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Delaney begins the process by checking for references to phased muon pulses in the tech article database. This is usually the best place to locate non-SOP techniques and emergency techniques. If some else tried it and it either worked or failed it would provide guidance that could speed up his work with Fujishiro.
Delaney and Fujishiro work on the idea for several more hours, well past the scheduled end of the watch, before Singh orders you to go off-duty and rest. The ship remains on Yellow Alert.
You all awake the next morning to find the uneasy peace is still holding down on the surface, but there are further reports of civil unrest in every major Soj city. The junta appears to have hunkered down, and its members are making no public appearances or statements. Chairwoman Ged and the Na leadership continue to ignore the Yorktown's hails, although the Captain has Thalen repeat, hourly, her offers of assistance for the devastated city. Hayes and Brownlock circulate among the Banij diplomats and leaders aboard, all of whom have been in touch with their governments overnight; there is now even greater interest in some sort of planetary treaty.
After another six hours' work Fujishiro and Delaney, with Collins's help, figure out the navigational deflector dish's proper muon pulse phase synchronization, and Singh immediately authorizes the reconfiguration itself. In just over two hours the work is done.
Singh nods with satisfaction, and turns to Communications Officer Thalen with a wolfish smile. "Mr. Thalen, send out this message on all frequencies, with signal strength limited so as not to reach beyond this star system: 'This is Captain Singh of the Federation starship Yorktown. We have detected your unannounced and clandestine presence in Banij space. Reveal yourself and disclose your identity and purpose here immediately, or we'll consider you a hostile vessel and will act accordingly. You have ten minutes. This is your only warning. Yorktown out.'"
The Captain then orders, "Mr. Pourtash, you will lead a boarding party to whatever is out there. Misters Delaney, Fujishiro, Collins, Hayes, and Dr. Brownlock, report with him to the Transporter Room. Draw phaser-2s from the Armory, and be prepared to beam over in ten minutes."
Vargas starts to say, "Captain, I...."
Singh waves him off. "Carry on," she says.
It hadn't been an easy night for Pourtash, nor does the following day look up yet. Pourtash prepares for leading the boarding party and reports to the Transporter Room. The others in the party are all good officers he's been able to observe in a variety of situations, so as dangerous as it might be he mentally reminds himself he's with some of the best the Federation has to offer.
Delaney ensures he has his Tricorder and tool pouches and pack and gets a Phaser-II. As soon as he reaches the Transporter Room he begins system checking the Phaser and Tricorder. Once checked, he will will ensure the Phaser II is set to stun. He then offers to check the other's equipment if there is time.
"It's good to have someone so methodical around, thank you." If they have time, Pourtash will have Delaney check over his equipment. "Anyone have any thoughts on this they'd like to share before we beam over?"
Fujishiro looks surprised at Singh's orders, but reports to the Transporter Room as directed. At Pourtash's prompt, she says, "I'm not sure beaming over to a vessel of unknown capabilities is wise. I hope the Captain has a better idea of what's going on than I do."
Ens. Hayes reports to the Transporter Room as ordered. She thanks Delaney for his offer to check her equipment. Hayes says nothing in reply to Pourtash's question, but is thinking the same thing as Fujishiro. She trusts the captain's instincts and experience, however, and is eager to beam over to the unknown vessel.
Collins checks her own tricorder and phaser-2 since Delaney is checking the others' and time is of the essence. She is curious about Cmdr Vargas' attempt to question the Captain's orders. Does he know something about the mystery ship? she wonders. "We should all be sharp," she says to the others, "I have a bad feeling about this mission."
Everyone's gear checks out fine.
Chief Nguyen is behind the transporter console today. The tiny Vietnamese man has an open visual link to the Bridge on the console's small display screen. Ten minutes have now passed without a response. You watch as Singh says, "Mr. Roble, trigger the muon pulse, and be prepared for a quick scan of whatever it reveals. Mr. Vargas, I want a good, tight phaser shot that disables their engines."
"Acknowledged, Captain," the First Officer says.
"Aye, Captain," says the Science Officer. "Triggering the pulse... now." You hear an odd buzzing sound as the pulse crackles forth from the deflector dish at the front of the secondary hull, bathing all of near space in an expanding greenish sphere of phased muon energy.
"There!" calls Bennett excitedly from Navigation. "It looks like a single ship, just off the starboard bow, 004 mark 3."
"Confirmed," Roble says. "One ship... about a fifth our size. Nothing like it in Starfleet records."
You hear the phasers hum once, twice. "Got it," says Vargas with obvious satisfaction. "It's disappeared from visual sensors again, but it was clearly disabled. Residual muons have it tagged. I'm sending the coordinates to the Transporter Room now."
Roble adds, "Sensors indicate a crew of four. Breathable atmosphere; no biohazards detected."
"Very well," Singh says. "Mr. Pourtash, you may proceed. I'd like to capture the ship intact and the crew alive, but defend yourselves as you see fit. Good luck."
"Acknowledged, Captain," Pourtash says. "Thank you."
Chief Nguyen says, "Take your places, please...."
Delaney is nervous and ready. Phaser II out and crouches in a good firing position for the beam over.
Collins steps on to the pad; her phaser is ready but not drawn. Her stance is reminiscent of an Ancient West Gunfighter.
Fujishiro follows them. She does a final check of her phaser, confirming, "Set to stun."
The boarding party materializes in a corridor; no one else is there. The angular ceiling is lower than those aboard the Yorktown. The corridor is about 3 meters wide and extends about 20 meters in either direction, ending in hatches at each end. There are no other humanoid-sized hatches or doors. Nothing you see reflects the particular design ethic of any known starfaring race. The corridor is lined with what appears to be ducting and engineering access panels, and there are labels on some of the panels in a language which, at first glance, none of you know. The air is somewhat dank and humid. The lighting has a distinct orange hue.
About 10 seconds after you beam in, an alarm begins to sound, and you hear a guttural voice over what must be an intercom (although you cannot see any speaker or emitter).
Delaney immediately starts scanning. Wonders aloud who brought the universal translator.
"That voice sounds almost Banijian" Collins opted, "but I can't be sure" She scans the markings to see if the tricorder recognizes them.
Pourtash considers the corridor, his hand resting on his phaser II, then gestures down the corridor to his left. "Let's move down closer to that hatch so if they open we're at least not perfectly stuck in the middle. Stay on either side, not directly in front of it. Delaney, while you're scanning those panels I also want you to see if you can gain remote access to the hatches. It'd be a good tactical start."
