Captain Roshanara Rahman: Into the Deep End

[Wil Ukinix]

I audibly gasped at one point when reading this, @Rahman and Rivi Vataix. What a fantastic and exciting to welcome our newest ensign, @Niev Galanis, and lean into our Frontier Day blockbuster! 👏👏👏

 

 

(OOC: Bringing our new ensign into the action!)

((Maintenance and Storage Area, Deck 77 - Probert Station))

Having been stuffed into a maintenance locker, or rather, the equipment junction, Captain Roshanara Rahman had finally awoken and followed the tapping of someone on the other side, guiding her to a hatch. As she groped around the edges of the hatch in the dark, the hatch slowly opened with a hiss, and light began to creep into the compartment.

Roshanara stepped back, prepared to defend herself in case this was a trap. Instead, though, she exclaimed when she saw the face of her guide.

Rahman: Hannibal?

Parker: In the flesh, Captain. Let's get you out of here...

Hannibal Parker had served under Roshanara's command aboard the USS Veritas. He had come to her from Duronis II Embassy a little bit--okay, a lot of bit--rough around the edges, but through their years of service together, she had seen him become one of the finest officers she'd mentored. The last time she'd seen him was when their tour of duty aboard Veritas had wrapped up, with Roshanara heading off to the Kitty Hawk and the Delta Quadrant while Hannibal was off to the shipyards to oversee the Miranda II class development project.

The hulk of a man held out his arm for her to grab as it was clear that he wasn't going to come into the compartment anytime soon, at least not through this particular hatch and not without a severe transporter accident first cutting his mass in half.

She took hold of his arm and held on tight as he practically lifted her out of the compartment and pulled her into the bright service corridor. Looking back, she saw that she had been stuck in the literal crawl space that was used to run power conduits and ODN lines beyond the confines of the actual service corridor that engineers would actually be using to access those systems.

Rahman: Where am I?

Parker: Deep in the bowels of Probert Station. Deck 77 to be exact...what was the last thing that you remember?

She let out a deep breath.

Rahman: The last thing I remember, I was on Earth Spacedock...

And evidently still was... just somewhere very far from where the briefing with the other starship captains and Admiral Terzo had been.

Her combadge was long gone, and seeing his on his shipyard jumpsuit, she had a glimmer of hope, but it was quickly extinguished when she discovered that the communication systems for the entire shipyard was down as he shook his head and explained.

Parker: No comms, Captain. The whole system is down. They say maintenance, but...

Rahman: Mr. Parker, there is something nefarious happening in Starfleet.

Parker: Explain...

Rahman: Starfleet has been compromised. We need to find those we can trust to get the word out and... stop whoever is behind all this and stop whatever they are planning.

He nodded back at her, seeing similar connections come together now.

Parker: I agree. I've felt that something very big and very bad was coming. Now I know it's true...

She looked around the service corridor, seeing no one else in sight, before she looked back at him.

Rahman: What's been happening around here in the last day or so?

Parker: More like what's been happening the past six months, Captain. Ships with relatively few warp hours but older were being recalled and decommissioned, deployments orders which made no sense, pulling ships back from patrolling Gorn space. None of it was making sense. But now, after seeing that little booby trap, I have a real good idea who is behind all this.

She cocked an eyebrow.

Rahman: Don't keep me in suspense.

Parker: The Dominion. We've got Changelings among us.

Rahman: If that's true, then we need to warn Wil and the others aboard Kitty Hawk before it's too late.

Parker: Absolutely. I've seen that trick before. Killed a few Marines before it was figured out.

Rahman: We can't trust the normal channels on this, Mr. Parker. As soon as we notify Command or another ship about what's happened, the changelings are going to come down on us hard.

She looked around again, making sure no one was nearby.

Rahman: Any suggestions?

Parker: We climb out through the Jeffries tubes, go to the civilian decks, use the public transporter and get off the station. Then we'll go to the Miller. We can't use the turbolift or the transporters to leave here.

Rahman: Agreed. So how much of a climb are we talking?

Parker: Twenty seven decks...

Ooof... she was glad she had only eaten a light lunch.

Rahman: ::sarcastic:: Great...

The sound of a turbolift car approaching caught their attention.

Parker: The turbolift. We're about to have company...

Hannibal pulled out a phaser and handed it to her.

Rahman: Thanks.

Parker: We got one shot to get off this deck. Use that if you have to. But know they will detect weapons fire up in Ops. Someone will eventually come, whether they will be friend or foe. Right now, either one is bad...

She double-checked the heavy stun setting of the phaser before looking back up at him.

Rahman: And what exactly are you going to do?

Parker: Me? In about ten seconds I'm going to meet our guests and put them to sleep...:: pointing to a spot around the corner:: Stay there until I return...

She rounded the corner and waited as Hannibal quickly took down whomever had been coming to greet them on the turbolift. After the sounds of the scuffle had ceased, she peered out to see two unconscious bodies. Both were wearing Starfleet security uniforms and not maintenance technicians, and both had been armed with phasers set to kill. Hannibal grabbed the phasers and threw them in the hatch.

