Darkness Pt II

Posted on Tue Jan 21st, 2020 @ 9:18am by Lieutenant Commander Ariana Monroe-Wayne & Gunnery Sergeant Christina Rivera-Hurd & Brigadier General David Hurd Sr & Brigadier General Kaden Ross & Captain Jack Solomon & Lieutenant Commander Carolyn Corrigan MD

4,126 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: Episode 102 - The Rising Tide of War
Location: Marine decks & Various
Timeline: MD03 1045 hrs

[ON]

The marine decks were isolated, emergency forcefields were up, power was out and comms were down. Inside the marine contingent, along with Hurd, Christina, Ariana, and Freya had already become unwilling victims of the Section 31 operative that was out for revenge on Hurd.

~ C&C~

Having been cleared for light duties, Jack was speaking with Deela in her office, taking the time to get back into the rhythm of things after the recent attack on the station and the injuries he sustained.

"So, for now, you're happy for Lieutenants AmHain and Quan to continue running Engineering whilst I get back on my feet?" he asked.

Deela smiled as she could tell that this was a difficult time for Jack, knowing how committed to his role he was and also how eager he was to get back in the saddle. The recent event on Sickbay had also made her more mindful of how Jack was feeling as well as how she was feeling.

"That's right. They've both been covering your duties so far and the reports that I'm seeing and the inspections I've conducted leave me satisfied that they are on top of the repair work and keeping Engineering ticking over nicely," T'Lar explained.

"You could almost think that you could take some leave and get some time away from here, as you wanted. They're doing that good a job right now," she added.

Jack nodded. "Now that's not a bad idea. I always have a Runabout ready to go at a moment's notice. Perks of being Chief Engineer and being ready to call an inspection at a moment's notice," he said as he smiled.

Just then, there was a beep from T'Lars desk, where the comm signalled for attention.

"Maxwell to Admiral T'Lar, can you come out here for a moment please?" came the request. Jack looked at Deela as she got up from her desk and he joined her as they both left the XO's office and made their way to the Lieutenants station.

"Mr Maxwell? what's up?" asked the Vice-Admiral.

"It's strange, but we've lost complete contact with the area known as Marine Country. Power is out and I presume the comms are down as I can't reach them. It's not normal," he reported.

"Jack was already sat at the nearby Engineering console running internal sensor scans and was finding himself up against getting the answers he wanted. "I can add to that report," Jack said. "It's looking like it's on lockdown. I can't get past the forcefields that have been set up down there. Internal sensors get me as far as the nearest bulkhead, but that's well outside of Marine Country itself."

After checking the results of the scan and cross-referencing them against the station's timetable for any drills or practices due in Marine Country, Jack was certain. "There's nothing planned for today either...something is wrong down there Deela, none of this adds up.

Deela typed in a coded comm frequency and tried to hail General Hurd, however when she received a null response, that settled matters. "I can't raise General Hurd, something is not right at all," she confirmed. "Whatever is happening, someone has gone out of their way to make sure that we're not supposed to know about it..."

"I'll get Security to run a precautionary sweep on the nearby decks, to see what they can find out. Sometimes eyes and ears are better than station sensors," T'Lar began and she sent a message on a discreet channel.

~ Marine Decs ~

The Operative smiled as she lingered waiting for her next opportunity to make Hurd suffer, for now she would settle for tormenting him. Dropping into the corridor outside his office she called his name. "General Hurd...I know you're in there Hurd! Come out and face me, let's talk about what comes next!!"

Looking at those around him, he said, "Stay here, she's mine". Stepping out into the corridor, weapon drawn, Hurd said, "Alright, I'm here, let's finish this".

She grinned as Hurd appeared in the darkness, she knew he'd come ready to kill her so she purposely hid in the darkness of the corridor. "You got my messages Hurd! You know what's coming next." She laughed a cold and calculated laugh. "its only a matter of time before you lose your wife, your unborn, your friends and 31 arrive to claim your daughter." She laughed again. "She'll walk straight into their hands, that I PROMISE you!!"

