Posted Sept. 30, 2021, 3:38 p.m. by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) (Sharon Miller)
<snip>
Posted by Lieutenant Mwezi (Chief Tactical Officer) in Ready Room - Meeting with the Captain
Kula entered a little while later and greeted Mwezi with a touch, the two clasping each-other’s hands firmly for a moment before she sat down next to her partner and looked at the Captain with curiosity.
IC: “Kula,” Cobb rose to simultaneously greet his new guest and also procure a third glass for another round of whiskey. “Please, come in. How are you finding my ship so far? Your rather unique arrival outstanding,” he added with a chuckle.
Captain Zachariah Cobb
Mwezi
“It is… an interesting vessel to be on,” Kula spoke, her voice a little quiet. “It’s very quiet compared to what I’m used to,” she said, reaching up and running her fingers along the fabric of her collar. “I’m glad that Mwezi is here, I think I’d go insane without him.”
Kula, Researcher
Cobb’s eyes grew wide. “You find this ship quiet? By the gods, what manner of crew populated the Chernov?” He was as familiar as anyone of the turbulent history of space exploration, in their own timeline at least, and wondered silently on the skirmishes and battles their former vessel might have seen.
“I was never on the Chernov,” Kula spoke with a laugh, shaking her head. “I was a part of a Research Team on Galdor. I mean that it is quiet in here,” she tapped her chest. “Humans and other aliens don’t trigger my Empathic abilities.”
“Aye, I imagine it is of comfort to you both, to be stranded together than apart?” he continued at last, filling the third glass for Kula and then waving the bottle in silent offering to Mwezi. “Not that I, for one second, diminish the traumatic experience your arrival here must have been? As I have just explained to Mwezi, it will be my personal goal to provide you with comforts to smooth this transition. In Mwezi’s case, those comforts include work, something constructive to occupy his time. If you are of a similar mind then I have something that might just interest you?”
- Captain Zachariah Cobb
Kula took the glass but didn’t drink anything. Mwezi pushed his glass towards Cobb, accepting the drink. Kula considered the question for a few moments, then nodded. “Aye, something constructive to occupy my time would certainly be helpful. What did you have in mind?”
Kula, Civilian
Rising from his seat, the captain moved over to the large, observation window and beckoned for Kula to join. Were she to look out, from this vantage point, then she would notice on the edge of visible space a soft, intensely-blue, glow.
“The Alini Triangle,” he announced, as if by name alone she could unlock its secrets. Then with a sigh he returned to the desk, activating his terminal and turning it to face the couple, before refilling each partially drained glass.
“What I am about to show you,” his eyes moved from Mwezi to Kula and then back, “is classified. But since you are here now, then it is only fair that you see it. Prepare yourself,” he inched the replenished glasses forward, “this might be…distressing.”An unfamiliar face appeared. Male, middle aged, dignified. And currently gripped by pure, unrestricted terror.
“We thought it merely a void. But we were wrong. There’s something else in here with us.”
A pause. From somewhere in the background the sound of screaming.
“The ship…[unintelligible]…no longer under our control. A course has been set but…[unintelligible]…oh god, we’ve gone to warp…”
The screen faded to black.“That was Captain Tashtego. Of the USS Rokovoko,” Cobb broke the silence. “About a month ago they arrived in the Alini system on the hunt for the USS Essex. But instead of their fellow ARU colleagues, they found the anomaly. The Triangle. And now the Rokovoko has disappeared in their wake and the Leviathan sent to the slaughter on their tail.”
His eyes locked onto Kula. “I need to find out everything I can about that anomaly. The Admiral compared it to something from Earth called the ‘Bermuda Triangle’. But…so far that is all that we know. We have deployed several probes and are waiting for them to feed back. If you could provide any insight at all, Miss Kula, then I would be most grateful. As would be, I imagine, my entire crew.”
- Captain Zachariah Cobb
Kula went back to the window after all that and stared out at the expanse before them. “I suppose I’d begin by asking, what kind of readings are we getting from the area? Any unusual radiation, radio, subspace signals? Gravitational waves? I’m afraid I can’t give much insight without that, and I expect that information may be coming on the probes. The fact that the ship’s control was lost is a somewhat worrying thing, which suggests to me that this… Alini Triangle is, as Tashtego said, more than just a void.”
Kula was silent, considering the possibilities.
“I thought that the Bermuda triangle was just a superstition caused by frequent storms and poor navigation?” Mwezi commented, wanting to feel included in the conversation.
Mwezi and Kula
Keepin it on the board for Sharon
Zachariah trained gleefully mischevious eyes on Mwezi. “Superstition? In the history of our battle against anomalies, a more potent armour has yet to be lain upon the general public than well-crafted superstition and myth. For while scepticism and doubt remain, the desire to investigate and to hunt down is lost. And that makes life easier for us all.”
Then turning once again to Kula, the Captain added, “We’ve detected elevated levels of neutrinos in the surrounding area. Also traces of unidentified conidia throughout this entire region,” he frowned.
© 1991-2024 STF. Terms of Service
Version 1.15.11
RSS Feed