Pod People

Posted on Wed Mar 15th, 2023 @ 5:19am by Captain Linda Wilson & Commander Qillin Wren & Lieutenant Commander Rayek trLhoell & Lieutenant Commander Klarth

4,910 words; about a 25 minute read

Mission: A whole new world
Location: USS Lionheart - unknown dimension
Timeline: Same day as exiting the Void

BRIDGE

Captain Wilson came back on the bridge after them picking up Doria. "Alright Raven, set a course for earth warp 5."
"Aye captain!" She replied
"Captain? We have another distress signal!"
'You're kidding me! Another one?"
'Yes ma'am. It's from a life pod!" .
Linda sighed. It was going to be one of those days. "Alright Raven, lay in a course. If someone needs rescuing, guess it's up to us to do it! Engage when ready!"
"Aye captain!" it only took about 20 minutes to find the capsule.

Rayek returned to the Bridge during that 20 minutes after seeing Doria to Lieutenant Cuyu's quarters, and making arrangements for security detail to be with her when outside of the Cuyu quarters. He'd also set up alerts to notify him immediately if any classified or sensitive materials were accessed by the Android.

He relieved the current Tactical officer Ensign Aakan Jun, and was updated on the situation. "Once more Captain, I advise caution." Even to himself, Rayek sounded repetitive with his warning. It wasn't like the Orion would take heed.


"Alright Ripley, analysis?"
"Ventaxian ma'am. Male, about 35 years old, and a second... female."
"Alright, let's get them in here. Tractor him into cargo bay 3. Rayek go down there and greet the guy. Be nice but make sure he's ok. Get them to sickbay and have Klarth give them the once over.

Rayek kept his paranoia to himself and merely acknowledged his orders with a simple "Aye, Captain."

Klarth chimed in over coms "Elle told me we have another visitor and that's it's coming into Cargo bay 3." you could hear Klarth's legs pumping even over the coms. "I needed some more cardio today anyway. I'll meet the security team there."

Hearing the Klingon running, Rayek quickened his own pace as he tapped his comm to arrange for 'additional security'. "Fireteam Alpha One A Two meet me and Dr. Klarth in Cargo Bay 3. Clear the room of others and stand ready to open an escape pod."

Rayek took the turbolift down to Deck 5 and met up with the Klingon in the hallway outside the Cargo Bay. "Doctor" he greeted.


CARGO BAY THREE

Fireteam Alpha 1-A-2 had been on stand-by in the Phaser Range on that same Deck (which is why Rayek had called on them) so were already on site and had the room cleared by the time Rayek entered. He had the fireteam position themselves discreetly around the bay.

He then watched as the escape pod was tractored in and set down on the cargo bay floor, before approaching the pod. It seemed like most standard Federation pods of the early 2380's.

"Elle, can you access the pod's controls and open the hatch?" Rayek asked. If not then they either had to signal inside to have the Ventaxian to release the lock or blow it open with a micro-explosive.

"Maybe we should just knock," said Klarth.

The communication, however, was not needed. As the tractor released the pod, the access hatch hissed open with apparent urgency. The supply of fresh, breathable air was so desperately needed by the occupants that any worries regarding the safety of their new berth was dismissed. Within, the duo hugged, but made no movement towards the exit.

When no immediate movement was forthcoming from the occupants, Rayek called out as he approached. "I am Lieutenant Commander Rayek trLhoell of the United Federation of Planets. We picked up your distress call and have brought you aboard our vessel, the USS Lionheart."

"Are you or your companion injured?" the Romulan asked as he tried to assess the state of the two individuals in the pod.

After another breath, there was some shuffling and indistinguishable whisper from within the pod. "We're going to be okay," Qillin reassured his sister. He could feel the oxygen from the ship's air supply immediately bringing his deprived cells to life. He used one of the handholds to pull himself out of the seat.

