Some Ice Please!

Posted on Feb 14, 2017 @ 3:09am by Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Edited on on Feb 14, 2017 @ 3:10am

Mission: Holodeck Havoc

“Some Ice Please!”
(contd from Shawn’s ‘Glitches’)

Location: USS PHOENIX
SD: [2.17] 0213.2203
Scene: Holodeck 10

Jasmine closed her eyes for a brief moment and opened them again, letting out a sigh of frustration. Wow, this was a fine mess, she and her fellow officers were placed in. The holodecks were malfunctioning, at least that was the part she understood from Jake’s and Lynette’s explanations. Well, at least she was thankful to be stuck with two well-trained engineers, who understood what was going on. Sure, she took a few extra engineering courses at the Academy but they focused more on starship defences, tactical systems and weapons than the inner workings of a holodeck. She glanced around her surroundings, hiding behind one of the tanks in the waste processing room on a Nor-class station. The simulation, as she understood, was set during the First Dominion War, which she guessed, was run by one of the other staff members. He or she could be anywhere on this station, likely having to deal with the Jem’Hadar soldiers. Yu gave a sideways glance at Jake, who was telling Lynette about a dragon, when she suddenly felt a chill down her spine and shivered. “Has the temperature dropped in here?”

“Yeah,” said Lynette, a puzzled expression as she clutched herself and shivered. “It’s cold in here.” And then a loud shrieking was heard above them, followed by menacing laughter. The engineer looked upwards and gasped. “What is that thing?” Both Jake and Jasmine turned their attention to where the young woman indicated. Hovering over them was a creepy hologram, wearing a tattered, black robe with no legs and loose arms with no sign of hands at the ends of the sleeves.

Jasmine shook her head and groaned. “You got to be kidding me? That wraith is back.”

“So I take it that thing was part of your program?” Jake pointed at the hologram.

Yu nodded but then looked confused. “Hmm…wait. I don’t remember it having the face of a rodent.”

“Elements from my program blended with yours,” Ryan said, raising an eyebrow. “It does look very nasty. What kind of simulation did you run again?”

“A maze,” the security chief replied, her gaze on the floating hologram, which erupted into another round of evil laughter. “And apparently this wraith hologram was or is supposed to be my obstacle to overcome in order to reach the next floor.”

Jake, not taking his eyes off the wraith, said, “I wonder if it’s going to be our obstacle here.”

“Well, it’s certainly not a friend,” Ryan remarked dryly. “I was fighting those rat men in my simulation.”

“So foe it is,” the ExO declared. “We need to move.” He glanced behind and the Jem’Hadar kept pouring in and sending blasts of purple energy in their direction. “But how the heck do we get past those Jem’ Hadar soldiers?” He looked at the aCEO and the Sec/Tac.

Rob yelled, pointing at the wraith hologram, “What the hell! This is a violation of upper management policy. Props are not permitted on the premises. Don’t you people know Halloween was over months ago? So cut it out and take it out of the building…” He was interrupted when the creature laughed. The 21st century call centre manager reddened and his nostrils flared. “Oh I see you have sound effects now. Well, let me tell you something. When upper management learns of this prank, you will be really sorry…” More blasts of energy were again sent their way. “And no weapons allowed!”

Ignoring the middle manager, Jasmine suggested, “I could lure the creature away from here, letting you get away to the next tank. The wraith can’t really harm me, at least I think.” There was a hint of doubt in her voice.

Lynette arched a brow, staring at the hovering creepy hologram. “Uhm…what exactly does it do?”

“It breathes cold air that freezes anything in its path,” Yu answered. “It tried to freeze me earlier but couldn’t.”

Jake said slowly, glancing back and forth between the Jem’Hadar and the wraith, “But it can freeze anything holographic.” He looked behind again. “Okay, we need to direct that creature towards the Jem’ Hadar. While they are distracted, we can make our escape.”

Yu and Ryan nodded an affirmative. Jasmine stole a glance at Rob, who continued ranting. “We need to bring him along.”

“I suppose,” Crichton said, sighing and rolling his eyes at the sight of the call centre supervisor.

Jasmine grabbed the hologram’s elbow and pulled him towards her. Rob struggled against the officer. “Hey, Nina! You do realize touching me is against the regulations.” He freed himself from her grasp and pulled out his smartphone. The hologram began frantically tapping his fingers on the tiny device.

