Play@YSDC

Aboard the Persephone - Styx Base, Pluto
0850 GMT - Tuesday, August 9, 2112

Lt. Colonel Howard Bruce, Captain Karin Bauer, and General Richard Pryce all entered the Persephone's main cabin. The general moved quickly to the pilot's seat, secured his straps, and began the preflight checks. "Better strap yourselves in," he said. "We'll be taking off shortly, and you'll need to be in your seats to withstand the acceleration. Once we're safely out of Pluto's gravity well, I'll reduce acceleration to Earth normal and you'll be able to move about the cabin and start the examination."

Karin takes the furthest seat to the rear so that she can monitor the two CO's. She secures her fire extinguisher nearby, hoping the General is too busy with his pre-flight checks to comment on it. She grudgingly concedes to herself that the General seems well in control of the situation; almost relishing flying the Persephone home. He has changed from the shadowy figure floating around in the background of the base to how she imagined he'd been in his younger, more active days.

Lt. Colonel Bruce sat in the co-pilot's seat, next to General Pryce, and strapped himself in. Karin secured herself in the third seat, in the rear of the main cabin, and watched the two of them. Before long General Pryce finished his checks. "All systems go," he said. "Secure for liftoff." He fired up the engines, and the Persephone flew upwards, out through the open dome and into the sky. The G-forces pressed the three of them into their seats, which were designed to cushion them against the acceleration.

Shortly afterwards, the acceleration began to decrease. "We've achieved escape velocity," said the general. "Setting course for Earth." Before long, the acceleration was only the equivalent of Earth's own gravity. It would remain so for half of the voyage, at which point the ship would decelerate at the same rate. The trip would be a very long one, lasting more than two months. "All right, you can now move freely."

The security chief unbuckled his straps, stood up, and removed his helmet. "I'm ready for the examination, Doctor," he said. He started to remove his spacesuit.

OOC,[b]Karin[/b], please roll Medicine and Psychology.

"Thankyou Sir." Karin unbuckles her harness and removes her helmet. She reaches for her med bag and unpacks the equipment necessary while she waits for the Chief to remove his suit. "Two months! I guess we'll have plenty of time for report writing." Karin grimaces, not relishing two months of confinement. She promises herself a week of surfing on the cape if she ever gets leave. And a serious bout of soul-searching.

Now that there was plenty of time, Karin thoroughly examined Lt. Colonel Bruce. He did have some physical injuries: cuts and bruises apparently caused when the Mi-Go originally snatched him. She wasn't able to effectively treat those injuries in the close confines of the ship, but they would heal naturally well before the Persephone reached Earth.

It was her mental analysis of the security chief that produced the most informative and alarming results, however. After conducting a battery of psychological tests, it became apparent to her that he was completely devoid of emotion. His motions seemed wooden and mechanical. None of this was consistent with her previous psychological profile and personal observations of him. He hadn't been like this before the Mi-Go had taken him. Story's earlier assessment of him made a lot of sense. Some form of alien mind control could explain Bruce's behavior, and he still seemed to be experiencing its effects.

Karin frowns as she finishes the assessment. At least there is no sign of physical invasion by the aliens and he seems to have all his mental acumen but the lack of emotion is very worrying. Did this mean the aliens had taken Bruce's emotions leaving him a husk? Or do they still maintain control or is he now one of them in all but physical appearance. She decides to try one last attempt,

"Chief, did you hear about when Darth Vader meets Luke Skywalker in the street at Christmas? And Darth says, 'I know what you're getting for Christmas', pointing a long black finger at Skywalker who looks at him quizzically, 'How?' He asks. Darth Vader replies in his deep voice, 'I felt your presents.'"

Karin looks to see what the response is from the Lt. Colonel.

"I fail to see the relevance," replied Bruce.

