Lost And Found part 2

Posted on Wed Feb 23rd, 2022 @ 9:02pm by Ka'see 'Cassie' Anderson (*) & Executive Officer Jake Ford & Liha t'Ehhelih & Angel Ramirez

Mission: Mission 14: Holoworld
Location: SS Holoworld
Timeline: MD 05 22:00
2418 words - 4.8 OF Standard Post Measure

The boom shook the whole ship, but a moment before it settled down again and the red light illuminated the corridors that were all starting to look like one another from the red alert the ship was in despite the silence. The excitement of what had occurred was slowly dying down, but where were the holograms that had been following just moments before?

"Looks like Burnie went for his favorite solution," Liha snarked, though honestly she was as happy to be in the corridor cleared of holograms.

“Crude, but effective,” Angel commented.

"Whatever works at this point," Jake nodded. "If that has knocked out power, that helps us; fewer holograms to follow us. But it doesn't leave us out of the woods yet. We should find somewhere defensible. Or somewhere with access to an escape route."

“Transport is still being blocked?” Angel asked. “Comms? Could we retreat to the moon? If we get far enough away from the ship, we could get back to Rosie.”

The question was never answered as the corridor that the group had ended in was filled with water and a figure lay half submerged in it. The clothing that she was wearing was glitching like the rest of the scene. Cassie did not stir from the position the water had tossed her out of the holodeck into, but she was not dead.

Liha nearly cringed at the sight. There wasn't much that vulcanoids were more vulnerable to than humanoids, but water in the lungs was bad. Running over, she checked vitals, determining she was at least still alive. "Does anyone have a med kit?"

“I think I saw an emergency panel back a ways,” Angel said. “Hold on.” He jogged back to a turn in the corridor and yanked open a panel. There was an emergency fire extinguisher, a manual release wrench, decompression kit, and medical kit, which he grabbed and ran back to the group.

“Here,” he said, handing the kit to Liha.

Liha had already begun compression to push water out of Cassie's lungs. She had rolled head turned to the side since vomiting was usually involved with near-drowning cases and aspirating vomit on top of water would only make things worse. Grabbing the medkit, she located triox and corticosteroids and quickly applied both. "Get the thermal cover out and put it over her; we don't need hypothermia too."

Angel worked with practiced Starfleet efficiency. Security were often first on a scene before a medic, so he had extensive first responder training in that regard. He shook out the shiny blanket and readied it in a part of the corridor not flooded. He found a couple chemical thermal units in the kit as well and cracked the pads to start the heating process, wrapping them in some gauze to protect from excessive heat, and folded the blanket over them to start warming.

"What's the thinking? Can we move her?" Jake asked in a low voice. "I'd rather not stay in one place too long."

"I think so," Liha said after a quick visual assessment. "I don't think anything's broken."

“I’ll carry her,” Angel volunteered. “You’re better than me if trouble happens,” he acknowledged to Liha. Even though he was security and she was engineering, as a Romulan, she was stronger, and he knew she had some training. He pulled his phaser out and offered it hilt first to Liha.

Liha inclined her head to a precise degree in response, but added enough of a smile to convey the meaning to a Human. "Appreciated," she said, but nodded toward Jake. "You should give it to him. He's a decent shot and I'll be more useful with my hands free."

Angel nodded, handing his phaser over to Jake. Carrying a weapon was an old habit of his left over from Starfleet; one never left the ship without a sidearm.

Jake took it, checked it, and kept it in one hand.

As Cassie hit the surface, she let out a choked sound, moving to her on her own, coughing deeply as she tried to get the water out of her lungs. It might have been holographic water, but with the emitters all working with no safeties on it was no different than drowning.

"Easy there, Cassie," Jake urged, his free hand pushing matted hair from her face. "We're going to get you out of here." He glanced around, clocking exits and paths. "Angel, you're on carry duty. Help Cassie up and keep her moving. Liha's in the lead, I'll cover behind. Let's keep it moving at a good pace."

“This might be a little awkward,” Angel said, “but it’s the best way to carry you and move fast and keep balanced.” He took Cassie, but instead of taking her in his arms, he swept her across his shoulders in a fireman’s carry.

Liha had a knife in her hand as she headed back into the corridor. "We'll make for crew spaces. Jea had said those wouldn't have holo emitters. Until we get there, stay sharp. There's no telling what the ship will throw at us."

Cassie at that point really did not care that she was clad in more than a blanket, nor was she being carried the way she was. She was just relieved to be among friends that got her out of where she was. "Stop," she whispered as they reached a crew area. As she was put to her feet, she staggered to a corner of the ante chamber and started to heave, as nothing was now in her lungs as there were no holo emitters, but she still felt like she was drowning for a moment as she tried to her barings enough.

“Breathe,” Angel said, holding Cassie’s wet hair, just in case, supporting her.

"Crew spaces shouldn't be far; guest rooms are close to the key holodeck areas," Jake noted. He turned to look back over his shoulder as more shadows shifted behind them, raising the hairs on his neck. The silhouettes were dauntingly familiar: wide-brimmed hats, spurred boots. "What in the world..." he muttered, catching sight of several shapes he had seen just days earlier, the outlaws from the Wild West simulation. And they were not only back to normal, but very well armed. "Bad time for us to stop, we need to get going!" he urged the others.

"Faelirh ih'wort nnea mogain!" Liha swore under her breath. "More gunslingers. It looks like there's a service entrance at the end of the hall. Let's make for that, fast."

“Can you move fast, or…” Angel asked Cassie, ready to sling her over his shoulders again if she couldn’t.

"I can move," Cassie whispered, taking a deep breath as she felt more steady. It was not going to last, but she could handle moving for a few moments. She moved the blanket around her like it was a towel, wrapping it securely despite not overly caring, as they had all seen naked by that stage. "Let us go. I need somewhere I can get clothes and some proper medical care." She glanced at Liha, who would hopefully understand how she was feeling.

