The Door, The Gale and The Emerald City

Posted on Sat Jun 2, 2018 @ 12:42pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Lieutenant Commander Miguel Torres & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings & Senior Chief Petty Officer Samantha Summers

4,219 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: Divide et Impera ~ Chapter 2: Heralding the Chase
Location: Unknown Planet

Sickbay

It had been several hours and Cassandra had not left Nicole's side. The ship had been at maximum warp longer than was probably best, but the Captain was done wasting time. Sickbay was on high alert, waiting for another emergency call. So far there had been two false alarms from crewmen with indigestion who were terrified they'd become the next victims of poison. For now, the killer was biding his or her time.

She felt bad for Lieutenant Tanaka. She was relatively sure he wasn't the killer. An easy trace to his location was too sloppy a move for this assassin. He was a red herring, Cassandra was sure, and she was pouring over every piece of evidence, every report, and anything else she could think of.

Nicole was still distinctively grey, and Cassandra couldn't help but blame herself. She didn't inject that syringe into Nicole's neck, but nonetheless, she felt the burden of their current situation.

She put the padd she'd been reading down and rubbed her eyes, tired, but she knew she'd be needed soon, and she wanted to be ready.

"Lieutenant Sanders, report to the bridge," the computer said.

"There's my cue," she said to Nicole, quietly. She squeezed her friend's hand and stood up, walking quickly out of Sickbay and onto the bridge.


Bridge

Cass stepped out of the turbolift and glanced at the viewscreen. They were in orbit of a large planet. Large swaths of ugly-colored clouds swirled around the entire planet, storms and lightening clearly evident even from orbital scans.

“What have we got?” Kennit asked as she took her seat, her eyes fixed on the viewscreen.

"The Planet's barely Class-L," Penny said, her Ops side showing through now that they were in orbit. "It's practically Class-N, pretty much a discount Venus. The ionization in the atmosphere is extreme, so beaming down is out, and those clouds are sulfuric acid, so a shuttlecraft ride is going to be dangerous as well."

“Lovely little vacation spot..” the Captain muttered.

"Well we've got to get to the dome somehow," Penny said. When there was a silence behind her, she turned around to see the blank stares. "Oh, right." She called up the sensor scans and on the viewscreen appeared a huge green dome. "That," Penny said. "It's huge. you could fit a small colony in there."

She refined the sensors and let out an exclamation of surprise. "It's alive!" she said. "It's organic! There's a forcefield over it! Well...that's weird."

"Beep, beep, Penny," Cassandra said, sitting at communications.

She zoomed in on a section towards the ground at a distinctly inorganic structure poking out of the dome. "But that is a landing bay," she said, turning back to look at the Captain.

Listening to the running dialogue from Lt. Naroot, Kennit was hard pressed to control the very strong urge to administer a resounding thump to the back of the lieutenant’s skull...

“Is there any data on this system, a name.. information on this domed facility down there..” Kennit asked

"No, actually," Penny said. "Which in and of itself is weird. This is a totally unexplored system, and so far no one's bothered to claim it, or at least no one who's told the Federation about it."

“Well, let’s knock on the door and see if anyone is home; hail them.”

"Aye, Captain," Cassandra said. She put her earpiece in and tapped her board. After a moment she shook her head. "No response, Captain. There's an automated homing signal for the shuttlebay, presumably for whatever picked up the cargo, but no active communications equipment that I can detect."

The Captain gave a small shrug. “Then let’s go knock on their door in person. Prepare one of the Valkyrie ships for launch. Lt. Casey. Get an away team ready. Six officers, you, me, and LT Summers. Tactical gear. Be ready for departure in 20 minutes.”

Summers had heard the order and after putting on her gear, she placed an few extra phasers and knives in various places on and in her outfit. She arrived at the shuttle deck to await any others. "Captain...Lieutenant Casey...I am ready to..do what ever is needed per your orders. Whom will we kill this time?" An slightly wicked grin came to her face.

In a calm, relaxed voice the Captain answered almost immediately. “Anyone who pisses me off.”

