Chapter 1: Beta Base Infirmary

[Supercape]

Lifting bodies was a lot easier in 0.14G. Victor was not dead, at least not yet, but he had passed out cold.

As Hattie drove to the Beta Base she had little in the way of conversation. The EM storm for Saturn appeared to be worse than ever, from what she could tell. The winds outside were thick and powerful. Travelling in the robust ATV was a lot safer than piloting a T-Prop under such conditions, even if it was slower.

The Journey was swift and uneventful bar the winds. They could lift a man of his feet if he was not careful, and they put an extra strain on the heating systems.

Inside Beta Base nothing had changed. Except, arguably, an increase in Doctor Bloom's nervousness. Hattie found him in the infirmary pointing a plasma pistol at her. It soon dropped when he saw who had walked in.

"Hattie! George! Quick...get him on the table..." be blurted, medical training overcoming anxiety as he pulled up a medical scanner.

"What the hell happened?"

[DrPeterson]

Hattie quickly assist in putting Victor on the table and unbuckles her suit. As she rolls up her sleeves and cleanses her hands, she explains.

"We found him like this in the hydroponics bay, Drake was there too and he seemed more than a bit frayed. He said George was trying to do something to the reactor of Alpha, probably rig it to detonate..."

She looked at the doctor and then back at Victor.

"Tell me how I can assist."

[Supercape]

"The reactor? Oh dear God...no...the reactor...." said Dr Bloom, paralysed for a moment. "If he destroys the reactor, Beta base is done for..."

Whilst the whole colony was based on the idea that there were two bases, in case of one failing, the thought of losing one was grim. No back up.

"Wait...you said detonate it?" he realised what Hattie had been saying and went even whiter.

Victor's heart monitor blipped, and the Doctor sprang into action.

"Give me 5mls of Cellstat, pass me the Cardiostim..." he said as he tried to Stem the blood flow from Victor.

It was a messy business, taking more than a few minutes, although the Doctor was able to get Victor stabilised, albeit unconscious, with a synthetic blood drip slowly bringing him back to the waking world.

[DrPeterson]

Hattie was frowning deeply as she washed her hands again after the operation, debating on whether she'd tell Doctor Bloom that an explosion in the reactor core of Alpha could trigger a chain reaction in Titan's atmosphere that would render a good part of the planet into something akin to a horribly efficient microwave oven, but decided against it.

"Try not to worry about it, Doctor Bloom, Sam and Ron will stop George,they're the finest soldiering material on the planet." She tried a soothing smile.


"When do you think Victor will come to? I'm more than curious to find out what he can tell us."

[Supercape]

"Give him an hour. He's lost a lot of blood" replied Dr Bloom, drumming his fingers on the operating table.

"We don't have a lot of synthetic blood. I've used up half of what we had, and I don't fancy using the rest unless we have to. He will be anaemic for some time, even if I dose him with Haemodyne" he considered.

"So let him be, he should come round soon enough. Or, if you think we should use up all our blood reserves, then I could do that. But it will be a few months till we can order some more from Earth on a delivery".

This was true; whilst the colonists could get pretty much anything from Earth, delivering it took time.

"Or..." he said, uncomfortably. "I could give him a high dose shot of Stimcaff. That would wake him. But dangerous...too dangerous...forget I said it..." he retracted.

Stimcaff was a controlled all purpose stimulant. At low doses the team used it for extended survey missions, to maintain alertness and wakefullness for a few days in a row. Handy for survey missions, although there was an unpleasant crash afterwards, and staying awake by stimulants could fray the nerves a bit. High doses could, as Doctor Bloom said, wake the dead, but it could also cause shock and cardiac arrest.

