Posted by Captain Molly Holloway (Commanding Officer) in Main Sim: Docking and Talking

Posted by Lieutenant Elaine Janvier (Chief Medical Officer) in Main Sim: Docking and Talking

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Issac Forgrave (Chief of Security) in Main Sim: Docking and Talking
Posted by… suppressed (12) by the Post Ghost! 👻

The Dresden was floating in space outside the alien vessel. Thrusters kept the ship locked in position as the umbilical docking array slowly accordioned it’s way across the chasm of empty space between the two ships. After a few minutes, it reached the triangular hatch in the alien ship and the modified docking clamps locked the two ships together. Sensors indicated a solid fit… the work the two Ensigns had done was spot on. As the green lights filled the passage between ships indicating the atmosphere was in place and safe; the hatch on the other side slowly spiraled open from the center and an orangish-yellow light could be seen inside.

GMT

Forgrave’s eyes narrowed instinctively against the light, and he adjusted his stance to be slightly perpendicular to the hatch; ready to fight or run as required. With nothing immediately forthcoming; he glanced at his fellows, both gauging their reactions and looking for input or comment.

-Forgrave, CoS

OOC: Cross posting
IC:
As she walked with large strides away from the Bridge, she tapped her commbadge. =/\= Holloway to Gadi and Janvier. I need you both at the docking port to greet our guests. =/\=

Bethany looked up from her desk, where she was acting as a press secretary for the ship at the moment, before tapping her combadge =^=On my way captain.=^= She scooped Luna up and placed her in her cage, she had plenty of food and water and would be safe there. She exited her office and headed toward the docking port. She arrived and took note of the security and eyed Forgrave. She didn’t walk up to him, but rather stayed out of the way of the security team. Yes Bethany was intel, but she wasn’t that kind of intel officer. She had basic hand to hand training, more than a normal Star Fleet officer, and risk assessment, and could identify several plans of egress if needed, but her specialty, if it could be called that, was observing people and behaviors. She wasn’t really sure what was going on, and she had no intention of making the fatal error of being in the way. She nodded to Forgrave, hoping for some indication of why they were all there. Other than the obvious - they were docked with someone and they were on the other side of the hatch.
Lt Gadi, CNS

Holloway arrived a few seconds after Gadi. Nodding to Forgrave, Molly turned to the Counselor. “Thank you for joining us, Lieutenant. As I’m sure you’ve heard, we’ve made contact with beings of an alien species that seem to have been caught in the middle of the anomaly affecting Julian Echo station. There’s no way to dock at the station at present time without being caught in it ourselves… so we are docking with the alien vessel to try and help them get free from it, and hopefully, as we do so, we will be able to restore the station to its normal condition. They speak in melodic tones, and their language is unlike anything I’ve ever seen… but we seem to have established some sort of rudimentary communication…” She was hoping her short summary would bring Gadi up to speed. As she spoke, Molly glanced at Forgrave, encouraging him to add any details he deemed fit.

Bethany nodded, feeling more lost than she had before. Melodic tones? Did that mean they sang? Did the sound rhyme and have rhythm and tone and meter or just sang? So many questions, but too late to ask…

As the crew began to gather, music could be heard coming from the open hatch. Suddenly, a flying metallic object shot through the opening and hovered just on the other side. It was a sphere and had a dark, horizontal ring around the middle. A red light slowly circled the object inside the ring for a moment and then seemed to pause in the direction of the closest Dresden crew. It hovered silently for a moment and then a multitude of appendages erupted from the top. Metallic arms ending in blades, small saws, pinchers, and a drill were visible… as was one ending in what looked like a beam weapon of some kind.

GMT

After giving her own affirmative, Janvier arrived minutes after Gadi with a medical satchel and a tricorder in hand just as the ring erupted. Not really expecting something to erupt as she entered she flinched, fumbling and nearly dropping the tricorder she had in the process. Her eyes did a quick triage of the occupants of the room and once she was satisfied there was no injuries she stepped closer to Gadi, making sure that she kept Forgrave in her peripheral without making it look like she was looking at him. She was acutely aware that out of everyone in the room she was most likely the one in the room with the least amount of combat training. Her few years of service on her previous post had taught her to always keep the CoS in her line of sight so she could take cues from them in an un predictable situation.