"She's still chilled, possibly in shock," Liha said, expecting that despite the modesty common to their cultures, a Vulcan would find concern over it illogical in the circumstances. (She knew a Romulan would). "But movement should help."

“I’m fine,” Cassie mumbled.

“Let me know if you need help,” Angel said. “And here. You can at least have this.” He pulled off his shirt, revealing toned, hard, lean musculature, and handed the shirt to Cassie.

Cassie looked at the man and slipped her arms into it. She did not blush under his gaze, but did nod her appreciation to him and whisper a soft thank you. She would have time to think through the events of the day, but right then and there they needed to get out of there. The group moved quickly and got into the service entrance just as the hologram spotted them and started to chase them down.

The sound of more footsteps indicated other holograms were joining the chase. "Get her inside," Liha told Angel once they were close, and fell back to help Jake keep them from closing.

As the holograms followed, they disappeared as they tried to run through the service entrance. "No holo emitters," Cassie said calmly. She had no idea why she was feeling so calm. Maybe she was in shock, maybe she was not willing to accept that Johnathen was gone, or maybe she just did not scare so easily, but she was almost too calm.

Angel nodded and hurried Cassie inside. He looked around for anything he could possibly use as a weapon now that he didn’t have one.

"We're safe here, but we need a way off the ship," Jake growled, looking around the space. "What are our options? Exit routes? Strategy?" he was speaking aloud while thinking the whole time.

"For now, I'd say stick to the crew spaces," Liha said, ducking in behind him and resisting an urge to throw a Human hand gesture at the holograms disappearing in the lack of holo-emitters here. "We're safe here, so let's follow this area and see if we can get to somewhere that we can contact the ship."

“They have to be blocking comms somehow,” Angel said. “We could try the main comm array. The signal has to be coming from somewhere.”

"We'd have to find the main comm array," Liha remarked, looking for anything in crew quarters that might provide a map of the back routes through the ship. "Preferably without having to cross back into spaces with holograms."

"Just talking about it won't get us anywhere," Jake replied. "Comms is the goal. Liha, you're the engineer. Can you find it?"

Liha scowled at him. "Find it? Yes. Find it using a route that won't expose us to attack by holograms? Not without more information about the ship's layout."

“What about jeffries tubes?” Angel asked. “Surely they wouldn’t put holo-emitters in those. Might take a while crawling through the bowels, but should get us anywhere on the ship.”

"Worth a try. And beats staying here." Jake nodded. "Cassie, you coming?"

As the trio discussed, Cassie moved inside one of the crew quarters and pulled on what would have been an engineer jumpsuit. It was huge on her, but better than the blanket. She sat on the bed for a moment listening to the voices as she tried to focus and not think of the pain in her throat and lungs, nor how cold she felt. She looked around, but if the jump suit was too big the shoes were going to be.

“How you doing?” Angel asked her. There was a small replicator, so he ordered her some hot tea with honey and lemon. “Should help your throat. I’d make a toddy, but no alcohol from a replicator,” he apologized, handing Cassie the mug.

Cassie turned to the voice that was calling her name and shrugged at the suggestion before a drink was put in her hand. "Thank you," she said softly, taking a sip. It was just the right temperature to be able to drink all at once. She did not answer the question about how she was, as she was not sure how she was at all.

"Hey, if you want to stay here where it's relatively safe, it's okay," Liha assured. If they were making for the comms array through jefferies tubes, which potentially might be blocked off or hazardous due to damaged electrical connections, the last thing they needed was someone along that would need looking after (or more looking after than the Humans).

Cassie looked at the one making the offer and shook her head. She was not going to be left alone, she might not be at a hundred percent, but she had useful skills once they got to the communication array, plus she was sure if she was left alone she would not be okay. Who knew what the holograms would do next. "No, I am good. I just need shoes so I do not cut my feet anymore." She shivered.

Angel considered and returned to the replicator, finding it was capable of creating clothing and costumes for the holoadventures. “Size?” he asked Cassie, then replicated her a pair of sturdy boots and socks. “Could get you some clothes, too.”

Cassie took the boots and socks, awkwardly putting them on, and stood. “I am good,” she assured. The engineer's boiler suit was fine for now. She was not planning to be using it for long. “Shall we go then?” she wondered, trying to sound like her old self despite the shock and confusion she was feeling at the moment.

"All right. Liha goes first. We'll follow her senses and hope that takes us in the right direction. Everyone stay tight, though; I don't want anyone falling behind," said Jake, hauling the tube hatch open.

It was odd to realize Jake trusted her senses more than she did, but Liha had enough Galae officer experience not to show her own doubts. "Right," she said straightening. "This ship crashed. We found big sections of engineering inaccessible, so there's good chance crew passages and even Jeffries tubes may be too. So, everyone find," she picked up a belt - a bit under a meter long but with good solid metal buckle - and cracked it like whip, smiling at the chunk the buckle took out of a mattress, "something to use as weapon in case we have to cross through someplace with holoemitters."

Cassie quietly moved through the quarters that had belonged to an engineer and found what could only be described as old fashioned engineering equipment. It was light enough in her hands that she could hold it but it would pack a punch. “I have some old fashioned spanners.” She announced holding the tool up.

Jake lifted the phaser he'd been passed earlier. "No problems here. Ready?"

"Ready." Liha nodded and headed out in what she believed should be the most direct out-of-holoemitter-territory route toward the main comm array. She'd barely taken two steps into the crew passage when the whole ship shook. A boom echoed through the corridor, then the lights went out. "I'm guessing Burnie just nuked the computer core," she remarked with a smirk, fishing for a hand light in her tool kit.