Rahman: ::shaking her head:: Dear God, Hannibal... you ever meet a problem you couldn't solve with a fist?

Parker: No, I didn't kill them. I haven't had dinner yet...::smiling::

Rahman: Well, we need to find a way to hide them for now.

Parker: I'll drag them over in that corridor, just in case somebody else comes...

She nodded as he quickly dragged the bodies away, pulling a piece of rope from one of them. The two then headed to the Jefferies tube.

Parker: Ready to do a little climbing?

She leaned over to look into the Jefferies tube. Of course she had countless hours logged in these kind of maintenance crawlways as a former chief engineer, but it *had* been a while ever since she'd gotten that nice cushy captain's chair on the Kitty Hawk.

Rahman: As ready as I'll ever be.

Parker: You know Captain what's gonna happen if we get caught...

Rahman: I don't plan on failure, Mr. Parker.

Parker: That's the plan. Not getting caught. Let's go...

Quickly, they dove into the Jefferies tube and she began climbing ahead of him, trying not to focus on how many rungs were above her.

 

((Later))

The hatch opened, spilling them out onto the public transporter level in a corner away from the crowds.

Roshanara slowly stood up and looked around as Hannibal got out behind her.

Rahman: We need to move our way quickly through the crowds and get to the transporter.

Parker: Response

Rahman: Don't look up. Just stay focused and try not to stand out too much.

She glanced over and up at him.

Rahman: ...well, try not to stand out as much.

Parker: Response

They quickly began walking at a brisk pace, avoiding the eyes of Starfleet officers patrolling as civilian personnel, reporters, and travelers made their way through the busy transporter level.

As they reached one of the transporter rooms, Roshanara quickly went over to the door and locked it once they were inside before holding up her phaser at the transporter chief.

Rahman: Hands up where I can see them.

Transporter chief: Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Parker: Response

She looked over to the pad to see that one person had just been transported over from Earth's surface, specifically the academy. A fresh faced new ensign looking just as surprised as they were.

Rahman: Oh, great...

Galanis: Response

Rahman: Stay on that pad, ensign.

She looked back at Hannibal.

Rahman: We can't afford any witnesses.

Parker: Response

Galanis: Response

Rahman: You're coming with us, Ensign.

She turned to the transporter chief, waving with her phaser for him to move aside as she put in the coordinates of the USS Miller, the prototype for the Miranda II that Hannibal was working on.

Rahman: ::as she's typing into the console:: Get on the pad, Parker. ::looks to the transporter chief:: You, too.

The transporter chief though just looked back before giving her a creepy smile.

Transporter chief: You really think it's going to be that easy?

Rahman: oO Ah, $%@^- Oo

The transporter chief's hands morphed into an elongated tentacle form and quickly whipped away the phaser from her hand. She ducked out of the way just as the changeling punched at her with its other arm-turned-tentacle, the gelatinous fist slamming hard into the console, shattering the glass.

Galanis: Response

Parker: Response

Roshanara stayed low to the floor as she scurried over to the transporter pad as phaser fire rang out.

Galanis: Response

Parker: Response

Rahman: Computer, initiate transport!

The confines of the spacedock transporter quickly dissolved away, to be replaced by the empty transporter room of the USS Miller.

 

((Transporter Room, USS Miller))

Aboard the Miller, equipment cards and other construction equipment lay scattered across the deck. In the transporter room, the operator's console still had protective covering over it. The trio of officers materialized into the dimly lit room, and Roshanara looked over at the ensign.

Rahman: All right, who are you , Ensign?

Galanis: Response

Rahman: ::nods:: I'm Captain Roshanara Rahman and this is Major Hannibal Parker. And you're going to have a hell of a first day.

Parker: Response

Galanis: Response

Rahman: As you just saw, there's been a changeling infiltration of Starfleet. We need to get this ship away from Earth and find the USS Kitty Hawk. The only people we can trust right now are aboard that ship.

Galanis: Response

Parker: Response

She nodded and glanced towards the door before looking back at the ensign.

Rahman: What's your training in, Ensign?

Galanis: Response

Parker: Response

The doors to the transporter room opened, and in walked Captain Christina Cordova, the future CO of the Miller once the ship launched.

Cordova: Parker, what the hell is going on here?

Parker: Response

Galanis: Response

Roshanara stepped forward, recognizing as a fellow starship captain how the woman must have felt seeing the three intruders aboard, but she needed Cordova to understand how serious the situation was--and if she could trust her.

Rahman: Captain, I'm Captain Roshanara Rahman. I need to borrow your ship: Emergency Order 7-6-2 alpha. Starfleet has been compromised.

 

(OOC: Treating Captain Christina Cordova as an NPC, but I'll leave it for now for Ken/Parker and I to write for her)

 

TAG! TBC...

 

Captain Roshanara Rahman
CO, USS Kitty Hawk
I238705TZ0