Mission One: Operation Starbase

||Starbase 12
||Science Labs
||August 2, 2387
||1032


Ever since the explosion, Cecily had been trying to get her team to do their best to stay back and let the professionals handle it as she was after all, just a scientist and so were they. None of them were equipped to handle this and that meant that they had to watch even though they were trying to lend a hand by working on the consoles to let them into the system and therefore make it easier for everyone else to do their jobs. Whomever had done this was making it almost impossible for them to stop it and she wondered who would want to do this...all this project had been was a way to make a vaccine using alien spore samples and she didn't get it.

It wasn't the most important project she even had here.

That got her to thinking if it was a personal attack or not, as she had yet to hear about other incidents on other parts of the starbase and that made it more troubling even. She couldn't think of a single person that she had ever personally offended save for the CMO, but Lillian was off the station and as much as Cecily disliked the young Betazoid doctor she couldn't find it in her to accuse her of such a thing as she didn't seem the type to pull this. No, something was going on and Cecily wanted to get to the bottom of it, but Gan's voice distracted her and she sighed loudly because she was exhausted and she was annoyed and she was confused. Whatever was going on was starting here and if it was a personal attack, then it wasn't going to end here.

"Captain, there was an explosion," Cecily explained, taking a couple of steps toward him. "One minute the doors to the lab are sealed and the next the whole place goes up in flames. I'm still trying to get the door open and better yet get a better explanation for you. I don't know how this happened or why, and I'm determined to find out."


<Taggles: Gan, Bridget, Marlo, Gabe>

||Starbase 12
||Science Labs
||August 2, 2387
||1035

He nodded to Cecily, "Status report, Lieutenant Branton. Any injuries or casualties?" He didn't see anyone who needed medical attention but he was getting there a little late so maybe she had already had the people who needed treatment moved to Sickbay. He looked to Bridget and nodded, "Just a moment Lieutenant." He waved to the other staff and had them move down the halls, "There should be manual fire suppression gear in the stow bins in the storage bays in either direction. Go get what you can carry and we'll take care of it. If there isn't anything useable on this floor, comm me and let me know. Don't open the door yet. We may have to suck the fire out through an exhaust port to get it out into space. I just have to find one that's nearby and get a zero grav suit. If need be that is, I will take care of it. I know this is your domain Cecily, but we'll have to do what we'll have to do. I'll look to your expertise, Lieutenant."

He tried to maintain order on the scene. From the way the fires were raging in the lab, it didn't look like much would be salvageable. "What do you have in there Cecily?" He pondered through his reports in his head and thumbed mentally through what was contained in each part of the Science Labs. "I approved this for research on a vaccine you were working on, didn't I?" He shook his head, "That kind of work doesn't usually explode into flame spontaneously." He knew now that there was something amiss. He looked around to make sure that not many of the other people could overhear him. "Bridget, when we're able to get in there I want you to look around, but try to keep it quiet. I don't want a panic to spread throughout the station if we really do have someone setting devices around the station. I want your team on full alert and check all the critical areas for anything out of place. Start in Sickbay and Engineering." He turned back to Bridget, "Do what you need to to make sure it doesn't spread. Take every precaution necessary." He nodded as a pair of people returned with some of the equipment they would need to start knocking down the flames. He stood back and basically waited. This was where he was needed most in all likelihood so this would be where he stayed.

He stood in the back of the group, his expertise was no longer useful since he was just another officer on the scene. He twiddled his thumbs and watched his team start to go to work. This was unnerving, not being actually able to make any sort of difference. He would take his time and wait for the door to go down so they could put out the fire and assess the damage. This was not a good sign for his return to mission status. He shook his head, wondering when the other shoe would drop. They always came in pairs after all.

||Starbase 12
||Science Labs
||August 2, 2387
||1040 hours

They'd paved the way for everyone else to enter in the same environmental suits to start putting out the flames. What in the name of the Prophets had happened in here? She'd overheard the conversation...it was just a vaccine that had been contained in here so why go to the extremes of blowing it up? Marlo walked over to one of the lab tables and picked up a petri dish examining it carefully. She knew enough science and Medicine to know that it was alien in origin. She set it down and moved on...this place was covered in burning spores being released into the air--it was a good thing she'd set up the fluctuating force field allowing some entry...and was it getting hot in here or was it just her?

"Cecily...what exactly was in here?" She asked, her voice shaking slightly.

She felt clammy and lightheaded, as well as pretty terrified. Whatever was happening to her was coming on fast, and she worked as fast as her fumbling fingers could manage on the suit panel on her arm. She closed her eyes in horror. Her suit had a breach in it, and the alien spores were attacking her viciously. She stumbled against the wall--she needed a doctor, and probably fast.

