Escape from the Sea of Death

Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 5:14am by Cailus Griffin & Captain Nycolas Temple & Commander Owen Nash & Commander Mindo & Lieutenant Kalin Brennan-Griffin PhD & Lieutenant Commander James Smith
Edited on on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 1:22pm

Mission: Into the Wild
Location: USS Pandora

A Mission Post by Commander Nycolas Temple & Lieutenant Commander Owen Nash & Major Leo Haliwell Sr. & Lieutenant Arthur Torres Dr. & Lieutenant Mindo & Lieutenant Kalin 'Shae' Brennan PhD & Lieutenant Katniss Wakefield & Lieutenant James Smith & Lieutenant JG Cailus Griffin & Lieutenant JG Machwen Adaestron & Captain Bethany Wallace
Mission: Into The Wild
Location: USS Pandora
Timeline:
Wed Jul 5th, 2017 @ 12:23pm


--- Bridge ---

"Slowly now." Nyx murmured.

The Bridge had fallen into an intense silence as the Pandora continued to ease her way out of this dark matter noose. The debris field behind them, the looming sea of death they had stumbled upon, was more than enough evidence to show that many other ships had tried to escape and failed. The Pandora was not going to end up like one of those ships.

Another torpedo shot out of the vessel's forward cannon, sending a firework of lights ahead of them. The dark matter continued to shift and churn, necessitating ever so slight changes in the Pandora's direction as she cut a path to freedom.

The Major moved his position so he was stood next to the Captain's chair, his feet planted, his eyes fixed on the viewscreen as he murmured gently "This could get messy..."

Arthur, rubbing his elbow, which had taken a nasty knock when the dampeners fluctuated, leaned against the far edge of the railing around the bridge's center, behind the captain's chair. The room was filled with tension as the pilot deftly navigated their bulky vessel through the deadly field. Despite knowing that they were trying to escape from the danger, Arthur could not suppress the nagging feeling that they were merely heading deeper into the midst of some colossal -- as the captain had put it -- trap.

---Sick Bay---

Smith made his way to sickbay with Crewman Tannis not to far behind, his head was killing him and his right arm was useless at the moment. Of course, he had seen his share of injuries over his time in Starfleet. Smith entered sickbay and looked around, waiting for the Doctor or Crewman Tannis to direct him to where they needed him to be. His medical leave on Carnwennan Station didn't help any.

Machwen was waiting in sickbay for Tannis and Smith to arrive and got up from the biobed he was leaning on when he saw the two come in. He walked over to Tannis, asking him, "Crewman Tannis, what shall we do about Lieutenant Smith's broken arm?"

"Use the osteogenic stimulator to heal the bone?" Tannis responded.

"Very good, Crewman. Would you like to get it and begin the treatment?"

"Of course," Tannis replied, before getting the osteogenic stimulator out of the cabinet, and then returning to Lieutenant Smith to start the treatment.

Smith watched as Tannis began working on his broken arm, Smith turned to look at the docter, "So Doc, when would be a good time for that checkup I've been avoiding since coming on board, and how soon before I can get back to work."

Still standing next to Smith and Tannis, Machwen responded to Smith, "It would probably be best to wait for a couple of days after your arm healed, Lieutenant Smith,"

Smith nodded, "Well I guess once your done here I'll head back to my room, still have many reports I can read at least." Smith made a mental note that he would have to check in with Lieutenant Ryan as soon as he was able too.

"Well I'd say that you seem to have taken the treatment well so far," Machwen told Smith, "you're free to go."

--- Engineering ---

Mindo rubbed his temples as his crew recovered from the recent action. Zo seemed to be OK, and a number of the third shift staff had come in to replace the rocked and jostled officers who were currently being examined by medical teams.

The centre console, commonly called "the pool table," was cracked on one side and the newly-summoned teams were working on repairing it. Then there was that damned hull breach. Thankfully the shields had taken effect before anyone was sucked into the vacuum, but a disruptor blast to that area could change that rather easily. Mindo closed his eyes and tried to concentrate.

"You OK Chief?" Crewman Zo asked, standing across from Mindo at the working side of the pool table.

Mindo grunted, then opened his eyes. "Are you hurt?" he asked Zo.

"I'm fine," said Zo. "We've got teams working on the hull breach. The warp drive is more or less intact, and the inertial dampeners are fixed and working. That half of the pool table, as well as several other consoles, are damaged, but our backup people are working pretty hard fixing them."

Mindo nodded, closing his eyes again. "Good."

Zo looked across the table at his friend and said, "Chief, why don't you lie down for a few minutes? You can put that couch in your office to good use."

"You've got things here?" asked Mindo.

