In The Tubes
Posted on Thu Dec 26th, 2024 @ 11:01pm by Captain Yuri Nakamura & Commander Thomas Johnson & Commander Chisato Nishikigi & Major Chiyo Shimada & Lieutenant JG Nezuko & Lieutenant Takina Inoue & Lieutenant Mizuki Nakahara
1,675 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
The Nursery
Location: Elachi Nursery
Timeline: Concurrent with "Retaliation"
Thomas, had finally lost the Elachi pursuers, and right now, he had no idea where he was going. He had made a right, another right, a left. he didn't know, and he gotten all turned around. Finally, he came to an empty room. Slowly walking up to the console. Looking at the display, he recognized the writing.
"So they do have Romulans working onboard this station." He muttered, it was the only reason they would have it, and for them not to change them to one of their own, had to mean, either working together, or prisoner, that would serve no purpose changing, yet.
He looked around the room. The room was out of the way, took him long enough to get here, hopefully it was too far for them to think of looking for him. However, it also gave him an idea... he couldn't hack into Elachi computers, however, Romulan was a different story. Within moments, he had the doors closed and sealed behind him. Locking the doors, and changing the codes to the door.
Tapping his combadge, wincing, due to the wound. "Johnson to Commander Chisato."
Now whittled down to just a fraction of their initial size, the away team found themselves recuperating deep within the labyrinth of ducts and crawlways. While they had successfully evaded their elachi pursuers, in their haste to escape they hadn't been careful to make a note of where they were going, to the point where even Syaro wasn't a hundred percent sure where they were right now.
"Well... this is quite the predicament we've gotten ourselves into," Mizuki lamented once they realized they were more-or-less lost.
She couldn't get to her PADD, or even lift her hands to sign, so all Nezuko could do was nod and follow.
"At least you all sorta fit in here." Chiyo muttered.
"Yeah I know... I'm small..." Syaro replied with a sigh.
=A=Johnson to Commander Chisato,= Chisato's combadge suddenly chirped.
Chisato looked down at her badge, and then up at Chiyo. "Shouldn't he be radioing you?"
"Seems like regs are only comfortable talking with other regs." Chiyo grumbled.
Chisato simply shrugged before reaching over to tap her badge. =A=Go ahead, Commander.=A=
=A=I've been able to hack into what appears to be a Romulan Computer, much easier to decipher than the Elachi. =A= Thomas replied as he brought up the stations sensors. =A=Ive disabled all sensors from the tubes except for my own, and have the ability to find out where our people are. I will open the door for you, however... Major Chiyo, you will have to create a diversion with the remaining of your people. You are actually just outside of the room we are looking for.=A=
=A="Well, that's going to be a problem:"=A= Chiyo interjected. =A="I've only got two-"=A=
"Three!" Another marine called out.
=A="Three of my men left;"=A= Chiyo radioed the correction. =A="No way we can cause a meaningful diversion with that few people."=A=
=A=We will also need cover for the others=A= Thomas replied. =A=I have access to some of the least restricted systems... any suggestions.=A=
Chisato carefully pondered her options.
=A=As much as I hate the idea of throwing you the wolves, Commander, is there some way that you might be able to cause a distraction? Possibly lure them into a different part of the station so we can slip in there undetected?=A=
=A=If I do that, I can't help you from this end anymore. Those after me are currently not carrying those transporter weapons.=A= Thomas replied as he tapped a few buttons. =A=Doors are on a timer to unlock in three minutes.=A= A second later an alarm went off on the station. =A=Sensors show hostiles are leaving the area... good luck.=A=
=A=You as well, Commander,=A= Chisato nodded. =Nishikigi out.=A=
And with that, she terminated the communication and turned to Syaro. "Alright; according to Commander Johnson, we're right outside where we need to be; I know it's probably been a couple months, Lieutenant, but any vague memories of where we might be able to locate an access hatch?"
Syaro pondered for a few moments. "I think I remember. Although we did rush out of here, so it's all a little fuzzy." She explained. "The hatch to the 'breeding rooms' all have a mark on them. It's like a triangle with a strange swirly symbol in the middle."