“You can’t stay here,” the Asian woman urged, sighing with frustration at the hologram’s stubbornness. “It’s not safe for you. That creature will freeze you to death.” She grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him forward.

“Now, Nina, that thing is a prop and stop manhandling me!” Rob glowered at her as he continued tapping his fingers on the small screen. He stopped the tapping and returned the device back into his pocket. He gave the security chief a sympathetic look. “Now Nina, I’m sorry this must be a tough day for you as it is your last but we had no choice. It was upper management’s decision to downsize the company and you were the last one hired.”

Yu raised an eyebrow and glanced behind at Lynette and Jake, who shrugged. “Okay, I have no idea what he’s talking about. Downsize?”

Jake gave her a sheepish grin. “I think he means you were let go from the job.”

Jasmine shook her head, producing a dry chuckle. “So cold back in the day.”

“They are getting closer,” Lynette informed, looking behind as the Jem’ Hadar approached their position.

“Okay, let’s go,” the ExO ordered. “Alright, Rob. You’re coming with us.” He took a step forward.

“You three have gone insane!” Rob shouted. “I have texted our HR rep about this latest incident and have told her about your blatant disregard for company policy such as you Jake, not working the phones at your desk and you, Nina, acting out irrationally because of your termination and even assaulting me and you, young lady, going to the men’s restroom.”

Jake growled under his breath. “Okay, we are going. And Rob, if you want to live, you will come with us.” He and the other two officers began moving.

Rob bellowed, stomping his foot, “You three aren’t going anywhere. I contacted the HR rep and she wants to have a word with you. So Jake and this…young lady, can’t remember your name, will be joining Nina out of this company for their insolent behaviour.” Another blast of purple energy beam came their way, this time barely missing Jake by an inch.

“That was close,” Jasmine said, sighing with relief. Then everything went silent. The dark haired woman furrowed her brow. “Okay, what just happened?” She, along with Jake and Lynette, turned on their heels and the dark haired woman’s expression paled. Facing them were the Jem’ Hadar soldiers, now frozen solidly into ice. Well, that was one problem solved. Yu’s eyes darted upwards and the wraith moved around in the air, its attention turned away from them. “We should go now, while it’s occupied,” she urged.

“Agreed.” Jake nodded. He took a step forward, when Rob yelled and the ExO narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

“Hey Rob, chill out, man,” Jake said in a calm voice. “The three of us are just going out for a walk.”

“Not during work hours,” the hologram sniped, folding his arms across his chest. “And you mister have been slacking today and violating dress code by coming in pajamas, along with those two.” Rob glanced behind and blanched, upon spotting the frozen Jem Hadar. “What happened to them? Is this another prank?”

A female voice caught the group’s attention. “Hey, Rob, I got your text. What seems to be the problem here?” The three officers turned their attention to the new arrival. Jake groaned. Lynette raised an eyebrow, while Jasmine sighed, a look of recognition in her eyes. The woman was dressed in some kind of chainmail over woollen furs and her hair was styled in braids. She looked to be young, in her mid to late twenties. In her hand was a wooden shield and a sword strapped to her waist. But something seemed out of place to her – the rimless eye glasses that she was fiddling with.

“Kathy, thank goodness you’re here,” Rob called out, approaching the woman and then his mouth dropped. “Uhm…what are you wearing? I didn’t realize it was ‘wearing a costume’ day in the HR department. You are in violation of the dress code if that isn’t the case.”

“Are you blind, Rob?” The hologram, Kathy, glared at him. “My outfit is very much in compliance with the company dress code, unless you feel wearing a full-sleeved white blouse and black slacks are against the rules.”

Rob argued, “I’m not blind. You’re dressed in a costume, carrying a weapon and that giant round frisbee.”

Jasmine pointed out in a polite tone, “It’s a shield, not a frisbee. I believe she is dressed as a shield maiden.” Turning to the other two officers, she said, sighing. “Our programs blending together again.”

“Yeah, my HR rep and your…obstacle or ally maybe,” Crichton commented, stroking his chin.

Kathy responded, turning her attention to Jasmine, “I’m not this shield maiden. I just got recently married.” Then she let out a huge gasp as her eyes shifted to her outfit. “What the hell! Why am I wearing this…costume?”

