Cascade – Cascade: The Conclusion
by Lieutenant JG Gralthek Sirran & Commander Karen Villiers & Lieutenant Commander Steve Wyman & Lieutenant JG Ronan Larel
Post Details
[ON]
Sirran nodded to the security officer. "Open it."
The security officer nodded back and punched in his code, and the large doors to the hangar bay motored open. The derelict ship remained just as they had left it, silent and still, and deceptively innocuous-looking.
Sirran was the first in, followed by Larel and nearly everyone else: Villiers, Wyman, security personnel, and probe techs carrying the interface probe in its launch cradle. The Andorian stopped short of the ship's open entry ramp and looked up into the darkness, then at Larel.
"Your show, Counselor. Take your time and let us know when you're ready."
Producing a small metallic cylinder about the size of a tube of lipstick, Steve held it out to Ronan, "This is that transporter beacon I mentioned. She may not look like much, but as long the power cell has some juice she'll pump out enough broad spectrum subspace carrier waves to light up half the station." Realizing how bad that sounded for anyone standing in close proximity to the beacon, he added, "Not enough to cause any lasting harm to living tissue, but suffice it to say I won't have any trouble getting a transporter lock on you."
Snapping off a quick salute to the counselor, he spun on his heels and headed for the door. "I've got transporter room 3 all set up. I'll monitor the situation from up there and yank you out at the first sign of shenanigans."
Nodding, Ronan accepted the beacon, and slid it into a pouch on the waist of his environmental suit. He was nervous, and if he was being honest, scared out of his wits about what he was going to find over on the ship. But he had a mission, and he knew the presence on the ship needed help. They might not want the help, but he had a duty to offer it regardless. Taking a deep breath, he tapped his combadge and said "Larel to Villiers. I'm standing by in the hanger Commander. Awaiting permisson to proceed."
"Go ahead, Lieutenant," she replied, "and good luck."
[Engineering Lab]
Back in the engineering lab Karen watched alone, her teeth clamped to the inside of her right cheek. The console beneath her damp palms was dead all save one blinking red button. That was the one that would signal evacuation of Deep Space Five if this incursion went wrong, an ill fated few remaining to allow time for the call to be sounded and the civilians moved out.
But it hadn't come to that.
Yet.
[In the Heart of the Ship]
The murmurs are growing closer again. Not like the first ones, the ones that wanted to find me, to enslave me. After the maelstrom that folowed, the screech of metal, the crack of blood and bone ... everything went quiet then ... hours, days ... then there were new searchers there.
I thought it was those who would either kill me or use me. In my rapture I treated them to the ebbing force of my power. It must have been weeks because there are thousands of minds out there and even in my ire I cannot touch them as I have been taught. I project my raidance though. That must count for ...
One is coming closer again ...
[Hangar Deck]
Sirran was also dressed in an environmental suit, but would stay outside. He watched from the ramp as Larel disappeared inside. Seconds later the probe, controlled remotely by the techs, followed him at a discreet distance. A gaggle of people were crowded around the monitor to watch the live feed. No one said a word.
[Transporter Room 3]
Silently, Wyman maintained his vigil. So far the transporter lock through Larel's comm badge was stable, and the emergency beacon was pinging away like the sonar of an Earth World War II era submarine. Through the sensors on the probe, he was able maintain visual contact with the counselor. But none of this made him any more comfortable.
"Mr. Wyman, the last time I saw you look this serious, I thought you were going to take a swing at me." Sharas remarked, standing as straight as a redwood next to the transporter control console.
Steve didn't look up from his monitoring of the sensor data. "Sharas?"
This took the Andorian aback, as Wyman had never once referred to him as anything other than his rank or sir in all the years they had known each other. Giving a very Vulcan-esque eyebrow arch, he asked, "Yes, Mr. Wyman?"
"Sharas, if this doesn't work - get Gwen and get the Hell out of here as fast as you can. get her to Drakt. Make sure she knows that Mommy and Daddy love her, and we're sorry. And tell Drakt he'll always be my brother..." By the end, Steve's eyes were starting to water as the emotion of the request got the better of him.
P'Trell had expected as much, and laid a hand on his comrade's shoulder. "Steven, you have my word of honor - no harm will come to Gwendolyn."