"Is there a doctor nearby?"

Those were the only words she could get out before she fainted.


<tags to everybody...if someone could catch her instead of letting her fall on the floor, it'd be appreciated. I called dibs on getting sick. >

||Starbase 12
||Science Labs
||August 2, 2387
||1040 hours

He heard the quiver in Marlo's voice and knew something was wrong. He saw her fall against the wall and quickly moved to her side as she dropped. He could see the sweat on her brow and face that he doubted was over exertional.

He slapped his commbadge, =/\= Sharpe to infirmary, We have a medical emergency in Science lab 2, Lt Bakel is down. Enviro suits are recommended. =/\=

Next he slowly lower her to the floor, seating her against the wall.

"Chief, come chief, i wouldn't mind ya job but i'd prefer it if ya weren't dead." he said, in as humorus as fashion as he could while checking her suit readout. Once he saw her suit was breached he pulled off her helmet to give her a better chance at breathing.

"Okay we have a situation here people, I need to know exactly what ya playing around with in here." he started, before reminding himself the station's commander was with them, he cleared his throat and added, "I also recommend we quarantine this lab commander, until we know for sure whats going on."

||Starbase 12
||Science Labs
||August 2, 2387
||1046


Cecily was feeling overwhelmed by everyone and all of their different ideas on how to handle the situation and while what the captain had said had merit, the Engineers showed up and were handling it. They knew how to fix this better than the others, but right now Marlo was showing signs of something. These were alien spores and perhaps exposed to the fire made something happen to them like some sort of strange mutation that Marlo had breathed in.

"I'm not a doctor, I'm a scientist," Cecily said immediately, moving to a console. "The spores are from the moon of Thress III and they had the correct properties for the vaccines I was working on, however, that explosion has done all sorts of things. Heated up like that? Exposed to the Krassis mold in there might have done something. I'm initiating a quarantine of this area. There's a medical kit just over there."

She knew that Gan had been CMO at some point, so he was better equipped here to handle Marlo's condition. Cecily could help him to isolate the issue, but as far as a treatment, she was less than enthused to think about that. This was why the science and medical staff worked so closely together: basic first aid just didn't always cut it and Cecily knew she needed help. So she set to work trying to get a sample of the air to look at and see if there was a way to fix this...was this planned? Well shit...

"According to this, there was an explosion on the Promenade as well. Is it possible this was planned?" Cecily asked as she looked at the report flooding in meant for all of the Senior Officers.


<Taggles: Have fun, guys!>

||Starbase 12
||Science Labs->Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1047

Gan took one look at the situation and walked into the room, grabbing the medical kit. He knelt down by Marlo for a moment. "I'll get her out of here. Take care of this Lieutenant." He looked up to Gabe for just a moment before he got his arms under the unconscious Bajoran and lifted her. He got them out of the Science Lab and into the adjoining corridor. He didn't carry medical supplies with him anymore, his job no longer needed him to be prepared for a medical situation.. He rooted around the kit, taking out a tricorder from it and a few other things. His issue was in his quarters, he rarely needed it anymore. He scanned the young woman trying to figure out what was going on in her body. He would need more than just this to get her stable again. He nodded at the readings and knew he had to get her to Sickbay. He had heard Cecily about the explosion and looked to Bridget as Gabe and Cecily started to get people out and the quarantine set up. "Lieutenant Maldoran. There is a possibility that there is someone on board that doesn't wish us to be able to perform our mission. Find these people, Lieutenant. Get them in the brig and we'll deal with them when we've sorted things out. Take your team to the Promenade and do damage assessment. Send any wounded to Sickbay, I'll take control from there." He thought for a moment, "Branton, you're with me. I need to know everything you know about these spores. I know that this place needs you too, Lieutenant. But I have to try to save her, and for that I need you." He pondered for a moment. "Lieutenant Sharpe can get this situation here under control. We'll have to vent the lab Cecily. We can't let the fire escape to any other part of the station and it'll clear any of the rest of the spores. If you need to finish up here, then I'll let you. But I expect you in Sickbay by 1100 hours. I'll get her stable, but I won't know how to get ahead of whatever this is without your help." He glanced around to his other officers, "You have your orders. We have to get this under control. Keep me informed."