"Oh."she says. "Okay. Well, you can get dressed again, thank you Chief." Karin makes her way over to the General, hoping hoping he is still an ordinary human at least. "Sir I have my report on the chief. He is physically and mentally fit, barring a few scrapes, but he has lost his emotions, even more than was natural or is natural for any human being." She looks at the General."In my opinion this could be due to three possibilities.
One, the Mi-Go have somehow sucked his emotional capacity out of him, leaving him unable to appreciate a good joke. But he is still the Chief and is as such a war casualty and should be treated as such.
Two, the Mi-Go have some sort of mind control on him; as they have no appreciable emotion, this is passed onto him. I don't know how far their control goes but I'm not sure it could reach back to Earth. Therefore, if they have any ulterior motive for having this control it should manifest soon before we are away from Pluto and we need to be on our guard. But it does mean we should get our Chief back once it wears off.
Thirdly, All that is left of the Chief is his physical shell. Somehow the Mi-Go have totally taken over his body, or there is one inside; although I couldn't detect it. This means we are taking a Mi-Go back to Earth. If the Mi-Go are a hive-entity and all have the same 'brain/mind' whatever you want to call it, they would then have a foot hold on Earth. That's beyond my scope as to the ramifications of that. Maybe the chief would be able to mind-control all the humans he meets." Karin lapses into silence at the thought. Then,"It would be a good idea to relay this to the Charon's Ferry and the Base so everyone knows the score."

"Thank you, Doctor," said General Pryce. "We cannot know what the Mi-Go may have done to him while he was in their custody. I think we need to give him the benefit of the doubt until we have proof, but do please continue your observations. I'll relay the message back to Charon's Ferry and the base. It is too bad the Persephone has no long range communications. We will not be able to communicate with Earth until we get fairly close." He checked the scanners. "Charon's Ferry still has not lifted off, but there is likely someone aboard it." He opened up a channel. "Charon's Ferry, this is Persephone."

"Sir, this is Major Orlova aboard Charon's Ferry," replied Natalia's voice. "We're almost ready for takeoff. We're just waiting for Sergeant Kohl to return."

"Good. Captain Bauer has examined Lt. Colonel Bruce. Physically, he has only minor injuries, but mentally he does not appear to be entirely himself." He repeated Karin's analysis and speculation about his condition. "She will continue to keep him under observation."

"Thank you, sir. Is there anything else?"

"Not at the moment, Major. Carry on. Persephone out."

Karin leaves the General to his piloting. She checks her fire extinguisher is still handy and then goes to sit with Lt. Colonel Bruce. She is still worried that the Mi-Go would not want word of their existence to get back to Earth and feels very vulnerable in the small space craft. "Chief, what was it like in the Mi-Gos' home? Did you discover what happened to the original Persephone crew?"

OOC,Do we travel FTL or is it just regular shuttle speeds? Can we maintain contact with the Charon's Ferry all the way home? Also, once the course has been set, will the Persephone continue on it until she reaches Earth's orbit or does it need regular adjusting. I'm assuming that it doesn't as there are no currents in space but wanted to check.

"Their base was very strange," said Bruce. "There were many weird multicolored lights, and the organization was unusual. There were many places that could only be reached by flying. Had the Mi-Go not borne me, I would have been unable to get to them. I did meet the original crew of the Persephone: Captain Kowalski, Lt. Carvalho, and Sergeant Kassim. Their bodies had been damaged beyond repair when they engaged the Mi-Go in battle upon their arrival, but the Mi-Go were able to preserve them alive after a fashion."

OOC,FTL travel doesn't exist yet (much of the research done at Styx Base was aimed at achieving it), so you just go at normal speed, which is why the journey will take months. [i]Charon's Ferry[/i] will be close enough that the ships can stay in touch. They can even dock with each other if you let them catch up. [i]Persephone[/i] will continue on her course, but the course may need adjustment. There are no currents, true, but the slightest error in the ship's angle of trajectory could add up to missing your destination by many thousands of miles if left uncorrected, considering the immense distances involved. The course will need to be monitored, though not all that frequently. [b]General Pryce[/b] will be taking care of that; he has 65% in Navigate.

Karin's eyes widen. "They're still alive? And we didn't rescue them! Why not? It's incredible." Her medical curiosity surfaces, "How were they preserved, were you able to communicate? I suppose they couldn't be moved but, wow, spending the rest of your life in an alien city. Were they comfortable? Happy?" Karin shudders, glad she isn't destined to that fate at least; although she isn't looking forward to getting back to Earth, the Kaiser and the so-called Peace federation either. After her experiences on Pluto, a seed of rebellion has been planted in her heart. If she survives the likely court-marshal that she's expecting, life is going to be very different. And difficult.

