<USS Avalon> Unwanted Gifts ... part 1

Josh set off at a dead run, with Annabelle falling behind up still following, 
calling for Mac and Vilya to meet him on Deck thirteen. He slowed as he 
approached the items. They appeared to be three brief cases with a device in 
the center. Taking out his tricorder and reading what it could, he frowned. Not 
enough information. Not nearly enough. With a slight glance toward the others 
in the area, he keyed in sequence after sequence, linking the tricorder with 
the ships systems turning her recently upgraded sensors to a more intense and 
indepth internal scan until he got better reading on the field. The items 
inside had him very curious. Organic? Yes, he was definitely reading organic 
components behind the forcefield. The matrix of the field itself surprised him. 
He hadn't seen a  curve like that before, and it took him a moment to identify 
it. He waved Chase back as she caught up, scrutinizing the scans, then stepped 
over to her, showing them to her as Vilya and Mac arrived as 
 well.
 
"What the hell are those for?" Mac asked, whistling as looked from the scans to 
the other three. "Anyone got a clue?"
 
Josh shook his head, and inched closer, focussing the scan first on the 
briefcases, then more closely on the organics in the center. No, he wasn't 
about to drop all shields around them. Not without more information. He'd leave 
the ships field up around it until science had a chance to look at what he was 
looking at. Nodding to Mac to be ready to increase power to the forcefield if 
necessary, he handed off the tricorder to Chase and instructed "Keep an eye on 
the organics." then gestured for Vilya to assist him. "Key around me," he told 
her quietly, his slightly accented voice taking on an assurance only heard from 
him when he was engrossed in his work. "Monitor the energy readings. I'll drop 
their shields."
 
Vilya kept her eyes glued to the readouts.  She wracked her brain, trying to 
recall where she had seen the matrix for the field before.  Organic...I 
wonder...
 
"You know," she mused.  "The matrix pattern almost looks like a brain wave 
pattern.  That might gives us a clue as to the programmer, if not the contents 
themselves.  After all, aren't each being's patterns different?" 
 
Josh gave the slightest of nods, not looking up from what he was doing. That 
had been his conclusion, as well. 
 
"If this thing is organic maybe we should call medical?" Annabelle offered as 
she kept an eye on the tri-corder that Josh had given her. The thrill over the 
assignment was almost making up for her shortly ended date, but she was really 
going to have to talk to the dude who beamed these things over about his timing.
 
"Medical's already on the way," Lt. Dareth chimed in, having over-heard the 
ensign.  "So is Science, for that matter."  Elijah, along with Hollander and 
Eckstein stood guard, watching the scene play out before them.  They were to 
keep Sierra apprised of any changes.
 
Again Josh gave a barely perceptible nod, indicating he'd heard, but didn't 
look up. He remained completely focussed on the work he was doing, bypassing 
the ships sheilding without lowering it to get to the alien shielding beneath, 
feeling that the extra precaution was warranted due to it's powerful yet 
unstable, appearance, and the mysterious contents it guarded. He was surprised 
as the alien shield changed with him, adapting, it seemed, with each thing he 
attempted to lower it.  He paused a moment, absently pushing errant curls out 
of bright blue eyes and almost smiling as he quickly contemplated the challenge 
at hand and then began another attempt, fingers flying so quickly and deftly 
across the keypadd as to be a near-blur, as though it had become a race to see 
which could adapt and react faster, the alien shielding, or Josh himself.
 
"Yo, man," Mac smiled, peeking up at Dareth from the work he'd been given. 
"Didn't see you over there. Our orders were to drop the alien shield. So, down 
it comes. Any idea who's coming?" He increased their own field strength around 
the contents as Josh worked absently, noting the spiking and surging of the one 
within it as it, apparently, fought to remain intact, then grinned broadly at 
Joshua when it fell. "Okay, kid?" Josh nodded again, initiating another scan of 
the contents within their shield now that the alien sheild had fallen, hoping 
for more definitive answers this time. His eyebrows shot up as he looked up 
sharply at Annabelle and Vilya. Did they see what he saw? The contents within 
the cases was indeed organic, apparently, from the scans, with oddly 
virulent-appearing components. And, it seemed, it was now growing at a 
phenominal rate within the confines of the field. 
 
Vilya leaned over Josh's shoulder without quite touching him.  Her brows drew 
together and her nose wrinkled even more as she read the display.  "You know 
what?  I think we should put the shield back up and get this thing in a secure 
containment area before it expands beyond the field."
 
"What is it?" Dareth asked with concern over Vilya's reaction to Josh's 
readings.  "What's going on?" 
 
Josh nodded again, already working on it, as Mac called for a containment unit 
they could possibly use to safely transport it to the lab. There was no sign of 
a breach yet, however, the boys had both seen before how sneaky things like 
this could be.
 
"We got a problem," Mac answered simply, hoping that wasn't an understatement.
 
 Hoping against hope that none had got past their field, Mac increased the 
strength again while Josh reinitiated the one he'd just dropped. Even so, it 
almost didn't hold as the alien shield pulsed brightly, discharging energy 
against their own with great enough force to throw Josh and Vilya, who were 
closest to it, back toward the bulkheads. Instinctively, Josh turned, getting 
his legs under him and bracing against the bulk of the impact and made a grab 
for Vilya in an effort to slow her down and lessen the force of her impact as 
well. Getting gingerly back to his feet, he rescanned the area and looked to 
Mac, shrugging. The alien sheild was back up, as it had been before. He 
contemplated the entire situation silently and waited for the science team to 
arrive.
 
"Shit," Mac whispered under his breath, glad he wasn't any closer to the field 
than he had been. "You two okay?" Again Josh gave the slightest of nods as he 
leaned heavily against the bulkhead, looking up from his scans only to glance 
toward Vilya, concerned.
 
Elijah watched watched the alien forcefield pulse, throwing the two engineers 
back against the wall.  Tapping his badge, he said, "Dareth to Medical, we need 
a team down here now."  Then, he called Sierra, "Dareth to Sierra, sir, we've 
got a problem.  These packages are getting a lot more active."
 
"Belay that, Medical," Garrity said quietly, as he continued consulting his 
scans."Energy discharge possibly accompanied by unknown viral contaminant. 
Recommend quarantine until more information is obtained." He looked around at 
those on the deck with him, and sighed. 

                
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