Clearing the Deck

Posted on 10 Dec 2019 @ 9:57am by Lieutenant JG Kemm & Lieutenant JG Shay Mitchell & Master Chief Petty Officer Mila Rasputin

4,509 words; about a 23 minute read

Mission: Truth and Justice
Location: Deck 6
Timeline: MD 15 || 1810 hours

After making her way out of sickbay, Shay turned to the others that were with them. Having Kemm with them was an added bonus thanks to his ganglia. They'd know danger was around before they stumbled on top of it. "Okay, Lieutenant," she began. "You said there are areas of this deck where no one has ventured yet. That's where we need to go. If they know the Captain is back aboard the ship, and I'm sure that they do, they're not going to hesitate to kill anyone that they don't recognize as one of their own."

"And that's assuming they haven't already killed those they have sequestered," Kemm observed, checking his phaser as he followed Mitchell and Rasputin. "You had one of those things in your head until a few minutes ago. Do you remember anything you were told about what to do?"

"Their homeworld is Penduli V, but I think we've all figured that out by now," Shay began, speaking only loud enough so that Kemm and Mila could hear her as they made their way down the corridor. "They were imprisoned there after trying to conquer the universe. That was their punishment. The Dolmoqour had no outside contact with anyone until we arrived, which is why we're currently in our current predicament. They saw a way out, and they took it. Their plan was to inhabit everyone on this ship to get outside of the Zone."

She paused, taking a moment to allow them the chance to process what she'd told them before continuing again. "Captain Geisler was seen as a threat, and the plan was to kill him to keep him from spoiling everything, but you see how well that worked out. With him back on board, and us leaving Penduli V's orbit, the Dolmoqour are now in survival mode. We're all expendable to them, however, they'll keep us alive so long as it suits their needs," the young woman said. "However, without having that thing in my head any longer, I don't know what their next step is. I can also tell you that the Boreriri and the Triosian we found back at the archive and brought aboard the ship... they're the ones controlling the show."

Kemm nodded. "That matches a lot of what the Guardians told us," he stated just as the deckplates shuddered. "The same ones that are firing on the Black Hawk as we speak. We should head for the recreation rooms, or the holodecks. Those are the only places large enough to hold high amounts of crew."

"Da," Mila agreed. "I am in being in agreement with you, Lieutenant," she said. "But if it is being holodeck, we should be finding a way to disable it from outside if it is being trap."

"I wasn't placed in charge of it, but some sort of trap isn't exactly out of the question," the young Security officer said, checking her disc gun again. "If we find anyone inside, though, we're going to have to clear them. I wouldn't put it passed the Dolmoqour to plant a few here or there in case their plan fails."

"Which is why we have these." Kemm checked a pouch he'd placed on his belt which contained additional discs. "Everyone gets one of these, no matter what." He then pulled out his tricorder and began to scan what he could of the deck. "There are four groups of personnel," he reported. "Forty in the starboard rec room, thirty-eight in the port, thirty-two in Holodeck One, and forty-seven in Holodeck Two. Where to first, Ensign? You are the security officer, and more qualified to consider strategy than I."

"That will account for one hundred and fifty-seven members of the crew," Shay stated, doing some planning in her head. She wasn't sure how the best way to go about this would be considering the Dolmoqour would be breathing down their necks no matter what. "The holodecks might be our best bet. If we can mirror the electrical current the discs put off, turn the safeties off inside the holodecks, we can zap everyone simultaneously. If there are Dolmoqour hidden among them, they'd be taken care of before they even came out, and it would save us seventy-nine disks." She looked between the two of them. "It would be the same as getting shot by one of these, and we'd have more help securing other areas."

"Assuming we can get there in the first place," Kemm remarked. "And that the holodeck will remain both unguarded and that the Dolmoqour don't try to execute the crew while we attempt to affect these modifications."

"What about internal defenses?" Mila asked as she remembered the ferrofluid balls she had manually taken control of when fighting Torg. A tear slid down her cheek as she remembered his final moments, but she roughly brushed it aside.

