Ensign Gavrin Tarsan - Just A Touch Of Death
Sean Sabbage
((USS Artemis-A, deck 11, Hazardous Materials Lab))
Tarsan: I don’t think our power can keep it going for much longer… we can’t just let it die! Any luck on that signal?
Cole: Working on it. ::typing faster:: I’ve got… Seventeen more percent to go. How close are you Breys?
Bancroft: Pocket coherence is dropping with the signal strength. If those two are linked, we are about to lose both the message and the mechanism.
Silveira: Compensate.
Gavrin was silent as he tried to run through everything he could possibly do to save power. There wasn’t time to add another power cell to the mix, not if they didn’t want unforeseen consequences.
Breys: I think I’m close but I’m not a transporter operator, I’m doing everything I can!
Cole: Gavrin, can you squeeze any more power, we’ve almost got it.
Bancroft: Increase in increments if you can. The regulator is already bleeding excess energy into the containment matrix.
Silveira: Don’t let it overload but keep at it.
Breys: I want to repeat, I really don’t know if the structural forcefields will hold if this shuts off.
Tarsan: ::nodding:: Doing my best, I think I can get just a little bit more…
Gavrin’s hands moved faster across the console, trying to eke out just that little bit more power, trying to nudge some of those processes within the box to more energy-efficient options. He had no idea if it was going to work but he’d try, damnit.
Natasha’s console chirped as the decryption routine finished. Gavrin looked over, holding his breath as he waited to find out what was to come.
Cole: Great Job Breys, What changed?
Bancroft: It’s… I think it’s preparing to transport something. I don’t know if it can transport through the HML’s forcefields… if it can, I’m not sure we can stop it.
Silveira: Increase forcefields and containment.
Cole: Aye Sir.
Breys: Dr. Bancroft is right, something is coming. I can see something more coherent in the buffer now. It’s… a person?
Tarsan: Trying to track the signal back to.. Well, whatever subroutine might have triggered it. In case there are other surprises in store.
Every console suddenly flared with light and noise as they let out a multitude of warnings. Gavrin lifted his hands from his console in case he made things worse (could he make things worse? Best not to ask that question, because the answer would most certainly be yes).
The transporter signal resolved into a Romulan woman, lying on the deck, already starting to bleed out across the deck. Gavrin stomped hard on the urge to rush to her aid, with the Doctor and Natasha already on the case, all he could do was get in the way.
He forced his attention to return to his console, checking to see if the strange box was trying to transport anything else out. Its power draw had reduced massively, perhaps it had been using all of that to try and keep this woman’s pattern coherent.
Bancroft: Romulan. Severe hemorrhage. Abdominal disruptor trauma. Someone get me a medkit now!
Romulan: ::weakly:: It… was… a mistake…
Silveira: What? What was a mistake? Who are you?
Cole: Breys, Tarsan is there any indication of anything else attempting to teleport through?
Breys: No, and antineutrino counts are lowering. The shielding might stabilize at this rate, and if it does we can save the box without a collapse!
Tarsan: Negative, the device seems to be starting to shut down in a more orderly fashion. The space-fold is still there but I don’t think we’re in danger of it exploding on us now.
Gavrin continued working to ensure that the box was indeed stable, but was constantly aware of Roy’s work on the dying Romulan woman. He could hear the sound of the tricorder getting more and more frantic as she began to slip away.
He couldn’t help it. Something in him needed to comfort her in her last moments and he reached out with his mind to touch hers. To try and offer something to her as she passed.
The moment his mind connected with hers he realised the mistake he’d made. He’d never touched a dying mind before, had no way to sort through the feelings, no frame of reference. He remembered far too late the warnings he’d been given time and time again on Betazed about this exact situation and why training was important for this.
It wasn’t an orderly -confusion how? pain- connection as her feelings -sorrow regret fear- and thoughts smashed into his mind like a freight train hitting a -bright who? pain- wall at a thousand miles an -anger dark others?- hour and he couldn’t pull back as -help please help- she latched onto him and -ship gone lost- a hundred scattered images flooded his -wrong stupid idiot- mind and he knew it was too late for -dark cold please- him her and he was bleeding out on the deck frozen at the console as he she -help them help- pushed his her dying moments at him and he couldn’t let -help them hel- go.
And then it was over.
Bancroft: ::silencing his tricorder:: She’s gone.
Gavrin couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t do anything but stare unseeing at the console in front of him as he tried to force his heart rate to return to normal, to remind his brain that he was alive and she was dead and not the other way around.
Silveira: I want a damage report and status of the containment and forcefields. We won’t move until we are sure everything is in order.
Breys: The containment field took the hit and is still holding strong.
