AT 007A - R02 Detailed Survey "Unexpected Consequences" (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 14 Jul 2013 @ 3:08pm by Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle & Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton & Lieutenant Jared Nicholas
Edited on on 14 Jul 2013 @ 3:10pm

3,680 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: Rojar II R02 - Metropolis Ruins
Timeline: MD 05 - 1640 hrs

Previously on "AT - R02 Detailed Survey"...

Athlen had his arms crossed and leaned back casually, weight resting on his hip. Pendleton's emotive answer gave him all the cues he needed without telepathy to assume the symbol held significance to the researcher. Athlen turned to Kohl, a curious half-smile on his face. "Disabilities," he mused in a word. He was rather ignorant about the issue of permanent disability, given where and how he was raised. Athlen figured it was a Terran thing. As though Pendleton had merely commented on the weather, Athlen clapped his hands together. "I wonder if this could help lead us toward our hospital." He craned his head to look at Pendleton. "Maybe we could find more of where this came from. If they're dealing with people who are disabled, they've got to have a hospital nearby, right?"

"Exactly," Jared replied, "so why don't we heed the XO's advice and start searching now."...

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Jared moved his hand off of Jacob's shoulder, checking his weapons and checking out the other members of the impromptu fellowship. He was no security expert, far from it, but he had a past and his past made him a cautious individual and he didn't have to be an expert to have sharp eye.

"Shall we?" he asked not just to Jacob but the rest of the group as well.

Jacob nodded again and replied, "Lead the way Mr. Jared."

He cocked his head slightly. "Just Jared, and I don't mind reading, but you're the one with coordinates so just show them to me and I'll take the point. With respect I'm probably the closet we have to a security or intel guy."

Athlen looked between Jared, Pendleton and Kohl. What were these coordinates they were discussing? Lead the way to where? He knelt down next to the symbol and brushed away some of the dead leaves carefully. "I don't know if there are any coordinates," he offered quietly. "Let's get some readings of this stuff, we can store them in our tricorders and look for matching signatures. If this was part of a hospital, there's got to be some way to tell. Residue leftovers, equipment?" Athlen suggested.

"I'm sorry Athlen, that's what I thought Jacob had already done. When we were playing googily eyes he was busy recording stuff. But I could be wrong here." Jared replied with a slight deferential smile.

Andreus Kohl was standing off to one side with Delainey Carlisle. Every fifteen seconds or so, he would glance back at Jared or Athlen, as the science personnel decided how to proceed. All the while, his focus remained with his tricorder. Since there was talk of leaving this area to go on a hunt, Kohl lifted his tricorder closer to the small blossoms sprouting from the tree nearest to him.

Jared decided to take the initiative and started walking. He assumed that if he was going in the wrong direction it would be pointed out to him.

Jacob smiled to all of them. "Deductive reasoning might be a worthy try here. Since this symbol was found here, there may be an excellent chance that we could be near a hospital, a rehabilitation center or perhaps even a Center for Independent Living. Let us take a radius here of.. say.. half a kilometer around this ruined building and see what we come up with. It's worth a try in my estimation."

"Unless we find an urbanist plan," Kohl remarked, "I can't think of a better plan." He nodded at Jacob's assessment and he holstered his tricorder. Rather, he withdrew the type-II phaser from his hip and balanced it in his grip. The scientists could lead the way; Kohl would keep watch. Medic's job was to keep them safe. He strode off after Jared.

Jared looked behind him and smiled over his shoulder at Kohl. "So I guess its the two of us then, hooking up together. You're the expert. What should we be looking for?"

"If they're anything like us..." Kohl said slowly and paused to gather his thoughts. He kept up with Jared's pace, but didn't want to stride too far ahead of Carlisle or the others. "Smooth ground-level entrances without stairs, wide doorways, signage with light on dark visual contrast, ample window to provide natural light." --Kohl trailed off and he shrugged to question if anything he just said was actually correct or useful-- "If we're exceedingly fortunate, your tricorder will detect something it recognizes as healthcare technology or large quantities of sanitizing chemicals."

"Any specific chemical, we should scan for, or should we try a broader approach?"

In response to Jared's question, Kohl blandly responded, "I really don't know." As far as Kohl was concerned, that was what they were here to discover.

"What about alcohol, the rubbing kind, not the drinking kind would that work?"