The party moves closer to the hatch Pourtash indicates. It does not open at your approach, although Delaney sees a multi-switch panel to its side that might control it. The switches look oddly soft.
Hayes's tricorder has a universal translator built in, with both aural and visual input capabilities. Neither the spoken language, nor the lettering on the panels (if it is even the same language) are found in Federation records. After about half a minute, the voice stops but the alarm continues.
While remaining alert to dangers, Fujishiro sets her tricorder for a general scan. She wants it to record things like structural layout, power frequencies, alloy compositions, etc.
Delaney analyzes the multi-switch panel of course and calls out, "I could use a biology scan on this panel please."
Hayes continues to scan the area. She checks her phaser yet again to make sure it's set to stun. Rachel does not want to use the weapon, but will do so if she must.
Collins listens intently for any sound of one of the alien ship's crew moving toward them.
Fujishiro's tricorder indicates that the ship's internal structure is made of some kind of previously-unknown alloy of which tritanium, silicanium and aldecite are components. The alloy seems to retard the tricorder's scanning range, so that you can only scan about 25 meters in any direction. You can see that this corridor continues straight ahead on the other side of the door. There are other decks both above and below you. One bulkhead or wall of the corridor in which you stand, to your right as you face the door, is the inside surface of the hull; there is hard vacuum directly on the other side. Power frequency readings indicate that this is a warp drive-equipped vessel. Delaney knows at once that it is significantly more advanced than the Na-Banij prototype Venture that you first encountered upon entering the system. The Zheng radiation readings are now steady but well below lethal levels.
Hayes's scan shows no biological materials on or within the control panel. Her phaser is still set on stun.
Collins hears no sounds other than those of the boarding party itself, and a slight hum from the ducting.
Pourtash realizes he should make a brief report to the Yorktown.
"it's quiet" Collins whispers, "too quiet." Her stance is like a tight coil straining against its latch
"Yes, it is," Pourtash agrees grimly.
He flips out his communicator to contact the ship. He'll give a brief summary of what they've found, sure to include Delaney's observations on the technology level of the ship.
The signal is a bit scratchy, more so than you would expect given the relative closeness of the Yorktown in orbit, but you can hear Capt. Singh pretty well. She acknowledges your report and orders you to proceed.
Does Delaney see any indication of how to open the panels. I'm looking for things like finger grease on buttons, wear indication, etc.
Fujishiro does a detailed scan of the panel. Since Delaney is looking for outside clues, she'll do an internal scan. Perhaps a small electronic pulse directed at the correct circuit will override the controls and open the door.
There are no signs of grease or wear on the multi-switch panel. Fujishiro's scan shows an unremarkable internal arrangement of solid-state circuitry. It does appear to be the control panel for the door. Her tricorder does not have the capability of sending an electronic pulse, but Delaney could so with the use of his toolkit.
Delaney will experiment with a very small pulse while observing the electronic reactions and move up to a large burst carefully.
Ens. Hayes is not prone to nervousness and is usually one of the most patient Starfleet officers you will ever meet. Standing still and somewhat stuck in this corridor, however, is starting to get to her. She's a tall woman and this corridor is not all that comfortable. She hopes Delaney can figure out how to get the door open -- and soon.
The first and second pulses have no effect, but the third slowly opens the door. The corridor continues another 30 meters beyond the door, then turns to the left, out of sight from where you stand. There are two doors to your left, further along the corridor. The alarm continues to sound.
Hayes is glad the door is now open. She continues to scan the expanded area.
"Hold on there" Collins puts her hand on Hayes' shoulder. "I'll go first and secure the area."
At a nod from Pourtash, Collins steps through the doorway, phaser in hand. The corridor looks no different from where you were just standing. There are two doors on your left. Hayes's tricorder indicates that both open into larger rooms.
Fujishiro will continue her general scans, while keeping a hand on her phaser. Besides the layout of the vessel, she's trying to gather data about how its internal system work, in the hopes of discovering something tactically useful.
Pourtash waits for Collins to secure the next area, then gestures the others through, taking the rear himself.
"We should see what's beyond that turn to the left so we don't get any nasty surprises."
Both of the rooms to the left reveal to tricorder scanning, without opening the doors, that they are filled with large masses of machinery. Fujishiro and Delaney see from their scans that the ship's systems, as far as you can tell, are roughly on a par with Federation technology. It is difficult to tell what kind of machinery is within the rooms without opening the doors, however. Do you open either or both of them?
Also, please let me know the party's marching order.
"We should split up" Collins suggests "I'll take two and go around the corner to investigate further. Delaney, you and the others stay here and assess the ship's systems"
Pourtash nods at Collins' suggestion. "That sounds best. Hayes, you come with me and Collins. The rest of you stay here to see what you can learn."
Delaney continues his scan. Especially looking for information about power distribution, engine types if detectable from inside and the like.
"It doesn't look like any sapients are in the rooms. We should go inside to get a closer look. Which room first? I think we should not split up further." Fujishiro looks a little concerned as half of the boarding party leaves.
Pourtash, Hayes and Collins are about to leave when Pourtash realizes he should designate someone to command the three who are to stay behind. Dr. Brownlock is a lieutenant but not a line officer; Fujishiro is an ensign, as is Delaney, but he is also an assistant department chief.
Delaney's scans show that power distribution appears to be centralized from a part of the ship in the direction from which you came. It is, as you already learned, a warp drive-equipped vessel, significantly more advanced than the Na-Banij prototype ship Venture that you first encountered upon entering the system. None of the readings are an exact match for the ships of any race in Delaney's tricorder's database.
"Delaney, you're in command until we get back," says Pourtash.
Ens. Hayes is content to follow orders, letting Pourtash and Collins lead the way. She has total confidence in both of them. She continues her scans of the area.
I'll still need to know marching order, please, and if those left behind will be entering either of the two rooms.
As a security specialist, Collins will go first with Pourtash behind her and Hayes taking rear.
Collins, Pourtash and Hayes go down the corridor, phasers in hand. Hayes continues to scan with her tricorder. You follow the corridor as it turns to the left. You can now see another 50 meters to the next door. There is also one door to your left, and two to your right, along the corridor. The alarm continues to sound.
Delaney continues to monitor and scan. He asks the remaining crew member to maintain a defensive position.
Collins scans to determine what is behind each of the doors along the sides of the corridor
Slightly disappointed to not entering the rooms, Fujishiro continues her scans.
