Ensign Jovenan – Level failed
Jovenan
((Palace of Culture, Tecra, Meranuge IV))
Jovenan: Commander!
Commander Adea appeared angry as he turned to her, while Ms Kleebohn was quickly approaching rageous. Judging their faces, getting their attention to her had prevented them from grasping one another’s throats, although stepping into the line of fire felt awful. Remember, it’s not you, it’s the dust they’re angry about. At least Lt Silveira seemed to have retained his nerves, but right then he gets called and steps away.
Jovenan: Commander, Ensign Jones and I have discovered something. We believe it’s important.
Adea: ::slowly, each word a struggle:: What is it, Ensign?
Taking the angry words from her Commander and highly valued colleague stung her, and she hesitated with her words, not wanting to make him hate her. However, her information was far too important to keep to herself. She could see Ms Kleebohn in the corner of her eye. She wondered how the Da’al coordinator would take the news of being affected by the dust. It might not do any good to say it straight to her face.
Jovenan: We might be in danger.
Adea: Indeed..?
Kleebohn: DO YOU THINK!? There are THOUSANDS of Da'al dead. Resources and infrastructure are crippled, and I'm stuck babysitting a pack of offworld tunga worms! OF COURSE WE'RE IN TROUBLE, GIRL!!
Jovenan was frightened by Ms Kleebohn shouting at her, and she did poor job hiding it. Kleebohn called her a girl, and she did feel like a little girl again, being shouted at for breaking the rules. Well, not again, considering the fact that Edo parents don’t raise their children by shouting at them and breaking the rules could have resulted in a death sentence. She felt like a teenage university student again, shouted at by one unusually short-tempered dormitory supervisor for dropping her earring to a sink. Or a young cadet, berated by an Academy trainer for hesitating to fire a phaser in training session, resulting in another cadet’s “death” in the simulation. She could hold the tears in this time, but she was also afraid: the Da’al could very well attack them.
Silveira: I am sorry the Captain was calling what happened?
Kleebohn: Your delightfully helpful pet here was just informing us there's trouble at the sight of a METEORITE IMPACT. My regards to the Federation for their impeccable standards of observational skill.
Jovenan: Wh- what I m- meant is that there’s this d- dust that makes people aggressive and…
Kag: Response?
Adea: Well there’s one way to deal with danger, Ensign. And that… is to confront it head on.
Jovenan barely registered what happened. Commander Adea… bonked Ms Kleebohn with a cane? She had her mouth wide open when Lt Silveira charged at Commander Adea.
Silveira: GENKOS NO….JOVENAN, KAG, STAY AWAY.
Jovenan: ::shocked:: Commander!
Kag: Response
Kleebohn: You ... DARE to strike me!?
Jovenan couldn’t turn her head away from the fighting senior officers. There was something happening in the background, but her full attention was on the two officers. She couldn’t move to help them either.
Silveira: I am supposed to be the one who acts without thinking. Drop the cane Commander.
Adea: Response
Silveira was trying to reason with the Commander. Jovenan didn’t know, how far he was and if it was still possible calm him down by words, but she didn’t want to see Commander Adea or anybody else get hurt. Words wouldn’t hurt.
Jovenan: Commander, you are being affected by the dust. This isn’t you!
Kag: Response
Commander Adea didn’t seem to waver, and Lt Silveira issued her an order.
Silveira: Ensign Jovenan contact the Captain, appraise her of the situation and request permission for our team to beam back to the Artemis. Commander Adea, stand down… Please don't make me stop you.
Jovenan nodded, even if the Lieutenant didn’t look to her way. In his current status, Commander Adea was in no capacity to carry on and was a danger to himself and people around him. Not only that, but they were also surrounded by affected Da’al, while unarmed and outnumbered. If they don’t leave now, this might end badly.
She tapped her combadge and opened a voice link to the Captain.
Jovenan: ::panickily:: =/\= Ensign Jovenan to Commander MacKenzie! Commander Adea has… =/\=
Kag: Response
Everything seemed to happen concurrently, within seconds. Voice link was still open, and the Captain probably heard everything that was happening in the room. Jovenan could see Lt Silveira reaching for his phaser. Was he going to shoot Commander Adea!?
Silveira: This is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you.
Adea: Response
Kleebohn: I will end you ALL!
Jovenan: =/\= …attacked our Da’… =/\=
She couldn’t even finish her sentence to the Captain when an orange beam cut through the area, accompanied by a high-pitched, whistling sound. Jovenan turned around, seeing Ms Kleebohn holding a Federation phaser, shooting to different direction with madness gleaming in her eyes. For a while, Jovenan’s fight-or-flight response ordered her to stand still and stay silent, hoping the Da’al could only see her if she moved.
Kleebohn: Now you die, offworlders.
Adea/Silveira/Kag: Response
Adrenaline flooded Jovenan’s blood, but she had to get a hold of herself. They were standing in an open area, unarmed, with a maniac pointing a gun at them, while one of them was equally out of control. Lt Silveira had ordered her to ask for permission to beam back up to Artemis. There was no time for permissions.
She severed the voice link to the Captain, hoping she had heard enough of their situation, and opened a new commlink.
Jovenan: =/\= Jovenan to Artemis! Emergency beam out! Get the triage team out, NOW! =/\=
Kleebohn: I think you go first, commander.
Ms Kleebohn fired again. The bright beam went past Jovenan, past Silveira and Kag, hitting Commander Adea! Jovenan’s eyes were wide and mouth open as she saw the Commander fall to the ground.
Silveira/Kag: Response?
The air around them began to tintinnabulate. Jovenan looked down and could see her body being surrounded by bright, blue light. As she dematerialized, she looked back at Ms Kleebohn.
Kleebohn: Response?
((Transporter Room, USS Artemis))
The bright blue light dissipated, and they rematerialized to one of the ship’s transporter rooms. The transporter chief stood behind the console with a worrisome expression on their face. Jovenan could hear her heartbeat and the blood rushing in her head.
Jovenan: Contamination field!
The air around the transporter alcove shimmered for a second as the force field activated, separating them from the rest of the ship. She didn’t want to take chances with the aggression spreading to the rest of the crew, hoping the field would block all remaining traces of the dust they might have on them.
After saying that, the adrenaline dissipated. She was shaking and felt like vomiting. Had she failed? If she had noticed the dust earlier, she could have prevented this all from happening. Had she warned Commander Adea first, he wouldn’t have been shot. She had had them beamed out like coward that she was. She had failed to help the Da’al in time.
She turned to see her teammates. Holding her head with both her hands, she looked at Lt Silveira now in command.
Silveira/Kag: Response
Adea: Response?
TAG/TBC
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Ensign Jovenan
Science officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11