Cascade – Digging Deeper
by Commander Karen Villiers & Lieutenant Commander Steve Wyman & Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin
Post Details
As she brushed the croissant crumbs from the surface of her desk console, Cori-Anne DeRoot was pleased to see the message that popped up behind the slight smear of butter that her touch had left behind.
The forensic eximiner and the anthropologist had done their work on the ship and had now moved to the lab leaving Cori-Anne as the sole investigator as far as she knew, and if she was honest the prospect of being entirely alone in the ghost vessel gave her the creeps.
Ensign Straggard, the Engineer who had been one of the party that brought the ship back had been deployed on an away mission, a development which left her wondering just who she could approach to get some assistance with getting under the skin of the ship. The notice that the newly arrived Chief Engineer had taken an interest in the project brought a smile to her face.
Her heart feeling lighter than it had all the previous evening Ensign DeRoot made her way to the hangar bay and input her code.
"Hold the Door!" Doctor Werbner called out, running up to the hangar bay. She looked a mess, haggard and pale skined. "thank you Ensign. I'd rather not be hanging around here on my own waiting for someone with the code."
Right as Werbner ran up, Wyman came around a corner, brushing toast crumbs from his jacket. "Good morning ladies. I've been made to understand that you need someone to help tear this weirdo ship apart and see how she ticks." he remarked, clasping his hands behind his back as he reached them.
Seeing the quizzical looks, he realized that neither of them knew who he was. "Oh. Right. Steve Wyman, recently arrived chief engineer. And by recent, I mean about ten hours ago."
"We're glad to have you along," Cori-Anne said with a nod, "weirdo ship isn't a bad description," she added, "something about it just isn't right." That was aside from the fact that whoever crewed it appeared to have been split into very small pieces and sprinkled around.
At least the goop was all cleared up now.
"Well right, wrong, or whatever - there's no engineering problem I can't solve with my tool kit." Steve remarked, holding the small, battered case aloft. It was clear it had seen better days and was far from a current model. Indeed, it had been with him since the Academy.
"Did you get any results yet?" she asked Werbner as the sequence completed itself and the small door opened to admit them.
In the back of his mind, Steve figured that the ship which was about to be presented to him wouldn't be all that out of the ordinary - that the science types were just over-exaggerating. Then the door opened and he got his first look. "Whoa... that's a new one in my book..." he muttered, his jaw agape.
Werbner nodded. "I'm reasonably sure its a Yevad ship. the system is from deep in the Beta quadrant. Minimal engagement by even the Klingons and Romulans, nothing official from the federation. They're notable for their attitude to telepathy. Worship their telepath's like minor deities, deified emperors almost. There's very little in the databanks about them, unfortunately. If I'm right, and it is them, then they are a very long way of the beaten track, and given the utter absence of crew, I suspect this is going to get...Diplomatic..."
"Yevad? I've never heard of them," Cori-Anne said. From what Werbner had told them they were dealing with something unknown apart from the scantest details. "When you say 'deities' what sort of powers do the Yevad presume them to have?"
The anthropologist looked up at the ship in the hangar. "I don't know. Could be anything, from the minor to the major. But deifying normally implies something impressive. I think we're looking more at Betazoids or Aenar than Vulcans or Kzinti."
Ever since he walked into the bay, Wyman's eyes had been fixed on the ship. Every engineer wanted to be the first one to tinker with something, and this was his chance. "Minimal contact with the Klingons, you say? I might know a guy who can grease a few wheels with High Command - maybe get us some intel they haven't shared with Starfleet. I also know a guy who knows a few things about species treating their rulers like Gods."
Taking his gaze off the ship for a moment to shoot a glance at DeRoot, he added, "Same guy, incidentally."
"Any information would be useful," Cori-Anne said, "I'm filing a daily report to the command team, and this additional data will be essential. There could be a threat either from the Yevad or even," she paused as the idea was half formed in her mind, "or even from something on board."
After his experience with security earlier that morning, Wyman was starting to wonder just how big an issue DS5 has had with crew going rogue. It seemed that security basically had the engineering and science staffs under a magnifying glass, and now DeRoot mentions a worry that something on board could be a threat. Or did she mean on board the ship? Steve wasn't entirely sure, but either option gave him pause. "Let's see what we can figure out on our own. My man Drakt is about as busy as they come, so if we can unravel this puzzle without bothering him, I'd rather leave him to his own duties."
"We went over the main areas yesterday, the bridge, engineering retracing where the away team went when they brought the ship in. I'd like to look into the private areas now, the crew quarters, communal areas. That might give us valuable information about who was aboard, even some clue as how to contact them. What do the rest of you plan?"
"if we could get into the computers, grab internal sensors and comms, that would probably be a good start." Werbner suggested. She didn't sound keen.
"Perhaps the Lieutenant could help with that," DeRoot suggested.
It was odd, but no-one, especially those who had already been on board seemed all that eager to walk up the ramp. Chit-chat, delay, anything but spend another day in the crucible.
Cracking his knuckles, Steve girded himself and stepped toward the ship. There was something gnawing in the back of his mind - a nagging feeling that had first manifested when he reached the corridor outside the docking bay. He hadn't really noticed it then, but the longer he stood next to the ship the stronger and more bothersome it got.
