Escape!

Posted on 20 Oct 2025 @ 5:13pm by Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Commodore Harvey Geisler

3,191 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Imposters Among Us
Location: Confederation Command Ship
Timeline: July 8, 2390 || 1000 hours

There was no delay. Energized by what he prayed would not be their last act of intimacy, Harvey immediately tapped the button on the remote. He immediately assumed a kneeling pose and swung himself around so that he could see down the corridor, ready to provide cover fire if needed.

To his immediate surprise, however, there was not a soul present. Harvey rose, his body language not able to betray his nervousness. Just a few feet ahead of them, the corridor opened to a control center, possibly a monitoring station or security checkpoint.

Their interrogation cell was at the end of the short hall. Each side of the corridor featured a single door, likely leading to other interrogation cells. Judging by the lack of screaming behind them, Harvey assumed that they were empty, further adding to the theory that they were alone.

Joey stepped out into the corridor, her disruptor raised and eyes sharp. The silence was eerie—too clean, too still. Her instincts screamed that it wouldn’t last.

She scanned the hallway quickly, noting the layout: their cell at the end, two doors on either side, and the control center just ahead. The architecture was unfamiliar—sleek, utilitarian, alien. Definitely not Federation. That meant no assumptions. Every step had to be calculated.

Quietly, she moved to the nearest door on the left, pressing herself against the wall beside it. With a quick glance back at Harvey to confirm he was covering her, she reached for the panel and tried to peek inside. Her grip on the disruptor tightened, ready for anything—a guard, a prisoner, a trap.

Nothing stirred.

Still, she didn’t relax. The quiet could shift in an instant.

She turned her head slightly, speaking low. “We don’t know this ship. Every room could be a threat—or a way out.”

Joey took a breath, steadying herself. Her mind was already mapping escape routes, calculating angles, weighing risks. She wasn’t just protecting herself. She was protecting Harvey. The man she loved. The man who needed to return to his crew, his ship, their children.

She glanced toward the control center. “Let’s check that station,” she said. “If we’re lucky, it’ll tell us where we are—and how to get out.”

And with that, she moved forward, every muscle coiled for the moment the silence broke.

Harvey followed Joey to the control center, quickly checking every dark corner to make sure nothing or no one was lurking and waiting to strike. As soon as he was satisfied that he was not in immediate danger, he sat down at the console and started to look at the controls.

Immediately, he felt the lack of a universal translator as he had some trouble reading several of the controls. Thankfully, he'd learned enough Karemma early on in the Gamma Quadrant that he was able to make out several functions.

His first attempt however, was not what he was hoping for. "Nope," he muttered, looking at the star charts that appeared on the screen. "Looks like these are external sensors, not the internal," he confirmed. He did pause, taking note of the places that they were passing.

"Wait a minute," he said, stopping himself from switching to the external sensors. "We've got navigational data here. That's..." he pointed at the screen. "We just passed Razmena. Our flight path takes us right past Gavara, through Kendi and Teplan..."

And that's when he realized what was happening. Even though he could not read the data, he could very easily follow a flight path. "He's going for the Idran system. The Selamat was asking about the wormhole. I think he's going to try and detonate a tricobalt in the wormhole."

Joey leaned over Harvey’s shoulder, her eyes scanning the alien script and the glowing star charts. Her brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of the data, but most of it was gibberish to her—symbols and terms she didn’t recognize. “That’s not going to happen,” she said firmly, her voice low but resolute. “Not while we’re still breathing.”

She straightened, glancing warily at the console. “But we’re not going to stop it from here. I don’t know what half of these controls do, and I’m not about to start pushing buttons and light up a beacon that screams ‘escaped prisoners’ to the rest of the ship.”

Her gaze shifted to the corridor, then to the remaining door they hadn’t checked. “We need to find a way out. Fast. That other door might be the cell we were in originally. With luck, maybe the grate won't have been welded back in place. There likely hasn't been time or manpower. And, if not, then maybe there's a maintenance shaft nearby—or something we can use to move without being seen.”

Without waiting, Joey was already moving toward the door. Her steps were silent, body tense. Things had gone from bad to worse, and there was much that depended on them getting free. They would get out. She wasn't going to let D'rimo win. Not when there was so much at stake.

While Joey's eyes were elsewhere, Harvey had already regained his composure and switched the external and navigational sensor display over to an internal sensors grid. "Hold up!" he called out, taking a look at the schematic on the screen. "According to this, we've got two guards positioned back near our cell on the other end of the deck."

He lifted his finger to the screen, but was careful not to touch it. "Other than those two, this deck is pretty empty. Seems a bit unusual for a ship this size, but I'm willing to bet that if D'rimo is stranded here, he's got his people spread out doing different things."

And that's when he saw it, the four escape pods they'd seen earlier when escorted to the bridge. "Looks like there's our ticket out of here, and a nearby power junction to blow to give us cover. Overloading that might be enough to destroy the entire block."

