Star Trek RPG - Mission #2: "Primum Nil Nocere"

Kylah would love to follow orders right now but the sight of the Sakathian heading toward her requires a fast calculation. If he's far enough away and slow enough, she'll obey Collins--although she senses there might be people still alive in the lab and she hates to abandon any students or still unaffected Sakath crew by leaving.

If he's too fast to give her a good chance at escape, she'll take proper throwing stance, aiming with both arms toward the attacker, then flinging the lethal knife toward the Sakathian's heart.

As all this rushes through her mind, she yells at T'Var--who just stepped in front of her to adviser her and thus has her back to the charging Sakathian--"I'll put the weapon away where it'll do the most good -- watch out, Doctor, that one's coming toward us!"

As she runs, Collins see Rangin ahead of her and gives him the same instructions she'd given to Pourtash, then tries again to raise Pourtash on the communicator.

T'Var turns to see the growling Sakathian coming towards them. She steps to Kylah's side, allowing for a clear knife throw. If needed, the Vulcan will do her best to defend them both as they attempt the ordered retreat.

The Sakathian is coming at Kylah too fast for her to get away. She flings her knife, and it unerringly flies toward the Sakathian's heart, plunging into his chest. He gives an unearthly scream and falls, trying but failing to tear the blade out as he drops to the deck.

Pourtash still does not answer Collins.

Rangin and Waite match their pace to Collins as they run. Waite is clearly terrified.

Kylah exhales with relief that her aim was true, though the pain felt by the Sakathian at the point of impact almost radiated toward her; aiming at living targets is far more troubling than the straw manniquins she practiced on for years as a girl.

Is he dead or just wounded? she thinks, backing away before preparing to turn and follow Collins. If he's dead, she's almost tempted to go back for her knife--except, of course, the other cannibalistic Sakathians are still there. She wonders if they even notice their fallen comrade. Maybe they'll thank me for adding another course to their feast, she thinks with dry, grim humor. But the sudden thought that killing someone might actually aid these horrific creatures--whatever the Sakathians have become--makes Kylah feel ill and she turns toward T'Var, unable to speak but hoping for some of the Vulcan's wisdom.

T'Var grabs Kylah by the arm and moves quickly to follow Collins and the others.

"Perhaps we can retrieve your weapon later," she says.

Grateful for the doctor's swift thinking and knocking her out of her temporary frozen state, Kylah dashes forward with T'Var. She also remembers what Waite said in the cafeteria and yells out. "Dr. Waite! What part of the lab gets locked down? How far are we from safety?"

She turns to Dr. T'Var as they run. "Thank you, Doctor. I--I can't explain but I must tell you I strongly feel there may be survivors in there," she says desperately. "I understand our need to regroup and find some more weapons, but we mustn't delay or they may be lost."

Once back in the common room, Collins turns to Rangin "Go! Shuttle! Weapons! Now!" She turns to her crewmates. "My gut tells me someone's been trying to create hybrids. But to what end?" She turns to Waite. "I want details. Exactly what experiments have you and the Sakathians been doing in that lab?" Jeremi's anger is obvious but under control.

Kylah notices that the Sakathian zombie - that's how she can't help but think of it - is still crawling towards her slowly, face down, after falling, making a horrible moaning noise. She flees with the others.

Collins, T'Var, Kylah, Rangin and Waite retreat to the common room just off the offworlders' residence corridor. No one else is there. Waite, his hands shaking, codelocks the door. A low alarm continues to sound throughout the station, and you hear muted screams, shouting and pounding feet from time to time. Collins feels a wave of nausea coming on; seeing the carnage in the hallway did not help her digestion.

It is now midday, station time. Kylah thinks of Collins trying to reach Pourtash, and it suddenly occurs to her that she has not seen Delaney, Hayes or Fujishiro since breakfast, either.

With obvious hesitation, Rangin obeys Collins's order and prepares to go out alone to find weapons and a means of reaching the shuttle.

