The Scourge of Dorsanis
Episode Name: The Scourge of Dorsanis Written By: Belgarath Cast: Belgarath, Dakin, Givens, Haven, Poole and Va'tol. Produced By: Starfleet Directed By: Belgarath Aired On: Sat Jan 04 21:28:02 2003 Stardate: 52902.6
Time: Sat Dec 28 20:16:39 2002
Stardate: 52885.6
The neutral trading planet of Dorsanis has been suffering from mysterious, minor seismic activities that have recently left certain buildings in ruins and people dead, while the building a few meters over is in perfect shape. It seems the quakes only affect the homes of government workers, and the Dorsanis scientists are baffled as to why this is happening. Calling upon the aid of the Federation, the USS Cape Fear was sent to investigate. Upon reaching the planet, a ball with large, blue oceans appear in the forward viewports.
Dakin, seated in the co-pilot seat, looks out on their destination. "There it is. Mr. Va'tol, locate our LZ and gear us for atmosphere. I'll let our hosts know we're here." He punches up a communications menu on his board and enters in the subspace frequency for their planetside contacts.
Hearing Dakin's orders, Haven begins to run through her list of supplies brought along. "Do we have any idea how many wounded or dead we're looking at, Sir?"
. o O Givens is a little apprensive... not so much as to cause any concern, but this is her first landing party at her new post so she wants to make a good impression
Seated on the helm of the Cape Fear, Va'tol nods in acknowledgement to Dakin's order. "Yes Sir.." His fingers dance on the console, preparing the ship for the re-entry and scanning the planet for a suitable landing location..
Sitting in one of the back seats of the Cape Fear, Givens listens to the conversation of the other officers, and checks her tricorder to make sure that it's working properly.
. o O Haven feels relaxed, calm, centered. Mostly just focused on the task at hand.
The message is received and confirmed, and a landing pad in the capital city gets designated for the Cape Fear.
Dakin shakes his head as he relays the landing zone to Va'Tol's console. "Dorsanis wasn't specific, though given the damage they alluded to, you may have to coordinate with the native medical facilities."
Haven perks a brow but nods, murmuring, "Aye, Sir" as her attention returns to her list. You can almost -see- her counting in her head. Adding up just how far she can spread the medical supplies.
. o O Va'tol feels rather calm. It's hard to pick anything else from a Vulcan.
Picking up a clear landing zone on the surface, Va'tol descends towards the location, keeping an eye on the environmental controls of the ship as well.
Givens seems satisfied that her tricorder is working fine, so she closes it up and just sits there calmly... letting the others do their jobs. Not much for her to do yet, but that will change...
The Cape Fear settles on a landing pad whose surroundings are alive with activity. A couple of Dorsanians wearing a government badge over their chest approach the runabout. Off in the distance, one can see the capitol building of Dorsanis.
Dakin climbs out of his seat and opens the runabout's side hatch and steps out. Noticing the approaching government types, he meets them halfway after checking to see that everyone else is following suit. "Lt. Dakin Rann, chief of security for 419. I presume you're our government contacts here?"
Haven perks a brow as Rann boogies out the hatch but remains where she is. She watches.. and listens though. Never can be too careful.
Va'tol rises from his seat and walks out after Dakin, keeping a very formal stance along the way. He subtly studies the government officials, but stays silent, waiting for orders.
Givens rises from her seat and follows Dakin and Va'tol; she opens her tricorder and quietly punches some buttons... she hasn't been asked for anything yet, but she wants to be ready... so she checks her tricorder for anything that seems unusual.
"Nahli Voran, Ministry of Natural Sciences, Department of Geology," replies the woman Dorsanian in like format. "This is Mister Lannik," she gestures to the man beside her. "Yes, we are. Would you like to go to the science facility immediately?"
Dakin nods. "Soon, yes. But I've brought one of our medical officers here to help with the tending of the wounded. What are we looking at in the area of casualties from these quakes?"
Poole comes out from the back section of the runabout, padd in hand. She makes directly for the hatch and steps out, standing next to and just a little behind, Dakin. And she's quiet, for now.
Haven gathers up a number of medical items in cases and follows the others out. When Rann asks about the wounded, she steps up beside him to listen to the responses.
Va'tol stands a feet behind Dakin, waiting. There isn't really much he could do in here, afterall.
Givens stands in the line of officers, there's not much for her to do yet.
"Let's walk," says Voran as she heads for a nearby building. "We have seven deaths from the quakes, with another eighteen injured." She glances at Haven with a slight smile, "We appreciate the medical assistance, but our hospitals are able to handle the situation - so far. The quakes have been minor, affecting only one house at a time, so the casualties are kept at a minimal."
Dakin follows along. "I see. Have your people made any progress in finding out what and/or who's behind the quakes?"
Poole perks an eyebrow, following after Voran and the others. "It's hitting single houses at a time?" Sound strange to anyone else?
Haven ooh's softly and falls back near the back of the pack. Finally, she stops and stows her things in her pack then slings it over her shoulder. So much for that. As she strides along with the others, she begins to study her surroundings. "That seems odd.. any chance it's some kind of.. directed seismic weapon?"
Va'tol is staying close, studing the Dorsanian landscape on the way. He remains silent, keeping his thoughts to himself.
Givens follows along as they all walk, quiet for now, keeping her tricorder readily available for when its needed. She looks at the landscape as she walks, looking for any visual signs of earthquakes.
Voran nods, "It certainly does not seem natural at all, but we haven't found any indication of how the quakes start." She stops at the side of a building and gets into an open-air hovercraft. "Please get in." Returning to the subject, "All of the target homes belong to government workers here. Our Ministry of Security has been trying to figure out who would do this - if it really is an attack rather than a freak natural occurance."
Dakin climbs into the hovercraft. "Ensign Givens, set your tricorder to passive scanning for any tectonic activity, just in case." Back to Voran, "Are there anyone your people could attribute for attacking government workers? Extremist groups or something similar?"
