Previous Next

Decontamination Decompression

Posted on Fri Jan 18th, 2019 @ 11:26pm by Commander Rita Paris & Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Lieutenant Asa Dael & Petty Officer 2nd Class Ila Dedjoy & Kodria Mizu & Lieutenant Alex Sexton

Mission: Section 31-B
Location: Shuttlebay 2, Decom Chamber
Timeline: 2396

The Runabout Thor was pulling safely into Shuttlebay Two of the starship Hera after a costly away mission to the recently destroyed Section 31 asteroid research station. Six security crewmembers had lost their lives, and who the remained of the away team sat in silence as Lieutenant Mnhei'sahe Dox landed the weary vessel on deck, where it was immediately surrounded by crewmen in EVA suits, who were spraying foam decontaminant liberally over every inch of the small but tough ship’s hull.

Still in their sealed MACO EVA armored suits to keep them all free of potential contagion from the horrors they encountered on the station, the team prepared to disembark as Dox powered down the Runabout, the hatch still sealed. Dox sat at the controls for a moment, angrily thinking on her failures in the mission. Commander Rita Paris had been reviewing the logs of the MACO armor suits, as of course it was all recorded for review, and she very much wanted to know what had happened on the mission with more than half the landing party dead. Yeoman Ila Dedjoy and Doctor Asa Dael were talking to the stations only survivor, an Android of Vulcan appearance that they were speaking to like one would a small child. In the rear of the craft, the sole remaining security officer, Lt. Alex Sexton sat quietly.

In fact, the trip had passed in stony silence punctuated only by clipped communication, the minimum necessary to keep them on task. While the Hera had been involved in ship to ship combat in their absence, no significant damage had occurred, and the Thor had encountered no resistance upon their return. Now it was for everyone to be transported to the decontamination bay, which would occur by transporter for everyone but Commander Paris, who would be physically relocated, armor and all, to decon.

“Prepare for transport to Decontamination, I’ll be joining you there shortly,” Paris explained, prepping the team for what was to come. The usually jocular Commander was neither, her countenance quite clearly grave and dour over the disastrous mission.

Standing up, Dox walked past Commander Paris, gesturing the other to follow her as she moved to the rear of the Runabout. Rita Paris was her First officer, but also among the best friends the young Romulan pilot had ever had, and Dox was extremely aware of how well transporters and Rita Paris did NOT get along. As such, since Runabouts were fairly roomy, she wanted to put as much physical distance between the away team and Rita for when they transported.

With the crewmembers assembled in the rear, Dox called forward. "Ready for transport." and in a moment, they had vanished in a stream of sparkles.

Once the transport was complete, Doctor Dael led the way into the white room that housed the decontamination showers. The room held 10 high volume shower heads hanging from the ceiling as well as small jets interspersed throughout the room. Each shower area held a collection of gels and scrubbers that would need to be used during the process. There was a large box marked “Disposal” next to the door that was attached to an sterilization and recycling device.

“Well folks, time to get to know each other better I guess,” Dael said in a grim attempt at humor. “Please remove your armor and clothing and place everything in the receptacle by the door. Once you are fully undressed, please stand directly underneath a showerhead. Once the commander arrives we will commence.”

Dael led by example and stripped down to nothing and placed all their equipment in the sterilization box. They were wondering if armor ever saw two trips out in the field or if it always needed repairs by the end of a mission. The fact anyone survived before the MACO armor was invented was starting to be more and more of a wonder. Once everything was in the box, Dael, pressed a red button on the side, allowing all the armor to be expelled into space.

“Next please, I need to assist Kodria,” they said simply to the room.

Walking over to the now visibly concerned Kodria, Dael said gently, “I know this is scary, but it’s all to make sure we are all safe, ok? I know you can’t talk right now, but you can nod. I need you to do exactly what I say. If you aren’t sure about something, raise your hand and we will work it out. Right now I need you to take your clothes off, ok? Then put them in the box by the door like I did.”

