The Other Side (Part 5 of 6)

Posted on 20 Apr 2023 @ 6:35pm by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant JG Rafe Caradec & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater & Ensign Amanda Turell & Petty Officer 2nd Class Donald Andrews & Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen & Lia Quil & Marcus Mulder
Edited on on 20 Apr 2023 @ 6:37pm

4,455 words; about a 22 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: Cold Station 31 - Level 3
Timeline: MD 10, 1705 hrs

Previously, on The Other Side (Part 5)...

"See?" Ullswater snapped back, as if this piece of evidence that confirmed some of her speculation vindicated her whole viewpoint "How can you look at this situation with any hope? There are no ways out, just more death and more horrible secrets. What makes you think we could find a way out if they could not? Its like the transcript says: the thing about the descent to Avernus is that the way in is easy but very few ever find a way out." She sounded almost annoyed that the rest of the team weren't accepting the fate she had prescribed for them. The pained look on her face hid nothing of the hopelessness she was feeling "You're so wrong. You're so wrong I don't even know what to say. There's no way out."

Vansen looked at her, frowning before he looked back at the console. "We breathe," he said, after a moment. "While we breathe, there is always another way. And if that way leads to death, then at least we have gone out while trying to find a way out.." he said before he searched through the logs. And then stopped. Staring at it. "Gods below, Prophets and all..." he shook his head, eyes narrowing. "Transwarp beaming. I...I got..." he opened the file, staring at what looked like just a line of text. And underneath it....

Just a body on a slab, eyes missing.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Vansen swallowed bile at the image, taking a deeper breath. "I...this is...." he breathed and then the screen went black. He tried to recover the file, but couldn't...and he wasn't even sure if anyone else had seen it.

"What was that?" Allyndra pointed. "It looks a little like what we have been dealing with. Or is it an autopsy record?"

"It...it was just an image..." Vansen said and tried to bring up something, anything, again. "I don't...it's working, I'm just...getting nothing."

Ullswater hadn't seen what had shown on the screen but the looks on the faces of the other two officers and the doctor's response were all she needed to draw her conclusions "What did I say?" The ensign raised her voice in an accusational tone "What do you hope to find in these logs? What more do you need to see before you admit that I'm right? We'll die here and the Federation will brush it under the rug, again."

Amanda listened to the rest of the team discussing more technical matters and Ensign ullswater slowly losing it again. If she was close enough she'd have got up and slapped some sense into the woman but instead shouldered her rifle and fired an imaginary stun shit at the her chuckling as the beams hit would have made the ensign almost backflip as she was stunned.

"So your suggestion is that we just sit down and die?" Blake watched her, features cool, hands on the back of her hips as she straightened. "When you signed up to Starfeet, when you put on that uniform, you made a promise to always do your best. Be your best. I don't believe for a second that sitting down and dying is your best, Ensign. Besides, if it is choice between dying doing nothing or dying trying to survive, then the latter is the only one that still gives us a chance..." she looked around the group, jaw tense and gaze steady. "This is just a prison by any other name. It is every Starfleet officer's duty to attempt escape, and I expect every one of you to carry out that duty, is that understood?"

Sofie wouldn't have imagined that, in the face of another Federation cover up of scientific disaster, an appeal to duty and the uniform could have moved her. However there was something in the way the commander spoke that couldn't help but move her. It reminded her a little of Navrin, it reminded her a little of why she had joined starfleet in the first place, and it reminded her a little of all the times she had tried her best. She wasn't at her best right now, that was undeniable, but that shouldn't mean giving up. She nodded, not fully convinced but enough to stop herself from arguing further "Alright sir, we'll try our best."

Blake nodded in response, proud of the courage in the other woman for the commitment. "Okay," she said, her voice softer, literally taking a pause for breath and letting them too. "Vansen, Andrews, are you able to find any more about that transwarp beaming?"

"I..." Vansen looked over at Andrews, with a quick nod. He motioned Donald over, starting to open the index. "I hate going in the back end," he admitted in a quiet whisper, more to fill that tense quiet. "The font changes and..." he paused, touching the console. "Hello..." he brought up the file. "It looks like they did successfully send some things using the transwarp. Inanimate objects. But when they started using...sentient subjects, things went...wrong."

