STF

McHarrie's Lab - an old friend drops by

Posted Sept. 22, 2020, 7:36 a.m. by Lieutenant Commander John McHarrie (Medical (Consultant Researcher - Abell)) (Jim Watkin)

Posted by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Engineer (Consultant Researcher - Yellow)) in McHarrie’s Lab - an old friend drops by
<snip>

Posted by Lieutenant Commander John McHarrie (Medical (Consultant Researcher - Abell)) in McHarrie’s Lab - an old friend drops by

Posted by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Engineer (Consultant Researcher - Yellow)) in McHarrie’s Lab - an old friend drops by

Instantly, she recognised the creature. It was the same one that had haunted her dreams for the better part of a year, the same one that she had sent exhausted and overworked security officers to every corner of her former ship in a futile attempt to track down. In the end she had convinced herself that it was a fiction, a myth. And yet here, lain out on McHarrie’s workbench like a highly prized specimen, was a vision of the impish nightmare made real.

“I…” she faltered, one hand reaching out to touch it and drawing away at the last. “I thought…your uncle said…”

She barked out a laugh as coarse as the sands of Vulcan, then collapsed into a nearby chair. “I always knew. But to see it, with my own eyes…dammit John, tell me you have some bloodwine at least!”

  • Kara Nakuto (Consultant Researcher)

“No, but I have Romulan Ale,” John replied, “My Uncle’s theory was that the imp from the Semmelweiss had survived and found its way to the Viking. As they breed asexually and I only found one in the debris field it is possible.”

John paused, “My suspicion is a little different. About 6 months before I graduated and joined the Viking, I gather she had an uncomfortablely close encounter with a Reman operative. Suppose that operative’s first task upon boarding was to stash a pre-programmed egg incase they failed their objective?”

-John

The half-Klingon shrugged and reached for a bottle of ale, then settled once more into her chair, drawing her feet up and crossing her ankles in the manner of a small child. Her attention captured by the bottle in her hands, her eyes followed small bubbles as they swam through the ocean of blue, to rush and then pop on the surface. The irony of enjoying a drink made by her one-time captors was not for one second lost on Kara Nakuto. But she reasoned they owed her the gift of strong alcohol after the torment of her formative years.

With another shrug, she used her thumb to prise off the cap and then drank long and silent, a single droplet of blue escaping her lips and forging a river down her chin. Then finally, she lowered the bottle, wiped at her mouth with the back of a hand and fixed those golden-brown eyes on McHarrie.

“That tiny thing,” she gestured with the now half-empty bottle towards the image of the imp, “could cause so much chaos? It seems so harmless.” She unleashed a roar of laughter, jarringly unfamiliar to ears more accustomed to cries, then continued, “But I know what you specialise in, John, I know what you study. There is a reason I stopped short on the threshold of abell. But you have always harboured a warrior’s soul. So if your interest has been caught by this creature then I must presume it to be dangerous indeed?”

  • Kara Nakuto (Consultant Researcher)

“The Imp itself is no more dangerous than herd of tribble. Mischievous and a nuisance. But weaponised by neural programming is what makes them dangerous. Programmed with a specific objective along with the required skills and knowledge make a naturally difficult to detect creature well. According to Junior, the Romulans never worked out how to stop the Imps from breeding. Even programmed the biological need to lay and incubate an egg would take precedence over programming.”

John looked at Kara. “Their first hand knowledge is old. Developments could have been made. Imagine if the Borg were to assimilate such a weapon.”

-John

Nakuto nodded silently, the full implications of McHarrie’s suggestion etched across her own face. Although she would not be a warrior at heart were she not to attempt a counter. “But even with the Borg have we made advancements. Our mutual friend, GLaDOS, is testament to that. And I have heard the rumours of dissent within the ARU, the belief by some that our methods are akin to cracking a walnut with a sledgehammer.”

She laughed, then returned momentarily to her ale.

“So then, what are your plans with this creature?” she inquired. “If you are at liberty to share.”

  • Kara Nakuto (Consultant Researcher)

“This one? It’s well preserved by the vacuum of space. Find out what makes it tick,” John replied, “Starting with the small stuff like what did it eat or drink all the way to a way to neutralise or even replicate the ‘amnesia effect’ that they generate with their telepathic fields.”

-John


Posts on USS Leviathan

In topic

Posted since


© 1991-2024 STF. Terms of Service

Version 1.15.9