Shay listened to the others. "The Dolmoqour are going to be hot on our heels regardless what we do. We've got four areas where our fellow crewmen are being held against their will. No matter what happens to us, we need to get them free. Otherwise, their fate has been sealed. I've done some things today that I'm not proud of, but I refuse to live with that on my conscience."

"Then we must get moving," Kemm plainly stated. "They know we're here, and the longer we delay, the more danger that befalls the crew. Holodeck Two is three sections ahead and is the closest destination."

Mila brought up the defense schematic and showed it to Shay. "See? This is being internal defense, but you are knowing that. I took manual control of one, but uncertain if you are being able to link them all to fire. Unfortunately, manual firing without targets would result in good crew being taken as well as possessed crew."

The young Ensign shook her head. It wasn't a bad idea, but it would take time to link them all to fire, and time was something they didn't have right now. "There's no time for that. Like Kemm pointed out, they know we're here. At this point, our best bet would be to try to take out the Dolmoqour closest to our first location," she said. "They'll alert the others, or course, but that would buy us enough time to start freeing the crew. Holodeck two is where we need to start. It's nearest to where we are now."

"Then let us be moving," Mila said as turned to head down the corridor towards the nearest gathering of lifeforms, which was a holodeck.

They had not far to walk before they arrived at the holodeck. The area was well guarded, with four officers, each armed with phaser rifles, standing watch outside the holodeck entrance. Two of the guards wore red, and the other two in blue.

Shay glanced at the four individuals from around a corner before she ducked back. "If we all fire at once, we should be able to get all four of them at once," she said, grabbing a second disc gun for her left hand. "I'll take the two red. You two take the blue."

"I am being ready," Mila said as she crouched down and peered around the corner. Very few people expected fire to come from below waist level and she was going to take advantage of that. She took aim and waited for Kemm to be in position.

Kemm slipped next to Mila, readying his own disc shooter. He'd shot enough of the Black Hawk's crew today, and he couldn't wait for this day to be over. He just had to shoot more colleagues and friends before this was over. Hopefully, no one else would die. He then nodded to Mila to let her know he was ready.

Unlike the Dolmoqour, they had the element of surprise on their side. Once Kemm and Mila were in position, Shay stepped from around the corner, being mindful that the Captain's Yeoman was crouched down, and leveled her weapons on the two people wearing red. "Fire," she told her two comrades, pulling the triggers of both disc guns she held, all while hoping they'd fire at the same time she did. There was no room for error, and it was quite likely others would be coming soon enough.

Mila fired when Shay did and sent two disc flying at her targets, pleased to see that at least one hit the man on the leg and sent him into an electric boogaloo before he hit the floor.

Kemm fired as well, but not before he realized that he and Mila had selected the same person in blue. Kemm reacted, using his natural Kelpian speed to launch himself forward and tackle the Ensign. Thankfully, the Ensign was surprised enough by the action that she didn't fire at him, and fell instant victim to the disc he planted on her chest. Like the others, she convulsed under the electric shock and expelled her Dolmoqour, which Kemm smashed with his fist, grinding it into the abrasive carpet.

Once the last one was taken out, Shay moved forward to introduce the remaining three Dolmoqour with the bottom of her boot. "Say, Lieutenant... if you're ever looking for a change in scenery, Security could use someone like you," she said, making her way toward the holodeck entrance. A choice four letter word left her lips. "We've got a problem. The doors have been welded shut. I can only assume they've done this to all of them."

Mila grimaced but went to check on the Flight and Medical personnel as they recovered. "Who is being inside?" she asked one of them.

The highest ranked individual shook his head. "No idea," he replied to the Yeoman. "We had our rifles out and basically shoved everyone inside the holodeck. Those... things made us do that. And turned the entire room into a giant freezer."

"No offense, Ensign," Kemm said, opening his tricorder, "but when this is done, I'll be happy never to pick up another phaser again." He removed a nearby access panel and began to tap the controls inside. "But I will try your idea of turning the holodeck into a massive shock chamber, and it should disengage the freezing program at the same time. Should only take a minute. You'll probably have to cut down the doors, or see if you can unweld them with your phaser."

