Vura And Edmund Talk Part II
Posted on Thu Dec 21st, 2023 @ 9:05am by Lieutenant Vura & Captain Edmund Merrick
Edited on on Sat Dec 23rd, 2023 @ 9:03pm
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
Episode 15 - The Evil That Lies Beneath
Location: Chief Counselor's Office - Deck 5 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD001 2130 hrs
"Having been in security is also difficult. Vura, what she told me was of the ship she used to be on, as I had mentioned, USS Maleficus a ship dealing with the Paranormal, and as she had put it, it was special ops of a sort. And wasn't something of common knowledge. She told me how that ship no longer exists and how those that used to be part of the crew had mysteriously disappeared or had died. She told me she was the last of the crew. She also told me about the handprints - how they appeared when she had first arrived on the Pioneer. No one had abused her, nor hurt her as she's not been in a relationship for a long while."
After stating that part, Edmund rose up to get another drink, this time not water, but scotch. "Would you like another Samarian Sunset?" looking over his shoulder towards Vura.
"Yes, please," Vura answered, sitting back down. Not much of this was new and she had to respect his protectiveness of his new girlfriend. Just thinking that word caused something to drop in the pit of Vura's stomach. Stop that, Vura! It could never be, and it would be completely disrespectful to him and Cannir. And don't you go correcting yourself that he is dead. Llaxia had better not be anywhere near to hear you arguing with yourself. I need to check up on them too. My work is never done. And when was the last time you had two drinks? Thank goodness it is synthehol.
Edmund brought over her drink, then took a seat back upon his chair. He took a sip, liking the flavor, though it wasn't like drinking the real stuff. However, he really needed to keep his wits about him. "She told me she feared for the safety of the Pioneer and the crew. After what I had witnessed when in that laboratory, that thing I told someone about, which looked like a mind flayer or even a sort of ghoulish puppet master. There was evil there. And if something like that may have attached itself to Rowena, we are in danger." He took a hefty drink from his glass. He lowered the glass down and regarded Vura with a rather intense gaze. "This is something that needs to be taken seriously."
Studying Edmund, Vura could see that he really believed this and was taking it seriously. Some facts, however, did not line up. She brought her lower lip above her upper one and pulled on it with her teeth momentarily. "I believe what you are saying, but did not this incident with Rowena happen a long time ago? If we were in such danger, why would it wait so long? It could have struck at any time, even before I was here."
"Perhaps the circumstances weren't right until now. Maybe there wasn't enough energy until where we ended up at. That thing that possessed Shy, the thing that we saw and witnessed was drawing energy from a power source there and seemed to grow in strength. Feeding on our memories, utilizing our thoughts to gain energy, to convince us to join it. If there isn't enough energy, that seed of evil can lay dormant until something wakes it up and then it has the ability to cause trouble." Edmund finished his drink. Looked at the now empty glass sort of wishing it was the real stuff.
"Then what would have woken it up? What is the energy? Have you talked to Shy?" Vura had. She knew what he had to say. "There's a lot of 'what ifs' here, Edmund," she informed him with a caring tone. "But assuming everything you say is true, we still know nothing and there are only a few things we can do at this point."
"Blast it Vura, there is good energy and there is bad energy. Evil exists; so does good. Evil permeated that underwater lab. It was a desolate haunted place, with shadows appearing in the peripheral vision. The air was acrid with it. And having to stand and shoot at what seemed to be a living human and instead it wasn't. It was like a zombie of some sort. We had to retreat, we had to utilize our weapons putting them on overload to try to stop it. I don't think that it did any good. Firing the phaser rifles didn't seem to do anything except to make them pop then the ichor pulled itself back together."
"If what you say is true, then how did you defeat it? Where did it go? What caused it to die or retreat?"
"It didn't die, I don't think it is dead. We retreated, we had to retreat to keep from becoming like those poor people who became its puppets. I drew what I saw, if you'd like to see it." Edmund shuddered ever so lightly. It was definitely horrific. "We did not defeat it, at all."
"If you did not defeat it and you retreated, then what happened to it?" she wondered again aloud. "And yes, I would like to see your drawing. Is it on the computer? I don't see your sketch pad with you."
"I hadn't thought to bring it with me, but it is on my computer, and I can access it here." Edmund replied, pulling out his PaDD and connected to his artwork file. The image that could be seen was that of a monstrosity with translucent tendrils attached to what looked like corpses of people. Some of the tendrils were attached to the energy source of the computer core. He showed Vura several of the images he had drawn.
"Those things, when destroyed, turned into a dark ichor which was drawn back to it and the corpses rose again," Edmund remarked.
Before Edmund could pull up his sketches, Vura scolded him gently, "How could you have known, Edmund? You're not omniscient. Please be less hard on yourself."
