Flying Dark (Part VIII of VIII)
Posted on Fri Mar 20, 2020 @ 10:21pm by Captain Maritza Soran & Civilian 'Key Holder' Dorian Gabriel & Civilian 'Arrival' Geral Lasuma & Commander Caleb Ryan & Commander Amia Telamon M.D. & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Lieutenant Alanna Wells & Captain Lazanos Torena & Lieutenant JG Erich Hartmann & Lieutenant JG Scaliontis Lovok & Civilian Jason Haines & Lieutenant JG Natalie Cross
1,110 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Et In Arcadia Ego
Location: DS5, Various
Timeline: MD 01 1530
Previously on
"Soran to all senior staff? Is anyone receiving it? Please report."
“Ryan ta Soran,” he reported in. “Ah’m at Sickbay now. Where do ya need me?"
“We're coping here," Dr Amia Telamon added. "But it's tough on the patients, and if we don't get power back very soon, doing everything the hard way is going to start to overwhelm us.”
And now the conclusion
Science
Even with the backup generators, power began to fail in the science department. Alanna checked the generator in her office. It was fine the day before when she checked it, but now it was being drained faster than it should have. She shut down the computers and pulled the generator. When she entered the main science lab, she called to the two officers working there, "Shut down all power and take the portable generators to maintain the fields in labs 224-233. If we don't get them stabilized, we're going to have a critical failure."
The other two quickly shut down power and pulled the generator. Alanna took both of them, put them on a hover cart, and headed for the door. "Pete, get the other generators. Tilly, evacuate personnel from the area. I'll notify Command."
On her way out, she tapped her combadge. It worked, this time. "Wells to Command. Need power stabilized in Science Labs 224 through 233. Experiments are behind containment fields. If they fail, we could have a critical failure. I'm heading there with two portable generators, but they won't last long."
Engineering Support Lab
Soran added that to the list of all the potential crises that could happen if that continued. "Understood. Once you've got them stabilised, crack open your nearest EPS and tell me what I'm dealing with."
"Will do. Wells out."
Soran tapped her badge to clear the line. "Hartmann, Lovok? What can you tell me? Tessaro, how’s the Prom?"
“Tessaro here. Ensign Mayhew took point in ensuring the safety of the residents. We're getting people down as fast as possible. No real security issues other than a few daredevils.”
“Hartmann here.” The German’s voice came over the comm, “Light casualties reported so far. No fatalities. We have been able to account for approximately 60 percent of all personnel. That’s the good news.”
He paused before continuing.
“The bad news is that power may take a while to restore; engineering has discovered a kind of crystalline growth, like a fungus, on the EPS conduits. The structures seem to feed and leech off the plasma. So far found these things in half a dozen locations. We’ve tried both physically removing them and using phasers, to no avail. We are currently running tests on the structures to see if they are vulnerable to chemical agents or other forces. Will update as able.”
By now the Romulan had secured the conduit hub, a few decks below Main Engineering, but still in the jefferies tubes, but the crystals had completely engulfed the hub and seemed dormant, like it had a full meal. Scaliontis had the container his engineers had given him, and the crystal didn't seem to want to eat it, which he was happy about. He heard the captain's call and was glad they all can now communicate.
“Lovok to Soran,” he heard Ops' report, since the captain tied the call between the four officers. “Lieutenant Hartmann is correct. Do not use phasers, though I just cut out a large cache of crystal at an EPS conduit hub near Main Engineering and we stupidly used phasers on it. It now has grown big, but it is contained. Portable generators will not hold out much longer, so I request that all personnel not performing critical tasks be advised to assist engineers cut and replace conduiting so the electroplasma may flow again. Thankfully the reactors themselves have built-in filtration features at their conduit connections that only allow output, but I will have engineers check inside just in case. I request that this crystal sample be transported to one of the ships for analysis,” Scaliontis said as he made his way back to Main Engineering, container underarm.
“Captain, we don’t want this to spread,” Caleb chimed in as he made his way to Ops to supervise the situation. “Suggest we quarantine the problem here, and don’t let any of that crystal leave the station. We need to alert the Odyssey to establish a quarantine zone. No ship docks or leaves until further notice, and then every ship needs a full inspection to be sure it isn’t infected.”
Arboretum
Finally, the rain was contained in the arboretum and most of the mud cleaned up. The rest would end up back in the ground. Brianthe sat on a bench, wet, bedraggled, and covered in enough dirt to plant seeds. But the worst was over. Most of the plants and the trees were fine. She wasn't so sure about the seedlings.
"Anything I can help with?" Paula asked, coming up to Brianthe.
"All power is shut off and all doors that can be closed are," the botanist replied. "We're good here for now. Sit. Rest. We finish clean up later."
Paula sat down on the bench with a groan. "Good."
Science Labs
Alanna had as many generators as she could find hooked up to the labs that needed power, but it wasn't enough. "We'll have to sacrifice one of the labs," she said. She mentally ran over which experiments were in which labs, and picked the one that would cause the least damage. It took her a couple of minutes to get there. "Pull the generators from here," she ordered. "Take them up to Lab 224. That one's the most critical."
"But this one..."
"I know. Evacuate everyone in a fifty meter radius," she said. "Now."
As she was in charge, she made sure everyone else was clear, then moved as quickly as she could away from the lab.
When the containment field failed, the chemical reaction caused an explosion that threw Alanna against the bulkhead at the far end of the corridor. Fortunately, it only took out the lab and the rooms adjoining it.
But no alarms sounded, no fire-suppression triggered. The remains of the lab, and the surrounding corridor began to fill with acrid poisonous smoke.
TBC
Lieutenant (jg) Scaliontis Lovok
Chief Engineer
Deep Space Five
Lieutenant JG Ta'Gas Kivan
Assistant Chief Engineer
Deep Space Five
Ensign Brianthe Oaxaca
Botanist
Deep Space Five
Paula
Botanist
Deep Space Five
Lieutenant Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer
Deep Space Five
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