Nina, Octavius and Investigations
Nina thought more
about the rescue. There was certainly more to it than that. She then
checked the console and saw that the TARDIS didn’t see anything
unusual in that data. ‘I’ll look over it this evening,’ she
thought.
She went straight to
the Bugle.
Betty showed Nina the
room where the archives were stored. “That is a lot,” Nina said,
seeing that there was only a small amount of walking space in that
room.
“Yes,” Betty said.
“The Bugle was founded early in the last century, and
Jameson bought it nineteen years ago. He wants you to build the
archive in reverse.”
“So, literally
backwards?”
“Yes.”
“I can do that.”
“Good,” Betty said
in an encouraging tone.
She soon, got to work.
Some of the information was interesting.
On Baffin,
Aialah started her duty shift. As she entered the Bridge, she could
see that Alpha was reading something from a PADD whilst sitting in
the Command Chair and Eta was looking at something on Science Station
1. She also saw the Pilot make minor course correction. She looked at
Earth’s Moon on the viewscreen. 'Quite interesting that it's
tidally locked,' she thought, as those of her home weren't, although
their rotations were in resonance with their orbits. ‘Maybe because
it’s so big relative to the planet?’ she considered.
Alpha put the PADD
down. “Good morning,” she said.
“Not sure why we have
synchronized the shipboard time to American Eastern Standard Time,”
she groused. Earth rotated a couple hours a day slower than her
world.
“Given that Nina's
there,” Alpha said.
“Right,” Aialah
said. She went over to Eta. “You have found any further
information?”
“Not much. It
seems to have been classified by the National Security Agency,” Eta
answered as Aialah sat at the other Science station.
“I see.”
“Uh!”
“Uh?”
Aialah asked.
“It
seems an organisation called the Strategic Homeland Intervention,
Enforcement and Logistics Division is also involved. But I can’t
find much on them either. Just the fact of their existence. Whatever
data they have, it must be stored offline.”
“I’ll
help you find out.”
“Thanks.”
Somewhere in a
nondescript office in the District of Columbia, a phone rang.
“Coulson here,” the man said.
“The
hack is continuing. The Agency may be compromised,” the woman
on the other end said.
“Have
you traced the origin yet?”
“Not
yet.”
“Keep
me informed.”
“I
shall.”
“Uh oh!” Eta
said.
“What?” Alpha
asked.
“SHIELD is tracing
our crack,” Eta said.
“SHIELD?” Aialah
asked.
“That's what the
acronym spells in Federation Standard, or as it's usually known on
Earth, English,” Alpha answered.
“Oh, right,”
Aialah said. “I guess I need to know more of that language.”
“It would probably
be a good idea,” Eta said.
“But the trace
back?” Alpha asked.
“It's still within
the terrestial network,” Eta said.
“Still, I'll
help,” Alpha decided.
In Engineering,
Gamma checked over the Warp Core. It was working perfectly, without
any problems. All the systems were working fine. She was tempted to
deactivate herself again, but Alpha had decided that at least one
Hologram would be on duty in Engineering at all times. She didn't
fault her reasoning. She walked over to a panel and brought up the
scans from Octavius' experiment again. There were many reasons why it
had gone awry. “OK, replay it in real time.”
She watched as the
experiment unfolded, and listened to the commentary Nina had
recorded. 'Something...' she thought as the she watched the magnetic
field increase. Maybe it was the fact that Octavius was using
Tritium? Or was there something with the Tritium. 'OK, did Nina scan
the Tritium container specifically? She checked, and saw that she
didn't. 'It is a mystery then,' she thought. Or were there other such
containers? “Gamma to Alpha.”
Alpha listened to
Gamma's proposal. It seemed like a good idea. “We'll use the probes
to scan the planet for more concentrated Tritium.”
“There's
certainly something there,” Gamma said again.
“We're doing it
now.”
“SHEILD is giving
us the runaround,” Aialah said a while later.
“In that case, I
think we should pause it, and check with Nina later to see if the
TARDIS had gained the information yesterday,” Alpha decided.
“Sure,” Aialah
said.
“We'll look at
historical databases instead,” Eta decided.
“For now,”
Aialah said.
