Back to the Planetary Base

Posted on Mon Jul 17th, 2023 @ 2:03am by Commander M'Mira & Commander Ba'zra Channe & Lieutenant Feeva Drylo & Lieutenant Marcus Alexander MD & Lieutenant JG Kara Quinn-Chaim & Lieutenant JG Dr Roger Harrison Jr.

2,731 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Mission 4 - Like a Thunderbolt
Location: Minotaur/Faltan Base
Timeline: MD06-1500

Disciplining Mencowicz had been an enjoyable task for Ba'zra. The man was simply out of control. He was way too literal and rigid for her taste. He also did not look like he could hold his own in a fight. Being both a former science officer and security officer, she liked seeing that people could think outside the boxes but also hold their own. Mencowicz did neither. Perhaps he would transfer.

The first team was mostly set: Lieutenant Drylo, Lieutenant Quinn-Chaim, and Lieutenant Harrison. The Acting Chief of Security Tomer Chaim insisted on not coming because someone had to look after the Chaim's minor child and was told he would send someone up to accompany the others on the mission.

Standing by the helm, Ba'zra simply waited for everyone to appear. As the moments ticked, she got more impatient. Gods help anyone that was a second late.

The Chief Scientist appeared just then, her uniform in perfect condition, her red hair tied back neatly, and her PADD poised to take notes. "Good afternoon," she said, to the Klingon woman. "Oh, dear, is everyone else tardy, or am I?" She glanced at her chronometer. No, everyone else was. Good. Fee made a point to always be at least punctual, if not early. It kept the heat off, and got her less noticed.

Niahl entered the transporter room less than a minute after the the Lieutenant and waited politely just inside the door until she moved forward. He was lean and well-muscled, the kind of physique that develops from hard training and distance running. His hair fell to mid-back and was neatly tied back, in deference to regulations, though on his own world such a thing would not happen. Maybe the hardest part of entering Starfleet Academy was having to give up the all-black ensemble he had worn as a member of the warrior caste. On his right temple was a geometric pattern, symbol of his caste affiliation, and at his waist was the knife he had made with his own hands during his trials. He slipped to the side, his black eyes taking in the room, resting lighting on the First Officer, the Chief Science Officer, and the transporter technician. "Ensign Niahl," he said, in accented Federation Standard, "reporting for away team duty."

Kara was next in the door, later than she planned to be. “My apologies for being late, I was delayed.” She offered an apologetic smile and joined the others.

Feeva nodded at Kara. "Good morning," she said, quietly. "We're just waiting for Doc Harrison, correct?" Where was that bloody man? She muttered something about medical being useless under her breath, but then perked a bit when she saw him rounding the corner.

Roger was on time, but he hated being JUST on time, he preferred early. Still, Minnie was giving Lucy a bit of trouble, and he'd gone back to their quarters to intercede, and distract the girl so Lucy could get a break for a few minutes. It had worked-at least as of five minutes ago, when he'd left a now-sleeping Minnie with her mother. "'Allo," came his soft British accent. The Human doctor was technically from Scotland but hadn't lived there since he was four months old. "Apologies for my tardiness, a bit of trouble on the home front. Are we ready then?" He asked.

Ba'zra was about to tell everyone that she was ready when from outside, everyone could hear M'Mira's purring voice calling out, as people were unboarding from another shuttle. She asked one individual, "Lieutenant Marrrcus Alexanderrr?" She looked at her PADD. "Oh, you will be ourrr new Chief Medical Officerrr, I see. I am Commanderrr M'Mirrra, the 2XO. I shall have to direct you to Sickbay. I'm surrre that Doctor Hudson will be happy to be rrrelieved with his kits all in strrress."

Ba'zra could hardly believe her ears. She had worked with Alexander on the Columbia. She dashed out of the shuttle and said, "Belay that discussion with M'Mira. You're coming with us, right now on an away mission to Faltan Base. Your expertise is needed. Commander M'Mira, handle his affairs."

M'Mira was about to object but Ba'zra insisted with a scowl, "That's an order."

Marcus handed a bag off to Cmdr. M'Mira. "I'm sure we can continue this conversation later... I know better than to keep the..." Marcus glanced at Ba'zra's pips. They had changed since the last time they had seen each other. ",,,Commander waiting."

He turned and walked towards his old comrade. The assignment on Columbia brought back memories, both good and bad.

Fee's head spun. What was happening? She watched as one man switched with the other, and Dr. Harrison scooted off the ship.