"Transwarp..." Donald said with a heavy exhale. "Lot of stuff that can go wrong with that, and that's for a ship, never mid when you stick one of us fleshy folks into the mix." As any good engineer had he'd read up on transwarp theory.

Allyndra ignored the thought they were going to all die. If they all went to the arms of the gods so be it, but she was not going to huddle in a corner awaiting whatever fate was ordained. "You say successful. If nobody made it through, then how is it a success? See if you can do an inquiry of logs to bring up later when the so-called success took place."

"What was successful was sending inanimate objects," Vansen said, annoyance creeping into his voice and he couldn't hide it. "Something went wrong when they tried sending people over. No one went to the destination..." he frowned as he tried to do what he had told to do...try and do an inquiry of the logs. He stopped, biting his lip for a moment, worrying it until it felt painful. "Wait...Donald, have a look at the log for the transporter pattern buffer. I got references to a pattern re-appearing. Is it a glitch or do you see that too?"

Hardware was more Donald's thing than software but he watched what Constantin was doing while checking out things for himself. "Let me take a look," he said when Constantin asked him to double check the transport buffer log. He bought the log up on another screen and after a few seconds looked back to him. "It's no glitch there is definitely a pattern there."

Allyndra was getting impatient but she knew that saying or doing anything but keeping an eye out for an attack or on the rest of the injured was the job she needed to do.

Vansen nodded and turned his head, looking over at Blake. "It's...a bit choppy, but I am willing to bet that they tested transwarp transporters...and with the people they sent, it went wrong somehow. But there's evidence that some came back. Didn't go anywhere, their pattern went, and then reappeared..." he frowned and got the log up, to read it. "...but where from we don't know."

"Well right now, that transporter might be our way out of here," Blake shook her head, motioning to Donald. "Andrews, copy whatever data you can," at least they wouldn't be leaving completely empty handed in terms of the mission. "Vansen, find out everything you can about this transporter and where it is..." Blake stopped, the hairs on the back of her neck lifting when a high pitched scraping noise dragged her attention away. She turned quickly, but the next scrape came from above. Dropping to one knee, she lifted her rifle ready, trying to work out what it was at the same time as suppressing a shiver from the way it set her teeth on edge.

The scraping sound caught Amanda's attention too and she shouldered her rifle, checking the targetter "I got nothing Commander." Slowly she forced herself up the wall to stand up, her body still quite groggy.

Allyndra heard the noise and saw the reactions. She moved away and tested her wings. They had not fully healed and she could only get enough lift about like a Terran chicken. Not real flight, more like an assisted big jump. She had not spotted anything yet.

Vansen tilted his head up as well at the sound...scraping, then shuffling. He frowned, taking a deeper breath, his eyes running along in. "There's something in the airshafts," he said, aloud, jumping at a distinctive bang from above their heads.

There was another bang, followed by a red glow from above. It outlined in the ceiling, creating a hole. There was a sudden loud thud and the metal fell to the floor, the sound echoing through the room.

Ullswater tried her best to remember how she had felt just moments before when Blake had convinced her that this wasn't going to be the death of all of them, because right now she was slowly being swayed back to thinking it would be. She had to cling on to something, try to do or say something useful or else she knew she was about to lose it again. She was the science officer, being useful here meant she had to relay her scientific observations to the senior officers. "Sir, I think there is a hole in the ceiling." Well, it was something.

"Wait a minute!" Allyndra called out. "What we have dealt with usually doesn't cut holes. They appear or whatever. Hello!" she called out while trying to flit upward awkwardly.

Lamar Darius could hear the abomination coming from above. His bloodshot eyes had trained on the clattering from the ceiling and the subsequent metallic thump on the deck. The creatures were back...to take him. Take all of them to the furthest reaches of Hell. Groggily, he closed one eye to focus on the new aperture. "Rookie mistake..." he muttered to himself, pulling his body back to his feet. He swayed for a moment as the blood rushed from his head to his extremities, then he pulled his hand phaser and aimed it at the dark opening. "...Not today, bitch..." he fired. A concentrated stream of orange phased energy loudly swooshed from the tip of his weapon and impacted the peripheral of the ceiling opening. An explosion of sparks burst out from the impact, lighting and showering the room with fading embers.