During her lunch
break, Nina saw a commotion in a nearby Bank. Something was
happening. She took a moment to adopt the persona she had used the
previous night, taking off her dress, showing the Starfleet uniform
underneath. She then loosened her hair and put on her mask before
taking out the quarterstaff. She took a moment to calm herself, then
ran around a corner and entered the bank. She saw that Spider-Man was
already on the scene and Octavius was throwing money bags at him.
How to
stop Octavius? She could wonder why he was robbing a bank later. She
could see Spider-Man having some sort of problem before Octavius
knocked him down. “Octavius!” she called. He ignored her as he
focused on Spider-Man and began squeezing his head with two of the
actuators. She ran up as the superhero produced two webs and slammed
two tables against his opponent.
There was a brief
scuffle before Octavius was knocked into the street.
'Maybe
Spider-Man doesn't really need help,' she thought as the two
continued to fight. But then Octavius grabbed an old lady.
Nina ran after
Octavius and his hostage. “Octavius!”
“I said
don't follow me!” Octavius said as he looked up a nearby building.
“I'm
not a cop,” Nina said, but Octavius then began climbing up the
building. “OK...” She tapped her combadge. “Nina to Baffin.
Octavius tried to rob a bank and is now escaping with a hostage. He's
climbing a building with her.”
Aialah brought up
the scan of the situation as a response to Nina’s request. Alpha
took a closer look at it. “Certainly, but Spider-Man is on the
scene. He may see,” she said. But there was another issue. “Also,
Baffin is too far away. Transporter range is only 45000 km.”
“I don't think
that would be a violation of General Order One. And couldn't the
probes be used as relays?”
“They don't work
that way. Adding a teleporting superhero where one doesn't already
exist might be,” Alpha said. Her and Aialah’s researches had
proven that Spider-Man was unique.
“Don't the
shuttles have transporters and be controlled remotely?”
“That
can work. Their functions can be controlled from the Bridge,” Alpha
said. She turned to Aialah. “Start up the Calgary.”
“Aye,
Alpha,” Aialah said.
She then
turned to the Pilot. “Program her to take up a geosynchronous orbit
above the 74 degrees west longitude.”
“Aye.”
“Shuttle
is ready for launch,” Aialah reported.
“Launch!”
Nina watched as
Octavius continued to climb the building. “I’m sure ‘Spidey’
will be here soon,’ she thought.
“Shuttle
is in position,” Alpha reported.
“Energize!”
Nina materialised at
the top of the building. She looked down. She saw that Octavius was
still quite low down, but she didn't see Spider-Man. “OK, beam me
to a floor which is a few higher than Octavius' position.”
“Sure.”
She materialised in
an office, startling the various workers.
“Sorry!” she
said, as she noticed the vibrations caused by Octavius' actuators
piercing brickwork. “He's close!” she said. “Evacuate!” she
said.
Then Octavius came
by the window. She tapped the commbadge. “Up another three levels.”
“Acknowledged.”
She materialised and
ran to the nearest window, which she smashed by extending the staff
against it. Octavius had stopped a level above.
“Hand
her over!” Spider-Man said.
“Of
course,” Octavius said as Nina clambered out the window, her hearts
beating fast.
“Easy
now!” Spider-Man said as he reached for the hostage.
'No No
No!' Nina thought as her panic started rising. Octavius then let the
hostage go; letting her fall towards the ground!
“Baffin!”
Nina started before Spider-Man shot a web line, catching the falling
woman. He flung her upwards. Octavius then started laying into
Spider-Man.
'His
focus is on him,' Nina thought quickly. There was definitely
something she could do.
“Spider-Man's
on the scene,” Aialah reported as Nina climbed out the window,
dodging falling masonry.
Spider-Man
knocked Octavius aside and began climbing.
Nina looked at
Octavius, who began to climb up after him. “No!” she cried out,
only to have an actuator knock her off the building! “Baffin,
emergency beam up!” She panicked for a second or two, before
she felt a transporter beam.
She materialised
aboard the Calgary.
“Report,”Alpha
ordered.
“I'm
fine. Octavius knocked me off the building,” Nina reported.
“Are
you sure you want to do what you're doing?” Alpha asked with
concern.
“Yes!”
Nina said, although she wasn't entirely sure. “Beam me back.”