"None taken," Shay said, prepping her phaser to attempt to unweld the doors. She didn't know if it would work or not, but she was willing to try. "Just make sure the charge is the same as these disc shooters are. We don't want anyone taking anything more than that. And, perhaps, have it from from the sides instead of ground level. Those in uniform will likely be unaffected by it because of the soles of their boots."

"I'm going to have to amplify the charge regardless," Kemm said. "With the dropping temperatures, whatever we do is going to hurt the crew almost as much as the parasites, but we have to make sure they are removed." He finished moving a few chips and entering some code. "Ready, ensign? How long will it take to open the doors?"

"I'd estimate a minute tops," Shay replied as she finished prepping her phaser. She really hoped this worked. Once in position, she nodded her head. "I'm ready when you are."

Mila readied her disc gun. "I am being ready," she said. "Is possible to change program to something warm for them?" she wondered out loud.

"We hardwired the system," replied an ensign in red. "The only way to change or shut it down is precisely what Lieutenant Kemm is doing."

Kemm frowned. He wasn't going to enjoy this at all, but it had to be done. "Then it appears we have no choice." The Kelpien activated his shocking program and looked up at Ensign Mitchell. "Your turn, Ensign."

Shay took a deep breath and fired her phaser, the narrow beam cutting through the damage the Dolmoqour did by welding the doors closed. She hoped everyone on the other side would make it out okay, and if they did, she was fairly certain they'd be a bit angry thanks to the electrical shock they were all getting. Most of the crew was completely clueless when it came to what was really going on. All they new were their feeling crewmen had mutinied. They'd have to explain, but only when there was time to do so.

The beam moved lower until the last of the welding was gone, then she turned her attention to Mila. "Can you open the door manually?"

"Da," Mila said and knelt down to open an access hatch and shoved her arm inside. She felt around for it until she found what she was hunting for. "Is being stuck, but I...am....getting it!" she cried in triumphant as her straining paid off and the doors started to open a little at a time.

A pair of hands appeared in the crack. And then another. And another. "Push!" someone shouted from the inside, and a joint effort forced the heavy doors out of sight. Dozens of personnel began to exit the holodeck, many of them shivering and holding each other for what little warmth they had. Many had angry glances for the four formerly-possessed crewmen, and thankfully, when they saw their phasers on the ground, they knew something was amiss.

"Before anyone asks any questions," Kemm said, standing in front of the group quickly, and extending a hand to stop the group from leaving the holodeck. "Yes, the ship was taken over. No, the Captain has not betrayed the ship and crew. Many of our shipmates were infected with mind-controlling parasites. The shock you all experienced would have killed them. How many of you had one of those in your head?"

Three enlisted crew slowly raised their hands, unsure if a punishment of sorts was about to ensue.

"Senior Chief. Ensign," he said to Shay and Mila. "Run a quick inspection. Make sure the parasites are dead."

As the others filed out, Shay made her way into the holodeck to search for the parasites. There were three Dolmoqour inside. She found two, both of which came into swift contact with the bottom of her boot. "Two accounted for. There's still one left."

Mila looked at one of the personnel that had been possessed, then stepped forward to look closer. Suddenly, her hands shot forward and for everyone present, it looked like she was trying to strangle the person. She pulled one hand back suddenly and shook it, then stomped on something on the floor. "It is being dead," she said. "Sorry, was on your collar" she explained to the crewman she had just attempted to throttle.

Kemm nodded to the yeoman and looked back at the crew. "We cannot send you back to your stations or away from this area. Captain's orders are to keep everyone in groups. There are three more pockets on this deck that have to be cleared, and then there are several decks below us that will have to be cleared as well. Our command post is in sickbay. I suggest everyone head there first and get checked out before receiving orders. Ensign Mitchell, select four officers and arm them with the weapons we took from the guards. They'll be on escort duty."

The young Security officer nodded her head and selected four people from the group, handing each of them one of the confiscated weapons. "The Dolmoqour have reached a moment of desperation, and won't hesitate to kill anyone, however, we're not looking to kill them. If anyone opens fire, find cover and stun them," she said. "You shouldn't run into any problems, though. The deck has been cleared behind us. Go. Get to sickbay."

