Cave Redux (Part 1 of 8)

Posted on 10 Sep 2014 @ 11:31pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Amon Mormont & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Lieutenant Asahi Kita & Lieutenant JG Grayson Jones & Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton & Lieutenant Jared Nicholas & Ensign Jaana Voutilainen & Lieutenant Elijah Williams IV, M.Sc. & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Petty Officer 1st Class Siren Hex Saalm

3,095 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Transporter Room 1
Timeline: MD 07 - 1010 hrs

Previously, on Free Fall (Part 4)...

Even as the first team materialized on the pad, Robert began looking for the other two. Starting from the point where the lift was at the time of the emergency, he began his scans upwards, hoping that the remaining two were somehow stuck in the cables and not below the lift car. If they weren't, they were as good as dead.

Luck was with Robert and he was able to find the remaining two still attached to the lift cable. Without the transport enhancer this one was going to be tricky. Using the interference patterns from the first beam, Robert was able to lock onto Kita & Wyatt, though in Wyatt's case he snagged some cable in the process.

He barely even glanced up from his controls as he worked the second beam out. "Clear the pad. Second group incoming. Containment protocol's in effect."

.....

As the last crew cleared the pad, Robert energized the containment force field and began the re-materialization sequence. Now in his buffers, Robert was able to extract the cable from Wyatt and send it elsewhere into space while Wyatt and Kita remateriliazed on the pad. Satisfied they were clear, he dropped the containment field.

"Second group is aboard Commodore."

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

USS Galileo - Deck 2, Transporter Room 1

Almost thirty minutes had passed in the transporter room since the first away team had prematurely and unceremoniously returned from their expedition into the uridium mine. The broken elevator contraption had nearly cost the entire team their lives and had severely injured one member of the party who was now in sickbay undergoing emergency surgery. Another member was suffering from claustrophobic trauma and was also being treated, which now left the commodore with a difficult decision. It was not like Lirha to knowingly put her crew in danger, yet at the same time, peril was inherently present in all of their missions due to the line of work they had all voluntarily chosen.

It didn't take long for her to weigh the pros and cons, after which she quickly decided to re-deploy the away team back into the extraction facility below the planet's surface. Adding to her swift decision was the current lack of communication with the second away team who she hadn't heard from in over an hour despite her attempts to contact them. The ship's sensors had located them in the mine's central matrix station as planned, however there was now an abundance of EM radiation emanating from the area which was apparently blocking all external communications.

With the team now short a couple members due to injuries, it was time to find some replacements. Browsing through the PADD in her hand which contained Galileo's duty roster, she selected several new personnel to join the expedition and tapped her comm badge to summon them.

"Saalm to Ensigns Jones, Rice, Voutilainen, and Lieutenant Williams. Please report to Transporter Room 1 with full away team gear and EVA suits."

Aria let out a breath as she heard the order. She had been heading to Ops but...well. Instead she had to get her equipment. She rushed through, pulling on the last bit of her EVA suit...less than graceful as well. The helmet was balanced somewhat precariously on her head, but the way her hair was done in bunches and the fact she hadn't forced it on made it swing when she moved. She entered, stopping and putting the helmet on properly before looking around. "Okay...can someone like...fill me in on what the hell?" she asked, but no one in particular as she moved through the transporter room.

Jaana entered the transporter room in full gear. It had taken her a while to put the suit on properly. It didn't want to cooperate. She had been hurrying from the moment she got the call. She had planned to start setting up her work area. Hadn't even managed to get up to speed with everything that was happening on the ship. She put her tricorder in a side pocket before saying. "Morning all,"

Gabriel Stark sighed as they waited to go, tilting his head to the side to try and get rid of an ache up the side of his neck after their unwarranted lift-drop-roller-coaster-ride. "I don't know about you," he said quietly to Amon who he was stood close to. "But I'm going to burn this damn suit once this is all over....bloody jinx of a thing..."

"Hey..." Amon smiled gently, touching his hand. "We'll burn them together. And I'll get you drunk. We'll make an evening out of it, promise."

"Is this deja-vu, or have we done this already?" Siren Hex shook her head, shaking her gloved hands lightly to try and keep the energy up.

Grayson entered the transporter room feeling like some kind of armoured blimp. He picked up on the tail end of a conversation, "Not I... or I would have requested some kind of tailored EVA suit." He gave a sarcastic chuckle as he strapped his engineering essentials to him, while giving the suit one last good look over, making sure he was properly sealed up and ready. "It's like, urgh, I don't know. I always feel huge in these things. I swear my balance and spatial awareness go off."

