Lt. Cmdr. V'Len Kel - Ventura highway

[Don K]

((Engineering, Deck 04, USS Compass Rose))

Kel:  You've never heard of the Orbs, Ensign?  ::glancing over his shoulder at Roop::  They're objects sent by the wormhole dwelling lifeforms to the people of Bajor.  

V'Len had spent more than a little time trying to understand the Bajoran religion.  After his transporter accident he'd felt rather like a man without a country.  Both Trill and Andorian societies had religions based on ceremony and elemental identification.  V'Len had found the idea of guidance and insight from a higher power to be very comforting as he tried to sort out his merged identity.  He forgot that the practices were not common knowledge despite the events of the Dominion War.  

Roop: What you’re describing sounds like a type of vision quest, common to several native cultures. They use something called an ‘akoonah.’ Wonder if it’s going to be something like a Bajoran version of that.

V'Len considered.  Nakada was still working hard to get the final connection made between the Oliphant and the Rose.  

Kel: Beck said the patient referred to it as a "Black Tear".

Roop: Oooohhhhh. ::his lips and face elongated:: So it’s an evil version. Well, Oni hunters we must become, then. Good thing for the Rose, we’re the Ronin.

V'Len was not at all sure what an Oni was or why the Ronin would have some kind of significant connection.  Every culture had their boogiemen.  Terrans had many as did Bajorans.  Andorians had a number of myths and legends aimed at keeping children well behaved.  The Ice Slurg was something V'Len had always dreaded as a child.  

Kel:  I think it's far more likely we're going to find a solid and likely very deranged person is responsible for all this.  The "Black Tear" may be nothing more than a suitcase that the patient thinks the disease came from.  

V'Len began to look at the internal sensor data.  The Rose was not a large ship by any measure at first V'Len saw nothing, but then something caught his eye.  He pointed to a section of Deck 1 of the Rose.

Kel:  What's this here?  There's no data for it, it's completely empty space.

Roop: Is it…someone’s quarters?

V'Len shook his head.  The region seemed to be in a conference room off the bridge.  It wasn't so much that there was something there as that there was nothing there. The scans had simply bounced back.  

Kel:  Could there be something there, an object that deflects our scans?

Roop: Aft, then. ::looking down at this triPADD:: Could be a Mess Hall or a Conference Room?

V'Len reviewed the ship's scans once more. There were a few other similar spots, mostly located in the outrigger.  The sensor system was not registering an error so V'Len was unsure what the blank spots might be.  He activated his suit's comm channel.

Kel: =/\= Kel to Syrex.  Are you still headed for the bridge? =/\=

Syrex: =/\= Response =/\=

Kel: =/\= Be advised, the internal sensors are showing a space we can't scan in the conference room off the bridge.  Could be nothing but use caution.  I'm going to move to the outrigger to check some similar spots  there.  

Syrex: =/\= Response =/\=

V'Len closed the channel.  

Kel:  Mr. Nakada, stay here and monitor the Rose's systems. Contact us if anything changes. Mr. Roop, you're with me.

Roop: Response

V'Len turned to head out of Engineering.  A Turbolift ride to the lower section was out of the question.  He and Roop would have to go via the Jefferies tubes that connected the two sections.  He pointed to Roops triPADD.

Kel:  Can that thing get us into the lower section?  

Roop: Response

V'Len nodded and fell behind him.  They were soon crawling through the tight spaces of the tubes.  It reminded V'Len of his experience on the USS Thor more than he liked.

Kel: So Mr. Roop. What made you decide to join Starfleet?

Roop: Response

Tags/TB

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Lieutenant Commander V'Len Kel

Chief Science Officer/Second Officer

USS Ronin NCC-34523

T239811VK2

He/Him (player/character)