Sole Survivor - Part 2

Posted on Thu May 8th, 2025 @ 2:05pm by Captain Daegan Baas & Lieutenant M'Tala "Hobbes" Clan Hrasi & Lieutenant Liam O'Riley & Lieutenant Urushi Yaotome & Lieutenant Erin Cussen & Lieutenant Zane D'Sai

1,554 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Sole Survivor
Timeline: MD 14 - 1345

“I’d be happier if we can get life support back online…” Urushi said as she followed the team down towards the next deck. She continued to scan ahead keeping an eye out for any signs of the crew. “There’s something unusual about the layout of this ship…” she commented.

Hearing Urushi’s last comment “That’s an understatement” O’Riley commented hoping the next exit point wasn’t too far away once they reached the next deck; so far this vessel was anything but normal.

“I have energy readings, but I can’t make heads or tails of it,” Erin commented frowning

Wells descended the stairway. It met a platform before wrapping around to the next descending leg. He increased the illumination of his EVA suit visor, as even his own night vision wasn’t proving strong enough to see through this dark stretch.

“Got a doorway here…”, Well said as they approached the next level. “…It looks jammed.” The door was closed two-thirds of the way, making it tough for the crew to fit through. He pressed on the door and felt it sway. “It feels like it’s on an…”, bracing himself along a nearby wall. After a cracking noise, the door pushed inwards with some resistance. “…old gear.” Wells then took a deep breath before using both hands and his upper body to slam the door closed a few more inches.

With enough room for the officers to fit, the green man turned and casually said… “Tight doorway.” The Lieutenant spun and entered the breach. Eyes cautiously scanned the room as he smirked.

Liam turned sideways to fit through the door with his EV suit. Once inside he looked around and wasn’t impressed with the vessel’s design. Shining his light around the area, O’Riley saw another exit point in the far corner. Turning “Commander there’s another exit point over there” as he pointed in the general direction. “That should take us to the next lower deck; it looks like that is where the power is being diverted to” he explained.

“Lead on,” Jerome said as he followed O’Riley across the room. While he was no engineer, he was a veteran of many, many away teams. The consoles were unfamiliar but even his uneducated eye could see how they were going dark, one after the other, deepening the pools of darkness. “I don’t think we have a lot of time.”

“Understood Commander” Liam replied then quickly made his way to the stairs and started downward. Once on the next lower deck Liam shined his light around the area not quite believing what he was seeing, “Commander you might want to see this.”

Whatever power was left on the rapidly dying ship seemed to be concentrated in a room sealed behind some sort of barrier. Jerome approached slowly, taking in the setup, his head cocked slightly to one side. Rows upon rows of small, enclosed capsules, for want of a better work, floating within individual, monitored creches. And here, so very different than any other area of the ship, there was no loss of power. “What are we looking at,” Jerome said quietly. “Whatever it is, it was important to them.”

Looking at the capsules closely, well as close as he could manage due to a barrier, Liam turned toward the XO “I’m no Doctor or scientist” then he paused “These look a lot like embryos to me. Perhaps Lieutenants Cussen and Yaotome would be much more qualified to make that determination.”

“Take a look at the systems,” Jerome said. “This ship is shutting down. How long do we have before this area shuts down as well.”

Seeing what could pass for a console Liam walked over and accessed the vessel’s systems. Checking this area he wasn’t liking what he was seeing as he turned to the XO “Commander we have maybe twenty five minutes before this area shuts down” he replied.

Urushi was studying her scans. “Has anyone here noticed that this ship has no living quarters, or living spaces whatsoever?” She asked. “All I’m getting are what seem to be cargo and machine areas. It’s almost like this ship is meant to be automated. Either that or it’s a short-range vessel, but why would it be out here?” She began to theorize many different scenarios and reasons as to why such an unusual ship was this far away from anything.

“I am picking up a faint, I want to say ‘life’ sign, but I cannot be sure, it is that way,” Erin said pointing forward and to the right. She cautiously moved forward trying to follow the tricorder’s output.

