Coming Down

Posted on Mon Oct 5, 2015 @ 8:36pm by Captain Maritza Soran & Ensign Kaliko Mahelona & Lieutenant Benj Amoran

1,439 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Fallout
Location: OPS/Sickbay/Science
Timeline: MD 03 1800 - Backpost for Eye of the Beholder

::ON::

Soran was watching the behavior of everyone around her in OPS, and was perturbed. Talking to people who weren't there, staring at their hands, giggling and sniggering. Some had just got up and run off. She tapped a com badge. "Soran to Operations." No Response. "Soran to Science, SickBay. Is anyone there?"

=^= Amoran here, how can I help you Commander =^= came the reply from Sickbay.

"There are several people in OPS who are displaying very erratic behaviour. I need to know whats going on. Should I seal OPS, or is this ship wide?"

=^= I'm getting reports from all over =^= Benj admitted, shaking his head unseen as he pushed some more reports across his desk as if to prove this to himself. =^= They're multiplying as if it were a plague =^= he added, hoping that he'd just coined a figure of speech and not hit on anything he didn't want to have to think about, let alone diagnose and deal with.

Soran ground her teeth. As if they didn't have enough to deal with right now. "Soran to Science, please respond." She needed someone to tell her what was making everyone around her act so strangely. If they didn't know what it was, they couldn't fix it, and right now she had a downed Pilot, a hostage situation and an escaped alien loose on the station.

Amoran ran with that thought now it had been awakened in his mind. He began to initiate some data reviews to discover whether or not there were any correlating facts in the cases his department had been dealing with.

=^= I can't find any common areas of the station that are affected more than others. And it doesn't seem to be race related as there are many different species affected. I think we might be able to say that with so many diverse races, it can't be a common food source. =^= He paused as he thought this out.

=^= Perhaps we need to initiate tests on the idea it could be water borne. Or air... I don't see any species that don't breathe our combination of circulated air. Not that there are many who don't. Anyone in an environmental suit would be immune to most things. Not sure that isn't a red herring.=^=

Soran pinched the bridge of her nose. "Air makes the most sense. This has come on quickly, and its ship wide. The only thing everyone on this station has in common is the air we breathe. Flushing the environmental systems is impossible to do fast. Whatever this is, we need an antidote."

=^= Well in order to make an antidote - which by the way is fairly simple and basic - we would need to analyse what the original that we're counteracting. =^= Benj stated simply.


"Then do it!" Soran snapped. "And where the fuck is anyone in Science?"

=^= Ensign Mahelona here...I'm sorry ma'am...there was a giant crab spider in the archaeological lab, I had to dispatch the beast!=^= the frightened ensign called out after she tapped her comm badge.

Soran rolled her eyes. "A little old to be afraid of spiders, aren't we Ms Mahelona?"

"Yes ma'am...but it was three feet across..." She replied timidly.

"There's reports of erratic behaviour from all over the station." Soran continued. "The current hypothesis is some sort of airborne toxin. I can't raise Operations or Engineering to give me a report on any sort of environmental malfunction. I need you to start looking into this right now and work out a solution."

Benj wondered if the "Spider" was one of the aforementioned hallucinations and was glad that Sickbay had it's air separately filtered for quarantine and non-contagion purposes.

Kali ran to a console in her lab and started running diagnostics on the air filtration systems and a shadow crossed the console. She nearly screamed when she saw that the spider was back. Not wanting to tell her commanding officer it was back she quickly moved the diagnostics to another console outside her lab. Kali moved slowly away, her body tightly against the wall. As soon as she was out of the lab she locked the lab so the resurrected spider couldn't get out.

"I can't get a clear reading ma'am but something is going on...that spider I killed was back...and I swear to the gods that I had vapourized it!"

Soran said some very rude words under her breath. "Ignore the spider and deal with the task I gave you. We need to know what is going on."

=^= May I suggest that whatever is causing these hallucinations is in the air in the Science Dept too? =^= Benj conjectured softly.

=^= I don't know why you're immune Commander but here in Medical our air is processed differently, quarantine etc.... =^= he added.

Because I'm drugged to the eyeballs on illegal anti-psychotics. "I don't know that I'm not. Lets concentrate on clearing it. How would you mormally treat hallucinations?"

=^= If they're induced by something foreign.... as in something in the air.... then we'd treat them by cleaning up the air but that's a HUGE job and we'd have to the Management involved, Ops and Engineering too..." he contemplated the picture.

Kali looked at the spider that was locked in her lab and back at her screen. That's easy for you to say...you don't have a giant spider wreaking havoc in your lab! She thought to herself. =^=wait! Its showing on sensors...I've got it! Unknown in the diagnostics but....it's...it's...=^= come on hold it together Kali! =^=it's organic! We need to go isolate it and counter it!=^= she was pressing buttons as she talked.

=^= Do you want me to sally forth with tranqs?" Benj asked the second officer, making judgements based on what they were hearing and coming to the conclusion that some of these hallucinations were making their victims so disorientated as to possibly be a danger to themselves.

"Is that safe?" Soran was sceptical. "Surely a cure might be a more productive use of your time?"

=^= A cure for what? =^= he asked bluntly. =^= I need a sample of the contaminated air to ascertain firstly IF it's actually polluted with something, secondly if that 'something' is the cause of this and thirdly what antidote I can create to 'cure' it with an antidote. =^=

=^=I'll bring you a sample from the science lab.=^= Kaliko said and set to work getting the sample needed, she wanted away from the giant spider. ~the spider isn't real...the spider isn't real...~ she chanted to herself but constantly looked over her shoulder. =^=I'm on my way!=^=

Kali ran to medical. "Here!" She exclaimed breathlessly when she arrived. She looked around watching for more spiders. ~Pull yourself together Kali! They aren't real!~

Benj grabbed the samples and thanked her. He took them straight into the lab and started to run an analysis. There was a clear yellow reaction and he nodded, satisfied. "No doubt about it. MetholOxyTeride!" he declared as if that was something that meant a lot. Well, it did to him!

He started up the MSA and set it to create an antidote right away. "Soon have that fixed!" he declared triumphantly, happy that for once, at last, something was seeming to finally go simpler. He worked away and soon a small vial was ready. He handed it to Kali. "Can you get this to the Air Con plant and insert it into the main supply. I'll replicate another vial for the second wave and we'll soon see an improvement all over the station!"

He hesitated. "Oh... be careful. When you go back out there, you'll be outside the pure air of this facility. If you want to wear an oxygen mask, that'd be fine or otherwise you might get those spiders back if you start to hallucinate again yourself."

"Right!" She took the vial and grabbed an oxygen mask. Kali strapped it on her face, gave a salute and left running towards the plant. She arrived completely out of breath and stopped for a couple of moments before moving towards the wall.

=^= It's done, the vial has been emptied into the main air supply.=^= she said to the doctor and commander. She made her way back up to sickbay to get the second vial not removing the oxygen mask until she got back. "Well no giant spiders were seen." Kali smiled.

Benj sighed with relief. "Thank the Prophets" he muttered.





OOC: for when ready to sign off:

A Jp between:

Ensign Kaliko Mahelona
Alien Archaeologist/Anthropologist


and


Lt Cmdr Amia Telamon
CMO - DS5

and


Lt Commander Maritza Soran
2XO/Chief of Strategic Ops
DS5

 

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