Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Sept 6, 2009 0:11:34 GMT
On the Raven:Scott waited while his Daughter got ready for bed. Then he tucked her in, kissing her lovingly on her forehead.
"You should go to work Daddy. I'll be OK."
Scott grinned, his little girl was much more sensitive than he sometimes gave her credit for.
"You're sure ?"
"Go on, I'm going to read for a while, see you in the morning." Vanessa said, activating the PADD with the book she was currently reading, "Love you Daddy."
"You too pumpkin." Scott said, heading for the door ....
~~~~~~~~~~
He knew something was wrong the moment he walked into Engineering. Everyone was quiet, too quiet .. He made his way to the large island containing work stations and looked at his team.
"Well ?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"It's not good Commander." Fishner said, glancing at one or two of the engineers, before returning his gaze to McLean, "Given our current power status, we can only use maneuvering thrusters. Impulse engines will drain power to critical in approximately sixteen minutes, then we're .... Well .... There would be nothing left for life support."
Fishner threw the PADD he was holding to the table in frustration.
Scott didn't need it spelling out. He had done the calculations in his head on the way here ... A free-fall trajectory back into the center of the system, from this far out, would take something in the region of nine years. 'NINE YEARS' he screamed inside his head. Over a thousand men, women, and children were now crammed into less than thirty percent of the massive Galaxy Class vessel.
"We need to disregard nominal vectors for the plot." Scott said, running his finger along the spiral line into the system, "We can use the impulse engines for our initial push, then dip into the atmosphere of each planet in turn. That should give us enough velocity."
"The outer hull won't take that sort of punishment. We'll be exceeding maximum temperatures at every skip." one of the team said.
"Then we'll move everyone to the interior area's .. Lock down all bulkheads, so if, when, we have a hull breach it, will at least be contained." someone else volunteered.
"Re-plot the course." Scott said, finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel, "We'll go through it again and again, then double check it to be certain. Because once we set this in motion gentlemen, we're committed to it."
Everyone began to redo the trajectory track, making certain every calculation was one hundred percent accurate ... They had less than fifteen percent forward shields, so the saucer section was going to take a beating, Inertial dampers were at their minimal setting. Over two thirds of the ship was now as cold and airless as the space outside her hull ...
This HAD to work ! ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Sept 6, 2009 10:20:31 GMT
Again he woke up, and this time experiencing the slightest sense of de ja vu. Unfamiliar surroundings, unfamiliar identity, but this was different. Not only were the features of this room odd; they were completely unknown... Different.
Something gave him the natural propensity to look for a bright light source, and to expect a hot tingling of the skin in a humid environment. But neither were there. As he remembered that pleasant room in full detail, and what it had meant, he looked around. He recognised to his shock that this was not that place. No windows, and the walls weren't just white but they were a sterile white, clean and clinical. The room smelt stale with disused disinfectant.
Shaking all over as if he'd had too much caffeine and too little food, he slid off the bed and stumbled towards the door. Still having his sensibility, everything about the room spoke to him of hospitals; research centres. But there were no instruments or anything of the sort in sight, his clothes hadn't changed and there was nothing in the way of 'mirrored-glass', which when he thought about it, was an odd thing to think would be included here.
There was one door and he didn't hesitate to pull down on the handle. Surprisingly, it opened.
The room turned out to be on a length of wide corridor. The corridor spread away left and right outside of the door, and was of a much different tone to the room's interior. It was arched, with a semi-circular cross section, and was coloured in off shades of brown and burgundy. There was the slightest hint of the monastic about it, with curved supports protruding from the roof down to the sides of the walls, at which point they branched bifurcatedly, leaving in the gap between them either a blank space or an open portal to the air beyond. In the room-escapee's opinion, it successfully managed to combine clean, simplistic design with extravagant decoration.
He headed off to the right, down the wide corridor. Slowly he stuttered along, looking at other doors that he passed and wondering what they concealed in the rooms beyond them. He was far from aimless in this wander, from somewhere in him there was an underlying drive to get back to the room he was in before. "Excuse me," his eyes widened as he passed someone by, "Can you tell me where I am?"
The blandly dressed woman looked at him, eyes narrowing slightly. "Who is your carer?" she questioned.
"Umm, his name is Tinva." He thought he saw a reaction in the woman's eyes, as if she was thinking, Ohh, him.
"Come this way." She turned her back to him and he followed her, not sure where he was being led but hoping beyond hope that he was being taken back to his old room.
"Why was I moved?" he asked, trying to keep up.
"I don't know. I don't know who you are."
"My name is -" There it was. There was the sticking point. The time had finally come for the question to be asked, and when asked he was unable to provide a spontaneous answer. But if he thought about it...? "My name is... My name is Vomo," he said.
"Ok, Vomo, let me have a look at our records and we'll find your room." Worryingly, he thought, they kept on walking. "Hmm, Vomo, it seems that you were moved for a reason. I'm afraid that Mister Tinva is no longer your carer."
"What? So who he is he caring for in my room now?"
"He isn't caring for anybody." She paused. "We don't usually divulge this information to inmates Vomo, but Mister Tinva has been suspended."
"What?! Why?" Wait, Vomo thought, For what reason would I care about that man? And inmates?
She gave him a funny look then pulled down on a door handle. "Here we are," she gave a tired look around, "Down the corridor, two-storeys up and then first on your right."
"Thank you," said Vomo.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2009 22:50:16 GMT
As Dr. Mrager sat there speaking with the confused young man sitting across from his desk, there was another knock at the door.
"Come." called Mrager.
The door opened to once again reveal the same nurse from earlier.
"Doctor. your new patient, Mr. Vomo has arrived. Shall I ask him to wait a moment?" she asked with a glance at Delik.
Mrager didn't know why but he had a feeling that it would be okay to have both men in the room.
"No, nurse. Go ahead and show Mr. Vomo in." he replied.
"Yes, doctor."
A few seconds later, the new arrival entered the room and Mrager watched a Delik shot up to his feet and looked as if he had seen a ghost.
"Commander Blakus." Delik said surprisingly.
"Another one of your fantasy crew members, Mr Delik?" asked the doctor. "Please be seated, gentlemen."
As both men sat, Mrager turned his attention to Vomo.
"Hello Vomo. My name is Dr. Mrager and I will be your new caretaker.' Mrager said while keeping his eyes on the patient. "Forgive me, but have we met before?" he asked.
"YES!!!!" answered Delik. "On the Raven. He's our First Officer."
"Well, I do admit to him looking familiar Mr Delik but I can assure you that it isn't because we've seen each other on some starship." Mrager replied as he turned his attention to Vomo once more.
"So how are you felling today, Vomo?" he asked.
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Sept 7, 2009 22:38:23 GMT
He woke. Looked round the white, clinical room, puzzled at where he could be. Someone in a uniform was approaching him.
"Ahh ..." the woman said, smiling warmly, "You are finally awake. We thought you were going to sleep indefinitely. You've missed two meal already." she continued, shining a light into each eye in turn, before checking reading on the panel above his head.
"Where ...."
"Don't worry, you had a fall, you're going to be just fine. Give me a moment while I check your progress, then I'll go into the recreation room for your partner."
She seemed to fuss round him, while he, in turn, looked round the room. It was dawning on him that he was in some sort of, hospital maybe. 'If I have been injured it would seem the logical place to be treated' he thought, glancing at the large open window. He could feel the breeze on his face, and was so engrossed in the fresh air, he didn't notice the nurse leave the room ..
"Javin, your awake !" another woman said, but this one threw her arms round his neck, kissing him lovingly, almost hesitant to let him go.
"Yes." he said, almost suffocating under the womans affection, "I'm awake. What happened to me ?"
"The school, you don't remember ... The roof collapsed, you went back in to get the young girl who was trapped, the roof fell on you."
"Wha .... What abou ...."
"She's safe Javin." the woman said, "You pushed her through the window as the floor above fell. You were trapped and injured. But the doctors have been excellent, they are talking about letting you home in a day or two."
"Thats good ... I feel OK. A little hungry maybe." he said, realizing he was famished all of a sudden, then wondering where he'd heard the expression before, "Erm ... Home ?"
"Stop worrying. Rest today, them we'll come to pick you up tomorrow all being well." the woman said, throwing her arms around him. But he was frowning, something in the back of his mind just wouldn't go away ..
"Who's ..... Carl ?" he asked ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Sept 9, 2009 10:39:38 GMT
Vomo rested on his bed while the attendants talked about him outside. He had been shouting again, and now he suspected, they planned to do something about him. To say this made him nervous was an understatement, his chest rose and fell uncertainly in great shuddery breaths as he tried to keep calm.
Vomo repeated these unsteady breaths with as much regularity as possible, until the time came a few minutes later for 'them' to enter the room. He jumped off the bed and scampered to the window, trying to delay the inevitable for as long as possible.