Vura studied the drawings but could not make heads or tails of them. "Well, it is very abstract...."
"I am omniscient," Edmund quipped. "Here is another drawing, a bit more clear." He showed her a corpse with a tendril attached to its back it was a bit more graphic, than the others.
"Were there any scans of this thing?" Vura asked studying the tendrils closely.
"There probably was, due to the suits we were wearing. Just need to get access of the recordings and go from there. Definitely will have to talk with Tremble." Edmund leaned back, setting down the padd upon his lap, and drywashed his face, feeling a bit tired. "There is still much to research on this."
"Why was it not done already?" Some might have taken that question as a challenge but her tone carried a great deal of curiosity and interest.
"It might have been, I've just not gone searching as of yet. Shore leave, and other details." Edmund replied sheepishly. He heaved a slight sigh, "I am just now working on catching up on the matter."
"Yes, yes," Vura replied slightly dismissively. "You were engaging in your relationship with the very person that could be possessed by another entity." Her voice turned conspiratorial. "So, what did you do with her? A little bit of information for someone that has to live vicariously through others...?"
"Well, we had dinner and spoke about where we were at in our lives and our awkwardness where dating is concerned." He gave a wry twist of his lips and a lifting of his shoulders. "It was refreshing to talk about how she and I were." Edmund added.
"Good, good," Vura hastily replied, both happy for Edmund and simultaneously slightly pained by the news. "It is a very good start for both of you. I'm pleased for you, Edmund. I really am."
However, Vura then inserted some reality into the equation. "Well, we have to solve this problem then, so that she is not possessed. I know now what I must do. Thank you, Edmund."
"You are welcome." Edmund rising from where he had been sitting. "And I need to get my research going as well. Its going to take a team to solve this situation, I will do better to keep you up to date as to what I have found. " He paused for a moment then asked, "Did you notice something different about the Commodore? He seemed to be a bit off today."
"How do you mean?" Vura asked concerned. "I have only met him the once and that was on shore leave. He was much less fun than you."
Edmund sat back down. "I've known Malbrooke from my academy days, he was my mentor. He was someone who engaged with people, even at times joked around. He even ran D&D games. He was great, and before the briefing we had, before we went on shore leave, he was pleasant approachable, and a warmth came from him. However, that doesn't seem to be the case."
"Can you be more specific as to how you see a change? Maybe something concerns him about the mission?"
"Perhaps but he normally is more in the present, as in eye contact. He seemed to be a bit detached from the conversation, and discussion of where we were going to go next," Edmund replied.
"I could check in on him if you would like," Vura offered. "But Dungeons and Dragons? The Commodore?" There was a sense of disbelief for Vura on that point.
"Oh yes, he is really creative and also that game was useful in creating a sense of teamwork. It was great fun to play," Edmund answered with a huge smile.
"And when was the last time that you all played?"
"It has been a while. We were planning on doing a game during shore leave and then things got a bit busy with all that happened. I was thinking of asking him about running a game in the near future," Edmund replied.
"So why haven't you? This can't be related to your problem with knowing how to talk to women," she teased. "Or why don't you run your own game?"
"That is a great idea. I probably could invite Tyler and have you as well as several others to participate." Edmund put on a thoughtful expression.
"Me?" Vura asked, placing her fingers lightly against her heart with the back of her hand facing Edmund. "I cannot say that I know the first thing about playing."
"I can send you the rules, and also guide you through a game or two perhaps, if you would like that." Edmund remarked.
Vura was not going to be denied a new experience. She lived for them. "Sure, why not?" she replied almost too enthusiastically.
"When I get things set up, then I can teach you the game." Edmund stretched out his legs just a little bit, "I probably should get going now though. I need to go over some details as to where the Marines are concerned, as well as seeing about finding details about what we came up against on that mission."
"That's alright, Edmund. It is getting late and we definitely would not want to be giving Wena the wrong impressions, now would we?" Vura tilted her head sweetly and emphasized the innocent gesture by putting a finger towards her cheek to form a dimple.
He chuckled, giving a slight shake of his head, "Vura, you are quite the woman." Edmund rose from the chair. "Take care and be careful." With that remark, Edmund walked out of the counselor's office. He had work to do.
Vura watched as he left and sighed. Edmund was something else. What, she could not say, but definitely something else. It only was 2000 and she definitely wanted to check in with the Doctor on whether Rowena ever went to her. Based on what Edmund was telling her, she had an awful feeling that she did not and that could become a concern.
Of course, he would go to her first. Something about that wrankled her slightly, but how could she stand in his way. Best to give him the night. I can meet with Hermia tomorrow. With that, she too left her office and decided to go wherever the winds took her.
A Joint Post By
Captain Edmund Merrick
The Cure Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Vura
Chief Counselor, USS Pioneer
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