Lt. Cmdr Stros - Knock, Knock
tas9303
((Alpha Trionus II Prison, Corridor Between Junctions))
C. Dewitt: I haven’t seen anything… but let’s not assume we’re alone. This place is a maze. At least for me. Keep alert, Lieutenant. Phasers to stun.
Stros slowly moved his hand to the phaser in his holster, thumbing the controls to make sure it was on a low setting. The muffled trill that resonated from the device came as an affirmative that what he had meant to do was achieved.
Stros: Affirmative.
Zerva: Aye, sir.
Commander Dewitt carefully flipped open his tricorder, scanning the area just beyond the junction. If someone was there, they were going to know.
C. Dewitt: ::murmuring, eyes on the readout:: Nothing… no lifesigns, no energy fluctuations. That doesn’t mean no one’s there.
Or had been there…
Stros: Plenty of places to have slipped off to unnoticed.
Zerva: in this maze? Any place could be a hiding spot.
Stros felt eyes on him. He looked over to see Commander Dewitt looking towards him.
C. Dewitt: Where does that corridor lead? Any sensitive areas?
Pausing for a moment, Stros pictured the schematics in his mind. A good thing about having an almost photographic memory.
Stros: If I remember correctly, that is the waste disposal for one of the cell blocks. I do not believe it is in service at the moment. ::Tilting head slightly:: Do the Tholian or Sheliak produce waste?
Zerva: ::shrugs:: You got me. On those simulations we did on the Holodeck with the Lattice Alliance, we didn’t account for the possibility of bathroom breaks or what that would detail. ::shutters::
Moving a couple more wire connections, Stros thought for a moment…Perhaps thinking about bathroom habits of crystalline beings wasn’t a proper way to pass the time.
C. Dewitt: Response
Stros: If the waste disposal unit is not in service, It may make for a rather convenient hiding place for someone who isn’t supposed to be roaming free.
Zerva: As long as they don’t mind the smell. Can Tholians smell like we do? Do their crystalline form inside that shell of theirs, protect them from that? I recall, sometime around the events of Frontier Day, some members of the engineering team found some Latinum in our waste disposal unit aboard the Khitomer. ::looks over at Connor:: Where did that Latinum disappear to anyways? ::mutters:: Never did figure out how it got there.
Tilting his head slightly, Stros found it interesting that someone would have put Latinum into the matter reclamation system. Latinum was notoriously hard to recycle into the ship’s replicator systems, and even harder to replicate in a usable form. Perhaps the perfect place to hide it, actually.
C. Dewitt: Response
Thoughts of Latinum pushed aside, Stros refocused himself on the situation at hand.
Stros: I do not want to raise concern, but we may want to move quickly to avoid any unwanted guests. ::Looking towards Dewitt:: Once we have these nodes sorted out, internal sensors in this area may be able to detect anything…out of place.
It seemed Lieutenant Zerva was in agreement as he also seemed to refocus on the wiring.
Zerva: ::nods:: No arguments from me. ::eyes the wires:: Looks like we’ve got about half of them sorted. ::points:: What’s that green one do?
Tracing the wire that Lieutenant Zerva indicated, Stros pointed towards a connector buried within the mass of wires.
Stros: I believe they are connected to environmental controls… But it appears to be tied into the facility’s defensive systems. ::beat:: Are they using the environmental systems as defensive systems? ::Looking towards the others:: Are there environmental conditions that the Tholian’s and Sheliak find unsuitable?
C. Dewitt: Response
Zerva: Hey, I’m not the one causing the lights to blink.
Looking up towards the still occasionally flickering overhead lights, Stros couldn’t help but smirk.
Stros: I do not believe there is any evidence to the contrary, Lieutenant.
C. Dewitt: Response
((A short time later))
With wires finally sorted, and the panel back on the junction, the lights within the corridor seemed to stabilize and grow a bit brighter. More of a welcoming glow than a sinister back alley. Stros took a deep breath, several smells entering his sinuses. None of them pleasant, but it appeared the environmental systems had kicked in and were beginning to recycle the air more efficiently.
Zerva: I feel better already now that we’re done with this one. Do you think we should investigate that door or move on? I can’t tell if it’s been opened or not at this distance. Cause I can already smell from here it’s not one I’m actively wanting to open. But for security reasons, I’m willing to do my part.
Stros looked towards the door Lieutenant Zerva indicated, the rust along the hinges and general signs of unuse gave him pause.
Stros: We could mark this location for later investigation. ::Head tilting:: Perhaps after the air has been recirculated for some time.
C. Dewitt: Response
Zerva: Not a bad idea. What about those internal sensors? Is it picking something up?
Pulling his tricorder out, Stros held it up slightly to try and get a connection to the internal systems of the facility.
Stros: I’m not seeing anything that could be categorized as ‘out of the ordinary’.
But who was really to say what was and wasn’t ‘out of the ordinary’ for that particular facility. It seemed to Stros that unordinary was commonplace.
C. Dewitt: Response
Stros re-holstered his tricorder and straightened his uniform jacket.
Stros: I have the location marked for future investigation. I believe we have two more nodes to–
The Vulcan was interrupted by a loud thud, followed by a series of what sounded like tapping against metal that seemed to be coming from the waste management hallway. He hadn’t even realized it, but his hand had quickly latched onto the phaser in his holster.
C. Dewitt/Zerva: Response
Stros: Perhaps temperature regulation causing the metal to expand and contract as the environment stabilizes?
They could hope that was all it was.
C. Dewitt/Zerva: Response
Carefully removing his hand from his phaser, Stros grabbed his tricorder once again and scanned down the hallway.
Stros: I’m still not receiving any life signs.
C. Dewitt/Zerva: Response
TAGS/TBC…
Lieutenant Commander Stros
Tactical Officer
USS Khitomer
A239905NR1