By Dabin Reece and Lair Kellyn
80525.19
Immediately following Busted
(Captain's Note: which, for the sake of continuity- happens hours after the end of "The Party's Over, Part Two, in case anybody was wondering. . .we have a little catching up to do aboard the ship to bring us in line with this post, but we'll get there. ~ZL)
-=Underground, Stra II=-
80525.19
Immediately following Busted
(Captain's Note: which, for the sake of continuity- happens hours after the end of "The Party's Over, Part Two, in case anybody was wondering. . .we have a little catching up to do aboard the ship to bring us in line with this post, but we'll get there. ~ZL)
-=Underground, Stra II=-
There was an awkward moment of silence. Well, silence, between the people anyway. The room itself was alive with noise from the reactivated communications system.
Dabin braced himself for the wrath that was sure to come. He wondered if the Strasa guards would come at them with the simple classic fist, or the more sophisticated butt of the weapon to the face. Either way Avery Breaux and the LMH were probably going to have four broken noses and concussions to deal with.
"Do me a favor, hit me twice, and spare the female Trill. She's too beautiful to have her face rearranged." Dabin said, in what was probably the most noble act of selflessness he had ever displayed.
"Thanks." Lair Kellyn said sarcastically.
"Hey! How many times have you died now? Two, three? You aren't going to woose out on me over a punch to the face are you?" Reece shot back.
"Commander." Rada hissed to get Dabin's attention. Reece looked up at the engineer, and Rada nodded his head towards the Strasa, who were simply staring off into space.
"They're getting their first access to any kind of communications in a long while." February said. "They probably don't even realize where they are."
Dabin decided to test that theory. He approached one of the guards and waved his hand in front of the man's face. The guard did not budge. Dabin circled behind the man and grasped the strap that held the man's weapon over his shoulder. Slowly he lifted the strap up, and lowered it down the Strasa's arm to the floor. Reece slung the weapon over his own shoulder. The rest of the team did the same 'til they each were armed. Rada hid all the remaining weapons inside a communications panel, leaving the Sera crew as the only armed persons in the room.
"What now?" Reece whispered.
"There's no telling how long the Strasa are going to be in this trance like state, but I'd love to know what they are hiding down below, and who or what MIM is." Rada looked at the tricorder that contained the security scans they had uploaded to the Sera.
He hoped by now the Captain was reviewing them and making use of whatever information she had to make the Overseer sweat. From what he saw the lowest level of the complex, deep beneath the ground, contained a large circular control room, with the largest concentration of Strasa lifesigns.
The amount of technology in this area was staggering and it was simply not possible to tell one component from another with only a basic scan.
"Shouldn't we get approval from the Captain before we go snooping around their complex?" February asked.
Rada tapped his comm badge, in the hope that communications with the ship may now be on line.
"Engineering Away Team to Captain Zanh."
[One moment Lieutenant.] A chirp indicated that Zanh Liis closed the line, probably because she was not free to speak. A few moments later she reopened the channel.
[I'm clear now, Danger. Go ahead.]
"Captain some communications have been restored down at this complex. For the time being, the Strasa are completely absorbed in their internally wired technology and paying us no mind at all. . ." Before he could finish, Zanh interrupted.
[I can barely hear you, Mr. Dengar. . .you're breaking up.] Rada wondered how this could be, since he could hear her just fine. . .[But you need to know things have gone badly here. Lank is gone. You are to. . .the ship.]
Everyone exchanged glances.
"Sir, we have intercepted something of a distress call down here, and I'd like permission to take advantage of this situation with the guards by exploring some of the other levels of this facility to try to answer it."
Rada realized he was basically asking the Captain for permission to trespass in areas that a Federation ally specifically requested they not go. The Captain could use this as grounds to court marshal him and have him sent back to Angosia in disgrace, never to be heard from again... but based on what he knew of Zanh Liis...
[Do. . .what you can. . .Mr. Dengar. . .befo. . .withdrawal. Dangerous situation. . .use. . .extreme. . .return to ship.]
"Please repeat?" Rada was beginning to think someone was trying to undo what he had done to stabilize the comm net.
[Go for it. What. . .condition of your. . . Team?. . .treated well?]
"We are all in good health. As for our treatment, frankly it seems like we are more in the way here than anything. They had us making menial repairs and forbade us access to the areas we really needed to get into to help fix their power problems. We just sent you some scans. hopefully you can decipher what's going on down here." Rada tried to clear up the signal as he spoke, and Kellyn pitched in to help, momentarily, the pair succeeded.
[We'll get on it right away. We still don't have transporters, but Palahna is trying to get the weather net locked down- no more teams will be allowed to the surface and the Strasa government has officially asked us to withdraw. I anticipate at least two hours till we have the net secured and can beam anyone up- get back to the shuttle, as soon as you've sorted out that distress call, and be careful.]
"Understood."
Rada closed the line.
"Onward we go!" Reece said. "What if the Strasa figure out what we're doing?"
"And then we can't get back to the shuttle. . ." Grace added, biting her lip.
"Then, we find a place to hide until the Captain can beam us out of here safely." Rada decided. "We should hurry."
*Oh great. All four of us stuffed in a broom closet. Sounds like a great plan* Thought Reece.
Rada led the way, tricorder in hand, as they left the room they had been closed in since their arrival. Kellyn walked beside him, as February and Dabin watched for signs of other Strasa.
"I suppose we should head straight for the lower level." Kellyn suggested. "I think that's where the action is."
"What do we know about their security systems? Anything? There could be booby traps all over this place." February warned.
*Ha ha! You said...* Dabin thought.
*Yeah, I knew that was coming,* February thought back. Lair Kellyn rolled her eyes as the Trill both grinned. She couldn't hear there thoughts but she was smart enough to know they were talking and what they were saying.
"I'm scanning for all know forms of traps. That doesn't mean the Strasa don't have anything we don't know about.
The group walked slowly down the long empty corridor, towards the lifts at the end that would take them below. There were no Strasa in sight. As they reached the lift, Reece walked up to the door, which refused to open. The panel beside the door was demanding an access code.
Reece tried to pry the door open but it was no use.
"It's magnetically sealed. I don't think all the power in our weapons would be enough to cut through the door. Maybe if we had some of Fleur's cookies we could use them as an explosive." Reece offered.
"Excuse me," February said. She took out her tricorder, scanned the lock, tapped a code into the panel, and the lift opened.
"How did you do that?" Kellyn asked.
"I found a few things other than communiqués while I was poking around their system." February walked into the lift, and the others followed. The doors remained open, waiting for a command.
*Destination please.* The lift prompted.
"So where do we go?" Kellyn asked.
"I have an idea!" Reece said, then he addressed the computer and asked simply. "MIM."
The doors snapped shut, and the lift whirred into motion.
-------------------------------
Commander Dabin Reece
Chief of Science
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
Commander Lair Kellyn
Engineering Research and Development
The Alchemy Project
Commander Dabin Reece
Chief of Science
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
Commander Lair Kellyn
Engineering Research and Development
The Alchemy Project