Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in Would you like to play a game? (Thread A)

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in Would you like to play a game? (Thread A)

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Randal Farquharson (Jack of all Trades) in Would you like to play a game? (Thread A)
Posted by… suppressed (22) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Sentinel was always a busy ship. There were always things to be done, places to go, cargo to move. Today, they were out on the far edge of their general patrol area, investigating reports of spacial anomalies in the region. Roman, to his great dismay, was not yet back on full duty, in fact, he’d barely returned to duty at all. So, he was having his science officer on the Bridge send him the reports.

As the ship sat near the most recent anomalous location, running sensors and scans and what have you, an all-encompassing white light breached the walls of the ship, enveloping all of them.

---

The room was the size of a large ballroom. Laying on the beautiful, light coloured tile floor were Roman, Rand, Randy, Leah, Xam, and Kovan. The room was extravagant, the foyer of a large mansion by the looks of it. Large pillars adorned the sides of the rooms, the ceiling a beautiful painted dome. Elegant stairways led upstairs on either side of the room, leading to a small overlook followed by a large hallway. There was no one else in the room. At the front of the large room, huge, beautiful doors, that if tried, would not budge, as if glued shut. Large, arched windows adorned the walls, revealing a beautiful, but unreachable, courtyard.

All of the officers were physically fine, unhurt, exactly as they had been on board the ship. Their only symptom was disorientation as a result of the method of transportation, which would fade in ten to thirty minutes.

There was a voice in their minds, as if telepathic, not even quite a voice, just… the ideas. I would like to play a game with you, my intrepid explorers. I have abducted you from your ship - don’t worry, it is safe, as is the remainder of your crew. You, however, must win at my game in order to escape. Do not hope for rescue. You are unreachable to your crew. You will not be able to reach them and they will not be able to find you.

The only way out is to play. And the way to play… is to escape. You are in a building modelled after those on the planet of Earth. By any means necessary and available to you, you must escape to the outside. Only then will you be returned to your vessel. Good luck.

~ Jaguar

Roman had been waiting for reports from the bridge, but it was late and Rand had been asleep. Which was unfortunate because all she had on was a very attractive, spaghetti strap, short, emerald green, satin nightgown. She woke quite disoriented. She stared around in bewilderment. Why were they in a ballroom? Was this part of a performance? She pushed to sit up slowly, and gasped. She was in her nightgown!

She looked around for something to cover her, and noticed the others. Roman was closest. She crawled across the floor and shook him. “Roman?” She looked around. “Randy!”

“Kovan? Lt. Hart? Lt. Ra’ti?”

Yeoman Rand

Roman grumbled as she shook him. Then his eyes popped open and he shot up. “I… I wasn’t dreaming it, then? That voice…” He looked around. “Lieutenants Hart, Ra’ti, are you okay? Randy? Kovan?”

~ Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Ra’Ti sat up and rubbed his head. He had been asleep in… well… someone’s quarters; and was dressed appropriately for such activities, not for being dropped into the foyer of a mansion. Or rather, he was undressed for such activities.

Glancing down at himself, he looked up at the rest of the group and grinned. “Well… no secrets from shipmates then, huh?” and he chuckled, shaking his head. He then got up and started looking for something to cover himself up with; which he found by pulling down a curtain and wrapping it around himself like a toga.

Ra’Ti, Chief Tactical Officer

Rand let out the breath she was holding when Roman spoke. She saw Lt Ra’Ti getting up, and she turned away. She would probably be made fun of for that, but Rand was modest and shy. She then became aware of her own very scantily clad self and turned bright red. She tried to pull the gown down, but it wasn’t going to magically cover her more.

Leah had worked a double shift and had been off-duty before a therapy session with an ensign that she couldn’t postpone. The voice in her head had been so clear that as she took in the space around her she realized this was not a dream.

Pushing herself to her feet, she had a long black leggings, a vibrant purple tunic, and one of her own necklaces- an ornate affair with three stands of colourful glass beads connecting with intricate wire work flowers.

She turned in a slow circle and took in everyone with her. They seemed okay (the CTO’s undressed state aside). So instead she focused on their predicament. “You’ve stated the rules, but can we ask for information? And who are you?” Dealing with predictable and unpredictable behaviour was at least her speciality.

