Infiltration
Posted on Mon Dec 23rd, 2024 @ 8:18pm by Captain Daegan Baas & Petty Officer 2nd Class Sizia Sh'velihr [Baas]
1,739 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
A New Beginning
Timeline: Simultaneously with - A Mountain of Paperwork
Luaren sat in the lounge overlooking the cavernous docking area and watched as the various starships came and went. She had received orders transferring her to a new vessel serving within the heart of the Federation, both boring and detrimental to her overall mission. No doubt her handler would get her something new, but it was the timing that was key. She was about to rise and report to her new ship when a steward approached with a tray.
“Here is your drink Lieutenant.”
She was about to object, not having ordered any thing but the server’s eye shifted for a fraction of a second, stopping her. Instead, she casually accepted. “Thank you, I was beginning to wonder if you had forgotten me.”
“Not at all. Enjoy.”
Without another word the server disappeared. Looking at the beverage she downed it in a shot. Taking a breath she closed her eyes as her new assignment, and target details were encoded to her memory.
Years ago her kind had come to the conclusion that the Federation and their exploration was not a threat in and of itself, but could reveal other threats. Plus the…individualistic nature of many of the various regional factions meant they must remain vigilant to any changes from within their organizations.
When she opened her eyes she dropped her head in reluctance. Her target was a prime candidate and the reason she had been selected where many and obvious, but still. Looking towards the counter to she the server speaking to others, but she caught his eye and they locked for a second with a stern questioning in his gaze. The consequences would be severe if she refused, and nothing would change in the end so Lauren simply nodded in acknowledgement and rose to seek out her target and her friend.
[Jamaica – Wild Orchid Resort]
Sizia was enjoying the cool water as she swam the reef area out away from the shore. As usual she continued to astonish…an Andorian that enjoyed the beach, but she never let that stop her at all. She did her thing and could care less what others thought. Finding another big shell for her collection she broke the surface. She had come up a little further from the boat for the diving excursion, but it was an easy swim for her. The rest of the day was nothing but a big party until they returned to the resort.
-- The next Evening --
Sizia sat on the patio enjoying the evening air and the live music being played, when someone walked up and just stood there. At first she had though it was someone just pausing to enjoy the music, then she thought it might be someone deciding whether or not to hit on her, since she was by herself. When she finally looked up she saw a familiar face smiling down at her. Jumping p from her seat she threw her arm around her old friend in a fierce hug before letting go. “OH my god! What are you doing here!”
Released from the hug the pair sat. “I had a couple of days before I had to report to my next assignment, so I did a quick check to see if there was anyone in the area I might know and when I saw you were on Earth I had to beam down. So what misadventures are you up to?”
“Well, I was assigned to the Valkyrie. Heading back out to the far flung reaches. Ohhh, I've been keeping up on the classes you, Tora, and Urushi talked me into and just got my science designation.”
“That’s fantastic! I’m so proud of you.”
“I still have a ways to go and I’m still officially a Yeoman, but when I’m not keeping the Captain’s schedule I will be part-timing down in the ships Exobiology lab.”
“Congratulations…that will definitely keep you busy, and hopefully out of trouble.”
Sizia smiled at the dig. “Yeah yeah…I promise. No more bar brawls. What about you where you off to”
“Me? Just a boring patrol route in and around the core of the Federation. I had asked for Project Delta but got turned down.”
“Project Delta? Wasn’t that the expedition back to the Delta Quadrant?”
“Yep, and get this. The science team is being run by Captain Montoya’s brother.”
“Your kidding? And you got turned down? Couldn’t the Captain put in a good word for you?”
“He did. But the science team had been hand-picked from those that had been working with the Voyager data for years.” Shrugging she continued, “So now I’m stuck on this run though known space until I can get back on an exploratory ship.”
Sizia’s eyes lit up. “Why don’t you put in for the Valkyrie?! I’m headed there myself and I’m sure…”
Lauren raised her hand as she lied. “I already tried, trust me.”
Huffing, “This sucks. Well once I get settled in with Captain Baas I’m gonna try and see what I can do.”
Smiling, “It’s good to have friends in important places. When do you have to report?”
“My leave is over tomorrow, and I have to report by 1200.”
