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"Into The Abyss"
(Previous Post: (ANU) "Broken Bones" / (BAS) "Escape Plan")
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Setting: USS BASTET, Bridge
Stardate: 34005.1645
Captain Iverson sat on the edge of her seat, her eyes fixated on the image of the crippled Romulan vessel currently being displayed in the middle of the forward viewscreen. The away team was in there, somewhere, but with transporters and sensors unable to penetrate the dimensional distortion field created from within that ship, nothing could be done other than wait.
Selene trusted the resourcefulness of the away team to get the job done and find a way to return to the BASTET. With the combined skills and knowledge of the Intelligence Liaison Officer, Lieutenant Gemma, the Chief Science Officer, Lieutenant Misaki Mitshiba and the Chief Medical officer, Doctor Sofia Andersson, nothing was impossible. What the Commanding Officer had problems with was, ironically, time. The longer the away team was on that ship, the greater the probabilities of a Lokustaar vessel would appear out of nowhere, and without their Temporal or Dimensional Drive operational, the ship and its crew were nothing more than sitting ducks.
"Any news?" Dima asked, the Counsellor having come to stand right next to the concerned Commanding Officer.
"Depends about what," the Captain replied. "News about our special drives which Commander Valentine is currently working on, or the status of our away team out there on that Romulan ship?"
"Would it matter?" Nicole countered, answering with another question.
"No," Selene sadly replied, "it would not. Sarena is still trying to get the Dimensional Jump Drive back online. As for the away team, sensors are still unable to get through the dimensional distortion created by the shockwave. Luckily, those same sensors have not picked up any Lokustaar activity in the vicinity. I am just not sure how long this relative tranquility will last though and will feel a lot better when the away team is back on board and we are several dimensions away from here."
"Gemma and Misaki are there," Nicole said in a reassuring tone. "If there is anyone who can figure a way out of a difficult situation, individually they are the ones to do it, so imagine them working together. I almost feel sorry for whoever gets in their way."
"I agree," Selene said, her lips threatening to allow a faint smile to break her usual stoic features. "That said, and if I may ask, why not mention Sofia? Do you believe her to be a hindrance to the others?"
The joint Trill blinked a few times. Nicole knew that Sofia was there with the others, so why had she not mentioned her? Had the Counsellor allowed her concerns for the Doctor to cloud her perspective and evaluation of the situation? Did Nicole actually believe that Sofia was a hindrance to the successful completion of the mission or was there another reason for the blatant omission? "As much as I admire Doctor Andersson as the Chief Medical Officer, of the BASTET, there is no arguing that her skillset is not suited for missions behind enemy lines. Such missions are best handled by our Intelligence Liaison Officer, Lieutenant Gemma."
"Again, I have to agree with you, and you are right. With both Gemma and Misaki working together, I do believe that the impossible could come to pass."
"Excuse me Captain," the Flight Control Officer chimed in. "Sensors may not be working, but I can clearly see some extra debris moving away from the Romulan vessel."
"Debris?" Captain Iverson inquired. "Was there some sort of explosion or decompression?"
"Not as far as I can tell," Ashton replied. "All I noticed was two relatively large pieces suddenly moving away from the ship heading out in a parallel direction.
"Escape pods?" The Trill suggested, hope clearly lacing her words.
"Without sensors there is no way to positively confirm this, but we are not completely *blind. Ensign Dean, bring visual scanners to bear on those two items and magnify image to maximum."
The few seconds that were required to make this happen felt like hours to the Captain and Counsellor as they waited to see if their suspicions and hopes would be proven right or wrong. Eyes narrowed as the two cylindrical objects came into view, everyone present trying their best to identify beyond any doubt what it was they were looking at.
"The shape is too smooth to be a simple piece of debris," the Counsellor pointed out.
"They are too small to be an life craft," Ashton added. "Even at maximum magnification, those things look more like torpedo casings. Maybe they were knocked loose during a fight inside the Romulan ship.
"The ship is relatively small when compared to the bulk of the fleet of the Romulan Star Empire. It could be possible that their engineers opted to go for smaller, single occupancy escape pods. In the middle of a fight, they would be ignored as being potential debris, just like we are ready to do," Nicole offered.
"I seem to be in a very agreeable mood today," Selene said, sending a sideways glare towards the Counsellor. "Again, I have to agree with you, but there is one problem."
"What would that be?" Dima asked; glad to see that the Captain appeared to trust her in more than just a Counsellor.
