The Key

[Chirakis 1]

The Key

A Joint Log by Captain Cooper, Commander Chirakis, Lt Cdr Coleridge, Amanda Davis, and Ocul of Deosi

 

Ocul’s initial grief passed quickly. Ocis was dead. Life was cheap. If you learned nothing else as a slave, you learned that.

 

Ever since childhood Ocis had been the daring one, the one to take chances, the one who pushed himself - and others - to the limit, and sometimes beyond. He lived up to his name, O-cis, which in their native tongue meant valiant one. O-cul meant thinking one or brooding one, depending on who you talked to. Ocis was the doer, Ocul was the listener, the planner.

 

When they were taken captive by the Breen, Ocis was 26 and had already taken the path of the warrior. Ocul, on the other hand, had completed an advanced degree and was ready to begin work at the Institute of Science and Engineering at the age of 24. Nearly twenty years later, Ocul had planned the escape from Deosi, but Ocis had led. They both dared to believe they could return to the life they knew, a life without fear, a life of freedom in a new colony.

 

But they still weren’t free. They never would be.

 

“Hello, Ocul.”

 

Ocul jerked up, then relaxed and gave her the once-over.

 

“My name is Amanda Davis, Ocul.” Her voice almost purred. She had a strange accent he’d never heard before. “I’m the station’s counselor. May I?” She gestured towards a chair.

 

He frowned. “May you what?” he said after a long silence. “And what’s a counselor?”

 

“May I sit. And a counselor is someone you talk to when you... need someone. Sometimes just talking to someone helps work through hard times.” She remained standing for a long minute, then asked again, “May I sit?”

 

“Sure. Why not.”

 

“I was sorry to hear of your brother’s death,” she began after settling in.

 

“It was bound to happen,” said Ocul, a hint of anger creeping in.

 

“Yes. It must have been difficult for you to see him so very ill.”

 

“He was dangerous.”

 

Amanda straightened up, unable to hide her surprise. At his comment? At his lack of emotion? It didn’t matter. He pressed on.

 

“He liked to live on the edge. He took too many chances. He knew it would end like that, but he kept on. He wouldn’t listen. Not to me. Not to anyone. I knew it would kill him. He knew he was going to die. But he did it anyway.”

 

=/\=

 

“Intractable,” Coleridge muttered under his breath. “Story of working on Aegis.” The device had power. It responded to commands. They had overridden the safety protocols and supplied it with Breen DNA. Yet it still refused to function.

 

They had to be missing something. The Deosi had got it working; Starfleet’s finest should be able to do no worse. The Deosi had been slaves to the Breen, though, had been around Breen technology all their lives. While practically multicultural in its makeup, consisting of a Romulan, a Klingon, and a human, the engineering team in the science lab had little collective experience in that area. It was this unfamiliarity that would be their undoing if they couldn’t find a clever fix.

 

=/\=

 

The science laboratory’s video feed to the control tower was spotty. External cameras were a must, but internal video - to specific test areas like the controlled environmental lab - were spotty. Still, Commander Chirakis could see the bottom line. It wasn’t working.

 

“Sounded like an old car engine trying to turn over,” said Captain Cooper as he stepped up beside her. “What’s going on? Any progress?”

 

“It doesn’t appear so, Captain. However, they did get the main system powered and it sounds like it is running smoothly. Car engine?” she asked as she enhanced the audio from the science lab.

 

“Ah...internal combustion mechanics in old earth automobiles. Ground transport,” Cooper said vaguely.

 

“Automobile.” She stepped back to view the entire screen. “I am familiar with that term. Had one experience with them. Don’t intend to have another any time soon. Loud. Dirty. Smelly as a Cardassian cess....” She left off with a slight clearing of her throat and pointed to the screen. “They have it working but cannot seem to transport anything. And they have inserted Breen DNA with a datachip.”

 

Sharp, purposeful footfalls followed the opening of the turbolift doors as Amanda Davis strode towards the captain and commander. “They need Ocul. He has what they need to make it work.”

 

“Permission granted,” said Chirakis wryly, turning to greet her, a slightly puzzled expression playing in her eyes. The station counselor seemed to show at the strangest times and in the most unpredictable places.

 

“It won’t work without viable DNA, Commander. DNA on a datachip isn’t enough.”

 

Skipping over the obvious question, Chirakis moved on to, “And where do you suggest we....”

 

“On his fingertips. Ocul has Breen DNA...” Amanda’s hands waved the air as she struggled for words, “...sewn to... pasted on.... It’s on his fingertips.”

 

“On his fingertips.” The implications clear, the commander turned to Captain Cooper. “Inform Engineering?”

 

Daniel nodded without looking towards her, his eyes still on Davis with an expression of puzzlement slowly being replaced by pensiveness. “Yes, absolutely.”

 

As Kirel turned to summon SubCommander Jorahl, Amanda took hold of the Captain’s arm. “Wait. There’s more,” she said, her Welsh accent thick from anxiety. “Captain, only items can be transported. Canisters, tools, machines, things of that nature. Under no circumstances whatsoever should anything live be transported. Especially... people.”

 

...to be continued in sim.