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Topic: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter 04 - Apprehension] (Read 22523 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #100 –
[ Main Recovery Ward, Sickbay | Deck 07 ] [Attn: Amikris]

With her phaser in a double-hand grip, rear arm straight, Thea advanced into the recovery ward with a focused scowl - returning fire against those infected that had extracted their penises or tits from fornication in order to try and disrupt her holographic matrix. Shots grazed off the biobeds she walked along, yet her aim was true, sending naked bodies into the walls or toppling to the floor.

"I would advise you excused yourselves from here," she said - almost in a conversational tone - to the two she was giving cover-fire for. Behind her, the doors opened to admit a new group of giggling bare-skinned women from Tactical Conn. Without turning around, Thea made the doors slam shut, trapping the third in line into the recovery ward between the steel maws. The pilot cried out, but the safety routines did not make the doors hurt her enough to do more than trap her there. Thea was incapable of deactivating the routines, so it would have to do. The two pilots that had managed to get through did force her to turn and fire off a wide dispersion pattern that caught them all in one shot - effectively neutralising the new visitors. The one trapped in the doorway was left hanging suspended in Thea's pinch just to block the ones remaining outside.

At the time she turned back, two men had raised their phasers - about to shoot Amikris down where she stood by the replicator, yet at the same time, Nurse Xeanta had been pushed belly-first over the edge of a biobed - her arms trapped in a lab coat she had tried to pull on. The young male Klingon Nurse by the name Maal had kicked her feet wide and managed to ram his huge reproductive organ into her vagina before Thea could stop him. Even if Xeanta screamed at the top of her lungs for Thea to save her, it was too late for her, so Thea coldly shot down the two armed ones that posed a threat to the Ash'reem.

It was a blessing that she had had deactivated her emotional sub-routines, making the lost Nurse's cries fall on deaf digital ears. In her estimation, neither the Klingon nor Xeanta posed any immediate threat during the ensuing coitus.

"Please state the location of the Chief Medical Officer," she said across the room to Amikris, almost as if she was not doing anything out of the ordinary.

At the same time, the rear doors opened to admit more infected, brandishing assault rifles.

"There is no time," she said, just a bit louder, to Amikris - her last word disrupted a bit as she got hit and her projection wavered. "Run. Run now."


[ Turbolift 04 | Deck 05 ] [Attn: Nathaniel Isley]

"No, I won't, 'Lieutenant," said the Captain when he asked about protocol, too caught up in the idea of an epidemic on board to appreciate the humour.

Having to wait patiently for the pilot to disrobe and don his uniform jacket again, Jien had half a mind to bid him to leave the jacket as well - yet she caught herself in the final moment. Both because the suggestion would be unseemly, and also because her wish was somewhat affected by the sight of his permanent - yet perfect - physical form.

"Permission granted," said Jien when he asked to pick up the phaser, and a very small smile now did find its way to her features at his jesting manners despite the situation. She put her foot into his hand and hoisted herself up, making sure that neither the rifle nor her sword hit him in the face.

An old hand at crawling through jefferies tubes and access hatches, Jien made short work of the hatch, though balancing on someone's hands left her feeling somewhat uncomfortable and exposed - especially with the state of her nether regions being too close to miss for the man below her. Of course she let none of that show as she finally pushed the hatch upwards into the shaft. "Got it, now stand straight," Jien said as she adjusted her position to grip either side of the now-open hatch and set her feet upon Mr. Isley's shoulders.
 
Then, the power died - heralded by a shrill scream from the control panel and a momentary plunge of the floor. Utter blackness enveloped them both during the mechanical quake, until the emergency lights shuddered to life within the close confines. Though by then, the accident was already occuring.
 
Having reached for a handle on the turbolift roof whilst simultaneously pushing up from the shoudlers of the Wolf below, Jien found herself missing her target in the unexpected blackness and felt her stomach lurch and her inertia shifted in a downwards motion. The illusion of weightlessness was cut short when with a thud she found solid matter beneath her once more. Pupils adjusting the the fluctuating light, Jian had instinctively raised her arms to absorb the impact... though she crashed into Nathaniel's chest and made them both topple sideways.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #101 –
Amikris frowned and looked at Thea, clearing her throat she closed her eyes as she began to speak in her 'native' tongue. A number of deep rhythmic sounds coming from her throat well outside the human range of hearing.  The language was not the same as English or even related really.  The most accurate translation that would come to Thea's computers was.

[Show/Hide]

 Reaching into the replicator's bay she pulls out the ten syringes and begins to back away from the replicator holding the syringes in one hand and pulling the IV in the other.  Her skin color slowly returning as the saline water pours into her blood stream.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #102 –
As he heaved her up, and her crotch brushed past his face, he didn't think all that much of it.  Only that morning, he had been in the throes of passion with Jien.  The reminder that her clothes were just an extension of her body did make him wonder about how it would have felt for her.  Was having her crotch touching against him in a clothed state just as equal in feeling to if she had been naked?  Realizing that such thoughts were best left for less drastic times, he pushed them out of his mind, though found them coming back after the accident.

He didn't fully realize what happened until he was on his back, with weight upon his chest.  He would dare call it heavy, but she wasn't exactly a feather on his chest either.  His eyes moved to better see her on top of him, making him notice how he had instinctively grabbed her arms, which served to brace her, but also would have kept her close to him.  For a while, he couldn't say anything; he just felt her chest moving in and out as she breathed, and became consciously aware of his own breathing, and how it moved her up and down, ever so slight, as he inhaled and exhaled. 

"I'm sure . . . the thoughts I have are very inappropriate right now, especially given the circumstances of the infection."  At least he had enough sense to know that.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #103 –
[ Deck 07 | Recovery Ward ]

Under heavy fire, Thea deciphered the language of the Ash'reem, for the ship's universal translator was - in a way - a part of her.

"We have a cure for this, the data is in this replicator, please transmit it to the Captain so it may be disseminated to other replicators."

Being an advanced Federation computer projection, she downloaded the data in the indicated replicator to a temporary folder before encrypting and spreading it into various parts of her database, yet since the Captain was on the move, the data would simply have to turn up on the wall screen of the Briefing Room as well as other selected places on Deck 01 - which was supposedly secure by then given the communication she had picked up between the Csec and the Captain. All this, while she ducked and rolled to take cover behind a diagnostics table and protect Cdt. Amikris on her way out of the Recovery Ward. She checked her phaser pistol, and found the energy cell nearly depleted.

To extract the young Ash'reem woman, she had to distract the opposition somehow. The chosen tactic of hers was readily at hand... now that Xeanta was being infected right there upon the biobed - weakly struggling below the hovering body of the Klingon Nurse. Her voice was broken by the thrusts of her assailant, her body rocking in the foreground of the phaser discharges aimed at Thea. "P-P-Please! D-don't.. nnnghnn... Don't l-l-l-leave m-m-me... He-e-elp m-e-e! Ahhh! Ahh!"

Thea's face showed no compassion, yet she knew that when she activated her emotional sub-routines again, the sight of Xeanta's face would haunt her. The struggling expressions of gratification and horror in her face... right before Thea extinguished the lights in the Recovery Ward.

In fact, she only dimmed the lights, to the exact level which still allowed Ash'reem to see. Yet to most other species, the difference was moot.

"Remove your goggles," she said to Amikris over the sudden din inside the ward - which now had made them invisible as they fought their way out, "and state the location of the Chief Medical Officer."

[ Deck 07 | Med Lab 2 ] [Attn: All Senior Staff Members with a working combadge]

Pacing across the floor of the Medical Lab, Dr. Nicander was worried at how long it took for Amikris and Xeanta to get there - to have the bloody door opened for him at last. Well, him and Nurse Johnson, whom was hardly the same kind of gratifying company as the Ash'reem and Xeanta had been during the night. True, he was not object to spend time with men if it served his purpose, but only to the point where he might gain something out of fraternizing with them. Men and women, they were all a means to an end, yet the latter did suit his taste a bit more. Oh, he had relished the affections of one or two men in his Academy days, but they had been instructors that would give him more merit in their reports - giving him the ship he needed for his cause.

