Lt. Alieth - In The Halls Of The Mountain King (part 1)
Alieth
(( Transporter Room 2, Deck 4, USS Thor )).
The familiar rattling of the medkit against her hip heralded her arrival at the Transporter Room even before the doors hissed in front of her. When they finally did, she found Commander Teller and Ensign Jehe already there, both prepared to be transported to the starship in distress. Curiously, the captain was also there, behind the controls of the transporter, instead of the usual chief. If Alieth experienced any curiosity or strangeness about this fact, she failed to display it and instead she merely greeted all those present with a restrained nod.
A couple of cups of Zhar-kur tei had activated her organism and she was more than prepared for whatever they might find.
As soon as everyone had settled on the padd in the centre of the room, the Captain broke the silence.
Kells: Commander, Doctor, Ensign. A word before you go?
Teller: Of course sir. Ensign, hang on to the pattern enhancers. Doctor, try not to look so nervous, we're only beaming through a "moderately severe" electroplasmic layer.
The Vulcan didn't deign to answer and just raised an perfectly slanted eyebrow and stared at the redhead in a way that would have caused spontaneous combustion in men of lesser caliber.
Jehe: Responses
Geoff nodded and smiled before turning back to the Fleet Captain.
Kells: I want a report within five minutes of beam-over. If it's safe to send over a second team, Captain Greaves, Chief Sirok, and Ensign Katsim will be ready. I also have Commander Brodie, Doctor Quen, and Ensign Dar on standby if you need to send over any survivors.
As both humans spoke, Alieth stood stiffly on her pad, one hand holding the Medkit's strap. Her dark eyes scanned the ship's command officers and found the captain's attitude... unusual. Somehow hesitant. Something she had never seen on duty until that day. This realization made her tilt her head slightly over one of her shoulders.
Geoff straightened up in his position on the transporter pad, making a final check of his tricorder and phaser along with the damage control toolkit he'd grabbed from Engineering.
Teller: Understood sir. ::Geoff tried to project some confidence and optimism for his people:: Fleet Captain gave us five minutes to make peaceful first contact people, I say we can do it in four. What do you think Doctor? Ensign?
She turned to look at the commander without a trace of disturbance in her perfect stance and placid expression.
Alieth: We can do it in three point thirty-three minutes if you refrain from your usual banter.
Jehe: Responses
Kells: Very good. Everyone ready?
Teller: Absolutely. Leave a light on for us sir, we'll try not to stay out late.
Jehe: Response
Alieth: (sternly) Ready, sir
Kells: Good luck, then. Energizing.
As the white walls and elegant forms of the USS Thor blurred before her eyes, Alieth turned to glance at the captain and saw how a crease of concern appeared on his forehead. She frowned slightly and her hands tightened over the strip of her medkit.
Before she could do anything else the away team one had vanished into thin air.
((Halls of the Mountain King - ( AKA Management & Oversight Center) - Endless Golden Penetrator))
The well-known spark stream from the transporter illuminated briefly the interior of the unknown ship before it faded away and sank them into semi-darkness. Alieth blinked a couple of times trying that her eyes adapted to the sudden dim light before looking around.
Presumably, their destination was the bridge of the unknown vessel and yet it looked like something else. The walls rose vertiginous towards a towering ceiling, lost in the shadows, as if they were in the sanctum sanctorum of a Temple. Pilasters held up arcades on the sides, leading the eye to the central piece, a dais on which rose a sort of regal throne, which flickered gently with a mixture of jewels and technological spires.
Teller activated his palm beacon, and the doctor left out the contemplation of the ornate and golden surroundings to do the same, and extract her medical tricorder from her medkit. The device beeped softly into the cavernous chamber, its readings sluggish due to the electromagnetic disturbances that raged outside the hull.
Teller: I heard stories of Orion Slavemasters who used to display material wealth like this as a form of...bragging. Showing off to the others. I think whoever designed this place had them all beat. You two getting any readings?
Alieth: Indeed. I pick up several biological signals, but the external conditions and the vessel's alloys render them difficult to track down
Jehe: Response
Teller: Damn, if spin-gravity is failing it's going to make our job that much harder. Ensign Jehe, start setting up those pattern enhancers. There seems to be plenty of space. Doctor, lets see if we can find an interface for the ships computer. If there is one.
Jehe: Response
Alieth: Yes, Sir.
The tiny doctor left the group, tricorder in hand, and headed for the first obvious place to look: the rostrum and the chair on top of it. She had barely advanced a few steps when her tricorder caught something that made her stray from her path.
On one side, knocked down on the steps like a broken toy discarded by a cruel child, laid a figure. Six dark eyes stared at the distant ceiling, devoid of any spark of life to animate them. Long limbs were entangled in lavish, ornate fabrics.
Alieth approached the corpse carefully, her eyes drifting quickly from the body to the readings on her tricorder and back to the body again…
[[Tag! & TBC]]
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Lt. Alieth
Chief Medical Officer
USS Thor NCC-82607
E239702A10 Image Collective Co-Facilitator
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