As the rescued started to dash off, Kemm turned to Shay and Mila. "One down, ladies. Three to go. We should head for the starboard lounge--" The deck shook and a few of the lights flickered. "Especially before it gets hit by external weapons fire and all of the crew sucked into space. Quickly."

"Then we better get moving," Shay said, bracing herself against the bulkhead when the deck shook. She didn't want to be responsible for any more than had already happened.

Mila checked the clip of her disc gun, then put it back in, "Let us be rolling and rocking, then," she said.

Kemm pulled out his tricorder and began to lead the way. "Thirty meters in front of us," he said softly. "Forty lifesigns. Only two of them are outside the lounge, and I'm picking up phasers on the inside."

"Do you think you two can handle the two outside the lounge?" Shay asked. Her anxiety was beginning to increase more than it was before. If only they could shock everyone at once like they did in the holodeck, but that just wasn't an option this time. Now, they needed to get creative.

"Da," Mila said. "Let us go." With that, the Yeoman turned and headed up the corridor to their next target, confidence she didn't feel in her step. She didn't have to feel it to do it. She just had to do it.

"Um, Senior Chief, it would help if you knew what my plan was before you approached," the young Security officer pointed out.

"Oh. Da," the Russian Yeoman said as she stopped and turned back. "Am being very eager to be getting this done. You are having my apologies."

"What is your plan, Ensign?" Kemm simply asked. "Taking out the two outside the lounge could alert whoever is still on the inside to our arrival."

"There's an access hatch inside the lounge. I'm going through that and inside. That will distract the two out here long enough for you both to take them out," Shay explained. "With any luck, they'll open the doors to see what the commotion is. We should be able to tell who is who. They're going to keep the uninfected ones in a group. Shooting fish in a barrel and all of that. That will help us determine who our first targets need to be."

"As long as they do not start shooting said fish," Mila said a bit nervously. "But is good plan. How are we to be knowing when you are being ready?"

"You'll know when the ones outside the door react. And don't worry about the fish. That's what wide beam stun is for. I just need them to know I'm there," she said, looking between the two of them. "Ready?"

"Ready," Mila said as she checked her disc gun.

Kemm nodded as well, adding a verbal, "Ready," just to be clear.

"I'll see you on the inside, then," the young woman said, giving them both a nod before she moved to the nearest hatch and disappeared inside. As she made her way through the Jeffries tubes toward the lounge, Shay kept telling herself that this was going to work. It had to work.

Not long after, she came to the hatch and reached for her phaser, making sure it was on setting three wide beam, then took a calming breath. Now wasn't the time to let her nerves get the better of her. Shay knew all the Dolmoqour on deck six, so picking them out wouldn't be too difficult. What would be, though, would be timing everything out so the ones in the corridor would be alerted, then she'd be able to fire on them.

With another deep breath, she slowly opened the hatch, being as quiet as she possibly could just to take stock of the situation.

Inside the lounge, three gold collared personnel stood watch in the room, each one brandishing phaser rifles. The captives had been gathered in the center of the room, badges removed, as well as their shoes. Each of the glass tables had been shattered, and the debris laying around the group as a measure to keep everyone under control.

The room shook under another weapons impact, and anyone could see clearly the Guardian vessels outside zipping around the Black Hawk, laying down polaron fire. It was clear that the Dolmoqour agents were getting antsy and would open fire on the captives at any moment.

It was just as she suspected. The three Dolmoqour had corralled everyone in a large group like cattle. Shay had the element of surprise on her side, though, and she planned to take full advantage of that. With all the stealth she could muster in such a tight space, the young woman leveled her phaser on the three individuals and fired, grateful she'd already set the device on wide beam. There would be enough commotion soon that Kemm and Mila would be able to take out the two remaining outside the door.

Two of the Dolmoqour went down, but the third, an Andorian, managed to duck behind furniture. She leaned out to fire, not at the source of the phaser blast, but at the captives. Her finger fired shot after shot, at setting four, downing several captives and starting a panic. Many stood up to run, not fearing the broken glass and debris, and all in Shay's direction.

