Captain Addison MacKenzie - Send Them Home
Addison MacKenzie
(OOC: We’re closing in on the end of this mission. Let’s take the next couple of days to wrap up the various scenes we have running, and I’ll drop a sim getting us to our shore leave destination by the beginning of the weekend!)
(( Bridge – Deck 1, USS Artemis ))
There was weapons fire in Engineering, but Savel was on it. The Desdemona was on the move, but they were on it. …at least, as far as they could get without warp power. Fortunately, their tractor beam still worked – a momentary fix. After a short update from the security teams, Kader volunteered that his doppelganger was still on the loose…and that he’d basically supplied the doppelganger with all the materials necessary for them to overtake the Artemis.
…she’d airlock him, but it would have to wait.
MacKenzie: We’ll send a security team. Until all their crew members are accounted for, we need everyone to stay at their posts. (beat) Who has eyes on Ensign Kader’s commbadge?
Silveira: I certainly would like to see your full report on that, Ensign Kader.
Sadar: Locating Ensign Kader’s combadge frequency… ::beat:: Ensign Kader’s ID is located on Deck 11, near the Hazards Laboratory. Someone’s with him. One of ours. A… Crewman Third Class Jozial Renirs?
Renirs… as near as she could remember there wasn’t a doppelganger of Renirs on the Desdemona manifest, but she couldn’t discount anything at this point.
MacKenzie: He may have a hostage…
Jovenan: It’s also possible this Renirs is also from the Desdemona…
Silveira: If it is our Renirs I know she can handle herself. ::he shot a
disappointing stare at Kader.:: Unless she also turned.
Kader: Response
Addison shot side-eyed glances at both of the officers, each in turn. She was beyond disappointed too, but sorting it out now when there were bigger problems to worry about wasn’t how she did business.
Sadar: 2nd Lt. Thevn is also accounted for. She is enroute to the Brig as we speak.
Addison stood and drew her phaser, moving near one of the operations consoles in case she needed something to duck behind.
MacKenzie: Secure the bridge!
Vitor moved up closer to the turbolift.
Kader: Response
Jovenan: No lifeforms in Jefferies tubes leading to the Bridge detected. Locking all access ports and erecting forcefields for caution.
Until it was guaranteed that the bridge could be locked down, Addison wasn’t willing to write off the possibility that any of the remaining Desdemona crew could cause some serious damage. Just then, her console beeped. It was an unauthorized shuttle launch.
MacKenzie: We’ve got an unauthorized shuttle launch. Can we lock the bay doors??
Jovenan: The shuttle Ephesus would have cleared the doors by the time they close, sir. They’re getting away!
Vitor rushed to
Tactical, holstering the phaser, quickly tapping his console.
Silveira: I have him, it's building up speed.:: Vitor tapped frantically trying
to target the shuttle:: Disengaging IFF…
Sadar: It’s not working, Sir, and the shuttle is not responding to any hails. Two lifesigns on board. One Betazoid, one Klingon.
Kader: Response
Addison bit her lip hard enough that she could taste blood. The tractor beam was already occupied holding the Desdemona. There would be no way to stop the shuttle. Pulling up the sensors, she shook her head.
MacKenzie: There’s a Betazoid lifeform on board… I’ve got to guess it’s not one of ours – and since Major Dakora is now deceased, it must be-
Jovenan: Can we use the tractor beam or weapons?
The tractor beam was already holding
the Desdemona. They’d have to shoot the shuttle down. She could feel
Vitor moving swiftly without needing to look at him.
Silveira: We just can't shoot our own ships…
But he wasn’t
fast enough.
Silveira: He's gone to warp. I lost him…
Kader: Response
She shook her head. How they’d managed to be taken advantage of by the band of misfits both surprised and infuriated her. The shuttle likely wouldn’t get far – Starfleet and half of the quadrant would be put on notice and the pair would likely be apprehended as soon as they needed to forage for supplies.
MacKenzie: I want the rest of them apprehended. Now.
Sadar: Brig says that Colonel Genkos Adea never made it to his cell… The remainder of the apprehended Desdemonans remain in custody.
Well, that warranted that her shoulders come down from her ears… a little, anyway.
Jovenan: Sir, Commander Dakora’s team have secured the prismagons and there’s no leakage from them detected. The team seem to be taking them somewhere.
Silveira: We should put them to good use.
Addison turned to look at Vitor and nodded definitively.
MacKenzie: And send them back where they belong.
Kader: Response
Sadar: What? B-But… Sending them back? Are we… Are we sure that’s possible? We don’t actually know what happened with that Shint vessel, whether it made it safely back to its own universe.
Jovenan: We haven’t yet tested phasing anything out to the other universe, but Ensign Kader has already demonstrated that something happened when the deflector controls were set to the configurations indicated by, um, his counterpart.
Silveira: Then let’s set them up.
MacKenzie: Start making the necessary
preparations.
