Lieutenant Commander Marty Tucker - Arachnophobia
Martin Tucker
((Outbuilding, Near The Lid - Moon Sigma, Ross 580 System))
Kessler: I think we can release the overrides so that this thing will continue down on its own. Evinrude, can you bypass the lockout for the speed descent control so it moves a little faster than a snail?
Evinrude: ::With a thoughtful look, Tess began to tinker with the controls.:: I can certainly go from snail to turtle. ::He glanced back over his shoulder, briefly, his expression serious.:: With maybe one more trick up my sleeve...
Marty watched as Tess turned and began working as fast as he could, without making mistakes. They needed to get to the bottom before they ended up in a firefight with a group of worker-caste Tholians in their exo-suits, because the Moon's temperature was far too cold for the Tholians, to the point they would literally freeze.
The Tholians were getting even closer now and were most likely just a room away. And they were still waiting on Evinrude to jerry-rig the lift.
Tucker: ::checking the settings on his phaser rifle:: We need to skidaddle…
Kessler: Time to go, gents. All aboard the express elevator to...::beat:: Wherever it is we are going.
The Security Chief drew his phaser as Tess and Marty got on the lift. The descent started slowly but began to pick up speed. Kessler looked as though he saw something, but just then the modification kicked in, and the winch began to spool out the heavy cable. To say they were in a free-fall would have been the understatement of the decade.
Evinrude: Hang onto something, Chief! We're about to experience some serious whiplash!
Tucker: ::grabbing a hand hold:: Holding oooonnnn!
A nanosecond later, the safety overrides took over, applying the brakes, which screamed into the night, and Marty was pretty sure that if the Tholians hadn’t heard them before, they sure as hell did now. Marty tried to grab something and managed a rail before slamming gut-first into the lift's floor plates. It was better if hey staid there than try to stand up at the speed they were flying at before the abrupt stop.
Kessler: ::looking down below and then back up overhead:: Commander, how long do you think that stuff will slow down the Tholians?
Marty propped himself up on an elbow, shaking his head, and then looked up towards Jack, who was still topside, and with all the noise they made, he wasn’t going to be alone for long. Kessler had said something but he could barely make it out, though he was pretty sure of the subject.
Evinrude: ::Catching his breath, he muttered.:: Well that...was a thrill... ::To Tucker, louder.:: You okay, sir?
Still propped up on an elbow, he nodded at Tess while tapping his combadge. It would be easier than yelling back and forth with Kessler.
Tucker: =/\= I didn’t get all that, Jack, but I’m going to assume you’re talking about the thermo-plastic. Even with disruptors, it’ll take a good twenty-plus minutes to get through it. If they figure they can use flame to warp it, then we’re in trouble, and you’ll have about five minutes. =/\=
Kessler: =/\= Response =/\=
Another comm call came in, and Evinrude stepped up to answer it.
Kel: =/\= Kel to Tucker, Evinrude and Kessler. I need you to move deeper into the complex to the cooling system. =/\=
Evinrude: =/\= Commander, this is Evinrude. Tucker and Kessler are on another channel. Say again?
Marty hoped the comms were working well enough that nothing was getting lost in the static. He had a feeling the farther down they went, the less they would be able to communicate, a combination of depth, concrete, and Sencha radiation that would only get worse.
Kel: =/\= Response =/\=
Marty banged the side of his head to get the speakers in his suit to work. He could hear Kel, but he had a hard time making him out. Maybe the speakers were damaged during the descent?
Tucker: I’m having issues, too much static in my ear speakers. I’m going to switch to commbadge audio instead of feeding it through the suit.
Kessler: Response
Evinrude: =/\= We can find it, sir. If the cooling system is near the reactor pit, that area is... =/\=
Marty made out something, but he’d been relying on Evinrude's side of the conversation, and it bugged him that, for whatever reason, he couldn't make out a word he was saying. He was pretty sure that the acting Captain wasn’t speaking Andorian.
Evinrude: =/\=Well, there may be radiation interference. We'll try to signal when we've finished the reset, but a call may not go through. =/\=
Tucker: ::hooking his thumb as Tess:: He’s right, you know. The deeper we get, the less we will be able to communicate with the Ronin or anyone here, except for the three of us, but we shouldn’t wander off either. Stay in range of each other.
Marty double-checked his suit for rips, and the only problem was its speaker system, which had been damaged when he hit the deck plating. Other than that, the suit looked in decent shape.
Kel: =/\= I'll send a rescue party to assist you and get you back to the ship. ::pause:: Kel out. =/\=
Kessler: Response
Evinrude: ::To the officers who were there in person.:: Ensign Esot has the experience to pull this off. If they think the power plants' extra cooling capacity will get this thing under control, we have to try. ::He nodded firmly.:: I'm in.
Tucker: Not like we can go back the way we came. Sure, let's get it done. You ready, Mister Kessler?
Kessler: Response
They hurried down the narrow hallway toward the cooling system, where the pump room would be located. Tess’ eyes were glued to his wrist, more than likely keeping an eye on the radiation that was more or less burping into the atmosphere through the broken dome. There wasn’t the containment there had been before because the Ronin had to shut down the power transfer, which made Marty curious. While he loved the away team work, he’d rather be in engineering, Lieutenant Morgan was more than up for the job; it was just that Marty was very hands-on, and the Ronin was his girl.
Evinrude: Not far now. Turn left here...and it's just twenty meters…
As they kept moving, Marty realized he really needed to up his cardio; he’d been working out lately, but he hated cardio, it was really the only thing he actively avoided. As Tess rounded a corner, his voice died out, and he’d stopped dead in his tracks. Marty pulled up beside him.
The wall nearest the reactor had burst inward under pressure and heat, torn asunder by a flowing mass of molten slag. The material had solidified, resembling a mound of cooled lava in the shape of a targ's clawed hoof.
Evinrude: ::Gravely.:: Radiation is...intensely concentrated up ahead, sirs. Beyond what our suits are rated for.
Marty frowned at that. The easiest way in was so irradiated that they couldn’t get any closer to the damn thing. He rolled his neck in thought about what they needed to do next. They couldn’t go back, they couldn’t go forward, but sideways and around? That might be the plan.
Tucker: Mister Evinrude, find us a way around that doesn’t involve going back the way we came.
Evinrude/Kessler: Response
Marty, with his hands on his hips, looked around. There had to be a way to avoid the sludge and the radiation, as it was, they couldn’t risk getting any closer; their suits wouldn’t help.
Tucker: I’m going to start looking for a jefferies tube or something similar. Or we could hold up and wait for them to come and ‘rescue’ our rears?
Evinrude/Kessler: Response
Marty pulled out his wrist torch and scanned the wall to his right. Mostly just concrete that hadn’t been messed with in decades; they didn’t come down here all that often if at all. The radiation leaked so badly it gathered on the floor. He flashed around a bit more until he saw the light glint off some sort of metal. He scanned the area, and the radiation levels were what they were, but not as bad as if you approached the Targ's foot. It was a ladder that led up to an access tunnel, just wide enough for them to squeeze through in their suits.
He heard them before seeing them; they were out in the open, and the Tholians were coming. He flashed his light back up the ladder and watched as several Tholians sprang forth from the tunnel like spiders leaving their nest. Marty spun around, looking for cover.
Tucker: THOLIANS!
Evinrude/Kessler: Response
oO Well, crap on a cracker… Oo