Troubling findings, Part 2

Posted on Sat Mar 6th, 2021 @ 1:59pm by Lieutenant Mila Lynn & Colonel Sehan t'Varis & Major Ashley Rogers & Lieutenant T'Ango

2,224 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Chapter III: The Hunt is On
Location: Commander's Ready Room, I.R.W. Ourainavassa
Timeline: 238702.05

Raven hurried back to her ready room and quickly accessed the encrypted files on the main holographic screen. Once again, she was faced with a password field, and the hint "UBI OMEGA". Swiftly, she entered the co-ordinates of the Hobus system, and a recorded video message appeared - an old Romulan, wearing a slightly tatty Tal Shiar General's uniform.

"Sehan," the old man said, speaking solemnly. "If you accessed this, congratulations. You figured it out. But then I expected no less." He smiled. "This ship was always meant for you. I don't know how you finally acquired it, but that does not matter. If you figured out the password, you will have also been to Hobus, and encountered Omega. And you probably wonder what that is."

"Several years ago, Starfleet encountered a particle that threatens the very fabric of the universe. They called it Omega, and instituted their Omega Doctrine. Any ship, no matter their current mission, is tasked to destroy any Omega Particle they encounter. These particles are highly volatile, and have the potential to severely damage subspace. I don't know how the Tal Shiar have acquired them, but they are experimenting with Omega Particles. For the last five years, I have made it my mission to find out what they were doing with them. Unfortunately, I failed to find their motives, but I have learned this."

"They have constructed a station at Hobus for their experiments, with an incredible power supply. I believe they may be trying to weaponise Omega. Imagine the devastation they could cause if they were able to inject unstable Omega Particles into a sun. I conferred with researchers from outside our Empire. Outside our dimension, even. These files contain all I have learned. The plans for their research station. I know I have committed an unprecedented act of treason, and I know the Tal Shiar will have my life. I believe they are already poisoning me."

On the recording, General Varis looked up and behind himself, as if turning towards a noise behind him. In hushed tones, he concluded his message. "Read the files. Contact the Discovery. They will help you."

The recording ended, and a list of files appeared. A full briefing on Starfleet's Omega Directive, the schematics for the research station, and a communication code for the vessel mentioned by the General - I.S.S. Discovery, NCC-1031-G.

"Our little time ship came from I.S.S. Discovery..." Ash said walking in on the end of the video, "We just stumbled into something big...."

Raven looked up. "I thought the name sounded familiar."

Mila, who had entered with Ash, nodded. "Yeah. That was the ship the other Ash Rogers was with. You look worried, Colonel."

The colonel slowly nodded. "Well, it's the Tal Shiar, meddling with something that could prove to be a threat to, well, everything. There was a video message as well, from my father. I'll replay it once T'Ango gets here. The Tal Shiar are playing with things that they don't even understand."

"Right here," T'Ango said, following behind. "An extra Rogers from an I.S.S. ship... hrrm... I suppose that might be what's needed if we're dealing with mad scientist Tal'Shiar."

"Unless she's helping the mad scientist Tal'Shiar.... then our problem becomes a more complicated problem...." Ash pointed out. "Somehow I doubt that a Terran version of me would be a pacifist botanist...."

Raven chuckled. "Any help would be welcome, in all honesty." She entered a command, and the message from General Varis played again. Once it had concluded, she looked at the other three in silence, letting the general's words sink in. "So," she finally said. "Thoughts?"

"Time to contact Discovery?" Ash proposed. "Your father wasn't sure what these Tal'Shiar are trying to do. Conceivably, they might be doing something less nefarious than we may be all suspecting. Or they could be weaponizing Omega like your father is theorizing. Without more information, I don't want to risk being wrong. The stakes are way too high."

"Conceivably, they may have learned of the mirrorverse and are working on a weapon of mass destruction because of that," T'Ango observed. "...or they're Tal'Shiar from the mirrorverse..." she frowned, and pressed fingers to her temples, "...erg, multidimensional intrigue makes my head hurt."

"So Mirror Me is either going to help us...or kill us all. Great..." Ash said, "I'm getting the same headache, my friend."

Raven looked at Mila. "What do you think, Sublieutenant Lynn? As our acting Chief Science Officer, your input is as valued as that of the executive officer, or our esteemed guest. Who we may as well hire officially." She chuckled. "Back to the matter at hand, though. Your opinion?"

Mila hesitated for a moment. This was the first time that the colonel had referred to her as someone who technically was one of the most senior officers on the crew. She was not sure if she was ready for that responsibility. Almost pleadingly, she shot a glance at Ash, looking for reassurance, before finally speaking. "Well," she began, slowly and putting thought into each word. "I think Ash- I mean, Major Rogers is right, ma'am. We need more information before we act. At the moment, we are still officially a Tal Shiar vessel ourselves, after all. Regardless of their intentions, however, whatever they are doing with those Omega particles, it carries a lot of risk. I would like to review those files on the Omega Particle and that station, if you would let me have them. Any information might help with this mystery."

Ash smiled at Mila and avoided looking at T'Ango, who she knew was probably smiling too. She gave her a wink and a subtle thumbs up gesture. "I agree with her assessment. We need as much information and data as we can get. Good job, Sublieutenant."

T'Ango was indeed smiling approvingly, but limited her response to a simple nod.

The colonel nodded, and reached into a drawer in her desk, pulling out a datachip, onto which she copied the relevant files before handing it to Mila. "Let me know what you find."