Miguel was sitting at the engineering station overseeing the programing of the variables that would allow a better internal scan for any changeling type person that might have slipped on board the ship. He activated the comm directed to engineering. "Torres to Raylen."

“Raylen here.” she answered.

"How's the diagnostic going?" he asked her.

“Slowly. The program uses a holographic representation of Dr MacKenzie that much is certain. We are working now on tracing the program back to find out when and how it was created, and what the trigger was for activation.”

"Keep checking and let me know anything you find immediately. I just finished programming the internal scanners for another possibility." he told her as he inputted the last variable and then initiated the internal scan. It would take some time, but if it worked he'd soon know if they had an shape shifters on board.

“We’re working it.. whoever input the program did a bang up job of masking their access ID.” Sam told him.

Signing off on the comm, Kennit turned to look at Cmdr Torres. “I’m going to head up this away team.. that will leave you in command Mr. Torres.”

"I can't allow that Captain." Torres said as he stood up from the station he had been working at. He knew his argument was would probably fail with her but he had to make it. "The XO was taken by unknown individuals and intent. That makes this fair to dangerous a situation for you to leave the safety of this ship. As your acting XO it's my duty to over see not just the safety of this crew but of as well. Which means it should be me going... not you."

She paused, then turned toward him. “You can’t allow it?” Kennit echoed. “Last time I checked, I am still Captain on this ship. My ship. My way. I am quite capable of handling this little side-trip..have no fear. I need you here.. finding out for certain who is behind that damned holographic assault on Dr. Anderson. I want absolute evidence pointing to the creator of that program.”

"You have my offical protest noted in the log." he said and then got back to work.


Shuttlebay - Flight Deck

After a brief pause in her quarters to change into appropriate attire, the Captain was first to arrive on the shuttlebay flight deck where a Valkyrie had been moved into position for departure. Tucked into her tactical uniform she had secreted away a number of weapons, including a working antique.. a 20th Century handgun..a Glock 19, 9mm loaded with a 15 round magazine- an additional four magazine clips ready for easy reloading, two razor sharp knives hidden in built in sheathes - one in each boot. Neatly secured in the forearm padding of her jacket, small, compact yet powerful explosive charges hidden away as well.

The message from Admiral Bennett had included a code word.. and the killer she had once been ..now reborn.

She carried conventional Federation weaponry as well, these she placed per procedure into a secure bin for the flight down and then, the Captain moved to the cockpit where she settled into the pilot seat and began the preflight warmup and systems checks while awaiting the rest of the away team to get around to arriving.

Doctor MacKenzie arrived, trying to adjust her snug-fitting tactical uniform, a tricorder in one holster, and a phaser in the other. "Reporting as ordered, ma'am," the acting CMO said.

Swiveling in the pilot’s seat, Captain Kennit took in the sight of the ships acting-CMO dressed for the away mission and after a moment said, “Who will be attending sickbay while you are gone?”

"Doctor Osika is the new acting ACMO," MacKenzie said, " so she is in charge at the moment."

Kennit grunted and with a nod turned back to the pre-flight systems check in progress. She was alert however, very much so. Curious to have one of the suspects in the internal investigation taking place into the attacks on ships crew taking part in the away team. Even more so when that suspects image was used in a holographic program designed for the assault and attempted murder of the Victory’s Chief Medical Officer.

SCPO Summers had taken her chair on the shuttle, then began to slyly scan her mates as they sat down. Inside her conscious her mind was doing cart wheels, she "knew" whom she was, yet was also a 'bit' bemused to realize that she was actually 'helping' members of the Federation. Her Romulan 'side' was screaming at her, yet the 'side' that was Summers sat at ease, ready to partake in the mission. She looked at her reflection in the panel in front of her seat, and noticed her ears. She absently ran a finger along her ear, wondering where the 'point' in it had gone.

Next to arrive came Major Prime accompanied by two armed Marines wearing a light-weight combat armor, the Marine’s equivalent of Starfleet’s tactical uniform. Immediately the Marine officers began to stow their gear, including Major Prime’s gear allowing the Marine Commander to make his way forward toward the Captain in the Valkyrie cockpit at the helm.

