This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.
Next revision | Previous revisionNext revisionBoth sides next revision | ||
current_story:return_from_innocence [2021/02/14 20:36] – created cromwell | current_story:return_from_innocence [2021/11/07 14:26] – cromwell | ||
---|---|---|---|
Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
---- | ---- | ||
+ | **Location: | ||
+ | **Timeframe: | ||
+ | |||
+ | When the Republic' | ||
+ | |||
+ | As for their location, Victor Virtus' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Two days after the skeleton crew of nine immersed themselves in some hard-earned downtime, Saal Yezbeck summoned Theo "Doug Forrest" | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Take a look," he waved to the information displayed on the monitor. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "What am I looking at?" he asked. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "The station' | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "How so?" | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Yes, but other proteins normally have some sort of purpose in the human body. The proteins from these modified genes didn't seem to have a purpose until I realized what happened to them in synchronic distortion fields. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Doctor Yezbeck pressed a button on the monitor to change the image to high-resolution animal cell. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "The proteins integrated themselves into the phospholipid membranes of the cells and resonated a perfect one-hundred-and-eighty degree counter-resonance to the frequency of Geodesic radiation." | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Saal, please," | ||
+ | |||
+ | "The proteins produced by these genetic modifications in concert with the synchronic distortion field are what protects against Geodesic radiation. | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I cultured the DNA of everyone in the secure medical file, and grew research cells from them in these well plates," | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Saal nodded again. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Which ones?" | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | The implications astounded Theo. He folded his arms in thought, trying to figure out the endgame. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "How does that happen?" | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Do you know what you're saying?" | ||
+ | |||
+ | "He was ordered to." | ||
+ | |||
+ | "WHO gave the order?" | ||
+ | |||
+ | "The order was signed by Admiral Vladamir... Kristoff... Kostya. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Theo and Saal stared at one another dumbfoundedly, | ||
+ | |||
+ | "You know what this means?" | ||
+ | |||
+ | "It means," | ||
+ | |||
+ | The two colleagues stared at one another in thought, reflecting upon the words of the old man several weeks ago when they first got back together on Risa. Their ex-boss promised that Kostya would be brought to justice, but didn't elaborate on how, only cryptically mentioning that "heads would roll." | ||
+ | |||
+ | Kostya was dabbling in eugenics to purify the human race, used Gamma Serpentis as the guinea pig, and was following in the footsteps of mass murderers like John Frederick Paxton, Colonel Greene, and Adolf Hitler. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Suddenly, the intercom came to life, stirring them away from their dark and troubled thoughts. | ||
+ | |||
+ | //" | ||
+ | |||
+ | ---- | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | **Location: Main Bridge, deck 1, USS Republic nee Asgard, NCC-76241** | ||
+ | |||
+ | As Theo and Saal arrived on the bridge, over half the members of Task Force Trident were present. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Minutes passed silently as the ship closed in on the star system that the HMS Republic universe Victor Virtus had first triangulated as the source of the " | ||
+ | |||
+ | As Republic nee Asgard smoothly flew into the inner planets of the system at a few hundredths of units below the lightspeed barrier, it took only minutes to zero in on the single barely-habitable planet in the star system. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Any response to our hails?" | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Have the bioscanners cleared any?" the commander asked. | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | | ||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Into the atmosphere?" | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Well, Blimpy hasn't been able to get the cloaking device online yet," she explained. | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "It always applies," | ||
+ | |||
+ | "If Carter' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "That, or he's dead," St. John hypothesized, | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Theo "Doug Forrest" | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Yes sir," Sheila Anderson replied. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "And disassembling of Starfleet property -- as Doctor Yezbeck has already detected -- could be seen as a hostile act by that population, especially if that technology could be used against us. Correct?" | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Yes sir." | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I suppose General Order Thirty could be interpreted that way," she admitted. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Right then," Blake nodded, slapping his hands firmly on his lap, signifying he had reached a conclusion. | ||
+ | |||
+ | As he did so, Commander St. John turned back around. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Okay, so, we have no cloaking device. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Aye aye, sir..." | ||
+ | |||