"Thank you... Commander."
It couldn't be more different from the agressive bickering that had occurred previously. Even one as emotionally detached as Karen could see the genuine feeling, passion and respect behind their words.
"Its time, Gentlemen," she said.
[XO's Office]
Anxious fingers drummed through the minutes.
Drawn away from the investigating team by the call from Ops - the Ivor Prime away team were high tailing it back to DS5, their discovery deemed too sensitive to commit to subspace. All she could do was wait.
Karen's impatience grew with every passing second. What arrogance to keep her in suspense. And why were the investigating team not keeping her informed?
The Executive Officer shot to her feet ready to storm from her office, back to the quarantined bay to berate them for their lack of progress and then for their lack of communication, then, just as she was about to punch the door control the band of pressure that had tightened around her skull slackened. With it her shoulders slumped and the pent up ire that had driven her began to dissapate.
Flummoxed Karen stumbled back and fell into her chair. She needed a medical check up - if she was feeling so tense why had she not doen it sooner? She hadn't even realised that she was a steel spring about to snap.
Karen hit her com badge, "Medical, I need an emergency appointment," she could not delay, Tahir was indisposed and that left her, and only her in charge.
The reply was swift, a male voice she did not know, "At your leisure Commander. And the team working on the ship, they've just transported a child to us, looks about five or six. She's no communicating yet but she's under contorl."
"Under control?"
"A psionic. A very powerful one. We're receiving a lot of requests for medical attention. Its like the entire station has just woken up with a hangover."
"Very well, see to the crew and civilians first. I'll b ealong in due course."
Karen slumped back in her chair pinching the bridge of her nose. It wasn't over yet, not for her. Somehow she'd have to communicate with the reclusive Yevadians and return their daughter to their charge.
For the rest of the denizens of Deep Space Five it was time to forget the dark night before and to move on.
OFF
by Lieutenant JG Gralthek Sirran & Commander Karen Villiers & Lieutenant Commander Steve Wyman & Lieutenant JG Ronan Larel
Post Details
| Title | Cascade: The Conclusion | |
| Mission | Cascade | |
| Author(s) | Lieutenant JG Gralthek Sirran & Commander Karen Villiers & Lieutenant Commander Steve Wyman & Lieutenant JG Ronan Larel | |
| Posted | Sun Aug 25, 2013 @ 7:34pm | |
| Location | Quarantined Hanger Bay, Section C, Deck 1029 | |
| Timeline | SD72 |
Sirran nodded to the security officer. "Open it."
The security officer nodded back and punched in his code, and the large doors to the hangar bay motored open. The derelict ship remained just as they had left it, silent and still, and deceptively innocuous-looking.
Sirran was the first in, followed by Larel and nearly everyone else: Villiers, Wyman, security personnel, and probe techs carrying the interface probe in its launch cradle. The Andorian stopped short of the ship's open entry ramp and looked up into the darkness, then at Larel.
"Your show, Counselor. Take your time and let us know when you're ready."
Producing a small metallic cylinder about the size of a tube of lipstick, Steve held it out to Ronan, "This is that transporter beacon I mentioned. She may not look like much, but as long the power cell has some juice she'll pump out enough broad spectrum subspace carrier waves to light up half the station." Realizing how bad that sounded for anyone standing in close proximity to the beacon, he added, "Not enough to cause any lasting harm to living tissue, but suffice it to say I won't have any trouble getting a transporter lock on you."
Snapping off a quick salute to the counselor, he spun on his heels and headed for the door. "I've got transporter room 3 all set up. I'll monitor the situation from up there and yank you out at the first sign of shenanigans."
Nodding, Ronan accepted the beacon, and slid it into a pouch on the waist of his environmental suit. He was nervous, and if he was being honest, scared out of his wits about what he was going to find over on the ship. But he had a mission, and he knew the presence on the ship needed help. They might not want the help, but he had a duty to offer it regardless. Taking a deep breath, he tapped his combadge and said "Larel to Villiers. I'm standing by in the hanger Commander. Awaiting permisson to proceed."
"Go ahead, Lieutenant," she replied, "and good luck."