Here I go again, Elijah Williams mused to himself as he stepped into the designated transporter room, helmet of his EVA suit tucked under his arm. Though he didn't mind the bulkiness of the suit, the helmet was a little much for him. He would wait to put it on at the very last moment. The other problem with the EVA suits is they caused places like the transporter room to feel more crowded then it actually was. Everything he needed was already in his carrying case and he didn't feel the need to recheck it, after all he had already checked it multiple times in the lab. He finished it off with a type-II phaser. He hated the idea of carrying a weapon but he deemed it a necessary evil. Looking around the small compartment, he had seen Grayson Jones, he offered the man a smile but stayed quiet.

Aria smiled as she watched the others, making sure she had her usual security getup on. Oh, and the weapons. Never underestimate someone with weapons. "Hey..." she waved at the others, smiling behind her visor. "It's a good day for...whatever we are doing. It's swell. You all look sexy in the suits. I think they're on catwalks in Paris and on Betazed nowadays. EVA haute-couture."

Mormont laughed warmly, shaking his head at Rice. "I thought they banned you from the ship, Rice. Good to see you back and looking so...buxom in that suit."

"Yeah, I noticed your suit changed some of your sizes..." Aria said and showed her little finger to Mormont, winking. She had missed him too. Missed most of the old crowd and standing here she felt more like herself. More like she hadn't left.

"At least you all fit yours'." Asahi grumbled, his own engineering gear attached to his belt. Also attached to his belt was the phaser pistol he had snagged the first time around. In one more motion, he pulled the over-sized EVA suit in a slightly more comfortable position. "I always end up with one that's suited for someone much beefier than I am." He eyed the replacements that had arrived, relieved to find that Grayson was with them, letting a smile creep on his face to prove it. "So, ready to go spelunking?"

Allyndra had stopped struggling out of her suit. It was made clear once the Commodore asked for extra people. She had talked to sickbay and it seemed that things were well in hand there. She gave a small prayer to the Twins that Mott had come out of quarantine and Tuula had come on board.

Quinn held his helmet under one hand while standing next to Lirha. "I'm ready to get back in there."

Jared, had had his shoulder looked at in sickbay by one of the new doctors, Chaparral by name and everything had checked out. It would be a little tender for a couple of days, but he had been cleared for duty.

He felt a little apprehension about returning, and still wasn't sure whether it had be an accident or sabotage. For now though that wasn't important, though he would be extra cautious, doing his job was the important thing.

Jacob could do nothing but shake his head as he readied to go back to the mine. He wanted to be by Abby's side to comfort his friend and roommate, but he had a job to do once more. He said nothing as he made his preparations.

John was one of the last to arrive, having taken a detour via Sickbay to get an update on the members of his team that were injured on the last attempt at this mission. He was still apprehensive following their last venture to the planet, and gripped his phaser rifle even more tightly than normal as he made his way into the transporter room.

Lirha looked at Galileo's COB and gave him a nod, then took the cue to begin the short briefing. Stepping into the middle of the assembled group, she unclipped her PADD from her belt then began to bring up several important pieces of data she'd recently received.

"I am going to be sending you all back down into the mine, but this time to a different location," she began. "Our second away team led by Commander Blake was supposed to check in almost half an hour ago but I have not yet received a transmission from them and they are not responding to any communication attempts. Ship sensors indicate they are near Section LV-888 at the facility's computer control room...but there seems to be some type of energy signature present which is disrupting our short and wide-band comm frequencies. I would like you all to meet up with them and ascertain their status as soon as possible."

The Commodore continued on with her instructions. "I will be transporting you as close to their position as possible and have inputted their coordinates into your tricorders. Once you have located the other away team, I would like you to collaborate with them and proceed with the investigation as we originally planned." She stopped speaking for a moment and motioned with her green hand towards the nearby crates of supplies. "Extra equipment is available if you need additional supplies. Questions?"

All Elijah could really do was nod at the instructions he was given. Ascertain the situation and collaborate then continue the investigation. It almost seemed easy enough though things rarely were what they seemed. He didn't have any questions at the moment simply because he wasn't sure what to expect. But more than that, the commodore had laid out the plan pretty precisely. He just had to remember and keep in the mindset to expect the unexpected and he would be fine.

Despite being loaded up with engineering equipment and feeling particularly bulky as it was, Grayson remembered to pick up a hand phaser and attach it to his belt. Not being one to be all that comfortable with weapons, he understood the necessity of them and was not the worst shot in the fleet either (not the best, but not too bad).

Aria moved over to the gear, looking at it all. She shrugged and went for the rifle and the grenades, looking over at the person next to her. "What? I like to blow shit up..." she whispered and shrugged, stepping back to make sure it was all secure.

