Dota Bundara Eos - In the Depths
Ava Munro
(( Underground Tunnels - Kurtûl III))
Eos: :: sighs :: Very well but do not fire weapons down there. You’ll kill us all.
Bancroft: That’s a very generous offer, thank you. It is appreciated. We brought prophylaxis, but I would value coordination with your scientist. Would you consent to Dr. Jaran and me working in partnership with them to keep everyone here as safe as possible?
Eos nodded.
MacKenzie: Agreed, but let's hurry.
Jaran: ::looking at tricorder again:: Yeah, time is, as they say, of the essence.
Roy and Jira got to work preparing the inoculations.
Bancroft: These will prevent the worst of any Thalaron exposure we may experience. ::a beat:: But we should still move quickly.
As MacKenzie stepped towards the scientist, clearly presenting herself for an inoculation she saw the young scientist hesitate slightly before calibrating the dosage required, no doubt modifying for the captain’s species. Eos was not unaware that this was a deliberate show of trust, a potential manipulation but Eos thought that they were simply foolish not deceitful.
Jaran: Volunteers for next?
Cole: ::stepping forward with a slight smirk:: We gotta stop meeting like this Doc.
Eos barely flinched when the alarms began to sound off around them. They had wasted too much time with Starfleet, her eyes moved to her officers. She was proud of them, willing to enter the depths of hell with her. Their names would one day be written on the Great Epic.
MacKenzie: I'm reading a massive spike in thalaron generation...
Jaran: Treatments are all administered. No excuse to hang around here, though.
Eos agreed with the Bajora.
Bancroft: If I’m interpreting these readings correctly, it looks like there may be a containment breach as well.
Eos: Yes, one of the medical labs is seeing a surge in radiation :: sighs and mutters :: The experiments.
An affront to medical science this place was. Of course everyone had heard the rumours and the myths about these types of facilities where unconventional, dangerous medical experimentation would take place. Thalaron was beyond what she had ever imagined.
MacKenzie: We've got to hurry. You said we need to head through these doors?
Jaran: The radiation seems to have its source somewhere below us. The corridor through there slants up, so it's the best option to get some distance.
Away from the source? She looked to her own scientist who nodded and then stepped forward and went on his tip toes to whisper in her ear. The news was not good.
Bancroft: Dr. Jaran is right. There’s no use in getting to the source to stop it – our prophylaxis won’t save us that close to the radiation. We should try and find a control center.
Eos: We should hurry.
MacKenzie: Let's go.
In tandem they moved up the slanted corridor. Eos did not like that they were gaining distance away from the problem she was sent to fix but she had to trust in the scientists.
Cole: Sir, General order 15, I’m going to have to insist I go first.
Bancroft: ::under his breath, mostly to himself:: I thought General Order 15 was a myth…
Eos: You have an interesting approach to your own laws :: she looked at the weapon he carried :: A doctor?
Her eye went to her own scientist and archivist. Both unarmed.
Jaran: Ok, the three rules of scary radiation: time, distance, and shielding. We limit the time we're exposed, we put the most distance we can in between us and the source, and we put anything we can between us and the source.
Cole: Good reminder. And call out if you see anyone suffering from the more psychological side effects. ::to herself:: I don’t need to revisit that individual crisis anytime soon.
Bancroft: Time and distance being our prime allies in the case of thalaron radiation.
Eos ignored the ramblings of the Starfleet officers. Fear had a way of making fools spout nonsense or repeat facts that everyone already knew. If you didn’t know the basics of radiation theory then you had no business being a space traveller which meant travelling through radiation. Starfleet truly were baffling, she was struggling to see how they had managed to garner such a noted reputation.
Jaran: ::huffing slightly from the exertion:: Correct. Thalaron radiation isn't easily shielded against. The usual suspects don't do the trick.
Cole: I’ve heard stories, nasty stuff, not to be trifled with ::beat, inhale:: My father had a strange sense of what was appropriate bedtime stories.
MacKenzie: ::breathing steadily:: Rest assured, Lieutenant - whatever stories you were told, the reality is far worse…
Bancroft: Split in the corridor coming up. Stay to the right – up and away.
At the split, everyone bypassed the stairs to the left and continued up the gentle slope to the right.
Jaran: Well, not necessarily. Thalaron radiation also has a relatively short effective range. Assuming we don't get trapped anywhere, we should be able to outrun it.
Then they encountered a sealed door. Eos pointed towards it and two of her officers moved forward immediately.