"I'll be in medical if anyone needs me," he said, quickly moving out of the way of the brass. He wasn't a stupid man, he knew the longer he lingered, the more trouble would present itself and had promised Lucy he'd return in one piece.

"What's the situation, Commander?" Marcus said to Ba'zra. "I read the mission brief in-transit. Biological explosives?"

Fee fought an urge to interrupt; he'd asked the CO, not her. Still, she felt like it was more or less HER show, as the Chief Science Officer. "Perhaps. Or perhaps not even an explosive, just airborne," she said, quietly, her accent a bit heavier as new people often caused the nervy woman to regress a bit.

Ba'zra grinned at Alexander, "According to Commander Fleabag that you just met and was demoted to 2XO, someone was beamed into the conference. That individual was in obvious pain, told everyone that we were intruders and then exploded. Whatever his explosions touched, if they were organic, also went through a similar process of pain and explosions. Killed a lot of people," she informed him. "Now, we're going down, trying to figure out if the Base is safe, what this thing was that did this, and find out should another biological attack like this occur, if there is a way to counter. Once we can determine if the Base is safe, then we're going to have a crack computer squad come down and make sure that the Falteans cannot get anything important. Hopefully, they have not already. Clear enough?"

The half-Klingon woman did not wait for an answer but put herself in the Captain's chair of the Minotaur. "Take us down," she ordered whoever was flying the Defiant class starship, once people were organized.

Marcus stood behind and to the left of the Captain's chair with his arms crossed. It gave him the perfect location to observe the room. He hadn't even been on the station for two minutes, and already he managed to upset one of his medical officers and the Chief Science Officer. 'This was a Starfleet assignment, duty first,' he thought to himself.

Niahl stood next to the duty officer manning the tactical station and watched the consoles. "Orbital defense platforms are not responding, Commander. They appear to be offline."

Ba'zra nodded. She half expected this. M'Mira was careless and had done little after the evacuation in the name of expediency. "Run scans of the base. See if there are any lifesigns down there and tell me if there's anything unusual going on down there."

The operations officer on duty spoke up at once. "No life signs on the base, Commander," she reported. "There is a small group on the road leading to the base, however. Scans indicate they are Faltean."

"Once we're down there, we should be able to shield the base from intruders," Niahl said. "Damage appears to have been localized."

"Seems simple enough," Marcus added. "Get in, collect samples and get the shield up. Who do I have the joy of working with on this missions." Marcus looked around the bridge.

"How much time do I have?" Feeva asked. "Collecting samples shouldn't take long, but collecting logs might," she said. "I want it all. Or as much as we can get in this go. I like to be thorough." She explained. "And I currently only have one other staffer; she's manning the labs while I do this," she said. "Klingon. Very young, but seems capable." Fee said, trying to make small talk.

Niahl watched the consoles as the data updated itself in real time; the Minotaur's security officer was competent certainly. On his world, such equipment had never been used; one fought within reach of the opponent. At arm's length. But then, on his world, there had been no outsiders and the only fights had been between competing tribes. Going into service, fighting on alien worlds, had been his first taste of what his life as an Azhadi warrior would be like. First and last. But that was an old memory and he shoved it away; instead, keeping his attention on the readouts and the small group making its way toward the base.

Kara was moving along quietly, her senses keeping alert for trouble as she looked around. She had a satchel slung over her shoulder in which to put the PADDs she needed to retrieve. Anything else she could purge of data, it was the PADDs that contained personal information.

"Unless I read the mission brief wrong," Marcus directed towards the Chief Science Officer, "this initial away mission needs to be a quick operation. The second team can clean up Commander Furrball's mess. My mission is to ascertain if the area is safe from whatever pathogen was used in the attack, and obtain samples to identify the origin."

Marcus paused, he forgot that the XO was the only one who actually knew who he was. "Sorry for the lack of a proper introduction. I like to get down to business. Doctor Marcus Alexander, trauma surgeon, search and rescue specialist, and xenobiologist... and new Chief Medical Officer."

Feeva cocked an eyebrow. "Me name's Feeva. Dr. Feeva Drylo. Chief Science Officer," she said, her own accented Standard coming out. Her tone was an octave above a whisper, for the poor Klingon woman to hear her better. "Xenobiology, huh?" Interesting. He could prove to be useful to her yet.

Ba'zra glared at Alexander. "Doctor, you will address Commander M'Mira as such when we are on duty, are you clear?"

"And this coming from the Commander that just called her a Fleabag," Marcus said as he stood his ground. "But clear." He knew far better than to cross Ba'zra, his nose had never healed just right from that kick to the nose she gave him once on the Columbia.

