Posted by Lieutenant Icarus Remington (Chief Intelligence Officer) in MPT - LS Trickster - Security Rounds - Remington

Posted by Lieutenant Casela Synthi-er (Counsellor / RTF) in MPT - LS Trickster - Security Rounds - Remington

Posted by Lieutenant Icarus Remington (Chief Intelligence Officer) in MPT - LS Trickster - Security Rounds - Remington
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

I carus looked toward the hills. “Does Bella ever come back to orphanage? Or ever alone without the woman around?”

Lanshay shook her head, “Not alone. That woman is always with her. I’ve tried, Karra has tried, to get her to leave the woman when we see her, but she won’t. And even if Bella would I’m not sure she would let her. They come into town, Karra leaves food for Bella out on the back wall by the house. The first time the woman appeared she was in the yard playing. Bella told everyone the woman was her mother. Karra, Alyssa, and I tried to tell her it wasn’t her mother and to come inside. She started crying and the woman picked her up and disappeared. I followed her into the hills, but she moved faster than I could follow.” It was obvious that Lanshay blamed herself for Bella being taken.

The CIO shook his head at the terrible situation. Using children to pursue evil needs or desires was something he couldn’t stand.

“I’d like to do some recon of that area. Do you know of someone that knows those hills and could be my guide. They’d need to be quiet and sneaky as well.”

Remington/Pinkerton (CIO)

Yaren sighed, “Know the hills, myself, Karra, a couple of the other guards. But to move quiet and sneaky?” Yaren didn’t want to say it. Karra was going to kill him. “Well Karra....”

Lanshay snorted, “Maybe 20 years ago. And she has no business, at her age now, being out in those hills.” She looks at Remington, steel in her very young eyes, “I can do it, or Alyssa. We know the hills and we know how to be quiet. You’ll be hard pressed to get Alyssa to go into the southern hills though. I’ll do it.” Alyssa wouldn’t go into the southern hills near the mines. She was older than the rest and she remembered bits and pieces. She’d go if there was no one else, but it would be life or death before she would.”

Jokoth, a half Romulan boy ran up, “Lanshay!” he was out of breath. “Ms Karra wants to know if Mr Pinkerton needs food for the night. She’d make a bag and she wants to know if Yarren is letting you stay out or what.” She huffed, “Jokoth, tell Ms Karra I don’t know.”

“Hey she won’t like that!” Jokoth protested. Lanshay knelt down next to him and huffed. She was, after all, still a kid, “Well she’ll have to take it because I don’t know.” He argued with her and finally she snapped, “Jokith, I wish you’d go get lost. Go home!” She turned around and looked at Remington to see if they were going or what. She turned around to see if Jokoth was listening to find he was already out of sight.
Story Teller EvilJen

OOC: Cross posted from McHarrie’s Thread

A tricorder scan would show no quantum readings at that spot, but a larger sweet would show several around the village, but over half of them were all located in or around the orphanage.

Each of the signatures were distinctly different from not only the natural quantum signature, but separate from each other. While McHarrie was scanning a new one appeared on the scans. It appeared to be cycling through several quantum signatures before stopping on one, that was again different from all the others. The ‘cycling’ took less than a nanosecond but the tricorder picked them up. This new signature appeared near Yarla’s house. Minutes later it happened again, this time the location was tracked to the largest of the southern hills ringing the village.
Story Teller EvilJen

James looked at the readings carefully. He was not an expert quantum signatures, but he knew enough about random chance to realise this was not a naturally occuring phenomenon.

He tapped on his tricorder to transmit the readings to the other members of the away team with a message asking if they had seen anything like it…

-McHarrie

Icarus looked at the screen and recognized the area of the hills. He showed the screen to Lanshay. “Do you know where this area is? Can you show me the sneakiest way to get there? I don’t want to be seen while we’re scouting the area.”

He didn’t want to put the young girl in any danger, but right now she was his best option to find the camp.

Remington/Pinkerton (CIO/security specialist)

Lanshay had begun to lead Pinkerton down the back side of the hill and towards a small path. She stopped to look at the screen he was showing her. Lanshay looked at the images and then up and around them to orient the screen to the terran. “This one,” she pointed to a spot not far from them, “is the hill where we just were with Yarin and Jokoth.” She sounded puzzled and saw there was a time stamp, “We were there when whatever it was happened.” She looked at two more blips on the screen. “This one is moving, it’s that way,” she pointed west and glanced in that direction and then followed it backwards, “Bella and her ‘mother’ were there, but walking. They could be heading for whatever that is.” That blip continued to move and seemed to be heading towards the last blip on the screen. She looked back and then pointed straight south and a little east, her face going pale. “That last one is either above the mines or deep inside them. I can get you quietly to either one you want.” Lanshay waited to see where Pinkerton wanted to go and then would set out.
Story Teller EvilJen

bump

He noticed her reaction, and though he wanted to see what it was that made her pale, decided to check that out himself later. Recording the signature to track it at a later time, he suggested, “Let’s follow Bella and her ‘mother’.”

As they set out again, he asked “How long ago did you say her mother passed away? Is it possible that she was really dead, but only appeared that way?”

