Selective Abduction
Posted on Thu Jan 16th, 2025 @ 1:55pm by Commander Jenna Ramthorne & Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell & Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Commander Dean House & Lieutenant Commander Thriss Kla'ren & Lieutenant Commander Aurora Vali & 2nd Lieutenant Connor McQueen & Commander Jennifer Baldric & Lieutenant Commander Rynn Upland
Mission:
Ramant
Location: USS Sunfire
Timeline: Current
Ramant Ship
"Sir, we've been able to scan the interior and have determined a number of potentially viable subjects. We believe we can transport in under phase protection, tag those who suit our purpose and get out with minimal contact."
"Good. They will be disoriented and in their confusion we will slip away unnoticed. What of our initial trial subject?"
"We've located the subject however she is already currently with child. It will be difficult to use her again without waiting through her normal incubation period. We could always increase the incubation cycle but we do not yet know what that will do to the host."
"We may not get a second chance at this. Bring her anyway. Our need is too great to fail. Every viable subject must be obtained. And find the initial child. We must have the fruits of our labors."
"Sir, they've reduced their speed again. It's possible they've detected us."
"Then the time to move is now. Positions!"
At the masters command almost a hundred scientists utilizing a cloaking phase, boarded their transporter pads and prepared to board the Federation ship.
USS Sunfire
Even as she moved to reduce their speed to warp 2, suddenly the starfield outside the ship was reduced to a static field in front of them. The ship shuddered as the warp field was disrupted.
Jenna called out, her terminal lighting up like a Christmas tree “We're dropping out of warp…unauthorized transporter signals coming from numerous decks!” The alert klaxon sounded, just as individuals all over the ship began to simply disappear.
His heart raced, and his pulse quickened. The scene had unfolded in his mind’s eye with chilling precision. His instincts flared immediately, adrenaline pumping through his veins as the Sunfire shuddered under the sudden disruption of its warp field. He'd felt it—the unnatural sensation of a ship being torn from warp, and the moment it hit, he had already understood what it meant. Connor raised his rifle in a fluid natural motion to his shoulder and scanning the bridge for targets.. finding nothing.
Commander Jennifer Baldric remained seated, infusing everyone with a sense of order ad chaos appeared to want to descend upon them.
"Arm yourselves people" she ordered as one of the yeoman scurried to the bridge weapons storage. Damnit they'd only left space dock a few hours ago.
"All hands, intruder alert, defend yourselves!" She ordered through the ships comm system. She considered closing thr bulkheads to limit the enemy movement but the transporter signals had been registered as over multiple decks.
Jennifer looked around, the bridge already had an extra number of marine and security personnel, all units were mobilizing against this new unseen threat.
*********
Once onboard the scientists spread out, scanning devices and phase discriminating transporter tags in bags hanging from their shoulders. They worked in pairs, one scans, and at the nod, the other tagged with a device that enabled transport. The device would peirce any fabric and embed itself in the flesh of its target before going out of phase again, thus making it nearly impossible to remove.
Their main target were females of various species, however as young were located on board, the males who fathered the offspring were also tagged for research purposes. The crew of this vessel were aware of their beaming in but thankfully could not track them. The only thing many of them were aware of was the harsh biting sensation as the tag embedded itself in their flesh.
*******
Rynn moved hastily through the engineering hall as the engineering staff and security armed themselves. "Computer seal off main engineering and initiate a force-field around the warp core" she called out before moving to lock out various consoles to prevent them from being hacked.
"Aye Sir...Ma'am....sir" the staff stammered as they scurried around to secure the ship's systems. "Having trouble maintaining the static warp field, it's as though something is bleeding energy causing instability"
********
Aurora had risen from her seat to retrieve a phaser from the weapons locker, whoever or whatever was aboard the ship now had a more familiar feel to her. She frowned as she compared what she was now sensing. “Sidak?...” she looked towards Savar as she made her way back around to him. “Savar, the sensation is stronger now, it compares to what I felt when I was attacked, before I found out I was carrying Sidak!” Her eyes widened with concern, had Sidak’s people finally come for him? “The nursery! I have to get to Sidak!”