Nurse Johnson was, in essence, a gnat - nothing to him. A subordinate of no interest. During the time of waiting, he conversed very little with the man, even though he was trying to explain how he had felt when under the spell of the infection.

"It was like waking up from a bad dream, or, I mean, not bad... but you know." The Nurse was spelling out is confessions whilst leaning against a table. "I remember most of it, but as if it's through a haze and... The things I did, I would never..."

It was the fifth time Lucan heard this, only with new words. The CMO suppressed the reflex to roll his eyes. Quelled the impulse to shut him up permanently with the edge of the computer console. The symbiont wanted to sodomise him into tearful silence, hush him like a babe and say everything was forgiven... yet Lucan merely kept pacing.

The warning came with the metal ringing of something slamming through the crack of the sliding doors. Lucan and the Nurse turned to face the entrance to the lab, and the CMO curled his tattooed hands into fists by his sides - ready to draw upon the powers of the Caroôn in order to assist flight. With the sleeves of his undershirt hiked up, the ropes of muscles along his forearms rippled with the tightening grip of restraint. The Nurse beside him looked ready to spew his guts upon the deck below their feet. At least Lucan was wearing shoes, should that come to pass. A curious thought given the moment.

After what seemed like dreadfully long moments later, the doors were pried open a bit by the leverage of the flat metal beam, then an arm came through, and with a mighty push of forcefield strength, the doors rolled apart upon their hinges - the lock now dealt with. In the opening stood no infected throng of people with leery smiles, though a body and a shape far too perfect to be of the material world. For there stood the Ship AI - the hologram aesthetically engineered into perfection. The sparks from the doorframe glinted across her skin-tight body suit. Golden and gleaming.

"Dr. Nicander," she said as she stepped inside - voice detached and pragmatic. Amikris followed the hologram, an IV unit in her arm. Xeanta was nowhere to be seen. Lucan's pale grey eyes saw that the Ash'reem looked far healthier already, before he returned his gaze to Thea. "By the Captain's orders, the Senior Staff are to assemble upon Deck 01 immediately. Your research and the chemical specifications for the cure has been secured. Please, it is urgent you spread your knowledge of this contamination, and don't let yourself become prey to the epidemic, for then they will know its existence."

Lucan could not help but snort derisively. "Your advice is superfluous, yet your assistance to get me out of this room not. Thank you, Thea. Now, listen to me, I have two colleagues in Medical down on the planet - Chief Counsellor Nelis and Head Nurse Jovela - and I know their approximate coordinates. Unless they have moved too far from the beam down site, extraction will be made possible."

"The Chief of Security is aware of that already," said the hologram, folding her hands behind her back and thus forcing Lucan to keep his eyes way from her gleaming bosom, "In an estimated time of twenty-point-five-two-two minutes, Security will have secured a Transporter Room for that very purpose. Unless Asst. Chief of Operations Natalie Stark reaches the Bridge controls before that. Regardless, they will be extracted before the Senior Staff meeting."

"I want them both there," he said, a cursory comment, to be discussed with the Captain when most convenient, "just like Cdt. Amikris here. Her assistance..." In his pause, in which he refrained to smile at the memory of her six-fingered hand around his cock in the Decontamination Chamber - the sight of the UV-lit cum of his decorating her breasts and belly - he merely swept his hand to indicate the room, "...in here, over the course of this night, have been priceless. Anyway, can you help us with a path to Deck 01."

The hologram nodded without comment, so Lucan only queried about the unsurprising fate of Nurse Xeanta before leading the procession out of the Medical Lab. And thus, he was finally able to use the comm system through Thea.

"Dr. Nicander to Senior Staff," he said as he took them all out of Sickbay - about to be lost to the epidemic, "I hereby confirm that I have a cure for the contamination on board. The chemical construction is secured in the ship database, and I will head to Deck 01 immediately. If means of Transport can be secured before we get there, please lock on to the location that the Ship AI provides, and get us there as soon as possible. Three people to beam up, myself, Cadet Amikris, and Nurse Johnson. Please make sure that the Chief Counsellor and my Head Nurse get to Deck 01 as well. Nicander out."

[ Deck 05 | Turbolifts ] [Attn: Isley]

After the fall, Jien raised her head to glance about, making sure the turbolift was not further compromised by the noise. Lying still, she listened for any people in the corridor with a concerned frown. Evidently, the lack of people properly working their shifts in Engineering, or with Operations Officers failing to distribute energy when needed, or perhaps just because of the damage upon the ship running unchecked, the loss of power in the turbolift might have been expected. At least the emergency lights are working. It would have become a difficult climb otherwise.

When Nathaniel spoke up, her focus reeled in upon the immediate situation, and she looked down into his eyes. His words stirred her more than they should. Perhaps it was the blood she had worn on her chest, or the lingering gratification from that morning, but she could not help but chuckle deep down in her throat. It was almost disturbing how well their bodies fit together, even when fully dressed. "Perhaps it is merely because of the infection. Perhaps... you have succeeded to fool me, 'Lieutenant," she said, and her big brown eyes blinked against the feathery touch of his breath. It made her eyes travel down to his lips. "It might just be you infected me already... this morning."

She had not meant it in any other way than a joke, but the double meaning struck her as soon as the words left her mouth. Would the pilot think her words suggested romantic feelings? Partly to cover her own embarrassment, and to distract herself from the notion to contemplate a possible Freudan mishap, she leaned down to kiss him - to smite the notion away and... No! Would not that make it worse? Her lips hesitated an inch away from his, her hands resting upon the hard planes of his chest. She studied him another moment, and found that her body willed her lips down towards his again, the aching need too much when that close...

Yet the second time, it was the combadge that interrupted her descending movement - their lips barely separated at all.

As the Chief Medical Officer spoke, Jien raised her head in chock, looking into Nathaniel's eyes the whole time. She tried to focus on the words across the comm system, found it harder than she'd thought. What was she doing? She did not have time for this. The fate of the galaxy rested upon her capacity to act. The crew needed her focused. When the CMO had delivered his message, she stood up. Brushing herself off with her hands, she cleared her throat and gritted her teeth.

"Again," she said, the cold of her vowels having returned, "I dare you to open your mouth unless something worthwhile comes out of it."

With that, she hoisted herself up with the pilot's help and grabbed on to the edge - beginning to smoothly pull herself up and over it. Before long, she lay herself in a prone position and reached down with one arm to help in lifting Nathaniel up as well. Jien grabbed on to his hand and braced herself against the dirty top of the turbolift - pulling the pilot up to the edge of the hatch. Then, she got up on her knees and assisted in helping him the rest of the way - happening to make a disarray of his one-layer uniform in the process.

Excess oil were standard to machinery - however well-kept and with all systems functioning - and had a tendency to stick to everything. Jien, on her part, ended up with her whole uniform and undershirt covered in grime. Or rather, her whole physical form. The shaft above them provided only some meagre lights. Jien thought that Mr. Isley's skin might not have been spared either, yet she doubted that it would make his permanent form any less appealing. Rather the opposite.

Pushing that errant and unimportant - if oddly persistent - thought out of her mind viciously, Jien found the ladder that led the way up towards the Decks above and moved to it in order to lead the way.

[ Deck 04 | The corridor outside the opened hatch... | Junior Officer Quarters ] [Attn: Nerina & Stark]

Having left the three women he had infected in the quarters behind his back, Adam Kingston was pressed up against the corner at the intersection near the hatch that had popped open - this after hearing the banging noise and the muffled sound of voices in the wall. The time of undecipherable conversation had given him a moment to reflect upon the best way to go about this, and he found that his training in the Sec Dept. had offered him a way. Thus, pressed up against the wall as he was, with a grin and a phaser ready, he went about his tactic with no hint of human sense of fear. His ambitions were purely primal, and he merely wanted to give the two women he had heard the same kind of blessing that he had gotten.

