Flatfoot turns from the door to ask Aandiruu a question.
"Is there a safe route to get to the ship crew who are still in cold sleep? I mean, any chance that we could rescue more of them, even if we have to go outside the ship and re-enter somewhere else?"
AAndiru shakes her head."I don't know. They've got all the ways blocked. If you can EVA, then maybe you can come in on the forward end of the PSM... the Primary Structure Member, that's what they call the sled-like outriggers on the ship."
"Umm... I don't want to tell you your business, but if you have a place to retreat to, I can just shut down life support and asphyxiate those things. I've been thinking of maybe doing that to them and me for awhile."
Spider considers the mechanic's proposal. "Hmmm. You feel pretty confidant that there aren't anymore crew running for their lives out there?" He waves a hand in the general direction of the bulk of the ship. Before she has a chance to answer, he continues, "I wonder if we can get the ship's scanners to sweep the ship for human lifesigns?"
Piotr shakes his head, his lips silently moving.
He asks another question. "Did you find any recordings, notes ... anything from previous crew members who awakened? Anything at all?"
Flatfoot shakes his head, his lips silently moving.
He asks another question. "Did you find any recordings, notes ... anything from previous crew members who awakened? Anything at all?"
AAndiru shakes her head. "Not a thing. I guess whatever happened happened so fast they didn't write anything down. But you have that key," she says. "Whoever was in charge might have left a log or a clue in the computer. I haven't had command access, but you do. Let's look."
Spider waves at one of the terminals. "We took a look, but you know the system. Maybe you'll have better luck." He positions himself so he can watch the screen as AAndiru delves.
"I was talking about scrawled notes on walls, that sort of thing," replies Flatfoot. "But check the computer logs, too."
She pokes around a bit in the computer logs and points. "I see that you saw LT Shulmaali's last entry. Acting Captain. Gods." She looks for a moment like she might cry, but it passes and she reads on. "Okay, so what happened to Chief Ulaat? He was going to check out those external hatches. We know what he would have found if he'd gotten into Cryosleep. That's where the colonists were waking up and... changing. But what if he'd gotten into medlab? I wonder what he would have found there?"
She pokes around some more. "Got it. Got it. Okay, it's here in the maintenance logs. Someone, presumably Ulaat, accessed the emergency rescue hatch to Medlab Gamma about an hour after Shulmaali departed for the moon. I can't tell what he did or what he found there, but six hours later three ships departed from Endeavor, two Bluestone fuel ships and one transport shuttle. Whatever Ulaat found, it convinced the surviving crew to abandon ship pretty damned quick."
Flatfoot thinks back to their investigation on the planet - had they seen any sign of these ships.
Spider asks AAndiru to show him where Medlab Gamma is.
Flatfoot thinks back to their investigation on the planet - had they seen any sign of these ships.
Right. One of the three ships may have been the one that crashed into the dome on the moon. You never saw any trace of the other two. They may have gone to the mainworld or some other place in the system. None were jump capable.
Spider asks AAndiru to show him where Medlab Gamma is.
She indicates where it is on the plot.
"The labs were built independent of the rest of the superstructure in case something went wrong and containment was necessary. They're only accessible by the lifts. The lift to Gamma and Secondary Observatory is right outside this door."
The cameras in the labs themselves are offline. But there is a functioning camera in Workshop just outside the lab. Spider brings up the display from that camera and sees a series of jury-rigged pipes and tubes as well as a great deal of trash. He's not certain what he's seeing, but Drifter, who's led a more eclectic life, including service on several dodgy far traders, recognizes it. It's an alcohol still.
"Can you tell if that is running?," asks Flatfoot. "Or, has it been gathering dust in vacuum for who knows how long?"
You can't be sure, but you think it's operating.
"So, do we go see what is happening in that Workshop?," asks Flatfoot.
"We'll have to wait for the horde to clear out, but then, yes, I think we should see what's happening in Medlab Gamma."
Mascot squints at the monitor and jabs a finger at it. "Uh, looks to me like there was definitely some activity there. That's an alcohol still set up outside the medlab. I doubt that's standard unless they really got hard up for antiseptic cleaner. More likely someone's in there making moonshine."
"How do you get them to 'thin out'?" asks AAndiru. "They're clever, but vicious. Maybe draw them to another part of the ship?"