Letting out a roar of anger, Hurd replied, "Ok, let ME tell YOU how this is going to go". "You are not leaving this station a free person, your either going in cuffs or...well I think you know the other way." Leering into the darkness, Hurd yelled, "So come out and face me, coward, let's end this!!!".

"I'm not that foolish General" She laughed. "Lose the weapon first then we'll see."

Tossing the gun to the deck beside him, Hurd took two steps forward, fists clenched and said, menacingly, "Alright, let's do this"

She watched as he did as she asked, she'd heard that Hurd wasn't one to be messed with, his reputation preceded him. "Better General...." She stepped out of the shadows, tossing her own weapon to one side although her real weapons were her hand to hand skills. "Your reputation precedes you, Hurd, you were part of the team that originally came up with the idea of the super-soldier program before your morals hit the better of you!" She grinned. "The program carried on without you, you didn't think you met young miss Monroe by accident did you?"

Hurd just growled, his fists clenching tighter.

Her laugh echoed down the hallway. "It was all planned, your genes and her abilities. A child created from the two of you would be a strong asset for 31, Ariana has been watched all her life. Her development monitored and serum's given throughout her childhood development as part of her normal inoculations. The final inoculation has been given..." She threw an empty hypospray at his feet. "It's just a matter of time now, it can't be stopped. They'll come for her and without you to stop her she'll be ours! 31s newest spy in Starfleet." She grinned.

Shaking in anger and starting to walk forward, Hurd said, "Not going to happen, so cut the crap and let's get this done".

She laughed. "Let's..." She ran towards him, waiting until the very last second to slide to the floor and send a solid kick to Hurd's knee as she slid below his swinging fists. "Getting slow Hurd!!" She was quick to get to her feet.

Falling to the Deck in Pain, Hurd grunted and looked up at the woman, fury in his eyes. Jumping to his feet, he sent a spinning roundhouse kick into her face, slamming her backwards into the wall. Before she fell to the deck, Hurd slammed his fists in a one to combination, splitting her lip. Hurd said, "Whose slow now?"

She smiled as she wiped the blood away from her lip. "Not bad Hurd! I've heard a lot about you, you certainly live up to your reputation!" She got to her feet purposely slow to make it look like she'd taken the blow harder than she actually had. "Come get me, old man!!"

Hurd ran at the woman again, this time slamming his head into her face. While she was railing from the blow, Hurd started slugging her in the ribs, feeling one crack before he elbowed her in the face and threw her down the corridor. Smiling, Hurd started walking towards the Operative.

The woman cursed, she’d had broken ribs before. She scrambled to her feet, flying at Hurd she struck his already weak leg again going for his knee cap to disable and keep him down. She followed it with strong blows to his chin and upper face. “I could have killed your wife you know!” She loved to taunt. “Just another couple of blows to her chest and she’d never have gotten up again!!”

The blows had dropped Hurd to one knee, blood pouring from a split lip and pain lighting up his leg and face. Hearing the Operative taunt him like that though, that cut him to the bone. Ignoring the pain in body, Hurd launched up off the deck, faster than he thought possible, spearing the woman in the midsection, feeling several more ribs give way. Hurd launched off a swift uppercut to the jaw before the operative hit the deck. Looking at her, Hurd said, "Now what, are you done!?"

The operative lay wheezing, coughing up blood from a punctured lung and a torn spleen. "You may...have won this one...Hurd but you've lost...Ariana now. It's too...late to stop...the changes in her..." She cackled, wheezed once more and died there on the deck.

Grunting in pain, Hurd Knelt and checked the woman's vital sighs, confirming she was indeed gone. Getting unsteddily to his feet, he limped off back to his office, collecting his side arm arm as went.