He picked Marlo up, sure it was safe to move her at least for now. The medical staff would meet him probably at the bottom of the turbo lift. He carried her over and looked back at the situation. So this was the second shoe, the explosion in the Promenade. Well at least they knew what it was now. "Deck 4." He barked shortly to the computer and watched as the turbolift doors closed. When they opened again a pair of young medical personnel were indeed standing, looking like they had rushed over. "She's stable for now. Help me get her to Sickbay and we'll do what we can. I'll need a few things." He listed some of the things off the top of his head and was surprised at everything he still remembered. He hadn't been Captain for long, but it still felt like it had been months. He shook his head as they made their way to Sickbay with unconscious Marlo. "She'll be fine.." He whispered, more to himself than to either of the doctors. The doors to Sickbay slid open and he motioned for them to get her on one of the beds. "Lets get to work people. We'll probably have more shortly. This is what we train for." He grimaced but knew that they would be ready. They were well trained.

||Starbase 12
||Science Labs
||August 2, 2387
||1050

Keeping one eye on his tricorder's readout Gabe pulled one of the service panels from the lab's wall and routed around inside. He pulled out broken parts and dumped them in a pile on the floor. Whatever had exploded had taken a huge chunk or the labs inner workings with it, to Gabe it was looking less and less like an accident. The explosion had not only damaged the door, the door'd manual override and the fire supression system on the deck but it also taken out a few of the labs consoles.

He reached back into the panel, "Damn i hate these coffin suits." He cursing slightly as the faceplate of his enviromental suit hit the bulkhead.

He finally found what he wanted, the control node for the fire supression system which was as he expected badly damaged.

"Great, just great. Okay Primary and secondary couplings damaged, control circuit destroyed." He said to himself as he lifted the tray on the top of his toolkit. He started moving spare parts around looking for something in particular. He pulled out a black and silver cylinder a few inches in length. "Ok, Class four Power transfer node, 'course it's 40 years old and current systems'll fry it in about 2 seconds..."

He looked around the lab for anything he could use to help insulate the node. "Solian C, Potasseium, Natix A.. high Electro Plasmic conductivity... that may just work."

He took the jar from the shelf and flipped it over in his hand, He placed the node on the floor next to the pile of damaged Equipment. He poured the Natix A onto the node and used a laser welder to melt it. His thoery was that the Natix, known for it's conductivity, would take the load off the node.

"Well, lets hope this works." He said as he slid the node into postion, then laughed as the supression system kicked in, "I do have my moments."

||Starbase 12
||Deck 12, Section 8--Promenade
||August 2, 2387
||1130


The science labs were a diversion; meant to distract from the real purpose--chaos and confusion. They were just getting started and they'd caught the Chief Engineer in the cross hairs--poison: unintended but welcome, and her Bajoran DNA didn't take too kindly to it...maybe the Captain would be next. She deserved it. He deserved it. Everyone deserved this. After what they'd done, it was letting them all off easily. With a furtive glance around, they punched in the command to seal off Section 5...three sections away was risky, but it was a warning.

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1130

She remembered a panic induced haze, and a petri dish full of alien plant samples--and then she remembered nothing. She'd only fainted twice in her life; once when she was five and once when she was eight in the labor camps on Bajor. There was a steady, but irregular beep invading her thoughts, and Marlo opened her eyes, surprised to see Sickbay, instead of the science labs--and the beep was the vitals monitor on the wall. She sat up slowly, her head spinning, and took a deep shaky breath. Her hands were sweaty...not a trait normally found on a Bajoran, seeing as their planet was rather humid. What in the name of the Prophets had happened in that lab...and she hoped she was under quarantine. Who knew if she could pass this on?

She coughed, the action rattling her insides.

"Excuse me?" Marlo's voice was barely more than a whisper.

No one answered.

She couldn't just sit around in Sickbay. She needed to be up, fixing things and creating, not hiding behind some force field because she'd inhaled some superheated alien spores that didn't mix well together. She rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes. If she was going to die, it would be doing everything she loved while saving everyone else...she had enough blood on her hands to last a lifetime. But she wasn't going to die right?

Marlo swung her legs over the side of the bio bed, and fell over as she tried to stand up. Maybe sedation was a better idea, seeing as her vision was cloudy and she could hurt herself like that--but Dr. Stone was nowhere to be found because he was off procuring more sedatives from the Sickbay store room--and just because she couldn't see, didn't mean she couldn't work, if she could just make it to the wall panel without incident--she held onto whatever she could: bio-bed, surgical table, vitals monitor--but each step got heavier. Marlo felt the wall panel under her fingers...finally, and fumbled for a minute before the screen showed her a force field just beyond her reach--being under quarantine wasn't going to be fun. She typed in another command to look at the damage...she'd been under sedation for a little while longer than she initially thought. The destruction was deliberate.

There was a blip on the screen, and she pressed her comm badge in horror, though lucky for everyone she’d woken up when she did.

"Lieutenant Bakel, to Captain Sorren, Lieutenant Sharpe and Lieutenant Maldoran. Readings indicate...Deck 12, section 5...part of the promenade, is being...sealed off and decompressed..." Marlo panted. "I can't do anything from Sickbay...they need help..."