Zo nodded. "I can keep things together for a little while here. We're monitoring the dark matter clusters and keeping thrusters online for the guys upstairs. Take a few to clear the cobwebs."

"Thanks, Zo," said Mindo.

Mindo made his way back to his office and walked in, ready to lay down and close his eyes on the couch, perhaps grab a drink or two. But there was someone sitting across his desk. Someone not in a Starfleet uniform.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

The person turned around to reveal a young-looking man about Mindo's size with dark, curly black hair and olive skin. His familiar face was almost angelic. Mindo recognized him immediately.

"Risten," said Mindo, flabbergasted to see his old friend from childhood sitting across his desk. "What are you... how are you here?"

Risten turned to face Mindo as the Chief Engineer walked into the room, the door to his office swishing shut.

"Are you happy to see me?" asked Risten.

"Should I be?" said Mindo. "After what you said to me the day I left?"

Risten looked down. "I'm sorry about that."

"Sorry?! I practically gave you my heart and you crushed it and all you can say is 'sorry?'"

"It was a mistake," said Risten. "I want to make things right."

Mindo shook his head. "You lost your chance a long time ago. Things have changed."

"I want to make things right," Risten repeated.

"So you've said." Mindo eyed his old lover skeptically. "How did you find me?"

From behind, the door swished open and Zo came into the room. "Chief, we need you. Something isn't right with..."

Mindo turned back at Zo and said, "Crewman this is a bad time!" Mindo ignored the unwelcome interruption and turned back to Risten.

But he wasn't there. Mindo turned back and looked at Zo. "Did you just see..."

"Something isn't right with the sensors," said Zo. Mindo hurried out of his office and went back to the centre console, his eyes widening at what he saw.

"That's a Borg ship!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah," said Zo. "Except look at the tactical readout."

Mindo's fingers brought up the next screen. "I don't see anything," he said. "It's like it's not there!"

Mindo tapped his comm badge and got a static tone in response.

"Communications are down across the ship," said Zo.

Mindo nodded. "I'd better get to the bridge. Keep everything together here."

"Yes sir," said Zo as Mindo made his way to the nearest turbolift. First a mysterious visit from an old friend, now a Borg ship with no readouts. Hopefully the bridge is still there, he thought as the turbolift began it's journey to the top of the ship.

---Science---

Katniss's eyes slowly began to open, she looked around but it was all a haze, she was seeing double. She reached up to her head and felt something soft, warm and sticky, She winced as she pressed touched it. 'Blurred vision, strong headache, indicative to a severe blow to the head' Katniss said out loud as her medical knowledge kicked in. She tried to stand, but she couldn't manage it, instead, she sat up and shuffled backwards until her back was against what she hoped was bulkhead.

"Wakefield to Lieutenant Brennan, what's going on?" she asked after she had hit her communicator.

=/\="Katniss, thank goodness!" Shae exclaimed in relief over the comms. "Most everyone in Science has checked in with either me or Medical, you were one of the last ones I was waiting to hear back from, I was about to send a medic to go check on you! We're in trouble, we seem to have found our way into a debris field surrounded by dark matter; we're trying to navigate our way out now, but it's tricky, the dark matter is moving in a sort of undercurrent making it impossible to determine where it's safe. The debris certainly isn't helping matters either," Shae explained in a rushed tone. "Can you come to Astrometrics? I could really use the help."=/\=

Dark matter...here....Katniss thought before responding =/\= I'll try, Katniss out =/\= and with that she pushed her self up from the floor, the room instanlty spun as her legs wobbled, but she was determined, she steadied herself for a moment, before slowly putting each foot in front of the other, but it was no good, the next thing she knew she was again lying on the floor. Finally admitting defeat she pressed her communicator and with a sigh and heavy heart.

=/\= Medical emergency, Research lab, deck eight, I need urgent assistance, loss of conciousness, severe blow to the head, double vision, unable to stand or walk =/\=

"Understood," Machwen said over the comms badge, "Some of the medical team will be over to you as soon as possible"

--- Bridge ---

"What do you mean it's gone?" Nyx gasped, as he faced the main viewscreen with a quiet panic. The Bridge was dimmed in the glow of Red Alert lighting, so ordered when the sensors had signalled the sudden presence of an enemy ship.

However, though in one moment they had detected a Borg vessel in amongst the dark matter, now it had seemingly disappeared into nothingness. But the terror that initial detection inspired was still present in the beads of sweat on the Commander's brow.

The Ensign on the helm could merely shrug, "No Borg ships are present, sir,"

"Maintain Red Alert and stay on course," Nyx replied, only somewhat relieved.

The Turbolift doors swished open, and Mindo burst into the room.

"Captain," he said. "Sensors seem to be fluctuating. You guys probably just saw a Borg ship that isn't there. Comms are down, too."