"Come on, Mister Vomo..." He recognised this voice as the woman whom had shown him back to his room. His hands clenched the frame of the window until his knuckles went white. "We're not going to harm you if that's what you think."
"No, I'm sure you're not," he muttered in return. The square below Vomo was still nicely populated with people, all seemingly wandering to and fro. A compulsion to jump out of the window suddenly came to him. He gripped the window frame tighter, but then there were other pairs of hands gripping his arms. They weren't rough, just firm enough to cause him to submit. The prehensile hands eventually came free from the frame, and he allowed himself to be led away.
A time later.....
"Doctor. your new patient, Mr. Vomo has arrived. Shall I ask him to wait a moment?" Vomo watched the woman asking the question, and could just about hear another voice answering. She came back out of the room, turned to him and nodded towards the door.
Uncertainly, Vomo made his way to the door. He pushed it back tentatively, putting one foot beyond the boundary and looking inside.
"Commander Blakus." Said one of the two people in the room. Vomo blinked and got the instinct to say something. He didn't get to find out what that thing was though...
"Another one of your fantasy crew members, Mr Delik?" said the other man at the desk. "Please be seated, gentlemen. Hello Vomo. My name is Dr. Mrager and I will be your new caretaker. Forgive me, but have we met before?" he asked.
"I -" Again Vomo opened his mouth to speak but the man named Delik beat him to it again, saying something about an officer and what Vomo happened to know was a form of birdlife. Vomo frowned at the man, not sure why he was acting so uptight and frustrated.
"Well, I do admit to him looking familiar Mr Delik but I can assure you that it isn't because we've seen each other on some starship." Mrager replied as he turned his attention to Vomo once more. "So how are you felling today, Vomo?"
"Umm... Very confused, Doctor," stated Vomo. "You see, I have concerns with regard to a number of fundamental questions. Specifically, who I am, where I am, what I am and what everything is around me." If Mrager was a Doctor as he claimed then he would know how to handle these frank queries. "I have woken up several times in this place now, and am still no closer to figuring out any of these things. In fact, I have to reformulate the questions every time I regain consciousness."
<Tag Mrager (& Delik)>
As he finished, he thought he saw something in Mrager's expression, something he recognised. A particular emotion in the man. But how could that be? He didn't know him.
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Sept 9, 2009 21:22:44 GMT
He lay beside her, watching the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest. He knew instinctively that she often slept on her back, arms above her head on the pillow ... The silk sheet moved fluidly as she breathed, her eyes flickering left and right, dreaming.
Edging toward the end of the bed, he slowly placed his feet on the cool tiled floor, supporting himself against the bedside table, he stood. For a moment he watched her, he knew that rapid eye movement, or deep sleep, couldn't be faked, so he was sure his departure from the bed was undetected.
Moving to the door he left the room without a glance backward. Along the hall he took time to look in on his Daughter. The six year old was sleeping peacefully. After picking up a small pouch, concealed in her room some time ago, he moved to the living area.
At the desk, he attached a small device to the screen then activated the computer. The equpitment knew exactly what it needed to do and the screen came to life. Data, images, information all began to be recorded.
After only moments, the device was satisfied .. It gave a single contented 'beep' then closed the screen down. He disconnected it, placing it back into the pouch, then retraced his steps to his Daughters' bedroom. Hiding the pouch, he then sat on the edge of the small bed, watching with love, and pride as his little girl slept.
Kissing her softly on the forehead, he went back to the main bedroom. He watched the woman sleeping for long long minutes, her breathing shallow, gentle, hypnotic almost. Then finally satisfied, he slid back under the silken sheet. As delicately as possible, he put his arm around the woman he loved, and satisfied, he fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
His last thought as he fell to sleep was, 'Will I remember this time ?' ..........
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2009 4:39:32 GMT
"Umm... Very confused, Doctor. You see, I have concerns with regard to a number of fundamental questions. Specifically, who I am, where I am, what I am and what everything is around me. I have woken up several times in this place now, and am still no closer to figuring out any of these things. In fact, I have to reformulate the questions every time I regain consciousness."
Mrager picked up the Medical Data Cube sitting on his desk, in front of him.
"Well. It does say here that you have mentioned this amnesia before. Do you remember that?" he asked with a teasing grin. "I'm sorry. That wasn't funny. Let me finish reading here." After a moment of reading and several "ahhs" and Hmms" from Mrager, Delik stood up and placed his hands on the doctors desk and stared him in the eyes.
"It's the brainwashing, I tell you. It happened to all of us from the Raven." He than turned his attention to his XO. "Sir. Does the name Andae Blakus ring any bells for you?"
When Vomo just stared at him as if he had grown a second head, Delik continued.
"Think hard, sir. Because that is your real name. You are the First Officer of the Federation Starship Raven." He continued to once again describe the situation that had led to the one that they were now in. Every so often, he would notice a look in Blakus that made him feel as if he were getting through.
Mean time, Mrager just sat there listening and shaking his head. Why do I get all the whackos? he thought.
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Sept 11, 2009 23:14:37 GMT
He'd been completely silent so far. Not really sure what to say to this odd couple - not that they were a couple. One seemed rather mildly flippant, that one being Doctor Mrager. While the other one just seemed to be utterly insane. Even Vomo in all of his confusion had figured out that this place must be some sort of facility for the mentally... 'unstable'. He still had questions on how long the 'patients' were kept and what range of 'unstable' people were kept, with possible variation on their length of stay according to level of 'instability'.
Those were all comparitively dull and minor queries he could ask though, and were far from the forefront of his thoughts.
"Think hard, sir. Because that is your real name. You are the First Officer of the Federation Starship Raven." Delik rambled on but, amongst it all Vomo's attention did catch at particular parts of his great oratory. Sometimes those parts were a full sentence or more... at other times they were simply a turn of phrase, but however detailed it was, it did indicate one thing: a sense of very vague familiarity. With both the subject matter and Delik himself. Vomo's eyes strayed from Delik's, avoiding the glare of the irises, gripped in their fever.. or not?
He thought hard on what these things could mean. If he was struggling for memory of events previous to his initial awakenings, and there was nothing familiar to him until the very vague feeling of it that he got now, that might suggest he had some association with Delik (indeed, as the ridge-nosed one claimed).
Mrager talked some more, trying to quell Delik's apparent frustration by suggesting he sit back down and the like.
"You mention a Raven?" Vomo said, "I've heard of that word before. It's a bird, isn't it? Black, large, imposing."
Delik nodded and was about to say something else but Mrager interrupted again. It didn't matter though. The fact that his intuition at knowing a Raven was a bird had been confirmed by Delik gave the reassurance that at least things were being remembered, regardless of which life he was a part of.
"Doctor Mrager. I've been told that we are well within the tropics of this planet... What is it called? Hamaro?" Ah, the word had just come to him. Confident now that he was remembering more, he continued. "I think I've remembered my other name... My full name is Jrro Vomo pan-Heedon." Mrager confirmed that with a glance at his records. Vomo smiled, pleased for the first time in a long time and a bit happier that he was with people who at least seemed to have determinable personae... rather than the faceless attendants from before.
All that was broken up by another knock on the door. A blandly dressed and important looking man poked his head in, he looked about and then entered. "Doctor Mrager... I see you have patients." He gave cursory glances to both Vomo and Delik. Mrager replied in reference to Vomo's remembering. <Tag>
"Excellent..." the man replied, looking at Vomo with something of a gleam in his eyes - not a bright gleam, but a cold, foreboding one... If that made any sense, Vomo thought. "When you're done with these Doctor, I would like to have a word alone?"
<Tag Mrager>
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2009 3:08:36 GMT
Dr. Mrager sat and watched as the two men spoke. There were times when it seemed almost as if Vomo were believing some of the things the other man was saying. Almost as if he recognized some of it. Before he could put a halt to this insane conversation, Vomo turned his attention back to him.
"Doctor Mrager. I've been told that we are well within the tropics of this planet... What is it called? Hamaro? I think I've remembered my other name... My full name is Jrro Vomo pan-Heedon."
"Wonderful progress, Vomo. Wonderful. And you are correct. This is Hamaro and that is indeed your full name." Mrager said.
"No it isn't." injected Delik.
"Please Mr. Delik. You will get your chance. Please allow Vomo his moment."
A knock at the door interrupted them.
"Doctor Mrager... I see you have patients."
"Ahhh. Dr. Bralzath. Please, come in. Vomo here was just telling me a few of the things he was remembering. I think he's coming along quite well. I think we may be ready to try lowering his medicine levels and see if he can still maintain his memories." Mrager said to the newcomer.
"Excellent...When you're done with these Doctor, I would like to have a word alone?"