"Well, lets see what we can come up with. I'll find my way to the bridge and try to interface with the computer from there. If either of you need a hand in the crew compartment, let me know."
"Good luck, Lieutenant Wyman, and if you need us ..." Ensign DeRoot followed him up the ramp at the same time though their paths divided there.
The anthropologist followed de Root into the living areas of the ship, plitting from the ensign and into what was obviously shared living space for (presumably) the lower end crew. It was not pristine. some beds were neatly made, others tangled piles of bedding, others stripped. stains of sweat, and urine and other things marked some.
She shuddered. It was one of the strangest things shed ever seen. She opened a locker. it had a hook for a sidearm, missing. she opened another. empty. She opened a third two mangled eyeballs, extracted crudely, sat on the shelf, staring at her.
She didn't scream, too perturbed to even manage that. She just shut the door carefully, and leant against the locker breathing hard, before sinking down to the floor, head in her hands.
"Doctor Werbner?" At the sound Cori-Anne turned from the contents of the cabinet she was examining to see the anthropologist in distress. "Do you want to get some air?"
Ten minutes in and already the stress was showing.
But the anthropologist didn;t reply, only muttered over and over. "Not again. no more. No."
"Doctor," DeRoot snapped in an uncharacteristically harsh tone, especially towards a respected colleague, "pull yourself together!"
From a short distance away, Steve heard something of a commotion. "Well this is already going well..." he muttered, turning on his heel and running the direction the others had gone. Within moments he had found Werbner and DeRoot. The scientist was down on the deck and obviously distressed. "Doc? What the heck happened?"
"She looked in there and just started yelling," Cori-Anne had peeked in the locker herself and closed the door, "all that was meant to have been cleared out before we continued," she explained, livid that the forensics team had not done their job properly.
"No. No. No.!" The whispering was more frantic, then it turned into an agonised scream. Werbner threw her head back. There was a moment of preternatural stillness, and then her eyes burst, splattering her face - and the two other officers - with blood and vitrous humour. Then werbner slumped sideways.
As the anthropologist dropped DeRoot covered her mouth with her hand, eyes wide.
"Lieutenant," she gurgled to the Engineer through the bile in her palm, "I need to do some reading." Hell, she needed not to be here anymore.
Before Wyman could respond DeRoot was out of the door, failing to stem the growing pile of vomit in her hand.
TBC ...
by Commander Karen Villiers & Lieutenant Commander Steve Wyman & Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin
Post Details
| Title | Digging Deeper | |
| Mission | Cascade | |
| Author(s) | Commander Karen Villiers & Lieutenant Commander Steve Wyman & Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin | |
| Posted | Tue Feb 26, 2013 @ 5:23pm | |
| Location | Quarantined Hanger Bay, Section C, Deck 1029 | |
| Timeline | SD71 08:30 |
The forensic eximiner and the anthropologist had done their work on the ship and had now moved to the lab leaving Cori-Anne as the sole investigator as far as she knew, and if she was honest the prospect of being entirely alone in the ghost vessel gave her the creeps.
Ensign Straggard, the Engineer who had been one of the party that brought the ship back had been deployed on an away mission, a development which left her wondering just who she could approach to get some assistance with getting under the skin of the ship. The notice that the newly arrived Chief Engineer had taken an interest in the project brought a smile to her face.
Her heart feeling lighter than it had all the previous evening Ensign DeRoot made her way to the hangar bay and input her code.
"Hold the Door!" Doctor Werbner called out, running up to the hangar bay. She looked a mess, haggard and pale skined. "thank you Ensign. I'd rather not be hanging around here on my own waiting for someone with the code."
Right as Werbner ran up, Wyman came around a corner, brushing toast crumbs from his jacket. "Good morning ladies. I've been made to understand that you need someone to help tear this weirdo ship apart and see how she ticks." he remarked, clasping his hands behind his back as he reached them.
Seeing the quizzical looks, he realized that neither of them knew who he was. "Oh. Right. Steve Wyman, recently arrived chief engineer. And by recent, I mean about ten hours ago."
"We're glad to have you along," Cori-Anne said with a nod, "weirdo ship isn't a bad description," she added, "something about it just isn't right." That was aside from the fact that whoever crewed it appeared to have been split into very small pieces and sprinkled around.
At least the goop was all cleared up now.
"Well right, wrong, or whatever - there's no engineering problem I can't solve with my tool kit." Steve remarked, holding the small, battered case aloft. It was clear it had seen better days and was far from a current model. Indeed, it had been with him since the Academy.
"Did you get any results yet?" she asked Werbner as the sequence completed itself and the small door opened to admit them.
In the back of his mind, Steve figured that the ship which was about to be presented to him wouldn't be all that out of the ordinary - that the science types were just over-exaggerating. Then the door opened and he got his first look. "Whoa... that's a new one in my book..." he muttered, his jaw agape.
