Out Of The Hole

Posted on Fri Nov 1st, 2024 @ 6:04am by Captain Aisling Banerjee & Lieutenant Commander J'haz Sasha & Lieutenant JG Shijo Yara

3,118 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Crew Shakedown
Location: Secret Starfleet Warehouse
Timeline: tbd

Aislinn leaned heavily on her cane and smiled wryly. The last thing she had expected in her near future was an actual need to use it for the purpose it was intended! She glanced at the only other person in the left, an attractive woman in Science blue with...were those pointed ears?

Well, she thought amusingly. For a race that was supposed to suppress emotions the Vulcans certainly did seem to get around. She shifted her weight and hissed.

The young woman turned to Aislinn with an unexpected expression of sympathy. For a Vulcan, she seemed quite open with her concern.

"Do you require medical assistance, captain? On facility may not be full of bells and whistles, so to speak, but we do have a rather impressive infirmary. Given our location and duties, we require it far too often."

"Much appreciated, Commander," Aisling replied, "I would have taken the time for proper medical attention, but when I was informed of the crisis down here I opted for minimal medical care. My senior staff is in the wind, necessitating my taking a personal hand."

She smiled slightly, "What staff remained was...not happy about that...

Sasha nodded sagely.
"Of that I have no doubt."


Deg chim Jargguw was not a happy Tellarite.

The director of the site, he had a great many unanswered questions. On top of that one of his people was in critical condition; the brain was still active and if they could get the body fixed they might be able to save them. But even in the dawn of the 25th century miraculous medical technology could do only so much. Fortunately the two Kepler personnel had saved her.

As for them...

"Let me explain why I find your story skeptical," Jargguw explained to Lirien and Yara, having to raise his voice over the sound of the phaser cutters chopping up the wall to get to the body fused in it, "Only my people can activate the force field in that room, and yet you were able to. Only my people can handle phaser rifles in this facility and yet the weapons miraculously activated in your hands. The same goes for the tactical tricorder. This entire situation stinks and until I get answers neither of you will be seeing the light of a stellar body for some time! I-"

The lift doors opened and Captain Banerjee limped out, a cane in her hand, followed by an attractive humanoid female with pale green eyes and short blonde hair in Science blue.

"My goodness!" she exclaimed, looking about the place, "This is exactly how I imagined a secret Starfleet warehouse full of secret technology would look! Which chamber is the M5 computer housed? I am asking for a friend."

The blonde Vulcan started to respond to the query of the Captain, but remembered proper security measures and shut up. She noticed the body imbedded in the plating of the chamber. With an intrigued expression, she ignored the conversation and began to scan the body with her science tricorder.

She turned to Lirien and Yara, "You look unscathed," she glanced at the wall, "What are they doing?"

Jargguw began to speak but Aisling replied without looking his way, "You were yelling at my people, sir. They were in a firefight where someone was critically wounded, the least they deserve is a modicum of courtesy."

She said more quietly to Yara, "Are you two well? You seem whole."

Yara looks at Captain Banerjee, and sighs "I'm not sure how, or why, but it seems this facility has had a major breach in security. Not only that but Director Jargguw seems intent to blame US for failings in his systems!"

He continues "forgive me Director, but have you taken all appropriate steps to find the intruder, or intruders, that have fled? As for evidence, I would think 'the body in the wall' is somewhat compelling? As to how come we could access your security station, I can only think someone is way ahead of us all and we were sent to interrupt this attempt. Though who in the 'Elle could be responsible I have no idea..." Looks at the Captain ..

Aisling blinked, then she had to hide a slight smile behind her raised hand; she had always possessed a terrible poker face. The smile faded and she gave Yara a sober nod of acknowledgement.

"Don't lecture me on how to run security, lieutenant," The Tellarite snapped, "We are still looking for this person. So far we have turned up nothing. I-"

In moments the secrets were revealed. Suddenly Sasha drove her tricorder into the bulkhead with splintering strength. A shower of Sparks accompanied the scattering of dead tricorder components across the deck. She dusted her hands off when she returned to a standing position.

Aisling gave a start at the sudden violence, as did the Tellarite in charge. He spun and regarded Sasha with a glower.

“Someone was pirating my tricorder readings….which I was of the belief that this was inconceivable because this ‘beyond top secret’ facility supposedly blocks all, and I mean all transmissions. How…intriguing.”

Sasha looked to the head of the facility. She gestured behind her with her thumb.
"This operative was using a phase cloak. The Federation built one in direct violation of the Treaty Of Algernon, got caught red handed, and were forced to destroy the only prototype. The technology was lost to all."
She looked back to the body embedded in the bulkhead.
“.. or so we were led to understand. This version is miniaturized compared to the original prototype, and is far more efficient in terms of energy use."

"in addition, I noted before I was so rudely interrupted that the armor itself was made from advanced composites, was lightweight and strong and would be quite effective in turning almost any blade. The helmet contained advanced communications and sensor gear, almost like a tricorder itself that would possibly be operated by eye movements and blinking. Much of the body was embedded in the wall but there was definitely an unusual power source in there, now compromised and inert.


