A cure to be found

Posted on Mon Jan 11, 2021 @ 3:07pm by Commander Ajani Carter & Lieutenant JG R'Imus tr'Aimne & Lieutenant Commander Dr. Elisabet Intarrah Ph.D MD & Lieutenant Narisa & Lieutenant JG Sanok

Mission: Episode 2: Rising Tides
Location: Surface of Deolia
Timeline: MD05
2172 words - 4.3 OF Standard Post Measure

The away team's shuttle flew down to a planet that was complete, ongoing, torrential rain. The system's young star and the moons were producing heavy tides on this world, and it was a churning primordial soup of proteins. A very young pre-cambrian world basalt rocks everywhere, and it was in the process of cooling from a geologically recent formation. Thunder boomed overhead as Lise checked the shuttle's sensors. "Won't find a pause in the storm. The tides are feeding high-pressure systems across the planet."

"Great" muttered the CMO from where she sat, gripping the chair.

The pilot flew the shuttle in the only way the storm would allow, that is to say rapidly aiming for the ground with shakes, bumps and damn near terrifying turbulence. She wasn't the best pilot on the Eagle but she had a gift and the guts to do this kind of run. The small type 9 shuttle was designed for such a trip, some of the enhancements that had been used on the black hole shuttle had been installed here as well. So the pilot knew that they would make it to the ground in one bit. The only questions that remained as how fast they would get there and if they would get to where they wanted to be.

tr'Aimne sat in one of the back benches, he had his eyes closed and he sat relaxed. He had confidence in the pilot, and there was nothing he could do if they exploded so he sat relaxed at the back out of the way of the others, who might be of more use.

With a jolt the port thruster belched fire and smoke before recovering, the tiny shuttle was now being struck by lightning every few seconds. The pilot pulsed the shields to try and depolarize them in an effort to repel rather than attract lightning. As she did that the ground appeared, well a tall building at any rate. Swearing she pulled the small ship in to a tight arc and came around in a circle around the building and slowed. "We have arrived" she announced and brought them down for a landing outside the front doors.

"I know you had no choice in your flight services today, but we thank you none the less." She said, it seemed like it was a tradition for drop pilots to utter some shit like this at times. "Good luck out there, I'll be right here when you return."

Narisa rolled her eyes and set her helmet in place as she stood. The CMO picked up her tricorder and her phaser was holstered.

Elisabet picked up her phaser rifle and moved to exit the shuttle in her envirosuit. The colony complex itself was run-down, decimated, parts of it were collapsed as water leaked through degrading structures. The sun's light barely penetrated the swirling clouds overhead. "Proceed Carefully, I do not like this."

After a rough ride through a storm, the shuttle landed safely. Sanok quickly glanced at the others to make sure they weren't injured. Satisfied that everyone was fine, he got up and moved to the door. As chief of security, he wanted to be first to disembark, but Lieutenant Granger, who was closest to the exit, left first. Quickly following, Sanok stepped out and moved past Granger to about ten meters beyond the shuttle. With a tricorder in his left hand and a phaser in his right; his rifle was slung on his back, he did a quick scan of the area.

"I'm not detecting life signs," said Sanok, "but it's possible the storm is interfering with the scans." He wiped some water off the visor of his helmet.

Narisa was silent as she used her own tricorder and ran scans as they left the shuttle. She was against this whole operation and was not impressed with the situation.

As the others had filed out he had stayed, waiting for space. The other were visibly armed, he had a weapon but it wasn't really that visible. It was an integrated weapon on his left wrist. For now he was looking around, scanning with his suits inbuilt tricorder. After a few moments tr'Aimne rounded the shuttle towards the main door of the Operations tower. "This way" he said making his way up the stone steps, the ops tower had not fared any better than any other building of this long abandoned colony. Climbing vines almost completely cloaked the 5 story building in green. Glancing up he saw that the vines had almost made their way to the top. The doors before them was also covered in vine growth. "Hum" The Romulan scanned the door and the wall and stepped forward when he found it, a control panel.

"Is it necessary to hotwire the door?" said Sanok.

"Thats the plan" he said pulling the cover off the panel, letting it drop to the floor. Inside were a number of flat glass like Cardassian circuits. He pulled a few of them and replaced them in a new order. The panel lit up and the door slid partly open.

Lise entered the main colony complex. Inside was a dilapidated series of rooms and hallways linking each module of the colony together, All in disrepair. Sounds of dripping and distant clangs could be heard in the complex. Lise flipped on her light and began shining it around the room.

"Leave it to the Cardassians to build things that last. Overengineering, but so simple in scope. We need to get power back on." Lise mentioned. "I think we'll find our answers in the medical bay."

Sanok did another scan. "Still no life signs."

tr'Aimne ducked in through the door, the vines brushing his suit. He didn't turn his lights on, the HUD linked to his suits sensors gave him what he needed, but he understood why others would want the light, it was a sense of control in an environment that offers little. "The data that Lieutenant Kerr found suggested that there is a lab below this tower." he said scanning for hidden entrances. "If the Obsidian Order was involved they wouldn't have put a weapons lab on a civilian colony" tilting his head he shrugged "Well, not where anyone could see it" he added.

