for how long could they keep doing that before they had to decide whether the ship should actually be destroyed. Knowing now that there definately was a presence, a life form on board made that decision an even more difficult one.
Without saying a word, Steve brought up a menu on his console and keyed in a command to vent the hangar into space. Once the commands were entered, he just left it open, minimizing the menu in case he needed it. He'd take the disciplinary action later if it came down to that - at the moment he was more concerned with the safety of his family and everyone else on the base.
Ronan took a deep breath and replied "Understood Commander". Moving around the small corridor he was in, he engaged his active scanners and tried to detect signs of life on the ship. At the same time he was using his telepathy to get a better sense of the presence onboard. He frowned when his scanners showed that beyond the presence he'd detected there were no other signs of life. He was hesitant to attempt to engage the presence, since he didn't know what he would find. Clearing his throat he said "Commander Villiers, my scans show no further signs of life beyond the presence I detected. I am unsure how you would like me to proceed, since I don't know how the presence will react to my attempts at communication."
Tasha stepped into the lab with Chelsea close behind.
"Report?" She stated simply looking directly at Karen.
"Lieutenant Larel is technically on-board the ship in the docking bay. No direct exposure, hopefully less danger," Karen replied, her eyes on the screen. "Larel, let's pull out for now. I've further data coming, might be safest to have that before we formulate a plan to proceed. Was there anything else, Captain?" she added, turning to Tahir and the doctor.
Tahir eased herself around to Chelsea, took a long and purposeful look around the room.
"Doctor, do you have any medical staff in here?" She asked and before Chelsea could answer, Tasha brought her attention back to Karen with a simple shrug of her shoulders. "I guess not. Commander would you care to explain why you see fit to firstly send a crewman into that thing firstly without a medical team at least on standby and secondly without informing me of your intention?" Her voice rose slightly with obvious stress on the second part of her question even as Chelseas' hand came to her shoulder to which Tasha jerked her upper body away from the semi restraining hand as her nostrils flared in unison with the uncharacteristic raise of her lips appearing as a snarl.
"Ensign Kaelin is a medical officer," Karen snapped, "he's also psionic and thus better placed to assist if there's trouble than anyone else. A medical team who can't reach Larel's mind would hardly be of use. Oh," Karen added through a sardonic sigh, "I thought I was in charge of the away mission and investigation of the ship, but if you want me to report every last detail and request guidance on every decision then I'll gladly put together a dossier of my ongoing investigation.
"After you've read it, we might be in a position to go aboard in say three weeks. I've the wellbeing of the station in mind here, Captain."
"And I have well-being of not just the station, but every crew member, enlisted, civilian and every other species in mind here!" Tasha retorted. "And to my mind," her voice rose, "an ensign is hardly qualified as a medical team Commander. I do not expect a dossier, but a communication of what is currently ongoing would be at the very least helpful to my maintaining a balance of judgement," Her voice was near a scream, "after all, I AM THE CAPTAIN!" She bellowed and felt the grip of that something inside once again that had felt only a few minutes before.
In what world did the term 'Station' not encapsulate all that the woman was raving about! Karen thought but her mind went to the next item before she spoke, "A medical Team is hardly qualified to assist in a psionic event," she said, her tone low and verging on a growl, "I bow to your judgement, Captain," Karen continued her dark eyes ablaze at the temerity of the diminutive woman opposite.
"I am sure that the Captain is fully aware of the respect you pay her by handing over your away mission to her seniority Commander Villiers but I was about to respond to your question Captain the we *have* allocated a medical team to the Commander's first and second parts of the Away Mission, exchanging the two medics who accompanied her team earlier but were themselves hurt, with Ensign Kaelin on this later phase. There are many other medical staff available to the Commander at a single word of request for further personnel and as you may have seen on our way in here, there's a Triage team outside too. I am ready and standing by to provide any medical back up at any time, anywhere on this station Ma'am and Commander Villiers has been in contact to avail herself of that." Chelsea refereed as best she could between the two Titans who were her friends and fellow Command Officers and who both seemed to be acting strangely out of character at the moment.
The CMO and 2nd Officer was weighing up diagnoses and struggling with some demons and shadows of her own that seemed to be creeping across the horizon of her mind. ~Why is everyone so touchy?~ she wondered. ~Is it me? It feels like these are strangers not good friends and valued colleagues......did I feel like this before today?~ she began to think but somehow, so far, her trained and indoctrinated *Doctors face and monotone of calm* remained in it's habitual place over the top of whatever was going on inside. It was a result of years of training holding out for now.
Chelsea's calming words made Tasha stand back and listen to herself. What she had said, though her true feelings, were not how she would usually put her point across, without tact or concern and that was not a realistic version of Tasha Tahir, the Captain.
Her head dipped and she felt guilt. Not embarrassed, but unabashed guilt and shame and though she wanted nothing more than to apologise, she could not now be seen to back down from the affront she had given and her own tenacity brought forth her best version of an unspoken sorrow.
"Thank you Commander, you have raised a valid stance also. There are other forces at work here and someone with psionic abilities as you have selected may be to our best advantage." She felt her body shiver but not with cold as she stepped back.
"Commander, the deck is yours." Her voice now calm and hushed as she sat in the nearest chair to the wall of the lab and stared down to the deck plate at her feet.
Karen nodded. She had herself under control but the ire still bubbled in her stomach. "Lieutenant, establish where it is the presence is strongest. We've covered most of the ship. We'll start again tomorrow in that location. I'll also arrange for food and water to be transported aboard we show peaceful intent."
Ronan had been monitoring his scans on the ship, keeping a psychic eye on the presence and out of the corner of his mind overhearing the tense exchange in the lab. After hearing the commander's orders he said " From what I can tell the presence is located somewhere near the center of the ship, perhaps engineering or the computer core." After he spoke he added "Now how do I get back 'on board?" The away mission had been interesting, but he was looking forward to being back in his own surroundings soon.
Sirran placed a hand on the tech's shoulder. "Steer the support probe back to launch point." Like everyone else his nerves were somewhat frazzled after the tense exchange. He searched for something with which to busy himself.
'One day. I've been on this base for less than a day and already the command officers are tearing into each other. Damned fools...' Steve thought as he watched the yelling match between his two superiors. After a moment he shook his head to knock loose the mental cobwebs. 'The heck... Why would I think that?'
"I think we've done enough here today," Karen's brow wrinkled as she looked over to the Chief Engineer, "Lieutenant Wyman, when is your information due to arrive?"
"Your guess is as good as mine Commander. I can only figure it's coming, because Drakt hasn't contacted me to say he's come up dry. All I can do is work on the assumption that - since he hasn't let me down before, he won't start now." Wyman mused, wishing he had a better answer.
Tasha said nothing but she needed to get out of here, not just the lab, but away from the accusing eyes that kept glancing in her direction. She wanted to shout at them all and remind them of who she was, but she forced the thoughts deep back into her mind as her jaw stiffened with the effort.
OFF
Commander Karen Villiers
Executive Officer
Lieutenant Steve Wyman
Chief Engineering Officer
Captain Tasha Tahir
CO
Commander Chelsea Dunham
CMO & 2nd Officer
Lieutenant Junior Grade Ronan Larel
Chief Counselor
Lt/jg Gralthek Sirran
Strategic Operations