Tick Tock

Posted on Wed Aug 19th, 2020 @ 6:18pm by Commander Jonathan Grayson & Commander Samantha Howard & Lieutenant Lisa Olsson

Mission: Tal Shiar
Location: Tal Shiar Base

The windows exploded, the Romulans reeled backward and spluttered at the gas wafting with a vengence through the now obliterated windows. Sam bounded through the opening after Jon and Lt Olsson and bolted down the corridor the way they'd come. As she ran she flicked her tricorder back to the map she'd kept.

" Left!" She shouted as they skidded around a corner. No point in being secretive when the entire base would have been rattled with the force of the windows exploding.

Jon raced down the corridor, time was of the essence and now their enemy. Every second precious as they raced towards the exit and their pickup point. The trio scrambled down the corridor. He heard Sam shout "Left!" and he slid around the corner heading down another long corridor. His phaser was out on the off chance they encountered anyone on their mad dash.

Coming the other way to investigate the explosion was a small troop of Romulan guards, weapons drawn and at the ready as they jogged in the direction from where the away team was fleeing.

Sam swallowed a squeak as the team ducked behind a bulkhead for cover, their own weapons drawn and ready.

Jon joined Sam and Olsson behind the bulkhead as the small contingent of Romulans drew closer. He adjusted his phaser to stun and motioned to Sam and Olsson to do the same. They weren't here to kill, they were just trying to get out as quickly as possible.

The Romulans fired first causing the away team to duck as the energy beam impacted the bulkhead they were sheltering behind. Sam adjusted her phaser and waited for the signal to return fire. They'd have to shoot their way out of here.

Jon bit back a curse as the Romulans fired. This was just what they didn't need. To get engaged in a firefight for any length of time. The away team needed to make quick work of the opposing force. He wished he had a stun grenade. That would solve this problem quickly and easily but alas that was not to be.

A klaxon began to blare somewhere overhead and automated words in Romulan that Sam was sure wasn't 'welcome to your new abode'. The lights dimmed and were replaced by a deep red glow akin to a red alert back on the Washington.

" Surrender or die!" The lead Romulan guard yelled and fired again for good measure - cutting off any plans of escape by the away team.

"Not going to happen!" Jon shouted back and then looked at Sam, "We don't have time for this. Start counting." He told her as he took his phaser and set it to overload. "One grenade." He explained.

Sam's eyes widened at the action but knew it was necessary - they would now be down one phaser and with the newly programs special issue ones - Jon was now defenseless. Not ideal - but these were definitely not ideal times.

" One... two..." She counted as the team waited until the very last second to dive for deeper cover down a secondary access corridor. Sam and Olsson fired potshots to keep the Romulans from following them until the blast wave did its job.

The energy wave expanded outward like a rising bubble pushing through a narrow tube, dissipating with every metre that it traveled. Still it's main job had been completed successfully.

Sam flicked her tricorder back over to lifesigns whilst peeking around the corner.

" Clear...let's hope we don't have to do that again"

"Agreed." Jon replied as he picked himself up off the floor. "Lets get moving." He told Sam and Olsson. As they moved forward, he stopped and scooped up a Romulan disrupter. "That's better. I feel like a target without a weapon. If shooting starts again, I want to be able to shoot back."

As he headed down the corridor, trying to keep focused on getting to the pickup point and getting back to the Washington and finding if they were indeed infected. Not to mention he wanted to wring the neck of the contact inside the base. He had the distinct feeling they had been setup.

He stopped and waited for Sam to come alongside him. "Sam take our bio readings. Any changes?"

A few deft taps of her fingers and Sam's tricorder was back in medical model. She scanned Jon as they trotted towards their pickup point. His heartrate and breathing were significantly elevated, and his temperature was on the higher side of normal. All just enough to make any experienced doctor look twice, but they'd just been through a firefight and escaped with their lives - making said readings perfectly normal.

" A few minor changes to your baseline readings, but I can't draw conclusions just yet. Consider us infected and on the clock until I can prove otherwise." She puffed.

"Oh, I do Sam, I do. I was just curious to see if any changes of note had started. As I feel fine." Jon replied as the trio moved quickly down the corridor at an easy jog. Not encountering any more Romulans. "Now I know how a Guinea pig feels." He said giving her a wink.

" No pressure or anything" Sam smirked, letting the adrenaline coursing through her body give her the boost she needed to get out of this mess. " Let's just say I've got a personal interest in curing this one as quickly as possible, the paperwork however will land neatly on your desk I believe"

"Exactly." Jon quipped. "Your a doctor. It's with your field of expertise to study and cure mysterious ailments and viruses." He joked. Keeping things light and breezy was much better than doom and gloom. "As for the paperwork, as I am a participant in the report, I can just quickly skim over it and pass it along to the higher ups."

" Should we notify the other team?" Sam asked as their exit lay about 100 metres further up the corridor. With their 'insider' being suspect, they would have to blast their way out.

"Yes." Jon answered without hesitation. "Alert them to our situation and probable infection. Also let them know to be on their toes regarding the inside contact and any information they may get from said contact. Don't want to expose them to any undo risks."

Lisa’s heart was still pounding in her chest. The adrenaline that was pumping through her veins made her feel alive! She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but either way she tried to hold her emotions together until they were out of this position.

She’d never been in a situation like this before, and she hoped it would be a long time before she would find herself in a similar situation again! She pulled her balaclava back slightly and wiped the sweat that had started to sting her eyes away. Replacing the balaclava, she opened small flap of fabric on her right arm to reveal a comm-badge. She pressed the communicator and started to speak cryptically in case the message was being monitored.

“Team A to Team B. Multiple hostiles engaged, some casualties on their side. Stay alert. Possibly positive for infection. Remain highly vigilant regarding contact. Out.”

Lisa hoped her message would be understood by the other team as she replaced the piece of fabric across the comm-badge. Now they just needed to reach the extraction point as arranged.



tags