Elisabet spoke. "Don't underestimate Obsidian Order. Think the Dominion destroyed all of them? No. The Obsidian Order is an idea, and ideas survive death." She stated simply.

"There" he pointed at a seemingly solid wall, "There is a door set into that wall. A slight magnetic field is holding a door in place. And a passive holofield blending it into the rest of the wall. I am not detecting an energy signature so its ether shielded or it is tiny"

Lise looked at a blank wall and began examining it. "Cardassians are obsessed with efficiency, order, and records. They like everything so symetrical." She mentioned as she felt along the wall. "Especially Cardassian Art. Sculptures are mostly of past rulers and legates. Paintings have to include a component of presence of the State. Monuments are always to the military's glory. Music tends to consist of patriotic anthems and military cadences. Even the slightest design on a door is to remind all that the Military is ever present and unyielding. Neo-Militaristic art at its finest. But the Obsidian Order is not a military." Lise mentioned as she looked at what appeared to be a bulkhead design nearby the door. It was subtle, but its design deviated from the militaristic feel of the Cardassian System. The pattern of metal plates on the bulkhead depicted a blank pattern. "Spies have no art. They do not advertise themselves. They make themselves appear as plain as possible." Lise pounded her hand on the bulkhead she was looking at. It was hollow, empty. Not really a bulkhead. "Learn about art."

The Romulan smiled, he was starting to like Lise, she had a kind of logical yet flamboyant nature. He brought up the holoscreen on his wrist, the slightly rounded face displayed his custom settings. "The door is" he pressed a button "Open" the wall seemed to shimmer and then disparate. Beyond was a brightly lit antechamber, a desk and a door behind. Stepping in he noted that the desk was empty, just a slab of some kind of hardwood.

"Bajoran Ba'kara lumber." Lise felt the Hardwood. "A very elegant and marble-like wood from Kandar Province on Bajor. We are definately looking for a Cardassian with an ego. The Cardassians clear-cutted entire forests of this wood for the perfect Ba'kara heartwood."

"All cardassians have egos" Narisa said as she moved into the room.

"It was a little smaller than i thought it would be" tr'Aimne said checking the scans again but moved forward and waved the door opened. Beyond this door was an admittedly well preserved and to his untrained eyes a very well equipped one at that. "Doctors Granger and Narisa. What do you make from all of this?" he asked. While not in command he was leading them forward, and it was his way of telling them that the room was clear.

"Could all this be new?" he asked, he had no real idea what any of this equipment did.

Lise walked forward into the room and examined several pieces of lab equipment. She walked up to what appeared to be an empty canister. It was one of the original storage containers for the Harvesters. Also on a workbench nearby were several dismantled Starfleet combadges from the 2370's. "Someone took an interest in Deep Space Nine."

Things were too quiet for Sanok, though scans hadn't revealed anything that would put the team in danger. Still, it wasn't agreeable to him, so he kept his eyes moving all over the room.

"Its where they got the information for to create the virus." Muttered the CMO as she pulled out isoliner chips and plugged them into terminals. "Probably a waste of time but one never knows."

tr'Aimne shrugged "Can't hurt" he paused "Well, as long as we put it through a secured computer." He frowned "Wait, that there might be something" he pointed to a computer on the far side of the room. In one of the round slots set into the top of the display was a tube like data cylinder. There was a strip around the top, a gold with 5 green horizontal stripes. "That is obsidian order" he continued stepping forward and scanning the computer and the data storage device. "That one is full of data, I mean there seems to be thousands of Terabytes of data on that thing." He finished his scans and plucked the tube from the slot. He reached out to hand it to Narisa "I think that chip you have is most likely the key to opening or understanding the data on this"

"Then lets try it." She moved over and began the process.

"Anything else we need to do here?" the Romulan asked.

"I'm going to leave a monitoring device here. I want to know who comes back to this place. Take what you need but do not touch anything. Leave everything the way you found it." Lise mentioned. "I want to know who arrives here after we leave because I don't think we've seen the end of these weapons." Lise concluded.

"Here" tr'Aimne said reaching out a hand with a small device in the palm. "Put this where it will do the most good, it carries a chameleon device, it will be undetectable for about a year but will continue to transmit for a good three years." he made sure she was looking at him and then winked "That long enough for ya?"

"This will do, Lieutenant." Lise planted the device. "Now we must leave this place, I'll speak to Ajani concerning our bit of subterfuge here. We must still be cautious until we arrive back at the shuttle. The Obsidian Order has killed people for more trivial reasons?"

"Agreed" he said "Chief Sanok, please lead the way. Make sure you keep your wits about you. Like the good doctor says, there might be problems out there."

Sanok nodded and took the point, moving carefully back out the way the small group had come. The return trip was just as quiet as the initial trek inside.

Their walk back to the shuttle proved to be uneventful. Their return to the ship, well that was somewhat more interesting, the storm bounced them around a fair amount and when they approached the Eagle they saw she was sitting alongside their ship was the massive sleek form of the USS Arcadia, "Is that weapons damage" tr'Amine asked. The front of the Eagle, where the shuttlebay doors were was a mess, a blackened broken mess. A few of the hull plates around the impulse and warp engines were buckled , dented and carbon scored.

"We better get aboard quickly." Lise concluded. "And when we get aboard, get to your posts."

They were ordered to pull along side and beam back to the Eagle.