DL| Section 31 Commander Aleksandr Dunross "Patient Zero" Part 1

Posted on 241708.03 @ 5:01am by Captain Aleksandr Dunross
Edited on on 241708.03 @ 5:03am

Mission: Hush [BQ Plot]
Location: Cold Station Theta

/// Perunova and Associates ///

Aleksandr moved along the Promenade at a leisurely pace, that matched the bovine movement of the people around him. Dressed in his usual nondescript business attire, Aleksandr departed the slow-moving mass of people at a door with “Perunova and Associates” framed above it. For twenty-five years Aleksandr used his identity as a privateer as his cover for his Section 31 activities, however, now it was much more than just a ship, but now a fully functioning import and export business, with him as its CEO. He freely admits he did so to stick it to his half-brother, but along the way, he built something he could be proud off, beyond serving as a cover for his activities on the behalf of the Federation.

“Dobryy vozhd'” said a well looking a finely-dressed female from behind a large desk facing the door.

Aleksandr simply nodded and waved slightly as he passed by. The Betazoid-human hybrid was more than a receptionist. She also doubled as an agent of Section 31 and Aleksandr’s first line of defense. Her looks were purposely deceptive as to get the drop on any would be intruders and unwanted guests. Every person working for Perunova and Associates were well trained agents of Section 31 as well as real employees, working to earn a profit. One tool Aleksandr took from his days as a pirate was profit-sharing to encourage and motivate his crew and now agent/employees. Perunova’s entire personnel were properly motivated to protect the Federation and earn a profit while doing so.

Checking his chrono, Aleksandr walked into his office, took the private turbolift to the 45th level of Cold Station. The section that Aleksandr arrived in was not recorded in any records that currently existed about Cold Station’s construction and was cleanly omitted from her schematics. Agents involved in Cold Station planning and construction successfully kept this little hideaway from the rest of the galaxy. Power sources to allow this unknown location to operated were drawn from all over the station with secondary and tertiary backups in place in case something should happen and stealth technology stolen from the Dominion was used to mask any energy signature therein.

Aleksandr walked through the swishing doors to see a trio of doctors surrounded by a bank of monitors and computer panels. He gazed around the sterile room that looked out, onto a much larger space. The use of holo-technology allowed them to shape the space into whatever they wanted or needed it to be. Currently, it was a holographic field of open space showing only a few distant stars and a empty star system. In the middle of this space floated a lone individual in a spacesuit. The monitors record everything about the individual from vital statistics to audio visual, and brain waves. One of the trio of doctors turned around to greet him.

“Director Dunross, I’m happy to report we may have a breakthrough soon,” chirped the owlish man with whose eyebrows was as thick as his beard. Aleksandr nodded with his usual stoic expression and moved past him to view the monitors for himself.

“We have activity,” said another doctor, “the heart rates going up and the subject is gaining consciousness.” Everything was being recorded to Aleksandr paid little attention to what was being said and watched for himself. “Patient Zero is fully awake,” said the third doctor.

Aleksandr answered with a grunt. He moved to the large pane window that looked out in the blackness of this faux space. He watched Patient Zero spin and turn as they experienced a real zero gravity setting.

Patient Zero’s eyes flew open but could see nothing. In truth, they didn’t know where the point which sleep ended and consciousness began. It was black with eyes closed and with eyes open. In the emptiness of space, all audio and visual perceptions were removed. However, the monitors gave Aleksandr a visual of what was going on inside the spacesuit.

“Where am I,” called out Patient Zero, twisting in puzzlement and confusion. The question was asked for the next twenty minutes before they gave up.
“Tell me what’s going on,” Aleksandr commanded.

“The treatments given to Patient Zero is easing out of their system with lingering aftereffects,” said a doctor number two, “Wakey wakey Patient Zero.”
Patient Zero began to flail their arms. They could not see nothing nor hear nothing except the emptiness of space and solitude. Dampeners were in place to remove the sound of movement, even from within the suit. Treatment to the oxygen recycle system attached to the suit gave the air Patient Zero breathed no smell, no taste, neither dry nor moist, and the sterile temperature that made it indiscernible. A covering of the face-plate of the suit Patient Zero wore completed the sensory deprivation.

Aleksandr moved to one monitor that covered a nearby wall that gave an analysis of Patient Zero’s brain pattern and changes of temperature and heart rate. He moved the video of Patient Zero’s face to a tiled view along the monitor and watched them speak. He knew that individual was could not hear as Patient Zero’s heart rate increased and brain pattern grew more erratic. The analysis told him that fear was beginning to set in and Patient Zero hold on their emotions and mental state was breaking.

Aleksandr observed with cool clinical detachment as he wondered how long will it take for Patient Zero to break. He pressed a button that took way Patient Zero’s ability to move their extremities. The parts of the brain that governed the fine motor skills began to a light with furious activity. He looked over at the imaging scan of Patient Zero’s body and thought they were trying to make a fist.

