IC-Ep 4-Take the Long Way Home(Everyone else)

[Mr. Handy]

Charon's Ferry - Space
1030 GMT - Tuesday, August 9, 2112

General Richard Pryce, Lt. Colonel Howard Bruce, and Captain Karin Bauer entered Charon's Ferry through the airlock that connected her to Persephone. "Go ahead to the medical bay, Captain," the general said. "The chief and I will head to the bridge."

Major Natalia Orlova remained in the command chair on the bridge, waiting for the general to come and relieve her. Captain Juliette Desjardins was at the helm, keeping the ship on course back to Earth. The trajectory the general had given her was a good one. However, the journey would take over two months. That was a lot of time, though they had managed it on the way out to Pluto. Of course, things had been more upbeat then.

Sergeant Heinrich Kohl, Private Alison Silver, and Private Robert MacCrimmon stood in a cluster in one corner. "Permission to head to the medical bay, Sarge?" asked Robert.

"Granted," the sergeant said, his voice gruff. "You may go too, Silver."

Private Sofia Torres was torn. She wanted to stay and watch the captain fly, but she did want to get treatment after being exposed to the bizarre alien weapon. Juliette will still be here when I get back, she thought. There'll be plenty of time later. She turned to Lt. Hu Xiang. "Sir, shall we go to the medical bay as well?"

Lt. Colleen Rose stayed at the communications station.

Private George Bond was in the engine room, making sure that the flow of power was uninterrupted.

[CrackheadC.]

Alison slowly worked her way to the medical bay, calming down quite a bit. They were home free as far as she was concerned. Sure it would take a long time to get back home, but it would be pretty hard for the Mi-Go to get to them now.

When she arrived at the med bay she relaxed at a table and waited for the doctor. She felt comfortable enough to eventually take off her helmet, but she kept her gun on her - in fact she was reloading and maintaining it until she was to be examined herself.

[aine]

Karin hurries to the med bay and opens the door, she is surprised to see Alison already there and eyes up the gun she is holding, She is looking very worried and not at all relaxed considering they have escaped Pluto."At ease Private. Can you give me an account of the wounded please?" She drops her bag and fire extinguisher on the bed and goes to the comm unit. "Sergeant Kohl report to the med bay immediately." Then she turns to Alison, "I'll give you a quick examination while we wait for the Sergeant. You can put the weapon on the side there. Now, any physical wounds? Headaches, dizzyness, memory loss? What's green and hairy and goes up and down?" Karin quickly applies the arm-wrap to Alison, conects it to the machine and waits for a read-out.

Mr. Handy,Psychology 30, medicine 70,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3605671/]1d100=77, 1d100=72[/url]

OOC,Should I be using psychoanalysis or psychology?

[SSior.27]

Hu looks at Sofia and nods, unharnessing and leading the way. The past hour's events seemed like a blur and he was sort of lost in a fog.

[smug_jaguar]

Sergent Kohl looks questioningly at whoever his superior is, and if he is given permission, walks to meet Karin Bauer in the med bay.

[CrackheadC.]

Alison greets Karin with a face of similar anxiety, but puts her gun back in its holster nonetheless. "An account of the wounded, sure. A bunch of us got hit with this fog. My guess is that it was poisonous, but since we were in suits it was only freezing cold. That's what got Robert bad." Alison's voice seemed to crack and she seemed to leave herself a little as she talked about what happened, "Me, I got hit with some sort of... well a lightning bolt or a taser or something. I would have died if it was for the LT."
Alison looked up at Karin, "Lt. Barret is dead. He got hit right after he woke me. If he'd just kept going he'd be alive now and not wherever those things dragged his body."

She choked up a bit thinking about it, but carried on, "So I guess I don't have any physical wounds like holes you can patch up, but that gun did a number on my heart. No headaches, dizziness or memory loss to speak of. And really, Captain? Is this the time for riddles?"

