Hatching the Plan

Posted on 02 Aug 2019 @ 6:20pm by Petty Officer 2nd Class Marioneta Gomez & Commander Jayla Kij & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant JG Lina Sorensen & Lieutenant JG Catherine Cooper & Lieutenant JG Shay Mitchell & Petty Officer 1st Class Allen Miller
Edited on on 05 Aug 2019 @ 11:09am

3,137 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Truth and Justice
Location: Penduli V
Timeline: MD 15 || 1300 hours

The conversion was now complete. A short while ago, nine innocent Starfleet officers and one Follower of Dolmoqour had arrived on the surface of Penduli V, unsuspecting of what awaited them. Now that the Runabout Mississippi and its crew had been secured for the cause, it was time to hatch the plan that would secure their escape from this wretched planet.

Petty Officer Marioneta Gomez removed her hand from the phaser holster and stood before the group. "Welcome to Starfleet, my long lost family," she greeted them with a smile. "Take a moment to learn your names and positions. When you are ready, I'll brief you on the situation at hand."

Kij blinked, confused. She- he?- opted to think of herself as Kij because there were too many other names, too many other voices vying for control. She was pretty sure she was a girl. Right now anyway. She had been a man many times before. Okay. Job. Architect! No! No that wasn’t right. Geneticist? Botanist? Dancer? Doctor? Pilot? “I am...” she started, then shook her head. “Confused,” she finished, brow furrowed.

"It will pass in time," Gomez assured the Doctor.

"I feel....excited," Camila said after a moment. "I know every security and tactical procedure on that ship and what they'll likely try to do to stop us." Her smile got broader. "Di Pasquale offered many protocols to prevent just this sort of thing from happening and the Captain denied them all."

Kij huffed. "That's nothing," she snapped angrily. "I know how to design and build a bridge, fly several different styles of aircraft- native only to one world and not even used anymore- manipulate a genome to create a disease-resistant strain of any vegetation you can imagine, diagnose and treat many injuries and illnesses, identify plants that will grow in a certain area and cultivate a garden of them, and kill someone three times my size with my bare hands. Names I am known by include, but are not limited to Gavara, Belar, Jayla, Aldur, Imdris, Devlon, and Bayro. I have no clue which one I am right now and they are all fighting for control." Her head snapped up to glare accusingly at the one who had initially greeted them. "This host is defective! You have given me a defective host!" she shouted angrily.

Camila watched the spotted host that Dolmoqour now knew was called Kij and informally as Jayla. She was a species called Trill and had a symbiotic creature living inside of her and had been through a number of hosts, much like Dolmoqour. "You, Kij. Call upon your most recent memories of one called Jayla. She is the host of the creature that lives inside of her."

"Thank you," replied Kij with an accusatory glare at the once called Gomez. She did as instructed and attempted to focus on Jayla. She managed to get information about the man she was currently seeing and the fact that the Captain was one of her best friends before her face contorted in rage and she spat, "get out of our bodies, you spineless, gutless, pathetic excuses for sentient beings!" With a gasp, the Dolmoquor regained control. "They're all fighting me at once!" she exclaimed. "If I focus on one, another pops up!"

"You are a doctor," Gomez cautioned. "There must be a way to subdue the slug. If not, we may have to render you completely unconscious until we can transfer you to a new host."

"I can keep it under control if I don't have to focus on one of them," she replied testily. "I just hope nobody needs surgery while we're there. Wait. I don't know how to do surgery. Well, that's a relief."

Cooper took a few moments as well, she leaned against a bulkhead. This brain was disjointed somewhat and full of random information, it didn't help that her host though had run out of insults was now looping the worst of something called '1980's Earth Bubble Gum Pop' namely something called 'Oh Mickey, you're so fine." on the off chance she could be heard. The problem was the host could only remember parts of it so it looped in the back of the mind. Cooper's highjacker ignored it as best she could as she attempted to bring order to the chaos of this particular mind.

Allen Miller finally stood up when Dolmoquor took full control. He took a deep breath and exhaled, having been listening to the others in the process. "This host is adequate for the species. His name is Allen Miller and he is of lower position than the others in this department. He doesn't have all of these other abilities that were mentioned. But we should be able to move about the ship without question or concern, subverting protocols and using technologies to our advantage."

Allen was host to a parasite. He heard his voice and felt his lips moving. He could feel his body moving as Dolomoquor stood. But he was helpless. He was a prisoner in his own body. He could hear and feel everything happening around him but had no control over his responses or actions. It was a living nightmare.

Shay opened her eyes and looked around. She felt... different, and yet, she felt the same. With these new bodies, they'd finally be able to accomplish what they'd set out for, and no one would be able to stop them.

The parasite that had taken over the body of Chief Engineer Lina just stood there. He was not exactly talkative, but now it was the time to inform the others about his new host. "My host is Engineer. Chief Engineer of the ship. That might come in handy in certain situations. Furthermore, she is a senior officer." Lina smiled but deep inside the real Lina felt like being chained and gagged in a deep and dark dungeon.