Delaney and Fujishiro learn little more than they already knew from their earlier scans. Both rooms appear full of machinery; it's difficult to determine their function given the interference that the hull alloy is causing.
Collins determines that the compartment to the left has liquid tankage of some kind, just beyond a small vestibule or airlock. To the right, the first door along the way is apparently a storage room of metal components or perhaps spare parts, and the next appears to be empty (at least as far inside as your tricorder penetrates).
Collins quietly signals Delaney "Bring the others and join us, I want to know what your equipment says is in this room" she indicates the supposedly empty room to Pourtash and Hayes
Delaney replies back, "Aye, aye, coming up to join you." Then says, "Let's proceed with caution and join the forward group." On arrival Delaney begins further scans.
Pourtash turns away from the room while Delaney scans, running his own scan on the corridor they're standing in. Living creatures usually leave some trace of themselves, unless they're entirely contained. He expects to find a shed hair or two and perhaps flakes of skin from his party, but what of anything else?
Collins keeps her eyes on the corridor, alert for any movement other than those of her crewmates
The Starfleet boarding party reunites. Delaney's tricorder scan indicates that the empty room is indeed empty. It is rectangular, approximately 10 meters wide and extending at least 50 meters back (away from the corridor in which you stand). Pourtash finds no organic materials or living tissue traces in the corridor.
Collins turns to Pourtash "Now what?"
What about the liquid tankage?
As you talk, the door at the far end of the corridor opens about halfway, but much faster than the one you last walked through. Collins catches just a glimpse of a mottled yellow form of some kind before you come under fire from bright-red energy beams.
Collins fires at the yellow blob
Is there anything to hide behind? Can I locate the sources of the beams? If so can I shoot the source of the beams? What are the "bright-red energy beams" doing?
If they are hand held, I will try to stun the holders.
If they are doing damage and are life threatening and not hand held, I will switch Phasers to Kill from Stun and try to destroy the source of the red beams.
If they are not doing damage, I will try to analyze the beams.
Fujishiro draws her phaser, which should still be at a stun setting, and looks for a target. She while initially focusing in the direction of the newly opened door, she will begin looking in other directions if nothing appears.
Ens. Hayes drops to one knee, trying to make herself as small a target as possible. She draws her phaser and begins firing in the same direction as Collins.
Pourtash moves closer to the wall so he has one less side exposed should more of those beams appear and then drops to one knee. He'll look to see where the beams are coming from or if any other doors are opening. If he can identify where the beams are coming from, he'll fire in that direction, using the stun setting at first and raising it as needed to stop them.
The energy beams are clearly coming from whoever, or whatever, is hiding behind the half-open doorway. Collins can tell from experience that they are probably from a non-Starfleet-issue handheld phaser or disruptor. The corridors have structural supports which stick out a few centimeters from the bulkheads, so that gives you each some cover, but you're all otherwise vulnerable. One beam of energy hits just above Delaney's head, showering his head and right shoulder with sparks and little flecks of molten metal. It hurts! As some of you return fire, the incoming fire slows a little but doesn't stop. Fujishiro feels another beam pass close enough to her left knee to make her skin tingle.
Hayes notices absently that the alarm has now stopped.
Delaney will try to shoot control panel for the door hoping for either the door to close (simulating an emergency along the lines of decompression fail safe in case of loss of power) or at least generate some smoke. Phaser is not on stun.
Fujishiro sets her phaser to as wide a beam as possible (and still on stun) and begins firing just past the edge of the door. Perhaps she can numb the appendage that's holding their weapon.
Delaney is not Starfleet's best phaser marksman, but after several shots he is able to hit the door control panel. There is a little puff of smoke and some sparks, but the door doesn't budge. Fujishiro thinks she hit the mottled yellow thing (hereinafter "MYT"), but can't be sure, and in any event it keeps firing back. Pourtash realizes that the Yorktown boarding party cannot remain where it is and, judging by the damage the red energy bolts are causing along the corridor, knows that whoever is hit directly could be badly hurt or even killed.
Collins turns her phaser to a higher setting and continues firing. "Has anyone reported back to the Yorktown about this yet?" she whispers back in Pourtash's direction.
Ens. Hayes tries -- in vain -- to make herself a smaller target. She follows Fujishiro's lead and sets her phaser to a wider beam while keeping the weapon set to stun.
Are there any visible lights or better yet fire suppression systems in the overhead of the passage on the other side of the door?
If so I change my fire to hit these, again hoping for a major distraction. I begin to retreat as I do this.
Collins draws a careful bead and hits the MYT, which falls with a thump and stops shooting at you. The door remains partway open.
Delaney sees no fire suppression system that he recognizes as such. There are long light panels, each about three meters long, that run the length of the corridor's overhead or ceiling.
Phaser still drawn, Collins moves towards MYT. She motions to Pourtash to follow her.
Hayes stops firing and stands slowly. She awaits further orders from Pourtash.
How close will Collins get to the MYT?
Collins moves no closer than 2 meters to the MYT, keeping close to the bulkhead near a support strut
"Collins, don't get too close. Hayes, cover her." Pourtash turns his back against the wall to look over the corridor as he contacts the Yorktown for an update.
Collins and Hayes obey Pourtash. Through the door, Collins sees a slumped-over, thick-chested, bilaterally symmetrical and bipedal alien, the species of which you don't recognize. It appears to be both unconscious and naked, with light yellow skin and mottled dark-brown and black spots running down its arms and legs. It is about two meters tall. Its large hands have small sucker-like protrusions on each of six fingers. You cannot see its face from the angle at which you're looking, but you notice that it has at least eight small bumps around the upper circumference of its rather thin head.
Pourtash reports what has happened so far to the Yorktown. The Captain orders you to proceed with your capture of the ship.
nm
Hayes does her best to "cover" Collins. She feels a bit sorry for the MYT. Probably just defending itself and its ship -- just as any member of Starfleet would. She takes a brief scan of the MYT with her tricorder for later study.
Dr. Brownlock joins Hayes in scanning the fallen alien. It is a marsupial mammal, and judging by its proportions and bone density is apparently from a world of slightly lighter gravity than Earth's. Its internal organs are unremarkable except that its heart has six chambers, and it has two small organs in the upper chest whose function the good doctor cannot determine. Neither Brownlock's nor Hayes's tricorders have any record of this species.
"Where to next?" asks Fujishiro. "Are we going to stun all the crew, or are we looking to disable the ship itself?"
Delaney continues his scanning and asks to check the MYT's weapon out.