"Of course Doctor. I shall be with you shortly." Mrager said as the other man left.
"Again Vomo, very excellent progress. If this keeps up, we may be able to release you before long." Mrager told the man before turning his attention back to Delik.
"Now as for you Mr. Delik," he began as he rifled through the paper work on his desk. "Let's see if I can find your file and take a look at what medicines you are on. We may have to up yours seeing as they do not appear to be helping you at all."
"I'm not on any medicine, sir. I told you. Whatever these people are using on you and Commander Blakus no longer has an effect on me." Delik insisted.
"Nonsense. If you're here than you are either a doctor, which I know not to be the case. Or you are a patient and therefore on medication. I just have to find that file."
After another moment of searching, Mrager lifted his head to look at the two men once more.
"Maybe the nurse has it. I'm going to go check with her and to see what Dr. Bralzath needed. I will be back momentarily."
He stood and walked to the door and began to exit and than looked back in at Delik.
"Now don't you go doing or saying anything to disturb Vomo and make him worse again, understood?" he said before leaving without waiting for a reply.
Delik rose and went to join Vomo on the couch that he was occupying and he began speaking in low whispers so as to not let anyone outside the office hear.
<Tag Vomo w/Delik (feel free to speak for Delik as well)>
Mrager called out as he walked past the nurses desk.
"I'm going in to see Dr. Bralzath. Will you please locate the file for a patient named Delik for me and I will retrieve it when I come out?" he asked.
He stopped in front of Dr. Bralzath door and knocked and than waited for an reply.
<Tag Dr. Bralzath>?
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Carl Torek
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"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
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Post by Carl Torek on Sept 13, 2009 17:50:36 GMT
Several days later:
.......... After making the recording, taking care to switch off the screen, Javin went back along the corridor to his Daughters' bedroom. Placing the tricorder back in the cloth pouch, he put it back in it's hiding place.
Turning to the bed, he noticed Bethan had been drawing before falling asleep. He moved the large, old fashioned paper pad and pencils off the bed and pulled the quilt up to her neck. She moved slightly at his touch. After kissing her goodnight he moved toward the door, but hesitated, looking at the art pad ......
~~~~~~~~~~
Still not allowed to return to work on what he was constantly told was 'medical grounds' Javin had taken to roaming the town after dropping Bethan off at school. Several people nodded their acquaintance with him, and though he couldn't remember the names, he knew he had seen the residents somewhere before.
After the evening meal. Javin had as usual, offered to clear away the dishes, but Galla insisted he sit with a drink and entertain their Daughter before her bedtime. Tonight she was again drawing, her favorite pastime, and had done several pictures she wanted his opinion on.
After removing the plates, Galla sat on a chair nearby as six year old Bethan turned the pages, giving a description of each picture in turn. It took a great deal of Javin's imagination to actually 'see' the things she was pointing out, but then she turned to one containing a drawing in full colour, of three people ..
"Who are these three ?" he asked, relieved to have figured out at least one of the drawings before having to await clues.
Bethan tutted loudly, digging her Father in the ribs playfully.
"It's you, thats you there see ..." she pointed to the obvious male in the picture in case he wasn't sure, "... and thats Mummy, and there's me holding the rainbow."
Javin looked at the picture. It was a pretty good representation of the three of them, he had to admit, maybe he had a lot more hair in the picture, he grinned, and was about to point this out, when his eye's stopped on something else in the picture ..
"Whats' that ?" he asked.
"What Daddy ?" Bethan said, looking at the picture, a frown appearing on her face.
"That in Daddy's hand." though even as he was asking he knew exactly what it was. Somehow the drawing of Javin now held what was obviously a Star fleet issue tricorder !
He didn't need to look up to know that Galla had seen what had been added to the picture, and was watching him very, very closely ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Sept 15, 2009 12:07:37 GMT
"Again Vomo, very excellent progress. If this keeps up, we may be able to release you before long."
Intriguing. Vomo thought. He stopped as he was getting up from the seat, looking back but not quite turning around to see Mrager and Delik properly. So it appeared when the time was high, the patients would be released. That was good then, for the woman (whatever her name had been) from before had used the word inmates. Whether that was a simple mistake, an indication of what she thought of the patients in the facility, or something else, Vomo didn't know. And there was no guarantee he'd ever find out. Maybe some patients were permanent residents?
He sat on the couch intending to listen to Mrager's exchanges with Delik, however, he found his mind wandering away and was unable to focus on much of anything. He hardly caught a single word of the other two's conversation as a result. What was wrong with him? It was only when Mrager left the room that Vomo was able to focus again; Delik had joined him on the couch and was whispering his odd words again.
"Commander, we have to get out of here. But it would really help if you could remember yourself."
Vomo recoiled from Delik, baulking at the odd title by which he'd called him. "Stay away. The Doctor says I'm getting better. I don't need you to drag me down again with your... nonsense." Vomo moved himself to the end of the couch and tried to ignore Delik.
"Commander Blakus," said the ridged-nose one. He drew himself up, "I will follow your orders."
"Well, good. First you can stop calling me that." But something made Vomo stop, he peered at Delik carefully, as if there was a certain sensibility to his words. Something gave him the slightest of impressions that Delik was used to following his orders. It unsettled him.
"What is it, Vomo?" Delik asked.
"I know I can't remember everything," he began, "Despite how well Doctor Mrager thinks I'm doing. Tell me if you can; are we some sort of team? Where I am usually the leader and tell you what to do and things?"
Delik gave him an odd look but Vomo spotted a twinkling in his eyes. "What makes you say that?" Delik inquired.
"Just the impressions I get. The way you act, the things you say, I recognise them, sort of. Almost as if there is some sort of familiarity between us. Just as you're clearly hiding some measure of mirth now, for whatever reason, and playing a reverse-psychological game. I recognise it. Of course, it is possible to see that in anybody if you're perceptive enough, but I think you've hid it pretty well for most."
Delik looked delighted, a grin of achievement spread over his face, "You remember something, after all."
Vomo smiled, nodding. "So," he said, "Is it just the pair of us, some sort of duo? Vomo and Delik, explorers of the great lands of Hamaro?" He laughed, thinking he was making it up but the words seemed to ring 'familiar' with him once again. "I'm right aren't I?"
"Not quite," ceded Delik.
Bralzath kicked off his shoes and propped his feet on his desk, rolling his chair backwards and putting his hands behind his head. Things were going as planned. The Executive officer had virtually been convinced, thanks in no small part to the efforts of one of the man's own officers. There was an issue there, of course. It had been a risk placing one of them as a staff member, but Bralzath and others had pushed the placement through. Now they were responsible should things go wrong. There came a knock at the door.
Quickly Bralzath reinstalled his feet to their place beneath the desk. "Come on in," he called, knowing who it would be, having asked him 'round not ten minutes ago. It was Doctor Mrager.
"Ah, Doctor. Good for you to heed to my request." He smiled briefly, offering the chair opposite to Mrager. The Doctor took the seat. Bralzath sat there without saying anything for a while, privately testing 'Mrager' for his patience as well as working out what he was to say.
"I'm very.. pleased, with the progress of the people under your care, Doctor." He eventually said, "You've done a fine job since your appointment here from the southern continent. How have you been settling into your role? Is everything to your satisfaction?" he inquired.
<Tag Mrager>
"I know you've been here a while now. But as your immediate superior it's part of my mandate to make sure everyone is happy. I have several..." he fished in a drawer behind the desk. "... Candidates for release and/or decrease in medication level." He placed a folder on the desk, opening it to the appropriate page. "Stepping down of medication for Lapan Huarn, Beotan Hanne, Jrro Vomo, Aerot Kenosi and Prela Bor..." he continued the list with the candidates for release. "I'd like to share my thoughts with you, Imar. As we often do, no?" he grinned a little at Mrager.
"In addition to the patients I have mentioned, there are patients who I'd like to see released into the local catchment; where they can still be surveyed, but will have the freedom that is granted to an ordinary resident of Hamaro, as you know." Bralzath paused. "There are people there who I would like to know more about. Their progress interests me, and sometimes I don't think we do enough to stay attuned with the details of their road to recovery. There is a man who lives very close by in fact. I think I'd like to see him at some point. Not right away of course, he lives his own life and has his own freedoms. His name's Javin."
A paper printing device whirred into life. Ah good, Bralzath thought, Lieutenant Delik's fabricated medicine record was ready.
"Ah Doctor, before you leave, I have something for you." He went to the printer. "The nurse told me, sorry but she overheard, that you were looking for a patient's medical file. Here it is." He handed Mrager the falsified report on Delik's previously prescribed medicine, smiling at him. "Thank you for your time, Doctor."
<Tag Mrager>
Bralzath watched with a thin smile as Mrager left his office, returning presumably to Delik and 'Vomo'.