Bonnie was conversing with Engineering and was mid-sentence when she felt something pinch her skin. She barely got a glimpse of Dean's back, then everything went dark. She could hear voices, they were faint and unfamiliar. The air itself smelled different, almost medical in nature. As if someone had sterilized the air.
For his sake, Remal had just placed Patina back into her bassinet to rest. The morning feed had gone well, as did her rolly polly time on a blanket on the floor. Baby's needed their arms and legs massaged and stretched to prepare them for their early walking stages. As his backside fell into the couch, he felt a sharp bite upon his neck, and then darkness.
Something flashed in his mind, an echo of sorts, a fleeting thought summed up in one word.. females… Connor looked around the bridge to find the Captain, he moved swiftly and without hesitation. Reaching toward his chest before raising his left hand and placed it onto Kaylen’s shoulder trying to pull her back.
Deck by deck people were tagged, and then a few moments later vanished. The creatures worked their way around the Bridge on Deck 1, they tagged Aurora, then Savar after running scans and determining him as the father of her unborn child, a perfect couple to study. Baldric was on high alert but with nothing to fire at it was beyond frustrating to see her crew vanish before her eyes. Each person winced as though infected or bitten by something, then vanished. She rose as Aurora disappeared and had nearly reached Savar as he was transported away. Captain Kaylen slapped at her neck then vanished as well. Blood pounding in her ears Jennifer fought the panic. Everyone on the bridge who was taken was a parent...that meant she was safe, right? It was a wild assumption based on very little data. Until the bite, and then nothing.
Savar rose swiftly as Aurora said the feeling she had was the same as it was when she was attacked and stronger now and she needed to get to Sidak. He turned to get a phaser to defend her and the ship when she disappeared. "Aurora!" He called out just before he felt a bite at his neck and then nothing as he too disappeared from the bridge.
********
Back in engineering things were chaos. The comm with Bonnie had cut out and other engineers as well as security were disappearing. People were beginning to panic, but many were keeping there composure, at least trying to. Thriss taught them well.
Rynn watched the officer manning the console to monitor the warp field disappear and she moved quickly to take it over. She'd consider firing in that direction as it was against a wall, but she didn't want to risk hitting the core. She vaulted over the console, taking the risk of being abducted herself.
She was terrified but kept her composure. If the others saw her doing that, they'd do the same. Her hands flew over the console before an eps conduit in the opposite corner exploded. "Hunters, get to that conduit!" She called out over the chaos.
********
Connors mind instinctively calculated the most probable threat: the Sunfire had been infiltrated by an unseen enemy, mission: Protect the crew. He tapped his comm badge =/\= McQueen to Engineering do you have a status on the force fields? Can we contain them? =/\=
His eyes scanned the area—no signs of an intruder, no visible enemy. His grip tightened on his rifle. They had been tagged, marked, and now vanished. The attack had been surgical, precise, and coordinated.
It had been a breath taken, a moment, and just like that a quarter of the 475 crew members and civilians were simply gone. Jenna turned just as Savar disappeared. "Commander House, activate the shields. We've got to contain this, whatever it is." The shields were the first go to even though it was likely they were drained like the engine power. Her mind raced to understand who what where why and how.
Meanwhile in Sickbay Dr Wilson watched several staff and patients vanish. She held a tricorder in one hand and a phaser in the other. An odd look for a CMO. She remained untouched and after a few minutes there were no more abductions. "Sickbay to bridge, 8 people were just beamed out"
Back on the bridge the CMO's voice only added to the chaos. Everywhere there were reports of people missing. They needed someone to step up and lead them in the absence of the ships most senior officers.
"Upland to McQueen, I'm trying. Having problems keeping some of our engineering systems protected. I'll see if I can get some power redistributed up there" Rynn said over the comm before running around to various consoles like a cat with a case the zoomies under a bed. "Done. I was able to give you some power for the shields. It's not much, so use it wisely.
