Acid Rain, PT. 2-Evacuate

Posted on Fri Nov 22nd, 2024 @ 5:24pm by Captain Dr. Nairut Noxi & Commander Damian Morgan & Lieutenant Commander Mira Napier & Lieutenant Byron Baker & Lieutenant Alex Dalton & Captain Neyin Vessk & Lieutenant JG Rose Andrake & Ambassador Devon Harrison

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Mission: To Boldly Go...
Location: Nade Planet
Timeline: MD-04

ON:

---

The Nadean council knew more than they were revealing to the Starfleet people...yet. A bit of trust needed to be formed first. It was getting there, but not solid yet. Still, Larris knew that they were running out of time, so he'd gathered the other three-his closest allies in the Council-for a meeting. They sat in the usual meeting room they preferred.

"I think we might need to move quicker than we'd expected," Larris said, to the other three. "The Old Guard is ramping up their attacks. This isn't the Kareema; that was just a convenient excuse," he said, with a deep sigh. He looked to Celethe, and Coup. Carbrin usually was just the listener, storing away the things said and done in his memory. The Nadeans weren't a temporal race as a whole, but occasionally, one or two were born each generation, and took on the role of planetary historian.

Celethe spoke. "I agree. Let's work with Dorinnell and the others to get an underground evacuation going. Perhaps we can base ourselves off the ship they brought," she said. "And more on one of ours. I have already requested to requisition the Stardancer," she said. The Council had unlimited and unfettered access to the use of the planets two starships, and cadre of shuttles, but she wanted to make sure Is were dotted and Ts were crossed. "I will speak to her at the conclusion. Coup, go up to the Old Guard. Ask them what they're asking for to make the rains stop," she said. Coup nodded.

"I will. I have a contact that can get us settled onto Nade II," he said. Nade II was technically a moon of Nade, but habitable by the natives. A small colony had already began to settle it, about ten years prior, when it was found to contain rich, fertile soil and several clutches of deuterium, a necessary metal to the Nadean people.

