S01 E03: USS Intrigue: The Wind That Drives One Mad

 

S01 E03: USS Intrigue: The Wind That Drives One Mad

(This adventure was inspired by the Spacewrecks Mission Brief entitled “Vent Qui Rend Fou”.)

First Officer’s Log. Stardate 45133.8. Commander Nyri Elatrai of the USS Intrigue reporting. Initial tests of the Medusan-derived navigation system aboard the USS Aeolus seemed promising. Reports from phase one indicated no ill effects on the navigator, a trained human telepath. But during phase two, the ship went missing. And now that we have found her, I can’t help but wonder at the meaning of the captain’s final message--Vent Qui Rend Fou—"The wind that drives one mad.”

            Captain Sekoba looked toward the viewscreen at the USS Aeolus. The ship appeared to be undamaged. A sensor scan showed all systems were nominal. There were some lifesigns aboard, though not a full standard crew complement. Hails went unanswered. Sekoba turned to her first officer, Commander Elatrai, sitting in the chair to her right. “Does your telepathic sense pick up anything?”

            Elatra answered, “I’m picking up several humanoid minds. All of them erratic. None of them have any coherent thoughts. It’s like they’ve gone mad. But it’s too many thoughts to sort through.” The starship Aeolus was Prometheus class with a crew of four hundred fifty. Half the crew were human, the other half of various species. There was one civilian aboard when the ship disappeared that was of most interest to Sekoba. “What about Mr. Vandos?” the captain said.

            “I don’t sense him at all. He may be injured. Even though Medusans have no physical form, they can be affected by energy fields that could cause them to go into a catatonic state.” Vandos was the Medusan navigator who had installed his test navigation system on the Aeolus. He was a civilian who had been working for many years with the Starfleet Corp of Engineers to get this navigation system working. Medusans had innately strong navigation skills. Vandos’ system would have allowed a non-Medusan telepath to navigate a starship with the sharp skills of a Medusan. If Vandos’ system worked, the benefit to Starfleet could be hundred-fold.

            Vandos had designed an interface system so that a telepath could be connected mentally to the ship’s navigation system in order to assist the helm more quickly—no more waiting for a person to touch the controls. Additionally, a telepathic interface with the computer would allow faster astromathematical computations to allow for movements of planets, meteors, and other celestial bodies, for helping to more accurately and efficiently plot courses. Captain Sekoba had made a bid to have the test system installed on her ship, the Intrigue. Sekoba’s ship was a Nebula class ship with an Astrometrics and Navigation pod. In other words, it already had the most advanced navigation system in the fleet. Sekoba would have been interested to know how much the new system would improve a system that was already at its peak. Starfleet, however, had chosen a different ship, citing they were more interested to see how a “normal” navigation system would react.

Medusans had always been one of the more enigmatic races of the Federation. They were shapeless, made of pure energy. They were also very strong telepaths. As a Betazoid, Commander Elatrai knew how rare telepathic species were. Only a few were known in the galaxy.

            The captain told her first officer to take an away team to the Aeolus. Commander Elatrai chose chief engineer Bravo, chief medical officer Dr. Norjelan, security chief Smeets, helmsman Kuiper, and ops officer V’Sek.

            They beamed directly to the bridge. There were no signs of humanoid life. They did find two bodies that had been stabbed; they appeared to have been the tactical officer and first officer. The away team made sure they had their phasers ready in case of any sign of danger. Dr. Norjelan confirmed the causes of death of the two bridge officers. She said they had been dead for one to two hours. Her medical tricorder also showed that their minds had much higher than usual beta waves, indicating strong emotions, such as anger and paranoia.

            Commander Elatrai went to the helm and activated it. She did not see anything unusual. Lt. Bravo went to the science station and tried to pull up the logs. She saw that the science officer and noted heightened emotions among the crew. Many of the Aeolus’ crew had become irritable and angry. Dr. Norjelan, a Lanthanite, said Medusans were a race that wore an EV suit when around humanoids to allow for movement in gravity, but also because Medusans must stay visually shielded from other species. Anyone who actually saw a Medusan went insane. The doctor asked Bravo if the records mentioned anyone seeing the Medusan navigator without his protective suit. Bravo said, “I know about Medusans, doctor. If the records said anyone saw one, I would have told you.”

            “Just trying to postulate a theory,” Dr. Norjelan said.

