The Kriresian
Posted on Mon Oct 30th, 2023 @ 8:35am by Captain Aloysius Grayson & Lieutenant Commander Gosia Nowicka & Commander Agatha Oyihnmoda MD & Lieutenant Commander Vivian Ellis & Lieutenant Commander Rachel Lax & Lieutenant Commander Vorix t'Rennikh & Lieutenant Commander Tenner & Lieutenant Amri Vaughan & Lieutenant JG Diana Roseblack & Lieutenant JG Kasra Constantine
2,402 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
The Kriresian Gambit
Location: Various
Timeline: MD 2 0300
The Captain watched Lieutenant Commanders Vivian Ellis and Gosia Nowicka step onto the bridge. The appearance of a J-class freighter was on the main viewer. The registration matched on the datapad with the intelligence report that Lieutenant Mahvehokiskovar boarded this shuttle on Starbase 234.
Nowicka sat down beside the Captain after taking a look at the report, "Freighter matches the registration in the intel brief, Captain."
"Yes, I can see that," the Captain replied, "Let's try and see if we can bring anything on the shuttle in the registry, Miss Vaughan."
Amri gave a nod as she worked on her console researching the information. Before she could respond, she heard him start to speak again and decided against it.
Then the Captain issued an immediate order not giving his Chief Operations Officer much of a chance to respond to his order, "- Open hailing frequencies, Miss Constantine."
Kasra nodded her head silently, with a deft tap of several buttons, she spun looked across at her CO, "Frequencies open, Sir."
The main viewer shifted from the external perspective to an internal one, ostensibly the bridge. A rather cheerful-looking bolian smiled broadly. “Hello there! I am Thott, master and captain of this delightfully reliable, if aged, vessel. To what do I owe the pleasure of such a rugged Starfleet escort, however temporary our conjoined paths may be?”
Aggy quietly entered the bridge, nodding to the Captain as she took her place at one of the empty auxiliary stations.
The Captain rose to his feet, "I am Captain Aloysius Grayson, Commanding Officer of the USS Roosevelt. We are looking for a person of interest."
Captain Thott looked mildly surprised, though in a clearly fake and overacted manner. "Oh my! 'A person of interest,' you say? If you've come out all this way, I'm afraid your search may be quite short-lived, as I only have my small crew and a handful of passengers. It's amazing how many adventurers are not only interested in, but WILLING to pay for the experience of travelling on a bulk freighter across the star lanes!" He giggled at that little tidbit with honest enthusiasm. "At any rate, I'm afraid that I won't be dropping to sub-light speeds for our engagement. I have a shipping schedule to keep, and not a single vessel in my company has been late in the last 100 years. Take that, Dominion!" He spat on the deck. "At any rate, our shields are down, and you are welcome to come aboard at your convenience."
"We'll beam over momentarily,"
The bolian captain wiggled his fingers at the pickup, at which point the transmission terminated.
The connection broke out, "Commander Ellis, you have the conn. Lax, Oyihnmoda, and Vaughn with me."
As the CO stood, so did Vivian, nodding and her eyes following his form as Grayson moved away from the conn, "Aye Sir." A single step toward the chair and she sat, swiftly, back rigid and taking in the scene in front of her.
Vaughan quietly stepped away from her console, giving a nod to another officer that was taking her place as she followed the others to the turbo lift. Amri knew quickly from these types of leaders to speak, only when asked a question. She kept her thoughts to herself as she glanced a moments notice at the other officers.
Following along, Lax checked her sidearm to make sure it was fully charged and at the ready, but holstered. "Do we believe our runner is on that transport?"
Aggy rose and joined the group moving towards the lift.
[ Tag Lax ]
The Away Team rematerialized three at a time to meet the capacity of the freighter's teleportation abilities. Lieutenant Commander Lax and two Security Officers were the first two to beamed ahead before Doctor Oyihnmoda, Lieutenant Vaughan, and the Captain beamed aboard.
With a motion of her hand Lax signaled her security officers to spread out, as if to cover the transporter room for the Captain. Stepping forward she stood between anyone in the room with them and the pads, which turned out to be just Captain Thott. The Bolian simply stood there behind the small control pedestal with a pleasant smile on his face, doing his part to ensure the safe transport of his latest guests.