Joey returned to Harvey’s side, her eyes flicking to the schematic on the screen. She leaned in, scanning the layout, then gave a short, confident nod. “Two guards?” she said, her voice steady and sharp. “Easy enough. We’re not bound anymore, and we’ve got weapons. That changes everything.”

She straightened, her posture radiating purpose. The blood on her clothes was making them stick to her, and despite wanting to take a shower, she kept her grip on the disruptor firm. The fear that had once gnawed at her edges was now buried beneath layers of training, rage, and resolve.

"We’re not just escaping. We’re making damn sure they regret ever laying hands on us," Joey said as she tapped the disruptor against her thigh, then nodded toward the corridor. “Let’s move. We’ve got an actual chance of this working.”

He couldn't agree more. Without hesitation, Harvey closed the terminal screen and picked up his disruptor pistol to follow Joey. The vacant corridors did little to calm his nerves as his thoughts continued to think of all of the thriller and suspense holoprograms he participated in over the years. Oftentimes when something seemed too quiet, it meant that danger loomed nearby.

The full minute it took to get to the escape pods felt like the better part of an hour. As they approached, Harvey carefully held his pistol, ready to use it at a moment's notice. He signaled to Joey to check the junction ahead to make sure they were in the clear.

Joey crept forward, her disruptor held tight and low, every step measured and silent. The corridor bent just ahead, and she pressed herself against the wall, inching toward the junction. Her breath was steady, her senses sharpened to a razor’s edge.

She peeked around the corner.

Two guards. One leaning casually against the wall, the other pacing slowly, weapons by their sides. They hadn’t seen her.

Joey turned her head slightly and raised two fingers toward Harvey, then pointed forward—two targets, straight ahead. She gave a short nod, signaling they should both go in. With the fluidity of a trained security officer, she crouched low, hoping he would follow suit. If they fired at the same time, they would have an easier time making their grand escape.

A flash of concern lit up on Harvey's face. The two prisoners were standing right next to the escape pods and the power junction. Escape was literally within sight and reach, and Joey had taken up an attack position. Sure it was logical that all targets should be subdued, especially to provide additional protection for their escape. There would be no hiding the dead Selamat in the interrogation cell, nor the dead guard or the restrained guard.

No, Harvey's greatest concern was that disruptor fire would set off the sensors and drastically reduce their chances of their safe escape.

His grip tightened on the disruptor as he came to his senses. This was not about chances. This was about trust. Joey had the background and the training, and if her judgment was to take this step, then he had to trust that judgment.

Harvey crouched low beside her and readied his weapon. He gave her a subtle nod, letting her know he was ready.

Joey wasn't necessarily going to fire, but was prepared to if it was needed. Her crouched position was more to keep from being discovered before she was ready. She caught Harvey’s nod and leaned in close, her voice barely above a whisper. “We go non-lethal. No disruptor fire unless we have no choice.”

She glanced at the guards near the escape pods, then gestured to their next location, some crates, not too far away. “We flank them. I’ll circle wide and draw their attention. You come in from behind and hit them with a stun—blunt force, not energy. We keep it quiet.”

Her eyes flicked to the disruptors in their hands. “Once they’re down, we set both weapons to overload and leave them near the junction. The blast will scramble the sensors and give us cover. Wait for my signal."

And with that, Joey slipped into motion, her body low and silent, every step calculated. The plan was risky—but it was clean. And if they pulled it off, they’d be gone before anyone even knew what was actually happening.

Harvey did not allow himself the luxury of chastising himself for doubting her. "Knock over the head, got it," he whispered to himself. He pressed himself into the bulkhead before peering carefully out from behind it just enough to keep his eyes on both the guards and Joey.

Joey crouched low behind the crate, her back pressed against the cold metal. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, inhaling deeply through her nose and exhaling slowly through her mouth. Her heart pounded, but her mind was clear. Years of training had taught her how to channel adrenaline into precision. She opened her eyes, adjusted her grip on the disruptor, and whispered to herself, “Showtime.”

With fluid grace, she rolled out from behind the crate and strode into view, disruptor held loosely at her side, posture casual but commanding. She was definitely a sight to see.

“Well,” she called out, voice laced with dry amusement, “looks like your prisoners forgot to stay put.”

The guards blinked, startled by her sudden appearance. One fumbled with his weapon, nearly dropping it in his rush to raise it. The other hesitated, eyes darting between Joey and the corridor behind her, clearly trying to make sense of how she’d gotten free.

Joey smirked. Confusion was her ally, and Harvey was waiting in the wings. They had seconds before the guards recovered—but that was all they needed.

The very moment that Joey had rolled out, Harvey moved. Still crouching, he snuck up behind the guards and tried not to be distracted by his own wife. Prior to moving to engage the guards, Harvey didn't know which of the two he'd go for first. The decision was made the instant one tried to use his weapon.

Harvey raised his disruptor above his head, and brought the grip down to bear on the back of the guard's skull, hoping key pressure points would be close to where he knew most bipedal species were. His action was not met with a satisfying crack, but instead with the motions of a puppet losing his strings.

