Ghosts In The Machine

Posted on Nov 03, 2015 @ 6:17pm by Lieutenant Izshlana Vort
Edited on on Nov 03, 2015 @ 6:18pm

Mission: Civil War

“Ghosts in the machine”
(Cont'd from “The Not-So-Secret Life of Cade Foster”)

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Location: USS PENDRAGON
Scene: A Corridor
TI: A couple of days ago


Izshlana Vort walked down the corridor alongside Ensign Pedro. The counselor was giving her an update. It wasn't the most interesting update. This hadn't been the most interesting year. Still, she listened and made a note of crew who he mentioned to her.

The counseling department was possibly the busiest department at the moment. It made sense given what the crew of the PENDRAGON were going through. Thrown out of their time, some of them with families that had grown up far from Starfleet. Now they were sat orbiting a beautiful planet and no one really knew what they were doing. Protecting the artefact, trying to change the time line. She sighed and made a note to tell Peter. “Anyone else we need to keep an eye on?”

“David Dubious. He's eighteen and was always planning on joining the crew.”

“Of course.” Izzy nodded and then smiled. The smile was becoming more forced, she realised. Even she was struggling with this inability to do anything useful.

Laughter caught her attention and she turned, expecting to see one of the children of the ship. She was right - at least partially - a child did come running around the corner. However, the small creature looked like a cross between her and Xordin. There was a tiny tail swinging behind her, a strip of blue across her eyes, her skin was silvery.

Izshlana's heart stopped, and then skipped and started again. She took a breath and a step forward and the small child ran through her legs and down the corridor.

“Ma'am?”

Izzy blinked, turned around and looked at the counselor. “Yes?”

“Something wrong?”

She shook her head, looking back the way she had come, with the child's laughter in her head. “No, I'm fine. Thanks for the report and please keep me up to date.”

He nodded and headed back to his office. Izzy walked in the direction the child had ran off, but quickly came to a closed door that showed no signs of being opened recently.


=[/\]=


TI: Same time the next day
Scene: the corridor outside her quarters


The couple met in the corridor. Izzy grinned at her husband, Prince Xordin. “Where've you been?”

“Helping out in the shanty town,” he answered her with a smile, and greeted her by wrapping his arms around her. The couple were the least changed of the PENDRAGON crew, although Xordin was showing some grey around his temples. “It seemed useful.”

“Very,” she smiled at him. “Is there much more to do?”

“Some bits. Why, were you thinking of helping?”

“I was thinking it might be useful for any crew who aren't being used to keep this bucket of bolts in the sky,” she answered

As she spoke the doors to her quarters opened and a small child ran out. She froze, her eyes glued to the figure as she turned and ran down the corridor.

“Excuse me,” she muttered to Xordin, and pulled out of his arms to run after the girl.

“Excuse...” he scowled and chased his wife, “Iz... Iz...!”

She ignored him, her booted feet pounding down the corridor after the silvery figure, her tail waving in the air.

“What are you doing?”

The laughing girl ran into another door and Izshlana came to a stop outside Kat and Jeff's quarters. She froze and looked at Xordin. “Did you see that?”

“I saw you sprint off like a lunatic. What's up?”

She frowned and shook her head. “Nothing I guess.”

He looked at her, concern etched on his face, and then he shrugged and nodded. “OK, you'll tell me if there is?”

“Of course,” she smiled, and tried to sound reassuring.


=[/\]=


Scene: Another corridor → Security Department
TI: A day later


This time she was walking with Peter. “We need to do something Peter. Crew are going nuts. Whole families lives are on hold and we don't know if we're going to be going home.”

“I know Iz, but we have to wait a little longer.”

“It's been a year."

“You're the last person who should be impatient,” he answered with a scowl.

Izshlana forced a smile. “It's not like I'm immortal, Peter. I've served for twenty-five years and I'm a lieutenant.”

“I'm sorry.”