Poole follows Dakin into the hovercraft, checking her padd once more as she listens to Voran. She nods to Dakin's question.
Va'tol steps into the hovercraft with the others. His PADD and Tricorder were not taken yet.
Haven follows the others up into the hovercraft and seats herself, pack on her lap.
Va'tol steps into the hovercraft with the others. His PADD and Tricorder were not taken yet.
Givens climbs into the hovercraft with everybody else, punching several buttons on her tricorder as requested, starting a passive scan for tectonic activity.
"Not that I know of," Voran replies. "But then this isn't my area of expertise." She looks over to Lannik, who shakes his head. The hovercraft starts moving once everyone is settled in, going at a fair pace through the streets and taking a shortcut through a residential area on its way to the science facility. "There used to be a lot of black market activities here," Lannik finally says after thinking it over. "They could be upset that we kicked them all off the planet a year ago?"
Dakin nods. "I find it's ill-advised to leave anything unturned. I think it best that I speak with your security people to see what they've come up with as likely suspects. Meantime, have you done any sort of precautionary evacuations of any other government workers who might be potential targets?"
Poole looks out at the streets they pass, the residential area with it's families. Pouting just a little, she glances back to Voran, "Criminals... pirates and smugglers all tend to hold long grudges. I wouldn't discount that possibility."
Haven perks a brow but nods in agreements with Rann and Gwen. "The deaths.. How many were workers.. and how many were their families?"
Va'tol looks down at the residential district, eyeing the locals. Again, not a word from the Vulcan.
Givens excitedly looks at her tricorder. Speaking to Dakin, she says, "My tricorder is picking up some unusual, localized movement of the earth nearby. I am trying to localize where it's coming from now..." she punches several buttons on her tricorder as she speaks...
<CONTEST> Givens contests her Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Fails!
"The important officials' homes have been temporarily relocated," says Voran, "but we haven't found any patterns to the quakes to figure out who is at risk. And there are just too many people in the government to be evacuated from their homes." A loud rumbling starts up down the residential street and Voran quickly looks at the source of the sound. "Slow down," she orders the pilot of the hovercraft. Seconds later, one of the houses down the street collapses in a cloud of dust and smoke.
Dakin notices the quake and, his face and voice going stone cold, asks Voran, "Can you get us over there?" He looks to Haven and Givens, "Scan the wreckage for life readings."
<CONTEST> Givens contests her Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!
<CONTEST> Haven contests her Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!
Poole swings her gaze and focus to the collapsing house, that pout hedging on a frown now. She looks back to the two scanners, waiting for their responses.
A flick of the wrist is all it takes for Loni to be actively scanning for life signs. "Reading two, Sir.." She frowns and makes a minute adjustment. "One is strong.. " she frowns and pops her head up to look at Rann. "The other is weak.. We need to get in there, Rann."
Va'tol blinks, shifting his gaze to the smoke below. He looks between Poole and Haven, waiting for the readings as well.
Givens reads her tricorder also, but since she also read two life signs, she has nothing to add. She just watches the pile of rubble.
Voran mutters a curse beneath her breath as she see's what happens and orders the pilot to go to the house. As the hovercraft reaches the house, she jumps out of the vehicle and runs up to the debris, but does not get close enough that she could get hurt by any loose chunks of housing that could fall at any instant. Lannik follows suit, and several neighbors are gathering around to take a look.
Dakin climbs out of the hovercraft and gives the rubble a once-over before moving to disperse the crowd. "All right, everyone, back up! Give us some room to work here!" Yelling back towards the hovercraft, "Loni, see if you can get a fix on their locations..!"
Haven begins to work at her tricorder with a murmured, "Aye.. Sir." She steps from the hovercraft, moving in closer to lessen the distance.
Poole jumps from the hovercraft and follows after Voran, casting a quick glance back towards Haven and echoes Dakin's question, "Where are they?..." She eyes the remains of the house warily, ready to dive in and start digging to find the people inside.
Va'tol hops off the hovercraft, rushing after the others and kneeling next to the debris. He looks up at the other and then casts a glance over his shoulder at the civilians. "Clear the area, please.." he says calmly to the ones who haven't left yet.
Givens jumps from the hovercraft, letting her tricorder guide her as she runs up towards the life sign near the top first, but careful not to make anything move that would be harmful to the one deeper down.
"Call for an emergency situation," Voran almost snaps at Lannik, who quickly runs back to the hovercraft to use the communication device installed on it. "And find out who lives here," says the geologist. The loud wailing of a young child can be heard somewhere near the top of the debris by Givens, under the fallen roof.
Dakin's brow creases. "Prophets, there's child in there..." He heads over towards the nearest part of the wreckage and pulls out his tricorder, scanning the debris for anything that might be made worse should this section of the roof be moved or cut away. "Gwen, give me a hand here..!"
GAME: Dakin spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Dakin (claiming advantage) contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!
Poole nods and eagerly steps forward, looking to Dakin as she unholsters her phaser type II... setting it to the lowest possible setting that will still cut through some of the heavier pieces of debris. "Any idea, sir?" She takes a step further in, trying to pinpoint the wailing child's location.
Haven heads off in another direction, being led, it would seem, by her tricorder. "I've found the other" Loni calls out. "Life signs faint.. crap! There is fifteen feet of debris between us and them.. any access to transporters?"
Va'tol stands and turns, watching his surroundings and keeping the people away while the others do the saving.
Givens pulls out her phaser also, and looks at her tricorder in the other hand, she also looks for freeing the child without any more harm...
Voran rolls up her sleeves and heads toward the crying with the others, not hearing Haven's question above all the commotion. "The emergency crew should be here momentarily. They should be able to rescue the people trapped under here," she says as she nonetheless starts pulling loose rubble away from the immediate vicinity.