Dr. Brownlock scans and heals Delaney's minor burns. The engineer gingerly removes the weapon from the alien's hand. It is slightly larger than a phaser-2, dull gray, with a curiously fluted grip and a row of seven irregularly-shaped buttons across the top. In scanning it, Delaney sees that it is a disruptor, roughly similar in its internal workings and level of power to a Klingon disruptor.
Collins calibrates her tricorder to MYT's readings and scans for other members of the alien ship's crew
There is now another reading from behind you, about a hundred meters back down the corridor, and steadily approaching. It was not there before. It appears to be another alien of the same species as this one.
Collins takes aim in the direction indicated and will fire (on heavy stun) as soon as she catches a glimpse of the other MYT
"We're to capture the ship. Disabling it is probably the easiest way to do that, though we might need to stun the crew along the way," Pourtash tells Fujishiro.
When Collins' scan finds the next creature, Pourtash readies to fire on heavy stun as well. "Let's stop this one and then continue on. I want to try a look at the room with liquid tankage."
Fujishiro sets into a firing stance and waits for the command to fire.
Hayes gets ready to fire as well. She, too, awaits the command to fire. She will keep her phaser set to stun unless ordered otherwise. She truly hopes this is not needed.
You hear a slight whooshing sound, and three silvery spheres, each about half the size of a tennis ball, come skimming around the corner of the corridor from where the second alien is approaching. The spheres head straight for you. They are all about half a meter off the deck and maintain that altitude. Each has a small yellow light blinking on it.
Delaney stays crouched for lower profile, using any obstruction he can locate.
Do my scans reveal anything about the spheres?
As the spheres advance, Fujishiro keeps expecting the order to fire. But they soon reach a distance she is not comfortable with, and orders or not, she opens fire to protect herself.
Collins prepares to fire on the spheres, should they fire on Fujishiro.
Pourtash frowns at the early fire, having wanted some sort of reading on the orbs first and concerned what might happen next. He readies to fire at the orbs, but doesn't fire yet, wanting to see what the reaction is to Fujishiro's shots.
"Hold fire, but shoot instantly if they go on the defense."
Hayes resists the urge to fire, grateful for orders not to do so unless necessary.
Everything happens very quickly. Probably less than seven seconds pass from the appearance of the spheres to them opening fire on you with red disruptor bolts similar to those of the alien's hand weapon earlier; these bolts lash out directly from the spheres. Fujishiro's phaser blast comes just a moment later; she hits and destroys one of them, and it disappears with a loud crackly BOOM and an acrid cloud of smoke. One of the spheres narrowly misses Collins, showering her with sparks from the nearby bulkhead, which is hit. The other sphere hits Hayes in her lower-left abdomen and, with a muffled cry of pain, she falls to the deck.
Delaney opens fire on the remaining spheres. Who is closest to Hayes?
Collins recoils from the sparks, then immediately fires on the spheres
Delaney misses one sphere but then hits and destroys the other. An energy bolt grazes Fujishiro's right forearm, causing a nasty burn, before Collins destroys that sphere, too. Several of you start to cough in the fumes from the explosions of the spheres, and visibility in the corridor is poor due to the smoke. Pourtash is closest to Hayes.
Delaney drops low and crawls to Hayes to offer emergency medical help until someone better arrives. On the way he calls out, "Hayes, report, what is your injury? Do you feel shock coming on? Are you bleeding?"
Collins works her way along the wall by feel to where she last saw Fujishiro to check on her.
Hayes tries to get up, but can't. She wishes she'd fired her phaser when Fujishiro did. She feels very dizzy. The pain in her side is mostly gone, replaced by numbness. She thinks she hears Delaney calling to her, but can't make out the words.
Dr. Brownlock runs through the smoke, which is gradually clearing, to Hayes's side. He sees that she's passed out from the pain of her wound, which is relatively deep. He quickly takes out his tricorder and medikit. He administers a painkiller and a mild sedative with his hypospray, then cleans and closes the wound. He nods in satisfaction as he looks at his readings, and says to Pourtash, "I've done as much as I can for her here, and she's out of danger, but eventually she ought to be treated back aboard the Yorktown."
Fujishiro is hurting but is aware that her wound is nonlethal.
The others know that an alien is still down the corridor.
Delaney is relieved to see the Doc made it to the Hayes. He asks, "Do you need any help?"
As there is nothing he can do, he continues to use the smoke cover to move forward at a crawl. Using his tricorder to locate the alien. He will approach with as much stealth as possible and try to stun the ship's defender.
Collins stays near Fujishiro, in a defensive stance, until Dr Brownlock can get to her. Once he does, Collins moves to Delaney's six to back him up.
After ensuring that Hayes is all right, at least for the moment, Dr. Brownlock tends to Fujishiro. After a hypospray dose of painkiller and a brief pass with the dermal regenerator, she's almost good as new.
Delaney's tricorder shows that the alien, whose life signs match those of the stunned, mottled-yellow alien from earlier, is around the corner and no more than 30 meters or so away.
The smoke has now almost entirely cleared, although the acrid odor remains.
Collins scans the air to make sure the odor isn't a result of poisonous residue
Her scan shows some metallic and organic compounds, including some stuff that can't be identified from Starfleet records, but nothing that looks immediately dangerous. Dr. Brownlock does a more thorough scan with his medical tricorder and concurs.
Delaney thinks to self, "I'm an engineer, not a commando. ... Also I wish the smoke had lasted longer."
Out loud, "I think we need additional support here and need to get our injured back to the Yorktown."
He stays ready to shoot the first thing that comes around the corner.
Nothing appears around the corner. The corridor is silent but for Hayes's somewhat labored breathing.
"I'm okay for now", whispers Fujishiro, "Let's finish this. We should be able to take out this single crew." She looks to Collins for reassurance.
Collins wishes she could be reassuring, but there could be more crew, and worse, more spheres. She wishes Pourtash would signal the Yorktown for a beam back.
Fujishiro remembers that, according to the initial scan just after this ship was revealed in orbit by the phased muon pulse, sensors indicated it has a crew of four. One is still stunned and in the doorway near you, and another is apparently just down the hall.
Collins recalls that Capt. Singh encouraged her officers to respectfully speak their minds when they have recommendations to make.
Dr. Brownlock turns back to Hayes and runs another scan, frowning slightly.
"With all due respect, Ensign Pourtash" Collin whispers loud enough for him to hear, "We should get the freak out of here"
"I suggest we have two members fire at will to distract the foe, then our best shots move around the corner fast and stun the foe. I'm willing to be one of the ones at risk." Delaney begins to calculate the best maneuver to get around the corner and hit the foe based on the current position.