Growling low, Ba'zra's voice took on a warning tone. "Don't test me, Doctor. I have a long memory and I have a bit of leeway." She was pretty sure that he would remember how she broke his nose. He might be accomplished and an extremely skilled surgeon, but she was not going to let their familiarity or his guff stand in the way of her authority or this mission.

"Don't worry. I know who has more brass, plus I like staying in one piece," the doctor added. Just remember I'll be there if you need help hiding that body, he thought to himself but dared not say aloud.

The half-Klingon then turned to the group, "Niahl, can you discourage the Falteans from coming to the Base without raising the shields. If we raise them, then the Falteans know we are here and may take action before we can get our second team here. As to the rest of you, I expect you all to get as much data as possible, but as the doctor said, this is a quick operation. The second team will come and scuttle much of the Base so the Falteans cannot take anything of importance. Keep your eyes and ears open, comms open. I want to know everything that is going on down there. Clear?"

Feeva nodded. "I will need samples of EVERYTHING ," and she meant everything. "I'll go as fast as these short legs will go," she said, before settling into a console seat.

Doctor nodded to Feeva, "I'll make sure you keep up the pace."

"I can, Comnmander," Niahl said. "Based on distance measurements, they are not moving quickly and at an average walking pace, we have maybe thirty minutes before they reach the perimeter of the property. If necessary, I will be there to meet them."

Ba'zra considered the matter. "You have twenty minutes," she informed the group. "I'll wait here while you collect samples. Do not do anything needlessly stupid, or you will wish you did not beam back," she told everyone with a gleam in her eye. "Ready to beam down?"

"Aye, Commander," Marcus responded. "Let's go get into our EV suits." Marcus glanced at the Chief Science Officer.

"Yes,ma'am," came Fee's reply, though her head was buried over her console. She came up a moment later, and looked at the Doctor. The LOOK she gave him could melt ice; she didn't know where he'd gotten his Chemistry degree, but it certainly wasn't where she had, because if it were, he'd know that you did NOT rush your Science Officer on a Science junket. Still, she nodded. "They're just here," she said, opening a kit she'd toted along with her, and passed them out. "Also, here's safety goggles, and some gloves," she said, passing those out, as well.

The doctor didn't take the safety goggles and gloves instead he looked at the Chief Science Officer with a glance of confusion. "What are these?" He asked her as her stared at the archaic equipment. "I'll stick to the EV suit," he said as he gave Ba'zra a look of despair. 'What had I gotten myself into,' he thought.

Safety goggles and gloves? Ba'zra, the former scientist wondered, looking skeptically at Feeva. Is she worried that the EV suits will not be enough? Even so, if this is as Commander M'Mira reports, then anything that touches anywhere, will cause the infection to spread and explode the person. So how will the glasses and gloves help?

"I mean, ignoring safety protocols is your funeral, Doctor, but as you wish. If the theories are correct, and it's airborne after being touched, then enjoy blindness," she said. She stopped herself from ending it with "you eedjit", however. "I, however, value both my vision, AND my life, as well as my posting." She should've been a Klingon-it would've been much easier to simply bite his liver out and wear his skull as a hat.

"That's in no Starfleet Safety Protocol that I know. This isn't the Dark Ages. Our EV suits can filter out more airborne pathogens than a simple pair of goggles. I'll stick with the 24th century technology. I'm not going to argue with you because the more you delay this away mission the more likely we are to meet the Falteans." he said as he took the EV suit and walked off the bridge into the turbolift towards sickbay to get an actual Starfleet EV suit and supplies.

Fee simply shrugged. Let him die, better for her. She hated medical. They always thought they were special. They weren't. Still, she quickly stepped into the EV suit, securing the safety glasses under the helmet, and made her way to the Transport pad. She'd put the gloves on when she got there. "Alright, science is ready to beam," she confirmed.

Niahl put on his own EV suit and went through a few movements from an old practice routine to test the restrictive nature of the suit. Not so terrible, he thought, I can adapt. Having satisfied himself on that point, he armed himself and headed to the transporter pad.

The doctor arrived in the transporter room to find the two other waiting on him. He activated his EV suit with a quick tap and the suit formed to his body. He then placed his helmet on his head and with a quick whishing sound the suit was airtight around his body. He had his medical tricorder on his left hip and small Type I phaser on his right hip. He had a Starfleet issue bag thrown over his shoulder with the symbols Biohazardous and Radioactive written on it in preparation of whatever they might find on the planet.

"Let's go," Feeva replied.

 

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