OOC:   Hattie could make a medicine roll to judge the risk of stimulants Spoiler: It would mean a CONx4% roll to avoid serious health consequences: 2D6 HP damage, plus 1D3 permanent CON loss due to a heart attack. It would likely also cause some SAN loss. A pharmacy roll to administer the drug successfully would increase to CON x6% chance. Victor has an average CON score

[DrPeterson]

Medicine 20%,[dice]0[/dice]

"I'm not too sure about the Stimcaff", and she really wasn't. "The chance of sending him into shock is probably too great. What about a transfusion? If my blood is compatible, I'll gladly give up a pint."

[Supercape]

"A transfusion?"

Spoiler:

Victors luck roll for compatibility1d100=45

"Yes, that would work...you are compatible!" he agreed. His memory on blood types was confirmed by consulting medical records.

"It would certainly speed up the process, although you would be feeling a little fatigued" he agreed, as he hooked up Victor and Hattie to the appropriate tubes.

Spoiler:

Enough fatigue to temporarily reduce STR and CON by 1, although you will regain these statistics in a day providing you eat your Iron. You could take some Haemodyne [A sci fi drug that boosts blood production] to and eat a load of Iron or Protein, cutting your recovery to a few hours.

[DrPeterson]

"Good!", Hattie exclaims as she starts rolling up her sleeve and takes place next to Victor.


"Nothing a bit of hemodyne and three lovely reconstructed meals a day can't overcome."


It felt good being able to help so profoundly, and though the memory and the echo of the EM-storm outside weighed heavily on her, she felt strengthened that even in the darkness of space, humans could still help eachother.

[Supercape]

"Warning" interrupted Boss, with his normal unflappable polite tones. "Commander Ronald Drakes Chip is registering critical life signs. Urgent medical attention advised. Commander Ronald Drake's location is Alpha Base Reactor..."

[DrPeterson]

"Ron!", exclaimed Hattie, as she veered up.

"Boss, what happened to Commander Drake? What is the status of Samantha Golightly?"

[Supercape]

"I am afraid I do not know what happened to Commander Drake. The internal camera system for the Reactor dome is currently non-functional due to unknown causes. Samantha Golightly's vital signs show mildly elevated blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation consistent with an adrenaline response or mild trauma" said Boss in completely pleasant tones.

Dr Bloom was tearing his hair out. "What is this? I can't patch up everybody!" he said, frantically, grabbing a medical bag and wondering what to do. "I can't be at both bases at once, and in any case, this is the only infirmary now!"

[DrPeterson]

"Doctor Bloom, please focus on the current patient first. How is he doing? When will he come to?"

Hattie tries to remain calm, but the announcement had come as a shock. She'd known and liked Ron from the beginning of his stay on Titan, and she wasn't sure how she'd react to his loss.

"Boss, who is near Commander Drake? Where is crewman George Long? "

[Supercape]

"Give him another hour, and he should come to" said Dr Bloom. "A bit woozy, but he will be up and about. Maybe sooner. I can't replace the blood too fast, but its looking good..." he answered, consulting some beeping machines.

"I am afraid precise location is not possible given current electromagnetic interference" explained Boss slowly and calmly. "George Long is in the Reactor dome of Alpha Base. Samantha Golightly is also in the Reactor dome of Alpha Base...."

[DrPeterson]

"Oh, Sam, do take care...", she muttered under her breath.

"Doctor Bloom, if we haven't heard from them when this transfusion is finished, we'll have to go over. Let's just hope Ron lasts that long."

[Supercape]

Boss chimed in. "Excuse me, Doctor Bloom, Harriet, I have an incoming message from Alpha base. Communications are still disrupted..."

Spoiler:

Please refer to the main IC thread! responding will take a communications skill roll or it will be distorted / missing pieces!

[DrPeterson]

Communications 50%,[dice]0[/dice]

"Boss, try re-routing the communications signal via the ATV's receiver and then back to Beta's comms system, the secondary radio bounce should shake off some of the interference of the storm."

Hattie sat up a little on her cot.

"Sam! Good to hear your voice! I am currently tied up with a blood transfusion to Victor. It think we need another five to ten minutes. I'll get to the ATV as soon as I can. ETA 45 minutes. Do you think you'll manage that long?"