Things were going just about how she expected them to. Shay gave a curse and dove away from the hatch before any of the captives could trample her. She kept her eyes on the Andorian hiding behind the chair and opted to switch gears. The young woman wasn't going to let anyone else die. Not today. She saw the Dolmoqour infected Andorian lean out a bit and took that opening to raise her disc shooter, firing a single shot at the blue skinned woman's forehead.

The Andorian fell backward, the electric shock causing her hand to seize, forcing a string of phaser blasts to arc upward towards the ceiling as she fell backward. She continued to convulse under the shock until the parasite evacuated its host and died.

Mila looked at Kemm with her disc gun ready before she stepped around the corner when she heard the commotion and whistled. Without waiting to see what they'd do, she immediately fired at them and ducked back behind cover.

The guards had heard the commotion as well, They were just about to enter the room when Mila's distraction caught them off guard. One of the guards collapsed under the electric shock, and the other started to fire upon where Mila disappeared under cover.

Kemm took a deep breath, hearing the phaser fire. Why couldn't this one had gone as smoothly as the one before it? He mustered his courage and leapt out from behind cover, successfully firing a disc to down the final guard. "That takes care of that," he muttered as several others started to pound on the doors, hoping someone would hear their screams.

The Russian opened the access panel and reached inside for the lever to manually open the door. "It is being...stuck," she grunted. "Can you be trying?" She asked as she removed her hand and moved aside. As she did so, she raised her disc gun and aimed it at the area where the doors would part.

Kemm nodded, gripping the handle and pulling down. The first crack appeared in the door, not large enough for anyone to exit on their own, though several limbs attempted to try. Kemm fired a disc or two at those outstretched limbs before pumping the handle yet again to open the door wider.

Mila opened fire on every arm that filled the slot and when the door opened further, she ducked down and started firing discs as bodies as fast as she could pull the trigger.

As people began to fight to get out of the lounge, Shay began to rapidly fire a disc at all personnel with the two disc shooters she was in possession of, including the two that were lying unconscious on the floor. As much as they wanted out, she couldn't allow that to happen until everyone of them had been cleared.

Kemm didn't pump the release any more, choosing to disc whoever tried to come out of the thin opening. It wasn't long before everyone had been shot and starting to recover.

"We're clear," the Ensign called out to the others as the last person pulled the disc off of himself. She moved over to the door and placed her hands between them. Now, it was time to set all of these people free. "Someone help me get the doors open the rest of the way. Once everyone is out, we can take care of the last two locations and move on to other decks that still need to be cleared."

"Clear?" demanded a Deltan ensign. "Clear of what? You're just... going to shoot us and leave?"

"I'm letting you out of here," Shay replied, still pushing at the doors. "Long story short... the ones holding you hostage had parasites in their heads called Dolmoqour. Those parasites were controlling their minds and forcing their hosts to do extremely horrible things against their will. But what makes it worse, is the real individual was well aware of everything that was going on, but was entirely helpless. Those discs you all we just shot with kills the parasite. No one gets away without being cleared. Now... help me get the doors open so you can all leave here."

Kemm took care of that for Shay and the rest of the trapped crew. He pumped the handle a few more times until the door was fully open. "Head for sickbay," he stated. "That's the rally point, and you'll be given new orders from there."

After the others had cleared out, Mila turned to Shay. "Where is being our next destination?" she asked.

With the captives in the lounge no longer in jeopardy of being sucked out into space, Shay felt a little better about the situation they were facing, though time was still an issue. She pointed to four individuals, then to the two unconscious people on the ground. "Take them with you, and remember, they had no control over what they were doing to you. They're going to feel a lot of remorse when they come to. I know that to be fact, because I was once in their position had it not been for Lieutenant Kemm and Senior Chief Rylan," she said, then looked toward the others. "Holodeck one, then we'll hit our last location." Before waiting for an answer, the young woman checked her gear, then was on her way down the corridor.

Kemm replaced the clip in his weapon, trading in his stock of two rounds for a fresh twenty. "Come, Senior Chief. We're halfway done."

Mila checked her clip of discs and switched to a new one, then nodded. "Let us go."

All three disappeared down the corridor, ready to finish their task and free more members of the crew.

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