Jump to content

Aberrant: The Long March - Chapter 8: Those who have strayed from the path.


Mr Fox

Recommended Posts

Steve appears on the bridge at roughly the same time Mr. X appears in the brig, and then the view from the Lorean changes as the Earth vanishes. The stars don't move and neither did the Lorean... although Steve knew this to be an optical illusion. The Lorean had moved, just not far enough to change the star scape much.

Steve glanced at the monitor holding Mr. X and let out a sigh of relieve when he slumped over, so far the plan was working. With minimal information there was far too much that could go wrong.

Originally Posted By: The_Fool
*Well Old Man, whomever, or whatever has been watching our man here has got to be pretty pissed off right about now. Any thought as to how you want to go about this? Even isolated, unconscious, and safe behind Loreans shields, I don't want to risk whatever booby-traps may be lying in this man's mind. I suppose I could do it the old fashioned way...*
Steve replies,

"We should try what we did before. You and Mike can get set up and then Amber will peek ahead to see how it would work. Then we'll see. Maybe it'll work better this time." Cody knows Steve well enough to pick up that he doesn't believe this.

Steve continues, "But yeah, I suspect we'll have to work this like we did with Caroline... except time time even you and Omar can't take the risk of getting into the cell with him. At least not yet."

"Lorean, now that we have him up close, do you detect anything unusual about him?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 289
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Lorean nods, "He is a telepath, beyond that I don't know. I felt him try and reach out with his mind just before he blacked out. If he had had just a second more he might have gotten a message out too." On the display on the front wall several medical monitors appear one of which is an eeg. Lorean points it out, "I'm a little worried about that. Even unconscious there is more activity than there should be, but no where near the level there was before he blacked out. I think it might be safe for Michael and Cody to try now, but with the shields they are going to be a little limited."

Amber nods to Steve to indicate that it should be ok.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally Posted By: Mr Fox
I think it might be safe for Michael and Cody to try now, but with the shields they are going to be a little limited."

Amber nods to Steve to indicate that it should be ok.
Steve looks at Amber and then nods to Cody.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lounging in a chair, his legs propped up on a table, Omar waited for the interrogation to begin. He wasn't pleased at being told to stay away from Mr. X. Omar was used to being invulnerable, and when his associates told him that he was, he sulked about the ship. He was determined to rectify the problem...somehow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Joani didn't have Omars patience and waited nervously for Michael and Cody. The whole setup reminded her too much of Carolines trial and her head alreasy started to spin with seemingly endless questions about how to properly handle this. Morality, ethics, virtue... she felt like she was the biggest obstacle of all, almost clumsy as if she stood in her own way.

Sometimes she even thought that she was the weakest link of the team because of her nature and how she perceived life. Without her there would be much less discussion she believed. Bracing herself without real necessity since she didn't feel cold she stared at the chair on which Omar sat, lost in her thoughts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cody responds,

*First of all, better him than us. Secondly from what I understand, flash freezing does form ice crystals in the body, even as it can put someone in suspended animation. However cell death doesn't actually occur completely until the subject is thawed out and the ruptured cell hemoraghe. Theoretically at least, quantum abilities should be able to revive him.*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"And you might be right, but we're talking about millions of cells. Humans are tremendously complex organisms. I might be able to revive him, but I wouldn't bet his life on it." Morgan frowned, "Still, if it is necessary, I'm flushing the tank at the instant I detect any anomaly in your or Michaels vital signs."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With grim determination Cody and Michael move into position outside the room. Not that location made much difference, but even the tiniest advantage could help today. Michael nodded to Cody and established the link then gave him the lead. Morgan stood nearby watching the vitals with his hand on the switch that would flood the small room with liquid nitrogen. On the bridge everyone else sat or stood in tense anticipation watching the scene going on below and the vital signs of the three individuals taking part in the drama. As Cody and Michael began their link there was a sudden increase in brain activity of both men as they came suddenly into near perfect sink. This was the first time they'd ever been recorded during one of these sessions and Michael at least would have been fascinated by the readings if he weren't otherwise occupied.