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Sept 15, 2009 19:52:07 GMT
On the Raven:Using maneuvering thrusters only, the USS Raven-B changed course. She was now falling toward the outermost planet in the system. With only hours of life remaining to her, it was the last hope the ship, and her crew had .. On the Bridge, Erin Parkin watched the Chief Engineer work. He had hardly slept over the last few day's, and despite 'ordering' him to his quarters, he was back already. But in truth, Erin was glad.
She looked at the massive view screen, where an elliptical plot showed the Raven's course through and into, the system. Seven planets, one, almost twenty thousand times the mass of Earth, stood between them and the rest of the crew. It wasn't going to be easy ... That was for sure.
"I'm going down to Engineering." Scott said, but Erin almost jumped out of her seat.
"NO ! ... You shoul ......" she began, but McLean interrupted quietly.
"Lieutenant. I'm going to be much more use down there. The plot has been entered into the Navigation computer, and apart from any manual adjustments as we pass through the atmosphere, there shouldn't be any problems. What there are, I'm going to have more chance to fix in my own department. You can fly the ship."
With that, he entered the turbo-lift and was gone. Leaving the young Lieutenant dumbstruck. Within minutes Scott contacted her ..
=^= I'm here .. Executing our first gravity assist maneuver now =^=
There was no visible sign that McLean had done anything for long moments, but then the first planet began to grow, slowly, very slowly, it started to full the view screen. Everyone on the Bridge began to feel the rise in temperature. The ship was falling, powerless, into the outer atmosphere, the Duranium microfoam and tritanium plating beginning to heat up, due to the minimal shields the air was boiling so close to the hull that once cold air was heating the hull.
=^= Bridge .. Reduce angle of attack by one point five degrees =^= Scott shouted over the comm.
Erin did as she was asked, her eyes never leaving the sight on screen. It was as if they had fallen into hell itself. Flames, glowing, burning, destroyed atmosphere, not being able to get out of the way of the enormous metal and living entity assaulting it, was smashing against the shields, and with no inertial dampers, everyone on board was beginning to feel the strains the ship must be taking. Less than fifty kilometers from the surface, the Raven was being pulled down by gravity, while inertia was trying her hardest to fling the ship back into open space. It was this 'balance' of forces that was increasing the speed every second.
"Damage reports coming in !" someone shouted.
"Ignore them !" Erin yelled.
The burning roar continued for many minutes, before she suddenly began to see brakes in the flaming inferno. The Raven was edging upward now, on a trajectory that would take her back into the bosom of cold dark, and toward their next slingshot.
As the screen changed to the almost soothing black of space, Erin finally managed to release the panel she had been gripping. Checking the navigational controls, she reassured herself that they had succeeded and the ship was safe, for the moment.
"How does it look ?" McLean said, exiting the turbo-lift.
"We did it !" Erin said, unable to control the relief in her voice.
"Don't celebrate too quickly Lieutenant. That was one of the easier ones. We still need to pass the big one."
As both Officers checked readings, double-checking every single one, there was some good news. The solar sails had deployed as programed, and the increased speed was now topping up the ships' battery power supply. Nothing to leap up and down about, but at least they could restore life support and gravity to three more decks now, reducing the crowding in some of the quarters. Replicators would still be off-line, but at least they had means to cook in a more traditional way, so no-one as going to starve.
In the middle of all the celebrations, Scott was making sure of his findings, and he wasn't happy ...
Given the damage to the outer hull during their first sling-shot maneuver, it was obvious that the ship couldn't sustain much more before burning the hull right off the infrastructure. He needed to come up with something to protect them, before they reached their second meeting with atmosphere ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Sept 17, 2009 20:03:56 GMT
NPC Lieutenant Richards on Raven:
"We've got miniature hull breaches across decks seven to thirteen! There's a reason that Galaxy classes don't enter the atmosphere..."
"Well it's a good job most of those zones don't have atmosphere at the moment. Lock down the habitable sections and send the damage report." The ensign nodded and proceeded to head out of the small room, heading for the appropriate zones as requested.
Lieutenant Richards turned back to his work: dealing with the civilians - families of members of the crew - who had not mysteriously disappeared from the ship. Like the Starfleet members of the crew, they were crammed into one, localised section of the ship. But unlike their uniformed counterparts, they were a lot less disciplined and thus needed a certain amount of coordination and reassurance - as to avoid any unfortunate happenstances, such as stampedes and crushes. Of course, it was difficult for any of them to keep calm in these circumstances. The ship was just coming out of the planet's atmosphere, damage was still rife in its occurrence but it was at least reducing in frequency.
"Stay calm," he was telling a man who kept babbling at him about how they were all going to die. He had a petrified stare on him that somehow transfixed Richards' gaze, fixing the Starfleet officer's attention.
"Please though, tell me what's going on. Where is my wife?" he said.
"Who is your wife?"
"Ensign Dent. I last saw her before all this started happening."
"I'm afraid I don't know where she is," Richards told Mister Dent. His attention was being attracted by the other families clamouring for attention behind Dent. "Please stay calm!" he said to them insistently, for the fifteenth time in the last fifteen minutes it seemed. Eventually he switched his attention back to Dent. "Wait a moment," he said after a pause.
"Where's Ensign Mouring?" he inquired of the junior crewman, blocking his path into another room.
"Just through there," he pointed into yet another room, also very full with people.
"Ok, don't worry about the space. I've been told that some more decks are being made habitable." Richards pushed past and into the other room. Immediately he spotted Emily Mouring, a bridge science officer. The Ensign had been unlucky to be pushed into this work due to lack of numbers, but at least she was experiencing some parts of the ship she probably rarely visited. Part of her duty, Richards knew, was to keep a roster on everyone, who they were and where they were.
"Ensign, I have a quite insistent fellow named Dent. He wants to know where his wife is."
"Ensign Dent?" she asked. Richards noticed that she was suddenly uncomfortable.. Whatever the significance of Dent's name, it meant she didn't need to look at the roster in her hand, instead she looked at him and said, "Ensign Dent is one of the missing crewmembers."
"I see," Richards commented. He had to say something, but to tell the truth to himself it was hard to take that information in, and even harder trying to figure out how he'd tell the husband. Nothing for it, though, he just had to tell him straight. He wouldn't expect anything else should he be the recipient of the information.
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Deleted
Registered: Apr 20, 2024 8:15:10 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2009 1:40:15 GMT
" Is everything to your satisfaction?"
"Everything is fine." Imar insisted with caution. He was quite certain that the chief of staff didn't just ask him to see if he was doing well.
"I know you've been here a while now."
Hmm mm. Here it comes. thought Imar as he continued to listen. Vomo? He isn't ready to stop his medication. He doesn't even remember things from one day to the next, yet. Oh well. He's on charge.
"Very well, Doctor." Imar answered. "I shall began right away."
"Ah Doctor, before you leave, I have something for you.. The nurse told me, sorry but she overheard, that you were looking for a patient's medical file. Here it is. Thank you for your time, Doctor."
Imar read the printout on his return trip to his office. "These can't be correct." he mumbled. Delik wouldn't be having his space fantasy if he were actually taking these."
He walked into his office to see Delik and Vomo speaking in hush tones.
"Now what are you two up to?" he asked as he made his way back to his desk.
"Vomo." he began. "With your recent progress in memory, Dr. Bralzath has decided that we can discontinue your medication. What do you think about that?" he asked
<Tag Vomo>
"And Delik? Tell me more about this space ship of yours" he inquired. If he was indeed on the meds listed on his transcript, than he would not make any since at all.
Looking at him suspiciously, Delik dared a glance at (in his mind) Commander Blakus, who gave him just the slightest of a go ahead nod. Delik began to tell his story one more time.
TBC (Still not 100%. Gonna crash out early. Night all.)
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Carl Torek
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"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
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Post by Carl Torek on Sept 21, 2009 22:10:08 GMT
"Penny for them ......"
"Hey, you with us ?" Galla said, after getting no reply from her first comment.
"What, sorry." Javin said, frowning as Bethan laughed. "Where have I heard that before ?"
"What ?"
"Oh, nothing. It doesn't matter." he said, puzzled at the phrase his partner had used,
"I'm late for the meeting, Can you pick Bethan up from school and take her with you ?"
Javin was still frowning, this 'stay at home' life was not for him. He was eager, it seemed, to get back to working for a living. For the life of him, he couldn't quite remember having actually been at work. He knew he was an overseer at the weather control center, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember having ever been there.
"You have you're final medical this afternoon." Galla said, kissing her Daughter and picking up her bag, "Sixteen hundred ... Doctor Geban !" she finished, kissing him lightly on the lips, earning another giggle from the six year old.
