"Something Fishy is Going On Here"
[Previous post: "Suspicions and Investigations", written by the busy Brian Matthews]
=-=
Setting: BLACK PANTHER, Captain's Mess
The four members of the away team sent onboard the BLACK PANTHER
glanced at one another. Dinner had come and gone without incident and the
food had actually been good, if not a little fishy. All of the meals had
carried a distinct *marine* theme. Lea had attributed this to the fact
that the other people at the table had been *cats*. Maya on the other
hand had been quick to point out that they had all been onboard a sail ship.
"Do you gather these delicacies during your voyages or are they
obtained from various ports?" The CSciO asked. It didn't matter where Maya was
or in what situation she found herself in. Maya was a scientist at
heart and it showed.
"The majority of what you see here was brought up by our nets,"
Kattarihanna explained. "The ocean is an abundant source of food," the BLACK
PANTHER's CO continued. "Unfortunately not all things under the ocean
waves are as good as our meal."
=-=
Unable to sleep, Uxtar had decided to patrol the lower decks. Thanks to
the minimum power running though the ship, the lower decks had been
usable. Still the Sec/Tac had wanted to make sure that all had been right.
Without the normal humming of the engines, the entire ship had seemed
oddly strange. Uxtar kept expecting for a ghost to appear in the
shadows, not that he believed in such things. Being the hunter that he was,
Uxtar actually enjoyed the stillness he found through the corridors. It
allowed him to ear the slightest sound from sections away.
At first Uxtar had reacted to each and every noise he had heard.
Hearing a crewman sneezing or an Ensign singing off-key had been unexpected.
After a few minutes though the Sec/Tac had grown accustomed to the
*normal* sounds of the ANUBIS. What Uxtar heard next though had been
anything but *normal*.
The hunter carefully listened and followed the strange new noise as it
moved across the outer hull. Had Derek been there the FCO might have
said that logic dictated that this had been nothing of concern. After all
the deck that Uxtar had been on had been underwater, but something
bugged the Sec/Tac. The sound had not been that of a mere animal crawling
over the hull. There had been an intelligence behind the movements, and
the Sec/Tac had been far from liking it.
"Uxtar to Derek."
=^= Go ahead, =^= the FCO replied through the static filled comm signal.
"Are the external sensors online?" Uxtar asked while still carefully
listening to the moving noise.
=^= Yes, why do you ask my friend? =^=
"I need you to check something outside Deck 14."
=^= That deck is under the water line, =^= the Vulcan hybrid pointed out.
"I know that," Uxtar huffed. "I' hearing something crawling over the
outer hull."
=^= Logic dictates that you are hearing nothing more than a simple
animal. Likely it was attracted by the heat of the outer hull. I am sure
that there is nothing to be concerned about. =^=
"Don't give me that logic," Uxtar said sounding rather upset. "There is
something out there and it is *not* an animal. Can you get to the
nearest sensor controls and check it out."
=^= On my way, =^= the FCO calmly replied. Derek knew better than to
oppose the Sec/Tac, especially when he shared many of his misgivings
about this world.
=-=
Lea, Susan, Pravat and Maya had been escorted to their quarters
following dinner. Kattarihanna had suggested for all of them to get some rest
as ocean voyages could be demanding.
The Cns looked at the hammock that hung between two beams. The one
below hers had been claimed by the CMO while the other two had been claimed
by the CSciO and MCO.
"Did you notice how the captain kept avoiding answering the questions
about this world?" Lea asked. The CMO had tested the hammock and had
figured that talking some more would be safer for the time being.
"There is something that they don't want us to know," Pravat added as
he laid back into the hammock below Maya's.
"I was very interested in the way the First mate reacted though," the Cns said from the lower hammock. "The way Gatito became nervous when we asked about other races on this world said a lot. These Caitians are not alone; we just don't know what kind of relationship they have with the others."
"According to the captain we will be arriving to port sometimes
tomorrow," Maya added. "We should learn more there, even if only from afar.
Maybe we'll get to see more of this world's inhabitants."
=-=
The senior staff had been gathered on the bridge. Most looked like they
had just been dragged out of bed.
"I'm sorry to have brought you all here at this hour," Sabrina said.
The CO also looked like she had been dragged out of her bed not too long
ago. "But I felt it necessary to bring you all up to date on a recent
development."
"Did Mattias found a way to restore full power to the ship?" Elliot
asked with a hopeful tone.
"Not unless he found a way to circumvent the dampening field," Akira said. As much as she had wanted this to be true, the aCSciO had known better. They had been lucky to have the power level that they had at the moment.
"Lt. Uxtar, bring him in," the CO said after having tapped her comm.
badge. Seconds later the Sec/Tac arrived in the Conference Lounge
followed by a strange looking half Human, half fish creature.
"My name is Fasham," the creature said with great respect. "I am here
to warm you that your friends are in grave danger."
=-=
Lt. Lea Summers 2006 post #263
Stardate: 61036.2130
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Deck 14, Corridor
Stardate: 61036.2200
Setting: BLACK PANTHER, Guess Quarters
Stardate: 61036.2230
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Conference Lounge
Stardate: 61036.2245
Tiffany Rose {lady_tiffany_rose@mail.com}
Chief Medical Officer
USS ANUBIS