OOC,Karin is very much aware that she is totally dependent on the General for getting back to Earth alive as she cannot fly the shuttle. She is still expecting Bruce to 'turn' and is considering, quarantine excepted, that it may be better to dock with the Charon's ferry where there are more people to deal with Bruce should he turn violent.

"The Mi-Go had machines that keep them alive," said Bruce. "You would be fascinated by them, Doctor. The technology is incredibly advanced and would be a boon to medical science. With the aid of these machines, the crew can see, hear, and speak. They were comfortable, but I would not say happy. Who could be happy under those circumstances?"

"I almost wish I could have seen it too. A whole alien city and the machinery too! Cyborg or prosthetic? Will they live out their natural lifespans do you think? It would be a long and lonely life for them. Do you think the Mi-Go will allow them to return home on the next expedition from Earth?" She turns and speaks loudly to the General over the hum of the engines, "Sir, as there is no evidence of exotic contaminants on the Lt. and he doesn't need isolation as such, maybe we could dock with the Charon's ferry. We can still monitor the chief but the journey would be a lot more comfortable and less of a strain for you piloting."

"The devices were prosthetic," said Bruce. "I think they will live a very long time, perhaps even longer than they would have otherwise. I think it can be arranged for them to be returned to Earth."

"Yes," said General Pryce. "The Mi-Go did say that their ambassador will arrange for that. We could dock with Charon's Ferry, but it has not yet lifted off. We dare not slow down to let the others catch up until they're safely away from Pluto."

Karin raises her eyebrows at Bruce's statement. Then, "The Charon's Ferry hasn't left yet? The Mi-Go must be tearing their hair out. So to speak. Is everything okay? Should we go back?"

"We cannot go back," said General Pryce. "I'm sure the Mi-Go would regard that as a breach of our agreement and possibly a hostile act. I will contact Major Orlova and get an update." He opened up a channel to Charon's Ferry. "Major Orlova, this is General Pryce. I notice that you haven't yet taken off. What is the reason for the delay?"

"Sir, Sergeant Kohl had difficulty finding the visitors' craft," replied Natalia. "He did not know it had been moved to the astrophysics lab. It is therefore taking longer than- Bozhemoi! I'm reading energy weapons fire from the docking bay! Gotta go!" She cut off the channel abruptly.

(Assuming Karin can hear the exchange) "Hell's bells! The Mi-Go have lost patience, I knew we couldn't trust them! Sir, we must go back- I'll be needed to patch up the wounded if there is gunfire." She glances at Bruce to see his response to the exchange and reaches over to pick up the fire extinguisher.

Bruce was completely expressionless.

"We cannot go back," repeated General Pryce. "By the time we could reverse course and get back there, over an hour would have passed. By then it will be too late to affect the outcome even if we arrived in one piece. That is assuming the Mi-Go do not destroy us if we turn around. No, our only chance is to continue for Earth and hope that the others escape."

Karin looks at him aghast, "You can't leave them all to die! Are these the tactics that promoted you to General, abandoning your troops?" She shakes her head, "What is an hour when we have a two month journey ahead? And why worry about a 'hostile' maneuver when all hell's breaking out planetside? It's too late to maintain this so called peace." She thinks privately to herself that dealing with the Mi-Go is no different to the Nobel Peace Forces back home.