He extended his favour by leaning forward to make sure the first one had appeared and began to make her way forth - heading down the corridor parallel to his own. With one of them out into the open, he rounded his corner and closed the distance towards the open hatch, expecting the next to appear any second. He was lucky, for it seemed she was delayed somehow, and he was right next to the hatch by the time she emerged.

Only as he apprehended her, did he realise whom she was. It made his arousal throb all the harder... and his grin far more mischievous.

What he did was crude yet effective given the situation. He stepped up behind her before her step had built any momentum, and wrapped the bend of his arm around the top half of her head - covering her eyes and pressing her to the top of his chest. His phaser pistol her thrust into her side, and he held her with all his might - the scent of his bare skin his natural defence for any rash actions on the Executive Officer's behalf.

Since they left Earth, he had been hoping to challenge someone of the commanding officers, yet never had he dared hope he'd do it quite this way.

His smiling eyes directed across Commander Nerina's shoulder, Adam's eyes were drawn to the lovely behind of the running Operations Officer heading away from them, yet he said nothing but a wheezing sound hissing into Nerina's ear. "Hush..." The muzzle of his phaser, his breath and his scent was his means to instil obedience, "drop the rifle quietly, else I will shoot her down too, and spill my seed upon her senseless tongue once I am done with you..."

With his low whisper, he hoped to claim the XO, and leave the other one to one of his likeminded. For surely, she was about to meet the same fate eventually.

The whole ship would see things his way before everything was over.

OOC: Was not 100% sure Nerina did not wear her combadge (though I guessed she didn't), so I left it open whether Dr. Nicander's message interrupts the scene somehow. Natalie, however, will surely receive it through hers, now that the COps is dead. I have no ulterior motives with this assault, but leave it free for any kind of development. Also, see the OOC note below...

[ Deck 04 | Corridors ] [Attn: Grayson & Stark]

As the Chief of Security accompanied the two Ash'reem mates from Deck 04 up to the next deck by the path already found by the aforementioned human, Amatras paused when the Dr. Nicander spoke up, and told them that their daughter was there.

"Thank the currents," said Arcorn beside her and his smile made his goggles lift a little upon his cheekbones. They both breathed a sigh of relief and Amatras stepped to him so that she may clasp her six-fingered hand around his briefly, the mates sharing a moment of brief infrasonic words about the pride they held for their daughter. It was rude to speak too much in the company of a human that could not hear them, and the situation did not allow for much else. Amatras did, however, take the opportunity to say something.

"Lt. Neotin to Dr. Nicander," she said, her Ash'reem dialect heavy with the emotions in her heart, "Thank you for informing us, and thank you for looking after Cadet Noetin during the night." All parents held love for their children, yet the spouses of the Ash'reem were not only treasured purely on an emotional basis, but because they were the means for the survival of their nearly extinct species.

The answer from Dr. Nicander held a slight pause, but when the answer came, it was spoken with a warm tone - the smile evident in the syllables. [Oh, It was quite my pleasure, Lieutenant...]

Her mate turned to the Commander Grayson. "If you get me to the Bridge controls, or some other kind of controls on the way, I might be able to execute the Transports from there as well. I might be an Engineer, but I know my way about-"

It was then... they heard the faint echo of running footsteps...

Amatras and Arcorn raised their rifles as one, listening - lensed eyes looking at the intersections ahead.

OOC: Yes, Nerina, Natalie, David, Amatras and Arcorn are on the same deck as Adam Kingston. In my idea, the steps heard come from the running Natalie Stark. So, I humbly suggest we meld these two developments into something grander. I have no pre-set plans, so I invite any kind of initiative. Use the OOC thread to discuss openly if you all so wish, or simply shoot from the hip, so to speak...

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #104 –
==Deck 4== [ Atten: rest of deck 4 gathering ]

Natalie's feet pounded against the floor of the corridor as she ran past open and shut doors, too fast to glimpse the episodes of carnal delights displayed along the hallway. She barely heard the message to the senior staff over the sound of her own lungs gasping for air. Natalie wasn't out of shape, but she was sprinting quite a good deal more then was normal. I swear to God if I get through this alive and sane and not ducking everything in sight I'll go to the gym more

By this point the sound of her blood pumping in her ears was drowning out the fact that there were no footsteps falling other then her own ragged ones, no other person gasping for breath behind her. Natalie's entire body was covered with sweat, though most of it was concealed by her uniform. The phaser slipped slightly in her hand, and the ops officer stumbled a bit as she tightened her grip on the firearm. She could see the final bend in the corridor, knowing the way off the deck to be just around the corner...

...and through the person she ran straight into. A loud smacking sound of flesh colliding with flesh, followed quickly by the harsh thud of two bodies hitting the deck rang out down the corridor, as Natalie Stark ended up flat on her shapely ass, head bouncing off the floor, dazed and confused.

OOC: who wants to take what where?

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #105 –
[Deck 04] Attn: Natalie Stark

David watched the Ash'reem couple with a sort of detached interest. He had next to no knowledge of their species, but a parent's love for their child was something every species could understand. Watching the Neotins' display caused David to wonder about his own parents, his mother alone back on Earth, and his father somewhere hidden, his identity stolen by another being's for a still unknown purpose. Grayson had little love for his father, but even still, the Security Chief felt his emotions beginning to get the better of him.

He was snapped back to reality when Arcorn spoke to him, and he swallowed down the lump in his throat, nodding at the Ash'reem's words. He heard the sound of footsteps half a heartbeat before the Neotins and spun around, raising his phaser rifle. He held up a hand, signalling for Amatras and Arcorn to wait where they were, then he cautiously stepped forward, his rifle at the ready as he moved to investigate the sound.

David slowly approached the bend in the corridor, and he heard the footsteps getting closer to him. Frowning, he held where he was, and glanced back at the Neotins to wave them forward. Before he could do so, however, David was suddenly knocked off of his feet as someone ran straight into him. Grunting in surprise, David hit the floor and rolled, quickly pushing himself back to his feet. He blinked and shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs, and picked his rifle back up, immediately aiming it down at the junior officer who was sprawled on her back. She appeared to be dazed, but David wasn't taking any chances. He was unfamiliar with this woman, and for all he knew, she could have been one of the infected.

"Identify yourself!" the Security Chief ordered, his rifle aiming straight at the young woman.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #106 –
The two Ash'reem had bided their time in silence, waiting for the signal that they were to follow the Chief of Security.

Yet no more had he turned his head their way when a blurred shape appeared out of nowhere and collided with David Grayson, sending them both to the floor. At risk of hitting Mr. Grayson if firing from a distance, the two Ash'reem mates ran as fast as their out-of-water legs could carry them - meaning to assist him before the assailant managed to infect him. Their thin limbs were not accustomed to running, yet their forward momentum assisted them.

Lt. Amatras aimed her bobbing rifle at the prone figure all the while - Grayson already having rolled to his feet - and decided to rein in the pace so that she did not have to make an ungainly halt that would be too abrupt for her legs to handle. Her mate did the same, and they soon came up on either side of the CSec, rifles and goggles towards the woman that had crashed the scene - quite literally. In order to have caught the Security Officer unaware like that, she had to be running for her life and then some.

Amatras did not have the time to be proud of her mate when she saw Arcorn step past her and Grayson slightly in order to set his shoe on top of the hand that held a phaser pistol - securing their prisoner. His goggles flashed in the light as he turned his eyes to David.

"I recognise her," said the Engineer before looking back down - gaze along the sight of the rifle, "it is the Asst. Chief of Operations. Junior Lieutenant Natalie Stark."

Not lowering her assault rifle, Amatras seamlessly added to her mate's words from David's left side: "The question is whether she is infected or not, but I cannot detect any pheromones coming from her. Our family has been plagued by the gradually increasing scent of them, so she seems to be one of us."

