Training is Dangerous
Posted on Fri Mar 27th, 2026 @ 5:08am by Lieutenant Rala & Captain Calypso Skyie & Lieutenant Kally Kellerman & Ensign Henry Taylor & Tessa di'Orion
Mission:
Lower Decks
Location: Deck 4, Holodeck 4
Timeline: Begins during "Tempest Tossed and Feeling Sore"
Tessa tugged at her armor as she pranced down the hallway towards her reserved couple of hours at the holodeck. Tialan armor was designed to be put on in a hurry, ties down the sides, but typically kept with one side tightened to make it easier to secure. The white and gold armor was fitted to her by the best armorers that Light's End had, so as she tugged on it, she only ended up pulling herself out of order and stumbled with a slight laugh. She was fully outfitted, the 'helmet' was more a framework, itself designed to deflect any blows away while leaving her golden hair prominently visible. In fact, it looked more like a bulky tiara than anything. The bow and quiver were across her back while the rapier was on one side with a dagger and the cylinder that was her staff in compressed state on the opposite.
She'd promised Cass'e'Indira that she would keep up with her training and she was determined to do just that. In fact, with the holodecks being what they were, she could even follow Cass's own training techniques, using a program to bring on progressively more difficult opponents until one overwhelmed her. It was perfectly safe, after all, the safety system would stop the killing blow before it actually hit and prevent actual damage to herself unless it were self-inflicted with one of her actual weapons. Of course, she had control of herself and that was the important reason she was going to keep this up.
When she arrived at the holodeck, Tessa noticed that there was still a program running in it, but as she checked the list of occupants, it was empty. That was odd, but perhaps the previous person had just forgotten to turn theirs off? Oh well, it wasn't like it was going to hurt to just change the program, "Computer, load program Cass'e'Indira One." She said as she worked to settle her nerves at trying this for the first time since she'd gotten back on board. She reached up and behind her, pulling the bow out as the holodeck reconfigured to the open field that Cass preferred, even if it did have a small set of ruins in one part of it. Another reach and a trio of arrows joined her and she finally stepped in as the computer stated 'Program R-r-ready.'
That had been odd, another thing, but Tessa shrugged as the realism enveloped her, a very slight breeze hitting her face as she stepped inside the room and breathed in deep, the scent of a Tialan flower filling her lungs and she smiled. She flexed her fingers of her right hand as she nocked her first arrow, the others held in the left fingers that also held the bow, setting one foot sideways as she brought it to a half-draw. "Computer, begin program."
Things began in a rush as several figures began to rush out of the woods at the edge of the clearing, already waving their own weapons at her and she exhaled deeply waiting for them to get into range. After that point, she waited as she slowly pulled the bow to a full draw, aimed and fired. While the first arrow flew, she already was preparing the second, the first hitting the target and pitching him on his face, then the second arrow was loosed, then the third and she reached over her shoulder again, coming back with only two arrows, loosing them in rapid succession, each hitting an approaching enemy as more emerged. She took a few steps back as she fired, reaching for more arrows, pulling two more out and firing one almost point blank into one of the remaining three rushers that were closing in before slashing out with the last arrow, catching one of the last two across the cheek before stabbing it into the final throat, ripping it out and with practiced motion shooting it into the one she'd only wounded.
'Damn, Cass made this real, didn't she?' Tessa thought to herself as blood spattered across her arm and the skirt armor she wore rather than fading out. She reached up for more arrows, only grasping one more and firing it off in a rush as three reinforcements closed in very quickly, tossing her bow off to the side afterwards and reaching for the cylinder on her side. As it expanded out, Tessa smiled again because the staff was the weapon she'd trained with the most and was the best with aside from the bow. She spun it hard as the first sword was thrust at her, the weight at the tips helping with the momentum and knocking the first blade away before she brought the staff back with a whipcrack motion that took her opponent in the side of the head and continuing around to throw another blade off strike.
More figures came from the woods, this time at a slower rate but making sure that the participant in the program had to manage the time and ability to handle the onslaught. Tessa had already begun to glow as she spun and maneuvered, remembering that footwork was just as important as her own weapon, sidestepping and advancing or retreating to keep her opponents from surrounding her, using the staff as an efficient and effective weapon, taking them to the ground with crippling injuries or just to buy time.