Her knees buckled under her as she fell unconscious once more.

||Starbase 12
||Science Labs -> Deck 12
||August 2, 2387
||1131

With the Science labs repairs well underway, Gabe had taken to the corridor, checking out the damage done outside the lab. A Bolian ensign handed him a PADD with the full list of damage and a detailed analysis of his make shift rapair job, which brought a smile to his face.

"It'll be a few hours but we should have the lab sorted Sir." The ensign said, Engineers and science officers moving around behind him, "Sir if i may ask, has there been any word of Chief Bakel?"

"None yet I'm afraid Foral, I'll let ya know if i hear anything different." Gabe replied, the Bolian nodded and returned to work.

His eyes scanned through the report Foral had given him and it read for grim news. He now had no doubt this was a planned attack, though by who and why he didn't know. Shaking his head he placed the PADD into his kit and went for his commbadge to contact the infirmary to get an update on Marlo when he heard her voice, soft and weak.

=/\=Lieutenant Bakel, to Captain Sorren, Lieutenant Sharpe and Lieutenant Maldoran. Readings indicate...Deck 12, section 5...part of the promenade, is being...sealed off and decompressed..." Marlo panted. "I can't do anything from Sickbay...they need help...=/\=

He barely even thought, as soon as he heard her warning he slammed his kit closed, scooped it up and started running for the turbolift.

The lift doors opened on deck 12, His boots hit the deck panels with force as he ran with everything he had, His Engineering kit rattling in his hand as he came closer and closer to Section 5. Through the portholes he could see cold dead bodies that had been taken by the void. He cluched the small hammer that hung around his neck and gave a silent pray to those that had been lost. Sure enough he saw the bulkhead into section 5 was down, blocking it off from the rest of the station. He'd been too late to save some, but he'd be damned if he was going to let anyone else die without doing anything he had to to save them...

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1140

Gan was busy with all the other doctors, wiping sweat from his brow. He knew it was only a matter of time before he would collapse, either with exhaustion or whatever was plaguing Marlo. He had been using hyposprays on himself, stepping away for a moment so the rest of the staff didn't see. These people needed him and he would figure out how to help the young engineer. He wondered whatever had happened to Cecily, she was supposed to bring him information. She was probably doing the best she could to figure out what was going on herself. He knew he was going to be done so he moved towards the other medical. "Sorry for this people..but I have to sign off now and join the quarantine. I have a feeling that I have been infected and I can no longer pursue helping these people. I'll take care of Lieutenant Bakel in there. Keep me informed of the situation." He had said that a lot today, and yet he didn't feel like he was all that informed about anything. Why the attacks, just after he sent his marines and Lillian to a distress call. Was that all part of this? Was there some sorts of machinations going on on his base? He had a million questions but he couldn't figure any of them out. He could keep himself and Marlo stable until they returned though. He'd need Lillian's help to sort out what was wrong, because he would be soon under the effects of whatever had infected both he and Marlo. He walked towards the panel for the forcefield quarantining the young Bajoran and touched a few of the buttons. He deactivated it and walked in, reactivating it from the other side. He looked to the young woman. "Looks like we're in this together, Lieutenant." He sighed and leaned against the wall for a moment. "Computer, lock down this quarantine. Access granted only to Lieutenant Lillian Crae and Lieutenant Cecily Branton. Voice authorization, Captain Sorren Gan, Alpha zulu six eight niner." He didn't know what else to do, he couldn't dare to infect anyone else. Those two would be the only ones who could help him now.

He sat down on the bed and grabbed a medkit, pulling out another hypospray and injected its contents into his femoral artery. He looked to the young woman, "Well Lieutenant, it looks like we'll have plenty of time to get to know one another in here. I don't suppose you have any verbal complaints you want to lodge against any of my staff or anything, do you?" He laughed, smiling before it turned into a hacking cough. He was feverish, but the drugs in his bloodstream would deal with his symptoms. But until he could figure out what was wrong with them, he had no medical reason to do anything else. He wasn't just going to experiment, fiddling around with their bodies. He pulled out his tricorder to run a scan on her and harumphed. He shook his head, "I hope Branton figures something out. I could really use a tool to use against whatever this is. But it doesn't seem to have gotten to anyone else. Perhaps I shouldn't have been as reckless when I ran in to pull you out. But it was worth it. We'll both be fine..." He sighed softly, laying his head down against the rest, realizing that it wasn't the most comfortable place in the world. "Remind me to send to starfleet for more comfortable pillows in Sickbay." He chuckled softly and closed his eyes, letting himself rest a small amount.

||Starbase 12
||Rec Room
||August 2, 2387
||1150

It was regrettable.