Whatever was going on outside Kaden was more concerned about the ladies Hurd could handle himself the man was a legend during the Dominion War. But if needed Kaden would come help right now he was trying to stay focused looking after the girls. Kneeling down next to Freya he ran his hand thru her hair trying to comfort her. "Hey, don't stress okay? I am here with you gals I won't let anything happen to all of you." He offered a smile hoping it helped keep his wife calm and less stressed.

Freya offered a smile as best as she could given the pain she was in from her practically shattered arm. "I don't suppose you have any extra medical supplies anywhere do you?" She looked at get medical kit. "I've given what pain relief I can to Ariana and Christina, I don't have much left. I daren't take too much for myself, there's only so much you can give to a pregnant woman. We need a doctor Kaden!"

Kaden kissed her on the forehead. "I know, babe, trust me I intend to get you to one right away." He sat up looking around the room taking note of the cargo containers nearby. "Some parts of the starbase are still undergoing repairs from the attack...so Hurd and I told the crews they could use some of the less used areas here to move things into for a while." Kaden headed over to the containers tucking the piece of crap antique Hurd made him use into the waistband of his pants.

If there was one thing Kaden was going to use when it came antique projectile weapons was a Beretta or Colt. Rummaging thru some of the items Kaden began to look for anything useful to help Freya with the pain. "Lets see if there is a med kit in here we can use or something." He offered a smile before vanishing behind the crates hoping nobody would harm the gals while he was occupied.

"Kaden forget the crates!" Freya looked at her husband. "One of us has to get the hell out of here! The General has our attacker busy it's the perfect time for you to get moving. Use the Jeffries tubes to move around, you won't get past the emergency bulkheads but you might be able to bypass systems to get in contact with some help!"

Kaden stood up slamming the palm of his hand on the crate. "No! I am not leaving you and the baby behind." He told Freya as he was afraid if he did so something terrible was to happen to her.

Freya nodded. "Then we wait. For now it's all we can do!"

Kaden walked over and sat down next to Freya pulling the glock out of his waistband setting it down between them. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him as gentle as possible as to not cause Freya pain from her broken arm.

Freya rested against her husband. “What is it with us lately Imzadi? First it’s a suicidal man who attacks us and now it’s some woman hell bent on revenge against the General. I just wanted an uneventful pregnancy and so far it’s anything but!”

"We could always resign find a nice little farm town or colony to retire to and raise the little ones." Kaden suggested as he rested his head on hers. "Anything to help you not be so stressed."

Freya shook her head. "Not now Kaden, I love my job and I know you love yours. Maybe in the future we can consider it, but I'm not giving in that easily."

"I didn't think so, honestly I don't see myself as a farmer anyways." Kaden replied doing his best to help keep Freya's mind off the situation at hand. "I just wish things right now was more easier for us both."

"I know." She sucked in a breath as she moved to get up. "I need to check on Christina and Ariana, can you help me across to each of them please?"

Kaden nodded as he stood up carefully helping the woman of his life over to the others in the room.

Checking on Christina first Freya nodded. "She's okay for now, in pain but there's not much I can do at the moment." She took Kaden's hand and moved across to Ariana who was starting to stir again. "Take it easy Ariana, you've got a corker of an eggshell on your head."

"I know" Ariana offered a smile. "I kind of guessed that given the headache I've got!"

"I'm sorry there's no pain relief left" Freya looked apologetically at Ariana. "Your father is out there now, trying to get us out of here!" She looked at Kaden hoping he'd have some reassuring words.

Kaden wasn't sure what to say other than he knew Hurd was a tough old man who still had a need run him thru a wall so to speak.

Ariana got to her feet albeit shakily. "I have to go to my dad, he needs me!" She moved across to the door feeling stronger with each step. She moved out into the corridor. "Dad!!" She moved across to Hurd's side. "Come on...Let's get you back to your office."

