Ley Lines
Posted on Thu Mar 5th, 2026 @ 1:58am by Lieutenant JG Rowan Hale & Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Jenna Ramthorne & Commander Dean House & Lieutenant Commander Thriss Kla'ren & Lieutenant Commander Aurora Vali & Lieutenant JG Jacob Rosen & Lieutenant JG Olivia Voight & Lieutenant JG T'Lar & Commander Jennifer Baldric & Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell & Lieutenant Leo Da'Cinci
Edited on on Thu Mar 5th, 2026 @ 5:12am
3,457 words; about a 17 minute read
Mission:
Beholder
Location: Skygowen / Vadia 9
Sunfire Bridge
Captain Kaylen strode out of sickbay, released for light duties but intent on heading for the bridge. She stopped by her quarters, changed, wincing as the movement pulled the freshly mended muscle and skin. Sarah was right, she'd be sore for a few days.
"Alright team, where are we at?" She asked as the turbolift doors to the Sunfire's command centre opened before her.
"Team 1 has the device in place on Skygowan, we're currently enroute to Vadia 9 so the second team can put their device in place and send these buggers to eternal loopsville once and for all" Jennifer quipped.
Aurora sat in her seat simply observing the conversation, for now Batel was stable, she didn’t like breathing down patients necks hence why she had left sickbay to return to the bridge.
Dean glanced over to Nora a moment and then back. Setting up a number of contingency plans in place at least for his die. A lot of it had to do with theoretical scenarios if any of them got on board.
The other set had to do with any other hostiles that were to try to sweep in on Team Two. Team One should be alright with them gone at the moment. "Apologies by the way with the Gate, Nora. I miscalculated the yield dispersal. I know, we'll talk about it later." Dean paused a second, "The difficulty will depend on what scans we get once we get to Vadia 9. We won't know to much until we're in long sensor range."
Rhenora got comfortable in the command chair and reviewed the latest data. T minus 4 hours 30 minutes. They had time.
"Review that with the last known scans of the area. It's the best we've got until we get closer"
"Plugging historical scan data into the predictive algorithm suite Captain. The model will try its best to flag pertinent information. Also diverting some extra bandwidth to the long range scanning array." Jacob said, complying with the order immediately.
"Don't just rely on the computer and rely on yourself also, Lieutenant." Dean shot Jacobs way. "We're always more intuitive than a computer."
"Aye Commander." Jacob replied, taking a moment to bring up the data to his immediate Ops screens. He could do this, rely on his own abilities. It was one thing to talk about continuing to move forward, now it was time to do it. Here, right now, this meant trusting himself.
The Sunfire continued at high warp, the stars streaking past the viewscreen as they headed towards Vadia IX. Rhenora noted a distinct shift in energy as they approached the prison planet, now basically just the prison itself, shrouded in a bubble of atmosphere, with two gateways. Rhenora was astounded once again, having reviewed the original data. This once was a planet, no... it wasn't. All due to the woman currently in Sickbay, who, for all intents and purposes, didn't want to do it again.
"Time?" Kaylen asked after a while, the coffee Ronson had brought out going cold beside her.
"ETA 3 hours" came the reply from the rear of the bridge.
Rhenora felt a strange anxiety, as though a weight had settled on her shoulders. They had to pull this off, Patin had said that things go very badly if they don't. She needed contingency.
" Commander, you have the bridge, I need to talk to Captain Batel"
Dean shifted from where he was and got in the way of Rhenora's steps. His voice quiet, "Have you read the redacted reports about this? I should have gotten more involved before now, I'm coming with you to talk to her." Stepping to the side.
"I welcome your input" Rhenora said honestly, stepping aside and allowing him to walk beside her to the turbolift.
Side by side worked for him. Dean waited until the doors closed, and Sickbay was called. "I could go into a lot of boring stuff. I know what happened last time, and it requires a replacement."
"A replacement? Explain, there is no replacement unless you're stashing a hundred and fifty year old starship captain human gorn hybrid up your jacket." Rhenora retorted as the lift began to descend.
Dean leaned against the back of the Turbolift, "You know we have all we need. I may to be seen as a neanderthal sometimes, unless people get to know me. We have all we need in Sickbay."
Instead of beating round the bush, Dean just spit it out, "All of the genetic material required is in Captain Batel. The only issue is, how to work out a gene sequencer, akin to well..my genetics and see if it takes, if not, the volunteer will die..maybe."
