Dramatis Personae

Posted on 13 Mar 2018 @ 10:15am by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Commander Thiago Teixeira & Commander Terry Walsh & Commander Jayla Kij & Lieutenant Commander Arjin Djinx & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant JG Felix Langston

4,704 words; about a 24 minute read

Mission: Crossing Over
Location: Bridge
Timeline: MD35 || 0930 hours

Harvey stood beside the center seat. Thanks to the turbolift, he knew that this room was now called the bridge. It looked a lot different than when he saw it last. At least all of the consoles were online and functional. Using the consoles and the interfaces, however, was a completely different matter.

At least one of the interfaces dispensed beverages. One of the buttons allowed him to create a drink known as coffee. Its taste was bold and pleasant, and most importantly, it gave him a bit of energy. It wasn't until he felt its warmth that he realized how spent he was from the whole ordeal.

And, he had one thing that none of the rest of the crew had. An identity. His name matched with several of the items in the ready room, and now he was more than certain that he was in charge of this ship... and responsible with whatever it was they were supposed to do.

For now, he stood beside the chair and waited. Runners had been sent to find the ship's management staff. He had their names, and their identities. They would finally be able to communicate without nicknames or adjectives. And, each person would know absolutely that someone else was addressing them.

But what he didn't know was what these unusual beings were here for. One of them was standing next to him on the bridge. His gaze was not fixed on Harvey. Instead, his visored visage scanned the room, trying to understand this unknown technology. Harvey was certain this individual had a purpose to fulfill. But what it was... who knew?

Camila entered the room after she had been paged and wondered what had transpired since she last saw the man with the four golden pips on her color and what the others had found in the massive place they had all found themselves in. "You wanted to see us?" she asked, but held back the other two dozen or so questions she had swarming in her befuddled mind.

Joey made her way onto the bridge after being summoned by a runner. Things hadn't become much clearer to her since the power was restored, but now she was able to get around a lot easier. She noticed the blonde haired woman she was searching with earlier was already present, as well as the man who she felt was in control of things. Why? She didn't know. "What's going on?" she asked.

With everything that was happening, one would not expect a single smile to be seen. However, Jayla couldn't keep from smiling for long. She wondered vaguely why she was so cheerful, but tried not to dwell too much on it. Perhaps it was just her nature.

She entered the room in question a bit hesitantly. "Oh, hi," she said, another grin spreading across her face. "I guess I found the right place. I got lost twice. Boss, Blondie," she greeted the two women.

The large bald man walked out of the moving closet thing and onto yet another part of this place. There were already people up there. People he hadn't met yet. And...why was he and the other guy the only two males in here at the moment? At any rate... "Well, hello

Arjin was happy that the place he found himself in had come to life. It seemed he liked to be around things that were alive rather that dark and dead. He had been summoned by the man with the four round juwels on his clothes. It had taken some time to get back and when he entered he the room, he saw he was rather on the late side. He was also happy he saw some other persons that seemed to have spots on their skin. Being he was not alone in this case. "Greetings all.", was what he said to the gathered crowd.

Jayla blinked and broke into a grin even larger than she'd had before. Someone else with spots! So she wasn't the only one. That was interesting. "Hi!" she said. "I'm Spots. But it looks like I have competition now."

As the woman with spots adressed him, he was amused. Amused about the big grin she gave him. Amused about how she presented herself. Spots. That was funny. "Hello. It seems so. But I don't know my name however and we can hardly call both ourself Spots. Maybe we are family? Or married?", he offered.

He was good looking, that's for sure. Jayla wouldn't mind being married to him at all. However, people who shared a physical characteristic were more likely to be related. "Perhaps," she replied. "Do you have an 'other'? Only I seem to be two people."

"An other?" Arjin pondered the question. He did have mixed emotions from time to time. But did that make him have another? "I am not sure. How does it feel to you?"

Jayla considered that for a moment. "It feels," she started slowly, "like always having a second opinion. And like sometimes having extra emotions. I didn't notice it for a long time, but when I think about it, there is definitely an other in here."

Felix walked onto the bridge, his feet uneasy with the rush of what seemed like brand new information to him. He saw a large assembly of other figures gathering around the man behind the chair in the center of the room. he looked down at his uniform, finding that it matched the others. He nodded silently, it was all he could muster at this point in time.

