From: Nai Lara (nai_lara_at_internode.on.net)
Date: Wed May 14 2008 - 01:21:07 PDT
“The
Invisible
Man”
Con’t
from “Holograms Amock ”
Location:
USS PATRIOT
Stardate:
2422 [2.7] 140420.1820
Scene:
Holodeck
Ben Kenta
worked with his group of two, Catherine and
Tam, in trying to find some sort of hidey hole to wait out the
holoprogram. It was with absolute exasperation that he noted Catherine
was rarely more then a meter away from him the entire time.
“What are
you doing, Catherine?” He
growled. She was sticking to him closer then glue.
“Maverick
said I was to protect you.”
The man
sighed and resigned himself. “I can look
after myself.” He protested softly.
Catherine
smiled, and did not believe a word that he
said. “I’ll rather it not come to that, sir.” She replied
cheerfully ignoring his gruff manner. Sometimes she was more
frightened
of Maverick then of Kenta.
“Tam?”
With holding a grumble about the marine,
the commanding officer turned towards his counsellor. She was scouting
around in front of them, roving left and right trying to find a hidden
door in
a pillar or a hatch that would lead downstairs.
For over
an hour they had been relentlessly searching,
and yet had turned up with nothing.
“Haven’t
found anything yet.” And so their lucky
streak continued.
Minutes
later, Maverick’s team reunited with Kenta’s
at a prearranged spot. “There’s no basement.” The marine’s report
was curt and tense. Having been wading through the crowds for so long
had
set him, and everyone else, on edge. Adrenaline was riding high and
they
needed an outlet.
“This is
insane.” Tanith shot a sideways
glare at Tam. “We freeze out there and we get killed in here.”
“What if
we…” Gorman began, and stopped when
there was an ear splitting shriek that brought the entire hall to
silence.
“…oh no.”
He said softly in a groan. The
killings had began.
“He’s
dead, he’s dead!” A woman wailed several
meters away, loud enough Catherine winced in pain. “The painter!”
The crowd exploded. Half surged towards the body to have a look at it,
and the other half away from it to escape. A good handful of the
ladies
fashionably fainted away.
It was
bedlam.
“Basil.”
Catherine beckoned the ground to follow
her. “I guess Mr. Gray cut loose.” She pushed against the crowds
and made her way to the painter’s stand. Alone, they slipped into the
back room, partitioned off by a red velvet curtain. The woman began to
tug off the white linen sheets that protected the various paintings
stacked
against the walls. “If the book is right…”
The linen
sheet fell off a painting and she smiled
happily. The image on the canvas was barely human, so warped and
putrid
that it looked like it had been festering for years.
“Oh my
god, what is that?” Tam asked, her nose
wrinkling in disgust.
“The soul
of Dorian Gray. The picture is
corrupted with his evil deeds, while Dorian gets away scot free. In
his
mind anyway.”
They
turned when there was a low chuckle from the
doorway. “How perceptive of you.” Dorian Gray stood there, Smith
and Wesson revolver in his hand, pointed directly at the group. “Now I
suggest that you remain right where you are.” He ordered calmly with a
charming smile.
“He’s just
a hologram.” Maverick whispered very
quietly as he instantly moved to the front of the group. Dorian Gray
eyed
him warily, but did no more then that. They could see the hologram
thinking and a little distracted. Probably trying to decide how best
to
dispatch the group.
“More
importantly, that revolver has only six
bullets.” Gorman leaned forward and whispered in Maverick’s ear.
“There’s six of us!”
The marine
struggled to keep his face blank.
“So? We’re trained soldiers. This is what we’re supposed to
do.” He snorted in disgust. Maybe he was frustrated with being
cooped up in the holodeck so long. Maybe he assumed the safeties were
working. But the marine went to move forward.
There was
an awful sound of cracking flesh and the
marine went down like a sack of potatoes.
“Oh my
god.” Tam cried out, her hands going to
her mouth, convinced that the marine had been shot. Around them the
holodeck program wavered and disappeared, leaving them along in the
holodeck. The
“Hey,
we’re out.” Tanith exclaimed in delight.
“Yeah,
so’s Mav.” Clarkson sighed quietly and
shook his head. The Colonel would be fine when he woke up in a couple
of
minutes. It had been one powerful slug to cause his chin to bruise
like
that.
“The
Invisible Man struck again.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NRPG:
Done and dusted. Well, that
was a spectacular failure.
I’m going
to be quite stretched for time in the next
couple of months, so I’ll try to keep posting once a week, but things
might
drag on a little longer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naomi
Lara
Lt. J.G. Catherine Sterling-Jade
Intelligence Operative
USS PATRIOT
And
Commodore Teneill Danara-Bennow
Deputy Chief of Starfleet Intelligence
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