Fujishiro methodically lays down cover fire.
Pourtash pauses for a moment, thinking, and then says, "All right, Jim. Proceed."
Delaney and Fujishiro quietly and carefully step up to the bend in the corridor, weapons in hand. Collins covers them. Delaney whispers, "On three. You go low, I'll go high." Fujishiro nods, grimly determined; Collins is ready too. Delaney gestures with his hand, holding up one finger... two... three...! All three of you jump out and around the corner at the same time, phasers ablaze. You have a momentary glimpse of one of the mottled-yellow aliens crouching in the corridor, about 15 meters away, before two of your beams catch it and it falls with a heavy thump onto the deck. It has a hand weapon in a sort of holster on its lower right leg, and a hollow tube with a control box at one end that it drops.
Just beyond it you see another alien of the same type. It fires once, misses you, and then turns around and begins running away with a long, loping gait. Collins fires twice and misses, too.
Delaney pursues fast, firing!
Fujishiro holds her position and keeps firing at the retreating crew until she loses line of sight. Then she will follow Delaney.
Collins covers her crewmates, while keeping an eye on the corridor they left. "We have no way of knowing how many corridors there are, and whether or not the remaining MYTs could be circling around to come up behind us" she says "I really think Dr Brownlock should take Hayes back to the Yorktown" Collins pauses, "and I still think we should get out of here ASAP"
The alien continues racing away. Delaney thinks he almost winged it, but can't be sure, but in any event it doesn't slow down. It disappears through the next hatch along the way, which closes behind it. Fujishiro runs up and joins Delaney. Does Collins?
Collins considers racing after Delaney and Fujishiro, but stays back to cover Hayes and the doctor until they've beamed to safety.
Dr. Brownlock smiles at Ens. Collins, happy to have her stay. After another scan, he administers a stimulant to Hayes, who slowly comes around. She feels weak, and very sore and tender in her abdomen, but more or less normal. The doctor quietly explains to her what's happened since she lost consciousness. "You can stand, if you want, but if you'd rather not, that's fine," he says. "Whatever you feel up to."
Delaney asks, "Can we contact the ship, evacuate casualties and get some additional support?" Meanwhile he is working on the door.
"Thanks for staying with us," Hayes tells Collins. "And thank you, Doctor." She fumbles for her phaser. "I'm afraid a xenosociologist isn't of much use in a fight," she whispers. Standing up is the last thing Hayes wants to do at this point.
Pourtash looks at Delaney, but then appears hesitant. "Um... what do you think we should do?" he asks no one in particular.
Dr. Brownlock smiles encouragingly at his patient. "Take it easy, Mr. Hayes. Don't do anything until you're ready to."
Delaney is just about to trigger the door when he decides to scan it, just in case. His tricorder scan shows that the corridor beyond is now airless, with a temperature 10 below and falling.
"Gee," Collins answers Pourtash, allowing the sarcasm in her voice to show "I have an idea. Let's get the freak outta here!"
"We could, Mr. Collins," Pourtash says, scowling a little, "but our orders are to capture the ship. I'd rather not cut and run on our very first boarding party assignment without a senior officer present, if we can avoid it."
"No need to cut and run, but we need to evac the injured and get some more support, I don't think the Captain is looking for heroes just smart officers. We need either an alternate route or vacc suits or to be transported to another location. This way is now airless."
"Delaney is right" Collins accepted Pourtash's return sarcasm "Dr. Brownlock and Ensign Hayes should beam back to sick bay, and we need to either fall back to a secure and breathable area to wait for reinforcements, or we all need to evacuate, and reevaluate the situation in the safety of our own ship. A different tactic is needed. As for capturing it, I don't think this ship is going anywhere just yet. They must have a vested interest in the goings on, or they would have run when confronted with our ship's superior armament." She realizes she just reiterated what Delaney had said, but she didn't care.
Hayes is impressed with her fellow officers and the way they're communicating with each other as to the proper course of action. She decides to inject her own opinion for whatever it's worth. "All valid points," she says, surprised at how weak her voice sounds. "But I think we should beam back to the ship and let the captain decide what the best course of action will be based on current conditions."
Pourtash somewhat dejectedly pulls out his communicator and calls the Yorktown. The signal is even more more staticky than before, but you can still hear the Captain. After Pourtash makes a full report, she says, "Mr. Hayes, you should be in Sickbay. Beam back immediately for further medical treatment. To be on the safe side, I'll also beam over a detail of six additional Security officers. Mr. Collins, you'll be ranking officer among them."
"Aye, Captain," Collins says.
Pourtash says, "Captain, I'm grateful for having been given this assignment, but I request to be relieved."
There is a long pause, and Singh asks, "And why is that, Mr. Pourtash?"
He blurts out, "Well, frankly, ma'am, I... I just think it would be for the best, under the circumstances. I'd rather not say any more."
"Very well," Singh says crisply. "We'll discuss this later, Mr. Pourtash. You are relieved of command of the boarding party, but will remain part of it. Mr. Delaney, you're now in command. Proceed as you see fit, but capture that ship. Is there anything else you need from us?"
"Sir, yes sir, we will need vacc suits to proceed. Some compartments are now being exposed to vacuum. Alternately, we could be beamed out and beamed back but that might risk losing our foothold or the ability to beam back."
Hayes is grateful Pourtash finally contacted the captain. Much as Rachel hates to admit it (to herself or anyone else) Sickbay really is the best place for her right now. She hopes to review the tricorder scans she took of the fallen MYT ASAP.
Fujishiro is appears relieved that Hayes will be getting complete medical attention and that additional security officers are coming to support the team. "Perhaps while security is protecting us from hostile actions, we can focus on disabling this ship. I think the cloaking and propulsion systems should be our first priority."
"That, we can do" Collins will tell the security detail to fan out in a defensive pattern and set phasers to heavy stun, to shoot only if fired upon.
Once his communication ends with the ship, Pourtash does his best to hide his dejection. The mortification at freezing up while in command is worse than anything he's felt since the trial. He sets his jaw, stony faced, and forces himself to focus on the mission rather than that lingering panic he's fighting off.
