Lt. Cmdr. Alora DeVeau - "The Clock Is Ticking"

[Amanda Nordstrom]

((Bridge, USS Rahuba))


They had managed to get through a crisis.  Some crazy Terra Prime member
had created a substance that made non humans…well, if not go crazy, at
least react.  And some humans.  Like her.

She was human, wasn’t she?
It was a good question, one that Alora wasn’t sure if she could handle. 
Not right now.  It wouldn’t be a bad thing, just one more thing to think
over and ponder when there was so much other junk running through her
brain.  Too much.  She couldn’t deal with it, not right then, and maybe
not for a while.  She just needed to get through the mission. 
And…everything else.

But she couldn’t think about that right then either.  She had to focus,
deal with the here and now.  And that here and now was life threatening.

DeVeau: Lock the doors to the bridge.  Let’s make sure we don’t have any
surprises.  And open a channel back to the SS Malaspina.

Blackwell::She hit a button on her console, making sure the turbo lift
door was locked, and pulled up a channel for the Malaspina::

Renot: ?

DeVeau: =/\=Commander.=/\=

Smith: =/\= Yes, Commander DeVeau. =/\=

This was an awkward moment - how to broach an accusation of an attack
made when they were attempting to find a peaceful resolution. She didn’t
Envy the Commander.

Renot: ?

This was a gamble.  While the man had complied with her previous
demands, would he actually go so far as to *help* them.  She didn’t
know.  But she wouldn’t know unless she tried.

DeVeau: =/\=A substance was brought on board by one of the evacuees and
it has set certain crew members into a frenzy. I need to know any
information you have on this. =/\=

Would he have any?  She hoped so.  At the moment, he was the only
connection they had to Terra Prime, and to whatever substance had caused
the craziness.

Smith: =/\= A neuro-toxin, designed by a bioengineer to reduce
non-humans to a…primitive state. =/\=

A primitive state.  Alora glanced over at Egil.  Lust was primal. So was
fear.  Anger.  A fight or flight response.  A desire to mate.  They were
all primal.  Yes ,that made sense considering what she had seen - and felt.

Renot: ?

DeVeau: =/\= Is there an antidote?=/\=

Sebastian =/\= None that I am aware of, other than allowing the toxin to
be filtered out of the victim's system. =/\=

Ugh.  So nothing to counteract it except time.  That would explain why
she still felt the effects even after it had been purged from the air. 
A shiver ran down her spine but she did her best to ignore it.

DeVeau: =/\= All right.  =/\=

Alora made a motion toward Blackwell to mute the channel, and she
managed to interpret the gesture and complied.  So what else could she
say?  Or ask?

Blackwell: The good news - it’s not permanent. ::She paused.  Then
inquired - :: Commander?

Before Alora could respond, the intercom beeped as another call came
through.  Alora nodded for Blackwell to connect it.

Sherlock: =/\= Sherlock to DeVeau.=/\=

Was it more bad news?  Or something else?  She hoped something else.

DeVeau: =/\= DeVeau here. =/\=

How had they fared?  She hoped better than others.  Although they had
gotten control of the situation, and yes, they had a surrender from an
enemy, she really hoped there wasn’t something else they had to suddenly
worry about.

Sherlock: =/\= Commander, I have good news and bad news. The bad, Terra
Prime released a neurotoxin that seems to be affecting non-Terrans. =/\=

Oh great, more bad news.  And some more good news.  Could she have the
good without the bad?  Would that be too much to ask? Could she go back
to bed now?  Hide under her covers?

DeVeau: =/\= We know.  Someone brought some aboard here.  What’s the
*good* news? =/\=

Sherlock: =/\= The good news, we have the person who developed it. =/\=

That made Alora sit up.  They had the developer of the toxin? Just
because they had them didn’t mean that person would be willing to share
the antidote.

DeVeau: =/\= Transport her back to the ship.  We have two minutes until
we’re hit with a shockwave from an explosion and we need to get out of
dodge.   DeVeau out.=/\=

And that might have been the end of it, except it wasn’t.  Just as that
connection closed, the computer notified them of another incoming
transmission.  There was a lot of comm tag going on.

Aristren: =/\= Aristren to Rahuba - we are expecting an explosion, and
there will be a shockwave headed towards you. =/\=

Of course there was more bad news.  They couldn’t just make it out
without more could they?  Alora inhaled deeply, let it out and dared to
ask for more information.

DeVeau: =/\= When? =/\=

Aristren: =/\= You have less than three minutes, I advise to evacuate
the Malaspina immediately. The vessel will not be able to power up
shields quickly enough. =/\=

Wait, what?  That was it?

DeVeau:  =/\= Understood.  DeVeau out. =/\=

Great.  Just great.   Alora turned back to her officers.  I twas time to
get moving.

DeVeau: Renot, cease all evacuations from the station. If they’re not
done, they’ll have to wait.    Blackwell, reopen the channel to the

She nodded, and opened the transmission again, looking back to the
screen as it came up.  She wanted to go, to tell Blackwell to hit it and
get out of the range of the shockwave.  She wanted to save her own
skin.  But she couldn’t.  As much as fear tugged at her, she couldn’t
let others suffer because of it.

DeVeau: =/\= Commander, you need to evacuate your ship.  In two minutes,
there will be an explosion and a shockwave will destroy your vessel. 
We’ll take you and your crew to safety. =/\=

Sebastian: =/\= I see. ::pause:: We will begin evacuations immediately. =/\=

DeVeau: =/\=  DeVeau out.=/\=

That was it.  Now they had to scramble.  Alora didn’t understand how
something was all of a sudden about to explode and send a shockwave that
would destroy their ships, but she could find out.

Blackwell: I’ll check the status of the evacuations, and make sure we
are all secure.

DeVeau: Good.  Renot, find out what the heck is going on. Information
about the explosions, size of the shockwave, stat.

Blackwell/Renot: ?

Now they were in a frenzy.  The clock was ticking and there was so
little time on it from the start.  How many seconds had passed?
Fifteen?  Thirty?  It went by quickly when so much was at stake.

DeVeau: Blackwell, transport as many people as you can, hold them in the
buffer if that’s what it takes, I want them *all* safe. Renot, got info
for me?

She hadn’t really given him much opportunity, but they didn’t have much
time left.

Blackwell/Renot: ?

DeVeau: Send extra security to the cargo bay, and as soon as transports
are done, get us out of range.  This needs to happen in a minute and a
half.

Blackwell/Renot: ?


--
Lt. Cmdr. Alora DeVeau
First Officer
Starbase 118 Ops
al...@blar.net
M239008AD0