"Do we know how long it's been happening?" Temple asked with a concerned frown.

"No sir. But I don't think are sensors are all that's off," said Mindo, who hesitated before saying the next part. "I think whatever is messing with comm and sensors may be in our heads, too. I just saw an old childhood friend in my office who disappeared when I looked away." He crossed the room to the Engineering station. "I'm going to operate from here while comms are down."

Nyx stood and leaned over to Mindo, speaking quietly, "I saw a medical report that you took a heavy fall in Engineering, Lieutenant. Are you sure it's not a concussion talking?"

Mindo put a hand to his right temple. His head still hurt. "I..." he started, trying to shake any cobwebs left in his head. "I could have been imagining things. But it won't happen again."

The captain frowned again, "As long as you are fit to serve. But anymore... old friends... drop by, I'm sending you to Sickbay. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," said Mindo.

Nyx straightened up and spoke loudly, "Thank you, Lieutenant, I appreciate your swift reporting."

He turned to the Security Chief, "Lieutenant Griffin, send your teams to secure Engineering, the computer core, medical, and sciences."

The grim Security Chief worked fast to respond, although the faintest flash of his fear and anger got past his control at the mention of the Borg. "Rapid response security teams deployed, Captain, standing by to repel boarders," he reported more tensely than usual.

"Major, I want your squads to patrol the ship as well," Nyx continued, looking to Halliwell, "Coordinate with Griffin as necessary."

The Major's eyebrow quirked at the going ons, before he turned to face the Captain "Aye, Sir." he said briskly before tapping his combadge, clearing his throat and saying clearly "This is the Major, All Squads execute plan Hotel Alpha-3. Get to patrol routes and report in by the numbers." before tapping his combadge again.

"Ghost ships and lost comms, I'm not going to take any risks." Nyx sighed, before looking to Ops, "Mr Nash, anything we can do to restore sensor integrity and communications?"

Owen though for a moment as he considered the situation. "There's an interesting idea..." he began. "We could setup a rotating modulation field around the communications system that screens out any unrecognised feedback...that wouldn't take too long and it should put a stop to the communications issue we're suffering," he finished.

Running a few numbers in the Ops console, he looked up from his computations. "As for the sensors, if we re-routed the information through the secondary sensor buffers and then relayed the information directly from there to Astrometrics, that would give us a more reliable system to work with...there could be a small loss in data but that would be something we'd have to work on with the flow rate from each of the sensor grids," he explained.

Looking at Nyx, Owen could see he had his "Will it work" face on. "I have a way that will work, but I'll need to work with Lieutenant Brennan to get this setup," he answered.

"Make it work, Commander," Nyx replied with an appreciative smile as he returned to the captain's seat.

The Commander turned to Lieutenant Torres, "Take over on Tactical and keep a sharp eye out for any more ghosts. And make sure we're not being followed. Whoever set this trap made it damn near impossible to escape, I wouldn't be surprised if they're watching us try."

"Agreed!" Arthur steadied himself at the tactical controls, taking in the readout at one glance. "These gravitational fluctuations are playing havoc with our senors though." He looked up at the main viewscreen, which displayed the vast expanse of debris surrounding them. "Ghosts in the dark," he whispered to himself, remembering the line from a play he had once seen. He hoped that things for Pandora turned out better than they had for the protagonist of that play.

Lieutenant Ryan had been unable to contact the bridge since communication went down, so she decided to make a trip to the bridge to see if their was anything the Intelligence Department could help with. Smith was so much better with circumstances like this, but he trusted her to get things done in his absence.

As the turbo lift opened, she located the captain and approached, "Sir, what can our department do to help, we have been monitoring the sensor ghost and been working on figuring out a way to escape this trap. Also, Lieutenant Smith is in sickbay he got knocked around a bit, and bumped his head really good and broke his arm." She fidgeted a bit while she stood there, but keeping note on what was happening on the bridge.

Nyx visibly groaned, "We're doing stability training once this is over, far too many of y'all don't have your sea legs still. Send Smith my best, but he's better off staying in Sickbay. Keep watch on the Science station, Lieutenant Ryan, and help Commander Nash as required."

Ryan nodded, "Aye sir". She made her way over to the science station and punched in a few commands. She continued to watch the reading that were coming in.

The Bridge looked back to the vidscreen as the computer gave a relieving chime. The helmsman quickly looked up, "Sir, we see an opening ahead. It's tight but it's only three million kilometres away, and will take us 10 minutes to reach at current impulse speed."

Nyx nodded earnestly, "Make a heading and maintain speed. We can't risk going any faster, we'll just have to rough it out."

Temple sat back again as the crew focused their collective will on the small dot of free space ahead of them, knowing that very soon they would be finally free of this death trap.

OFF