Questions and Answers
Posted on Fri May 27th, 2022 @ 10:27am by Commander Lillian Carter & Lieutenant Is'san & Lieutenant JG Lyras
2,013 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Episode 4 - The Fires Of Hades
Location: USS Cerberus
Timeline: Mission Day -584,948 @ 1700 Hours
ON:
While the rest of the crew had been transported over to the Iconian ship, the senior staff had been kept on board for questioning by Commander Musk.
Commander Carter was of special interest to Musk and her interrogation was taking place in her own ready room. The other senior officers were been kept, under guard in the mess hall.
"I do not understand," Lyras said as he looked up, "what do they want with us?" He was actually amazed to be put with the senior staff because technically he really wasn't. At least, not in his own humble opinion. According to his rank, he was very much junior, and he was only 'acting' as chief medical officer. As far as he was aware, he wasn't formally assigned as one.
Bobby wasn't sure why he was still here either. He wasn't senior staff but he kept quiet to take in as much about their capturers as possible. Analyse and observe. He was sure they were about to do the same.
"It's the equivalent of looking someone in the eyes and getting the measure of them, doctor," he informed them. "The captain is a pretty good poker player from what I can gather but the rest of us need to only volunteer the bare minimum."
"Since we do not know anything...that would be the truth, would it not?" The Vulcan hybrid answered logicality. "We are not privy to what the high-ups do know."
Is'san started to stir finally. Having been so formidable on the bridge during the take over the invaders had taken it upon themselves to nullify him from causing any more trouble, his height and strength having been standing his ground against them.
"I gather things did not end in our favour?" his hand on his forehead as he started to rise from the laying position the invaders had dumped him in. "What happened?"
"I am not certain, but I believe we were boarded," Lyras answered the tall alien. "Are you alright? Do you require medical assistance?' he felt a little ashamed for having missed an obviously stunned crew member.
One of the guards came over "Be quiet." He shouted before turning back to his senior officer. "Sir? why are we keeping these..... things alive? Surely we should kill them as enemies of the Iconian..."
"The Commander wants them alive...." his superior, Lieutenant T'Kat interrupted.
The Centurian shifted "Sir.... The Commander's orders have been strange over the last couple of rotations. Far too lenient with prisoners, maybe we should not follow his orders so... blindly?" he offered carefully.
T'Kat fixed him with a cold stare "You will follow his orders! As long as I tell you to." He then cast a glance left and right and lowered his voice "While I may agree with you, the Commander is not your concern. That burden is mine and mine alone. But when the time comes, I'll need loyal soldiers. Can I count on your support?"
The Centruain stood a little straighter. "Yes Sir!
The Ready Room
Carter sat at her desk while Musk paced around the room looking at the few items that Lillian had put on display. He had not spoken a word as of yet.
Carter let out a long sigh "Do you think we could have a drink?"
He snapped around and stared at her for a moment. "All in good time.... Now let's start with who you are, where you're from and what you are doing in our space?"
She raised an eyebrow. "I doubt you'd believe me if I told you."
He sat down across from her. "Try me."
She took a breath. "We come from a nearby quadrant. We came here by accident and we were just having a look around."
He frowned at her "Now I know what you look like when you're lying to me, why not try the truth?"
She held his gaze for a moment then laid it all on the line. "Ok, we're from the future, about six hundred thousand years. We're not sure how we got here but I know we're not supposed to be here and hopefully, we'll be routing home soon."
He chuckled for a moment. "There.... Was that so hard?"
She looked at him incredulously for a moment "You believe me?"
He nodded. "There was more truth in that statement than your previous one. You're still holding something back but it's a start."
She tilted her head, unable to get a handle on him. "How about that drink now?"
Back in the Mess Hall......
Ensign Gibbs was looking around in the mess hall, staring at those who were keeping guard, he leaned over and whispered to someone near him. "What can we do about this situation?"
"We can try to get out," Lyras suggested, though he kept his eyes on the Kelpien, still waiting for an answer on whether he needed medical attention. The young doctor wasn't sure on how to provide it without equipment, however.
Gibbs looked over towards the Kelpian, then said to Lyras. "he looks okay though I'm not really familiar with his race."
"I am not familiar with his species at all," Lyras commented dryly, "I only know what he has literally told me. There are still a great many species that may seem common to you, but are very alien to me."
"Hey I'm still trying to understand women," Bobby shrugged.
"They are an entirely different entity altogether," Lyras agreed, "but then... so are men." He returned his attention to Is'san. "Do you require medical attention?" He asked again, "if yes, I do need to request equipment from our captors .. or try to treat you in ah ... more archaic and old fashioned means "
"We have far more pressing matters Doctor!" the Kelpian offered with a slight smile also noting that at this moment he was the ranking officer in the room. Slowly he started to stand, raising his hands in the 'I Surrender' pose.