Dr. Waite answers Collins. "We were... it was an experiment. An experiment. A major cooperative project between the University and the Sakathian Government. This experiment... ah... um. There are proprietary details that... trade secrets, patent considerations. You know. It... well. Not hybrids, no, but... instead... no!" He is almost babbling. "I... I can't..." He bursts into tears, which astonishes T'Var. It is something she has never seen him do before. He nearly shrieks, "I can't talk about it, I just can't, I'm sorry!"

"Doctor Waite," Collins says, "we have dead bodies and genetically altered...monsters, for lack of a better word. How is keeping whatever secret to yourself more terrifying than that?" Somehow, Jeremi's training supersedes her physiology, and she manages to keep lunch down.

Collins turns to T'Var and Kylah "Find out what happened to the rest of our crew" she tells them, trying hard to make it more of a request than an order.

"I do not believe Mr. Rangin should venture to the shuttle alone," T'Var tells Collins. "We can do nothing for our shipmates without the benefit of weapons."

The doctor pauses a moment. "With your permission, I will accompany Mr. Rangin to the shuttle."

T'Var awaits an answer from Collins. She turns to Waite.

"Full disclosure about that experiment -- now Henry," T'Var says, her tone stern. She glares at Waite.

Kylah nods at Dr. T'Var's suggestion about accompanying Rangin. She likes Rangin and the idea of sending him alone to find the transporters worries her. Then again, she also likes Pourtash and why on earth has he disappeared, along with so many of their other crewmates? She's happy to look for them as Collins ordered, though she strongly feels the remaining crew should pair up rather than being sent on solo missions. Of course that means she and Collins might need to be a pair, and that... could be troublesome. Still, duty to the mission must come before personality differences.

Speaking of pairs... Kylah suddenly looks around the room. "Has anyone seen or heard from Director Geb and Chief Porr since all this started?"

"Agreed, Doctor," Collins tells T'Var, "and both of you, please be careful." She turns back to Dr. Waite and awaits the explanation.

No one has seen or heard from Director Geb today, although Kylah thinks she may have seen Security Chief Porr in the main corridor with several other Sakathian guards, just after breakfast.

Waite flinches under T'Var's order. He visibly fights to get control of himself and finally says, "It was... well, I suppose it doesn't matter now. All right, I'll tell you. We were conducting research into genetic engineering, carrying out limited, targeted resequencing of the Sakathian genome in test volunteers. We needed the alien lifeforms you brought as control groups. We weren't making hybrids, no, that's just... never mind. But... the experiment must have gone wrong. Horribly wrong." He shudders. "Obviously."

After a pause, Rangin asks Waite, "Where are the transporters on this station, sir? I remember there was one in the biology lab, but I don't think I've seen any others."

"There are two others," Waite says, beginning to calm down, and seemingly grateful for a simple question. "Both of those are just off the main cargo area, at the other end of the station." He highlights them on the station map on Rangin's tricorder.

Rangin nods. He and T'Var carefully open the codelocked door and go out into the offworlders' residence corridor.

Just after the door closes and locks again, Collins's communicator sounds. She opens it to hear a whisper: "Fujishiro to Collins. Are you there?"

"Collins here," Jeremi answers, "Where are you, Lieutenant? Can you get to the common room? Are Pourtash and Hayes with you?" Collins is concerned that Fujishiro needs to whisper. She looks at Waite with a mix of disappointment and disbelief, "I want the names of the volunteers and the specific lifeforms used."

Kylah is relieved to hear Fujishiro's voice, though the fact that she's whispering seems ominous. "Lieutenant Delaney is also missing," she reminds her mission leader.

A thought occurs to her and she turns to Waite. "The Sakathians place such emphasis on security," she says acidly, "and the Director and Chief Porr do not seem the sort to let such experiments occur without any method of supervising them. I find it hard to believe there are no cameras or viewing stations used to observe this laboratory. Is there anything like this we can use--or any place we can go, even crawling into an air vent if we must--to see what's happening inside this lab?"

Fujishiro says, still whispering, "I'm hiding in some kind of small supply closet near the domed room where we first beamed aboard. No one else is with me. I think there some of those... things still nearby. They've been... well, it's terrible. What the hell is going on? Where are you?" She sounds scared but is holding herself together.