Jaana chuckled at her colleague's comment and preceded to grab a rifle herself. She preferred a rifle, even with the added weight and size of the weapon. But with a rifle she felt she could better protect herself and the people around her. She didn't like this part of her job, the part where a weapon was necessary. She was a scientist. Not a Security Officer.

Jared did not like hearing about the troubles the other Away Team was having. He was no security officer, but he had been on the wrong side of the law in the past, though marginally, and he knew of some very bad people, and he didn't like coincidences. So the fact that the other Away Team was having issues, coupled with the lift that had malfunctioned, confirmed his suspicions that the two were interconnected and that neither was an accident. He'd gotten in a slight amount of trouble from the Captain for his speculation before, but he had to say something anyway.

"Excuse me Commodore, but I find it a bit odd that both teams have had problems. What if its coordinated?" he asked.

The science lieutenant could be correct, Lirha admitted to herself. "It certainly is a possibility," she started to answer. "But without knowing more about what is happening, we cannot do our jobs and proceed with the investigation. Speculation can only take us so far...we need answers. If these problems are in fact being coordinated down in the mine, we need to know who is responsible and most importantly, why."

"So what exactly would we be authorized to do?" Aria asked as she looked at Lirha before around. "I mean, let's consider the fact we know there's something rotten in the state of creepy Cardassian mine. So what would we be authorized to do if we were in a situation where we knew what was going on, who was to blame, why...without us, you know, declaring war?" she smiled weakly as she rocked on her feet. "Not that I don't trust all who lead us, but this is potentially a diplomatic minefield, right? And what happens should something bad, touch wood," her hand went to tap her helmet. "...happen to our team leader and we have to make a call that could potentially...start a war. I clearly have some sort of mental theme going in my head, I'm sorry," she had to bite her lip to stop talking. She was feeling a bit nervous about going down. First away team since last time she had been on one and oh, half her team died!

Asahi eyed Aria, carefully trying to determine how nervous she was simply from her body language. He had to admit, it was fairly nerve-wracking to know that the situation was tense and laden with all sorts of political land mines, but thankfully it wasn't exactly their job to make sure the next interstellar war happened, though it was probably something Asahi should have kept an eye on, being part of the senior staff and all. There was something he wasn't going to get used to.

Placing a hand on the shoulder of Aria's suit, Asahi gave her an equally nervous, yet reassuring smile. "We'll be fine, so long as we stick together and work as a team, with as little diplomatic hoohah as possible, right ma'am?" He looked to Lirha, expression still as nervous as ever.

Aria looked at Asahi with surprise before nodding to the man, reaching to pat his side in a friendly manner. Hey, at least someone was an optimist. Which was really what she needed and the smile became more relaxed...not much more though, she still had to wait for the Commodore to speak.

"Your orders are to not tamper with or destroy any Cardassian equipment or facilities unless absolutely necessary. We have been authorized by Starfleet and the Cardassian government to assist the colonists, and the mine is the livelihood of the colony and the reason for its existence. It should be protected at all costs," the commodore answered then looked squarely at Rice. "If you and your team are in danger for some reason, you are, of course, authorized to protect yourselves. But your job is to investigate the mines and search for clues as to what is transpiring down there. Try to focus on the task at hand, not all the possible things that could go wrong."

~That could be a very long list,~ Jared thought to himself.

Allyndra was still thinking of the idea she had passed by Pendelton. In such a large group the ability to detect any such anomaly as she had thought about would be a problem in such a large group.

"Excuse me Commodore, I have a scientific study that I would like to test down there which I discussed with Pendelton. Such a large grouping of people and equipment though would interfere with the results. Thus I would like to split off with perhaps one other person."

"I object strongly," Stark said quickly with wide eyes, glancing to both his fellow security members. He was pleased to have more security back up this time. "As team security, I mean...I've been down there twice now, each time someone has been either killed or seriously injured, and that was with a team around them. To split two people off on their own in that place would be beyond dangerous..."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CDRE Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

LTCMDR Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer/Second Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Jared Nicholas
Language Specialist
USSGalileo

LT. Asahi Kita
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

PO1 Lyras Ueda
Diplomatic Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC Kita]

LTJG. Elijah Williams, IV
Geoglogist
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Andreus Kohl
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Lt Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Capt Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. JG Luke Wyatt
Chief Secuirty Officer
USS Galileo

Ens Jaana Voutilaanen
Stellar Cartographer
USS Galilieo

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

SWO Alexion Wylde
Doctor
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

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

PO2 Siren Hex
Intelligence
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

Master Warrant Officer Amon Mormont
Security
USS Galileo
[PNPC Markos]

Lt. Amynta Markos
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Grayson Jones
ACEO
USS Galileo

Lt. Jacob Pendleton
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

CMCPO Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

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