I posted! wheeeeeeeeee! (coffee induced hyperactivity)

Who: Jo
Where: Earth
When: After the arrest
Jo sat on the bunk in her cell twiddling her thumbs. So far, all
charges laid against her concerned merely vandalism and trespassing.
Either noone at the Agency had gotten around to updating its “Most
Wanted” files, or the time line was so hopelessly mangled that she was
no longer the “criminal” they had initially branded her. Jo didn’t
think this particularly likely considering her current luck. Sooner or
later they would get their act together and she would find herself
before a military court.
“Oi! You!” the guard interrupted her “Up and standing by the door!
You’re wanted before the magistrate! Move it, scum!” He leered at her.
Jo rolled her eyes and followed his instructions, wondering if all
prisons had at least one sadistic guard on a power trip that viewed
constant verbal abuse a personal duty. Released from her cell, Jo
preceded him down the corridor, impressed at the steady stream of
invective he maintained all the way to the cellblock entrance.
The guard punched in the clearance codes and hit the switch. The heavy
metal grille groaned and screeched its way along the track, then jerked
to a stop in a shower of sparks. The guard cursed even more
colourfully than before, and aimed a kick at the steel door. Much to
his surprise, his foot went straight through. He let out a cry of
surprise, hastily withdrawing it and stumbling backwards.
The effect on the gate was much like disturbing the surface of a pond.
Ripples spread out from the origin, over all surfaces, ceiling walls
and floor, continuing back down the corridor. Cries of surprise and
fear echoed from the other prisoners.
“Interesting,” Jo said, oddly calm, “I don’t remember things being this
weird last time.” The guard gave her an incredulous look, then jumped
out of the way as a bright purple catfish burst through the still
rippling door, closely followed by a yapping fluorescent green dogfish.
They darted down the corridor and disappeared into a cell. The
occupant of which let out a bloodcurdling scream and fainted through
the cell door.
The other prisoners, upon realising they were no longer confined by the
bars, burst through cheering. They sprinted up the hall towards the
exit and hurtled past Jo through though the deactivated gate. They did
not, however, reappear on the other side. Each inmate who catapulted
themselves through vanished into thin air. The rest of the prison
population did not seem to notice this and amidst all the jostling to
get through, an argument broke out over who was going to go first,
which quickly escalated into a riot.
Trapped in the middle of the commotion, Jo dodged flying projectiles
that looked remarkably like various species of miniature livestock, no
larger than Jo’s fist. Eventually, she found herself standing next to
Ophelia and the Brigadier.
“Ho there! Quite a bit of excitement going on here,” he cried with a
grin, as Jo narrowly ducked a giant squid being used as a hammer throw.
“I think it’s time to make an exit don’t you?” she called back. He
nodded and proffered a hand that Jo accepted and swung up behind him.
Urging his mare forward he charged through the riot towards the only
exit visible, the dubious gate-portal.
“Here goes nothing,” Jo mumbled, as Ophelia, laden with her two
passengers, leaped through.
There was a blinding flash and a very uncomfortable sensation of being
dismantled and reassembled in the wrong order, making Jo very glad she
had had the presence of mind to close her eyes. Her ears, wherever
they were now positioned, detected a cacophony sound that reminded her
of large slimy things with tentacles and chicken like appendages that
definitely should not occur naturally in normal 4D dimensions like
ours.
The unnerving noise crescendoed into a deafening thunderclap, and Jo
found herself hurled across a very cold and hard surface, the wind
knocked out of her. Tentatively, she opened her eyes, and after the
blinking lights and dizziness subsided, discovered she was sprawled on
the drive room floor. Every bone in her body was aching but,
thankfully, all seemed to be pieced together correctly.
She stood up slowly and painfully, the exertion leaving her shaking.
Resting briefly against one elegantly curved wall, she surveyed the
darkened command centre. The bottle of scotch was still in place atop
the communications console, where Brett had left it. Limping unsteadily
to the door, she palmed it open. On the other side was a very surprised
and bruised Stephen.
“We’re back,” he said simply, seemingly still stunned by it all.
“How very observant of you,” Jo said, managing a smile. Strangely
enough, her energy was returning quite rapidly, although her muscles
were stiffening in protest against the treatment they had received.
She supposed being dismantled then tossed around like a broken doll
would do that to a person. “Is everything back to normal though? No
psychedelic mushrooms blooming out of the air vents and whatnot?”
Stephen looked around frantically as if expecting to see exactly that.
Then he blinked and shook his head as if to clear it, “Don’t think so,”
he chuckled at himself, still appearing quite dazed, “Bizarrely, from
the ships computer, it appears only half an hour has passed since the
weird stuff first started.”
“Hrmm,” Jo studied the young ensign in concern, “I think we’d better
round everyone up for ‘roll call’ and a medical scan.” Steve nodded
but seemed to drift off into his own thoughts, staring at the wall
opposite with an unfocused gaze. Gently she took his elbow and led him
through the corridors towards the medibay.
<to be continued…as usual *sigh* Jo WILL end up on BD one day>
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