=/\= Kinsi - Deck 11 =/\= Xenai and Gaalen, deep in discussion, moved off and Rangi turned her attention to the tricorder Acheson had 'acquired'. It was damaged from being dropped on the floor, but she hoped it would work well enough to be useful. He looked at the instrument. "Sorry about that. They scared the hell out of me when one of them jerked. I dropped it and phasered the little bastard," he said, clearly growing impatient with the station and the situation. "I was hoping to scan for a concentration gradient of C-13," she replied, without looking at him, but tapping at the tricorder and frowning in concentration. "This isn't working ..." She gave a sigh of annoyance and looked up to see him watching her. "The ratio of carbon 13 to carbon 12...its probably different here than on the ship...if we can establish that fact...and scan for differences...then we just 'might' be able to locate Chimera crew. Its a long shot though," she added returning her attention to the instrument she held. Acheson nodded. "Sounds good. Unless there is some radiation source on this ship that irradiates Carbon 12 ... but then again it would damage our DNA and we'd have noticed something by now. Let's go with your plan." He pointed forward on the deck and gestured with his hands, infantry-style, that they should move forward from that position. Rangi walked a half pace behind Nathan, glancing at him thoughtfully and remembering his description of the Borg Drones he had imagined. She glanced back. The Luggage was keeping pace with them, following a dozen or so steps behind. Rangi looked at Nathan and the phaser he held ready. {I hope he doesn't imagine any more of them} she thought {...he seems really trigger happy.} Acheson smiled, hoping that something would appear. He clutched his phaser like a child might do so for a toy and aimed it forward steadfast. Anything that appeared within his field was going to be hit, if its intentions were hostile. He was indeed quite trigger happy. The service in the ODA taught him to shoot first and ask questions later and this lesson lingered to him in his tactical post. "Do you think they know we're here?" he asked. Rangi gave the tricorder a sharp whack with her knuckles and blinked in surprise when it activated. "Possibly," she said beginning to tap in numerous commands. Glancing up at Nathan she added.."..well of course they dot least..the section we're in....but if this keeps going.." she indicated the tricorder "..we might have a fair chance of evading them..AND finding who we're looking for." Nathan smiled. He didn't seem to be hallucinating. Perhaps his mind was so badly flooded with emotion that he didn't have time to see the Borg images again. Athena sensed as well as saw a couple of shadowy figures coming around a bend in the hallway. {Quick!! Hide!!} she thought to herself and pulled the blanket tighter around herself. She tried to make herself look small as she sat on the bottom of the cart. Nathan went first around the bend, looking carefully for any resident security officers. "We're clear. Which direction do the results tell you to go?" The corridor broke into 2 passageways, one to the right and one of the left. In another time and place, this situation might even be poetic. A few moments passed. Nathan fidgeted impatiently watching Rangi consult the tricorder. "Left!" She said, looking up and along the corridor. "Along there." Acheson nodded and moved down the corridor precariously, before calling out: "Is anyone down there? This is Acheson!" His calling out down the corridor was probably a stupid maneuver, as it might give security teams information about his location. But they couldn't search forever and the damaged tricorder wouldn't be accurate enough to find someone hiding. At the sound of the loud deep voice, Athena startled and caused the cart to roll a little further into the hallway. Her heart rate increased and its thunderous sound filled her ears. She peeked out of the blanket and saw a couple standing not far away. They seemed familiar, but Athena couldn't think why. Noticing a slight movement in the seemingly innocent cart a little ahead of them, Rangi whispered "Lieutenant". Nathan turned quickly at the sound and saw Rangi look up from studying the tricorder. "There's something there," she whispered, indicating the cart by an apprehensive look. Nathan followed her line of sight. Acheson fired at the cart, his brinkmanship clearly evident. The phaser was absorbed on the metal surface and nothing happened. Athena remained undecided about whether to move or not so she stayed where she was. Her heart had calmed some and she could sense tension that went a long with life and death. She huddled in her blanket as a couple of tears slid down her cheek and her head began to ache again. Security alarms sounded as the phaser fire caused the alarms to be activated. "Oh shit!" Acheson called out and he ran over to the cart's origin. "If you want to leave, show yourself; We have to move!" he called out, to the unknown figure in the darkness. Rangi stepped forward hesitantly and then, as Nathan approached the cart, aiming his phaser at a cowering shape inside, she hastened her steps. "Don't fire," she said quietly, touching his arm as she spoke. She bent down nearer the figure. "Its ok...we won't hurt you...please come out..its quite safe." She glanced up at Nathan and back to the figure. Athena poked her head out of the blanket and looked up at Rangi and Nathan. They seemed familiar and she felt that she usually trusted them. The alarm going off hurt her head even more. Her one eye was almost swollen shut and it was the eye she kept on them. She sensed danger. "They're coming," she said quietly and continued, "which way.?" She wasn't thrilled about having to trust the pair in front of her but she felt safer with them than with what she sensed coming their way. Rangi stood up and helped Athena to her feet, noticing the swollen eye and general wariness of the counselor but she pushed both concerns aside at Athenas warning. "This way" she replied, glancing at Acheson."We have to do to the outer docking ring" The three of them started jogging off with Rangi in the lead. Their time was up and they were heading to the rendezvous. Athena followed along behind Rangi with Nathan behind her. He kept checking the hallway behind them to make sure security hadn't caught up with them yet. {At least we found one} Rangi kept telling herself as they hurried towards their...hopefully...safe haven. {But whats happened to Shane...and the others?} Suddenly, a security officer appeared at the end of the corridor where they'd been a few moments before. "Halt!" she shouted to the running SSF members. "Keep going!" Acheson called out to the team, as he aimed his phaser, quite annoyed at what had happened. She fired at him first, barely missing his shoulder. He fired, striking the hand with which she carried her weapon and causing it to drop to the floor. He ran, catching up to the group in short order. "We gotta move!" They finally reached the door leading to the USS Pack Mule. Rangi, Athena and Nathan only waited a few moments before Gaalen and Xenai joined them. Rangi breathed out a sigh of relief as Athena held her throbbing head and Nathan checked the hallways. Rangi inserted the key card and they all entered the Pack Mule. =/\= End Log =/\= Lt. Athena Wellington Counselor & LtCmdr. Rangi Summers CMO & Lt. Nathan Acheson CTAC -- ___________________________________________________________ Sign-up for Ads Free at Mail.com http://promo.mail.com/adsfreejump.htm