"Indeed," said Arcorn, and he tilted his head a little as he looked upon the young Human female, "and I might venture to point out that she is wearing clothes, much unlike the infected we have encountered so far..." Any wife might have been slightly jealous in seeing - in this case detecting through scent - how her husband appreciated the sight of this Human's body - dressed as it might be. However, they were Ash'reem, and such a notion did not come to Amatras. Especially not in the present situation. They might be what they where, yet they had become Starfleet Officers along the way - their long lives leading them to serve the Federation before their own whims.

In the end, it was up to their captive to explain herself...

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #107 –
[ Deck 05 | Turbolifts ]

The moment was more intimate then the situation would have allowed for.  They were in the middle of a crisis, yet the two could just stare at each other in relative silence, teasing at sharing a kiss.  Had the blood that had covered Jien given her the smallest of infections?  Far from the extreme that the others had gone through, but enough to make her partially blind to what needed to be done?  If so, what was Nathan's excuse?  The blood on his shirt shouldn't have affected him as greatly as it would have done to her, considering her shirt was just shape shifted skin.

She spoke of being infected, but the words held more affection then anything.  It didn't sound like she was speaking of something viral, but something more emotionally tied.  It was bound to keep eating away at the back of his mind, but there was no time to discuss it.  They both got to their feet and tried again, Jien successfully getting overhead, and helping to pull him up, displaying that strength that was above that which her physical shape would have suggested. 

Climbing through the shaft was bound to be no easy task.  He was behind her, after all, and would spend a great deal of time with his eyes on her rear end.  Nathaniel had to wonder how it might have been different under other circumstances.  If they hadn't been in sexual contact that morning, would she have been so enticing to him?  Or maybe if he wasn't the kind of guy who would have slept with any attractive woman, might that have prevented him from having a brief fantasy of reaching out and groping that shapely rear in front of him?  As they climbed the ladder up, things weren't any different; he was still getting quite a view, and felt himself thankful, at least for controlling his urges, that Starfleet didn't issue form-fitting uniforms, or that this wasn't the age of James Kirk, where she would have been wearing a skirt he would now be looking up.  Funny how that one view made him completely forget about any of the oil and dirt that had ruined their uniforms; men truly did have a one-track mind.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #108 –
[ Turbolift Maintenance Shaft | Decks 01-02 ] [Attn: Isley]

Yet Mr. Isley was not the only one self-concious about the situation, even more what had almost come to happen again in plain sight right there on the floor of the turbolift. Though Captain Ives tried to focus her thoughts upon the dire needs of her crew and her ship, her mind kept straying to her own dire needs of an altogether different nature. The mere memory of that morning was - by itself - incentive enough to contemplate what the pilot had referred to as 'regular basis', while the scent that she had been exposed to had only served to place an emphasis on the recollections of that dimly lit Gymnasium and what had transpired between her and the half-blood beneath her feet. It was a challenge she had believed herself far too jaded and weary from wars to even consider a challenge at all.

The Lone Wolf had merely been in the right place in the right moment - alleviating her of all her pent-up emotions though a series of mind-shattering climaxes that she would be forever thankful for. Yet what else lay there between them than the base act? It would not have to be more feelings involved in what she and him had done than what the poor infected crew members aboard had felt in their last moments of sanity; mere primal urges released. The difference was that they had been wholesome, and both quite at their right senses. At least under the circumstances...

Thus, her thoughts kept returning whilst she climbed, until she had to say something. Anything.

"Your SCO has not reported in for the Senior Staff meeting," she grated, teeth bared in exertion, both bodily and of restraint, "so you will fill his place. Carry his burden, until he has been recovered... or cured by Dr. Nicander. If no one else of your pack has come through this with their wits intact, you will truly have earned your designation as a Lone Wolf. Regardless, the needs of this ship when it comes to the tactical advantage of the Valkyries will fall upon you to handle."

At this point, they were just about to reach the mid-level between Decks 02 and 01, so Jien drew to a halt in her descent and turned around upon the rung at her feet so that she might look down upon him fully - her hands clasped around the sides of the ladder at her waist-level.

"Can I count on you, Mr. Isley?" she asked, realising too late that the pilot was still ascending, about to climb up in level with her unless he noticed her feet right before his face. Why had she stopped to begin with? Why was she swallowing? Why did she entertain the idea that he would climb up to face her right there upon the ladder, and she might be able to feel his breath again; the warmth of him so close once more? "Will you go out there alone, if needed be, to make sure this virus never leaves this ship?"

It was a dire if subtle question implying a great deal at his expense, yet no less of very great import given the circumstances... so why did her voice nearly crack at the end? Being a singular duality, why did she feel so feminine in his presence? Why was her lips pursed as she watched him... willed him... craved him to chase her and make the call she couldn't?

Right then, the weights of her sword and her rifle were inferior to the burden of her pressing duty. Still, she could not fathom how she might be one of them. Was this really who she was... in his presence? Had that morning burst some gates in her fortifications without her knowing it? At least her face did not betray her... not yet. Her austere scowl remained, demanding an answer from him.

If only that was all that she wanted...

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #109 –
==deck 3/4?== [ Atten: Grayson, Ash'reem's

"oh God my head..." Natalie moaned. She was having trouble focusing her eyes. She heard voices, but she couldn't quite tell what was being said. Spots were in her eyes, and a ringing in her ears.

And then there was a pressure on hand, followed shortly by the pain of her fingers being pressed into the deck by the handle of her phaser. The sharpness in Natalie's hand brought the rest of the world back into focus, and the younger woman found herself staring down the barrels of three rifles.

and I might venture to point out that she is wearing clothes, much unlike the infected we have encountered so far..." The voice of one of the Ash'reem said. Natalie tried to focus on it, groaning out "Not infected." as she squeezed her eyes shut. She started to bring her other hand to her head, but stopped, realizing that any motion on her part could get her shot. Better safe then sorry she thought, forcing the haze out of her head. A small part of her mind worried she may have managed to get a concussion. The flooring of a starship was supposed to be padded to prevent that kind of head trauma, but many parts of the ship had been damaged, and some of the protective padding was no longer in place.

With her ears still slightly ringing, Natalie opened her eyes again, focusing on the man in the middle, with three pips on his collar. "I'm junior Lt Natalie Stark,and I am not infected" she said softly, a slight hitch in her voice. "The Captain ordered me to the bridge. I was making a break for the next access tunnel with the XO. She was right behind me...." her voice trails off, realizing that other then the three crew members pointing phaser rifles at her, she was alone.

"W-where's the XO?"

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #110 –
It was hardly the kind of ceremony usually involved in such a promotion, but Nathan saw it more as him filling in then anything else.  The SCO was not present, so he was his representative.  At most, he was an interim Squadron Commanding Officer.  Even with just that much, he wondered how much personal feelings played into the decision.  Did she choose him because he was best suited for the job?  Maybe because he was just the only one she knew was still around?  Or was it due to a personal rapport built from their intimate encounter?

"I don't think most ships have an SCO at the rank of Lieutenant JG."  He tried to make light of the situation, feeling that the conversation had become too tense, and that the two of them were under enough pressure as it was.  His head ran into her foot, making him raise his head to find her stopped, looking down in his direction.  A thought lingered in the back of his mind, though he was uncertain if he should ever voice it to her, let alone under the circumstances. 

She seems like she had gotten more . . . feminine.  A thought that she was beginning to identify more as a female then as a gender-less being.  If such a thought proved to be true, could he have been the cause of it?  No, that was too arrogant of him to think.  One morning romp of passion, and he was changing her entire view of her identity?  Nathaniel must have thought highly of himself if he believed he could do that.

Then things turned grave again, at the thought of him being the only Wolf left, and what he might have to do if the ship became too far gone to ever recover.  Would he be able to give the order in her place?  Would he be able to execute it if the need was that dire?  It was times like that in which he wished he was more Vulcan then human; that he could turn his emotions off, and make the logical choice.  He had to make the choice the only way he knew how.  He had to search his feelings.  "We're just a hand full of people, on one small ship, in a galaxy too massive to ignore.  If the need comes . . . I'll do what has to be done."

