More Questions (part 3)

Posted on Sat Feb 8th, 2014 @ 5:54pm by Commodore Samantha York & Ensign Maria Delgado & 1st Lieutenant Kara Melo & Staff Sergeant Thomas Bosley & Commander Alexandra Vance & Lieutenant Eamon Lynx & Commander Hans Munich & Captain Cameron Bourne & Warrant Officer Sterling Kamala IV & Gaia

1,966 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Tabula Rasa
Location: Planetside

[CONTINUED]

[OLD]

As Sam approached the machine in the wall hte shaking stopped and it began to hum softly. "I hope that's a good thing," she said, half-jokingly.

[NEW]

She raised her arm to the panel and several lights began to flash. She looked down at her arm. It was the one she'd put in the machine. "Odd. I think it has something to do with the machine."

A previously-undetected screen slid back to reveal a flat glass screen of some kind. After a few moments, characters began to scroll across it. A few of the characters looked familiar, but not enough. Sam could make out a word or two here and there, but not enough to make any sense of it.

She carefully put a hand on the screen and touched one of the words. The screen went black again. Not wanting to cause any trouble, she moved on to see if she could find something to help her make sense of the big machine.

A side panel slid open as she passed. A larger room with a bank of computers along the left wall, a large black screen along the back wall and four round disks on the floor by the right wall came into view. In the center was a pedestal.

"See what I tell you, gotta take some risks, kid." Eamon said to Cam as he got to his feet and followed York into the new chamber they just found.

Cam huffed, "Don't call me kid" he said under his breath before following the others

Kara chuckled as she followed behind Cam. "Don't take it so hard. It makes him feel younger." She chuckled softly as she walked into the room and positioned herself just in side the door.

Sam carefully examined the computer banks. They looked familiar, but she wasn't sure why. She ran her fingers over several buttons and knobs, careful not to accidentally turn anything on. A screen along the wall lit up and a series of symbols and what had to be words appeared on the screen. She recognized one or two of them, but the rest made no sense. "That means information," she said, pointing to one grouping fo four symbols. "And that refers to location, or the name of this place. But I don't know what it is."

Chenoa walked up and touched one.

"This could take days to decipher," Sam said to Chenoa. A word popped into her head. Computer. This was a computer. She'd worked with them before.

"Maybe we can talk to it?" she wondered out loud. She addressed the computer directly. "Hey, I don't understand. I can't read what's on the display."

Lights on the computer began to flash and there was a faint humming in the room. For several minutes nothing happened. Then the computer went dark for a moment. When it came back on, the screen now showed Federation Standard.

Sam ran a hand through her hair and smiled in relief. "Thank you."

Now the data on the computer made more sense. Sort of. It appeared to be a diagnostic of some sort, showing levels and readings. She didn't want to interrupt it in case this was necessary for the computer to work properly.

"All we need to know now is how this place works," Sam said. She began anouther inspection of the room, hoping that something would stand out now that the language barrier had been breached.

Sterling looked around the room carefully. There was something oddly familiar about this thing called a computer and languaged now flashing on the screen was at least one that he realized he understood.

He turned his focus on what was written there so see what it said and if it made any sense to him.

Sam stepped back to give the others a chance to read over the ongoing diagnostic of the computer and found a comfortable chair in the corner. It was a little surprising to find one comfortable chair, but she didn't question it. It would be nice to sit for a few minutes and think.

She closed her eyes to block out visual stimuli while she thought. "I wish I could remember," she said, once again frustrated that the answer was just out of reach.

She felt a warmth wash over her and became dizzy and light-headed. her head dropped to the back of the chair.

She wasn't sure if she blacked out or not, but a short time later her head cleared and she opened her eyes, blinking several times to clear her vision. She remembered.

Munich worked on what he saw as a pane of electronics that were a control board for an object he found familiar yet did not know the exact name of. He ran a diagnostic on the power source, the main read out gave him the impression that the signal degradation was minimal; the filters were fully functional and the cross-reference and the datum transfer. He is fingers danced over the controls with an easy that almost made him uncomfortable if he did not realize he understood what he was doing.

"I think I can get us somewhere." Munich said over his shoulder. "There are mobile coordinates with a similar power signiture to receive the transmission of matter across distance."

Sam stood and walked over to Hans. "I think I know what to do, but I'll need your help."

She led him back to the machine that tattooed her arm with an infra-red identification that told the computer she worked at the facility. "Sit here and put your arm in that slot. It's okay. It'll only sting a bit. It's a form of security identification. Then I'll take you into the other room and help you get your memories back."