There had been so many ways their rescue could have gone wrong, that when Qillin watched the Starfleet vessel's tractor beam wrap around them, he would have breathed a sigh of relief if the pod's dwindling air supply had allowed it. He breathed that sigh now and helped Tetayn to her feet as well. "You are a sight to behold," Qillin said as he stepped out of the pod to address his rescuers. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Wre... Shit!" he swore once actually saw who was standing there, waiting for them.

He shoved Tetayn back into the pod, scrambling to follow, hitting the controls to shut the door. "What? Ow," Tetayn complained, landing awkwardly in her seat. "Are you insane?"

Qillin's finger rose to his mouth, indicating quiet, "Vulcan," was his only word of warning. He dropped his head in his hands. He had the worst luck ever.

Outside the shuttle, and not hearing the whispered word between the two occupants, Rayek rolled his eyes at the man's reaction to either him or Klarth.

Klarth looked at Rayek and shrugged his shoulders. "Elle, can you please make sure they can hear me in there?"

Elle chimed in over coms. "Their coms appear to be working. Their oxygen supply is very low though."

Klarth was satisfied that he wouldn't be wasting his breath so he said, "I'm not sure why you got back in your pod. Maybe it was me. My name is Klarth and I'm a doctor. I know Klingons can be intimidating. Or perhaps it was my Romulan friend, Rayek, or the men with phasers. Let me just tell you that we are from the Federation and this is a mission of peace and exploration. We answered your distress call because we wanted to help. But we are actually from a different dimension and we only came into this dimension very recently so any assumptions you might have about us or our intentions... we only want to help."

Rayek could have facepalmed when Klarth spoke openly about the Lionheart being from a different dimension.

Inside the pod, Tetayn reached for her brother's hands, giving them a squeeze. "Maybe we can trust them? He sounds sincere."

"No," Qillin shook his head. "He's probably bloodied them all into submission and he has them acting like happy puppets. We are so dead. I am so sorry. I never meant to get you into this much trouble."

She scowled at him. "I've seen worse," she said and then reached for the comm controls to transmit. "It's the Vulcan. We're not intimidated. We're terrified."

Qillin slapped her hand, stopping the transmission. "Kid," it was the only word he spoke, but it warned and scolded her at the same time.

At the young woman's commed statement Rayek outright laughed. But the situation was no laughing matter, the pod as Elle had stated was low on oxygen. The occupants needed to come out on their own soon or he'd be forced to retrieve them.

Scared of Vulcans. Klarth thought it was ridiculous, but trying to salvage the situation he said to the pair in the pod. "Like I said, my friend Rayek looks like a Vulcan, but he is actually a Romulan, so no need to be scared." Klarth looked to Rayek for help and said to him, "We are at a disadvantage not knowing this dimension's history. Without knowing that I don't know if anything I say will be reassuring or will somehow make it worse." Then remembering what the man had said, he talked to the pod again. "You said you were a Lieutenant Commander? What organization is that?"

In a fight that only siblings could be expected to have, they slapped at each others hands until Tetayn ended it by sitting on Qillin and pinning him to his seat. "He's a Starfleet officer," Tetayn answered the comms again, ignoring the hard pinch she received on her side. "We don't know what a Romulan is." She turned to Qillin, "We seriously need air or a vehicle with propulsion. Let me talk to them."

Hearing that he was in Starfleet was exactly what Klarth was hoping for. "Like I said we are from Starfleet too. In our dimension Starfleet's mission is one of peaceful exploration. Is the same true in this dimension?"

Rayek quirked an eyebrow at the girl's statement of not know what a Romulan was. It hinted to Rayek that in this universe the division of his people back in the days of Surak either never happened, or his ancestors had managed to retake Vulcan after their initial exodus.

When Klarth spoke again of what was essential classified information Rayek made a zipping motion trying to silence him and attempted to convince the pod occupants himself. "You have my word, I will not harm either of you. Come out before you run out of air." Rayek commed. Then muting his end, he called on the ship's AI. "Elle, can you get a transporter lock on their lifesigns?"

Elle appeared and said "Sure, where would you like me to transport them?"

Rayek glanced to Elle. HIS preference would be to have them interrogated in the Brig... but that didn't mesh well with Starfleet protocol. So just outside their escape pod would have to do. Yet before he could replied the Klingon spoke up.

