Finding Sanctuary

Posted on Sat Jul 22nd, 2023 @ 4:46pm by Captain Michael Intermeezo & Lieutenant Commander Klesh Ezah, Daughter of Aklow & Lieutenant Awal Kronnelti & Lieutenant Betaras K'ner & Ensign Jack Keegan

Mission: Tomorrow, Before Yesterday
Location: New York City
Timeline: 2025

:ON:

{New York City, 2025}


The five crew members continued to make their way through the dark yet brightly lit streets of New York City, struggling to find somewhere for them to stay the night.

Honking cars, taxis and buses filled the roads, even at this late hour. And the sidewalks were equally as busy with tourists, locals and questionable characters. They could almost taste the pollution in the air. A testament to the flippancy of the way 21st century people treated their fragile planet.

“This looks like a decent enough abode.” Paxton whispered to the others while subtly pointing towards the building they were standing in front of. “The Courtyard Hotel. Sounds like a good enough place to lay our heads down for the night. Kronnelti, are you still detecting traces of the nebula?”

“Yes sir.” The man answered simply, referring covertly to his tricorder.

The five walked into the hotel and looked around the lobby. It was a small hotel, and pretty run down, but hopefully it would be quiet enough for them to remain unnoticed and anonymous.

“What will we do for money?” Keegan questioned.

Paxton dipped his hands into his pockets. “Don’t worry about that, Ensign. I replicated $5000 before we left the ship. I’m guessing it should be enough for at least one night.”

Suddenly the hotel worker appeared behind the main desk. “Welcome to The Courtyard Hotel!” She announced gleefully, yet with a hint of sarcasm. She’d obviously announced the welcome several hundred times over the years. “How can I help this evening?”

Paxton stepped forward, “We’d like a room please. With a window.”

The woman frowned, slightly confused. “Yes sir, all of our rooms come with windows and their own bathrooms.”

“Excellent. Then we’ll take one.” Paxton nodded with a smile, slapping his hand on the counter.

“Are all five of you staying in the same room?” The woman enquired.

“Yes.” Paxton answered. “Is that okay?”

The woman gave a half smile, “What you guys get up to is your own business. That’ll be $200…” she noticed the handful of cash in Paxton’s hands, “… sorry, I mean $400 a night.” Paxton gladly handed over the requested money and received the key to the room. “That’s room 209 on the second floor. The elevator is out of order so you’ll need to use the stairs. Have a nice stay!” And just as quickly as she had appeared, she returned to the back-room from where she had come from.

Paxton looked at a clock hanging on the lobby’s wall. “It’s 20:30 hours. Still plenty of time to make some initial investigations. Lieutenant Commander Ezah, I want you and Ensign Keegan to start scoping out the immediate area. Find out who or what could be capable of harnessing or even creating the traces of nebula that we’re detecting.” He turned to the other members of the team, “Kronnelti, K’ner, I want you to follow those signals that we’re detecting and find out where they are coming from. Report back to me here once you have some answers.”

"Captain sir, I am still detecting the nebula and, sir, I don't see any Klingons in this time period and these "humans" are flashing lights at me."

“Don’t worry about those lights.” Paxton smiled. “Just stay out of the roads and on the sidewalks. You’ll be just fine.”

Klesh, who was in her disguise, turned to the Captain. "Aye sir. We'll keep a close eye on our surroundings as we do so to ensure nothing is missed. If we find something out of the ordinary, how would you like us to proceed?"

“Don’t do anything until you’ve contacted me. Depending on the urgency we may need to wait until morning before we do anything.” He paused for a moment. “Likewise we may need to use the cover of darkness to our advantage. Either way, let me know if you find anything.” He knew his answer was rather unhelpful, but this was an extraordinary situation they found themselves in.

K'ner nodded. Having found the bathroom on their first tour of the room, she looked in the mirror and adjusted her scarf to cover her face, then headed for the door with Kronnelti. "After you, Lt Awal..."

The four team members gave a final nod towards their CO and departed the hotel, leaving Paxton alone to find and explore their room. He was tired. Not just physically, but also mentally. And the night was only just beginning.


