Captain Addison MacKenzie - Ding, Dong, the Wicked CloQ...
Addison MacKenzie
(( Unknown Mine, Near the Betazed Prison ))
The red-headed commanding officer of the Artemis turned back and forth, watching her officers head in separate directions. In one direction, their Galadoran science officer set out to try to glean whatever information they could from a group of fellow convicts. In the other direction, a pair of Vulcans were headed to employ what was sure to be a crazy plan that was likely to get them all killed. But, as the saying went, beggars couldn’t afford to be choosers.
She felt an affinity for each of them – ironic, given that they were three of the newest officers to join her crew and she barely knew them – but sharing a traumatic experience had a way of creating ties that few other experiences could.
Knowing that each of the officers was embarking on their own missions, Addison remained behind to bear the physical brunt of their work. If her team was unsuccessful and they had no ore to show for their time at the end of the day, there was no telling what punishment might be deemed appropriate by their captors. She wasn’t interested in finding out, any more than she was interested in the shared wrath that would be inflicted on her officers.
She shook her head and picked up the pickaxe. If their efforts were unsuccessful, they would have neither made headway on these fronts, nor produced the expected amount of ore, it likely meant that they would be punished accordingly by the Overseer. That meant someone had to get to work. With both hands, she lifted the pickaxe over her head, and with all the strength her biceps could muster, she swung it into the rock.
And, at the moment of contact, everything was enveloped in a familiar white light.
((Bridge, USS Artemis-A))
Her arms, now tightly gripping the arms of the captain’s chair on the Artemis, had braced her forearms for the inevitable impact of the pickaxe on the cave wall. Instead, she now found herself in a familiar, far more safe setting than she had been only seconds ago. She blinked for a moment, adjusting to the sudden shift in setting, including the image of Deep Space Nine on the viewscreen. She turned to see Talos on her right and Genkos on her left. As she surveyed the rest of the bridge, the rest of the senior staff all seemed to be accounted for, though they were all frozen in time.
…except for one interloper.
CloQ gestured to the viewscreen languidly.
CloQ: Captain, welcome back.
MacKenzie: Back? Back where? ::pointing to the viewscreen:: That’s certainly not where I was… What time is it, CloQ?
CloQ: Right time, wrong place. The
timeline is all hunky-dory, back to normal. No thanks to your crew - they were
so desperate not to murder, not to escape, not to piece together Sisko’s
crimes, it was rather embarrassing. I’m embarrassed for you.
MacKenzie: ::flatly:: Sorry to disappoint you again, CloQ.
CloQ: Still, this is the best crew you’ll have for a while - and I love the new ship. ::they ran a finger along the top of a console, as if checking for dust:: Shame what’ll happen to it. ::they grinned:: Keep an eye on the Betazoid, by the way, not everything is what it seems with them.
She cocked her head to the side, alarmed by the implications.
MacKenzie: Why? What’s going to happen to the ship? And what’s wrong with Genkos??
CloQ pressed their combadge that was shaped like a clock face one last time and the ship started to move again in time. The crew all jolted forward as their physical bodies restarted.
CloQ: Well, until next time… Ciao.
Addison opened her mouth to try and delay their departure, but CloQ melted from sight. A voice from her right gave her a small jolt.
Dakora: Good to see you, Captain. ::He gestured to the image of Deep Space Nine on the view screen.:: It seems we might have drifted just a little off-course…
MacKenzie: ::nodding slowly:: It would certainly appear so… ::gesturing:: It appears everyone made it back from whenever they were…
He nodded. The general consensus, judging by the looks on the faces of the rest of the crew, was one of surprise and bewilderment.
Dakora: Orders, M’am?
She stood and moved forward, closer to the stations in the front of the bridge. Taking a breath in through her nose, she put her hands on her hips, then raised them in an expression of her own bewilderment.
MacKenzie: Request permission to dock, I guess.
End Mission for MacKenzie!
(OOC: This officially brings our mission to a close! Feel free to write out your respective scenes and/or perceptions of what is happening on the bridge. For those who are new, we’re now entering a period of shore leave, where time is flexible, and many different scenes can happen at once. This is a great opportunity for collaboration and character building!
We’re going to hang at Deep Space Nine, so I hope you’ll all get some fun out of exploring a new setting that has been heavily depicted on screen! Bajor is also fair game, as is anywhere on the Artemis. I anticipate that this shore leave will last until the beginning of June-ish, so be conservative with your creative juices.
Our next mission will be as participants in part of a Fleet-wide blockbuster around celebrating Frontier Day [as depicted-ish in Picard S3], so lots of exciting stuff to look forward to!)
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Captain Addison MacKenzie, M.D., Ph.D., FASFS
Commanding Officer
USS Artemis-A
Captains Council Member at Large
V239601AM0