Xa Down Part I
Episode Name: Xa Down Part I
Written By: spider
Cast: Brin, Cristobal, Harris, Medes, Shamash and Spider.
Produced By: Starfleet
Directed By: Spider
Aired On: Sun Apr 25 01:41:35 2004
Stardate: 54045.3
Time: Sat Apr 24 14:16:41 2004
Stardate: 54044.1
Ahh, milkruns. Refit and repair missions to subspace relay stations: simple, boring, routine. It's always nice when you get to take The Nice Shuttle on the milkrun, too, isn't it? The USS Levy somehow managed to get assigned to the erranding Cristobal is currently commanding; it's a routine departure from the station, and soon the Levy is underway...
The nature of that somehow isn't too hard to grasp. Cristobal's department runs the Flight Deck. He takes a moment to glance at sensor readings. He's not expecting anything, but it never hurts to check. "ETA, Mister Harris?" the Lieutenant asks.
Shamash, on the Science Console, does what SciOs do to occupy themself. He monitors sensor data which is piped to his terminal.
"Forty-one minutes, give or take a couple of seconds," Harris replies after consulting the helm.
Medes's hands rest easily on the back edge of the Engineering console; she watches Harris fly with a detatched sort of air, idly poking at a control here and there.
. o O Medes thinks "It's been a long time since I've been on this ship."
Brin sits back out of the way, his own position not requiring much of him right now.
. o O Cristobal thinks "If I recall, my first away mission when I arrived was on the Levy. Thea was in command with Kusto commanding the mission from the Shoemaker. Kind of fitting that I'm taking her (the ship) out again."
. o O Medes has a brief moment of gutsickness; she remembers the last time all too well.
Cristobal nods at Harris, staring idly at the console before asking Medes, "Assuming no unforseen malfunctions, how long should the repair and refit take?"
. o O Medes thinks "At least I'm not in command this time. If Nathan wants to space Nausicaans, that's his call."
. o O Cristobal thinks "I should stop asking how long things are going to take. Makes me look like I'm late for a poker game or something."
After a few moments of silence, Harris grins to himself, and returns his attention to the console before him.
. o O Harris thinks "I wonder if Alley reads to the Levy, too?"
. o O Harris is amused by that thought.
Medes snaps herself back from wherever her mind had been, blinking up from her console and over at Cristobal. "I, eh, uhm. Oh. Uh. About... three hours, maybe a little more, but four at the most." She looks at the CO for a moment, then glances down at her console, wrinkling up her forehead slightly.
. o O Medes thinks "What the... ?"
Cristobal again nods. Glancing from Thea to Robert he says, "Good. I'll be timing both of you, you know," flashing a quick grin at the others. "Anything on sensors, Mister Shamash?"
Shamash consults his data for a quick reconfirmation of any last changes of the data, then replies "Nothing to report, Sir."
Harris frowns at his console for a moment. "Timing... right. Hey, Thea... do you see what I see?"
"Yeah. I see it," Medes replies, tapping at her console. "Sir, we have some anomalous power readings. Shouldn't be too hard to lock down. The warp core is bleeding power."
. o O Medes thinks "I never should have transferred to Core Systems."
. o O Harris' amusement fades away into a small bit of concern.
Cristobal frowns and nods. He asks the engineer, "I presume you'll need us to drop out of warp to fix the problem?"
Shamash turns slightly to catch some of the chatter. How to participate in idle chatter is one of these problems when you are thrown into a mission with people you do not know. Then turns his attention back to his own console as Medes reports the point with the warp core, both to see if there has been a change of readings and to do a quick scan of the surrounding area to be able to report free of encroachments if called upon.
Brin pulls out his tricorder and does a scan to see if there's any danger of radiation to the crew.
Medes nods her head once toward Cristobal. "Affirmative, sir," she answers. "I /could/ try to fix it at warp, but if I failed, we'd explode." You can always count on Medes to be utterly truthful.
Brin finishes his scan and turns to Cristobal. "Sir, there is no danger of radiation poisoning right now, but if the leak continues, radiation will increase to dangerous levels."
"I have to say that I'm rather against dying in a warp core breach," Harris notes with just a dash of macbre humor. "Bringing us to sublight speed."
. o O Harris thinks "And here I told Meg that there was 'absolutely nothing to worry about'. From now on, Robbie... keep your mouth shut."
Cristobal shrugs at Harris and says, "Though on the positive side, that would be one mission failure that I wouldn't have to write an after-action report on." Glancing to Brin he notes, "Let me know when we're approaching those levels, doctor. Mister Shamash, keep a close eye out. This sector's crawling with Nausicaan refugees right now, and that's a situation I have no desire to get involved in."
GAME: Medes spends a courage point.
Medes's shoulders hunch when Cristobal speaks, and she notes aside to Harris, "Bring us out of warp, Mister Harris." Her voice is tight, her motions carefully controlled.
. o O Medes thinks "Nausicaans. Why is it /always/ Nausicaans?"
Medes's shoulders hunch when Cristobal speaks, and she notes aside to Harris, "Bring us to half impulse, please, Mister Harris." Her voice is tight, her motions carefully controlled.
