Yes I Would Like To Know More! Part 2/2

Posted on Wed Feb 23rd, 2022 @ 10:04am by Lieutenant Commander Lochlan Noir [GM] & Lieutenant Nikolai Andropov [Adoptable] & Lieutenant JG Corus Sprint [GM] & Lieutenant JG Jem Lockley [GM] & Game Master & Cenva Zanzi & Lieutenant JG Bennington Biraka [Zanzi] & Lieutenant JG Ralph Furlong [Adoptable] & Lieutenant JG Thaddeus Quint MD [GM] & Ensign Anastasia Targus [Adoptable] & Ensign Geno [Adoptable]
Edited on on Fri Jul 5th, 2024 @ 4:08pm

2,163 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Interdimensional Archives
Location: Starbase 616, Stasis Chambers, Medical Center
Timeline: After "Enter Starbase 616"

Non-Manifest NPCs
Master Warrant Officer Bhen Dae played by Talrain
Acting Security Chief

Petty Officer Alexander Garber played by Talrain
Security Team Lead

AND NOW THE CONCLUSION....

"I don't speak French," Dae said dryly but turned and indicated they were going to enter. Garber nodded and went first, bringing the rifle up to his shoulder. Dae followed Sprint into the dimly lit cargo bay. The silence of the room was heightened, it seemed, by the low susurration of the operating stasis pods. The room was cold to the point of chilly and, other than rows and rows of stasis pods, was empty. Except.

"Is that a gurney?" Dae asked as he looked down to the end of the row of pods facing each other and forming a corridor leading away from the cargo bay doors.

"Aye, Master Warrant," Garber answered, making slow sweeps with the end of his rifle. "Sensors indicate more security fields, we're stuck to this one row. Life signs are..." he sighed, his chilled breath a fine vapor before him. "Faint but there are some odd readings."

"Getting the same," Dae said, ignoring the faint life signs. The anomalous readings couldn't be defined in any logical manner and were - the only word that he thought fit - flitting from area to area.

"Various humanoid species," Garber said as he made his way down the row. "Male, female. No immediate pattern discernable. WHOA!"

Dae turned to Garber, seeing him at the end of the row. He made his way quickly but cautiously, keeping an eye on both sensor readings and the environment around him. "What is it, Petty Officer?"

"Weapons on this one," Garber said, staring at the last pod on the right. "Appears to be some form of combat armor. Not much different than Marine armor but...it has Starfleet insignia. Well, something like Starfleet insignia."

Dae sighed. "Okay, I'm not registering any threats, either of you?"

"Negative, Master Warrant," Garber answered. "Not seeing anything."

The Kobliad had tried to go to other areas of the large chamber, for there were many large doors in the walls that had their own illumination but Corus couldn't quite see much of anything else but the rows that were lit up. Both Garber and Dae went down one while Corus attempted to explore.

Each time he nearly got to one of the large doors, a forcefield was already blocking his way, what was worse was that has he retraced his path he could hear the forcefield following him. Maximum creepiness of the situation made a shiver run up his spine and it did warm him against the chamber's chilled state.

He wondered about those in the pods as he had encountered a few more, with the chamber's environment being cold it was disrupting the scans of the pods' inhabitants. Though to be honest Corus wasn't really looking when Dae called out to them. He was annoyed at the forcefields as he gave a reply. "No Chief," Corus labelled Dae with the man's positional nickname as many department heads are often referred to by their subordinates.

"Alright, but keep an eye out just in case. There's something hinky going on here and I don't like it."

"Hinky?" Garber asked.

"Yeah, it's French for creepy," Dae said with a smile as he headed back to the corridor. He found Noir and gave a report on what they did and did not find.

"Yeah, hinky is right," Garber murmured. He shivered without knowing why but wanted to get back to the main crowd. But as he moved past the second to last pod, he stopped. When he came down the row he was sure that these pods were all full, now it seemed this one was empty. He still saw the rime of frost on the interior glass but it was now definitely empty. Further, it seemed as if the pod were opened. He bent for a closer look at the panel and seals when the area went dark and he was knocked from behind, into the stasis pod.

"What the-" he started to yell but his rifle was snatched. The movement surprised him enough that the rifle was ripped out of his hands. He heard it clatter several feet away, but in the dark he couldn't tell where it was thrown. That, however became the least of his worries as he was grabbed by unseen hands and pushed back, against the force field. The shock of the field coursed through his body causing him to scream out.

Lochlan had commented on the gurney and about to say something else when a scream came from one of the rows of pods. Master-At-Arms Corus Sprint immediately ran off in the direction of the gurney. It hadn't been at the start of the row before, Lochlan would have noticed as he raced after the Kobliad with Tactical Officer Ensign Anastasia Targus, Science Officer Lieutenant JG Jem Lockley and Executive Officer Lieutenant Nikolai Andropov trailing behind a moment later.

They found a somewhat darkened part of the chamber that was surrounding a pod, Lochlan assumed as otherwise there'd be a designed gap. This time the Joined Trill Acting Commanding Officer approached the blackness and could hear a forcefield. He reached out to touch it and upon contact it immediately vanished like the first time. Apparently the field had been set to opaque with black. When they crowded the pod, Garber was inside and the pod door was just about to close.

Sprint acted and grabbed the pod door, he was attempting to stop it from closing while forcing it open again, he grunted when the door seemed to want to close. Nik jumped in to help. That prompted Lochlan to assist as well. Meanwhile, Jem gestured at Biraka to help her with checking the Security officer or at least try to pull him out.