Hayes is beamed back to the Yorktown, and is met in the Transporter Room by Dr. Miriam Villa and two medtechs with an antigrav gurney. The Chief Medical Officer has her patient taken at once to Sickbay, placed on a bed and more intensively scanned. After a few minutes reviewing the results, Villa tells her with an encouraging smile, "Dr. Brownlock did a good job over there, Ensign, but I think I should operate immediately. You have some deep tissue damage that I don't like the looks of. This shouldn't take long, though. If all goes well, you should be in the recovery ward within the next hour or two." She then administers a strong sedative and preps for surgery with Nurse Perry, as Hayes drifts off into unconsciousness.
Singh orders Delaney and the boarding party to remain aboard the alien ship. Six Security personnel led by Ens. Faisal Mahmoud beam over shortly afterwards; each is wearing a spacesuit and they have spares for each of you. Collins confirms that their phasers are all set on stun, per Starfleet protocol. She recognizes Mahmoud, of course, a short, tough-as-nails Libyan, as well as Security specialists Russell, de la Paz, Bartlett, Nivens and Dodson, and quickly introduces them all to the rest of the original boarding party.
The spacesuits are an interim design, less like the ridiculous ST:TOS suits (http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__..._Suit_2268.jpg) and more like the ST:TMP suits (http://www.ponilla.org/Nimoy/Movies-ST/ST-TMP_18.jpg).
"OK, we have enough crew to split up I believe. Let's suit up and send Collins with half the security crew to pursue the last two MYT and the rest of us will locate the engine room and disable it."
He pauses and calls over to the Yorktown, "This is Delaney, we have a pair of stunned aliens, do you wish to transport them over or should we post guards on them?"
"With all due respect, Ensign" Collins address Delaney, "Our primary job is to ensure the safety of the rest of the crew. I'll take one Security Specialist with me, the others will cover you, Pourtash, Fujishiro, and Dr Brownlock, if he wishes to stay with us."
"Aye, we'll go with that then."
Singh agrees it would be wise to beam back the two stunned aliens for confinement in the Brig and further study. In moments they disappear into the sparkling of the transporter beam.
As everyone dons their spacesuits Ens. Mahmoud asks, "Which officer of the Security detail do you wish to come with you, Mr. Collins?" All are generally capable, in your opinion; if pressed, you'd have to say Mahmoud himself is the best, with Russell and Bartlett not too far behind.
Fujishiro has refined her tricorder scan, and believes she's located a large energy node at least two decks away which may be the engine room or its equivalent.
Delaney says, "Whichever officer is best skilled at getting through doors and hatches while in a vacc suit should pair up with Collins. I'm sure you are all excellent shots."
"Meanwhile the rest of us need to scan for the engine room and start making our way there."
"Sir, I have found a large power source", says Fujishiro as she links the data to Delaney's tricorder. She then scans for possible routes to that location. Her expression relaxes as she continues to work the tricorder instead of wielding a phaser.
"Mr Mahmoud, you head up the detail here," Collins decides "Mr Russel, you're with me." She heads off down the corridor, phaser drawn, towards where they saw the third MYT run.
The third alien went through the door by which Ens. Collins is now already standing, at the end of a corridor which is still pressurized. If you open the door, you'll experience explosive decompression as atmosphere rushes into the depressurized corridor beyond. A tricorder scan shows that the corridor is now either open to space or is, in any event, as cold as Banij orbital space.
Delaney, Mahmoud and the others would have to retrace their steps, back down the pressurized corridor towards where the boarding party first beamed in, to get closer to the power source which Fujishiro located. You of course have not yet found a ladder, companionway, turbolift etc. that would permit access to any other deck.
Pourtash considers something, looking at his tricorder. "If there are lifts or any other open passages between decks, it should be possible to find them by emitting energy that passes through the walls and floors, similar to sonography. I think it might be possible to get a layout of the physical structures in here and where passages between decks could potentially be. It would be like shining a light in a dark room, though."
"This sounds like an excellent suggestion. Let's give it a try."
"If I can't transmit anything strong enough from the tricorder, I should be able to adjust settings on the phaser and augment with that." Pourtash will attempt adjusting his tricorder. "If it works, vacuums would be a blind spot, but closed doors should vibrate differently from the walls."
"Let's keep an eye out for Jefferies tubes or other maintenance accesses," hopes Fujishiro.
"Excellent idea," Pourtash agrees.
Does the expanded boarding party - now eleven of you - remain together while this scan is prepared and then run? It may take awhile to find the proper method to penetrate the somewhat sensor-impermeable alloy of the interior hull of this ship. Off the top of his head, Delaney knows of no method by which a phaser and a tricorder may be used together for a more intrusive or penetrating scan.
"Let's move forward and keep and eye out for hatches of all sort." If everyone's suit checks out, I begin work on the door to the voided compartment.
Delaney decides that the best thing to do would be to open the hatch in front of you a little bit at a time, after first closing the next hatch down the corridor behind you, so that the loss of atmosphere where you stand won't be explosive. The front hatch is locked, he learns, and cannot be opened with a variable electronic pulse as the previous ones were.
By now everyone is in spacesuits with helmets on, sealed and secure. Collins ensures that all helmet-installed communicators are functioning. There is persistent interference, although not as severe as in your recent offship communications. You each have six hours of breathable air, with an additional one-hour emergency air supply. Starfleet SOP requires that, if at all possible, you return home without ever tapping your emergency supply.
Despite the comm interference, after consulting with Lt. JG Nilo Coimbra, the Yorktown's metallurgical specialist, Fujishiro figures out a way to adjust her tricorder scan to compensate for the alien ship's odd hull alloy. She is now able to discern the corridors, crawlspaces and access points for 30 meters in every direction, although sensor acuity is still not ideal, and some areas seem to still block her scan. She reports to Delaney that there are decks both above and below the boarding party's current location, and that there are two hatches on either side of the airless corridor beyond the locked hatch now before you.
"Time for some cutting people. I am going to work on the door, but just in case, call over for another Cutter Beam and let's get two of you working on the deck." Delaney goes to work with his Hand Welder on the door frame. If the door was hinged, I will work on the hinges, if it is a pocket door, I will work on the locking side and call back for a pry bad and a set of jaws of life. If this all seems hopeless, I will call for some shaped charges, specifically Thermolytic would be preferred due to ease of use and prior experience.
Tricorder scan shows that the door, which is a pocket type, can be cut through with a hand welder or phaser-2 in less than two minutes.
Collins readies her phaser, "Show me where to shoot" she says to Delaney
Once her structural scans are complete and while waiting for the door, Fujishiro will do some electronic scans. She's looking for communications lines or maybe even a network node that could be used to eavesdrop on the information infrastructure of the ship.
