Discovering the Unknown (Part 4)
Posted on Sun Jul 4th, 2021 @ 8:11am by Lieutenant JG Vespa Kale & Captain Dirk Taggart & Lieutenant Commander Deannen Roinu & Lieutenant Commander Arianna Sky Kamar & Major Naomi Sylan Griffiths & Lieutenant Shri'Rao Sh'veqan & Lieutenant Commander James Trallos MD & Lieutenant Adora (Addie) Hart
Edited on on Sun Jul 4th, 2021 @ 8:15am
Mission: Exploring the unknown
[Somewhere on the Ship]
Addie moved quietly through the ship, head down, one step after another, each step bringing a new surge of anger. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't block out the anger, the voices she could feel intruding in her mind. She needed to resolve the situation, starting with the First Officer, then the Captain, then the rest of the ship. She had to cleanse. The ship had to be purged.
Glancing upward, she noted her location then glanced around quickly to make sure no one was looking. Her emergency medical override code worked allowing her access. She slipped through the doors, waiting until they closed behind her before she padded through the spacious quarters to the bedroom.
The Captain's quarters was very sparsely decorated, very little in the way of personal touches, except for a holo image of a pretty brunette on the beach, laughing at the camera. Addie slipped the hypospray back into her pocket and started rummaging. It only took a few moments to find the phaser. It wasn't exactly well hidden. Top drawer of the bedside table. How very predictable. The predictability of it seemed to rile her anger even more. Grabbing the phaser, she tested it to make sure it was working before she slipped it into her other pocket and headed back out into the corridor. Her next stop was the bridge.
[Bridge / Captain's Ready Room]
Taggart sat in the Ready Room calming himself by reading his personal correspondence. It had been a few hours since the incident with the Major and the Counsellor, and he decided it was time for another Department Head check-in. As he stepped onto the Bridge he felt the shudder of the ship's movement from the engine coming online.
Griffith's was left in command of the bridge while the Captain was in the Captain's Ready Room as more and more reports had come in or more incidents, any off duty security personnel and marines has been assigned to security to help try and contain the situation.
He stepped onto the Bridge and contacted engineering as he sat in his chair. "Engineering, give me some good news."
Shri'Rao was at her station on the bridge.
"Major security reports the fighting seems pacified, for now, the antagonists have been rounded up and confined to quarters, there simply wasn't enough room in the brig. We have implemented a curfew, anyone, not on duty is confined to quarters until a more permanent solution is found to this space or whatever it is causing the anger issues". Shri'Rao said.
Looking at the Andorian "Thank you, Lieutenant, excellent work" Griffiths responded the Captain was there as that report came in so she felt no need to pass it on.
"Engineering here.......warp core is coming back online. ETA 5 minutes.....then get the HELL away from here fast!" Arianna roared.
After the report from the Chief Engineer finished Griffith's walked up to the Captain and spoke quietly "Captain while you was in the CRR I had to use all remaining off duty security personnel and what marines we have to assist with containing the riots below decks, my qualified assessment sir is if we do not get out of this nebula soon this will be the Starfleet version of the Barge of the dead. When I was down in Medical the number of casualties was bad and more coming in all the time, if something is not done, we will not survive this" Griffith's said.
Taggart's grip on his chair tightened and his knuckles turned white as he fought for control, he took a deep breath and thought of a sunset on Seychelles before responding, "Thank you, Major, I'm doing the best I can to keep things together. I'm walking a fine line here, but at least with the progress from engineering things should improve a bit." He was about to say more when the turbolift doors chimed.
The turbolift doors parted and Addie could see the bridge in front of her. The anger through the ship was now palpable. She could feel it throbbing through the ship, even more so on the bridge. Making her way onto the bridge, Addie moved sideways from the door, keeping her back to the bulkhead as she pulled the stolen phaser from her pocket, disengaging the safety and arming the phaser. Holding it up in front of her, her hands surprisingly steady despite the surging anger she could feel, she fired once, a single shot that, though barely missing Major Griffiths, definitely got everyone's attention.
At the sound of a Phaser going off and narrowly missing her head, Naomi did a combat roll backwards and remained crouched "what in the name of the Prophets!" she exclaimed.
At the sound of the shot Taggart's tense body uncoiled like a tension spring being released, he was out of his chair and moving towards the door when he realized it was the Counsellor with the weapon. "Stand down Lieutenant," he said as he faced her and took another step forward."
"Don't think your paygrade means I won't shoot your ass too Captain," Addie shot back quickly, her voice rising slightly, eyes flicking momentarily toward Taggart before back to Major Griffiths. "She tried to kill me." Anger pulsed through her, growing rapidly as the thought consumed her. The voices and anger from the rest of the ship were getting harder and harder to ignore. "Now I'm going to kill her!"