“Well, I’m leaving the bridge,” Bravo snapped. “There’s nothing more to see here.”

Elatrai ordered the team to break off into pairs and search as much of the ship as they could. They were to report to her every twenty minutes, or any time they found something unusual.

            The Betazoid commander and the Lanthanite doctor went to sickbay. They saw five dead bodies, and no living crew people at all. It looked like the deceased had all been in a fist fight with each other. There was blood all over the bulkheads and deck. There were also medical instruments strewn on the deck and overturned tables. Norjelan pulled up the chief medical officer’s logs. “According to this,” she said, “over ninety percent of the crew started going insane three hours into the navigation system testing. CMO Dr. Arias was unable to find a cause.”

            Elatrai said, “Maybe we could activate the Emergency Medical Hologram. He might be able to provide a clue.”

            “Don’t you think I know that? I was just going to do that!” Norjelan said.

            “Hey. Calm down, doctor. We’re both on the same side here.” Norjelan took a breath and apologized.

            Elatrai found the controls for the EMH. They had been turned off. She turned them back on and activated the hologram. “Please state the nature of the medical emergency,” said the EMH Mark II.

            “Just about everyone on this ship is dead. Looks like they killed each other. Do you know what happened?” the commander asked the hologram. The EMH said they were testing a new Medusan navigation system. Then the crew started getting irritable. Then they started getting angry at each other, throwing punches. Some even took up phasers, knives, or just hitting each other with whatever they could find. There were several versions of the EMH that were activated all around the ship. Not surprising that a Prometheus class ship like the Aeolus had holo emitters in multiple locations. “I did what I could with bandages, painkillers, and such. I even tried to break up a few fights so they would let me work. The chief medical officer and the chief engineer tried to find a cause. They felt it had to do with the test navigation system and the telepathic Medusan on board. Then someone turned off my program. I think it was one of the crewman who got angry at me for trying to save someone he had just punched.”

            “Well that was a breath of fresh air,” Dr. Norjelan said. Elatrai could tell the Lanthanite doctor was still angry. Norjelan went on, “You tell us it ‘had to do with the navigation system’ and ‘had to do with the telepathic Medusan.’ Why don’t you tell us something we don’t know?” She threw her hands up, turned around, took two steps, and turned back around in exasperation.

            “I see whatever it was hasn’t stopped,” said the EMH. Commander Elatrai, who did not seem to be affected at all, said to the EMH, “Do you know where the Medusan is?”

            “Last I heard he was at auxiliary control where his navigation system was installed.”

            “Let’s go!” Elatrai said to the Lanthanite doctor, pulling her by the arm. “I’m coming. I’m coming. You don’t have to pull my arm off!”

 

 

            Lt. Bravo and Ensign V’Sek went to engineering on deck six. They found more dead bodies, but again, no living beings. Bravo looked at an engineering console and pulled up the data. “Damn,” she said, “the plasma manifold needs to be realigned. And the injectors need to be boosted.”

            “Perhaps,” said Ensign V’Sek, “those settings had to be changed to accommodate the Medusan navigation controls.”

            Bravo snapped, “I’m just stating what’s here, Vulcan! You don’t have to get snarky with me!”

            “I was not being snarky,” V’Sek said. “Are you feeling alright?” He asked the engineer. Bravo was usually a friendly person, even under pressure. V’Sek had never known her to be so irritable. But then, he knew humans could be moody and unpredictable at times. Maybe she had been emotionally affected by seeing all the dead bodies, the Vulcan thought.

            Suddenly, V’Sek was knocked to the deck. There was an Andorian in a Starfleet uniform kicking him in the ribs and yelling, “Vulcan slime devil! You killed everyone!” V’Sek writhed in pain. As he tried to get up, he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Then something hit the Andorian and knocked him unconscious. V’Sek looked over at Bravo holding a spanner. “Thank you,” he told her. She helped him up. “Sorry for snapping at you,” she said. “No need to apologize. Everyone here seems a little on edge,” the Vulcan said, looking at the Andorian. “He’s only temporarily knocked out,” the engineer said, “and we need to find out what’s going on around here.”

