Awaken My Love
Posted on Wed Apr 18th, 2018 @ 8:16am by
2,475 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
S1:2: Rubicon
Location: Bridge - USS Traveller
Arivek sat in the center chair of the Bridge, the sounds of the many instruments blending together in a melody that only an Engineer could appreciate. The inner workings of a Starship melding together, their beeps and clicks giving staccato to the medley of whirls and phases as each node was busy at work performing its various functions. It all came together, with Arivek as the master composer, in perfect harmony of a starship at peak performance, performing every function and algorithm required to keep things going.
And it was moments like these that made Arivek smile.
That is, until a small red light began to blink on the Ops console as an annoying chirp interrupted his train of thought.
"Lieutenant, we have an urgent message from the colony ship, Archeron", came the voice of the man manning the Ops station.
Arivek sighed. Today was the Archeron's first test of the automated stasis-pod analysis system (ASPAS for short). An urgent message couldn't be good news. "Put it through."
The viewscreen blinked online and the field of stars was quickly replaced by the face of the Benzanite who was in charge of the stasis units on board.
"Lieutenant Zhuri," the Benzanite said, "We have a problem over here. One of the stasis pods is throwing out a fatal error. It seems the person who's supposed to be in the unit..." the man picked up a PADD, glancing at the name, "... Ensign Rayana Cruz, is not who is actually inside the chamber."
Another sigh, this was the last thing Arivek wanted to deal with right now. Especially when, at any moment, the plasma relay flush would be finished and he'd have a lot of reports to look over. "Ops, coordinate with the Archeron and have the person transported to Sickbay. Then have a security team meet me there. Inform Sickbay they are not to revive the individual until we have arrived."
Arivek stood, ignoring the confused-looking Benzanite on the screen, and walked into the turbolift as the doors shut behind him.
< < SECURITY OFFICE > >
Ensign Bridges was sipping coffee at the desk of Lieutenant Reynolds. Usually, he was scolded for such things but he was off the ship so now was his time to shine behind the desk of the man himself. He was reading a book when the comm went off, it was the bridge. "Bridges here."
"Ensign Bridges, we need a security team in Sickbay, immediately. Lieutenant Zhuri will meet you there and take command of the team."
"On our way." He said shooting up from the desk, hitting it with his knees causing his coffee to spill. 'Dammit, I'll get it later' he thought. He stammered out of Reynolds now coffee covered office and into the Security teams lounge, "Let's rock and roll people bridge just called us to save the day again. Rodriguez, Samuels, Harrison, and Ponduu you're with me, suit up and let's go." everyone sighed as they got up and hurriedly threw on their gear from their lockers.
<< SICKBAY >>
"What do you mean, don't revive them??" Rena asked, surprised at the news.
"That's what I was instructed to tell you, ma'am, to wait until security arrived," the officer responded. Going past him was the unconscious individual who was being placed on a biobed.
"Fine..." Rena grumbled, grabbing a tricorder. She could at least make sure her patient was stable, but without much information, she couldn't do much. Opening her tricorder, she began her scan of the patient to see what was going on.
The doors to Sickbay opened as Arivek Zhuri walked in, a team of security officers right behind him. "Doctor Kal," he said with a nod as he walked up towards the woman. "I see you've met our guest."
"Samuels, Rodriguez post up at the door, Ponduu with me we'll cover the Doc. Let's move people!" Bridges said much louder than was necessary as he ran to the doc brushing passed Arivek as Ponduu walked by in a more respectful manner and gave him an apologetic 'sorry sir' look
"What do we have Doc?" Bridges asked not allowing Arivek a chance to ask himself yet again making himself look like a dope.
Rena flinched a little at the sudden loud noise, giving Bridges a look that challenged him to do that again. "I just started my initial scans," she said to both individuals. She looked back at the tricorder and paused, reading the data. "This person was in stasis... why is she here and not in her pod?" The tone of her voice went to urgency, which indicated something was wrong.