“It's not a dig. I've had a nice life. It wasn't what I planned, but I was OK. But some people have kids, and those kids are now adults, and they don't want to be sitting here. Even Kat's kids, who she basically raised to be the scariest group of people in the universe, are itchy.” She didn't add even his kids, but she saw from his face he'd filled in the gaps.

“I'll sort it.”

She sighed because she didn't see how he would, but she smiled because she was Izshlana Vort, and then the laughter came followed by the little girl. Izzy didn't chase her this time. Instead she ran towards where the girl had come from. She could see nothing except the turbolift doors.

“Iz?”

“Sorry, it's nothing. Let me know if I can help with something. I'll find something to keep people entertained,” she promised her CO, and left him standing in the corridor.

She let herself into the security department. Katlina Gorman was there. She was pretty much the unofficial chief of security. There was a lot of unofficial on the PENDRAGON. Currently, Kat seemed to mostly be leaning around looking at consoles.

“Anything of note?”

“Nothing,” Kat answered. “Peter was a little concerned by the President's interest in the artefact, so I'm just looking over security stuff.”

“Can I help?”

“Sure,” Kat smiled, and Izzy took a seat on the opposite side of the bank of desks. She pulled up security systems over the last few days, specifically around areas she had been in. There was a lack of a small child on any of them.

“Should we up security on the artefact?” Izshlana asked Kat, an idea forming in her head.

“Yes,” Kat answered, “although I'm loathe to have a bunch of people just stood around it.”

“Let's run scenarios,” Izzy answered. “Use some of the people we've trained up versus some of the grizzled soldiers, and use it as a training exercise. Make sure whoever is in charge knows what is part of the scenarios and what would be unusual so that nothing can sneak in while we're running them.”

“You're worried people are bored?” This was the problem with spending twenty-five years with the same people. They started seeing through the lines without needing to think about it much.

“It's not worry if it's true. I want to keep people busy, though, yes.”

“I'll sort it,” Katlina promised.

“Awesome. Thank you.”


=[/\]=


TI: the next day
Scene: Corridor outside sickbay


Izzy timed it now. She was fine for twenty four hours, and then every day she saw the little girl. Like clockwork, the girl ran past her down the corridor and sprinted into sickbay. Izshlana watched her, eyes hungry, knowing that nothing she did would keep the child around for longer. She stepped into sickbay with the sound of laughter in her ears.

“Jeff?”

The CMO looked up as she called his name and smiled. “Hey Iz, what can I do for you?”

“Just a quicky. Have you had any reports of people seeing things that aren't there?” There was no easy way to ask the question. Jeff raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

“I haven't. Llet me check the reports. Why?”

“Oh, just something Pedro mentioned,” Izzy lied easily, and followed him into his office. “I just need to check up on it.”

Jeff sat behind his desk and scrolled through reports. “You and Din still on for tonight?”

Izzy nodded. “Sure, dinner as normal.” She smiled. “I'll bring the wine.”

“Please bring the replicated wine and not the stuff that Din tried to brew himself.”

Iz laughed and nodded.

“Right, I can't see anything here. Do you want me to keep an eye out?”

“Sure, let me know if you hear anything, I'll see you later.”

She paused outside the counselor's office but decided to avoid asking questions in there. Frankly, anything she said to him would just raise more questions.


=[/\]=


Location: USS PHOENIX
Scene: Sam's quarters → Sickbay


Sam looked at the large pile of boxes and frowned at the amount of things she had acquired over the last couple of years. She wasn't even sure she wanted half of this stuff. She sighed and Mongrel, the black and purple kitten of unknown origin, leaped to the top of one of the piles of boxes, yowling when she realised the landing was not stable, and then threw herself onto Sam's shoulder.

Ensign Perry sighed and fussed the kitten behind her ears. Over a year old, the animal still had paws too big for her body and giant bat like ears that Sam wasn't sure she'd ever grow into. The woman looked through the boxes but found herself pushing most of them to one side.

She pulled the cat bed and food bowls out and set up a corner of the room for Mongrel. The feline stayed perched on the hybrid's shoulder, purring loudly in her ear as she moved carefully around the room.