Then it was as she had feared and expected, one of the strikes came through and caught her on her arm and the bite of the blade came as a surprise. She hissed as she withdrew a couple steps and glanced down, a mistake of it's own as the blade licked in and caught her on the same forearm and she lost the grip on her staff, it whipping off to the side as she'd been in mid-spin. Tessa threw herself backwards in a roll and came up a few feet away as she checked her arm out, which hurt like hell and saw the blood freely dripping and her eyes opened wide. She pulled her rapier out of sheer muscle memory and whipped it around to block the next blow, but fell back rather than take the fight to her opponents, towards the small ruins.
They advanced, sensing weakness and Tessa's mind reeled as she wondered why the safeties weren't working, "Computer, end program." She commanded, but aside from a double bleep of acknowledgement, nothing changed. She automatically ducked under one swing, lunging forward to skewer one of the opponents before blocking another strike from the next. "Computer, I said end program!" Her voice had some panic in her as yet another came into range and she was forced to go on the pure defensive and drew her dagger with her other hand and backed towards the remains of the structure behind her.
“Computer, open Jeffries tube hatch seven-charlie-three.”
Rala had barely started moving, the claws on her feet tearing gouges in the carpet as they dug in for extra traction, as she barked out the rapid-fire command. The confirmation chirp came as she dashed out of sickbay and into the corridor, turning the opposite direction from the nearest turbolift stop.
Even as the chirp sounded, she called out again, speaking just as rapidly. “Computer, open the following Jeffries tube hatches as I name them...” She reached 7-C-3 just as it finished opening and rattled off seven more hatch IDs as she dove inside.
Six limbs, extra strength, and a body built for and accustomed to climbing allowed her to scramble to the nearest junction, up three decks, and out into a corridor in under twenty seconds. She startled three crewmen who had paused at the exit, curious about the open Jeffries tube hatch, as she shot out of it on all sixes, practically skidding as she turned toward her destination and tearing up more carpet, tail lashing for balance, and took off again, rising back to a bipedal posture as she did.
Henry had initiated an emergency medical transport. Since holodeck environments were variable and emitters made transporting difficult, it was hard to transport inside an active program. He assumed that's why the computer deposited him outside the doors. "Computer, open holodeck four, medical override authorization Taylor-Epsilon-Six."
The computer beeped, but the doors didn't open. Henry tried again but no help. He tried activating the comm unit but the panel refused to respond.
The others had her cornered and Tessa parried and countered with a skill beyond her normal, desperation guiding her motions as much as learned skill. One parry with the dagger and riposte with the sword took down yet another, but that opened her op to a spear that snuck it's way in past her defenses and opened a slash on her thigh before the sword came down to shatter the shaft and a lunge inserted the dagger into the opponent's exposed body. The enemy twisted and took the dagger out of her hand, leaving her with just the rapier.
Rala tore more carpet as she skidded to a stop outside Holodeck 4. The door was closed.
"Doors won't open, comms are down" he said as she approached. He could hear shouts and the clang of weapons inside and checked the program name. "Oh God, she's training," he said, looking at Rala. "If safeties are off it'll be lethal." He pulled the emergency hatch for the manual lever and tapped his combadge. "Medical emergency, Holodeck Four." The call would alert Kally and any personnel awake to come running. He just hoped they wouldn't be needed.
The panel next to it showed that a program Rala wasn’t familiar with but which bore Cass’e’Indira’s name was running, and that Tessa was the only occupant. She tried shutting down the program from the panel outside, but it wasn’t responding. She angrily punched the panel, aiming for the button to open the door, and struck with enough force to leave a small crack in it before Henry could pull the lever.
The doors opened.
Rala threw herself into the doorway and looked inside, feeling Henry do the same beside her as she saw a clearing with a few ruined structures; a number of humanoid figures with various forms of melee weaponry moving at varying speeds toward the ruins; and the lone brightly-dressed figure there, engaged in combat, clearly on the defensive.
Tessa.
In the second or so she stood there watching, she saw the young Tialan stumble slightly as she spun to deflect a blow, and Rala realized that the flashes of orange on her mostly white and gold garb weren’t decorative.
They were blood, and at least some of it was Tessa’s.
She’d barely processed the sight when the smell of blood reached her, instantly shoving past her rational mind and down to her instincts. Tessa is injured and in mortal danger. Protect her.
Henry took off, his tall frame giving him some speed, aiming for her fallen staff to join the fight and help pull her out, watching the purple blur ahead of him.