Molly’s brow furrowed as the flying object came into view, and she glanced around for someone with a tricorder or something that could give them more information on the sphere.

As the arms extended from the object, Holloway’s hand slowly made its way to the trusty pistol she always carried concealed on her uniform. This was a first contact mission, and she hadn’t brought a phaser with her, as that could be seen as potentially threatening to their new guests. Which was why there were security officers in the group.

Holloway glanced at Forgrave for a moment, before training her eyes on the object. Could it be some sort of recon scanner? Although why the amount of weaponry? If positions were reversed and the Dresden was the one being helped by unknown beings with whom they could barely communicate, they would also be hesitant in trusting their rescuers, no matter how willing to help they seemed. Maybe they should give them the benefit of the doubt.

Silently, she watched the object’s next move. No matter what, they didn’t want to be the first to make the an aggressive move.

Holloway, CO

Bethany didn’t move but she was ready to. She cursed silently wishing she’d been requested to the bridge to observe but hind sight and all that. She watched the sphere, her peripheral vision on Forgrave, Harris, and the other security officers. She tried, with her empathy, to detect the emotions of those on the other side of the docking tunnel. She didn’t have much hope of getting anything, she wasn’t a strong empathy and had no telepathy at all. But if the feeling was focused and strong enough she might. Was it fear, aggression, greed, friendliness? But she’d much rather see someone than rely on her shoddy and unreliable Betazoid heritage. Personally she felt the sphere hanging in the air was quite clear, they were aggressive or fearful.
Lt Gadi, CNS

Forgrave was visibly tense at the appearance of the strange orb; actively fighting the urge to do something; trying to convince himself to be patient. If they wanted us dead.... Well, we wouldn’t even know it. But still, what is that thing? Looks like some kind ‘a sensor, but… equipped for what? Maybe… Issac carefully moved forward, eyes searching for any aggressive movement from the probe; peering at the various instruments on display. I reckon it could be a surgical suite… With slow, deliberate movements, a hand went to his hip, going for the tricorder on his left instead of the phaser on the right. His other hand waved his companions back; he felt that hostility was less likely than caution, but he didn’t want to take too many chances.

Forgrave, CoS

The drone mirrored Forgrave’s movements until they were ten feet apart. I hung silently in the air, the arms focused on him…

And then the beam fired.

A bright green light hit Forgrave right between the eyes, and the Security Chief hit the deck hard; like a tree toppled in a single swing of an age. Immediately, the drone retreated into the confines of the alien vessel.

GMT

The thunderous crack of the archaic chemical combustion hand cannon now leveled down the corridor echoed for just a moment. “Goddamnit!” The Dresden’s Marine Commander swore as he glanced at the six Marines in Combat Environmental Suits now storming toward the party. Harris’ 1911’s barrel was still smoking as he lowered it from the passage then motioned to the Sergeant at the column’s lead. “I missed! After that bastard Gunny!”

Everything happened at once. Between the sphere firing at Forgrave, and the unexpected loud bang made by Harris’s weapon, Molly found herself with her own pistol drawn but with nothing to fire at.

Bethany grabbed for a phaser that she didn’t have. Gah! What would T’Jal make of that. She ducked, expecting the security and marines to return fire, trying to half catch the security chief before he fell, but was a second behind. She knelt next to Forgrave reaching for his wrist to check his pulse, looking around for Janvier to make sure the doctor could get to Forgrave. She had no idea if it was safe to move him physically or with emergency transport or not. She checked his breathing and then his neck and head for injury, eyeing the spot where he got shot. If Forgrave had reservations about alien species before, he was really going to hate them all now.
Lt Gadi, CNS

Sphere forgotten, Gadi found Janvier hot on her heels as the doctor to ran over do do what doctors do best.

Issac had been hurt before; sure. Been hurt bad on occasion. But this… this was Different. Pain flashed through his skull; emanating from the point of contact and reverberating around; like a ricochet in an armored box. The pain was endless.... until it wasn’t. Something hard was beneath him; thought was difficult. With a grunt, his limbs shifted; proof of life and mobility. Light pierced his eyes as he wrenched them open; there was a silhouette…

It was far more of a grimace than a grin, and his voice was strained at best. But he was alive. “Ain’t dead… Though ya do a fair impression of an angel.” It would be easy to miss, but something about his voice was off; as if he couldn’t quite modulate his volume. He sat up and made to try and stand, wincing as he did so. He rubbed his temples and gently shook his head; trying to shrug off whatever had happened.

