Ch1: Disaster!

[aine]

Seth has been trying to cut some semblance of order to his razed hair with some surgical scissors. "How long have the survey team been away? I hate to put a damper on things but wouldn't they have returned by now if they couldn't get a message through?" He looks in a mirror and scowls at himself, "I look just the same, only with shorter hair." He puts the plasma-fried bits of hair in the bin. "And if Boss can identify me, Bob Dylan, he ought to be able to spot the aliens when they creep up on us. I wonder why he didn't spot anything unusual happening at the Alpha Base."

[Mr. Handy]

"The first thing we need to do is get a message through to Earth," says Sam. "We have to report what's happened here and ask them to send a ship ASAP, either to reinforce and resupply us, or to evacuate us. We might not be able to transmit through the EM storm, but we can make a recording and have the computer keep trying to send it periodically. This storm can't last forever, so eventually it'll get through, even if..." She hesitates, not wanting to give voice to her fears. "Even if nobody is able to send it manually. I hate to say it, but I think we're going to have to explore the area of the quake's epicenter to find the missing crew. Doctor Bloom will need to remain here to care for the wounded, so that leaves the three of us." She indicates herself, Hattie, and Seth.

[aine]

Seth sighs; what a choice! Exploring a live quake's epicentre or spending the day with two crazy psychopaths and a third borderline crazy doctor. He says to Sam and Hattie, "Can I have a word?" and draws them aside. "I don't think leaving these three alone together is a good idea. What if George escapes and damages this base? We'll have nowhere to come back to. And Ron's lost his mind, I know he's wounded buy he's a strong fella and could recover quicker than we think. He might release George. And I don't think Doc's up to dealing with them both, certainly not if it gets out of hand. He doesn't know what it was like at Alpha base; they'd talk him round into doing something he shouldn't. I reckon." He finishes rather lamely. It sounds like perfect paronoia even to his ears but he just can't shake the feeling of impending disaster; he's imagining driving back to the base, should they survive the epicentre, and finding a pile of wind blown rubble.

[Mr. Handy]

"I wouldn't expect Ron to let George go," says Sam. "Try to kill him, sure, but release him? He's nuts, but he's not that kind of nuts. We'll have to keep our crazies secure with both physical and chemical restraints. Keep them sedated for now. I guess one of us could stay behind to back up the Doc. The reactor also still needs some more repair work. We don't want the power to go out."

[DrPeterson]

Hattie finishes up shooting up with Haemodyne and joins the conversation fully.
"I agree with both of you. We'll create a comms loop in the hope that our message will get through eventually. We could try taking the Sagan to a higher altitude and try transmitting from there, but with the weather being what it is, I estimate our chances of success with that to be lower than 40%."


She sighs.

"And then I suppose we'll have to explore the site. There could be survivors left... " Her voice trails off, she's not too convinced about it either.

[Mr. Handy]

"Yeah, we have to look for them," says Sam. "If I were missing, I'd want someone to come search for me. If there weren't anyone out there, I'd say we should just stay in Beta and wait for evac."

[aine]

Seth refrains from comment about rescue, it's all very well as long as you don't get stuck yourself, but he nods; the comms loop is a good idea. "If we get to the epicentre, if, will you be able to track the missing crews' chips? I can't see we'll have any luck finding them on just visuals. Also, would we be safer flying through the quake zone if there are still tremors? And can you give Boss special instructions for restraining George and Ron?"

[Mr. Handy]

"I can track their chips on my scanner," says Sam. "I used it to find George's chip, but it wasn't inside George any more when I located it in the ducts. You're right, it might be better to fly to the quake zone, as long as there's a safe place to land. We'll give Boss instructions before we go, but he's just a computer. He can't administer medications or keep them tied up unless he uses the robots, which are out of order at the moment. It'll be up to Dr. Bloom to handle that."

[aine]

"Okay then." Seth says resignedly. "I guess the 'plane is stocked up with emergency supplies and such. I can pilot helicopters and similar 'planes by the way. Hey Bloom - you got personal first aid kits we can each have?" He looks at George and Ron but there is nothing much else to be done except hope.

[DrPeterson]

"Well, I suppose it's good to have at least two pilots...I'll go suit up and prep my gear. Dr. Bloom, do you need any more help with your patients before we leave?"