. o O Cristobal thinks "Nice one Nathan. AAR, Nausicaans, could I have made anymore references to that incident? Idiot..."
"Slowing to one-half impulse power," Robert replies softly, leaning into his console.
Brin nods to Cristobal. "Aye, sir. I would recomend injections of hyronalin at this time. It should protect us for three hours or so while the necessary repairs are made."
As sensor data continues to show nothing unusual at this time, Shamash simply replies the only way neccesary "Aye, Sir. The area is currently free of encroachements, continuing to monitor on passive sensors."
Cristobal stifles a wince. He nods to Brin and says, "Make it so, Doctor Brin." To Medes he notes, "As soon as you can, get me an estimate on how long it'll take you to fix the core."
As if on cue, red lights start coming on all over the panels in front of Harris and Medes; this is followed immediately by a rather colorful expression in Bajoran from the tiny human in the co-pilot's seat. Her hands start moving rapidly across the panels. "We've lost the posi-plexing plasma array. I'm trying to keep the electromagnetic beam grid online so we don't lose helm control. Sure hands, Mister Harris, this is about to get nasty. What the bleeding... ?" Her voice trails off as her hands move rapidly.
GAME: Harris spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Harris (claiming advantage) contests his Vehicle Operations (Shuttlecraft) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!
"On it," Harris grits as his hands fly into overdrive, managing to keep the shuttle relatively in trim. "Sir, -strongly- recommend that we find a place nearby to land. Barring that, environmental suits might be a good idea if we have to bail out."
Cristobal says, "Belay that order Mister Brin. Keep seated until we're sure things are stabilized." He nods grimly at Harris and says, "Shamash, scan the area to see if there's any Class M planets within impulse range."
Brin nods and stays in his seat. "Aye, sir." He goes back to scanning the radiation levels in the shuttle, making sure this new complication doesn't push them over the safe level.
<CONTEST> Shamash contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!
. o O Cristobal thinks "Land? What in God's name is happening to the warp core?"
<CONTEST> Brin contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!
As the priorities shift, previously unworthy obstacles in the area become suddenly important and so Shamash sends the coordinates of a nearby asteroid field to Harris even as he speaks "Negative, Sir, no habitable planets in range. However, astronavigation charts - and sensors confirm this - show an asteroid in the vicinity which is large enough to land upon."
"Sir, we're experiencing a cascade failure," Medes explains, as her hands fly over the console. "We're no longer in any danger of a warp core breach, but we've lost our com systems, flight control is shaky, we may lose sensors. Life support looks okay for now, impulse engines are dangerous because their control systems are being fried as we speak. If we don't set down, we may end up losing life support. The power bleed from the warp core is turning our systems to slag."
. o O Medes is highly irritated with this turn of events.
<CONTEST> Harris (claiming advantage) contests his Vehicle Operations (Shuttlecraft) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!
"Acknowledged," Cristobal says. "Rob, lay in a course for the asteroid Shamash has found. Mister Shamash, prepare the message buoy so we can launch it as soon as we've set down. Doctor, if the radiation levels are still rising, it seems we're stable enough for you to give us the hyronalin, at least for the moment. Thea, if we shut down the core, will the impulse generators be enough to land and keep life support going?"
"Affirmative," Thea replies. "As long as the power grid holds."
"Asteroids. Great." Sweat is starting to appear on Robert's face as he continues the fight with the helm. "Everyone needs to hold on... and brace yourselves. The landing might be a bit rocky." The shuttle dips. It dodges. It rolls. Big rocks zoom past the window with what appears to be reckless abandon. All the time, Harris is aiming for the big one in the middle... and insanely enough, he laughs.
. o O Harris thinks "The landing might be a bit rocky. I kill myself!"
Cristobal says what is probably obvious as Harris puts them through maneuvers, "Brin, again, belay that..."
. o O Cristobal thinks "If this landing is a centimeter off-target, I'm giving Skippy a swift kick in the butt."
Brin closes up his tricorder and braces himself, "I can't get a clear reading on the radiation, sir. There might be interference from the power leaks. I'll give everyone the hyronaline after Mister Harris sets us down."
Shamash has one hand to the corpus of the console give him a more steady hold, the other he uses to do a recent download of the logs combined with their current position and intended course of action into the emergency message buoy and preps it for launch. No verbal confirmation comes from him at this time other than a grunted "Aye"
Cristobal orders, "All hands, brace for a Robert Harris landing," trying not to wince as the asteroid grows quickly to fill the majority of the viewscreen.
Medes doesn't respond: she's way too busy trying to keep the shuttle in one piece.
<CONTEST> Harris (claiming advantage) contests his Vehicle Operations (Shuttlecraft) skill vs a difficulty of Impossible and Succeeds!
"Here it comes." The asteroid grows to gargantuan proportions in the windows, and it's clear that Harris is going far too fast to land in what could be considered a completely safe manner. At the last moment, he fires the forward thrusters, tipping the nose upward -- bringing the impact across the belly of the shuttle in the first powerslide ever conducted in an Xa shuttle. There's bumps and scrapes, but the vehicle comes to a rest in a protected niche -- and the best news is that no one dies because of Robert's piloting skill (or lack thereof). It takes a moment, but the old man finally croaks out, "Well... we're here."
