Lt. Commander Jo Marshall - Up To My Neck In Strife
Jo Marshall
(( Calrich Overhang, Federation Mine, Væron ))
A roll of the eyes caught solidly in the Andorian's demeanour and she couldn't have looked less interested in answering the question if she tried. Arms once again dropped, hands once again found her hips and she sighed deeply, an exhalation of weeks worth of worry, Jo assumed.
Zh'zerok: They're going missing from there left, right, bloody centre and no one seems to believe they've not just melted into the floor. I've got ghost stories going around camp now. Can you believe it?
Sevo: You’d be surprised.
Her arm flung out to indicate the surrounding camp and Jo followed the cobalt hand. Off to the side, miners dressed in much the same way stood sentry, arms crossed, looking less than impressed at the intervention of Starfleet riding into town and asking questions. It was then Jo noticed several of the buildings with logos and posters attached, "Brave Ventures Mining Welcomes YOU to Calrich Overhang!"
Marshall: Why Calrich Overhang?
Zh'zerok: Because "Shellam's Hole" was taken. ::A wry smirk appeared on the Andorian's features and she gestured to the control office.:: Follow me. I've got a bottle of Andorian Brandy with my name on it.
The Andorian turned without waiting for the officers to follow and started towards her office. Following in line with the rest of the team, James finally let out the sigh he'd held onto and Jo resisted the urge to let the small grin break out on her features while he muttered.
Colquhoun: Should call this place “Unwelcoming Hell Hole.”
Sevo: “Shellam’s Hell” seems apt.
The whisper from the Science officer didn't seem to be caught by the Andorian overseer, though if it had — the tweak of her antenna, notwithstanding — she didn't look back toward them, maintaining that perfect stride of a woman on a mission toward the control office.
Loxley: Response
She led the team up a set of metal stairs above the larger living area, to a small office with a large desk in the centre and display monitors angled toward it all around. It looked like the Overseer had a good overview of everything happening in each corner of the mines. As Jo looked around the office, the more it resembled her own when she had been in Operations before she'd taken up residence with Erin. Half lived in, with all the hallmarks of someone dedicated enough to their work to sleep in there should the need arise.
Waiting for them all to enter, zh’Zerok closed the door behind them and indicated to the only other chair than hers and Jo sat down, pulling up her ankle onto her knee as the Overseer pulled the bottle from her desk, pouring four measures into four small glasses. Once done, she took a swig from the bottle itself and grimaced. Jo noticed Ayiana pick hers up and take a sip, while the XO cradled hers in her hand.
Sevo: Smooth.
zh’Zerok: Starfleet still training their Commanders to lie, I see. ::She looked to Loxley and James.:: Drink up, gentlemen. You'll need it.
Loxley/Colquhoun: Response
She leaned back in the chair and Jo did the same, the picture of leisure as the blonde took another glance around the office while she sipped at the beverage. Monitors which displayed every angle of the mine seemed overkill, but then again, Jo wasn't running the kind of operation this Andorian was, to a scale anywhere near, with the overheads she faced.
Sevo: So, what *can* you tell us about the miners?
zh’Zerok: Let's see, now.
Tapping out a command or two, multiple profiles and pictures lit up the screens. Several showed multiple miners, a diverse mixture of gender, sex and race; not a pattern between them, as far as Jo could tell.
zh’Zerok: These are all the miners reported missing over the last week. The largest group that went missing was headed up by... ::another tap of the fingers, another Andorian appeared on the screen,:: ...this Chan.
The word left her lips with such speed and distaste, Jo thought she'd imagined it for a split second and Jhame rolled into the explanation.
zh’Zerok: One of those four sex types of our species, Kaniar Ch'zaoval, but we'll not hold that against him. He led the investigation team to see if we could bypass the disputed zone and get further down into the mine without alerting the Romulans.
Loxley/Colquhoun: Response
Sevo: Any urban myths that have floated around the camp? You said something about ghost stories?
The chuckle rumbled from the woman as she set the bottle down on the desk, a roll of the eyes, a twitch of the antennae, and she leaned further back in her chair, kicking up dusty boots onto the edge of the desk where dirt and a bootprint had accumulated over time. Jo didn't follow suit on that stance.
zh’Zerok: The same you'll find in any situation where miners go missing. Wails in the deep of the mine, panicked cries, seeing a figure in the light and when they look, they're gone. We've even had reports of miners believing there's an evil presence lurking around the camp, watching them while shifts sleep. ::She shook her head, her antennae bobbed.:: If you ask me it's just an excuse to drink more.
Loxley/Colquhoun: Response
Marshall: And what of the Romulans? Have there been specific disputes with them?
zh’Zerok: Listen, ::she pointed a finger from the hand wrapped around the bottle to Jo,:: the Romulans need us and they know it. They're using our run off power from our generators, our water pipeline, our docking ring. If the Federation upped and left the planet now, the Romulans would be done for and they know it. The sooner they hand over the disputed section, the easier this will all be.
Sevo/Loxley/Colquhoun: Response
About to speak again, a thick and whiney alarm set off in the camp, someone shouted from down on the ground below, a chorus of help sounding off the SOS. Immediately, Jhame's boots came off the desk, the bottle falling to the ground, and she bolted for the door, slamming into the railing that stopped her from going right over the side.
Down below, on the ground, a miner decked in the same yellow-gold overalls hobbled through the town square, supporting another with an arm wrapped around his shoulder, the shade of their overalls drenched in blood. Another followed closely behind, echoing the same. Jhame wasted no time barking out the order, already running down the metal staircase.
zh’Zerok: Get them into Sickbay!
Sevo/Loxley/Colquhoun: Response
Jo followed, reaching the bottom of the steps moments after the Overseer, legs considerably shorter, and jumped the last three with a hand on the railing. They'd come from the deeper end of the mine across the cyan-coloured water river than ran across the edge of the small setup. It took seconds for the miners to get inside to the small Sickbay, the away team on their heels and Jo noted, somewhat jarringly, it was barely larger than the room allocated for it on the Skarbek. Hoisted up onto the biobed, the woman writhed in pain while the miner who'd carried her in drew away to one side, his hands covered in blood.
Marshall: Loxley, can you see what you can do to help?
Loxley: Response
She turned to James, her hand immediately disappearing into her hairline.
Marshall: Can you see if the miners saw anything? What happened to them?
Colquhoun: Response
Marshall: We need to figure out what's going on, here. This doesn't seem like a spate of bad luck or ghosts unless poltergeists are a real thing suddenly.
Sevo: Response
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Lt. Commander Jo Marshall
First Officer
USS Gorkon, NCC-82293
G239304JM0