LtCmdr Jovenan – I don’t think I can hold you or anyone else responsible, but at least I can always just blame myself
Jovenan
((Near genetic research lab, underground facility, Kurtûl III))
Crash.
It was an awful sound in almost any circumstances. It happened in the corner of her eye, it was nothing more than the objects obscured by the motion and the blur. By the time Jovenan’s conscious mind had become aware of it, her head was already directed towards the glass shrapnel tinkling as they fell to the concrete floor. The surface that had once stood in one place was gone, and in its place, just air and emptiness that extended the room further out to the back wall. The tinkle disappeared, drowned by the overflowing wave of the blaring klaxon and the cacophony of computer alerts. She had to fight the instinct to flee.
The starry rain of forcefields snapped into their places before fading out of the view, criss-crossing the laboratory in ways Jovenan couldn’t tell more precisely than that there was a barrier between her and Ensign Breys on one side and Mr Havun, Lt Storm and Doctor Ikaixar on the other, perhaps separated from each other as well. The source of the lethal radiation, too, remained in the other side. She and the Ensign wouldn’t be exposed, but she couldn’t be certain of anyone else.
Jovenan: Lieutenant! Doctor!
The Doctor lowered her medkit. Jovenan could tell that she was shaking. She looked at them, unable to turn away either as she expected them to start dissolving the same way she had heard happening to the Romulan Senate a few decades earlier. However, nothing happened. They still moved, their skin didn’t crack or turn to dust, instead she witnessed the Doctor inject herself with something before moving on to administer more of the same, only to be faced by the forcefield.
Breys: I’ll try to find out which pockets the thalaron particles are isolated in.
Ikaixar: Lieutenant, how do you feel?
Storm: Surprisingly not dead? I thought Thaleron killed nearly immediately.
So had Jovenan thought. She pulled out her own tricorder, finding that some of the pockets the forcefields separated from each other were indeed exposed to the thalaron particles as Havun as said. It should have killed them. It didn’t take all that much for the physical effects to take place. The assassination in Ki Baratan had been committed with a handheld device, the generator this facility was far more powerful, and yet it failed to kill anyone in there.
Havun: The treatment- it has to start- Computer, begin the treatment!
Jovenan raised her eyes briefly from the tricorder, looking left and right before concluding that the Da’al criminal’s shouts had no effect. She then turned back to her scanner, finding some initial results that helped at least in part explain what had happened.
Jovenan: It’s not fully potent thalaron radiation, otherwise you would be dead already. Are you alright? Havun, what is this?
Breys: I’m seeing the same thing, how would you even cut it down like this?
Storm: As long as we continue breathing, I’m just thankful he has.
That was an adequate answer to the question “are you alright”. The wrestle between the tactical officer and the Da’al criminal had seemingly ended after the hammer had hit the glass, and now the Lieutenant was more concerned in verifying that she was unharmed, as seemed to be the case.
Havun: The Nascaik have very powerful medical technology.
Jovenan raised an eyebrow – what the relevance of that? Was he trying to use the thalaron radiation for medical therapy? It wasn’t an entirely impossible idea, but as far as Jovenan knew, it was unproven and untested method that was far more likely to kill the patient and the doctors and everyone within the 100 metres than have the desired effect. Mr Havun stepped away from Lt Storm and attempted to access the laboratory computers. She next turned to the Ensign, who had kept her tricorder running.
Breys: It seems like Doctor Ikaixar is safe for now, the other two are right next to the breach, even with the forcefield sealing it, they’re exposed with it already trapped in their field. ::To Havun:: Why would you do this?
Ikaixar: How did you do this? My readings show the radiation was dangerously close to ripping her cells apart, how did you even get it so precise?
Storm: I am sorry your wife is ill.
Havun didn’t seem to listen. Instead, he stood by a medical bed with another Da’al on it – Falon, Jovenan could guess. She watched him collapse, fall down onto the floor by the bed, and she understood his motivation. He was desperate. Whatever he had done, all those crimes, he had committed with the purpose of this one desperate attempt. She didn’t know the details nor the thought process behind it all, but she was making connections in her mind now.
Jovenan: Oh.
Havun: After the Great Impact... Everything changed. Our lives were always heading this way, weren’t they, Falon?
Oh. Jovenan lowered her head, and her gaze sank to the floor. She wasn’t responsible for the asteroid of Tecra, but she had been there, stood on the edge of the crater and watched the destruction it had caused. She had watched the dust float among the ruins of buildings and of people, dust that would poison their minds and turn them the creatures without reason. It hadn’t been her fault, she had tried to help – she had helped – but she felt responsible for not helping enough.
Breys: What are you talking about? What does this have to do with The Great Impact? ::gestures to Falon:: What’s wrong with her?
Havun: It’s a rare genetic mutation caused by the Da’allium that the comet released into our atmosphere. ::deep breath as his fingers start to tremble:: The Artemis was able to save those immediately affected... But the long-lasting effects were, unanticipated... Warst Reecras Syndrome. ::shaking voice:: Falon…
Every word was a painful twist in Jovenan’s body, but she couldn’t explain why. She had been one of the officers that first analysed the da’allium in the air; it was, in essence, her discovery. They had also devised the method to disperse the da’allium, allowing the crowds to be free from its influence. Rebuilding what had been destroyed was going to be an enormous challenge, she had known that, but she hadn’t known about the long-term effects of the dust. How many more would have they been able to save on Meranuge had they stayed there? How many more would they have saved anywhere, if they just stayed put a little longer?