Without waiting for her to acknowledge him, Prime spoke. “As I understand it, this mission is entering unknown territory with a high probability of hostile response. A starships Captain has no place on such a mission.”

Unimpressed by his statement, Kennit answered with a single word, not looking up from the controls where she was finishing the pre-flight systems checks. “Noted.”

Not taking her very clear hint that he should stop now, Prime pushed on. “Your presence on this mission will present a hazard for my officers as they have the additional worry of your safety. “

Captain Kennit was silent a moment, focusing on finishing up her task and finalizing the preflight. Only once she’d acknowledged the final clearance did she respond. Swiveling her seat, she stood up and faced the taller Marine. When she spoke, her voice was mild. Her expression bland. Everything about her was, on the surface, a senior officer reprimanding a junior officer. But her eyes. Her eyes revealed the truth of the very practiced, very dangerous, highly trained lethal killer she was. “Take your seat Major, or get the hell off my shuttlecraft.”

After a heartbeat, he turned stiffly and walked to take a seat.

Lt. Casey, accompanied by two security officers chose that moment to arrive prompted a mild, “How good of you to join us Mr. Casey. Get your gear stowed, we are getting under way.”

Walking back to resume her seat, Kennit’s gaze settled on Summers for a moment, noting the way she stroked her ears smooth round shape. Locking eyes for an instant, the Captain’s dark gaze carried a clear warning best not ignored.

Five minutes later, under the Captain’s skilled hand the Valkyrie departed the shuttlebay, arcing away from the Victory in orbit and diving down toward the surface of the planet below, on course to the Dome below.

The Valkyrie's shields were holding as they passed through the storms and clouds of corrosive gas. The captain weaved through the airstreams, making her way to the airlock. As they approached, the airlock doors opened, revealing a landing bay and the Captain set down gently. A rushing sound began and faded as the gases in the bay were quickly sucked out. After a moment the rushing sound returned as breathable air was pumped in.

“I want a guard to remain with the ship.” Kennit ordered. “Major Prime, assign one of your men the task.”

Annoyed, after a moment the Marine complied and selected one of his officers to stay with the Valkyrie while the rest of the away team moved out.

As they stepped out, the inner doors opened to a large courtyard. Green-tinted light filtered down through the trees and decoratively placed marble columns lined a path through the grass. Overall the architecture resembled ancient Greece, and the plants were distinctly Earth-like.

A lone figure was slowly hobbling down the path, a cane in his hand, a slight hunch to his back. He paused and waved to the team members as they walked into the dome and continued to slowly and feebly make his way to them.

To say that sights thus far were unexpected was an understatement. Kennit remained on alert, suspicious of the station and the apparently feeble walking toward them.

"Wilkommen!" the man said as he got within speaking distance. "It is my pleasure to welcome you here. My children and I do not get many visitors." He beamed a huge smile through his long white whiskers, and his white bushy eyebrows bobbed in amusement and joy while his chestnut brown eyes took in everyone. "I am Professor Johan Immergrün. Whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

Taking in his appearance, Kennit responded almost on auto-pilot. “Professor Immergrün. I am Captain Rhea Kennit, Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Victory. This facility is not registered on any of our data charts..what is this place?”

"My home," the man said, matter-of-factly, "where my children and I live and work. Very important project. Most important. Good that Starfleet is here." He beamed proudly and patted her arm, leaning on it for stability. "Come, we will have a cup of coffee and you can see for yourself." He gestured with his cane back down the path towards a large house in the distance.

Kennit glanced back toward the Valkyrie, a quick hand signal to confirm the order that an armed Marine remain aboard the craft and keep it secured until they returned. Turning back to Professor Immergrün, she said “Lead the way. I am interested to learn what brings you here, and of the project you mentioned."

"A most important project," the Professor said as they started walking down the path, the Professor leaning on the Captain's arm for support. "The preservation of humanity."

"I have to ask as well," Kennit said, "why this facility is not noted on our navigational charts or any database. In this part of the Delta Quadrant, there are a number of civilizations which are not considered friendly to the Federation. If you came under attack, the fact that you are unregistered means emergency response times would be negatively impacted.”