They hadn't meant for that to happen, but there was no use whining about it--it was done and couldn't be changed. Everyone died, whether they deserved it or not. Sure this one hadn't done anything wrong, and the body was just stuffed into a tiny compartment, just waiting to be found, but it shouldn't have gotten in the way of revenge. Seeing them loitering around the office, with the intended victim inside, proved to be their undoing...and though the death was regrettable, there was no time to lose.

Deck 12, Section 5 had been where their spouse had worked before the accident...before their death and all those promotions no one should have gotten. The officer had known too much...

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1150


"You're late, Cecily," she chastised under her breath in the corridor.

Cecily knew that she needed to be here earlier, but she had been trying to isolate the problem and it turned out that she was right: setting fire to the spores had mutated them and now they were dangerous. It wasn't ideal and she was still trying to figure out how to cure it, but she knew that she could do it...and she knew that while for some reason Gan and Marlo had been hit the hardest, they weren't the only one. She wanted to know what this was and how it spread and if it meant she had just found a new virus and a new cure, could she get promoted? No, Cecily, no...this was about people, not about a rank or prestige.

"I need your medical labs," she told Gan and Marlo as she moved passed the quarantined area to the back of Sickbay. "I have a feeling that you are more equipped to deal with a such a virus...but again I reiterate that I'm a scientist, not a doctor."

She nodded at that and set right in on trying to figure out what it was that she needed to do first and that seemed easy enough: isolate how it was making them sick. That meant blood samples and the like and so she set right into thinking up what she needed for that and then she moved around as quickly as possible while still trying to be as precise as possible as to not screw anything up. On top of that, she was going to need to figure out how to reverse what was happening and she had a feeling that she might need help...the help of a lucid doctor...perhaps Lillian's help. Just the thought made her skin crawl and she shuddered, hoping that Gan's suggestions would be enough when he was actually conscious.

"This may take a little bit so let's not all get our hopes up too much."


<Taggles: Anyone>

||Starbase 12
||Deck 12
||August 2, 2387
||1150

"Come on, come on." Gabe grunted as he attempted to keep up as many of the external force fields as he could.
Dispite the bodies he'd already seen he knew there were other in section 5 that were safe. Until all the fields were up, no ammount of jury rigging could open the emergency bulkhead. For nearly twenty minutes he'd done the best he could to keep the fields up, but each time he did others started to fail.

Using the PADD Foral had given him eariler he tapping into the main computer and used it to control the force fields, transfering power from the main reactors to power each as they dropped.

"Computer, Keep those damn force fields up or i'm gonna start pulling Isolinear chips from ya core."

"Unable to comply."

"Of course, coz that'll be too bloody easy." he muttered in reply.

Field 12 failed and Gabe worked quickly to get it up again, his fingers dancing across the PADD. One of the wall display consoles stated that Field's 3 and 5 were up and staying up, but he knew those areas had already been voided, there was nobody in there to save. He shook his head as Fields 6,7 and 8 came online.

"Computer, give me lifesign readings on Deck 12 section 5 Bulkheads D56 through D58."

"There are no lifesigns within the Perimeter specified.... Warning power flucuation detected on Deck 12 section 5."

"No... that'll blow the field generators," He started to say as warnings appeared on the PADD, he could do nothing as each of the field generators blew, releasing the entire section to the black of space. He closed his eyes and slid down the bulkhead behind him.

"Computer... give me a lifesign reading of deck 12.... section 5."

"No lifesigns detected."

"Yeah." he sighed, resting his head against the bulkhead he was sitting against, "That's what i was afraid of."

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1151

Gan found it strangely pleasant as he stared up at the ceiling. He pondered a moment before he looked over to Marlo for a moment. He was fevered and so was she. He knew that now that Cecily was here something could be done about their condition. But he was still surprised at how excellent he felt. He smiled over at his quarantine mate, wondering how she felt. He opened his mouth to speak and was surprised where his mind went. He worked his jaw for a moment, but what he wanted to say wasn't exactly what he ended up saying. "Well you know, if I could have been trapped with anyone in the world, at least it was with a beautiful woman." He shook his head and smiled softly.

He watched Cecily go to work, nodding to her. "Use whatever you need Cecily. I understand you're not a doctor, and I will help you as much as I can. But...I'm not in too stable a place right now. You'll have to explain it to me very simply. My best ability will be telling you what goes where and what to mix with what. I wish my CMO was here. She'd be much better at this than I am." He sighed softly and closed his eyes for a moment again, letting his mind wander. He hoped that Lillian's mission would be over soon. He could really use her help.