"It would be better if they came out on their own." said Klarth to Rayek. "Remember we're trying not to remind them of scary Vulcans."

Rayek rolled his eyes, but held off ordering the beam out.

"We have fresh air from opening the door," Tetayn answered. "We have time to negotiate. What's this talk about dimensions?"

Rayek frowned and glanced towards the doctor with a censoring look. "I'm sorry, but the Doctor nor I have the authority to divulge information on that subject. However, if you allow me to escort you to the Captain - who is an Orion," Rayek offered up the Captain's species in case the pair had other phobias to yet more species other than Vulcan/Romulans. "I'm sure she can answer whatever questions you might pose."

Klarth thought of another angle. "And it must have been quiet some time since you've eaten, when you meet the Captain you could also have something to eat. What would you like?"

Klarth looks at Rayek and sees how unhappy he was so he says to the people "yes people have different dimensions, different facets, different goals. we're a different type of Starfleet, a different dimension of Starfleet, we're the friendly you can trust us dimension."

Elle was laughing so hard she doubled over, but she tried not to make any noise so the two in the pod didn't hear her. "Nice save Klarth." she said in between silent fits.

Tetayn turned to look at Qillin, both wore confused expressions on their faces. Qillin took the opportunity to push his sister off his lap and answered the Klingon. "No. You can pretend to be friendly with that Vulcan all you want. If you're worried about our health, thanks. Give us a supply of fresh air and a push out the door. We'll take our chances with whatever gravity well pull us in."

"I'm going to have one heck of a story to tell S'Lace." Klarth said to Rayek.

Rayek's patience was growing thin. "This talking is pointless, they will not see reason unless they are confronted with it. Elle, transport them out of their pod, on my mark, three meters in front of Klarth and myself. Security stand ready. Phasers to lowest stun setting," and added in an aside to Klarth, "Be ready to dodge as they've likely already armed themselves anticipating such an action."

The Romulan turned back to face where the occupants would arrive and lifted his hands to either side in a display that he held no weapon, then called to Elle. "Now."

"The Vulcan is going to pull us out of here by force," Qillin warned. They both knew the modus operandi of Vulcans and the consequences they were about to face. "You're going to have to run - to hide - and then find a way off this ship. I'll distract them."

"Not without you..." Tetayn objected.

"Yes, without me... I'll figure something o-" the transporters cut their planning session short. As they rematerialized, the drawn phasers were more than obvious and Qillin immediately held up his arms in surrender while activating a smoke grenade. It dropped to the ground and the area filled with a sweet, blue cloud. He heard the light patter of Tetayn's feet as she scurried away. A crate fell behind him as one of the security officers chased after her. "Whoa, whoa, hold up," he called out, attempting to draw attention away from Tetayn.

Rayek watched as the man raised his hands, much like his own at the moment - and noted as the grenade fell from his hands. The Romulan's eyes widened in surprise and he turned, stepping in front of the Klingon as a block, presenting his back to the grenade. This might seem a self-sacrificing move; except that Rayek suspected he'd need the Klingon alive to treat any of his own injuries. But this was ultimately unnecessary as he came to realize the device was not an explosive grenade but rather a diversion when a moment later smoke covered the area and he heard the sound of footfalls running. A single set, light in comparison to the man - must be the young girl who had been speaking. He could hear one of his security team giving chase.

"Elle, cycle the air in cargo bay three." Rayek ordered, coughing from the smoke which he had inhaled.

In the confusion, Tetayn took cover behind a storage crate. After a breath and a survey of the near wall, she found what she was looking for as the smoke wafted in her direction. A nearby crate fell, the noise masked the clang of the jefferies cover shutting behind her. Stopping was no longer an option and she made her way into the tunnels. Starfleet vessels, fortunately, had similar designs throughout the line and she quickly made her way to a null zone where internal sensors would have a hard time locating her.

She wouldn't have long before they figured out what she was up to and physically came to look for her. But she had a few other hiding spots she could utilize.

