A Narrow Escape

Posted on Fri Aug 14th, 2020 @ 9:43pm by Admiral Gordon Francis & Commander Leta Rothgan PhD. & Cailus Griffin

Mission: The Evils Within
Location: Pithos Facility
Timeline: current

ON

With most of the people in the Pithos facility evacuated, Commander Leta Rothgan worked the control station to rig the system to give her enough time to escape. She swore under her breath as she navigated the LCARS interface. She knew she had very little time. With the possibility of the facility exploding in a few minutes, she knew the window of opportunity was very slim. She'd have about ten minutes to get out and clear of the possible blast. That should be enough time for me, she thought. She realized then that she hadn't heard from Lieutenant Commander Griffin or his prisoner, who unbeknownst to her had disguised himself as Admiral Gordon Francis.

"Computer, locate Lieutenant Commander Griffin and Admiral Gordon Francis," she shouted over the chaotic sounds of the sirens and tremors reverberating throughout the facility.

She barely heard the computer say, "Lieutenant Commander Griffin and Admiral Francis are currently in corridor 2-03."

Rothgan swore again. She needed to make sure they got out, but the ten minutes she allotted herself were not going to be enough for the two of them to escape. She began forming a path of the shields that would give her a path for her to reach the two officers and escape with them. As long as Griffin and the Admiral stayed on that path, they would be safe. But they would not know the way out unless Rothgan found them first. There was only one problem: maintaining the shields in Section 5, where she was containing gaseous emissions that threatened the planet if exposed. She adjusted the power flow to a timer, giving her makeshift path a ten-minute window before power would be diverted back to Section 5, hopefully in time for all three of them to escape.

She punched the "Execute" button and ran out of the room. At the end of the corridor she grabbed three breathing units from a storage locker and bounded toward corridor 2-03. Nine minutes, she thought to herself as she ran.

It took only thirty seconds for her to run into them as they rounded a corner. "We're evacuating the station!" she yelled over the noise. She handed Francis and the Admiral their breathing units. "We're the last three people out. We have eight minutes to clear the facility. Follow me!"

By that point, the screaming of the sirens, the irritatingly calm voice of the computer and the worsening quakes were a clear sign that it was time to depart. The situation had developed faster than anyone could've predicted; in the time it had taken Cailus and Thac to move up from the lower levels, the failures had begun to cascade. For Cailus as he hurried down the corridors, keeping a wary eye on Thac, he had to focus to avoid the memories of the Churchill. It felt so similar; the alarms, the same walls and floor, the near panic of evacuation, the shaking. This time, at least, it was some manmade cataclysm that caused the shaking of the floor beneath their feet, not weapons fire...and they didn't have to struggle past bodies of dead crewmates as they fled. Nevertheless, the similarities made Cailus' heart race as he and Thac rushed through the abandoned base to to the evacuation point, on the far side of the base from where they'd been.

"Warning: environmental shields failing," the computer announced calmly, its voice unaffected by the looming destruction of the base. "Tectonic instability has increased beyond tolerance. Evacuate immediately."

The sight of Rothgan was a welcome one, and Cailus put on the breather quickly as they rushed ahead, moving as fast as they could through the nearly continuous earthquakes. "Good to see you haven't forgotten us," he shouted to Rothgan as they went, his voice barely carrying over the din. "How are we getting out of here?"

"This way!" Rothgan yelled. She took off with Cailus and Thac closely behind.

They made a right at the T junction and headed down the corridor about twenty yards before making a left. Just then, a large tremor hit the station, and the entire corridor split open. The shield in that area immediately shut off. Rothgan checked her breather, then looked back at her two companions. They both had breathers on and secure, but now there was a large split through the floor that looked unnavigable. The breach was too wide. Quickly, Rothgan tried to think of another path. Doubling back was not a good idea, as it put them closer to Sector 5, the most dangerous place in the facility.

Suddenly another tremor rocked the place, and the three went down. The sirens and noise from the computer was silenced as more of the facility began breaking up. Rothgan scrambled to get up, brushing off some of the dust on her uniform. "Is everyone OK?" she yelled over the planet's rumbling.