"Oh there's no worry of that here, young woman," the Professor said. "No one ever visits this area of the world, which is why I am so pleased that you are here to provide some company and some conversation."

They crested a small hill and began to walk down the other side towards a large outdoor courtyard area surrounding a large Victorian-style house, next to a large, modern-looking building. The neatly manicured lawn and flowers along the path implied care and tending, even though no one was in sight.

As they approached the front door, the man carefully climbed the stairs and pulled a simple metal key out of his pocket. His shaky hand eventually worked it into the lock and he turned it, then the knob, and pushed the door open. "Please, please, come in," he said. "I'm sure my children will be happy to prepare some refreshments."

Watching as the old man fumbled awkwardly with the key and lock, Kennit grew more uncomfortable with this situation. There was no apparent threat, but she’d learned long ago to trust that soft little voice of caution whispering in the back of her mind. Something just didn’t add up. “How many children do you have?” She asked, not sure at this point what else to say and unwilling to reveal anything just yet about her own motives.

"Seven," he said, proudly, pushing the door open. "Angelic dears. All lost their parents. Very tragic. I was fortunate enough to rescue them." He walked in and past a small living room towards a dining room with eight chairs around a table holding a tray with a large pitcher of lemonade and glasses. "Ah, perfect. Refreshments are laid out." He turned back to the group and smiled. "I'll see if I can persuade them to introduce themselves. Poor things get nervous around strangers."

He sat down at the head of the table with a sigh of relief and leaned his cane against his seat. He gestured for the others to sit and smiled at Kennit. "Be a dear girl and pour for me, would you?"

The Captain’s expression was one of bemused surprise by all of this.

"Captain," Casey said, a warning tone in his voice. He wasn't thrilled to have the Captain taking orders from someone.

Giving a look to Lt. Casey, she shrugged slightly as if to say ’What the hell..let’s humor him for now, and then did as asked, pouring out glasses of the lemonade--which was also odd in and of itself to find this unregistered outpost, and find themselves sitting with glasses of lemonade in hand.

MacKenzie looked at her glass and wondered how she could subtly test the liquid, then decided there was no way to be subtle and pulled out her tricorder, scanning the glass. "No toxins I can detect. Ingredients are sucrose, citric acid, water....it's lemonade."

Immergrün smiled and raised his glass to them and took a long drink, giving a satisfied sigh afterwards. "Most refreshing."

SCPO Summers took all what was happening, and then said to the Captain, "Ma'am, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.."

Cocking a look at the Chief, Kennit found herself a bit surprised and amused to hear a Romulan spy / defector express such a very human sentiment. Handing Summers the glass of lemonade, she replied, “I’ve never been to Kansas, I’ve never wanted to visit Kansas. Drink your lemonade.” Handing a glass to the others in the away team, the Captain then drank from her own glass, willing for the moment to play along and see where this odd encounter would lead.

"Ad astra per aspera," Immergrün intoned. "One of the most appropriate mottos of a state. A most beautiful state, and many beautiful people. I once loved a young woman from Kansas." His voice took on a wistful tone and he took another long sip of his lemonade. "I suppose I still do." He patted the Captain's hand. "If you ever have the pleasure of meeting a native of The Sunflower State, feel fortunate. They are a hearty people."

Engineering

Not long after the Captain and the away team had left the ship the results of his internal scans had come back and shown no signs of any changelings or shapeshifters of any kind. He then had the scans placed on a random loop. If there were any they'd need to change shape some point and that's when he hopped they'd have them. He then made his way to Engineering to find out if Sam had discovered anything else specifically on the hologram. "Find anything Sam?" he asked her.

Raylen’s voice was frustrated. “There’s an odd marker in the holographic program code that I can’t identify. Everything appears to point to Tanaka as the author but this one marker embedded in the code. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

"Unfortunately that bit of information leaves me with a duty to preform until we can discover if he had anything to do with this or not." Torres said and then tapped his combadge. "Torres to security I want Mr. Tanaka taken into custody."

=/\=Sir?! On what charge?=/\=

"The assault on the ship's Chief Medical Officer." Torres replied.