-Forgrave, CoS

Bethany didn’t flinch as the hand cannon went off and the Marines began to move. What??? Did he just call her an angel? Long years of experience kept her face neutral even if her thoughts weren’t. “Glad to know you are still with us,” something wasn’t quite right with his voice but it could just be an after effect of the shot. Bethany put a hand to his shoulder, “Not so fast, you hit your head a bit hard on that fall. Let the Janvier check you first.” Bethany moved to be out of the doctor’s way but between him and the hatch in case that thing came back.

“Stay still and let me scan you,” the Doctor ordered gently moving quickly to keep herself level with him. Mildly worried that Forgrave might be on the way to meet the floor twice in the same hour “Give yourself a moment to let your body recover.”

A moment later there was a hiss of hypospray as Janvier administered a mild painkiller to help keep him steady.

Dr. Janvier, CMO

She looked at Janvier, “Is it me or is his voice…off?”

Janvier didn’t respond but she inclined her head towards the Counsellor indicating that she too had noticed the change in Issacs voice.

As the two officers exchanged glances, Issac turned to them, his face drifting from a grimace to confusion. Raising a hand to his ear, he snapped his fingers a few times; and his face fell with his shoulders. Void and damnation! Bells; clanging and ringing - no rhyme, no rhythm…

As the Marines stormed by, the surprisingly polite chorus of “Excuse us… Sorry Doc.... Pardon us ladies… So sorry…” as the Marines headed down to the other ship with Harris on their heels. As Harris went be Forgraves, he glanced down. “I got this Chief.” Then with a quick nod to the CNS & CMO. “Ladies” The Marines were down through the end of the docking connector.

Harris & Marines

Gadi shook her head absently as the Marines followed by Harris thundered down the hall. Normally she’d move but is was more prudent to stay still. “I think those marines could give Dangar a lesson in manners.” It was a joke, one only Forgave would understand, but his reaction and understanding of it also served to tell Bethany if his mental state had been affected.

As the Marines closed in on the hatch, the iris of the triangular opening closed with a loud SNAP, leaving them facing the metal hull of the ship.

GMT

Holloway took a few steps back to allow Janvier, Gadi and Forgrave some breathing room. With the arrival of the Marines as well there were already too many people around the Security Chief for her addition to the group to be productive. The good news were that Forgrave was… alive, at least. The bad news were that they had no idea what the beam had done to him.

Her eyes trained on the hatch and her hand made it to her commbadge before Harris took matters into his own hands.

Though still recovering from the mysterious beam, the painkiller was doing its job, and Issac was more animated and active, if still sitting. His eyes and head darted around in reaction to movement and noise; though it was if there wasn’t quite a full understanding; more stimulus-response than participation. But then that didn’t seem to be the full diagnosis; confusion turned to frustration, and he turned to face Janvier directly. It was constant; loud and quiet simultaneously. A cacophony of rings, incessant and inescapable.

The doctors frowned watching his wooden reactions, and raised the tricorder to scan Issacs head. Something was not right. His balance and energy had improved but his reactions were still off.

Harris swore another savage curse under his breath before he slapped his com badge. =A= Harris to Transporter Room One… standby for point to point beam over of myself and the six Marines immediately adjacent to my current location to the first available free spot you can find on that ship.=A=

After a pause he looked back down the tube at Holloway. “Advise we go to Red Alert, Captain” The Marine CO told his Skipper and partner formally. “The minute we have a lock, we’re going over…” He then paused slightly, a barely evident smile crossing his face. “With your permission, of course”

Harris
Lt Gadi, CNS

Surprised, Molly tapped her commbadge. =/\= Holloway to Transporter Room One. Belay that order. =/\= Her eyes shot lasers at the Marine Commander. “Are you out of your mind, Colonel? For as much as I appreciate what you are trying to do, with the stasis field around the station and our complete lack of knowledge on the alien’s technology, we risk you being trapped on that ship without us being able to get you out. And that would achieve nothing.” Her voice was steady. Commanding but not louder than usual.

