Ensign Renaie Shortrith - Wait, WHAT?
Renaie Shortrith
((OOC: Only left one set of tags, with this already being a tag-heavy scene.))
((Bridge, Deck 3, USS Ronin))
Renaie frowned, turning towards the others.
Shortrith: With how fast diseases have been transmitted in the past, there's no second guessing ourselves at this stage.
Raga: This one is particularly nasty. ::he mused:: I’ll never understand the mindset of making bioweapons. There’s plenty of conventional ways to kill people horribly as it is.
Niac: Weapons like this aren't about lethality...they're about terror. This is meant to be a threat...an axe that looms over the heads of whoever opposes its creators. It's vile...but it's also a very effective tactic that the despicable have used for centuries to control populations or steer cultures.
Shortrith: I can continue monitoring the biosignals from here, but I don't know if I can do any more from here.
Raga: Captain. I’m seeing slightly fewer armed warheads on the Rose. It looks like they’re managing to disarm them. They’ve gotten at least five already.
Niac: Good to see our people are still working the problem. Ensign, pull the biomonitor data from their suits and transfer it to sickbay along with your observations...I want Doctor Beck to have as up to date a picture on this damn thing as he can get.
Shortrith: ::firmly:: I'll do what I can.
Niac: Do they have enough time?
Raga: It’ll be close. But if they keep up this pace they should have them all disarmed before we have to explain why we chipped the paint.
Niac: Don't worry Mr. Raga, if we need a touch-up I'm sure there's a talented young ensign around who wouldn't mind going for a walk. Isn't that right Counselor?
Renaie smiled softly.
Shortrith: You're right, sir. Don't worry. Someone will want to do it.
Raga: It’ll be closer than any of us like, but I trust our people. As for our hunt for that shuttle, it looks like they’re still chasing…
Beck: =/\= Sickbay to Bridge. We got your message about locating the Tarrellian ship - I can confirm that what we're looking at is a heavily modified version of the plague. =/\=
Niac: =/\= Modified? Doctor...are you telling me someone took the most destructive bio-weapon known to Federation science and felt like there was room for improvement?! =/\=
Shortrith: =/\= I hate to say it, but it seems like it. =/\=
Raga: =/\= So someone altered the bioweapon? Please tell us you have good news, Doc. =/\=
Wyla/Nemes: (optional) Response
Beck: =/\= I think there's some hope - Lieutenant Naledi, who was sent over from the Rose, appears to have some sort of natural resistance to this thing. I don't want to call it immunity, I don't have enough evidence to say that for sure, but they are progressing at a much slower pace compared to everyone else. Now that we know where to start, we might be able to make quick, significant progress while investigating why it isn't affecting them the same way. ::a pause:: There is one little caveat, though… =/\=
Niac: =/\= Considering that this bioweapon has puzzled every science team who has ever taken a look at it for a century I'll consider anything positive just this side of miraculous, Doctor. Take me through the caveat. =/\=
Raga: =/\= I was waiting for the catch. Don’t hold back, Doc. =/\=
Wyla/Nemes: (optional) Response
Beck: =/\= The information on the plague we have is almost 40 years out of date. We were able to match biomarkers to what readings they could get on the Enterprise way back when, but uh… I think if we want to make any headway, we need a live sample that hasn't infected anyone just yet. =/\=
Niac: =/\= You mean a sample of the virus taken from where, Doctor? The Rose? The freighter? Some kind of uncontaminated culture? That's quite some...little caveat. =/\=
Shortrith: =/\= The Doctor could be referencing either from Lieutenant Naledi, or samples the away teams were able to collect while on The Rose.