"Back where we started," the dark-skinned man said, stepping into view of the others. He looked around the room, his eyes lingering on the woman with the markings on her face and neck. He was, for some reason, drawn to her.

Jayla blinked, noticing him looking at her. Her brow wrinkled at first. What was that look? He didn't seem nervous or cautious at all. Then, suddenly, it dawned on her; it was admiration. She blinked again, surprised and flattered, then returned the look. He was kinda sexy. How did she know what sexy meant? Who knew? But he was definitely sexy.

With the crew assembled, Harvey stepped forward, walking down the command arena. As he passed the woman who was in the picture with him, the one found in the ready room, he lifted his coffee cup to take a sip. A few steps later, he stood at the front of the bridge and lowered his now half-empty mug.

Joey opened her mouth to say something, but quickly shut it when something assaulted her senses. What in the world was that, and why was it doing these things to her? It made her stomach turn. Not again, she begged silently in a futile attempt to will the feeling away. If it didn't work the first two times, what made her think it was going to work now?

She braced a hand against a nearby console and brought the free one up to her mouth. At least now she knew there weren't lizards living inside of her, but this had to be some sort of punishment for something she'd done in the past. If only she could remember what that was. Still, there were a lot more people present, and fighting it seemed like a good idea, but it wasn't working. With panic in her eyes, she tried to make a run for it, only to get as far as the center chair... which took the full on assault.

"Thank you all for coming," he said. "I know we all have many questions. I have, at this point, only one answer, and that's who we are. One of the first things found in our computer is what's called the ship's manifest. It has the name for practically every person in this room, as well as our job titles, or at least what our individual functions are on this ship. Computer," he said, turning to look at the viewscreen, "display the ship's senior staff's photos, names and positions on this large screen."

The computer beeped, whirred, and slurred in reply, as if the data was momentarily difficult to access. Finally, one-by-one, the images began to appear on the viewscreen in a grid. It took a few moments for eleven pictures and names to be generated, appearing six images on the top row and five images on the bottom row.

Camila had just found an image that looked like her, but the woman in it looked slightly different than the reflection she had seen early. She seemed more vibrant - more alive - but the blonde chalked it up to not having her memories. "Camila Di Pasquali?" she asked out loud, but pronounced the last name pas-squawl-ly. She started to stay something else, then saw the tall woman getting sick again. "I think she's really sick," she said.

Joey cast a glance in Camila's direction. She had little doubt the woman had something to do with her being sick since she was present each time it happened. Still... this didn't seem like the right time to throw that kind of accusation her way. Instead, she looked to the screen and found her picture. Joelle Geisler... Chief of Intelligence, she said to herself, then noticed a second person bearing the same last name as hers. Her gaze moved from the screen and over to Harvey. The picture made a bit more sense now. They were related somehow. "Are you my brother?"

Harvey looked back and forth between Joey and her picture. While it was nice to have a name for each of their faces, he did not remember having any siblings. If so, why would he be their boss? Was this a family affair? Finally, he just shrugged at Joey before looking at the mess she left behind on the chair. If that was his seat, he certainly would be avoiding it for a while.

Jayla had been a bit preoccupied watching the pregnant woman, brow furrowed. First of all, how did she even have anything left to throw up? Second, was this normal? Something told her it was, but it seemed.... excessive. Was that the right word? She thought so.

Finally deciding that she didn't know what to do even if it was unusual, she turned her attention to the screen. "Jayla Kij," she muttered, recognizing her face immediately. "I wonder if one name belongs to me and the other to... well, to the other." She had become aware, at some point, of another separate entity within her. Someone separate, but also a part of her. She had been frightened at first, but quickly came to terms with it. The other didn't know what was going on, either, it seemed. That would have been too easy.

He stood there, looking at all of the pictures. "Terry Walsh...huh, so that's me." A thought then struck him regarding a PADD they found earlier. "Ohh, that was me. Um, anyway..." He looked around the room and back to the pictures. "Well this is a good start."