Dakin thinks for a split second as he unholsters his own weapon, then points to where the wails are coming from. "Two-meter radius from this point. We can lift off what we cut away. You take one side, Gwen, I'll get the other. Givens, keep the scan going, I don't want to make this worse. Stand back, Ms. Voran..." He sets his phaser accordingly and takes aim about two meters or so to the left of the source of the cries. He then fires, intending to arc his beam in a circular arc while maintaining the safety radius.
<CONTEST> Dakin contests his Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!
Poole follows suit targeting that same two meter radius and starts cutting in the opposite direction (counterclockwise). Calling out to the child, she says, "Cover your eyes, darling... there's going to be a bright light."
<CONTEST> Poole contests her Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!
Haven drops to her knees and begins to shift debris out of her way. She works slowly and checks her tricorder readings often. Emergency crews or not, this person needs help now. She starts to call out, aiming her voice into the pile of debris. "Can you hear me? We're coming for you so stay still and -hold- on." Fierce concentration marks her expression. "Damnit.. come -on-," she murmurs.
Va'tol stays where he is, keeping a watch on the surroundings, waiting for the rescue crew.
Givens holsters her phaser, then keeps watching her tricorder to watch especially where the child is and make sure that nothing gets worse, either for the child, or the weaker life sign farther down; "Sir, Poole's phaser hasn't cut far enough down to lift the rubble up...
Voran watches warily as the crying continues.
Dakin frowns. "Givens, add your fire to hers. Follow along the path she's already cut." He then looks over to Loni. "Loni, call the Cape Fear, see if the computer can beam the other person out. We should still be in transport range."
Poole purses her lips and concentrates this time, firing once more to make the cut. As she does so, she calls out again, "Honey... we'll be there in a few moments... Remember to cover your eyes."
GAME: Poole spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Poole (claiming advantage) contests her Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!
Haven puffs out a breath as she pulls her padd free. "Checking uplink to the Cape now, Sir" she says as her fingers taptap away. "C'mon.. be in range" she murmurs.
"I can bring the runabout here if necessary, Sir.." speaks out Va'tol, just in case it's not in range.
Givens draws her phaser, as she still checks the tricorder before putting it away, but she sees Poole has already successfully cut, so she doesn't add her fire in case she hits something that she wasn't trying to. Then she works at clearing away the rubble as cut by Poole and Dakin, but still trying not to harm the child
The process of cutting through the roof is completed and the circular piece of roofing shakes and sinks, but quickly settles again after falling for an inch. Voran helps Givens with trying to safely lift the debris up and out of the way.
The linkup to the Cape Fear is successful and data pops into Haven's PADD stating that yes, the house is indeed within transporter range.
Dakin nods to Va'tol as he holsters his phaser and helps Givens and Voran try to lift the chunk of roofing away. "Gwen, can you see the child in there?" he asks, not being able to see for himself as of yet.
Poole scoots down into the gap left wide open by the removal of the debris and peers inside. She shakes her head, "No... there's a little more rubble in the way... I think we can move it..." And she tries to do so, tug it out of the way.
GAME: Haven spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Haven (claiming advantage) contests her Shipboard Systems (Transporter) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!
Haven works fast and hard at her padd. "Uplink.. got it. Checking range, now." She pulls her lip in between her teeth then starts to talk to the victim again. "Hold on.. we're coming.."
Va'tol moves to remove the debris pieces left by the phaser cuts, throwing them aside and stepping back during each shot.
Givens works with everybody else to clear the rubble off of the child and free him/her.
There is a muffled whirring of transporter sounds before the rubble that Haven is standing on suddenly drops a few inches. As the rubble stabilizes, another whirring sound and blue lights near the hovercraft produce the bloody, unconscious form of a Dorsanian man.
As the last of the debris is pulled away, the people standing over the hole in the roof can see a limp, bloody body hunched over, almost as if protecting something. Under that body is a screaming girl perhaps two or three years of age.
Dakin tries his damnedest not to react to the sight, but he can't help shaking his head as he flings whatever piece of debris he had in his hands aside. He then goes over to the girl and prepares to lift the body off of her. "Gwen..." He says that before he places hands on the corpse, asking the training officer for aid.
"I'm here..." Poole says as she finds her way into a good position to lay hands on the girl. "I'm ready when you are." She does her best to ignore the corpse, focusing more on the little life sheltered beneath it. Her hands clench and unclench in anticipation.
Haven yelps in surprise as the debris she's standing on shifts. Quickly she balances and when it stops, she hops down from her perch and bee-lines it for the man now laying out at the hovercraft. She slides to a stop next to him and begins to scan him while her fingertips search for a pulse in his neck. Now she really begins to talk. "Okay.. you're out now. Hang in there, help is here."
Va'tol moves forward, kneeling down and reaching for the body, waiting for them to remove the little girl before turning it.
GAME: Givens spends a courage point.
Givens's eyes linger a little too long on the dead mother before she is able to tear them away and focus on the girl, reaching for the girl to lift her to safety
"Hold on, sweety," Voran calls out to the girl as she brushes stray strands of hair out of her face. "We're going to get you out of there real quick!" Lannik comes running up the pile of rubble.
Dakin nods to Va'tol, and with the Vulcan's help expected, lifts the body away from the girl, allowing Givens and Poole to help her out of the wreckage.
Poole reaches for the girl when the body is lifted, then, presumably with Givens' help carrying her and keeping steady in the debris. "Thanks for the help ensign..." she says softly to Givens, then proceeds to speak to the girl, "Everything will be okay honey... we're almost out...... ssshhhh.... it's okay."
Va'tol turns to Dakin and nods, lowering the body carefully after the child is taken.
Haven completes her scan, winces, then shouts, "Va'tol, when you're done.. I need your help!" then she sets the tricorder aside and rummages through her pack for a medkit.
Givens helps Poole carry the girl and staying steady in the debris as well, she stays with the child and adds her voice to Poole's, "We're almost there..." Getting to the edge of the debris field, she looks for a good place to sit down and guides the three of them towards the selected spot.
