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!