The Patrol Team Departs - Part I
Posted on Sat Feb 6th, 2016 @ 12:28pm by Captain Li Hawke & Lieutenant Commander Leto & Lieutenant Seren Hawke & Ensign Six of Ten & Lieutenant Commander T'Rowl N'Riss C.Phil & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & Ensign Leela Carter & Ensign Reva Madhava & Lieutenant Janus Heyerdahl
Edited on on Sat Feb 6th, 2016 @ 12:49pm
Mission:
Further Challenges
Location: Docking Bay - Secure Berth
* Kohana’s Berth *
It was moments like this one that reminded Reva just how massive their Starbase 900 really was: the ship Korenna, redubbed the Kohana, fit into one of the Station’s internal berths. The bay’s far wall was a long hike away and it stretched upward into darkness. Reva stood just inside the forcefield looking up at the Kohana, grinning like a loon. She was so engrossed in the sight that she didn’t hear or sense Darwin coming up behind her.
“It’s an ugly thing, isn’t it?”, he said, making her jump.
“No, it’s beautiful, Darwin. Look at the way the tech shines,” she replied.
“With an eerie green glow,” Leto added. She stepped out from behind Darwin, who’d hidden her from view. “That feeling of dread Darwin? That’s exactly why we’re sending this one.”
“Feeling of dread?”, he repeated and looked first at Leto then at Reva. “I don’t get that sense from her at all.”
Leto laughed briefly. “I meant the ship, not Reva.” She looked around and seeing the rest hadn’t arrived yet, she addressed Reva. “Before Six arrives, there’s something I want to discuss with you.”
Leto caught Reva’s attention. “What is it?”
“You will be cruising near Borg space on this patrol,” Leto said. “I don’t think the ship will make you a target but I want you to keep an eye on Six. You know her better than anyone….well almost anyone. If you encounter any of the Borg, they will detect her presence. You see where this is going?”
It was an eventuality Reva hadn’t even thought about but now that Leto was mentioning it, the horror of it hit her. “Oh gods... it’s like the Terran tale of sirens and seamen.” Briefly, she saw Darwin’s puzzled frown and felt his question. “Greek mythology, seamen as in sailors.” Darwin nodded and Reva said to Leto, “I’ll watch her and keep an eye out for Borg vessels.”
“Good. You’re the one most likely to notice any changes. If you notice anything, inform Carter and Vic immediately,” Leto ordered. “You ready to go aboard?”
She grinned at the idea of going aboard then frowned and looked behind them. Riley couldn’t come to this level anyway, she realized. “Yeah, I’m ready,” she said and followed Leto to the hatch and into the ship, her grin returning as if she were a kid going into a candy store, which she sort of was.
When Reva reached engineering, Janus was there already. He stood in the middle of the area that circled the warp core. He had his hands on his hips and was slowly turning, taking it all in.
“Wow…” he said. “Just...wow.”
“I know that feeling!” Reva laughed and joined him. “Amazing, yeah? And we get to discover all its inner workings.” The greenish light cast by the augments deepened the green color of her skin and highlighted her black hair.
“We have a couple of hours before we leave, as I understand it. When is Six arriving?” Janus moved over to the panel on the rail around the core. The engine readouts were displayed there and he gave a low whistle. “Come look at this.”
“She’s supposed to meet with us at eight,” Reva said as she stepped over to where he was. “Oh... look at those percentages!”, she crowed gleefully. “I worked on this engine before and couldn’t get anywhere near those numbers.”
“Before it was transformed?” Janus asked.
“Yes. Back when it was just a normal Enaran ship,” she nodded.
“Kinda mind-blowing now,” was Janus’ opinion. He stepped away from the console and stepped closer to observe the warp core. “You said you worked on these engines before assimilation, tell me about that.”
“I was trying to increase the engine’s efficiency and output. I was able to increase both, but nowhere near what the Borg augments have done. I got the speed up to seven point two, up from six point nine,” she said, ignoring the curiosity she felt coming from him about why she’d been working on this ship’s mechanics.
“Good work. I’m impressed.” Janus flashed her a smile as he passed by, on his way to the wall panels. “It still amazes me that all this came from Six simply injecting some nanites. A shame she got tangled up with the likes of Suresh. Keep that between us though?”
Reva looked at him curiously for a moment then nodded slowly, “I suppose it is. So long as she’s happy, that’s what matters. How long till we leave, any idea?”
“Just under two hours,” Janus answered. “Want to check out the rest of the ship?”
“Yep,” she smiled and they headed out to explore.
Six was just arriving at the Kohana’s berth when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see Ensign Carter hurrying in her direction so she waited till she caught up.
