Doors are locked for a reason Part 2 of 3

Posted on Mon Jan 27th, 2025 @ 3:33am by Lieutenant Commander S'hib & Captain Gary Taylor & Lieutenant Commander Alicia Kelea-Salik & Lieutenant Commander Rin & Lieutenant Thor Magnus & Lieutenant J'airesh Mora-Heath & Captain Samuel Woolheater & Lieutenant JG Daisheliss "Lissa" Kerr & Lieutenant Victor Barclay de Tolly & Avalon [ADMIN NPC]

Mission: Season 6: Episode 5: A church beyond heaven
Location: Alien Vessel Beta
Timeline: MD:5 - Happening along side part 3
3593 words - 7.2 OF Standard Post Measure

-=SEALED DOORWAY=-

Proceeding down the corridor as carefully and quickly as they could, heading towards a large sealed doorway. The corridor on this ship had these archways that Sam guessed functioned the same as bulkheads on a Federation starship. Because of their size, they stuck out of the corridor large enough for someone, roughly human-sized, could stand behind.

It was unnerving because of the way Samuel's forearm mounted light was casting long shadows.

"The design isn't unfamiliar," Lissa noted. "I'm not reading any obvious signs of struggle through here. No trace that energy weapons have been fired, no trace amounts of blood or anything to suggest that anyone was hurt in the area and dragged off."

Alicia frowned. “It’s so odd, it’s like there was never anyone here yet the ship must have arrived with a crew. Everything we find just leaves us with more questions.”

Here the corridor ended at the sealed doorway. The entire doorway was covered in what appeared to be a webbing of some sort. It was thick and had many, many strands. It was also covered in a kind of dusty and old looking powder. As if this hadn't been disturbed in years.

Lissa walked up and examined the collection of dust. "How long has this ship been here again?" She asked? She trained her tricorder on the particles to get a reading.

J'Air joined Lissa to do some more organic scans but wasn't able to refine the clue into an answer. Moving on in the hope of finding something more useful to use for a clue or for reference, J'Air kept scanning, looking to see if she could find any of the dust that would offer more, or larger molecules that might give clues. "

The 'dust' in this section is organic mostly but it's too old. It makes no sense.............. well unless it got here from having been already on the ship, rather than formed here since the craft arrived?" J'Air offered but doubted if that was particularly useful in a stand alone way.

Everyone was looking around and taking in whatever they could find out.

To the right, in a large canister that went from the floor to the ceiling was a chamber, large enough for a person to be in. There was a viewport on it. And there was a computer interface on the canister that was dormant. It was shocking to see as it was unexpected. To the right of the canister or whatever it was, there was a computer access interface that was on and in standby mode. Above it, was a full length, transparent aluminium, or the equivalent, window that looked out onto the Engineering deck.

Gary had been looking, nosing around, the spider webs in the hallway and covering the door raised questions as did the odd powder they had found as well. "Not sure, though from this dust, I would say for a number of years." He was stopped from further comments and his search by a call of having found something. Hurrying over he asked 'What have we got?"

Alicia followed Gary eager to hear what had been found. From her point of view she couldn’t explain just what she was sensing, all she knew was it was like having ghosts following her around a feeling of something being there that wasn’t.

Samuel shone his light through the window and into this alien version of Engineering. He noticed something exceedingly odd. There were no 'webbings' and it looked like no dust or powder on any of the equipment on the other side of the window. Sam filed that way but he did not know the significance of it. He reasoned that the room and the deck were sealed and that it had been sealed for a long time. He turned his attention to the canister. It was tall and the viewport on it was up high. Higher than he could easily see. He looked at the controls but could not read anything. Everyone was busy at the moment and so he carefully looked for a place where he could climb up on the canister. He found a sturdy spot, holstered his hand phaser back into his chest holster and pulled himself up a bit. His right foot found a solid purchase and he got a little higher. Then his left foot found a good notch and he hoisted himself still up further. The flashlight was on his right forearm. He was able to look into the viewport. He saw nothing. He removed the light from his forearm by unstrapping it and then he shone it into the viewport. There, staring back at him were the glassy eyes and an alien face. The alien had six eyes that were open but looked like they had nictitating membranes covering them. Arranged in roughly an "H" pattern, there was a snorkel for a mouth and the skin was a motley yellow and black. When the light of the lamp in his hand illuminated the eyes of this man, the iris contracted. It startled Samuel and he took a sharp inward breath and quickly let go and landed on his feet. The impact made a thud that was louder than comfortable. "Oh! Shhhhhh!....." he said.

