Screams Through Elevators

Posted on Mon Dec 2nd, 2019 @ 10:14am by Lieutenant Hachirou Takeshi & Chief Petty Officer Nathan Kline

Mission: Cosmos
Location: Seabase
874 words - 1.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Aki's trip through the elevator almost spiraled out of his control, especially after his elegant screaming. But after a moment of panic, he leapt forward and fiddled with the torn out console, managing to stop the metal deathtrap from smashing into the bottom and possibly leading him to his demise.

After programming it to move upward to what he thought was the original floor he was on, Aki slumped to the back of the elevator, wiping his brow of the sweat that accumulated. "... Man that was close..." he muttered. As the door opened up, Aki frowned. This wasn't the floor he was supposed to be on...

Nathan had been separated from the group. It was both voluntary, wanting to give Lexie and Liam some space, and he had gotten turned around. Why had he agreed to this excursion? He was a sensor specialist. He was lost in hiw head when the lift door next to him popped opened and a man exited muttering to him. While after the fact he would realize that his reaction was over the top in the moment, his gun was drawn and a slight yell may have escaped his lips.

Eyes snapping up toward Nathan, Aki gave the man a once over, before slumping against the ground outside of the elevator. He rolled over, face up toward the other man. "That's what I said when the whole thing plummeted and almost made me the albatross. Kline, right?"

Nathan lowered his gun and extended his hand. "Chief Petty Officer." He added as he offered the Lieutenant a hand up. "This place gives me he creeps, gotta be honest."

Aki accepted the hand, allowing himself to be pulled up before straightening himself out and picking up his pack. "Aki. I don't do so well with the pips. I was petty officer myself a bit ago. Just happened to get real lucky with my commission. So, stick with Aki." He winked, before suspiciously staring down the hall. "It gives you the creeps because it is the creeps. It just is steeped in creeps with extra weird for added measure."

"Call me Nathan than." He replied as she looked down the hallway. "I second that, sir." He let out a breath. "So, I seem to have lost contact with everyone. Have you had the same problem?" He didn't know if his altercation with the defunct display panel was the culprit.

"Aki," came an insistent reply, before he shook his head. "I haven't tried. I'm just reeling from my little roller coaster ride back there." He jabbed back toward the elevator with his thumb. "... We know where they all are at least, right? Why not just... see if we can make it up a deck or so? Gotta be some maintenance means to get to other decks with."

"Sounds good, Sir." Nathan replied with a nod. "There are a few access panels in the corridor back there that I was investigating before I thought I was going to get eaten." He didn't like it here. It gave him the creeps.

"Aki," repeated the young lieutenant. He frowned. "Where're these panels? We should check 'em out for sure. Worst case, we find out there's something hostile behind 'em... we phase 'em and hightail it." That was the least sane idea he had, but Aki never claimed to be a good leader.

Nathan gave himself a shake. If Lexie found out he was being such a pansy she would never let him live it down. "This way, sir." He started as he turned and headed the way he had come before he stopped and turned motioning towards the corridor.

Aki was beginning to feel a sense of irony as the pair interacted. The number of times he had discovered he called so many commissioned officers 'Sir' were just coming back to haunt him. Instead of continuing on about it, he followed after Nathan, pulling out a light from his small pack. "We should hurry up. If I had a simple issue with the elevator, it wouldn't surprise me if there were other issues down the line."

"Agreed, Sir." Kline replied as he moved to the panel and set down his rifle to begin taking the panel apart. "Perhaps there is a kink in the line, so to speak." He started, "The power around here keeps fluctuating." He offered, despite his vast knowledge of sensor systems, turbolift operations was out of his recent knowledge base.

"It does," Aki agreed. He had no expertise in the subject matter. But that was what engineers were for. He asked them for their opinions. "Well, it's a good thing we're looking for an alternate route all the same." He looked about, phaser in hand, for any signs of trouble. None, unless one counted the dust collecting as one. "If we can get up to at least one of the other groups, we'd probably have better chances-"

Aki jumped at the sound of another ear-curdling scream echoing through the barren hall. "... What was that? That... that sounded human, right?"

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Lieutenant JG Akihito Takeshi
Flight Control Officer
USS Cosmos
(PNPC Uhin)

Chief Petty Officer Nathan Kline
Sensor Specialist
USS Cosmos
(PNPC Belikov)