Lt Jovenan – The rise and fall of Mizar(ian)
Jovenan
((Administrative Building, Ki Baratan, Romulus))
When standing on the walkway, the team had had an option to run into either of the two buildings it connected. It was a sheer coincidence – or maybe the Guidance of the Q – that they would choose the one where they would find their newest ensign. Jovenan was happy to receive Ensign Gnai to her department but considering the uncommon circumstance of it joining the crew, she would need to go through the formalities with it later.
Jovenan: We’ll have to do the further introductions and explaining on the move. ::to Gnai:: We’ll have to find some way to disguise ourselves, have you happened to see any clothes around here? And, uh, how do we disguise you?
Jovenan looked the Ensign up and down, or rather its mechanical suit. It would in theory be possible to disguise the rest of the team with varying success but doing so to Ensign Gnai seemed impossible. Jovenan wondered why CloQ was so cruel as to send it here, but then again, the others might not be having any better situation.
Gnai: No, just this room, sir. And... Hm. That is a good question. That is a good question... ::the lights on its tendrils pulsed slowly:: Perhaps as a robot...?
Sadar: That is perhaps the best option, yes, but such a disguise would likely, uhh… Take too long. At least until we find somewhere secluded with the appropriate materials.
Adea: Time we don’t have.
They were working behind the lines, so to speak, as anyone who would see them would report them immediately to the authorities. Wanting to avoid that, Jovenan walked to the other door in the room and pressed her ear against it and even opened it a little. She described to the others what she heard and saw, so that they could decide where they would go next.
Jovenan: ::whisper:: A staircase, up and down, and a small corridor with another door on the opposite side of us. I don’t think there’s any… Shh! I hear steps! Someone’s coming!
Jovenan froze up by the door. It was a very primitive response, hoping that the predators wouldn’t see you if you didn’t move. In this case it might have had a chance as well; if they were silent and the person was going to another room, the team might remain undiscovered. It was not the best plan, but it was what her brain told her to try out first.
Sadar: ::whispers in panic:: What do we do!?
Gnai: ~ Should we hide? ~
Ooh, that was a funky feeling. It took Jovenan a moment to realise that Ensign Gnai had inserted that thought to her mind telepathically. Her thoughts and memories had been probed before, but she didn’t remember ever hearing anyone else’s thoughts in her head.
Either way, Jovenan agreed with it. Slowly and quietly, she stepped further away from the door. The steps and now even muttering could be heard becoming louder and louder as the person approached the door, their door.
Adea: Here, Lieutenant.
Sadar: B-But, Sir-
Jovenan: Hush!
The steps and muttering ceased, and one could have easily interpreted that the person had gone past them to some other room. One would have been wrong. Instead, the door opened entirely, revealing a Romulan man behind it. A PADD on his hand and donning civilian clothes, he froze upon seeing the Starfleet officers inside, approximately in the similar fashion as the team froze staring at him. If Jovenan wasn’t feeling so nervous, she would have considered how bizarre it must be to open the door to your office room and find what would look like an enemy strike group in there.
Sadar: W-Wait! W-We’re not-
And what a strike group they were.
Adea: We come in peace!
Raising her hand towards the Romulan in a gesture of assuring non-hostile intentions, Jovenan hoped to calm him down before he would, understandably, freak out.
Jovenan: Maybe we could talk…
Their attempts proved to be in vain as the Romulan didn’t heed their pleads for dialogue but opted to flee. Jovenan could already see what was going to happen; he would reach out to the security and the authorities, the military would deliver them to the Tal Shiar, they would be tortured until their bodies were disfigured and their minds broken, and she would never again see the Artemis or Hiro or Vitor or Talos or the green eskers of her home…
Sadar: He’s running, Sir!
Adea: After him!
Jovenan turned briefly to the Commander, giving him a confused expression before catching up with the order. After him? After him!
Jovenan: On it!
Gnai: Response
She rushed through the door and into the stairwell. The Romulan had some meters of lead to her, but she was still after him. A natural runner, she estimated that she might be a bit faster than he was, so she should reach him eventually. That was, however, not the issue, but whether she could stop him before he could warn the other Romulans in the building. Given Jovenan’s smaller size and lack of hand-to-hand prowess, the advantage was on the Romulan. She had to hope that Doctor Sadar or Ensign Gnai were faster and stronger than her.
Sadar: No no no no no no-
Doctor Sadar’s anguished cry made Jovenan look back and up, just in time to witness as the Mizarian officer fell over the railing, through the air for some few meters, finally landing inelegantly in front of the fleeing Romulan. Seeing the events occur almost as if slowed down, Jovenan stopped to look with her mouth wide open.
Jovenan: Gila!
Gnai: Response
To Jovenan’s relieve, Doctor Sadar stood up almost immediately after crashing down, now blocking the Romulan’s path with her body. Unlike Jovenan, Doctor Adea hadn’t stopped but kept walking to the Romulan, finishing the escape with a swift swing of his cane.
Adea: Sorry about that.
Jovenan flinched. This was far from the first time she had witnessed Doctor Adea use his cane as a weapon. However, they had assaulted and knocked down an innocent person in order to carry on with their conspiracy. According to her moral compass, that, if anything, made them a criminal gang and worthy of an execution. Still, she suspected she’d need to set aside her doubts many, many more times during this mission.
Then, she turned her attention to Doctor Sadar.
Jovenan: Gila, are you alright?
Sadar/Gnai: Response
The Commander looked at each of them at turn.
Adea: Jovenan, Gnai, grab our friend here and take him back in that room. I saw a locker we can stuff him in for now. Gila - let me have a look at that cheek.
Quickly exchanging looks with Ensign Gnai – or at least where she assumed its eyes would be – Jovenan turned back to Doctor Adea and nodded.
Jovenan: Aye. ::to Gnai:: How strong are you in that suit? Can you lift his legs if I take the upper body?
Gnai/Sadar: Response
The two science officers lifted the unconscious Romulan, Jovenan with some difficulty, and started carrying him up the stairs to the room they had first met him. Since they had advance slowly, Jovenan saw the opportunity to explain some more of their situation to Ensign Gnai.
Jovenan: Our team ended up on Betazed first. It was another timeline, where the Dominion ::huffs from physical strain:: Dominion occupation lasted even though it was, um, 2375 or -76. We then found a portal here. It should be 2374 in here.
Gnai: Response
Jovenan: Yeah. That would mean that the rest of the crew can be anywhere in time and space. It’s a terrifying thought… How, um, how are you faring?
Gnai: Response
They reached the room and spotted the locker the Commander had mentioned. They placed him inside, and before locking him in, Jovenan made sure to leave in a sideways position so that he wouldn’t choke on his own vomit if it came to that.
After making sure he couldn’t get out too easily, Jovenan turned back towards the door so that she and the Ensign would rejoin the two medical officers. However, as they were walking back towards the door, Jovenan spotted the PADD the Romulan had been carrying discarded on the floor. She lifted it up and took a brief look before handing it to the Ensign.
Jovenan: Do you think you could find something about this building from this? Like, where we could find our disguises or some quiet place?
Gnai/Sadar/Adea: Response
TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11