The Catalyst

Posted on Sun Jun 24, 2018 @ 7:55pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings & Senior Chief Petty Officer Samantha Summers & Lieutenant Samantha Raylen

3,504 words; about a 18 minute read

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

The House

The Major was scanning the room down the end of his weapon, keeping an eye on the two points of entry he could see. When he heard a thud come from upstairs he immediately swung around and moved back towards the stairs. "Marines report," he said. Silence responded and he immediately began sweeping the other rooms. He felt a prick against his neck and swung around, but his vision blurred and darkness claimed him.

Addison was scanning the lemonade again, and trying to find any other life signs. "I can't find any readings outside of this room," she said. She paused and scanned again. "Anything. Not even the Marines..." She looked at Casey. "There's a dampening field around our immediate area."

Casey looked around the room again. "We need to get a better position. Check every door in this room and see if you can find where the Captain was taken. If we can't find her in the next three minutes, we'll retreat and see if we can find the marines, then get out of the house and regroup."

"Aye, Sir," MacKenzie said, looking in the kitchen cabinets for any switches, levers or passageways. Nothing was out of the ordinary and she peeked in the pantry and finally decided to make her way back to the hallway.

“This facility is quite extensive.” The Romulan officer said. “Yet it appears empty. Why so much space for so few personnel? Many rooms are empty, but show signs of having once been utilized extensively..”

A door to a broom closet gave a slight "thud" as Summers passed it.

She immediately turned toward the closed door, drawing her phaser Summers moved to one side of the door, and the triggered the open control.

When the door opened, a young girl was sitting on the ground looking up at her. Her big brown eyes stared at Summers. Her light brown hair was pulled back in a french braid, and her pointed ears gave her a regal look. She backed away slightly to the rear of the closet upon seeing the larger woman standing over her.

Surprised, Summers said, “What are you doing in there? Who are you hiding from?l

The girl shook her head and skittered back on her rear end against the rear wall, pulling her knees up to her chin.

“What is your name?” Summers asked.k

"She doesn't talk," a young-sounding voice said behind Summers. As the woman whirled around, the girl leaped up and clamped a hand on Summers' neck, the nerve pinch taking a moment to move through the large woman's nervous system, but eventually bringing her down like a crashing redwood.

Addison looked through another door that led to a butler's pantry and stepped inside, looking for any hidden doorways. As she turned to look behind a large crate, she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned and felt fingers hit her neck and shoulder and her eyes rolled back and she went down as the door closed behind her.

Casey had gone back to the dining room, trying to retrace their steps. He scanned the walls, looking for triggers, switches and anything else. He paused as his tricorder registered a drop in the wall's density and he scanned again. "Gotcha," he said.

As he reached for the wall, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He immediately spun around, swinging his arm to attack the person behind him. He caught a wisp of blond hair ducking down under his arm. An elbow hit him in the breadbasket and felt the wind leave him and as he doubled over, a hand clamped down on his shoulder and he dropped to the ground.

Within another two minutes, the house was empty.

The Room

He came into the lab, his hands clasped in front of him, his posture relaxed. In front of him was the third most dangerous person in the Quadrant, and she was about to be very, very angry.

The beard was gone, the eyebrows less bushy and the hunch missing from his back, but the soft brown eyes of the Professor watched her carefully as her eyelids fluttered. The deactivation program he'd slipped her was temporary, thankfully, but it was the only way to reliably incapacitate a Borg Queen. Until she regained control of her motor functions, the restraints would hold her, and the plan could go forward unimpeded.

He came around her chair and checked her restraints. Her wrists, her elbows, her ankles, her knees, her neck and her head were all strapped in place carefully. Even her fingers were immobilized; the less leverage she had, the better. Not that he was worried; one didn't get to be his advanced age without knowing how to keep danger at bay.

As he sat down upon a stool in front of her, her eyes snapped open and he gave her a friendly smile. "Welcome back," he said, his voice stronger, and his accent gone. "You may feel a bit disoriented, I'm sorry about that. You'll be able to turn your head eventually, and at some point move your limbs, although the restraints will prevent that a bit longer. For now, sit tight, and if you're uncomfortable and would like to recline, let me know."