"This house belongs to Prosecutor Porl Tollir," Lannik reports to Voran just as a couple of crafts with the Dorsanis Emergency Crew emblem zoom in and come to a stop overhead. The child looks back into the hole with her arms outstretched, shouting "Mommyyyyyyyy!" inbetween cries.
Dakin looks over to Givens. "Check for any anomalous energy signatures. If someone sneezed funny, I want to know about it." He goes over to Voran. "Anything further we can do here?"
Once they're out of the debris and Dakin calls Givens' over to a different task, Poole continues carrying the child over towards the arriving hovercraft. She gently strokes the girl's hair, "Shhhh, love... sshhh... It'll all be okay." Heading for the medical personnel arriving first, she waits with the child until she's in the hands of people who can help her.
Slapping the medkit to the ground, Loni throws it open and reaches in blindly but still pulls out -exactly- what she needed. That being a dermal regenerator. Seems she's done this once or twice. She plucks the tricorder down on the man's body and begins to close off the bleeders. Half of her attention is on the man's readings; heart, lungs, internals, and the like. Triage comes into play here. First the bleeding then the major organs.. then the other injuries.
Va'tol looks up as Haven calls for him. He walks over the remaining debris and stands next to her, looking down at the injured man. "What do you need, Sir?" he inquires.
Givens nods as Poole takes the girl, then pulling out her tricorder and scanning. "Well, sir, the dirt underneath the house has been loosened, and the foundation was weakened. I don't think that we can see much else while all the rubble is still around."
Voran heads away from the debris as the Emergency Crew drops down from their crafts. "The crew will take care of things from here on," she says while wiping her forehead with the back of her hand, which manages to smear a dark-colored smudge on her head. "It'll take them a few minutes to clear out the rubble. We can take better readings of the earth once all of these things are out of the way."
The little girl continues to cry, tears streaming down her face.
Dakin nods. "Then I suppose there's nothing more to be done here. Gwen, is the girl injured?"
"Just some bumps and bruises, sir, I believe her mother saved her life..." Poole calls back as she gives the girl a quick look over, "I think she's in shock..." She brushes at the child's tears lightly, using the one of the cuffs of her uniform. "Darling... It'll be okay..." She's fighting hard not to cry herself.
<CONTEST> Haven (claiming advantage) contests her Medical Sciences skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!
"Get their medical people over here," Loni tells him as she works. "He's stabilized.. for now. Damn, hang in there.. there is a little girl that's going to need you if you're someone she loves." Havens hands continue to move, D.R. in hand.
Va'tol nods, turning to look around for the emergency crew. He spots the team and rushes towards them, waving his hand to attract their attention. "We have an injuried civilian here!" he yells.
Givens tilts her head a little as she hears Dakin's words, "If I may suggest, sir, I believe that it would make sense to scan again once the rubble has been cleared. The Minister did say that it should only be a few minutes for that." She looks staight at Dakin...
The emergency crew checks on the injured man while a medical craft flies in and a couple of people step off with medical kits in their hands. Shortly afterwards, a craft with the Ministry of Natural Sciences emblem arrives and a few people pop out with pieces of equipment. "Looks like the science facility came to /us/," Voran comments. "At least a tiny part of it." She quickly goes to report what happened to her superior. Eventually, a couple of news probes also get here and start hovering around the scene as the emergency crew transports the rubble away, converting the massive pile into energy.
Dakin nods to Givens. "Point taken and agreed with, Ensign." He then looks over towards Voran and her conversation with her fellows, then goes back to watching the rubble clearing after a few moments.
Poole keeps with the child, as she's not been given new orders. Besides, children are one of her fortes.
Once the other med team takes over the care of the man, Haven turns her attention to putting her equipment away. Slowly she rises and rubs her hands down her thighs before slinging her pack. Her eyes move over Gwen and the child and she sighs heavily before picking her way back to the group. Her padd comes out again and she begins to type on it while she awaits Dakin's orders.
Va'tol lets the medics do their job, having little to do but to keep his eyes and ears opened. The Vulcan waits for new orders, pulling the PADD from his suit.
Givens looks at her tricorder studiously, "Scanning for anomalous energy signatures... There are none. " She punches a few more buttons, "Oh, this is interesting, there are point fractures in the foundation at specific spots." She punches some more buttons... "Looking at all the fracture points together, there's an organized pattern that's indicative of intelligence..."
Voran returns holding onto something that looks like a slightly bigger, thicker version of a PADD. "Mister Dakin, we just picked these readings up," Voran says while handing the item out to Dakin. "See if your people can confirm our findings." On the Dorsanian PADD is a wireframe of the building's foundation, with detected point fractures highlighted. Individually, the highlights mean little until one looks at the big picture, which shows a systematic, orderly pattern of fractures in the foundation that is highly unlikely to occur under natural circumstances.
The little girl grabs onto Poole and buries her face into the Starfleet officer, still crying her heart out.
Dakin takes the PADD and looks it over with a growing frown. He then hands it over to Givens. "Ensign, you make out of this what I'm seeing here?" He then looks over to the rest of them. "Seems we aren't dealing with seismic activity at all, or if we are it's only partially responsible for these structural collapses."
Okay, there's only so much Poole can take. She doesn't sob by any means, but one tear... and then another start streaking down her cheeks and the dust from the debris. Hugging the girl back, she looks to Dakin, an oddly helpless look on her face.
<CONTEST> Givens contests her Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!
Haven perks a brow over at the others and peeks to see what's going on.
Va'tol settles his gaze upon Poole and the little girl, wondering if he could help with that. Maybe calm her down with one of his mind exercises, though he doubts a child would be able to understand them. He stays put, looking..emotionless, as usual.
Givens looks at the offered Dorsanian PADD... "Yes those are very similar to my readings. The fractures all start from underground, where the hard-packed dirt is now loosened.