"You'll find all the supplies you need already in the lab, Lieutenant. Anything more and just ask me where it is. I lived in this room for a very long time. Even if I am a little bit out of sorts I should still remember where everything is. Though if I start giving you polar coordinates, don't worry that's just how I organized everything at the time. I can point you in the right direction." He shook his head, trying to get the crazy out. "Everything will be just fine."

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1155

Marlo had had a fitful sleep, and woke up once again on one of the hospital beds. Hopefully she hadn't been too much trouble for the doctors, what with them having to take down the force field and carry her back to her bed, and then put the force field back up when they were finished, and decontaminate themselves--so she probably was a heap of trouble. Though it explained why Dr. Stone had locked her and Gan out of the system.

She looked around...sickbay was filling up slowly, with all sorts of crew members, who had varying degrees of injuries and sickness. What was the person--or people--after that they had to cause this much destruction, to get what they wanted...unless they just wanted revenge, and these other people had been just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and caught in the crossfires...

Wait...had Gan just called her beautiful?

She smiled a little and bit her lip, unsure of how to respond--she didn't make a habit of complicating the chain of command, but it was nice to be told she was pretty occasionally. She looked at Cecily before she decided to say something completely inappropriate and out of line.

"I know you don't like Lillian, but she's my best friend, and I spend ample amounts of time here...I also studied medicine in the academy, especially viruses, so if you need any help, let me know...though I'm not sure how much help I can be behind this field, since Dr. Stone was kind enough to lock us out of the system." She grimaced.

She didn't blame him though, he was acting CMO with Lilly planet-side, and therefore had the power to do so. She sighed and wiped her feverish brow. It was odd being conscious for so long lately, though she was sure, once whatever was in that hypo-spray Gan was using to keep the sickness at bay wore off, she'd once again succumb to unconsciousness.

"By the way...thanks for bringing me here when I fainted, Captain." Marlo muttered.

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1155

He pondered for a moment, listening to what Marlo had to say to Cecily. He knew that they both would do what they could to help out. He shook his head and sat up from the bio-bed. "He didn't lock us in here. I did. It was safer that way. Can't be sure whether or not we're contagious, Lieutenant Bakel. But I keyed the computer to accept Lieutenant Branton's personal authorization. I also keyed it to Lillian's..if she manages to make it back in time to help us sort everything out. I hope nothing went as horribly wrong planetside as it did here." He frowned slightly, not even knowing if they could communicate with the away team. The sabotage could have easily taken out communications. He tapped his comm badge, "Sharpe, how are things coming along up there? Status report, Lieutenant." He waited for the man's reply and set his mind to the task of aiding Cecily. He thought of possible counter-agents to viruses and wondered if it was just because he was careless, or was it because only he and Marlo were Bajorans of the officers who had responded to the scene? He had no idea, and he supposed he would let Cecily do most of the work in that department. He would have a better idea of how to fight whatever this was once he knew the family it lived in.

He took stock of his supplies in the quarantine while Cecily started her own work and found that he had most of what he would probably need. Or at least he thought so. Things in his mind were a little fuzzy and he wasn't connecting the dots as well as he usually would. He smiled softly and nodded, "Yep we're pretty well stocked in here." He said, mostly to himself. It was a reassurance kind of thing and it made sense right now. He looked back to Marlo, "Not one for much in the way of small talk Lieutenant? Oh well. Perhaps I will be able to hold a conversation to myself." He laughed merrily and sat back down on his bio-bed, anxious for news, any news. He hated being locked up in here, even if it was for the good of everyone else.

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1156


"I didn't mean the force field, that was a necessary evil--earlier, I was trying to work, but I passed out, Dr. Stone found me, carried me back to bed, and proceeded to lock me out of the computer system. I couldn't get any work done if I tried. " Marlo laughed, which part way through turned into a hacking cough. "Don't get me wrong, I love to be told I'm pretty, and I would tell you you're not so bad yourself, but I don't think we can ever cross that line."

Though she was definitely putting a toe over it. What she wouldn't give for her lute or a deck of dom-jot cards--at a time like this. Marlo did gamble sometimes, it wasn't a pastime she liked to admit...or include in her files, but it'd be a great way to pass the time. Cecily had already taken blood samples from them, and didn't seem to want their help at the moment, but what was she supposed to do, until they were cured? Sleep?

She'd found ways to occupy herself in the labor camps, but she'd had a younger brother and an older sister to keep her company, and at seven, she didn't feel useless when she wasn't working, but now twenty years later, after the destruction of her previous ship, she didn't do anything but work.

"So who do I have to kill for some pudding?" Marlo joked, but then grew somber.

It had been a horrible choice of words, and she regretted them the moment they were out of her mouth. Maybe she should just lie down, for a while...

||Starbase 12
||Deck 12
||August 2, 2387
||1156

"Sharpe, how are things coming along up there? Status report, Lieutenant." Came Gan's voice over his commbadge.