Captain Grayson stepped off the transporter pad to approach the freighter Captain. Thott stepped around the transporter controls and extended his hand to Grayson, pointedly ignoring the security team. "Welcome aboard, Captain, to you and yours."
"Thank you," Grayson took the Bolian pale blue hand into his own and shook it with a firm grip.
"As you are hounds on the hunt, I have elected NOT to alert the fox to the chase. My crew are either about their duties or in their berths. The passengers have a dedicated all-in-one quartering module which I have had installed above the original forward hull. It is completely self-contained, with its own life support, environmental seals, and disaster beacon. Standard protocol is that passengers may request to roam about the vessel at any time, provided I have an escort to spare to ensure their safety. Otherwise, they are to remain within the passenger module. No passengers are presently on the loose."
"How many passengers are you transporting, Captain?" Grayson inquired while the two Protective Services Officers followed behind their Captain closely. "Would you like a representative from your crew present?"
Thott gestured politely towards the door. "I have 6 passengers, Captain. As for an escort, I will personally see to your safety. Should you wish to, ahem, Split the Party, my bosun will accompany the others. There's not really much to do in deep space that my pilots can't handle. This hunt, for example!"
Grayson listened to the Bolian captain before nodding his head, "Show us the way, please."
The Captain gestured with his hand to continue moving forward.
Aggy had followed silently behind the Captain. The air of the freighter had a stale slightly metallic taste. She took a few scans ensuring that despite the taste there was nothing more nefarious than some stale air,
It was a short walk; J-class freighters were more tug than ship and the habitable section was a footnote on the fore of the vessel. Exiting the transporter room, Thott took a left down a short corridor to a door that was obviously much newer than the surrounding structure. The door was open already, as if by default it stayed in this spot unless in use. The compartment inside was spacious enough for all of them. "This is the only lift, and its stops are here and the passenger pod. Everywhere else is accessed through companionway stairs." With that simple introduction, Thott stepped in and waved the boarding party in to join him.
The Captain followed in behind the Bolian captain. The rest of the away team followed in behind him, "Chief Patterson. Remain here at the lift incase if he decides to make a run for it. Let any crew know that lift access is temporarily unavailable while we are onboard."
Open Tag to anyone that wants to play Chief Patterson.
Thott pressed one of only 2 controls available: the up button. The doors closed and the car began its ascent. scant seconds later the party was presented with the consolidated lounge of the passenger pod. Opposite the lift were a series of panoramic windows showing off the forward view of space, currently streaked with stars as the ship was still at warp. The port and starboard bulkheads featured 8 doors each, all closed. "Each stateroom is an independent suite," Captain Thott said as he stepped out of the lift first. "The fore cabins always go first as they have the best views. The aft pair sometimes go as fast, as they are the cheapest and have the worst views. As it stands, all four corner cabins are occupied, as are the forward pair of the middle rates." He wandered over to the couch facing the forward windows and took a seat, gazing out into the star-streaked abyss and leaving the Starfleet crew to their work.
He looked over to Vaughan behind him, "Stand guard over the lift in case he decides to make a run for it."
Vaughan nodded her head, "Yes, Captain." She quietly stood by the lift with her weapon at the ready.
"And which cabin is our person of interest?" The Captain inquired.
Thott didn't even so much as turn away from the star-streak view. "Your guess is better than mine, Captain. You never told me WHO your 'person of interest' is. The way I see it, you've got three options. First: Give me a name and I'll give you a cabin. Second: Pick at random until you guess right. Third, use those fancy tricorders and sensors, and what have you that Starfleet loves to wave about to hedge your bet."
"Commander Lax, Chief Pollack - with me. Start scanning for Kriresian life signs." The Captain nodded, "Doctor, Captain Thott. Please wait for us here."
Commander Lax pulled her tricorder from its holster and started scanning, as she followed the Captain, her right hand never leaving the relaxed yet telling hover at her right hip. "Sir." She confirmed the order. With ease of practice, her left thumb glided across the tricorder's controls as if she were dialing an antique telephone.
Thott didn't move from where he continued to sit on the couch. "I'm here to make sure my ship doesn't hurt you, and that all activities are lawful and above board as is my responsibility as Captain. I'm staying out of the way of any scuffle you get into while conducting a lawful apprehension."