Waite says to Collins, "I don't know the names of the Sakathian volunteers. There were almost two dozen of them. The lifeforms... we used all three of those you brought." He answers Kylah, "There are security cameras throughout most of the station. I don't think there are any in the lab sections where we did our work, though; that was part of the treaty." He looks up. "There are air vents, yes, but those should be sealed with the lockdown. I'm not sure they're big enough for a person to get through anyway."

T'Var is not thrilled with the prospect of traversing the length of the station in order to reach a transporter -- especially with the altered Sakathians running amok.

She says to Rangin, "Stealth is our best weapon as this point. We must do what we can to avoid contact with the mutated Sakathians."

The doctor sighs. "We should also keep an eye out for our missing crewmates."

There's a sudden pounding at the commons door.

"Let me in," Pourtash's voice calls, sounding harsh as he struggles between being loud enough to be heard and staying quiet so as not to draw attention to himself. "There are these things out here..." He trails off, muttering something under his breath that doesn't sound like English.

If translated, it would be found to be inventive Farsi swearing, declaring that something has two fathers and deserves to be slapped in the face with a shoe. Some of the obscenity is lost in translation.

"I'm not done with you yet, Doctor," Collins tells Waite as she runs to the door to let Pourtash in. "What happened to you?" she asks her crewmate. She closes and secures the door once Pourtash is inside.

Pourtash dives in as soon as the door is open. He looks around, seeming confused by whom he sees, then focuses on Collins and her question.

"I had to hide," he says, shaking his head quickly. "No weapons, no..." He shakes his head again, before turning to look away from the others and avoid eye contact. His voice goes flat and without inflection. "It's horrible. I'm sure you've seen some things as well. I don't think we'll gain anything rehashing it just yet."

He keeps staring away from them, his face carefully stoic. "Where's everyone else?"

Pourtash's uniform shirt is torn a little, and he has some dark stains on his shirt and hands. Collins can tell he's had some very upsetting experiences.

"Hello?" Fujishiro whispers, more sharply, over the comm channel. "Are you still there?"

Down the access corridor, not far away, Rangin says to Dr. T'Var, "I agree about stealth. I think we might make better progress, or at least see fewer Sakathians, if we used one of the service passageways instead of the big central corridor. In any event, the transporter rooms are to the right and away from the reception area, from here." You hear screaming down the hallway, at some distance, and a loud thud. Rangin flinches a little. "And I really think we should get weapons of some kind, even if they're just clubs or blunt objects."

Kylah moves to Pourtash, alarmed by the stains on his shirt and hands. "Are you wounded? If something's hurt you, perhaps Dr. Waite can be of assistance?"

The fear and frustration in Fujishiro's voice also anger her, and she swivels to face Collins. "I recommend that you ask Dr. T'Var and Mr. Rangin, once they get to the transporters, to lock on Fujishiro's position and transport her out of that area. And perhaps there's a way to do the same for any human lifeforms. Mr. Delaney is still unaccounted for!"

Collins is starting to get a little overhwelmed and her nausea is starting to rise again, and that is making her angry.
"Collins to Fuijishiro, are you wounded? Can you get to the common room?" As she speaks, she hears Kylah's "order". Impertinent. Collins touches a button on her communicator "Collins to Rangin, when you get to the transporter, see if you can lock on all non altered life forms, human and Sakathian, and beam them to the common room. Collins out."
Jeremi turns back to Dr. Waite. "Let's try that again, shall we? What, exactly, in great detail, was going on in the lab?"

"We should focus on reaching the transporter as quickly as possible," T'Var says in light of the message from Collins.

"Unfortunately, I do not think we will find useful weapons in these passageways."

The doctor sighs.

"I don't think I'm injured." Pourtash appears slightly unsure of that, as though he hadn't given it any consideration before.

He goes quiet as he listens to the exchanges between Kylah, Collins, Dr. Waite, and over the communicator, giving him a chance to catch up on what's happening.

Pourtash is unwounded but is still uneasy from his experiences.

Fujishiro says, "I'm not wounded. I'm maybe... ten minutes' walk from the common room, if there weren't those... things out there. Right now I'd rather sit tight and see if I can be beamed out, if it's all the same to you. I still hear them out there, not too far away." You hear Sakathian energy weapons discharges in the background, and some unearthly screams.