Before the other guard could realize what was happening, Harvey swung his now downward facing weapon back up, landing a blow between the Karemma's eyes. The guard staggered backward, still conscious and alert. Harvey could not afford to give the guard any moment to regain composure. He lunged forward, landing a blow in the middle of the guard's chest, intending to knock the wind out of the guard. Once that blow proved to be successful, Harvey again wielded the pistol grip, this time to deliver a knockout blow across the guard's face.

Joey stepped over the unconscious guards, her disruptor still warm in her hand. She looked at Harvey, eyes gleaming with a mix of adrenaline and admiration. “That was clean and efficient. I’m impressed," she said, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

She held up her disruptor, turning it in her hand. “Once we set these to overload, we’ll have about thirty seconds before they blow... probably just enough time to get into the pod and launch.”

Her gaze swept the area, calculating angles and distances. “We toss them in opposite directions—maximize the damage, scramble their sensors, maybe even take out the junction," she said as she looked back at Harvey, her expression serious now, but steady. “This is it. This is our chance to regain our freedom. You ready?”

Because she was. She was ready to see her children and regain the life that had been stolen from her.

Harvey shook his head. "No, we need to take out the escape pods," he reminded her. Any plan that just involved them jumping into a pod and ejecting without covering their tracks would only end in certain death. They had to count on the fact that D'rimo was desperate enough in his plan to not come back for them, but also not give D'rimo a reason to stop in tracks, blow them out of the sky, and then resume his course.

"A distraction with some local damage will only get us so far," he said, looking around them. "Blow this junction, yes. But also blow the rest of the escape pods, and it looks like we died trying to escape."

Joey lowered her disruptor slightly, her shoulders relaxing as Harvey’s words sank in. She turned to face him fully, her expression shifting from determined to reflective. “You’re right,” she said quietly. “I got caught up in the idea of finally being free, of getting out. It clouded my judgment.”

She stepped closer, her voice steady but tinged with remorse. “I should’ve seen the bigger picture," she stated as her eyes flicked to the escape pods, then back to the junction. “We do it your way. It will likely keep D'rimo from noticing we're gone, but won't stop his overall plan.”

She reached out, briefly touching Harvey’s arm. “Thanks for keeping your head. Let's do this.”

Harvey nodded and extended her his disruptor pistol, grip first. "Plant this nearby. I'll get the pods ready."

Without further pause, Harvey turned around and returned to the escape pods. Each unit had its own control board, which Harvey briefly considering tampering with. He quickly decided against it, thinking that it might set off some sort of alarm. The last thing he wanted to do was draw attention to their escape.

He was able to, however, locate a healthy plasma conduit just above the left-most pod. Harvey smiled, having found the target for a disruptor overload. Then he looked down and selected the pod that was second from the right. It was perfectly located, not too close to the coming explosion, but still far enough from it to keep it from damage.

Hopefully.

The pod itself was open, but systems offline. Another perfect element to their victory. They could truly launch without attracting attention and then they could bring the systems online as soon as they were out of range.

Joey took the disruptor from Harvey’s hand with a nod, her grip firm and deliberate. She turned without a word and moved swiftly across the corridor, scanning for the best placement. The junction was exposed, its conduit humming faintly with power—just enough to make the overload count.

She crouched low, wedging the disruptor between two support struts near the plasma conduit, angled for maximum discharge. With practiced fingers, she set the overload sequence, watching the indicator blink red. Thirty seconds. That was their window.

She stood, gave the weapon one last glance, then turned and jogged back to Harvey’s side. “It’s done,” she said, her voice calm but urgent.

Harvey made no formal or informal acknowledgement of her action. Instead, his attention was focused on setting the disruptor he held to overload. "Second from right," he told Joey, nodding in the direction of the escape pod he had chosen.

As soon as the disruptor was ready, he climbed what he could of the wall and shoved the behind the plasma conduit. Then he joined her in the pod. "Wait until the last second," he told her as he closed the hatch behind them, "then hit the release lever. We drop without power so we look lifeless."

Joey nodded, the countdown blinking silently in her mind. She could feel Harvey settle beside her, the hatch sealing them in with a final hiss. The pod was dark, quiet, and cold—just as it needed to be.

She kept her hand poised over the release lever, her knuckles white with tension. Every second ticked by like a drumbeat in her chest. Twenty seconds. Fifteen. Ten.

She glanced at Harvey, her voice barely a whisper. “Here we go.”

At the final second, she yanked the lever.

The pod jolted violently as it detached, flinging them into the void. For a moment, there was only silence—then the world behind them erupted.

Twin detonations roared through the corridor, the overloaded disruptors igniting in a cascade of fire and plasma. The shockwave slammed into the pod, rattling its frame and sending it into a spin. Joey braced herself, her body pressed against the seat as the fire licked at the hull, scorching the outer plating.

The pod held.

They were sailing through space now, dark and drifting, just another piece of debris in the chaos they’d left behind.

Joey exhaled, her voice steady despite the tremble in her breath. “We’re out.”

And for the first time in what felt like forever, freedom was no longer a dream—it was real.

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