Visitors

XI

"God," Andromeda muttered, "Why's it so bright?"
"We've been up there too long." Sivna said, pointing to the sky, "We're too used to the darkness."
Ejhisseh knelt by the lake's edge and ran her fingers through the warm water. She stared at her reflection, still taken aback by her new appearance.
"Ejh," Andromeda said, "You good?"
"Hm? Yeah, I'm good."
"Let's go. The sooner we can get to the cruiser the sooner we can get out of here." Sivna said, already taking off down the flower-lined shore.
Ejhisseh was silent for the majority of the walk there, staying a few feet behind the group. This was all so difficult.
Walking along the shore where she had taken her first steps. Smelling the flowers that she used to weave into crowns. Hearing the waves that used to lull her to sleep lapping against the sand.
It felt... wrong to be there. She felt almost as if she was making a mistake. It wasn't that Ejhisseh had abandoned Betazed or left against her will. She had left happily to join Starfleet and her parents supported her wholeheartedly.
But this was home. A place that was meant to be safe. A place away from Starfleet, away from the rest of the universe. Now even home couldn't hide her away.
"Come on." Sivna said, slowing down to walk alongside her. They grabbed her arm and pulled them forward, "I might not be able to read minds or feel emotions, but it doesn't take a Betazoid to know you're not doing so great. I don't pretend to know what you're going through, but we're here for you, dude."
Andromeda nodded and looked over her shoulder, "I can only imagine how difficult this must be. But we're a team, and we've got each other's backs."
Ejhisseh was finally able to muster a smile, "Thanks, guys... thanks."
They took off down the shore, spirits now high.
As they walked further down the coast the smell of burning metal and wood filled the air. They were getting closer to the wreckage.
"You know, I feel like we probably should have come up with a story or something to get us in." Ejhisseh muttered, "Something to convince them we're actually guards."
"I'm sure we'll think of something." Sivna said, "We just need to make sure that we empty our minds... we can't even think about the plan, or they'll pick up on it. We just need to get in, get out, and go home."
"Now that sounds like the academy." Andromeda smirked, "Cam used to say that all the time. Drove me and Mac'hla insane."
"Focus, please." Sivna said.
Though Andromeda was the highest ranking officer in the group, therefore making her the leader, it seemed that Sivna had taken it upon themself to take the role instead.
Despite the fact that they weren't trying to, they were certainly impressing Andromeda. They were very clearly destined to be a leader, and while they were always happy and goofy, they showed no hesitation in dropping that and picking up an air of sagacity and seriousness.
They approached the two guards, heads held high. Sivna and Ejhisseh emptied their minds, thinking about the little things around them. The flowers, the wreckage, the water...anything except for the plan.
"Good morning." Ejhisseh mentally projected.
"What is your business here?"
Alright, so maybe they weren't the friendliest...
"New rotation schedule. You're needed back at the base." Ejhisseh thought, so confident in her lie that her mind showed no sign that her words were untrue. As far as the guards could tell, she was genuine. But even still, they needed to be absolutely positive.
"What is the code?" The second guard asked.
"What?"
"The code! We have to be absolutely sure you're you... you know how dangerous it could be around here with everything that's going. How do we know that you're not a Klingons?"
Ejhisseh looked absolutely incredulous, "Are you... are you serious? I'm communicating with you telepathically. You know, like Betazoids do."
"Vulcans can communicate telepathically as well."
"Why the hell would you be worried about Vulcans?" Ejhisseh asked, their annoyance evident even in her mental voice.
"Not the point." The first officer said, "What is the code?"
"I didn't want to have to do this." Ejhisseh said aloud, and pulled a phaser from the holster on her hip.
Her phaser, set on maximum stun, would only render them unconscious for about 15 minutes...but that should be enough to get into the ship, get the information, and leave.
She didn't hesitate to fire, and the two fell to the ground in a heap, eyes open and staring into the sun.
She knelt down and graciously closed their eyes, knowing that the sun would certainly cause damage. Sivna and Andromeda stared at her in horror.
"Did you just... did you just kill them?!" Sivna demanded, kneeling in front of them and checking their pulses. Little did they know that Betazoid pulses could not be found in the wrists, like in many other species.
"Ejhisseh!" They panicked, "What the hell did you do?!"
"They're just stunned. They'll be fine in about 15 minutes, which means we've seriously got some limited time here. Get up, and lets go."
Another perfect example of leadership; taking risks and wasting no time. These two officers were seriously impressing their superior officer.
Ejhisseh grabbed the wrists of the two stunned officers and dragged them along towards the cruiser, but it seemed like there was an obstacle ahead of them.
The door to the cruiser was dented and wedged in place. None of them had the strength to open it... or so Ejhisseh thought.
Sivna stepped forward and gripped the edge of the door, "Watch out."
"What are you–" Andromeda began.
With some effort, they strained against the door and pulled it from the hinges, falling back as the door broke away.
Andromeda rushed to their side and pulled them to their feet, in awe at their strength.
"What was that?" Ejhisseh asked, astonished by her friends brute strength.
