Popular Post Toryn Raga Posted April 8 Popular Post Posted April 8 When you have absolute stellar writers and they drop a 4 part bombshell. You have to show the love. @Karrod Niac @Alieth @LuxaLorana @Quentin Beck ((Special containment cell, Brig, Deck 11, USS Ronin)) The evening was a good time for her work. There were hardly any people in the corridors, nor in the security complex, the officers and NCOs mostly asleep or off duty. And those that remained were silent, the scuff of feet and boots on the grey carpet as loud as the breaths of the two officers, the only moving shapes in a slumbering world. The skeleton crew left on watch in the brig paid little attention to the scientists as they walked across their territory. Mainly because Chief Carpenter had given them clearance. But mostly because it wasn't the first time she had given them access. Alieth glanced at her subordinate as the doors to the maximum security wing stood waiting for their delayed opening cycle. Alieth: Do you have the questions ready? Luxa resisted the urge to sigh. B'ek had not proven to be useful to them at all. He'd danced around the science, in some attempt to grapple control of this failed experiment. She suspected that this was because he knew as much as they knew about the Maleconite’s unique abilities and how it had impacted on the terraforming process on GB3. Which was very little. Lorana: :: nods :: Do you think he'll be any more helpful this time? The petite Vulcan nodded curtly, an unruly lock of hair escaping from her tight ponytail. Alieth: I expect so, he has sat with the last information about Tetra development… : she made a pregnant pause.:: … he seemed unhappy about it. Lorana: He may be unhappy. ::The sidelong glance of the shorter woman made her stop for a second:: What? We don't know. He's not to be trusted. He betrayed his own kind. Luxa, again, resisted the urge to sigh. Her tail twitched several times, before it looped and sunk down as she tried to contain it. It was forever betraying her true feelings. Captain Niac believed that the scientist Tholian may be more forthcoming with fellow scientists. They didn't believe he could provide any real scientific answers to their questions on the Maleconite or Tetra's condition. They hoped he'd provide much needed intel on the LA. She shared in the captain's frustrations. Always having to respond to an unknown crisis left the fur on edge. They needed to gain the upper hand. Luxa couldn't stop her mind from wondering … where was Starfleet? This situation was escalating at an alarming rate, yet no other ships had been assigned to the region. The Ronin and the Arrow, as well as DS33 were the only line of defence against the Lattice Alliance, which they didn't fully understand yet. Yet, despite all of this she had a nagging worry that this Tholian, wanted further access to Tetra. There were too many reasons for her to count as to why this was a bad idea. However, Tetra, the infant, was the only bargaining chip they had. Why else would they allow her to remain on the ship? B'ek do anything to claim his prize. His scientific ego wouldn't allow him to pass on the opportunity to study her up close. His creation, the potential of a whole new subspecies of Tholian. He didn't see her as a victim to his ego. He saw Tetra as proof of concept. Not unlike Kipal, and the USS Kolo. Alieth: humm… The sound sounded almost like an admonishment, the slanted eyebrows drawing further shadows into the dark eyes. Yet the two had worked together enough to know it was a tacit agreement. One that simply should not be said aloud. Just then, the doors opened before them, a loud hiss and a puff of exhaust fumes marking the opening, as a red light flashed above their heads. The area had been modified for this particular inmate. The temperature, even outside the cell, was oppressively hot and absolutely arid. Given the night cycle, there was hardly any light, only the reddish ceiling beams, and a faint orange glow that seemed to come from nowhere in particular. Luxa felt the heat like an assault. The nearer she got to the cell, the more intense the heat. Her skin beneath the fur recoiled, and she felt the hairs along her spine stand on their edges. Her whiskers pulled back and she stopped. She looked at Alieth, this had become a ritual of sorts. The Caitian twisted her mane around her paw and gathered it on top of her head, to allow more ventilation. With a nod, they moved on. At the end of a short corridor laid the cell. It was larger than the high-energy containment field in lab 4, and had some extras that the lab lacked. A bed, for example, that had never been used. A desk and a chair. A small waste disposal shaft that had required a really awkward explanation and possibly given the Tholian scientist too much information about carbon-based beings. Little else. The Tholian was… sleeping. Sort of. His body didn't consume energy in the same way Alieth or Luxa's bodies might, but especially in this sort of environment, he still needed a chance to rest and recharge, so to speak. While they had done a fine job fulfilling most of his environmental needs, he still required an EV suit to interact with them or any of the tools they could provide. The suit he'd been wearing originally had been damaged too severely to function indefinitely. Thankfully, the Medical and Engineering departments had been able to cobble together a suitable replacement, one that seemed to put the