"We won't know," Kohl replied to Jared's query, "Until we find it." Kohl shook his head slightly, trying to recall what little had been discovered by the preliminary scans and away teams. With so little information to start with, he couldn't begin to hypothesize.

Jared adjusted his tricorder and began scanning.

Athlen followed along behind Jared and next to Pendleton. He was surprised to realize that he could offer some insight despite his relatively unpractical profession. "Most societies follow the rules of Occam's Razor," he said mildly as they walked. "That is, most of them have the same foundations, most of them do things the simplest way that is available to them. Our best bet is to look for structures that are simplistic and above all fortified. The weather and natural predators here means any hospital they have is going to be strong and well protected. It might even be underground."

Delainey followed closely behind Kohl and remained uncharacteristically quiet as she listened to the discussion. Carlisle found it interesting the others focused on defining what they might find as opposed to just allowing their senses to be their guides. It reinforced the notion that sentient beings, even explorers like themselves, were naturally inclined to define the new in terms of the old. "Let's keep an open mind," she offered simply.

Jared turned towards her cocking his head slightly as he did so. "I always keep in open mind, but that is an excellent suggestion."

As Kohl continued to follow Jared's lead, he turned his body to offer a smile back at Delainey. Walking backwards, Kohl continued traversing in the same direction as the rest of the away team, but he began to drift westward. He was heading closer to a lowrise structure that had become overgrown with trees. Teasingly, Kohl said to Delainey, "But you know what they say about an open mind..." Then Kohl's ankle connected with what felt like a tree root protruding from the ground, and he grunted out a "Guh!" His arms went pinwheeling and his phaser tumbled out of his hand. Having lost any semblance of balance, Kohl plummeted backwards. He landed on his side across the tree root, but the "tree root" tore into the side of his uniform jacket. From the feel of it, the "tree root" was encased in a cybernetic exoskeleton.

Jared saw Kohl fall and rushed over towards him. He knelt down to check of he other man was okay. Seeing that all his body parts were still attached and that Kohl seemed pretty much in tact. He began to examine what had tripped him.

Delainey, meanwhile, felt a bit guilty in a way because Kohl had been attempting to amuse her when she fell. Like Jared before, her, she immediately focused on making sure Andreus was alright.

"What the..."

Jacob rushed over, "What in the name of Shakespeare do we have here?"

Kohl had started to thank Jared for the help with getting off his back, but Jared and Jacob were entranced by something else. Kohl followed their eyes. Having rolled onto his hands and knees, Kohl began tearing away at the thick vines and moss covering the thing he had assumed to be a tree root. As the greenery came away, it became evident the thing was a body.

Jacob began to scan the body and the area around it. "Unless I am a totally newbie scientist, I think we might have stumbled upon a cybernetic technology that is of, most likely, Borg design?"

Jared helped by continuing to clear away the shrubbery and other debris. He had taken the basic science classes while at the Academy and Jacob's words seemed to line up with what he remembered He would just have to take the other man's word for it. He checked his sidearm again. Just to be on the safe side.

Athlen watched them clear away the deadened leaves and felt a prickle at the back of his neck, as if he were being watched. It traveled down his spine, and he shifted his shoulders against it casually before he moved beside Jared to examine the corpse. If it was a corpse. He took out his tricorder and began running a scan at the top of its head, looking for any evidence that a transceiver had been left behind. Not that the Borg were much of a threat 70,000 lightyears away, but still. Better safe than sorry. "It's definitely Borg technology," he was able to confirm as he looked at his tricorder.

"A drone or clone or whatever they call them?" the linguist asked.

"A Borg drone," Athlen nodded. "It must have been damaged and left behind. I'm seeing some evidence of cannibalization. Parts removed, limbs missing. Likely used by other drones to repair themselves."

All the while, Kohl had got to his feet and was walking a slow perimeter around the away team. Ostensibly, he was keeping a watch out for the sort of creature that had killed Lieutenant Stone, but really, he was looking for the phaser he had dropped.

Carlisle had of course been listening to the discussion of their findings, and while some part of her felt a rush of excitement and dread- she'd never seen a Borg drone in person before - another part of her was instantly on edge. Deciding it was better to channel her emotions back into what she knew well, Carlisle pulled out her medical tricorder and placed a steadying arm on Kohl. "You shouldn't have moved immediately after your fall," she admonished lightly. "You could have really been hurt. I just got you back and I'm not going to lose my good friend again."