Werbner nodded. "I'm reasonably sure its a Yevad ship. the system is from deep in the Beta quadrant. Minimal engagement by even the Klingons and Romulans, nothing official from the federation. They're notable for their attitude to telepathy. Worship their telepath's like minor deities, deified emperors almost. There's very little in the databanks about them, unfortunately. If I'm right, and it is them, then they are a very long way of the beaten track, and given the utter absence of crew, I suspect this is going to get...Diplomatic..."
"Yevad? I've never heard of them," Cori-Anne said. From what Werbner had told them they were dealing with something unknown apart from the scantest details. "When you say 'deities' what sort of powers do the Yevad presume them to have?"
The anthropologist looked up at the ship in the hangar. "I don't know. Could be anything, from the minor to the major. But deifying normally implies something impressive. I think we're looking more at Betazoids or Aenar than Vulcans or Kzinti."
Ever since he walked into the bay, Wyman's eyes had been fixed on the ship. Every engineer wanted to be the first one to tinker with something, and this was his chance. "Minimal contact with the Klingons, you say? I might know a guy who can grease a few wheels with High Command - maybe get us some intel they haven't shared with Starfleet. I also know a guy who knows a few things about species treating their rulers like Gods."
Taking his gaze off the ship for a moment to shoot a glance at DeRoot, he added, "Same guy, incidentally."
"Any information would be useful," Cori-Anne said, "I'm filing a daily report to the command team, and this additional data will be essential. There could be a threat either from the Yevad or even," she paused as the idea was half formed in her mind, "or even from something on board."
After his experience with security earlier that morning, Wyman was starting to wonder just how big an issue DS5 has had with crew going rogue. It seemed that security basically had the engineering and science staffs under a magnifying glass, and now DeRoot mentions a worry that something on board could be a threat. Or did she mean on board the ship? Steve wasn't entirely sure, but either option gave him pause. "Let's see what we can figure out on our own. My man Drakt is about as busy as they come, so if we can unravel this puzzle without bothering him, I'd rather leave him to his own duties."
"We went over the main areas yesterday, the bridge, engineering retracing where the away team went when they brought the ship in. I'd like to look into the private areas now, the crew quarters, communal areas. That might give us valuable information about who was aboard, even some clue as how to contact them. What do the rest of you plan?"
"if we could get into the computers, grab internal sensors and comms, that would probably be a good start." Werbner suggested. She didn't sound keen.
"Perhaps the Lieutenant could help with that," DeRoot suggested.
It was odd, but no-one, especially those who had already been on board seemed all that eager to walk up the ramp. Chit-chat, delay, anything but spend another day in the crucible.
Cracking his knuckles, Steve girded himself and stepped toward the ship. There was something gnawing in the back of his mind - a nagging feeling that had first manifested when he reached the corridor outside the docking bay. He hadn't really noticed it then, but the longer he stood next to the ship the stronger and more bothersome it got.
"Well, lets see what we can come up with. I'll find my way to the bridge and try to interface with the computer from there. If either of you need a hand in the crew compartment, let me know."
"Good luck, Lieutenant Wyman, and if you need us ..." Ensign DeRoot followed him up the ramp at the same time though their paths divided there.
The anthropologist followed de Root into the living areas of the ship, plitting from the ensign and into what was obviously shared living space for (presumably) the lower end crew. It was not pristine. some beds were neatly made, others tangled piles of bedding, others stripped. stains of sweat, and urine and other things marked some.
She shuddered. It was one of the strangest things shed ever seen. She opened a locker. it had a hook for a sidearm, missing. she opened another. empty. She opened a third two mangled eyeballs, extracted crudely, sat on the shelf, staring at her.
She didn't scream, too perturbed to even manage that. She just shut the door carefully, and leant against the locker breathing hard, before sinking down to the floor, head in her hands.
"Doctor Werbner?" At the sound Cori-Anne turned from the contents of the cabinet she was examining to see the anthropologist in distress. "Do you want to get some air?"
Ten minutes in and already the stress was showing.
But the anthropologist didn;t reply, only muttered over and over. "Not again. no more. No."
"Doctor," DeRoot snapped in an uncharacteristically harsh tone, especially towards a respected colleague, "pull yourself together!"
From a short distance away, Steve heard something of a commotion. "Well this is already going well..." he muttered, turning on his heel and running the direction the others had gone. Within moments he had found Werbner and DeRoot. The scientist was down on the deck and obviously distressed. "Doc? What the heck happened?"
"She looked in there and just started yelling," Cori-Anne had peeked in the locker herself and closed the door, "all that was meant to have been cleared out before we continued," she explained, livid that the forensics team had not done their job properly.
"No. No. No.!" The whispering was more frantic, then it turned into an agonised scream. Werbner threw her head back. There was a moment of preternatural stillness, and then her eyes burst, splattering her face - and the two other officers - with blood and vitrous humour. Then werbner slumped sideways.
As the anthropologist dropped DeRoot covered her mouth with her hand, eyes wide.
"Lieutenant," she gurgled to the Engineer through the bile in her palm, "I need to do some reading." Hell, she needed not to be here anymore.
Before Wyman could respond DeRoot was out of the door, failing to stem the growing pile of vomit in her hand.
TBC ...