Lt Commander Samantha Palmer Mission Specialist USS Chimera NCC 96899 = Brig After Samantha was secured in her cell by the two marines that brought her to the Brig, she sat down on the slender bed feeling drained and tired. She decided to lie down, and her head had scarcely touched the pillow before she fell asleep. In her dream, she was back at the Academy, second year. She sat in the flight simulator at the helm controls, practising for her flight training exam that was only a short day away. The young science cadet was determined to complete the last simulation in the syllabus, but success had been evading her for the past two weeks. The intense gravity wells near the end of simulation always pulled her shuttle in, and no matter what she tried, she could not evade them. “Damnit,” Samantha cursed under breath as once again as her shuttle ‘exploded’ in true simulator fashion. The computer gave the usual scoring readouts and requested whether she would like to retry or abort. She turned around in her chair and was about to leave when she saw a figure standing in the computer arch behind her. “Going somewhere?” A very young and handsome Nicolas Harker asked, his lean silhouette framed by the lights from the corridor beyond. “The timetable still has you clocked for another thirty minutes.” He stepped inside the holographic shuttle and the door behind him closed, making the arch disappear. “I’m done for today, sir… I can’t complete this mission,” she sighed, standing up from the chair. Cadet Harker was her ship simulator commander, and it was customary to address your simulator commander like you would an officer. Samantha never put much meaning into the word when address Nicolas, however. She found him to be arrogant and didn’t particularly care to pay him much courtesy. Along with that he had a reputation for being a player and had a different girlfriend every week. “Can’t or won’t,” he asked as she brushed past him. He looked curiously at the second year Cadet. As a science major, she was said to be very progressive and controversial in her research projects, always pushing the envelope and eager to explore new ideas. The word around campus was that she also had a natural flying ability, no doubt inherited from her late father, Captain Thomas Palmer. Nicolas knew she was taking advanced flight training (as a simulator commander, it was customary for him to know what the grades of his crew were), something very few people did outside of the flight majors and were actually good at. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” she retorted. “…sir.” Her day was getting worse by the minute and she had no desire to be questioned by a pretentious command cadet. “As a simulator commander, it’s my duty to help my crew if I can,” he replied smoothly, crossing his arms across his chest. “And since I’m a flight major, I thought I could give you a few tips. Seeing as you don’t seem to want my help, I guess I’ll just –“ “Wait,” Samantha said as he turned to leave, brushing a strand of hair from her face. She really wanted to pass the advanced flight course; it would make her father proud. “Okay, I do need some help… if you don’t mind.” “All right, Miss Palmer. Take a seat and start the mission the shuttle enters the Charybdis Corridor.” Samantha sat down in the chair and did as he told her, starting the mission at point before it entered the Charybdis Corridor. The blue, swirling haze the formed the corridor lured the shuttle menacingly into its trap. Flashes of bright light could be seen coming from either side of the shuttle as it was pulled into the small space between the large gravimetric distortions. “Now, close your eyes and forget you’re inside the shuttle. You know where all the controls are; keep your fingers on them.” At first she wasn’t sure what he wanted her to do, but she closed her eyes as he said, keeping her fingers on the controls. Suddenly she felt both his hands slide across hers, each finger resting lightly on hers. “Don’t think about what’s happening, feel it,” he said softly, his voice close to her right ear; she could feel his breath on her cheek. “Feel the way the shuttle is tempted by the distortions, and then let your instincts compensate; translate those instincts through your fingers and let them guide you through the corridor.” The shuttle shuddered slightly and Samantha lightly touched the console, guiding the shuttle where her body wanted it to go. Soon Nicolas’ presence melted away and his voice seemed to be in her mind, guiding her through the dangerous mission. She moved left and right, up and down, going faster, slowing down, all indicated by her gut feeling. Before she knew it, the computer announced that the shuttle had cleared the corridor. Samantha turned around and jumped out of her seat in excitement, nearly knocking him over. “Whoa,” he grinned. “You don’t have jump me… a mere ‘thank you’ would be enough.” “You’re such a pig!” she cried, shoving past him, the excitement of success seemingly forgotten, but as she left the holosimulator, Samantha had a smile on her face; whether it was from completing the mission or from Nicolas, she still wasn’t sure. Back in the Brig cell, a painful thud awoke the sleeping SSF agent. Opening her eyes, she found herself lying on the floor. Not sure what was happening, she got up and saw the marine guarding lying still on the floor. Above him, a ceiling plate had fallen down, exposing a dangerously eroded plasma node. Before she could react, the node exploded, flooding the entire room with brilliant flames. Samantha instinctively covered her eyes and fell to the floor, expecting the fire to engulf her, but luckily the Level 10 forcefield surrounding her cell remained intact. When she dared to look up, the field was shimmering wildly. The room beyond her cell was scorched almost beyond recognition, but the most disturbing was the gaping hole in the hull. An emergency forcefield was in place, keeping the room from decompressing, but for how long was the question. Samantha moved closer to the edge of the cell to get a clearer view of the room. She inadvertently touched the shimmering forcefield and it completely failed; apparently her delicate touch had been the last threshold for the exhausted field. Quickly getting out of the cell, she moved quietly to the steps that led up and out of the Brig, all the while keeping her eyes on the field covering the hull breach. What she only realised when she left the Brig was that the space she saw through the breach was clear… no red murky Marsh clouds, no swirling anomaly lights. The Chimera must have passed through it, but where they were was anyone’s guess. The security offices around her were empty, and Samantha moved quickly to get out of them before anyone found her missing. She wondered where Nicolas was and if she should try to contact him, but decided against it. The best idea now was to get a control panel so that she could find out what the hell was going on. =