Man on the Run pt1

Posted on Thu Oct 1st, 2020 @ 2:03pm by Cody Devilrall & Captain Rhenora Kaylen

Mission: Diplomatic Masquerade
Location: USS Liberty
Timeline: Almost to the Starbase

After hurrying down the corridor, he ducked into an empty room marked housekeeping. Immediately after the doors closed he began pacing and talking to himself. "Alright Cody you have maybe three minutes before they discover something went wrong in the brig, five if you're lucky." He chuckled to himself as he thought about Bonnie and being lucky before realizing, " Unless they registered the phaser fire… think, think." He beat his head with his fist.

"What do you have to work with?" He opened his hands and peered at the contents. "A phaser and two commbadges. At least you were smart enough to grab those." One belonged to the crewman and the other to Bonnie, he would have to rely on using her one last time. "What else? Um, I'm human so I’ll blend in with most of the starfleeters but not the prisoners. And hey, I'm The Cody, I've got my smarts." He sighed. "I am so screwed."

"What do you know? Well, as soon as they discover I'm gone the ship will go on lockdown, no one gets off by transport or shuttle." He raised his finger to indicate an idea striking him. "Oh, escape pod!" He then shook it off " No that's dumb. Unless I'm a droid they'd likely shoot me down. Think Cody, think."

At that moment the power in the ship shifted and the hum of the tractor beam stopped. The Liberty had released the Orion ship from her grasp, most likely into the hands of some tugboat shuttles, designed to move derelict and disabled ships around. His heart skipped a beat, they were docking at the station. This meant an influx of people as well as supplies including repair bees and cargo runners. "All I need is a little misdirection to buy me some time." He looked at the badges in his hands. "That will work." He said out loud, inspiration striking. "Thank you Papy."

**********
On the bridge.
**********

"Decoupling complete, the Orion ship is in the hands of starbase tugs."

"Begin starship docking procedure Ready the gangway. And prep cargo bay transporters to receive supply shipments and personnel."

"Sir, i'm getting reports of phaser fire in the brig. I've alerted security teams."

"On screen." The viewer lit up showing the view from the brig. Two crewmen lay together on the floor, an Orion male lay unconscious nearby. The cell security fields were all intact. The officer on duty knew it was a situation requiring the senior staff for it was simply above his pay grade. "Alert the Captain and First Officer. We have a jailbreak."

*****
Deck 4
*****

Cody stepped back out into the hall and made his way towards the nearest turbolift. While heading forward he kept looking back just to be sure no one was following. Just as he rounded the corner the lift doors opened revealing a group of four security personnel armed and ready. He quickly backpedaled and hid his face in a side cropping. Their focus was elsewhere, however as they ran past him at top speed on their way to the brig. He was running out of time.

As soon as they were gone he ducked into the lift and immediately called out, "Deck 8."

*****
Deck 4 - Brig
*****

Two minutes later Bonnie was being woken up by a security guard who immediately began questioning her about what occurred despite her stun beam hangover. Questions like 'are you okay?' To which she could only say yes to even though she didn't feel alright, not by a long shot. She felt used and her trust had been shattered beyond repair.

One security officer helped the young crewman to his feet. Two others were helping a grunting Orion back to his cell. The man that helped Bonnie asked "what happened here?" As he made his way around the console to review the footage.

Bonnie could only sigh, "Cody
Devilrall happened, that's what." Knowing that was clearly not what he meant, Bonnie tried to elaborate. "There was an incident with combining the prisoners that forced us to release two of them." She blushed beat red as she embellished, "then there was a firearm mishap and one of the prisoners took advantage of me."

The guard squinted. "Of you ma'am?"

"Of the situation. I meant, of the situation, of course." She stammered out. A situation that of course went out of control fast.

"Right. So is there a prisoner loose?" He asked, straightforward and to the point.

"One." Bonnie replied. She reached up to tap her badge to alert the bridge but quickly realized it was gone. She looked over at the young crewman who was also answering questions, probably using her name more than she would like. His was gone too. "He has our badges."