{Avenue of the Americas}

K'ner had stopped trying to hide the tricorder she was scanning with as no one had spared the duo a second glance (or even a first glance unless they bumped into someone) as they rushed about headed wherever they had to be. The infrequent little gusts threatened to unwrap her scarf so she tended to keep one hand on the end of it, while looking up and around, then back to the tricorder.

"There are a lot of signals, all over the place. I'd hate to be dependent on the technology of the day or we'd never be able to narrow this down." She used her thumb to adjust the display and finally they stopped in front of a huge building, at least 30 stories. It seemed to be festooned with multiple antennas and sat-dishes on balconies and ledges for at least the top 5 of those floors. She guessed it looked even worse on the roof!

She glanced over at Kronnelti as he craned his neck back to look up. "Whatcha think? Quick scout inside or back off and do some surveillance?"

“We can do some surveillance,” says Kronnelti, “I'll take the roof and get a view point of what I can see.”

As Kronnelti looked for a way up to the roof he found a door at the very top floor but it was on the ceiling and had some form of lock... “great” he says to himself, so he went back down and told K'ner the entrance has some form of lock he's never seen before. So Kronnelti went around the building and started scaling up trying not to bring attention to himself.

As Kronnelti reached the top he saw metal boxes and what he believes to be a ladder, ^Kronnelti to K'ner. I'm up on the roof.^ He pulls out the scanner again but something is off ^Captain Beckett readers on the scanner is showing something different with the nebula. K'ner I'm coming down you have to see this.^

K'ner acknowledged from her position near a bench for something called a bus stop.

Kronnelti eventually found K'ner and showed her the scanner, the nebula keeps shifting rapidly.

K'ner wrinkled her eyebrows sideways, fortunately her headcovering kept anyone from seeing it and realizing she wasn't quite the average New Yorker...

Kronnelti has a worried look and needs Capt Beckett stat, ^"Capt Beckett it's urgent," says Kronnelti, "you need to see this scanner."^

=/\= I’m on my way =/\= The Captain answered.


{USS CHUCK NORRIS, The Far Side of Earth’s Moon}

Devin leaned against the railing on 'Norris' bridge and frowned thoughtfully at the line of music she had been working on for the past hour.

She had placed four notes. None of them worked.

This is how it ends, she thought ruefully. Chief Engineer on a little ship, where her piano-still in cargo-barely fit in her quarters.

She wondered if the captain would allow her to place it in galley.

"Ensign," she called out without looking up, "Status of the transponders?"

"Signals coming through strong, sir," ensign what's-her-name replied, "Should I-"

"Captain will call if he needs us," Devin replied casually as she stepped away from the railing and headed for a control panel. She called up Engineering's readouts, tapped some buttons. Down in Engineering alarms blared. Devin tapped her comm badge.

"Engineering," she said, "This is the cap-" she grimaced, "This is Hadenbeer. It seems you have an imminent warp core breach and the release clamps have malfunctioned. You have...sixty seconds to prevent the ship from producing a new crater on the surface below."

Devin smiled slightly as she opened a feed and heard the panicked shouts in Engineering as her staff scrambled, not yet certain if this was a drill or not. Misery, she thought with satisfaction, loved company...


{Back in New York City}

The journey towards K’ner and Kronnelti had been thankfully short for the Captain. He raced towards the officers briskly and composed himself. Kronnelti handed the tricorder to the Paxton.

“I thought you should see this immediately.”

Paxton started reading the small device, his eyes widening. “Romulan signals? At the Statue of Liberty?! How the hell are there Romulan signals in New York City in 2025?!” He asked rhetorically. He looked at the two officers and tapped his commbadge, “Ezah, Keegan, meet us at Battery Park in 1 hour. We’re taking a boat trip to see Lady Liberty herself.”



:OFF:

Captain Paxton Beckett
&
Lieutenant Commander Klesh Ezah
&
Lieutenant Commander Devin Hadenbeer
&
Lieutenant Commander Mira Rodale
&
Lieutenant Awal Kronnelti
&
Ensign Betaras K’ner
&
Ensign Jack Keegan