"What is it, what's going on Doc?!!" Bridges said his tone raising a bit.
Arivek turned to the man, giving him a scowl that correctly expressed that if this man didn't shut his mouth, he'd soon find himself out an airlock. "There's been a problem with her pod," Arivek said, turning back to the Doctor. I've requested she remain in stasis until she was here and heavily guarded. Apparently she...isn't who she's supposed to be." The man looked down at the still body of the woman laying before him.
"Well, someone didn't listen because she obviously isn't in stasis anymore," Rena responded, getting to work. She instructed a nurse to prepare for any potential organ failures as she moved around the bed. "You can't just take someone out of stasis like this! Her organs were relying on the unit to stay functioning- get out of my way!" She snipped at Bridges as she pushed past him to get to the medical tools behind him.
"Well..." Arivek struggled for words. Despite his immense knowledge and unprecedented intellect, he was not well versed in the art of medical science. "I actually didn't consider that," he said, softly. "But we need to know who this person is."
"I'll take care of it!" Bridges said as he slapped his comm badge, "Acting security chief bridges to all security personnel, intruder alert Deck 5. I want all turbo lifts and jeffries tube secured. Shoot to kill if necessary but preferably stun. "
The two security officers at the door looked at each in horror then at Arivek.
"Belay that order!" Arivek yelled behind him, staring at Bridges in confusion and disgust mixed together. "Ensign, if you don't stand back and shut the hell up, I will throw you out an airlock."
"This is a security situation sir, engineering need not apply." Bridges shot back hyped up on his euphoric temporary and never going to happen again being in charge powers. His counterparts at the door still look in horror at the display.
Arivek took a step towards the man, "Are you daft?" he asked. "In case you weren't aware, I'm the ranking officer on board this ship. I'm in Command right now. And one more word from you and I'll relieve you of duty and throw you in the brig."
A deep breath as the blue man turned back to the medical situation at hand. "Doctor, what's going on?" he asked, noticing how Rena was quickly working with the sedated body on the table.
Bridges huffed but said nothing.
"If I don't do anything, she will die," Rena grumbled, clearly annoyed with Bridges as well. Deciding on a stimulant and some tri-ox, she returned to the biobed and prepared the hyposprays. "Watch specifically for cardiopulmonary arrest, and keep an eye on neural activity levels," she told the nurse. She almost added to pull up the medical file, but if this person is not the one who was supposed to be in stasis, then it would be useless. Loading the tri-ox first, she injected it into the unconscious woman before loading the stimulant and injecting it as well. "Come on..."
Arivek took a step towards the biobed in anticipation.
Daani came out of her unnatural sleep almost instantly, the drugs burning through her system like wildfire. With a groan, she blinked, then slammed her eyes shut again as though blinded by the light. She wasn’t. As soon as she’d become aware again, all her survival instincts had switched on. In the split second her eyes had been open, she’d assessed how many people were around her in the room and come to the conclusion that her ruse had been discovered. Why else would there be security in the room with the doctors?
Adding another groan, she tried to turn onto her side, noting her physical reactions. The stasis would have had it’s own effects and she’d need to account for them if this situation went sideways fast.
Rena breathed a sigh of relief when her patient woke up, then went to assist her as she moved to her side. "Nice and easy," she instructed, keeping an eye on any sudden changes. "Do you feel sick? Any chest pain, headaches...?"
Nice and easy… Yeah, she could do that. Daani moved slowly as the doctor ordered. The door was blocked and she could sense the eyes of the security team on her. How much did these people know about her? That would dictate her next few minutes in the room.
“Gro—“ She cleared her throat and tried again. “I feel groggy. Slight headache. Lights are too bright. Blinding.” She winced and squinted as she looked up, around the room. Two by the door, at least one other security and one she wasn’t sure of. All were too far away for her to go for their weaponry.
She blinked as she focused on the doctor. "Where am I?"