The medical crew steps back from the injured man as a transporter beam goes into effect. They then pick up their equipment and reboard their craft.
Dakin nods and addresses the group as a whole. "All right, pack up your gear, everyone." He turns to Voran. "Ms. Voran, if we may, I think we'd better make our way to the science facility. And I'd like a communications uplink with your Minister of Security set up there."
Poole gently breaks from the child and kisses her brow, "I have to go, love... my friends need me. To make these bad things stop happening." She looks around and flags down an emergency worker, "This girl needs help... Please stay with her... I'll contact you later to find out how she is doing... my name is Gwendolyn Poole." Making sure the worker gets her name, she gives the girl one more look, gently brushing back her hair before rendezvousing with her group and boarding the hovertransport.
Va'tol walks in Dakin's direction, moving to follow the group into the hovercraft.
Givens makes sure that her phaser is clipped to her belt, and keeps her tricorder in her hand, then follows Dakin ready to get back onto the hovercraft.
"Alright," Voran says and leads everyone back to the hovercraft. A short while later, the vehicle enters the science facility and she leads everyone to the geology department, where giant screens show maps of the capital city with quake sites marked. "We've got all the collected information regarding quakes here, including the quake victims," says the Dorsanian woman. "The Ministry of Security should be available over there," she points to a computer terminal.
Dakin nods then says to Poole, "Gwen, go over the victims' records... see if they have anything else in common besides just all working for the government." Then to Givens, "Lend them a hand, go over every bit of data they have. Correlate that with what the Dorsanians learned at the last wrecksite. Loni, Va'tol, lend a hand wherever it's needed." He then goes over and logs into the computer terminal indicated earlier.
GAME: Poole spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Poole (claiming advantage) contests her Computer (Research) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!
Images of that newly motherless child still in her head, Poole nods and finds a vacant terminal. She sifts through the records fairly quickly and within a few minutes speaks up, "I'm not finding any real common factors, sir... mostly simple citizens... a few higher ups... nothing to bind them together... wait... except... they all seem to be tied into the legal system in one way or another. Law and Order as it were."
Haven troops off with a "Aye, Sir." to help where she can.
"Yes Sir.." he replies. Alright, lend a help. The Vulcan walks away, offering to aid to whoever needs it.
Givens nods to Dakin, "Aye, sir." She then walks over to the person in charge of the data and converses quietly, opening her tricorder to compare against what she got from the quake site... "All of the sites reveal the same foundation fractures and pattern. The earth was greatly loosened underneath the houses. All of the foundations were built over some kind of dirt. No pattern to the kind of dirt, but I find it interesting that they were all over dirt."
The face of a young man appears on the computer terminal Dakin is at. "Officer Donten here, Department of Local Security. You would be Lieutenant Rann?"
Dakin tries not to smile, not an easy task since it's been a while since anyone mistook majority naming conventions for those of Bajorans. "Lt. /Dakin/, actually, but yes. Has your department been able to come up with any viable suspects in these incidents?" He looks over towards Givens then back to Donten briefly. "One moment, Officer, I'll be right back." He then moves within closer earshot of Givens and says in a low voice, "Find out who contracted and/or performed the construction of those houses." He then returns to the terminal. "My apologies, Officer. You were saying?"
Givens nods to Dakin, then turns back to one of those with the data, "Is there any pattern to who constructed the houses that were hit? Can we find out here?"
"We don't have much to go on, especially with the unorthodoxed method of attack - if it even is one," the officer admits. "Certainly no one that is still on Dorsanis." He sighs, "We don't have a confirmable motive; we aren't able to extrapolate from past murder methods because we've never seen this method before; we don't even know what's causing these quakes. We've got virtually nothing."
The search for construction services turns up no patterns.
Dakin nods. "Well, we've just confirmed that it /is/ an attack, Officer. The seismic vibrations were only one part though. The houses' foundations were sabotaged. I have my science officer working on discerning the means as we speak. And as for suspects, what about those that supposedly /aren't/ on Dulcais?" He then motions Poole over and says to her, "Check the criminal database, find what cases they worked on, criminals they prosecuted, check for any links."
Givens nods to the people that she's working with, "I notice that the parts of the city built over rock and ancient sites have not been hit. Are there any legal workers that live in those sections?"
<CONTEST> Poole (claiming advantage) contests her Computer (Research) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!
"Perhaps there is a specific case... or cases that they all worked on," Poole suggests as she goes back to staring at her screen, bringing up the criminal database as well this time. It takes a bit of doing this time, cross-referencing, but is isn't long before she reports, "... They seem to like to pass cases along quite a bit.... but here's something at least, many of them have worked on the same cases... there are /lots/ of cases."
Haven is off somewhere, helping with something,.
"Only too many," the officer says. "Dorsanis lost its trading priviledges with the Federation because of the widespread black market here, after all. After the cleanup job, most if not all of the black market dealers would've been annoyed. Orion. Nausicaan. Yridian. Ferengi. You name it."
Dakin nods to Donten and says to Poole, "Narrow it down to anyone who has experience with structural engineering."
Poole nods and researches briefly. She comes back with, "None... I don't think any of the prosecuted criminals have much to do with it... perhaps it is more who /they/ in turn worked for. This could be payback for the removal of the black market from Dorsanis."
Va'tol has his Tricorder and PADD on hand, assisting the rest of the crew with their duties, specially if it concerns communication or flight control.
Givens studies the data on the seimographic events, looking for how they might have been caused.
A creaking noise sounds throughout the entire facility. A decorative banner hung on a wall begins swinging slightly from side to side. A glass object falls off the edge of a table and shatters on the ground.
The ground rumbles slightly. Not much, but enough to make Poole lose her footing and knock her head into unconsciousness. A loose item drops from the ceiling and hits Va'tol across the back and a shoulder, also knocking him out.