Raga: =/\= And how do you suppose we do that? =/\=
Wyla/Nemes: (optional) Response
Beck: =/\= I'd like to volunteer to lead the away team to dispatch to the plague ship. I have a pretty good idea what we're looking for, and I'm hoping maybe we'll get lucky and find the lab where they were modifying this thing. =/\=
Niac: =/\= Quentin, you must realize the gravity of what you're proposing. Tarellian ships...even the long dead wreckage of one...are under a blanket quarantine order issued by the Federation Council. The order uses the words 'under no circumstances' more than once. Anyone who beams to that ship is stuck there unless a treatment can be found and all traces of the disease entirely eradicated. =/\=
Shortrith: ::To themself, sarcastic:: Comforting…
Raga: =/\= That’s risky. We already have one of our senior most medical staff stuck over there. Our Acting CMO. If you’re over there too then.. =/\=
Wyla/Nemes: (optional) Response
Beck: =/\= I... feel I should also mention another theory I've got floating around in my head. This is based on a conversation I had earlier with Doctor Kel - he said there's nanomachines involved that are actually modifying the host's proteins to better allow the virus to spread. That suggests a highly advanced AI is being used. Just... throwing that out there. =/\=
Niac: =/\= Well Doctor, one thing I remember from my engineering courses is that making things more complex always introduces new and interesting ways for it to fail. Perhaps that nanotechnology is an attack vector you can leverage in your treatment plans, especially based on what you've learned from your examinations of the Roses survivors. =/\=
Raga: =/\= Nanomachines? Someone enhanced the Tarellian plague with AI? What madman thought that was a good idea? =/\=
Wyla/Nemes: (optional) Response
Niac: Someone with sophisticated resources and no compunction about how they're used. Someone proficient with robotics and artificial intelligence who has no qualms about using either for lethal ends. Someone who considers loss of life to be a necessary and even beneficial part of a broader strategy. Someone who has already been rebuffed more than once and may have been pushed to try yet another means to project their signature form of coercive violence around the region. Someone...very much like the Consortium, Mr. Raga.
Raga: =/\= Quentin, you should know that at least one of our people has already been infected as well. Mister Kessler’s suit was punctured a few minutes ago and he’s already showing signs of the infection. =/\=
Niac: =/\= Doctor...lets assume I agree with your proposal. Even if you were to get aboard that ship and find an unmodified sample of the original virus, what are our chances of developing a treatment before our team on the Rose begins to succumb to this...thing? =/\=
Shortrith: =/\= From what I know of vaccines from uni and the Academy, the chances are low, and vaccines typically take a while to find anyway… I'm happy to help find a vaccine if necessary. =/\=
oO I'll actually be useful then… instead of just sitting around, not being able to do anything. Oo
Beck: =/\= Response =/\=
Wyla/Nemes: (optional) Response
Raga: There’s several fewer live warheads being registered and we just received an alert from the group looking for that shuttle. They’ve found one of the Rose’s escape pods adrift with life signs detected but are still in pursuit. I’ve already alerted our flight deck to send a recovery shuttle.
Niac: Very well, advise the flight crew to tractor that pod back to the Rose but make it clear they are to have no contact with any survivors.
The captain took a moment then reopened comms.
Niac: =/\= Doctor...if you were to have any hope of developing a treatment, you'll need the resources aboard the Ronin...and as our acting CMO and second officer are both off the ship at the moment, you'll need to be here to leverage them. Which is why I'll be going to the Tarellian ship myself. You'll walk me through whatever tasks I need to do over the comm and I can collect the samples and send them back in stasis directly to your lab. That should limit any chance of exposure and give you what you need to kill this damned thing. =/\=
The second half of the Captain's words was what made Renaie turn around to look at him in disbelief.
oO Wait… he's doing WHAT? Oo
Shortrith: Captain…
Raga: Response
Beck: =/\= Response =/\=
Niac held up a hand as if to stop the conversation for a moment.
Niac: I appreciate that Mr. Raga but I've put enough people in harms way today. =/\= Doctor...tell me I'm wrong. Tell me this plan has a better chance of success with you stuck in the frozen remains of a dead ship, waiting for your EVA suit to run out of air. In this scenario I'm far more expendable than you are and you know it. =/\=
Raga: Response
Shortrith: Please don't become a dead man walking, sir, if that's suitable for me to say.
Beck: =/\= Response =/\=
Niac: =/\= In that case report to the shuttlebay as soon as possible with suitable sample collection equipment and be prepared to brief me on what you need. I'll take a shuttle, get your sample back to the ship then make my way to the Rose. At the very least I'll be in a position to help the teams over there...for however long we all have. =/\=
oO The captain was right when he quoted, 'A ship is safe in harbor...but that is not what ships are for.' Sometimes you need to take the risk. Oo
Raga: Response
Renaie was silent as the conversation went on, unsure of what to say.
Beck: =/\= Response =/\=
The air was thick with tense silence until the CO spoke again.
Niac: In that case I need to do a few things before disembarking. You have the bridge, Mr. Raga. Your orders are to intercept that freighter, contain or eliminate any threat of further contamination it poses, then support our teams aboard the Rose as best as possible. Should you...lose contact with the Rose wait one hour and then I expect you to follow general order six to the letter....scuttle that ship, Toryn. Make sure there's nothing left. Understood?
Raga: Response
Shortrith: If there's anything I can do to help, Commander, I'm happy to do it.
Raga: Response
[Tags/End of Act 2 for Shortrith]