"Counselor, my order was to stand down, " the Captain said as he faced her. "I don't think the Major handled that situation correctly, but I don't believe that's a reason to murder her."
From her crouched position "Lieutenant Hart, I was not trying to kill you, I simply rendered you unconscious as you lost self-control and tried to attack us, I did it for your safety as well as ours, I also lingered in Medical to make sure you were okay, now please Lieutenant Hart put down the weapon and we will get the doctor up here to help" Griffith's said.
"I don't believe you," the venom was clear in Addie's voice as she spat each word toward the Marine First Officer. "And I don't trust you. No one trusts you. Not even the Captain trusts you." Again, her voice was filled with venom and vitriol. She held the phaser firmly, carefully trained on Griffiths, back firmly against the bulkhead to steady herself, her grasp unwavering.
[Sciences]
Rouni accompanied them to the Lab and took a seat. She smiled, "I have been getting a lot of angry thoughts lately. Happy will be much liked."
Vespa gave a pair of nods, "Alright, so it might not be ideal, but I'm going to ask you to reach out and see if you can read me, while I'm scanning a few local frequencies and wavelengths." the Dalacari scientist announced.
"I don't know if there's been documented contact between a single instance mind and a Dalacari mind, so this might be a bit odd, but I did promise happy..."
"... thoughts, so I'll try to hold up my end of the bargain. I can't say it won't be weird, but we'll all make it through." a few taps on her scanner panel, "Ready when you are."
Rouni smiled, "I hope this goes quickly, I am needed on the Bridge and may have to go there if called. I would enjoy some happy thoughts as well. Been getting too many negative thoughts lately." As She smiled.
"I'll just think of home," she commented as she started her scan. Vespa's thoughts did indeed go home. Alien architecture, mostly curves and rounded edges, streets full of other paired beings like herself, walking and enjoying life. Not a care in the world. Proper temperature, proper humidity, proper gravity. Everything was peaceful, really. It was a little crowded for the likes of a single instance life form, but for the duality that was the Dalacari, it seemed comfy. Vespa seemed to enjoy it. Then a voice came. Metallic, synthetic, but not at all unpleasant.
:: Do you require assistance? ::
The voice came from a lone drone, a bipedal mechanism, offering assistance. That's when Roni's trip through Vespa's mind started to get weird. How did she not notice them before? These drones were *everywhere*. Driving their vehicles, patrolling their skies, sweeping their streets, carrying their packages, administering first aid to crying children, escorting troublemakers, serving ice cream, working the gift shop, flying the shuttles, pulling the trigger, fighting the battles they were everywhere!
:: Do you require assistance? :: was their battle cry on the civilian front. In every walk of life, whenever a Dalacari stopped for just a moment, looking, admiring, considering, anything... :: Do you require assistance? ::
Everywhere you:: Do you require assistance? :: looked, everywhere you went. In:: Do you require assistance? :: the office. In the workplace. In the:: Do you require assistance? :: shops. In the cafes. In their homes. :: Do you require assistance? ::
And Vespa seemed to call THIS... a happy train of thought.
:: Do you require assistance? ::
They also managed the trains.
Rouni could not help but smile as she was reading Vespa's thoughts. It was so relaxing to get good thoughts and not bad thoughts for a change. She continued to do what she was needed to do for the experiment as she wanted to confirm her suspicions that it was alive and the nebula feed on angry thoughts. If she was right we would be able to escape.
The Dalacari ran a few scans while she was going through the rather unusual sensation of having her mind probed. It was an unusual experience indeed to have a second person in there, though the data was very much worth it. A few minutes of this doubly invasive scan and Vespa shook her head, "Okay, okay out. Out out out." a pause, then a snap of jaws, "I said out." as she lost her patience. Was the nebula's effect really that volatile?
She compared these results to a few other scans she was running and shook her head. She said something in her native tongue, that didn't quite translate, but it sounded for all the world like a curse word. The native tongue of Dalacar was so beautiful in its duality. Both mouths worked together to produce entirely different tones and sounds. Elegant, despite the word she probably used.
"You're free to go." she dismissed the moment, taking a PaDD with the psychic scan results along with the atmosphere scan results and she all but stomped her way out of Science. Destination, the Bridge.
MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE [BRIDGE]...
Captain Dirk Taggart eased another step forward, his years in Security had helped hone his skills, keep the target's focus, maintain eye contact, no sudden movements, and keep the target calm. "Counsellor," He said in a steady, calm voice, covering the waves of anger just below the surface, "I gave you a direct order to stand down, now hand me the phaser before you do something you will regret. The Major was only trying to help."
