Running Deep

Prologue

Things had not gone exactly as Audrey Williams deep cover agent for Star Fleet Intelligence had hoped for. She had infiltrated Corporation and had gotten her self on to the Charon as part of Mortas and Imorlas's investigation team. They had been sent to a long abandoned research station to find a lost piece of technology at an obscure areas of the subspace river.. They had found a strange looking vessel deep with in the research station and this was when Mortas had sprung his trap. He had some how found out that she was an agent and had decided to use her because he needed a sacrifice. The vessel needed a human host to function and Audrey had been chosen to become melded with the ship. She only found this out when Mortas shot her at point blank range.

New Adventure

Serenity Entering the Sub-Space River

The Serenity has been tasked by Starfleet to explore an uncharted section of the subspace river. Information gathered from The Last Flight of the Evenstar incident had been researched and analysed by Sipen Daquwee and Dr Jones. It was revealed that the Box that had bee found buy the USS Evenstar may have come from this out of the way area of the subspace river. This may help with trying to find a cure for Second Life so the Serenity has been sent to find out.

Something Different

The Serenity exited the sub-space river into a small system. There was a large yellow sun in the process of going supernova and super-gas giant. In between the sun and gas giant on a small eliptcal orbit was a old and diserted space station. Jay ordered the Serenity cashusly into the system while perfrming a deep system wide scan. The Serenity was suddenly scanned by a group of satelites at the mouth of the Sub-space river terminus. The ship shuddered as it was caught in a powerful tractor beam and pulled to wards the station.

Going Exploring

Running Deep Facility

The station latched onto the Serenity. Large clamps held the ship tightly in place proventing it from moveing. Sazboe scanned the station and found that there two weak unknown power signatures on the station. Sipen Daquwee and Miss Peterson came to the bridge to inform Jay that the Station was made by the Toto. It was called the Running Deep Research Station and they needed to explore it to find any information that would help their research on the Second Life.

The two away teams consisted of Grayjoy and M'Epak who would look at the first power signature which seamed to come from a large hanger like area. Pachakan, Sipen Daquwee and Dr Jones were the second team that would look at the second power signature which was deep in the centre of the station. They managed to gain access to the station via one of the docking collars. They found a deserted, decaying corridor that had not been used for a very long time and the away team set off to find what secrets the station would give them.

Nothing is Ever That Easy

While the away team was searching the station, McDonald and a team of engineers went onto the hull to have a look at the stations docking clamps that were holding them fast. The clamps were molecularly bonded to the hull which meant that if they needed to get away fast then they would have to rip the hull platting which would also cause structural damage to the Serenity. McDonald took a sample of the joining of the clamp to Sazboe in the science department to see it she could find something that could get them free with out damaging part of the ship.

Peaking Round the Next Corner

The away teams moved deeper into the station getting ever closer to the unknown power signature. There passage had be delayed by blocked corridors or section that had been vented into space. They had to take deture after deture untill the finally reached the area of the unknown power signature. Pachakan, Sipen Daquwee and Miss Peterson found a room was a large labratory with alcoves and moniters around its edge and in the middle suspended in a transparent room which was suspended over a glowing power core. The room conatined seven Boxes in indevidual containment tubes. They were placed in a semi circle around a small consle and in the was what looked like a book sitting on a stand in front of the console.

Curiosity may have killed the Cat

The Sabiite

Grayjoy and M'Epak reached the large hanger like area and found that it contained an alien vessel which was emanating the power signature that they had found. They investigated closer and found an access hatch which unnervingly opened as they moved close to it. They careful moved into the vessel as it began to power up around them. In a strange chair in the centre of the vessel they found a woman. Audrey had servived the melding wuth the Sabiit. Instead of becoming a vocal slave to the Sabiit as Mortas had hopped she managed to take control and mentally become part of the Sabiit. but the melding of an alien mind to the Sabiite’s system made a unique combination of human and machine. In a normal pilot of machine joining the mind of the machine would be the dominate one and the pilot’s conciseness would absorbed into it. In the case of Audrey the reverse happened. She became to dominate mind which meant that she was able to keep her conciseness intact and be able to compartmentalise the Sabiite’s massive amount of data which it had acquired over its time as an exploration vessel. Mortas had destroyed the Sabiits engins and then left hoping that Audrey would die before she was found by anyone.