Jaran: Umm as I was saying, if we don't get trapped, we'll probably be ok? Anyone have a key for this?
Cole: ::looking back to the group:: Anyone have a knife or a flat tool?
MacKenzie: ::flatly:: I left my bat'leth at home…
Bancroft: ::muttering to himself:: Protoplaser… not unless the door has a delicate capillary problem… hypospray… regenerative mesh, definitely not…
Eos simply watched the people work on the door.
Jaran: Response
MacKenzie: Can you get it open?
Bancroft: ::sardonically:: Without explosives please, Natasha.
Eos: Explosives are rarely useful. Even a child knows that.
Jaran: Response
Cole: Here, can someone hold these wires together, and someone help me pull these doors apart further.
MacKenzie stepped forward and took the wires from Cole.
MacKenzie: ::muttering:: What do I have to lose? Radiation or electrocution…
Eos lifted her arms and her men stepped backwards to offer room to the Starfleet officers.
Bancroft: ::grunting:: Just so long as it isn’t the cold vacuum of space, ma’am.
Cole/Jaran: Response
After watching them for a few moments the door came loose and was gone.
MacKenzie: I think I missed my calling.
Bancroft: ::dryly:: In fairness, Captain, I think we loosened it for you.
Eos: Once you’ve finished congratulating yourself I’d like to go forward. The control room is up ahead.
Cole/Jaran: Response
Captain MacKenzie extended a finger pointing through the now-open door.
MacKenzie: Lieutenant, I seem to recall you wanting to take point... Let's get a move on before we're all liquidated.
Eventually they got to the destination. It was dimly lit and the design was several decades old.
At the center of the room, a large holographic projection hung above a circular dais. A column of green light rose within the projection, massive and pulsing, surrounded by brighter containment rings that crisscrossed one another like luminous sutures around a wound.
The aggressive Doctor aimed his tricorder at the hologram, shouting over the klaxon.
Bancroft: I think this might be the control room for the thalaron generator.
Eos: We are. We must shut it down.
Eos moved to the console, she pointed towards another one and the scientist moved straight away.
Cole/Jaran/MacKenzie: Response
The alarm went off, blessedly so.
Bancroft: Yes – according to this console, the generator is located tens of meters below us – I’m betting that’s the radiation source we detected earlier.
Eos: The Nascaik who’ve been operating this base will feel the full extent of our laws. Let the record state.
The archivist nodded and seemed to catalogue the entire space.
Cole/Jaran/MacKenzie: Response
Bancroft: It’s active, and increasing in power, but– ::frowning:: I don’t understand. The radiation this generator is producing is… thinned. Like it’s been diluted somehow. Still very dangerous, but not immediately fatal.
Eos shared a look to the scientist. They did not know which would explain why they remained standing here. The doctor moved aside allowing them access to his console. The hubris was strong among these people. A strong desire to centre their own importance in the universe was the sign of a weak mind.
Eos: Doctor :: unconvincingly stated :: You have focused on the generator. You don’t even realise the danger beneath your feet. Have another look.
Cole/Jaran/MacKenzie: Response
The doctor took several more moments to look over and she seen the schematics appear on the console.
Bancroft: We found the source of the containment breach. About three hundred meters away from us, in some place called labeled here as Genetic Research Lab zero-two. It looks like the local systems are trying to contain it with forcefields.
Eos: That’s the location of Havun :: reviews the screen :: They’ll be dead soon. Justice has a way of settling its own debts.
Archivist: Retribution must be paid.
Eos nodded.
Bancroft/Cole/Jaran/MacKenzie: Response
Eos: Look deeper, doctor. In order to dilute Thalaron, you must have Thalaron in its purest form. These tunnels -
Eos pointed to a series of interconnected maintenance tunnels.
Eos: They’ve been filled with pure Thalaron :: points to the lab :: At the rate of exposure, that lab will be consumed, no forcefield will protect them.
Bancroft/Cole/Jaran/MacKenzie: Response
Eos: If your people are in that lab they are in grave danger, Captain. They should leave that area immediately :: turns to the generator ::
She would give her life, she did not fear death but she feared the destruction of her people and their worlds.
Eos: What can be done about this?
It was worse than she imagined.
Bancroft/Cole/Jaran/MacKenzie: Response
Tags/TBC
Dota Bundara Eos
Captain of the Nascaik Defenceship "Corastan Se"
The Order of the Gilara
as simmed by:
