Lieutenant Commander Marty Tucker - Long Black Road
Martin Tucker
Evinrude: ::Smiling, he looked over at Tucker.:: At least we can't smell what's out there, in here. ::He tapped his visor with a gloved finger, not noticing a small drip of black substance had landed on his shoulder near where his finger had poked.::
Marty just shook his head; he figured they were jinxed now.
Beck: See, you really shouldn't say stuff like that, Tess. You're just begging the universe to prove you wrong.
Tucker: I’m with Quentin, you’re just asking for the universe to slap you across the face, because as we know, Karma is a bitch.
Evinrude: ::Returning to his scanner.:: Up ahead, around the bend in this corridor, I could have sworn I just caught an outrush of atmosphere. ::A beat.:: Something venting, perhaps? Another chamber?
Marty thought about what Evinrude said; it did sound like a venting of atmosphere, which didn’t matter at the moment because they had EVA suits, though the thought of a sudden loss of breathable air made him, needless to say, uncomfortable.
Uncomfortable enough to start active scans again, this time with his engineering tricorder. When they beamed in, he was getting zero; now his readings were showing all kinds of things. What he assumed were sort of like the Ronin’s EPS conduits, but bio-mechanical. While he wasn’t well versed in bio-engineering, he’d read some things here and there.
He never figured he’d actually need the information he read in those books. And yes they were actual books. He liked physical media, so he’d become a collector. Most of his collection was still about his runabouts Coos Bay. He made a mental note to pull those books from his ship.
Tucker: Hey has only bothered to scan the atmosphere here? Call me paranoid, but I think it’s changed, not by much. It feels more like Earth's gravity now, then when we beamed in.
Evinrude: Wait what? ::He quickly calmed down.:: What is it?
Marty reacted to Tess and spun around and shining his suits lights on him. It seemed he’d been slimed by whatever the goo was coming from the creature. It was almost see through, it was gelatinous in nature. But Beck might know more than anything Marty would know.
Evinrude: Ugh. Doc, can you get a sample? ::He reached his slimed hand out towards Quentin's waiting equipment.::
Marty stifled a slight chuckle in Tess’ reaction, that stuff was all over the place in one form or another, and maybe different colors of goo meant something.
Beck: I got it.
Tucker: It’s whale spit, isn’t it?
Evinrude: What do you suppose this stuff is? Something produced by the cosmozoan, or maybe an extern-- ::A beat, and Tess' eyes went wide.:: Doctor. ::His voice grew concerned.:: Doc...Quentin! Forget the sample, you're being engulfed by this stuff!
The black goo, on the other hand, was eating Ronin's Chief Medical Officer. It was climbing up his body, and covered 95% of his EVA suit. And Marty could tell that panic was starting to wash over his normally jovial self. He didn’t like seeing Quentin panic; there had to be a way to stop it without resorting to shooting.
Marty had a feeling that would not be a good thing. Leave it to Marty to shoot the space whale and start some sort of conflict. Nope, not him. Ever.
Beck: Uh, guys, I'm a little worried about this…
Evinrude: What do we do...what... ::He backed away, trying to avoid the spreading ooze.:: We don't even know what it's made of. It's on me too, spreading. Not as rapidly.
Tucker: Well, we definitely need to do something, and not shooting it is a priority. That’s the last thing we need. Can we freeze it? Or rapidly drop the temperature to slow it?
The problem was that his former roommate, best friend, and medical whiz was about to be fully engulfed in the black goo, and who knew what would happen when it finally crept over his helmet. So far Marty had been lucky, just the black goo on his feet; other than that, he’d avoided being totally slimed. Unlike Quentin.
Beck: Whoa, whoa, whoa, get this thing off me, get this thing–
Static from his comm’s array built into the doctors sit fuzzed, crackled and dyed out. As circuits started to fry, it was erupting in Quentin’s face, even with the sludge covered he tried to raise his arms to remove his helmet, but it wasn’t working.
Tess leapt into action, giving a running commentary as he did.
Evinrude: ::Voice clipped, breathing increased.:: Tucker I'm removing my suit. I can't help him if I'm engulfed as well.
Marty started to hold his hand up as this wasn’t the greatest idea in the world. He was reading a more breathable atmosphere, but that didn’t mean they needed to start ditching the suits. Whatever was up Tess’ sleeve was most likely ill-advised, but Marty wasn’t going to be able to stop him, as it seemed the goo had slipped over the tops of his boots and it was making it hard to move.
Tucker: Lieutenant, I would suggest against whatever hairbrained idea you’ve concocted….
Tess started with the most obvious component of his suit, his helmet.
The suit wasn't designed to shed just a limb, so Evinrude started with his helmet. With an audible hiss, the helmet came off. Evinrude didn’t pass out or choke, so that was a good sign. But who knew what he was breathing in. Could smell like a bathroom for they knew, though Tess was about to find out first hand.
