Lt. JG T’Fearne - The Fifth Shadow
Teayl Thorn
((Circular Corridor/Turbolift, Deck 03, USS Compass Rose))
The Xindi officer’s carapaced body shimmered in the pale blue of the transporter beam before vanishing from the deck plates. T’Fearne exhaled slowly, straightening from her crouch. With luck, the Ronin’s biohazard containment would keep their guest safe, and everyone else safer.
Her dark gaze shifted from the empty corridor to the sealed turbolift doors.
T’Fearne: I think it would be better to take the Jeffreys tubes as Roop suggested earlier. Unless…Ensign, you mentioned duotronic enhancers. Could you splice into the turbolift system from here and secure the network for us to travel safely? Or would you need to be at a control station?
Before Roop could reply, the ship itself answered.
A thunderous BOOM ripped up from below, the deck of the Compass Rose vibrating through the soles of their boots. Atmosphere roared past them before forcefields and emergency bulkheads snapped into place, tugging dust and debris in a chaotic swirl that just as suddenly went still.
T’Fearne checked her suit's readings. No breaches, seal integrity remained at 100%. The breathable air in the corridor around them had momentarily dropped to critical levels, but slowly ticking back up, the Rose’s environmental systems were working automatically to replenish the loss.
Roop: That’s from a decompression. ::eyes wandering over the ceiling:: Easily, but you are correct, Lieutenant. ::returning his eyes to look into T’Fearne’s:: Without controlling the entire system, our active adversary may block us with other lifts or blow the external docking hatches on the lift system to vent us to space, forcing us to use the emergency brake. On the other hand, it’s only one floor. Maybe they’re distracted.
Syrex: It would sound simpler at this point just to take the stairs. Can we take the stairs ensign?
T’Fearne arched a brow at Alyndra’s dry tone, her gaze flicking to the towering 7-foot-tall Aurellian with his custom EV suite.
T’Fearne: Will you be alright to make it down the ladder and crawl space, Lt.?
Om-Zora: Response
As with most ships, a vertical Jefferies tube was located very close to the turbolift for just such a purpose as theirs.
Roop: Yes, Sir. There is a vertical Jefferies mirroring this turbolift shaft, seven meters to port. We can climb down to deck four into Life Support, take control of it. :: motioning his triPADD towards Alyndra and Om-Zora :: Could the atmospheric processor filters there give us a clue to anything airborne?
Alyndra nodded firmly.
Syrex: Well, then that’s our play. We shouldn’t need much time to bypass the security on the tubes for the four of us to sneak past. With Kel’s team providing distraction, whether they like it or not. As for atmospheric processors. It’s 50/50 I’d say, I’m a doctor, not an engineer, so that’s not really my department on knowing how it filters the air, only that it does.
Om-Zora: Response
Another explosion rolled somewhere deep in the ship. This time, the deck beneath their boots thrummed like a struck drum.
T’Fearne: These decompressions are likely killing anyone left in those sectors who isn’t in an enclosed space or managed to get into an EV suit. If the crew is triggering this deliberately, we need to stop it before the ship becomes a tomb.
oO If it hasn’t already. Oo
Syrex: In a strange way, I hope that someone’s being trigger happy with the airlocks, and the hull isn’t getting weaker, or our time here may be more limited than we realised.
T’Fearne’s jaw tightened. Either option was grim.
Roop: So far, they don’t seem to be using any EVA suits or biohazard protocols. We could try to flood deck four with their own neural gas to neutralize any resistance between Life Support and Sickbay. It would also give us Engineering, the Core, transceivers, phasers, and transporters.
Syrex: That’s a negative Ensign. I don’t like the idea of using this neural gas, given we don’t know how lethal it was intended to be, and frankly even if we did. It’s not very sporting. We should give the crew a chance to speak to us, if they can.
((OOC: Removed Kell’s second comm call as it seemed like it was specifically directed to the Bridge, where as the previous one was a general ship wide “All Personell”))
T’Fearne: If we get you to Sickbay and Life-Sciences, you’ll have more resources. Maybe try a different gas like anesthizine, or we can come up with some other plan.
Om-Zora: Response
Roop: You got it, Sirs. ::setting off:: Let’s hope someone out of control doesn’t try to beam over to the Ronin or the Luster as a living, breathing bioweapon.
Syrex: Don’t jinx it. The Luster could already be contaminated for all we know, the Ronin is a whole other story. The sooner we get the data on this disease, the closer we could be to a cure. The Ronin does have a superior sickbay and better science facilities than the standard Oberth class after all.
As they moved, T’Fearne’s sharp eyes caught a smear on the deck. She knelt briefly to see that it led back to a puddle of dark, viscous substance. If she had to guess, it looked like some sort of industrial ship lubricant. But it wasn’t her area of expertise. If Alyndra or Om-Zora thought it was of note, they would grab a sample.