~~~~~~~~~~
Later that day:
"I am more than pleased with your recovery Javin." Geban said, putting the digital stethoscope on the bed, "I don't see why you can't return to work at week start. I bet you are looking forward to it, and going off what your wife was saying the other day, so is she. You are getting under her feet it seems."
"Yes ..." Javin said, buttoning his shirt."
"What about you miss Bethan, is your heart beating strongly ?" Geban said, noticing the girl had picked up the stethoscope and was listening intently to her heart beat.
"Yes .. Bum bum, bum bum." Bethan said, grinning broadly.
"Good to hear young lady." Geban said, handing Javin a slip of paper, "This is your discharge order. But any problems, dizziness, nausea, I want you back here."
Thanking the Doctor, Javin led Bethan out of the examination room, and checking the direction boards, they headed up the long corridor. Bethan running ahead ...
"Slow down sweetheart, you'll end up bumpi ......" Javin didn't get to finish the sentence, as he watched the six year old careen head-long into an elderly gentleman in the regulation Doctors white coat. She fell to the floor, but as Javin ran forward the man was already talking in a soothing manner to Bethan, his tone convincing her there was no need to cry, then making a fuss of checking that the floor hadn't been damaged by her fall.
"I'm sorry ..." Javin began, but the man interrupted.
"No, no, my fault entirely. I should look where I am stepping. I am fortunate to have been in collision with such a pretty young lady though." the man said, pulling a bag of sweets from one of his pockets and offering them to Bethan, "I am remiss. I should introduce myself ... I am Doctor Bralzath."
Javin was watching the man, but also his associate, who seemed less inclined to talk, but instead eyed Javin closely.
"Javin ... This is my Daughter, Bethan."
There was something familiar about the man standing with Bralzath, but for the life of him he couldn't think why ..........
< tag : Bralzath / All >
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Sept 23, 2009 20:26:46 GMT
"Vomo." he began. "With your recent progress in memory, Dr. Bralzath has decided that we can discontinue your medication. What do you think about that?" he asked
Vomo raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure, Doctor?" was his first instinct. Not that he would deny Mrager; he was the doctor and he had to know something more than him after all, but it did seem odd that just because he'd regained a few scraps of his previous life's memory, that he should be taken off the medication for good.
At Mrager's questioning look, which Vomo was sure was made to test him, Vomo replied, "I still know little of my identity. Yes, I know my name and other such details, and according to Delik here, me and him are friends from a previous life. I don't pretend to understand all of that which he said, to be honest I felt he might still be deluded, but many of his words rang true with me. But the point I'm making is that there is, actually, just a little that I've discovered. Unless you think now that I've remembered the basics, that the rest will come back in a sort of cascade?"
<Tag Mrager>
The image of 'Mrager' shifted in his seat, and then started an uncertain reply to 'Vomo'. Bralzath continued watching the display with a steadily widening smile on his face. Yes, it was a little unfortunate that the Raven senior staff member had not taken Lieutenant Delik's falsified medication report to heart, and it was also unfortunate that he clearly disapproved of the ceasing of Vomo's medication. But that mattered little, and as he watched Mrager continue his response, the brainwashed man trying to justify Bralzath's own words and reasoning, Bralzath knew that the persona of Imar Mrager was firmly entrenched, down to the level of the id, in Commander Jamison's mind.
Vomo was a little different. While the silver ship's second in command had taken to his new identity, the meddlesome Delik was continuing to corrupt and distort that new persona, so that the resultant personality inherent within Blakus's mind was a strange contortion of what was desired, an unorthodox and messy combination of a beleaguered human combined with a foreign-agent personality transform. A brainwashing procedure gone a little wrong, in other terms.
"And Delik? Tell me more about this space ship of yours" Mrager inquired.
Vomo gave Delik the slightest of nods, not sure why Mrager was asking the ridge-nosed one again of this starship. A star- what? Vomo thought with a start. No matter, an interesting term though. Maybe the Doctor found something unsatisfactory on Delik's medical report; something conflictory with the facts, perhaps.
"Doctor Mrager. May I be excused?" Vomo asked the physician. "I've got to get back to the... I mean, my quarters. What?" Mrager had looked up from his conversation with Delik, a bemused look now firmly affixed to his face. "What I am talking about...?" Vomo muttered, perplexed by himself. "I meant that I have to get back to my room," he clarified, finally satisfying the confused Mrager. If Vomo had been standing the other side of the desk, he would've seen that Delik was smiling.
Vomo made his way slowly back to his room. He knew the way now. He entered the long stretch of corridor, the one with the wide side-skirtings, the intricate roof designs and the arched portals open to the air, their frames lined with borders of burgundy that bifurcated at the top.
He passed by the glassless windows, feeling the open air on his skin. It felt homely as if he'd been here for a long while. Of course, that was obvious. The view was actually breathtaking. There was a sea of green, reminding him heavily of tropical islands during fading light. Before the sea was a beach, it curved away from him towards the right, the cascading bars of sand picking up colours of crimson and magenta as they neared the rolling surf. Trees that looked unfamiliar to him bordered the sands; they were tropical, but were odd in their appearance. They seemed almost alien, if such a word could be used, but despite Vomo's unfamiliarity with them, he could again associate them with a home. Everything, in fact, had the strange feeling of unknown to it, and yet simultaneously was all instantly part of a new home.
Vomo climbed the creaky staircase, entering the first door on the right once he'd reached the top of its spiralling length. His room was just as it'd been before. It was mid-afternoon. The courtyard was still occupied; Vomo had to wonder if it ever emptied. He imagined that that would happen when the weather took a bad turn, but he had yet to see that happen either. If the man, Tinva, had been truthful, they were in the tropical regions of Hamaro. Certainly that was very hard to disagree with.
Westering sun cast shadows across the yard, just as it had before when Vomo first awakened. Why he should judge the sun as setting in the west, however, was mystifying to him. Someone was dancing by a small statuette in the middle of the courtyard, people that were standing around watching clapped as she finished.
Bralzath fiddled with his stylus as he rotated to and fro in his desk chair. Things were going swimmingly. He came back to the 360 degree mark again and his eyes were once more attracted to one tv display in particular. The display had below it, in handwritten text, the word 'Geban'. How convenient, he had thought, when the focus of his recent thoughts had attended a scheduled checkup; it certainly cut Mrager out of the equation (which was unfortunate really as he'd wanted to test the good Doctor again). But if Javin wanted to come in of his own accord then that was fine by Bralzath.
He completed 720 and took a retinal picture of the display again. Doctor Geban was still talking to him, doing some tests as he did so, checking the man's biological and psychological readouts while the daughter played around in the surveillance camera's foreground. There came a knocking at the door of Bralzath's office. "Come," he said.
Vomo entered Bralzath's office, sheepishly taking one or two steps forward. "Hello," he greeted the Doctor.
"Ah, Mister Vomo, good to see you. Thank you for coming."
Vomo nodded. "No problem. What can I do for you, Doctor?"
Bralzath shot him a look, a look which Vomo could only describe as watchful, or perhaps suspicious. Sweeping aside the curiosity as merely a Doctor's concern for the patient, Vomo listened to what Bralzath had to say.
"I have something I'd like to show you. Don't worry, it won't take long," the Doctor said, seeing Vomo's uncomfortableness, "I just want to take a few moments out of your time, it should help the recovery process, particularly as you're not on medicine anymore."
"What is this thing?" Vomo asked. He was a little intrigued by this.
"You'll find out. It has to be a surprise." Bralzath told him, "It may help you. Help you remember a little more of who you are, Jrro Vomo pan-Heedon. Don't worry, either way you'll be out of here in a very short period of time."
Vomo nodded. That sounded good to him. As the two exited the room, the 'Geban' tv display on Bralzath's wall showed two of the people just leaving.
Following Doctor Bralzath down an unfamiliar hallway, Vomo was in somewhat of a daze. He wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings, and so it came as no surprise when he missed the young girl that apparently had run into Bralzath.
"I am sorry," the Doctor was saying right away, he knelt down, crouching reassuredly at face level before the young female. "Everything's alright," he soothed, then continued calming the girl before standing up to face another man who had been behind the girl in the corridor.
For some reason, Vomo's attention immediately perked up, upon sight of this new man whom called himself Javin. Vomo's meandersome attention was instantly focussed in from their lazy lines of perception on to a single point, Javin himself. Why should that be? The man was relatively tall and quite imposing but, with all respect to him, he was not a giant of charisma on first sight.
Bralzath appeared to step back. Either that, or he just passed out of the usual stream of perception, removing himself or being removed from the coming social discourse. "Hello," Vomo said to Javin, offering his hand forward, showing it to Javin.. for some reason... "My name is Jrro Vomo. Call me Vomo." He nodded, retracting the hand. "I'm sorry," he said, "I don't know why I put my hand forward like that." He looked at Javin meaningfully, as if he was familiar the man, as if he knew him and they were friends. Or at least, that Vomo could understand the meaning behind Javin's facial expression.