Lieutenant Evinrude then shrugged out the rest of the suit, they may take a bit to put on, but you could get it off in a quick hurry if need be. Marty turned his attention to his best friend, who was not fairing so well, his lips were moving but they couldn’t hear a thing. And Marty watched in horror as his best friend's face disappeared.
Tucker: To borrow a phrase from Lieutenant Morgan, crap on toast…. ::to the disappearing Beck:: Hey buddy, we can’t hear you. And I’m not a lip reader, you still in there? Wave or do something to let us know you’re fighting this thing..
Evinrude: Beck! Can you hear us? ::Tess frantically rotated comm channels and tried again.:: Quentin!
Marty was pretty sure Tess was rotating comm channels, though he was pretty sure the Lieutenant would be successful. Tuck was losing his best friend, and there was zero he could do about it; he’d failed. Again. He’d had a crew member under his command get captured, then the whole debacle with leaving Evinrude behind to fend for himself, and now this, and his best friend no less.
He had some thinking to do, but now was not the time. They were inside a bio-ship, which just reached up and grabbed Quentin. Tess reached for the sample container and medical wand before they were engulfed by the rest of the Chief Medical Officer. At the same time, he noticed that Tess wasn’t having any sort of breathing problems, at least at the moment. Maybe the air was safe to breathe?
Tucker: Can anyone tell me, just what in the hell is going on? Why did the ship just attack us? Could it see us as a virus? Thus fighting back? I’m no scientist, so I have zero clue about this (beat) hey are you listening? ::turns towards Tess::
Evinrude: Dammit Marty, he's in there! :: Hands shaking, Tess brought the medical wand to bear, adding its unique sensor package to his tricorder readings. Quentin, meanwhile, clad in rippling black, began to shuffle towards him.::
Tucker: This is messed up, is he in there or not?
Marty was still somewhat immobile, with the goo around the tops of his feet. He looked around for something to help him, but there was nothing. And now Quentin’s suit, which they both hoped was still occupying the suit, was shuffling towards Evinrude. Tess was having nothing to do with it, as a panic laced his voice.
Evinrude: Quentin, stop moving! Get---back away!
In his slight panic, Tess stumbled backward, still scanning the suit. Marty did the same thing, and he was pretty sure what he was seeing Tess was too. There was no suit, no Beck, no nothing, yet here it was, shuffling towards Evinrude. Marty wasn’t sure what to make of it. Hopefully Tess had some answers.
Tucker: So, can you tell me anything, Tess? What’s going on, as far as my scans show, there’s no suit, no Beck, yet, we’re staring right at it?
Evinrude: Response
The suit stopped just short of Tess, looked at both of them, and then began to dissolve into the floor from where it came. And like that Beck was gone. They stood there in stunned silence for a second or two, before Marty broke the silence.
Tucker: Please tell me you figured out where it might have gone? So is Beck…um…..
Marty didn’t even want to say that next part out loud. He had to believe that his best friend was still out there, somewhere in the creature? He was going to find out one way or another. He would not be responsible for a member of his team to die in action, not on his watch. Marty deep down knew there was a chance, a very slim chance, but still a chance that Quentin was alive and safe. But right now, they needed to act as if it were hostile.
Evinrude: Response
Tucker: ::tursely:: I do not care, Lieutenant; we’re going to track him down one way or another. We're going to operate under the assumption he’s still alive. And we’re going to need to find him. Are you good with that?
Evinrude: Response
Marty nodded; he pretty much knew that Tess would be on board. Beck was his friend too, and Marty couldn’t see him saying ‘no’. He brought up his HUD again, this time switching over to a science tricorder, hoping that it would help, though some of the readings he was now getting made zero sense to him, at least part of the data.
Tucker: Just before this happened ::he waved to where Beck had melted:: I was picking up more mechanical things than when we first beamed aboard. I’m talking, EPS conduits, though from what I can tell are part of the veins of the creature, or at least that’s my thoughts.
Evinrude: Response
Tucker: Actually, the first thing we need to do is contact Kel and the XO. I know we had a radio silence of sorts; I think they need to be in the loop. Second, we need to figure out a direction to go, and start looking for the doctor. I've already pulled up the previous bioscans of the doc. so we can look for that specific pattern, and of course his combadge tracker.
Evinrude: Response
Marty sighed, before activating his suit's comm system.
Tucker: Tucker to Kel and Raga.
Kel/Raga: =/\= Response =/\=
Marty tried to mentally prepare for what he was about to say, but they had to know. And Marty knew he’d tear apart this ship to find his friend.
Tucker: We’ve lost Doctor Beck.
That statement hung in the air for a moment, and the silence was deafening.
Kel/Raga: =/\= Response =/\=
TAGS/TBC