"Great," said Larris. "I will speak to this Earthling," he said. "Morgan. He is trustworthy, and so are the rest. Let's go," he said, rising to his feet.


~~~

"Deliverance, And--HGRaaghkk" Rose had felt it, every atom torn apart, carried, delivered, reassembled, fractions of a second turning into infinity as Rose had been beamed planetside, the heavy, retching gag catching her as she tried to inform Deliverance of her safe arrival. Without thinking, she tore at the neck seal of her suit, pitching her helmet to the side as her knees buckled and she folded, her stomach violently tossing its contents into the mud as the acrid air stung her nostrils. The tingling of the acid flowing across her skin. She knew how strong it was, had been burned by stronger. This rain was dangerous, certainly. But more dangerous would be if she had filled her helmet with what had struck the ground with a wet splat. So Rose knelt, steadying her breathing in the mud as she forced herself to focus, fought the waves of nausea down. "Deliverance, Andrake. I'm planetside. Remind me never to volunteer for a field mission again, please."

=/\= Lt. Are you ok?=/\= Came Noxi's voice down the Comms. =/\= I will ask Dr. Baker to meet you.=/\=

She opened a second channel. =/\= Dr. Baker, please meet Lt. Andrake at the transport drop site. =/\= She sighed. She didn't know the woman had transporter illness; she wouldn't have allowed her to go. =/\=Morgan, have someone meet the others, too, please. =/\= She sighed, but settled back. She hoped things were going OK.

=/\=I'm fine!=/\= Rose hissed back, standing woozily to gather her gear. =/\=This rain's softer than my momma's beauty washes and I'm a big girl. Baker's got other patients that can't handle acid as well. Beginning my samples. Just promise me a hot shower and a cooked meal when I get back. None of that hollow tasting bitter aftertaste ass replicator slop. And real hot water would be nice. But before that, lemme stabilize those ecosphere. Just like an ag bay... Just... Bigger.=/\=

=/\= Acknowledged." Baker left his patients and headed to the beam down site. There he saw Rose. "Someone didn't know about your transporter phobia?" He pulled out his tricorder and started scanning her.

His scanner would find that something in her system, whether some incorporeal part of her or her own body had rebelled against the transporter beam, fighting it like a beachgoer might fight a wave, with the same futility. But as Rose shakily stood, rolling her shoulders back and forcing herself to stand tall, she hefted a sample collection kit and opened it in her arms. A test tube found itself in her hand as she stepped towards a tree with a coring drill in her other hand. "Phobia. Yeah. Well, if I'd told the Captain, she would have never let me. I didn't know the situation down here, heard a call for security and I'm the best fighter in Science. I won't have some girl from Cornucopia or a geologist from Denver coming down here to get shot at. I'm fine. You have patients that actually need you, and I can handle a little acid bath. Go be a hero, doc. I'll get to planning how to get this planet recovered, just need the other nerds on stopping the rain. Not sure how to do it without dumping a few megatons of activated carbon on the upper atmosphere and dispersing it with a torp warhead or five. Turn the acid rain into a nuclear winter followed by sulpher carbonate precip and another six or seven torps in a year to end the ice age and install a new ozone layer. Either way, this rock's dead. I just need samples and to go to a source to figure out if this is natural or not. This mission's a post mortem."

Commander Morgan heard the hum of the transporter beam before taking off for the Nadean Council Chamber. He also witnessed Lieutenant Andrake’s unfortunate reaction to her beam-in. “I appreciate your thoroughness, Lieutenant. But you look like hell. If you’re up to joining us, however, we could use your help. Your background in cartography and planetary science is exactly what we need here. What else can you tell me?”

"Not a damn thing, sir," Rose replied. "Not til I take a walk and get a shitload of samples back to Deliverance. As for my sciences, I am a stellar cartographer and grew up tutored in controlled environment ecology. Planetary ecology is orders of magnitude more complex and localization doesn't help. We're dealing with something billions of times larger than the biggest agricultural bay I've ever seen! I'm in way over my head and holding on what's left of my lunch and focusing on this are the only things keeping me from the realization that physics and distance are the only things holding us back from the infinite black and my helmet's over there. Gods, I hate planets. Let me go for a walk, grab some samples, I'll meet you all back in town center when I get my samples up, we'll go over the data as it comes in."

“Acknowledged, Lieutenant. See you back there,” Morgan said.

-----------------------
Larris had led Dr. Baker to the clinic, where, indeed, it was packed with people with various stages of acid rain wounds and radiation illness-as the acidic rain had torn a hole in the atmosphere. "Miss Harp said you people have the ability to teach us how to control the climate. We might be interested in that," he said, before disappearing. The Nadeans had the ability to self-transport. A medic approached Dr. Baker.