Sam's outburst and fall caught Gary's attention and drew from Lissa. "Sam? What is it? What's wrong?" He asked instantly alert as his eyes looked any sign of danger.

J'Air spun and moved towards Sam to see if he was hurt. She passed her Medcorder over him but he wasn't showing any signs of any injury so she offered a hand to help him up.

"I'm fine," he said and got up on his own. "Lost my footing. That's all" he said.

Sam pulled the hand phaser from his chest and indicated to the alien device. "There's someone in the thing...the canister...an alien. I don't know the species. It looks alive!". He got the flashlight back strapped on his right forearm and pointed it and his phaser at the canister viewport. He took an alert stance.

"What?" Gary asked realizing it was the most articulate response but considering what Sam said it would do. He took his wrist light and shone the light into the canister and saw what Sam had seen moments before a six eyed male staring back at him. "Lissa, Alicia, come look at this."

J'Air stood back, next to Sam, wondering if he was shocked but he didn't seem to have dilated pupils or any visible shaking so she concluded he was okay for a second time. She put a hand lightly against his arm in a reassuring way. "You okay?" she asked very softly, so as not to made noise that over-rode whatever Gary, Lissa and Alicia were saying as they looked into the Canister.

"I lost my footing and fell on my ass. That's all" he said. Feeling a bit self-conscious he added, "Thanks though" he said to her and met her eyes in a knowing and appreciative glance. "Is it alive?" he asked.

"Well, what's it doing in the canister?" Lissa asked, adjusting a setting on her tricorder. "Did someone put you there, or are you in there on purpose? Maybe our air isn't so hospitable to you?" She said softly. She was aware she might be talking to herself, but interspecies communication always had to start somewhere.

Sam relaxed a little bit when there was apparently no danger.

Alicia turned to look at Sam trying to ignore the fact that she was starting to feel more than a little creeped out. “It gave you quite the fright.”

Sam was annoyed now but he kept it professional, "My footing wasn't as firm as it should have been."

Gary looked at the canister and back at Sam. "You okay? Other than being given a good scare?"

Sam nodded, lowering his weapon, "I'm fine XO. I think we should focus on what the hell *that* is."

“Whatever it is it’s...” Alicia paused as she let her senses try to get a read, the sense made her gasp, the immediate instinct was to turn and run as far away as she could get. “We have to...get away from that...thing!” She backed away trying to keep her composure.

Gary heard the fear in Alicia's voice as she backed away from the canister. "Alicia, what is it? What are you sensing?" He asked wanting any information to help him understand what was going on.

“I’m sorry but I...” Alicia shook her head. “I can’t stay near that...it feels so....terrifying!!”

Gary nodded sympathetically at Alicia. "Alright Alicia, back away from the canister. We'll run some scans and see if we can determine what it is." Finishing, he moved to Alicia, "Alicia, you said it is terrifying. How so?" He asked gently.

Alicia shook her head. “I...don’t know, it’s just a...a feeling. I can feel it...and I can’t block it!” She shivered as a chill ran down her spine.

J'Air's medcorder was giving confusing readings as it was trying to include the canister's elements into the readings so she moved closer to try to get a reading right inside. There was a flash and a small charge seemed to reach out to meet J'Air's medcorder. She jumped back, mentally cursing herself for getting so intrusive. She shook her medcorder but it was fried. "Er.... I think that's a clear communication. It, whatever or whoever it is, doesn't want to be scanned..... although it might have been scared and misread my intentions, perhaps it thought I was going to shoot at it was defending itself. Anyway, that's my scanner finished." she added, turning to address the others and casting the fried medcorder into the dust nearby.

As J'Air turned her back to speak to the others another flash seemed to happen inside the canister, although there was no visible beam from it. J'Air stumbled forward as if propelled from behind. She might have been pushed or the force might have been pneumatic but she was taken by surprise and fell forwards.

Gary nodded at Alicia's comment and decided not to push her, seeing she was so scared by whatever was in the cannister and she sensed. He was about to say more when J'Air fell forward. "J'Air? Are you alright?" He asked the ACMO as he bent down to help her to her feet.

