Down with the Sickness - Part 2

Posted on 18 Mar 2010 @ 8:57pm by Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal

913 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: M3: Shore Leave
Location: SB - 47
Timeline: Backpost

Nigel Roseman felt rediculous in the bulky white hazard suit Doctor Montoya had recommended. The recycled ears and sound of his own breathing was loud within the helmet. It was with great effort that he didn't jump out of the suit every time someone opened a comm channel. A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead, terminating in his brow before dripping into his open eye, stinging it. The suits were interminably hot as well, he thought.

The Romulan freighter was eerie, dark and silent. It felt like a tomb and Nigel quickly found himself drawing parallels between himself and Canarven. Except this tomb wasn't thousands of years old, it was days old. It also wasn't a 'cursed' tomb with spells of protection and linen wrapped mummies, though it was cursed. A cold chill ran down his spine.

Deciding to get his mind off the subject, Nigel opened his comm and asked, "Where to first?" He knew the other two officers of the USS Freedom were off to his right and left though his peripheral vision was blocked.

Rico had used these containment suits before and was well-versed in their use. He turned to reply to the Ensign but stopped when he saw his condition. He grinned and turned the young officer slightly to activate his environmental controls. "Better now?"

A sudden burst of cool air vented into Nigel's helmet, relieving him immensely. With a sigh of gratitude, he replied, "Much better, thank you." Just off to the right, a cooridor led to both the bridge and the engine room. They had the option to explore either or both now that they were clad in the hazard suits.

"What members of the Romulan crew were first affected?"

Nigel detached a PaDD from it's housing on his chest and tapped it a couple of times, searching for the answer. "The doctors and forensics teams seem to think the problem started in the engine room and spread quickly from there. We can retrace the last team's steps and then explore the bridge if that's helpful."

The mentioning of engineering as the source set Rico's mind to working. Radiation, sort sort of radiative emission, or energy wave that had a netavive effect on the crew...? "Sounds reasonable. Scan the structure as well of any unusual energy reading. If engineering WAS the source there might be something in the structure of the ship."

"Well then, I'll lead the way," Nigel responded. He led the way down the single corridor and into the open engine room. It appeared intact, pristine even. The trio split up and began to explore on their own.

Nelle had been immensely silent for a long time, or for a change. The thought and actions of hunting about an unknown ship excited her to her core. "Come come my friends, show me the path..." Nelle muttered meaningless words to herself. She was on her hands and knees, an action that took quite some work in a hazard suit, she had spotted a glimmer under s control panel, only to be found as a refection but a small pile of grey and silver powder had caught her attention.

Kneeling down beside the science officer, Nigel tapped his comm unit. "What have you found there?" he asked, examining the fine powder Skykin was examining.

"Lerger amounts of the same powdery substance reported by the previous investigation team. I'll take another sample, in case your medical team needs more." Skykin used a small spatula to carefully scoop an additional sample of powder into an uncontaminated sample vial. She placed it in a small pouch which hung at her side.

"Well," Doctor Montoya interrupted, his arm outstretched and still holding an active tricorder. "It appears we're backtracking, perhaps we should see to the bridge?"

Nigel stood and helped Skykin back to her feet. He nodded, a foolish gesture inside the hazard suit. The nature of the suit blocked that type of smaller movement. Instead, he opened a channel, "Agreed. I'll lead the way."

Leaving behind the empty engine room felt better to Nigel. they place held an overbearing foreboding that he couldn't ignore. Traversing the darkened corridor to the bridge, Nigel wondered at the compact nature of this freighter. A centralized corridor which connected all areas of the ship, quarters at the forefront of the ship along with the bridge and communications. The engineering section was aft and everything between was cargo hold. It made finding the bridge easier.

Applying grips to the doors, Nigel signaled Skykin at the manual release. Montoya and Nigel used their strength to open the heavy blast doors. Once inside, a palm beacon lit the room and enlightened a shock. There at the main helm console was a human in an engineering jumpsuit. His body slumped over the console, prone and unconscious. Rushing to his side, Montoya took his barely there lifesigns. He looked at Nigel seriously, "He's comatose. Transport with him to your main hospital. Nelle and I will finish the investigation and relay our results to your medical team before the Freedom departs.

It wasn't the plan that Nigel wanted, but Montoya was not only a doctor, but the senior officer. He just hoped whatever this powder contaminate was, it didn't affect the transporters. "Roseman to Operations, medical emergency, two to transport directly to medical."

__________________________________________________________________

Lieutenant Commander Rico Montoya (NPC'ed by Captain Da'Nal)
Chief Medical Officer
USS Freedom

Lieutenant Nelle Skykin
Chief Science Officer
USS Freedom

with

Ensign Nigel Roseman
SB 47

 

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