"Do you still want me to call over for that other cutter beam?" Pourtash checks, ready to do so.
Using her tricorder, Fujishiro finds that, based on EM emission patterns, at least three conduit-enclosed bundles of what appear to be communications cables or wires pass along the ceiling of the corridor. There is no network node or its equivalent within scanning range.
Delaney doesn't believe that another cutter beam is necessary, at least not at the moment.
If the sealed door is to be cut or blasted open, remember that the next hatch down the hall behind you is still open. Explosive decompression, even in a spacesuit, is No Fun At All.
Fujishiro will begin recording what she can from the communication bundles. Too bad Hayes had to beam back, she thinks.
"Seal that hatch to the rear please. The cutting should allow for a slow reduction in air pressure in our current chamber."
The second, heavy cutter was for the deck. I doubt a Phaser II is a good tool for such a job.
Collins motions to two of the Security Detail to take care of the open hatch. She stands ready to fire on Delaney's say so.
Fujishiro finds that her tricorder merely registers the presence of low levels of energy in the three conduits. She is not a Communications officer, and doesn't have the skills either to tap into them or to interpret the contents of any signals they carry.
De la Paz and Nivens seal and lock the other nearest hatch.
The Yorktown beams over a heavy phaser cutter from Engineering. It's about as big as three tricorders put together; Delaney knows from his own scans that it will be more than sufficient to go through deck plating.
"Get cutting on the deck. We'll let the pressure leak slowly in the meantime and prepare to continue pursuit forward. Collin's lead the team forward and good luck, I'm going to find the engine room, load stations and pumps and anything else of interest."
Coliins points the phaser at the door and cuts two pin holes about a meter apart to allow for slow depressurization. When it can be determined that it is sae to do so, she will cut the door the rest of the way open.
The air pressure quickly, but safely, drops in the corridor where you stand, and within five minutes it is airless, just like the corridor beyond. With her phaser set as a cutting beam, Collins also makes quick work of the door lock mechanism, and in another two minutes the door is completely open. As noted earlier, there are two hatches on either side of the airless corridor beyond the now-open door before you.
Dr. Brownlock says that his tricorder shows the corridor directly below you all is apparently still pressurized, and asks, "Should we be cutting into the deck now that we're in a depressurized section?"
Dr. Brownlock keeps a close eye on the boarding party. He does not really trust these spacesuits and will pipe up if he notices even the slightest problem.
"We will cut a few holes to bleed the air slowly and then continue on."
With not being able to directly help with the cutting, Fujishiro will keep trying different variations on her scans. Once she has the structural maps done within range, she'll concentrate on detecting energy or power variations, in the hope of discovering activity by the opposition.
Delaney cuts a few holes in the deck and a steady flow of air begins coming up. After three minutes, Fujishiro detects no reduction in either the amount or the velocity of the escaping air, suggesting that the corridor below you is open to a large space, perhaps even the rest of the ship. She obtains no immediately useful readings on energy or power variations in the ship's systems.
On a hunch, Collins kneels on the deck and puts her helmet against the deck plating. From that direct contact, she can just barely hear the repeated sound of what might be an alarm below, but different from that which she heard when she and her Starfleet comrades first beamed aboard.
The entire boarding party is now in vacuum, and the temperature in the corridor is dropping. Dr. Brownlock can and does access the vital signs readouts - pulse, temperature, respiration, blood oxygenation, brainwaves and perspiration - of every member of the party with his tricorder, and so far he sees no cause for concern.
Then the lights in the corridor go out.
Pourtash sighs as the lights go out. It's not insurmountable, but it is a new stumbling block.
"Delaney" Collins signals her crewmate, "I have a sinking feeling about that repeated sound. It's too faint to be an alarm. It could be a timer. Worst case scenerio, it's the ship's self destruct counter. Can you get more info?"
"Activate suit lights, lets all move forward, hatch by stinking hatch. Going down is not a viable option at this point." He pulls out his powerful flashlight to supplement the suit light and adjusts the headband for hands-free use. Delaney begins scanning for potential explosions but does not expect to find anything. "Let's move people, Collins, please lead us forward. When we reach the next hatch, we'll start cutting bleeder holes and hope for the best."
Delaney then calls back to the Yorktown, "Delaney reporting in, is there any chance yet of beaming to another portion of the ship? We are running into many obstacles."
Dr. Brownlock activates his suit light, grateful that it works. He has a hard enough time finding his way around as it is. He will follow his fellow officers closely. He checks everyone's bio-scan readings for the umpteenth time. Better safe than sorry is his motto.
Everyone has helmet lights that work fine. Ens. Delaney need not carry a flashlight in his hands.
The communications interference is so bad now, however, that he can barely understand as Capt. Singh puts him through to Science Officer Roble, who says, "We're having the same difficulty scanning the interior from here as you are with your tricorders. Something to do with the alloy of the hull. I would not advise beaming you elsewhere in the ship without knowing what's there. I suppose that...." The rest of his words are lost in a burst of static. Try as you might, you cannot reestablish communications with the Yorktown.
Dr. Brownlock sees that all of the boarding party remains healthy, although some are now a little more nervous than before, judging by respiration patterns and heart rate.
Delaney and Fujishiro are getting no energy readings with their tricorders that might indicate a potential explosion. The power output of the ship, to the extent you can scan and interpret it, appears stable.
As there are now eleven of you, five from the original party and six Security officers, please give me your marching order. The corridor is wide enough to advance two abreast, if you wish.
there are 2 security personnel at the rear of the group - I am probably right behind Delaney with one other security person. the other 3 redshirts are spaced between the player characters
Marching order, when single file required, left side is first.
Collins Delaney
Pourtash Mahmoud
Russell Fujishiro
Dr. Brownlock
de la Paz Bartlett
Nivens Dodson
You advance, two abreast, into the corridor before you, passing the earlier-mentioned two doors on each side. Tricorder scans show that the two on your left appear to be for storerooms, and the two on your right lead into machinery compartments. All are airless. The next door ahead is also locked, and the corridor beyond it is pressurized. There are still no lights on.
Each of you tries to reestablish communications with the Yorktown on your suit communicators, but fail. Based upon a subspace frequency scan, Fujishiro suspects but can't be sure that your signals are being jammed.
Deleted - duplicate post.
"Collins, please cut some bleeder holes for the forward door. Mr. Mahmoud, please work on the aft machinery room door and I will work on the forward. Mr. Russell & Mr. de la Paz work on the storeroom doors."