Rangin acknowledges Collins's order. "Understood, ma'am. If we can figure out the controls, we will."

"Actually, if they can get the transporter to work...might it not be possible to lock onto the altered Sakathians and isolate them somewhere?" Pourtash offers.

"Yes, after we get everyone who can be, saved" Collins Looks at Dr. Waite with a glare that could cut glass. "I'm waiting."

Waite takes a deep breath. He still seems very shaky. "Well," he says. He licks his lips. "So. The Sakathian Government wanted, um, to figure out ways to control large social groups based on DNA resequencing research, hoping to develop tailor-made drugs for particular purposes." He takes a deep breath. "For sexual offenders, libido suppression. For political dissidents, intelligence inhibitors. For surly workers, you know, higher energy and motivation... at the molecular level. A fool's dream, obviously, but that's what they wanted, so that's what we were working on. We'd learned a lot about Sakathian genetics, brain function and endocrinology, in particular. Huge strides. But we weren't giving them exactly what they wanted. Director Ged was always urging us on... always making new demands. It became difficult to continue, but we did our best."

Not far away, Rangin asks T'Var, "So should we go through the main hallway or one of the service passageways, ma'am?"

"Your suggestion of a service passageway is an excellent idea," T'Var says.

"Maintain regular contact with Collins," the doctor tells Rangin. "We need to keep her updated regarding our progress."

With Pourtash unharmed--admittedly his behavior seems "off" to Kylah, coming across as disoriented and avoidant, but since Collins knows him better than she does but has expressed no concern, Kylah assumes this might be part of his natural behavior during stress--she turns her attention back to Waite.

The doctor's mention of Director Geb reminds her that there have been no signs of Geb today, nor have they heard anything in the way of official announcements or communications from the lab's director...or indeed anyone in the station's hierarchy. Such an emergency would seem to require some sort of station-wide communication.

She looks around the room. "Is there any way of attempting to locate or communicate with Director Geb? Or any communication technology within this area, or nearby, with which we might get in contact with the rest of the station and any survivors within it? What sections are available to us and are not part of the lockdown?"

"Aye, Doctor," says Rangin. Consulting the map on his tricorder, he and T'Var make their way to the service passageway, turning right and heading towards the transporter rooms. The passageway is only two meters wide, much narrower than the main corridor, and much darker, as it is lit only by thin emergency lights along the floor. There are several large bloodstains on the floor but no bodies. You continue to hear the alarm sound. Rangin goes first. Every twenty meters or so is an airtight sliding door which opens when you get within two meters of it. The first two doors open without incident. The third door opens and you see three dead bodies, one Sakathian and two human, all badly ravaged. One of them is that of Dr. Pierce. You hear a raspy growling from somewhere down the passageway.

In the common room, Dr. Waite gestures towards the wall. "There's a comm terminal right there, Lieutenant. The lockdown should just have sealed off the labs."

"Thank you, Doctor, but I am only an Ensign, a communications officer. I have not earned any field promotions yet."

Kylah doesn't even wish to engage the man; to her, he is beneath contempt. Agreeing to conduct genetic engineering without any apparent idea of what possible consequences might result? Consistently obfuscating the full story to Starfleet, starting with the precise nature of the experiments to which the Yorktown crew were delivering these creatures, then the whole "oh-did-I-forget-to-mention-there-are-no-weapons-allowed-on-the-station?" debacle. And look at him now: despite the brutal deaths of his colleagues on the station and even the risk of his own wretched hide, every bit of information has to be pulled from him like an impacted tooth. If only it were that painful!

Preparing herself, she turns to Collins and puts on as respectful, dutiful and humble a manner as possible. "Lieutenant, do you think it might be a good idea to see if Director Geb can be reached? And if so, do you wish me to to attempt communication? Unless you prefer to do so yourself, of course. " She hesitates. "And further, I wonder if perhaps opening communications with the lab itself might allow us to hear what is going on in there? Or possibly at least hear if anyone is still alive who has not been altered? If they are unable to reach the panel to operate it themselves, even just knowing we are attempting to help them might give them some measure of comfort, if nothing else.

"With your permission, I can try any or all of these options, or none, as you see fit."