::\System error. Unauthorized Access Detected. Isolating errant data program.\::

More bits of information fed into her awareness, Borg security protocols already working with cold efficiency to isolate and destroy the program virus currently interrupting all functions. Unable to see the speaker, she ignored him. He was irrelevant. She was patient. It would not take long. Her captor believed himself safe. He was mistaken.

She was the most lethal, efficient assassin in the history of Section 31, even before the enhancements provided by the Borg made her into the most valuable asset within Section 31s arsenal, and why she’d been allowed to ‘walk away’ following the death of John Murdock years before. She was given the time to step away, she was never truly gone.

Immergrün stood up and walked by her and held out his hand. "Thank you, my darling," he said, taking a padd from an unseen hand and coming back into Kennit's line of sight, and sitting back down on the stool. "Now, I have a lot of questions, and I'm sure you'd like to be out of here as soon as possible, so we'll get right down to brass tacks. Mister Blackhawk doesn't appreciate people going after him; not Starfleet, not Section 31, not the League. So you are, I'm afraid to say, well on his radar. So, tell me, why are you here?"

“Blackhawk...” she echoed. “You mean to tell me that sniveling little coward is still alive? I’d have thought someone would have killed him by now.”

The Professor sighed. "Bravado won't make this go any faster. I would like to know why you disobeyed orders and came here?"

“A member of my crew was abducted. The evidence led us here, following a drone vessel making a delivery. I was following my orders, contrary to what you might think.”

The Professor nodded and tapped his padd. "Mm. I'll adjust my notes." He pulled up another data file. "Since your missing crewman is not here, where is your next destination?"

She let out a short burst of laughter at that. “Sorry..I’m not going to get quite that personal with you, all things considered. After all, you’ve managed to create considerable issues and currently have me in a fairly annoying position. You’re here in an advanced facility which is not marked on any navigational chart...and .. you’ve revealed that you’re somehow connected to a sniveling little worm.”

The Professor smiled wider. "If you only knew how many were "connected' to him," he said. "Thieves, smugglers, of course, but there are also officers, from lowly Ensigns all the way up to the Admiralty. There's even a man in your precious Section 31." He leaned forward, resting his hand on his knee. "So tell me, Captain, how many Section operatives are in this Quadrant?"

Shaking her head, she muttered something under her breathe and then said aloud “I have no idea. I don’t work for them anymore.”

"Of course you don't," he said, dryly.

::Errant data program identified. Initializing isolation and countermeasure protocols. Estimated time until restoration of full functionality.. <447 seconds..::

“You certainly are all in a tizzy because a retired intelligence officer showed up at your doorstep. What are you trying to hide out here with your children to help you?” Kennit asked.

"You're as retired as I am," the Professor scoffed. He glanced down as her left pinky finger began to twitch, then looked back at his padd. "I'm here, because you're here," he said. "When we received word that Admiral Tanner sent you away, we thought we'd set up a welcome." He looked her in the eye again. "So, again, how many agents do you have in the area?"

“I told you, I’m retired from active service as an intelligence officer. I don’t have any agents under my command within this area.” Kennit answered.

"I didn't ask how many were under your command," the Professor said. "I asked how many were in the area."

Unfazed, Kennit merely replied. “I would say that the only agent I know of in this area would be Blackhawk, but..” she paused a moment as if weighing her next words. “Honestly he was never really one of the group. He was the expendable patsy sent in to create a distraction because command knew he couldn’t do the job. But he could create a distraction while the more able officers attended to the mission parameters and if he was caught well...no loss of assets. So, again, sorry. Can’t help you.” The expression in her eyes was mocking, contemptuous and dismissive.

Immergrün suddenly laughed and slapped his knee. "You have no idea who I'm talking about!" He laughed again. "For a minute you had me going!" He shook his head and wiped a tear from his eye. "Captain, you are quite a piece of work." He tapped his padd. "Best overall though. The less you know about any of us, the safer." He chuckled again and put the padd down and clasped his hands in front of him. "You have six agents in the Quadrant that we know of. Two have already been neutralized, and we know of your reactivation." His voice turned hard, and his smile dropped. "So when I ask you a question, child, I expect it answered."