~Leah Hart, NP

Randy appeared in the room himself actually just wearing his duty uniform consisting of his shirt, kilt, and a rather fetching pair of glossy black knee high boots with a slight heel. He had been working on cleaning / maintenance in the dilithium crystal energizer when he found himself in this new and exceptionally different space.”Guid tae see ye all, an’ for some more than I expected. Ye’re all alright?” He exhaled a little, still holding the tools he had been using, before he stood by Roman and Rand.

–Randy, JoAT–

Rand was quite tempted to rip Randy’s kilt away just so she could put it on, but that would leave her brother in the same predicament as Ra’Ti. She didn’t want to contemplate the shennaigans that would lead to. “Aye, Randy, I’m fine.”

There was absolutely no response to the questions. Roman nodded, “I am at least.” He glanced around at the rest, “Let’s be thankful that it seems no one is hurt.” He ignored the state of undress of the CTO, it was… Well, offensive, but then, look at what… Oh. Rand must have felt nice today, because she was wearing his favorite night gown. It was very… flattering and skimpy. Roman pulled off his uniform shirt and handed it to Rand. “That’ll be longer than that at least.”

Rand snatched the shirt, murmering a quiet thanks, but not looking up at anyone as she pulled the shirt on. It was much longer and gave her more privacy.

“Or.... I suppose we could do that,” he said as Xam pulled a curtain off one of the windows.

~ Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand looked up at him. Do what? She followed his gaze toward Ra’Ti and nodded. “That is much more coverage. I know how to drape a toga.” It would allow Roman Cmdr. Alden to not go around shirtless.

Ra’Ti looked at Alden and said “I mean… if you don’t like this idea, Commander; I can always put it back.” and he started to undo the toga.

Ra’Ti, Chief Tactical Officer

“No!” Rand turned even redder. Her embarrassment quite clear to everyone in the room. She bit her lip and turned to look around the room, rather than stutter over an embarrassed explination.

The exchange of looks, and gentle jabs was too much for Randy to hold in as he let out a laugh, holding his arms to his torso as he rolled his head back, and looking at Ra’Ti saying, “Ah’ll give ye that it’s no ideal, an’ Ah know, Ah’m jist a lieutenant but if Ah can say sir, the toga is rather fetchin’, compared tae the former at least sir.” He said as he turned to Roman and Rand, “An’ as for ma sister? Weel, she’s lovely as always.” He finished as he knew any more and Roman would have him scrubbing the floors with his toothbrush for a few weeks. He did find a particular pleasure in ribbing them ever so often, of course none of them expected or prepared to be stuck in, well, wherever they were now. As he had been working at the time he had some basic tools and a more compact engineering tricorder slung onto his back. Sure it wasn’t going to be as accurate or as useful as a scientific unit or even the standard multipurpose units for away missions but it was still something. He put the hand tools on his belt and reached back to pull tre tricorder forward, holding it and flipping it open as he said “Alright, now that we’re throu wi’ that, should we get a look aboot?” He flicked the unit on and adjusted a few of the dials saying, “Le’me see what the tricroder has tae say aboot where we are.”

–Randy, JoAT–

Rand was both thankful for Randy interjecting, saving her from embarrassing herself further as always, and irritated that he was picking on her now of all times. She kept her gaze firmly focused on the room around her. She was going to have an anxiety attack. She could feel it building and the slight tingling in her fingers and toes. This is NOT the time Rand, she chided herself. It didn’t help much.

“Agreed,” Leah said, moving to the side of the room and taking in all the details. She moved to the doors at the front and pulled both, but nothing. “Doors are locked, as expected.” She turned in place. “There are stairs we could explore, but I don’t like the idea of anyone going alone since we don’t know what other unspoken rules there may be. If we split up, I suggest two groups of three. Or we all stick together. They voice didn’t specific if we all had to find the way out at the same time or not.”

~Leah Hart, NP

Rand shook her head, she doubted that would work. If one got out the others would be stuck. Wasn’t that how these games worked? “These rooms…they uh…” Rand paused and took a breath, several, counting so she wouldn’t stutter, but it was a near thing. “Servants don’t use the main entrances. There will be servant stairs and doors hidden around the room. So they can go about their jobs unseen. The construction looks Victorian Era, England, Earth. Randy?” She asked for his opinion. She didn’t want to speak up, she wanted to blend into the background and not be noticed, but she was supposed to help however she could.

“Victorian looks aboot richt, sis. Ye were always better at the location than I was, tae me it could be in India altho Ah suppose the colours are wrong. That bein’ said, is there any clue in the paintin’ or oot the windows?” Randy asked, looking up to see if there were any discernible clues from the ornately painted domed ceiling.