He tapped his badge while holding a puckered facial expression. "Brig to bridge we have an escaped prisoner. I need you to track two combadges and begin lockdown procedures of all decks."

The hum of the engines stopped and a clear sound of pressure being released could be felt throughout the ship. She was docking and the outer hatch doors had already begun to open. It was only a matter of minutes before people began loading and unloading.

*****
Deck 8
*****

Ah deck 8, housewares, bedroom suites and sweet sweet nurses. Cody thought to himself. Deck eight of course was home to the med bay, which was busy prepping and restocking, many of her operators preparing to offload or to take in more. But his target was simple and in sight already.

As he moved down the hall he saw a group of people standing and chatting to themselves, none aware of who he was or why he was there. The tall one in the skant with a medium length blonde ponytail would do nicely as their behind was just thick enough to absorb his impact.

He approached and smacked his hand across the left butt cheek and proudly proclaimed, "Hey baby, long time no see."

The person reacted by turning around and smacking Cody across the face. Instead of a woman he was met with a manly hand striking him hard enough to spin him around on the spot. Cody raised his hand and apologized, "sorry my mistake." Then he turned tail and left the group. Rounding the corner he tossed the remaining badge into the air like a coin and said to himself, as he rubbed his sore jaw, "worth it."

The last thing he could be heard saying as he re-entered the turbolift, "Deck 10."

*****
Bridge
*****

Captain Kaylen Rhenora’s report writing rampage was interrupted rather harshly by the situation in the brig.
“ Understood” She replied simply, issuing a set of instructions to lock down all decks. “ Brig - please advise on the com-badges we need to track down.”

*****
Brig
*****

“Yes ma’am. Lt. Durnell and Crewman… Crewman Swarez, ma’am.” He sent the information to the console and found the first badge.

“I Have Crewman Swarez’s badge on Deck 8. I’ll have the transporter room beam him directly there.” He celebrated maybe a little too early, “We got him.”

*****
Transporter Room
*****

"Energizing." The transporter chief operated the controls skillfully. Before him on the pad appeared in a haze of blue, a tall blonde haired male nurse wearing a blue and black skant uniform and looking very confused.

"Uh, Captain, I just transported a very confused Nurse Bjorenith."

"Bjorngenith Bjorngenith!" The nurse exclaim loudly in the background, correcting the pronunciation of his name.

*****
Bridge
*****

“ Say again Transporter room?” The Captain was well and truly perplexed, looking towards her XO with a questioning eye. First they have an escaped prisoner, two missing combadges and now nurses appearing on the transporter pad?

*****
Deck 10
*****
As the doors parted Cody mused, "Deck 10, entertainment deck, home of life pods, lingerie and if I remember correctly Cargo Bay 1. Ding ding." He stepped out, looked both directions to get his bearings then took off running. The next phase of his plan would require several things to happen in succession.

As the ship was docked this particular deck was mostly empty. Aside from the occasional straggler he made it to his destination at the rear of the deck in under a minute-thirty. He guessed he was short on time as he looked at the panel on the wall, then removed it with a solid yank. "Now if memory serves there should be a manual release… " he was reaching into the wall until he found the release switch. He pulled, "...right here."

The doors to his left closed and there was a momentary pause as the airlock sealed and the thrusters fired. Lifepod away, he moved on to the next one.

*****
Bridge
*****

Bedee dee bedee dee beep. "Captain, I’m registering an unauthorized lifepod launch from deck 10."

“Stop that Pod, tractor beam it to the cargo bay and have a security detail waiting for it.” The Captain ordered, her tone switching from routine into urgency.

*****
Deck 10
*****

Cody pulled the second panel off the wall for a second pod. But this time he kissed the remaining combadge and tossed it into the pod before pulling the manual release. Once again the airlock sealed and the thrusters fired. Lifepod 2 away.

He didn't have time to stick around knowing the pods being released would signal his location relative to deck 10. But he was not intending to stay on deck 10 or the ship for that matter.

TBC