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #111 –
[ Turbolift Maintenance Shaft | Decks 01-02 ] [Attn: Isley]

Looking down into Nathaniel's eyes where she stood above him on the ladder, Jien nodded slowly after he had made his pledge.

"Well spoken," she said, and hoped that he would live up to his words should the case be that they had lost the SCO and other higher ranking officers in Tactical Conn. To be the last line of defence for the galaxy towards the contamination and shoot down any shuttles, fighters or escape pods trying to leave the ship, or even utilise the Theurgy's shield frequencies in order to hit her where it most hurt. Something not so hard to do, now that their poor ship was in the state she was. Of course, there were other measures too, but Nathaniel just might turn out to be the their ace in this morbid game being played aboard.

The silence lingered, and Jien was trying to come up with something more to say at that point. However, she feared what those words might be, so she turned around to ascend the last part of the way towards Deck 01. The thoughts about what she might have to do herself in order to quarantine the contamination on board served to level her thoughts, bringing them out of the sphere that concerned Mr. Isley, and back to the dire duties she had. As the Commanding Officer, there were measures that only she and Commander Nerina might take...

Once they reached their destination, she tapped her combadge. "Captain Ives to the security detail on the Bridge, would you please open the doors to the turbolift. 'Lieutenant Isley and myself are just outside."

[Aye, Captain,] came the quick reply, and Jien could hear muffled voices from beyond the closed doors. A security override was made, and they were soon cast in the blinding light from the Main Bridge. Two silhouettes with phasers in their hands could be seen, and they would also be greeted by the sight of their grease-stained Captain having trained her rifle upon them - one hand still holding on to the ladder. She narrowed her eyes against the light and saw that they were dressed, and also saw the third officer guarding the captive group of naked infected people. It seemed they were contained within walls of forcefields, and since they had naught else to do, they were doing each other.

It was like a snake-pit of writing naked bodies, carelessly enjoying themselves as best they might whilst they bided their time.

Swallowing, Jien lowered her rifle and jumped from the ladder to the floor of Deck 01 and inclined her head to the posted security officer. "Computer," she said loudly as she held out her free hand to catch Mr. Isley as he made his jump, "On my authority, code Ives-Nine-Zero-Epsilon, you are hereby authorised to actively assist 'Commander Grayson's men on the Bridge with the Transportation of the infected crew members held here to the Brig. Moreover, you will also assist them with the task of getting the Senior Staff up here, starting with the Chief Counsellor and the Head Nurse that have been trapped upon the planet."

Jien had merely rudimentary knowledge about site-to-site Transports, yet far inferior to the task of executing such unassisted. She gave the situation some more thought. "Furthermore, all Transports have to be authorised by me personally until stated otherwise." She did know that the infected might use the Transporters to their benefit, and it was the least she could do until more drastic measures could be taken against them in a more organised way.

Then, she turned to Mr. Isley, careful about keeping her eyes away from the noisy gathering upon the floor of the Bridge. She had to get away from there..

"In my Ready Room," she said quietly, and withdrew there with the Fighter Pilot in tow - to await the arrival of what remained of the Senior Staff.

Once they were alone. She turned to face him again, stood there for a couple of seconds...

...and then kissed him ferociously, her dirty fingers raking through his hair.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #112 –
[Deck 4] Attn: Natalie Stark, Neotins

David frowned at Arcorn's reasoning and nodded, relaxing a bit. He was not apologetic, however; as Chief of Security, it was his job to be cautious.

"Take it easy, Lieutenant," Grayson told Natalie. He crouched down beside her, looking the young Operations officer over. "You look like you took a pretty good hit to the head. Can you sit up?" He set his phaser rifle down and gently slid one hand under Natalie's back and the other beneath her head, and easily lifted the young woman so that she was sitting upright.

"I'm Lieutenant Commander Grayson, Chief of Security," he introduced himself before nodding to the two Ash'reem. "These are Lieutenants Arcorn and Amatras Neotin. Now, what were you trying to say? You were with Commander Nerina?"

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #113 –
==Deck 4== [Atten Grayson, Neotins]
The ringing continued to fade as Natalie focused more on the conversation about her. She had started to twist her head around to look for the XO, but that seemed like a really bad idea to her all of the sudden,


"Take it easy, Lieutenant," Grayson told Natalie. "You look like you took a pretty good hit to the head. Can you sit up?"

Before Natalie could respond to the senior officer, she felt a hand slip up being her back. She flushed slightly, blaming it on the hit she took to her head, and placed one arm on top of human's shoulder as she steadied herself.

"Th-thank you, sir," she managed softly as she slowly moved her head side to side. She sighed in relief when there was no blinding pain.

"I'm Lieutenant Commander Grayson, Chief of Security. These are Lieutenants Arcorn and Amatras Neotin. Now, what were you trying to say? You were with Commander Nerina?"

"Yes sir,I was with her," Natalie said, pushing some of her hair out of the way and at the same time gently probing the back of her head. She winced slightly. Oh God there's going to be a hell of a knot there she thought to herself before continuing. "Thea, the ships avatar, told me how to find the XO. We had met up down the corridor a bit, near the plasma flow regulators for this deck. I'd just armed her, and she told me to run down the hall at a sprint." Natalie looked around behind her, slowly, frowning. "She was supposed to be right behind me..." She turned back to the CoS, "Our orders were to get to the bridge at all costs."

Natalie pulled one leg up slowly, wrapping an arm around it and resting her forehead gently against her knee. "Damn room keeps spinning," She muttered softly, before looking back up to the group, "We didn't see anyone near us when the Commander gave the order, but at the same time, we didn't really take any good scans. Interference from the regulators would have messed with anything the tricorder might pick up."

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #114 –
[Deck 4] Attn: Stark, Neotins

"We didn't see anyone near us when the Commander gave the order, but at the same time, we didn't really take any good scans. Interference from the regulators would have messed with anything the tricorder might pick up."

"Yeah, a lot of things on this ship are still malfunctioning," David said, frowning. "This infection picked a really bad time to crop up."

He glanced back at Amatras and Arcorn. "If the XO's still on this deck, we need to find her, then get up to the bridge."

Grayson grabbed his phaser rifle and offered his other hand to Natalie. "On your feet, Lieutenant," he ordered as he stood up, slowly pulling Stark up with him. As the young woman stood, David put his hand on her arm and steadied her. "Take us to where you last saw Commander Nerina. Amatras, Arcorn, follow us and keep an eye out for trouble."

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #115 –
The crawl to the bridge had been a long one, and for Nathan, it had also been a tempting one, but they had finally made it there.  Covered in dirt, machine grease, and who knew what else, he felt filthy, yet conceded that Jien must have felt worse, considering her uniform was just an extension of her own body.  Taking note of the flesh pile on the bridge, Nathaniel couldn't help but he disturbed by it.  Not only was it awkward to see such a display, but it was odd to think that everyone still clothed was either going out the activities normally, or was watching the display.  Either option was just creepy.  "Should they really still be up here?  If the force fields fail, they can get out and potentially infect others."  He wasn't denying that the security team could react quickly, but they were dealing with a virus that could spread through any kind of fluid contact.  There was always a risk, and it seemed more sensible to beam them elsewhere on the ship.  Surely someone had skill with site-to-site transport for that?

Being called to her ready room, Nathan wasn't far behind her, unsuspecting of what waited for him inside.  At first, there was an uncomfortable silence, only for it to be overtaken by her lips against his.  He wanted to just enjoy it, yet there was too much nagging at the back of his mind.  It wasn't the first time a woman had tried to turn him on in the last while; Ida had attempted that only a short time ago, with intentions to infect.  Parting their lips, he pressed his forehead against hers, to maintain some degree of contact to assure her he wasn't rejecting her, but also to keep them from kissing again right away.  "You asked me earlier . . . to prove my rectitude.  Can you please prove yours?"  He didn't want to sound rude, but she was showing another side of herself that he wasn't certain of.  "You had that contact with blood, and I need to be sure.  I'm sorry if this offends you, but I think the Captain I have met on previous occasions would respect this restraint from me until I knew it was safe."

