LtJG Jovenan – Leaving the closet to join the fight
Jovenan
((Genkos Adea’s Quarters, Deck 3, USS Artemis))
Doctor Adea was alive.
Doctor Adea was alive, they had saved him, and they wouldn’t been sentenced for trespassing in his quarters.
Jovenan offered Doctor Adea the water he had requested, after his hands were unbound. He accepted it and drank it down slowly. Jovenan wondered how much in pain he was, despite him being able hold a conversation with them. Still, she continued recounting their situation to him.
Jovenan: The Intel department intercepted a message, apparently by my counterpart since it was written in our language. We couldn’t decode it entirely, but it said that somebody’s going to do something to the Artemis, and just a moment later a group of the Desdemona crew beamed over, including my and your counterparts, and…
The intercom system made a noise, interrupting Jovenan.
MacKenzie: =/\= This is Captain MacKenzie. The alternate MacKenzie is somewhere on Deck 15. She is armed and considered dangerous, and should be apprehended at all costs. There are other members of the Desdemona crew on board – they should be located and detained immediately. =/\=
She frowned, an expression not only noticed but shared by the officers present. The confirmation of the beginning of the attack was concerning, but another thought scared her about as much. If the Desdemona crew could replace Doctor Adea, how would they be sure they didn’t do the same for the Captain?
Sadar: Wh-What do we do now? If that was the real Captain, then-
Adea: We’re in big trouble. ::he gestured to the cane rack near the door:: Grab me a cane if you will, we need to regroup.
While she wasn’t a medical officer, Jovenan could tell that Adea was in bad shape after a few days being strapped in a dresser. She considered immediately rejecting the senior doctor’s order for his part, but considering his rank and Doctor Sadar, not her, being the physician taking care of him, she could only ask if he was certain he wanted to do that.
Jovenan: Are you sure you’re in condition to resume your duties, sir? You must have been in the closet for a long time.
The Commander grimaced in pain. It further proved that she was right, but he didn’t seem to be stepping down and subject himself to be taken to the Sickbay.
Adea: Well, I was never in the closet that long…
Sadar: I should also warn you, Sir, your psilosynine levels are considerably elevated… You’ll be vulnerable to any telepathic incursions until we manage to lower them back to normal levels.
Adea: We shall just have to avoid any other telepaths, or… shoot first.
Before Jovenan could raise her objections, the communication system was activated once again. This time it wasn’t the Captain, but… Lt Silveira?
Olivera: =/\= Crew of the Artemis, this is Captain Victor Olivera. We regret that we were forced to take action but we have taken all the key positions on the ship. I have secured the bridge and my fellow crew members have by now secured Engineering, Security, Sickbay and other key positions on the ship. To prevent further loss of life I beg every Starfleet officer to listen to reason and stand down. We have most of the senior staff already captured and will put them to death if there isn’t a full surrender in five minutes. =/\=
Jovenan quickly looked at the others. Doctor Sadar had turned visibly paler. The alternate universe people could lie, they had lied about Adea, after all, but the confidence Lt Silveira’s counterpart had said that made her think it might be true, at least in part. She and Doctor Sadar had found and possibly saved the Commander, but now it seemed they were all doomed.
Sadar: Th-That can’t be! W-We just came here from Sickbay! ::pause:: What do we do?
That’s right. If the Sickbay had really been taken in this time, them leaving to rescue the Commander might have saved them. She worried for all the people who they had just a moment ago seen in there. But if they lied…
Adea: Knowing Vitor as well as I do, one might assume that his counterpart would pull a risky gamble. It’s right out of the Silveira book of bad ideas. If only we could sort the doppelgangers from the originals.
Jovenan: How? From what I’ve heard, they are biologically indistinguishable from us.
Sadar: … Commander, what about the prismic radiation? Most of the Desdemona crewmembers aboard the shuttle refused the anti-rad inoculations. Couldn’t we use that to scan for them?
Jovenan looked at the two Doctors. Her own work had mostly been in other matters than the radiation emitted by the prismagons, but her team had recorded and studied it as well. It made sense that the Medical Department had also taken a look into the matter, as it could have potentially been threatening to the Desdemona and the Artemis crews.
Adea: As a sort of Desdemona doppelganger detector?
Jovenan: Umm, if I remember correctly, the radionuclide emitted by the prismagons have a half-life of about 12 hours, so they’d have less than half a per cent of the original dosage in their bodies. I assume you measured their radiation levels, would that little be detectable with tricorders?
Sadar: Response
The shuttle team had been very close to the prismagons when they had went off, so it made sense they had also got the largest dosage. Jovenan didn’t quite remember which transuniversal travellers had been in direct contact with the prismagons and which had been on their mothership. However, she was certain her counterpart was one of them. She hoped they could find the scheming Edo before she could do any damage.
The Commander grasped his cane and, after a lot of effort, managed to stand up.
Adea: Sounds to me like it would work - grab us all some tricorders and we can start working on it.
Jovenan raised her tricorder to show that she and Doctor Sadar both had theirs with them. She opened it and started reconfiguring it to detect the right type of radiation, but before that she had one vital question that needed asking before they could go on a doppelgänger hunt.
Jovenan: And when we find them? They have almost taken over the ship, and we’re unarmed.
Except, of course, the Commander who probably still had his hidden sword with him. Jovenan shivered mentally at the thought of seeing him use it again.
Adea/Sadar: Response
Jovenan nodded, reluctantly. Even when armed, their strike squad was hardly competition against the Desdemona team, experienced veterans who only knew the life in war. The Commander might be a skilled fighter, but he was vulnerable after the days he had spent in the closet. Jovenan’s combat course grades were abysmal, and she hadn’t fired a hand phaser since Meranuge, and even then, she was shooting at a mindless horde rushing towards her. She didn’t know much about Doctor Sadar’s skills, but judging by her character, Jovenan presumed she hadn’t exactly dual majored in… whatever marines studied.
Having had her tricorder configured, she scanned the air around them. The sensitive device spotted single prismic radionuclides in their surroundings, likely from the fact that the other Adea had spent quite a lot of time here.
Jovenan: Nothing in our immediate surroundings. ::looking at the others:: Where should we head to? Bridge? Deck 15? Sickbay?
Adea/Sadar: Response
TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant JG Jovenan
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11