Om-Zora/Roop: Response
They advanced. The corridor lights flickered in uneasy rhythm, dimming, surging, then dimming again. Somewhere in the bulkheads, the ship groaned like an old wooden sailing ship straining in a storm.
Syrex: How much further until the tubes Mister Roop? This place is getting creepier by the second
Om-Zora/Roop: Response
The Vulcazoid gave her friend a sharp-eyed glance. They’d only walked a handful of meters to reach the Vertical shaft. The Trill seemed slightly distracted, but who wouldn’t be in this place?
T’Fearne: Ensign, if you could mask the hatch sensors? Make anyone monitoring think nothing has been disturbed?
Her voice softened, almost approving. Ensign Roop had risen to every challenge so far. If anyone could ghost them through the ship’s nervous system, she believed he might be able to.
Moments later, the hatch slid open. Cold metal rungs disappeared above and below into a pool of inky shadow.
((Vertical Jefferies Tube Junction/Corridor, Deck 04, USS Compass Rose))
T’Fearne emerged from the junction back into the light without incident, her EV suit boots thudding softly onto Deck 04. If there were survivors hiding in the crawlspaces, they weren't in that particular Jerfferies tube. Yet in the hush between heartbeats, T’Fearne thought she heard something. A low, intermittent sound that she could almost hear at the edges of her auditory range.
Syrex: Alright, Roop, I want you in there first making sure that our path is clear, T’Fearne, keep closely to him. Om-Zora, then it’s you, and I’ll go in last, sealing the exit behind us. All clear?
T’Fearne: Yes, sir.
Om-Zora/Roop: Response
The tall Vulcazoid matched her stride to Roops as they cleared and made their way down the short corridor to where the schematics indicated Sickbay’s location. Phaser pistol at the ready.
((OOC: Some dialog here removed as T’Fearne would not have heard it.))
Syrex: Did any of you hear that?
T’Fearne had been trying very hard to ignore the emotional auras of her team ever since the Xindi’s strange mind had seared her nerves a little. They were all experiencing heightened levels of discomfort, on this ship, with this set of circumstances and strapped into the EV suits, but just as they reached the closed and sealed doors to the Sickbay Complex, she caught just the edge of a strong enough wave of discomfort radiating from Alyndra that she couldn’t not react. She spun around.
T’Fearne: Lieutenant! :: Carefully using Alyndra’s title :: Are you alright?
The Trill seemed to be wringing her hands in some sort of distress.
Om-Zora/Syrex/Roop: Response
She wasn’t sure she believed Alyndra. There was a tang of deception about her, but they needed to get out of the corridor.
((Sickbay/Life Sciences Lab, Deck 04, USS Compass Rose))
The doors hissed open. Sickbay was smaller than anticipated. With three biobeds in a single room. What looked to be the Life Sciences console seemed to be tucked into a corner. Shadows clung to the walls under the dim lights.
T’Fearne advanced first, Roop at her flank, the others close behind. Their illumination swept across the room, catching on something thick, black, and viscous smeared across two of the bio-beds in a suspicious shape. She didn’t linger on what it implied. That was for Alyndra or Om-Zora to confirm.
Unexpectedly, a klaxon began to echo through the corridor. The lights bled red, strobing their five silhouettes into momentary shadows and bathing Sickbay in blood red light.
oO Oh what the Great Fire now?… Wait…five…there should only be four of us…Oo
Her heart jolted. For the briefest instant, she had seen five shapes.
She blinked, and there were only four suited figures, including herself, in the crimson haze. She let out a slow hiss of breath, trying to stay sharp, but also calm her nervous system. The mission needed them all sharp.
Their comms chimed, Captain Niac’s voice booming through the static.
Niac: =/\= Ronin to all away teams, evacuate to the Luster and take off immediately. The Compass Rose auto-destruct has been activated and you have...=/\= Karrod glanced at a chrono with a countdown overlaid on the viewscreen and winced...=/\= Less than nine minutes to get to minimum safe distance. We cannot beam you back aboard at this time. Evacuate to the Luster immediately. =/\=
The words fell like icewater down T’Fearne’s spine. She faced the others and shook her head.
T’Fearne: The Luster is too small. It’s rated for 6 people max, and even if we somehow crammed 3 or 4 more on board, anyone left aboard the Rose would not have a chance. The Roses' shuttles are missing, remember! What else is there?
Om-Zora/Syrex/Roop: Response
T’Fearne: :: pressing her lips together firmly :: I’m not leaving crew of the Ronin or the Rose to burn when we might stop this. Can we abort or sabotage the self-destruct?
Om-Zora/Syrex/Roop: Response
[Tags / TBC]
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Security Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
R240107T14