Looking intently at the pictures on the screen Arjin singled out the one wich had spots and wore three pieces of jewelry on the collar. It was the first time he saw his face. It somehow seemed familiar and somehow not. He read the name under it. "Arjin Djinx" Djinx was a word the he felt somehow suited him. Arjin on the other hand surprised him more. As if he expected another name or even several. Still he was happy he could put a name and face to the person.

Felix walked up to the screen, finding his own visage smiling back at him. He saw the name "FELIX LANGSTON" with the rank of Lieutenant preceding it. Felix, he thought, lucky, fortunate, in the Latin. "That looks like me," he said, absentmindedly running his hand along the top of the helm console as he walked past. "I mean, no offense, but none of you seem to have the same, er, complexion, as I do." He flashed a brief smile, hoping that the tension in the room would ease. He turned back to the screen. Chief Flight Control Officer. Oh no, he thought, I'm supposed to remember how to fly this ship when I can't even remember my own name?!

While everyone looked at their pictures and made the connections with their forgotten identities, Harvey couldn't help but notice that out of the eleven pictures on the screen, not all of their owners were present on the bridge. The woman with the pointed ears who had been on the bridge with them before going out to restore power was one of those missing individuals. They'd gotten separated on their journey into the depths of the ship, and he could only hope that she was all right, especially since her job title was Chief Engineer. She was their best chance to get this vessel back up and running.

"I'm a Commander, apparently," he said. "Commander Teixeira, at your service."

Harvey looked back at the alien representative on the bridge and sighed. "Well, we have our names, and what appears to be our roles aboard this ship. The manifest has the names for everyone else on board, so we'll need to filter through and make sure everyone gets it. Right now, we've got three pressing questions we need to answer. Where are we? Why are we here? And who," Harvey nodded at their visitor, "are they?"

"They," Joey started, gesturing toward their visitor. "could answer the question of where we are and who they are, but there's a communication barrier there I don't think we'll be able to cross. We're going to have to figure out another way. Then again, as for the where and why... maybe this..." She pointed to the screen that displayed their identities. "can answer those questions. It seems to be the only thing we have right now."

Camila saw that she was the Chief of Security and looked at the weapon she still held, then back at the console where the voice came from. "Can you identify where we are and what we're doing here?" she asked.

She was greeted by a woobly whirr and chime as the computer struggled to comply with the request. "External sensors are offline," replied the computer as it projected a map on the screen. "The last known position of the USS Black Hawk was zero-five-five mark zero-one-six to the galactic center, just outside the Finnean Convergence Zone. Mission-specific orders are restricted by command authorization. Standing orders are to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no one has gone before."

The fully suited alien on the bridge couldn't help but to take a couple steps forward. The map showed an area that was very familiar to him; after all, he'd lived inside the Zone all his life. But the blinking light that represented the ship's last known position was outside the zone. The map itself was quite revealing, educating the individual that there was so much life beyond the barrier. Life that had no idea was on his side of the barrier. Even in his shocked state, he was able to communicate this to his brethren. Breaking the language barrier was no longer just a goal, it was an urgent necessity.

Realizing that he now stood directly in front of the large screen, he looked at the group assembled on the bridge, and then back at the map. He raised his three fingered hand and pointed at the top of the Convergence Zone, just under the blinking light on his side of the barrier, indicating where the Black Hawk now resided.

Joey watched the alien move to the screen, then point at it on the other side. That made sense to her. "Based on our last known location and where our new friend is pointing, we went through this... Convergence Zone," she said, turning her attention to the other officers on the bridge. "Assuming we knew who we were on the other side, and there's no indication we didn't, this had to be the reason we can't remember anything."

Camila watched the suited alien point to the blinking light and then went up beside of him. She pointed at him, then at the area map outside of the blinking light. "Where are you from?" she asked.

Unable to understand the hollowed woman, the alien was unable to respond.

Joey turned her attention toward Harvey since it appeared her brother was the one in charge, so it only seemed right to address him directly. "There's quite a few of them here, and since we haven't heard any of them communicate openly, there has to be another way. Maybe... if we summoned some of them here... we might get lucky and be able to talk to one or two of them with help," she said. "This... USS Black Hawk can speak to us. Maybe it can speak to them?" After all, she still didn't know it was the computer communicating with them.