 

            Lt. Smeets from security and helmsman Lt. Kuiper were walking down a corridor while scanning for life forms. They had to navigate around several more dead bodies lying all around. Their tricorders picked up someone in the briefing room. They entered the briefing room and saw a woman in a Starfleet uniform sitting on the deck in a corner. As they walked closer to her, the woman stood up and said, “D-Don’t hurt me!”

            “We won’t hurt you,” said Smeets. “We’re here to help. What happened here?”

            “They’re all trying to kill me,” the woman said. “Who?” asked Kuiper. “Everyone! Everyone on the ship. I had to kill them first! I have to find the Medusan. Kill him too.”

            Smeets tried to calm her down. “Look, you’re safe now. I’m Lt. Smeets. This is Lt. Kuiper. We’re from the USS Intrigue. What’s your name?”

            “Ensign Boucher.”

            “Alright, Boucher. Is anyone else on this ship still alive?”

            Out of nowhere, Boucher started screaming frantically, “They’re coming! NOOOO!” She ran out of the briefing room and down the corridor. The two from the Intrigue just stood there. They didn’t know what was wrong with the poor girl. Something horrible must have frightened her. Or she was insane.

 

            Bravo and V’Sek left engineering. The ship wasn’t going anywhere right now. As they were walking down the corridor past more dead bodies, their scans picked up lifesign readings in the arboretum. They drew their phasers in case they found more insane crewpeople. They still held hope that they would find someone who hadn’t been affected by the madness. They both noticed that while Bravo had been affected, V’Sek had not.

            They entered the arboretum and saw three people, one human and two Vulcans.

            “Who are you?” asked V’Sek. The human said, “I am Ensign Fowler. This is Ensign Sokun and Lt. Tamid.”

            “You three seem…sane,” V’Sek told them. “We are the only ones on the ship who were not affected by the madness,” Sokun said. Both Bravo and V’Sek asked if they knew why the madness didn’t seem to take over Vulcans, or why it manifested in some humans and not others. Then Sokun explained that it had to do with their telepathy rating. Telepaths, which would mean all Vulcans, were not affected. And humans with a Psi rating over 80 were not affected. In addition, when non-telepaths used a computer, the madness seemed to increase. How did this happen? In researching the problem, Sokun had mind melded with one of the tactical officers. What he saw in the officer’s mind was the pure energy face of the Medusan navigator on board. The Medusan had inadvertently projected his image into the minds of all the non-telepaths on the ship, causing them to go insane.

            Lt. Bravo said that she knew she was slowly losing her emotional control. Then she remembered something that had been in the back of her mind. Something hideous. Then she knew it must have been the Medusan. Yes. The image in her mind must be slowly driving her insane.

Now that they knew, what could they do? Could Vulcans mind meld with everyone and stop the madness? Sokun said he had tried and failed. The madness was too great for him to project his Vulcan emotional control over it.

Tamid said the test navigation system had been installed at auxiliary control on deck seven. The second auxiliary control on deck ten was not in use at the time. The system had malfunctioned and injured the Medusan, causing his mental projections. If they could get to auxiliary control, they could shut down the system. But the psionic waves in that room, so close to the Medusan, attracted more people--insane people. There were several people in that room, and they are unwilling to let anyone touch the system. Vandos, the Medusan, is mentally projecting to them to protect him, even though he is unconscious. And their nervous systems had also been affected. Phasers set to stun had no affect.

Bravo said that the madness seemed to come gradually, and since she hadn’t been there as long, she felt she was still reasonable enough to try. She was an engineer after all. Plus, V’Sek’s assistance would also be an advantage. The three Aeolus crewmen discussed it among themselves. They knew how dangerous it was.

While they were discussing it, Bravo got a call from Commander Elatrai. The commander had also found out that the test nav system was in auxiliary control and ordered Bravo and V’Sek to meet her there, along with Smeets and Kuiper. Well, so much for standing around and talking about it, thought Bravo. With more people to join them, Fowler, Sokun, and Tamid agreed to go with them.

 

The away team met just down the corridor from auxiliary control. Everyone briefed Commander Elatrai on what they had learned. Elatrai was Betazoid, so she was a telepath and not affected by the madness. Same with V’Sek. Bravo and Smeets were human. They had shown numerous signs of the impending madness. So had Norjelan, a Lanthanite. But Kuiper was human, and he had not shown any signs. Kuiper said he had a high Psi rating, like Fowler.