Dakin blinks and twists around towards the fallen officers as he calls out to everyone present, "Evacuate the building! Givens, grab Lt. Poole. I'll get Va'tol!" He draws his phaser and sets it to a medium-disruption setting so as to blast any falling debris before it takes out anyone else. Moving to collect the fallen Vulcan, "Loni, set you phaser on setting 9 and give us some cover fire!" He tries to sling the Vulcan's arm across his shoulders, wielding his phaser with his free hand.
Haven rolls with the building and manages to maintain her footing. Guess all those years of gymnastics paid off. Hearing Rann's shout, she slings her med pack and pulls her side arm. Setting 9, aye. She takes up a fairly stable looking post and begins to fire on the falling debris. "Aye, sir" she calls out, just so he knows he was heard over the noise.
Givens stops what she's doing when she feels the earth move, then hearing Dakin, she puts her tricorder back on her belt and grabs Lt. Poole over her back, following Dakin to get her to safety.
The intercom comes alive as a voice tells everyone to evacuate as well. Scientists and maintenance workers quickly move toward the nearest exit - some of whom are quite frantic. The creaking sound turns into a low grumble as the shaking worsens. "Follow me!" Nahli Voran shouts to the group with a wave before heading out.
Dakin drags Va'Tol out as fast as he can make his way, following Voran at her suggestion. He takes a pause every few meters to take out any debris that would possibly cause serious harm to anyone. "Keep it calm, everyone! Move towards the exits orderly and we'll get out of here safely!"
Haven maintains her place, eyeing the doors with a frown. She continues to fire as needed to help safe guard the evac of the others. Oh, Prophets, look after your silly halfling.
Givens follows Voran also, and gets out of the building as quickly as she can... safety does come first, but there's something else she needs to do as well, as soon as she can... first things first though...
<CONTEST> Givens contests her Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!
<CONTEST> Haven contests her Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!
<CONTEST> Dakin contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Fails!
The group makes it out okay as Voran leads them to the concrete expanse of the shuttle lot. A stream of other Dorsanians flow out of the doors as well. Givens and Haven notice as cracks in the concrete move out from the science facility in straight lines before circling back around to the building.
Dakin gets himself clear and sets Va'tol prone off to one side of the lot as he holsters his phaser and looks around at the lot. "Everyone present and accounted for, Ms. Voran?"
Haven comes out last of all, weapon still held in hand. "I think that was everyone." She isn't sure, however, so she pulls her tricorder and beings to scan the building. "Uhm, Chief.. I think you should see this" she tells Rann.
Givens sets Poole down as she wakes up, then quickly pulls out her tricorder and looks at it, pushing some buttons and turning some knobs... "The dirt beneath us is moving around in organized patterns underground... I also see them below the cracks that are appearing..."
Voran shakes her head, "I don't know. There are a lot of people in there." She looks at the slowly crumbling building in disbelief. "This can't be happening. This never happened to anything larger than a house before...but this must be the same thing. Earthquakes don't happen here normally... It doesn't make sense..." she keeps shaking her head.
Dakin frowns as soon as he hears the reports from Haven and Givens. "Ms. Voran, I think my officers just discovered evidence that tectonics has nothing to do with this." Going over to the cracks Givens specified, he asks "What did you see down there, Ensign?"
Poole stirs from the place where Givens' set her down, wincing as she reawakens to the sounds of destruction in her ears. Judging from the nice sized lump and the myriad of scratches, dust and sweat covering her face, she's fortunate to revive herself so quickly. It should be expected, however, from a British Bulldog.... (oh okay, a chihuahua then). Gathering herself, she asks slowly, "Can we stabilize the building?"
Haven sighs and says, "Chief? We've got people inside still. I can't tell for sure where or how many though."
Givens shakes her head a bit, "Well, Lt, all that my tricorder could read was several massive chunks of earth moving about underground, 10-20 meter long objects, with a girth of 7-14 meters..."
Another loud rumbling and a section of the building collapses, forming a huge cloud of dust that wafts out. There is shouting and screaming as people run away from that area of the shuttle lot.
Dakin frowns as the section comes down. "Loni, get that uplink with the runabout back up and set the transporter to lock on to anyone in there and start beaming them out. Givens, scan those chunks for anything unusual. Scan on all bands, I've a feeling those things aren't what they appear to be." He pulls out his tricorder and starts scanning the building for a more exact count and location on those still inside.
GAME: Dakin spends a courage point.
Poole rubs her noggin a few more times as she slowly stands up, hand brushing one of her wounds and coming back with blood. "Ah... Excellent. Still fresh... Haven't been out long then." She stares back into the building, then back to Givens, "Is there any way we could beam out one of those chunks of earth...... beam it up to here, I mean."
<CONTEST> Dakin (claiming advantage) contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!
<CONTEST> Haven contests her Shipboard Systems (Transporters) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!
Haven nods and trades her tricorder for her padd. "Aye, Chief" comes her reply as she starts to work on that uplink again. She shakes her head, damn it. "No go, Chief.. I can't get the link up."
GAME: Givens spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Givens (claiming advantage) contests her Personal Equipment skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!
Givens nods as she works more with her tricorder, "Well, I'm not picking up much else... No, wait, there's a tiny little bit of electrical activity; very low like that of a living organism..."
More cracks form in the concrete, heading away from the building in a straight line again. One such crack is headed in the direction of the group.
Dakin blinks and sees the crack heading their way. "Everybody, get clear!" As he moves, he punches in a new command into his tricorder, this one to lock onto those people he's located on his tricorder using his scan results as a targeting coordinates.
Poole draws her phaser and starts to scuttle sideways out of the path of the line of cracks. In the meantime she starts firing shots randomly, in front of the things path and just to the sides... careful not to hit any humanoid lifeforms whilst she's at it.
<CONTEST> Poole contests her Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!
Haven makes another trade, this time back to her phaser. As she scoots along with Poole, she adds her own fire power. Following the training officer like a good little bajjie.