Aggy's tricorder hung in her hand, she was taking in the view and the panoramic views were quite lovely. She turned her attention to the guests, an older pair was currently seated at a low table, playing some sort of card game that at first glance was something like two-player solitaire.
Turning her attention to her tricorder she confirmed that none of the life signs in the area registered as Kriresian. She did, however, detect a low-level subspace field that seemed out of place. She adjusted the scan parameters to attempt to localize a source.
"What's the status, Doctor?" The Captain looked over at her while they walked towards the living quarters from the common area.
Before the doctor could answer, the door to the living quarters opened and a hoarse shout came out.
"Heghlu’meH QaQ jajvam!"
It was followed by a improvised explosive device comprised of various components that appeared be made of various parts cannibalized from the ship. The clank-clank-clank of its tumbling was a slow countdown to detonation.
A deafening flash filled the common area, briefly blinding and stunning anyone caught in its radius.
From out of the flashbang came first the silhouette of Mahvehokiskovar followed by the man himself, curved shortblade in hand, charging straight for Grayson.
Grayson was blinded by the flashbang along with both Lax and the Doctor.
Lieutenant Vaughan meanwhile drew her phaser in hand standing at her post where her captain had assigned her.
Seeing the phaser, Mahvehokiskovar abandoned the killing blow he had intended for Grayson and instead seized him for a human shield. The curved shortblade's edge went to Grayson's neck close enough to bite flesh.
"Drop it!" he barked, keeping his head behind Grayson's with only one eye peeking out. "Drop the weapon or I spray the deck!"
Aggy squeezed hers shut trying to will the pain in her eyes to dissipate. Getting her feet below her, she got to her feet. Her eyes struggled to bring the Captain into focus.
Vaughan hesitated for a moment before dropping her phaser on the ground.
Aloysius didn't feel the blade against his neck. He began to plot his way out of the situation they were in, "Now put the dagger down, let me go, and then we can talk."
"Shut up, targ!" Mahvehokiskovar spat as he edged around the common area back toward the way the crew had entered. "I'm giving the orders. You all stand here and don't move a muscle and don't call for backup. If I suspect anyone is heading me off at the pass, if I so much as suspect a transporter lock, I will give your captain a necktie with his own tongue."
Then the explosive had gone off, Captain Thott had been flung forward off the couch. He'd landed in front of the plush accommodation, out of sight of anyone not standing directly over the couch and looking down. As his awareness returned, he heard the distinct sounds of threats being leveled. He couldn't have that, not on his well run ship. His right hand reached into his jacket and thumbed a small device.
A green flash burst through the entire compartment, emanating somewhere in the ceiling. A widefield burst of pure stun energy washed over everyone: Captain Thott, his passengers, the Starfleet officers, and their quarry, rendering all unconscious in a single fell swoop.
When Thott opened his eyes, he found his bosun grinning down at him. "Have a nice nap, Captain?"
Thott chuckled and slowly sat up. He was still in the passenger module, and his engineers were standing over the unconscious forms of everyone else. "No rest for the wicked, I'm afraid. Clap that one in irons," he said, indicating the 'passenger' that had gotten violent with Captain Grayson. "Then get on the horn with the Roosevelt. They have a brig cell waiting for him, and I'm certain the ships medical staff will want to oversee the recovery of their personnel."
Captain Aloysius Grayson
Commanding Officer, USS Roosevelt NCC-47180
Lieutenant Commander Vivian Ellis
Executive Officer, USS Roosevelt NCC-47180
Lieutenant Commander Vorix
Chief Engineer, USS Roosevelt NCC-47180
Lieutenant Commander Rachel Lax
Chief Tactical Officer & Chief Security Officer, USS Roosevelt NCC-47180
Lieutenant Amri Vaughn
Chief Operations Officer Officer,USS Roosevelt NCC-47180
Lieutenant JG Kasra Constantine
Communications Officer, USS Roosevelt NCC-47180
Lieutenant JG Diana Roseblack
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Roosevelt NCC-47180
Lieutenant Commander Gosia Nowicka
Strategic Operations Officer, USS Roosevelt NCC-47180
and
Lieutenant Commander Tenner
Incoming Chief of Security, USS Roosevelt NCC-47180
as the Kriresian
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