Star Trek Sim / RPG
USS Eagle, NCC 2185
Unstoffe Log: The Virus Gambit
Stardate: 2006.02.02
Location: USS Eagle
Setting: The Brig
The Eagle had escaped safely from the Romulan attack and repairs the shield
generators were nearly complete. LCDR Unstoffe had taken the time to
brief the XO on all he had discovered from Dr. Arnold and had ordered security
teams to sweep the ship for Captain Fango. He was obviously mixed up in this
whole Romulan business in some way and Unstoffe wanted to have a serious
chat about it. In the meantime, with LTjg Richards manning tactical, he decided
to head down to the Brig and check on Dr. Arnold
The door slid open and Unstoffe observed the security guard at his post.
"How's the prisoner?" he asked.
"Quiet, sir, hasn't spoken a word since we put him in the cell," the
guard responded. "Mostly he just stares at the wall."
Arnold's back was to the door and he sat on the spare bench with his knees
pulled up against his chest.
As he moved closer to the cell, Unstoffe verified the force field was operating
at full strength.
"It's all right Commander, I'm not going anywhere," commented Arnold without
turning around.
"I hope you are finding your private suite more to your liking, " Unstoffe
remarked dryly.
"The new accommodations are acceptable, given the circumstances. Besides,
I've been in worse for much longer."
"Well then, I'll leave you to get more accustomed to them." Unstoffe
turned to leave the Brig. He'd come back and interrogate the prisoner after
Arnold had stewed in the cell a little longer. Despite his claims to
the contrary, Arnold looked the type who enjoyed his creature comforts.
Unstoffe stopped short, nearly hitting the door. Unexpectedly, it failed
to open.
Arnold smiled.
Unstoffe tried the door a couple more times, entering his security code into
the control panel in case the lock-down protocols had been inadvertently
activated (or someone was playing a joke on the boss.) The door steadfastly
remained shut.
Frustrated, Unstoffe turned to the guard and they spoke together briefly.
No, the guard hadn't altered the controls. No, he hadn't noticed any
power fluctuation and no, the Bridge had not announced any problems with
internal controls. Stepping across the guard station, Unstoffe accessed the
intercom to report the problem to Engineering. The circuit was silent.
Arnold watched.
Suddenly, main lighting failed. The Brig was lit only by the faint
glow of the force field of Arnold's cell. After a half-second the emergency
circuit kicked in and the room was filled with the subdued blue hue of the
back-up lights. Unstoffe exchanged a concerned look with the guard.
Arnold laughed.
Unstoffe and the guard turned to see Arnold on his feet, arms crossed in
the middle of his cell.
"It is only a matter of time now," he chuckled.
Unstoffe took a step closer to the cell. "Time until what?" he inquired.
Arnold sat as he replied, "Time until we all die. I have failed in my primary
mission. Now it is the only way." He closed his eyes.
"What have you done?" demanded Unstoffe.
Arnold was silent.
"This is ridiculous," thought Unstoffe. "The man is locked behind bars and
has been in our custody since he broke into the communications circuit.
He's just using whatever is going on to play with me, to get back for tricking
him."
As he stared at Arnold, thinking, Unstoffe became aware that the ubiquitous
fan noise had stopped. He counted slowly to five. The back-up lights
shifted from blue to red. Life support had failed and the emergency
reserves had activated.
Arnold opened his eyes in response to the changes. He saw the concern
etched on Unstoffe's face. He was enjoying this. "I must complement
you on your little ruse. Had you not been so successful, perhaps we all would
have lived."
Uncharacteristically, Unstoffe lost his patience and threatened, "Tell me
now! What have you done?" Not getting a response, Unstoffe repeated
himself with malice in his voice, "Tell me now! What have you done?"
Arnold opened his eyes and looked up, "You can't threaten a dead man, Commander."
With that he turned his back on Unstoffe.
"Drop the bars," Unstoffe ordered the guard. "If we lose power the emergency
power supply should hold the force field for 20 minutes or so, but I don't
want to take any chances."
"Aye, sir."
"I should head to the bridge and see what is going on." Unstoffe pulled
open the access panel to the manual door controls and started to work the
release.
Arnold felt like gloating. He was going to die, so he might as well
enjoy himself. "Commander, I'll tell you what I did."
Unstoffe continued working the door, but called over his shoulder, "Yes?"
"I planted a logic bomb in your communications system. The virus it
contained is now disrupting your ship's systems. It is only a matter of time
before it affects something critical, but your technicians will have figured
that much out by now. Had I not been discovered, I could have entered
a code to disarm it, but once the bomb activates the code won't work. I don't
know that much about it myself, but I've been assured it is quite a virulent
program. You won't be able to contain it and even if your programmers could
develop a program to stop it, they won't be able to in time."
Unstoffe didn't bother to answer. He finished opening the door and left.
Arnold grinned.
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