Sinister Mine (Part 1 of 4)

Posted on 27 Jun 2014 @ 4:41pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Norvi Stace & Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant Asahi Kita & Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle & Lieutenant Elijah Williams IV, M.Sc. & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Senior Chief Petty Officer Keval zh'Erinov & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alexion Wylde & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & M'Ressa

1,914 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: Lyshan III - Uridium Mine, Section A60-A75
Timeline: MD 05 - 0945 hrs

[ON]

At the top of the secondary entrance to Lyshan III's massive uridium mine, a large collection of Starfleet personnel began to assemble as they beamed down to the location from Galileo in teams of six. Suited up in their EVA gear to protect themselves from the harsh surface conditions, the transport cycle finally completed leaving 14 of them grouped together in preparation for their scientific investigation. On the other side of the mine, at the primary entrance, another group of Starfleet officers had also been deployed to survey the underground tunnels and facilities. There was no nook and cranny to be left unturned, and the challenging task of deciphering the colony's mystery was now underway.

Quinn was taking some readings from his wrist-mounted tricorder, mesmerized at the amount of deuterium he was picking up.

This was the part Elijah had been waiting for, to get down into the mines and start to take readings. He still was in awe of all of this and though he contained his excitement, he still couldn't believe he was standing there. EVA suit or not, he was just glad to experience this.

The thing that Gabriel didn't like about his EVA suit was that he couldn't touch the small gold cross he wore under the collar of his uniform. It was an old habit, a superstition to make things go alright. He took in the surrounding area, a quick survey, just to make sure they weren't under any immediate danger. However, he knew that this was nothing. He had the feeling they were about to go a long way down from anyone and anything.

Alexion Wylde sighed as he cracked his neck to the side and rolled his shoulder to get a bit more comfortable. It seemed so unlikely, being able to terraform a rock this harsh and barren. Still, whatever they were going to find down there, he still didn't understand how they were getting dragged into Cardassian games. How anyone had a short enough memory to believe a word they said, he didn't know. He was half convinced that all they were going to find down there was one, not even well laid, trap.

Andreus Kohl was breathing heavily in his helmet. It was getting to the point it was all he could hear. He had even switched off the output on his communicator, temporarily, for fear of distracting the away team with his minor panic attack. It wasn't the mine that was doing his head in, nor the threat of metaphysical manifestations. It was the damned, little tricorder mounted on the forearm of his environmental suit. He had psyched himself up, and was in a terror at being expected to know things about rocks and tectonics and terraforming.

Stace looked about herself. Thirteen other white spacemen checking their own equipment at the dreary, mirky darkness that extended down to the mines. There was something eerie about the place. Soulless. Dank. She headcounted quickly and then looked to her assistant. "Help me check everyone's suit, Lieutenant," and they both split and eyed over their team's EVAs. "Everyone good?" she asked.

"All good!" Asahi's usual cheery tone was muffled simply by the fact that he found himself lying face-up on the ground. Curse him and his ability to choose an EVA suit that was four times his size. The engineer gave a thumbs up from his spot, determined to make the best of his awkward situation. "Just gimmie a moment and I'll spring right up!"

After Lieutenant Kohl checked the last seal on Gabriel's EV suit, he took a couple of lumbering steps closer to Asahi. "Here," said Kohl and he proffered a gloved hand for Asahi to hold onto. "Let me help."

Asahi blinked as the gloved hand came into his view. "Oh, thanks!" Taking said hand, the engineer sprang up with Kohl's assistance. "I'll make sure not to topple further into the mines out of sheer clumsiness while we're down there."

"I'll be there," Kohl chimed back, "if you do."

M'Ressa motioned to CN Ruktah for a suit check. Scanning his seals and finding nothing wrong, she gave him a pat on the shoulder and a thumbs up. CN Ruktah did the same for her and they were good to go.

M'Ressa wasn't fond of wearing EVA suits, not because the suit was cramped and a bit claustrophobic (which it was for her at least) but because the thing had no room to put her tail.

A Caitian's tail did several things for them. Besides balance, their tails were part of their non-verbal communication. While Cait's could to some extent control their tails, much of the motion was unconscious reflex and tied to their mood.

The problem was that Starfleet EVA suits did not include a place for her to put her tail which meant she had to keep it curled up in the small of her back, a somewhat discomforting position as while the tail was flexible, it was still a structure made of bone and cartilage so had a limited range of movement, tucked away in an EVA suit being among those that pushed that range, in some cases to uncomfortable extremes.

All this meant that EVA for Caitians was a somewhat uncomfortable experience. There was an approved alteration for her species but with the ship being a week into a new mission and her literally only being brought abaord a few weeks ahead of departure, the quartermaster hadn't gotten an altered suit for her, hence her use of a standard issue suit and the discomfort.

