Dark Discoveries

Posted on Mon Jun 15th, 2009 @ 4:01pm by Captain Elsie Halliwell & Lieutenant JG Ador Shran

1,144 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
Location: Deck 6, Jeffries Tube 8-E
Timeline: Current

Ador paced his up and down his office. He was beginning to get angry. He had instructed his Assistant Chief, Turoc, to report his findings about the gel-pack as soon as possible. His usual cool demeanor was beginning to wear thin.

"Ensign Turoc." Ador said into his combadge. He was answered with silence. His frustration level climbed. He was beginning to worry as this was the fifth time had called in 15 minutes.

"Computer what is the location of Ensign Turoc?" Ador asked the ship's computer.

"Ensign Turoc is on Deck 6, in Jeffries Tube 8-E," the computer replied monotonously.

"Damn it!" Ador swore. He grabbed his type 2 phaser and his tricorder and headed for the hatch.

Ador stormed down the corridor to the turbolift. When he got there the full car emptied upon his entry. Crewmen scattered to escape this tall Andorian Marine in gold uniform. His scarred visage made them start and his demeanor was that of a junkyard dog on a bad day.

When he reached Deck Six he made his way directly to the Jefferies tube access point. He swore incoherently as he crawled to junction 8-E. As he approached, he saw the limp form of his assistant.

"Son of a Bitch, what the hell happened Turoc?" He asked even though he knew from the angle of his neck that he was dead. He drew his tricorder and began scanning as he hit his com-badge.

"Lieutenant Shran to Captain Lane." He said in a calm cold voice.

The Trill was sat on the bridge perusing the latest power-grid reports handed to him by Chief Warrant Jackson. Still no closer to discovering how this virus was ripping through the ship's systems, or more importantly who had injected it into the initial pack, his patience was wearing thin, also. The whole ship seemed to be on-edge. Naturally, the news of the virus and its delivery had filtered down through the ranks. The captain knew that this was something that was inevitable, especially on such a small vessel, and knew that he would have been powerless to stop it had he made his mind up to do so.

"Lane here, Lieutenant," the Captain replied after tapping his combadge.

=^=Captain, my assistant has been murdered while investigating the sabotage. I believe a full security lock down of the ship is in order. I am at Jefferies Tube Junction 8-E."=^= Shran said with a cold fury that only a practiced ear could hear. He was already plotting his revenge for this attack on his man.

The colour from both his complexion and his dark Trill markings drained from his face as though a sluice had been opened at his throat. "Mr. Shran. Stay there. I'm on my way." He stood from his chair, nodded to a young lieutenant sat at the helm and said, "You have the bridge." As he hurriedly strode over to the turbolift, he tapped his combadge again.

"Lane to Mrs. Gray. Come in."

The elderly woman grumbled something inaudible and reached for the combadge, putting down her knitting as she did so. "Yvie here, Coltan," she said calmly.

"Yvaine," he replied curtly as he entered the lift, "I need you to get Lorelai and seal both yourselves in your own quarters. Get Catherine, too."

"Coltan?" she asked, her voice think and concerned.

"Yvaine!" he chastised. "Listen to me. Once you're in your quarters, instruct the computer to activate security program Lane 6-4-7-9. Understood?"

Mrs. Gray could feel the tension in the Trill's voice and simply agreed. "Okay, Coltan."

"Thank you. Now, that security program will not allow anyone to enter the room other than me. So, stay there and wait for me, okay?"

"Okay," she replied and closed the channel, grabbing at her knitting bag. She called out for Lorelai and carried out the Captain’s orders.

The doors opened up onto Deck Six and Lane made his way through the corridors to the hatch, silently, and quickly. After crawling through himself, he located Shran and Turoc and sighed.

"Lieutenant?" he asked, "report."

"Well Captain, near as my scans show is that some bastard killed Turoc here with a blow to his head," he started. "Now that is odd for a few reasons either the slime was lucky or knowledgeable of his physiology and from the looks of it quite strong. From this I would infer that this was a methodical mind that planned this. I would suggest that we get a psychological work-up done if you think that Lieutenant Carter could handle the job." Ador added. "I will need some help with this investigation, sir. To be honest, I am better at ending a problem rather than running an investigation," Lieutenant Shran stated.

Lane looked upon the prone, lifeless body of Turoc. His skin was unnaturally grey and yet, to the touch, still warm. “How did this happen?� he asked himself more than his Chief Security/Tactical officer. His face fell as the Trill suffered his first casualty under his own command. A complete sense of loss, and a deep feeling of sadness overwhelmed him.

“Lieutenant, I want you to head up back to the bridge and coordinate the lockdown from there. I want everyone not on duty in their quarters. And the ones who are on, I want them restricted to their own sections. I’ll contact the doctor and get him down here to remove his body and try to figure out how this happened. I’ll also contact Command and await their instructions.�

He looked over the massive creature again, and sighed. “Lieutenant, you have your orders.�

Mr. Shran simply nodded and left the Jeffries tube, leaving the Trill and the dead Assistant Chief alone.

“Turoc,� Lane said quietly, “if I was sure anybody on this ship could take care of themselves, it would have been you.� He tapped his combadge and summoned the Doctor.

“Lane to Lieutenant Mabren. Doctor, I need you to head on down and meet me on Deck Six. We have a… situation. Lane out.�

Looking once more over the body, the colour of his skin seemed more and more unusual to the Trill. As Lieutenant Shran had commented, Turoc’s physiology was unique and Lane had never heard of another Yajuta serving in the Fleet. As his blue eyes searched over the body, the colour seemed to grey even more so as Lane looked on. “What’s happening to him?� he questioned silently.

He then broke his train of thought, and tapped his combage a further time. “All hands, this is the Captain. Until further notice, all non-essential and off-duty personnel are restricted to quarters. Firstly, report to your department head for a crew count, and then retire. No exceptions! Lane out.�


OFF:

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Captain Coltan Lane
Commanding Officer

AND

Lieutenant Ador Shran
Chief Security/Tactical Officer

 

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