Starfleeters more at ease because the glow of his abdomen and thorax was no longer visible at all times. It looked almost like one of their standard uniforms, jet black in colour, with the Starfleet delta emblazoned on what would be his right breast pocket, if he'd had either. Only the glowing eyes betrayed his nature. Luxa hated that those eyes were the same as Tetra. Their arrival was enough to wake him. He stirred briefly, the pointed tips of his feet tapping against the deck plating, and the colours and lights in his head grew much brighter and more solid as they approached. He didn't raise his abdomen from his prone position yet, but he observed their arrival with a curious look. Alieth: Good Evening, Doctor B’ek. The petite Vulcan stopped just inches from the glowing force field that isolated the defector, bright orange hexagons rippling across its surface almost as if it were a pond. She folded her arms behind her back, firm and stiff, in that posture so typical of her people. B’ek: Vulcan Alieth. Has it been three cycles? I find it impossible to keep track of time in this ship… The diminutive humanoid gave a silent nod, a small twitch between her slanted eyebrows. Alieth: Miss Lorana and I have come to ask you a few questions, if you would like to answer us this time. She made a deferential gesture towards her companion, before resuming her statuesque posture. Lorana: I trust you have reviewed the data on :: She locked fierce amber eyes on the Tholian:: your progeny, as you call her? :: angered :: I hope that you've reconsidered your position. It would make sense for you to help us. We want the same outcomes. As the Caitian spoke, B'ek stretched out his arms and legs before lifting his abdomen from the deck. With arms and legs fully expanded, he took up over half of the room behind the forcefield, and it was… uncomfortable to get around. Even to turn much. So he just stood there, half listening, until she finished. Then he shook his head. B’ek: That is decidedly incorrect, Caitian Lorana. I want the freedom to leave this cell and take, yes indeed, my progeny, to a safe, new home. ::pausing:: However, I have, indeed, reviewed your data and I applaud you for getting this far. I am not fully convinced you can make any good use of it. The Commander stifled the curl that threatened to take hold at the corner of her mouth. Alieth: Your kind does not monopolize industriousness. He chittered and drew his limbs closer to his body so he could turn to approach his computer. B'ek: You wish to develop a workaround for the reliance on Maleconite. Would you find it acceptable to require a different source of nutrition, assuming one could be developed? Alieth: It is an option, but we will not pursue it. We will keep your progeny alive, and nothing else, until we get answers to our questions. The Caitian held her position, as still as a rock. The Tholian had no need to know what she really thought about this tactic. Luxa wanted to pursue all avenues. She had spent hours with Tetra. She'd communicate on a basic level with them, seemingly adapting knowledge from the surrounding environment. Luxa had told her about the galaxy around her, where they are, who she is and her species home planet. She also told her about the Federation, and Starfleet. What it means to be a part of that family. This monster in front of her couldn't conceive of family. He saw an experiment that could be salvaged. Just like any egotistical scientist, he was unwilling to share what he knew. The lights that made up his eyes drew to narrow slits as he studied the duo, and not for the first time was he annoyed at their lack of illumination. It was so difficult to read carbonic expression and body language, he had very little frame of reference. Still, considering what he'd heard of Starfleet in the past, he believed they were fully capable of killing his youngling without a moment's hesitation. B'ek: I grow tired of this conversation, Vulcan Alieth. I have told you what is required to provide you any answers. The petite Vulcan took a small step. So close to the energy screen that a few strands of hair frizzed, electrically charged. Alieth: If your response is deficient or absent, I will let your "progeny" die. A natural death, of course, without the substance to which you have made her reliant. Dissecting her will make an impressive research paper. You will go next. She didn't blink during her speech, her voice flat, her face hieratic. The only thing animated on her face was a dangerous, determined spark in her eyes. The heat of the room seemed to rise a notch or two, Luxa felt her body shift to regulate her temperature more effectively. Subtle changes in the configuration of her fur, and a slight variance in her breathing, that made her breaths quicken, increased the absorption of oxygen. She refused to admit that these changes were brought on by the heightened anxiety she felt at the prospect of Tetra's demise. It simply, for Luxa, was not an option. [[TBC]] ================================ Lieutenant Commander Alieth Chief Science Officer & 2O USS Ronin USS-34523 E239702A10 & Lieutenant JG Luxa Lorana Science Officer (Astrometrics, Meteorology, Xenobiology) USS Ronin A240004LL2 & Terraforming Specialist V't'r'us B'ek Former Lattice Alliance Territorial Reclaminator as written by Ensign Quentin Beck Medical Officer USS Ronin NCC-34523 A238810SA0 2 3 Quote
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