Tapping her commbadge again, Molly contacted the Bridge. =/\= Holloway to Renveer. Our new friends attacked Lieutenant Forgrave. He’s stable, but there’s still plenty we don’t know. If we do not have an open channel with them, I need you to open one and ask what the hell is going on. They seemed in need of our help, but if they don’t need it, we can just leave them here with the anomaly and figure out some other way to go about it. Keep me posted. Holloway out. =/\=

Holloway eyed the hatch, but decided against closing it, hoping to make it apparent that they were still welcoming regardless. For now.

Glancing at the backs of the CMO and CNS, she let them do their jobs, so that they could bring Forgrave back to his feet.

Holloway, CO

OOC: Adding my post back in as it was split out of the thread. I’ll reply to what was posted after on a different post. – Joana

In a voice that was just on the side of being too loud; Forgrave broke his silence. “CAN’T HEAR - BELLS IN MY HEAD - RINGING” As he spoke, enunciating the words with exaggerated movements of his mouth, he gestured towards his ears and shook his head slightly; frustration now plain on his face. It was remarkably reminiscent of a tourist speaking louder and slower to compensate for a language barrier.

Forgrave - CoS

Bell’s? The doctor eyed Forgrave carefully; three possibilities running through her head. Concussion. Inner Ear injury. Or the beam had done something. She had administered pain relief, that should have fixed the concussion if temporarily. If there was something wrong with his hearing, it explained the voice modulation at any rate but it didn’t account for his reaction times. He was still reacting, if strangely to outside stimuli and his balance was fixed so if she was going to put her credits anywhere, she was most likely going to put it on the beam.

“Permission to take junior Lieutenant Forgrave to Sickbay, Captain?” she said glancing down at her tricorder scans to see if they confirmed what she already though. “I think that beam is having and affect on him and I’d like to run some further tests.”

Dr Janvier, CMO

Molly’s gaze switched between Harris, the still open hatch, Forgrave, and finally Janvier. Holstering her weapon she nodded to the CMO. “Yes. And keep me posted, Doctor. I want to know if anything changes. And I mean anything.” Concern was clear in Holloway’s gaze as she looked back at the Security Chief now yelling about bells ringing in his head. Maybe she should have been more careful. Less trustworthy of the beings that had hailed them. Her mind mulled over and over on what she could have done differently.

As the people around him spoke, all the Security Chief could hear was bells… not a ringing, but actual bells. Every sound was a ringing of a bell, and every bell was different. Deep, high, long resonating ring, short little ding. Every footstep, word, beep of equipment added to the cacophony of bells ringing through his head… and then it suddenly stopped. Without a decrease in volume or a trailing off of sound; suddenly everything was exactly as it should be and he understood everything as clearly as he ever had.

From a medical standpoint, the tricorder showed an exponential increase in bioelectrical activity across Forgrave’s auditory cortex and tympanic membrane. It was if his brain and eardrum had been hooked up to a fusion reactor… and then all signs went immediately back to normal.

GMT

Issac’s eyes widened; and he waggled his jaw from side to side while shaking his head; blinking a few times as he adjusted once more to the sudden change of audio, and tried to catch up to the situation.

OOC: Crossposting from the split thread. I will be crossposting this with the Bridge thread as well as from my understanding, that’s where Hsull is. If I am mistaken, feel free to void my bridge post. – Joana

Hsull had been watching the scene unfold and wasn’t too terribly surprised at the attack on the Security officer, he checked the Tactical station quickly and tapped his comm badge. =^= Hsull to Holloway, Ma’am if you all will evacuate the umbilical I can use phasers to surgically separate the alien ship from the the station and us. On your command of course. =^= As far as Hsull was concerned they had been attacked and an armed response was the accurate answer. He hoped Forgrave wasn’t badly injured.

CWO4 Hsull - TO

While Janvier worked on her scans she got Forgrave’s attention. It was a very long shot, but it was worth trying. Bethany knew sign language, she had no idea if Issac did but she would try. She also formed the spoken words slowly. Everyone could read lips to some degree, out of long years of being exposed to the physical formation of words along with the sounds. ‘Do you know sign language? Is it clanging or constant ringing?’ Of course if he didn’t understand sign he might be more frustrated. She hoped he realized they were trying to help. In the mean time she was listening to the captain and Harris discuss options, and then Hsull over the comm giving his view point. But her mind kept going back to all the other ‘tools’ they could see on the sphere and trying to determine what it was used for and what purpose and goal the creators’ had in mind.
Lt Gadi, CNS

Forgrave gave Gadi a weak grin; still feeling out of sorts from… whatever it was that had happened. “Well, it was pretty well constant; but I think my ears are back ta normal again....” Issac’s voice matched his grin, he was still trying to take in what had happened. Carefully, he stood, and leaned against the wall of the boarding tube as he recovered, listening to the ongoing debate.