<Tag Javin>
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Sept 27, 2009 15:30:16 GMT
On the Raven:The ship was traveling fast now. Their first sling-shot had thrown them away from the frigid planet, almost ten times faster than she had originally approached ...
"I just don't see how we can possibly survive more of this."Erin said.
They were sat in the observation lounge. Out of the plexi-glass windows they could see the ice-bound planet falling behind them.
"We've gained almost twenty percent of our power during that first maneuver." Scott said, walking round the table slowly, "I'm confident that if we increase power to the shields at each approach, we can get through with minimal damage."
"Our main area's are the forward saucer section and the nacelles." Fishner said.
"So we concentrate shielding in those sections." Parkin said enthusiastically.
"We will Lieutenant." McLean said, watching the planet recede behind them, "But we need to accept the fact that we're damaging the ship, possibly irreparably if we keep this up. We may well get back to the Captain in nothing better than a heap of worthless scrap."
Everyone was quiet, taking in what the Chief Engineer had said. Yes, they all knew there was going to be damage to the ship, it was all a matter of how much.
"Why not leave the Saucer section here ?"
Everyone turned to look at the young man who had spoken. Ensign Copeland reddened. He wasn't used to speaking, and generally kept himself in the background. It just occurred to him that no-one had considered the possibility of separating the ship.
"Well it just came to me ..." Copeland continued into the silence, "... We could set the Saucer section on a course that would have it heading on a direct vector for our destination. While we use the Engineering section to sling-shot. With only a third of the area to cover with shields ......"
"It's worth some thought." Erin interrupted. as everyone looked at Commander McLean .......... On Hamaro:Vomo looked down at his hand, a puzzled expression crossing his face. He seemed to be considering what to do next. "I'm sorry..." he said, "I don't know why I put my hand forward like that." Javin watched the man for a long moment, then extended his hand. Both seemed at ease as they shook and then looked down at the giggling young lady beside them. "You're holding hands !" Bethan said, now laughing uncontrollably. Both men took their hands back, and Javin made a point of picking up his Daughter. "It's rude to laugh at some things Bethan." he said, trying, and failing, to prevent a grin forming. It looked like the laughter had settled any uneasiness that had been there, and now everyone seemed to find the whole thing amusing. "Nurse." Bralzath said, stopping a woman in her tracks, "Take this young lady to examination room three. She has had a fall and I wou ...." "No, no, there's no need for that Doctor." Javin said, suddenly more protective of his Daughter, "She's had worse falls and lived. Haven't you sweetheart ?" "I cut my knee once, but I didn't cry at all." the girl confirmed. "OK ... If you are sure." Bralzath said, patting Bethan on top of her head before turning his attention to Javin again, "You are here for treatment ?" "Just a final check up and release to return to work." "Your Doctor ?" Bralzath said, probing. "Doctor Geban." Javin said, beginning to wonder why this man was so interested, "But as I said, he's released me to go back to work, so I don't think I will be seeing him again." "Let's hope not." Bralzath said, his eyes never leaving Javin's. "Can we go now Daddy ?" Bethan said, tentatively squirming in Javin's arms, but relaxing as she knew she wasn't about to be put down. Saying their goodbyes, Javin put his Daughter down, but held onto her hand as they headed out of the hospital. Looking back, he was unsurprised to find the man named Vomo was watching him closely as Bralzath spoke to him .. Javin was certain he knew the man from somewhere, and was under no illusions that they would meet again ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Oct 1, 2009 18:19:29 GMT
Vomo felt strangely embarrassed by the odd encounter with Mister Javin. The way the girl laughed at him and the way in which Javin picked his daughter up made Vomo choke a little on his own stupidity. Still, as Javin led his daughter away from he and Bralzath, Vomo grew more and more intrigued with the pairing, just now exiting the 'hospital' grounds. They were familiar, he was sure, well, at least the father was.
He could sense Bralzath watching him as he looked on Javin and Bethan. Vomo watched 'til they passed out of sight, then turned to the inquisitive-looking Bralzath.
"So, what now Doctor?" he asked him.
"What now?" Bralzath repeated.
"Mm hmm. You said you wanted to show me something. Shall we go there now?" There was a moment of silence, during which it slowly dawned on Vomo. "Was that it?" he asked, pointing to where he'd last seen Javin and daughter, before their trailing feet had hid themselves behind the white wall.
"No." Bralzath shook his head, pursing his lips. Vomo's arm dropped, a deep frown settling on his face as he watched Bralzath appear to ponder on what to say next.
"But, you said, that this thing would help me remember myself? I tell you now, Doctor, I know that man. That Mister Javin seems as familiar to me as Mister Delik does."
"You don't know him, Mister Vomo. He is from the southern continent. He was brought here over two cycles ago, you have never met him during your stay, nor would you have met him before you yourself were brought in."
"But how can you know that?" Vomo's head was spinning. Was it possible that his instinct was wrong? Perhaps it was a trick of perception, his remembering of Delik as an acquaintance struck many of the same chords of familiarity during the meeting with Javin. In fact, now as Vomo thought, Doctor Mrager fell into that category also. Strange that he'd never thought about Mrager in that light. He audibly sighed. So that was it then. It wasn't that they were all past-acquaintances, it couldn't be; in the rush to remember things Vomo had got carried away with analysing people's mannerisms, in the hope of finding something he recognised. Or had he?
"This way now, Vomo." Bralzath interrupted, "Time to take you to that place we spoke about."
Vomo followed Bralzath right through the physicians' hospital, back into a psychiatric section and out into a small glade at the structure's end. It was rare that Vomo had actually moved outside. It was hot as ever though, and this place was oddly unknown to him. It was a garden effectively, bordered by high hedges on one side and the wall of the hospital on the other.
"Am I supposed to know this place?" Vomo asked.
Bralzath moved ahead to a bench protected by a canopy, which was doing a good job of keeping out the glaring light of the sun and providing some shade. He took a chair at the table, which was incidentally unoccupied. Vomo, however, got the impression that people often sat here.
"Come here, Vomo," Bralzath said eventually. Vomo was glad that he hadn't spectacularly failed this remembrance test, it was still to come. He walked to the table, seeing instantly that engraved in it, right across its top-surface, was some sort of map. The title read Hamaro, North Plateau. It was quite liberally depicted, although the engravings were deep and precise, there were many parts of it that looked like artistic flicks of expression than actual geographical features. "Does this look familiar to you?" Bralzath asked, pointing to one part of the map, a line of coast.
It took a few moments before Vomo scrounged up enough memory to realise it, but yes, what Bralzath was pointing to, he did indeed recognise. Vomo's lips parted, and slowly he asked the question. "Home?"
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Oct 2, 2009 10:26:13 GMT
On the Raven:It was going to take the Raven the best part of two days to fall toward her next encounter with a planetary body. This one was smaller than the first, but would still cause damage to the massive Galaxy Class star ship as she passed through the atmosphere ...
Scott was still considering the option of splitting the ship, allowing the saucer section to drift into the center of the system, while the drive section powered on to more sling-shot maneuver's reaching the planet the Captain and Senior Officers were marooned on much faster.
"If we take the top off the ship, will I be able to come with you Daddy ?" Vanessa said as they ate a late meal in their quarters.
Scott hesitated .. He knew this was one of his major concerns. He would need to leave his Daughter in the care of one of the teachers while he took a minimal crew on the drive section, he also knew she wasn't going to be happy about it. But she surprised him yet again by replying to her own question.
"I think I should stay here, you will be able to work better if you're not worrying about me. Besides. I'll get to see Carl sooner if you split the ship up."
"That's right sweetheart." Scott said, marveling at his Daughters' common sense at times, "OK, well finish your pudding and we'll sit down for a while before bedtime ..........