"Hello. I am Tona Breadth. You people would call me a nurse. I have already started treating people, but it's a lot. I have summoned some more Healers from the southern part of the Planet, but they're also experiencing the rains," she explained. "We can only do so much," she said.

Baker looked at Tona. "Can you give me a situation rep please?" He pulled out his medical scanner and started scanning patients.

--------------------------

Back in the main building, Larris had apparated in the meeting room.
"Comrades," he said. The last time he had visited Earth, the Soviet Union still existed, and so he'd chosen that word. "We have some developments. How soon could we evacuate?" He asked Morgan.

Devon looked to Commander Morgan. He a bit surprised at the request for evacuation. The Deliverance was a modified warship with a limited capacity for scientific and diplomatic mission profiles. He turned back to Larris. "I am not sure that is a viable option here."

“Mr. Larris, the Deliverance is not designed to handle an evacuation of this magnitude. Even maximizing the transporters, cargo bays, and shuttles, we couldn’t hold all your people. Even if it meant relocation to another planet, it would take time and more ships. That’s the situation. Perhaps you should take this up with the rest of the Council. They need to be aware of what’s happening.”

Larris nodded. "THEY are who we are fleeing. Could we go in groups?" He asked, pressing harder. "And it wouldn't be ALL of us. Some would likely refuse to leave," he said. As much as he hated the idea, he knew that there would be the defectors and such.

“Ambassador, if you could find the Doctor. We need him in here. Thank you,” Morgan ordered.

Devon nodded he stood up and stepped out of the Council Chamber, his marine guard keeping step with him as they went to the medical center. He tapped his commbadge. =/\=Captain Nairut, Ambassador Harrison here. Councilman Larris is requesting an evacuation of the colony. Could you have ship's sensors determine how many inhabitants are on the planet?"=/\=

Noxi was directing the final phases of the yellow alert simulation when Devon's voice came down the Comms.

=/\=They want to WHAT?=/\= She sighed deeply. =/\= Do your Ambassador bit while I do some research. =/\= She clicked off and then asked Ops to do the search.

Devon continued his trek to the medical center and found Doctor Baker treating some of the more severe cases. "Commander Morgan needs you in the Council Chamber. Councilman Larris wants to evacuate the colony."

"Understood." He looked at Tona. "Keep treating the patients as I showed you. If any more serious cases arrive, have someone contact me." He started walking with Devon. "Did I hear you right? An evacuation?"

Tona nodded. "Yes, healer," she said, and returned to triage.

“That’s right. Between the acid rain, the injuries to the population, and the ecological toll as a whole is giving these people a reason to leave. I don’t blame them. It’s just we don’t n have the means right now. What’s the extent of the damage left by the weather changes, Doctor?” Morgan asked. He was growing more concerned by the hour .

"Appears that most of the plant life has been destroyed. Including their crops and livestock." Byron looked at him. "You know that we can't transport the entire population onboard the ship...there's too many."

“That’s what I was telling the Ambassador. From what I’ve been told, almost 2,200 people. We need more ships. And time. I need to alert Captain Nairut. Do what you can to make them comfortable, Doctor. You’re authorized to enlist local assistance if you need it. Feel free to requisition medical supplies from the ship. I don’t know how long we’ll be here. Thank you, Byron.”

Morgan tried to find some relative privacy to speak with the Captain.

//^\\ Morgan to Captain Nairut. You’re aware of the evacuation request. Reports indicate about 2,200 people. We need more ships and more time. Some have volunteered to stay, but most would like to be relocated. Please advise. //^\\

Nairut listened to Morgan's communique. =/\= I'll see what I can do. It will take at least several hours; both the Intrepid and the Endeavor are nearby, about three light years. I'll see what else I can do. Ask the Ambassador to do his thing and see how long we can stall. =/\= It wasn't ideal, but it was her best idea.

She opened a relay and issued a request for backup to any available ships in the area before standing up.

"Chandler, you have the Bridge for a bit. I need to speak with Captains Gavin and Johnson." She stepped into her ready room, preparing to tell the other two men what was going on.

Drew nodded as he rose from his station and proceeded to the center seat. "Aye Captain. I have the bridge."

-----

In the Ready Room, Noxi quickly opened a relay to both men. She filled them in quickly on the situation at hand, and then they agreed to rendezvous. Since the Intrepid was closer, Captain Gavin assured her that they'd be there in about three hours and would have his helmsman increase them to full Warp. Captain Johnson would follow behind in about five hours. The three agreed to meet once they were all assembled to make out a more solid plan. She returned to the Bridge.

"Thank you, Commander. Open a channel to Morgan, please," she said, resuming her seat.

Once through to Morgan, she passed on the information.

=/\= Commander. The Intrepid can be here in three hours; they're not far out and will bump up to full warp. Captain Gavin said he can onboard two hundred people; the ship is a Constitution class, and outpowers us in all sectors. Behind him, the Endeavor is coming, and they can host 100 people. I will ask Harrison to arrange an evacuation plan. In the meantime, ask Lt. Andrake to report back. She's out of range. Nairut out. =/\=