With the air clearing, Rayek could finally see the other Lieutenant Commander. "That was unnecessary; and your stunt with the smoke grenade reckless."

Qillin relaxed slightly when the "security officer" returned without Tetayn in tow. He remained in his pose of surrender, acutely aware of both the phasers and the Vulcan.

Rayek grimaced at learning that the girl got away. His thoughts were very critical of the capabilities of these sec/tac crew. "Find the girl." he ordered.

Then called on the Elle. "Initiate an intruder alert. All security teams to begin a sweep of the decks and maintenance areas outward from point until she is found. The intruder is to be assumed armed and dangerous. Heavy stun." As he stated this last he looked to man pointedly. This was on him.

When the smoke cleared Klarth went over to Qillin who had several phasers aimed at him, and started scanning him with a tricorder. "Are you injured? Do you have any medical conditions I should be aware of? Is your companion injured? Does she have any medical conditions? Honestly this whole thing is completely ridiculous you are acting like children."

"I am honestly surprised your brain is still intact, standing that close to a Vulcan like it's no big deal." Qillin answered, weary of the offending alien so near by.

"Listen I've had just about enough of this talk about Vulcans. My girlfriend is a Vulcan, well we haven't really put that kind of label on it...." Klarth trailed off for a second, "I need you to forget your preconceived notions. This ship and the people on it may be quite surprising and different to what you are used to."

Qillin's expression twisted in skepticism. Having been forcefully removed from the escape pod confirmed his fear of the ruthlessness of the Vulcans. The upcoming torture was only a matter of time and he wasn't sure how to fully prepare himself for it.

While Klarth attempted to talk to the rescued male, Rayek called to update the Captain.

=/\= "tr'Lhoell to Captain Wilson. We've had a bit of misunderstanding here with the occupants of the escape pod. It would seem them have an intense fear of Vulcanoids and had locked themselves back in their pod. It was necessary to beam them out and in the process one has escaped and is on the loose. I have already ordered Security to do a deck by deck sweep to find her. It might best if you were to come here to Cargo Bay Three to speak to the one we have custody. I don't want to risk the Bridge or Bridge crew given their defensive actions thus far." =/\=

=/\= "Wilson here. Alright, I'll be right down. Wilson out." =/\= It looked to be one of those days, which seemed to be the norm on the Lionheart. It took a few minutes to get to the Cargo bay. "Ok Rayek, I'm here. I'm guessing you are one of the people we picked up in the pod?" She said to Qillin. "I'm Captain Linda Wilson, C.O. of this ship. I understand you have problems with my chief of Security."

Assistant Chief, Rayek silently clarified. And couldn't help but think how much easier this would have been had Commander Arkyn been available.


He had to look up to meet her eye. Standing in his night clothes without having an opportunity to bathe properly for more than a week, and with multiple phasers pointed at him, Qillin was acutely aware of his position and appearance. He had started to notice very slight differences in the uniforms the "Starfleet" officers wore. The hues of red and gold weren't quite right and the size of the rank pips were a little too round. He checked the Vulcan, noticing that he deferred to the Orion - and the Orion showed absolutely no fear of the monster by having her back to him. Nothing made any sense.

"I do," he answered.

"OK, why don't we talk about this. If you promise not to cause trouble, I'll have the security force put away their phasers." Linda said. "By the way, who are you anyway?"

"I haven't tried to cause any trouble in the first place," Qillin objected. "I was forced out of my escape pod where I wasn't causing any form of mischief or aggression. It was your crew who insisted that I be here, on deck, and drew their phasers on me. I'm unarmed, and frankly, I'm quite taken aback by how I've been treated thus far.

"I'm Lieutenant Commander Qillin Wren of the USS Orinoco," he concluded.

Rayek eyed the apparent Lieutenant Commander warily when he claimed he was unarmed. The Romulan leaned in towards the Captain and pointed out something the other neglected to mention. "He dropped a smoke grenade earlier, Captain. He may have other weapons hidden on him."