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Oct 2, 2009 22:51:17 GMT
As Scott, on the mortally wounded USS Raven-B was kissing his Daughter goodnight. Almost six billion kilometers away, Javin was doing much the same ... ~~~~~~~~~~"Can we go to the park again when I wake up Daddy ?" Bethan asked as Javin put the book he had been reading from, on the bedside table and pulled the quilt further up toward her neck, "We didn't get time to go on everything today." "We'll see .. Tell you what, if you go to sleep I'll think about it OK." he said, kissing his Daughter tenderly on the forehead, "Now night night and sweet dreams." "Night ...... Daddy ... Love you." Bethan said sleepily as Javin left the room and made his way back to Galla. Sitting down next to his wife on the large settee, he took his drink from the arm and took a sip. The liquid felt good as it traveled down his throat to settle on his stomach. Galla settled herself into a comfy position against his shoulder, content to remain silent for the time being. But after a long moment, she got up ... On her return she sat back down, accepting the refreshed drink from Javin before handing him something. Puzzled, he turned the device over in his hands, feeling the weight, texture of the thing. He touched something on the side, causing the device to flip open, revealing a small screen, binary readouts, lights. The thing, whatever it was, was obviously working. He looked at Galla, who remained silent, no expression on her face to hint at what he should be doing. He closed the device then reopened it, reading what was printed in the bottom panel .. TR-590 TRICORDER IX Starfleet R&D - San Francisco The words meant something to him, but like some childhood memory, it was just beyond his reach .. Somehow or other this piece of equipment held a key to the dreams he'd been having. He turned to face his wife .. "What is it ?" he asked quietly. Galla leaned forward, picking up the drawing pad that Bethan used. She flipped through the pages until she found the one she was looking for, then showed it to Javin. "You remember this ?" she asked, pointing to the 'addition' he had made to the picture two weeks earlier, "You remember getting up during the night, unable to sleep. You always went to check on Bethan before you came back to bed, then couldn't quite remember getting up the next morning ?" It was obvious she was prodding his memory, trying to get him to drag the lost occurrences back to his conscious mind. She sat quietly watching him, trying to come to a decision about how much to say .. Closing her eyes, she pictured him for a few moments. Pictured him looking after Bethan, looking after her, for the rest of their lives, and knew she was doing the right thing ... "Your name is Carl ... Carl Torek ... Not Javin." There ...... She had done it. It was all down to him being able to drag his former life back from the abyss the drugs and conditioning had it teetering on. Now he had met Bralzeth, it was only a matter of time. Because one simple nudge, one coaxing encouragement from the man, and Carl Torek would be lost for ever. She wasn't going to allow that to happen to the man she now 'KNEW' she loved ! ~~~~~~~~~~ Long into the night they talked ... Well, to be precise, she talked ... Hoping not to overload him with too many facts at once. It was imperative he understood what had happened. Not only to him and his crew, but to the majority of people on this planet .. Including her and Bethan. "Our ship was 'tempted' for want of a better word, here six years ago. The USS Henry Lee .. I was pregnant, Anton, my husband, Was Chief Medical Officer. He tried to get me away, but was killed. I had Bethan on the surface. In that very hospital in fact. The Henry Lee disappeared without trace ... As has umpteen other vessels." Javin ... No, Carl, was finding it hard to take in. He had known for some time that things didn't seem right. His injury, a job he had never actually attended, a wife, child .... "You must never let them know you suspect. We will all suffer, believe me, I know." .. She got up from the settee, gently taking his hand to get him to rise. He did so and she led him to their bedroom. After silently helping him undress, she followed suit. Laying beside him, she prayed silently that she had done the right thing, for him, for Bethan, for them all. "Goodnight my love." she whispered, caressing his cheek, Javin turned to face her and she quickly put a finger to his lips, "Please. Think about what I have told you. Think about a little girl who needs a Father, think about a wom ....." She choked back what she was about to say, fearing his rejection, but need not have worried. "I can't stop thinking about you both." he said, leaning forward in the darkness to kiss her gently on the lips. Galla had one thought running wildly through her mind as she felt wanted, needed, for the first time in a long long time. 'What would tomorrow bring ?' ..........
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2009 19:00:42 GMT
After Vomo had left his office, Mragar spend the next couple of hours just listening to Delik and his stories. When it was time for him to leave, he promised Delik that they would speak again soon. Imar made his way to his tiny, lonely apartment, where he made himself dinner and sat to think about todays events after eating it. Knowing that there was no way possible for Vomo and Delik to know each other, let along himself and they they never "served" on a, what was it again? Oh yeah. "Starship", he finally relaxed enough to fall asleep.
"CAPTAIN! LOOKOUT!" Imar shouted these words as he bolted straight up. Despite the fact that he was in his climate controlled apartment, in his own bed, he was drenched in sweat.
"Delik." he muttered. He realized that he had been dreaming about traveling through space on a magnificent vessel with Delik and Vomo. No doubt just a dream based on Deliks stories. While space travel had always been a secret desire, Imar knew that he had never left his home world. And he never would. He may not have a wife and children but his love for his work was everything. He really enjoyed being here and helping others with their problems. Especially the mental patients with their memory loss. Which tend to be quite a few when you think about it. he thought to himself.
Looking at the chronometer and deciding that he had to be up shortly anyhow, he climbed out of bed and made his way into his dining area. He retrieved a cup of herbal tea and settled down in his favorite chair to watch the weather report. He than went and showered and got dressed for work. After a short walk to the hospital, he entered his office and began reading over Deliks file once again.
(Tag ALL. Feel free to stop in. lol)
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Oct 8, 2009 2:58:02 GMT
Vomo's head was still preoccupied by the engraved table. It made conversing with the people a bit difficult, as all his thought was focussed on the line of coast, many many kilometres away but now eminently reachable. He recalled touching the rough, engraved surface, trying to imagine what it actually looked like. Home meant a lot to him, he realised.
Several others had joined he and Bralzath in the glade, bringing food with them and occupying the tables underneath the canopy. Others sat on the grass, evidently seeing it as a better place to play around than the restricting benches. There were none amongst them that Vomo recognised. All the better in fact, getting to know new faces could only help him if he was to stay here for a time longer.
"Vomo, can I leave you with these people?" Vomo turned around sharply, before returning lethargically to his sitting-forward position. It was only Bralzath.
"Yes," he said. He could feel Bralzath watching him for a moment longer, before he eventually traipsed back inside, through the small door in the side of the nearby hospital wing. Vomo's perception was only distracted by the Doctor for a moment longer before he turned it back on the trio of people opposite and the singular man sitting on his left.
Despite his attempts to speak to them, Vomo ended up mostly ignoring them, not finding their topics of conversation all that important, and discovering their questions to be particularly quaint and inconsequential in their outcome. As it was, there were only two, possibly even just one, protagonist in the conversation; the others gave the impression of being a little quiet, or rather, a little like Vomo.
A bizarre effect revealed itself to Vomo before long. Movement was its primary catalyst, and an odd prickling of the skin was its main 'symptom' if he liked. His sight became somewhat hazy, visual perception changed when he moved his head. It was almost a feeling of intoxication. An odd sense of de ja vu came to him, but why that should be he did not know, just as he was confused by the term that had come to him.. de ja vu.. what was that supposed to mean?
Others at the table seemed to be feeling it slightly, too, although there were those who did not; or at least, they did not confess it. Vomo looked down at his food, wondering if it could've something to do with this. Lifting a piece of bread and eyeing it suspiciously, he soon became utterly convinced that there was something wrong with it.
"Are you alright?" asked the man named Hwaar, the one who had been doing all the talking. He was looking at Vomo.
"I don't know." Vomo shook his head, "I feel strange."
"You're just unused to this bread." Hwaar laughed. "You're not from around here aren't you?"
"No... Evidently I am not." Vomo said, his attention returning ever so slightly to that engraved table. He again looked at the bread, thinking it strange that such a food would be created. It had had a remarkable affect though: the air was electrified in atmosphere, some unique frenzy of heat had excited the molecules giving a tingling sensation.
Later Vomo headed to the main courtyard with some of the group from the glade. As they stepped into the space, Vomo looked up to the top floor of the central building, there was located his small room that had been his home these past weeks. He joined Hwaar in the centre of the square, near the statuette, then leant against the object's rail and looked around. Few people were in the courtyard itself, most of those visible were moving around its edge, under the upholding pillars at the square's boundary.
"Who are you looking for, Vomo?" Hwaar asked him.
"No one," Vomo smiled, realising he may have been confusing Hwaar with his silent presence, "Just taking in the sights."
"This is a nice place no doubt," Hwaar commented, then again falling mystified at Vomo's silence, mistaking it for regret. "It's good you chose to stay with us, you're here now aren't you?"
"Yes." Vomo nodded, feeling a slight breeze on his forehead and for the first time in as long as he could recall, experiencing an air of contentment. "Oh," he said then. "It's Doctor Mrager." He hadn't been looking for anybody, just as he'd said, but there was his Doctor, moving on the edge of the square and now crossing towards the centre. "Hello, Doctor."
<Tag Mrager>
"Meet Hwaar, an acquaintance I met in a garden. Where is Bralzath, Doctor?" Vomo asked as Mrager and Hwaar greeted one another.
<Tag Mrager>
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Oct 11, 2009 23:13:34 GMT
On the Raven:His eyes opened fifteen minutes before the computer would have informed him that it was zero six hundred hours. Getting out of bed, he went to the bathroom to shower and shave. Walking into the living area he was surprised to find his Daughter placing pancakes on the table ..