She spoke directly to Roman, her voice low, and she twisted her fingers behind her back. “Ladies were given dance cards, so the gentlemen could request a dance. It would include a schedule of the evening. When meals were served, breaks for the musicians, which dances were in what order. If we find one, it might give us clues.” Roman and Randy both knew this, but she was rambling a bit.

Yeoman Rand

–Randy, JoAT–

Ra’Ti began to do a sweep of the room. He looked for doors, windows, places where surveillance devices might be located. He looked at the ceiling, then the walls, then the floor; covering every inch he could as efficiently as he could.

Ra’Ti, Chief Tactical Officer

The paintings were stately and beautiful. One was of a green valley, another of what looked like it could be New York City. A third was of a beautiful, high class looking woman.

There didn’t appear to be secret doors or passages, but there were regular doors leading to other rooms in the mansion. The windows did not open. The glass appeared solid.

There was an invitation to a dance on the table… A dance at 1500, on that day’s date. A glance a the ornate clock in the room showed it was just past 1500 now.

Roman glanced at Leah and nodded. “I’m not a fan of splitting up. We’re stronger together. And we haven’t a clue what we’re here for or why.”

~ Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Randy looked over at Roman from the painting of New York and said, “Aye, that maks sense. This looks like New York City but Ah cannae place the era it wis taken.” Randy then reached up and pulled the painting off the wall, flipping it around looking for a date or any clue as to the specific era it was done in, and hopefully from there what era they found themselves in.

~Randal Farquharson, Jack of all Trades~

Leah picked up the card on the table and waved it. “Uggh, a dance invitation and I’m not suitably dressed, how rude. And we’re late apparently. This does seem very unlike the scenarios I’ve danced in before. Anyone have a clue what we’re supposed to do here?”

~Leah Hart, NP

Xam shrugged. “Our ‘host’ said they want to play a game. Until we have another option, I suggest we play along.” He looked at Hart and grinned, offering her his toga-clad arm. “We have a dance to attend, and we are just now fashionably late. Shall we?”

Ra’Ti, Chief Tactical Officer

Leah laughed and set down the card. She glided over in a complete shift in her stride and took his arm. “Yes, let’s.” Leah didn’t mind games in general, but she hated being subject to one. Or was it that they were the subject of one? Hmmm.

~Leah Hart, NP

Rand looked around for any clue as to the music or style of dance. The house looked Victorian, the invitation was very formal. She looked at Randy and moved to his side, tucking her arm into his elbow. She didn’t know what to do other than fall into a role. If this was based on Victorian or Edwardian England, then an unmarried woman needed an escort. She and Roman were not married, so that left Randy. But then they would be allowed to dance together because they were engaged.

It was confusing and making her anxious, but having them both there helped. “Any clue as to what type of music? We should check the stage for any music. Dances usually started with a minuet.”

Yeoman Rand

Randy smiled as Rand moved to his side, “You were always tha one ta ken tha rules aboot fancy things like.” He replied as he too got into position and held his back straight and arm bent in front of him, striking a protective and formal pose. “Shall we sis?” He said as he started to walk towards the hall and quipped, “Wouldn’t be surprised if it wer Serenade No. 1, it’s always Brahms or Bach with these dances like.”

~Randal Farquharson, Jack of all Trades~

Bump

Rand slipped her hand onto his elbow. Despite her lack of attire, Rand moved with grace. “I had to know, Randy. It is no much use now as a Yeoman.”

Yeoman Rand

“Aye” was all he said in reply as he continued to walk, looking back at his twin sister with a smile as she was always one to be graceful and beautiful.

~Randal Farquharson, Jack of all Trades~

Rand looked around. “We need music, but there are no musicians. I don’t see any bag pipes, Randy. Perhaps the instruments are automated?” Roman could play the violin, but she didn’t know if he would be willing.

Yeoman Rand

There was in fact, a piano, a guitar, a violin, and a flute. They looked like regular old instruments. Not automated. Roman eyed the violin. “Who plays?”

~ Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

“No pipes fer me? What kinna party is this?” Randy said with a wry smile as he had indeed played flute back when he was maybe 10 or 11, but if one were to describe him as rusty they’d be generous. “I canna give it a go…” He said looking to Rand, hoping she’d have a way out, but also knowing that if the XO wanted him to play the flute, he’d play the flute…

~Randal Farquharson, Jack of all Trades~