"The artifact stopped its lightshow, but continues to ramble, any change there?""Yea.. seems Reyes is back to her normal self.. Keep the stone out there, I want a rotation on that shuttle, I want eyes on it 24/7. You okay Reyes?"
She tried to respond, but the words just couldn't escape her mouth. "Hey.. just try to relax, alright..? You're alright now.."
The artifact began to emit a small bit of light again, though not nearly as intensely as before. "The light consumes you... You want it to.. Isn't that what this is all about..? The Rosetta Stone of all life? Controlling the sounds of all? Speaking to all who can hear, listening to all who can speak?"
"Nova.. it's trying to influence us. We're trained.. but I don't know how long we can deal with it. Send out a shuttle to get us, a stone can't move on it's own." Nova sighed. She didn't want the stone out of sight but she didn't need to lose two operatives either. "I need eyes on that thing at all times, I'm sending a shuttle, you will be on rotation, every hour the guard changes." She dispatched a shuttle and turned her attention to Reyes and Hemlock.
"It's trying to influence my people now, luckily they know how to ignore it.. for a while. I'm keeping it out there, it can't move, the guard will be on an every-hour rotation. Sader'd say it's a waste of fuel, but if it'll preserve her sanity.. I'll do it for Reyes."
"The light does consume you! It reaches into your very being! Race for the water, young one.. That which you know is true will be more than just the end.. and all things will join you in the void.."
The artifact glowed intensely again, brighter than before. Reyes, by contrast, slipped something from her sleeve, jamming it into Hemlock's back. As he let go of her, she took a strong bite of his chin, but couldn't get much before he shoved her away. "Cathy.. nh.. What the hell?!"
"His light fills me! I see what the glow entails! I know what he wants.. and you are not there.. I am sorry, Matthew.. but you road ends here.."
Her eyes filled a bright purple, definitely under the artifact's influence.
Nova quickly grabbed Reyes and held her down against the bed, holding the hand with the object away from herself. "Marines and restraints, now!" Nova did her best to hold the woman down, the two marines posted outside now came in, their weapons armed and took aim at Reyes, waiting for the order. One of the medical personnel went to grab the restraints, but it'd take a few minutes.
"One of you grab her legs.. Hemlock?! Are you ok!?" One marine held down Reyes' legs, but her other arm was still free.
One of the doctors started placing a sedative into a syringe for injection, while the other returns with restraints. A third pulls Hemlock off to the side to tend to his stab wound. "Admiral.. she's under Nomadic influence.. she just, lost it. Flipped like a switch and attacked Hemlock." Nova helped restrain the girl, who was now sedated. After restraining them, she order the battalion of marines to board the ship to ensure it's security.
"Bring that artifact back you two, and I want armed security around it, nobody is to be exposed to it for longer than 30 minutes at a time." While her operatives on the shuttle complied, two fighters were sent to ensure it returned, lest the operatives fall under it's influence as well and try to flee with it.
"I've sent the marines into the Bay, engineering will disable the engines. I don't know how this happened, Admiral.."
Hemlock staggered back as the doctor took hold of him, falling to a knee as he reamed from the sudden stabbing. "Hrmm.." He coughed a bit, blood coming out alongside some flem. "Mmh.. that's not a good sign.."
"The light canno-.." Reyes fell to the sedative, passing out, her eyes returning to normal.
"You cannot halt the light.. It will flood all the dark spaces, and replace them with our light.. This one was but a vessel.. a tool to inform of our intent."
The stone proceeded to return to it's dull grey self once more, the voices stopping.
Nova kneeled down, inspecting Hemlocks wound. "Get me every anti-venom we got, if whatever he was stabbed with was poisoned, I want a cure, now!" The doctors gathered their anti-toxins as well as a swab sample of the wound, trying to figure out of he had been attacked with a contact toxin. We'll fix you up like new Hemlock.. but.. what the hell happened!?"
Once on the station, the stone was isolated and placed under heavy security, routine change of guard every 30 minutes as ordered. Onboard the Shamrock Bay, the marines took control of the ships vital compartments, while Nova's engineers began working to disable the engines. "This.. just got a lot more complicated.."
The docs wouldn't find anything toxic, but the item still lodged in his back appeared to be jammed in over his upper left torso, right around where the lung was. "Don't think.. mhh.. anti-venom's gonna do it.." He looked towards his friend and XO, clearly upset. "I don't know.. It's like she was.. possessed.. I've.. never seen that happen before.."
Reyes mumbled in her sedated state, but more in a more normal sort of way.