=/\=Aye sir=/\=

"Computer suspend all of Lieutenant Tanaka's command and security codes until further notice by myself or the Captain." he ordered. Unlike security, the computer response had no hesitation as it acknowledged the order.

"Now it's up to you to find any evidence that will either clear him or not." he told Sam.


Planet

The Professor suddenly sniffed the air. "I believe--" a beeping interrupted him from another room and he smiled. "Ah, food." He grunted a bit as he pulled himself to his feet, taking Kennit's arm for support. "Off we go," he said, leading her to the kitchen.

"Professor," Casey said, "allow me to assist you."

"That's quite alright, young man," Immergrün said, holding Kennit's arm. "This dear girl is doing fine, and already standing." He steered her out of the room and down the hallway. "That young man is quite protective of you." He smiled fondly at her, despite his hunched posture. "I cannot blame him. He is the type of man who takes his job very seriously, it seems. He will protect everyone he can. Good man."

They walked into the kitchen and he looked at the oven. He opened it a fraction of an inch and the aroma of a pot roast wafted out. "Ah, delicious," he said, smiling. "One must savor things," he said, sagely, holding a finger up and looking at Kennit. "Far too often, we do not appreciate the moments that can bring us such simple joys."

He stepped back and nodded to the oven. "If you could? There are gloves in the drawer to the right."

Bemused, she gave a slight nod and crossed to the indicated drawer where she withdrew the requested heat gloves and found herself then asked to help "an old man" by removing whatever it was he'd been cooking from within the oven. Irritation warred with impatience, but years of training kept it in check as she simply did as asked, and went about taking the pan of...whatever it was...from the old man's oven.

Immergrün tapped his fingers on his cane as Kennit lifted the pan full of food onto the countertop. He shuffled past her. "Thank you, my dear. Now to turn this incessant timer off." He tapped a command into the oven's control panel and the timer silenced. He tapped another set of commands and the oven light went out. "There we are," he said, and tapped one more command.

A jolt shot through Kennit's mind, a rush of data and information streaming through her cortical implants, the Borg components in her body frozen by the sudden flood of confusing data, the end result being that her vision began to blur, body going weak, her physiology unable to cope with the sudden major systems malfunction surging through her implant systems.

A surprisingly strong pair of arms caught the Captain by the shoulders, lowering her gently and putting a hand over her mouth, adhering a cover to muffle her voice. "Stay calm, my dear," the Professor's voice said from somewhere behind her. "My children will be gentle with you. You're body will restart shortly," he whispered in her ear as unseen hands dragged her through a hidden passage in the wall.

Safe-guard systems kicked in, and the last thought that flashed through her mind before she lost consciousness was that she was going to kill Immergrün .. slowly...

Meanwhile:

Scowling as he watched the others in the away team sip their lemonade, Lt. Casey frowned. "What is going on in here.." he muttered aloud. Rising, leaving his glass untouched on the table, Casey walked down the hall where the Captain had followed that old fart through into the kitchen area. No one was there.

"What the fuck?!" Casey barked out in alarm. "Casey to Captain Kennit.. what is your location?"

No response.

"Casey to Victory! I don't know what's going on but the Captain is missing!"

=/\= What do you mean the Captain has gone missing?=/\= Torres responded swiftly.

The voices echoed down the hall back to the dining room and everyone put their glasses down quickly, looking to one another, waiting to see who dropped first from whatever they'd undoubtedly been slipped.

“She followed the old man.. Professor Immergrün... into a kitchen area and now..she’s gone and there’s no sign of her!”

Summers jumped up from her seat, spilling her drink. She quickly brandished a phaser. He blood was pounding and she was blushing light green.

MacKenzie stood as well and pulled out her tricorder. "No lifeform readings other than ours in the immediate area."

"Fan out," Prime said, directing his men down the hallway away from the kitchen. "One upstairs, one on this floor. Keep in contact. Shout if you find anyone."

The two marines nodded and raised their weapons, heading out of the dining room as the others went to the kitchen.

=/\= Mister unless you want to spend the rest of your career scrubbing plasma conduits you better find her ASAP.=/\=

 

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