"Ok, good point Lt. Cmdr Wren. Rayek, have your men lower their phasers. The man said he is unarmed. I see no weapons on him. We want to earn his trust and pointing phasers at him is not the way to do it." She took a deep breath. "Ok so as Rayek I'm sure told you, we hail from a parallel dimension. We are explorers and are peaceable. We are part of the United Federation of Planets in our dimension. We mean you no harm. I'm sorry you were taken from your pod by force. We were concerned for your safety in there with the limited amount of air you had. Now what is you job?" (I.E. engineering, security,etc)

Rayek frowned at the order but motioned his men to holster their sidearms. His frown deepened further at the Captain's assumption that he would so blatantly announce their being from an alternate universe openly to the people they rescued upon first meeting them. From his experience such introductions didn't go well. Besides which, he wasn't Command here... He had no authority offer such information during what was essentially a First Contact.

Klarth whispered to Rayek "See, she told them the truth too."

Rayek tipped his head nearer to the Klingon and answered back in an even quieter whisper. "She's the Captain. She has the authority to do so."

"Full transparency," Qillin said, while motioning to the Vulcan, "he revealed nothing and he," he motioned to the Klingon, "waxed esoteric about people being dimensional. They were not at all productive in their attempts in communication." He slowly lowered his hands. "My ship was destroyed by a Vulcan warbird. Until that point, I was the chief engineer of the Orinoco."

Klarth took that as an insult. But he was sure the Captain would say that they were already on thin water with these people so he held his tongue.

Rayek's impression of the man's 'full transparency' was clearly transparent by his own sour expression. He might have objected to being called unproductive except that he was too taken aback by news of the man's own ship being destroyed by a term the Romulan would have classified as an oxymoron - a Vulcan Warbird. This only further highlighted to him the blend of Vulcan and Romulan cultures in this universe. It was like Surak had never been.

"My apologies, Captain," he hesitated a fraction of a second before also including the Lieutenant Commander in his apology with a glance. "Lieutenant Commander. I did not believe it was my place to announce such statements regarding our origin to a stranger upon First Contact."

Then addressing the man more fully, Rayek offered a slight head bow which he held for extended moment. "My sympathies, at your loss of your ship and her crew."

When he raised his head once more he looked to the man. "I hope this resolves our misunderstanding."

Sudden security chatter in his surgically hidden earcomm and Universal Translator drew his attention once more to the ongoing intruder issue and he then addressed this with their current guest.

"Given what you've seen and heard from the Captain, would you be willing to call to your companion to turn herself in? My men are still searching for her. I can only hazard a guess as to what she might do in an attempt to escape from what she perceives as her enemy and to rescue you. My first obligation is the safety of this ship and her crew yet I would rather not have this misunderstanding continue. If we open a shipwide channel will you encourage her to stand down and allow security to escort her back here to you?"

"I don't know any of you well enough to trust you after only five minutes of interaction," he said after considering it. "I'll tell her I'm safe currently, but I'm not calling her back until I know more about you."

Klarth said to Qillin "Tell her we're taking you to the mess hall to get something to eat." Then he whispered to the Captain "If she is in the same state as him, they haven't had a decent meal in quite some time."

While it wasn't what he'd asked for, Rayek recognized that it was likely the best offer he would get from the man. The Romulan looked to the Captain and nodded his agreement to the suggestion. Meanwhile, his men would continue searching for the girl.

"Yes tell your companion she can meet us in the mess hall. We're gonna get you something to eat and she can eat too. She just has to come to the mess hall and she can eat all she wants. You too. But afterwards, I want Dr. Klarth here to examine you both. I want to make sure you two are okay health wise."

At the Captain's approval, Rayek tapped his comm "Elle, open shipwide comm." He then removed the badge from his uniform and held it out towards the Ventaxian male.

Qillin took a step towards the Vulcan, an action he never, in a million years, would have foreseen himself taking. He directed his voice at the hand, saying, "Tetayn, I'm safe at the hour. If you want pancakes, it's your choice." And he stepped back. He managed to phrase his message in code, but wasn't sure if anyone would pick up what he had done.