Delainey closed her eyes and took some steadying breaths before offering a thumbs up to the group. The EVA suit was always unnerving for her as first, kicking up an anxiety and claustrophobia that was initially hard to control. Once she had a task in front of her, she would be fine, but standing still was quite unnerving.

Slowly approaching Delainey, Kohl rested a thickly-gloved hand on her shoulder. He bent and craned his body to look through his faceplate, and examine each of the seals on her EV suit. There were no defects, no leaks, that he could see.

Stace then walked forward, the grey ominous door to the shaft rising from the ground staying off easy access to what lay beyond. Her cumbersome, padded hands reached for the circular airlock as she heaved her body weight against it to the right. The rusted mechanism grinded open as the heavy door shifted on its hinges. Beyond lay a dark stairwell down. "Remember team, grip the rail tightly on the way down and watch your footing. Everyone activate their wrist lights. Kohl," she then added, looking over to him, "I want you to take the rear. Activate a blue light so I can distinguish you at the back."

"Consider it taken," Kohl replied, managing to sound determined and flip at the same time. He met Stace's eyes, and then he turned to pace towards the other side of the assembled away team. He tapped on his wrist controls, until a blue light shone from his wrist torch.

As Stace finally placed her foot onto the cold and unyielding ground beneath, she shot a glance behind her and could just make out Kohl's blue light punctuating the line of Starfleet crewman. She waited at the bottom for everyone to catch up. The transport lift door now blocked their way as Stace attempted to activate the door mechanism but a jerking, beeping sound began and then failed. She tried again but to no avail. She broke out her tricorder and tapped in a few commands. Luckily, the blinking red light changed to green and the door rusted open. She led the team in and activated the five kilometre plummet into the mines. "Here goes nothing," she muttered.

As the lift came to a halt, the doors automatically opened and they all stepped out into the abyss beyond. "It'll be very easy to get lost down here," she said, shining her light into one of the tunnels beyond. "And I don't relish that thought one bit. Lieutenant Kohl will take six of you and I'll take the other six. Remember, we're looking for any of the missing survivors as a priority. Let's hope we find them." Now taking out her tricorder, she activated it for continuous scans. "Everyone activate their tricorders. We can map the mines as we explore."

Quinn took a head count of those present. "Lieutenant Stace, all present and accounted for by my count."

"Thank you," Stace replied with a nod and a brief smile. "Kita, Williams, Carlisle, Grayson, Stark and Ruktah with me. Kohl, you take Rhodes, Jiang, Quinn, Wylde and M'Ressa. Let's keep an open comm. channel and report any findings."

Keval was a Star Fleet Officer and perhaps more importantly, an Andorian. There were very few things that scared him and those that did he was pretty much able to keep those hidden. Being lost in a cold, dark, cramped confined space was at the top of his list of things to avoid. Still, orders were orders and duty called. So he made the best of it and started moving out with the others.

Asahi already had his tricorder out in an attempt to not squirm as they were in the rusty lift. Nothing made him more uneasy than having to run around in something that didn't receive adequate maintenance. He didn't care what the miners or heads said about the damned things; just the pure, hideous sounds this one made solidified Asahi's suspicions. But, he wasn't one to refuse to complete the mission because of something like that, so of course he followed everyone in.

"Yes'm." Naturally, he was close on the Trill's heels the moment he was given another order. Somehow, having a pair of scientists in the now separated teams made Asahi feel a little more at ease, especially since one of them was a rock doctor. "Norvi-...ah, ma'am, sorry, is there anything you want me to keep an eye out for while we're poking about? Other than miners, I mean."

Ignoring the 'ma'am' for the moment, Stace looked towards Asahi. "Just keep your wits about you. We're looking for anything out of the ordinary, which, considering my familiarity with mining facilities, is pretty much everything. But keep a keen eye on every nook and cranny. It's a big facility and we might not be able to cover it all in these cumbersome suits. But try your best."

The Trill then looked to Kohl. "Rendezvous back here in two hours, Lieutenant," and with that she collected her team and then departed.

Keval leaned against the wall, nonchalantly he hoped, waiting for his turn to descend into the dark abyss, or at least what he perceived to be a dark abyss, anyway.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

WO Alexion Wylde
Doctor
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Blake]

PO1 Gabriel Stark
Security/Tactical
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Blake]

LT Asahi Kita
[Acting] Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Command Master Chief Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Norvi Stace
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Andreus Kohl
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

M'Ressa
Biotechnologist
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Zhao]

CPO Keval Graysan
Operations Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Nicholas]

LTJG Elijah Williams IV
Geologist
USS Galileo

LT Delainey Carlisle
Counselor
USS Galileo

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