"Where's your humanity? They will die if we don't rescue them!" She looks at the expressionless Chief. She is considering the possibility that Bruce is somehow controlling the General. She'd rather try a humane method of knocking the Chief out for a bit to see if there is any change. She walks over to her med case, puts down the fungicide,

"An hour is nothing to us, but it is a long time for those still on Pluto," said General Pryce. "As I said, by the time we get there, it will be too late. And what are we supposed to be able to do to save them that they cannot do to save themselves? We also do not really know exactly what is happening down there. Let us not give in to panic. We will need more information from Major Orlova to determine whether or not peace can still be salvaged. But if it cannot, we must survive to bring word back to Earth of what happened. If we return to Pluto and are killed, nobody on Earth will know what has become of us and they will not know of the threat posed by the Mi-Go. Captain, what got me promoted to General is the ability to make difficult decisions. I have to consider the larger picture here. There are the dozen or so lives on Pluto, yes, but those must be weighed against the billions of lives back on Earth. Would you put all of those lives at greater risk for the sake of the handful? You do not have to like my decision, but you do have to obey."

Karin looked through her medical kit and found some injectable sedatives.

OOC,[b]Karin[/b], if you wish to try to inject [b]Bruce[/b] without him noticing, you will first need to roll Conceal to take it out without him seeing. If you succeed, you may then make a Knife roll to inject him with it as a surprise attack.

"Yes sir! If any escape I'd like us to board the Charon's Ferry so I can administer to any wounded if necessary. The Chief is not looking well, I think the he may be in shock at the news: both his team members and his alien friends fighting each other. I can give him something to help him relax and then I'll make us all some tea, or the Persephone equivalent; it may be our last chance for a bit." As she feels the Chief's eyes on her she bustles around in the confined space waiting for a chance to administer the injection.

Rolls,Conceal (15%) Knife (65%) [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3556252/]1d100=21, 1d100=63[/url]

"Of course, Captain," said General Pryce. "Once they are safely away, we can cut off our acceleration and allow them to catch up."

Lt. Colonel Bruce saw Karin taking out the syringe. "That will not be necessary," he said. When she lunged at him, he tried to twist aside, but he was just a hair too slow. The needle found a vein in his arm and Karin pressed the plunger home, pumping the sedative into his bloodstream. "What did you do to me?"

Karin looks deep into Bruce's eyes, supporting him and ready to lower him into his chair when he loses consciousness. "Do not be afraid Chief." she says gently,"Rest now." Karin wishes she could reassure him more but is unwilling to alert the Mi-Gos as to what has happened to their drone. As she waits she wonders if this is all for nought and what is happening on the planet they have left behind.

"Yes, just relax," said General Pryce from the seat next to him. "Everything is under control."

"Yes, sir," said Bruce, settling into the seat. He let out an involuntary yawn, and before long his eyes closed and he was unconscious.

Karin makes the Chief comfortable, checks his pulse and secures his flying harness. "Sir, any news from Pluto and Charon's Ferry? Did the visitors escape in time? I wish we could help, even air support, not that there is any air on Pluto..." Karin lapses into silence realising her worry is causing her to mumble. She looks to see how the General is faring, would there be any difference now the Chief was in a deep sleep? Would the Mi-Go be able to resume command of Bruce's body once he woke again? Feeling sick with angst she heads to the small galley. "I'll make that tea. Two sugars Sir?"

"Yes, thank you," said General Pryce. "I do not know what has happened on Pluto, and I won't until Major Orlova finds out and lets us know. Pluto does actually have a very thin atmosphere, but it is not the sort we can breathe. The Mi-Go do not seem to have a problem with it, however." He concentrated on the controls and the scanners.

OOC,[b]Karin[/b], please roll Psychology.

Karin is far too busy making tea to notice anything unusual. She comes back from the gallery with two cups of tea, passing one to the General. She checks the Chief and then sits down to watch the General at the flight desk and drinks her tea.

"Thank you," said General Pryce, taking the cup of tea. He sipped at it as he watched the instruments and displays carefully.

Karin checked on Bruce, who was now sleeping soundly. The dose she had given him would last about an hour, but giving him additional doses would be risky, possibly even fatal.

Karin is keen to see if there is any change to the General now that Bruce is asleep, "Sir, now that we are far enough from the planet's surface to be safe, could we stop accelerating and wait for the Charon's Ferry to catch up? If there are wounded then any delay may be fatal. I'd like to board as soon as possible."

"Well, there is no sign of pursuit," said General Pryce. "I suppose we can cut off the acceleration and drift at constant velocity to give them a chance to catch up to us. That will mean there will be no gravity, so strap yourself in and finish up your tea." He drank his own tea more quickly.