Storm: How long have you been trying to treat her?
Havun: She’s been seeing doctors, participating in clinical trials, taking experimentative medication for over a year now... ‘She’s helping make sure no one else has to die’, they said... No one thought that maybe, there was a way that she didn’t have to die either.
Jovenan it her lip. Who was there to blame? The Da’al doctors did the best they could, and the development of a cure for the many was by most standards more important than saving an individual. But that wasn’t much of a relief to Falon and Havun. Jovenan didn’t know if she could hate the desperate man who loved his wife so any more.
Breys: We still need to get you all out, there has to be a way to mitigate the radiation.
Storm: Hasn’t the inner forcefield lessened it - at least for us?
For a few moments longer, Jovenan’s eyes lingered on Havun, who had reached to touch his wife’s hand. She had a deep breath before turning to Lt Storm, feigning determination.
Jovenan: Maybe, but we’ll still need to get you out of there. Limiting the exposure is going to be crucial for your health.
Breys: The other team! They were exposed to larger amounts of radiation, maybe they had an inoculant on them. If we can enter safely, we can disable the forcefields and inoculate Havun and Storm as well.
Ikaixar: I inoculated Lieutenant Storm when I beamed down, along with the rest of you. But you ::glancing to Havun:: please tell me you have extras for yourself in the lab.
That was right, the Doctor had given them the radiation medication when Jovenan had had her beamed down. An additional dosage might be better for the team’s health, but at least it gave them time to get Lt Storm out before the damage would be significant. As for Havun…
Storm: You’ve already inoculated yourself, didn’t you? That’s why you weren’t afraid of using the hammer. You were never at risk.
Mr Havun’s first response was a wheeze. Jovenan squinted her eyes, noticing the subtle movement of his fingers: they were trembling.
Havun: ::heavy breathing:: You must not have met many Da’al over your lifetime, Miss…
He hadn’t taken an inoculation, had he? Jovenan turned towards the Doctor.
Jovenan: Can you help him?
Ikaixar: I can help him with what I have, but the radiation needs to be shut off if he, or we, even have a chance at survival. Inoculations won’t stave off the sicknesses for long, especially with how disruptive the doses of radiation can be.
They had a goal, then. That’s what they had come there for, after all: to shut down the thalaron generator. Now that they knew where it was used and now that they had, in essence, removed the threat of Mr Havun’s actions, it should have been easy. Should. There was also another problem, one that was boiling deep beneath their feet. She turned to the Ensign besides her.
Jovenan: Can you tell how long it’ll be until the radiation leakage will be lethal on this side of the forcefield?
Breys: Response
Storm: Havun, we can shut it down from in here, can’t we? Either shut it down or tell me how to do it.
Havun: I don’t know... The computer in here has locked us out... ‘Quarantine measures’.
That was bad news. If they weren’t able to bring down the forcefield, they wouldn’t be able to get anyone out of there.
Ikaixar: ::pointing to Falon:: There’s still a chance she can be saved, but everyone here, including you, are my priority. I need you to tell me exactly how you’ve been treating her.
Storm: The only way to get her help beyond you - and I’m guessing you’ve done all you can, is to lower the forcefields and let the Doctor through.
Havun: Her... Her patient files, are all in the computer. ::wheezing bloody cough:: Please. Help her.
Havun was in no condition to start trying to work around the quarantine measures, and he was the sole engineer on either side of the forcefield. Lt Storm might be able to give it a shot, but Jovenan doubted they were going to manage bypassing the foreign computer programming from the user consoles alone inside the laboratory. The best shot at lowering the field was disrupting it somewhere else.
Jovenan: Ensign Breys and I will try to find out where we can lower the forcefield. Do your best helping him and each other. Will come back soon.
Breys: Response
((OOC: I’m moving Jovenan and Breys further away, where they can’t observe what’s happening in the lab. They’ll return soon. You can remove the tags for them – I don’t think anything was directed to them anyway. There’s a small discrepancy in how long it’ll be until the forcefield goes down, but that should be manageable.))
Jovenan walked away from the laboratory’s door back into the corridors. The first thing that greeted her and the Ensign were their unconscious attackers, lying on the phaser-scorched floor. The bodies disappeared into the shadows only to appear again, coloured by the flashing alarm lights. Dodging the bodies, she walked down the corridor with in the light of the torch, until they reached what looked like a power distribution node.
Jovenan: Does this look like something that might control the forcefields to you? ::awkward smile:: One thing I’ve come to regret about my Academy days was not taking more engineering.
Breys: Response
She scratched the bridge of her nose. It was probably not possible to go back and ask the Artemis for engineering reinforcements. This was all up to the two scientists now. She tried clicking a few of the buttons on the small control panel.
Jovenan: That should have lowered the forcefield between the two parts of the lab. I think. That’s what we want, since we don’t want to flood the corridor with the radiation so that we two don’t take unnecessary dose. Nor the attackers, if they’re still alive. ::pause:: How do we even get them too into safety?
Breys: Response
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11