Arjin followed the discussion only with half an ear. When the map was displayed his eyes were like glued on it. As if he had a familiarity with it. "Can you show more images of this Convergance zone?", he asked to the voice.

Unlike with prior requests, the computer buzzed in reply. "Unable to comply," it responded to the Science Chief. "There is no data or images to display."

"If we're from the outside," Harvey offered, nodding at the screen, "then maybe we're the first ones here. That would also possibly explain the overseers." He pointed to the one not in a gray and black uniform on the bridge. The aliens were probably just as curious about the Black Hawk as they were about the aliens.

"Computer," Harvey asked, looking towards the inside of the room and thinking a different approach was in order. "How many people are aboard this ship?"

Whirring and beeping in reply, the computer fired back a moment later, "There are eight-hundred and nineteen people aboard. Seven-hundred and seventy-eight are listed on the personnel manifest, one is Aketi, and thirty are unknown lifesigns."

Under the visor, the observer's eyes widened. Aside from the map, he hadn't recognized anything up until this point except Aketi. Somehow, this name was in this ship's database. Immediately, he reached out to his superiors for orders, stretching the limits of his telepathic mind. They might finally have found a way to break the communication barrier.

"An Aketi?" Harvey asked, noting that the computer had isolated a single lifesign. Before he could say anything more, someone else spoke.

"Computer," Camila said, feeling a bit strange to be talking to the device, but for it to be specific for one race and not the others, it was worth investigating. "Can you page the Aketi to our location?" she asked. "Or tell us the location where it is?"

Another buzz. "Internal communications are offline. The Aketi lifesign is on Deck Six, near Sickbay."

The observer, before anyone else could speak, stretched his left hand out far in front of his body and held it flat vertically, hoping that it would be received as an order to halt. He then reached out with his mind and spoke the word, "Aketi." He would have indicated that the Aketi was coming, if only he knew how to communicate that.

Deck six? Did that mean one of the individuals they'd encountered was an Aketi? Of course, she wouldn't know one if it smacked her in the face thanks to her lack of memory. "I... I think maybe the Aketi is coming to us," Joey said, watching the alien in front of them. Hopefully, communication would be easier once their new friend arrived.

A small furry something with eight legs moved with incredible speed and ran from the Captain's chair that the tall pink one had decorated to the blonde pink one, then past her and up the leg of the one that everyone seemed to be looking at. It paused, then shot a web to the shorter female with spots and swung past the tall one with spots and skittered behind another console.

"Aw! It was so cute!" exclaimed Jayla, pulling sticky gossamer bits from her hair. "What was it? Where did it go? Do you think it shot at me because it likes me or because it's afraid of me?"

Joey squealed and found herself jumping toward Harvey for some kind of protection much like Scooby Doo to Shaggy. Even if she couldn't remember anything, the tall woman knew those critters just weren't meant to be. "Cute?" she asked in a panic. "There was nothing cute about that... thing. Someone catch it!"

"I'll get it!" announced Jayla, hurrying to where it had dissappeared. "Come on out, sweetie!" she cooed. "Come on. I won't hurt you."

Camila was bringing the weapon she held around before the woman with spots ran after the creature. "What if it's dangero..." she started to ask before a sticky mess of webbing shot out from the console and hit the spotted woman in the mouth.

Jayla blinked, shocked. Then, giggling, pulled the fragile strings off of her face. "I think it wants me to shut up," she said.

Terry had been standing back and watching the whole thing. He hadn't seen one of those little creatures before. "Who knows what goes through their little minds." He paused and looked back at the screen momentarily. "Hey Jayla, if you can catch it, I'll pay you for it. I bet it would make a nice pet."

"No way!" she protested, still picking bits of web off her face. "I want to keep it!"

Before anything else could happen, the doors parted, and an armored person stepped out of the turbolift. His suit was like the rest of the aliens, but his helmet had been removed to show the face of an Aketi. Though his skin was wrinkled the rest of his species, his eyes and mouth were covered as the air aboard the ship was not one his body could consume. The doors closed behind him, and he took a moment to survey the bridge and the people in it. "I am called Vot'pran," he declared to persons in black and gray. "I represent, but I do not command, the Guardians."