Givens moves out of the way of the crack, but still concentrating on her tricorder, " The electrical field is in the general shape of a long tube, coming to a rounded point at the ends, sorta like a worm. Perhaps rather than the whole large piece of earth, just the worm or whatever can be transported?"
GAME: Haven spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Haven (claiming advantage) contests her Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!
<CONTEST> Poole contests her Athletics skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!
<CONTEST> Haven contests her Athletics skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!
There is a shrieking sound from underneath, greatly muffled by the ground. The concrete beneath Poole and Haven suddenly heaves upward and they fly for a few meters. Poole's left arm twists unnaturally as she lands while Haven's ankle sprains.
GAME: Dakin spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Dakin (claiming advantage) contests his Shipboard Systems (Transporter) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!
Dakin thumbs the keypad and sends the runabout the info as well as the beamout command. As he sees Poole and Haven go down, he pulls out his phaser and aims for a far-off, unoccupied section of the lot, throwing some shots into the concrete so as to lure the creature underneath away from his officers and anyone else.
Crying out as the ground simply springs upward with a life of it's own, Poole tries her best to land on her feet. She fails, of course, and screams at the pain, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood... Fortune seems to still be with her, however, as her right arm, hand, and Poole's Weapon Of Choice (tm) is still there and functional. Rolling back away from the area of the leaping concrete slab, she struggles to her feet and takes aim again, this time blasting with more force and directly /at/ the points where the pavement is cracking.
The same slab of concrete that sends Poole flying, also sends Haven. She tucks in on herself in the air and rolls when she hits the ground. Well planned, great training, and look how graceful. Yeah, right up until she slams to a stop against another slab of concrete. Have we mentioned how unforgiving concrete is? Springs to her feet seems an outstanding idea and is, until she actually has to put weight on her left ankle. Ow! Loni sucks in a breath and hops, once twice, then comes up against a bracer. Oh look! Concrete. A quick glance Gwen's way and she too if raising her phaser to concentrate her fire where Poole is firing.
Givens keeps watching the tricorder for any changes or updates on the (presumed) creature... she also keeps an eye on the cracking pavement to make sure that it's not coming towards her, giving it a wider berth as it claims two fellow officers
More shrieking emanates from underground and the entire ground shudders. Voran moves away, looking down with a scared expression. At the point where Poole shot at, bits of dirt and concrete explode outward as a long, brown-colored creature slides out, towering high up into the air. The top end dips down as if looking at Poole, and opens up into four flaps with big teeth and a thin tongue flickering around.
Dakin's eyes widen as he sees the creature erupt from the ground. "All civilians, get clear of here now!" He turns to Voran, "Get me a commline to the largest transporter station within range here... Givens, as soon as we've got it, send every one of those electrical discharges you found to them and tell them to beam them to an unoccupied region of the planet!" He then draws his phaser again and sets his phaser to heavy stun. "Gwen, Loni, phasers on maximum stun! LIGHT IT UP!!" He then fires, hoping his fellow officers will follow suit.
<CONTEST> Dakin contests his Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!
<CONTEST> Haven contests her Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!
<CONTEST> Poole contests her Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!
If there's one thing Gwen Poole is good at, it's being brave, so she doesn't flinch at the sight of this nightmarish monster in front of her... presumably looking at her... measuring her... Instead she winces at the abject pain she is in, grits her teeth and flips her phaser up to it's highest setting before aiming it directly at the thing's 'mouth.' Not waiting one moment, she thumbs the trigger at it.
Haven's just mad. Hurt her friends will you? I think not. Dakin's order only backs her actions as she too checks her setting, flips it to it's highest setting, props herself against the concrete and fires! Take that, right to the noggin.
Givens cringes as the worm comes up... preparing her tricorder to send the electrical impulses she's been following to the transporter station as soon as she can... she draws her phaser, but doesn't fire... she is just ready for if the worm comes after her though...
Voran seems frozen in fear as other Dorsanians scatter. Dakin's shot hits the creature, but the creature merely ignores it until Poole and Haven fires at its head, which is pretty much completely composed of a giant mouth. The creature's head flips backwards and the body follows, crashing to the ground with a loud boom.
Dakin staggers a little as the creature topples dead. He then goes over to Voran and places a hand on her shoulder. "Ms. Voran, I need those transporters! Those things need to be removed or this whole city and everyone in it'll be a memory within hours!" He calls over to Haven, "Loni! Lifeform scan on that thing! See what it's made of and if it has any vulnerabilities we can exploit!"
Poole keeps her weapon trained on the thing, still at the highest possible stun setting. "Everyone stand clear of it... I'll believe it's dead when we've autopsied it and vaporized the rest."
Haven blinks and hops a bit, wincing. Oh sure, make the one legged woman juggle. One hand on her phaser and her other on her tricorder, she begins to scan. After a moment, she called back. "Nothing, Chief. All I'm getting a scan of a massive chunk of earth where the damn worm is supposed to be! Someone's playing with us!"
Givens watches her tricorder, and also keeps a wary eye on the worm... "If the electrical impulses are any indication, its not dead... They're still there... and as it came up I was still reading just earth. The electrical impulses are just low level, not unlike those found in humans and any other animal."
Voran looks at Dakin with eyes widened in shock. After a second to collect herself, she nods and pats around her clothes before taking out a communicator that she slides onto one ear. The worm-like creature starts writhing and lifts its upper body back up with a thunderous shriek.
Dakin spins around and aims his phaser at the creature once again and fires, the weapon still set on maximum stun. And this time, he holds the beam on the creature until it goes down a second time. "Gwen, Loni, one more time!"
Poole complies eagerly, being the anti-monster type person she is, triggering her phaser at the damnable beast. "And /stay/ down."
Haven adds her fire to the others. "Yeah.. what she aid."
Givens is still watching her tricorder, fiddling with some dials and pushing some buttons, trying to come up with some way of identifing this creature and others like it.