//^\\Acknowledged, Captain. That’s not much help. There’s over 2000 people down here, although Larris tells me some will stay. Damn. Alright . I’ll notify Andrake. Stand by, Captain. //^\\

=/\=The fuck you mean I'm outta range?! I been trying to beam these samples back for half an hour! Did the rain fuck my comm badge's freque**-- en-- bad enough I--* I'm on the same planet as you!=/\= The rest of the transmission faded into static and popping before clicking out. Based on the tone of her voice, it wasn't hard to imagine she was uncomfortably soaked in the rain, likely dealing with mild chemical burns, and the seals on her equipment was starting to fail. But by her breathing through the comms, she was also running, probably towards town.

=/\=Lt. Andrake?=/\= Noxi raised her eyes to the ceiling. She tapped back to Morgan. =/\= Andrake is at the other end of the river mouth. Someone needs to locate her and beam her back.=/\=

She let out a sigh. If she had to, she could go herself. She tapped back to Rose. =/\=Get to the center of town as quickly as you can. Beam back from there. That is a direct order.=/\= She clicked off before Rose could argue back. Noxi didn't mind so much; the younger woman reminded her of herself when she was younger.

Drew finished doing a bit of research at the Mission Ops station and transferred the data onto a PADD. He took the PADD and approached Noxi in the center seat. "Captain, I have a list of every starship that is less than 24 hours travel time away."

"Thank you. Please," she said, indicating he should continue.

Drew nodded his head towards the PADD. "The Sutherland is docked at Deep Space Nine. She is a Nebula-class and has the capacity to evacuate the entire population of Nade. Problem will be the subterranean shelter the majority of the colonists are now in which makes mass use of transporters difficult. The population would have to come out and beamed up in groups."

She brought a hand to her forehead and massaged at one of her ridges a moment, a sign that they would soon learn meant that she was frustrated. Noxi nodded.

"Alright. Send a relay, I'll follow up with Captain Johnson after. Thank you, Chandler," she said. She radioed the information back to Morgan.

Drew returned to the aft station and opened a channel to Deep Space Nine. He spoke briefly with the duty officer. He then spoke with the Captain of the Sutherland. He finally closed out the communique and sighed. He returned to the Captain's chair. "Spoke with DS9 port authority and the Captain of the Sutherland. There's no way for them to get here in less than 48 hours."

Noxi nodded. "Ok. Ask them to prepare for patrols; I think we have an evacuation plan. We'll need a landing spot. As soon as Commander Morgan returns, we'll know more. Please ask Engineering to prep the remaining open quarters into bunk rooms. That's the only way we can accommodate even one hundred folks," she said. It was her best idea. And it would be fine-not ideal, but fine. It was only temporary, after all.

--------------------------

Mira was working with Dalton to set up the perimeter when the other members of her team beamed down. She scanned for Mike from those that had beamed down, but she didn't see him. She accepted this, thinking that he was wiser than he had shown. She knew that he'd protect her if he could, but that his duties like hers resided with protecting the people and the ship's crew. She assigned details to the members to help patrol and keep things safe. She asked that each check in with each other and let her know if anything went wrong. She wasn't giving anything to chance.

Having heard her issues orders to the newly arrived reinforcements Alex was impressed on how tightly she ran things, yet couldn't help but wonder if it was too much.

"Expecting trouble?" he asked once they were alone again.

"It's better to be safe than sorry." She said to Dalton with a sigh, "I learned that the hard way, loosing the last command team. I refuse that ever again."

He winced at her reply. "Understandable. I'd be cautious too after something like that happened. A lesser person might have resigned, what kept you going?"

Napier took a deep breath with a sad sigh, "Carry on. They would have."

----------------------
Larris had requested a meeting with the Old Guard. He was there now, to meet them at their lair, a large, imposing stone castle at the equator of Nade. He was shown in to their meeting room, and was given the motion to speak.

"I have come to request the use of a shuttle. We have some defectors. I would like to go with them. I will ensure their slow and agonizing deaths," he said, speaking in the Nadean's native click-language. "Sets of fifty, I think? We have about two hundred that want to leave." He waited.

"Granted. Do not fail me."

Larris nodded, and left the room. He was shown to the shuttle, and made his way back to the Capital.

Once at the Capital, Larris found the Starfleet people.

"I have been granted permission to begin evacuations. Just give the word. I'll be in my office," he said to Morgan.

“Larris, I‘ve been informed by the Captain that two Federation starships are en route. Problem is, like Deliverance, they can’t transport the numbers here on Nade. Three hundred. We can move 300. That’s it. Work with your government, draw lots, do what you have to do. It’s that or you wait it out until Starfleet can get larger transports out here,” Morgan said.