Struggling to stay awake now, the full extent of the pain he was in and his injuries had finally hit him. Grunting, he put his arm around her shoulders, just wanting to lay down.

She paused as her foot kicked something, bending down she picked it up. “Wait...this is the hypo she used on me isn’t it?” She looked at her father. “What was in it?”

Hurd tried to focus on her voice. His eyesight was fading in and out, his hearing was muffled, and he couldn't see straight. For several seconds he tried to say something, then finally right before he lost consciousness and slammed into the deck he managed one single thing , one phrase, and it was, "Activate".

"Dad!!" Ariana knelt beside him feeling for a pulse on the side of his neck. It was there but she was afraid for his health. "Dad...stay with me, please! I don't want to lose you!!" She looked up as the emergency lights suddenly came on. It seemed something, or someone was working in their favour.

~ C&C~

Not being in Engineering didn't stop Jack from trying to find ways into Marine Country. Whilst there were more detailed work stations down there, he also knew his way around the station in the C&C and he worked on to try and find access to that area.

Once Deela confirmed that Security had a detail going down there, discreetly, he continued his work in trying to get in. Although he wasn't back on full duty yet, Jack saw this as a good way to get back into the mix of things on board. Whilst he had enjoyed the rest and was thankful for it, what he missed was being involved again.

Scanning the internal systems nearby that weren't on lockdown, Jack looked for a way in, to see if he could either override the lockdown or at least disable it for a short time to allow the team access in. Once he recognised the various panels and circuitry involved, he figured a way in, however, it required him to be there on-site.

As he pulled out an Engineering kit from under the console, Jack looked around to see everyone busy working at their stations. He took a quick look at Deela's office and could see that she was free for a moment.

He made his way up there and stepped inside once the doors opened.

Deela looked up as she saw Jack enter. "Any luck with Marine Country?" she asked, hopefully.

"Yeah, I've had a look around and I have a solution, but... it needs me to be there in person. It's not something I can affect remotely," he explained. The look on Deela's face said it all for a moment.

"Be careful. I just got you back, ok?" was al she said. He could see in her face that she knew he had to go, but that she was also concerned.

"I will be, I'll be back." was all he said, before turning and making his way out of her office and towards the nearest express turbolift. After selecting the required deck, Jack held on as the turbolift accelerated and made its way to his destination. On the way, he signalled the team leader of the security detail to let them know he would be there to meet them.

Arriving on the deck, Jack saw the small group of Security officers waiting for him and saw that they were armed and ready for combat if needed. The officer in charge walked over. "Lt. Oxil sir, what can we do for you?" she asked.

"I've been running some scans of the various systems from Ops and its clear that you guys won't gain access unless I get you in, here on the ground," Jack explained. "Wait for my signal, then you'll be able to enter."

Oxil nodded as Jack made his way around the corridor and began working to remove a panel that looked like it was a perfect part of the corridor. Blink and you would miss it easily. Once he pulled it away, Jack pulled out his tricorder and began taking readings of the systems before him.

The readings that came back were strange and surprised him once he collated the data and made his conclusion. "What the hell? It's locked from the inside? Why the hell would they do that?" he asked himself as he carried on working. Once he was sure of where he needed to access, Jack pulled out a tool from the kit and began working.

Oxil came over to him as he worked. "We're all ready for you signal sir, may I ask what we're looking for?" she inquired.

"Ah, thats simple. The door should open," he replied as he worked. Oil nodded as she went back to her team who had taken up their positions.

As he accessed the various levels of the system, Jack's tricorder beeped for attention. He had a look at the alert and suddenly saw the main door to the corridor open and the emergency lights come on further down. Oxil nodded to her team and they made their way forward. "Good job sir, that was fast," she commented.

"Ok... that wasn't me.." Jack said quietly as they made their way forward into the next area. As he finished up, Jack tapped his combadge. "Solomon to T'Lar, better send a Medical team to my location. We're in and on our way to the destination. But I have a hunch, Solomon out."

