Lt Alex Storm - Emotion Vs. Instinct
Karen Morris
(( The Office Building, Afalqi Project Launch Complex, Meranuge IV ))
Storm: We’re from Starfleet.
The woman looked at her with a mix of alarm and confusion. She began tapping something out onto a terminal of some kind, but after a pause, she emerged from behind the screen. Her countenance slipped into something less of confusion and more of eager recognition.
Ce’Mond: That Starfleet.
Storm: Yes. That Starfleet.
Alex’s head bobbed up and down once with her words.
Jovenan: We’d like to look into some of Chief Engineer Havun’s documents, please.
Ce’Mond: Mister Havun is not available right now.
oO No really? Not like we’ve been called here to investigate his potential involvement in the heist…He’s not in? Got it. Oo
Alex shook her head.
Bergmen: We don’t need them to be present; we would be completely satisfied with his office equipment and documentation archive.
Storm: We are aware of the current situation, Ce’Mond.
Ce’Mond: His office is on the third floor, corridor 7a, room 31. You can use either the lift marked with dark blue or the staircase South-4.
Jovenan: Thank you. Uh, have a nice day.
Jaran: That was a robot or a hologram or something, right? Not a particularly good one, either?
Bergmen: No, Doctor. Just someone who truly enjoyed their slice of the world to the fullest…
Storm: Was the populace enamored with outsiders the last time you were here, Commander? It could be she just realized she had met their local version of a celebrity.
Jovenan: I wouldn’t read too much into that interaction. The Da’al politics are very factional, and our previous involvements with them are probably controversial among some people. Who knows what she’s thinking of us, personally. ::pause:: Third floor, corridor 7a, room 31. Let’s get going so we can start this investigation.
Alex brought up the rear, occasionally glancing over her shoulder.
Storm: I wonder if it was this quiet before the heist, or if people didn’t come into work today either because they were a part of the plot or because they were afraid of being associated with the plot.
Their corridor was lined only with walls and doors, each like the next. But after about twenty meters, the space opened up into a square. Several sets of turbolifts stood marked by different colors.
Jaran: The dark blue, right?
Bergmen: But which dark blue, Doctor? Starfleet Blue? Deep Blue? Cobalt denim blue?
Alex looked from the lifts to Ollie.
Storm: Oh look! Only one shade of blue.
Giving Ollie a half smirk, she gestured to the blue lift.
Storm: Too bad that means we lose our alibi if we turn up in the wrong place.
Jovenan: Response
As in the past, Alex's distrust of mechanical systems in foreign places bubbled up behind her sternum. Machines didn’t register to her senses. If something went wrong here, she’d never feel it coming.
But nothing nefarious happened on their short ride to the third floor. Alex stepped out first, her eyes sweeping down this new corridor in both directions.
Jaran: Ok, we need to find corridor.. 7? And something after that. Why does such a high ranking person have such a hard office to find?!
Bergmen: Because if it were easy, floor map sign manufacturers would be out of a job.
Bergman pointed to the map, and Alex gave it a quick glance.
Storm: It looks like this floor has corridors seven, eight, and nine.
Her fingers traced along the hallway shown on the map, and she double tapped her fingers on the representation of where they stood.
Storm: We’re currently at the junction of eight and nine. We go down here. ::Gesturing to the left:: And take a right.
Jovenan: Response
They followed the map to the chief Engineer’s office; the door was unlocked.
Storm: How do they expect to keep things secure when they don’t even lock the door?
But as Jaran opened it, Alex gasped.
Items were piled floor to ceiling. Data devices, mechanical parts, schematics. There was barely room to walk through the mess.
But immediately, movement caught her eye, and a woman slipped behind a pile, clutching something to her chest.
Jaran: It's ok! We're not going to hurt you!
Ollie’s hand slipped off his phaser, but Alex’s remained firmly settled on her phaser’s handle. Her other hand extended toward the woman.
Jovenan: Response
A projectile flew through the air, barely missing her by a few centimeters. Alex instinctively dodged. Oo She doesn’t have a weapon. Oo
Ta’Mora: No! You will not take me to Sey’nadara!
Bergmen: We are not here for you, nor wanna to take you … whatever that place or person is.
She released the handle of her phaser and held both hands up in front of her chest as she spoke.
Storm: Let’s calm down. We’re not here to hurt you. We’re off-worlders here to help.
And once the words were out of her mouth, Alex hoped that it would calm the woman. It was a risk. Not being Da’al could upset her more.
Jovenan/Jaran: Response
The woman still hugged a mechanical piece to her chest, but turned sideways shielding it.
Ta’Mora: You’re not Quwa-Am?
Bergmen: We are from Starfleet. Eh, you know, the United Federation of Planets?
Storm: We don’t know who or what Quwa-Am is.
Jovenan/Jaran: Response
Alex lowered her hands, letting them hang at her sides, but she stepped sideways, inching herself closer to the woman. Her tone softened into something more genial.
Storm: What’s your name?
The woman glanced quickly at Alex and then at the others. Her arms wrapped tighter around the mechanism.
Ta’Mora: I’m Ta’Mora.
Jovenan/Jaran/Bergmen: Response
Storm: And I’m Alex. Can you tell us who or what this Quwa-Am is?
Ta’Mora: You … really don’t know?
Ta’Mora’s fingers lost the whiteness of their grip as Alex shook her head.
Jovenan/Jaran/Bergmen/Ta'Mora: Response
Alex watched the interchange. Her emotions conflicted with her instincts. Help may come, but if the woman was trying to make off with equipment, at the very least, they needed to understand why.
Storm: What is it that you have there?
Ta’Mora: You can’t have it!
And again, her knuckles bloomed white.
Jovenan/Jaran/Bergmen: Response
~*~
Tags / TBC!
~*~
Lt Alex Storm
Tactical Officer
USS Artemis
O240103SK2