The seconds stretched out to minutes as the two men did the job that fate had called them to do. From the eeg of the target, it was apparent that he was fighting them and from their it was equally plain that they were not having an easy time of it. In less than two minutes both men had broken out into a sweat and expressions of intense concentration could were no surprise. Morgan worried more than once during the procedure that he might accidentally twitch and hit the kill button that would flood the chamber with deadly liquid nitrogen. After five minutes he almost did when all three men's reading started to climb, but Michael and Cody waved him off without looking up or even opening their eyes. A couple minutes later Morgan began to relax as the vitals of all three started to stabilize and even relax somewhat. It seemed the two telepaths had succeeded in getting past most of the resistance.

On the bridge most everyone had begun to relax, when Amber suddenly screamed, "NOOOO!!!!!"

Hearing the scream and reacting both to the scream and to his own tension Morgan jerked his hand down on the kills switch releasing the killing cold.

It wasn't fast enough. Michael's eyes and mouth opened in a silent scream of his own and he slumped limply to the floor. Cody was also rocked back and fell heavily against the wall as the psychic backlash left him almost without motor control for a moment. With a force of will he remained conscious mouth opening as if to call for Morgan to come to Michael's aid, but at that moment he couldn't quite form the words mentally to send and only managed a weak wave and point.

Morgan didn't need any direction though. Almost before Michael hit the floor he was in motion and reaching for the downed man sending a strong force of his own healing quantum into him. With a frown on his face Morgan picked him up and opened a warp to the infirmary then stepped through an placed him in a bed, wondering what had just happened. He hoped Cody could explain. At least Michael wouldn't die.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steve watched the exchange between the three men with deep interest. Usually he'd be bored and looking at the instrumentation, but this time he was fascinated and looking at them directly. Walking away from Amber and Morgan for a moment he says quietly to Joani and Omar,

"Wow! Would you look at them go. I've never seen this side effect before, they must be throwing massive amounts of energy around."

(Amber screams)

Steve leaps for the kill switch but Morgan is much closer and hits it first. Steve watches the suspect freeze and then Morgan Warp out. He says,

"Lorean, is the suspect still functioning? Cody???"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lorean had to resist the temptation to say that he as on ice in this grave moment and instead let her worry over Michael and Cody show in her voice, "He is dead unless Morgan can revive him. Cody should be alright judging by his vitals. I am worried about Michael though, his eeg is showing very little activity right now. I think he is in a coma."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cody staggers roughly to his feet and exits the room, popping a couple of nova-strength painkillers on his way to the bridge.

With the others no doubt anxious to learn just what in the hell happened, Cody doesn't waste time or mince words.

*Micahel...if it hadn't been for him I'd be dead...he...shielded, most of the blast. Goddamn psychic boobytrap.*

He pauses for a moment to catch his pschic "breath."

*Good news is we know more now than we did before. He's human, a psion, but no ordinary psion. The guy was like the Caestus Pax of telepaths. As far beyond normal psions as a psion is beyond your average baseline's intuition. Our Mr. X here was merely a pawn however in a much larger game. Apparently he was approached by yet another enigma, who knew Mr. X was a latent psion and then somehow "erupted" him into something much more powerful than occurs naturally.*

*Furthermore, our Mr X-scicle was recruited specificly for his underpinning psycological resentment towards Novas in general. Apparently his predisposition made him an ideal candidate.*

*So what we have here is a conspiracy of uber-psions with a grudge against Novas. I still don't know if Mr. Y was also a psion or an alien in disguise, or whether he was the kingpin or just another double-blind.*

*..Oh yeah...and theres 3 more saboteur's we missed ready to blow the shipyards....Might want to pick them up right away.*

,,

Cody feeds their names and descriptions to the central database.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally Posted By: Courier
Steve watched the exchange between the three men with deep interest. Usually he'd be bored and looking at the instrumentation, but this time he was fascinated and looking at them directly. Walking away from Amber and Morgan for a moment he says quietly to Joani and Omar,

"Wow! Would you look at them go. I've never seen this side effect before, they must be throwing massive amounts of energy around."


Joani stared at Steve in total disbelief. She couldn't share his fascination for what was happening. As far as she was concerned Cody and Michael interrogated this man, almost the same they did with Caroline. Most likely Mr. X would end up dead for the greater good, still it made her sad and deeply regret that she had to witness all this.