"You'll need these if your going to be busy." she said, waiting for him to take his seat before continuing, "I've asked Amy to come get me. She says it's OK for me to stay with her while you're, err, away."
Scott was both impressed, and proud, of his Daughter's reaction to their situation. She knew he had a decision to make, and her playing the upset little girl wasn't going to help him, so she put her 'eleven year old adult' face on, and had taken charge of the living arrangements.
"Ahh, so you prefer to stay with your teacher then ?" he asked, while attempting the delicate balancing act of keeping syrup on a hot pancake as you lifted it to your mouth.
"It's for the best Daddy, and your getting syrup all over your tunic !" she said, tutting aloud as she headed for his bedroom, emerging seconds later with another jacket.
Amy wouldn't be picking Vanessa up until later that day, but Scott needed to start the ball rolling on the separation. It was imperative that the saucer section had everything they needed for a free-fall into the system. Because there simply wasn't the power available to do anything but keep the shields at one hundred percent, and life support at optimum. Still, it wasn't going to stop him checking a thousand times if necessary, until he was certain the ship, and his Daughter, would be safe ...
~~~~~~~~~~
An elliptical course had been entered into the ships navigation computers, putting the ship on the exact course required to allow her to get back to the planet, and now the Raven was falling toward the systems' Sun. Well not the Sun exactly, but a celestial spiral to her destination ... Scott again checked his figures before going back to his quarters to say goodbye to Vanessa. Once he was sure she was in good hands he put the call out, and all but essential personnel evacuated the star-drive section ... Hugging Vanessa, he promised to stay safe and thanked Amy for taking care of his Daughter.
"Say hello to Carl for me ... I love you Daddy." Vanessa said, giving her Father a final hug before the turbo-lift doors closed.
Entering the battle-bridge, Scott sat uncomfortably in the Command seat. Without preamble he gave the order ..
"Begin saucer separation."
"Aye Sir. saucer separation protocol initiated."
The view-screen showed the gleaming white of the saucer section, stretching out in front and above them. For long seconds, nothing seemed to be happening. Then there came the dull 'thud' of the docking latches disengaging, then retracting into the star-drive section. Turbo-lift shafts automatically sealed themselves of from the airless void of space, then thrusters gently 'pushed' the two sections apart. Scott watched as the distance increased, until the blackness of space could be seen around the enormous life boat.
=^= Saucer section to star-drive section .. Separation complete =^=
=^= Thank you saucer section .. Separation confirmed .. God speed =^=
=^= Good luck Commander .. May the wind be at your back .. Saucer section out =^=
The Comm closed, and Scott sat quietly watching the massive section drift serenely away from them.
"Set course for our second sling-shot rendezvous." McLean said.
"Course laid-in Commander. ETA four hours fourteen minutes."
"See you soon sweetheart." Scott whispered, before turning to the Helm Officer, "Engage !".
The saucer section fell from view as the star-drive section powered forward toward her encounter with another atmosphere ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Oct 13, 2009 1:04:22 GMT
OOC: Lieutenant Richards NPC on Raven.
"I wouldn't want to know how the stardrive section would fare by itself." Lieutenant Richards stared out the portal of the laboratory. It was being used to house some of the civilians and other personnel that had nowhere else to go. Crewman Murphy was behind him, packing up some crates so that they'd be secure for the next 'dive.'
"Well, we're about to find out," he said to Richards. "The decision's been made." The Raven was minutes away from separation of its saucer and stardrive sections - a decision made so that the stardrive section would have enough power, and so that the damage to the living quarters' areas of the ship, and most importantly to the people therewithin, would be limited. Lieutenant Richards had been to the meeting in the observation lounge, at which his usual doubt and cynicism had been prevalent when Copeland's idea came up. Still, little could've be done once McLean and Parkin made their minds up.
From the stardrive section, Richards felt the vibration and heard the noise; both provided the signal that the saucer section had been disconnected. He watched it slowly drop into the depths of black shade until it was but a nimbus, and then it was eventually swallowed by the encroaching dark, blotted out by all the meaningless nothing that enclosed it.
"I hope McLean knows what he's doing.."
* * *
Richards entered the battle-bridge, instantly surveying the scene as he always did when stepping into the ship's nerve centre, no matter which nerve-centre that was and no matter how little he actually visited the place. He had left the civilians he was responsible for in the hands of Ensign Mouring and Crewman Murphy, both were very capable and wouldn't let him down. And that was certainly saying something where Richards was concerned.
He was instructed to take Operations; the console was currently unoccupied due to the appropriate officer's absence. Richards was a junior Ops officer, thus part of why he'd already guessed the reason for his summoning: they wanted him here.
This atmosphere was going to be nasty. That was a fact that soon revealed itself thanks to constant scans of the upcoming planet. The checks that an Operations officer ran, while controlling the sensors, were, among many other things, designed to forewarn the ship of dangers ahead. The process was to take the subject that was their next target, analyse that target and form an assessment of the risk to the vessel. In this case, the nature of the planetary atmosphere, its fluidic properties, allowed for it to act as a carrier for a great quantity of razor-sharp dust particles, inherent to the world. Usually this wouldn't damage the hull of a Federation ship, but when combined with the torsional stresses and other such unwelcome forces, the consequences could be less than happy.
Richards reported this much to McLean and the other 'senior' officers on the battle-bridge. Either way, they were going in.
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Oct 17, 2009 12:46:39 GMT
Javin's subconscious told him that small hands were shaking him. He fought the urge to turn over and ignore them, but his attacker wasn't about to give up ..
"Daddy ....."
"Daddy ..... Come on, wake up lazy."
He opened his eyes, feigning shock at being woken. He grinned at Bethan as he noticed he was alone in bed.
"OK .. OK .. I'm awake, where's your mother ?"
"She's down stairs getting breakfast, now come on or we are going to be late." and with one last bounce on his stomach for good measure, she hurried from the room.
Getting up, he headed for the bathroom and a shower, before dressing and making his way down to the kitchen. Bethan was already tucking in to her toast, but pushed a plate in front of him, an obvious 'hint' to get on with it.
"Morning." Galla said, kissing him lightly on the cheek ......
Later that morning:
"So what is this festival called ?" Javin asked for the third time.
"It's Foundation Day." Bethan said, looking at the sky as if wondering just how forgetful her father could be at times, "I'll be on the anti-grav ride !" she said, rushing toward the fair.
"Be careful, and don't go too far away." Galla said, linking an arm through her husbands as they watched Bethan climb on the ride.
It hadn't gone un-noticed, by either of them, that last night had not been mentioned, but Galla finally needed to speak.
"We need to talk about last night ... Carl." she said as she led them both to a nearby bench. They could talk here without being overheard, and could see Bethan on the ride. Sitting down, she took his hand in hers, squeezing tightly for a long moment, before continuing, "You know who you are. Carl Torek. You are a Star ship Captain ..."
Javin / Torek, remained silent, watching his 'Daughter' rise and fall on the ride.
"... Your ship, the Raven, arrived here almost three months ago. All your senior staff have been here, drugged, brainwashed if you like, into thinking you belong here. You 'know' what I am saying is true Carl, you even held the tricorder, used it to record what you suspected."
"What about you ?" Carl said, still not one hundred percent convinced ... Galla sighed. They had spent hours going through this last night, but their 'closeness' had put it all aside.
"My name is Galla Weitz. That is Bethan Weitz .. On Earth, I worked at Star fleet medical. I'm a psychiatrist .. I, we, were brought here six years ago. Bethan was born here, and my husband died here. Carl, I know you believe me, you proved that last night." she said, reddening at the memory, "We need you Carl. Bethan and I need you. She has only known you as her father, she loves you, and, well, so do I."
There, she had said it ..
"I know." Carl finally said, knowing he couldn't imagine not having her and Bethan in his life, but he had questions that could not wait, "Where's my ship, my crew ?"
Galla again took his hand.
"OK, well the ship has gone. When they take the people they need, the ship is flung out to the edge of the system. There's a sub-space anomaly out there, it drains the ship of all power and the hull drifts into the anomaly. The Raven is gone Carl." she let that sink in for a few seconds, "As for your crew, well I think all but one of your senior staff are here, going about their daily lives, or at least the lives programmed into them."
"But I know about whats happening." Carl began shaking at the thought of almost a thousand lives lost.
"There are one or two that needed more treatment, ones that are convinced they don't belong here."
"I want to meet them !" Carl said, a new determination rising.
"You will. I promise, but we need to be cautious. If the keepers know of our plans they will go to any lengths to prevent us. Any lengths."
"Come on you two." Bethan said, appearing from nowhere to grab her parents hands. Carl and Galla followed Bethen, their minds racing. Carl, mourning the loss of his crew, Galla wondering, no, knowing she had done the right thing. This man would save them, he would be there to look after them both ..........
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