“Wait
a moment, Spider-Man and Octavius have fallen off the building.”
“Beam
me close to the hostage.”
“Energizing!”
Nina materialised
and then smashed the window, startling the older lady. “It's OK,”
she said holding her hand out. The lady grabbed onto the offered
hand. Nina then helped the lady through the window. But not quickly
enough.
“I see Spider-Man
has a new side kick,” Octavius said as he smashed his way through
after them.
“It's a
coincidence,” Nina said as she stood in front of the lady. “We're
not working together.”
“Hand
her over!” Octavius said.
“No!”
Nina said. She could see Spider-Man behind the new villain.
“I know you're
there,” Octavius said. Rather quickly he used two actuators to grab
both Nina and the older lady!
Spider-Man
saw Octavius emerge from the room with both Aunt May and a disguised
young lady. “Let them go!” he said.
“No!
You've stuck your webs in my business for the last time! You are
going to have either of these women's death on your conscience!”
“Shame
on you!” he heard Aunt May whisper.
Whatever
happened, he knew he would try to rescue Aunt May first. “Sorry,”
he whispered to the younger lady. At least he didn't have to choose
between Aunt May and MJ. Octavius then flung both of them in opposite
directions. He then moved after Aunt May.
Nina saw Spider-Man
go after the older woman. 'Of course,' she thought. She waited
another second before calling for yet another emergency transport.
Peter
sighed a sigh of relief as he caught Aunt May. But there was still
time to catch the younger lady. He looked back and saw a strange
light, but no sign of her. That was something to think about but
first he had to get his aunt on the ground.
“We
sure showed him,” Spider-Man said once they were on the ground.
“What
do you mean 'we'?' May said. She didn't do anything.
“Oh.”
“And I
know you weren't able to save the other woman. Sometimes people have
to choose.”
“I
know,” Spider-Man said quietly. He then shot a web and swung away.
Nina breathed deeply
after materialising on the Calgary. The events were catching
up to her. She thought of going back to the TARDIS and the Zero Room,
but she also needed to go back to the Bugle.. “OK, beam me
back to the Bank.”
“Are
you sure?” Alpha asked.
“I have to get
back to the Bugle. It's near there,” Nina responded.
“OK,”
Alpha said.
Nina
materialised and quicky found the dress she had taken off. She then
rushed back to the Bugle offices. “Miss Lumber!” It was Jameson.
“I'd like you to meet someone.”
“Who?”
Nina asked as she entered Jameson's office.
“This
is Peter Parker.”
'Good,'
Nina thought. “Nice to meet you,” she said to the younger man.
She shook his offered hand.
“Parker
takes photos of that wall crawling menace,” Jameson explained.
Parker
gave a look of annoyance. “I keep saying.”
“I know
that, Parker. I understand you have photos of that incident with
Doctor Octopus.”
“Doctor Octopus?”
Peter asked incredulously.
“Professor
Octavius. I came up with the nickname earlier today!” Jameson
explained.
“Doesn't
seem respectful,” Nina commented.
“Did I
ask your opinion?” Jameson asked.
“I have
the photos,” Peter interjected.
“Good!
It will make a great first page tomorrow. Doctor Octopus and
Spider-Man rob bank and take hostages!”
“That's
not what I heard,” Nina said.
“Did I
ask your opinion? Get back to work.”
“Yes,
sir.”
Peter watched Nina
as she left. He turned back to Jameson. “He was trying to rescue
the hostages Octavius took,” he argued.
“I
don't pay you to argue. I pay you to take pictures.”
“Yes,
sir.”
Back on Baffin,
Alpha finished looking over the scans of the battle with Octavius
after he had left the bank. 'Crewman Nina is being reckless,' she
thought. “Maybe if she had a parachute?”
“What?” Aialah
asked.
“What is Nina
thinking?”
“I'm
thinking that she is trying to help, like when she rescued me.”
“That's
certainly something to think about,” Alpha considered.
As Nina
scanned in another page she saw Peter come over.””Hi, Nina,” he
said.
“Hi
Peter,” she said as response.
“That
was a good comment there,” he said.
“Which
comment?” she asked, although she had some idea.
“That
the 'Doctor Octopus' moniker isn't a respectful one for Professor
Octavius.”
