Lt Alex Storm - A Chorus of Voices in a Prison of Flesh
Karen Morris
(( Corridor, Deck 3 – USS Karnack ))
Alex, already on one knee, set her other knee onto the cold metal of the deck plating. She held her phaser up and to the side before making a show of laying it down. Once again, she raised both of her hands in a universal gesture of 'I mean you no harm' and 'please don’t kill me'.
The creature, as big as an alpha lion, loomed in front of her. Its grey, leathery hide was streaked with brown splotches. Sharp claws made depressions in the metal floor. Its maw hung, gaping with its razor teeth gleaming in the lights of the corridor. That, however, wasn’t what Alex saw just before she opened her mind. Instead, she glimpsed a small, dimpled face and two jet black eyes. But it was what she felt behind her that gave her the courage she needed to drop her mental guards. She felt the comforting closeness of a tall, lanky, bearded man. Allowing herself a moment to rest in that serenity, the sun peeked over the horizon and filtered red through the clouds scattered across the lowering sky of her mind. A new day of understanding dawned, whispering of a reality that she had lived for a while, but just now comprehended. Though, not even for that, could she stop what she had already set in motion. Her voice barely above a whisper….
Storm: Here goes.
Just as she had been trained as a child, like cracking a window on a cold and blustery day, Alex opened her mind just a crevice, but even then, the blaring noise of many voices had her clasping her hands to her head.
Bancroft: I don’t like this.
With trembling fingers, her hand flew out to her side, begging them to wait.
So many voices!
Focus on one.
Alex picked one from the many.
Forcing her eyes fully open, she blinked against the pain, the creature’s forward eyes boring into her. A putrid scent struck her in the face as a low rumble emanated from the creature’s mouth.
Creature - Voice 1: ~ Help us! ~
Jovenan: Neither do I.
Silveira: It will be alright…
Storm: We’re willing to help.
The beast groaned. Alex clenched her jaw against the pressure. The universal translator spat out the word pain. But the voice that Alex had locked onto hadn’t used that word.
Bancroft: You’re in pain? Or you want to cause pain? ::angrily:: Which is it?!
Jovenan: Easy, Doctor. ::to Storm:: Try to tell it we don’t want to cause pain, but we are capable of causing it if we are attacked.
Storm: We don’t want to hurt you. You asked for help. We can try to help you.
But another voice crowded the first out of Alex’s head.
Creature - Voice 2: ~ Fooooood. ~
The word she heard was long and drawn out, like a child whining for a morsel.
Bancroft: Yes, yes! Pain. Hunger. Help. ::frustrated:: Don’t you know any other words?!
Creature - Voice 3: ~ Free us! ~
Silveira: Only basics… They are too feral to be coherent…
Storm: Free you from what?
Was that voice asking them to kill it or to help it?
Alex could almost feel the dissonance roil throughout its hulk, like she was listening to opposing sides cheering during a Parrises Squares match, each trying to outdo the other in volume and message.
Bancroft: Response
Jovenan: We have to convince it to leave us alone. Something that uses just basic words, rooted in biology or herd sociology.
Silveira: Leave?…
Creature - Voice 1: ~ Now ~
The word rumbled through her head over and over and grew in volume with each echo as more voices joined the cacophonous chorus.
Storm: We’re willing to help you. Tell us what you want.
Bancroft: Response
Jovenan: What would it take to alleviate its pain?
Creature - multiple voices: ~ Freeeeeeedom. ~
Folding at the waist, the fingertips of Alex’s right hand pressed against the deck, and her head bobbed forward as she fought against the nearly complete inundation. She was drowning in a sea of voices, but her lifelines were right there with her. She tethered herself into their reality, anchoring herself in their strength.
Storm: They want to be freed. But I don’t understand from what.
Bancroft: Response
Silveira: They can’t be reasoned with like any sentient. Keep it simple.
Their word - freedom - kept tumbling around in her head like a piece of driftwood caught in a circular current.
Creature - voice 1: ~ Silence!! ~
And at that moment, all the voices in Alex’s head quieted. Her eyes opened freely, and she raised herself just a little, only to nearly double over again as several voices all bellowed….
Creature - voice 1, 2, 3: ~ Split us. ~
Had they sung it, it would have been in a round, one starting where the other stops over and over. Alex breathed through the clamor resounding in the recesses of her head.
This time she yelled.
Storm: Split us? Split you from what?
Jovenan/Bancroft: Response
Silveira: We know what happened… Or we can guess… Just make them go away.
In the background, Alex could hear murmurings of at least six different voices, but one was always on top.
Creature - voice 1: ~ From ourselves. We …are many. ~
Storm: ::To the creatures:: You want us to separate you from … each other? ::To the team:: There’s more than one of them in there. They want us to separate them.
Jovenan/Bancroft: Response
Silveira: I am feeling tired…
Creature voice 1: ~ Yessssss! Separate us.~
Creature opened its mouth, and a long tongue lolled to the side as if it were licking its lips.
Creature - voice 1: ~ Or die.~
Jovenan/Bancroft: Response
Alex’s head erupted with another discordant volley of voices. She could feel the anger bridge the short gap between the creature and herself. Snatching up her phaser and rolling to the side, she screamed at those behind her.
Storm: Fire!
Once she was on her knees out of the way of the others' line of sight, she opened up fire. The creature lunged toward where she had knelt only a fraction of a second before. It's empty jaws snapping shut on only her scent.
Bancroft/Jovenan/Silveira: Response
Alex aimed at the eyes. Even if they couldn’t kill it, blinding it would be second best. Feeling the sting of all three phasers, the creature bucked into the air, like a bronco trying to free itself from its rider.
Storm: Don’t stop!
Bancroft/Jovenan/Silveira: Response
With each fraction of a second that passed, the creature’s movements became, first, more erratic, then sluggish. Finally, it slumped to the ground. Its sides heaved in and out. Blood oozed from its nostrils, and several of its eyes hung lifeless, nothing but blackness filling the void in them.
With effort, Alex pushed herself upright, her own chest heaving. She moved, taking several side steps, one foot across the other, to where the rest of the group stood, settling in next to Roy. Her phaser was still trained on the creature, should it move again.
Storm: We would have helped you. At least we would have tried.
But like a downed wolf, the creature snarled, trying to push itself up again.
Bancroft/Jovenan/Silveira: Response
~*~
Tags / TBC!
~*~
Lt Alex Storm
Tactical Officer
USS Artemis
O240103SK2