Lt. JG Natasha Cole - The Quiet That Watches Back
Natasha Schell
((Short Walk Later - Hanger Administration Building - Meranuge IV))
As they approached the hangar administration building, Natasha couldn’t shake the feeling that something had shifted again. One thought kept returning with unpleasant persistence: they were being watched.
Cole: I know it’s early, but what do you make of all this?
Imril: Not much to go on yet. For all the extra time I spent mining the hangar computer, all I got was a few extra rolls of hangar security footage. You may be able to make more of it than I can. Spot any questionable changes in patrol routes, which faces pop up where, and so on.
Cole: ::looking around:: You notice security seems … thin?
Imril: A distinct lack of personnel to interview.
She stopped taking a moment to look around, confirming she hadn’t seen anyone from the Da'al security team since they had left the hangar. Her hand drifted instinctively toward her phaser.
Imril: And that's not even at the top of my list of things I don't like about this.
Cole: Yeah, I got a bad feeling about it too.
Nat’s head snapped toward the sound before she could stop it. Phaser fire. Then, a few seconds later, an explosion that rolled through the air hard enough to make her pulse kick. Once, she might have run toward it without thinking. Now she held herself still and listened, forcing instinct to wait for information instead of letting panic dress itself up as action.
Imril: ::Hitching a thumb back towards the ruined hangar:: Roy suggested some sort of automation back there. And Tarsan said that whatever was going on with the gantry, that something was adapting to us. He suggested there might be a construct of some sort controlling it. “Not just a dumb device”.
Cole: Understood. If they need us, they’ll call. Until then, we get answers.
The administration building should have been busier.
After a collapse like that, after the noise they had all just heard, someone should have been running toward the hangar, shouting into a comm, asking questions, doing anything that looked like an ordinary alarm. Instead, the corridor ahead of them was lit, climate-controlled, and almost unnaturally still.
Cole: I don’t trust this kind of quiet after that kind of noise.
Natasha’s eyes moved quickly across the reception area. One console was still active. A chair sat askew from the desk beside it. A mug had been abandoned half-full. None of it looked dramatic, which is what made it interesting. Someone had been here recently.
Imril: What if the crew didn’t steal the ship? What if it was the other way around?
A flicker of movement crossed the far corridor just beyond the admin bullpen, not enough for certainty, but enough to pull Natasha’s attention. She pulled her phaser slowly and held it in a low ready position.
Cole: ::quietly to Imril:: There. Far corridor. Movement.
Imril nodded very subtly and raised their tricorder, presumably to put on the appearance of making a more invasive sensor sweep, flashing lights and all. Natasha took the opportunity to move over towards the edge of the hallway.
Cole: ::answering Imril’s question at a normal volume:: Interesting idea, and if that's what ends up being what happened here, I owe you a round of root beer.
She glanced over to Imril with a half smile as they moved to the table with the mug. Every step heard in the empty space. Imril put a finger to the cup. as Natasha kept focus on the hall and their collective surroundings.
Imril: A little warm. Whoever was drinking this, they haven't been gone terribly long.
Cole: That fits what I saw. Whoever moved, they didn’t get far.
Imril had moved next to the console. She peered around the corner and let herself go very still, listening past the echoes for anything that sounded like breath, fabric, or indecision.
Cole: Can you read it? ::gestures towards the console::
Imril: I can’t read this console, and if I switch it to Federation Standard, the computer will register the command. It, and who knows what else. What I can do without setting anything off is record an image of the screen, and run it though my universal translator via my padd. ::snaps a screengrab:: It doesn't look like the main directory I started with at the hangar. These texts are dedicated to something.
Something between a scrape and a shuffle, lightning quick. Natasha’s body stilled around it, attention narrowing rather than jumping.
Cole: I know you’re there. This is your chance to be a witness instead of a suspect.
Imril: response
Cole: We don’t need a confession. I just need you to decide whether you want this to begin politely.
Natasha didn’t move toward the sound directly. Echoes lied. Exits usually did not. She shifted her grip on the phaser and moved quick and quiet along the edge of the corridor, positioning herself in the path where someone trying to leave unseen would have to take.
Imril: response
The figure made the mistake of choosing the side door.
Natasha was already there when it opened, stepping into their path with her phaser held steady. Surprise did half the work for her; the rest was posture, presence, and the fact that she did not look inclined to repeat herself.
The tall Da’al made the mistake of trying to run. Natasha closed the distance in two sharp steps, caught them by the forearm, and redirected their momentum into the wall with more control than violence. Her phaser stayed in one hand, low and steady.
Cole: Take a breath. Running was a bad choice. What you do next is the part that still matters.
Imril: response
Tags/TBC
----- ◌● -----
Lt. JG Natasha Cole
Security Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240205NC4