Lt. JG Ollie Bergmen - More questions that still need answers
CPT Arianus
(( Corridor, New Hope ))
Bergmen: One with the phasers first?
Light was clearly in short supply on the Boroxian's ship. The corridor ahead flickered with the dim glow of emergency lights, but more than anything, it was the creeping shadows from behind the bulkhead that gave it a sinister feel.
Jovenan: I’ll go first this time, you keep the rear. You are free to unholster your weapon if you see that fit, but don’t raise it unless we encounter resistance.
Richards: I will stay near the back. ::Holding up her tricorder:: Seems like a good place to be.
Imril: Setting my phaser to heavy stun. Just in case the next Boraxian we meet is pumped up on more adrenaline than the last three.
Ollie smiled at that note, even though it didn’t appear particularly funny given their circumstances. But it amused him.
Bergmen: After you, lieutenant.
Jovenan, Imril, and Bergmen stepped into the corridor, with Richards closing their ranks. The commander and the team quickly moved through to the door, which was probably their final destination, given the fact that the commander’s tricorder was pointing them to it.
Jovenan: This looks like the place. Mister Bergmen, open the door. ::gestures next to her:: Imril.
Richards: I’ll be over here ::pointing off to the side:: Close but not too close.
Ollie nodded and stepped into the position. His eyes met Imril’s. Bactrican answered with the nod of their own, phaser ready to cover.
Bergmen signaled with his hand, counting down from three, before finally swinging the door open.
(( Medical Facility, New Hope ))
Bergmen braced himself for the blinding light as he opened the door, instinctively lowering his head, while Imril and commander Jovenan stormed the room. To his surprise, the sickbay faced the same issue as the corridor they had just left. This was puzzling; Bergmen had expected the lighting here to remain unaffected. After all, Artemis had its own independent power supply and batteries designed to keep crucial areas like this operational—even if the rest of the ship was shrouded in darkness.
But he didn't have much time to reflect on his thoughts and theories.
Jovenan: Imril and I will check the siderooms. Bergmen, try to get the lights and power on. Richards, locate the source of our readings, we’ll join you as soon as possible.
Richards: You got it.
Bergmen: As ordered, ma’am.
Ollie unholstered his tricorder and began searching for a switchboard or power lines that could be harnessed to restore light and energy to this place. Imril followed the commander, and after a moment, Bergmen could hear them yelling “Clear!” as they were checking the adjacent rooms.
Richards: ::Mumbling quietly, mostly too herself:: I think I'm getting closer to the source.
Bergmen did his part by taking down the wall panel and getting to work on the electrical installation for the sickbay.
Bergmen: Huh, looks like lights are no go, commander. All energy from the backup batteries is locked to something inside here.
Jovenan: Response
The civilian scientist made her way through the sickbay, stopping at each door until she reached one directly across from where Bergmen was busy working on the electrical systems.
Richards: Commander, I think I found the source.
Ollie glanced at the Richards, then checked the display on his tricorder. After a moment, he turned back and nodded in agreement.
Bergmen: Yeah, it looks like you found our energy thief, Richards.
Jovenan: Response
The operations officer picked up his gear and moved next to Richards. The label plastered on the door - “Biohazard Storage. Do Not Enter” - certainly bolstered the confidence that exploring New Hope’s sickbay was the right call.
Richards: Found it. But there’s no way I am opening it.
Imril joined them and took his own scans.
Imril: I’m reading rows of refrigeration units. Most of them dead, the rest near it. There’s nothing in the air in there that would be harmful to us. No gasses, no problematic energy emissions. The theta radiation will have sterilized any bacteria or microorganisms which may have escaped containment. It should be safe to open.
The commander Jovenan was a superior officer, Richards was pregnant, and Ollie was senior in rank. Engineering Gold is the new red.
Bergmen: Go for it, lieutenant.
Jovenan/Richards: Response
Imril took some time to study and examine the door lock before beginning his work. It quickly became clear that it wasn’t a complex mechanism at all; in fact, they had the door unlocked before anyone could even utter the word "Starfleet."
The engineer opened the door and entered, and after a couple of seconds of them not immediately dying - from some type of hungry biomonters or some still unknown nerve agent - Ollie followed him inside while Imril used the tricorder to scan the shelves and boxes, ensuring she could accurately identify anything that might not be easily recognizable at a casual glance.
Imril: Vials of blood. Tissue samples. Bone marrow. Various other fluids… A few of which my tricorder isn’t translating…
Flat shelves stretched across the area, each displaying several square cold-storage units of varying sizes, most around fifteen centimeters on each side. The units had transparent fronts, providing a clear view of their contents. Inside, different types of biological samples were neatly organized.
Bergmen: Commander? Any guess for what this can be?
Jovenan/Richards: Response
It wasn’t long before he and Imril arrived at a shelf with a sample missing. Imril appeared to have an idea of what that particular sample might be.
Imril: I think I may know where that box is.
Ollie trailed behind him into the next room, the one they were clearing with the commander. Whatever was unfolding here, that space certainly did nothing to boost his confidence. The place looked like a typical lab, but considering what they were witnessing in the room with "biological hazards" or whatever lurked in that room of horrors, it probably meant trouble.
Imril: Here it is. On a table next to a cyclotron. Based on all the tubes sticking into that big device in the corner over there, I’d say it’s a chemical sequencer. ::scanning:: confirmed. Optical microscope, slide boxes, liquid droppers.
Bergmen: Is there anything usable we can use to figure out what they were up to?
Jovenan/Richards: Response
Scientists joined efforts to identify the sample of the dark secret they were trying to process. However, there wasn’t much to base any guess on, as Imril soon noted.
Imril: Looks to me like someone’s trying to synthesize an organic compound. From all that. ::Points back to the closet contents:: But there aren’t any notes in here. No padds or computer to be taking them down on. Not even any thought boards with equations scribbled on them. ::A bit of poking around in the lab:: No prepared slides. The cyclotron is empty, too. Whatever our missing chemist is working on, they took it with them.
Ollie turned to the commander.
Bergmen: Ma'am, we should pack this all and send it to Artemis. Hopefully, our advanced labs will be able to extract some sample residue from the instruments or test tubes.
Jovenan/Richards: Response
Bergmen stepped back against the wall to view the scene from a fresh perspective. There should be something they could identify the experiments or the person behind them.
oO They must be something… Oo
Bergmen: What are you making of this? What purpose could it all serve?
Jovenan/Imril/Richards: Response
More questions without a proper question… But…maybe?
Bergmen: Lieutenant? (beat) Imril… When you opened the door to the biohazard storage… Did that lock have any security backing? Specific authorization codelines similar to our personal codes?
Imril: Response
Jovenan/Richards: Response
TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant JG Ollie Bergmen
Operations Officer
U.S.S. Artemis-A
A240009JC1