Brin bends over, protecting the tricorder and medkit as the shuttle begins it's crash landing. He closes his eyes and whispers a quick prayer to whatever gods may be listening. As the shuttle slides to a stop, he uncurls with a sigh of relief and begins opening the medkit to administer the hyronaline.
. o O Harris bleeds tension like a spring that's been compressed for far too long.
Shamash silently wonders what Harris has done to deserve such teasing from Nathan but none the less simply braces for impact, both hands now at the corpus of the console, head slightly leaned down he waits for the inevitable and hangs through some bumping and shaking before he relaxes once the shuttle comes to a stop, he softly exhales as one problem is successfully tackled. Shamash does a last check on the systems of the emergency buoy before reporting of its status to Christobal.
Cristobal, remembering to open his eyes first, mutters flatly, "Nice landing Skippy," finding that name highly appropriate for the moment. "Take the warp engines off-line. Launch the message buoy. Medes, let the rest of us know if there's any assistance we can render in your repairs."
"Just get us a tow home," grunts Medes, looking at Harris somewhat balefully for a moment after the shuttle grinds to a halt. "Anyone qualified on Warp Engines or Communications Systems Engineering? That's really what we need, here."
. o O Medes thinks "Skippy. Heh."
. o O Medes thinks "I'll skip /you./"
Harris offers an apologetic shrug to Medes. "I'll repaint her personally... and I'll take a look at the communications systems, too."
Brin pulls out his tricorder and re-scans for radiation level. "If we're going to be stuck here for a while, we'd better conserve the supplies. I'll check the radiation levels first, sir, before I administer the hyronaline."
GAME: Brin spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Brin (claiming advantage) contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!
"Lt. Christobal, the buoy got damaged during the landing and can not be launched. Repairs are possible, however I can not even give an estimate of how long it takes at this time. Shall I commence repairs?", Shamash mentions after the launch cycle comes up red. Then a side remark to Medes, "I have limited crosstraining in engineering, Lt. Medes, no Communications speciality - yet."
"Oh for the love of..." Cristobal begins, clearly a bit frustrated at this latest setback. "Yes Mister Shamash, commence repairs to the buoy. Medes, you've got the engines, Harris, you've got the comms."
. o O Cristobal feels a great deal of annoyance.
<CONTEST> Harris contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!
Medes disappears underneath the panel she'd been sitting at after retrieving an engineering kit from the back; after a moment, there are only two little legs sticking out and the occasional very quiet curse word to indicate that Thea is there at all.
As he turns to look over the communications relays, Harris' eyes brush over his sensor readouts and pause for a moment -- and then he manipulates the sensor data a bit. "I'm reading an anomalous power signature 400 meters away. It's big enough to be a settlement, but the database doesn't show any registered colony of any kind on this particular rock."
<CONTEST> Harris contests his History (Human) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!
Brin walks over to Cristobal. "Sir, radiation levels are nominal for now. They should't pose a problem if we fix the shuttle quickly. I could man the sensors while Lt. Harris works on the com systems."
Shamash left the science station to grab an engineering kit himself and makes his way to the access panel of the emergency buoy. After removing the cover, he stands back for a moment as part of the systems fizzle before him and making him frown. "Well, that does not look too bad", comes his murmur after a first survey of the damage and he starts to remove the core of the buoy to have an easier access to its systems.
Cristobal raises one hand in Brin's direction, "Stand by Doctor. This could be very good or very bad. Harris, tell me anything sensors can tell us about this settlement."
Harris tilts his head to the side, frowning as he considers the energy readouts. "There's a repeating pattern in the fluctuations..." he mumbles, losing himself in the readouts until the lightbulb comes on. "I don't think there's any good news for you, sir -- the settlement is broadcasting a distress signal using Morse Code."
Harris adds, "S-O-S. Message repeats."
Brin waits for further instructions.
Shamash looks over to Christobal as if to check whether he was addressed by the academic title but as it isn't the case, turns back to some buoy reassembling. Most of the time it seems as if he is simply pressing chips and modules back into their slots as they have shaken loose in the landing.
Cristobal glances at Harris with a look of surprise. He frowns and says, "We'd better investigate. Shamash, hold off on the buoy for the moment. Brin, scan the environment outside the shuttle to make sure there's nothing out there our pressure suits can't handle. Assuming there isn't, everyone suit up. We don't know what the nature of this distress call is, so let's travel heavy. Tools, medikit, ration packs, weapons, the works."
Spider has left.
GAME: Harris spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Harris (claiming advantage) contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!
Medes crawls out from underneath the console and runs a hand over her freshly-shaven head. "Sir, permission to doublecheck everyone's suits once we're all suited up?" Her mouth forms into a flat line.
"Beyond the distress signal, I can't give you anything else, sir," Harris offers as he pushes himself to his feet.
