[Outpost Eden] Ensign Sterek: Coventry Carol (Tag: Burner/Keh'Gan/Cartwright/Virax)

[Zee Cattes]

(( Corridor; Outpost Eden ))

: Sterek listened to Virax's explanation without emotion. He saw Keh'Gan's face darken in fury at the sound of all those civilian deaths. Understandable; killing the helpless, especially children, simply to further a political cause could easily be described as an atrocity.:

Sterek: It appears that these insurgents do not care who they harm in the name of their cause. This is useful information - but it is also highly concerning. We must be prepared for more ruthless action on their behalf.

KeH'Gan: Any Worthless Scum PaHTok that would Kill Children is Unworthy. To brutally murder for political terror. We will bring Ventok and all of them to justice. The cowards they are will be clear to all.

Burner: I understand, Ensign, but we must keep calm…

Virax: Yes indeed Ensign that is why I am here. The device we are looking at may contain the same components that destroyed the library. It is now up to the engineers to let us know what we are facing and then I may be able to give more information. However as long as the lights are blinking the bomb will not detonate.

Burner: Hey, this is not what it seems. Ensign Scott is…… : pause: Oh no!

: The light went out. Sterek was on his way out before Burner had finished yelling. :

Burner: Everyone out!

KeH’Gan: TAKE COVER!

Burner: It’s ok, Ensign Scott isn’t really there. That’s just a hologram.

: The box started bleeping. Sterek offered his arm to help others out of the small compartment, quick and efficient as always. He noted with some satisfaction that there was little sign of his earlier... difficulties. Good. He could not afford to be jumping at shadows when explosives were involved. :

Burner: Quickly! Move move… :cough:  MOVE!

: The bleeping ascended into a whine and a deafening boom sent Sterek instinctively diving for his feet, hands braced over his head. As smoke and dust billowed around them, he raised his head and glanced around to try and assess the situation. Thankfully, nobody seemed to be injured, although he noted a small charred patch on the arm of his uniform nearest the site of the explosion.:

Burner: Everyone alright?

KeH’Gan: Yes LT I am uninjured

Virax: Yes Thanks to Ensign KeH'Gan.  I too am Uninjured LT. it seems this was one of the smaller yield devices meant to distract not destroy. I will know more if I may accompany your engineering team to examinie the device remnants.

Cartwright: :Pushing herself up off the floor.:  I'm okay.  :She glanced over herself.:  Yep, all fine.

Sterek: I am uninjured.

Burner: It was a ruse, designed to make us work slow. Ensign Scott wasn’t there, but… he is somewhere, and tied up. We need to find him AND keep looking for the remaining nineteen bombs. This one wasn’t massive, but who know’s how big the next one is?

Virax: Indeed LT Burner we need to proceed with extreme  caution However I have  what you humans call "A Gut feeling" that if there are another 19 devices they will also only be small yield and not the more destructive military grade.  Vhir Sulla wants Eden Intact to use as A Base for executing more attacks on Romulus Prime and other Planets in our system.

KeH'Gan: LT I have very little training in explosive defusal just one class at the Academy. I trust the judgement of Ensign Sterek and Mr Virax along with Ensign Cartwright and her team. I will follow any instructions from any  of those officers. My only concern are these damn BioSuits they are restrictive to say the least,

Burner: Suggestions?

Virax: Yes perhaps we should divide into teams 2 security and one engineer with tricorders to check out all the Promenade. I would also recommend that we call back Beta shift Chief Maxwell and her team.

KeH'Gan: I concur with SubLt Virax, Lieutenant Sir. The Chief's team would be of great assistance.

Burner: See how we get on. I might need them to check the other levels.

: Katie then turned to the others.:

Burner: Ensign Sterek, do you have a way of checking for Mr Scott’s lifesigns? It seems my tricorder wasn’t able to detect him, or the lack of him, until right on top of him.

: Sterek tapped a few buttons on his tricorder, scanning over his readings quickly.:

Sterek: They're likely using some sort of frequency modulator to simulate the presence of a living human - I will attempt to compensate for this. It is likely that the real Ensign Scott is similarly shielded from scans to prevent us from finding him before all the explosives are detonated. I am downloading his medical data to see if I can work out a way to pinpoint him.

Burner: Good point. Let me know how you get on. We need to act fast or next time we might not be so lucky.

Sterek: Affirmative, Lieutenant.

: Katie then moved over to Rosalie.:

Burner: Ensign Cartwright, can you develop a damper field to block any explosives while in situ? We have some readings from that last bomb. Can you extrapolate that data to locate the other bombs?

: Rosalie mulled this over as Sterek worked away at his tricorder, running the scan data from Fake Scott (Not-Scott?) against his biometric data to see if there was anything he could use to differentiate them. :

Cartwright: It may take some time but :she hesitated: I can do it.

Burner: Very well, let me know what equipment you need.

Cartwright: I'll work it out and give you a list.

: A brief conversation followed regarding biosuits and the removal of such. Burner pointed out, quite rightly, that it was inadvisable to remove them at this stage. Sterek made a mental note to send Ensign Keh'Gan the full Starfleet guidelines on dealing with infectious diseases, and also not to eat any food he prepared, just in case.:

Burner: Ensign Cartwright, how’s the bomb detection going?

Cartwright: I don't have enough data to locate them outright from here, but I'll be able to detect any within a 30 metre radius of us.

Burner: Thanks. Ensign Sterek, any luck with location Ensign Scott?

Sterek: I have isolated a number of metrics which may allow us to differentiate him from a facsimile, if not locate him outright, but I will need more time, Lieutenant.

: Katie nodded.:

Burner: I see. Ensign KeH’Gan, have you detected any further hijackers? I hope those two were all we have to face…

KeH'Gan :No Sir No other readings that point to other terrorists.

: Sterek fiddled with his tricorder. He had isolated a number of trace metal and organic pigmentation elements that would help them tell the difference between a Scott and a Not-Scott - none of those Romulans had thought to compensate for the man's tattoos, which was fortunate, but he was having considerably more difficulty working out how to detect Real Scott at range. Predictably, the computer couldn't find him either.:

: He was just about to ask Burner if they could request a more thorough scan of the outpost when a chorus of screams erupted from somewhere in their vicinity. Sterek rushed toward the source of the sound, tricorder held at the ready - sure enough, he detected a number of fake signals, indicating more hologramatic bait, but there was something not quite right - oh.:

Sterek: Lieutenant, I'm detecting four hologramatic facsimiles and one human female, no injuries, considerable levels of stress, somewhere between seven and nine solar years of age.

Burner: ???

Sterek: It is likely there is an explosive device in their immediate vicinity. Cartwright, can you confirm?

Cartwright: ???

Sterek: It is imperative that we remain calm. We do not want to cause the hostage to inadvertently detonate the device.

Burner/Keh'Gan/Cartwright/Virax:???

Ensign Sterek

Operations Officer, Outpost Eden