Karin drinks up, waits for the General to finish and takes both cups back to the galley. She then checks Bruce and straps herself in, also making sure her med bag and fungicide are to hand but secure.

Once everyone was secured, General Pryce cut the throttle and acceleration ceased. Karin's stomach lurched, but as a seasoned spacer she was used to zero gravity. Persephone continued forward on its momentum alone, maintaining a constant velocity.

"Sir, most of the crew is aboard," Major Natalia Orlova reported to Persephone on the communicator. "A few of them are still out in the docking bay fighting the Mi-Go, and Sergeant Kohl is with the visitors inside the base somewhere. We have seven more Mi-Go enroute with an ETA of nine minutes, but we hope to be airborne by then."

"Thank you, Major," replied General Pryce. "Keep us informed."

Karin listens to the report with partial relief, at least most of the crew are aboard and ready for take off but she is surprised the visitors are still on the base. Nine minutes is a small window and she waits nervously for the next report. She looks over to check the colour of Bruce and that he is still sleeping comfortably and then her mind goes back to her fellow crew members fighting for their lives on the planet far below.

Bruce was sleeping peacefully, and would continue to do so for most of an hour. Of course, there was no telling what he would do when he awakened.

Karin sits, trying to relax. She doses for a short while but wakes abruptly from disturbing dreams of the Mi-Gos and the semi-humans in captivity on Pluto. She looks at her chrono and then over to Bruce. She's glad the Chief has had a chance to sleep and wonders if he will have recovered on waking. She's not sure how long she has been asleep, "Sir, has there been any news? I'm sorry, I fell asleep for a short while. I could a watch if you'd like."

"Thank you, but I'm fine," said the general. "You only nodded off for a moment. I haven't heard anything yet."

"Sir, this is Charon's Ferry," Natalia reported to General Pryce on the comm at that moment. "All but one of the Mi-Go in the base were destroyed, and the other one escaped. Lt. Barrett is dead, and the Mi-Go took his body. MacCrimmon is wounded. It looks like we'll be able to get everyone aboard before any additional Mi-Go arrive, with the possible exception of Sergeant Kohl. If he doesn't get here in time, we may have to take off without him. Fortunately, the visitors haven't left yet. If he has to, he can catch a ride with them."

"Understood, Major," replied General Pryce. "We've cut off our acceleration. After you take off, you can catch up with us and dock. Then Captain Bauer can see to anyone who is wounded."

"Oh no, not Edward! He was only a scientist, not a soldier." Karin hangs her head in grief, "I hope we can get to MacCrimmon in time at least." But there is nothing she can do yet but wait. She wonders about the visitors and is rather envious of Heinrich getting a ride in their strange ship.

"General Pryce, this is Lt. Rose," said Colleen on the ship-to-ship communicator. "I'm on the bridge of Charon's Ferry now. We should be lifting off in about four minutes, and we will be able to bring Sergeant Kohl with us. We're just waiting for him to get back. The next group of Mi-Go is seven minutes away."

"Roger that, Lieutenant," replied the general.

"Phew, it's going to be so close. Lets hope the Mi-Go can't attack an accelerating shuttle!" Karin starts chewing a nail, stops and grips her chair arms instead. "Sir, if they escape, how long before they catch up with us?"

General Pryce checked some figures on the ship's computer. "It looks like they'll rendezvous with us in about an hour," he said.

"Good, the Chief should be awake by then, I'll give him some stimulants to help him readjust before we board and he'll, hopefully, be up and ready to resume duties when we board." "Hopefully free of any Mi-Go influence too, I'll have to check." Karin thinks to herself darkly.

General Pryce checked the scanners again. "Charon's Ferry is powering up engines," he reported. "I think they're about to lift off."

A minute later, Major Natalia Orlova's voice came over the ship-to-ship communicator: "General, we've just taken off. We're leaving Pluto's atmosphere now. There is no sign of pursuit."

"Excellent," said General Pryce. "I'm transmitting my bearing to you now. Follow it until you catch us up, and then dock with us." His fingers flew over the touchscreen.