. o O Medes thinks "Prophets know what else the crew has been slacking on since I stopped working up in the 'bay."
. o O Harris thinks "I -hate- EVA."
Brin goes over to the shuttle's sensor pannel to scan the outside environment.
Shamash turns to Cristobal "Sir, to a certain degree, we too have a state of emergency, would it not be wise to continue repairs here as to shorten the time help arrives irregardless of what we are going to find?" However, he holds on the repairs and quickly tidies up behind him, moving back to his console as to do a sensor scan of his own to satisfy his curiosity.
Cristobal nods and says, "Granted." to Medes. Shaking his head, he replies, "If that settlement, or whatever it is, out there has people in danger of losing life support, we need an engineer with us. If there's a hostage situation or something of a combative nature, I'd prefer not to advertise our presence by launching a buoy." He stands, heading to the aft section to check over their available equipment.
"Okay. Suit up," Medes notes. She's following orders, not giving them by any stretch of the imagination, and her face shows that very clearly. Tense, yes, and very quiet, as she heads for the aft area in order to retrieve EVA suits.
GAME: Brin spends a courage point.
Harris grabs his suit, moves into a mostly comfortable area, and starts to tug it on. "I've never liked this part," he mumbles before he seals the helmet.
<CONTEST> Brin (claiming advantage) contests his Shipboard Systems skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!
<CONTEST> Shamash contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!
"Aye, Sir", Shamash replies as his suggestion is brushed aside, taking a moment more to check on those sensor readings before turning to the aft of the shuttle to suit up.
Brin looks over the sensor readings. "No active lifesigns, sir. But the power readings are coming from underground, so there might be interference. The environment outside doesn't show anything that the environmental suits can't handle. We should be safe for a little hike."
Brin looks around the room for a bit, then turns to Cristobal. "Sir, do we have any rations on board? The replicators look like they're out and I need a big caloric intake for my medicine."
Cristobal distributes equipment. The medikit and medical tricorder to Brin, tricorder and toolkit to Medes, tricorder to Shamash, sealed box of ration packs to Harris, and type II phasers all around. He says, "Harris, give Mister Brin one of the Combat rations. You know, the tasty ones." He smirks a bit and begins to put on his suit.
Medes snorts slightly at that and continues suiting up. "We taking weaponry, sir?" she asks of Cristobal before putting on her helmet, sealing it, and doublechecking the seals. That done, she taps the companel on the front of her suit. "Com check. One, two."
"Tasty ones. Right." Harris tugs open the box and looks over the contents. "Here you go, Doc -- Starfleet Combat Ration #151; Centauran. It probably tastes like either woodchips or paste, but will keep you alive." He tosses Brin a bar, seals up his box, and then checks his phaser.
. o O Medes thinks "It probably /was/ woodchips or paste. Where do you think the raw material for replicators comes from, anyway?"
Brin takes the bar and unwraps it. He takes a small case from his belt and removes a pill from it. He takes the pill with a drink of water and starts to crew on the bar. "mmmmm. Just like mom use to make."
Shamash mirrors Medes as he also puts on an EVA suit, the second time this week so the process is a little easier this time. He looks from Christobal to Harris and back with a small smirk on his face.
. o O Shamash thinks "There is no such thing as a tasty combat ration, Nathan, and you know it. Evil man."
Cristobal hands Medes her phaser before clipping his own onto his belt. Sealing his own helmet, he proceeds with his own tests. "Com check. Ji, doQ."
Medes clips her phaser to her belt, clips her tricorder to the other side, picks up an engineering kit, and in the other hand, a pattern enhancer. "On the good news frontier," she notes through her com, "the transporters are back online."
"Com test, one, two, and three for extra credit." Satisfied that he can talk, Robert goes about the business of looking out the window and frowning mightily, right hand resting on his phaser, rations tucked behind the opposing arm. The mention of the transporters seems to lessen the frown quite a bit.
. o O Harris thinks "I hope we just beam over."
Brin finishes his ration bar and starts putting on his environmental suit. As he gets ready to put on the helmet, he runs through his own com check. "Test, one, two, test."
Shamash finally closes his suit, checks it seals, does the comcheck and waits for Medes to do the additional examination while he tests his tricorder and other equipment.
Cristobal shrugs at Medes, a bit awkwardly now that the suit is sealed, and says, "That could come in handy." He glances at Medes and says, "You wanted to check each suit?"
Medes proceeds to do so with her usual insane attention to detail; as she does so, she notes, "We could beam over easily, sir, and save ourselves the walk." Once done, she nods once. "We're good to go."
"As much as I enjoy stretching my legs, I'd like to vote for beaming." Harris looks hopeful about that.
Brin puts his helmet on and seals it. "Beam over sounds good to me."
There's a pause as Cristobal decides which expression is appropriate here. He settles on a grin and says, "Everyone's laziness, as well as their apparent preference for democratic rule, is noted." Climbing up onto the transporter pad he says, "Mister Medes, if you'll program the transporter."
"My preference for democratic rule being neither here nor there, sir, I'll program the transporters," Medes replies wryly.