"And she seems to be quite... sociable." The parasite seemed slightly of the edge about that part of his host. He would have to adapt here.

He also looked down at Lina's ankle which seemed to be hurt, but as he did not feel any pain, this would not really matter. So this did not seem to be worth mentioning.

As the rest continued to adjust, Gomez began, "I told you earlier about the Black Hawk. There are six more of us aboard the ship. Two, a Boreriri and a Triosian who'd been converted decades ago, were recently rescued from Kalisa, where an impenetrable archive was established, locking away all of the secrets. Those two, which Lieutenant Di Pasquale's memories will confirm, are under guard and not able to move around the ship.

"We do also control four members of the crew. One, Ensign Kelly Khan, pilots the ship and is regularly on the bridge. Lieutenant T'pyr in science has access to sensors, but is a low-level plant. Ensign Quinn Mackie is one of the oldest followers on the ship and has been quietly circumventing systems aboard in preparation for our arrival. And our leader is Lieutenant Carmichael. When we return, we'll all follow his lead in order to take command of the ship. The host has been occupied for a few months, but his Dolmoqour has been outside the zone for decades."

"Why Carmichael?" Camila asked. "He's not in charge of anything important and I know all the ways to disable the ship faster."

"It's... complicated," Gomez replied, her tone a bit tentative. "What none, or maybe just some, of your hosts know is that our home isn't just locked down by the satellites in orbit, but the entire region of space has been encased in a multi-layered shell which has cut us off from the rest of the galaxy in order to keep us contained. Outside the region, this section of space is called the Convergence Zone. Carmichael was aboard a different ship called the Vasco da Gama a few short months ago that was studying the shell, which they call a barrier. A Starfleet probe passed through the barrier warning of a great danger to the Federation."

Cooper listened intently to the information but said nothing.

"Yes. The probe came through the other side," Camila responded. "Dated one hundred years from the past and a message to Captain Geisler from Captain Geisler. We found the probes on this side at one of the stations."

"Right," Gomez confirmed. "Prior to that probe, several ships managed to escape the Zone, but only two Aketi survived the trip. All of the attempts were organized by us Followers of Dolmoqour. While our hosts did not survive, we did. And we started to work with the locals, formed a cult, and started to work on breaching the barrier from our side. We had Followers on the Vasco, namely the XO and an engineer. Both killed their hosts once the probe was found and attached themselves to Carmichael and Mackie. Carmichael may not have a high position, but he has the knowledge of what needs to happen and the connections. Of course, should he decide to do so, he can always find a new host."

"Is there anything we are to do now or do we do nothing untoward until we talk to Carmicheal?" Cooper asked her voice clipped, efficient. Being trapped on that planet for so long she found she was not not eager to risk their new found and hard won freedom so she wanted to know as much detail as possible but if she had to wait she supposed she could. She'd gotten good at being patient. She sensed now the anger of her host as the earworms eased while Catherine listened to the conversation she could in no way participate in.

Camila, the actual person, stared and listened in horror at the discussion her body was watching and taking part in. She was completely helpless to change a thing and wished she had given the orders to fire. She heard the scathing words of Mitchell and Miller in her head when she had ordered them to surrender. Now she was helpless inside of her own body and could only listen in horror as her body spoke again. "Let me go after Geisler," Dolmoqour said using her vocal cords, lungs, lips and tongue to form the words of ultimate betrayal. "He needs a lesson taught to him that only this host can provide."

"Geisler still has a part to play still," Gomez cautioned. "Our very presence here still lingers on an event that has not yet become reality. Harvey Geisler must launch his probe. After that, it will be up to Carmichael to decide if he still has usefulness."

"So we must..." Cooper paused casting in her hosts mind for a suitable would the host would use, "play it cool." until then.

Gomez smiled at the remark. "Starfleet is incredibly trusting. Just a few months ago, they'd been infiltrated by an organization called The Consortium. It took Starfleet months to root them out, but their policies haven't changed much. Our best option is to just walk back onto the ship." She gestured to some of the ape locals. "We bring several of these Scruna aboard to meet with the Captain, painting whatever sob cover story we wish. We should be able as well to bring aboard more Dolmoqour, just enough to ensure we can gain critical control over the ship. With the ship, we can leave this planet, this Zone, and establish a new homeworld on the other side. We already have other Followers outside the Zone, but it would take centuries to start gaining enough of a foothold. Eight hundred can spread much faster and further. Forget dominating the region. We can dominate the galaxy."

"Wouldn't Geisler be useful as one of us?" the one known as Shay asked. "He's a Starfleet Captain, and has access to higher ranking Starfleet personnel. That would certainly help us when it comes to dominating the galaxy. Imagine the number of ships we could take over by using him once we're on the other side."