Sofie heard it in his voice, that he'd seen it too, that he'd fight not to go back there. One man fighting against the fire. She had no doubt he could feel the oppressive heat too. With a quick glance between him and Commander Warraquim she knew he had to be right. "We won't go back." she quietly murmured before shouting over to the commander "Sir, get back! It's danger, danger in the pipes." She grabbed hold of Allyndra, trying to pull her out of Lamar's line of fire.

"Danger is if someone doesn't stop firing their phasers at people!" a voice from above shouted. "I've got half a mind to throw a grenade down at you!" The moment the firing stopped, a pair of legs descended...followed by the entire, whole person. The tall man watched the group with his one good eye, the other covered with a bandage. His clothes were wrinkled, but care had been taken to clean it up as much as possible. Same with his face. Even his grey hair seemed to have been somewhat tidied, but he looked like he had been there a while. "For a rescue party, you are awfully quick to fire at people..." he muttered before he looked up. "It's safe, you can come down.

Amanda kept her rifle aimed at the new arrival at it emerged from the opening in the ceiling, it looked human enough but with what they had already encountered she wasn't taking any chances.

Blake's weapon was still lifted as she watched him with cool, steady eyes, but she was back on her feet, body ready to move if needed. "Identify yourself."

He looked at her for a moment, studying her before he looked around on the group. "My name is Mulder, I'm a scientist," he said, but kept it at that. "I am...surprised you're here. I was not expecting anyone to come."

"You were a scientist here?" Ullswater moved to be next to Darius, it felt like he was the only person she could trust to have her back here. "That means you're a murderer. That means you were an architect of these monstrosities. You doomed us all."

Mulder looked at her with annoyance, taking a deeper breath before dismissing her from his mind and emotions as a speck of dust. "Don't speak, little girl, about things you have no understanding about," he said and held his hands up to the hole. "It's okay, you can come down now."

"Hey, asshole," Darius replied back to the older gray-haired Human. The conn officer's phaser now aimed back to the ceiling after the indication of a second, unknown person. Or creature. "The ensign was talking to you. There's dead bodies all throughout this station. And now," he blinked to help soothe and moisturize his red eyes, "we can't find a way back to our shuttles. So tell us...what the hell is going on?!"

"Take a breath, Chief," Blake cut in lightly, not wanting to throw a spark into this tinderbox. She kept her rifle lifted all the same...not right at him now, but close enough to it to shoot if needed. She looked this scientist up and down. He'd been through hell as well by the looks of it, but was trying to look like he hadn't. "His question's valid though, Mulder."

Mulder exhaled, looking up before he gave a small smile. His little bird would come down eventually. He turned to look at Blake, his eye on her. "I suppose you did not get the message not to come here then?" he asked lightly before he exhaled. "You aren't going to get back to your shuttles. Not the way you came anyway. That door...is closed. This place knows it is where you want to go, so it has blocked it from you."

The shock wore off as did the hurt from being rough handled so Allyndra had her wits together. "Does any of your party need medical help? I see you have a bandage. I am the chief medical officer."

Mulder looked at her, letting out a breath. "I'm fine," he said, firmly, before he looked up at the hole, as if he was expecting someone. When he spoke, his voice was calm, measured...oddly warm and reassuring. "But everyone needs to stay calm. This place, it will...prey on your fears. And your aggression. A more Vulcan approach can help." He looked over at them, taking in the ground of Starfleet personnel, studying each and every one.

Blake let out a tight breath at his words, shaking her head firmly. It wasn't what she had wanted to hear. "I don't believe in the idea of a fate being sealed," she said quietly, lowering her rifle a little more just the same. "But you're right on one account. We're going to have to keep our heads."

With the situation getting back to something resembling normal Amanda resumed her position on the floor propped up against the wall saving what energy she had remaining.