As he did the canister hissed loudly, pipes and servos whirled as whatever fluid inside the tank hurriedly drained.

A rush of warmth exploded across the room as the canister separated, the front jutting forward before lifting high into the ceiling.

The creature inside, now fully exposed, blinked its many eyes, attempting to get its bearings before stumbling out, its frail and slender frame trembling as it did so.

It looked about at the group, its eyes and alien features seemingly giving nothing away as two of its four arms reached up for the snorkel-like mask attached to its face.

Tugging at the mask, it paused slightly, gagging and retching in obvious discomfort before pulling the mass of tubes and wires out of its throat. Bile and fluid followed soon after, splattering onto the floor as it let go of the mask, letting it clatter loudly against the canister it had been inside.

"You idiots... we had it contained." The creature coughed, looking about the corridor frantically.

J'Air was startled but not hurt. She got up slowly and stared at the Alien and its discarded mask with the wires and tubes that now lay against the side of the cannister in the dust.

"Had what contained?" she asked, rubbing her back where she had felt the contact of whatever had propelled her forward.

Then she realised she was talking to an alien that was able to communicate and her eyes widened. "Wait........" she asked "Who are idiots? Do you mean us?" she asked the agitated creature as it seemed to be still frantically searching around with its eyes.... its many eyes, which were confusing to try to watch.

J'Air blinked and refocused looking away from the disturbing eyes, waiting for their owner to explain - if it was going to?

"That's what I want to know J'Air." Gary replied before addressing the alien creature. Hold on." Gary spoke firmly. "Would you mind explaining what it is you're talking about? What was contained? Who are you? Answers please."

“It was in there!” He scowled, pointing at the now open doorway with his two right hands. “We trapped it in engineering with us, damn thing is probably back on the church by now.”

The alien coughed, a sickly dark fluid dripping down its chin as it turned and accessed the console next to the canister.

Lissa looked at the container with confusion. The last thing she remembered was trying to talk to the creature through the glass, but obviously more had happened since. She began to walk around carefully, looking for clues about what had happened, using her tricorder to scan the room. She noticed the medical tricorder in the dust and bent down to study it.

Alicia looked at the doorway confused. “I don’t remember that door being open, but I also don’t remember who opened it.”

"The doorway?" J'Air looked around seeming confused. "I don't remember it being closed?" she muttered, taken aback that her mind was feeling so clogged up and foggy.

“Well one of you opened it, and if it wasn't any of you here, then I’m terribly sorry but a member of your crew just died…” he paused, still typing away on the console as more black fluid began seeping out of sores that had appeared all over its body. “As will I soon…again...”

He sighed at this, seemingly unphased by the fact.

"Dr. J'Air," Lissa called from her crouched position on the floor. "Is this your tricorder? It's dead, the circuitry is fried." She stood up and walked over to the alien, keeping some distance having noticed his oozing sores "What do we need to look for. Tell us," she demanded assertively.

J'Air looked at the Medcorder and went over to take it from Lissa to confirm that it was hers and yes, it was definitely badly damaged. "How did this happen to my Medcorder?" she mused, more unsure than ever now.

"Whoa! Hold on. What do you mean a member of our crew just died? Gary pressed the alien even as Lissa asked her question of the alien and keeping a respectable distance away from it.

The alien grit its teeth, or what amounted to them anyway. wincing in pain and the annoyance of explaining something he didn't have time for. "The creature we had contained, we think it's some kind of temporal bio-weapon..." He began, pausing to look at his own hand as the skin started to peel, leaving black marks on the screen.

"When it kills someone, it doesn't just physically kill them... It kills any memory of them ever existing."

He grunted, collapsing to his knees. "It's been on that church for who knows how long, killing everyone... it's gone from ship to ship, and nobody can remember seeing it because it's out of phase somehow,"

The alien paused, turning to lean against the open canister, trying to get comfortable in its final moments.

"You can't form a memory of something that doesn't exist beyond the present, the only reason I can is because I've already died to it... twice."

Thor was shaking his head confused as ever.

“Wait...” Alicia was fighting her instinct to flee, she didn’t like giving in to her fears. “You died to it twice? How is that possible?”