"Understood, sir. Orlova out."

Time passed with agonizing slowness. Nearly an hour later, Natalia spoke again. "Sir, we're coming up on your position. Prepare for docking."

"Will do, Major," responded the general.

Lt. Colonel Bruce stirred and his eyes opened.

Karin maneuvers herself to the Chief, "How're you doing Chief, Welcome back. You will probably feel a bit woozy for a bit, can you remember what happened?"

Psychology/medicine Roll if needed: 1d100=1

ooc,I probably can't post again until Friday.

"I am fine," said the chief. "I remember that you drugged me. Why?"

Karin could see that Bruce had the same calm demeanor he had had before, not a trace of emotion anywhere within him. She also noticed to her dismay that General Pryce was acting the same way, and that he had been for some time, ever since they had been affected by the Mi-Go's buzzing in the medical lab. He was more convincing at seeming human than Bruce, but there were all sorts of little tells that she was only now noticing. The past disagreements between the two of them appeared to be feigned, almost choreographed, for the purpose of deceiving her and anyone else observing them. Everything Colonel Patel had told her about the general made perfect sense. The theory that they were puppets, and that the Mi-Go were pulling their strings, seemed well borne out by the evidence of their behavior.

Karin checks the Chief's vital signs. "I was worried about you Chief. You seemed to be acting strangely after your brush with the Mi-Go and I didn't want you to return to Earth except as yourself. I hoped that by putting you under it would allow your body total rest and away from influences. I'm happy to say it seems to have worked and you are fully fit to resume duties. Glad to have you back Chief!" She turns to the General, "How soon before we dock with the Charon's Ferry? I want to get to the wounded as soon as possible. I'll just tidy up the galley." She pats the Chief on the arm and smiles, then she pulls herself to the galley.

As soon as she's out of sight her face sinks into an expression of desperateness. Colonel Patel was right! And now she is stuck in a small craft hurtling across the solar system with two alien enemies. Maybe she could somehow sabotage the Persephone and prevent the Mi-Go reaching Charon's Ferry or Earth but then how would other humans know what really happened? And that would be her own death too. She has a terrible thought; what if the General could read her mind and they were, right now, coming to silence her? La la la, one banana, two banana, three banana four!

Karin continues to think of bland thoughts and heads back to the cockpit. "Everything shipshape back there, ready for docking Sir." She straps herself back into her chair, checks her kit and watches the screen for the first sign of the Charon's Ferry. "Is it possible for me to send a message to The Charon's Ferry Sir? Or are we docking soon?"

"I understand," Bruce said to Karin.

Karin could see on the scanners that Charon's Ferry was very close.

"We are docking now," said General Pryce, holding Perspehone steady while the larger vessel closed in. The two ships coupled in space, their airlocks sealing together. Everything went smoothly and routinely.

"General, docking is complete," reported Major Natalia Orlova over the ship-to-ship communicator. "You may board when ready."

"We are coming," replied General Pryce. He unstrapped himself and stood up. Bruce did likewise.

Karin also unstraps her self and stands up. "I'll be glad to get to the larger ship- more space. I hope my lab is set up." She picks up her med bag and fire extinguisher. She waits for the two COs to move towards the door. "I'll just send a message if that's okay." As she passes the flight desk she depresses the comm button, "Captain Bauer here, please ready the med bay, we have a fire hazard." She releases it and turns to the General, 'Sorry Sir, bit of an in-joke from the in-bound trip but it never hurts to improve morale, they will be very down after the precipitous evacuation. I should have a word with 2nd Lt. Colleen Rose; we'll need to draw up a counseling programme for the trip home." She waits for the doors to open.

"Roger that," replied Natalia over the comm. "The medical bay is already set up."

"Excellent idea, Captain," said General Pryce. He opened the door to the airlock, and the three of them entered. The two men did not appear in any way suspicious of Karin.

It did not take long for the ships' airlocks to cycle, as the environment was already pressurized on both sides. Before long, they were able to board Charon's Ferry.

OOC,I presume you take the fire extinguisher with you. [b]Karin[/b], you are moving to the thread linked below.

Take the Long Way Home