In The In-Between

Posted on Nov 22, 2016 @ 4:20pm by Ensign Sofia Andersson
Edited on on Nov 22, 2016 @ 4:20pm

Mission: Aftermath

=-=
"In The In-Between"
[previous post was "tagh paQDI'norgh" by linguistically diverse Marko]
=-=

LOCATION: USS ANUBIS
SD: [2.16] 1122.1425
SCENE: Deck A-4, IGC

The ExO / ILO had returned to her domain with the hopes that something unexpected had been found, things having been far too quiet for her liking. Maybe another covert communication from the Tellarite Gaavr had been intercepted, or maybe a previously unidentified Neo Essentialist had been located and needed to be apprehended. At this rate, Shar'El would have been happy with some low-end political conspiracy if it meant her doing something more than waiting for someone to ask for their help.

"All stations report," Shar'El unenthusiastically demanded of her IGC staff as she sat in her chair. There had been far too many people for them to provide a verbal report, not to mention that it would not have been efficient, so instead a list began to appear on one of her monitors, a list that the midnight black haired woman had to admit had been far too short to her liking. "Ya'Han and Jayson are underground?"

Although spoken out loud and in a general manner, the question had been directed to the IGC tech who had made the report, and he knew it prompting his reply and explanation. "They were going about their work setting up scanner stations to monitor the on-site radiation when they suddenly stopped after having setup the fifth station. Sensors show the entire group of five having gone underground into what the city records show as a water treatment facility."

"Why stop what they were doing to go down to visit a water treatment center?" The ExO / ILO inquired more to herself than anyone else. "Who was in the lead?"

"According to the triage center records, Angelo Tannahill is in charge of the survey mission, but due to the Thalaron radiation we are unable to personally identify each team member," the IGC tech reported. "In fact we can barely keep track of them, which is why I requested a diagnostic to be performed on the sensor to confirm that they had indeed gone below ground."

"So something pulled them off task, something interesting enough to have all five of them venture into this water treatment facility instead of going back and report their findings," Shar'El voiced as a grin formed onto her lips. "What are you guys up to?" She playfully added as she called up the sensor data onto her main view screen.

=-=
LOCATION: EARTH, Paris
SCENE: Underground Water Treatment Facility

Sofia held on to Jayson's arm to the point where she wandered if blood had still managed to make tit to his fingers, but as much as she might have wanted to let go, even if only a little, the blonde haired woman could not bring herself to do so. This place gave her the creeps. In fact, everything about this situation had sent chills down her spine.

"Ya'Han," Jayson called out having seen something from his position on the catwalk. "What about that control panel to your right? All the lights are dark as compared to the others that are actually lit up."

"All of the control panels I have come across have been *on* although not showing anything working," Angelo Tannahill added. "The worst of it is that I can't find any signs of anything here having been in operation before the Thalaron blast."

"There is something really weird about this entire place," Sheila added. "Everything looks like it has a purpose but nothing is actually doing what it was designed to do."

"Thanks Jayson," the Sec/Tac officer said as she approached the station that the OPS Officer had pointed out. "I had not noticed it from where I was."

"Guess that would be the idea if someone had wanted to keep it a secret," Jayson explained with a smirk. "Still, what could be hidden in here that would explain the drop in radiation?"

"If someone did go through all this trouble to hide something, we should not be here," Sofia pleaded as she pulled on he man's arm trying to convince him to go back to the surface.

"The control panel is inoperative, but there is something weird about the way that it's set up," Ya'Han reported after having studied the console in question. "Jayson, I need you down here. I think this falls into your field of expertise."

"Alright, on my way," the OPS Officer acknowledged to the great dismay of the blonde woman hanging on his arm.

"Please, don't go. Nothing about this makes sense. I have this feeling that we are going to regret coming down here," Sofia said, her begging eyes locked into those of the man by her side. "We should return to the surface."

"Will you relax," Jayson smiled. "There is nothing down here to be afraid of. All we are doing is investigating a mystery. Imagine what we could do if we discovered something that actually absorbed Thalaron radiation. Paris could be returned to the way it was in no time. The potential benefits of this little search for answers are too big to pass up."

"I'm scared," the blonde woman lipped as a few tears fell from her eyes.

"Nothing will happen to you, not as long as I live," Jayson reassured. "I promise. Now come."

Ya'Han's attention had been solely focused on he powerless control panel, that was until Jayson and Sofia arrived. The Sec/Tac would have preferred the OPS Officer to have come down alone but the odds had greatly been against that.

"There is something strange about the configuration of this panel," Ya'Han pointed out. "Looks like there is power being feed to it but I can't get it to respond."

"Let me have a look at it," Jayson said as he lowered himself to gain access to the wiring leaving the two women standing one next to the other. The once again black haired Sec/Tac kept her comments and feelings to herself wondering if the fear she had seen reflecting in the blonde woman's eyes had been in some part caused by the ANUBIS' Chief of Security.

"Any luck?" Ya'Han asked but instead of a verbal reply the answer came to the Sec/Tac in the form of the panel suddenly coming alive with lights.

"This is no ordinary control panel," Jayson said in a most perplexed tone. "There's a bio security verification processor here."

"We found the lock," the Sec/Tac announced with joy, their suspicions that something had been hidden within this place not having been misplaced.

"What did you guys find?" Angelo inquired as both he and Sheila regrouped with the others.

"There is a bio-identification scanner here," Jayson explained while still working in he under-circuitry of the control panel. "My guess is that this is meant to force someone to identify themselves through a hand print to gain access to somewhere else."

"Can you break in?" Ya'Han asked?

"I'm already trying to bypass the security protocol," the OPS Officer replied.

=-=
LOCATION: USS ANUBIS
SCENE: Deck A-4, IGC

Shar'El had looked, reviewed, analysed and picked apart everything that she could from the sensor data that had been gathered by the IGC on this underground water treatment facility. It had been the goal of the ExO / ILO to discover whatever had made the survey team go done there in the first place. The problem was that thanks to the Thalaron radiation that covered all of Paris like a dome of protection, the data was either incomplete or severely distorted.

"Commander!" the IGC tech called out in shock. "All five life signs of the survey team have vanished one after the other. We are no longer tracking any of them. They just disappeared as if they walked into another location that we are unable to penetrate with our sensors."

Well, she had wanted something to focus her attention on, something to break the boredom she and the rest of the crew had found themselves slipping into. This would be another time where she would need to remember to be careful what one wishes for.

"IGC to Captain Morningstar, we have a situation down on the planet. Seems that we have lost Ensign Stark and Ya'Han."

=-=
NRPG:

I could continue but I will end it here giving someone else the chance to add or even move this little adventure forward. Don't forget that the lab is several kilometers underground, so right now the survey team is only in the entranceway of some unknown secret complex and it may take them some time to reach their goal. More time for us to explore this little mystery and who knows what else we might find down there.

Sorry if you received this post twice, I cleared it with Jerome who authorized my sending it to both groups to make sure everyone was on the same page due to the continuing crossover interaction.

Marko, should I be concerned that you quoted Khan Noonien Singh in regards to my writing??? ;-)

=-=
Tiffany Reeve
Ensign Sofia Andersson
Currently sentenced to the
VERSAILLES Triage Center