"You are volunteering?!?!" The words came out faster than she had anticipated. Then she paused, becoming contemplative. "What if you worked together....only if absolutely necessary...to contain them. Not stay there permanently."
"Not completely, but if it came to it. It's not like I'd be dead. Also I was saying, there might be other capatabilities with others as well. I just know mine would work the best, or mabe as a base line to introduce Batel's into." Dean stepped back from the Turbolift wall. "I should like to find a different way. The working together could be plausible. We can see what we come up with when we talk to Batel."
"For the record, I still think this is nuts." Kaylen declared as the turbolift slid to a stop and the doors opened.
"Welll...." Dean uncharacteristicly patted the top of Nora's head as he passed by her and out of the Turbolift, "That's why we think and you look pretty." Piercing his lips together, knowing she was going to get him for that one. Now, or later.
She bristled but gave no reaction. Time and place for the most opportune of come backs would avail itself accordingly.
Sunfire Sickbay
Rowan stood at the central diagnostic console, Batel’s cortical trace displayed in steady bands of light across the screen. The harmonic cascade had collapsed without resurgence. Neural activity was remaining stable.
He adjusted the harmonic filter by a fractional degree, watching for variance. “Any residual feedback?” he asked without looking away. "Report immediately if the pattern shifts.”
He finally allowed himself a measured breath before glancing toward the doorway Kaylen had exited through earlier. “Kaylen has returned to the bridge,” he noted to no one in particular
It wasn't approval. Just an acknowledgment. “If Captain Batel’s neural pattern shifts, I want immediate notification.”
"Aye Doctor" Sarah replied, currently restocking medkits in case the inevitable crisis happened. She nodded to Olivia to undertake the monitoring.
Somewhere deep inside Batel's mind, the storm brewed, the dread escalated, and her fate drew near.
Olivia nodded back in acknowledgement and moved towards the monitors to check them. She wanted to see the current status of things and make any needed notes before anything else happened.
"You'll get to know the Captain and her...intricacies. she does have a habit of ummmm doing that" Sarah quipped, referring to the ship's CO.
Skygowen ET1
Jenna stood at the edge of the ruined dais where the gateway once rose in impossible geometry, her gaze tracing the circular void cut into stone and skyline alike. The plaza carried the sounds of rebuilding, yet this space held a quieter gravity, as though memory lingered in the fractured columns and fused pavement.
Skygowen had once lifted its face to the Vezda in reverence, had named them gods and shaped its faith around their passing through that aperture. Generations ago the devotion had turned inward and brutal, followers carving out their own eyes as proof of loyalty, believing blindness brought them closer to whatever divinity waited beyond the light.
The legacy endured in art, in ritual, in the way some elders still tilted their heads as though listening for voices that never returned. Now the gateway lay erased from the horizon, its absence brighter than its presence had ever been.
Jenna folded her hands behind her back, considering the arc of belief that had begun in wonder and ended in confinement on a prison world.
Beside her, Leo shifted his weight and gave the scar a thoughtful look. “Spirits linger in this place,” he said with easy conviction.
Jenna allowed the faintest curve of acknowledgment. “Then they will have to learn new stories,” she replied, eyes steady on the open sky where nothing waited to answer.
Rynn walked up aside her colleagues quietly. She was in awe of the sight that was before her. She could not wait to rub the sight of Skygowan to Thriss, even if he was still seeing something just as incredible, despite being dangerous.
Vadia IX ET2
Engineering Team Two, or ET2 was busy preparing themselves for the deployment of the second unit on Vadia. Bonnie, ever present, was more mentally preparing herself by walking a circular pattern around the cargo bay, talking to herself as she went over and over the plans, despite now knowing them by heart.
For Bonnie, it was the timing and sequencing that had her unnerved. There were too many things that could go wrong, and to her credit she had tried hard to think of them all, even many of the off the wall options. Little did she know what she was truly going to have to face once they reached the Prison boundaries.
5 Hours was a long time to have to wait.
Jennifer arrived an hour before they were due at Vadia 9, providing assistance for any last minute prep.
"I think we all know what's at stake here. And I know you're all ready to do your best, that's all we can ask."
Thriss, who had entered the room just a few minutes prior to make sure that the equipment they were taking was in order, nodded with a professional smile. He was rocking an engineering variant of a tactical vest. It wasn't completely necessary, but still good to have just in case.
