The Liberation of the Utica

Posted on Sun Jun 20th, 2010 @ 5:34pm by Senior Chief Petty Officer Gilbert Bones [PNPC] & Lieutenant Commander Nilani Prax & Lieutenant JG Callaigh Roland & Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Maddux

Mission: Commissioned
Location: Crew Decks

[ON]

Callaigh moved quietly behind the two petty officers who'd been assigned to the small rescue team, keeping as safe a distance as she could from the newly accquired Maddux. She didn't have Dr. Daniel's faith that simply because he seemed okay didn't mean it couldn't change at any point in time. Glancing over, she side stepped to fall in next to Lt. Prax and peered at the scanning device. "How many life signs are we looking at here?"

"I can't be sure," Nilani replied. Though she was concentrating on her tricorder, she was clearly aware of her surroundings, as she navigated around a loose bulkhead that had fallen on the floor and been left there by a member of the ship's crew at some point. She also seemed to either be less concerned about, or simply indifferent to Maddux's presence, her behaviour not really changing since they had picked up their new guide. "My tricorder's getting too many variables. Either there are a number of dampening fields around the ship that are constantly changing, someone's messing with my tricorder, or the actual life signs are shifting in and out of sensor readings."

Maddux, walking out in front of the group, shook his head and chuckled inwardly. "Or maybe none-of-the-above," he said, injecting a sinister tone into his voice and leaving any possible implications of what he had said to the rampant imaginations of all these young, uptight Starfleet officers around him. Still, better to be stuck with these people moving through the ship's corridors than trapped in that little quad-room with those whiny officers straight out of the Academy.

The whole voyage had been unusual from the start, and when they diverted to that Klingon outpost, things had become bizarre very quickly. All Maddux knew was that something had "happened" to some of his shipmates, as if they were possessed by some ancient terror, and he had found himself confined to quarters. Since he wasn't involved in command, medical, engineering or security, he had no clue what had happened to some of the crew, and now was no time to speculate. He resolved to keep moving toward the next group of crew quarters.

Nilani simply smiled at the warrant officer's comment. "Life on a haunted ship isn't getting you jumpy, is it?" she chuckled.

Bones was entirely uncertain as to why he'd been sent along but figured he was probably safer out here. He kept his fingers gripped tightly around his phaser as his eyes darted between the screen of his tricorder and the pulsating light of the corridor. "Is it much further?"

Jennings quickened his pace, just enough to put him out ahead of the group as a scout. The darkened corridors made it difficult to see, and with Lieutenant Prax's tricorder difficulties, he didn't want them to be caught off guard. Jennings didn't find any resistance, but he did find another secured quarters. "Lieutenant Prax, I think I might have found more survivors. These quarters are secured just like where we found Warrant Officer Maddux."

Nilani moved up to the door of the secured room and held her tricorder up against the metal. "Yeah, I'm definitely getting a signal of life signs inside," she said, before snapping the tricorder shut, tucking it into her belt pouch and moving to pry off the bulkhead at floor level next to the door to release the locking clamps, similar to the last set of quarters.

Jennings nodded to the Petty Officer Katarn. They both took up positions on either side of the door, ready to assess any threat that may lie on the other side.

Tapping at a few of the controls to bypass the system override in much the same way as she had with Maddux's prison, Nilani took hold of the manual release lever and looked up to the security officers. Giving a small nod, she pulled at the manual release as the doors hissed open, and the forcefield deactivated.

The dim light in the crew cabin affected their ability to see but the crew on the other side could see. They had grabbed whatever they could to protect themselves from the people that they thought they knew. They tightly gripped pieces of bulkheads, table-legs and whatever makeshift weapons they could get their hands on. They waited in the shadows for their oppressors to come through the door.

As Katarn and Jennings crossed the threshold, the lights on their rifles illuminating the room, a glass bowl flew across the room and smashed on the bulkhead behind the two security officers. They turned and fired a volley of phaser fire towards the source of the attack but didn't hit anyone.

"Starfleet Security! Come out with your hands in the air!" Jennings ordered.

The crewmembers who had been trapped in the room came forward, emerging into the light with their eyes wide in fear. They looked, not at the officers who were saving their lives, but straight down the barrels of Katarn and Jennings' rifles.

Just then, Prax' comm-badge began to chirp incessantly. "Gunning to Prax. Be vigilant, some of the infected crew may appear as normal."

"You just love to keep my on my toes, don't you commander?" Nilani responded, moving past the security officers towards the personnel standing in the room. "Lights," she murmured, blinking just before the computer complied to allow her eyes better chance to adjust easily. Moving along each of them, she ran the tricorder over them, before putting it back at her belt and pronouncing "They seem clean. No mad-horror-movie symptoms that this can pick up at least," she said, patting the device at her belt.

Callaigh edged forward, applying the caution that was due to this unstable ship and crew to her movements. "They seem to be alright." She hoped she sounded more sure than she was. A few more seconds slipped by and Callaigh nodded. "Yes, they don't pose a threat." At least, this group didn't; but she wouldn't add that. These poor people looked frightened enough.

Nilani looked to Maddux. "Anyone here who might be able to tell us what's been going on?" she asked him. "Or should we just keep moving and try to free the rest of the crew?"

Just then, one of the officers in the room piped up. "Commander Berkley is being held in the Officer's Quarters on deck two. You've got to reach them!"

At the woman's last word, a pale pink gas began to flood the room. The computer voice suddenly chimed. "Decontamination flood program activated. Please remain in your position."

[OFF]

Lieutenant (JG) Nilani Prax
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant (JG) Callaigh Roland
Chief Counselor

Master Warrant Officer Daniel Maddux
Intelligence Officer: USS Utica

Master Warrant Officer Gilbert Bones
Assistant Chief Engineer
[Played by Cmdr Gunning]

Petty Officer Kyle Katarn
Security Officer

Petty Officer Warren Jennings
Security Officer
[Both played by Lt Von]