"Pancakes? Ohh what a great idea Lt. Cmdr. I think I'll join you and maybe we can talk." Lnda said.

That the Lieutenant Commander spoke in code to his sister, was clear. What that message meant was less clear. But Rayek would have to figure it out if he wanted to ensure the safety of the ships crew.

When the line was closed, Klarth said "I really hope you didn't tell her to do something foolish. If she gets hurt you'll have only yourself to blame."

Rayek was glad that it was Klarth that had pointed this out to the other rather than it having to be him. The Romulan never enjoyed being the curmudgeon of a group.

To the Captain, Klarth said, "Captain I really don't think it is wise to explore this dimension further without getting some idea about its history as well as the current galactic politics?"

"Agreed. That's why I'd like the Lt. Commander fill us in on all he can about this dimension's history and political situations. As best he can of course. And assuming he's willing." Linda said.

To Qillin, Klarth said, "Does your pod have any historical record? And after you eat would you be willing to sit down with our historians and tell them about your history and the current state of things?"

"You ask a lot of questions. Has anyone ever told you that?" Qillin gave a non-answer and followed the captain towards the bay doors.

Klarth got a sour look as Qillin was leaving. Qillin wasnt there to hear the answer but Klarth said, "I like to think its part of my charm."

The Assistant Security Chief stepped back after the comm and while the Klingon kept the man occupied with his questioning, Rayek moved over to the nearest of his Security team and assigned him to be the man's escort.

The Andorian security crewman nodded and moved to stand watch over the Ventaxian alertly.

Rayek then turned and when there was a pause in the conversation, interrupted. "Mr. Wren, given your aversion to my species, I've assigned Mr. ch'Oqysron to be your escort about the ship. His assignment is to keep both you and the ship safe from any harm. Please respect the necessity of this security escort until you can be vetted as trustworthy yourself."

Then suspecting that Commander Arkyn would want a status update of what was going on since the Orion would have be notified of the Intruder Alert and overheard the rather odd shipwide call, Rayek stepped away to give his report quietly as the others left.

=/\= "trLhoell to Commander Arkyn. No doubt you received notification of the Intruder Alert. Unknown, female about late teens based on early scans. She ran off frightened during a misunderstanding in the Cargo Bay Three. Apparently, in this dimension Vulcans appear identical to Romulans and are considered so dangerous that a seasoned Starfleet officer from this dimension would to prefer to be tossed back into space in a depleted escape pod than face one." =/\=

Rayek forwarded on to the Commander's PADD, a summary of his search actions- deck by deck search (including all maintenance tunnels) starting with Decks 13 - where Cargo Bay Three was situated - and decks 12 and 14 simultaneously.

=/\= "The Captain's arrival has diffused the situation significantly and the Lieutenant Commander Qillin Wren - I will run his name through our database shortly - and the Captain will be heading the Mess Hall. You might be able to meet with him yourself there if you wish... and assess the man yourself. I've assigned Crewman ch'Oqysron to be his escort so the time being... and will be assigning a rotating shift to watch him until such time as I'm told otherwise. Also, in case you, haven't read my report earlier regarding the child-like android, I've assigned Crewman Tchukla to keep an eye on her. She is staying in Lieutenant Cuyu's quarters. Additional security measures have been added to our computer systems to alert me and you should Doria attempt to make any alterations to any computer coding." =/\=

Ull listens intently to Rayek's reports and thinks for a minute before responding. "Thank you, trLhoell. You are doing a wonderful job in my absence. I shall make my way to meet this Lieutenant Commander Qillin, though I will say that I am intrigued as to what the Vulcans could have been doing to scare this dimensions Starfleet so thoroughly." He stopped what he was doing and made his way to the mess hall that the Captain and Qillin were headed to.

=/\= "Very good, sir." =/\= Rayek acknowledged the praise and information that the Commander would meet with the Ventaxian.
The Romulan then added. =/\= "I'll focus my attention on locating the girl. tr'Lhoell out." =/\=


OFF: Lieutenant Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
Off: Klarth
Off: Qillin and company

 

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