"Hidden Surprises and Unexpected Secrets"
(Previous Post: "Complications")
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Stardate: 60341.0915
Less than a meter separated the Chief Science Officer from the Imperian probe yet the information gathered by her tricorder might as well have been obtained from an object countless light-years away beyond the reach of the small hand-held instrument In addition of providing the probe with a highly reflective surface which would most probably deflect any and all energy type weapons directed at it, the Titanium alloy coating had effectively shielded the inside of the probe from the insistent scans of the Shillian scientist.
"There is no use," the scientist said turning off the tricoder that had been in her hand. "I mean it doesn't matter what type of scans or frequency I use, the outer shell of the probe is making any type of internal scan useless, our only true hope of finding anything about this probe and where it came from is Annie. Normally I would have said that Enaii would have been the best choice to break the data encryption on the navigational files that Ens. Kea accessed but given our current predicament Annie is a solid alternate despite her not possessing the natural intuition that Enaii has, I mean had. Actually I wonder if she is in anyway conscious of where she is, or more to the point *what* she is, I mean can a consciousness survive in a state of scattered energy?"
If the Shillian had chosen to keep talking about the probe the Enaran might have put up with it for a little while longer, but listening to the scientist and her questions about the possible continued existence of the consciousness of the Intelligence Liaison Officer of the ANUBIS had been more than the Marine First Lieutenant and Chief of Security could handle. "Your tricorder is unable to get past the Titanium shell, right?" Pravat asked, the Enaran man having always been a more *action* type of person.
"That is right," the Shillian woman replied, watching the Enaran lower his weapon and approach the probe.
"What are you doing?" The Chief Science Officer demanded, certain that whatever the Marine had planned had not been a good idea. "We have no idea what will happen if you touch the probe," the Shillian added, her fear for Pravat and his continued well-being having laced her every words.
"You are telling me that I cannot touch the probe before we can scan it, but you are also saying that we *cannot* scan it," the Chief of Security pointed out, glancing over his shoulder at the nervous looking scientist. "All I need to do is get a small part of that shell off and you will be able to scan the inside," the Enaran explained. "There is nothing to it."
The Shillian woman could feel herself trembling as the hands of the Enaran Marine drew closer and closer to the inactive device. The Chief Science Officer knew that the probe had been inactive and therefore should not pause any sort of problem but this knowledge had done little to diminish the fear that the scientist had been experiencing for Pravat and his safety.
Just as the Enaran had been ready to lay his hand on the silver shell the Shillian jumped forward and grabbed the other arm of the Marine in a last ditch effort to have him stop with this foolish attempt. As he looked back at the Chief Science Officer the Marine smiled and directed the eyes of the Executive Officer onto his other hand which had reached its goal and had been squarely resting on the smooth surface of the probe. "See, no problem. I appreciate you being so concerned for me, but there is no need, I can take care of myself," the Marine said through a playful grin, keeping his hand flat against the probe as if wanting to make a point.
The Shillian woman had been at a loss to know how to react since part of her had been happy that she had been wrong while at the same time the Chief Science Officer found it somehow infuriating that the Chief of Security had not heeded her warnings and had done as he had wanted. Personal emotions quickly got in the way of professional thinking and made the Executive Officer dismiss the whole matter based on the basis that apparently the Enaran man had been correct and nothing had happened.
A loud hissing noise suddenly filled the air just before the probe split in half casting the upper portion high in the air which sent both the Chief of Security and Chief Science Officer to the floor due to the power of the blast of air. Quickly the Enaran returned to his feet and helped the Shillian to do the same, and when they both looked upon the probe once again what they saw filled them with immeasurable terror.
Sitting up from a resting position was a mechanical being the likes of which either officer had ever seen. Based on the simple knowledge of the origin of the probe and what little information they knew about the race which had created it, the Enaran reach the only possible conclusion.