A few moments later, in a shower of sparkles, the crew finds themselves in a hallway. It's almost just like any hallway in the station, save that the lights are low, sputtering, and out here and there. A thick layer of dust lies over everything, much like the silence, which is suddenly oppressive, as if the shadows eat echos. Everything is quiet. Muffled, even.
Brin starts to scan the hall for life signs and any threat to the crew's health.
Cristobal takes a step forward, glancing around. "Life-signs," he orders. Noting Brin's apparent extreme readiness to scan, he says to Harris, "You watch the hall that way," pointing to the way Cristobal is not facing. "Shamash, you scan for life signs as well. Thea, see if you can scan for the power source of this place."
<CONTEST> Medes contests her Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!
GAME: Shamash spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Shamash (claiming advantage) contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!
<CONTEST> Brin contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!
"There's a power cluster this way, sir," Medes notes, pointing down the hallway where Harris is facing. "Might be an operations center. Suggest checking it out."
Brin turns around with the tricorder and ends up facing Cristobal. "Lt., I'm not detecting any life signs besides us. Also, nothing wrong with the air, besides it being a bit stale. No toxins or pathogens detected. We can take off the helmets to conserve the suits' air supplies if you want."
Shamash pulls out the tricorder even without having to be prompted to do so but already had the settings entered to do a broad sweep for energy readings and nods once to Medes as his findings are similar. "I concur. Also, the whole composition of this structure indicates to be at least a century old, or the systems have not ever been updated since then." As he hears Cristobals order, he quickly shifts the tricorders sensitivity around to comply, even as Brin already mentions that there are no life signs to report.
. o O Cristobal thinks "A century old. Just like Harris..."
Cristobal nods to the others, "We'll proceed to the operations center." He says, "Let's keep our helmets on for the moment. This place is empty for a reason, and I don't know what that reason is yet." He walks ahead of the others in the direction Medes indicates.
. o O Cristobal thinks "A century old, and it's putting out morse code. Some remnant from the Earth-Romulan war over a hundred and fifty years old? Maybe it'll have some working communications equipment."
Medes trudges along the corridor behind Cristobal, which leads into a large, open bridge-like construct. Hallways lead off of it like spokes from a wheel. The words 'Hanson Mining Company' are embossed above the main viewscreen.
And then there are the bodies. Decomposed to the point that gender is indeterminate, dressed in clothing so out of date as to have gone /beyond/ vintage, they lie slumped over consoles and crumpled on the floor like discarded socks. There are seven, total.
Brin gives a quick grimace at the scene, but pulls out his tricorder and scans the bodies for causes of death.
Shamash trails along with the group, on occasion glancing down at his tricorder to check for a change of data it displays. As they reach the central room, he has to swallow several times as he gazes over the dead bodies. Trying to occupy his thoughts with something useful, he leaves the biomass to the MD and searches the room for something that may look like a computer console or data access terminal, finally approaching one that is not ...ah.. occupied.
Cristobal frowns and says, "Shamash, you and Harris see what information you can get out of the computer. Thea, check to see if there's a working comm-system we can use. Needless to say, nobody's taking their helmets off."
<CONTEST> Cristobal contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!
<CONTEST> Medes contests her Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!
<CONTEST> Brin contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!
<CONTEST> Shamash contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!
. o O Shamash thinks "what do you think I was going to do at the computer console? play a game?"
Approaching one of the terminals not occupied by a dead body, Thea taps at it a few times and squints. As she draws her hand back, her glove is caught on a sharp piece of metal; there's a distinctive tearing sound. "Damnit!"
<CONTEST> Shamash contests his Computer (Data Alteration) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!
Brin turns as he hears Medes' cry. He starts to scan her hand to see if there's any pathogens or infectious agents.
"The terminals are locked down, Lt. Cristobal, I am not able to pull anything from them at this time. Continuing to gain access, Sir.", Shamash reports while not taking his eyes from the terminal.
<CONTEST> Brin contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!
GAME: Shamash spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Shamash (claiming advantage) contests his Computer (Data Alteration) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!
<CONTEST> Cristobal contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!
<CONTEST> Shamash contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!
<CONTEST> Brin contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!
The silence is oppressive. The screens are dark, save the one that Shamash works on, which keeps flashing 'access denied' over and over again.
Cristobal's head suddenly swivels, glancing towards the door of the next room. He removes his phaser from his belt and begins to walk towards the door. "Something's in there," he says. "Shamash, scan that room. Harris, you're with me. Brin, stay with Lieutenant Medes."
"Stay with me?" Medes blinks at Cristobal. "Sir, I should come with you. I'm one of the best marksmen on the station." She holds up her suit. "Just torn. I'm fine."
Brin nods and confirms Medes statement, "Just slap a patch on the suit. You may be fine, Lt., but I still don't know what killed those people." He walks over to the nearest body and begins to scan it.
<CONTEST> Shamash contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!
<CONTEST> Brin contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!
Shamash turns from the console he was trying to access and reaches for his tricorder, doing a scan "Sensor scan brings inconclusive data, Sir. Continuing."