"I am Lieutenant Is'san of the Federation Starship Cerberus... Please, we come in peace and would very much like to..."
Is'san's words were caught short as the butt of a rifle impacted heavily with his abdomen from the nearest guard.
"What could be more pressing than your health?" Lyras queried softly as he reached to steady the much taller alien. He turned his head, casting fiery blue eyes on their captors. "If you injure us, we are of no use to you," he stated flatly, "I require medical equipment to heal him, he has been injured."
One of the guards sneered at him "I personally don't care if you are injured or not."
"Give him a med kit and watch your tone!" T'Kat barked.
After a moment, begrudgingly the guard shoved a medkit into Lyras's hands. "Treat his wounds only." He hissed.
"What else would I do with a medkit," the Vulcan muttered under his breath as he retrieved a tricorder and waved the scanning wand across the Kelpien's body. "There do not appear to be internal injuries," he reported, "however it does seem like you suffer from a concussion..." He picked up a hypospray and inserted a brightly coloured vial. "This should clear that up," he offered.
The Ready Room
Carter had stood and under Musk's watchful eye had gone over to the replicator. "Two coffees with cream and sugar." she said to the computer.
Musk raised an eyebrow. "So you've mastered matter replication." he mused as he watched the cups appear and Lillian handed him one. "Impressive for a primitive, savage-looking people."
Lillian smiled, trying hard to remain diplomatic and resisting the urge to punch this guy in the face. "You underestimate us." she sat down on the sofa and took a drink.
He sniffed his drink cautiously. "Did you poison this?" He asked, almost smiling as he sat down next to her.
"You have my crew and your weapons trained on our ship, it would be stupid to poison you... now..." she replied coolly, taking another sip.
Despite himself, he laughed regarding the ease at which she parried his thrust. He took a sip. "Not bad, we have a beverage remarkably similar to this. Tell me how did you, a female, become commander of this ship?"
His question caught her off guard. "Surly a species as advanced as yourself treat your females equally?" she replied.
"Our females are the mothers of warriors. We hold them in the highest of regards. We do not burden them with military service."
"We are not soldiers, but explorers," Lillian said.
He looked at her, trying to size her up. "Yes, you surrendered quickly..."
"To give battle under those conditions, we would have to be slaughtered!" she interrupted him "He will triumph who knows when to fight and when not to fight."
That last comment made him pause and give a nod of respect. "Yes... I suppose you're right. He looked at her more closely and Lillian couldn't quite work out if it was curiosity... or something more.
"Tell me... Does your culture have music?" she asked. Before he could answer, she spoke "Computer, play some Mozart."
The computer started playing a Mozart clarinet concerto. He listened to the music for a moment. "Hhhmmmmm. maybe you're not as primitive as we first thought. But why would ally yourselves with the T'Kon?"
"We're not their allies. We simply bumped into them first when we arrived and had to persuade them not to destroy us." Lillian protested. This time, the statement was received with a nod of acknowledgement, but he kept his eyes on her, studying her.
She thought for a moment, trying to make some connection. "You know what, I think we need something else to drink. Computer, two glasses of red wine."
Back in the Mess Hall......
After treating Is'san, Lyras put the equipment back into the kit, then slung it across his shoulders. "I may need it again," he told their guards, "if you keep hurting us."
Gibbs gave out a slight huff. "So we're just here to wait, until something happens. They are the Iconians. So what are your people like? And I am excited in learning about your people." he gushed out.
"What are Iconians?" Lyras asked curiously, "And where would we go if we do not wait? Why risk further injury to ourselves, or even loss of life?" He arched a single eyebrow at the man. "Learn about who?"
"The Iconians, in our time" Is'san started to whisper in hushed tones. "were a presumably brutal and highly militaristic species. Their technology was far beyond our own and equalled that of the T'Kon. They had the technology to open portals between two points allowing instant travel between star systems!"
The Kelpian started to right himself, wincing as he moved. "Thank you for the ministrations Doctor!"
"I don't mean to be all in a dither but, I never thought I would meet one. And yes they can be brutal as said person, demonstrated." Gibbs said to Is'san and Lyras.
"Portals... like a wormhole?" Lyras simply stared, all this increasingly becoming too much to handle as it was. "I am not certain how I feel about all this.. it is all too confusing. It does not make sense and it makes me feel out of place." He shook his head, trying to center himself again. "First travel forward into time, then a great many times backwards...." He looked at the both of them. "So what do you suggest we do? Short of angering them..."
"I think we need to just sit tight and wait, hoping for the best. Any sort of aggression on our part won't give us any good results at all. Keep calm and that is the best thing we can do for now." Gibbs stated.
"And not panic," Lyras answered in almost a whisper.
"I'm not convinced on the portals," Bobby ventured. "I got chatty with a few security ensigns when they were docked here recently. They found a gateway but there was no evidence of Iconians."
OFF:
RSS Feed