There was a rustling from above them before a pair of feet came through the hole. Humanoid feet. A slight woman jumped down, catching her balance as she hit the deck. Her blonde hair was tied out of the way and her clothing was torn and stained with blood. She cradled her arm close, keeping it in the handmade sling as she moved to be close to Mulder. She may have been tempted down with the calmer exchange, but she watched them all with mistrust.

"So how many of you are hiding in the pipes?" Her fear was the only thing Ensign Ullswater felt she could trust right now, she was no Vulcan and she wasn't going to be ignoring what that fear was telling her. She shuffled ever closer to Darius, the only other person in this room who seemed to have their sanity intact "You must have been watching us from up there so I have to wonder how when they came through the walls you were able to avoid them. Seems to me like you aren't on our side and your cryptic answers aren't helping your case here. Tell us what you did. Tell us what this is."

Mulder held the woman from the vent close, but with a gentle touch as if she was a frightened animal. "There's one more," he said, glancing up, before looking at Ullswater. "You'll forgive our caution. This place has driven a lot of the personnel here...to a level of aggression that is unparalleled. Caution was deemed as the best thing. I wanted to make sure you weren't cannibals." He touched the woman's shoulder before he looked up. "Caradec, come down. These are your people after all. Starfleet."

Rafe jumped down, tripping over his left foot due to pure exhaustion, landing flatly on his chest. Everyone could hear the loud thud as he slammed on the floor, and then the flight officer wheezed a barely heard "I'm good", with a thumbs up sign. However, it took him several seconds to catch his breath and stand up, weaving just a bit. Blood and cuts on the front of his uniform said everything. That they survived was a testament to their cunning and collective abilities at staying alive.

"No offence...you don't look it," Vansen said, watching the three for a moment. He looked over at the others for a moment. No matter what, the uniform meant something, so he stepped over to Rafe and met his eyes. "Strength in numbers, right?"

Rafe shook the Petty Officer 3rd Class' hand and said, "Something like that, and I imagine I don't...probably more like something the cat dragged in! Every one of you are a sight for sore eyes! Thank you. Thank you for rescuing us!" It was all he could do not to become emotional considering the situation. While seeing them and being among fellow Starfleet personnel Rafe could suddenly feel the fatigue set in from lack of adequate rest for so long. He finally felt like he could let his mind relax a little. His body immediately followed his mind and suddenly sagged against the wall, ending up sitting, about to collapse.

"Despite the what you say, you appear as anything but fine. Alive yes, but fine no." Allyndra put her hands on her slim hips. "I'm Commander Allyndra from the Galileo, second in command of this group and third overall on the ship. As mentioned I am the Chief Medical officer. Commander Blake is in charge here and the first officer of the ship." She made brief introductions to the command team. "We managed to get some indication this station was attempting transwarp transport. From what little we have be able to ascertain and from what we have encountered it is apparent that things have gone horribly wrong. Can any of you elucidate anything more?"

Rafe could care less about introductions right now. He needed a hypo right away. "Mam, in all honesty, I don't care who everyone is right now. And since you said you're the CMO, I need a hypo of whatever you can provide to help me right now. Please, I'm fading fast!" He could feel his heart racing. Yet, despite this he could sense his eyes about to close and he knew darkness would follow.

Allyndra nodded and fetched a hypo out of her kit. They were running out things since everything started but she would spare what she could for the new people.

"There you go." She said as she pressed the hypo into his arm. "Should keep you going for a bit."

"Transwarp?" the woman amongst this new group watched the ground, but she gave something that was almost a laugh at the idea of it. Lia Quil had skin so pale she could have been a doll. She looked as fragile as one too. "That was a lifetime ago. A...pile of bodies ago..."

Allyndra held her temper. She knew there was a lot of shock with the newcomers and they had been here even longer in whatever this place had become. "There was new research?" She asked using her best doctor and counselor voice, a warm neutral.

"There was a lot of new research," Mulder said and touched Quil's shoulder, watching Allydra with a stern expression. "It went wrong and we were...transported here. We have been searching for a way out. There are unstable pockets...if you fall through it, you end up between...there and here. Lose your mind."