Naomi was crouched on the floor and remained there as the Captain dealt with the Counsellor who had seemed to have totally lost all sense of control, this latest incident only served to erode her own self-control, being a marine allowed her to control such emotions easier than non-marines, but even she was not immune to the effects on a long term basis and this was turning out to be long-term.
There was something inside her that snapped. A sense of logic, a sense of control, a sense of care, regardless, it was now gone. Everything the Captain just said directly belied everything he had said to her. Her gaze moved to his eyes, eyes that widened slightly as they locked with her own, almost as if he somehow now recognised the primal rage that burned within her.
He may have recognized it now, but it was a case of too little too late. The scream that passed her lips echoed every ounce of anger she felt within her, exploding like a volcano. Her hand moved slightly and the stun beam of the phaser hit the Captain square in the middle of the chest, leaving him to crumble in front of her, clearing her field of view for the rest of the bridge.
No sooner had he crumpled to the deck, Addie's thumb dialled up the intensity of the phaser, leaving it somewhere about halfway as the phaser retrained, this time her target was clearly Major Griffiths. Again, she fired before anyone could respond or react, the Major crumpling to the ground in a similar fashion to the Captain, only this time rendered clearly unconscious, not just mildly stunned.
The sound of the turbolift doors opening startled Addie and she rounded toward them, expecting a security detail, instead of finding herself face to face with the helm officer and the dual form of Vespa, the Chief Science Officer.
The phaser fired again, Lieutenant Commander Rouni her next victim to take fire before Addie turned the phaser to the closest form of Vespa, again firing, again watching as the fourth body fell victim to the particle beam weapon she wielded.
It was then her focus shifted to the remaining form of Vespa, the shocked hurt expression on her face being the thing Addie actually registered. Her hand wavered slightly, the phaser falling to the deck as she slid slowly down the bulkhead, pulling her knees up, her hands covering her ears as she tried to block out the sounds of the hurt she'd added to the existing anger.
A moment later the ship's com rang out. =/\= Sickbay to Bridge. Captain, Counselor Hart drugged me and escaped. She is extremely dangerous. If she shows up, restrain her. I'll sedate her with my fist.=/\= the doctor communicated.
Vespa, meanwhile, hardly had time to process the scene. "I got your resu-" and that's when the burning lance of energy struck her. One of her. Her on the left. It was going to be hard for all these pesky single-instance lifeforms to write the report accurately. She herself would summarize it simply as... I've been shot.
Stunned, limp, the one form of Vespa Kale fell to the floor and landed with an unceremonial flop. Her conscious form, right beside her, screamed with the pain of the phaser shot that ran through her. They say it didn't hurt... but THEY were stunned by the time the pain receptors flared up. The shock, the burn, the pain... and then the worst part. She was alone. Single. Stranded.
She knew it was temporary, she knew she'd be help me fine just had to help me give it some time. The screams and shouts of the help me room were a distant, muffled din to the Dalacari. She knelt down next to help me her form, so concerned and wanting to help but everytime she reached out help me she stopped just short of contact. Stopped just shy of being able to help herself. Save herself.
help me
Her fur was matted down in trails as tears streamed down help me her conscious face, her unconscious face pristine, preserved for all time.
The door opened and as it did Rouni stepped out and was stunned immediately. She fell to the floor totally knocked out.
Tag: Reactions to stunned officers
Rouni laid there for and an undetermined amount of time and was slowly starting to get her senses back. She raised and looked around. She tapped her com badge. =/\= Security Alert and attack occurred on the Bridge. Several are down, send Security and medical.=/\=
A few moments later, riding up the turbolift was the doctor and two security officers. He grabbed the ones from his sick bay to follow him up. He also grabbed his phaser from the security locker. "Set phasers to stun, wide beam. When those doors open, anything standing gets stunned. I'll wake up the Captain and the Major and get to the bottom of this." He said. He was still fighting off the sedative but was in control, and none too happy.
The doors opened and the security team broke out through the bridge followed by the doctor with all three phasers covering the bridge. To the doctor's surprise, there were only a few people not already stunned. Seeing the bridge now secure, he went down to the command level and saw the Captain and the Major on the floor. He walked in front of the chairs and pulled a hypo and looked at the Captain. "You're no Kamar." He said and paused and looked a little surprised and conflicted. He was angry at him, but couldn't see why. "But I barely know you yet. That's not fair of me." He paused. Kamar. They needed to get the ship out of here.