“Good morning, Ensign Carter.”
“Morning, Ensign Six,” Carter said as she drew even and Six fell into step with her. They crossed through Intel’s secured door into the Kohana’s shadow. “Wow.”
One thing was for sure, and that was the fact that the Starbase 900 facility was indeed every bit as massive as Reva figured that it was. That was obvious always, but it even seemed more obvious than ever because of that giant ship there. Sighing gently, N'Riss looked around carefully and blinked. Curiosity killed the cat, but when there were this many shiny lights it was hard for someone of the feline persuasion to not be interested in everything that he was seeing.
Cautiously he allowed himself to unleash a purr, looking up slowly at everything. At this point he had been issued a code to enter, and his tail twitched back and forth to indicate his inquisitive emotions as he awaited entry. The flicker of the force wall in front of him would have been followed in each way by his ever watchful eyes, adding to his interest in the scene.
They drew even with N’Riss as he stood regarding the ship. Carter’s comment made her smile and she nodded. “That’s a perfect description. Good morning Commander,” she said to N’Riss. She deactivated the forcefield and turned back to them. “Ready to go aboard?”
Emitting another purr as his prominent whiskers twitched for a moment, N'Riss offered her a salute. "I most cerrrtainly am." Since it had been a while since he had an opportunity to work on a ship like this off the station, he was certainly looking forward to getting his feet wet once again. While, perhaps it might have been more accurate to say that he had been looking forward to getting his footpads wet in turn.
“Belay that, Ensign Carter,” came a voice behind her. The voice belonged to Li. “I need to speak with you a moment. The rest may go on aboard.”
Leela stepped out of Six’s and N’Riss’ way and waited till they’d passed through the force field. “What is it, Ma’am? Darwin has briefed me on how ..um ...difficult Ensigns Six and Madhava might be on this mission, so I’ve been warned.”
Amusement flitted across Li’s face. “You’ll be lucky to pry them out of engineering with a pressure spanner,” Li joked. “This is about you, however. I’ve requested two additional team members - Crewman Leighis is on his way as you need a medic, just in case. Also Lt. Commander O’Donnell from Temporal Affairs will be along too, considering the nature of this mission. Which just leaves you.”
“Me?” She looked surprised. “Are you removing me from this mission?”
“On the contrary.” Li’s stern expression melted into a smile and she held out a small box. “My apologies for cutting it so close but I just left my meeting with the Admiral. Congratulations, Lieutenant.”
Carter was stunned for a moment, then recovered. “Oh wow! Thank you, Captain Hawke!” She took the box from Li and opened it. “I’ll get these on as soon as possible.”
“Allow me.” Li took the small dark pip and added it to Leela’s collar with practiced ease. “Well deserved. Good luck on this mission. I’m hoping you won’t run into trouble.”
“Same, sir. A boring mission will be just fine with me,” the new Lieutenant agreed. “I’d better get on and see if everyone’s settling in.”
“Don’t let Seren give you any lip,” Li joked. “But you handle Ray well enough, you’ll have no trouble with my brother. Stay in touch.”
“Will do, as much as possible,” Carter turned and hurried into the Kohana, excited to share her promotion with someone.
“Hello, Captain,” Lt. Cmdr. O’Donnell said from behind Li. “So we’ll have a newly promoted person on this run, eh?” She smiled. “That’s always a good feeling getting that new rank pip.”
“It is,” Li agreed. She smiled back at Marie. “How’ve you been? I know it’s been a while since I got to your area. Please tell me you haven’t had a warning show up about this trip?”
“No, thankfully. Of course, Ehlana gave me the info on it, so if she found something that I’m not supposed to know about, I wouldn’t know.” Marie frowned. “That would mean something happened to me, or involved me.” She sighed. “Sometimes working in this position is just confusing as hell.”
“No kidding.” Li shook her head. “I am hoping more than anyone that this is a quiet patrol and if you see anyone they leave you alone. That’s all I want, is that so much to ask?”
“Since I don’t normally go out on this type of mission, that’s all I want as well.” Marie laughed. “I guess I should get aboard. Have a good day, Captain.”
“Travel safely Marie.” Li watched as Marie passed on through the hatch of the ship. She stood alone, watching the ship in silence. Crewman Leighis, who was serving as medic on this trip, passed by, greeted her, and continued on into the ship.
To Be Continued...
***************
Ensign Reva Madhava
Lt. Commander Michael Darwin
Lt. Leto
Lt. Janus Heyerdahl
Ensign Six Of Ten
Lt. (jg) Leela Carter
Lt. Commander T'Rowl N'Riss
Captain Li Hawke
Lt. Commander Marie O'Donnell