"There is only two escape pods," the Captain pointed out before turning her attention back to the Flight Control Officer. "Helm, wait until we are able to lock onto those two pods with a tractor beam and bring them on board. Hopefully there is someone in there that will be able to answer our questions."
"At their current rate of travel, they will exit the dimensional interference field in about 30 seconds. At that point we will be able to lock tractor beams on them," Ashton reported.
"Do it and bring them to Cargo Bay 3 using the external doors," Selene ordered before turning to Nicole. "Counsellor, would you be willing to see who is in those pods, if they are indeed escape modules as we believe them to be?"
"Of course Captain," The Trill woman agreed before making her way off the command deck.
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Setting: USS BASTET, Cargo Bay 3
Stardate: 34005.1700
The only thing that stood between the Counsellor and the emptiness of space was the forcefield that covered the opening where the doors had been only minutes before. Nicole watched as the two escape pods were brought in, their content unknown. The security detail that had come in with her would ensure that if someone other than a member of the away team was found, they would not pose a threat to anyone. The problem was that Dima was not entirely certain as to what she would do if the small cylindrical pods actually contained two of the three members of the away team. Would her reaction be altered based on who would be discovered inside? She would find out soon enough.
The security personnel quickly took position around the two pods as they were carefully lowered onto the deck of the Cargo Bay. Everyone waited for the doors to be closed and the forcefield to be disengaged before moving in. As dangerous as this might be, there were no needs to take any additional risks.
The first pod was scanned and when it was confirmed that no explosive devices were contained inside, the controls were triggered causing the cylinder to hiss open. A general sense of heightened caution took hold of the gathered officers as a pair of hands forced the opened panel further out of the way.
"Those Romulans sure don't waste any space in those things," Lieutenant Mitshiba said as she climbed out of the first escape pod. "I am surprised that I was able to breathe at all in there."
"Welcome back to the BASTET," Nicole said, smiling only for a short time. "Do you know what happened?"
"What do you mean?" Having been the first one to be shoved into an escape pod, the Chief Science Officer had no reason to believe that something wrong had happened. When Misaki looked where the eyes of the Counsellor were directed at, the Asian woman quickly understood why the question had been asked. "There were four pods; the first was damaged, so Gemma pushed me into the second. From that point on I figured that they would both be following, each in their own pod."
"Looks like someone was forced to stay behind," the Trill said, suddenly finding it difficult to swallow. With a motion of her head she instructed the security team to open the second pod. Like the first one, the second pod was opened with a hiss, but this time no hands emerged. Concerned and a little scared as to what they might find inside, both the Counsellor and Chief Science Officer moved slowly moved in. Would they find the pod empty? Would it be Sofia or Gemma inside and if so why had they not jumped out the same way Misaki had?
Nicole felt a wide range of emotions when she looked inside to find a motionless Doctor Andersson. Whatever feelings she felt were quickly turned inside out when she notice that the woman inside the pod was actually alive and breathing.
"Gemma most have knocked her out," Misaki theorized. "The two of them were not exactly getting alone back on the Romulan ship."
"Whatever argument they had does not change the fact that Gemma is still on the Romulan vessel," Nicole pointed out, trying to keep her emotions in check. "If you are able, you should head up to the bridge and brief Captain Iverson on what happened. I will take Sofia to the Infirmary."
Lieutenant Mitshiba agreed and quickly exited the Cargo Bay, hoping that there was still time to help bring Gemma back to the BASTET.
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Setting: USS BASTET, Bridge
Stardate: 34005.1710
Misaki stepped onto the bridge to find Commander Valentine and Captain Iverson talking.
"Glad to see you are back, I could use your help," Sarena said. "I was able to bring the Dimensional Drive back online, but the blast of dimensional energy from the Romulan ship has polarized several of the components. I am not entirely certain that we would be able to use it if the situation calls for it."
"We have another problem," Ashton announced. "Look!"
All eyes turned to the main viewscreen where the damaged Romulan vessel could be seen along with another ship, this one clearly of Lokustaar design.
"I think we are a problem," Sarena sighed.
"We have more than one problem," Misaki corrected. "Gemma is still on board the Romulan vessel."
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Jessica Solarik
Commanding Officer
USS BASTET
&
Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS
"To see the world in a grain of sand,
and a heaven in a wild flower.
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
and eternity in an hour."
- William Blake (British, 1757-1827)