. o O Shamash thinks "we already had a negative on life-forms. I hope you were right with your scans, Brin."
Cristobal says, "In point of fact, Lieutenant Harris and I are also expert-rated marksmen. In any case, I agree with the doctor. Remain here. If you can, try getting into the computer." With his free hand, Cristobal holds up his palm beacon, turning it on before leading Harris and Shamash on to the next room.
. o O Medes thinks "You just don't want me to show you up. Jerk."
. o O Medes feels resentful towards Cristobal; creeping paranoia is, well, creeping up on her.
Medes narrows her eyes briefly at Cristobal and turns her head inside her suit before she turns her body back toward the computer, tapping at it with one hand. "Yes, sir."
Brin turns towards Cristobal, "Liuetenant! I'd suggest we all stay together. This person was killed from behind with something shoved into her skull. Considering that all the bodies are here at duty stations, we might be dealing with a very stealthy killer."
. o O Medes thinks "Or some very STUPID people who are dead."
. o O Medes thinks "Who cares? None of you care."
. o O Cristobal thinks "Good thing we kept our helmets on."
. o O Medes is filled with resentment. She can't even enjoy breaking into a computer system, because she's filled with the desire to look over her shoulder, as if she expects one of her crewmates to sneak up on her.
. o O Shamash thinks "a hundred and something year old killer that does not show up on bio scans?"
<CONTEST> Shamash contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Dramatically Fails!
<CONTEST> Shamash contests his Coordination (Dexterity) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!
<CONTEST> Medes contests her Computer (Data Alteration) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!
Marksman? That does mean phasers, right? Shamash was so deeply gone with taking his readings, he totally forgot about the weaponry and only now starts to pull out his phaser and check its settings. Handling the tricorder with his other hand which suddenly starts to emit a small amount of smoke "What the..." Shamash manages to say before dropping the tricorder as it sizzles and start to burn. "Shiva! That hurts!", comes the exclamation through pressed teeth.
The tricorder hits the deck and fizzles out after a second, smoking slowly in a thick layer of dust.
. o O Shamash feels slightly dizzy from the burn.
. o O Cristobal thinks "One...two...three...four...... This is so not working..."
. o O Shamash thinks "great. now the suits integrity is compromized."
Cristobal turns his head and stares at Shamash for a moment or four before saying, "Ok, how about you stay behind with Medes and Brin? Harris!" he orders, stalking forward into the other room with the other Ops officer behind him before whatever he heard has a chance to get away.
. o O Cristobal feels that if there's ever going to be a time to get into a kill-or-be-killed situation, now's got to be it.
. o O Medes thinks "I'm the only one I can count on, here. The rest of you are idiots."
"I'm in," Medes notes sourly, stabbing at the console with one hand. Her other hand has come to rest on the hilt of her Type II. Tap. Taptap. She glances up at Shamash, raises an eyebrow, and jerks her head toward Brin. "Hope it didn't hurt."
Brin goes over to Shamash and scans him with the tricorder.
Brin scans Shamash with his tricorder.
"Aye, Sir", comes the reply with a sigh and Shamash moves to Brin in order to get his wound dressed properly, he answers Medes still through pressed teeth "Well, it did. it does." He wistfully glances to the computer console.
. o O Shamash thinks "Jump left, jump right. Never the time to finish a job, and now the systems are already open."
GAME: Cristobal spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Cristobal (claiming advantage) contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!
*scrrrch* The helmet coms come to life. "Crew ... Levy, this ... 419. ... in. ... your status?" Idrani's voice comes over, faint and scratchy, but present.
. o O Medes thinks "I HATE HER!"
. o O Medes is filled with loathing and rage.
<PROVE> Cristobal has the merit of Battle-hardened at 3.
<CONTEST> Cristobal (claiming advantage) contests his Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!
<CONTEST> Cristobal contests his Coordination (Reaction) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!
As he enters into the room, the light from Cristobal's palm-light passes over a fleeing humanoid figure. Cristobal's right arm goes up into a firing position. The phased energy spears across the room, hitting the fleeing figure just as /its/ arm went up. In the gloom of the corridor, Cristobal is unable to move out of the way before the chunk of metal slams into his faceplate, denting the transparisteel and knocking it off of its fittings. "Son of a" Cristobal exclaims before noting the transmission. "Station 419 this is Lieutenant Cristobal. Difficulties with the warp core forced us to land on an asteroid at this location," he proceeds to note the coordinates of their asteroid, "We discovered an unregistered settlement broadcasting a distress call in Morse Code. It appears to have been a private mining installation by the 'Hanson Mining Company'. Our estimates place it as being at least a century old. Several human corpses were discovered, cause of death in all cases was murder. I just discovered the creature that appears to be responsible, and have stunned him."
Cristobal waves Harris to follow as he walks towards the stunned humanoid, keeping an eye out just in case.
. o O Shamash thinks "..oh? there actually was a life sign here. Who did those scans again? Brin. Well, I did too... but was that exploding tricorder not a sign that it was tampered with? Sabotage? Just as I tried to do another reading of my own. ...what a.... coincidence."