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #116 –
[ Deck 01 | Captain's Ready Room ] Attn: Isley

After they parted, Jien listened to the Pilot, swallowing to control her raging pulse. Her hands ran down from his hair to his neck and then to his shoulder, his chest. Oddly, she believed she was in control of herself, only responding to her emotions when in the presence of the half-breed. What they had done that morning must have shown her something she liked, and it happened to be something she was famished for. The current conditions on the ship did not help her at all, but rather made things more difficult. It was like something pure, newborn, was raised in the worst kind of conditions.

With her forehead resting against the pilot's, she opened her eyes - staring into his. Unblinking, with her lips pursed to blend her breath with his, she replied in a steady voice. "I suppose I cannot be positively certain," she said quietly, "and therefore I have made a grave mistake... Yet I am old enough to know myself, and under the present circumstances - with all that I have been through since before the defeat at Romulus - I know that I have craved this... lacked this kind of contact. I have been chiselled into stone, all my feelings washed away from the granite, and become a cold if perhaps... efficient version of myself. This morning, I came to know Female Form again, and I need that."

It was like hearing a stranger speak, when voicing one's innermost thoughts. "I need you."

Gritting her teeth, she pushed away from Nathaniel and walked towards her desk. She took another deep breath and raked her dirty hair back from her face. "Yet not until we both have gotten a shot of Dr. Nicander's antidote - just to be certain." She turned towards him and threw her assault rifle upon her desktop, her eyes made of dark amber again. "Not until I have reclaimed command of my crew. Not until we have isolated the source of the contamination. Perhaps not until we have left orbit of Niga. For my needs are quite inferior to the collective need of my crew, a meagre shout in the vast darkness of this galaxy... that encompasses countless worlds filled with hundreds of billions of people. A galaxy which is ignorant of what Starfleet has become."

Her jaw set, she pulled out her scabbard from her belt and produced an inch of steel to check its condition. "I am firstly the Captain, and secondly a man and a woman, so whatever needs I have will have be put on hold." With a loud 'clack', she rammed the steel back into its sheet and raised her eyes to Nathaniel. "I hope that answers both your questions, 'Lieutenant. The one you asked here, and the one you asked me in the Gymnasium."

Jien's gaze was unmistakable, despite the lack of a smile. A cold promise made.

When this is over, I will fuck your brains out 'on a regular basis', pilot.

[ Deck 04 | Corridors ] Attn: Grayson & Stark

Amatras heard the Human describe the sequence of her plight, and then looked towards Arcorn - whom was equally discomfited by the idea that their First Officer had been lost under the present circumstances. "Understood," said Amatras in reply to the CSec, and with her mate, she readied herself to keep a lookout on heir six as they made their way down the corridor whence the Operations Officer had come.

[ Deck 05 | Corridors ]

Blinking, Cir'Cie came to, her head hurting something fiercely yet the pain carefully controlled - subdued and compartmentalised by her Vulcan upbringing.

Knocked out by blunt trauma as she had been by the Captain's rifle, her nervous system had shut down by the chock and the concussion she had gotten. The nausea, too, was controlled, and she did not retch by the vertigo as she propped herself up on her elbows upon the floor of the corridor. The reason why she had come awake from her oblivion plain to her immediately, and despite the aforementioned training, it caused her to smile. It was so wonderful to be able to take gratification and express joy after all this time. What had happened to her was truly astounding. Quite wondrous. Plainly so, right then.

For it was so plain what had stirred her, so greatly appreciated; the sight of her breasts swaying on top of her prone form being the second hint right after the sensations coursing up her evolved body. It was the sensations of being given the cunnilingus, and she lay her jade green eyes upon the man drinking her nectar. He was already infected of course, perhaps several hours ago, and had merely came to feed of her blessed cunt. Perchance to awaken her too, given the vigour which he displayed in lapping between her spread legs.

"Ohhh," she said, revelling as much in the freedom to utter her delight as much as in the delight itself. "You really do know how to make a woman happy." The man grinned, looking into her eyes. As if on cue, he climbed up to kiss her, and to sheath his wonderful cock inside her. Cir'Cie gasped out loud and raked her nails down his back. The bleeding at the side of her head began anew, but the Vulcan could not care less.

"NNggh... Are you okay?" he grunted to her with a smile, having seen her injury.

"Yess-s-s," answered Cir'Cie, stammering from his trusts, "though they know a- ahhh - about our crusade now...  We have to be more clever... We need to think larger... We are... all competent enough to use this ship we are upon... to our advantage. We only... need to think long-term... and not just the immediate delights around u-u-us."

The man made no answer, too distracted to realise what Cir'Cie's words entailed. There was another voice that answered her, however. "My thoughts exactly," it said, and Cir'Cie turned her smiling face towards the speaker. It was the Deputy Chief of Security, leading a wedge of fighter pilots from the lower decks behind her. Her smile reflected Cir'Cie's in ambition.

Right then, Cir'Cie climaxed upon the Human cock, and began to laugh in the aftershocks. Considering the benefits of a more organised hunt, it could not be called 'duty' to enjoy themselves as much as potentially possible, could it?

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #117 –
[ Deck 01 | Captain's Ready Room ]

"Forgive me."  He spoke up, though he did not explain right away why he asked for it.  A hand drew across his face, the sound of his palm scratching against his facial hair rather clear in his ears.  He had a habit of making that motion from his right cheek across his mouth, obscuring the bottom half of his face, when he was searching for the right words to say.  "I did not mean to question your state of mind, especially your conviction towards fixing this problem.  You are just . . . such a different person from the one who scolded me down on the flight deck only a short time ago.  I guess I was still able to see you as a genderless being until recently.  Now . . . I can see you more as a lady, and I didn't know what to make it."

He hoped she wouldn't be offended that he only saw her femininity just a short time ago, and saw her as nothing more then a being in the shape of a woman, even as far back as that morning, when he had no problem servicing her womanly form.  She was right that they needed to set things aside, when the threat to the ship was so great.  They finally had a weapon capable of turning the tide; an antidote to the infection.

"This antidote . . . do we know if it is a complete vaccination?  Administering it to the crew could be dangerous if there is a risk of reinfection."  Would one antidote be enough to protect them fully?  Even better would be if it could transmit the same way the virus had; infect a couple crewmen and it might have spread back through all the others within a few hours, provided the effects weren't instantaneous.  If it functioned in such a way, it would have been an even swifter vector for the cure then just manually inoculating everyone.  "There are some physically strong among the infected, so I volunteer to join any effort to administer the cure.  Normal humans might be easy to overpower, but trained security personnel, or races with a greater physical power then average could be a threat to any medical teams."

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #118 –
[ Deck 01 | Captain's Ready Room ] Attn: Isley

Hearing the pilot voice his observations might have made Jien question herself, had she been less certain about her split appearance in relation to her mind. However, since that was not the case, she did not comment until he spoke about the antidote.

"I know as much as you do," she said and stuck her sheathed sword behind her belt again, "Dr. Nicander said that he had developed a 'cure' over the course of this past night, and I do not know whether it is a vaccine or a serum until he gets here. I am not too well-versed about medical research, yet I would reckon the former is quite a bit more hard to develop. There are, as far as I know, few vaccines for poisons out there - should that be what we are dealing with. Rather, I think its something that treats the contamination and does not prevent it. As for your suggestion, your point is noted, yet we'll see what kind of news the good doctor bears when the Senior Staff convenes."

Supposing that there was not much else to say about that for now, Jien frowned and looked down to her desk. Nathaniel's recent words came to her thoughts, so she decided to try and explain her nature a bit better for him - just so that he would not build his hypothesis about her with too little to go on. "This form of mine, which you now see, is a part of a singular duality, much like these..."

