From: rneces@mastnet.net (Lynnaea AelCaymarth) Date: Fri, 7 Mar 1997 21:41:27 -0600 (CST) Subject: USS CHESAPEAKE: Unpleasant Surprise
SD 90308.0215
MD 02.1700
Scene: CSO's Quarters
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Ensign Keyrin sighed as she wearily slumped in her chair at her work
desk. That med exam had really gotten her riled up... one more example of
memories that wouldn't die.
She was grateful for the task at hand; it kept her mind off other
matters. She chewed her lip thoughtfully as she considered which drill to
run first. Not even Torr would know of this one, she decided; he hadn't
helped her plan this little scenario. She wanted to see how her crew would
work under pressure. No, this one would truly be run as if it were the real
thing, and only the CO, XO, and Keyrin would know the difference. Within a
few minutes, she had finished all the necessary preparations.
"Computer, compose message. Send to Captain Bell and Commander
Brennan. This is Ensign Keyrin. No matter what happens today, it's not as
bad as you think. Were it real life ... well, then it wouldn't have a
foregone conclusion... Oh. And remember. I'm doing drills today."
She went once more to the wooden chest in her bedroom and withdrew
what looked like a small ball, box, and pouch, all of which fit easily
within the palm of her hand. After concealing them on her figure, she left.
[Fifteen minutes later, in a corridor a short distance from the Security
offices]
Lt.(jg) Cassandra Stewart wheeled abruptly as she heard Ensign
Keyrin's enthusiastic hail from behind her. Ensign Damien Martiljohni,
beside her, smiled and started walking toward the CSO.
"Aelyria! When are we gonna start those drills?"
"That's what I wanted to catch you about," she responded. "I want
to start them after dinner -- "
Just then, an explosion rocked the hall, throwing Cassandra and
Damien to the side as Ensign Keyrin disappeared in a cloud of steam and smoke.
"AELYRIA!" Cassandra screamed. She barked into her combadge, "All
available security personnel to the security offices NOW! Torr -- get your
ass down here!" Her eyes scanned the dissipating smoke desperately for a
sign of her commanding officer.
Damien, pale and shaken, was trying to pick himself up off the
floor. "What the -"
"Oh, my God, no." Cassandra's voice was choked. "Stewart to
Sickbay. We need medical personnel down here immediately."
Lieutenant Stewart knelt by Ensign Keyrin's side. The woman looked
unconscious, her golden-brown hair tossed loosely across her slack face.
Her breathing was shallow, and Stewart gently moved her into a
shock-prevention position. "Aelyria... Aelyria, can you hear me?"
Damien cursed and ran toward the sound of running footsteps coming
from the other end of the hall. "Down here! The CSO is injured!"
Cassandra quickly checked for injury, feeling down Keyrin's limbs...
no broken arms... torso fine... There was an enormous gash down Keyrin's
left leg, lancing down from her knee and across her calf. And it was
bleeding very badly.
Torr ran up to Damien and Cassandra. "What the hell happened?"
Cassandra, still intently examining Keyrin, apparently did not hear. A
wild-eyed Damien shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.
"Ensign Martiljohni." Dannon's voice was slow and clear, but it
still revealed the strain of their situation and his impatience. "I need to
know exactly what you saw."
"There... there was an explosion... she was caught in it..."
Just then, two nurses from sickbay arrived. They took one look at
the unconscious CSO and immediately called for an emergency transport to
sickbay. "Ensign Moore ordering immediate emergency transport to sickbay."
<>
Ensign Michael Moore knelt and made sure Aelyria was in proper
position for transport. "Transport Ensign Keyrin now."
The CSO disappeared as the transporter locked on to her personal
communicator and transported her to sickbay. Meanwhile, Dannon Torr and the
rest of the security staff were discussing what had happened with Cassandra
and Damien. Lt.(jg) K'tar D'varen immediately gave crisis procedures. "I
want everyone to clear and seal this area now!" he ordered. "Evacuate this
section!"
The medical personnel, Ensigns Juliette LaCroix and Michael Moore,
stayed just long enough to get the gist of the matter before immediately
returning to sickbay. They needed to get out from under Security's feet and
back to tending their patient.
Torr examined the explosion site. There were char marks on the
wall, a good portion of carpeting had been burned away, and a small amount
of steam was still issuing forth from the floor, where a small piece of
charred material lay black and withered.
He scanned it closely with his tricorder. Scales and tables
appeared as it analyzed the contents of the char... definite traces of
plastic explosives and... gunpowder, of all things. *What a primitive
device,* he thought. *And why would anyone use such a small amount? It
wouldn't take that much more of it to set off a much more damaging
explosion... unless the perpetrator's only objective was to get rid of the
CSO.*
The thought chilled him. An attempted murder? Was it a political
try at assassination? Torr knew Keyrin's homeworld to be infested with
crime and piracy, and of her father's untimely death... was this somehow
related?