He went to his com badge but hesitated, he was about to give a command order. He walked over to the Majors chair and sat down in it. She could kill him later. =/\= Bridge to Engineering. Get us out with anything, thrusters or anything fancy you got there. The bridge is offline for a little while and we all will be soon if we don't go now. =/\= oO Nice chair. I need to get myself one of these for sickbay. Oo
The noise and chaos as everyone burst onto the bridge cut through the otherwise emotionally clouded mind. Addie spent half a second assessing the situation. Her position to the right of the turbolift and close to the bulkhead, as well as being on the floor, gave her freedom from the rest of the manic panic as it was occurring. With one hand sliding forward, her fingers wrapped around the phaser, pulling it back toward her as she looked up, wide eyes taking in the scene before her as both medical and security burst onto the bridge, completely oblivious to her presence as they rushed toward the command staff.
Reaching up, she pulled her commbadge from her chest, pushing it onto the carpet as close as possible to the bulkhead before climbing silently to her feet. Addie held the phaser behind her back as she inched toward the turbolift, stepping in and closing the doors behind her, giving her a destination.
She only went two decks down, not far enough to give anyone a chance to notice her missing, but enough to give her a chance to get away, to put distance between herself and the rest of the chaos.
Once she was free of the turbolift, Addie started running along the corridor, knowing full well she had a solid amount of time to do something, anything before someone found her again.
"FINALLY! We are outta here!" Arianna said as she entered the coordinates to get the Pennsylvania outta the nebula. Taking the ship to warp 6, she flew the ship out of the nebula as fast as warp 6 would take them. =/\= Engineering to Bridge, if you will look at the view screen you will see we are outta the bloody damn nebula. I suggest you put a hazard or warning buoy there before we leave=/\= Arianna huffed as her anger started to diminish slowly. Looking around engineering, she saw several of her people bruised, bloody and a few teeth laying on the deck. "Oh boy, sickbay is gonna flip. Get your butts to sickbay and get cleaned up. We still have work to do....sheesh," she said shaking her head which now pulsed with a hell of a headache.
He leaned down and pressed the hypo to the Major's neck and then moved over to the Captain and waking him up as well. He went back to the Major. "Rise and shine sunshine. Who do I get to throw out of the airlock first?" He asked.
From the moment the beam has hit her Naomi felt pain followed by blissful silence and the effects of the nebula was no longer affecting her, but strangely she did not dream, the next thing she knew was something pressed to her neck and she opened her eyes and groaned as she looked at the Doctor, "Hi Jim, where is the counsellor? She stunned us, I think her telepathic senses went into overload, I am feeling a lot calmer, have we left the nebula?" Griffith's asked.
"Everyone is out except security, you, me, and the Captain." He said. "She took a trick from your book and sedated me in sickbay." He nodded to security and put his arm around her and helped her get into her chair. Security helped the Captain and seated him into his command chair. "I think we are. Commander Kamar warped us out of here. Must have been the nebula. I don't feel like spacing anyone. Almost feel bad for being that grumpy." He said and took his tricorder and began scanning the Captain and then the Major.
"Captain, if the Major is right, I'd like the Counsellor taken and secured in sickbay. If she overloaded, she is going to need treatment."
Taggart nodded, "Find her, I want armed security posted with her until she gets her head on straight."
Rouni leaned against the bulkhead for a few minutes and with some help from a Security NCO she was able to sit at her station. "Captain sensors show we are away from the nebela and putting distance between us." The doctor gave her and injection to deal with the effects of being stunned. And she took control of her station.
=/\="Commander Rouni, helm has been restored to you. Thankyou for flying Pennsylvania Airlines, flown by Kamar International Industries"=/\= Arianna said coyly and closed the comm, sitting down finally.
The comment about Kamar Airlines, and the earlier comments by the Major saying she was only there to do things he wouldn't were rankeling under his skin. They twisted in his gut like an angry eel and he couldn't hold back any longer.
"What the Hell? This is still my ship, I'm not Kamar, I'd appreciate it if my bridge team would give me a damn chance. I am not him, I prefer to run a tight ship and I like making decisions for myself. Jumping to warp in that nebula was extremely dangerous, shooting the counselor with hypospray was also dangerous. I was Security for foreign dignitaries in Frisco. I can handle myself in a situation, I don't need everyone being cowboys and doing what they think is right. If I'm completely incapacitated, then the Chain of Command is followed but not before. Rouni, bring us to warp, I'll be in the Ready Room," Taggart said as he angrily left the bridge.
His first mission was a disaster, so many of the crew made their own decisions without his input. No wonder Kamar was relieved of command, he thought as he sat at his desk.
Time to wrap it up
