LtCmdr Jovenan – Not a good time for the fear of dark corridors to kick in
Jovenan
((Corridor, New Hope))
The blue shimmer dissipated, and the corridor turned dim once more. Jovenan’s eyes flickered from side to side before she allowed her head to turn, scanning around the area. They were alone as far as the blinking light overhead allowed her to see, and besides the team and miscellaneous debris, the only other shape further down the corridor was a beam that must have fallen off the ceiling. To the other way, their view was blocked off by a blast door. Jovenan pulled out her tricorder and turned to the rest of the team.
Richards: I’m going to check for any potential leaks or other things we may need to be cautious of.
Bergmen/Imril: Response
Jovenan: The Boraxian Captain was certainly not exaggerating experiencing malfunctions… Do our surroundings pose us any danger?
Richards shook her head. The presence of the blast door suggested to Jovenan that the Boraxians had separated different sections of the ship so that the air and the people wouldn’t be blown out into the space through the hull breaches – or maybe it was an automatic process. Either way, it appeared that the breaches alone didn’t threaten them immediately.
Richards: I’m not seeing any gases or leaks anywhere. Has anyone checked for lifesigns around here?
Bergmen/Imril: Response
Jovenan looked around more. The width and the relative comfortability – if one were to ignore the damage and the rubble – of the corridor they had found themselves reminded Jovenan of some of the upper deck sections of the Artemis. It was likely built to be lived in, like the crew quarters or areas where most people would walk around during their daily life; the area didn’t appear to her like strictly an engineering or maintenance related section nor that of a combat-orientated vessel.
Jovenan: This is a colony ship, so there should be some kind of colonist accommodation area. Can you find it, and a safe route to it? We might find some of their passengers there and see what they need.
This was, after all, a mission of assistance – they should at least try and find someone who needed their help. Even if the Artemis was already beaming injured people to the triage area, they may still be those who need medical help or something else they could offer, food, water, rescue. Besides, seeing what kind of situation these people were in or talking to them could reveal something of why were they here and what were they hiding.
Richards: Well, ::pointing to the door behind them:: since we can’t go that way. ::pointing ahead past the fallen beam:: We should be able to get through that way. Looks like there are some rooms that way.
Jovenan turned to the two goldshirts, looking at them as if to ask if their scans had revealed anything about their surroundings. The locals might not have been a threat to them, but the “malfunctions” looked to her eyes quite severe, and she didn’t know if they had the means to close a hull breach or put out a plasma fire.
Bergmen/Imril: Response
Jovenan: Let’s go, then. Keep an eye on lifesigns, possible problems or anything that could indicate what happened here.
That apparently sufficed for an order to Richards, who took off and started walking down the corridor. Jovenan looked after her before trying to find eye contact with the two Lieutenants and walking after her. Before taking them too far, Richards stopped and turned back.
Richards: Lead the way.
Smiling, Jovenan nodded and took a few steps to overtake the scientist. It was much better Jovenan would walk to a potentially dangerous area first. She had witnessed a security officer or two insist in going first, but now there were none present and as the team leader, she had the privilege of putting herself at risk rather than her colleagues.
Jovenan: Thank you, I will.
With her tricorder out, Jovenan kept walking past the fallen beam and deeper into the dark corridor, her junior teammates in tow. Leaving the analyzation of the ship’s status and layout to the engineer and the operations officer, she focused on finding whatever it was that the Boraxians were hiding. It would have been easier if she had known what she was looking for. Weapons, stolen goods, trafficked animals? The Boraxian Captain didn’t come across as a pirate or a trafficker, but she scanned for hints of those anyway. Hidden boarding party from the attackers, Boraxians held hostage? One could still assume the crew and passengers were innocent, even if they were hiding something.
The corridor was surprisingly dark after they had ventured away from the blinking light. Jovenan realised how fast her heart was beating. Every corner and bend cast a shadow and hid something, created an area she couldn’t see, a blind spot, a dead zone. She had to slow down and, not allowing the others to see, closed her eyes. She heard them, the drones, they were here, lurking, skittering, preparing to attack…
Richards: Wait. ::Looking up at the rest of them:: I’m getting some lifesigns in a room up to the left. Three of them.
Jovenan opened her eyes. The sounds had ceased, and the corridor was just another dark corridor. She turned to Richards and then to the direction she had indicated. Raising her tricorder, she scanned for what Richards had found.
Jovenan: Boraxians. Do you read anything else? Energy signatures, weapons?
Bergmen/Imril/Richards: Response
Three Boraxians. As a colony ship, there could have been thousands of people on board, even if it wasn’t that much different in size to the Artemis, but they had found three, in a room. Jovenan hoped that however many there had been originally, there hadn’t been major casualties or missing people from the hull breaches.
Jovenan: Okay. Let’s assume they need our help and do not mean anything bad for us. But remember that they might not realise we’re here to help and may be terrified, so no sudden movements or anything that can be interpreted as aggression, okay?
Bergmen/Imril/Richards: Response
She tilted her head towards the room, giving a non-verbal order for them to approach it before walking there herself. They found the correct door, but it didn’t open as she stepped in front of it. She didn’t know if it was locked, jammed or just one of those doors that required user input from either side to do something – it could have been someone’s quarters, after all. She looked at each of her teammates before shrugging, and then knocked on the door. There was no answer.
Jovenan: Can we open it?
Bergmen/Imril/Richards: Response
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Acting XO (Chief Science Officer)
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11