What the?

Posted on Tue Jul 18th, 2017 @ 5:39pm by

2,190 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Unknown Life, Unknown Dangers
Location: Security Meeting Room
Timeline: Current

ON:

Charlie was waiting for everyone to arrive. This was a mandatory meeting for all of Security. The meeting was supposed to start five minutes ago but they were waiting on another security guard.

"Does anyone know where Lieutenant Tillman is?' Charlie spoke with an annoying tone. Many shook their heads.

"Lieutenant Beckett, he said that he was going to take a walk. He seemed a bit upset about something. He probably just lost track of time. He'll show up, eventually."

Charlie sighed, "Fine. I'll chew his ass later." She looked around at everyone, taking note of who was there. "Okay, let's get this going. Commander Reign asked me to get you all together to talk about what is going on. Something infested and attacked the Civic crew and now it has attached itself to the starboard nacelle of the Dreadnought and has begun to spread. This creature, anomaly or whatever this thing is, is dangerous. Get yourselves in a group of three, grab a weapon and I want this ship searched, deck by deck. I want to make sure that thing is confined only to the Nacelle. I don't want to end up like the Civic. Lt. Ingram and Ensign Hixx, you're with me." She glanced around again, "I want you to report anything strange no matter what. Any questions?"

"Dismissed!"

At that point before anyone could leave, BJ came in looking a bit shaken. "I need a team to Lieutenant Tillman's quarters on the double," she said to Lieutenant Beckett quietly before she lowered her voice even more. "I don't want to take chances."

As soon as Charlie heard Tillman's name, she knew it wasn't good, "I will let you know what I've found." She called out to her group, "Lt. Ingram and Ensign Hixx, follow me."

"Report back as soon as you find him," BJ said. "I've already tried his combadge and there's no response. The computer said it's in his quarters."

"Will do." They left and made their way to Tillman's quarters. Once there, they heard a noise on the other side if the door. With weapons out and ready, Lt. Ingram slowly poked his head in but didn't see anyone or thing at first. He nodded to them that the coast was clear. Charlie went in next with Hixx following. Leaning against the replicator wall, they found the lifeless body of Lt. Tillman in a puddle of blood and some kind of vine like vegetation. The replicator looked as if it exploded inward. The bloody vine trailed up the wall and into the replicator or where the replicator was.

Ensign Hixx was startled by something, "Lieutenant, I think I see something...in there." He went up to the hole and started to go near it as if he was going to stick his face in the hole.

Charlie saw the inexperienced Ensign and pulled him back and they all stood by the door. She gave him a stern scolding, "What do you think you were doing over there?! We don't know what's in there!" Lt. Ingram just shook his head at Hixx.

"Lt. Ingram, please go check the surrounding areas." She watched him leave. Ensign Hixx was standing with his back to the wall.

Charlie needed someone with a tricorder, a team of science officer perhaps and a doctor, =^=Lieutenant Beckett to Lt. Commander Reign.=^=

=^=Reign here. Report=^= BJ's voice came over her combadge a minute later.

=^=Tillman's dead. It looks like..." Charlie heard Hixx yell and fall to the ground. Charlie still had her com on, "What the...?"

=^=Dead? What's going on?=^= BJ asked as she left the office at a run with a Type II phaser in her hand.

Charlie couldn't believe her eyes. What started out as small, had doubled in mass. The vine went through the body of Tillman and reached out for Hixx and grabbed him by the leg. It was on him so quickly. She fired on the vine and it let him go. His leg was bloody and where the vine had wrapped around his ankle, it had cut through it like butter. As fast as she could, she grabbed Hixx by his wrists, trying to keep her distance from the growth. Another one wrapped around his torso, meanwhile, Hixx is screaming in pain. She shot at it again but it would only stop for a few seconds. Everywhere the vines held him, he started to bleed.

Charlie was so busy trying to pull Hixx out, she didn't notice that she was being targeted. It started to wrap around her wrist. She tried to pull her wrist out of its grip.

BJ rounded the corner at that moment and nearly froze when she saw Hixx caught by the alien growth and another tendril around Beckett's wrist. Thinking wasn't an option at that point and she raised her phaser to fire at the growth coming out of the replicator before she cut a swath away from it. "Move!" she bellowed as she fired another burst at the vine that was latched onto her assistant a foot away from her. "Out, out, out!"

Charlie ran out, her hand held her wrist that was bleeding. She cursed under her breath. She couldn't save Hixx and that pissed her off. She looked towards the door as she held her breath for BJ. She was worried that the vine would claim another victim. Her wrist started stinging.

It tore through BJ's soul when she saw Hixx with a vine around his neck and more crawling up his body, but she couldn't help him. She raised her phaser and set it on maximum, then fired at the unlucky officer before he died suffering.

She backed out of the quarters quickly. "Computer erect forcefield around personnel quarters section delta room nine zero nine and beam anything organic into space!" she ordered.

Charlie had heard the phaser and she cringed at the thoughts that were going through her head. She looked at BJ, "Is he dead?" She already knew the answer.

"They both are now," BJ said. "This stuff is growing through the ship fast and all we're doing is damage control instead of taking the offensive. We need ideas on how to stop it!"