She had already checked with Engineering and they were coming around later. She made sure the large hooks were out in the middle of the floor in case they came around while she wasn't there. She found her personal paperwork and pulled a PADD out, and then took a seat. Sam turned to the desk with her console and uploaded her messages. Her mother's face was the last message she had received, two months ago. She loaded the message up even though she knew the words off by heart.

{{My dear.}} Her mother showed some of the same hybrid features as Samantha minus the elongated ears, but the daughter was more strikingly alien. {{News of Edgerton’s betrayal has reached us, even here.}} The SIRONA had been on the edge of Federation space dealing with an outbreak of Plegandes Flu. {{His attack on the Federation...}} Her mother looked to the side, probably at her father, there but not willing to send a message to his only daughter. {{P’Trell has reached out. Your father has agreed to rally to his Federation.}}

The message didn’t go on any further, nothing that could tell her where the ship is heading or its route. Ensign Perry sighed. She had gained a promise from Lieutenant Andrews, CMO of the DEMETER, that as soon as word came that the SIRONA was nearby they’d let her know. She couldn’t shake the feeling that they should have been here by now, though.

The computer beeped, alerting her that it was time for her first duty shift in sickbay. She sighed and quickly got changed into her uniform, even putting the boots on that she hated to wear. The strange alien took a deep breath before she left her quarters and then stepped out. She’d memorised the route from her quarters to sickbay, although the rest of the ship was currently a mystery to her.

Sickbay was bustling when she arrived, some kind of organised chaos that she quickly realised wasn't particularly organised. In the middle of it all was a middle aged man who looked crotchety and was angrily yelling at a nurse who had just dropped a box.

“Commander Foster?” Samantha asked cautiously. She knew him by reputation. Worse than that, she knew him because she'd studied him in the Academy He was something of a hero of hers. Well, maybe hero wasn't the word, but he was an inspiration. She should be looking forward to working with him but actually she was nervous, which was unusual for her.

He turned, looking ready to start yelling, and then he seemed to take a deep breath. “Yes?”

“Ensign Samantha Perry reporting for duty sir.”

He looked at her like she had two heads. “That's nice?”

She sighed. His reputation wasn't just for being a genius - he was also known to be a womaniser, something Sam had no problem with, and a crotchety old git, which was more of a problem for her, since she was actually a pretty laid back person and her mother had taught her not to surround herself with negativity.

"I'm your new assistant, sir,” she informed him with as winning a smile as she could muster. She bounced her weight from one foot to another and sighed. “I'm kind of a fan.”

“Oh, you're the new suck up,” he answered her with something close to a sneer.

She laughed and decided not to let him get to her. “I’ve read all your work in evolutionary genetics and Xenobiology. It’s a matter close to my heart,” she informed him deliberately, waving her hand to show off her assets.

“You’re a flirt!” he answered gleefully. “Also which work did you prefer? My piece on telepathy in hybrids or my piece on - "

She laughed. “Your piece on logic versus emotions in Vulcan hybrids. You missed something by only looking at hybrids of Vulcan and Human descent though.”

“They’re the easiest test subjects to get.”

“Well, they’re the most populous but I do have some friends. I know a Bolian-Vulcan hybrid.”

“And you two must be a colourful pair.”

“And a Klingon Vulcan Hybrid...”

“Where you in some kind of a weird alien hybrid club?”

“Yes. I was the president. We had badges and we got very drunk every Friday night.”

“Very drunk?”

“I'm not a cheap date,” she answered with a sigh. She looked around at the chaos. “I am quite good at dealing with people though sir. I can handle this if you want.”

He looked from her to the chaos and then nodded. “Good plan. I approve.” He then scarpered into the CMO's office leaving her to deal with the mess.


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NRPG: I posted! I have a plan so I'll try and write again soon.


Joy Phillips
the madness behind
Ensign Samantha Perry
aCMO
USS PHOENIX

and

Lieutenant Izshlana Vort
ExO
USS PENDRAGON

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