"If you are lucky, just your mind," Lia added quietly, clutching her arm in the bloody sling closer. She glanced around, but didn't actually look directly at anyone. "You need an anchor if you want to survive here."

Blake resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose, she also held back the deep sigh that was brewing. "I would love to get full statements from you all when we get back. Right now, we have a job to do. We're recovering what files we can. Now we need to recover anyone else we can. Do you know if there are any other survivors?" the fact they'd found any was a shimmering miracle.

The red-collared conn officer, Darius, raised his hand then said, "I have a question too." His was a little more practical in nature, and directed at Mulder. Recovering logs and finding more survivors was important. Sure. But the reality of their situations was pressing much harder on his jumbled thoughts. "How do we get out of this hellplace?? And I don't want to hear any 'I don't knows' from either of you eggheads."

Mulder looked at him, running his eyes over the other man. "Well, you beat away the attacking playing cards with your hands and wake up under a tree..." he said, lightly, before he took a deeper breath. "Is that better than the truth?" He looked over at Blake, his jaw tense. "There were others, but they're dead."

"They know the layout better than me", Rafe said. "I've only been here a short time. But give me a ship, and I can fly us out of here quicker than you can say 'Engage!'", he said, smiling. Yep, Rafe was feeling better, starting to get back to his old self. He stood up and stretched. He was so ready to get out of here his skin was crawling!

Vansen rubbed the back of his own head, still oddly sticky and stiff with dried blood. "We have a shuttle, problem is...this place is...not right. And there's the...creatures."

"Two shuttles," corrected Lamar who finally observed the new Starfleet officer and his appearance. Like Darius, Caradec was a also tall man who was about an inch taller than he and probably ten pounds heavier. His brown hair and blue eyes contrasted strikingly against his red-collared uniform -- one similar to his own. "You're a pilot?" he asked the junior lieutenant, noticing his rank pips.

"I am, since I was young. I've piloted everything except the Prometheus, Sovereign, and Nebula class ships, and maybe a few smaller trader frigates. I got a lot of flight time at Jupiter Station on all kinds of ships." He neglected to mention his rescue and supply runs near the Romulan neutral zone. He would let his flying speak for itself.

*Like any of you really know how to fly* Allyndra thought but kept from voicing her opinion. There was something else. "Yes, we came here in two shuttles so plenty of room if we can get back to them. Now then, you said transported into this place? As if this is not exactly the station proper or am I not understanding?"

"I'm not sure this place counts as somewhere," Lia said quietly, looking around slowly, her dry lips parted. "You wouldn't call a void a somewhere. And if we're nowhere, then we're both dead and alive..." she paused, tilting her head, as if listening. "We can't stay here much longer." She turned her head to Mulder, even if she didn't quite look at him. "Vansen and Andrews are the ones we need. Ullswater may have been of use, but is too far gone. The rest are superfluous."

"Afraid we have to take them all," Mulder said, touching her arm for a moment. "I am sure they all have strengths that...can help." He looked around, carefully. "Your injuries...did it touch you? Did the dark touch you?"

Rafe slowly turned his head towards Mulder to his left as he slowly reached for his phaser with his right hand. "What in the world did you just say?!? Take?!? Just who do you think you are mister?!!" Rafe's eyes narrowed as he trained his phaser on Mulder while beginning to step back. His foot landed on some conduit which rolled out from under his foot and his right hand hit the banister as he tried to steady himself and his phaser went off, the beam hitting one of the support columns for the warp core.

Lia looked across to Marcus, and actually met his eyes for once. She arched an eyebrow, her lips pressed together. Superfluous she sent to him telepathically.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CWO3 Lamar Darius
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Saalm]

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

CMDR Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A

ENS Sofie Ullswater
Deputy Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

ENS Amanda Turell
Security Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

PO2 Donald Andrews
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

PO3 Constantin Vansen
Operations Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

Marcus Mulder
Cold Station 31
[PNPC Rice]

Lia Quil
Cold Station 31
[PNPC Blake]

LTJG Rafe Caradec
Conn Officer
Cold Station 31

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