Samantha Richards - DID SOMEONE SAY COOL ROCK?!
Samantha Richards
((Outside medical facility, New Hope))
The small group of four had made it up the “stairs”, leaving Sam only mildly sweaty and out of breath. She was in far better shape before the pregnancy. But two extra passengers made just about everything difficult. With the sweat wiped off her forehead with her sleeve, she was ready to proceed.
Jovenan nodded to her teammates and stepped out of the shaft and into the corridor. This level was fairly similar to the one they were previously on.
The acting XO kept her tricorder out and eventually led them to the door where the mystery readings had been coming from. Jovenan signaled to the team with movements of her head.
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.
The two gold shouldered officers took their positions without speaking a word.
Sam held her tricorder tightly and kept the scans going while everyone got into place. The doors opened and Jovenan and Imril rushed in. Sam stood with her breath held waiting and listening for any sign of trouble.
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
Sam slowly moved through the room, her eyes shifting between the tricorder and her surroundings. Things were ominously quiet, making her take lighter steps than usual.
Richards: ::Mumbling quietly, mostly too herself:: I think I'm getting closer to the source.
Bergmen: Huh, looks like the lights are a no go, commander. All energy from the backup batteries is locked to something inside here.
oO Of course we don’t get lights. Why would we? That would only make things easier. Oo
Jovenan: That’s weird. Any idea what it could be?
Before the others could make sense of the power source problems, Sam had made her way towards the back of the room, which seemed to house a row of utility closets, she pointed her tricorder towards them and the readings escalated.
Richards: Commander, I think I found the source.
Bergmen: Yeah, it looks like you found our energy thief, Richards.
Jovenan:Can you tell what it is?
After a couple more soft steps, one of the closets labeled “Biohazard storage. Do Not Enter” was splayed across the door.
Richards: Found it. But there’s no way I am opening it.
The others moved in closer to where Sam was. More tricorders were out and pointed in the same direction. Each member of the team was using their specialties to provide help to the situation.
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 radiations will have sterilized any bacteria or microorganisms which may have escaped containment. It should be safe to open.
Jovenan pulled out her own tricorder and did her own analysis of the situation. A smart move. A move of a leader. One that Sam wholeheartedly trusted. The Edo woman nodded.
Bergmen: Go for it, lieutenant.
Richards: ::Smiling towards Imril:: Long live the brave.
They were brave. Sam had only known Imril for a short time, but they had already proven to be resourceful, helpful and incredibly brave.
Imril quickly worked through the locking mechanisms on the door. Without taking more than a few moments to get the door open. An Engineer at their finest. It made Sam feel a small twinge of sadness. She missed her brother. There would be plenty of time to miss him later, she had to focus on the task at hand.
They were finally inside.
Imril: Vials of blood. Tissue samples. Bone marrow. Various other fluids… A few of which my tricorder isn’t translating…
With their scans giving them the safety of knowing their surroundings weren’t harmful.
Bergmen: Commander? Any guess what this can be?
Jovenan: If it weren’t for the mysterious readings we got several decks down and the high battery power consumption, I would guess just your average medical samples waiting for a laboratory study. But now, I’d lean towards biomedical experiments instead.
Richards:
There was something off about the room. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, but something more than the obvious was… weird.
Imril: I think I may know where that box is.
Sam raised her eyebrow as she watched Imril and Bergmen found an empty slot in the rows of sample boxes. One missing from the lineup. Without prompting they moved into the next room.
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: ::to Richards:: Try to scan the samples and any residue from the equipment you can find. ::to all:: We should try if we can find some kind of notes from here. Paper, PADDS, computer interface. The research or medical logs would make our work much easier than trying to guess based on the materials present here.
Richards: I will give it my best go. There’s so little already to go off of.
She did as she was asked, scanning the samples and equipment.
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 chemist is working on, they took it with him.
That was it. That’s what felt so off about the whole place. It was almost empty. A very bare bones lab with no notes, no way to keep track of anything. It only added more questions to the already hazy situation.
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 nodded slowly.
Jovenan: I agree. Treat this lab and the biohazard storage like they were crime scenes. Scan everything so that we can replicate every detail needed. Then prepare all the physical evidence to be moved to the Artemis. I’ll contact the Captain.
Richards: Thankfully they seemed to have left some gloves for us ::pulling one from the box:: Unfortunately, they are not made for us five-fingered folk…
Absent-mindedly she waved the glove around for a minute, unsure what exactly to do with it.
Imril: Response
Bergmen: What are you making of this? What purpose could it all serve?
Sam had some thoughts as she still held onto the glove, but watched as Jovenan seemed to think through her response to give the answer the best way she could.
Jovenan: Biomedical research, perhaps, although there’s something suspicious in this all. I feel like we need to ask for the medical department for further analysis as well.
Richards: I agree.
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
Trying to think about what all of this could possibly mean, or what the implications could be. Maybe the Boraxians– or Yurum– weren’t as peaceful as they let on.
Jovenan: Would it be possible for you to copy the programme for analysation on the Artemis? It might as well reveal something of what’s happening and who last accessed the samples.
Richards: If anyone can I’m sure it’s Imril.
She smiled at them. Positive reinforcement and all that.
Imril/Bergmen: Response
Sam finally shoved the glove into her pocket and replaced her fidgeting with the tricorder and began to take thorough scans of the rooms with Imril and Bergmen. Jovenan stepped away to tend to her team leader business.
((OOC: Sam cannot hear the conversation between Jovenan and Munro. Please see Jovenans sim for those tags.))
After a moment Jovenan returned to the biohazard storage. Sam was focused on the scans until Jovenan pulled her attention elsewhere.
Jovenan: Richards, could you come have a look at this? ::waits:: I might have found you a cool rock to study.
That was one hell of a way to get the scientist’s attention. Cool rocks. It was an undeniable weak spot, but damn if she wasn’t proud of it.
Richards: You have my undivided attention. What’chu got?
Imril/Bergmen/Jovenan: Response
Sam looked at the readings Jovenan caught. It was hard to hide her excitement.
Richards: It looks trigonal. ::squinting her eyes to continue reading:: Like a rhodochrosite. ::looking around:: What would that be doing here?
It was not something that should have been in the biological samples.
Imril/Bergmen/Jovenan: Response
She tilted her head from side to side.
Richards: Well, there could be a few things, but none of them make much sense. ::Gesturing around:: Neither does any of this, so… ::Shaking her head:: My first thought is cross contamination. But that doesn’t seem likely if there’s only one. Second thought would be it’s integral to whatever they are doing here. We have to get this back to the lab. It could have answers.
Like a puppy with big pouty eyes, Sam stared at Jovenan. Hoping she would tell her to take the cool rock and run. Go study and analyze it until her heart was content. But whatever she was told to do, she would do.
Imril/Bergmen/Jovenan: Response
TAGS/TBC
Samantha Richards