. o O Shamash feels distrusting towards Brin.
Medes continues to stab at the computer console. "They deleted their logs!" she yells toward Cristobal. "All of them." STAB. Stab. She turns to eye Shamash for a moment, scowling, then Brin, and then looks back at her console.
. o O Medes thinks "Like I'm going to get home with these people to work with. Look at them. It's not just that they're incompetent. Shamash is in Sciences. I always knew Laco hated me. He sent Shamash along to kill me. I just know it. And Cristobal's just a toady of the Klingons now."
Brin starts to treat Shamash's wounds. he looks up. "It's not bad, Agrim. Just a small burn." After he treats the burn he turns around, "Everything alright, Lieutenant Cristobal?"
Shamash frowns at Brin doing the treatment, his voice showing hostility towards the MD "That is Lieutenant Shamash, for you, Lt. Brin. - So Give me that! I will treat myself." He edges slowly away from Brin, almost walking backwards to bring some space between them. As the message comes through the helmet, he mutters something under his breath.
. o O Cristobal thinks "Sheesh, what a crew they gave me here. Brin doesn't wait for orders. Shamash the science officer who can't operate a tricorder. At least Thea knows what she's doing when she can get over her jealousy over me out-ranking her. And Harris, where is Harris?""
. o O Shamash thinks "I need to beam back to the shuttle and repair the buoy once I disabled the transporter. We should have stayed on the shuttle as i sugested and this would not have happend. Who had me abandon my repairs? Cristobal, eh? So he is in on that ploy with Brin."
"Harris!" Cristobal barks, turning to face the other man "Get a move on!" Pointing at the stunned humanoid, Cristobal says, "Here, /you/ go investigate the creature. I'll be with the others. Of /course/ everything's alright. I said I'd take care of this and I took care of it. Thea, get on the comms and see if someone plans on getting us out of here or not." As he begins to walk back to rejoin the other three officers, he whirls, peering at Harris suspiciously before continuing on his path, looking back over his shoulders every few seconds.
. o O Cristobal thinks "It'd be just like Idrani to 'forget' to send someone to pick us up. Dumb blue p'taQ. I wonder if she had anything to do with the fact that half the systems on the shuttle didn't work properly. Not that she'd have the engineering skill to do it. Akeen Ghorev, however..."
A very tense, annoyed and almost whiny voice comes out of Thea as she taps her helmet's com. "Lieutenant I'm Better Than You wants to know when whether or not someone's coming to get us." She stabs at her console. "Or whether we're going to get left here with the corpses." Er.
Brin backs off with some shock at Shamash's response. He hears the anger and tension in everyone else's voice and starts looking a bit worried. "Okay, Lt. Shamash." He goes back to scanning one of the corpses.
Harris goes to investigate the body as he's ordered. Silence reigns from the dark hallway down which he disappears.
Safely away with some distance between him and Brin, Shamash tries to operate a control on his suit. Glancing in rapid succession at Brin and Medes back and forth.
. o O Shamash thinks "Medes. How does she fit into all that? I am sure she deleted that log entry so that I can not read what the miners have found here."
"Ah, Lieutenant Medes, is that you?" comes Idrani's voice. "Yes, please relay to Lt. Cristobal that we're sending a team out to pick you up. We have your position. What is your status? Is all your crew accounted for?"
Cristobal enters from the other room, looking over his shoulder for some reason. Seeming agitated, he says, "Skippy, report!" Without waiting for an answer, he scowls and says, "We're just peachy, and if a member of my crew wasn't accounted for, I'd bloody well have mentioned it! You just can't wait to cast aspersions on me, can you Idrani?"
"She asked me, you know, Lieutenant 'Can I shoot them now, can I, can I?'" Medes scowls, stabbing at her console. "I'm short, but I can damn well talk for myself!" Her eyes flicker over to Shamash, then. "What are you doing, 'I can't even work a tricorder'?"
Brin moves from one corpse to another one, nearby Medes' position. He runs the diagnostic probe over the body and scans it.
<CONTEST> Brin contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!
Shamash lowers his hand onto his phaser again, just touching it for the moment. "Hey, just watch it, Shorty. Who stacked me with that faulty equipment in the first place!" and knowing that Medes can also read sign language, he adds a few phrases of his own, grinning smugly as taunts Medes.
Cristobal says, "I'm aware of that, Lieutenant Accident-Prone," apparently to Thea, "It's getting you to shut up that's the problem, and since /I'm/ in command, I answered her question. Just because /you/ got reprimanded on your first away command, doesn't mean you have to try to screw up mine!" He glances over at Brin and spits out bitterly, "I think they're still dead, /doctor./ Call it a hunch."
. o O Medes thinks "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I WISH YOU WOULD DIE!"
. o O Cristobal feels a great deal of suspicion of his fellow officers. Actually it's pretty well over the boundary line from 'suspicion' to 'paranoia'.
. o O Shamash thinks "Brin read no life-signs. Medes must be the one who sabotaged my equipment and now deleted the logs. Cristobal gave the tricorder to me ... He is in on it too. That leaves Harris..."