Distracted by his ire at her flippant responses, Immergrün made a mistake. He didn’t notice that she was once more in control of her body, his little trick had been countered and removed. With a lithe, smooth motion her left arm pulled free of the restraint with seemingly little more effort than tearing through paper. If she even felt the straps cutting into her flesh spilling bright red blood from the cut she didn’t seem to be bothered by it. Twisting up, she lashed out at her captor, her fingers firmly grasping the top of his head and forcefully pulling him down toward her to slam his face into the restraint chair she was still partially bound to, breaking his nose in two places from the fierce and powerful impact into the edge. Grasping his hair in a firm hold, she yanked his face up and replied in a soft, pleasant voice “You refer to Admiral Tanner, have no fear he will be dealt with once I’m done with you my dear Professor. You will soon find, I am not a child by any stretch of imagination. You and I however, are going to have a little fun...”. As she spoke, she pulled her right arm free and proceeded to punch him savage with her closed right fist. “I don’t yet know what’s going on completely...but rest assured. I’m going to find out.. “. Twin assimilation tubules snaked out partially from her left hand in unmistakable promise. “One way...or another...”

One hand flailed toward her, trying to strike back. She caught his hand in hers, the crack and snap of bones crushed beneath her fingers clear despite his intake of breath. “Ah ah aahh..” she admonished as if to a wayward child, “None of that. now then..what is going on here. Why was my first officer abducted..and where is he now. Tell me, or I’ll start to hurt you...”

Not a grunt of pain, nor even discomfort had escaped the Professor as she grabbed and assaulted him. He nodded slightly in her grip, and smiled again. "Very impressive. Your reports do you justice." His labored breathing suddenly calmed and he looked her directly in the eye. "The self destruct command for this facility will activate as soon as you stand up. You'll have three minutes to run to your ship before the dome collapses and you're killed. The rest of your away team is already there, safe and sound. Goodbye, Captain. We'll talk again soon. End program."

The Professor vanished, as did everything in the room, save for her chair. A door appeared on the left side of the room. Her restraints snapped open, and suddenly there was nothing but silence.

Furious, Kennit said “I really hate this chicken-shit James Bond villain bullshit..”

Sitting up, she paused for a moment then muttered “I’m too old for this shit..” before slipping off the restraint chair and rather than immediately sprinting toward the shuttle, she instead moved to the control panel of the elaborate holodeck where she’d been held. The tubules in her hand and arm snapped out smoothly to inject into the computer access point, Borg technology - designed to immediately identify and access the computer systems hundreds of thousands of races all assimilated and crushed beneath the unstoppable might of the Collective pulsed out and established a link between the Queen, and the computer systems of this small outpost. She turned, only then beginning to sprint with easy speed back toward the landing bay even as her mind accessed and began to sweep through the computer, breaking encryption codes with little effort and accessing and downloading everything she could. The neural network which linked her cortical node to the subject computer easily transferred data files deemed relevant into the vast storage module inside the cortical node as she ran.

Once the sensors detected her leaving the house, a rumbling began. The building shook and began to implode, almost dissolving as it was broken down to rubble by unseen decomposers. Within a minute the skyline was completely unimpeded. The ground suddenly shook and a large buzzing sound passed through with a crackle of energy as the force-field protecting the living dome above suddenly gave out. The dome trembled and began darkening in spots as the sulfuric acid clouds began to destroy the organic protection. Desicated chunks began to fall away and the light was fading.

The Valkyrie

Casey groaned and opened his eyes. He tried to move but realized his torso was strapped into a seat. He struggled for a brief moment before he realized he was back inside the Valkyrie and in his seat. He looked around, seeing the rest of the away team still unconscious, but noticed the Captain's seat was still empty. He looked at the doctor sitting next to him and grabbed her shoulder. "MacKenzie! Wake up!"

Addison's eyes fluttered and she looked around. "What?" she said, then had a moment of panic when she realized she didn't know where she was. She smacked Casey's hand away quickly and was about to hit someone when he grabbed her arm. "Addison! It's me! We're on the shuttle!"

