Three More Out of the Hole

Posted on Wednesday, 7 October 2020 - 5:51pm by Captain Barret Stillwater & Commander Soral & Lieutenant Talarn Zilth & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley & Lieutenant JG Adrianna Eberhardt & Lieutenant JG Maximus Mackenzie

Mission: Operation: Dreamweaver
Location: USS Standing Bear | Engineering
Timeline: MD9

ON:

Eyelaya had been running some tests and getting those transporter inhibitors done and distributed. Her little sensor reader went insane. She stood picking it up. The readings... the weaker ones were back. "Eyelaya to Stillwater, Zilth, Baciami and Kingsley! Get down to engineering... they're back!"

She let out a curious sound as she followed the readings. A parts storage room? What the heck? Should she wait...

"On my way, don't proceed without back-up," Adrianna demanded, arming herself and making a run for where Eyelaya was.

Pausing the computer simulation she was running, Kingsley called for the arch and ran for engineering. "On my way," she replied as she reached the turbolift, ordering it to main engineering.

Curiosity got the better of her. She pressed the button of the door and entered...

Adrianna soon arrived, it felt like a long run from her office here, at full speed. She drew her phaser, but froze. Her eyes widened letting the words fall from her lips in stunned horror, "what the f-."

Eyelaya let out a scream that was heard as far as Qo'nos. She backed out, turning the corner and smacking into a solid form. She'd bumped into Adrianna. Pale and shaking, Eyelaya managed to get a hold of herself. "It's Lieutenant Yolen and... another... they're back... they're... dead."

Adrianna put her hand on Eyelaya's shoulder. Death didn't phase her, she'd seen it often enough. Baciami proceeded cautiously towards the bodies, to check if they really were dead. Holstering her weapon and crouching down, she checked for a pulse and looked the bodies over. "Good gawd. That's a lot of blood."

Entering engineering, Alex just heard the very end of Eyelaya’s sentence. Her step had faltered, a brief moment to steel herself. What if...? Her hands were balled into fists, as she stepped around the shaken engineer, her eyes drawn to the horrific scene. Yolen! It felt as if the air was knocked from her lungs, remembering how he had been her very first friend aboard the ship. And now...

She felt sick to her stomach, forcing herself to look beyond her friend. Inwardly praying it wasn’t Soral and feeling the wave of guilt the thought caused. She could see the blue uniform but not much else. “Any life signs?” she asked in Adrianna’s direction with as much assurance as she could muster.

Eyelaya shook her head. "You don't understand... there was a portal of sorts... it opened. I saw Yolen and the Petty Officer there running and they jumped through... and then..." She motioned helplessly.

Adrianna rolled over the other officer to see who it was. She hit her badge and called for an emergency transport for the two. She wasn't sure, but she had hope. The Italian stood up as the bodies vanished. She looked to Eyelaya. "Talk us through it like it's a story not fact-- third person. It helps. Trust me. We need to know what you saw. Focus." There was no emotion to her voice, just something cold stemming from trying not to panic.

While the other two spoke, Alex began scanning the surroundings, mindful of her footing and attempting not to dwell upon the scene which had welcomed them. No wonder the poor engineer was freaking out... studying the sensor results she edged further from the pair, making constant adjustments to narrow down the barrage of information. Most of entirely normal aboard a starship and this close to the warp core.

Eyelaya gave herself a few moments to get composed. "I... I was working on the transport blockers. I detected he same readings on the bridge and I followed them. When I opened the door... There was a window of shimmering... well air. It was like looking in a puddle and there was Yolen and this PO who was injured. I saw... Mac, he was standing behind a computer and Commander Soral's dog... I heard them..."

"You heard Bones?" Alex interjected without meaning to, looking suddenly hopeful. And Mac, she saw Mac.

Adrianna waved Alex off, thinking. "That means they've found a way back, but have now been caught. We need to work quickly."

Alex bit down on her temper as she focused on the task at hand. Picking up on a weaker signal, she ventured away from them, inside the storage room.

Commander Stillwater and his husband, the Standing Bear's freshly minted Chief Tactical Officer entered amongst all the chaos and calamity. "What the hell is going on down here?" he asked as he had been summoned over the comm to come there immediately. "Status Report!" he shouted and looked around.

Glancing over her shoulder, Alex frowned. “Chief Eyelaya discovered another rift and unfortunately we weren’t as fortunate as before. Yolen and a petty officer...” She gestured towards the bloodstained deck. “Both were beamed to Sickbay, but we may need to wish for a miracle or three... Eyelaya was trying to explain what she saw.” She was sure Stillwater would pick up on how understandably traumatized the engineer was without anyone pointing it out. Allowing Eyelaya to speak up, she resumed her scans.

"They were alive. I heard Mac yelling at Yolen, you can't both go through... Yolen jumped..." A loud beeping started from Eyelaya's belt. She grabbed the device. "Cargo bay one. Another rift stronger!"

Praying inwardly that another rift did not mean another discovery like the one here, Alex closed over her tricorder as she set off for the cargo bay.

Eyelaya, despite the earlier shock, followed. With the party reconvened in the cargo bay the rift opened and another NCO that was taken appeared. He paused and passed out, but was very much alive, followed by a much smaller member of the crew. Bones barking wildly. Seeing Alex he ran straight to her, barking and jumping around her.

"Bones!" Alex quickly scooped up the puppy, relief written all over her face as she held him as tight as she dared while the others moved to help the NCO. She tried to keep him still enough to look him over, seeing no obvious signs of injury. Then again, she wasn't a vet.

Eyelaya was relieved to see Bones. She, however continued to scan. "Oh my Gods!" she shouted as she looked at her tricorder.

Adrianna took a step back, shocked at the four legs coming through, not two. She holstered her weapon, the dog was no threat.

Stillwater drew his phaser and aimed it at the rift. "Anything that comes through that rift that isn't one of us is getting shot on sight."

"Stand down, Sir, surely it would be worth negotiating release of hostages than angering-- one of theirs, two of theirs would never be good," Adrianna protested.

"I... Sir, I'm reading... Morse code?" she said in wonder. "I..." Before she could say anything, the rift began to seal. "A... a message!"

A puppy in one hand, tricorder in the other, Alex recorded. If Eyelaya was right and it was a message, a simple program would translate it. She was more interested in the rift itself, building on their knowledge of them.

"What is the message?" inquired Stillwater. "It sure the hell isn't 'we come in peace'," he added.

"I... I don't think it's from the aliens."

Adrianna looked to Alex. "Our father made us learn Morse code."

"What is it saying?" the science officer asked. "Is it from our people?"

Adrianna nodded looking to her watch, muttering to herself, "Every three hours." She looked to the captain. "Every three hours. So, we need monitors in all ports where these things have been opening up. Maybe with medical on standby. Next opening should be 2 hours 50."

"Agreed." Alex nodded. "Especially when we have seen first hand the condition some people are in when they return. Medical should definitely be on alert."

Stillwater nodded. "Agreed, make it so," the Commanding Officer said. He looked over at Talarn. "Tal, security personnel at key areas of the ship. Spread them strategically."

Talarn nodded and hit his comm badge. It was interesting to be in charge of people again. "I need security teams to each of these areas..." He stepped away from the group to give his team better instructions as to where and when he wanted each team in place.

"Kingsley, I want you to continue analyzing these tears and where our people have been taken to. I want to know as much as we can as soon as we can."

“Of course,” Alex assured him.

"Keep me apprised of the situation. I want alerted if we have any further... incidents," noted Stillwater.