Silently walking up and standing next to Thriss, Bonnie whispered out of the side of her mouth, "Should, um, I be ready for a fire-fight, Commander?" She was questioning his use of the tactical vest for what she had only considered an Engineering expectations.
"It is possible there could be one given what we know about the Vezda" he looked down and up again. Thriss didn't know why Bonnie asked, but he assumed it was because he was using the vest. "The vest is more for engineering related duties. It allows me the extra space for components."
Sickbay - T minus 2 hours 45 minutes
The short distance to Sickbay after the Turbolift, the Chief Tactical Officer and Captain came through the doors. Those of which lightly shifting behind them as they closed.
Dean looked to her, and then for where the Doctor and Batel would be.
" Doctor, is Captain Batel stable enough to go down to the planet" She approached the CMO who was sitting in his office discussing with Olivia about something. The Bajoran's voice was quiet, so only they could hear her question.
Rowan's gaze shifted briefly to the cortical display, watching the steady neural bands for several seconds before returning to Kaylen.
“Structurally, she is stable,” he said quietly. “There is no active harmonic cascade. No neural destabilization. That does not mean there is no risk.”
He stepped out from behind his desk, closing the distance slightly so the conversation remained contained.
“If she is exposed to the Vezda directly, we may see a sympathetic resonance response.” A beat. “It could remain manageable. Or it could escalate. If you are asking whether she is medically capable of standing on that surface.. yes. If you are asking whether I recommend it..” He let that hang.
" This is gonna sound crazy, but I have word that this attempt to put the Vezda into an eternal Moebius loop isn't going to work as well as we think it is. I need Batel to come with me to the surface in case we need her to contain/manipulate them. The alternative is that they get free and we all become hosts" Rhenora said simply, pausing to let that sink in for a bit.,
“I see.” His eyes shifted briefly toward Batel’s readings, then back again. “If the alternative is uncontrolled exposure…” He took a measured breath. "Then controlled proximity is the lesser risk. She goes under continuous cortical telemetry. And she makes this decision herself.”
"She will make the decision herself" Kaylen agreed, but then nodded to House who was standing next to her. "Dean has a contingency plan he would like your input into. I'm.not happy with it personally but if it means he can assist Captain Batel should the need arise...." she let the words fall around those near to her.
"It's not going to be exactly easy." Dean leaned to get a nearby PaDD. Tapping along it, and focused. It was his idea's for the plan that he told Rhenora about. There were some specifications in the specifics of genetic manipulation, micro-biology, various other fields. They were all about grad school level; except for the genetics, for good reason.
Dean passed that to their PaDDs and moved over to where Batel was.
Rhenora lingered for a moment with Hale. "We're two hours out of Vadia, can this be done, safely in that time?" She asked carefully, looking for where Dean was approaching Batel.
Rowan watched the data scrolling across the padd. “We can initiate the procedure within two hours. But ‘safe’ is a relative term in this scenario.” His gaze shifted briefly toward Batel, then back to Kaylen. “I can minimize the risk. I cannot eliminate it.”
Dean raised an eyebrow, "Aren't we suppose to have a conversation about this first? It's not like pulling straws. There's other ways this could potentially work."
“This is the conversation." Rowan answered calmly. “No procedure proceeds without informed consent. No contingency activates without full disclosure. But we do not have the luxury of debating hypotheticals for an hour. You proposed a solution. I am determining whether it is survivable.”
"On your word" Rhenora said quietly, then moved closer to Batel who was sitting on the biobed regarding them with a curious expression.
"Here it comes, you need me in case they get out" Marie eyeballed Kaylen with the honest truth.
"We do, but you won't be alone. I will be with you and we are working on getting Commander House genetically modified to assist you if necessary. Our plan is to still use the Moebius loop, you're the contingency" Rhenora explained.
"Not my first idea to do it myself, mind you, but I am the most compatible, and we don't have time to check the entire crew for someone else that is." Dean gave a nod, "So here we are. Though I do need to know any specifics you left out of the redacted logs, Captain."
"My logs were redacted? And wait...genetic modification is allowed now?" Batel raised her eyebrows in surprise. "It was illegal before...the eugenics wars...Khan....it was all illegal. Then they used it on me, it saved my life. Perhaps the rules were reviewed after that" her legal mind kicked into gear.
