Shuttle Down Syndrome

Posted on Thu May 22nd, 2025 @ 9:18pm by Commander Jenna Ramthorne & Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Commander Jennifer Baldric & Lieutenant Sarah Wilson

1,397 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Masimal
Location: Masimal - Mountainside
Timeline: Current

"I'll, uh, yeah, get to work outside. See what sort of damage we're looking at." Bonnie said as she grabbed her kit. "Can someone cover me, you know, in case?" She asked as she placed the helmet back upon her suit.

"I will accompany you outside Bonnie." Savar spoke up and like Bonnie he refastened the helmet to his suit. "I will exit first to make sure the area is clear for you to attempt repairs." He pressed the door lock and it slid back smoothly. "Wait for my call Bonnie." As he stepped out into the cooler air.

Once outside, he scanned the area visually, there seemed to be no one around. There was no sound other than a gentle breeze rustling through the distant trees.. He made a complete circle of the shuttle and found nothing to raise concern. "Bonnie, you may exit the shuttle and begin repairs."

"Thank you, uh, Commander." Bonnie bobbed in a small curtsey before grabbing her kit and a tricorder and shuffling out of the hatch.

Sarah sank against the wall, still in her envirosuit. She removed the helmet and gave in to the inevitable infection that the errant shot had cost her. Sealing within the quarantine field she was no longer a risk to the rest of the away team. Pulling the tricorder from her medkit she set about studying the illness.

Jenna finalized the shut down sequence before turning, "You okay Doc? You're looking a bit peeky and your heart rate is strangely elevated." She slunk down closer to the medical shielding. "I'm no nurse, but I'm good with directions if you can tell me what you need."

Savar kept scanning the surrounding area for any sign of movement. So far the area was clear, perhaps the cold affected the virus. he would aske Sarah at his earliest opportunity.

Outside, the atmosphere was still, cold, but also free of the spore cloud they had encountered in the city and above. The shuttle on the other hand looked as though an organic growth of some kind had latched on and grown exponentially. There was a crack along the starboard nacelle approximately 1 meter in length and the organic material appeared to be sucling off of the ratiation leakage.

Bonnie scanned in general before getting a deeper tissue scan of the organics. after a minute or so she commented on the findings, "Fungus. A mutated form of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis to be precise." She relayed. "It seems to be feeding off the radiation leakage on the nacelle."

Savar listened to Bonnie as he continued to scan their surroundings. When she had finished, he asked. "Is it the source of the virus and will it affect your ability to make repairs.?"

Baldric listened from inside the shuttle. "Did you say that the fungus is feeding off the radiation?" She asked, putting more data into her tricorder. "She took some more scans of Sarah and tried to ascertain whether the two were correlating.

Attempting to answer the asked questions in order, Bonnie replied, "I do not know yet if it is the source, though all signs point to yes. And yes it may hinder the repairs but I will try. It appears to be feeding. According to the tricorder it is absorbing on average 83.657 percent of what the nacelle is expelling. As it feeds it is continuing to grow at an exponential rate." She paused to look at the tricorder then back to the shuttle. "If I do nothing, the shuttle will be completely engulfed in about an hour, give or take."

Noting Sarah was in Baldric's capable hands, Jenna stood and returned the helmet to her body. "I'm coming out to help. Maybe we can clear the fungus by trimming it at the roots."

Savar listened to Bonnie as she spoke on the fungus. "That is not acceptable." He stated evenly. "Is it possible to burn or cut the fungus from the shuttle with our phasers and thereby improve your chances of achieving and completing repairs? In addition, if burning the fungus off is not a viable option, can we run a charge through the shuttle to shock the fungus off?"

Jenna stepped out into the snow. "Both sound like admirable ideas. What say you Lieutenant Durnell?"

Wondering why Commander Ramthorne was sometimes formal and at others not, she answered. "Um, I suggest we try phasers first. If this thing eats radiation who knows what a surge of electricity will do to it? I would have thought the cold would kill it, but it seems very hardy."

Jenna stepped up and pulled out her phaser, adjusting the charge and output into more of a cutting beam. "Point the way. We'll have that fungus off in no time."

Savar brought his phaser out as well, "Perhaps it would aid our efforts if we concentrate our phasers to the area Bonnie wishes us to and remove the fungus from." Savar replied.

Baldric stuck her head out of the door "The fungus is showing some base shared DNA with the pathogen that's affecting these people. It may be sentient." She cautioned, hoping very much they could blast it off the shuttle and go home and be away from all of this.

"Sentient?" Bonnie asked. "Like it can feel and understand? Doesn't that mean we shouldn't use our phasers on it? I feel there is a Non-Interference regulation we would be breaking, or something."

Jenna placed one boot up on the nacelle and got up close with her eyes, while readying her phaser, "I don't think we have much choice in the matter. Whatever this is, we can't leave nor can we help these people until we've removed it." She hesitated as she waited for Savar to decide how to proceed.

"I believe you may be overstating the situation Bonnie, the fungus has made no attempt to communicate with us. However, to make sure we are not missing anything, "Commander Baldric, make an attempt to communicate with it, but do not come in contact with the fungus, Just speak to it." Savar replied as he looked to Jenna, "If there is no reply, we will attempt to burn it off."

Baldric stepped outside rhe shuttle. "Get Offffffff!" She shouted at the ever growing fungus. She waited a moment, poked it with a gloved finger, took another tricorder reading and shrugged. "Go for it, burn it off"

"Commander Ramthorne, we will start at the nacelle, if we are successful, Bonnie will be able to begin repairs." Savar commented as he pointed and fired his phaser into the fungus.

Baldric was in a foul mood and tempered her sarcasm to internal dialogue rather than sharing it aloud. She waited until they started to burn the fungus off before going back inside to see Sarah.

Jenna focused her phaser at the fungus and began firing. At first it reacted as most organic material would, by bubbling and releasing it's little strands away from the attached object. The more she fired though, the more the fungus seemed to fight the release. Instead of moving or releasing, it held firm and simply allowed itself to be singed.

"Argh, feels like something is burning" Sarah grimaced inside the quarantine field, running where the pathogen sat on her body.

Bonnie stood back, not one to be involved in phaser use, she was content to simply watch. All the while she continued to scan and hope the results would speak for themselves. It wasn't long though before she heard Sarah's voice over the communication channel.

Savar didn't need to be psychic to know Baldric was in a foul mood. He would attempt to talk with her later. However right now he was more concerned with getting the fungus off the shuttle as he added his phaser to Jenna's.

"Oww oww oww!" Sarah squealed with discomfort, scratching at the lesions on her arm. She yanked at the envirosuit and tore the suit off, her behaviour erratic and almost panicked.

"Whoa slow down Doc, tell me what's going on?" Baldric tried a soothing tone, unable to physically help.

"It feels like something burning." Sarah clawed at the flesh on her shoulder, ripping through the uniform and drawing blood.

"OK, I need you to load that hypo with a mild sedative so you can think clearly..." Jennifer stood as close to the quarantine field as she dared.

TBC

 

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