Crewman Lori Delaney made her way to the bridge of the starship Inyx in fits and starts. She sprinted in bursts, pounding the deck beneath her feet because she was running so urgently, but every now and then she stopped - not just to catch her breath, but because she needed to ask herself whether or not she was crazy.
What she'd seen in medbay defied all sense. Dr. Hiraga, Chief Samira Carter, and that dorky science officer, Morgan, acting out some kind of crazy fantasy, dressed in absolutely ludicrous outfits, whilst Wasp, the hacker they were supposed to be hunting, lorded over it all. If someone told Delaney they'd seen something like that, she'd never believe them. Not if they swore on a hundred years of replicator rations.
But she couldn't dismiss the very last part of what she'd seen. Wasp had some kind of brainwashing device she was going to use to take over the Inyx. And it was almost perfected. Hearing that had made Delaney's blood run cold. She needed to act, but she was just a petty crewman. She was powerless. She needed help, but if Dr. Hiraga and the ship's security officer had already fallen, there was no telling who else might already be in the hacker's clutches.
There was only one person Delaney could think to turn to: Captain Yvonne Vasser.
It was funny. Normally, there was no one Delaney wanted to see less. Captain Vasser was the very worst kind of commanding officer: one who truly believed in all of Alliance Starfleet's bullshit about protocol, professionalism, and discipline. Most captains would allow a little leniency on a long tour of duty like this. Not Vasser. She was always on Delaney's ass - about her uniform, about showing up a little late to her duty shifts, and about a hundred other tiny little rules and regulations Delaney didn't give a shit about. And when it wasn't her, it was her pet thug, Carter.
Why couldn't Vasser take the hint, and accept that Delaney was only in this job for the paycheck and the training? And why did she care about petty crewmen in the first place? Didn't she have more important things to pay attention to?
In a situation like this, though, Delaney couldn't imagine anyone else she'd sooner tell. Captain Vasser was a legend. A machine. She was untouchable. Even if everyone else on the Inyx fell to Wasp, she'd fight tooth and nail to set them free. Delaney was sure that Captain Vasser would know exactly what to do.
"Where's the captain?" Delaney demanded as she rushed out of the turbolift and onto the bridge.
Heads turned, every one of them looking at her like she was suicidal. She had no business being here, after all.
"Captain Vasser is in her ready room," said Lieutenant Kuznetzov, in a voice cold enough to freeze the air between them. "But I would remind you, crewman, that-"
"Great, thanks."
Delaney grit her teeth as she interrupted and dashed past him. She really hoped she wasn't crazy because if not, she was seriously going to pay for that.
Before anyone could stop her, Delaney raced into the ready room. Once she was inside and the door slid closed behind her, she found herself alone with Captain Vasser. The captain was sitting behind her desk and looked up at Delaney with an impossibly stern, displeased expression on her face.
"Crewman," she said in a warning tone. "Just because I do not lock my door, does not mean you should presume to-"
"Forget that!" Delaney cut her off.
She paled slightly as she watched Captain Vasser's eyebrow raise higher than she'd ever seen it. However, the captain seemed to sense her urgency, and gave her a chance to speak.
"Captain, I saw something," Delaney began. "Just now, down in medbay. I..." She paused, wishing she'd spent more time thinking about exactly what to say. "It's Wasp. She's infiltrated the ship. And she's doing something to people. I don't know what, exactly. But she's in their heads. She's controlling them."
Delaney paused to catch her breath. She half expected Captain Vasser to query something, or else yell at her for telling tall tales. Instead, the captain just stared at her with an odd, vacant look in her eyes. Delaney couldn't tell what that meant, but it made her nervous.
"I swear, Captain," she added quickly. "I really saw it. You have to believe me. We're all in danger. That's why I came running in here. I couldn't tell anyone else, I couldn't even use my communicator. We don't know who else might be-"
Suddenly, Captain Vasser bolted to her feet. Delaney broke off mid-flow but then tried again. "Captain, please, I-"
"I believe you, Crewman Delaney," Captain Vasser said, somewhat stiffly. Relief swept over Delaney. "And you did the right thing by bringing this directly to me. You must not tell anyone else. Now follow me."
She started walking at a brisk, purposeful pace, out of the ready room and toward the turbolift. Delaney moved quickly to follow her. In that moment, she could have kissed Captain Vasser she was so grateful to be believed. She wasn't sure where the captain was taking her, but it was an immense relief to see that she seemed to have some kind of plan for contingencies like this. For once, Delaney was glad to have a hard-ass as a captain.
As they crossed the bridge, Delaney caught plenty of dirty, impressed, or downright incredulous looks. The officers must have been wondering why she wasn't currently being chewed out for insubordination. Captain Vasser ran a tight ship, though, and as such, none of them dared to question her. They just busied themselves with their assigned tasks, and so Captain Vasser and Delaney made it into the lift without comment. From there, they headed down into the Inyx's decks. Delaney didn't think to ask where they were going until, after they left the turbolift and started walking again, she realized what they were heading for.
The holodeck.
"Uh, captain?" Delaney ventured as they stepped over the threshold. "What are we doing here?"
All too late, she was giving thought to how Captain Vasser had seemed during the walk down. She had been oddly quiet, and unnaturally serene. Delaney had assumed she was simply trying not to give the game away, but it was starting to seem like more than that. Captain Vasser was behaving more like a robot than a person. It was almost like she was-
"Computer, seal the holodeck," Captain Vasser said. Her voice was chillingly monotonous. "My authorization. Hold all communications. Load up and engage scenario Wasp One."
"Wasp..."
The penny dropped. Delaney turned back toward the door, only to see it slide closed and hear the heavy-duty mechanical locks slam into place. She was trapped. A beat later, the holodeck's many, many highly sophisticated holographic projectors hummed to life. At her rank, Delaney didn't get a lot of holo-rec time, but she was still familiar enough to brace herself for the walls and floor shifting and dissolving into a new scene. Instead, though, all that happened was that a single hologram appeared in the space between Delaney and Captain Vasser.
It was Wasp. She looked just as she had in medbay, complete with the bizarre, regal, latex costume that was such a strange match for her neon green hair and punk looks.