After a deep breath, Kylah looks earnestly at her superior officer, hands held behind her back. Of course her fingernails are clutching her wrists hard enough to turn the skin white.

There. Do as you please now, Mr. Collins. Perhaps you'll again take offense at my suggesting ideas that apparently escaped you. But by all means, let us abide by Starfleet's blessed protocol while one of our crew is trapped, another is missing, and who knows how many other unaltered victims are being mauled and eaten.

"I believe a retreat to another passageway is in order, Mr. Rangin," T'Var whispers. "We must find adequate weaponry of some kind -- and soon," she continues.

Pourtash looks sickened by Dr. Waite's explanation. Knowing of so many different ways genetic engineering could go wrong--and so many of the potential abuses of such tailor made tinkering--makes it difficult to fathom anyone with a drop of ethics agreeing to do such a thing.

"And when did the appearance of aggression show up?" he asks. "How much warning did you have that your 'great strides' could lead to danger for every living being here?"

As Collins considers Kylah's request, Dr. Waite replies to Pourtash, a little defensively: "We had occasional aggressive reactions from some of the subjects. The military applications... well, the reactions were minor. Manageable, completely manageable. Nothing like this."

Rangin whispers back to Dr. T'Var, "Other than the main corridor, this and the matching service passageway on the other side of the main corridor are the only two routes along the entire length of the station. I don't know that the other passageway would be any safer." He opens the next doorway. The passageway is empty all the way to the next door, although there are two large bloodstains on the deck. T'Var notices a tool storage compartment to her and Rangin's left at waist level, about halfway to the next door.

"Perhaps we can obtain a weapon of some kind from that storage compartment," T'Var whispers. "We dare not venture anywhere without protection."

Rangin nods and tries to open the compartment. It's locked, but not too securely, and with a well-placed kick he's able to open it. Inside are a bevy of small tools, some familiar but most not, and what appear to be three curved crowbars, each about a meter long and of considerable heft.

Collins says to Kylah, "All right, see who you can contact." She brightens. "And see if you can patch into the shuttle's comm system. We might be able to get a message through to the Yorktown."

Those in the common room, and Rangin and T'Var in the access hallway, then feel the station shake slightly. T'Var's sensitive ears hear a muffled, irregular series of thuds not far away.

"Take anything you think would be useful as a weapon," T'Var tells Rangin.

T'Var then contacts Collins. "We are making very slow progress through the passageways. Many bloodstains and a few dead bodies scattered about. These mutated Sakathians are everywhere."

The doctor sighs. "We have discovered a tool compartment and have procured what can be used for our defense. Should we continue to the transporter or return to the common room with whatever weapons we can carry?"

"Grab what you can," Collins tells T'Var, "and get back here as quickly as possible. Ensign Kylah, make it so." Collins is starting to feel the morning sickness creeping up on her. The idea of Frakensteining Sakathians is making her stomach churn.

"We will return as quickly as we can," T'Var assures Collins. "And with as many 'weapons' as we can possibly carry."

T'Var checks the tool compartment thoroughly, hoping to find more useful self-defense items -- other than what they've noticed so far.

T'Var and Rangin obviously see that the crowbars could be useful. There are also two small handheld cutting tools, one using an energy beam and the other with a very sharp metal blade. The other dozen or so tools are either too small or have no particular use as hand weapons.

The Vulcan hears more thuds in the distance. They all sound much the same, but are at irregular intervals.

Kylah needs only a little more time to figure out the station's comm system.

"It is unfortunate there are so few tools available for use as weapons," T'Var says. "I suppose something is better than nothing."

T'Var is concerned with the strange noises she continues to hear. "We should make our way back to the common room as quickly as possible," she tells Rangin.

Rangin agrees. He takes one crowbar and the bladed cutting tool, and T'Var two crowbars and the energy-beam cutting tool. The two turn and begin to retrace their steps back towards the common room. As they pass through one of the passageway's last doors, two Sakathians showing all the signs of zombification - darker gray skin, bleeding from the eyes and ears, and terrible moaning - jump out at them, fingers extended like claws.