"Sickbay," Rena responded, nodding to the woman's symptoms. "Honestly, I'm surprised you're not feeling anything else. Humanoid bodies are barely accustomed to going into stasis as it is, let alone being taken out of it unexpectedly." She approached the woman with a newly loaded hypospray. "This is just a supplement to help ease some of that grogginess."
“Thank you,” Daani breathed a sigh of relief as the hyprospray took effect. She sagged a little against the bed, but quickly straightened her spine. “Sickbay?” She almost asked where but bit off the question. That would just give her away straight off the bat. “Why was I taken out of stasis unexpectedly?” She asked, trying to keep to her ruse. At least long enough for the odds in the room to change in her favour.
Arivek took a step forward. "Because the automatic system detected that you aren't who you're supposed to be. So we have to ask, miss... Who are you?"
Yeah, they were onto her. But if they didn’t know WHO she was… then she had a chance.
Lifting a hand to her head, she frowned and blinked. “I remember stasis. An argument with someone over some paperwork. They’d mislaid transit papers or something but that’s it.” She looked up and around, her expression innocent. “I can’t remember anything else I'm afriad. It’s all a blank.”
"You're lying," Arivek said. "Tell the truth, or these security officers will be carting you off to the Brig, post haste."
Oh yeah, Daani was a liar alright, but she was good at it. Whoever this was, there was no way he should be able to tell from her physical responses or manner. She’d long ago learned to lock those down tight. So she widened her eyes, just fractionally, and added a little gasped intake of breath as she skittered a glance toward the security officers.
“I can’t remember,” she reasserted. “I remember the procedure… the time was fourteen hundred… but my name, where I’m from? Total blank. There were moons, two of them,” she added quickly. “That I remember, but where…”
Arivek stood there a moment, shifting from one foot to the other. He'd honestly guessed that she was lying, but apparently he had been wrong. Though still, something didn't feel right to him. "Well, until you remember, you're under arrest." Arivek looked up to Rena, "She will stay here in Sickbay, under your care, until she is physically able to be released. And then she'll be escorted to the Brig."
The brig was most certainly NOT where Daani wanted to end up. She gave a nervous little laugh and looked at herself compared to the dangerous looking security officers. A glance intended to point out how not dangerous she looked.
“I wasn’t aware memory loss was a criminal offense,” she said, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear. “Exactly how long have I been asleep?”
Bridges decided now was his time to shine, "We don't trust you, that's why! And if you keep it up and I'll make sure it's a solitary stay in our brig so you don't get the chance to use mind control or something on us!" nailed it.
Daani wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, so she gave another, nervous laugh. Treating it as a joke. She’d never quite met a security officer as keyed up and jumping to conclusions.
“Well, to do that, I’d have to change species. Telepathically null, sorry,” she added with a small smile. “I couldn’t mind control anyone if I tried.”
Arivek sighed, shaking his head as he rolled his eyes, "Bridges, how about we calm down with the theatrics," he said. Turning his attention back to the woman on the biobed, he continued. "As for you, my hands are tied. We don't know who you are, and you don't know who you are. And frankly, we've had enough issues on this mission already that we can't take the risk. So until further notice, you are being detained."
Bridges turned to the security officers by the door, "Book her." trying not to show how cool he felt saying that. The officers by the door sighed then looked at Arivek for confirmation before continuing.
Rena rolled her eyes at Bridges' drama before nodding to Ari. "I would like to keep her here for a couple hours to make sure there aren't any unexpected side effects, but I will do what I can to get her memory back. She isn't good to anyone dead. Now, can I inform you about the process of properly reviving someone from stasis?" Rena made a slight gesture to silently ask Ari to join her for a moment.
Arivek looked between Rena and Bridges. How in the hell he got mixed up with such a motley crew, he'd never know. "No, honestly I don't much care," he said to Rena. "Keep her as long as you need to make sure she's ok."
The hologram turned towards the door, "Bridges, you're relieved of duty," he said over his shoulder. "Ensign Dr'hevik here will handle our guest until further notice," he said as he passed through the doors and left.
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