Tessa's eyes focused briefly on the motion as the door opened and she screamed. "Henry, STOP!" Her voice was frantic, but she had no more attention to spare as three more were charging her.
Rala’s eyes widened, her lip curled into a snarl, and her vision tinted red at the edges. The next thing she knew, she was dashing across the field faster than most humanoids could manage, torso held low, tail stretched out behind her for balance, gaze locked on one of the enemies between her and Tessa.
She didn’t notice the holodeck door closing behind her—and disappearing.
She remained as quiet as feasible without sacrificing speed until she was five meters from her target, at which point she let out an almost ear-splitting sound that was somewhere between a scream and a feral roar. Another long stride and she leaped, still roaring, extending her clawed feet forward.
Her target, along with several other nearby enemies, turned toward the new disturbance, just in time for her three-meter leap to intersect her target’s torso. He’d mostly turned to face her, but hadn’t had time to bring his weapon to bear. One of her feet pinned his right arm to his waist just below the elbow, the other grazing his wrist on its way to the bottom of his ribs. Eight claws dug into him as her weight hit him, driving the breath from his lungs, throwing him backward and making him drop his weapon. He started to fold at the hips from the impact, but all four of Rala’s hands shot forward, and the last thing he saw was the snarling mask of draconic fury that was Rala’s face as her first pair of hands gripped his skull, driving her thumbs into his eye sockets. Simultaneously, her second pair went for his throat, ten claws plunging into whatever soft tissue they happened to encounter—windpipe, veins, arteries, muscle; she cared not.
She rode him to the ground like that as her weight and momentum overbore him, not a single one of her twenty-eight claws still clean. Her arms and legs absorbed the impact as they hit the ground, sliding for about a meter before Rala tucked her head, using the momentum and the energy stored in her limbs from the landing to launch into a forward roll, coming back to her feet having lost almost none of her previous speed.
Rala kept going on her beeline for Tessa, although now that she’d gotten the attention of the enemies, several of them were turning their weapons toward her. But not all of them. The cluster of enemies around Tessa was no longer getting reinforcements, but they were still harassing her. Not good enough. She pressed on, dodging swords, spears, and polearms, making a diving leap over a trio that had grouped up in front of her, landing in another forward roll and coming to her feet again. Nearly there. With another piercing roar, she pounced again, raking two hands worth of claws across the back of one enemy’s neck as she landed another clawed flying kick into the side of his neighbor. This time she pushed as her weight connected, sending the enemy flying into the one beyond, the two enemies landing in a tangled heap a few meters away and clearing the space on one side of Tessa for the first time since she’d opened the door. It wouldn’t last, more enemies were closing in from all sides, but it gave Tessa some breathing room.
Rala heard Tessa saying something, probably to her, but the words didn’t register. She spun, saw the one whose neck she’d raked collapsing—at least as much from injuries Tessa had inflicted as he’d faltered in shock as from her own handiwork—even as Tessa took advantage of the distraction Rala had caused to dispatch the remaining enemies within reach.
Clear. Good. Now keep it that way. Rala shot one more glance at Tessa, the usually purple irises of her eyes distinctly closer to red than typical, then she turned her attention to the knot of enemies she’d blown past on her way in and dove back into the fray, determined to keep them as busy—and as focused on herself—as she could.
Henry wasn't hot on her heels, given her speed, but he wasn't too far behind. As fighters broke away and turned to swing at him, he rolled as Tessa had taught him to avoid a sword being swung at him, and grabbed her staff along the way, bringing it up behind him and deflecting another blow. While most of the attackers were facing Rala as the biggest threat, two were coming after him now. He used the staff to deflect their blows, moving towards Tessa, letting Rala continue to rip into the others as he protected Tessa's flank. "We have a serious problem here," he said, knocking a sword away and getting a jab at an attacker's eye, knocking him back a bit. He did his best to turn the attackers so Tessa would be towards the door and they could make a run for it, but they were all kept busy.
"No shit, Sakharov." Tessa hissed as she focused on parrying yet another enemy's sword and was forced to put more pressure on the wounded leg. It had been a phrase she'd picked up from Kally a while back and it truly fit here. She skewered the one that Henry had pushed back, but another took his place. Rala had been a seeming force of nature as she'd taken one down and torn him apart before moving on to the next and repeating the process without losing significant momentum. "You shouldn't be here. Now how will we get out without the doors?"