Gavrin remained quiet, working on dragging himself back to the land of the living.
Cole: She dropped a data rod, I’ve isolated it from our already isolated system and I’m working on decrypting it now. We should have some kind of intel shortly.
The box had quieted some, and Silveira stepped closer to the core. He was clearly interested in what was still possible for it to do.
Silveira: Secure all the information we can, full scans on the box and make sure it’s contained. It looks like it’s still active…
Cole: I’ll keep working the rod. If it ties back to the box or the Afalqi, we may finally have something useful.
Breys: I’m running a full scan of the internal components now, it’ll take some time due to the nature of the space. What’s the chances we can keep this held together? I don’t know if I have the time to do this.
Tarsan: ::finally speaking, quieter than before:: It’s on the way out, I think it’s achieved its last directive.
Bancroft: Response
Breys: Please, I just need a little more time!
Silveira: If we can’t find anything else, shut it down. Keep under the forcefields and compile all relevant data.
The system began to shut down of its own accord, following what appeared to be a stable sequence. Gavrin watched it carefully, his mind still trying to sort through the myriad of images the Romulan had pushed at him.
Cole: Understood. Let me see if the rod tells us what the box was moving or where it was meant to send our departed visitor.
Tarsan: It’s offline and stable. There’s no danger from it now.
Bancroft: Response
Silveira: Let’s examine the body and learn as much as we can before I report to the Captain.
Cole: Got it. I’ll work on the data. If there’s anything on here about the ship, the box, or anything else, we need it before this trail gets any colder.
Breys: ::to Cole:: Watch for any signs of Klingon encryption at this rate. I don’t think they’re working with the Klingons, but we saw it before and it seems like they’re using something from everyone.
Bancroft: Response
Gavrin took the moment to surreptitiously wipe his eyes. There was moisture there that he hoped the rest of the crew hadn’t seen, quickly wiping his fingers on his uniform to dry them.
Cole: She wasn’t just carrying information. She was carrying instructions.
Breys: What type of instructions?
Tarsan: Do - do they talk about what she was doing in there?
Bancroft/Silveira: Response
Cole: my engineering experience is limited, but if I’m reading these skimmer correctly, there are a minimum of two areas of the Afalqi that have been modified as hidden systems. ::turning to Tarsan:: Tarsan can you take a look at these to make sure I’m reading them correctly?
It took Gavrin a moment to realise he was being addressed directly, but he nodded, recovering his composure and quickly bringing them up on the console, his hands working almost on autopilot. His eyes scanned through the data that Natasha had sent over and he nodded quickly.
Tarsan: Yes, that matches what I saw with Lieutenant Imril in the hanger. Though I can’t quite make out what they are for.
Bancroft/Silveira: Response
Cole: I think the rods helped give us a trail to follow, at least something real to brief the Captain on.
Bancroft/Silveira: Response
Breys moved to kneel down beside the dead Romulan, Gavrin looked away and back to his console, silent for longer. He needed to tell them what had happened, but he didn’t know where to start.
Breys: I don’t know anything about Romulan physiology, but I’ve worked on Bajorans for almost a decade. How can I help?
Bancroft/Silveira/Cole: Response
Breys: I think I see.
Gavrin moved to close the box up, ensuring that it resealed properly, disconnecting the power cell to make it safe. It was dormant now. Possibly it could be rebooted, possibly it was gone for good.
Tarsan: The box is safe now. We should keep it in here for now, wrapped in the forcefields we have. Containment and forcefields are all operating within proper parameters.
Bancroft/Silveira/Cole: Response
Breys: That isn’t supposed to be there, is it?
She pulled out her tricorder and began a closer scan.
Breys: The area around this tissue shows markers for other species, but it seems like it was being rejected.
Tarsan: She was hiding it from the others.
Gavrin didn’t realise he’d spoken until everyone turned to look at him again. He hated it when that happened. Both the speaking and the being looked at by everyone at once.
He didn’t realise he knew that until he’d spoken, either.
Breys/Bancroft/Silveira/Cole: Response
Tarsan: I uh, connected with her, before she ::voice catching and hating himself for it:: died
Breys/Bancroft/Silveira/Cole: Response
Tarsan: I wasn’t thinking, it was all instinct! ::pause:: Sir.
Breys/Bancroft/Silveira/Cole: Response
Gavrin was aware that his voice was getting sharper, volume a little louder, and he turned all his willpower to the task of bringing himself back to normal levels before he got thrown in the brig for insubordination.
Tarsan: I’m still - still figuring out what she was trying to say, but I think she was against some part of the plan and they killed her for it. ::gesturing to the box:: That was her last chance to survive. Or get out whatever data she had.
Breys/Bancroft/Silveira/Cole: Response