+ | And lower into the atmosphere they went. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ---- | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | First sunrise came quickly over the sparsely vegetated, windswept landscape of Garsol; the rays of the distant yellow sun peeking out from behind the jagged mountains off in distance, like a playful child enjoying a leisurely game of hide and seek through an irregularly-spaced picket fence. | ||
+ | |||
+ | As morning broke, the locals emerged to tend their crops, climbing the steps from their canyon abodes below, and stepping out onto the fields to begin their daily task of clearing unwanted scrub and fungi away with a select number of farm implements and digging utensils. | ||
+ | |||
+ | One such farm worker paused his tilling of the soil, laying his long-handled rake against a nearby rock and retrieving a red clay flask with a stopper make of a soft, moss-like material. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The foundation site of the new lunar temple had been a painstaking practice in decorative brickwork, as laying each flattened square red stone in an architecturally-sound and precise manner was important to forming the impressive montage of concentric circles on the ground. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "They don't make them like they used to," the tall, lithe warrior woman commented while studying the architectural plans. | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | They paused their critical review of the drawings to listen closely to a distant screaming. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Stand your ground!" | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Still new to his priestly role, the young man held his hands up and let the feathery folds of his colorful robes flow in the wind. | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Bah-Ki wasn't truly certain of the benevolence of the metal beast above, and he knew he was taking a risk by labeling it as a "Holy Visitor" | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Find Zharon!" | ||
+ | |||
+ | As the pre-teen ran off quickly in another direction, Bah-Ki stood next to Dadjinn, pulling out a spyglass from his belt pouch. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "It has the same markings as Carter' | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Moments later, a panting, out-of-breath older man came plodding up to Dadjinn and Bah-Ki, led by the child that Dadjinn sent to fetch him. The old man's grey-tinged facial hair was a stark contrast to his deep blue skin, which was wrapped less in ceremonial jewelry, and hosted more out-of-place items such as peculiar looking shoulder-slung storage pouches along with mechanical devices composed of leather and metal. | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "He went out before first sunrise," | ||
+ | |||
+ | "The sky must have been listening," | ||
+ | |||
+ | "What do we do now?" Bah-Ki asked Dadjinn after a moment. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "We wait," she explained. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ---- | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | **Location: Main bridge, deck 1, USS Republic nee Asgard** | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Okay, we got their attention," | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "BY REGULATION," | ||
+ | |||
+ | "You were waiting for that, weren' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Off the record, I was HOPING for this situation," | ||
+ | |||
+ | "This must be how you stayed alive in McCain' | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Sheila nodded her head as she pushed away the pivoted helm console and stood up. | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Looking around at the attire of his officers, he noted the menacing black apparel of Starfleet Intel' | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | As with the discussion about the Prime Directive earlier, St. John scanned the faces of his officers and found no dissenting opinion. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Okay then," he dismissed them. "Good luck, and I hope you find John Carter." | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ---- | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | **Location: Transporter Room 5, deck 14, USS Republic nee Asgard** | ||
+ | |||
+ | As ordered, the four officers reported to the transporter room fully prepped for a diplomatic away mission. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The old-fashioned landing party scene was almost comical as the officers filed into the room, so much so that Petty Officer Louise Clayborne, who was manning the transporter controls, couldn' | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | For her part, Sheila looked as if she was going to punch Clayborne. | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "That being?" | ||
+ | |||
+ | "To beam up a random native, shout ' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "You know me too well," she replied back playfully while dialing in the beam-down coordinates. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Keep a lock on us," Theo struck a more serious tone. " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ---- | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | As the veil of transporter energy faded, there were gasps of awe and intrigue among the gathered crowd of blue-skinned aliens. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "You are Starfleet?" | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I am Dadjinn," | ||
+ | |||
+ | Forrest was about to ask another question when a low, oscillating hum of miniature anti-grav plates came to his ears. At first, it was in the distance, but became louder within seconds. | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | //<tag = Carter>// | ||
+ | |||
+ | **OFF** | ||
+ | |||
+ | **Moderator Story Post** | ||