The Sleeping Giant Awakes

The computer began to wake from its ever ending slumber and realised that there was unauthorised people on the station as well as a unauthorised vessel attached to one of its docking ports. Realising that it had been invaded yet again it decided to stop this vessel from escaping. It ripped its way into the vessels main computer and deleted every system it contained. Knowing that the unauthorised people could not escape it began to study the unauthorised people to see what they would do.

Mind Over Matter

Audery’s Chair

Audrey listened to the communication between Grayjoy and Jay and instantly understood what needed to happen for her to get away. She was in a vessel with no way of propulsion and a massive computer and they had the Serenity with engines but no computer. She spoke to Jay and suggested that they transport her and her module to the Serenity where they could integrate both system to get them back to the subspace river. Jay begrudgingly agreed as there was no other obvious thing to do. So Grayjoy, Audrey and M'Epak transported back to the ship with Audrey’s device.

Peeling Back History

The Book of Waja

Sipen Daquwee and Dr Jones recognised the book as soon as they looked at it. the book was the Waja. The book of pain it is a history of all the wrongs that have befallen the Toto civilisation so that they would never forget who or what had wronged them. The Boxes were identical to the one that they had found on the USS Evenstar which had contained the deadly Second Life disease. The Grayjoy and Miss Peterson carefully entered the transparent room and accessed the console.

Bio-Hazard Aleart

The computer realised that there were unauthorised people in the contamination lab. It started to work through its protocols and commands but due to the damage and decay most of its system were malfunctioning or to badly damaged to be used properly. One of the fault sensors in the transparent room sensed an imaginary release of the Second Life disease from one of the storage boxes. Thinking that there was not a biological contamination of the people in the transparent room it began purging protocols.

Alarms sounded in the laboratory the door to the transparent room began to close which would seal Dr Jones inside. Dr Jones leaned over the console, grabbed the Book or Waja from the stand and rushed quickly as she just slipped through the door way as the solid door slammed shut. With the alarms blearing the away team sprinted for the Serenity through the maze of passageway that would get them to their salvation.

Infection Risk

Running Deep Research Station put its decontamination protocols into affect. Biohazard facility had been breached. There was a risk of biological contamination and the contamination to spread out side the system. The main computer activated is final failsafe. It unlocked the security control to its power plant in the heart of the station and began a core over load. The transparent room contaning the Second Life samples retrcted its clamps and dropped towards the unstable core.

Quick Get Away

Klaxons rang across the Serenity as its sensors picked up the power fluctuations of the Station. Jay contacted Sazboe to see if she had had any luck with the solvent for the clamps but she was told that there was nothing she could do at that time. She then looked over at Audrey who was lying in her strange chair in the corner of the bridge which they had just finished jury rigging into Serenity and ordered her to get the ship moving. Audrey nodded and leaned back into the chair as she integrated her self with Serenity Jay ordered the areas to be evacuated, decompressed and force fields put in place. The away team scrambled into the docking collar and sealed it, as Jay activated the four retractable impulse engines along its hull and put all the impulse engines to maximum thrust.

Serenity creaked and groaned as it ripped its self from the station leave large chunks of the hull still attached. It thundered away leaving a trail of debris and leaking atmosphere as it dashed for the sub-space river terminus as fast as Audrey could pilot her.

A Close Run Thing

The Running Deep Research Station vanished in a blinding flash of light and a cataclysmic release of energy. A purple shock wave rushed our across the system chasing the rapidly fleeing Serenity.

The group of satellites at the mouth of the Sub-space river terminus had powered down as soon as the Running Deep explodaded which ment that they were not able to hinder the Serenity as it just slipped into the Sub-space river as the shock waved slammed in behind them.

Epilogue

The shock wave distorted the sub-space river as the Serenity escaped sending waves of energy slamming into it. Systems crash, shields failed, hull plates were torn away and bulk heads collapsed under the strain but the Serenity managed to survive and began its limping journey home to a repair facility. Audrey was now mentally linked with Serenity. The rapid integration and subsequent damage caused by their escape had fused her mind to the ship. This meant that Audrey and her chair was not able to be removed with out causing permeant damage to her. It was decided that she would be permantly reassigned to the Serenity until they were able to split her safety from Serenity.