She turned to the communication terminal next to her, and entered the details for the I.S.S. Discovery. The terminal processed the entry, before returning an error message - no such ship was found within range of even the subspace transmitter. "Well, that's not good."

"So... how exactly do we call a ship that doesn't exist in our universe?" Ash asked. "Do I just click my heels together and wish really hard while saying my name three times and Mirror Me shows up with a Terran starship?"

"T'Ango's whiskers moved side-to-side. "I doubt it works like 'Beetlejuice'. However, if that ship you have came from her universe, it seems to me it might have a way of contacting someone back there ...the problem is that we don't know if it can, and more importantly, exactly who that might be."

"If Mirror Me was piloting it... where the hell did she go?" Ash wondered out loud. "If she's on that Station... that's a whole different wrinkle... quite frankly, I don't trust myself...."

"Unless of course the Discovery was destroyed, or is otherwise not reachab-" Raven stopped mid-sentence, as if an invisible lightbulb had switched on in her brain. "Ellie. Remember what she told you when you caught her in the science lab, Major? Didn't she mention the Terrans, and time travel? What if the ship she mentioned is involved with these people my father was talking about?" She threw her head back, groaning. "Oh, this is making my head hurt. I was hired to help refugees, not to solve a mystery with time travel, dimensional shenanigans, and the Tal Shiar!"

"She did imply she knew Mirror Me... but quite frankly I don't trust Ellie either," Ash pointed out. "I think we need to prevent any kabooms and figure out if that means helping or stopping what's going on at Hobus. 50-50 chance of getting it right..."

Raven nodded "I think that needs to be our main focus now. My father recorded this message before the Ourainavassa was launched, two years ago. Before the pirates stole the ship. So whatever the Tal Shiar are doing at Hobus, they have been doing it for a while. Which doesn't really help us at all - if what they are doing is weapons development, they might soon be ready to deploy their creation. Of course, if what they were doing is benevolent - and this being them, that's unlikely - they will also have had time to gather results by now."

The colonel's thoughts were interrupted by a chime from the intercom. She groaned, and activated the comm. "Yes?"

The voice of the young Orion engineer, Sari, who had volunteered to take over the ship's communications while Xia Idris was off duty, answererd. "Ma'am, there's a priority message to you. Origin unknown."

Raven sighed. "Put it through."

The console beeped as the connection was established. "Colonel Sehan t'Varis?" A woman's voice was heard, distorted as if it had been run through a voice modulator. "I have information for your ears only. Information that you will find very interesting. I will wait for you at the main bar on Drozana at 2000 hours station time. No need to look for me, I will recognise you."

Before Raven could respond, the link was closed. She frowned. "Well. This is getting ever more mysterious." Shaking her head, she got up and went to the drinks cabinet next to the sofa in the corner of the room, pulling out a bottle of a black liquid and a few glasses. "I don't know about any of you, but I need a drink," she said, pouring some of the liquid into one of the glasses before nearly falling onto the sofa and downing the liquid in one go. "Finest black rum from Earth. Anyone want a glass?"

Mila looked at Ash. Should we be worried about her?, she signed, with a concerned look on her face, as Raven poured herself another drink and unclasped the silver pauldron on her shoulder, letting it and the attached cape fall onto the floor, before unzipping her white leather jacket.

"I was going to suggest comm-ing medbay to bring by some analgesic, but a drink works too I suppose," T'Ango answered, moving toward the cabinet but darting a worried look at Rogers. She didn't really know Raven, and her impressions of her so far were mixed, so she had to rely on the friend here that she did know. "A small one for me though."

Ash was concerned about Raven, but didn't let it show. Raven is the commanding officer and she is her second in command. If Raven were to jeopardize the safety of the ship and crew, Ash would not hesitate to step in. For now, there is no need to compromise the authority she has. She signed to Mila, We should always be worried about each other... and patted T'Ango on the shoulder before replying, "Same for me, a small one. I want to remain on my toes, because I'm sure Mirror Me would be on her A game."

"Better," the young colonel exhaled. "Guys, I need your help," she said, all formality having disappeared from her voice. "Like, what the fuck do we do?"

T'Ango tipped her head to the side, thinking; the Raider side of her already formulating plans. "If this person will know you on sight, we should assume that she'll know your crew well enough to know if you haven't come alone. But she may not have noticed a couple Dosadi merchants who only recently stopped by your ship..." Her lips parted in a small smile, revealing just the tips of pearly fangs. "...no doubt to sell some PR-12 plasma rifles or active camo to enhance your cloak."

Ash nodded, "Yes, we have variables now in our favor. T'Ango is our ace in the hole. We won't let you be without backup."

Raven smiled and poured drinks for the others - small ones, as had been requested. "I knew I could count on you, Ash. That's why I made you my number one, after all. So, you reckon we'll finally meet Commander Ashley Rogers, then?" She waved her hand at the sofa and the armchairs around her. "Please, sit." She turned to Mila. "Go and look over those files. If you find any weakness in the design of that station, let me know."

The young scientist simply nodded. "Yes, ma'am." With a determined look on her face, she took the datachip, and left the ready room."

When Mila had left, Raven turned back to the other two. "I want you both there, at the bar. Go there at 1900, and just, you know, have a casual drink. Make it a business talk or whatever. Just don't draw any attention to yourselves. And don't arm up too heavily, either. As far as I will know, you won't be there. If there's trouble, I'll signal you, Ash."

Ash looked over at T'Ango and smirked, "Just like the old days..." she then nodded at Raven, "We got your back."

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