Alison let the doctor go to work, but remained alert. She wouldn't feel safe until they were well on their way back home.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Yes, Psychology is the right thing to roll to diagnose someone's mental state. Psychoanalysis will be useful for long-term treatment, which can help people recover some Sanity during the long voyage home. I'm sorry I posted for your character, smug_jaguar. For some reason I had you listed as MIA, though I can see you posted less than two weeks ago.

Natalia nodded to Heinrich, and he headed off the bridge with Xiang and Sofia. A few minutes later, General Pryce and Lt. Colonel Bruce arrived. Natalia stood from her chair and saluted. "Welcome aboard, sirs!" she said.

General Pryce nodded and returned the salute. "As you were, Major. I relieve you."

"I stand relieved, sir."

The general sat down in the command chair.

In the medical bay, Karin could find nothing major wrong with Alison. She had been exposed to extreme cold and was somewhat worse for the wear, but a few weeks of rest would set her to rights.

"Aye, I've never felt such cold," said Robert. "Alison saved me, and Lt. Barrett saved both of us. I'd never thought much of him before, but he was a real hero. It took courage for him to face those beasties and sacrifice himself."

Heinrich, Xiang, and Sofia arrived just as Karin finished examining Alison.

OOC,[b]Karin[/b], you may now examine someone else. If you do, please roll Medicine and Psychology again.

[Lynx]

Juliette used the scanners on the ship to scan the vast areas of space behind them. She did not want to be taken by surprise. She half listened to all dialog, and silently sang on an song from the old earth.

"This is Major Tom to Ground Control.-I'm stepping through the door-And I'm floating in a most peculiar way-And the stars look very different today."

[aine]

"Yes Private." Karin replies grimly, "This IS the time for riddles, it's the only thing we have that keeps us human." She gives Alison a hard look, 'You are not amused?" As the others arrive she takes the equipment off Alison. "Well Private you have not suffered any lasting damage, you've been very lucky. And although you have the LT to thank for saving your life, you are in no way responsible for his death." Karin gives her a searching look. "We'll speak again. For now, unless the sergeant has other plans, would you mind guarding the med bay from the corridor, casual like? We'll keep the door open, I want you to hear what's going on but let me know if anyone else approaches."

Karin turns to the others, "Okay, I'll examine Private MacCrimmon next, everyone else listen carefully while I work. " She attaches the scanner to Robert's arm and goes through the checks speaking quietly, "We have a problem. The General and Lt. Colonel Bruce are under the control of the Mi-Go. Unfortunately I have no physical evidence but I'll stake my career on it, possibly my life too at this rate."

Psychology medicine for Robert,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3607362/]1d100=25, 1d100=91[/url]

[CrackheadC.]

Alison returns Captain Bauer's look, "There is more to humanity than dumb jokes you know, like empathy or anger." As she is released from the diagnostic machine she flexes her arm and manipulates her joints to stretch everything out - she didn't like be trapped in the machine.

At Bauer's order, Alison salutes and gives the rote "As you say, ma'am," before heading to the door.

Alison will set herself up just outside of the door where she stands leaned against the wall as if she were simply waiting for one of the others to finish their medical examination. But when Cpt. Bauer stated she believed the General and Lt. Colonel were under Mi-Go control, Alison immediately unholstered her gun. She kept the gun at her side, but began looking for one of the poisonous extinguishers or aerosol containers - she had left her own where she was seated on the bridge.

"Oh god, they are here with us... They know where we are... They are going to find us and take us." Alison begins as she searches for the poison.

[SSior.27]

Hu looks around for any possible way their conversation can be heard. Com-links which are on, surveillance, etc. "What makes you say that? Other than the rushed evacuation. You don't have physical proof, but there must be something to bring on your suspicions."

[Mr. Handy]

Alison could see that Karin and Robert both had extinguishers.

Sofia gasped. "What should we do?" she asked. "What could we do?"

