Escapee

While the most senior officers were assembling in the conference room, over one kilometer below them at the bottom of the staiton, the Vulcan K'rassit sat patiently in the Brig.

Biding his time, he waited for just the right officer to come on duty that he could manipulate to his means. Just over twelve hours earlier, he had been brought in by the Security and Tactical Officer, Lieutenant J.G. David Calhoun. Mister Calhoun had been sent over to Starbase 10 to begin his tenure on the USS Lotus and had unexpectedly run into this Vulcan who had been trying to deliver a very important prototype vessel from the Horizon's Children to Starfleet. He had killed his persuer and Calhoun took him into custody.

Atypically, the Vulcan seethed with strong emotions that he had felt since being stuck into this small cell. Betrayers, he thought. They are no better than "the Children" and I'll show them how they'll pay for their ingratitude.

The exact type of officer he was waiting for arrived with Alpha shift. Senior Chief Petty Officer T'kylpa was a Vulcan who had arrived for her shift as Brig Officer. Her position was dull but she used the time to study and continue to submit her application to Starfleet Academy each and every year. Her persistance was admirable, but the boring job had proven to slightly dull her wits.

"Excuse me, ma'am," K'rassit said in Vulcan, a language she hadn't heard for seven years since leaving home. The familiarity and comfort of home caught her off guard and she struggled to stifle the emotions that surged at the thought of returning there.

"Yes?" she responded, simply, in Terran.

"There is something important you must know," he said, again in Vulcan.

"Well what is it?" T'kylpa asked, this time in Vulcan as well.

"You must come closer. I must look into your eyes if I am to know I can trust you."

Figuring it wouldn't hurt, as the forcefields were in place and working at peak effeciency, she stepped closer until the whole person came into view. He was typically Vulcan, but had the signs of intense emotion she normally only saw in Humans, Bajorans, and other such species who were less inclined ot hide how they really felt.

K'rassit reached up to his temples with both hands, and placing two fingers on either side of his head, he closed his eyes and focused intensely. At first, she screamed out in pain. The emotions she felt were like a raging wave washing over her and disorienting her such that she couldn't tell which way to swim for air. Eventually the water broke and she was floating along in the sea, barely concious, struggling to breathe. Seeing herself, in front of the cell, from outside her body, she watched, frozen, as she opened the cell door.

"Thank you, dear," T'kylpa heard him say as he began to focus more intently. Even through the fog, the pain returned even more intensely than before until suddenly it broke. She fell, and the impact with the deck shook her awake such that she could see the shape of a man tumbling across the floor, locked in combat with the Vulcan. K'rassit reached toward her unknown savior and grasped the phaser at his belt. He shot the man point blank and rose, escaping from the Brig.

Outside, she heard another struggle, and a familiar voice, before yet another phaser shot was both heard and seen coming through the door. A body fell to the deck and then the source of the familiar voice entered, grasping her firmly with strong hands. She saw the face, familiar nasal ridges, and earring of her superior, Master Warrant Officer Kama Stranik before her strength gave out and she fell unconcious, her body going limp in his arms.

In the conference hall, Lieutenant Commander Ssta'elia, Starbase 10's Security Chief heard the report from her main Brig Officer, and her unblinking reptilian eyes were unemotional in their response. She simply said, "Thank you for the report, Chief" and moved toward the stage area at the bottom of the hall to pass the information on to Fleet Captain Samji.

"Sir," her voiced hissed. "The prisoner K'rassit has been killed in his escape but has badly injured Brig Officer T'kylpa and Lieutenant Junior Grade David Calhoun, who had fortunately entered just as he was attempting his escape and subdued him, saving T'kylpa's life.

She went on to say, "Chief Kama informed me that he had had his own weapon knocked away in the struggle and just barely survived a phaser shot directed at him before he was forced to turn the weapon on the escapee. Additionally, I would like to take full responsibility, as even though T'kylpa disobeyed my order to stay far away from the prisoner, I had not given her enough information about his telepathic abilities."

Samji took in all this new information calmly, but inside his brain was struggling trying to process it all, and it made him angry. Internally he struggled to ask why, before all the work ahead of him, the simple act of keeping a prisoner secure should be so difficult. Taking some time to cool down, he said, "Nonesense, Commander. Orders need not be understood, just obeyed. But I think T'kylpa has suffered enough right now. Let us just be thankful we lost no one and we still have the technology this K'rassit brought back for us. No punishment for anyone is necesary, right now. We need all the people we can get."

"Aye, Sir," Lieutenant Commander Ssta'elia replied. "T'kylpa should recover quite soon, but I have been informed by the doctors that Mister Calhoun's injuries were quite severe."

"Very well, Commander, thank you," Samji replied.

It was then that he remembered Lietuenant Junior Grade Vincent's desire to transfer into a Tacitcal position that they just didn't have room for at the time. Now they had the room and there was no time for the usual formalities. He approached the officer and was straightforward, not wanting to waste much more time. "Mister Vincent. You are being transferred to the USS Lotus as Tactical and Security Officer. The Alsea needs you, but we need someone with your experience in the field, and specifically with the Romulans, more. Congratulations," he said, evenly.

“Aye sir,” Josh replied, somewhat shocked. “Thank you; I didn’t expect a transfer this soon.”

He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts; he was happy to be moving to a tactical position, but wondered what happened to the officer that held that position. He had also begun making checklists of everything that he needed to get done in order to leave the Alsea's Operations department in good condition and to familiarize himself with the Lotus's tactical and security officers and systems and get his new department in fighting shape before the upcoming mission began.

Moving officers on the eve of a major operation seems strange, he thought. I’ll have to settle in quickly, it is good that I’ve studied the Lotus’s specs.

“Sir, I would like to request that Ensign Nidiri Kiels, my current assistant chief, be transferred with me,” Josh requested. “She is trained in security tactics and keeping her with me would make the transition much smoother.”

((OOC: Following paragraph added by Evshell in latest edit))

Samji heard the request but did not respond as he was distracted, looking around at the assembled officers. He was taking note of all the Senior bridge officers and who had yet to report. The new Chief Engineer they got for the Lotus and who he had interviewed just the previous evening had yet to arrive. It appeared that the Science Chief of the Artemis, the Tactical / Security Chief of the Spectre, and the Science Chief of the Alsea were all missing as well, along with two officers from the McKenzie. He shook his head, worried about what that meant for their chances in the upcoming mission.

Sitting next to Josh as Fleet Captain Samji received news of the escape attempt, and then ordered Vincent's transfer to the Lotus Oseno's former position, Jureth grimaced that a crew that had gelled so well together during the confrontation with the Klingons was being broken up. At the same time Oseno was happy for Josh because he knew that a tactical position was what the operations officer really wanted.

"Congratulations...I think," Jureth said "Seems you'll be taking my old post. Don't let Captain Gould give you a hard time, he's an...interesting commander."

"Thank you, "replied Josh, somewhat worried about Captain Samji's hesitation to respond to his request, "If the Lotus's Security department is anything like what you've done with the Alsea's department, my job will be much easier."

Jureth nodded "I had implemented similar policies, though I fear a lot of the officers that were aboard when I did so were reassigned during the ship's refit. The new crop will be yours to mold, and the only advice I would offer is that the more bumps and bruises they take in training, the less they'll take in combat."

Finally, Samji came out of his daze and said, "Of course, Lieutenant, you can bring the Ensign. Excuse me," he said to the officers with a distracted nod and made his way back to the podium.