SIM:Cadet Aresee Ventu: Her Way / Captured

Cadet Aresee Ventu

"Her Way"

August 13, 2005

((Shabtai Corridor))

CURA: You have my ear.

VENTU: We've gotten reports of Cardassians, but that doesn't follow with what I found in the Bajoran logs. There was...something...out there...something that was hidden within a cloaking field. ::She took another deep breath:: I know people. I can read them...in a non-Betazoid way, of course. That Bajoran was not lying, or delusional. Something else is going on.

CURA: If you have an idea then let's hear it. What do you think is going on? If there are logs that suggest foul play, then our job is to find out what that is before it's too late. Now, unless you have more concrete evidence to give me, we are checking out the cargo bay and then proceeding on to Sickbay.

::Ventu considered...:: oO What real evidence do I have? Besides some obscure logs and my intuition...nothing... Oo ::Her face an unreadable mask, she addressed Stone.::

VENTU: I just think there's another problem, Commander...I don't know what it IS, exactly...

CURA: I'm not saying I don't believe you. I do, but we do have our orders. If you have an idea to check out, I don't mind us looking into it after we check the cargo bay here.

::Ventu inclined her head slightly, stepping back into the line.::

VENTU: Aye, Commander.

::Cura turned to Mr. Beq::

CURA: Now's your chance, Mr. Beq. See if you can hear anything going on in the cargo bay as we open the doors.

::Stone opened the door with the push of a button. The door did not open; instead, the red alarm lights began to flash as the klaxons screamed out a warning. Stone fell back against Ventu and the others, pushing them out of the way, just as the door opened. Flames burst through the door for a second until the fire suppression system cycled the door shut again. Ventu picked herself up as the alarms continued to ring and looked at Stone...the commander was unconscious, and Blatz was already moving towards her. Ventu looked away, a rebellious idea entering her mind...::

VENTU: oO She's out cold. How can you even imagine taking advantage of that?! Oo

::Ventu's conscience raged at her some more, but she'd already made up her mind. She was going to find out just what was going on, once and for all. She'd either vindicate herself...or be severely reprimanded. But she had to know...::

::She looked at the other cadets, all bathed in the flashing red lights. Nearly all of them were huddled around Stone.::

VENTU: oO Perfect... Oo

::Ventu walked stealthily down the corridor, away from the corridor, back the way they had come a few minutes earlier. She didn't go back to the tube, however; she was looking for something different. Pulling out her tricorder, she scanned for the ship's lab.

VENTU: oO It's a medical ship...It has to have a lab...Right? Oo

::She assumed the lab would house many odd compounds, so she simply scanned for the largest concentration of unrecognizables on the ship. Thankfully, it wasn't too far from her present location. She ran down the hall, nearly throwing herself into the room. The alarm lights were still flashing, but they provided enough light for her to see what she was looking for: a large computer station. She walked over to the console, hoping that the universal translator would work on computers...

VENTU: Computer, activate short-range sensors.

::The computer beeped helpfully, indicating that sensors were active.::

VENTU: Display anything within range.

::The console changed, displaying a two-dimensional grid graphic. The Bajoran ship occupied the exact middle. There was nothing else there...::

VENTU: Now, scan for tetryon particles...

::The computer beeped again, and the graphic changed dramatically. The screen now appeared to be alive with phosphoresence...as if she was looking at glowing plankton in a black sea. The patterns moved and swirled and reformed. Ventu was captivated by the sight...and she understood why the Bajoran scientist had thought that whatever was emitting the particles had to be ghosts...No machine could move like that...::

::She was still staring at the swirls, lost in thought, when the console suddenly flickered once and twice and then shut off. She tapped it a couple of times, but it didn't respond. Frowning, she took out her tricorder and began to scan...and suddenly felt someone's breath on the back of her neck.::

VOICE: Very good.

::Ventu was paralyzed with shock and fear. This wasn't one of her crewmembers...she was sure of that.::

VOICE: Put down the scanner. You're coming with me...

Continued...

"Captured"

August 14, 2005

((Shabtai Lab))

VOICE: Put down the scanner. You're coming with me...

::Ventu wanted to believe that it was happening to someone else: the knee shaking, the mind blanking out, the blood rushing and pumping at what seemed like ten times its normal speed. She slowly lowered one shaking hand, lowering the tricorder gently to the console. She found some grim satisfaction in the realization that whoever found it might guess that something had happened to her.::

VOICE: Good. Now, take two steps backward...

::Ventu recognized nothing in the voice. It could have been Cardassian...but it could also have been human, Romulan, Bajoran...any number of species. The voice was low and cold, but she couldn't tell anything more than that. She quickly stepped back, keeping her hands flat at the sides of her EVA suit. As she finished the second step, she felt something tapping the back of her helmet.::

SECOND VOICE: An interesting suit...

oO Another one! There's ANOTHER one! Oo ::Ventu's mind screamed at her, but her body did nothing. The second voice was nearly the same as the first, except that it was a bit higher.::

FIRST VOICE: Were you afraid for your life, Starfleeter?

