[sb118-khitomer] Lieutenant Charles Matthews - "It's Tactical Chaos"
Shakeel Hussein
((Deck 3, USS Khitomer Simulation; Holodeck One – enroute to the Lagoon Nebula))
Charles nodded and took the left side of the corridor, moving forward slowly and one foot at a time. Every door they approached was closed. The situation was bizarre. Apart from the emptiness of the Deck, the red alert lighting and the dull, repetitive warning klaxon, there was no sign of any incursion at all. No phaser blast scorch marks, no damage to a door from forced entry. It was surreal, especially when he had added to the programme to make it even harder than it was originally intended to be.
Charles: ::continues to whisper:: Something isn’t right, Lieutenant.
Zerva: ::whispering back:: Agreed. It’s too quiet. We should have heard something by now.
Charles: I have a tricorder but the energy signature, even a slight one, might give us away.
He glanced back towards the turbolift door and then back to the end of the corridor ahead of them.
Charles: If we’re discovered now, we don’t really have many options.
Zerva: ::grinning:: We have these. ::sets the photo grenade at the ready::
Matthews felt his eyes widen, just a little. He hadn’t forgotten about the photon grenades that he and Ezra had brought with them. Not in the slightest. In fact, he was more surprised by how ready the Trill Security Officer was to start blowing up parts of the ship, even if it was a holographic rendition of it. Would it be the right move? Charlie wasn’t sure, he couldn’t see into the future. Was he impressed with Zerva being ready to act, even if it was in a potentially chaotic manner? A little. Sometimes chaos is the answer.
Charles: Make things go boom? ::nods, smirks:: Solid plan, Lieutenant.
Zerva: ::whispering:: It’s better than nothing. ::gesturing ahead:: The Shuttle Hangar is just ahead. On the next deck above it, is the Shuttlebay. We could find some cover in there.
Charles: ::whispers:: Hopefully. Lead the way.
Zerva: ::continued whispering:: I have an idea. We’ll use your tricorder as a diversion. Set a timer for one minute to begin scanning. That should buy us enough time to get inside through the hangar doors. When it goes off, if anyone is here, they will have a photo grenade to deal with.
Charlie stopped, casting a glance towards his tricorder and then back up towards Ezra. It was a sound idea, it had potential.
Charles: ::whispers:: It could work. I’ll have to ramp up the tricorder to maximum output. Just to make sure they pick it up. ::pause:: What if it isn’t the Alliance in there?
Zerva: ::with a firm whisper:: Then let us hope they are not wearing a Starfleet uniform. I suggest placing yours in the hangar.
Nodding silently, Matthews powered up his tricorder and tapped away at the buttons, setting it to full power and in a continuous scan of the deck. With any luck, any artificial intruders would detect it and take the bait. After placing it carefully against the bulkhead, he shuffled, still silently but with a little bit more speed behind it and came to a stop next to Ezra at the door control panel.
Charles: Tricorder is set.
Zerva: ::checking the console next to the doors, he whispered:: It’s going to take minute to override. Watch my back. ::checks the time left and cruses under his breath:: Just over a minute left.
Raising his rifle, Charles aimed it down the corridor behind Ezra as the Security Officer worked at the controls. The rest of the deck still had that dark, lifeless look; eery, like something out of a bad horror movie, just with the continuous flashing light from the ship being at red alert. With his eyes narrowed, he continued to focus on the deck that faded into nothing; for a split second, certain that he saw a glimpse of… something. Was it some kind of movement? The reflection of the deep, blood-red light bouncing off of… whatever might be there? He wasn’t sure, but he opened his mouth to speak, keeping his eyes locked dead ahead.
Charles: ::whispers:: Ezra? ::whispers a little louder:: Lieutenant?
Zerva: Response
Charles: ::whispers:: I think I saw something.
Zerva: Response
He shook his head, taking a step away from Lieutenant Zerva and towards whatever it was that he saw. With his eyes still scanning the corridor-turned-void, he resisted the temptation to turn on the torch of his rifle. If his eyes had been playing tricks on him, doing so could give away their position and, despite the tricorder being prepped to do that from where he’d left it on the floor, they weren’t ready to be discovered yet; not when they weren’t being discovered on their terms.
Charles: ::whispers:: My latest eye test was perfect, Lieutenant. How much longer will you be with that door?
Zerva: Response
Charles slowly shuffled backwards towards Zerva; not confident enough to say he hadn’t seen anything but, whatever it was, was either not moving or had moved on.
Charles: ::sighs, whispers:: We have… what? Thirty seconds or so? ::pause:: You know what else is a great distraction? If we just blow the door open and rush in with rifles blasting…
Zerva: Response
Charles: ::whispers:: I didn't say it was a well thought out Tactical plan. I just said it would be one hell of a distraction. One way or another, we might be about to be discovered. If I use the tricorder from this distance, I can see what is going on in the shuttlebay, even on a lower power setting, then, if it is the Alliance, we take the fight to them. You go to deck two, use the Jeffries Tubes above Shuttlebay Control. We blow the door, I rush in firing, while they're distracted by me, you can see what is what. It's Tactical chaos.
Zerva: Response
TAGS/TBC
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Tactical Officer
USS Khitomer NCC-62400
A240012CM1