Originally Posted By: Mr Fox

On the bridge most everyone had begun to relax, when Amber suddenly screamed, "NOOOO!!!!!"

Hearing the scream and reacting both to the scream and to his own tension Morgan jerked his hand down on the kills switch releasing the killing cold.


Ambers scream jerked Joani out of her inner monologue. She saw Morgan hit the killswitch and knew that something had gone terribly wrong. With tears in her eyes she watched open mouthed as everyone around her started to act. Her own emotions paralyzed her and she was caught between fear, sadness and worry for her friends.

"Oh no... please...", was the only words she could stutter.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

With the slight breeze in the air that heralded the displacement of a body's worth of oxygen, a young red-haired woman appeared in the infirmary on other side of Michael's bed. She didn't look up Morgan, didn't introduce or explain herself; she just leaned over Michael's still form and clasped one of his hands in hers. Her face was mask of shock and pain with tears slipping down to her chin to fall in a near heart-beat cadence. She was beautiful in a way that only nova's can be. In fact everything about her, from the perfection of her skin to the smooth line of every movement to even her quiet sobs shouted that she excelled humanity in every way possible.

And she stood there, bent over the bed and holding on to Michael's hand like a lifeline, apparently oblivious to the rest of the ship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Omar jumped out of his chair when he heard Amber's scream. Instead of rushing to where Michael and Cody were, he runs to Amber to comfort her. While he was very protective of her, he had also recommended her to his friend Steve, whom she had ended up marrying. He stood next to Amber, his hand on her arm, with a loving, concerned look in his eyes. Their relationship was beyond friendship.

When a mysterious woman appeared suddenly though, Omar moved Amber protectively behind himself and began to run towards where Michael lay. On the way, long sharp bony gladius-like projections sprouted from his wrists. The aura surrounding him grew brighter, as increased quantum enregies flowed throughout his body. At times like this, Joani and the others knew to give him a wide berth. He was ready to commit himself to battle with the intruder.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steve watched Omar attend to Amber while he listened to Cody's description. After Cody was done Steve says,

"Four questions. One, do you think he can be turned? It's a big step from disliking novas to working for the extermination of humanity."

"Second and Third, did he think that Mr. Y was also a mega-telepath? Did he know of any others?"

"And lastly, what's the deal with the light show? Was that a side effect of his powers? If so do you think we could generate that without you and Mike?"

(The Girl Appears)

Steve says "Hello?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lorean looks at Steve questioningly, "Steve, what light show are you referring to, I did not detect any lights during the confrontation."

After a moment Lorean looks around and sees the girl crying by Michael's side and looks completely dumbfounded, and says to herself, "How did she get there?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The young woman doesn't seem to have noticed the commotion she's caused. Her lips have begun to move, repeating something over and over again while still leaning over Micheal's prone form.

Abruptly she looks over to Morgan, "Can you heal him? Can you bring him back? Please, bring him back." Her voice conveys every nuance of her fear and hope, near enough to break the heart of anyone listening.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The young womans voice brought Joani back to her senses and she felt great compassion for her. Joani could hear her pleading to Morgan and knew that the young woman was truly in love with Michael.

Trying to be as empathetic as possible she said to the young woman, "Michael is one of our dearest friends. I can asure you that everyone will do his best to save him. Right now Morgan is probably the best healer you can have.", Joani slowly approached the young woman and smiled confidently at her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally Posted By: Courier
Steve watched Omar attend to Amber while he listened to Cody's description. After Cody was done Steve says,

"Four questions. One, do you think he can be turned? It's a big step from disliking novas to working for the extermination of humanity."

"Second and Third, did he think that Mr. Y was also a mega-telepath? Did he know of any others?"

"And lastly, what's the deal with the light show? Was that a side effect of his powers? If so do you think we could generate that without you and Mike?"

(The Girl Appears)

Steve says "Hello?"