Bennington Biraka struggled, trying to pull at Garber's arms then moving to his shoulders, but he was more than a limp body that he could sling over his shoulder. There was suction, or restraints - something make the officer impossible to move. Biraka grunted with the effort as the pod door momentarily touched his arm, ticking down an imaginary clock.

"Garber!" Corus called as he strained against the pod door which seemed to increase its strength. Nik was grunting as well while helping along with Lochlan. Though the door simply stopped and opened fully once Lochlan's hands had made full contact, on the inside of the pod's glass a message could be found that appeared to be from the computer. --'Speak aloud this code and full name, please, I can help!'--

Usually he would ignore a message like this, but one of his crew nearly got iced so he decided to do so before the counterforce that came back and could take Garber from them. "Two Six Three Delta Atlas Purple. Lochlan Noir." He announced.

=/\=Command code accepted, initiating countermeasures... Warning only partial measures successful.=/\= The computer replied unprompted, it must have tapped into their combadges.

"Biraka, let's get him out of the pod." Jem said as she grabbed one of Garber's arms. "Petty Officer!!!" She called.

The invisible field that had been holding Garber securely in the pod was gone and now Biraka's effort was used to keep the officer from meeting with gravity and falling on his face.

Knocked unconscious before being placed into the stasis pod, Garber's dead weight worked against Jem's attempts to free him from the pod.

Meanwhile the station seemed to come to life. =/\=Accessing Security systems... Warning only partial forcefield deactivations successful and Sixty percent of primary systems control restored, reinforcing firewall...=/\=

A scream not of natural quality came through the speakers and it sounded Feral, Angry, Loud and Short.

Lochlan cringed at it, he stepped aside to give more room to Jem and Biraka, he became distracted for he recalled what the computer had said earlier. 'Command code accepted...' The only conclusion that could mean is that in the station's universe his counterpart is the Commanding Officer.

Biraka finished wrestling with the dead weight and had Gerber over his shoulder. He looked around, trying to decide on a safe place to set him down.

=/\=A temporary lockout of the device achieved, unknown if it will hold.=/\=

It seemed that the computer was dealing with things, and because of him, it had received a victory. Lochlan wondered against what but didn't push for it when he spoke up. "Looks like we have a guardian angel." Lock said with a chuckle.

Corus who was between assisting Garber and staring at the 'Captain', he'd caught what the computer had said, though he was amused that their CO's counterpart was this station's Commanding Officer. Meanwhile, with the pod open and majority of the forcefields down, Lieutenant Nikolai Andropov had already grabbed a team of Security and others went exploring as but sensor sweeps could detect several were still in place blocking the way into certain areas of the station.

"HEY!" Dae shouted as loud as he could at the backs of the others. "MEDICAL OVER HERE!" He then knelt down at the unconscious Garber, unsure what injured the petty officer and caused him to lose consciousness. He noted the rifle on the ground in front of a pod and made sure another security officer secured it. "Let's get him onto that gurney," Dae said. If the gurney were still powered, it would be able to perform limited diagnostics.

"And all of you," Dae said, still yelling, "stay with your assigned security escort! I'm serious! Any of you get hurt by wandering off by yourself and I'll...I'll...oh hell, I'll just shoot you myself!"

Corus was already helping Jem get Garber out of the pod and onto the gurney, he hoped it was not under the station's control. He turned to Biraka. "Is he okay?" He asked ignoring the yelling goon of Dae and wondered how the security chief had missed Jem and Biraka there helping.

"He has a knock on the back of his head. I'll need to monitor him for a concussion and hemorrhaging," Biraka answered.

Meanwhile Lieutenant Andropov turned back to the yelling Dae and raised an eyebrow. He then gesture to the Security officers with him. "Dae! If you haven't noticed Medical is already helping, and I am with an escort, get it together man!" Nik said encouragingly.

Lochlan was behind Dae, Jem, Corus and Biraka for he didn't want to be in the way. He knew Garber was in good hands and though he wasn't impressed with the Security Chief's loss of professionalism, he glanced down the row of pods to the end as he waited for Dae to calm the hell down.

He went to the last two and saw that the control displays had turned on. They were off before he wasn't sure, the one he was looking at had a healthy status, Lochlan smiled then turned to the opposite one. It had a health warning on the display of an injury that could kill the occupant unless treated upon exiting Stasis.

Well Biraka had his work cut out for him unless they beam back to the Righteous, Lochlan wasn't sure that was an option but once Biraka checked out Garber he'd have to examine this sleeper and another doctor can tend to Garber.

Corus was worried but had to keep an eye on Dae, he glanced over at Jem, though she had turned to Biraka.

"Can you take him back to the ship?" Jem asked Biraka. It sounded like she wanted to stay and investigate, she is a science officer afterall and not a medic. Other medical personnel soon joined them after Dae's yell, and they immediately waited for their superior's orders. "I suggest the transporter," Jem suggested with a smile as she and Corus watched.

"Well, I was planning to go out the way I came," Biraka looked Jem straight in her eye, his hand had already been over his comm badge before she offered the suggestion of the transporters. Any telepaths would be able to hear the scolding of "I'm not a moron." In fact, anyone who had the slightest clue over nonverbal communication would hear that too. He tapped his badge, "This is Biraka, two to beam directly to sickbay."

Jem watched the transporter effect take Biraka and Garber. Lieutenant JG Thaddeus Quint MD, was among those who joined them, he nodded to the pods. "Shall we see to them?" Quint suggested to Jem, though she shook her head.

"I am not a medical officer, you have many here. I'm going off with Andropov." Jem stood and grinned. "Have fun." She added as she made her way to join the acting executive officer.

Thaddeus sighed but he had a few others with him. "Okay let's get to work." He said to the other medical officers and they joined the Captain by the last 2 pods.

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