It felt like the entire planet was ripping itself apart...and, as Cailus struggled to his feet, he realised sourly that it was ripping itself apart. His uniform was a mess now, much like the others in the increasingly toxic atmosphere. In answer to Rothgan, he replied with a simple thumbs up,

“Admiral?” he called out, glancing back.

They both looked back just in time to see Thac disappear around the corner. "We have to get him!" yelled Rothgan.

“Damn it!” Cailus cursed, bracing himself on a wall. For a moment, just a moment, he considered just abandoning the suicidal fool to die. There was no sense in him and Rothgan dying needlessly along with him...but that wasn’t the job. With barely a second’s hesitation he ran full tilt after Thac, trusting Rothgan to follow. Cailus only just dodged ceiling collapse as he ran, pausing only to confirm that Rothgan was still behind him before rushing on, heedless of the insane danger, tremors and crumbling structure around them.

When they had turned the corner, they noticed a supply locker had been torn open. Thac stood a few yards ahead, holding up a tricorder taken from the locker.

"There's a service tunnel this way that leads to an emergency hatch about fifty yards outside the facility," he said as Cailus and Rothgan approached. "And it looks like there's enough shielding left that we can get to it."

"I didn't know about this!" yelled Rothgan.

Thac shrugged. "There's a lot of secrets here. But we'll be buried with them all if we don't go. Do you trust me to lead? Or would you rather have the tricorder, Commander?" He held out the tricorder to Cailus. "I am still your prisoner after all."

The glare that Cailus shot back at the man was scathing, but there was nothing for it. “I trust you to not be suicidal, Thac, so go!” he said, gesturing ahead.

Thac met Cailus' gaze with a smirk. He moved down the corridor with Cailus and Rothgan close behind. The tremors had subsided, at least for the moment, but there was no doubt in Rothgan's mind they would return very soon, probably before they were out. She was beginning to doubt their situation, and with Thac leading them now, she wasn't sure if this was some sort of trap.

"Next time, wait for my order, Mr. Griffin," she said quietly. "How do you know we're not walking into a trap?"

By now, Cailus’ eyes were fixed on Thac’s back. “Commander, we have no choice,” he replied just as quietly. “I’m certain that he has something planned, but we’re more likely to survive that than finding another way out.” With Thac walking ahead, Cailus carefully drew his phaser and, without a word, handed it to Rothgan. As they moved around some debris from where a rock had collapsed, he made brief eye with Rothgan, hoping fervently that he could trust her, then concealed his empty holster with his left hand as they walked on.

Rothgan put her hands behind her back and addressed Thac, who walked a few yards ahead of them. "How far is your service tunnel, Admiral?" She nearly spat the rank.

"Not much further," Thac replied.

Thac made a right and stopped in front of the door to his office, which swished open with a slight creak, and managed to provide enough space for Thac to get inside. "This won't take long," he said.

“Admiral, we don’t have time...” Cailus growled furiously, but there was nothing for it.

Thac was already at his desk, picking up a PADD on his desk that hadn't been damaged. He turned and typed a few commands into the PADD and started to walk back to the doors. He slid sideways out of the partially-open doors when his food got stuck on them and he fell over onto Cailus. Rothgan noticed a sense of confusion when Thac looked into his hand and saw it grasping Cailus', instead of what Rothgan assumed was going to be a phaser.

Rothgan pointed her phaser at Thac. "Looking for this?" she said.

Thac blinked and looked up at Cailus in disbelief.

“Assault on a Starfleet officer and resisting arrest,” Cailus said coldly even as he lay on the debris-strewn floor, looking up at Thac, his blue eyes lit with cruel triumph above the breath mask. “Ten more more years on your sentence, Admiral. At least.” He pushed the older man off him and stood, even as a fresh tremor struck the facility, but this one was relatively minor and Rothgan’s aim stayed firm.

“Try anything else and we’ll stun you, then carry you off this blasted planet,” he said. Rothgan handed his phaser back to him, and Cailus aimed it squarely at the admiral.

They took off down the corridor, with Rothgan using the tricorder to find a way out. They were clear of the facility in time, and made their way to the rest of the survivors.

OFF