Voran's facial expressions are warped as she gets frustrated, unable to get a communications line through to the appropriate officials. The creature spins it head to face Dakin now, but keeps its mouth closed. The phaser shots do not appear to be affecting it. From around the shuttle lot, three movements of the earth can be seen as concrete breaks in a straight line heading for this spot.
Dakin frowns and then turns to Givens, "Ensign, scan that thing for any forms of machinery... and scan all bandwidths for any incoming signals on any bandwidths. You find any, jam them." He then dials up the beam setting on his phaser. Setting 12. "Gwen, Loni, phasers on setting 12. Fire on my mark."
<CONTEST> Givens (claiming advantage) contests her Personal Equipment skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!
Poole dials up her phaser with a quick flick of a finger and regains her target on the creature, aiming for it's head once again, whether or not the mouth is open. "Aye." And she waits for Dakin's order to fire. Meanwhile, she starts walking around 'behind' the worm, to try and stand on the opposite side of it from Dakin.
GAME: Haven spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Haven (claiming advantage) contests her Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!
"Damnit!" Loni mutters at her tricorder as she hasten to follow Dakins orders. Change her setting on her phaser then aims, holding her fire.
Givens keeps looking at her tricorder, trying to come up with something else to check... some way of finding machinery, of incoming message, or whatever...
Voran shakes her head, "Can't get through. My communicator might be broken." She still looks very uneasily at the creature. The creature continues to stand its ground at the onslaught, but slowly starts to waver as the phasers slowly drill through its tough hide. It makes an attempt to dive at Dakin, but misses and crashes beside the Bajoran security officer, brown blood oozing out of the holes created by the phasers.
Dakin dives out of the way reflexively, bodily tackling Voran to clear her out of the way too. "Okay, everyone, give me some ideas, this thing isn't alone!"
"I don't know sir... short of trying to incapacitate them with something else... something with a broader range. Maybe ultrasonic pulses?" Poole suggests between blasts of her phaser, "We might be able to configure a tricorder for it."
Haven turns her full attention on her tricorder and begins to work. The answer -has- to be there, somewhere.
Givens keeps an eye on her tricorder, watching the electrical impulses, slowly dissapating for now, but she wants to make sure... "Ultrasonic pulses sounds good, but do we know that they would be effective?"
Three more creatures pop out of the ground with a spray of dirt and concrete. They open up their mouth flaps and flick their tongues as they shriek loudly at the group.
Dakin nods and backs off, phaser still aimed but not firing. "Worth a try! Everyone attune your tricorders to emit ultrasonic audio on a cycling frequency... you find something that they don't like, keep it going!"
Poole nods and holster her phaser as she tugs her tricorder off her belt. It's hard doings with a bum arm, but she tries to implement the ultrasonic pulse idea.
Haven does as she ordered. Hell. Nothing else has worked.
Givens configures her tricorder to emit ultrasonics, but keeping it out of the range that would be picked up and/or harmful to Napean, Bajorans, Vulcans, Human, Dorsanians, and any other races she knows to be here.
Unaffected by the tricorders, one of the creature dives down, closes its four flaps around Voran, and snatches her up to be gobbled whole. The scream of the Dorsanian woman cuts off upon being swallowed.
The worm then opens up its mouth again in another shriek.
Dakin growls and dials his phaser four more notches to maximum yield. "All phasers on maximum setting! OPEN FIRE!!" With that order, he targets one of the creatures and fire.
<CONTEST> Dakin contests his Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!
Oh, she was waiting to hear those words. Poole fumbles with her tricorder a moment, letting it fall to the ground as she goes for her weapon again, maximum possible setting.... target and fire.
Haven blinks and jumps a bit as the woman vanishes. A deep frown creases her brow as she follows orders. Dear Prophets, protect the foolish. She sets her phaser to it's highest setting, aims, and fires. Take that, icky worm!
Givens quickly unholsters her phaser, making sure it's on its highest setting, then trying to target a creature that hasn't been targeted yet... firing her phaser at its mouth and keeping the fire steady.
As the Starfleet officers fire on the creatures through the opened mouth with their phasers set to maximum, the creatures do not so much vaporize, but rather a large hole gets drilled into their heads. The creatures shriek louder and writhe around, but the steady stream of phasers manage to burst through the head and out the other side before being completely drained. The three creatures stand motionless for a few seconds before toppling lifelessly to the ground.
Dakin sighs and drops his emptied weapon limply. He looks around to his people, "Tricorder scans... make sure we don't have more of these things coming..."
Poole lowers her weapon, secures it in it's holster, then goes for her fallen tricorder. "They were networked somehow..." And the tricorder goes to her belt, as that pain she's in suddenly gets worse and she goes quiet and down on one knee.
Haven trades phaser for tricorder hopefully one last time. She takes a scan then sighs and lets the device fall back into it's holster. With a tired sigh she says, "There doesn't seem to be anymore unusual movements in the earth... but we all know how useful my scanning has been." Seeing Poole go down, she begins to hobble slowly over to her, wincing with each step. "Here," Loni begins,"let me help."
Givens holsters her weapon then pulls out her tricorder again, scanning for the same kind of electrical impulses that she saw before... "I also don't see any other creatures besides the four here... and these electrical impulses are all fading away..."
Dakin nods. "All right, let's tend to our wounded, help the Dorsanians as best we can... then we'll notify Starfleet Sciences to do post-mortems on these things. Givens, I'll need preliminary analysis from you for their consideration. Loni, the medical personnel here're gonna need your help. Gwen, get on the comm with the local authorities, let then know what we found out." He sighs and looks around at the destruction and loss of life, including the one life that was literally snatched away in front of him. "All right, people, you know your jobs. Let's get it done."
The shuttle lot, now devoid of anyone except for the Starfleet team doing their newly assigned tasks and the emergency workers, is in complete ruins. The science facility is in an even worse shape, with half of it having collapsed. The four giant worms lie dead around the Starfleet officers, with many questions left unexplained.