"I have permission to evacuate up to one hundred twenty people at a time to our moon for processing," he said. "I can begin that any time that you are ready. Thank you for your help. Has Celethe returned yet?" He asked. He didn't want to be caught. At least, not by HER. She was one of the oldest Nadeans, and well skilled in their combat ways. Frankly, she scared him.

“No, sir. I have not seen her recently. Before we proceed, we need to know HOW to proceed. What I mean is, do you have facilities in place on that moon of yours to provide for your people? Our staff needs to know conditions you’ll be going into. I would need to inform Captain Nairut should additional security measures be necessary.”

Larris nodded. "Yes. About fifteen years ago, a colony of defectors went up. They come back occasionally to trade with us. They have fully functional facilities. We just need to let them know that we have more defectors, but they've made it clear that we'l be welcomed with open arms," he said.
-----------------------------
Baker, having been given permission, returned to the treatment area. Before walking inside, he taped his commbage. =/\= Baker to Deliverance, Patch me through to sickbay. Seconds later, =/\=Mitchell here, doctor. What can I do for you? =/\= Mitchell, grab all the radiation treatments from storage and beam down. Bring Davies, leave Sanchez in charge. We're going to try and treat as many of the inhabitants. =/\= Yes doctor. Be there in 10."

Baker found Tona. "How many people can you get to help us treat your people?"

Tona looked at the man. "There are ten people who came up with Representative Larris," she said, in a monotone. These people didn't understand the native Nadean language, but luckily Tona had learned Standard. All Nadeans from the three major cities did, as they were taught it in school. "I have already issued them handheld healers," she said, holding up the tricorder in her hand.

"Get them here quickly, we will need them." Just then, the supplies and Mitchell and Davies beamed down. "Good timing. Mitchell, you'll be with me. Davies, you will work with Tona and the others, when they get here. I want you to setup a triage area. Mitchell and I will unpack the supplies." He watched them stand there. "I mean now!" With that, everyone started moving.

The ten extra medics arrived then, in a neat, orderly line of five each-male and female-and immediately got to work, as if they could sense what needed to be done. They weren't a temporal race, but Tona had already filled them in on what was going on-plus, they'd seen it themselves in each of their cities.

While Davies instructed the new medics in triage, Baker got ready to start treating patients. There was no sickbay operating room, just two rocks to hold the stretcher that the patients were laying in.

His first patient was an elderly male. Baker scanned him, and the results were bad....radiation burns on both arms and on his head. The scans revealed that the radiation had spread to the man's heart, liver and lungs. If they were on a starship, Baker might be able to save him, but all he could do was give the patient a sedative, have him moved to what passed as the ward, and let him die in peace.

The next patient was a female child, who had radiation burns on over 75% of her body. With Mitchell's help, they undressed her, and Baker went to work. The wounds were severe. Baker worked on her for over an hour. If it took this long for a patient to get treated, a lot of waiting patients might die.

He injected her with the radiation medicine, tried to remove as much of the burns on her body, then bandaged her burns with gauze.

Baker moved onto the next patient.

After a while, it all became a blur.

Finally, the other ships had arrived, and Noxi could send some good news to the away team.

Noxi radioed down to Morgan.

=/\=Commander, the USS Intrepid has arrived. Began assembling what's necessary for evacuation, the Captain and Medical Teams are ready to receive. =/\=

She clicked off to wait. That's all she could do now.

Devon turned to Morgan. "Best get started Commander. It would probably be best to start with the more severe medical cases."

“We’ll follow your lead on this one, Doctor, from a medical perspective. Stand by for further instructions and keep me posted.” Morgan ordered.

Baker received the order to evacuate. The two Federation ships were in orbit. Baker contacted the Chief Medical Officers of both ships and advised them of the situation. 150 patients were beamed to each ship. The remaining 125 were beamed back to the Deliverance, that many would put a strain on the ship, but it has to be done, they wouldn't be left to die.

TBC...

-----------------------------------

Captain Dr. Nairut Noxi
Commanding Officer
USS Deliverance

&&

Ambassador Devon Harrison
Ambassador-at-Large, Federation Diplomatic Corps (attached duty, USS Deliverance)

Commander Damian Morgan
Executive Officer
USS Deliverance

Lieutenant Byron Baker
Chief Medical Officer
USS Deliverance

Lt. JG Rose Andrake
Astrocartography
USS Deliverance

Captain Neyin Vessk
Marine detachment
USS Deliverance

LCdr Mira Naiper
Chief Security Officer
USS Deliverance

Lt, Mike Barton (NPC)
Security Officer
USS Deliverance

Lt. Alex Dalton
Chief Operations Officer
USS Deliverance

 

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