"Alright, everyone keep their eyes peeled for a triangle with a swirly thingamajig in the center!" Chisato instructed. "We've probably only got a few minutes before the Elachi realize we're onto them and they circle back to the breeding rooms, so we've gotta move quickly!"
"Any idea as to the orientation of the triangle we're looking for?" Chiyo asked.
"Uh..." Chisato turned back in Syaro's direction. "Orientation! Any vague recollections of how the triangle was oriented? Was it pointed up, or down, or was it at some wonky angle-?"
"How the hell is she supposed to know?" Takina was quick to point out. "We didn't even know where the hell we were until two minutes ago!"
It was evident that the young ensign was having trouble remembering clearly. "I think..." she stuttered as she scrunched her eyes closed. "I think it pointed up... But I've seen so many symbols in this place. I just know that the triangle with a swirl has always led to a room with what I call 'breeding pods' in."
"She says she remembers the Triangle pointed up!" Chisato called back to the away team. "Though that may be wrong!"
Stopped as they were, Nezuko managed to get her tricorder into her hands for typing. "If there are other rooms marked with similar but distinct triangles, we can eliminate those symbols quickly. Open, look, no breeding pods, move on. At most five seconds. It may not be a bad idea to also quickly check other rooms, in case captives have been moved, or in case there is some resource we can use. A power generator room that can be sabotaged, a computer core we can hack. If nothing, we move on quickly."
"I think I got something!" Mizuki called out .
The other members if the away team quickly converged on Mizuki's location to find the Intel officer standing before a large, reinforced hatch, on which could be seen a large, triangular symbol, pointed up, with a spiral in the center- almost exactly as Lieutenant Kirima had described it.
Chisato turned to Syaro. "This look about right, Lieutenant?"
Syaro looked at the symbol and simply nodded.
Chisato shifted her attention over to Chiyo. "Kick it down, Major."
Nodding, Chiyo proceeded to focus all her energy into her foot and deliver a series of kicks to the hatch before it finally gave way.
The room the greeted them was huge and cavernous. It extended high above then with thousands of glass tube shaped pods. They were attached to the walls with balconies on the higher levels. Each pod had a female in them appearing to look as if sleeping. It extended so high that the ceiling wasn't visible, and on the main floor more pods set back to back from each other were set in lines as far as the eye could see.
Several of the nearby pods had humans in them. They looked as if they were sleeping, the bottom half of their shirts ripped away and each with a large rounded stomach. You could easily see something move inside them, squirming, desperate to get out. They varied I'm age, from young women barely out of their teen years to older women in their advanced years. Some of them wore Starfleet uniforms, however many of them were in civilian attire.
The room was deathly quiet, with no Elachi present. However a faint him could be picked up by those with sharper hearing, the sound of the pods keeping their victims secure and compliant.
"So this is it..." Chisato muttered as she took in the sheer size of the chamber. "A real Elachi breeding room... I'd imagined it was going to be massive, but nothing like this..."
Mizuki happened to peer into one of the pods and was horrified to witness the skin of the occupant's stomach expanding and contracting, as if something that was far too large to be in there was attempting to force its way out.
"I think I'm gonna be sick..." she gulped as she clenched her own stomach in disgust.
"Captain Nakamura and I were held on this level. Down there.. " Syaro said pointing down the center of the room at the pods on the lower level. "I think the newer arrivals are kept on the lower levels abd they move you up the longer you've been here." She explained.
[Meanwhile]
Johnson could hear the hostiles on the other side of the door, and the sound of it, they were soon going to be making their way through. Watching his team on the sensors, he could tell they stalled, not making any headway. He could run through the door he left open for himself, but he remained, tapping a few buttons, which would light up a path for the team to follow, it wouldn't be obvious to the hostiles, however anyone familiar with starfleet code would identify the flickering of lights, would be able to interpret. sent the final order to the computer to begin, and fry the computer afterwards. he heard the doors open, and heard weapons fire. Feeling extreme heat and feeling pain in his back, he knew it wasn't what they were familiar with, the transporting weapon. Soon he collapsed, His last visual was of a group of elachi, along with several Romulan officers walking up to him and firing again.
To be continued...