It's Always An Option

Posted on Jul 19, 2015 @ 4:27pm by Lieutenant Eve Dalziel
Edited on on Jul 19, 2015 @ 4:28pm

Mission: The Lights of Hyperion

“It’s Always an Option”
(Continued from “Stubborn”)

=/\=

“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
-Thomas Edison

=/\=

Location: Saucer Section
SD: 2.150718.1000
Scene: Outside Sickbay

The first thing he could feel was the sensation of movement. Naturally, starships were moving quite a bit of the time, but this was different than the keen vibration that signified an optimally processing warp core. This was fractured, disjointed somehow. After some physical shuddering, the ship once more regained the feeling of singularity. But the deeper hum was no longer present.

Next, the cold, hard deckplating pressed against his body, hands, and face. Where was he? How had he ended up here?

*Get up,* a voice roughly sounded in his head. But it wasn’t his own. It was Phia’s. *Dammit Cade, suck it up and get back in that Sickbay!*

He could see her in his mind’s eye. That orchid skin and mischievous eyes. She reached for him, bringing her lips to his in a passionate kiss.

A part of him tried to nag away the misguided memories; he knew it wasn’t real. But the other part of him, who had missed her- every part of her, even the parts that were a royal pain in his ass, submitted to the illusion.

The kiss was warm and wet. But things went a little out of focus as Phia began to lick his cheek. At the same time he felt the gentle hiss of a hypospray.

Cade opened his eyes and found himself staring not into Phia’s sly countenance, but instead the loveable face of Captain Smooshy, all golden wrinkles and glazed obsidian eyes. The pug perked up, seemingly overjoyed that the man had come to.

“Bleargh, holy hell, you damn mutt!” he shouted while sitting up and leaning against the wall, trying to wipe away the unwelcome wake up call.

“Welcome back, Cade.” Suvek’s calm voice did not waver.

The Doc looked up foggily from his vantage point on the floor, wanting to try and gauge the facial expression of his eternally logical friend, because it would have taken supreme control not to find french-kissing a dog at least a little funny, but there was a bluish cast in the lighting that further clouded his view. He then remembered his unfortunate contact with their Ameratsu- injured guest. “Damn.” He rubbed his face. “Goddamn fucking Montoya- how long have I been out?”

“Guessing is not in my nature, but I believe approximately two hours.”

The curmudgeonly physician rose to his feet- slowly- and realized the azure haze in his field of vision wasn’t going away, which meant it wasn’t an injury. “Are we under Blue Alert?”

“That is affirmative. The ship has been separated.”

The CMO glared at Suvek and swatted at his comm badge. “Doctor Foster to Bridge- what in the name of fuck’s going on up there?” The pug, perhaps unhappy with the aggression in his voice, jumped up slightly and pressed his paws on the grumpy man’s legs, then sat back and looked upward at the two men quizzically.

There was a pause. [[Someone has control of the Battle Bridge and has exerted that control to divide the ship,]] The worried but dutiful voice of Aerdan Jos came through.

Cade made a short guttural grunt. “I’ll bet someone got sick and tired of their little game of ‘Lord of the Flies’ in Shanty Town.”

[[Speaking of which, we have an incoming transmission from there. I’ll have to get back to you,]] the ExO said as the connection was cut.

Foster bit back a retort, and it would have been such a good one too. He didn’t even have the opportunity to ask why Kane hadn’t answered when he called the Bridge. It sounded like they had enough crap to do upstairs. “I guess we have work to do anyway,” he grudgingly admitted to nobody in particular, as the two men entered Sickbay to decontaminate it and treat for radiation exposure.

The pug smiled and stuck his tongue out briefly, then wagged his curled tail and ran towards his home in Counselling as fast as his short and stubby legs would carry him.


=/\=

Location: USS PHOENIX
Scene: Bridge

The Bridge was as crowded as it ever had been, and it was still relatively quiet by most duty standards. Mister Byte stood sentinel, ready to dispense advice or service as needed; Russ fidgeted at the helm. Aerdan Jos had the conn, and didn’t look exactly thrilled about it, while Eve hadn’t left the console Kass had entrusted her with. Thomas Varn was reviewing the feed of information sent to him by Engineering, and there were a few other officers present.

All the work stopped when the view of the Battle Bridge appeared, along with Embry and Selyara Chen.

Aerdan’s antennae bent towards each other thoughtfully. He couldn’t resist a slight smirk; after all, he could see the man was expecting Captain Kane, and was clearly irritated by this unexpected turn of events. He could also see there was no entourage or guards present with the beaten man. It was just him and Selyara. She had signs of injury as well. If they could manage some kind of strike team, they could take back control.

{{Where is Captain Kane?}} Embry demanded.

Aerdan took a breath, pacing a few feet towards the Counsellor. Either Embry had no awareness of Kane’s location, or it was a test. Which way to go? There was also Selyara to consider. Kane trusted her. However, she could easily see through any falsehood and spill the beans to Embry if she had decided to be a turncote. It would be a test for all of them.

{{Commander?}} The pedantic man asked sharply.

Jos turned away from the screen to face Dalziel. “Follow my lead,” he said under his breath.

Eve nodded once.

Aerdan went over and sat back down, trying his best to look grieved, hunched over, surreptitiously opening a one-way audio channel to Engineering.

{{Are you alright?}} The older man asked, his voice softening into the facade of caring he had once used to give Shanty Town the illusion of diplomacy and order. The truth was, he did care. But he also did not care to be ignored.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Captain Kane is missing at this time... presumed dead.”

Eve regarded her ExO with concern. It was an interesting tack to take. But how long could they stall?