"Good to see you too, sweetheart," Henry said through gritted teeth as he aimed for the teeth of an opponent, moving to shield her from another blow. "To be fair, though, you didn't have doors before. Now at least you have no doors but two allies. Somewhat of a step up, right?" He swung the staff and connected with another attacker, knocking him towards Rala. "And help is coming."
"Well, you're not ready for something like this!" She parried another sword over to where the staff he used pushed it up and away, "You're beating me in our unarmed training because you're cheating, using your size unfairly!" She emphasized that with a slash across the out-of-position opponent's chest.
"News flash: Neither of us is ready for this!" Henry growled, blocking more swings. "And what do you mean cheating? Being tall isn't cheating!" Henry argued as he blocked another swing from yet another new combatant, poking with the other end of the staff to push him back. "And what about you? Wearing that purple top that 'accidentally' comes loose whenever I start winning? That is cheating!"
"Cheating is it?" Tessa kicked the one coming at her in the gut before glaring at Henry for a moment before parrying another sword, ducking under the blade of the one who'd just swung at Henry and missed, riposting with a wounding thrust, "Is it my fault that Federation clothes aren't designed with combat in mind?" She blocked another swing, this time with a smile on her face, "Besides, I never hear you complaining about it!"
"Haven't heard you complain about my size!" Henry swung the staff low, tripping up his target, then ducking under, "Yet here we are!"
Kally wasn't in uniform, but she was dressed, medkit in hand and running full speed down the corridor. Alongside her was Cally and just behind were two crewmen she'd recruited along the way.
As they reached the holodeck, she skidded to a halt, bumping the doors slightly as they didn't open. She looked to the panel, seeing it cracked and the open hatch for the manual override lever. She ran over and grabbed the lever, forcing it down.
The holodeck doors opened halfway, but as Kally put the lever back, the computer beeped and the doors closed again. "Oh what the hell," she said. She nodded to the two crewmen she'd brought. She'd wanted orderlies, now they were going to be doorstops. "All right soon as the doors open, hold the line," she said.
The two men nodded and got in position on either side of the doors. Kally grabbed the lever and pulled again. The doors opened halfway and the two crewmen grunted as they pushed and strained, forcing them open, their arms shaking as they held them in place while the computer attempted to close the doors.
The sounds of metal clanging and snarls immediately sounded in the distance. Kally and Cally rushed inside, and Kally's eyes went wide at the scene in the distance. "Why the hell did the doors open so far away?" she said.
Cally’s hand twitched towards the sidearm she didn’t carry anymore, especially not when she’d just pulled on some semblance of clothing after having been woken up. “Computer, end program.” She snapped, getting a bleep of confirmation in reply, but nothing happened, the cognizance that the fighters were using melee weapons clicking in, “Must be some sort of training program.”
It took just a couple seconds more glancing around before she brought her fingers up to her mouth and let out a shrill whistle to get the attention of her people clearly under siege.
The blue-gray coveralls Rala had worn in her previous holoprogram were real, but the oil and grease stains on them had disappeared when she’d left the holodeck after the race...and had now been replaced by bloodstains.
Not that she noticed the condition of her clothing. Her attention, driven by the instinct to protect Tessa, was directed strictly outward, at the enemies that threatened them.
She dodged a spear thrust by centimeters, grabbing the shaft and yanking it, pulling its wielder off-balance toward her before delivering a powerful kick to his midsection, sending him flying backward into two others and leaving her holding the weapon. She turned to face the next immediate threat, feinting a thrust at at swordsman, then taking two spinning steps away, flipping the spear over to hold it like a javelin. She used her backward momentum as part of her windup, then launched the spear partway through another spear-wielder, its tip protruding from his back as he toppled over.
She hadn’t bought herself any time, though, as the swordsman she’d feinted at advanced and thrust at her, even as three other foes she’d inadvertently closed with wound up for their own attacks. She ducked under the sword, dropping nearly flat to her back before using arms and tail to propel her to one side, whipping out a foot to take the swordsman’s leg out from under him. She rolled back to her feet, sending her rotational energy into her tail and lashing its tip across the face of another enemy with a loud pop! The enemy staggered back, dropping both the short sword and dagger he’d been holding to clutch at his now-ruined eye as orange blood seeped from it.