She opened her top drawer and produced her black lacquered hashi - her eating chopsticks. Holding up the two sticks, she explained in a patient and perhaps unnerving voice. "One of these cannot pick up the food, yet together, they make a whole, which surpasses the individual stick," she explained to the pilot, and as she arranged the sticks correctly in her grip, she changed... into his male form. His deep voice continued, his face as dirtied as it had been before the change. "How I can be both the woman you enjoyed this morning and the man you now see, you are asking yourself - trying to sort this out for yourself. So consider this; what would you be if you had my ability, and grew up in a society with a species of two genders; undergoing extensive social studies and thus realising that both genders makes one species whole. Would you not try to be complete as well, if you had that opportunity?"

Pausing, Jien put down the hashi next to his rifle on the desktop and stepped towards Nathaniel. After a step or two, he changed back... again appearing like the woman he had come to know intimately.

"While the two sticks symbolise the way I compose my physical identity, I am still able to take other forms. However, my adolescent years of such experimenting is over. Unless duty demands otherwise, I will appear as either half of the Human species and would never chose one of the two above the other. Still, if it would be demanded, I could for example mimic your appearance... but that would not steal your identity any more than it would take away from mine, would it?"

Her point was that her appearance was moot, yet she chose to wear the form that she found suited best both for herself and for her company. For why would she wear a form that was not favourable? She was both feminine and masculine, and Nathaniel happened to appeal to her feminine side, just as her Female Form appeared to appeal to him. Oh, she would not be alien to the idea of being intimate with the pilot whilst in her male form, yet if Mr. Isley had no such inclinations, why would she bother?

"So why just two forms, you might ask next..." she said, and a faint smile appeared as she came to stand before him, arms crossed underneath her breasts. "Ultimately, if you cannot identify yourself by the way you appear, both towards yourself as well as others, you loose your sense of 'self'. You need a Chosen Form to return to, lest you might get lost in such experiments. I might not appear like it..."

She paused and chuckled quietly, running a a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. "...but I am close to my mid forties, and my years of such experimenting are over." Looking up again, she raised and eyebrow in query. "Now, do you have any other personal queries about my nature? This might be your last chance for some time..."

Soon, the Chief Counsellor and the Head Nurse would be there, along with the rest of the Senior Staff...

OOC: Pardon, made some corrections with the pronouns. They are my rash when writing this char...

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #119 –
[ Deck 01 | Captain's Ready Room ]

When Jien spoke of business first, it appeared like his more personal thoughts were to be shelved, due to the need to keep focused on the job.  That part, however, proved more easily resolved then expected, given her knowledge was basically no different then his.  It left a void in conversation for a little, until she finally addressed the previous matter more fully.

Ives spoke of things that went beyond Nathan's realm of understanding, dealing with metaphysics and philosophy best left to scholars, rather then to fighter pilots with a penchant for impulsiveness.  At the transformation into Jien's chosen male form, there was a surge of discomfort from Nathan.  It was the first time since they were intimate that he had seen that form, which only served to remind him that Jien wasn't like any woman he had been with before.  As a strictly heterosexual male, there was something troubling to his mind that the woman he made love to that morning could also take the form he now saw in front of him.

With the question of what he would have done, given the same circumstance that Jien went through, Nathaniel's eyes moved to the floor, looking for answers he could not entirely find.  "I can't answer that question because it isn't within my perspective.  I have an identity; one forged by my gender, my genetics, and my given appearance.  I can't know what it was like to grow as you did.  You ask me if I would seek to explore duality, but with the life I have lived, I can say that I would be the person standing in front of you.  I'm sure in my younger years, I would have played with such a power; used it for skirt chasing, to take the form which appealed most to the women I desired.  As time went on, I think I would have been more confident in who I am, and like you, no longer feel the need for such experimentation."

Speaking with Jien always felt like he was trying to solve a riddle with no right answer.  She pushed him to think through things he never thought he would have been talking about before.  For many Vulcans, the idea of discussing such things might have been intriguing, but the half-blood didn't inherit traits like patience and his analytic abilities were limited to the cockpit of his fighter for the most part.

She offered him a chance to question further, with the risk of not gaining another chance until the end of the crisis.  Before he even knew it, he said it aloud.  "Do you think you will always want that duality?"  Did she foresee a time when she might have wished to be a singular gender?  Though their relationship was hardly strong enough to warrant it, would a continuing forging of their bonds make her wish to just be the woman in front of him?  What existed between them wasn't committed, but since they were dealing in questions, a "what if" scenario seemed something to pose.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #120 –
[ Deck 01 | Captain's Ready Room ] Attn: Nathaniel Isley, Jovela and Garen Nelis

Hearing Isley depict how he would use abilities akin to hers whilst growing up did cause Jien to stifle a faint chuckle. The pilot was obviously embellishing his answer with jesting about the advantages that said abilities entailed in relation to adolescent conquests. She had not expected an answer to begin with, since she rarely got any other kind of answer than Isley's: that was impossible to imagine such a life that she had led, or even know what kind of person they would have become.

When the question came, it was not one of jocular nature. No, it was quite serious. Jien, however, had her answer readily at hand. Still, she might have a suggestion...

"I suppose I would be a fool to say 'never', yet I cannot see any kind of reason why I would forsake one half of my physical identity." Jien stood at arms length from the pilot, her arms still folded, and her eyes unblinking as they looked up into his. She hoped her words would illustrate just how much her Chosen Forms meant to a Chameloid. She wondered if the question had been voiced due to his discomfort with her other form. Moreover, she wondered if the question entailed interest in something a bit more serious than 'regular basis'. She could, of course, not know, so she moved on to tell him about her suggestion, for it was certainly not the first time she had been in this kind of situation.

"I tell you what, Mr. Isley," she said, realising that they had somehow never come to reach first-name-basis just yet. She smiled quietly to him where she stood. "I am well versed in particular set-ups when it comes to my changing form. In order to facilitate this situation, both in regards to our duties and positions, as well as what have happened between us, I suggest the following: In all dealings duty-related where you are attending, I will be wearing my male form. Yet in all manner of private dealings with you, every time the two of us are off duty and meet like this, I will be wearing this form. This will also help to show you when I deem it is fitting that we indulge ourselves in whatever may lay between us."

She lifted a hand to rub some dirt off his cheek with her thumb, looking at his skin as she spoke. "If it would help you... if it would allow you to cope with seeing my other form, you might even try and tell yourself I am two different individuals... Alas, that is all I can offer you."

After he had replied to her suggestion, the chime of the door rang, and Jien glanced that way.

"I suppose that was all the time we had," she said and looked down as she stepped away from him - her fingertips trailing down his jaw before they left him.

With her back turned to Isley as she walked to her desk, she changed... to his male form, and he folded his arms behind his back before saying the word.

"Enter."

When his face turned towards the sliding doors, the burden lay yet again heavily upon his brow.

OOC: Garen and Jovela, welcome up to the Bridge! Grayson's guards have now beamed down the people on the Bridge to the Brig and successfully beamed you up with Thea's help. These guards have also told you that the Captain is in his Ready Room in wait for the Senior Staff to arrive, so feel free to report in. Btw, as soon as I know the fate of the First Officer and the rest on Deck 04, I will be opening Chapter V. Until then, there are still a few loose ends to tie up, I'd imagine. PM me if you have any questions!

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #121 –
==Deck 4==

Natalie felt herself getting lifted up. She was grateful for the stability offered by Grayson while she got her feet about her. She paused for a moment though, recalling the XO's orders to get to the bridge no matter what. No, I can't just leave her. Besides, the LtCmdr outranks me, and he wants to go find her so...

"Aye aye, sir." she responded, banishing the internal debate.

Natalie shook her hand for a moment, then grabbed her phaser. Her fingers were still sore, but she could hold the phaser just fine.

Still shakey, the ops officer moved slower then she might otherwise have given the urgency. The sweat had cooled against her skin since she'd stopped her sprint, and she shivered slightly. "The junction is about 150 meters down the hall..."

OFF: guess now we wait and see if the XO is there or not....