::Ventu didn't answer. She didn't trust her voice enough...::

FIRST VOICE: You still should be.

::Her captor tapped hard on the back of her suit, indicating that she should move forward.::

SECOND VOICE: Your pretty suit may protect you from many things...but I assure you that a disruptor set on maximum setting is not one of them.

::Ventu bit her lip as she walked forward. She had no illusions...this may only have been an illusion, but these people, whoever they were, were ready to kill her. She walked forward slowly, towards the door of the lab, the voices and their owners staying behind her.::

oO I could die here...And while that may not mean real death...What happens if I die in a holodeck training sim? Are the safeties still on? Oo

::Ventu walked forward as the doors slid open. At the last second, she caught a blur of movement out of the corner and whipped her head around as fast as the EVA suit would allow. What she saw, she almost couldn't believe...It was someone else, someone from her team!...::

::Ventu whirled around as the blur stopped moving. A blindingly fast bludgeon struck her captors across the wrists, and Ventu heard the gratifying sound of disruptors hitting the floor, as well as the slightly disconcerting sound of wrists breaking. As the bludgeon stopped moving and her defender moved towards her, she realized that the weapon was a cane...::

oO A cane! A CANE! Beq! Oo

::Beq took his place at her side. She gave him an appraising look, not knowing if this was the time to speak up. Fortunately, she didn't have to think about it too long...::

BEQ: Cadet, I trust you know how to dance.

VENTU: Yes, Mr. Beq, I've taken a few...dancing...lessons.

::One of her attackers screamed out; it was an inarticulate, bestial sound. She saw that one of his wrists still seemed to be working...and that his disruptor was only two feet behind her.::

oO Do it. Do it NOW! Oo

::She knew that in the bulky suit, she'd be lucky to reach it before her assailant, even from her position. In a split second, her hand reached out a tiny bit farther and pushed the magnetization button. As soon as she heard the vacuum sealing, she simply fell backwards. Her attacker jumped for her, but the gun was merely a few inches away from her hand. She grabbed it, pointing it towards the oncoming alien. She was completely calm and lucid, as if her mind had found some place where it was completely at peace with the universe. She pulled the trigger, her attacker's snarling face bare inches away from her faceplate.......And she saw him disappear, his molecules sizzling slightly as he was vaporized.::

::She got slowly to her feet, , demagnetizing herself as she stood up. The reality of the situation came rushing back, and the disruptor fell to the ground with a clatter. She turned toward Beq...he had dealt with the other attacker. She took a few steps forward, looking at her assailant...::

oO Cardassian! Oo

::Beq walked forward, and Ventu, as if driven by some unknown force, suddenly grabbed his hand. She ran back into the lab, Beq following clumsily behind her. She accessed the computer again with a flick of a button...apparently, the dampening field controller must have been on the Cardassian she vaporized.::

VENTU: Computer! Assume that Cardassian vessels were able to use cloaking devices. Would the patterns of the tetryon particles indicate the flight plans of any known Cardassian vessels?

::The computer was silent for a moment, thinking.::

COMPUTER: Affirmative.

VENTU: What kind of ships?

COMPUTER: Hideki-class fighters.

VENTU: Now, is there any way to detect cloaked vessels?

COMPUTER: Affirmative. Methods include antiproton beams, tachyon grids,...

VENTU: Yes, yes, good, good. Use all of it and scan the surrounding space again!

::The computer quickly complied; within a few seconds, she saw that their ship was surrounded by half a dozen Cardassian fighters. She sighed in a self-satisfied way...::

VENTU: There's our saboteurs, Mr. Beq...

::She walked towards the corridor, followed by Beq. She intended to find either Captain Solan or Commander Stone immediately...But her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of approaching footsteps. She had half a second to wonder if they were more Cardassians before Stone and the others appeared around the corner. She did not look happy.::

CURA: What part of stick together don't you two understand!?

::Ventu was completely calm as she answered the question...The strange sense of euphoria had swept back over her.::

VENTU: Commander, I discovered who our attackers were, as well as how exactly they evaded our scans... ::She gestured grandly towards the lab entrance.:: Cloaked Cardassian ships...A new technology, or so it would appear.

CURA: Just because your commanding officer takes a hit does not give you liberties to do as you please. We are still under orders. I see that your hunch panned out, but we were going to check this out with everyone after we had checked the cargo bay. However, it looks like the cargo bay was a trap, by your friend here. Despite disobeying a direct order to stick together. ::Cura smiled:: You did manage to find us a lead or two. Nice work, Cadets Beq and Ventu. Cadet Layne, bind him. I'm sure the commander would like to interrogate him.....

Cadet Aresee Ventu
Counselor
SB118 Training Simulation