SIM:Ensign Aresee Ventu - The Lost

Ensign Aresee Ventu - "The Lost"

238211.19 (November 19, 2005)

(( Tanuga IV ))

::To say that Turpess was not one of the nicest areas on Tanuga IV was to make one of the largest understatements of the century. Sure, it had once been a cultural hotspot...but that was...well, over a century ago. It had gradually declined since then, first becoming a tourist trap, then devoloving into a mercenary port. Currently, it was nothing more than warehouses filled with various stolen tangibles and whatever buildings had survived the various firefights that tended to break out from time to time. ::

::It was also the last place any reasonable person would have expcted to find two children. ::

:: Aresee Ventu didn't know any of this when she materialized outside one of the larger warehouses. However, she wasn't stupid; she could see the blaster marks on the doors of the warehouse, and she quickly surmised that this wasn't the best place to stay for any length of time. She deftly pulled out both her tricorder and her phaser. She thumbed the phaser up to 'heavy stun' for the time being and began scanning with her tricorder. Inside of five seconds, she'd pulled up the kids' lifesigns...from inside the warehouse. ::

::She replaced the tricorder and brandished the phaser in front of her; she wasn't taking any chances. As quietly as she could, she pushed the warehouse door open and stepped inside... ::

::The warehouse was full of boxes of all sizes...some as small as her tricorder, others bigger than a shuttlecraft. On top of that, the sheer size of the warehouse - at least five times the size of the cargo bay on Victory - made searching for the kids with her eyes alone extremely prohibitive. Quickly, she pulled her tricorder back out... ::

::...and immediately felt something hit her from behind. ::

::It was another person, she was immediately sure of that, and whoever it was was a lot shorter than she was. Still, the unknown assailant was large enough to knock her to the floor. Her phaser and tricorder went skittering across the filthy floor; she crawled toward the phaser as quickly as she could... ::

:: And looked up to see the barrel of the phaser looking down at her. ::

::It took a couple of seconds for Aresee to process that there was actually a person holding the phaser...a person who was most definitely Tanugan, but who couldn't have been more than ten years old. The child was pointing the phaser at Aresee with a mixture of fear and defiance... ::

CHILD: D-d-d-don't move...or I'll s-s-sh-sh-sh...

:: Aresee sighed inwardly. That's all she needed...to be killed at the hands of an inept child... ::

VENTU: Shoot. Don't move or you'll shoot.

:: The child nodded. Aresee stared up into her eyes...she saw fear there. Fear...and only fear. ::

VENTU: Don't be afraid of me.

CHILD: W-w-w-why?

VENTU: I'm here to help you. My name is Aresee...I'm a friend of you mother's.

CHILD: Mother?

VENTU: Yes. Your mother...Kynich.

:: The phaser fell from the girl's hands. It wasn't as though she'd dropped it...it was as though her hand had simply...stopped working. Aresee made a tentative move towards the phaser, and when the girl didn't make any move toward her, Aresee grabbed the phaser. The girl hadn't moved at all...the fact that Aresee had mentioned her mother seemed to have blown the girl's mind...::

:: Aresee slowly stood up; the girl didn't so much as glance at her. Realizing that this state of numbness probably wasn't the best for their current environment, Aresee endeavored to change things...::

VENTU: What's your name?

:: The girl looked up at her, eyes wide... ::

CHILD: Umaii.

VENTU: Umaii. What a pretty name...

:: Umaii stared up at her still, but Aress was sure that she saw the hint of a smile pulling at her lips. ::

UMAII: Yes. I'm Umaii.

VENTU: Do you have a...brother? A sister?

:: Umaii turned away for a moment... ::

UMAII: Djary. Come out! It's okay...

:: A small boy peeked out from behind the nearest crate. He was even younger than Umaii...Aresee would have guessed that he was no older than seven. She extended a hand to him, which he took shyly. ::

VENTU: Djary. Djary and Umaii...

DJARY: That's us.

:: He smiled at her; he was missing at least three teeth. She pulled him closer, and took Umaii's hand as well. She took a tentative step toward the warehouse door, the children following behind her... ::

:: And suddenly the door blasted open! ::

:: Aresee reacted without thinking. She pulled the kids behind the closest crate, ducking behind it with them. Once behind it, she pointed toward the back of the warehouse. ::

VENTU: Go!

:: She said the word in such a vehement whisper that the two kids were off and running before the word was fully out of her mouth. As they disappeared around one of the boxes, Aresee pulled out her phaser. She would give the kids as much time as possible...but she knew it wouldn't be enough. She quickly tapped her comm badge, opening a wide- frequency channel that any Starfleet personnel within a hundred-kilometer radius would pick up. ::

:: No sooner had she done so then she felt the muzzle of an energy weapon poke into the back of her head. She froze, the phaser only half leveled. ::

VOICE: Drop it.

:: Aresee allowed herself to drop the phaser. It fell to the ground with a clatter that echoed around the graveyard of boxes. ::

VOICE: Stand up.

:: Aresee slowly complied. She turned to face her captors; there were six of them in all, all of them Tanugan. She decided that if she was going to be killed, as was looking more and more likely, she might as well give her fellow officers as much information about her location as possible. ::

VENTU: You won't get away with this. If anything happens to me, Starfleet will pursue you. You can't hide here...wherever we are...

:: Her captors, far from being intimidated, laughed at her. ::

LEAD TANUGAN: You think to frighten us with tales of Starfleet? Our fellow Tanugans don't even bother with Turpess...Why should any offworlders be interested in this place?

:: She tried to hide her slight smile. At least now they had a name to go on... ::

VENTU: We are attempting to battle a plague...We're offering humanitarian aid...

LEAD TANUGAN: How very kind of you.

:: The others laughed at that... ::

LEAD TANUGAN: But we have no need for your help here. We've survived fifty years on our own...and we've seen no signs of this 'plague.'

:: He suddenly shoved her roughly to the ground. ::

LEAD TANUGAN: I don't know how you got past the sensor nets, but this plague ruse is not only pathetic, it is unimaginative. You are obviously a freebooter...come to take what is rightfully ours.

VENTU: What an interesting sentiment, coming from a thief.

LEAD TANUGAN: Thieves? No, we're simply liberators, my dear...

SECOND TANUGAN: Kill her and be done with it, I say.

THIRD TANUGAN: Yes, kill her!

LEAD TANUGAN: No!

:: This surprised Aresee, and it clearly surprised the rest of the gang, too... ::

SECOND TANUGAN: Why not?

LEAD TANUGAN: She is probably lying, but...

THIRD TANUGAN: But?

LEAD TANUGAN: She may be telling the truth. To kill a Starfleet officer would be to invite an interstellar incident. Besides, she's more valuable as a hostage.

:: Aresee looked around the group; they were all nodding now...She barely had time to sigh in relief before she felt the butt of a rifle hit the back of her head. ::

:: The filthy floor and blissful oblivion came rushing to meet her... ::

Counselor Aresee Ventu
U.S.S. Victory