"Draw them away, might work. Or, what makes them go dormant? Is it only a lack of food, or do they go dormant for other reason?," asks Flatfoot.
"They seem pretty fast. I am not sure using one of us as bait is a good idea." Drifter says.
Spider answers AAndiru, "I thought you said they'd wander back to engineering after failing to find a way to get to us. If not...then yeah, we'll need to find a way to lure them off. Maybe we can use the ship's internal comms to lure them towards our voices?"
"Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought you meant you wanted to get them away from the lab, not from the bridge. But that's really a good idea," she says.
Spider considers. "OK, let's run a test. We'll see if we can draw some of these...ferals...to sounds we broadcast over internal comms. We'll need to find a spot with camera coverage so that we can monitor the results." He moves to a computer terminal and looks for a likely location.
"What has attracted the creatures, so far? Maybe simple conversation will work," states Flatfoot.
AAndiru nods. "Honestly, anything they think is connected to people brings them running. Sounds and smells, mostly."
Spider, where do you -want- to attract the "ferals"?
Mascot cycles through the cameras views that they have from the bridge, trying to find a place where sounds would be easily heard from other areas of the ship. "What about trying to play it in multiple different staterooms? That's a maze of an area there." He tries to see if he can access audio and video in the staterooms.
"All right, pick a spot with a video feed and pipe our voices in. We'll watch to see how they respond, then repeat the experiment a couple of times before implementing it to try and clear the path to MedLab Gamma."
"Sounds good...but we need to hurry this along. Time is tickin'." Drifter says.
Mascot opens the intercomm and sets the ship's computer to playing Solomani opera in the staterooms. This he follows with snippets of the team's actual voices playing. It does take several minutes, but there is a rustling, like dry leaves, then grunts and howls. Then a torrent of mutated humanity, slavering and growling, tears into the area, bashing at doors and shredding the decor. They seem undeterred by the lack of prey and crowd around, groping, snarling and laying waste.
"Well, that seemed pretty effective. But is that all of them? We may need to plan on some lagging forces as we move." Drifter says.
"Right. Keep our eyes open," says Flatfoot.
"Pardon me in case I asked before," he continues. "But do those things eat each other? Would they slow down to finish off one that we wounded?"
Spider nods at Drifter's observation, "Yeah, stragglers are inevitable. But running into stragglers sounds way better than running into a swarm." He pauses a few seconds, considering, then continues. "I'll stay here and do my best to keep the bulk of the ferals out of your way and out of your avenue of retreat. The rest of you," he sweeps his arm to encompass MS-7, "make your way to MedLab Gamma. See if anyone is there who wants our help, and see if there are any resources there that could help Resolution"
Turning to Aandiru, Spider says, "You aren't under my command, obviously, but if there is anything more you'd like to do to help, let me know."
Drifter reloads and readies his equipment before heading for the door.
Mascot checks his rifle and then his sword, preparing to move out. He nods to Drifter, then to Spider. "Aandiru, are you coming with us?"
"Right. Keep our eyes open," says Flatfoot.
"Pardon me in case I asked before," he continues. "But do those things eat each other? Would they slow down to finish off one that we wounded?"
"Never seen it," says the Life Support technician. "They have a pack structure, like really smart wolves. Honestly, I think they're almost as smart as they were, but they only use that intelligence for scavenging and hunting. Some of them use weapons."
"No, I don't think they're cannibals."
Mascot checks his rifle and then his sword, preparing to move out. He nods to Drifter, then to Spider. "Aandiru, are you coming with us?"
AAndiru huffs. "You're all mad as Vegans. You have a working starship and yet you stay here. We should go!"
She looks from face to face, but seeing no chance of convincing you, she shrugs. "Fine. I'll go."
Under Drifter's direction, Mascot and Flatfoot lead the way, expertly covering each other like the experienced team they are. As the move along, Drifter watches the rear, weapon held at the ready.
Back on the bridge, Spider uses what remains of the ship's command and control systems to monitor his team and the feral colonists.
Flatfoot cannot relax, expecting a ravening horde of the degenerate creatures. The anticipation might be worse that when the shooting starts.
Drifter keeps an eye around them as they move as quickly as possible. He does wonder if the technician might try something when they reach the ship.