Lt. Shayne: Saved by the Brell

[Quinn Friedl]

((Deck 1, Bridge, USS Darwin-A)) 

::Rarely was the bridge so empty.::

::Even during Gamma Shift (which Shayne would often frequent when unable to sleep) generally had more activity. Systems still needed to be monitored, repairs needed to be made. It was disconcerting for such a critical part of the ship, the main command area, to be so desolate.::

::And it was wonderful.::

::There was something beautiful about being almost alone on a starship. Some would find it terrifying, undesirable. For a man whose love for silence challenged that of Vulcans, it was a welcome treat compared to the bustling norm.::

::The station hung predictably before them, with the ship taking a relative position nearby. The structure of the station was decidedly non-Federation, and Shayne had to wonder at what events had come to pass so that Starfleet could gain access to it. Just one more thing to investigate in regards to the past adventures of his new ship. He'd known he'd heard of the Partha Expanse and the Atlantis at the breifing, but he couldn't remember why, or what it related to. When Varaan announced his involvement with the Atlantis, it all came rushing forward. What great irony that he would now serve on the same ship that his good friend had commanded long ago. The coincidences were staggering.:: 

::The voyage to the base had taken more than two weeks, and during that time, the vast majority of the crew began to prepare for the incoming change. He'd taken the time to say goodbye to the Darwin. He smiled to himself as he thought back to his first impressions of her. While he had virtually no problems with the rest of the crew, he felt the ship was a bit...well...ugly. Far be it from him to criticize another captain's ship, or another engineer's project, but as he orbited around the bulbous head of the science vessel, he couldn't escape his doubts about the design. Now, more than a year later, he'd come to look upon it as fondly as any other. It would be painful to leave, to turn her over to another helmsman. She may not have been the best handling, or the best looking, but through those faults shone a personality, as vivid and quirkish as any living being's. He had come to know the ship, and vice versa.::  

::Gentle comm traffic had, until recently, been flowing consistently from the speakers in the bridge. Shuttles still zipped about, and Shayne causally glanced over, making sure none of them were in any trouble. That was the biggest downside for him about working the skeleton shift. Without a full crew, it was unlikely that anything would happen, anything that could allow him to be useful. Waiting was Hell's most perfect punishment.:: 

Brell: =/\= Brell to the Bridge, suspend all transporter activity and contact the rest of the task force with the same instructions. =/\=

::Brell's voice cut through the soft, ambient noise on the bridge like a phaser beam through butter. Shayne's reflexes allowed him to react as soon as the first words came through. He sat at attention, carefully listening to every word, and he knew that Merrick was doing the same. Shut down the transporters? Was there a threat to the station?::

R’Ven: =/\= R’Ven. Acknowledged. Shutting down all contact and transporter activity to the station. =/\=

::Now that they had orders to complete (and, judging from the nature of the orders, a situation to deal with) Shayne suddenly found himself wanting for more people to assist. Perhaps they would come, but for the moment, he was going to be tasked with carrying out the majority of the orders R'Ven ordered.:: 

R’Ven: Mister Shayne. would you please see to disbursing that command. All shuttles in route to the base are to return and all transporter and contact with the base is to stop until further notice.

Shayne: Aye, sir. 

::He leapt up and hurried to the ops station and opened a broadband frequency.::

Shayne: To all vessels, this is the Federation starship Darwin. All transport to Deep Space 26 is now halted. Inbound shuttles are to reverse course, and are not to proceed to the station for any reason. Transporter activity to and from the station is also halted. More information will be given when it becomes available. Darwin out. :: 

Shayne: oO Lucky me- my first act as an officer in the Par'tha Expanse is to order a quarantine of our new base of operations. Things are looking up. Oo

 

::Meanwhile, R'Ven had been conversing with Brell. Shayne kept himself at the ops station. At this juncture, he doubted that the helm would be needed all that much. Making sure the tranporters and shuttle bays were locked down was the bigger priority. He listened as he worked to disengage the transporters on the Darwin.::

R’Ven: =/\= We cannot raise anyone from the Star Base. Do you know what has happened?

Brell: =/\=  Something has happened on DS26. As of this moment the entire station is to be considered on Quarantine until we can get some answers. =/\=

::He groaned inwardly. Not only would this complicate matters greatly, there were many people aboard the station, including some Darwin officers. Whatever was happening on that station, he wanted it resolved, and fast. :: 

Shayne: =/\= Sirs, lieutenant Shayne here. I've sent the order to all ships in the area to keep their distance, and the transporter systems on the Darwin have been disabled.=/\=

R’Ven: =/\= Sensors have been down due to routine maintenance, but they are nearly . . . ::Green lights flickered across his board.:: . . . correction they are ready now.