Karin Bauer,[b]Robert[/b] seemed in a similar condition to [b]Alison[/b]: he was clearly injured, but there was nothing more she could do for him and he would heal over time. He was definitely shaken by his experiences, but he didn't seem to have any lasting psychological harm from it. Some counseling during the course of the journey home would be a good idea and would help him at least partially recover from the shock. You may roll Psychology and Medicine again for your next patient.

OOC,[b]Xiang[/b], please roll Spot HIdden. Even if you fail, you do know that the Peace Forces are extremely security conscious. It's highly likely that there would be a way to monitor everything that was happening in every part of the ship.

[CrackheadC.]

Alison turns to Karin and Robert, "Give me one of those extinguishers. If the poison kills the Mi-go, maybe it will break that control over them. I'll spray them and deal with the consequences. Failing that... how sure are you that they are being controlled?" Alison half-whispered to the people inside. "I won't spend another 2 minutes on this ship if they are under control, let alone another 2 months."

[SSior.27]

Hu continues to look around, but can't see anything blaringly obvious. "Be careful what you say," he says looking at Allison and Karin. "We don't know who's listening. Coms, cameras, we could be on someone's monitor right now. But I'd still like to know what you base your thinking on. Just... carefully."

[Mr. Handy]

"You can have mine," Robert said to Alison, "but don't you think that's risky? I dinna ken it would work, anyway. It kills the Mi-Go dead, but it wouldna affect a human under their control."

[CrackheadC.]

"Maybe," says Alison as she takes the extinguisher. "If it has no effect on humans it won't hurt them. You all said that the Mi-go were like a fungus. What if they control people by putting a spore or something in their brain. This might kill that spore and make them normal again." Alison shakes her head, "I don't know this is all so crazy."

[aine]

"Apart from the scrapes and bruises, you're alright Robert. I know you're pretty shook up but we can talk about it once things have quietened down. But you're ready to resume duties. Okay Sarge, you next please, I want to get the security personnel done first. Just in case." Karin says ominously. As the sergeant sits down she bends her head over him while she preps the equipment and talks quietly. "You're right Hu, but we must make a plan. I was always a bit unsure about the General and certainly Bruce, they've been acting unlike themselves; more than could be put down to the circumstances. Colonel Patel realised something was up but I just wasn't sure. The Sergeant will back me up on this. After spending more time with them on the Persephone, I did some discreet checks and they are not themselves. I tried putting the Chief under for a while but there was no change. I don't know if it is mind control from afar or if the Mi-Go are in the bodies or if they have manifested themselves as the two men. They seem like humans medically but I can't tell if the General and Chief are recoverable."

[smug_jaguar]

"If the two of them are in fact infected with spores, we need to deal with it long before we touch back down on Earth" adds Kohl quietly, "I for one refuse to be responsible for unleashing these creatures on our planet."

[CrackheadC.]

"Captain, perhaps as the ship's medical doctor you can suggest that all crew members need to be sprayed with this extinguisher in the even of a Mi-Go contagion attaching to one of us? The LT. Colonel and General would agree, it would only be reasonable." Alison suggested.

[aine]

Karin looks at Heinrich as she straps on the scanner to his arm, "Indeed Sergeant, we can't allow them to get to Earth, who knows how many people they could infect. As Chief of security now, you are best qualified to come up with an offensive against them. I don't suppose they would come quietly if I asked them." She turns to Alison, "I don't think the fungicide spray will work to prevent contagion- it is only harmful to actual Mi-Go in theory. It probably won't work on the General and Chief either as they seem to be human. We have to alert Captain Desjardins too- and protect her as she is our ticket home. I would imagine the Mi-Go would be just as keen for us not to get back to alert Earth as we are to prevent them arriving there. A conundrum. Also, we need to convince everyone else to support us against the Mi-Go, it's going to look like a mutiny."

Mr. Handy,Psychology, medicine for Kohl[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3612095/]1d100=82, 1d100=65[/url]