"RUN!" The Marine First Officer screamed to the Shillian as he reached down for the weapon he had earlier deposited onto the floor. Because he had been closer to the probe when it opened he had been pushed farther back leaving the Chief Science Officer in a very vulnerable position with nothing standing between her and the Imperian. Pravat froze as he saw the mechanical creature reach for the Shillian woman who had become paralysed by fear. If he was to save her from an untimely end the Marine needed to act, and quickly. "Security alert Cargo Bay 15!" The Enaran said tapping his comm badge and rushing the Imperian who had taken a hold of the neck of the scientist.
Using his weapon as it had been designed had no longer been an option because of the proximity of the Chief Science Officer, so the Marine had been forced to rely on a more direct method to rescue the Shillian woman. Using the pulse riffle as a large club or bat, the Marine swung at the arm of the huge robot hoping to be at least able to free Maya so that they could both retreat while reinforcements were on their way.
The Marine was stunned when he saw his most powerful blow impact against the Imperian causing no damage whatsoever other than shattering the weapon into a million pieces. With his first plan having proven completely ineffective and the Shillian rapidly turning a scary shade of blue due to lack of oxygen, the Enaran decided on a more direct approached and grabbed the large arm of the Imperian trying his best to have it change target.
To the great joy of the Marine First Lieutenant, the Imperian released its grip of the Shillian, but the price of his success was short lived as the mechanical beast grabbed hold of the Enaran in the same way he had the scientist moments later. The Chief of Security tried as hard as he could to fight the metallic monster but to no avail, the robot possessing a strength that surpassed anything he had ever experienced. The only solace Pravat had was that he had at least saved Maya and could only hope that she would be able to escape from the cargo bay before the robot killed him and turned its strength back onto her.
Being held half a meter over the floor and having his windpipe slowly yet effectively crushed into nothingness, the Marine had not noticed that the Shillian he had wished to be as far away as possible had in fact been right there by his side, trying to free him from the grasp of the Imperian. Unlike the Enaran though, the efforts of the Shillian had proven ineffective at redirecting the creature leaving the Chief Science Officer with needing to find a new method.
As she moved away the Shillian woman heard the doors to the cargo bay open and several Marines rush in, each one of them carrying a pulse riffle. The Marine First Lieutenant had not dared to fire while the creature had the Shillian in its grasp but the other Marines had not been hindered by such emotional restriction, their goal having been to stop he creature before it was too late.
The Shillian turned away and blocked her ears as the other Marines fired on the Imperian with all that they had and when the firing stopped the Chief Science Officer turned to see the result of the assault. What she saw chilled her blood solid, the metallic creature had not shown any signs of damage and still held on to the Enaran with the same iron grip as before.
The Marine rushed the robot with the hopes of rescuing their Commander before it was too late and although the Shillian did not support the use of force she found herself drawn to try something, anything. As she looked around the cargo bay, the scientist noticed that a small bottle had been left behind and acting out of sheer desperation the Chief Science Officer took hold of the bottle and hurled it at the mechanical creature.
The bottle broke upon impact and caused the Imperian to starts jerking around as sparks flew from where the liquid had come in contact with the joints of the creature. Immediately the hold on the Enaran was ended and the beast began to flail about madly as the circuits inside of its armours body exploded one after the other.
While the rest of the Marines watched the Imperian drop to the floor, still jerking from whatever had happened to it, the Shillian rushed to the side of the Marine and cradled him into her arms.
"What happened?" Pravat asked gasping for every ounce of air he could.
"I just threw a bottle at it," the scientist replied,
glad only that the Marine had still been alive.
"A bottle? Of what?" The Enaran demanded, drawing as
much air into his lungs as he could.
"Water I think, someone must have left it here the
last time they were using the cargo bay."
"Guess I should be thankful that those things are not waterproof," the Klingon assistant to the Enaran said with a grin, looking down at the man and woman who shared an interesting shade of blue on their faces.
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"To see the world in a grain of sand, 2006 post #056
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Deck 16, Cargo Bay 15
Jessica Solarik { maya_992003@yahoo.com }
Lieutenant Commander Maya
Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS
and a heaven in a wild flower.
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
and eternity in an hour."
- William Blake (British, 1757-1827)