<CONTEST> Medes contests her Primitive Weaponry (Console Chunk) skill vs Brin's Dodge skill and Dramatically Succeeds!
Screaming aloud at both Cristobal and Shamash in wordless rage, Thea follows it up by shrieking, "Don't point that thing at me, doctor! I'm JUST. FINE. STOP LOOKING AT ME! I WISH YOU WOULD ALL DIE! LEAVE ME ALONE! YOU'RE NOT BETTER THAN ME, NATHAN! YOU WANTED TO SHOOT THEM ALL! YOU WOULD HAVE GOTTEN US ALL KILLED!" She picks up a loose chunk of console and hurls it at Brin.
And then something very strange happens. It hits Brin /just/ right so that his helmet is ripped free from its moorings and comes /right/ off, but he stands there completely unharmed.
. o O Cristobal thinks "Can't believe I got saddled with this lot. They're all either incompetent or untrustworthy, or both. And what the hell is taking Harris so goddamned long to verify that yep, the guy's stunned. I can't believe I thought he should be the FDCO. He must've cheated on his OERs to get a 3.0. Is Idrani /walking/ the shuttle over from the station on a leash? Speaking of Idrani's leash, I bet Ghorev's been sniffing around my wife again. Miserable rotten blue bastard."
Brin looks at his tricorder, "Lieutenant, we've got a problem sir. This body here died from some kind of retrovirus. It's able to get through our suit's biofilters somehow. We need injections of tetracyanocyline fast, or the rescue party won't ahve mch to rescue."
GAME: Cristobal spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Cristobal (claiming advantage) contests his Presence (Willpower) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!
Havaris's voice comes over the com, then. "LIEUTENANT MEDES! YOU WILL STAND DOWN, DO YOU HEAR ME! Get a grip. /ALL OF YOU/. We're sending a rescue party. Sit tight, shut up, and behave yourselves."
Brin winces as his helmet goes flying off from the blow. he shakes his head and looks at his tricorder, "Lieutenant, we've got a problem sir. This body here died from some kind of retrovirus. It's able to get through our suit's biofilters somehow. We need injections of tetracyanocyline fast, or the rescue party won't have much to rescue."
<CONTEST> Shamash contests his Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs Medes's Dodge skill and Fails!
. o O Cristobal thinks "You are /not/ going to ruin this for me..."
Shamash whips out his phaser to aim and shoot at Medes. "Take this you freak! SABOTOUR!" He gives off a few shots as he tries to slip down behind one of the consoles himself. And continuiing the luck he has shown lately, his EVA suit catches part of the console, nudging his arm out of his aim and the shot goes right through between Brin and Medes, missing them both.
<CONTEST> Cristobal (claiming advantage) contests his Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs Shamash's Dodge skill and Succeeds!
. o O Medes thinks "You tried to SHOOT ME!"
Cristobal whips his own phaser up and fires, the beam catching Shamash right in the middle of his torso. He says in response to Havaris' command, "Don't worry sir, I'll keep them under control!"
A scream from Medes. "You tried to SHOOT ME! MUTINOUS CRETIN!" She looks for a console to hide behind, and, finding one, crawls behind it, fumbling with her phaser.
. o O Cristobal thinks "Good ol' Kusto. He'll see that this mess isn't my fault. It may bother him that I'm taller, better-looking, and probably better-suited to command than he is, but it'll be obvious to him that everyone but me is insane. Hrm. Medes is acting funny. I'd better stun her just to be on the safe side."
Brin scrambles for cover, saying firmly and loudly. "Everyone calm down! I need to give us all injections to neutralize the retro virus! Do you understand?"
Shamash staggers back and slumps down safely in the land of dreams now.
GAME: Cristobal spends a courage point.
<CONTEST> Cristobal (claiming advantage) contests his Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!
Cristobal glances at Medes and almost casually lifts his arm, getting it at an angle where he can hit her and fires. "NOBODY PANIC!" he shouts, having successfully stunned Lieutenant Medes, "I AM IN COMMAND!" He peers at the doctor and says, "Really now doctor, I'm not falling for that. I'll be back to stun you in a moment, I just need to make sure that Harris isn't planning to kill me and steal my wife." He turns to walk into the hallway.
It's at about this time that a high-frequency sound -- so high the ears can barely hear it -- ricochets through the room. It's not painful, it simply... incapacitates Cristobal and Brin, knocking them out as surely as a phaser blast would have.
Thea lies slumped against a console, doubly stunned. Century-old dust begins to settle on the tiny Lieutenant Junior Grade and her comrades-in-arms as they lie as immobile as those who died a century before them.
Shamash is beyond panicing, and beyond noticing any sonic blast as he is already blissfully unconcious and unaware of his surrounding, dreaming of pleasant things. Female, probably.
In the hallway, Cristobal lies face-down, unconscious. The phaser, the setting of which he had just been about to change, rests on the floor about a meter away from his hand.
Brin slumps down to the floor, his back to a console.
Spider has arrived.
GAME: Spider is joining this location.
