Subject: Grail: "The Great Brightness"; "First Officers"
"First Officers"
A Joint Post By: Commander Arika D'veint, Kestra Prynne, and Kaitlyn Brennan.
<OOC: Split personalities are really bad when one person must claim a
portion of the authorship to each personality.>
<<OOC2: This post is general nonsense, and it is long. You can skip it if
you like.>>
Arika D'veint was glad to be out of the nebular storms. She and the others
were lucky to be alive. Yet the most prevalent thought on her mind was not
gratitude, but apprehension, because she would be arriving later than
expected. The Captain would not be too impressed with a first officer who
made first impressions by being late.
Arika brought the runabout closer to the foreboding starship with its
unorthodox quad-nacelles.
"Permission to dock at secondary shuttle bay," Arika said as smoothly as
possible. She waited a few moments for a reply.
"Granted," said a young male, finally, from the other side of the comm link;
presumably an Ensign.
Arika maneuvered the runabout slowly into the secondary shuttle bay of the
USS Cheyenne. She made sure to make the ride as smooth as possible; not
wanting to make a mistake while another was watching. She went through all
the docking procedures in her mind; not counting on years of training to
allow her to fly the shuttle craft perfectly without thinking.
Fortunately, she didn't make a mistake and the runabout didn't make a sound
upon landing. Grabbing a small white bag, Arika stepped out of the runabout
and was greeted by an Ensign. She had been right about his rank. The most
distinguishing thing about the man was his bright red hair, which probably
stood out more under the intense light.
"That was the best landing I've seen all day today!" the Ensign exclaimed.
She merely nodded in acknowledgment and presented herself by saying, "I am
Commander D'veint, the First Officer."
She was looking him directly in the eye, intentionally exuding an aura of
command. He must've sensed it, because he struggled to compose himself,
straightening his posture, and immediately said, with all formality in his
voice, "I am Ensign McCrowlin. Welcome aboard, sir. I'm sure the Captain
will be eager to hear from you. Your quarters are on Deck 5, section 1."
Arika nodded approvingly at the precision of the Ensign's introduction.
"Thank you, Ensign."
As she walked by, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that he
physically relaxed.
After she walked out of the shuttle bay, Arika tapped her comm badge and
said, "Commander D'veint to the Captain."
She heard the Captain's voice through her comm badge: <This is the Captain
speaking. Go ahead.>
Arika replied, "This is Commander D'veint. I have just arrived and will be
reporting for duty within the hour, sir."
<Acknowledged. Welcome to the Cheyenne, Commander. Beaux out.>
Arika, carrying her white tote, continued to walk down the corridor just
outside the shuttle bay, walking towards the turbolift. As she got to it,
the doors opened immediately. The turbolift opened to reveal an electric
storm that had overtaken the enclosure. Arika wasted no time in stepping
back away from the turbolift. The turbolift doors closed.
"Computer, please state the condition of turbolift XII."
"The condition of Turbolift XII is nominal."
She walked back up to the turbolift doors. The turbolift opened again. The
interior was empty, devoid of any electrical intensity. She walked in,
suppressing any fear of a reoccurrence of the event taking place with her
inside the turbolift. She commanded the computer, "Deck 5, section 1."
The turbolift hummed for a few moments, and Arika could feel the swift
movement downward and then to the left. The doors whooshed open and she
walked out. It was only about 10 foot steps until she reached her quarters.
Arika entered her quarters and glanced around at the Starfleet standard
interior. It would be more than adequate for her needs.
Arika placed her bag on the bed, unpacking only a few things, such as some
pictures and a padd with her log entries and other such personal writings.
There really wasn't much to be done but to report to the Captain.
With that in mind, she walked out of her quarters and back towards the
turbolift. No need to waste time with anything else; it could wait. Since
there was no reoccurrence of the electricity bolting throughout the
turbolift's interior, she presumed that the first one must have been some
delusional experience. The turbolift hummed for a short moment and opened
up at the Bridge. She walked out and noticed a Vulcan male sitting in the
Captain's chair. Upon her entrance he stood up, noticing her pips, and
stated plainly, "You must be the first officer, Commander D'veint. I am
Commander Topak, in charge of the Bridge temporarily until your arrival."