She looked at him, wild-eyed and then everything clicked and her mind caught up. "The shuttle? How did we get here?"

"We were brought here unconscious and strapped in," Casey said. "I guess someone figures it's time for us to leave."

"Let's not disappoint them!" Addison said.

"We're not leaving without the captain," Casey said, his voice hard as he began to unbuckle his restraints.

The Landing Bay

Kennit didn’t slow her pace, and soon she could see the shuttle resting in the landing port where they’d arrived. “Kennit to Valkyrie: get her ready to take off.” she ordered via the comm, never slowing her velocity as she ran toward the waiting ship and the rest of the landing party already aboard, anxious to depart.

"Captain?" Casey said, his voice hopeful but tinged with doubt. "You're alright, Ma'am?"

“Been better..” Kennit answered. “Get the ship ready..”

"Aye, Captain," Casey said.

Two guards appeared, moving to cut off Kennit’s approach to the shuttle. She never slowed down, shifting her focus to the nearer of the two and launched her body into what looked like a combination cartwheel kick and a roundhouse style kick blended into a single, lethal attack. She struck hard, her right leg hooking around the guard’s neck throwing him off balance with her momentum and wrenching him down to the deck with her. Continuing the cartwheel with her legs still locked at his neck as she balanced on one hand Captain Kennit snapped her would-be attacker’s neck with deceptive ease, finishing the cartwheel flip to land light and in control on her feet facing the second guard sent to stop her. He fired a phased at her, clearly expecting the weapon to drop her to the ground. Instead a shimmering haze of green flared for an instant, before he could react she had him.. driving into the taller man with controlled and precise force taking him down into a firm headlock, her arm locked around his neck. Hissing softly into his ear, she said “Didn’t anyone tell you? Resistance is Futile!” Tubules in her left hand sliced though the flesh of his neck, not to assimilate but instead used to slice though his throat and severe the jugular sending a fountain of brilliant crimson into the air even as he collapsed grasping at the ruined flesh of his throat.

Both guards easily dispatched in less than 20 seconds and she was once more sprinting toward he waiting shuttle, it’s engines powerful thrum audible now over the rising wind generated as the force field continued to collapse high overhead.

Casey pulled off his restraints and jumped out of his seat, taking the still unconscious pilot out of the front chair and putting him where Casey had been, buckling him in, then taking the pilot's chair for himself. He powered up the ship's engines and began the preflight sequence, looking out the window as the Captain raced up to the ship. "Took your time, ma'am," he said as the hatch opened and she climbed in."

“Kiss my ass..” Kennit muttered barely audible. “I was side tracked with a pair of guards..”

"What guards?" he said, looking at the empty plain behind her.

“They aren’t a problem anymore... get us out of here..Now!” She order d as she sealed the hatch.

As the hatch sealed, Casey put the engines on full and they lifted off, veering around and out of the bay, heading back to the Victory.

"Valkyrie to Victory, we are en route, coming in fast."

The Victory

Cassandra turned from her communications position and looked towards the center chair. "Valkyrie, we read you, you're clear to enter the shuttlebay.

Kennit’s came over the comm. “prepare for immediate departure. As soon as we are aboard break orbit. Also, I want immediate full sensor scans of the system. There’s another ship here. Find it.”

Cassandra looked to Penny and nodded.

Penny hands flew over the Ops controls, and she scanned the immediate area. She looked back to Cassandra and shook her head.

"Sensors show no readings of another ship in the area," Cassandra said. "If anyone was here, they've been running silent."

Annoyance clear in her voice, the Captain snapped a quick reply. “They're here. Scan for emissions from their drive systems. Include abnormal heat variances in the scan parameters.”

Penny shook her head in resignation and scanned again. "Where are we going next?" she whispered.

"Aye, Captain. What course should Penny have ready?" Cass said, putting the comm through to Penny.

“Set course back to Starbase DQ-8. I need to pay a visit to Admiral Tanner.”

"Aye, Captain," Penny said in unison with Cass. The channel closed and Penny set the course. As they watched the shuttle pull in to the bay, she monitored the landing, and as soon as the bay doors closed, she swung the ship around and took them out of the system before leaping back into warp.

 

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