~ Sometime later ~

Ariana was sitting nursing a headache and dizziness from her concussion while watching over her father and step mother.

"Ariana look!" Freya smiled as she looked up from where she was cuddled up against Kaden as Solomon walked in along with a medical party, who got to work checking on Hurd, Christine, Ariana and Freya herself.

Hurd, coming to somewhat, grabbed his gun and started screaming, "Get away from me, all of you, now!!!!!"

Leading the small medical team, Doctor Elle Reid had issued orders before approaching the General. From her initial scans of all four of the injured, he had sustained the most significant trauma while her team could be trusted to stabilise the three women enough to begin moving them to sickbay. Less than two steps from him, the man began to come around and, her eyes on his weapon, Elle raised her hands to show she meant no harm as she took one small step back. Enough, she hoped to give him the space he felt he needed.

Ariana motioned for those around her father to move away, she wasn’t sure what was wrong all she could guess was that he was delirious. She looked at Solomon before slowly moving closer. “Dad...it’s me Ariana.” She moved closer hoping he’d recognise her voice, “It’s okay She's dead rightDad, no one here is gong to hurt you!”

"She's dead right?" Hurd muttered repeatedly . After a few moments, he started to have a seizure, blood pouring from his mouth,his heart stopping seconds later.

Rushing forward, studying the information displayed on her tricorder as her kit bag was dumped on the floor beside the General, Dr Reid cursed under her breath as she began working furiously. Her hands were steady and assured, ignoring everyone else beyond her patient.

Christina looked in her husband's direction she wanted to be beside him but the medical team wanted her to remain still while they assessed her injuries.

"Dad!!" Ariana held onto her father's hand trying not to get in Reid's way as she did what she needed to do. "Please save him!!"

In response, Dr Reid reached for her comm badge. "=/\=Reid to Dr Mendez. I need your OR ready for an incoming patient. I'm stabilising him as much as possible but be ready for us! =/\="

Without waiting for a response she cut the comms. "Counselor, we are going to do everything we can. Dr Davis!"

Glancing over from where she was crouched down, treating Freya's arm, Doctor Davis grabbed her kit and hurried towards Dr Reid. Half way there she turned, almost knocking over one of the security guards in the process. "Oh, I forgot to say… If you feel up to it, you can head on to Sickbay and we can mend that broken arm properly... excuse me!"

Almost barrelling into the security guard again she ducked under his arm and joined Doctor Reid. She peered over Reid's shoulder, eyes widening. Broken bones, internal bleeding and an apparent tear in his aorta which was causing sever bloodloss and creating a strain on his heart. "What happened down here?!"

Jack could see that the General had been through some major trauma and had taken a beating from it. He also wondered if this reaction was due to the trauma or if there as something else going on that only the General knew about.

Freya was bring ushered out of the room by Kaden to head to Sickbay, she paused to look as Hurd went into Cardiac arrest. She wanted to stay and help but there wasn't really much she could do especially with her shattered arm.

"Get the rest of the injured stabilised and to Sickbay. I will meet you there," Dr Reid instructed, as her comm badge chirped twice. A signal that Mendez was ready for them. "=/\= Reid to Sickbay, emergency transport direct to OR1 for myself and General Hurd. =/\=

Doctor Davis moved back as the transporter claimed her mentor and the General, leaving no trace beyond the bloodstained carpet. Reminding herself that she had patients, she inched forward and quickly packed up Reid's kit to take back with her. "Counselor, let me get you patched up so we can get you to sickbay too."

Ariana nodded. She needed to be in Sickbay with her father and step-mother, right now she was glad to be getting the hell out of marine country.

Kaden was certainly concerned about Hurd but he had to focus on Freya and the their baby right now they was a more important priority at the current moment. "Come on, Freya, we need to get you to sickbay and have that arm looked at." He swept her off her feet and carried her in his arms following the medical team.

[TBC]

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