He stepped away from the chair.
"Thank you, Commander, but I will first report to the Captain."
"He's in his ready room," he offered.
She walked past him and pressed the door chime next to the ready room door.
"Come in," she heard.
With that the doors opened and Arika entered.
She stood in front of his desk, with her hands behind her back, and said
formally, "Commander D'veint reporting for duty, sir."
"So I've been warned," he smiled. "You will replace Commander Topak on the
bridge. Thank you for your promptness."
She acknowledged his compliment with expected Vulcan complacency. Such
indifference to words of praise is what made her race seem smug and arrogant
to other species. They just didn't understand that it was the Vulcan way.
Arika exited the ready room, and Commander Topak once again offered to yield
the chair to her. She accepted it this time and he walked off behind her.
The first few hours, nothing substantial happened. A few people came and
left during then without a word, and there were some remarks about what the
helmsman thought were errors in the scanners. After trying to figure it out
for a while, the helmsman finally conceded that it was probably just a
mistake.
Then nobody spoke for a long time again. The silence was interrupted by
somebody walking out of the turbolift, and walking up to the Captain's ready
room. Arika recognized his face, but couldn't remember who he was. She
didn't get a chance to think about it, because he walked in Beaux's ready
room just then. Arika continued to stare at the forward view screen. Then
it struck her. He was the Chief Tactical Officer; she saw his face while
reviewing the senior crew manifest.
It was only a few minutes before he was back on the bridge.
He looked like he was going to pass by her, not bothering to make himself
noticed again, when he turned around to her and said, "Good evening,
Commander. I will see you at 0900 hundred hours duty shifts, sir."
It would be a long time until his shift started, and seeing him up close,
she could see shadows below his eyes. "Get some sleep, Commander," she
ordered. "I want you bright eyed and busy tailed for the morning shift."
"Yes, sir" he replied.
With that, he left, and the bridge returned to its previous silence. Only
the sporadic blips and beeping indicating that the computer was processing
information and requests. Arika began to realize that she was veritably
bored out of her mind. She was only assured by the fact that she knew that
it wouldn't last forever. There would always be something important to
attract her attention, and there were only brief intermissions in her life
until other issues came up. She could only hope that such issues in the
future would not involve troubles with her family once again. But that was
resolved now, and it was ancient history. No point in allowing her thoughts
to linger there. So instead, she concentrated on doing what little there
was to be done on the bridge until her duty shift was over.
A flash of white light caught Arika D'veint's eye. She glanced up at the
forward view screen. There was, what appeared to be, an intense
thunderstorm transpiring amidst the stars. She walked up closer to the
viewscreen, staring at the presence of such an unfeasible phenomena. She
chose to stare at the phenomena because there was the ever-present notion
that if she looked away, it would disappear.
Without deviating from her stare, she asked aloud, "Can anyone tell me if
there is a malfunction with the forward viewscreen?"
There was no response. Even after repeating her inquiry, she was answered
only with silence. Taking the chance that the phenomena might disappear as
easily as it had appeared, Arika D'veint looked behind her. There was no
one there. The Bridge was completely unmanned.
At a total loss for the explanation to this, Arika glanced back towards the
forward viewscreen in order to determine if the phenomena had indeed
vanished. However, as she turned around a loud clap of thunder hit her
auditory senses. Then all of a sudden she was no longer on the bridge, but
floating amidst the very electrical storm that she had seen on the forward
viewscreen, in the turbolift, and just out the windows of the runabout that
she had piloted earlier.
She felt no physical harm from the electricity. Yet it seemed to affect her
psyche. As the electrical intensity of the storm increased, her psyche
responded in the same manner. It was the most unpleasant feeling for a
Vulcan, because Arika no longer had control over her emotional state.
As she writhed in agony from the result of the storm's intensity on her
psyche, she found that she was no longer twisting in turning in outer space,
but rather in a biobed aboard a starship.