Gabe continued to sat against the bulkhead, shock and anger still gripping him. He shook his head slowly and rubbed the bridge of his nose, eyes still closed as he gave his answer.

"External forcefields in section 5 were destroyed by a power surge Sir... their all dead, everyone in that area is dead... I couldn't save 'em." He replied, his voice weak. "There was nothing i could do."

He stood slowly and looked out of the porthole, He watched the dead as they span cold and silent in the black of space. His fault. He pulled the small hammer he wore around his neck from under his shirt and clutched it tightly. He saw the faces of the people that had been vented into space, their frozen faces twisted into looks of terror, pain and shock. At least the first of them hadn't known what had happened, but the others... They'd had to watch as others were pulled into the void, wondering when it'd happen to them. Parents holding their children close, no doubt telling them that everything would be alright, that someone would save them.

All his knowledge, all his skill and right now it meant nothing. His earlier spark of quick thinking suddenly felt like to was years ago in the wake of the dead he now saw. He'd done his best and in the end it was all for nought. The bodies before him were now his legacy, dozens of innocent people dead because of him.

He grabbed his kit and left the area, his work here done for now, there were surely more things to do before this was over and he hoped that this time, he could manage to do his job without killing anyone.

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1157

He shook his head, something in his mind couldn't piece together what had happened and the report he had gotten from Gabe. He turned his attention to Marlo for a moment, knowing that his voice had come through the commbadge for more or less the entire room to hear. He hung his head, the loss of even more innocent lives on the station was a lot for Gan to handle at the moment. But he knew he had to. "You did all you could Sharpe. Don't beat yourself up Lieutenant." He sighed softly and tapped the commbadge again to cease the link for the moment. He knew that he couldn't do anything stuck up in this room, but any sort of treatment wouldn't magically appear at his feet.

He nodded to Marlo, "You're right about that line. It's hard to remember sometimes when you look around. Have to obey the chain of command, no fraternizing with other officers and the like. I'm sorry, I'm just not in my right mind right this moment Lieutenant." He laughed at her joke for a moment before realizing the situation they were in. While it wasn't necessarily inappropriate, perhaps it was poorly timed. "Unfortunately there isn't a replicator in here and there isn't exactly a trap door Ms. Branton can open up and throw us food through. We'll have to wait it out. Unfortunately there isn't much to do in quarantine." He sighed softly, hoping to keep his mind off the crew members and civilians he had lost today. This was going to be hard to explain to starfleet. He just hoped his CSO was out there, catching the people responsible for this mess.

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1304


Cecily had been working her tail off trying to figure out what exactly it was that she was dealing with right now and how to cure it...so far all she really had was crew members getting sick and it bothered her that she couldn't cure it. She had isolated strands of this new virus and she'd been experimenting with it, finally figuring out how to at least contain it--stop it from spreading. While she didn't want to just isolate this thing, it was far better than just letting it run wild and so she made sure to do a couple more experiments with it to make sure that it was actually working before she synthesized the drug to help with it.

It seemed that it attacked much like any type of flu virus, making the infected tired, sore and sometimes queasy, killing healthy cells as it grew and multiplied and spread. Right now, she was able to stop it from spreading, but in order to actually eradicate the disease once and for all, she was going to need Lillian's help and that thought alone was starting to make her really upset and she needed to get herself under control so that she didn't make any kind of mistake. Ever since meeting the two had been trying to outdo each other and right now Cecily was on the right track and she wandered out to where Gan and Marlo were behind the forcefield with two hyposprays and she smiled.

"This will stop the disease from spreading, but you're not cured yet," Cecily explained to them. "It's taking some time, but everything will be alright, I promise--I'm getting closer and closer to a cure."

||Starbase 12
||Counseling Offices
||August 2, 2387
||1304


Honestly, Shelley Kingston hadn't been really trying all that hard to be the best that she could be lately because so many things had affected her when the accident had happened. She had watched her best friend die in her arms in Sickbay and hadn't been there since then...hadn't spoken about him since then...had only been counseling others since then. Of course she had taken a break as Lillian had suggested to her that she do and she'd been getting better, but everything was so wrong and now the Chief Counselor was missing: Lieutenant Commander Julianne Murphy. That meant that anyone coming to her right now was really looking for Julianne because Shelley didn't have as much 'business' as she would have liked to get her mind off of things, but since the Deck 12 Section 5 incident, she was starting to feel overwhelmed.