{{What?}} Embry roared, upset at the loss of life, but even more enraged at the fact he wouldn’t be able to have his say with the man himself. {{What were his last whereabouts?}}

Aerdan scrambled to think of a logical place in the Saucer Section that the Captain could have gone to. He didn’t want Embry to even consider he was in the Drive Section.

Eve stood and went to ‘comfort’ the ExO. “There was an Ameratsu attack in Sickbay,” she said, her voice breaking, “and the Captain went in an effort to contain it and collect data. We haven’t heard from him since.” In case they were asked for evidence, Eve reasoned, they had it. She guessed that since Miss Chen hadn’t tried to challenge their story yet, they should take that as a sign of cooperation on her part and continue to focus on fooling Embry.

Embry squinted his swollen eye in recognition of the woman who helped deliver the medical kits to Cargo Bay three. {{Why did you hide the truth from us about these creatures, what did you call them- Ameratsu?}}

“Regardless of the circumstances surrounding your arrival on the PHOENIX, it is our job to offer protection and safe travel. The food and overcrowding crisis alone was enough for you to deal with. You and the refugees were not to be troubled with such concerns,” she said, trying to sound extra courteous. “Those medical supplies would have prevented radiation sickness, which was the primary side effect of these beings making an appearance. If we had been truly as inconsiderate as you say, why would we bother with those?”

{{Surely we could have helped you with our considerable manpower, Counsellor.}}

Annoyance crept into the Cardassian born woman’s voice. “With all due respect, manpower without discipline would have not been much use.” The man was clearly delusional.

“Easy, Lieutenant,” Aerdan said softly.

Embry heaved a ragged sigh and brandished his phaser. {{I am not a desperate man. But I grow tired of your false courtesies. Give me a reason *not* to shoot Miss Chen.}}

Selyara pursed her lips in irritation but managed to stay still.

Eve focused on calming herself; she desperately wanted to call the man’s bluff. As much as Embry had a hand in the refugee uprising, she didn’t think he was capable of face-to-face murdering. He wanted his hands to stay clean. Then again, he was in a precarious situation. Boundaries had a way of blurring themselves when the stakes were heightened. “No one can run a ship by themselves. People, especially knowledgeable, skilled people, are the most valuable commodity we have. Besides, this was never about killing, was it?”

Embry’s head hung down. It wasn’t clear if Eve had struck a nerve or if the man was simply exhausted. Perhaps it was both. {{You speak of the people,}} he finally began quietly. {{Your heartfelt concerns for them.}} He laughed, a shallow throaty laugh, which made him cough. {{Your arrogant Captain Kane, telling me over and over about conservation of the ship and its resources. His *people*. ‘Sorry we can’t fix your replicators, you’ll have to muddle through and such.’ Throwing protein cubes and empty promises at us like they were tea and medals. No time to listen, only time to scold and admonish us, the downtrodden refugees of LIMBO, for the great, humane, heroic efforts of a bastardized ship and her exiled crew. The great strain we were placing on you all for our arrival… even though our options were as limited as yours, if we chose to live. And we *did* want to live. If the bloody PHOENIX hadn’t chosen to come to our station in the first place, we wouldn’t have had to make that choice. The Black Stars wouldn’t have been ordered to execute us like a bunch of strays that nobody had a use for. So my dear, I wanted Kane to take his responsibility in that. His fault in that. And recognize that my people... are no less important than his.}}

“I don’t think belittling your cause or your people was his intent, Mister Embry.”

{{The road to hell is paved with good intentions,}} he scoffed.

“What about the ship?”

He pushed his hair back from his forehead. {{What about it?}}

“If the ship fails, we die. All of us. A Captain has equal, if not greater responsibility to that to prevent catastrophe. The vessel is a Captain’s true mistress, even more than its crew. You want to classify him as cold and uncaring. But have you ever had to order someone to a certain death, to sacrifice themselves, to save the lives of others?”

{{I am not unmoved. But the Drive Section has the warp power. Why should I be concerned with the rest of you?}

“I propose you won’t be able to arrive anywhere without a full crew complement and a whole ship. The motives and patterns of the Ameratsu are still being studied. But they can trigger the previously mentioned radiation discharge, physical damage and possibly explosions, if you don’t know what you’re dealing with. So I ask you for a list of demands or allowances that will get you to reverse your decision to separate the PHOENIX.”

The older man wondered about how dramatic the Counsellor was being, but realized he wasn’t in a position to gamble with his half of the ship... at least not yet. {{Will you grant all of my conditions?}}

Eve looked to Aerdan Jos. “That is for the Acting Commanding Officer to decide. I suspect compromises will need to be made on both ends of the spectrum. But I think I can speak to the fact that we are more than willing to listen and negotiate.”

The Andorian agreed. “I assure you, Mister Embry, you do have a voice, and your needs will be heard. We only wish to end this in peace, without any further bloodshed.”

Embry stroked his chin, still gripping the phaser in the other hand. {{This may take some time to fully document our grievances.}}

Eve took a breath, trying to look grim. That was what she had been hoping for. She sat back down and grabbed a PADD that had been embedded in the arm of the seat. “I will dictate. Take all the time you need. We are at your service.”


=/\=
NRPG:

What’s happening in Engineering as they listen in? I don’t know. A plan?
What conclusions has Varn come to about the Ameratsu? I don’t know.
How irradiated is Sickbay? I don’t know. I hope not too bad.
What’s Selayra thinking, and what’s she doing at her station? I don’t know. Something sneaky?
What’s the pug doing now? I don’t know, but he’s alive and that’s what’s important.

These and other questions will hopefully be answered in a subsequent post.

Susan Ledbetter
Writing for

Lieutenant Eve Dalziel
such a liar