Her immediate reaction was to sit up with a rushed energy that resulted from
her, what had to be, delusional experience.
A middle-aged doctor approached her with profound curiosity. Arika
demanded, "How did I end up back on the USS Cheyenne?"
The doctor's curiosity transformed into concern. "You have been infected
with a bio-engineered virus constructed by the Romulans so you were admitted
for a prolonged stay here... And sorry to say, kid, but you are aboard the
USS Grail, not the USS Cheyenne."
Doctor Ramius assumed the girl's inexplicable behaviour to be a result of
the infection. This assumption was justified only by the fact that there
could be no other explanation for it. However, none of the patients had
suffered from delusional experiences. In fact, none of the others had
awakened from their coma-like states. Ramius pulled a medical tricorder out
from his blue jacket and ran a preliminary scan over the girl.
Commander D'veint found the strangeness of her situation to speak loudly of
some conspiratorial intent. It would not be a first for some alien race or
enemy of the Federation to construct an imaginary interface that resembled
an individual's sphere of existence, which was contrived by reflecting the
individual's memories into a guiding program for a specific purpose.
"You are not real," Arika accused.
Doctor Ramius, appearing amused at this, pinched himself for show. "No, I'm
quite real, little one."
In an attempt to uncover more about the nature of her belief about being on
the USS Cheyenne, Dr. Ramius asked, "What department do you serve under
aboard the USS Cheyenne?"
Arika raised one eyebrow at him, which could only have indicated a certain
level of suspicion, but she answered nonetheless: "Command."
Continuing, Dr. Ramius asked, "And who are you?"
"I am Commander Arika D'veint, first officer of the USS Cheyenne, serial
number seven-A-nine-four, three-one-H-one."
Now it was Dr. Ramius who cocked an eyebrow. The girl said it with such
certainty that it was obvious that she believed what she said. How far
would this delusion extend? What was causing this delusion? Who is Cmdr.
D'veint? When would Miss Prynne realise that she is an engineer and not a
commanding officer?
Dr. Ramius was presented with numerous questions but not a single answer.
Kestra Prynne showed no signs of fatigue, and the effects of the virus, as
it was on other officers, did not seem apparent. Instead, Kestra Prynne
seemed lost, paranoid, and for some reason, she sat more erect than ever,
and looked at the middle-aged man, not as a father figure as she once had,
but as a scientific specimen that should be treated with caution. The
dramatic change was a result of her delusional state, doubtlessly, but it
still unnerved the man...
There had to be a way to remove her from this delusion. Ramius tried the
direct approach. "You are Kestra Prynne, an engineering officer here on the
USS Grail."
Arika said nothing in response. She considered his assertion superficially.
It was then that she began to think: the name Kestra Prynne does sound
somewhat familiar. No, it was quite obviously a trick.
"No, I am Arika D'veint. Your attempts to deceive me have failed," she
stated flatly.
Yet, a gnawing sense said in the back of her mind that the attempt had not
failed. In fact, more and more she began to believe this creature's claim
to her identity being Kestra Prynne, an engineering officer, rather than a
first officer.
Then she was hit by a wave of nervousness and animation. It completely
repudiated her Vulcan blood. It was illogical for a composed Vulcan to feel
any unbridled emotion. And the energy that seemed to exude throughout her
psyche were indicative of her being some race other than Vulcan, because the
other implication was impossible; that is, unless she was drugged to not be
able to maintain her suppressive barrier. A lot of alien races could very
well be capable of that, and use that in order to convince her that she was
not Vulcan, that she was not herself.
"Your attempt to deceive me has failed," she repeated.
This caused some anxiety for the doctor because Kestra Prynne did not seem
likely to come out of her delusional state any time soon. He had to figure
out some way to bring her back to her reality. As a doctor, he had heard
of
using personal items to invoke strong memories in order to recall the memory
of the "past" identity. He needed some time to retrieve personal articles
from her quarters.