“Huh,” Aleksandr said, “that’s interesting.”

On the viewscreen that showed Patient Zero's face, their eyes were closed, but the mouth was moving as if they were screaming, 'Where am I!' Then Patient Zero started moving frantically, twisting and turning, as if searching for something to hold on to, but finding nothing, floating free in space. Vitals signs were going off the charts and brain waves were moving furiously erratic.

"Doctor," Aleksandr said, speaking to the lead medical.

"Fifteen minutes," the doctor said as he scooted over to scan the monitors, "Heart rate is rising at a rapid rate, respiration denotes an onset of acute anxiety reaction...this is sooner than usual, Director...the more intelligent the subject..."

"Da," Aleksandr said with some impatience, "The greater the need for sensory input, Da, doctor, I understand this...but is Patient Zero at the breaking point yet?"

The doctor shook his head, "We just finished level three of the procedure, onto level two."

Aleksandr grunted and moved to take a seat, watching the proceeding for a bit longer. The research into this kind of interrogation was moving much slower than he'd wanted. Something told him that he was running out of time—that he needed to have this test done as soon as possible.
Patient Zero hovered on the edge of hyperventilation, but doctors, changed the gas mixture going into them. Aleksandr keep a very close watch on Patient Zero's vital signs, looking for opportunity to get what he needed. He was pleased to use this interrogation technique as it left no visible scars, or evidence of torture. It was the perfect method to draw the most complete information from a subject. However, the only disadvantage to sensory deprivation was that the terror it induced usually drove the subject mad or at the very worse, drove the heartbeat so fast that it could kill them.

Aleksandr changed the holographic projects to show a star far off in the distant as the only point of light. There still were no major planetary bodies or any other flotsam that may be floating around in a star system. He wanted to give Patient Zero the sensation that they were floating aimlessly in space. At the last minute, he did add an asteroid that had signs of habitation. He also changed the spacesuit to give Patient Zero a jet-pack with fuel in the red. There was just enough hope to stave off insanity, until Patient Zero realized that even that string of hope was useless. He changed Patient Zero’s face-plate to allow them to see out of and orient them facing the star and asteroid. On que from Aleksandr, the doctors pumped Patient Zero with a new concoction that brought them to full awareness.

Patient Zero took a deep breath. The air smelled funny, but they could not figure out why. They started to say something, but didn’t hear anything. Where were they? Patient Zero began examining the space around them more carefully. It took nearly an hour of mental discipline to regain control of their emotions, and repeated a mantra learned long ago. Nothing could be happened to bad to them as they were in a functioning spacesuit, albeit the thrusters were nearly depleted. They could see the star off into the distance which cause them to wonder how far they were in space and what star system. Sweeping left and right, they spotted the inhabited asteroid. A jump in their brainwaves denoted excitement and Aleksandr had a devilish smiled on his face.

He could see the eagerness at which Patient Zero tried to grasp the hope he laid out for them. It didn’t take a mind reader or a brainwave analyzer to tell him that Patient Zero was thinking that if they only could apply just enough thrust, it would take them towards the asteroid. Understanding that this was going to take a while, Aleksandr had a meal brought to him and settled down to watch the show as he eats.
Patient Zero applied the remaining thrust left in its holographic jet pack and sent them on an intercept projection with the floating asteroid. Their calculations told them that they would have just enough air and water to reach it, hoping that whatever sustain them would last until help arrived. When Patient Zero’s heart rate began to settle, Aleksandr knew that Patient Zero was beginning to get comfortable.

“No, no,” Aleksandr said, “We can’t have that.” Aleksandr allowed the jet pack to drain more rapidly than Patient Zero projected and set the asteroid into geosynchronous orbit with them. He grinned and nodded, “There, that’s more like it.”

Patient Zero’s breathing became more rapid now. The thrusters ran out well short than they thought it was and the asteroid seemed to not be any closer. They inspected the cosmos around them and grew distraught as they did not recognize the star configurations. Where were they?!
Movement, Patient Zero thought to themselves, more movement, perhaps gain enough forward momentum, they could get to the asteroid, or at the very least come close enough to draw someone’s attention. And hour later, Patient Zero’s reward was nothing at all, just the same slow, movement with the lack of progress. It did not matter where they looked, up down, left and right, it was all the same—the pinprick of sunlight shadowed by a floating rock. Aleksandr watched Patient Zero let loose a silent scream and smiled as he pressed a button on his console. He saw Patient Zero suddenly stop and tilted their head, listening. Patient Zero screamed again, this time for a full ninety seconds before tired out. All they heard was the distant tingling of a fading echo of a stranger.

The panic attack started in earnest.


End Log


Aleksandr Romyev Dunross
Director, Beta Quadrant
Section 31