Unmasked (part 1)

Posted on Thu Oct 17th, 2019 @ 8:17am by Morticia & Captain Darius Cayne

1,089 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Pirating Typhon resources
Location: Space
Timeline: After meeting with Kilgore

ON

Morticia was on her way back to Typhon in a casual, roundabout way because she was sure someone would be following her. She knew it wasn't one of Kilgore's as he had more subtle means of tracking her. And he knew if he tried, she'd sever all ties and let Lady Scarlet know.

She doubled back several times, catching site of a small freighter with the same markings. Once she identified it it was a simple matter to lead it into a nebula and then abandon it to find its own way out while she took a favorite route through an asteroid field and back out again.

It meant that the trip took far longer than anticipated. As she neared Typhon she picked up a distress call from the Arthurian. Darius' ship. They were too far away from any other ships for her to get help. There was nothing for it. If they were to get any help at all, it would have to be her. And, to be honest, she knew she had to tell Darius her secret, she just didn't expect it to be like this.

The voice modulator was always active on the Raven-class ship, for protection. This time, it was a woman with a soft, contralto voice and a faint Slovakian accent. "USS Arthurian, this is the Hawthorne. How may I be of assistance?"

There was no response.

Morticia swore under her breath. "Come on, Arthurian, answer me. Cayne, respond!" If he didn't, she would have to go in.

"Edgar, are there life signs?"

"Affirmative."

"Thank goodness."

Suddenly, the Arthurian, began to lit up. There would be no time to celebrate as a tractor beam soon took hold of the Hawthorne. The shuttle was soon yanked towards the Starship. At the same time, a message was sent to the shuttle.

"Hawthorne... This is Commander Reigns of the Arthurian." The voice came across firm and familiar. "Shut down your ship's weapons and defenses or we will do it for you by sending a pulse through the tractor beam. The pulse will shut your system down long enough for us to get you inside. Do not force our hands."

"And this is how you thank people who come to help?" she asked, still using the voice modulator. "My weapons aren't hot, thank you very much." In a voice too soft to be picked up she asked her computer avatar, "Are they?"

"No."

"Did you even scan for weapons first?" she asked. "I came in response to your distress call."

"You're a shuttle with no allegiance. We have no idea of knowing if you are friend or foe. You could be a scavenger here to pick the bones." Reigns replied firmly before concluding. "Caution is now or only response. Compliance is yours. Make your decision, Now or the first face you meet will be our Gorn's."

She had to mute the comm to keep from letting them hear her laugh. She wouldn't mind meeting the Gorn. "Look, Weapons weren't activated to begin with. I'll drop shields if you get Darius on an encrypted channel."

Just in case her request was refused, she programmed her computer avatar to get through the Arthurian's shields so Edgar could take a message directly to Darius. If she was going to reveal her secret identity, it would be to him alone.

"Captain Darius... is dead." Reigns answers softly.

"No! He can't be." Even with the voice modulator her distress was clear. "Edgar, find out," she ordered.

A familiar black raven appeared on the bridge in front of Reigns. "Let her on board," it said. The proper authorization codes appeared on his personal screen so that only he could see them. Edgar also scanned the ship for Cayne to verify for Raven if he was truly dead.

Edgar's scan began, but was soon halted abruptly. The codes on the Arthurian were hard to crack, especially with Merlin working against him. Even though he was using Raven's codes, it was not Raven using the codes, and the crew was still on edge after what happened to them.

Seth checked the codes and matched them with Raven's. He raised a brow before standing up and pointed towards the black bird. "Where did you get these codes?"

"From my mistress."

"Then your mistress is going to have a lot f questions to answer." Seth said firmly, pulling down at his uniform, before walking toward the turbolift. "Tractor the Hawthorne into the nearest shuttle bay and have Chaka meet me there with a security team." He stepped into the turbolift and gave Edgar a firm look before saying. "It's time to welcome our guest." The doors soon closed.

Morticia let the tractor beam take hold of the ship without protest. She did secure her computer and data under her own protocols. Then she checked her appearance and waited for the shuttle to land.

Seth called for the turbolift to go to the nearest shuttlebay. He was relieved when he made it there in one piece. The ship itself was looking worse for wear and it was barely holding together. The crew were struggling to keep it together, but they were doing their best with what they had. This new arrival, the Hawthrone, brought up a lot of questions. Raven's codes. An almost familiar black bird avatar. And something else Seth's Betazoid senses could not shake. Even though it was over the com system, and his empathy may have been off, but he felt an odd sense of sadness and fear once he mentioned Darius had died. Odd for someone who was just answering a distress call.

As he arrived to the doors outside the shuttle bay, he nodded to Chaka, before asking. "Is our guest's shuttle tucked in, Chaka?"

The Gorn looked at Seth and nodded his head, letting out a soft growl, before he spoke. "The Hawthorne is secured and ready. However, Commander, the Chief Engineer would like me to inform you that pulling in the shuttle took most of our power."

"Let's hope, the Chief, can get things up and running again." Seth said reluctantly before gesturing to the door. "After you, Chaka."

Chaka growled, nodding his head, before looking to the security team behind him. "Advance." He said firmly as he tapped his claw like hand on the pad to unlock the shuttlebay doors.


(To be continued...)

Morticia
Independent Merchant
SS Hawthorne

Commander Seth Reigns
First Officer
USS Arthurian

Chaka
Chief Security Officer
USS Arthurian

Edgar
Computer Avatar
Typhon/Hawthorne

RSS Feed

Comments (1)