Part of USS Mariner: M2: All the Voices in My Head

12) The Hunt is On

L'Talia Station - Various Locations
May 2401
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“We have to keep moving.” Cho raised her rifle and pointed up front as she looked carefully into empty rooms; the team was nearby. But things felt off. It felt as if something was there watching them, placing Cho on the edge and constantly looking around. “Keep calm, keep it together, Cho,” she muttered to herself.

She swung her rifle around only to notice the area changing in shape, and before she knew it, she was in a corridor familiar to her. Looking down, she noticed her hands empty. “What the…” her rifle was gone, and she looked at her side at the closed doors that led to Engineering. Cho felt a panic attack building up, she was in the one place she wanted to forget, she didn't want to be there! 

“Come on! We have to do this. The Lieutenant is depending on our part of success!” A petty officer told her to have her phaser ready to move into engineering. 

Cho baked slowly up, shaking her head. “No…no, no, this is impossible; this already happened.” She felt the panic crawling up her. She was in the midst of the mutiny, which was in full motion. “I can't do this again; I don't want to go back into the brig!” 

The petty officer blinked, a bit confused. “What are you talking about? It's Captain Kobahl who will get to the brig, and that Gamma Quadrant trash will be removed from this ship!” 

Still shaking her head, “No, we will go into the brig, not the Captain! We are in the wrong here! We will be the ones to get court marshaled for going against our Captain! This mission is not what it seemed, our mission….” Cho dropped to the floor, placing her hands in her hair. “Lives depend on the succession of our mission! We are wrong, WE ARE WRONG!” She started yelling.

“Cho, listen to me. We agree on doing this. The mutiny is already happening. We are already deep in this; we can't go back on it! Now get yourself together and get up!" The petty officer whispered in her direction, looking at the door. “People are waiting inside for our entrance. Now get up!” 

Cho heard shots fired in the engineering and shook her head “No no no this is wrong!” 

The petty officer rolled her eyes. “Shit…” She entered the engineering without Cho and left her behind in the hallway. 

Hearing the yelling and screams in the mix with the shots fired and the sound of exploding consoles. Cho felt something poking her side and looked at it with tears rolling down her cheek “My….tricorder” She felt it buzzing and grabbed it while slowly sitting on her knees. 

She looked at it and looked confused at the incoming data. “This is … not the readings of a Starfleet ship. I …I am not …” She placed the tricorder against her head and pressed a few buttons. When the bleep came, she pulled it down and looked at it again. Cho took a deep breath, “My brain activity is overloading, the memory area is fully active….” Cho lowered her tricorder, letting the information sink in. She heard the screams from behind the door and looked in the direction.

“This is….not how this happened. We went in, fired a few times, and got overmastered by Commander Valerio…..we lost within minutes,” Cho blinked. “Yet it's still going …” Slowly standing up Cho looked at the scanner again and aimed it at the door, then to the hallway and towards the other side. “My brain activity is linked to …a vague signal that is coming…..from within there." She looked at the engineering doors.

Taking a deep breath, she walked through the door, only to drop into a gap and hang there. Cho blinked and looked over her shoulder, seeing Silina standing there holding her shoulder. “You are back with us?” Silina pulled her back out of the gap and into the hallway. “What happened? You were screaming…”

Without a second of thought, she embraced the commander and let her tears roll over her cheek. “I ….was trapped in my memory, it seemed. The memory of my deeds during the mutiny.” Cho felt ashamed of her actions and shrugged. 

Silina lets Cho hug her and pats her back softly. “It's okay. How did you break out of it?” 

“I scanned my head, and my brain activity was off the chart.” Cho pulled back and picked up her tricorder, showing her commander the data. “It is affected by a low-tune signal. In my memory, I was trying to follow it and find the source.” Cho looked at the gap. “But you saved me, and I think the shock of the sudden drop got me out of it.” Cho shrugged, realizing how deep the gap was.

Taking a deep breath, “A signal you say….that might be the source of this place. We need to find Bruno and fast. That signal might lead us to where Bruno is being held.” Silina was out of leads and unable to do any scans. So, while this signal was shady and unreliable, it was their best bed in the given situation. “Lets move out!” Patting Cho's shoulder, “Good work, glad you are well.” With that said, Silina raised her rifle and moved in the pointed direction that the signal was with a slight detour and not going through the gap. 

Nodding to the acknowledgment that the Commander believed her. Cho smiled softly and grabbed her rifle from the floor, following the Commander.