Several minutes later they were back in front of the transporter pad. "Can you link this to the Calypso?" she asked Hans. "First, we need to get everyone's memories back, then we need to get up to the ship."

Being in his own head and recognizing the area called Hans Munich was a relief. He gave a smile to the Commanding Officer that also had recognition, things were a bit better now that he had a past and present.

"Thank you Commodore York." Hans had told her before she brought him to the console. "Now for a bit of fun." Munich's fingers were not unlike a pianist in a concert; the sounds from the console were a type of melody as he programmed the system. "I am making the Calypso be acknowledged as a 'Prison Ship' here to pick up guards. Because it is in orbit like a vessel should be the computer has allowed a link." He added another little sequence to the mix. "Now I place the computer lock in a loop and we have a transporter link to the ship and the ality to use it. Whom do you want on board first I would suggest a couple of my OPS people to run transporters from the ship and make getting back a little faster?"

"I want to go first. If there's anything wrong, I want to be the one to find it." Sam glanced around the room. "I'd like Damon to go with me, but he's still looking for smugglers. So make it Alexandra." She looked over to her XO. "She and I will go first, if everything is clear, you can send up teams to start beaming people aboard." She gave Hans a grin, a twinkle of impishness in her eyes. "I do know how to run a transporter, if it comes to that."

"I never doubt you." Munich agreed. "I just always taught as gentleman make sure ladies are properly escorted." The controls came to life as he spoke and set coordinates. "Be sure to collect the pile of mail from while we were away." He joked as they stood near the console. "Da system is ready for you."

Sam grabbed Alexandra and took her through the process to restore her memory. She was almost hesitant because Sam remembered their hostile relationship before losing their memories, but she hoped that recent events would temper that. Besides, Alexandra was the best person to take with her -- next to Damon. "Ready to go?" she asked.

Alexandra had closed her eyes as her memories began to swell back into her head. At first it was a childhood filled with love, compassion, a bright future ahead. However the sunny skies were soon darkened by the cold stone walls of a cardassian prison, a single light beaming down on her with only silhouettes of her maniacal attackers standing above her naked body swinging a whip relentlessly at her striking wounds deep into her flesh, stripping her of her dignity, of her soul. The Cardassians did not end their attack on Alexandra there, only a few short years later, a demon in the form of Gul Morat would attempt a coup to take Dorin Kilus from her and the crew of the Niagara. First soul, then family, the Cardassians had destroyed her humanity....she had vowed to destroy them. If one enemy was not enough, the Borg had assimilated her only weeks into her new assignment. However they seemed not interested in taking Alexandra's individuality but instead using it as a tool to lead their new crusade against any opposing them. What they did not count on, was Alexandra's resolve in protecting those she was tasked with leading. Even though she did not openly show it, her loyalty to ship and crew was surpassed by nothing.

She slowly opened her eyes and began to laugh. Softly at first but then more audibly as the moment carried on. She turned to Commodore York and simply smiled.

Sam couldn't help feeling Alexandra's emotions. They were powerful and the other woman's control was impressive. Sam just stepped closer to her and hugged her. "Welcome back."

Alexandra was caught off guard for a moment unsure of what to think of what had just happened. She had not been embraced by anyone in several years, in fact most would rather strike her than embrace her. For some reason despite all that had happened, Sam had chosen to hug Alexandra despite their relationship.

She knew now their was only one course of action.

Alexandra wrapped her arms around Sam and hugged her tightly. "It's alright Sam, I'm here to protect you now." she whispered into her ear.

"No. The Calypso is a family. We protect each other," Sam said, stepping back and giving Alexandra a warm smile. "And, no offense, but that's Damon's job. You are my First Officer. I need you to help me take care of the others."

"I'll hold him to that Commodore." she said taking a step back. "I know my place, and right now I know your's is right here. I will take a team of security officers and marines and clear the ship. You'll have your bridge back in time for dinner." she said jokingly beckoning over some marines and security officers before turning to Munich.

"The Calypso." she said to him.

Sam wanted to go with her, but recognized the wisdom in Alexandra's words. She also knew her XO would not let her beam up in the first party. Resignedly she nodded. " Okay. But as soon as you're sure it's safe, beam me up."

"Say hello to our lady for us." Munich said as he set the controls and glanced up to watch the process.

OFF

Commodore Samantha York
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Eamon Lynx
Chief Engineer

1st Lieutenant Cameron Bourne
Marine CO

Staff Sergeant Kara Melo
Platoon Leader

Chenoa
Crew member

Lieutenant Hans Munich
Chief Operations Officer

Warrant Officer Sterling Kamala IV
Security Investigations

Commander Alexandra Vance
Executive Officer

 

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