“Ha!” Rob clapped in glee. “Told you so. And you know, if my brother were here, he’d say shield maidens or ancient female warriors were made up by those social justice warriors to suit their agenda. ”

“I’m not a social justice warrior, Rob,” Kathy said, touching her hair and frowned. “Anyway, Nina, I heard you’re having trouble coming to terms with your situation.” She gave her a sympathetic smile. “Listen, we can go over the terms again in my office. I know in your email you had questions regarding the benefits and the severance pay and I said, you will get the benefits till the end of the month.”

Lynette rolled her eyes. “This is really ridiculous. Benefits? Terms?” She was swinging her sword around.

“Hey, careful there,” the holographic shield maiden/HR rep warned, giving the young woman a stern look. “And it’s against company policy to bring weapons on the premises.”

The assistant chief engineer responded, pointing with her blade, “You have a sword too.”

Kathy turned to her side and her eyes widened. “How did I get this sword?”

Rob touched Jake’s shoulder in an attempt to push him forward. “Alright, let’s go to the conference room. Kathy and I have a lot to discuss with you three.”

Jake barely opened his mouth to respond, when a loud shriek burst through the room. He and the others quickly turned around. The wraith creature was flying around and was seen swooping down. A Starfleet officer was seen attempting to fend it off as he ran ahead. He ducked when the creature released more cold air, freezing a part of the tank. “It’s Lieutenant Von. He’s in trouble.”

“I guess now we know whose program is this,” Lynette said, turning to the security chief.

Jake called out, “Lieutenant, over here.”

Cantor Von stopped and turned his head to face them. He called, his voice filled with surprise, “You’re not holograms and how did you get in my program?” He moved, shuffling to the right, when the wraith dove and missed him. The Betazoid dashed behind the first tank and leaned against it. The wraith followed him.

Jasmine moved behind Kathy and removed the shield off her back. The hologram smiled. “Thanks. That’s a load off my shoulders.”

Yu extended the shield towards the aCEO. “Okay, what do you think of throwing the shield at the wraith?”

“I’m in,” Lynette said with a smile and grabbing hold of the other side of the wooden object. “Let’s smack that creature away from Lieutenant Von.”

“Alright,” Jasmine said as the two women moved forward, carrying the shield. Jake stepped to side and pulled Rob away as the latter tried to interfere. “Ready, Ensign Ryan?” Yu glanced briefly at the other woman.

“Yes.” Together, they raised the shield further back and then thrust it forward with all their strength. When they let go, the shield flew towards the wraith as it was about to go for another dive for the Operations chief, and knocked it off to the side, giving enough time for Cantor to make a run towards his fellow officers. Before the creature could retain its composure, Von managed to reach the others safely.

The Betazoid was panting for breath. “That was close.” Turning to the two women, he smiled. “Thanks for saving me.”

“You’re welcome,” Ryan answered with a nod.

“I don’t believe we have met,” Von said, addressing the security chief. “I’m Lieutenant Cantor Von, chief of operations.”

Jasmine smiled, at this rate, her first meeting with the entire senior staff, except Kane, was through their holographic representations. “Lieutenant Jasmine Yu, chief of security and tactical.”

Jake approached the trio and spoke, “Okay, Lieutenant Von, we have to leave now and on the way, we can talk about what is happening around here. With the Jem’Hadar frozen and the wraith distracted, though not for long, now’s as good as time as any to take off.”

“Understood.” Von nodded. Then a menacing laughter echoed all around the room.

“You will never succeed,” the creature said in a raspy voice, its rat face sticking out through the hood.

Jasmine sported a confused expression. “This is interesting.” She fixed her attention on the wraith, which continued speaking in an eerily, spooky voice.

“You will not stop the Necromancer. The great dark one and his faithful servants, the librarians will stop you.”

“Necromancer?” Jake raised an eyebrow. “Evil librarians?”

The creature continued, “You will fail to save the Princess Sofia in the great library, the one who can cure death. We will get her first. You and her band of heroes, the prophecy spoke of, will fail!”

Jasmine glanced at her crew mates in confusion. “Princess Sofia? Is someone’s program involving a magical quest?”

“Princess Sofia,” Lynette murmured under her breath and her eyes lit up in recognition of her roommate. “Sofia. Ensign Sofia Andersson, the ship’s assistant chief medical officer. I guess we need to save her and she’s stuck in a library?”

Jake said, urging everyone along, “We need to find the others. I think I know what’s going on here.” The foursome began moving.

*************************************************************************************

NRPG: More silliness in the holodeck, Jasmine meets Cantor Von and more join in the quest.


~*~
Ranjani S.
Writing for

Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Chief of Security and Tactical
USS PHOENIX