"So you're already genetically modified, and you're gonna add my crazy combination to the mix?'
"I'm sure they had reasons for certain specifics to be kept quiet, which, I understand why now." Dean shook his head, "It's still pretty much outlawed. My situation was similar to yours and it has been known about mine. There was..leniency." He paused a split second. "I would rather not, to be honest, but hopefully it can be reversed also."
"The guts of it is, Gorn embreyo, Illyrian plasma, Chimera blossom to fix it all together, and a Vulcan mind meld to manage the pain. It got....very painful" Batel admitted. "I'm sure your fancy doctors can work their magic with that"
"Which we have none of those within reach, which is why we have to.."Glancing to Jacob, "If I have this right, extract those seperate genome sequences from your DNA and splice them into mine." There was actually a slight smirk that came across his face, "Of course there has to be pain. One way or another, it will be fine. It's for the greater good and to save not only others, but family, right."
"So you're talking almost cloning? Wow, ok" Marie took a moment to process that. "What if you go off the rails like I did at the first sight of the Vezda? I had no control, it was almost instinctual"
He shrugged, "I don't know. That's why I asked you to fill in the blanks. Lost control..hmm.." Dean's eyes shifted just a little bit to the deck. Looking back up he smiled, "I won't promise anything, but I think I can keep it in check? If not, I suppose we could fit me with something that will knock me out at the touch of a button. We certainly don't want me of all people loose on a killing rampage."
He didn't really figure he needed to go into specifics of what his modifications were, the crew already knew what he was capable of. Dean also knew that whatever they came up with to drop him was more than warranted.
"When you say 'lost control' was it only in proximity to and directed at the Vezda?" Rhebora asked gently, knowing this line of questions could be upsetting to Marie.
"I think so, all I remember is this red haze and a desire to kill it. Makes sense in hindsight but it was pretty scary" Batel continued.
"So if we genetically modify Dean here with your DNA, he should be able to help you, should we need it. I'm still banking on Plan A working and not needing plan B. Are you ok with that?" Rhenora regarded everyone in the room. It wasn't her decision directly, nor entirely Batel's.
Batel nodded, understanding that she wasn't alone, nor did she have sole responsibility for wrangling the beast. That - she could deal with.
Transporter Room - Arrival at Vadia 9
Vadia IX rose from the velvet sweep of space like a scar that had never softened. Its surface held the color of old iron and cooled ash, continents etched in angular ridges that suggested design rather than erosion. From orbit, faint currents of energy traced invisible geometries across the crust, ley lines bending light into subtle distortions that shimmered at the edge of sensor resolution.
The prison complex marked the planet’s dominant feature, a vast circular depression surrounding the well at its heart, architecture arranged with deliberate symmetry as though the world itself had been drafted around containment. Even the magnetosphere seemed disciplined, its auroral bands forming restrained arcs that pulsed in measured cadence.
As the Sunfire drew closer, the sensation shifted from observation to participation. Instruments registered harmonic undertones threading through subspace, rhythmic and patient, like a system in perpetual calibration. The remains of the gateway structure lay fused into vitrified stone near the perimeter, a reminder that transit here required permission granted on the planet’s terms.
Light refracted differently across the prison basin, bending in subtle gradients toward the central well, where gravity held a fraction tighter than planetary mass alone could justify. Arrival felt like crossing a threshold that had long anticipated company.
Right before the team were due to beam down, Kaylen and Batel walked in, side by side, red and gold. Everyone knew it was the 'Just in case' failsafe. Dean was a step behind.
Leave it to Dean to break the ice, or cut the fog with a butter knife it was that thick. "Once more unto the breach."
Rhenora rolled her eyes and said nothing, Batel giving a bemused expression at the exchange.
"Wait! Wait, wait wait!" Dean turned around and ran out of the Transporter Room. It took a minute or two but the doors opened again. Dean stepping back in with the Star Spangled Banner Shield on his back. "Almost jinxed the whole damn thing." Stepping up onto the pad.
Aurora followed on in, she was doing what she could to be there for Batel for needed.
The prison was cold, open as she had left it. The Vezda screeched within the well, ready for their next escape. They had been growing stronger, and closer to achieving their goal with each attempt, hence her weakening. Batel shuddered, drawing a shaky breath and focused herself on what was about to happen. It was crunch time.
TBC
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