Rala felt something tug at the side of her coveralls, pulled away from it, and spun to face its source. Another sword-wielder. She darted toward him, snagging his wrist as he tried for another strike. Her claws dug in, making him drop the sword as she brought another hand up to slash at his throat even as she looked past him to see another enemy turn away from her and start to move toward Tessa. She flung the one she’d just dispatched in the opposite direction as she took off in pursuit. Two others were in her way. One jabbed a spear at her, but she dug into the ground with the claws of her feet, stopping just out of reach with another half-spin, lashing her tail at both of them. They flinched, avoiding the danger of its tip but giving Rala the instant she needed as she slapped the speartip down into the ground and used its shaft to help her spring over them and continue her pursuit.
Three long strides and she would catch up with the one who’d deemed her less of a threat than Tessa. Two. She let out another screaming roar, and saw him realize his mistake as he started to turn. One. He’d been too late, and she barreled into his partially-turned back, four clawed hands outstretched, sending them both tumbling. There was a brief struggle before he went limp, lying on his back, dead eyes staring into the sky, his throat a shredded mess; Rala crouched above him, panting, her jaws dripping with orange gore.
A piercing whistle got her attention and she looked toward its source, seeing Calypso just inside the open holodeck door.
Rala's protective instinct subsided slightly, the red tint fading from the edges of her vision. She stood, aching and weary, to point toward their salvation and shout “EXIT! GO!”
It was all the time she had before more enemies came at them. The red returned to her sight, although less intense, as she resumed fighting, doing what she could to clear a path.
Henry swung the staff hard, connecting with one attacker as Tessa's sword took down another. He paused as he heard a roar in the distance. Evidently their efforts had had an effect, and Rala's efficient dispatching of most of the attackers made the program step up its efforts. The mob of warriors that suddenly appeared rushing out of the woods, swords raised, were roaring a charge as they swarmed towards the three fighters.
"C'mon!" Henry said, grabbing Tessa's hand and rushing towards the exit.
Tessa stumbled as he tugged her along, barely keeping a hold of her rapier and wincing as she was forced to rush along with the injured leg, "I'm coming, I'm coming, you go on ahead, I'm right behind you.,"
"We can't slow down," Henry said, glancing behind him at the mob closing in on them. He reached down and scooped her up to pick up some speed.
"Hey!" Her empty hand flashed out without thought and hit him as she struggled, "I can make it on my own! Put me down!"
Henry stumbled in shock and glared at her, grabbing her and throwing her over his shoulder. "Not with that leg you can't, not before they reach us." He gave her a retaliatory slap on her rump. "Now shut up and stop distracting me." He picked up the pace, hearing the roar of the crowd getting louder behind them.
Tessa still struggled for a couple more seconds, kicking her legs ineffectually before she finally gave in. "Fine." She crossed her arms over her chest, careful to keep the pointy end of the sword pointed away from her. She saw Rala still engaged and called out, "Rala, let's MOVE IT!"
The sound of Tessa’s voice bypassed the fury that had almost entirely swamped Rala’s mind. She scrambled away from her current target, feeling another tug at the coveralls over her right thigh as she disengaged, turning to find the source of the call. She quickly spotted Tessa hanging over Henry’s shoulder as he ran for the exit, and took off after them. For some reason she couldn’t quite figure, she felt slow, not catching up to them as quickly as she should have been, but she was still fast enough to stay ahead of the encroaching horde.
Henry saw the Captain waving them on towards the exit, feeling his legs burning. "Clear out we're coming through!" he shouted, hoping Rala was right behind him.
Cally reached out and grabbed Kally's arm as she saw the trio making their way towards them rapidly, tugging the doctor out the door again and off to the side.
As the crowd began to reach them, he saw Rala's form approach from his right and the three of them made a beeline for the holodeck doors. He felt Tessa bring her sword up, ready to deflect at least one or two shots and Henry knew they were close. They reached the doors and Henry threw himself over the threshold, twisting in the air and pulling Tessa down to his chest to bring himself around and put himself between Tessa and the bulkhead as he crashed into it.
Rala slowed down as she caught up to them, making sure that any enemies that might catch them would have to deal with her first. She sensed the nearest of them closing in just as they reached the door and she dove through, briefly catching the doorframe with one hand to adjust her trajectory and avoid crashing into the pair in the corridor, while simultaneously spinning around to land on four limbs facing back the way she’d come.
He watched as Rala landed beside him, a bit more gracefully and looked to the holodeck as the army rushed at them, but dissolved into light as they crossed the threshold.
Kally was kneeling down, scanning Henry and Tessa carefully. "Can you stand?" she said to Henry.
He winced, but nodded. "I think so," he said. "Just...give me a second."