*Lights? What are you talking about? The only lights I'm seeing are the stars spinning around my head...*

*As for your other questions, our Mr. Y was smart. Frosty here worked alone although he did suspect their might be others. He also had a feeling Mr. Y wasn't human but I didn't get any proof. The funny thing is he didn't think he was doing anything against humanity...he must not have known enough about the Chromatics to realize he was working towards a war.*

*In a word, he was jealous. Jealous of novas and psions, although once he was triggered he developed an accute sense of psion-mania. He thinks, well thought that psions should be running the show, not Novas. Fool didn't realize there's more of them running the U.N. than us. Whatever the reasons, he thought he was doing the right thing. I'd guess Mr. Y twisted him pretty good. Alot of people died on the Enterprise and alot more would have if the space docks had gone up. It's Mr. Y that really has his knickers in a twist about Novas though. I'd bet money on it."

"Oh yeah...and Mr. Y used some kind of dunk-tank to trigger our friend here. Probably biotech if that helps the geeks come up with anything. Unless you need anything else, I'm going to lie down..."
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally Posted By: Mr Fox
Lorean looks at Steve questioningly, "Steve, what light show are you referring to, I did not detect any lights during the confrontation."
Originally Posted By: The_Fool
*Lights? What are you talking about? The only lights I'm seeing are the stars spinning around my head...*...
Steve says slowly,

"Interesting. Do you know that you glow whenever you say anything? Ditto Lorean. None of the others do. When the three of you were going at it was like watching Forth of July Fireworks."

"Except that I was the only one watching it wasn't I? Hmm... Lorean, would you please pick someone here other than myself and use the private link to talk to them and them only?"

Originally Posted By: Kyria Thea
Abruptly she looks over to Morgan, "Can you heal him? Can you bring him back? Please, bring him back." Her voice conveys every nuance of her fear and hope, near enough to break the heart of anyone listening.
Steve says,

"You aren't his lover. Child is possible but unlikely. So... student?"
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lorean sends to everyone else in the room, "Testing for Steve's benefit. Testing..." Then adding Steve back in, "I have no idea how she just got aboard. I have the shields up, even the psychic shields since we were entertaining our recent guest. This worries me, although I do not believe she is a treat despite that."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steve sends,

*Lorean, check your database listing of 2nd and 3rd generation novas and see if she's on it. I'll bet Mike has been mentoring one. He is the top known telepath, he's a logical person to ask if one of them were having problems.*

EDIT:

*Hey, that's cute. That panel glows whenever I use the link. And now that I'm looking for it, the lights didn't shift did they? The shield itself colors pretty much everything in here.*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally Posted By: Ziggurat
When a mysterious woman appeared suddenly though, Omar moved Amber protectively behind himself and began to run towards where Michael lay. On the way, long sharp bony gladius-like projections sprouted from his wrists. The aura surrounding him grew brighter, as increased quantum enregies flowed throughout his body. At times like this, Joani and the others knew to give him a wide berth. He was ready to commit himself to battle with the intruder.


Joani searched quickly for Omars eyes and barely nodded at him implying to hold back. Sending over the link she adds *Let me try talking to her first, if she attacks you can intervene*

Slowly approaching the young girl Joani says, "I'm Joani. Joani Reikspar, you may have heard of me.", she smiled warmly. "And you are...?"
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Omar relaxed slightly, letting the claws retract. In many matters he referred to Joani's judgement. This was not one of them, but deep down, he knew she was right. He returned over the link: * You are right my friend. It would be best if we talked to her.

Omar, taking his cue from Joani, also introduced himself, but with a different monniker. "My name is Omar...I am also known as the Ziggurat."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Morgan looked to the young woman, "I will do everything I can to help Michael. I have already healed his body, and that includes the slight brain damage that occurred. I do not know why he is in a coma or why his brain activity is so low, but I suspect it is his way of protecting himself and healing. He could wake up any minute, or a year from now, I just have no way of knowing yet. With Andrew's help I'll run some more tests." He looks over to Lorean, "Speaking of Andrew, can you bring him and the President back aboard please?"

Lorean sends the request for the men to return and teleports them as soon as they are ready.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

She nodded to Morgan and took the step back to Michael's side, letting go his hand. She looked uncertain of herself now and kept glancing between the crew members. "I should...He...," she runs a hand through her strawberry-blond hair and closes her eyes for a moment, cussing very softly in perfect French.