She stood along with him and Janvier, but not moving away, just yet. Just to make sure whatever it was hadn’t affected his balance and equilibrium. She hadn’t seen the scans but if it was affecting his ears it could also have disrupted his cochlea, which would make him unsteady. She smiled slightly in return dropping her hands. “Glad to see you can hear us again. And now that you are on your feet, you’d better go with Dr. Janvier.” She knew he took his duty to the ship seriously, but he wouldn’t be much good to anyone if there were unforeseen side-effects, or long term complications.

With the anomaly affecting the station also affecting part of the alien ship, everything in Molly’s mind told her that removing the ship from the station was a bad idea. At least without knowing more about the anomaly itself. At this point, if the aliens well-being was the last thing on her mind. But there were people on that station, and one on board the alien ship. She didn’t want to compromise them.

Tapping her commbage, she replied. =/\= Holloway to Hsull. The anomaly is affecting both the station and the alien vessel. Disrupting that might be a bad idea at this point. I’ll keep your suggestion in mind until I hear from Commander Renveer’s attempt of contact. Standby for now. Holloway out. =/\=

Looking at Harris, Molly knew exactly what he was going to suggest. They were attacked first, so now they had the ground to strike back. Molly agreed and right now, it might be a good thing that she was not on the Bridge. She exhaled, feeling the rage welling up inside of her. They had trusted the beings and tried to help and because of it, Forgrave was hurt. Either they gave them a very good excuse for what had happened, or being trapped on that station would be the least of their concerns.

Impatiently, Holloway tapped her commbage again. =/\= Holloway to Renveer. Any news? =/\=

Holloway, CO

It didn’t take an expert to read the room - it was tense and uncertain; and Issac could admit the temptation to cut and run was strong. But… “I think if they wanted me; or any of us dead, well, wouldn’t have taken much. Y’all saw the blades an’ whatnot on that… thing, but they zapped me instead. Don’t know what exactly they were tryin’ ta do, but I ain’t ready to scrub this mission yet. But uh, in the interest of caution, in case they, well, did somethin’ to me…” Issac carefully handed his phaser and pocket knife over to Holloway, shrugging as he did so. After the hand-off, he hesitated, before sheepishly digging further into his pocket, retrieving a heavy set of brass knuckles; handing them over as well. “Never know when they’ll come in handy, yeah?”

It was with concern in her eyes that Molly took the items Forgrave had given her, but she nodded, in what she hoped was some sort of reassurance that she understood. An eyebrow raised at the set of brass knuckles, but she put them carefully in her pocket.

“But the point remains, they asked for help; or at least, it seems like it. I wouldn’t feel right iffin’ we just… up and left. Ta say the least of what brought us out here in the first place. Something happened on that station.... And I think we oughta find out what.”

-Frograve, CoS

Bethany just shook her head as the weapons appeared out of his pockets. The brass knuckles were a nice touch, the pocket knife, well no Southern man worth his salt would be caught dead without one. She stared down the connecting tube, tapping a finger to her thigh, listening to the conversation around her and thinking. Bethany wasn’t really a full fledged intel officer, but her job entailed listening and remembering random pieces of information and putting them together. “Captain, I’m not an engineer or a science officer for that matter, so I could be completely off base. But I remember reading a report where emergency transporter armbands were modified to use as a very sensitive phase discriminator to create a subspace isolation field. They were then used to allow the crew members to move through a temporal distortion without being affected.” Additional bands could be made to attach to crew they needed to help fix the problem from the station - possibly. She wasn’t sure they could be used to bring someone OUT of the loop. “And if there is someone from the station on that ship, but caught in the loop…even being able to get over there and observe what is happening could be useful.”
OOC: reference: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Timescape_(episode)
Lt Gadi, CNS

Molly was a fully fledged Intel officer, but she was as far from a scientist as one could be. “Send that idea through to Lieutenant Simms. If there’s someone that could make it work, it’s her. And right now, no idea is a bad idea.”