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #122 –
Why did it matter so much to him?  Even Nathaniel himself wasn't certain why he was feeling fixated on the idea that Jien would only wish to be in the form that was appealing to him.  Was it just his ego going a bit out of control?  He had to square away such thoughts, and keep focused on the task at hand.  Her suggestion of using the form as something of a switch, in which her female form signified to him a willingness for some kind of relations between them, seemed an idea he could get behind.  Most women had subtle signals, but hers would be much louder and much more clear then any other woman he had ever known.  It was a literal transformation.

With the sound of a chime at the door, he quickly nodded in agreement, letting her know he favored her idea, just moments before her form changed to note it was time for them to get down to business.  In anticipation for the people who would soon be gathering, Nathan moved away from the door, giving more space for those soon to be joining them in the ready room, as the senior staff assembled for it's meeting.  He was to represent his entire division, causing him to stand up straight, as if looking to show more of a professional attitude, though he was sure he would still end up thinking more with his impulses then with Vulcan logic.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #123 –
[Deck 4] Attn: Natalie Stark, Neotins

With Amatras and Arcorn flanking them, David walked alongside Natalie as they started making their way back in the direction from which the Ops officer had come. Their progress was slow, partly because Grayson knew Stark was still shaken up, and partly because he didn't want them to get ambushed by anyone because they weren't paying attention.

He kept the butt of his phaser rifle pressed back against his shoulder, but he had the barrel lowered, his eyes scanning the dimly lit corridor as he walked. He hoped Commander Nerina was alright; the last thing they needed right now was to lose the ship's XO.

Though Natalie had managed to steady her breathing, David's enhanced hearing could hear the young woman's heart pounding in her chest. Without glancing her way, he calmly addressed the lieutenant. "Try to calm down, Lieutenant," said the Chief of Security quietly. "I need you focused. We don't know what sort of trouble we might find around the next corner." As if he'd just reminded himself of their situation, Grayson quickly checked the charge on his phaser rifle. While he was aware that the weapon had plenty of energy left, the familiar action help him stay calm himself.

"Are you feeling any better?" he added, briefly glancing at Natalie.

[Deck 1 - Bridge] Attn: Jien Ives, Nathaniel Isley, Jovela

The blue shimmer of the transporter beam faded away, leaving the Theurgy bridge in its wake. Garen smiled at the sight. While the last few hours down on Niga had been rather memorable, it was good to be back on the ship.

He glanced to his side to make sure Jovela had made it, too, and grinned at her before one of the security guards caught his attention. "Welcome back, sir, ma'am," the guard said, nodding to both Garen and Jovela. "Captain Ives is in her ready room, she left orders for all Senior Staff to report to her as soon as they reached the bridge."

Garen nodded. "Thank you, Ensign," he replied before making his way over to the Captain's ready room. As he arrived at the door, Garen sensed two minds on the other side, both filled with conflicted emotions. "I hope we're not interrupting anything," the Betazoid murmured to Jovela before ringing the door chime.

The captain granted permission to enter, and Garen stepped into the room once the doors had slid open. "Captain, reporting as ordered," he said with a nod, noting that Ives was now in his male form. He must have shifted forms after the security guard had last seen him. That's interesting, the counselor thought.

He saw someone else standing behind Captain Ives, and he smiled at the man. "It's Lieutenant...Isley, isn't it?" Garen recognized the pilot's face from his psychological profile, but he'd yet to meet any of the Wolfpack in person.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Chapter IV - Apprehension]

Reply #124 –
[Deck 1 - Captain's Ready Room] Attn: Nathaniel Isley, Jovela, Garen Nelis

It was indeed the Chief Counsellor and the Head Nurse that had arrived first, and Jien smiled faintly to them in greeting as he inclined his head.

"Welcome back aboard, Lieutenants," he said quietly, and while he had previous experience working with Garen from the Vendetta, he had not yet had the pleasure to be properly acquainted with the Ship's Head Nurse beyond the commonplace introductions. Dr. Nicander was the one working closest with the Risan woman, and he had merely been reporting that there were no concerns with his staff in Sickbay. At first glance, the woman appeared to be perfectly... Risan, with all that it entailed.

After the cursory pleasantries had been exchanged, the Captain had seated himself behind his desk - his calloused hands folded upon the desktop. "Mr. Isley will be representing Tactical Conn, given how the SCO has failed to report in. Most likely, Commander Jaru is no longer one of us, but fallen victim to the epidemic. Likewise, Thea has informed me that Arcorn Neotin from Engineering will be attending us, since Chief Petty Officer Kalmil had yet to leave Sickbay before the outbreak." Jien's oaken eyes shifted to the Nurse, as if to confirm the fact that Chief Engineer Nolak had yet to recuperate from his valiant efforts of restoring equipment from Deck 08. Most likely, until proven otherwise, he had also fallen victim to the virus. "Equally, our new Conn Officer, Lt. Lance, is missing... along with 'Commander Hendricks and Edena Rez. 'Lieutenant Natalie Stark reported that Hendricks died in the line of duty, and as the Asst. Chief of Operations, she will be taking his place."

Grimly, Jien considered what might be worse; that his loyal and trustworthy COps had died, or that Edena Rez - with all her knowledge about how to best cripple their ship - might have been infected and stood against them.

"I understand that you two have been down to the planet during the night," he said, moving on to practical matters, wishing to know whether they had experiences that would shed some further light upon what was going on. "I am sure Commander Grayson have filled you in somewhat about what is going on, yet I still wish to know how it was you ended up on Niga and what prevented you from communicating with the ship afterwards. Also, I have personally seen how those infected have been beaming down women to the Planet's surface. This makes me wonder if you noticed anything whilst you were down there, or if you have any psychological or medical explanation - or guess - as to why the contaminated crew seeks to do such a thing... beside their common activities. "

As an afterthought, Jien gestured for them all to be seated with a grease-covered hand, since they were still waiting for the rest of the Senior Staff. While he listened to the answers, he opened his computer console and and checked the Bridge functions - making sure that their auto-piloted course around the planet had not been affected by the lack of Bridge personnel. Whatever little he had to correct, he did from there with some written strings of commands to the Ship AI.

[Deck 4] Attn: Natalie Stark, David Grayson

Amatras Neotin's thouhts strayed to their daughter, hoping that she would make it to the top of the ship safely. Like any mother, she considered that her poor child might be dehydrated after hiding in Sickbay the whole night.

Observing the the path behind them with their rifles raised, the Ash'reem mates looked as much backwards as they glanced ahead - only half-listening to the brief conversation taking place between Mr. Grayson and the Ms. Stark. Their hearing was more than good - even out of water - but the 'hum' of the ship did cause to overide the finer nuances that they might have been able to pick up.

Like for instance, the appearance of a dazed and confused Ensign Hannah Slaverton, designated Wolf 04 in the fighter squadron. She came out of an intersection upon wobbly legs just behind them - uniform cut and hanging askew.

Her smooth face was sprinkled with Human reproduction fluids. Amatras could tell this just as easily as she could detect the assault of the alien pheromone suddenly filling the corridor. Every indication in her appearance and demeanour suggested that she had been raped and thus one of current opposition... yet the Human seemed to be barely aware of them, so both Amatras and Arcorn stayed their trigger fingers long enough for the woman to whisper something through her parted lips.

"Where did he go..?" came the echo of her voice, "How could he leave me without fucking me as well..? Adam? Adam..? Anyone..? Can anyone please fuck me?" That was when the pilot saw the group, and something unnaturally wanton filled her vacant eyes - looking at Arcorn and David's bodies. "Hi... Oh, Please... I am dying for it... Can you not make me feel good? Can you no-"

Arcorn shot her down, and she slumped to the deck  - lying there sprawled out in her ruined uniform.

However, the sound of the phaser raised a call from the other end of the corridor - cheering voices and laughter, along with the first burst of discharged weapons coming their way. Amatras and Arcorn barely had time to turn around on their flexible legs until they had to throw themselves down on the floor. Raising her voice, she called to the others. "Might I suggest we take another way?"

She was unable to say -  in the heat of the moment - how many awaited them ahead.
 
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