[Columbia] Stalking a "Ghost"

Posted on Wed Nov 7th, 2012 @ 6:21am by Commander Raven Adams & Colonel Wilhelm Baron von Hackleberg
Edited on on Wed Nov 7th, 2012 @ 6:22am

1,124 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: The Enemy Within: Typhon is Missing!
Location: Tiberius IV

ON

The rumbling abated, Ronnie finished setting up the force field emitters and checked to make sure they were aligned properly. With all the recent events with the spider-like creatures, the Columbia disappearing below the sand, Damion acting like a Neanderthal and now the strange rumbling, she was ready for something good to happen.

Cameron was sitting over on a nearby rock, retuning his phaser so it's fire could pass through the Forcefield they'd set up. Although he didn't want to have to use it, he thought it would be better if he was ready for anything. After a short while, he looked up at Ronnie, "they still not biting?" He asked, scaning the fields for any visible fluctuations.

"Sadly, no. But we've seen them twice so far, so I hope they'll make an appearance soon," she said.

Doctor Hart has had a look at Lieutenant J.G. Lancaster, not knowing what is wrong with her without a diagnosis as his tricorder has been acting strangely. When he drew Ronnie's blood into a container, it was showing the liquid was not completely red. It was more like grey mixed with red, giving the blood a greyish color. He went over Cameron and lowered his voice. "We have a problem." He showed him the vial that contained Ronnie's blood, "this is not fully human blood...something has gotten into her and is now in her blood. As the saying goes, he turned into something like a Vampire," he shook his head, wondering if Cameron got the concept about the Vampire even if it is a myth.

Cam turned to two nearby marines, "keep an on Lieutenant Lancaster" he said, turning back to Hart, "do you have an idea what's causing this 'Vampirism'?"

"My tricorder has malfunctioned and I don't have the right equipment to make the correct diagnosis, so, I don't know the cause of this...", Jason said.

Kara again came quickly down the tunnel and into the camp. "Colonel! Trouble," she said when she saw von Hackleberg. "The other team ran into a nest of spider-like creatures that have Borg nanites in them. We killed a few dozen, but the rest ran off. One of the Marines was infected."

"That might be the problem," the doctor said.

"What problem?" Kara asked the doctor.

"Borg nanites can get into our blood and change the composition of it. I think Lieutenant Lancaster is infected," Jason said. "See his blood?" He raised the vial up so that Kara can see it. "Borgs are like Vampires."

Wilhelm looked to Kara then the Three Marine survivors from the Columbia. "Go help them out I'll be up presently. Take these with." Wilhelm said and tossed them two grenades from the back part of his web gear. "Inceniary grenades. Make sure your rebreathers are on when you use them." Wilhelm ordered then looked at Hart, "If he is infected he'll either have to be quarantined or...not a very pleasant alternative." he said with a frown.

"Aye, sir," Kara said, turning to head back to the other group.

[Later]

The camp was set up and several teams had moved into side tunnels to continue exploring when another ghostly light appeared. Ronnie, who had been sitting quietly on a bag sat up straighter. Good. Now, if ie would just go towards the force field emitters and set them off, they'd have it.

She watched, barely breathing, as it drifted across the water, apparently drawn by the sound emanating from the emitters. Moments later, it crossed the invisible line and triggered the trap. The force field turned on, effectively trapping the light inside. There was an unearthly howl as the entity banged against first one wall and then the other.

"Lancaster to Bourne. We caught one."

Wilhelm looked at the trapped entity. "Not very happy is he." Wilhelm said with a smile. "Now....what's the idea on what to do with it."

"Now, we do what we scientists do best. We scan and observe," Ronnie said happily.

"As long as you don't try to obtain a sample lieutenant" Cam said, walking up beside Ronnie, "whatever this thing is, it doesn't seem to enjoy being caught"

Ronnie scowled at Cam. "But that takes away half the fun. I take a sample, run some tests, then, if all goes well, let it go."

Cam smiled, "yea, it's the 'if all goes well' part that concerns me. As you do outrank me, I can't tell you what to do, but please, consider all your options first"

"I appreciate the advice," she admitted. "I'm going to play it by ear. If I get what I need without going one-on-one, I will. Okay?"

Cam nodded, "fine, but don't expect me to pull you ass out of the fire"

Ronnie scanned the creature in the force field. "There are temporal fluctuations every time the thing moves," she said, more curious now.
She wished she had her equipment on the Calypso to do a more thorough job. After she'd gathered as much information as she could, she dropped the force field and grabbed for a bit of what appeared to be the creatures clothing. Her hand went right through, but she felt a strange stinging sensation and pulled back just as the creature disappeared into the wall.

"Are you insane!?!" Cam yelled, hurrying over to Ronnie to see if she was ok, "you should know not to stick your hands into strange lights"

"I wanted to see if I could grab a piece of it," she said. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. My sanity is another issue." She shook her head. "That was really weird."

She picked up her tricorder and scanned her hand. "Definitely some sort of temporal/transphasic effect. I don't think it did any damage, though. Nor, alas, did I get anything substantial."

"Some scientist you are" Cam said, shaking his head, "for all you know, that light could have been a rift in spacetime. It could have killed you and I wasn't looking forward to telling the CO why you didn't return"

"Yeah, me, either," she said sheepishly. "I know, stupid move. But I wasn't sure how else to do it with the limited resources we have here. What it did tell me is that there's something odd going on and we need to find out what it is. So, how about we put away the force field emitters and see what else is down here?"

OFF

Colonel Wilhelm Baron von Hackleberg
Marine CO
Starbase Typhon

Lieutenant JG Ronnie Lancaster
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Calypso

Master Sergeant Cameron Bourne
Delta Squadron Leader
USS Calypso

Ensign Jason Hart
Doctor
USS Calypso

Staff Sergeant Kara Melo
Alpha Platoon Leader
USS Calypso

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