“Aye Captain,” and Gadi stepped over to a nearby panel and had the computer send a copy of the conversation to Simms’ console on the bridge.

As they stood talking, music could be heard coming from the hatch. It was melodic, beautiful, and wholly unfamiliar.

Except to Forgrave.

The Security Chief could hear a female voice speaking plainly; but with a light, airy quality to her voice. “Can you hear me? Do you understand me? Please… don’t shoot again. We mean you no harm. We just… needed you to hear us.”

GMT

Issac’s brain took a second to catch up with his ears, but when it finally did, his head snapped over to the hatch, his eyes going wide as he realized what exactly he was hearing.

Holloway’s conversation with Gadi was cut short, as the music coming from the hatch reached her ears. She noticed Forgrave’s shift in attention as well.

=/\= Renveer to Holloway. There’s been no response to my attempts to continue communication from the bridge. In fact, the aliens seem to have abandoned theirs, we no longer have visual contact with any of their crew. =/\=

(Lt. Cmdr. Renveer, XO)

Molly sighed. Great. Just what they needed. Their sole point of contact was gone, or conveniently unreachable.

Slowly, Issac moved off the wall of the makeshift corridor; waiving a hand to preempt any questions - hoping the others got the cue to be quiet for a moment. “Hello? I, uh…” Issac made his way to the hatch, racking his brains for the right thing to say. Void, I’d expected ta try an’ keep everyone safe, not be responsible for talkin!

“I can hear you - can you hear me? That… beam - that was to make me understand y’all?” The question was more or less rhetorical, but Forgrave was flying by the seat of his pants. Hopefully, their version of a universal translator was having more luck than theirs did.

-Forgrave, CoS

Holloway’s hand hovered over her commbage, intending on thanking Renveer back on the Bridge, but it fell back down, her intentions forgotten, as Forgrave made his way to the hatch.

Inside the hatch the ship seemed… odd. Few straight corners could be seen, everything seemed rounded and for some reason… slightly more open, at least by his experience with star ships. A lone figure could be seen peering around a slight bend in the passageway. Obviously female, the figure said “I cannot understand you. But if you can understand me, uh… wave your hands like this.” and she put her hands on either side of her head and wiggled her fingers.

GMT

Issac was fascinated by both the differences and similarities in the alien ship design; but he quickly shook off his awe and tried to focus on the source of the voice that he had heard. Upon seeing the figure; he paused, not sure what to do or say - thankfully, she(?) quickly resolved the issue.

It was impossible for him to hide his look of confusion at the request; but he quickly complied, mimicking the odd gesture. If he didn’t know better, he’d have believed that he was being made fun of. But then, it was a distinctive gesture, so perhaps it made sense. But he hadn’t expected the one-way communication; they could probably work out a yes/no system - far better than nothing, to be sure, but short of ideal. No plan survives contact.... Issac left the rest un-thought - his hope was for allies; not enemies.

-Forgrave, CoS

As the intention of the shot fired at Forgrave revealed itself, Janvier’s grip on him relaxed so that the Security Chief was able to walk forward undeterred. Like everyone else all she could hear was a melodic music, but Forgrave was responding to it, and while she could hardly believe it herself, the music was responding back. When Forgrave was first struck by the fire, his brain and inner ear had been affected before his signs went back to normal now she scanned him again to see if the readings had changed once again at the prompt of the source of the music.

Dr Janvier, CMO

Stopping herself from pulling the Security Chief back to the safety of the Dresden, Holloway watched the scene with suspicion as he seemed to speak with someone on the other side. Could he understand them? Had that been the function of the beam?

Molly held her breath without even realizing she was doing so, following Forgrave’s steps up, but stopping just inside the Dresden’s hatch. Her palm tightened around the phaser she had been given, ready to pull him out at a moment’s notice.

Holloway, CO

Bethany watched feeling somewhat pointless, she moved to the edge of the door way still wishing she had a phaser. She resisted the urge, like Holloway but not knowing it, to pull Issac back. Instead she paced him by several paces keeping him and the area for several feet in front of him in her vision.
Lt Gadi, CNS