The body was human and male and practically useless in terms of alerting us to the identity of this operative...there seemed to be some sort of curious resonance."

" The tricorder data was pirated through a sub-space link. But that should have been impossible as there were no sub-space communication nodes down here: security protocols demand necessity that so there could be no data theft. Any communications were done through old "hard" lines to the surface."
Sasha shook her head with a raised eyebrow.
" Fascinating, but very distressing."

The Tellarite stared in shock at Sasha's revelation. "But...how...?"

A technician spared Sasha a glance before directing his attention to his superior, "Sir, I think I found something: there is a sub space transceiver installed into this communications device."

Jargguw stared. "...What?" he glared at Yara and Lirien, "Why did you in-"

"Looks like it was put her some time ago," the technician replied, "Years, I'd say. Ah...still active, too..."

Sasha went to scan the node, but remembered her tricorder was lying in scattered splinters on the floor. The technician smiled wryly and handed her a fresh one. She immediately detected another signal being transmitted down here via the sub space liink.

And it was directed at Captain Banerjee.

Aisling glanced at her people and frowned, she turned to the Commander, then to Jargguw.

"Ah, apparently I am now privy to information I had not had before."

Jargguw blinked, "What-"

"This is of a highly sensitive nature, Director. All your people have to leave," the Captain paused, it almost appeared she was...listening to someone. Banerjee added, "The Commander can stay. But before I impart this information everyone else really does have to go."

Jargguw frowned, then sighed, "Everyone but Commander Sasha, out!"



OOC: My responses is assuming Sasha stays. If Sasha decides to risk her career by leaving I will adjust. :)

IC:
Sasha ignored the people leaving the chamber, focusing on calibrating her new trichorder.

Yara watched as the others left, trying not to smile as the facilities staff leave this part of their own facility. Scans for Tachyons to keep busy.

When only the authorised remain, he sighs, wondering how the box will be moved, and how deep the penetration of Star Fleet by the AI went, and whether it was for good or ill.

Once everyone else had left Jargguw turned to Aisling, "Well, Captain?"

Aisling glanced about and frowned, then sighed and limped over to the black box. She sat down and sighed with audible relief as she gingerly extended her right leg. She then said, "Our...mission advisor can explain at least some of it," she tapped her comm badge, "Go ahead, Elle."

"Thank you, Captain," Elle's feminine voice stated through the captain's comm badge, "First of all, I am responsible for the sub space transponder being implanted in the vault some seventeen years ago. The individual who performed the deed called your security...ah...porous."

Jargguw glowered, he seemed ready to explode. Aisling struggled to hide a smile. Sasha responded simply with a raised eyebrow.

"As for the body in the wall," Elle continued, "I think if you perform a DNA scan you will find it likely it is a Starfleet crewman, probably one assigned to Earth, one who by now has been reported absent without leave. Commander Sasha, you recorded curious readings before you smashed your tricorder, correct? I have just downloaded a scientific report to your current, un-smashed tricorder regarding curious frequencies found in matter from non-native dimensions, you might find it of interest. It is classified flag rank and above so you might get fired for reading it. Just thought I would warn you. But short answer: the man in the wall is from elsewhere."


"Elsewhere?" Jargguw echoed, "What, exactly, does that mean?"

"She means another universe," Aisling murmured with a frown, "But if you want us to perform the DNA scan and it is a Starfleet crewman, but the crewman is from another universe..."

Aisling's eyes widened as she levered herself up onto her feet, "Yara, stop what you are doing and check with security to see if any crew persons have been reported AWOL."

Yara waits for the higher-ups to decide on how we proceed, while scanning for Tachyons.

Yara's scans for tachyons showed nothing.

Sasha began to look for the classified document with the Vulcan equivalent of eagerness. However with the warning, she showed the better side of discretion.

"Well I do find the potential information in this report intriguing, that being said I would prefer not to ruin my career with inappropriate perusal of the document. I would require a direct order to continue."
She paused for a moment.

"In writing, of course. One can't be too careful."

"I have sent a request to Admiral Janeway," Elle replied.

"You mean you sent it to Admiral Janeway's staff," Aisling replied with the beginnings of a worried frown.

A pause, then, "Before I answer that, I don't think we ever got around to discussing whether or not you were okay with me telling white lies..."

Captain Banerjee closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Sasha looked around to the gathered officers, responding to something she had heard while she was focused on the classified report.

" So an alternate universe, Is it? Well I suppose that's better than time travel. I prefer my timeline to be unsullied, thank you very much. It's so difficult to backtrack on temporal derailing, not to mention addressing the restoration of the original, pristine timeline. Of course, if you follow the Beckett paradigm, are the changes meant for the better? Who gets to judge? "
She paused for a moment.

" But I digress."

Elle replied, "You've read Beckett? Oh, we could have some interesting discussions on-Ah, Janeway just got back to me...And she said never to contact her directly again. But she did say Commander Sasha was cleared to read any and all classified data in regards to this matter," A pause, then, "And that was not a lie, white or otherwise."

"But what is this about people from other universes and Starfleet crew?" Jargguw persisted.