"Good question Alicia." Gary interjected as he looked at the alien. "Explain your statement of having died twice to this creature."

“I’m a clone obviously…” He said, his words slurring somewhat as he turned his head to one side, reaching up to tap something metallic at the base of his skull. “My people figured out how to transfer consciousness, so we stream our brain activity to a central computer system in the event something, happens… we do dangerous experiments all the time, its a necessary precaution.”

The Alien spoke, seemingly unphased by his previous deaths, treating them as though they were mere workplace incidents rather than something tragic and final.

“And as you can see, I had to expedite the growth of this new clone body when I realised I would have to die again to trap it in engineering.”

"Clone? 'Your people' can produce clones? Where do you come from?" J'Air was looking at the Alien again now, still clutching her fried medcorder in confusion.

All six eyes blinked as he struggled to lift his head towards J’Air “I really think you should be more concerned about that bioweapon getting on your ship than asking me more questions,” He coughed, the same viscous black fluid spluttering out what amounted to lips for his species.

“That and I would appreciate dying without a headache.”

Gary shuddered at the black goo spilling from the alien's mouth but pushed it aside to ask two questions. "How do we track it and how do catch and or kill it?"

He made a sound that resembled a laugh, thick and wet as he slumped further towards the floor. "You just don't get it, do you..." He slurred, falling to his side as his body began to come apart at the cellular level, his pale and greyish skin turning inky black as veins and blood vessels fell apart.

"If it gets on your ship..." He gasped, his words barely tangible amongst the thick viscera pouring out of his mouth. "It's already won..."

He remained still as his final word exhaled, slowly concaving as skin and muscles began to slide off the bone like jelly.

J'Air instinctively raised her hand attempting to hold up her medcorder but it was clearly damaged and she cursed softly as it became obvious that she wouldn't be able to scan the melting goo. "Does anyone have a tricorder please?" she asked generically at the others?

Samuel, who had been standing there on alert status, handed her his tricorder from his forearm. "Here you go," he said and handed an open tricorder to her.

While J'Air scanned the melting alien, Lissa studied the canister he had come from. "Why wouldn't he tell us anything useful?" Lissa asked not hiding her annoyance. "He seemed to know his time was limited, but instead of answering our questions, he spoke in riddles. Reiterating the same point, with no actionable advice on how to do it."

"Perhaps because he didn't know any more than what he told us Lissa." Gary offered. " However, that is just my opinion. Anything of note about the container Lissa?" He looked over at J'Air, "What about our melted friend J'Air? Anything unusual other than he was a clone."

Lissa nodded, "It appears to have its own life support system of sorts. This can definitely be airlocked, and has its own carbon monoxide scrubbers."

Gary nodded at Lissa's report about the container before he looked to the others. "What do you make of his story about this bioweapon and it being out of phase?" He asked waiting for their opinions and thoughts.

J'Air finished her attempts to get a read out on the "melting" expiry that was happening right in front of them but apart from identifying the individual compounds, she couldn't get any coherent identification of what these might combine into as an original whole. It had been pretty unlikely anyway as apart from the basic building blocks, there could be combinations as in her own genetic mix of two species, like she was herself, but then again he had said he was a clone so the non-organic readings she was getting also made sense. "I can agree that he might have been a clone. Time and weapons don't show here though, I'm sorry, that needs better equipment and yet...... my unusually cloudy memory fits..... or fails to .... depending on how you look at it. I can think of things I've always known but I'm cloudy about how I broke my medcorder....... " she explained, or tried to.

"Did we all lose time?" Lissa asked. "Can we quantify how much? There are a few different ways that something can be out of phase - that term only tells us so much."

"Doctor, should we try to pull organic material from inside this container?" the science officer suggested.

"Good questions Lissa. I think we can determine how much if any time we lost once we get back to the Elysium." Gary answered. "I think what we need to do is get as much information as we can here both organic and technical and make our way back to the ship where we can discuss what we've learned here as well as ways to deal with this out of phase entity."

Gary's com badge chirped. "Rin to Taylor. S'hib's calling for all members of the away team to regroup on board the station. High priority. My team's already on their way out."

Gary's answer was simple and to the point. "Understood. We're on our way. Taylor out." Gary looked at the others, "Alright everyone. Let's move it, not time to waste back to the station. Somethings come up."

-- End of part 2 --