While the others are dealing with the doors, Dr. Brownlock scans the atmosphere around them for any potential toxins or other nasty surprises that might create a bloody mess for a compromised spacesuit. These MYT's may not be as advanced as Starfleet, but he does not want to take any chances. Never underestimate your opponent, he thinks to himself. Never....
Collins aims a narrow beam at the forward door as requested.
Collins cuts the bleeder holes without any problem, and a steady flow of air begins coming through. Dr. Brownlock determines that the air is the same as that which you breathed when you first beamed aboard, with no measurable toxins, biological hazards or other nasty surprises.
The doors on either side are locked, but are easily opened with phaser-2s. The machinery rooms have waste-recycling and environmental machinery. The storerooms contain miscellaneous shipboard supplies - what appears to be alien clothing, ration packs and small machine parts.
Delaney says, "Doctor, could you check some of those ration packs for more information about this race please? I will quickly analyze the machine parts. Collins & Mahmoud please keep working on the forward hatch. I would like to get through it."
I will check out the machine parts and also look at the environmental machinery to see if I can control the air pressure either in the corridor we are in or going forward.
Dr. Brownlock scans the ration packs and finds that they are suitable for humanoid lifeforms such as the aliens you've already observed. There are meat, vegetable and fruit-based dishes, with some ingredients that aren't in the Starfleet Medical database. A minority of the rations would be edible for humans.
Delaney finds the machine parts are consistent with what he's observed of the technology of this ship. He discovers a large packing case of spare parts for doorway opening and locking mechanisms, for instance. The environmental machinery is going to take some time to puzzle out; at a glance, however, it does not appear to be useful for controlling corridor air pressure.
Collins and Mahmoud make additional bleeder holes in the door ahead; more air rushes out and then gradually diminishes to nothing. The corridor beyond the door is now also airless.
Fujishiro is growing increasingly aware of the spookiness of the situation, as she becomes acutely conscious of being in a narrow corridor with no lighting other than the every-which-way movement of everyone's spacesuit helmet lights, subject to attack by hostile aliens at any time, out of touch with her own ship. She is beginning to feel a bit anxious. This is not apparent to anyone else... yet.
Are there any auxiliary lighting objects in the store rooms? Otherwise, we'll open the next hatch and keep moving forward.
Dr. Brownlock makes sure that he saves the ration pack scans to his tricorder for further study later. He'd love to snatch a few of them to take back to the ship, but he realizes that's not a priority under current circumstances. Perhaps once the alien vessel is under their control? Brownlock will continue to monitor the boarding party and atmosphere at regular intervals and report any changes -- however slight -- to Ens. Delaney immediately.
There are no auxiliary lighting objects in the storeroom that Delaney can find, although there are actually very few loose objects on the shelves; most of the goods are in metal storage boxes with what appear to be the same as-yet-indecipherable lettering as you saw on the ducting and doors earlier. The ration-pack box was already partly open. Do you wish to open any more of the 60-some other boxes of various sizes?
Dr. Brownlock sees no cause for concern in her monitoring of the boarding party's biosigns. There is no atmosphere to scan where you now are.
Delaney goes to the forward hatch himself and gets it open to continue forward as instructed earlier.
Fujishiro occupies herself with her tricorder scans.
Collins follows closely behind Delaney, phaser drawn.
Delaney and Collins get the door open and proceed forward, side by side. The rest of the Yorktown boarding party follows, two by two, as Ens. Delaney earlier ordered.
The dark, airless corridor extends ahead as far as your helmet lights reach. There are no doorways to be seen, but the ducting on either side is now larger and more complicated in its construction. About 20 steps down the corridor, and there is a brilliant burst of whitish-blue light which blinds Delaney, Collins, and Mahmoud, and leaves Pourtash seeing stars. You hear it over your comm headphones, too: BZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzap! Those farther back in the party are briefly dazzled. At that moment, Collins is struck by a powerful discharge of energy and falls to the deck, unconscious. None of you can see where the bolt of energy, which leaves an afterimage in Pourtash's mind like a small but intensely bright lightning bolt, came from.
Fujishiro moves to the side of corridor and crouches to lower her profile. She works her tricorder to see what kind of energy that was. Was it a directed weapon or a release of power from the ship's infrastructure?
Dr. Brownlock is at Collins' side in an instant. He trusts the others to provide them both with cover as he deals with Collins' medical needs.
Collins suddenly finds herself surrounded by clouds in assorted pastel colors. A figure approaches her through the haze. As she watches, the figure becomes her mother, who has been dead for many years now. She looks at the apparition in disbelief. The figure reaches out a hand, smiles, shakes her head in mock sternness, and says "You've returned. My, my. What have you done to yourself this time?" Collins takes the hand of the woman in front of her and the two float among the pastel clouds, while Peruvian Pan Flutes play softly in the background. Collins feels herself merging with the clouds and it gives her a calm peaceful aura.
Delaney races forward snaking and evading from who knows what. He tries to get to the next hatch.
Security Spec/1 Russell, phaser drawn, covers Dr. Brownlock while the young physician attends to Collins. A quick scan shows that her heart has stopped due to a high-voltage electrical shock. She has also sustained a severe burn to her front right shoulder, and her spacesuit is actually burned through. His fingers fumbling just a little through his spacesuit gloves, Brownlock draws instruments and a hypospray from his medikit and quickly restarts Collins's heart, ensures that she is still breathing, and administers a painkiller. He directs Russell to seal the spacesuit's 3-centimeter-wide burn hole at once with a patch from Spec/2 Bartlett's emergency kit.
Fujishiro's scans reveal a small, lopsided, alien-looking box which was, it seems, recently concealed among the ducting to the party's right, and rigged to release a massive electrical discharge. She cannot, at least at first, figure out the triggering mechanism. It now appears inert.
Delaney, still blinded, tries to run ahead but trips over something underfoot and goes sprawling, about 20 meters beyond the boarding party. Ens. de la Paz goes at once to his assistance.
Mahmoud sits down where he is, moaning quietly. Nivens kneels to help him.
Pourtash, blinking quickly, feels his vision returning, although things are still spotty. He feels a headache coming on.
"Bloody spacesuits," Brownlock mutters under his breath. He checks on Mahmoud and Pourtash, scanning them briefly. He reaches Delaney and says, "We need to get Collins back to the ship right away." Nigel notices his own labored breathing and checks his bio readings. Elevated pulse and respiration. He lets out a loud sigh. "Mr. Delaney, might I suggest that we all get the bloody hell out of here or at least call for more assistance?"