"There are at least two adjacent universes," Aisling explained, "Similar to ours, only in many ways morally aberrant. And in these universes there inhabit duplicates of many of us. It seems that some of our personnel might have been captured and replaced."

Yara contacts starfleet security to request information on AWOL officers, correcting that to say "that is to say Starfleet members of any rank".

There was a pause, then the security personnel at the other end replied, "We have...twelve officers and crew on Earth currently AWOL," another pause, then, "Now...thirteen. That is...unusual, to be honest. None of them are responding to their comm badges, none are on leave. We'll get back to you."

She killed the connection.



Yara looks at the others, and then the Captain. "Odd - I suppose even one AWOL is unusual. Why would they all go AWOL, unless they feared discovery? Elle, is this a major covert invasion? Is our mission moot?"

Sasha pondered this revelation for a moment.

"The number of AWOL star fleet personnel seems to be growing. The count is 13, and growing. You can speculate that the numbers could grow exponentially, since we don't know the method or process of the harvested personnel. They could grow by ones and twos or thousands."

Her eyebrow rose in concern.

"I don't relish the idea of another incident similar to Frontier day, where we cannot trust our own fellow Starfleet crew and officers."

"Nor do I," Aisling noted, obviously pondering the pros and cons of sitting down again, "But I do not think personnel are being snatched and replaced as we speak. It is possible that because the, ah, heist failed, and that they left a body behind the rest of their number might be going to ground."

She turned to Jargguw, "I need to get the dimensional drive back to my ship as soon as possible. And I need to contact Admiral Janeway about this."

Jargguw nodded, "Fine. Take Commander Sasha with you."

"...I beg your pardon?"

"My facility was invaded and one of my people might die. I want these bastards if anything more than you. Sasha can act as my liason. And I keep one of your people on hand," he glanced between Yara and Lien, "I'll take her."

Sasha offered a cool comment after her commanding officer traded her like a third string jammer on the Ghedi Prime Pareses Squares team.

"I would appreciate the opportunity to join your efforts, Captain Banerjee."

"Yes, but lieutenant Lirien," Aisling murmured, "I need-"

"Found a replacement!" Elle said excitedly over the comm. There was a pause, "Ah, but we will miss lieutenant Lirien terribly."

Aisling sighed, then glanced at Sasha, "Welcome to the crew of the Kepler, Commander," she turned to Lirien, "Lieutenant."

"Fun while it lasted, Captain," she noted. She glanced about the cavernous room, sighed, "Please tell me I'm not going to be stuck down here for the duration..."

Minutes later Yara, Sasha and Banerjee were in the lift heading up, the box on a grav pallette taking up much of the space.

"All right," Aisling murmured, "Thirteen AWOL Starfleet personnel. Thoughts?"

"Well-" Elle began.

Aisling tapped her comm badge, Elle's voice went dead, "I like her. Truly I do. But..." she paused and looked about.

"Never mind, she might be listening..."

Sasha folded her hands behind her in a relaxed stance.

"As a wise ancestor of mine once observed, it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you. Captain, how much do you trust this entity? It seems to have most of the answers, but wants to lead us to a conclusion predetermined by somebody, possibly even the entity itself. As to why? Perhaps you might be able to furnish some clues as to that."

"You mean, does Elle seem to know more than she is letting on? It certainly seems that way, now," Aisling replied with a frown, "But she has not lied to me and I consider myself a rather decent judge of character. Now these thirteen faux Starfleet personnel. Thoughts on how to find them? Leads? Theories?"

She glanced at both Yara and Sasha.

Yara is more concerned about getting back to the Kepler safely, scanning for threats. He muses "Star Fleet Security are best placed to track the AWOL, but do we want to tell them what we fear? Looking for someone who is not whom they appeared to be is not easy - there is no frame of reference. Maybe tracking back on the dead 'crewman' to see when he was replaced? How he was replaced? Many questions. How did they communicate the failure of this mission to the 'agents', how (and why) did they go AWOL so quickly. How did Star Fleet know they had gone AWOL so quickly? Which divisions are they in? What were the 'enemy' trying to achieve? When did this all start? Why were they seeking this device? Was it to stop us leaving this Universe?"

"Not really much use, sorry Captain, when questions outnumber answers so massively. Once I get time to think, I am sure I will have more questions. Questions for Elle as well.. " he concludes.

Sasha was already examining data concerning the AWOL personnel.

"It would be logical to examine the profiles of each of the 13 AWOL individuals. Using computer study we can examine each of them for any connections with one another. For example, is there a commonality regarding postings, or perhaps time spent at the Academy? There could be any number of connections, even on a genetic level. Are they related in terms of family or background? It's something that we will need to process through a proper analysis."

Aisling brightened at the Science officer's suggestions. She turned to Yara and said, "When we get back to the Kepler follow up on the Commander's suggestions; if there is a commonality between the AWOL personnel we need to find out what it is. As for Starfleet Intelligence, the problem there is not everyone is aware of parallel universes and we have to be careful about letting out that particular bit of information. And it would seem their motivation was to trip us up, although it would be good to have someone on hand to ask what, exactly, their motives were."

Aisling smiled grimly. Today was proving to be quite "interesting". She wondered what interesting elements the other away teams might bring...

 

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