Remington (CIO)

“Bella’s mother died a few days after she was born. Bella was 3 months old when Zanya found her and brought her here, 2 years ago now. Karrah sends out enquiries whenever new children arrive. Wouldn’t she have come sooner than 2 years?” Lanshay knew the reality and she also knew that the other children, herself included, always hoped their parents would come back, but life didn’t work that way. Lanshay nodded and turned heading west and around several of the hills until cutting through, following no more than well worn deer path south west until they came to a pond. The tricorder had shown Bella and her mother had already passed the pond. Lanshay, slowed now, staying to the trees rather than the open ground of the bank. They could have come back or slowed down. But there was no sign of them until they reached where the path continued on the other side. Lanshay spotted Bella’s bear about 20 feet into the path. She was no tracker, but she could make out the larger foot prints and smaller ones on the trail. Remington would recognize that Bella was attempting to stop, or perhaps was struggling with her ‘mother.’ Lanshay continued to lead them quietly. She was quite good, her feet making no sound on the leaf and twig strewn ground.

Icarus picked up the teddy bear, realizing it could come in handy in convincing Bella to come with them.

Eventually they caught up with Bella and the woman. Lanshay put a hand on Pinkerton’s arm and hunkered down still in the trees. In front of them was obviously an old mine entrance that had been closed off at some point but was now open and Bella was doing her best to NOT follow the woman inside. “The mine was closed up when I was 1. It’s always been closed.” She spoke in a hush as she looked around, the rocks that had been used to wall up the entrance were haphazardly out of place. “We had an earthquake about 3 months ago. I guess no one came to check on it.”

“No I don’t wanna. The air burns!” Bella’s small voice carried to them. Poor Lanshay was doing her very best to be still but it was obvious that last comment was almost too much. She pulled her sleeve up for Pinkerton to see her forearm. “The mineral mined here was corrosive. The minors used protective clothing while they worked. Occasional exposure won’t kill you, but it burns and scars, it hurts the eyes and throat.” Her arms were covered in very old tiny white scars. But the mine had been closed when she was 1.

Bella was crying in earnest now, but the woman just held onto her arm and dragged her toward the mine entrance.
Story Teller EvilJen

Seeing the child in near hysterics, Icarus could barely contain himself. Handing the bear to Lanshay, he said, “I need you to count to 10, then call out to Bella to get their attention. I’m going to get here free. When she reaches you–run!! Run as fast as you can back to thee village. I’ll be close behind you, but don’t stop until you get back. Find Zanya and the others, tell them what happened, got it?”

Lanshay took the bear and nodded at him, a little wide-eyed, but to her credit she didn’t balk. She began to count soundlessly: 1…2…3… She paced carefully and quietly so that when she called to Bella she’d be in front of her, instead of behind her wasting time as Bella tried to spot her. 4…5…6… Bella was yanking against the woman. Her ‘mother’ didn’t even appear to be phased by it, physically or emotionally. Lanshay could tell she was near hysterical. 7…8…9… She peered around spotting Pinkerton…10…

He moved quietly into the brush. When he was 15 feet away from Lanshay, still undercover of the foliage, he drew his phaser at drew a bead on Bella’s “mother’s” shoulder, hoping the shot would release her grip and give the child a chance to get away. . . .

Remington /Pinkerton

“BELLA! Bella come here! Look, I found your bear.” Lanshay stepped out of the trees, calling the little girl. The phaser shot hit the woman square on, but she didn’t let go of Bella. Instead, after a brief pause, she disappeared. Bella seemed frozen, stunned by her mother’s sudden disappearance. Lanshay didn’t wait, she ran straight for Bella, scooping her up and turning to run, but not five steps later a hand clamped down on her shoulder. Lanshay looked up into the eyes of Bella’s ‘mother.’ The stare, or really lack of, sent a cold shiver down her spine. “Let go of me!” Lanshay jerked her shoulder, keeping Bella tucked tight away from the woman. The woman looked at Lanshay and a momentary look of confusion appeared and she released her and disappeared again. Lanshay didn’t question it but ran.

As she ran, the woman kept appearing, and though Lanshay didn’t take the time to think about it, she noticed that the woman was different every time, her hair, her clothes, sometimes injured, sometimes not. Pinkerton could follow them easily because every time she appeared, Bella screamed. The woman appeared again, suddenly, hands reaching out to snatch Bella away and Lanshay turned, abruptly into the trees. She would never make it to the village by herself. She ran till she reached the river and then east, following the rapids, until she found what she was looking for: three large trees had grown closely together and created a small cave. It was just big enough for Bella, and Lanshay shoved her into the cave, “go, go, Bella, get inside.” Lanshay turned and backed herself against the opening, staring in horror at the new version of Bella’s mother. She hair was stringy and patchy, wiry and brittle. Her eyes were sunken and blank, even more so than before. Her skin seemed just as grey and brittle. The dress she wore was thread bare and rotting away. Through the holes in the decomposing dress Lanshay could see bone, dried and cracked. She screamed as the woman’s hands, nails much longer than they should be and the flesh shrunken and pulling away from the nails as the body dried out, grabbed for her. The woman’s breath was putrid and like her nails, her gums had pulled away from the teeth giving her mouth a savage and vampiric countenance. She was nothing but a walking corpse. The woman simply grabbed Lanshay by the shoulders and tossed her aside, and then reached into the hiding space, trying to reach Bella, who had been been quiet but began to scream again.
Story Teller EvilJen