[Meanwhile, in Sickbay...]
"I'm telling you, I'm perfectly FINE!" Aelyria snapped as she tried
once again to get out of the biobed.
"Uh uh. I don't think so," replied Juliette LaCroix, pushing the
errant CSO back onto the bed. "Not with *that* wound. Especially not until
we can get you preliminary examinations..."
Exasperatedly, Aelyria whipped aside the light sheet and gestured at
her leg, pulling it up with one hand. The gash was still there, no better
than before. The blood had been cleaned off but the wound had shown no
signs of healing, even under the care of laser skin sutures. The machine
had given a puzzled chirp and refused to suture, which had caused no end of
consternation to the nurse.
LaCroix tried to pull Keyrin's hands away from the wound, but
Aelyria expertly dodged them and shouted, "Would you LISTEN TO ME FOR ONE
DAMN MINUTE!"
Taken aback, Juliette paused.
"Thank you." Aelyria was curt because she was in a hurry. "Look.
Now you see it... "
She grabbed her uniform from the foot of the bed. Her hand reached
to a small box clipped to her belt and tapped a key.
The wound disappeared. "... Now you don't."
Juliette stammered in shock, "I don't understand..."
"It's a portable holographic generator. The wound, dear nurse, was
fake. Now will you please let me out of here?"
Ensign LaCroix crossed her arms stubbornly. "Why would you want to
fake a wound and an explosion to cause all that trouble?! And where did all
that blood come from??!"
Aelyria grinned mischievously. "Drill. And the blood was
replicated," she concluded as she withdrew a small pouch from the inside of
her uniform leg. She swung her legs off the bed and quickly slipped on her
uniform. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a staff to debrief."
[An hour later, within Conference Room 3A]
The staff had retired to the Conference Room to try to straighten
things out. The sector had been evacuated without problems... but there was
no word from sickbay on the condition of Aelyria Keyrin.
Damien buried his head in his hands, sick with worry. *What if she
dies?*
Cassandra had immediately notified the bridge of the situation.
Commander Brennan had replied seriously and calmly, directing them to take
care of matters as they saw necessary. For herself, she couldn't figure why
they hadn't been more... well... panicked. The ship hadn't even launched
yet, and they'd already had a major crisis. This, in her opinion, was not
good.
K'tar D'varen was obsessively overseeing every detail of the current
ship safety. He'd had the bomb remains removed and taken to the Science
Labs for immediate analysis and was currently reviewing the CSO's biofile,
examining every scrap of information available on the modus operandi of
Calyxian crime organizations.
Dannon Torr could feel the tension constricting every muscle in his
body. *This can't be a drill. We didn't plan this. My God -- problems so
soon... what in hell are we going to do if she's out of commission over the
long term? It'd play hell with the ship to get a new CSO...*
Dana Bancroft was trying to look calm although the expression in her
eyes was reflecting sheer panic. She compulsively bit her fingernails and
did nothing useful.
CPO John Mayberry steepled his hands, deep in thought. He currently
had the computer running analyses of the explosion in an attempt to further
ascertain the exact sequence of events -- had Keyrin set off a tripwire, or
was the explosion timed? Had it merely been random?
Just then, the door to the conference room opened, and Aelyria
Keyrin strode in, all business. Jaws dropped left and right and it was less
than a second before the room was in a furor.
Stepping to the head of the table, she held up her hand for silence.
"Welcome to Drill Recovery 101," she said.
Forestalling Torr's protest, she said, "Did you think I would leave
you, my assistant, untested?"
Turning to the rest of the group, she continued, "The computer
recordings of your actions indicate that some of you acted faster and more
responsibly than others. This corresponds, as was expected, to the amount
of your expertise and time spent in the field.
"I will debrief each of you separately from here on out in my
quarters. You should find messages in your inboxes on when I'd like to see
you." She paused. "You people *have* to know what to do in the event that
I'm not here," she said softly. "All in all, the drill went well. I am
proud of you. We have some things we need to work on... but... still, very
impressive. Congratulations.
"Don't forget to check your inboxes," she threw over her shoulder
as she turned to leave. "And I would suggest you be prepared for the next
drill, as well."
________________
NRPG: Shakin' things up aboard the lovely new Chesapeake... *grin* Hope I
didn't step on too many toes, nor too hard...
Melvin: I'll have Aelyria contact OPS for repair of those scorchmarks out
in the hall... sorry for the mess... promise we'll help clean it up. ;)
Amy, Takako: If this truly was stepping over the line, my apologies.. but
if I didn't take risks then it'd be hard to create an interesting/surprising
post. Feel free to call the CSO on the carpet if she deserves it. :)
Respectfully submitted,
Lynnaea AelCaymarth, aka
ENS Aelyria Keyrin - CSO, USS CHESAPEAKE
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Editor/Publisher, Delirium: http://www.talkroom.com/~delirium/
Homepages: http://www.oocities.org/SoHo/2878/
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