Looking back at the girl, he noticed that her face transformed from the
carefully controlled expression to a panic-stricken mien. She looked as if
she might sprint out of Sickbay on the smallest provocation. So instead of
leaving her in this state, he decided to give her something to make her rest
easy.
As Arika (or Kestra) felt the hypospray being injected, she started to hear
a familiar piece of music. It was a piece that had brought her peace more
than once, and just as before, the lullaby took its affect on her. It was
like a memory that blanketed her psyche in a comfy haze. It was then that
she fell asleep.
There was nothing for the longest time. Then there was the sound of some
birds. The birds' music sounded almost as sweet as the lullaby that would
never disappear from her subconscious. Even though she heard birds, she
could not see any. Everything was still black. Then it seemed that the
birds chirping began to resemble more so the chirps and beeps that
federation computers spat out when it was not happy with the inputs it was
given.
Then just as soon as she realised that the chirps were from a federation
computer, the image of the bridge of a galaxy-class starship appeared out
of
nowhere. Kestra noticed LtMaj. Brinn standing in front of an empty
Captain's chair. A blue-white explosion covered the surface of the
viewscreen, and the ship rocked violently. There were some sparks thrown.
François seemed to be having difficulty remaining in his chair, and he'd
blurt out "merde!" and several other indistinguishable words in a
frustrating attempt to avoid the barrage of explosions.
The tension was high and Brinn could not help the escape of another curse
word from her mouth as another explosion hit them, knocking the ship's
luminosity down a notch. Brinn, casting François an infuriated glare,
strode up to him angrily and pushed him roughly out of his seat.
"A blind-folded monkey could fly this thing better!!" she spat at him.
She took his seat and rotated the ship in a severe turn, knocking several
of
the bridge officers off their feet. She sped away from their original
position taking them above their attackers. She ordered all of their stock
of weapons to be fired upon their attackers. The move was largely
successful but another volley of weapons fire hit the ship, and with it, the
flight controls exploded, throwing LtMaj Brinn back at least ten meters.
The LtMaj laid on the ground in a contorted position with her spine arching
severely backwards. She laid there completely still. François was the
first to move towards her, and after a couple of attempts to find a pulse,
he shook his head sadly.
There was a moment of gloom among the bridge crew, but that was soon broken
by another blast that shook the ship. An even more violent blast threw the
ship backwards and its occupants forward, which caused Kestra to jerk
anxiously out of her dreams.
She noticed that she was alone in Sickbay. There were, of course, those who
were still in comas, but the place was devoid of any consciousness.
"Kestra," she tested aloud.
Kestra Prynne remembered her lapse into the persona of Arika D'veint, and
oddly enough, it stood forefront in her memory even though it was not the
most recent dramatic dream that she had. Kestra thought about what she
remembered concerning the older woman, especially about her Vulcan
mannerisms, but it didn't explain where this Arika had come from, or how
Kestra was having experiences from this woman's life. Wait, did she even
exist? The lingering memories told her that she had to be real, or else
"real" would hold no meaning.
Commander D'veint could not be a creation of Kestra Prynne's mind because
Kestra was not anything like the former. In fact, she was quite the
opposite in many ways. This line of reasoning justified nothing, but it was
actually her intuition and not reason that told her Arika D'veint was real.
It was not of much importance if this person was real or not. Kestra had
never met this person and likely never would. So she dropped this line of
thinking, and asked the computer in a scratchy voice, "What is the date and
time?"
The computer responded softly and smoothly, "Stardate 47307.29 and 14:34 hours."
Kestra could hardly believe her ears. Too much time had passed in what had
seemed to be such a short interval of time! It was because she had been
sleeping too long, even though she found herself waking up constantly.
Kestra, despite her anger at herself for sleeping so much, found herself
feeling very tired again and had no choice but to lay back down and go back
to sleep...
Kaitlyn Brennan, Asst. Chief Engineer, USS Grail
Lynne Baillie, "Chief Engineer", USS Trailblazer
ICQ #6664187, IRC Nick (Undernet)--Kestra
Get on IRC--Visit http://www.mirc.co.uk today!