"There are easier ways to access the higher ranked," Gomez countered. "Aides, assistants. If anything, the leaders in the Gamma Quadrant would be the first checked thanks to the Consortium. No. We'll let Geisler play his part and then dispose of him. Besides, if the man who cried wolf suddenly changes positions, how suspicious would that look?"

"What about Rasputin?" Camila asked. "She's the Captain's personal Yeoman and knows everything."

"She could be a target for conversion," Marioneta replied. "Of course, it will be beneficial to convert the entire ship and get out of here before the Guardians arrive. Once we make it through the zone, we could always divert more Starfleet ships here and just start evacuating our people. It would be child's play at that point."

Cooper nodded, "The more of the ship we can get on our side the easier this will be. I like going for the yeoman, low enough it may not be noticed but close to the center of ship power. Whomever takes over though will need be careful because of proximity. My hosts memories of this Giesler indicates he is not exactly unobservant." She was cautious, "Intel and the Squadron areas, we do not have seem to have people in place there.My host has a good working relationship with the head of the pilots. Should it be warranted to 'recruit' him." She stated from her place leaning against a back bulkhead.

Gomez looked at the Chief of Security once more. "What do you think, Lieutenant?" she asked, sliding back into her host's role as a subordinate. "Based on your knowledge of the Captain, do you see anything wrong with this plan of taking a delegation of the Scruna aboard the ship under the guise of first contact? We could plan for this to go awry, let the Captain launch his probe, and then deal with him as we wish before proceeding with liberating our species."

Camila pointed at three of the Scruna. "You three. Get in the runabout and be seated in the very back," she spoke in their language know the knowledge of Dolmoqour. "The rest of you get in, to. Once we're aboard the ship, should we begin to convert others in our departments and spread out from there?" she asked the others.

Shay turned and made her way back onto the runabout. She didn't have anything else to say, or add, and planned to let those who were higher up on the food chain decide how everything was going to go down.

Gomez shrugged. "Depends on how many Dolmoqour we can hide aboard the runabout. We can't survive long without hosts, and clump enough of us together, we'll set off the sensors. We can maybe only take about ten to twelve tops, and that's if each of us carry one. Anything more..."

"Anything more," continued Allen, "would stop us from completing our escape mission." Allen walked toward the runabout with the others while his thoughts were being searched out. "This ship has many people on board. Maybe we should consider some form of temporary incapacitation for the unconverted who do not blindly follow orders. This host has had experience herding people into large rooms, but the risk of them escaping is too high. Could our doctor come up with a cover story of some highly contagious disease that affects the neural pathways and renders a person unconscious? After all, this is an unexplored planet in an unexplored region of space for these bipeds. They could easily contract a foreign bacteria that would escape their technology."

Kij laughed humorlessly. She couldn’t help it; her situation was absurd and she wanted heads to roll for it. “I can’t even think straight enough to remember which gender I am from minute to minute and you want me to come up with a flesh eating bacteria or something?” She laughed again, this time with more vindictive anger than before. “Good luck with that!” she finished.

He stopped just as he was about to board the ship. The internal Miller would have probably just brushed it off with a hilarious comment. The Dolmoquor that inhabited him, however, was growing impatient. They had been trapped on this insufferable world far too long. Now, they had a way off and a way out of the Zone. A way to exact revenge. And it could easily slip through their hands. Turning the muscled frame of his host to Camila, the host of Gold Shoulders, "Voc'rar, we have been here for too long to allow an inferior species to ruin our plans. These outbursts and others like it cannot happen on that ship!" he exclaimed as he pointed to the skies. "She will cause our plans to fail! Gomez mentioned rendering the spotted host completely unconscious until we can transfer to a new host. I would be more than willing to assist in that endeavor. Perhaps then, we can remove the slug and be done with this!"

“Stop asking me to do things you know I cannot do and there won’t be anymore outbursts!” Kij retorted angrily. “Honestly, why anybody would think- you know what? Never mind. Find me a secluded and secure place on that ship and I’ll get the information I need.”

"Don't call me Voc'rar," Camila hissed at Allen. "That would give us away before we begin." She looked at the Trill host. "And you? Yeah. Just keep your mouth shut." She gave them a look, then boarded the runabout and went to the co-pilot seat to begin the pre-flight check.

Allen finished his trip into the runabout and took a seat in the back of the rear compartment. Allen Miller was big enough to speak his own mind and back it up, but he refrained. The Dolmoquor had used that dormant aspect and it failed. Perhaps this wasn't the right host for him. Perhaps he needed to find another host once on board the ship....

With a grunt of annoyance and a glare at the others, Kij turned and entered the shuttle, grateful that it was at least not her job to fly it; she’d never have been able to get enough information to do that.

The Chief Engineer also took a seat in the runabout. She - or rather her controlling parasite had remained silent for the rest of the discussion. Should the others argue, he would carry out what they had decided.

Gomez boarded the runabout last and approached the center console to reinsert the control chips. The first phase was now complete. The challenges of overrunning the Black Hawk and escaping the Zone for good remained.

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