"The gravity on Mars is 2 times stronger than that on Earth, and stronger thanmany other planets... I mean, yeah, they counter it with a bunch of anti-grav plating and stuff, but even that can't completely lessen the gravity. I might be human, but I grew up on a planet with increased gravity, meaning I physically adapted to survive it... in other words, I'm stronger than you. By far."
"You never fail to surprise me, Ensign." Andromeda smirked, "Alright, well, let's hope we don't need to use your super strenth again. Can't have you getting hurt."
Ejhisseh pat their back and charged into the cruiser.
This cruiser, being used purely for observation, was tiny compared to the other birds of prey. Maybe only 100 feet long, most of that length being the bridge.
The officers looked around in wonder, taking in their surroundings. The bridge was a disaster; control panels broken, their buttons scattered across the floor. The ceiling was partially caved in, and glowing and sparking wires hung down threatening to electrocute anyone who might touch it.
"Okay." Sivna whispered to themself, "The memory banks should be stored under the main console. Everything we need is in the form of a box filled with repeating sequence codes. Each code of each box is completely different, making them almost completely unreadable... I've always wanted to decipher one."
"I'm afraid you can't, Ensign." Andromeda lamented, "You heard the Admiral. We can't look into it."
"I know, I know. But, y'know... maybe in the future I'll have a chance."
Ejhisseh waited at the door of the cruiser, staring out at the wreckage of her childhood home. One might think she was mourning, but in reality, their attention was completely focussed on detecting any minds. Any thought coming from anywhere that might reveal that there were people were coming. Fortunately, there were none, but she wasn't about to let herself get distracted and possibly miss something important.
"Now, I'm not an engineer, but..." Sivna whispered, and ripped open the panel, "I think I can get it out without damaging it."
"It would have been helpful to know you weren't familiar with it, Sivna." Andromeda, her anxiety momentarily spiking.
"I never said I wasn't familiar with it, I just said I'm not an engineer." Sivna protested, "I need quiet, just let me think."
Andromeda sighed and joined Ejhisseh in the doorway, watching for any unwanted visitors.
Sivna hummed and reached into the compartment, studying the complex wires and tubes that connected the box to the rest of the vessel. If they pulled them out in the wrong order, they risked 'killing' the box; a defense mechanism made to protect the box specifically from people like them– imposters, trying to steal the information. Supposedly, only klingons knew the right order, making anyone other than them unable to remove the box safely. But Sivna new different.
In their free time, they enjoyed studying various books regarding the construction of other vessels, ranging from human, to vulcan, to andorian. They had managed to get their hand on a klingon manual a few months back, and with the help of the universal translators, was able to translate it into Federation Standard.
One of the chapters specifically covered the correct order to remove the wires, and to be honest, it was incredibly simple.
From the pack on their hip, the pulled out a small mirror and tucked it behind the box, giving them a clear view of the wires.
On the back of the wires were patterns, each indicating which was to be pulled and in what order.
The order in which to remove them was starting with the pattern with the most angles and moving down. In this case, it was eight angles, all the way down to straight lines.
Again they reached into their pack and pulled out a pair of pliers. They silently prayed that they wouldn't be electrocuted.
One by one, they clipped the wire, each one sparking as it was severed. Then came the last wire, and they breathed a sigh of relief.
As soon as the wire was clipped, alarms blared throughout the ship.
Andromeda swore as a second door– an emergency seal hatch– closed over the doorway they had opened.
Through the bridge rang an announcement and the color seemed to drain from Andromeda's face. She might not be the best with klingonese, but she sure as hell knew that phrase.
Honor or death.
"Self destruct!" Andromeda shouted, "Everyone out!"
Sivna tried to peel open the emergency hatch covering the broken door, but even their Martian strength was no match for the thousands of tons of magnetic force.
Towards the back, near the docking hatch, a massive door was closing slowly. Clearly this was designed to kill whoever took the box.
The ship without its box was useless– just an empty vessel. There was no need to keep it in one piece if it no longer had a purpose.
"Go, go, go!" Sivna shouted, running down the corridor. The door was closing too quickly and they had to stop it!
Sivna crouched down, arms above their head and held the door up as best as they could. There was only a minute at most before the door crushed them.
Andromeda and Ejhisseh wormed their way through the gap, but Sivna couldn't move. There was now hundreds of pounds of force weighing down on them. They slid the box through the gap and Ejhisseh picked it up and held it under their arm.
"Just go!" Sivna pled and the door slipped down to their shoulders, "Get the box to the ship and get out of here!"
"I will not leave you here!" Ejhisseh cried, "Let go and I'll pull you out!"
"You don't get it, do you? As soon as I–!" The door shifted down three inches more and a sickening crack rang out from Sivna's hips as their pelvis and femur fractured under the weight, "As soon as I let go the force will slam it shut! I'll be crushed no matter what you do!"
Ejhisseh and Andromeda looked at each other, knowing what had to be done.
They had to leave Sivna behind.
"Go." Sivna sniffled, "Just...go."
Andromeda sobbed and pulled Ejhisseh from the cruiser, and just as they made it about 20 yeards away, they were blown back by a massive explosion.
Ejhisseh fell to their knees and wailed, knowing that there was no way Sivna could have survived the blast.
Andromeda covered her mouth with her hand and shakily pulled a communicator from their satchel.
"Moriv to Revival... two to beam up."