Joey, who was now sitting on one of the available seats with her legs off of the ground, looked toward the Aketi when he arrived. As long as the creature was present, she wasn't setting foot on the floor. "The Guardians? Is that what you all are?" she asked. "And do you know where we are... or why none of us can seem to remember anything?"

"We have nothing to do with your arrival," replied Vot'pran, looking to his companion. "In fact, we have never seen any of you before."

The tall woman pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't recall having seen any of you before, either, but then... I don't recall much of anything," Joey said, looking from one of their visitors to the other before looking back again. "The Convergence Zone, what can you tell us about it?"

"What you call a zone, we call a home," said Vot'pran. "A home that must be protected. We have been observing you since you arrived. We can tell that you are without memories, and that you are all in danger. That is why we've come to help."

"Help?" replied Terry. "You've been standing around so far. What can you do to help?"

Joey looked to Terry as he spoke, then back to the Aketi. "What kind of danger?" she added. There was no way she was going to let things go by without getting an answer to that.

"Are your people the ones we need to be afraid of?", Arjin added.

"And how did you get here?" Camila asked as she looked around for the tiny creature that seemed to enjoy spitting web or something at the spotted woman.

"We will answer your questions all in good time," said the Aketi. "Even though you have power back, it is clear to us that all of you require medical treatment, and lack the necessary knowledge to pilot this vessel. We are preparing to tow you to a secure location for repairs and recovery. We can discuss your options then."

Could they be trusted? That was the question replaying over and over in Joey's mind, but what choice did they really have? They didn't know who they were or why they were here. Still, it wasn't her call to make. That choice belonged to her brother, and with that thought, she found herself looking at Harvey. "Do we have much of a choice?"

Harvey had stood quietly during all of this, thinking and pondering over every word that the Aketi said. He certainly had a lot of questions, but did not know what to ask first. Sighing, he stepped forward to answer Joelle's question. "I don't think we do," he conceded. "This is a big ship, and without our memories, or time to learn how this whole thing works, it's probably best that we go with them."

He turned to the observer and said, "But we can't just pick up and leave. Not yet. Can you give us some time to maybe find a few things that are familiar? This could help with the recovery time."

The silent man remained as such, communicating to his kind for a few moments before finally looking at Vot'pran who answered, "We must depart in half an hour. This ship will need to be empty by then."

The Captain nodded and turned back to face his staff. "Very well. Let's find every person on the manifest. Make sure they know their names. If any of you can figure out this computer, see if there's more information you can find."

Felix looked at the helm console. The information in his head was broken, fragmented, coming in shards and flashes. He shook his head, trying to jumble it into some type of order. "Aye, sir," Felix said, almost instinctively, "we'll do our best to make that happen."

"Jayla," Harvey said, looking to the spotted woman. He hadn't seen her prior to her entering the bridge, but she seemed to be very familiar. He wasn't sure how, but he'd leave that alone for now. "The computer says you're our doctor. See if you can find anything on treating memory loss."

"I'll see what I can find out," replied Jayla. "Oh, I hope I remember my way back to that hospital," she added as she headed off to find her way back.

"Camila," Harvey said next. "You're security. Let's find the missing faces on this screen. Hopefully, no one's dead, but we need to know for sure."

"Understood, Captain," Camila said. "I'll find some people to help me search for Adan, T'Pai and Stuart." She took a moment to study their faces and with a nod to the others and no idea where to begin searching, she headed off the bridge.

"As for the rest of us, we have half an hour. It's not much time to round everyone up, and make sure we're not missing anything."

The eight-legged whatever-it-is took the opportunity to dart past the giant pink ones and hid behind another console while it looked for a way to escape. It spotted a darker giant one nearby and crept over to attach itself to the fabric that covered behind its left leg and waited.

Thankfully, Joey didn't see the creepy little creature attach itself to the man's leg as she rose to her feet. With orders handed out, it was time to help people find out who they were. It wasn't much, but it was a start. She made her way off of the bridge with her new task in mind.

Harvey, while the rest of the team resigned to their own devices, turned towards the Ready Room door, intending to do just as he asked his fellow shipmates to do.

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