"Get behind me!" T'Var orders Rangin. She tosses the cutting tool in his direction, then grips a crowbar in each hand. Taking a defensive stance, the doctor will do her best to neutralize the two Sakathians -- by whatever means necessary. Perhaps an armed Vulcan will have greater success against these mutants than others have had so far.

Unfortunately the language tapes Director Geb gave Kylah didn't exactly help her with translating their alphabet, so Kylah is finding the comm system menus somewhat difficult to navigate. She tries voice commands, hoping the system will be attuned to the Universal Translator, though she repeats her words in her not-yet-fluent Sakathian. "This is Ensign Kylah of the Yorktown crew," she says. "Director Geb, if you can hear this message and are able to respond, please do so immediately. I am with certain members of my crew and some of your lab team. I repeat, Director Geb, please respond."

In normal circumstances she'd explain where they all are, but Kylah realizes that could be dangerous if these... creatures... understand her. She saw no evidence that they were able to comprehend anything but what appeared to be insatiable hunger. That might be important to know on the slim chance they can be reasoned with; for now, she doesn't want to lure anyone to this area. Who knows how strong these things are?

Next she asks to hear from anyone in the lab itself, again identifying herself and asking for a response. "Please respond only if it is safe to do so," she adds quickly. "If at all possible, we need to know the situation down there. But do not jeopardize your lives unless it is absolutely necessary. If you can reach a comm panel and can submit details in silence, please do so."

Kylah is uncertain whether she should continue with Collins's orders--to attempt contact with the shuttle's system--or if this might tie up the comm panel should Geb or any of the M.U. team need to reach them. She turns to Waite and any of the others in the room who might know. "How many processes can this system handle simultaneously? Can it receive incoming messages while also transmitting outgoing communications?"

Ens. Rangin tries to catch the cutting tool but drops it. The zombies snarl in response to Dr. T'Var's squaring off against them. She gets a low-level telepathic impression of almost animal cunning from them both; they are not witless. Then one lunges for her, and the other for Rangin. The Vulcan sees she will not be able to stop both.

Ens. Kylah is eventually able to pretty much figure out the station's comm system, and runs a system diagnostic. She sees that the great majority of the comm terminals have been centrally deactivated; she can't tell why. Geb does not respond on any channel. Kylah hears screaming on one channel that abruptly stops, followed by terrible sounds of bones breaking and someone messily eating. Someone is speaking quietly in Sakathian on another channel which is then cut off, and there is stifled crying and what sounds like Sakathian gibberish on another. She is not able to contact any individual.

Waite says, "I think you can both send and receive messages simultaneously with that system. It's multifunction. I've never done it, though." He seems a little more confident and self-controlled now.

You all hear more of the dull thuds in the distance.

Fujishiro hails Collins on her communicator, and whispers, "I haven't heard any of those... things for awhile. I have to get out of here or I'll go crazy myself. I'm going to try to make it to the common room. Wait for me."

Kylah hides a sickened shudder at the noises that they've all just heard and is almost glad when the sound cuts out--except that it means even fewer options are available to them as far as ascertaining what's going on in that lab. She wishes Waite were wrong about the vents being locked and large enough to sneak through. She wishes she'd been able to grab her second knife back. Above all, she wishes they'd hear from T'Var, Rangin and the ominously incommunicado Delaney.

She can't do anything to make those last two wishes come true, but maybe she can at least double-check for herself to see if the first is a possibility.

Meanwhile she tries to patch through to the shuttle as per Collins's command. As she does, she snaps to Waite: "Doctor, do you know if it's part of normal emergency procedure to deactivate comm panels?" She glances over at Collins. "If not, might that indicate that these creatures have retained their sentience and their cunning? These are not mere animalistic beings, despite the carnage we saw in that hallway."

Unless some unaffected being is actually helping them, but why would anyone do that? She brushes aside that paranoid thought and continues to work to connect to the shuttle, and then hopefully to the Yorktown. She's not optimistic.

Collins tells Fujishiro "We'll be here. We're not going anywhere anytime soon." She watches Kylah at the Comm System and is glad that the ensign has demonstrated the initiative. "Kylah, see if you can raise the Yorktown. I know the system is basically an internal comm setup, but there has to be a way to call out."