::Perhaps their luck was changing. Something was brought online without compilation. How often did that happen, on good or bad days?:: 

Brell: =/\= Start scans immediately I’m on my way up there. =/\=

::From the sounds of it, Brell would have to be aboard. This meant that he was out of danger (as much as any of them were) but perhaps more importantly, it meant he could soon depend on R'Ven's help. Until Brell arrived, though, Merrick was still in command. He needed to be at the center of the situation.:: 

R’Ven: =/\= Acknowledged. =/\=

Shayne: =/\= Aye, sir.  =/\= ::Speaking to Merrick.:: I can start that scan, sir.

::Mere minutes passed before Brell arrived on the bridge. Shayne continued to observe the status of the ship, and those around the area, in case any more trouble decided to pay them a visit. Behind him, R'Ven was pouring over sensor readouts, looking for any indication of what the problem was. Soon, he and R'Ven were called into the conference room. He was reluctant to leave his station (either of them), but he knew he would be needed in the actions ahead.:: 

((USS Darwin, Deck 2, Conference Room))

::There was a rushed, foreign feeling about entering the room again. He'd spent the last two weeks preparing to disembark, to never see this part of the ship again. To come in made him feel almost as if he were trespassing. But seeing Brell standing there, ready to take action, made him smile inwardly. Despite the circumstances, they'd be doing one more thing aboard the old ship.::

::After the rest of the available staff entered, many of whom were not recognizable to Shayne, Brell began with the first briefing that did not include Renos in recent memory.:: 

Brell: Thank you all for arriving so quickly. ::He paused::: As many of you may be aware there has been some kind of incident on the starbase. From scans we have been able to discern that every person on the station has fallen asleep. We can not tell if this was caused by a airborne toxin or by something else.

::He didn't like the sound of that at all. Even a catastrophic breach in the hull or a sudden decompression of a section would be preferable from an analytical perspective. But something that just makes everyone fall asleep? Invasion of the Pajamas? It sounded like some sort of virus- and he knew just how nasty containing one of those could be.:: 

Lahr/Pond/Jora: responses

Brell: That something else could be this.

::Pictures appeared, mainly of the interior of the station, and the huddled forms that inhabited it. They didn't look particularly comfortable. They way they were positioned made him think they'd simply crumpled where they were. But all over the station? At the same time?:: 

::The images continued, until they came to one of a strange looking...was that a vine?...growing into a Jefferies tube. It most certainly didn't belong, and Shayne felt they'd found their answer.:: 

Logan: Ok that’s not good

Shayne: ::Trying to take his mind off of the creepiness of what he was seeing. :: oO And this year's understatement award goes to... Oo

Logan: ::Glancing at the display in front of him and the blank comm system:: What ever it is happened to fast to counter, even the hazard teams are down.

::That was another good point. With so many people on the station, such instantaneous effects would seem to preclude any sort of random happenstance. No- if this vine was at least part of the problem, it might be displaying intelligence. Unfortunately, it chose to display this supposed intelligence by knocking out thousands of people for a purpose yet to be understood.::

Kell: responses

Brell: When we lost up link with the starbases internal sensors it recorded growth at four centimeters in all directions from this xeno-botany lab every 30 seconds. Those sleeping people over there could be in real trouble very shortly.

::Four centimeters a second? Nothing he'd ever heard of grew nearly that fast. This was becoming increasingly worrisome.:: 

 

E’riQ: I'm afraid we will not be able to beam them out. If they are asleep due to the effects of some substance, and their filters can't detect it, neither will the transporters. Ship to ship contagion, in some sense.

::The Klingon spoke. Shayne turned his head toward him, and still couldn't recognize him. Perhaps he was one of the relief crew. Whoever he was, he had a point. Quarantine protocols would have to stay in place. If this was a virus of some sort, they couldn't afford to expose it to anyone else. But the question remained; how would they get their people back?::

Lahr: responses

R’Ven: It sounds as if we will have to go there and examine the situation in person. Both to examine those botanical growths and examine the people who are sleeping.

Shayne: oO Without transporters, that's going to be fun. I think I hear myself being called. Oo

Brell: Without knowing exactly caused everyone to fall asleep any teams that go over there will have to don EVA suits.

Thomas/Lambert: responses

E'riQ: So... who is going, and where?

Tag/TBC...

Lieutenant Randal Shayne
Helmsman 

USS Darwin 

NCC 99312-A
G239202RS0