Restricted

Posted on Sat Nov 30th, 2019 @ 3:42pm by

Mission: S01E05 ConQstador
Location: USS Musashi-A == Deck 13

Aboard the Sentinel class starship, Commodore Bettina Hoffman patrolled the corridors of the starship as though she were a nightwatchmen or prison warden overseeing their penal rehabilitation facility. Deck twelve was the lowest deck on the starship as far as most aboard the starship were concerned. Anyone with any mathematical wit about them could have easily pulled up the schematics and the dimensions of the starship and find a glaring problem in the 'equation' in that the starship had more height to it than the deck count...enough for another full deck.

Commodore Hoffman walked down small corridor on deck twelve with caution. She remained vigilant and kept looking over her shoulder as to make sure she was not being followed. At the end of the small corridor was a lift, it was not one of the heavily trafficked ones aboard the starship which itself had only recently come off the assembly line at a shipyard. The lift was marked maintenance lift seemingly a lift to be used by engineering and operations personnel to get to areas of the ship with work crews. It rode primarily vertically from deck one to deck twelve, but had the ability to ride horizontally.

When she reached the 'maintenance lift' the doors did not immediately open. This was to limit the traffic use of the lift. A control panel mounted on a near by bulkhead was used to manually type in a code. The ship's computer recognized the code and approved entry with a few mechanical beeps and chirps. She could hear the lift powering up and descending down from a higher deck. When it reached deck twelve the lift came to a halt, a momentary pause of nothingness, and then the doors gave a compressed hiss as they opened. The carriage of the lift was empty. She entered the lift as its only occupant.

She grabbed the control lever mounted in the lift. In normal lifts of the era these were commonplace. Placing one's hand on the handle of the lever was needed to be recognized and authorized. One would grab onto the handle then give a verbal command as to their destination. "Deck 13" barked out the Commodore is a bit of a crisp authoritative tone. She was pleased when the lift did not budge. She was testing the programming that had been put in place at the shipyard. Safety measures had to be put in place.

"Requested invalid. Unit does not compute. This unit does not compute invalid request. Sentinel class starship, United Federation of Planets specifications valid for decks one through twelve. Navigational dome can be accessed through access ladder on deck one. Please restate request" responded the robotic voice of the ship's computer.

Commodore Hoffman reached into an inside pocket of her uniform and pulled out a peculiar Starfeet delta, a badge that was distinctly different than anything worn by the previous Musashi crew and those seen aboard the new Sentinel class starship. The lift darkened to almost pitch blackness. There was a still silence until she heard the lift doors going into a secure lockdown. The lift was then illuminated by a purple glow of an ultraviolet light. The starfleet delta had writing not visible to the naked eye etched onto it, illuminated under these black light conditions light a scorpion in the night under a similar ultraviolet beam.

She held up the starfleet delta badge towards where the light was emitting from, a beam narrowed in on the item and scanned it. Immediately, the lift began to move...horizontally for a few moments and then came to an abrupt stop. Then, it began it's descent downward to an area of the starship few eyes would see. Then came another stopping of the lift. It was bit jarring, but the stabilizers helped steady the lift. The doors parted ways and the lift's lighting returned to a sense of normalcy. The destination itself was dimly lit and as the commodore stepped off the lift she was immediately flanked on either side by two large gentlemen wearings helmets and vests over their uniforms. They were armed and 'screamed' security, but the traditional by the book Starfleet security guards. On their uniforms were badges similar to the one the commodore used in the lift.

"Commodore Hoffman" one of the guards said with a nod as he and the other lowered their weapons.

The Commodore said nothing to either of them. She simply gave a nod and proceeded through the room and was heading for another corridor. The two gentlemen took their position at either side of the lift armed with their large black phaser riffles. Added security measures to ensure nobody 'unauthorized' managed to stumble their way down the rabbit hole and find themselves wandering deck thirteen.