“Well we still have the rest of the night to celebrate right?
“ABSOLUTELY!”
The evening progressed and the two talked and talk, danced, and drank until the patio closed for the night. Sizia insisted that Lauren stay with her so they can have breakfast together before they went their separate ways. Lauren agreed, masking her reluctance as the inevitable drew closer.
While not quite drunk Sizia was riding a serious buzz as she led the way to her room. As they walked in, she gave Lauren a quick tour, but when she was showing her friend the huge water shower she was slammed into the far wall. Though dizzy from the blow, with bark blue blood flowing from the split on her forehead, she turned on her attacker only to see Lauren’s hand coming at her, covering her mouth. The shock and surprise transformed to panic and terror as her friends body rippled and change to a massive creature with a sharply angular head and cross-shaped pupils.
A massive hand now gripped her head, her screams silenced even as she fought to breath. Realizing what held her, she pulled and kicked at her captor but to no avail. The large head leaned in closer and Sizia’s body went limp, her one exposed eye rolling back into her head as all of her memories and experiences, everything that made her who she was, where pulled telepathically from her mind.
With its other hand, it stabbed its clawed hand into Andorian's body sampling her DNA and infecting her victim, beginning the consumption process. Having finished extracting the woman’s memories it snapped her neck mercifully ending her suffering and lowering her body gently to the shower floor. A short time later what had been Sizia Sh’velihar continued to slowly dissolve while the new Sizia Sh’velihar sat back on the edge of the bed and began reviewing the data padd contain her current orders, personal logs, the courses she was studying, letters, everything needed to ensure her cover was secure.
A short time later she collected additional tissue and blood for the DNA it would contain, in the event she had difficulty keeping her new form. It was unlikely there would be an issue as they had refined their mimicking processes over the years and very rarely needed to used a reinforcement injection, but better to keep it on hand just in case.
A blue hand came to rest on the blue head. “I’m sorry.”
-- The Next Morning –
Sizia awoke, padding her way into the bathroom, she started the rainfall shower that washed away the last of the remains before showering herself. Afterwards she dressing, packed what were now her belongings, checked out of the resort, and was on the next shuttle from Montego Bay headed towards Utopia Planitia and the USS Valkyrie.
[Mars]
Upon arriving at Utopia Planitia, she made her way without issue through stations security and to one of the docking bays many observation areas. Seeing her destination she adjusted the strap on her shoulder and made her way to the ships umbilical. The security guard posted there smiled and perked up at her approach, but stopped her. She handed over her padd with her orders ready.
"Everything's in order, just need you to pass through the scanner."
She returned his smile as she passed through the archway, turning to the guard. "Everything good?", she ask with just a bit of a flirtatious edge.
"Looks perfect to me." He handed over her orders but purposefully held back on letting go. "You uhhh maybe wanna get a drink sometime?"
Running her finger over her ear, "I don't know, I might be pretty busy. Are you with the ship's security?"
"I sure am, my names Marcus."
Backing her way down the tunnel, "Well Marcus, since you are on the ship you'll just have to find me."
The rest of her check in went smoothly, medical, operations, science, all still didn't have their department heads yet so she dropped her bag in her quarters, no roommate yet, and headed to the bridge.
[Ready room]
Having already studied the ships layout she knew exactly where to go and activated the chime.
Daegan was at his desk sorting the padds again. Supply status reports, deuterium and anti-matter transfer schedules, anti-matter generator status reports, crew arrival schedules, departmental requisitions, cargo transfer requests, family member permissions requests, medical reports, updates to station crew departure schedules, auxiliary craft, arrival schedules, system diagnostic reports, personnel candidacy applications for senior staff postings, and those were just the o es he'd managed to get to. Running a ship had enough paperwork, but that increased by an order of magnitude for an initial launch.
Not even looking up from the project before him, "Enter."
Sizia entered with her padd and hid it behind her back as she walked in, the last thing that he needed was another padd. "Looks like I got here just in the nick of time." Taking another step she introduced herself, "Petty Officer Sh’velihr, I'm your Yeoman."
Captain Daegan Baas
CO
PO Sizia Sh’velihr
Yeoman
NPC Played by Baas
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