After a moment she shrugs, coming to some internal conclusion, and looks back up to Joani and Omar. "I'm Kyria."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Kyria", repeated Joani softly. "That's a nice name. I can tell by your emotional turmoil that you're very close connected to our friend Michael.", Joani looked at the unconscious man and sighed.

"Can you tell us how your connection to Michael is? It seems like no one of us has ever heard of or seen you before?", Joani tried very hard to be empathetic and sincere.

(in case make a rapport or charisma roll, whatever is more suitable)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steve observes Joani and some of the others at work and every now and then focuses in on something that isn't apparent. He exchanges a glance with Amber, moves to her side, and rests a hand on her shoulder without saying anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kyria seemed to have calmed down considerably after Morgan's reassurance and Joani's kindness, but she shakes her head at Joani's question. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't say anything until he wakes up. He'll," she swallowed hard and suddenly looked very much like a teenager caught out way past curfew, "he'll know what to say. And he'll be even more angry if I say more than...."

She trails off, her eyes wandering the room as if in a dream, or Wonderland. Abruptly she turns back to Joani and Omar, "Can I stay? I mean, is it okay with you if I stay on the ship until he wakes up? I can stay here, in the infirmary if you don't want me to wander about."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cody's headache has not left hhim in a good mood, let alone the appearance of this stranger on their bridge, even though the shields and cloaks are up...

*Like hell you will. Not unless we get some straight answers from you and I mean now. How did you get here? How did you even know where we were? I've been working with Michael for over 60 years and in spite of the fact that I know him better than anyone else on this crew, he never once mentioned you...*

Everyone looking at Cody starts to feel the room warp and distort with a nauseating stomach drop as his psionic taint begins to overload his technological safeguards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lorean frowns at Cody, "I would like answers to those questions as well, but go easy there. She is obviously upset and I think we can get those answers easier by asking nicely than demanding. Besides, you are messing with my systems when you get all charged up like that."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Cody!", Joani raised her voice a little, still trying to remain calm for Kyria.

"I understand your anger and I believe every one of us is pretty much tensed about the whole situation. But threatening her won't bring Michael back or make it any better.", she stared at Cody intensely.

Still looking at Cody she said to Kyria, "Please understand, Kyria. You're not supposed to be here and I ask you to cooperate. We cannot tell when Michael is going to wake up again and I believe we won't have the time to wait till then. Please tell us how you are connected to him. I'm sure we can work this out peacefully like civilized Humans.", Joani felt much sympathy for Kyria and couldn't imagine that she was hostile.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

*I...I apologize. My head is splitting open in the middle of a security breach.*

Cody simmers down and Joani can feel the wave of vertigo leave her.

*I can see that you care for Micahel as much as we do, but I'm afraid I still need asnwers to my questions. Care to fill us in over a strong cup of coffee? That should clear this headache...*

,,

If Kyria agrees, Cody will ask Lorean to teleport them all to the "ten-forward" (or whatever is the lounge equivalent these days) and run a triple diagnostic on the cloaks and shields to make sure that nonone else just pops in or out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kyria tried pushing back Cody's mental yelling, but weakly and with a look of vertigo bordering on nausea. She agrees to the room change, rubbing her temples and wincing at any loud noises or bright lights. Once they're settled in the lounge with coffee, she'll fidget and quickly sip away her first cup.

"I really don't know what I should say. I...I shouldn't be here. He'll be angry with me when he wakes up, but..." She winces again, but this time it appears more from a thought than a current pain. "He just...it...I had to come. It hurt so much, and then he was just gone. He has to understand that." Her gaze had wandered off and she seemed to be talking to herself more than anyone else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Joani slowly came closer to Kyria and smiled at her with compassion.

"I understand... you share a special bond? Like a link?", Joani tried to read Kyrias eyes.

"I'm sure he won't be angry with you. Michael is a good man and a very close friend of ours.", Joani looked at the others gathered in the Lounge.

"There is always an explanation for what we do and why. You were worried because of his condition. I can sympathize with that. I don't know what I would do if something happened to Ulric or one of my children."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...