Nina
nodded as she grabbed another article. “I see you try to stand up
for Spider-Man.”
“He
does good for the city,” Peter said in a tone that suggested that
he wasn't really sure.
“I've looked at
the records since I have arrived,” she said.
“You're
not from New York?”
“No,
I'm from out west,” Nina answered. She had to give some answer.
“Oh.”
“Back
to Spider-Man.”
“As I
said, he does do good for the city,” Peter said, just as unsure as
before.
“You
sound unsure.”
“He's
said that he's having trouble with his powers.”
“What
kind of trouble?” Nina asked.
“He
couldn't explain it,” Peter said quietly.
Nina
could tell he didn't really want to tell her that.
“I'll let you get
back to work.”
As Peter
left, Nina wasn't sure what to make of what he had divulged.
“More chatter in
the White House,” Aialah said. “The Director of SHEILD is meeting
the President.”
“He certainly
knows something,” Alpha surmised.
“It would be risky
to evesdrop,” Zeta said.
“Could we beam a
tricorder down from the Calgary?” Aialah asked.
“No, it could be
discovered rather easily,” Alpha said. “A definite violation of
the Prime Directive would ensue.”
“It has
replicators, right?” Aialah asked. “We could disguise one?”
“I'm not sure that
would work,” Alpha considered. “And it will take a while to
design the disguised tricorder. Probably long enough that the meeting
would be over first.”
Aialah nodded.
Having been stimied
with that; Alpha decided to take a different track. To look over the
internet information for strange events.
Upon leaving the
Bugle that afternoon Nina filled Alpha in on what Peter had
divulged.
“So, you think
something is happening with Spider-Man?” Alpha asked.
“It
certainly seems like it,” Nina answered. “I didn't want to pry
too much, but I'll keep looking for him.”
“According
to our investigations here, it seems that there is more to this Earth
than it appears,” Alpha said.
“Oh?”
“There
is much in the data from the internet,” Alpha said.
“Of
course.”
“We're
still going through it. But there seems to be rumors of magic within
New York City at a place called the Santum Sanctorum. The
location references are contradictory, but it most often refers to a
place in Greenwich Village.”
“I'll
keep an eye out for it.”
Alpha considered
what Nina had divulged. 'He could be struggling with something to do
with his powers,' he thought. 'Or maybe it's his life balance.' She
wasn't sure. She checked the sensor data from the probes. There
wasn't any activity at Cape Canveral or Baikonur that hadn't been
planned. Neither the United States nor Russia suspected that Earth
was being observed from space. 'Good,' she thought. Despite the
references they had found to the Sanctum Sanctorum earlier, they
hadn't detected anything unusual that would be indicative of magic.
She remembered that Baffin had visited various Earths where
some kind of magic existed during their journey. She decided to look
over those encounters. 'Wait!' she thought. 'Maybe Aialah would have
a different perspective.' There wasn't magic in her world, but it's
variety of speculative fiction seemed to be as rich as that of Earth.
Aialah took in what
Alpha had divulged. That the Baffin crew had encountered
worlds where there was magic. Most of them were version of Earth of
course. “I'll have a look at the list,” she said to Alpha.
“Sure.”
“Let's see,”
Aialah said.
Undead in Romania
The Nordic Ice Queen
The British Hidden
Society
Hidden Places in
Japan
Miraculous Family in
the Colombian Highlands
“Undead?” Aialah
asked with a shudder. “Or maybe the Nordic Ice Queen instead? Or
the British Hidden Society?”
“Your choice,”
Alpha said.
“Of course.
Computer, compare how long Baffin spent at each version of
Earth listed.”
Undead in Romania:
Eight Months, three days.
The Nordic Ice
Queen: Three months, four days.
The British Hidden
Society: Two Years, six months, ten days.
Hidden Places in
Japan: Five Months, seven days
Miraculous Family in
the Colombian Highlands: Four months, two days
Aialah wasn't sure
which one to start with. “The Nordic Ice Queen is the shortest and
the British Hidden Society is the longest.”
“You don't have to
go through all of it at once,” Alpha said, seeing that Aialah was
indecisive.
“Of course not,”
Aialah said. “I'll start with the Nordic Ice Queen.”
