Ensign Keneth Nakada - Whale Plus One

[Keneth Nakada]

(( OOC: Hi everyone, I realized recently that I never mentioned my being out of town last week on the OOC distro. I apologize for leaving you all hanging. ))
(( Anterior Dorsal Chamber, Cosmozoan ))


Rox took off her helmet, at which Keneth took a sharp breath. Her head seemed relatively unexploded though, which was reassuring. He flexed a finger unconsciously as he twiddled with his own suit.


Rox:  ::to the table::  Hold this.
Kessler: ::opening his tricorder:: Well Rox. What does the inside of a space whale smell like?
Nakada: :: helpfully :: According to this mix of gases, something like rotten eggs and … Vulcan highland wildflowers.


Keneth absently wondered what a Vulcan highland was.
Rox: Pretty cozy in here.  


Keneth looked back down at his tricorder just as the room started shaking again, it took a lifetime of gymnastics to stay upright.


Velis: Narhelion! Show me! Let us help you!
Rox: Struggling to her feet, what now?


It was weird watching the telepathic link take place. Like a conversation out of place.


Velis: ::studies the console:: Something’s wrong. She appears to be injured. ::taps her commbadge:: =/\= Velis to Kel. What’s going on? Is everyone all right? =/\=
Kessler: ::tapping his combadge again:: =/\= Commander Kel, are you still getting all this? =/\=
Kel: :: groaning::  =/\= Something happened down here, some kind of Tholian spike bomb.  There is a lot of damage. =/\=


… spike bomb?! And then the insides started to grow. It was a as weird as it sounded, with strange round blisters and warts on the tables and rectangular scars and … was that a joystick?! The creature was growing controls!


Rox: What is all this?
Velis: Response


Keneth knelt next to the nearest “console” and scanned behind it. There seemed to be clumps extending behind it, leading away from the room.


Nakada: Seems like there’s a bundle of :: finger quotes :: wires behind here. Seems to be some sort of … almost myelin sheath around it? Perhaps a nerve.
Kessler: =/\= Hold a moment Commander. One of the tables in here just changed. =/\=


Keneth roamed the rest of the room, stopping at the table. It was the weirdest part, the new controls juxtaposed by the orbs they had before. He tentatively touched the surface and to his surprise, it gave way with an uncomfortable squishiness. Call him old fashioned, but he preferred rigidity in his controls.


Rox: I think this is an engineering display, but in this case ::beat:: we're looking at heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and gas composition.  


Rox was right, but there were far more controls than that.


Velis: Response
Nakada: :: scanning :: Seems only the table was a permanent fixture, all of these controls appear to be composed of the same organic material somehow attached to the surface.


Jack reached out and touched one of the structures on the table. The view of the Ronin changed and now the ship that had appeared small and distant was large and in full view.


Kessler: ::to all:: =/\= We have a control surface here and visual on the Ronin. =/\=
Rox: =/\= Commander these displays are showing the creature is injured.  Respiration rate is unstable and what I think is blood pressure is falling.  =/\=
Velis: Response
Kel: =/\= Somehow I'm not surprised.  Luckily I'm here with our surgeon.  See what you might be able to reroute flow around our location. We'll see what we can do from here. =/\=
Kessler: ::gesturing to the other tables:: Check the others. Are they each some form of console we can interact with?
Velis: Response


Keneth nodded as he branched off, studying the console he’d seen first. It seemed to be covered with information displays, somehow readable to him.


Nakada: I think each console is a different subsystem for lack of better term. :: pause :: but some of these make no sense. A console for … smaller whales? I’m not sure that’s translating correctly.


There was a bigger whale and several smaller ones next to it etched into the console.


Rox: Lieutenant Kessler, it looks like we're getting a message here.
Kessler: So it seems. ::beat:: I wonder what happened to these caretakers the message is referring to?
Velis: Response


Keneth considered the illustration he saw.


Nakada: Possible that they left? Maybe the smaller whales :: pointing :: indicate the equivalent of shuttlecraft?


But considering the creature was living, this seemed icky. It would imply the smaller ones were …


Rox:  Nakada, this object in this bay here. ::pointing to the equivalent of an MSD:: Is that what I think it is?  Is this ship pregnant?
Kessler: ::arching an eyebrow:: Rox, you got explaining to do when we get back.


Keneth gazed around with some trepidation before moving to the energy console.


Nakada: :: muttering :: we can check – yes, not there – well it’s consuming over half the ships power so, yes. I think it cares a lot about whatever that is. Could easily be an umbilical.
Velis: Response


Suddenly a new message flashed across the screen.


Narhelion: ~ Caution. Narhelion has detected approaching. Many more angry crystals and unknown vessels with them. Primary offensive armament still healing. Secondary and tertiary armaments are functional but remain in hibernation state. Primary and secondary defensive functions offline and in hibernation state. Recommend hibernation rescindment as soon as possible. ~ ::there was a somber wail:: ~ Please. Narhelion does not want to expire. ~


Angry crystals sounded bad. Offensive armament off also bad. Also he found it curious the creature referred to it as armaments. If it was a part of the whale, would it not have simply said injured? Perhaps the armaments were third party.
Rox:  As we say on  Turkana IV, Bohica.  ::beat::  Bend over, here it comes again.  
Kessler: I think I am starting to understand the orientation of these controls. 
Velis: Response


Placing both hands on two different surface controls Jack moved one hand in a counterclockwise motion while he adjusted his other hand and moved it in a slightly forward and clockwise motion. A moment later he found the angry crystals and the vessel's accompanying them.


Kessler: Bad news gang. The Tholians are on an intercept course it looks like and correct me if I am wrong but aren't those Lattice Alliance ships with them?
Velis: Response
Kessler: That message said something about the primary offensive armament still healing right?


Keneth was pretty sure by now that the weapons were non-biological. They seemed to “hook up” into the creature at some sort of junction that was labeled red-blue on the console.


Velis: Response
Nakada: I’m not entirely convinced the weapons are a part of the creature. :: pointing at boundary on screen :: Maybe we can help repair them.


But even as he said it, there likely wasn’t time.


Kessler: ::tapping his coms:: =/\= V'Len, we have company on a direct course for us and angry crystals equals Tholians and Lattice Alliance ships. =/\


On that somber note, they turned to look at the screen. Luck, he hoped, was on their side.


END Act 2 for Keneth Nakada


Ensign Keneth Nakada
Engineering Officer
USS Ronin
J239706KN0