A kind of fearful realization crossed Kohl's features. Mostly, it was because of what Carlisle said about moving, but Kohl would have been lying if he didn't admit it was because he had just been laying atop a Borg drone. "You're right," Kohl said, his usually confident timbre was replaced by an embarrassed tone. "I would have tackled a patient who tried to do what I did."

Jacob looked up at Delainey after hearing her remark and said, "Not to worry Counselor. Anything out here that wants to hurt any of my colleagues and teammates will have to go through me... and I promise that won't be good for whatever tries to do that." He smiled at her and then went back to researching the area.

Carlisle smiled at Jacob, appreciating the sentiment even if she knew deep down, he would be no match against a single Borg drone. In any case, he struck her as a protector like herself, and she related to him.

Turning her attention back to her scans of Andreus, she was relieved to see no sign of permanent injury. Of course then she felt guilty for scolding him, especially after seeing his embarrassment. She placed a hand on Kohl's shoulder and teased him. "I'm sorry for not tackling you, and despite my motherly reaction, I do understand why you were eager to jump back up."

Jared, who reasoned he could take care of himself and didn't really want someone to hold his hand walked in the opposite direction To Jacob. Not because he was trying to be obstinate but simply to cover more ground.

Spotting the metallic glint of his tricorder in the grass, Kohl crouched down to palm the handle. "I was still a kid the last time the Borg came anywhere near the Federation," Kohl said, thinking aloud. "It's surreal to see one now. To actually see one. To touch one. ...I'm not sure I can process that."

Jared was feeling a bit frustrated. Everything seemed to be normal. Nothing stuck out as unusual or different. Nothing caught his eye. He started to turn back to the others then he saw a glint of sunlight reflecting off of something.

He turned back around and had to look carefully around to spot it again. It was there, real. Not a figment of his imagination. He went over to examine exactly what it was.

Shards of glass mostly broken and in tiny pieces. There was one piece larger than the others half buried in the soil and weeds. He bent down to examine it more closely slicing a finger in the process.

There etched in the glass was the symbol he'd seen earlier, or at least he thought it was. It was a little warped so it was hard to tell.

"Over here!" he shouted, "I think I found something."

Jacob stood up and looked to where he heard Jared's voice; spotting him, he walked over to him. "What did you find Ensign?"

"Look," he said carefully picking up the glass and showing it to Jacob. "This looks like it could be what we are looking for? And right over there it looks like it could be a depression or maybe an opening. What do you think?"

"Eureka Jared! You might have found the key to the lock, the possibility that leads to discovery! Come all, let us see if we can clear this area and find a portal of some kind!" Jacob's voice was filled with energy and excitement.

Jared began clearing the area, smiling inwardly as he did so. Once more he called out for the others to join them.

Athlen stood from his kneeling position over the dessicated Borg drone. His eyes were riveted on the data in front of him. As a child living on Rigel V, the Borg had never posed a real threat to him personally. Perhaps they'd entered Federation space, but Athlen had been blissfully unaware of it. He'd grown up unaware of Federation history and education entirely, and so had only an academic's knowledge of it. Witnessing it firsthand, seeing it in front of his eyes, he wasn't afraid. He was fascinated. He closed the tricorder and clomped over through the gathering thickets of dead leaves where Jared was clearing away their path.

Taking one last look at Andreus, Delainey headed over to assist, eager to get away from the Borg corpse for a little while.

Placing the tricorder in its holster behind him, Athlen knelt down a ways up and began brushing away the dirt and debris. There were shards of glass and plastic everywhere the further he looked. Under his the dirt he cleared away slowly and surely, an in-tact, large glass window with the same symbol from earlier was seemingly embedded into the ground. Athlen leaned over it as it was revealed by the rest of the team, peering down, trying to see if he could spot something beyond it. Stairs, or a ladder. Athlen pressed his palm against it and tested it under his strength. It bent a little. He lifted up his fist and rammed it into the window as hard as possible. It did nothing, even under Rigelian strength, but bounce his hand up. "Ballistic glass. It's meant to withstand high power weapon volleys. Whatever shattered those windows must have been powerful." He grinned at Jared once he stood. "Still. You've definitely found it. We're going to need to find a way in. There has to be an above-ground entrance somewhere along this grid." The tricorder came out again. "Scan for this type of material and see where else it shows up," he held it out.

