Surface Tension, part 3

Posted on Mon Oct 4th, 2010 @ 3:16am by Lieutenant JG Jerreck O'Connor & Major Leroy Mangalia & Chief Petty Officer Shalie Montgomery & Chief Warrant Officer Wendell Gavin & Lieutenant JG Elizabeth Jackson & Lieutenant JG Jason Hart

1,235 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Peace, or Something Like It
Location: Turkana IV
Timeline: Current

ON

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[NEW]


Jerry was looking down at his tricorder, and the reason he was banging it was because he couldn't figure out what in the world he was picking up, though the tricorder was absolutely sure it was there. He looked at Hart and at everybody else there. "Uh... chemical no. But I got a seriously weird EM-band reading just on that spot. So if someone could like, dig down? Look to see if there's some kind of a transmitter or something?"

"Oh, I thought something was wrong with your tricorder. I guess mine is acting weird to not tell me exactly what is wrong." The doctor looked at the floor where Jerry was standing. One tile on the floor was half broken as well as a few others were. He got down on his knees and pulled the gray, thin cement until it broke loose. Underneath it appeared to be a container in a hole that looked just like a gel pack from the ship. "What is this?"

Wendel had his corner covered and had been joined by a nervous Private that would only get greener if he phsyically became ill, which given the way she was shifting around in a crouch and letting her eyes dart this way and that was a distinct possibility. Still, there wasn't much he could do since this was obviously her first real op, the best thing he could do for her was to act like a professional, which he did.
"Southwest section clear, all other corners check in."

After hearing the other corners report back he checked in with Leo.
"Still no visible vapors or active hostiles, how does your vantage point look?"

"Thats the odd thing Chief, I've got no one on the streets." Leo looked around and stood, making himself an open target. "I see no cloud, no people marching, not even a fortification of any sort. Push the corners out to the next building, then call out if anything changes. You smell something off or get a cloud coming, pull back and beam out."


"Well, the darn thing looks like a signal booster to me. I don't know what signal it's boosting, not from here. But obviously, this thing only appeared on my tricorder when it was reconfigured. So, you tell me what the heck we're looking at. Probably a retransmitter, which means that whatever it is, is using either light-speed or sublight transmissions. And around here, points to start those signals could be... anywhere." Jerry was plainly confused.

Jason slowly pulled the container out of the hole. "Did you say this is a booster? I sure hope I'm not holding a bomb...", he set it on the floor. He took a look at his tricorder, "It sure is giving off EM frequency. I wonder for what?"

When nobody answered him right away, he looked around him to see the tension on their faces. He knew fear and it was creating a tight knot in his stomach. The doctor stood up and glanced down at the container. "Um, I'm a doctor, not a bomb detonator or an expert in this thing." He slowly backed away from it till he was about ten feet from it, not knowing what he was looking at. He didn't want to take any chances of getting killed if it was a bomb. If it isn't, then there are no worries.

One of the Marines styepped forward and lowered her weapon to the ground. Looking at the doctor she pushed him slightly back and started to unscrew and build a blast shield around the container. One of the others started to chuckle until she shot them a glare that said plainly 'I will blow your room into space.' Finalising the blast dome she activated it, slipped her hands into the area that allowed for them to work the supposed bomb. Without saying a word, she began looking for a control panel, sensor, or anything that would make a bomb explode.

Jerry leaned in slowly, looking at the Marine and then at what she was looking at. "Maybe when she's off-duty..." passed through his mind and he smiled faintly. "Looks like just a transmitter. They didn't expect the thing to be found, because of the absolutely wonderful atmospheric conditions around here. Can't turn around without having a warning of some kind of industrial chemical, or radiation, or who-knows-what."

What a tough lady, the doctor thought as he watched the marine who appears to be not afraid of anything as she tries to dismantle the booster, as Jerry called for the container. He gave a sigh as he realized that it isn't a bomb and felt his fast heart beat slowing down some. "Good. I want to go back to the ship soon...this place gives me the creeps."

Looking the canister over, she slammed it twice on the ground and sighed. Pulling one hand out, she deactivated the forcefield and tossed it to the Doctor. Without a word to anyone, she lifted her weapon back up and went back to the position assigned her. A couple of the other Marines snickered and tried to not laugh at the looks on the fleeters faces. They also wondered when someone would try talking and/or hitting on the young woman.

Jason's heart felt like it dropped when he watched the container being tossed into the air towards him. He caught it like a football. "What the hell did you throw that at me for? If that exploded...or I mean, hit the ground and exploded...trying to get me killed?" He held the booster as if it was fragile and heard the marines were making some noises like they wanted to laugh. He looked at the science officer as he handed the booster to him, "I believe you want to take this to examine it or heal it or whatever..."

Jerry looked at Hart, and sighed heavily. What might have seemed like harmless, humorous antics to everyone else were starting to grate on Jerry's nerves - a hard thing to do. He liked the Doctor, considered him a friend. But they'd all been taught not to panic on an Away mission, that's what got you killed or hurt. And Jerry tried to keep that in his whole life, the openness, the friendship, the general opinion of 'be cool'. "Jay, we're cool. It's not a bomb, okay? Not a frickin' bomb. Nobody's in danger, we're all good. Quit it with the panic, you're gonna give me a headache, dude."

A few moments later, he shook his head and took the thing from Jason, a little annoyed as he ran his tricorder over it. "If I'm right, and... I don't think I am, this was put in recently, based on corrosion patterns and the like. I'll need to send it up to the ship to have a Comms specialist take a look at it." Looking around for whoever was in charge, he spoke, quickly. "Sir, permission to beam this sucker up onto the ship, so that Science, Engineering, and Ops can each take a turn tinkering at it?"


(To be continued...)

Lieutenant JG Jerrick O'Connor
Chief Science Officer

1st Lieutenant Leroy Mangalia
Marine XO

Ensign Jaxon Hart (NPC)
Doctor

Chief Warrant Officer Wendel Gavin
Marine

Chief Petty Officer Shalie Montgomery
Chief Engineer

Ensign Elizabeth Jackson ()NPC)
Botanist

Marine Bomb Expert (NPC)

 

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