[Engineering Lab]
Back in the engineering lab Karen watched alone, her teeth clamped to the inside of her right cheek. The console beneath her damp palms was dead all save one blinking red button. That was the one that would signal evacuation of Deep Space Five if this incursion went wrong, an ill fated few remaining to allow time for the call to be sounded and the civilians moved out.
But it hadn't come to that.
Yet.
[In the Heart of the Ship]
The murmurs are growing closer again. Not like the first ones, the ones that wanted to find me, to enslave me. After the maelstrom that folowed, the screech of metal, the crack of blood and bone ... everything went quiet then ... hours, days ... then there were new searchers there.
I thought it was those who would either kill me or use me. In my rapture I treated them to the ebbing force of my power. It must have been weeks because there are thousands of minds out there and even in my ire I cannot touch them as I have been taught. I project my raidance though. That must count for ...
One is coming closer again ...
[Hangar Deck]
Sirran was also dressed in an environmental suit, but would stay outside. He watched from the ramp as Larel disappeared inside. Seconds later the probe, controlled remotely by the techs, followed him at a discreet distance. A gaggle of people were crowded around the monitor to watch the live feed. No one said a word.
[Transporter Room 3]
Silently, Wyman maintained his vigil. So far the transporter lock through Larel's comm badge was stable, and the emergency beacon was pinging away like the sonar of an Earth World War II era submarine. Through the sensors on the probe, he was able maintain visual contact with the counselor. But none of this made him any more comfortable.
"Mr. Wyman, the last time I saw you look this serious, I thought you were going to take a swing at me." Sharas remarked, standing as straight as a redwood next to the transporter control console.
Steve didn't look up from his monitoring of the sensor data. "Sharas?"
This took the Andorian aback, as Wyman had never once referred to him as anything other than his rank or sir in all the years they had known each other. Giving a very Vulcan-esque eyebrow arch, he asked, "Yes, Mr. Wyman?"
"Sharas, if this doesn't work - get Gwen and get the Hell out of here as fast as you can. get her to Drakt. Make sure she knows that Mommy and Daddy love her, and we're sorry. And tell Drakt he'll always be my brother..." By the end, Steve's eyes were starting to water as the emotion of the request got the better of him.
P'Trell had expected as much, and laid a hand on his comrade's shoulder. "Steven, you have my word of honor - no harm will come to Gwendolyn."
"Thank you... Commander."
It couldn't be more different from the agressive bickering that had occurred previously. Even one as emotionally detached as Karen could see the genuine feeling, passion and respect behind their words.
"Its time, Gentlemen," she said.
[XO's Office]
Anxious fingers drummed through the minutes.
Drawn away from the investigating team by the call from Ops - the Ivor Prime away team were high tailing it back to DS5, their discovery deemed too sensitive to commit to subspace. All she could do was wait.
Karen's impatience grew with every passing second. What arrogance to keep her in suspense. And why were the investigating team not keeping her informed?
The Executive Officer shot to her feet ready to storm from her office, back to the quarantined bay to berate them for their lack of progress and then for their lack of communication, then, just as she was about to punch the door control the band of pressure that had tightened around her skull slackened. With it her shoulders slumped and the pent up ire that had driven her began to dissapate.
Flummoxed Karen stumbled back and fell into her chair. She needed a medical check up - if she was feeling so tense why had she not doen it sooner? She hadn't even realised that she was a steel spring about to snap.
Karen hit her com badge, "Medical, I need an emergency appointment," she could not delay, Tahir was indisposed and that left her, and only her in charge.
The reply was swift, a male voice she did not know, "At your leisure Commander. And the team working on the ship, they've just transported a child to us, looks about five or six. She's no communicating yet but she's under contorl."
"Under control?"
"A psionic. A very powerful one. We're receiving a lot of requests for medical attention. Its like the entire station has just woken up with a hangover."
"Very well, see to the crew and civilians first. I'll b ealong in due course."
Karen slumped back in her chair pinching the bridge of her nose. It wasn't over yet, not for her. Somehow she'd have to communicate with the reclusive Yevadians and return their daughter to their charge.
For the rest of the denizens of Deep Space Five it was time to forget the dark night before and to move on.
OFF