Jared looked over at the data stream and nodded. 'What if we were to all fan out. Each cover a different segment or arc. You know something a little more organized now that we have a direction to search in.

Jacob scanned the area, "Look for hand rails, ramps, and even a button, toggle or switch that may have opened a door, that device may even be on a short pole not far from the building so one who might use a powered wheel chair or a manual wheel chair or other mobility device would be able to gain entrance to the building."

For some unknown reason Jacob's words caused the hairs on the back of Jared's neck to perk up. And he began looking for any of the things the other officer had suggested.

Delainey silently began her search, her eyes initially trained on the ground since that's where the initial discovery had been made. It was then that she noticed traces of what she soon confirmed was fresh blood. Unsure whether it had come from one of them or perhaps a recent as yet undetected newcomer, Carlisle called out. "I saw some traces of blood on the ground here. Anyone hurt?"

Jared looked down at his finger. The bleeding had stopped for the most part, though there was some seepage still. He looked back her direction, "Yeah, I cut myself on some glass there."

Cut fingers weren't necessarily life-threatening, but in a new environment, who knew what sorts of bacteria, viruses, or toxins could be about? She approached Jared and immediately scanned his finger, but offered loudly enough for the rest of the group to hear. "Don't hesitate to report any illness or injury, no matter how minor or inconsequential you think it is," the doctor advised. "One day's paper cut in this setting could be tomorrow's infection."

Offering one last look of warning to what she hoped would be a chagrined Jared, she tended to the small slice, noting no sign of concern.

He looked over at her with a rueful grin. "Yes ma'am, I'll be a good boy from now on."

Delainey's serious expression broke into a smile. As anxious as she was, she was not the type to be offended by good natured teasing.

Having paced out away from the rest of the away team, Kohl was careful to maintain line of sight with each of them. He tightened his grip on his type-2 phaser and he kept an eye out for creatures --like the one that killed Stone-- better than he looked for a way into the structure. To no one but himself, Kohl muttered, "If the borg drone couldn't break his way in, can we do much better?"

"Well, if we're not smarter than the Borg, at least we're cuter," Athlen smirked.

"Let's compound our cuteness factor together," Kohl said, playing along in a sign-song, "and use it to break into a hospital!"

"Seriously?" Jared asked, "Gentlemen we can always wrestle or find some other creative way to decide who is the cutest among us. For now maybe we should focus on getting inside. Heck maybe they even have a magic mirror inside that can tell us."

"Any sign of any writing anywhere?" Carlisle asked casually. "I would expect there to be some sort of distinction of different areas of the clinic."

"Unless this is not a clinic per se Counselor. For all we know this could be a Center for Independent Living, it could be the headquarters for an organization, it could be a research laboratory perhaps. No matter what, it is intriguing to the nth degree." Jacob scanned and then pulled out vines and overgrowth, rocks and other debris until he thought he saw something, "Hmm.. I can't tell with all this compacted dirt, but I believe I keep catching a glint of light off of something metallic here. Come give me a hand with digging out whatever is buried here."

Delainey was of the mind that even if this wasn't a hospital, there had to be divisions of space somewhere. Still, she enjoyed seeing Jacob's enthusiasm overall, and she happily went over to help him dig. Reminded of her own fears about contaminants, however, she took out a pair of gloves and handed a pair to Jacob and Jared, who appeared to be interested in digging. "We can never be too careful...even in the face of exciting discovery," she added with a grin.

Jared turned from where he was looking at the sound of Jacob's voice and moved over to him to help dig.

Several meters away, over where he had been looking for an entryway, Andreus Kohl looked up from his tricorder. "Careful sounds just right to me," Kohl chimed in. He tilted his gaze down to the display on his tricorder, comparing current sensor readings with his recordings of the dead Borg drone. "I'm detecting the mechanical components from another Borg that way," Kohl said, pointing southward, "but no energy signatures or biosigns. They sure wanted to get in here, whatever here turns out to be."

Eventually the archway of some kind of door appeared, or what at least looked like the archway of a door. Some kind of "writing" or symbols seemed to run across it. "Do we have our language specialist down here with us? Maybe this is the clue we've been looking for." Jacob worked faster to continue to uncover the new find.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Delainey Carlisle, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Chief Counselor/Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (jg) Jared Nicholas
Language Specialist
USS Galileo

LTJG Andreus Kohl
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

CN Athlen
Sociologist
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Liyar

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