Kader: Response
Jovenan: My recommendation is that we study the prismagons more before we start testing let alone using them on living beings, sir.
Silveira: Let’s just…
He stopped, and she turned to look back at him as he shook his head, walking toward the security console.
Silveira: Let’s just secure the ship first.
MacKenzie: Prudent. Get me a status report.
Kader: Response
Jovenan: Aye, sir.
A silence fell over those who remained on the bridge as they checked in with their colleagues below decks and relayed their reports to MacKenzie. It was clear as the officers contributed their various reports that they were tired… As well they should be – they’d been lied to, had their goodwill taken advantage of, and their home and security invaded. They’d been violated.
Silveira: Ensign Savel is in Engineering. I think we got it clear.
As the reports rolled in, they’d determined that Primary Sickbay had been damaged, though not as badly as they’d feared. New patients were being rerouted to the secondary Sickbay just to be safe. Many of the Desdemona crewmembers that were feared at large were accounted for: captured or dead.
Jovenan: Commander Dakora’s team has reached the Hazardous Materials Lab, the prismagons are now secured there… Um, the lifesigns of Ensign Kader’s counterpart are fluctuating. He’s severely injured.
MacKenzie: ::flatly:: Get him to Sickbay. Tell them to patch him up just well enough that he’s able to return to the Desdemona.
Kader: Response
Sadar: I will call ahead to alert the medics standing by in Secondary Sickbay… Sir, there’s still been no signs of 2nd Lt. Kuva, Major Stennes or Captain Yellir on board the Artemis at all. Is it… Could it be plausible that they are still on the Desdemona? Uh, I mean, someone had to have initiated the escape run.
MacKenzie: Highly possible. We don’t have any reports of sightings of those individuals… See if you can verify that. Try hailing them – see if we can get them to talk. If that doesn’t work, scan the Desdemona for Yelikan lifesigns. We know our Yellir is here…
Kader/Silveira: Response
Sadar: Yes Sir.
Addison had one ear trained on a conversation Jovenan was having via the comms.
Kawarda: =/\= Kawarda to Chief Science Officer Jovenan =/\=
Jovenan: =/\= Jovenan here. Good to hear your voice! What is it? =/\=
Kawarda: =/\= We have secured the prismagons, and I believe I may have "stumbled upon" a way to implement them in returning our guests to their proper reality. =/\=
Addison sat a little taller in her chair, her interest piqued.
Jovenan: =/\= Really? Tell me more! =/\=
Kawarda: =/\= Response =/\=
Jovenan: =/\= Thank you, Kawarda, uh, please wait a moment. =/\=
Kawarda: =/\= Response? =/\=
The Edo scientist turned around from her console to face the captain.
Jovenan: Sir, Ensign Kawarda is reporting a breakthrough in prismagon research. Ensign Kader’s information could be of assistance down there. Permission for me and Ensign Kader to join them?
MacKenzie: You can go, but Kader doesn’t leave my sight.
Silveira/Kader: Response
Sadar: Confirmed, Sir. One Yellikan lifesign. Cpt. Luana Yellir is still on the Desdemona. Sensors also indicate a Vulcan and a few Humans in the bridge area, so in all likelihood… We’ve apprehended all Desdemonans still aboard the Artemis.
MacKenzie: Good news…
(OOC: In the interest of getting this mission wrapped up soon, I opted for a short timeskip in which all of the further calculations and preparations would have been done “off camera” during the commercial break…)
(( Bridge – Deck 1, USS Artemis-A ))
(( Timeframe: 2 hours later ))
It felt like the longest two hours of her life. Jovenan had managed to confer with the other members of her department and, after corroborating the information provided by Shint-Kader via several tests, they had come up with a plan to send the Desdemona back to its universe by creating an inter-universe singularity by routing the prismic energy through the deflector dish. By all calculations, it would completely drain the energy from the prismagons, rendering them useless, and would send the Desdemona back to its universe virtually helpless, leaving its crew to fend for themselves against what was their almost assured destruction.
As she looked around the bridge at the various members of her crew, she couldn’t help but think about how different they were from their counterparts – how much they’d been shaped by their experiences, as much as the Desdemona crew had been shaped by theirs. Still, as she sat in the command chair with the weight of the impending decision pressing on her shoulders, she was sure that sending them back to their own universe was the right call.
MacKenzie: Jovenan, are modifications to the deflector dish ready?
Jovenan: Response
MacKenzie: Lieutenant Silveira, can you confirm that all living members of the Desdemona crew have been returned to their ship?
Silveira: Response
She took a deep breath in through her nose, held it for a moment at the top, then released it slowly through her mouth.
MacKenzie: Alright, then. Mr. Kader, move us into position. Prepare to engage the deflector and use the tractor beam to move the Desdemona through the singularity.
Tag, and TBC!
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Captain Addison MacKenzie, M.D., Ph.D., FASFS
Commanding Officer
USS Artemis-A
Captains Council Magistrate
V239601AM0