Red Handed

Posted on Wed Nov 25th, 2020 @ 4:31pm by Commodore Jacob Kane & Lieutenant Kevan Dash & Lieutenant Leah Bailey & Commander Taeler Santu M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Savin & Lieutenant Ausra Danton & Ensign George Paxton

Mission: The Shadow of Arachne
Location: USS Athena - Bridge
Timeline: MD-05
810 words - 1.6 OF Standard Post Measure

The various groups converged on the bridge at almost the same moment: Kevan and Ausra through one door, Paxton and Leah through another. They almost knocked Savin over as they burst out of the turbolift. Very shortly after they almost collided with one another as they all went for the door to the ready room.

"Oh. You're here to see the Captain too?" Kevan wondered out loud.

"Let me guess-" Leah responded. "Weird and scary things happening to you guys as well?"

Savin shook his head. "I have not had any encounters yet," he confessed, "but I was going to see the captain about reports that have reached me." He kept his eye on the others so he wouldn't miss anything they said as he approached the ready room door. "Have you?" He asked as he pressed the chime.

"I don't want to talk about it, but yes. Very weird, very scary. Captain needs to know." In all honesty she was barely holding it together. But . . . he wasn't answering his chime. "Computer, locate Commander Kane."

Commander Kane is on Deck One; Ready Room.

The assembled group blinked at one another.

"Computer, door override, security authorisation Dash-One-One-Seven." Kevan felt himself tense up as the door slid open and allowed them access.

Allowing the security officer to go first, Savin followed him straight in. Something was off... it just didn't feel right. His eyes swept the room and then.. Quickly, he tapped Dash on the shoulder and pointed before rushing and kneeling at the captain's side. "He is alive," he reported, pressing two fingers to the carotid artery to feel a pulse. He belatedly seemed to notice the presence of the XO, who was apparently hiding behind the desk. "What happened?" He asked her.

Ausra breathed a sigh of relief. "Stunned? Who would do such a thing and why? Maybe he was having one of these visions too and was uncontrollable?" She weighed options in her mind. She tapped her combadge. "Medical to Captain's Ready Room."

"He's stable, I already gave him a stimulant to steady his heartbeat and neural activity," Santu had hidden behind the desk, making sure to get out of the line of sight to avoid being shot the moment people would burst through the door of the ready room. Her shooting him must've triggered all sorts of alarms, and the subsequent calling for medical attention wouldn't have done anything to ease anyone's mind, "he was hit with heavy stun. Give him a couple of minutes and he'll come to." She raised her hands over her head, showing them to whoever had come into the room with her, "I am unarmed," she gave a nod to the phaser pistol she had dropped on the floor after shooting him, "I'll come to the brig willingly."

"So who had the delusion?" George mouthed his thoughts out loud, still staring at the disabled captain. He had been quietly processing the events in the background, keeping as close to the wall as possible. Thinking perhaps that a close proximity to the edge of the room would keep the walls from closing in on him as they had on deck four.

Unaware of Paxton's question, Savin watched the XO closely. "Why?" He asked, "what happened here?"

Santu shook her head, not quite sure who to respond to first, or what to tell either of them, "I shot him, that's why you came in here, right?" She was still holding her hands above her head, waiting to be taken in.

"No." Savin shook his head. "Insofar I have been able to gather, we did not. Why did you shoot him?"

"I think we all know the answer to that," Kevan retorted. "Everyone's going crazy, right?"

"We don't know anything clearly right now," Leah sighed. "We need to get the Captain to sickbay. And maybe...the First Officer too?" she pondered.

"Absolutely," Ausra agreed. "Wouldn't hurt for the rest of us in this room to come along too." As the med techs arrived Ausra stepped back from the Captain. "Come on Commander, I'll walk you there. We'll all have a nice stroll down there since we're not unconscious."

"I will transport to sickbay with the captain," Savin answered, "Lieutenant Dash will you accompany Lieutenant Danton and Commander Taeler to sickbay?" He looked up to Bailey and Paxton. "Either of you please request a site to site transport for us and alert sickbay of our arrival."

Leah nodded sharply and put in the request. Kevan, meanwhile, put an uncertain hand on the XO's shoulder. It made sense to place her under some sort of arrest if she had indeed just shot the Captain. "Something crazy is happening on board," he breathed. "Too many coincidences...people freaking out, doing things they wouldn't normally do. It's as though we're being pushed to some of our darkest places."