“Lieutenant Wells, go with Doctor Cussen and Lieutenant Yaotome, have a look at these … capsules … see what you can make out.”

“Aye, sir.” Jack had paid attention to where the doctor gestured to. He walked with the pair, moving deeper into the large room. The sounds of their footsteps were magnified in the silence.

The first thing Urushi did was scan the containers with her tricorder. Each of them was attached to some sort of life support system. “Doc,” Urushi called out. “Just, confirm that you’re seeing what I’m seeing. Thousands of what seem to be fertilized Embryo’s in deep frozen stasis…” Urushi looked back at Cussen.

Erin hastened over to the containers and scanned them. Her heart sank into her shoes as she slowly nodded. “Yes I confirm,” she said. She turned slightly away to send her intial scans to the medical staff to see if there was enough space in the center, or whether they will have to set up in a cargo bay.

“There’s an entire species here! I’m detecting multiple gene pools, many variations of the same species. Wait…” A blip on her tricorder screen caught her attention. “These containers are losing power… If they lose all their power the cryo stasis will fail and these embryos will all perish, before they even had a chance to be born…”

“The ship is shutting down,” Jerome said quietly. “Lieutenant O’Riley, estimate to complete loss of power?”

“I would estimate no more than thirty minutes until this vessel is completely dead in the water” Liam replied knowing what was at stake here.

While the Lieutenant checked, Jerome stepped to one side and tapped his commbadge. “Hunt to Valkyrie. Captain, we’ve located cryostasis chambers. Lieutenant Yaotome thinks they’re fertilized embryos but the ship is shutting down.”

Jack’s path along the wall took him deeper into the room. A larger, different colored pod was hidden behind a wall, in a small space tucked away towards the side. He turned and shouted to the others.

“I think I found something…” There were 6 adult sized pods. 5 contained remains each in a more advanced stage of decomp that the next. One, had it’s glass viewport coated in frost. “The silhouette looks humanoid.” They could barely see the outline of a figure inside.

Erin scanned the pod. “I can confirm, we have a humanoid life form here,” she said. “I cannot recognize the species, but the life signs are fading. We have to get the pod as is to the medical now,” she added very concerned. Once she confirmed that the pad was ready for transport, she initiated a site to site transport of the pod to the medical.

[USS Valkyrie]

The Prime Directive was staring him in the face. Salvaging an entire species was definitely interference but there was a life in immediate need, thousands of unborn at stake and questions that needed to be answered. He would deal with any ramifications later.

“Do what you need to do Doctor…” That gave her a wide avenue he knew...probably too wide but they needed answers though." Jerome, Come on back to the ship and see exactly what the Doctor has sent over.”

“Aye, Sir,” Jerome said as he stepped to one side and signaled the Valkyrie that he was clear to beam back aboard. “On my way.”


[Away Team]

Urushi approached the doctor with her tricorder. “I’ve confirmed that they are all embryos. If power fails, they’ll all perish.” She explained. “I think we can keep them stable in the medical lab.”

“I agree,” Erin said now even more concerned. “If they are embryos, the risk is even bigger,” she said. “I have informed the staff to prepare the labs,” she said, checking how far they are. “A few more seconds,” she said.

Urushi tapped her comm badge. =A=Yaotome to Valkyrie. Lock onto the co-ordinates I’m sending you and beam them, myself and Doctor Cussen to the Medical bio-lab immediately. =A= She looked over at the doctor, they couldn’t waste any more time, this had to be done now, or an entire species would become extinct.

“Medical is ready and they can all be transported to Labs 1 and 2,” Erin confirmed relieved they they can all be hosted in Medical.

Nodding Urushi tapped her comm badge. =A=Valkyrie, energize. =A=

Both officers, the embryo pods and the stasis pods were bathed in bright blue and white dancing lights before disappearing as the transporter pulled them across the void of space back to the awaiting Federation starship.

 

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