Tessa rolled away from him and came up onto her hands and knees, "Are you all right, Henry?" She glanced at Kally. "I can walk, it just isn't all that fun."
Henry was wheezing a bit and groaned as he sat up. "Yeah just...hit the wall a bit harder than I'd intended."
Kally scanned him quickly. "Just had the air knocked out of you," she said. "Breathe steadily and you'll be all right." She scanned Tessa's leg and pulled out a dermal regenerator. "Hold still," she instructed.
Tessa obeyed as she shifted slightly to present a better angle for the doctor to access the wound on the leg. All of her people were compliant with those of Urd, even the war-priests.
Kally cleared up the cuts and slices, stopping the bleeding and repairing the damage. "All right, we'll make it pretty in Sickbay. I want all three of you there for a full checkup."
Henry breathed deeply, trying to keep his breath steady and got to his feet, offering a hand to Tessa.
The red finally faded completely from Rala’s vision. She blinked several times, suddenly unable to focus. “Tessa...safe?” She asked between ragged, slowly easing breaths.
"She's fine," Kally said, turning her tricorder to Rala. "You however--"
Rala realized she was still crouched in an attack/guard posture, three arms ready to lash out while her legs and the fourth arm supported her weight, all of which were trembling with strain and felt like they might collapse at any moment; and she ached everywhere.
She lowered her three raised arms and tried to stand, only for her right leg to finally give out. She dropped to her right knee and had to use both right arms to keep from falling over completely. She looked down at her leg and saw a deep purple stain surrounding a slice in the pant leg of her coveralls. It wasn’t the only one.
When she’d left the holodeck, the orangish bloodstains on much of her body had vanished. The purple ones had not.
She was covered in them. Purple blood seeped from what seemed like dozens of wounds. Her face and neck were clear, as was her chest, but nearly every other part of her body had some kind of injury. Most were superficial, but a handful were deeper, including a gash in her left side just below the ribs and another on her right thigh.
"Did I say stand?" Kally grumbled, putting a restraining hand on her. "Stop being a hero for a moment and stay down."
Tessa ignored Henry's hand as she remained on hands and knees at the question from Rala, moving around to in front of her so as to be in the Draakri's vision, "I'm here, I'm safe." She said fervently, "But you aren't. Henry, give me a dermal regenerator." She demanded from her boyfriend, holding a hand out.
Henry transferred the dermal regenerator to Tessa immediately. "Taylor to Sickbay. Get bed one ready, we're coming in with wounded."
"Now hold still." Tessa used her best 'princess' voice as she looked over the various injuries, trying to decide where to start. She finally picked the worst gash on the thigh and began to meticulously close it as she'd been taught to do, a complete enigma to the armor she still wore.
Kally picked up her programmable hypo and loaded it with stimulant to keep Rala functioning and pressed it to the woman's neck. She scanned her again and nodded with reserved satisfaction. "All right, let's get her transported," she said.
Between blood loss and the rapidly waning adrenaline rush, Rala’s head was swimming, her senses all a blur. She saw a brightly-colored figure move in front of her, speak to her; but she couldn’t get her eyes to focus, and it took a few seconds to process the speech and realize that it was Tessa, reassuring her that she was safe. She reached up one hand toward the figure’s face, as if to reassure herself that she wasn’t hallucinating. Her fingers clumsily brushed Tessa’s cheek, leaving faint streaks of purple blood. She closed her eyes and heaved a ragged sigh of relief at the touch, the words “Safe...good...” barely audible through her breath.
The hand she’d touched Tessa with went back to the floor to support her as the adjacent arm gave out. She took one deliberate heavy breath to steady herself, then started to call out “Co—” before being cut off by a short series of hacking, wet coughs. She tried again. “Computer,” she said, not quite as loud this time, “Deny all access to all holodecks until further notice...authorization...Rala-Four-Two-Delta-Victor.” The computer’s confirmation chirp sounded simultaneously with the thump of Rala finally collapsing to her side—her wounded side, naturally. She uttered a faint grunt of pain, then said, barely above a whisper, “Should’ve...done that...two hours ago...” before the world receded into nothingness.
"All right let's move her," Kally said, helping ease Rala onto her back. She tapped her combadge quickly. "Kellerman to Sickbay, transport everyone in my vicinity to Sickbay."
A moment later, she, Rala, Henry, Tessa, Cally and the security guards were gone and the corridor was empty.