The door to the auxiliary room was open. They could see two people inside. They were alive. The team’s tricorders picked up lifesigns of eight more people inside. Elatrai said, “So the Psi waves are stronger in there, but all those people haven’t killed each other yet.”

Sokun said, “Vandos, is in there with them. He is unconscious, but his mind still wants to protect itself. His mental projections are telling them to protect him. They were all part of his navigation team. They will protect him from anyone who tries to disconnect him from the system.”

Elatrai said they would raid the room. They were just about equal in numbers. She told Norjelan to go straight to Vandos and try to revive him. He would be in his protective suit. When they went into the room, they were immediately met with resistance. The crewmen blocked the doorway. Elatrai’s crew had to use physical force to push and knock them away. While the others were fighting with the Aeolus crew, Elatrai and Bravo found the test system. Bravo was an engineer, and Elatrai knew helm and navigation control. So did Kuiper. Together, the three of them quickly tried to disconnect the system. Elatrai saw that the astrolinear manifold needed to be inverted. She took the navigational array offline. She told Bravo to reconfigure the multivector compass. Kuiper was able to scramble the valence field. The system started to power down.

Norjelan said that Vandos was interfaced to the console. An error in the system had caused an ionic spike in the conversion field. They needed to decrease that ionic spike. While others on their team were engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Aeolus’ crew, Elatrai found the controls for the conversion field. She used the stabilizer on the auxiliary control to decrease the ionic spike. Then Norjelan hit the harmonic stabilizer button on Vandos’ suit. The suit started filing out, as if it were filing with air pressure. That meant the Medusan was gaining consciousness. Elatrai noticed the suit was made in the form of a humanoid, even though it didn’t have to be. The Medusan was shapeless. The humanoid form was so that Vandos could acclimate better with the crew, and for the crew to feel more at ease in his presence.

Vandos lifted his “head”, or rather, the humanoid equivalent of the head of the suit, then he lifted his “hands”. He spoke telepathically to everyone in the room, whether they were telepathic or not. He told them he was very sorry for all the death and sorrow he had caused. He would remove his navigation system and take it back to his home planet for further research before trying to use it on another Starfleet ship.

Then, Vandos noticed the deceased human woman on the control next to him. It was Teela Bengtsson, the telepathic navigator he had been training to use the system. He touched his “head” to her head, as that was the only way he knew to grieve. “Teela,” he said, “I am so sorry. You were most kind. Most intelligent. You would have done well.” Commander Elatrai could sense his pain and sorrow. They were deeper than any human had ever experienced. She couldn’t help but grieve with him.

The fighting around her had stopped. All the people who were once insane had ended their aggressions. Dr. Norjelan was treating as many of the wounded as she could. Nearly two-thirds of the Aeolus’ crew were already dead. The ship would be taken to Starbase 87 for an overhaul and new crew assignments.

 

 

Captain Sekoba decided to hold a remembrance ceremony aboard the Intrigue. There were four hundred people gathered in the ship’s theater, as many as it would hold. The attendees were a mixture of crews from the Intrigue and the Aeolus. Vandos spoke in front of the audience. He had been reluctant to speak, as he felt guilty for causing so many deaths. Both Sekoba and Elatrai reassured him that it was not his fault. It was a test flight gone bad. The system had been a product of the Medusan and Starfleet engineers. Vandos gave a heartfelt speech about loss and friendship. Medusans were a very passionate and loving race.

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After the ceremony, Captain Sekoba and Commander Elatrai met for coffee in the Ready Room. Sekoba talked about how her parents had died in a building explosion on Vulcan when she was nine years old. She understood the concept of loss and how it could change you forever. Then she talked about the many comrades she had lost in Starfleet. Each gave their lives in the line of duty, as did the crew of the Aeolus.

Then Commander Elatrai talked about how she had lost her best friend when she was a child. It was not something she often spoke about. And then she lost more friends and family when the Dominion took over Betazed during the Dominion War. She was glad to finally to be able to share a part of her pain with her captain. Elatrai had only been Sekoba’s first officer for one month. They hadn’t had much time to bond. They were both appreciative of this chance. Even though their mission ended in so much death, they knew it was part of life in Starfleet.

 

 

-by the Honorable Kavura

Thank you for reading my Star Trek Adventures: Captain’s Log mission report. Captain’s Log is a solo role-playing game by Modiphius Entertainment.