"Damn it! Phasers don't do much damage to it. it seems when you cut one of it's vines, it grows back quickly." How did it get on our ship anyway? The Civic was destroyed. Unless...unless a part of it got on our ship. If that's true, phasers, bomb or anything like that won't work. We need to find a way to completely destroy it."

"I wonder if we can freeze it?" BJ asked out loud and started to think before she shook her head. "No, if a piece of it got stuck to the nacelle after being blow up...freezing it wouldn't do it. We need to get to Medical. Computer quarantine this area and shut down all power to EPS conduits that are non-essential to ship functions."

"Good idea." Charlie was very upset and couldn't stop thinking about Hixx. Lt. Ingram came running back to her and BJ.

"I've checked the other quarters and they all seem to be fine." He glanced around, "Where's Hixx?"

Alex frowned, "He didn't make it. This thing is alive and it's growing fast. Join the others below this deck and find what is under us."

Lt. Ingram nodded, "Yes ma'am."

Charlie was still cursing herself out for Hixx's death. She followed BJ to sickbay.

BJ tapped her combadge and issued more orders to Security to beam any more of the stuff directly into space that they encountered on wide dispersal patterns, then shut the channel again as she headed down the corridor. "Much more of this," she said. "And we'll be seriously hurting."

"I certainly don't want to end up like the Civic crew. I hope we can find a way to kill it." Charlie was a bit unnerved by the thought. They made their way into Sickbay.

Xavier was conducting scans of the sample that was collected before he started anything more, everything was relatively peaceful until the doors opened and in charged two women, one he knew as his Partner Bj, the other he vaguely remembered as her Exec in Security. "What's the meaning of this?" Xavier asked securing the sample and tools. "What's going on?"

"Whatever this stuff is, Doctor Patrovski," BJ said as she led the way into Medical. "You have to find a way to stop it. "It's spreading and two of my personnel are now dead."

"Where, deck and location?" Xavier said as he walked to a console, his mission was to seal off the deck and quarantine it. It meant trapping who ever was on that deck, but until a way could be found to see if anyone had been infected, everyone could be.

"Junior officer crew quarters," BJ said and gave him the exact room number. "I already ordered the area quarantined and the...contents...beamed into space. It's all force fielded off, too." She looked at Beckett. "One of the vines wrapped itself around her wrist, but I got her free."

That last bit stopped Xavier cold as he turned to look at them both. "She's potentially infected and you bring her through the ship here, you have no idea if you are infected now, I don't know enough to tell how infection is spread." It was however too late, the damage was done. "Take her into isolation, yourself too." Xavier was angry. He signalled ship wide the deck was sealed off, medical personnel only. His job just got a lot harder. He told the nurses to break out the hazmat quarantine gear.

"Nothing touched me, Xavier," BJ said. "I didn't touch her, either. I can't afford to be put in isolation. I have a ship and crew to protect."

"Are you not listening to me?" Xavier spoke annoyed, BJ could be driven and focused but this was a medical situation now. "I have no idea how infection is spread. It wrapped around her wrist, made physical contact with her. You have no idea if the infection turned airborne too in that room, which if that is the case then you most certainly are and you want me to let you go, potentially infecting others....how is that protecting ship and crew?" The other issue was that if it had turned airborne then more than just a deck was in immediate trouble.

"Beckett, get to the isolation unit," she said to her Assistant Chief. "I'll wrap up here."

Charlie glared at the doctor, "You've got to be kidding? Just fix it and let me get back to work." She didn't see what the benefit is to be isolated, "If I start to feel sick, I'll come back and go into your stupid isolation unit."

BJ looked back at Xavier. "If it's already airboard and spreading throughout the ship, then we're all dead anyway," she snarled at him. "What good is being in isolation going to do if there's no one to fight it in the meantime? Do you have a cure or a clue about it?"

"Then go, do what you want, I'll be sure to log your wreckless, inconsiderate, stubborn attitude as a contributing factor to the spreading contagion loose on this ship." Xavier lashed back as he turned towards the console and had the potentially contaminated air on 5 decks contained and cycled into space. If she was right, it would buy time at most, time which he could use to run tests.

"You do that," BJ said. "Do whatever it is that you feel is necessary because that's what I'm doing. For your information, rather than let whatever that stuff is kill a second Security officer slowly, I vaporized him to spare the pain. The other was already dead. Stop whatever this is!"

"Then get out of my Sickbay and let me work Commander." Xavier snapped.

Charlie looked at BJ, then Xavier, "So, are you going to fix my wrist or do you just want me out as well?" She figured that she could fix it herself if he wasn't willing.

"In isolation, yes. Just that way with the Nurse, please and thank you." Xavier remarked in a less than pleased, mildly sarcastic tone.

"Fine, and while I'm at it, I'll get out of your quarters, too!" BJ said as she turned her back and headed towards the entrance of Sickbay.

"Do you remember what you asked me to do?" Xavier spoke. "What you asked me to prevent you from doing?" His gaze hard on her back as she walked towards the door.

She stopped and stood still for a moment, then slowly turned. "Xavier," she said softly. "You remembered. We'll talk later but I won't go unless you tell me to."

"We will talk at home about this, but yes I remembered." Xavier said softly. "This changes nothing." He still loved her, even if the battle between them make it appear otherwise.

"I'll see you there," BJ said. "Take care of Charlotte. I have a battle to fight."

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