“Roger that, thank you.” Connor turned and walked over to Jenna, one of the few remaining on the bridge. “Whoever is taking the crew has to be taking them somewhere, there are no planets near enough to us that they can be beamed to, so we are looking for a ship. Nothing on sensors? I’m assuming they must be cloaked, we need a way to find it.”
Jenna took in the information while not letting the growing measure of frustration to eat at her. "They have to be close if they were able to sneak up and sap our power reserves like they did."
She tapped her badge again to speak with those remaining on the bridge. "Upland to bridge, who's the ranking officer up there?"
Ronson emerged with refreshments to find half the crew missing, rather than state the obvious he took the empty Ops station and got to work.
"Commander Ramthorne is the ranking officer on the bridge at the moment. Pending the location of Commander House whose location is unknown at this stage. Crew reports approximately one-quarter to one-third of the ship's population is missing. Unable to discern anything on sensors" He rattled off adrenaline coursing through his veins.
“Copy that,” she said before taking a look around engineering. “It looks as if things are dying down here, knock on wood. “Do we still have intruders?”
Ronson worked his panel. "I'm not detecting anything. No further reports of missing crew..."
"Commander Upland, before they have a chance to get away, can we emit a 360-degree tachyon burst? We might be able to see them, if only briefly enough to get a fix on their position." She was bouncing ideas hoping something she had seen in the past would work for them now.
"We can Commander" Rynn said before practically throwing herself at the center console in main engineering. She tapped furiously before bringing the correct systems online. "Ready. On your command Ma'am."
"Do it." Jenna ordered. It wasn't as flashy as a 'Make it so' but she didn't care in that moment. What she wanted right now was to have their people back.
Jenna now turned to Lt. McQueen, "Gather your people and do a deck by deck sweep. If we were able to get the shields up quick enough, I'm hoping we were able to trap our intruder on board. Internal sensors are useless, but a handheld should be able to 'see' someone under cloak. We need a bigger picture of who hit us and why. What were they after?" She asked out loud.
Connor’s expression hardened at the command, he knew the gravity of the situation all too well. His mind raced through tactics, considering every angle, as he nodded "Roger Commander" he replied, his voice steady but intense.
He instinctively reached up to tap his comm badge, forgetting that it was no longer there and turned to the young Marine who had been posted to the bridge, giving quick and precise directions for what the Commander had ordered. Deck by deck his Marines would move with efficiency, each one equipped with a handheld sensor designed to hopefully detect cloaked intruders. She left the bridge to carry out the orders as Connor turned back to Jenna. He didn’t want to leave the bridge unattended.
Jenna nodded to Connor for his dutifulness and expedience. Now they just had to wait for the tachyon surge to give them a picture on the sensors. If it provided anything traceable at all...
A blue hue emitted from the deflector array and before expanding outwards 360 degrees across the system.
Rynn spoke over the comm. "Burst is starting" she said before waiting a few moments. "Anything?"
Jenna looked from her own sensor sweeps to where Ronson was monitoring the Ops station. She waited on baited breath for something positive.
Briefly, as the burst surged through the blackness of space around them, different objects that would otherwise be cloaked or otherwise concealed would be illuminated. Ronson saw a ghost on his screen, which was hooked into the main viewscreen. A large ship shimmered in the discharged energy before vanishing after it passed.
"Reading unknown vessel, I'm running the size and shape through the Federation database, nothing coming up as matching" Ronson replied.
They had only a few seconds of data as the ship shimmered, would it be enough to plot a course? Jenna turned back to her console and entered the coordinates of the initial point of contact followed by the last point of contact before the signal disappeared. The results were not very encouraging as she read out loud, "There is a course variance of 1.35 percent along their trajectory. Stellar navigation puts them on any one of 15 potentially habitable planets along that route."
She pulled up a star chart on the main viewer with what looked like a cone shape, like a hurricane's path as it spread out the further away it went. In terms of space, a small percentage made a huge difference. She pressed the communications, "Engineering, we need warp speed as soon as you can muster. In the meantime, I need all departments to report in. We need answers people, and we need them now."
TBC