Sometimes, Shelley suffered from panic attacks and right now she was feeling like she couldn't breathe and so she'd excused herself to go and lock herself away in her office. It felt like history was repeating itself and she didn't know if she could handle this because Marlo and Lillian were the last friends she had left and Marlo was infected with some sort of weird mutated disease she didn't understand and Lillian was God knew where...in fact the Away Team had never checked in. That in itself made her feel her chest restrict some more and she reached for her hypospray, pressing it to her neck and then letting the medicine release into her system, feeling the pain subside a little bit.

"Get your shit together, Shelley," she whispered to herself as she closed her eyes.

Taking a moment or two to breathe again, she pressed her comm badge and tried to get in touch with Julianne, sighing loudly when it didn't work and heading to her office even though she knew she shouldn't. Julianne had a rough time with Lieutenant Commander Jason Cobalt, a security officer whom she had had to place as unfit for duty after the loss of his pregnant wife, and hated to be bothered on days she had to see him and the other victims of the accident that claimed so many. He saw Julianne four times a week and was trying to find his way back, but Shelley didn't remember seeing him earlier and she needed to take a break--Julianne would understand.

She signaled her arrival and heaved a heavy sigh, signaling again before she opened up the door for the Chief Counselor and slowly walked inside but something was wrong. Julianne wasn't in the room but things looked messed up like there had been a struggle and then Shelley saw it: the blood under the desk and for a moment her heart pounded in her chest and she felt another panic attack coming on because there was blood...that was never a good sign. Slowly, she moved around the desk and saw Julianne's bloody body lying there, having been stabbed multiple times, her throat slit. She was pale and she was very obviously dead, Shelley feeling her legs go weak as she shook her head in disbelief that such terrible things were happening all over again.

"No," Shelley exclaimed painfully, her hand flying up to her mouth as tears came to her eyes, "No...NO!" Something in the back of her mind told her that she was next, and she quickly pressed her comm badge. "Captain, this is Lieutenant Kingston...Commander Murphy has been murdered."


<Tags: Gan, Any>

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1304

Marlo felt slightly better, once Cecily injected her with whatever she'd put in the hypospray and hopped off the bio bed. She stretched briefly, and nodded at the scientist--she'd come through for now, but Marlo wanted to go work, help Gabe fix deck twelve. Her heart went out to him, she'd lost so many good and innocent people when the Endeavor was destroyed--no one should have to go through that alone. Plus she definitely needed to get out of quarantine, before she did something to complicate the chain of command...

"Can you make that to go? I want to work...I've been in here for hours, and despite the company, quarantine sucks." Marlo said, smiling reassuringly at Gan.

"Captain, this is Lieutenant Kingston...Commander Murphy has been murdered." Shelley's voice came over Gan's comm badge.

Marlo's hand flew to her mouth in horror. There was another reason for her to leave--Shelley needed a friend, and had never done well with death. Lillian, Shelley and Marlo had been friends since the academy, and the least Marlo could do was offer a shoulder. Hopefully Shelley wasn't having another panic attack, and could keep it together long enough for Marlo to get to her...

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1305

Gan took his own hypospray from Cecily and inoculated himself with it. He knew that now at least they wouldn't be spreading the disease to anyone or further in his body. That was a relief. He didn't want to be here any longer than he had to and he doubted that Marlo did either. This quarantine thing did, as the young woman put it, suck. He shook his head and smiled softly, glad to finally be one step closer to freedom. He knew that Cecily still had a lot of work to do, but she was doing remarkably well.

He sighed softly as more bad news came through his commbadge. Well wasn't that just the cherry on the top of the sundae that was his day? He grimaced, tapping the badge. "Stay calm Lieutenant. I'll have someone from security over to you in a minute or two. Other than that, well.." He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking about what he could do to help the poor girl. "Other than that, help who you can. Talking to people is the easiest way sometimes to deal with things like that. Keep me appraised to the situation as it unfolds, Ms. Kingston." He didn't know what else to say to her, but tapped his commbadge and looked to Marlo. "Looks like we're stuck in here for a little while longer Lieutenant."

He laid back down on his biobed and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, wondering what more could be added on. He felt like he was watching video of a train derail. He'd seen such things in his life before, accidents that caused immense damage that didn't seem to end. But this was an awfully coincidental time for everything to go wrong. He just hoped that nothing had gone wrong for his marines and Lillian. After all, you could only have so much left to break.

||Starbase 12
||Lower Engineering Decks
||August 2, 2387
||1315


If he could just sabotage the life support inside Sickbay, his revenge would be almost complete--if only the new CMO wasn't planet-side, he could finish it in one fell swoop. He had been planning this for a while, and had learned everything he needed to to cause the maximum amount of chaos and damage in so little time. Sooner or later he'd be caught--he knew it, but until then, he planned on causing as much harm as the last accident had--an accident caused by a careless engineering mistake. That was why, he was there now: back where it all began...