Normally extremely self-conscious about her short, rotund body, Dox was lost in thought and still stewing in anger over the mission and simply did as she was instructed. In the moment, she was too distracted to be anxious as she stripped herself of the MACO armor and her own undergarments, placing them in the sterilization compartment.

Looking up, the distracted young Romulan woman snapped back into the moment as she suddenly became aware of the situation and that she was standing in front of the crew, completely naked. Her usual anxiety came rushing back turning her stomach inside out to compound her anger and her guilt.

Under normal circumstances Sexton might have quipped about this situation. But that was not about to happen. Holding back the tears was all that he was about right now. And hoping his actions would be understood. Alex had not seen Korda. And when he did, he restrained himself from confronting the Android.

Leading Kodria by the hand, Asa helped her strip of all her clothing and directed her where to stand underneath a showerhead. "OK, when the water comes on, do like I do ok? When I hold my arms out, you hold your arms out. When I start scrubbing my back, you scrub yours, ok?" Asa asked, and gave the android a hug when she wide-eyed nodded yes in understanding.

Standing under one of the showerheads waiting for Commander Paris to arrive so they could begin, Dox tilted her head curiously at Asa and the newcomer. While Kodira appeared adult in form, Asa was being extremely nurturing and the moment cut through the anxious pilots anger and frustration for just a moment.

The android with them did as she was told, then started gasping as her organelle lungs started reviving on their own. After a few seconds, she was able to cough up some phlegm and her vocalizer was able to make some rough sounds again at the very least as she gasped for air. Dropping to her knees, she was able to squeak out a few words. "Air... so... long... must... clean..."

With that, Kodira shakily got back to her feet and started opening all of her access panels so she could blast them all clean. "Thank... you..."

Dedjoy chuckled softly. She was no stranger to communal showering, though it had been a long time since she'd done it. On the bright side, the UV rays in here felt wonderful on her skin and she felt cleaner already. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I think I could spend a few hours in here."

Standing with her arms crossed in front of herself, Dox mumbled in response. "Yeah... I'm... I'm ready to be done." But she snapped out of her preoccupation when she looked back over to over to Asa and their new android friend. "Is... everything okay Asa? Do you need any help?"

Sensing the hidden meaning in the question, Asa replied, “All is well. This is Kodria, a lovely android we were fortunate enough to rescue from the station. She was commissioned 12 years ago, but also in the future, because space is weird. But she’s a very brave person and we are going to help her get acclimated here once this is done. Once Commander Paris gets here we can turn on the water portion of the shower, which has chemicals that work in conjunction with the different phases of light and the gels used when we shower to make sure we kill off any germs that would hurt anyone. Doesn’t a nice, steamy shower sound lovely? By the way Kodria, if you want to you can call me Asa or Doc. ”

"Hello, Asa." Kodria was breathing easier now and able to speak more reliably if still somewhat digitized, her lungs recovering quickly as they provided oxygen to her other organelles. "I'm Kodria. I was built by the Vulcan Science Commission in 2480. My specialty is data processing and scientific analysis. I'm developing my personality and emotions at a slower rate, so... Umm... I have to be careful of the Temporal Prime Directive, but still let you know what kind of care I'll need... And I want to be helpful..."

Smiling indulgently, Asa replied, “You already have been, you helped us solve a mystery. And we certainly don’t want you to violate the Temporal Prime Directive. I, for one, prefer to be surprised by the future. What’s the fun in knowing everything? I’m very glad you are here, I hope we can be friends.”

Listening, but only half paying attention as her attention was still locked in the events of the mission, Dox followed up somewhat flatly. "Well... hello, Kodira. My name is Mnhei'sahe." She smiled, though it was slightly forced as her mind was elsewhere.

It was at that moment that the crate on a hoverlift arrived, and maneuvered into place with the hatch of the outer decon chamber. Once the seal was locked and the hatch had cycled, the crate opened to reveal Commander Paris, still in her distinctive golden armor. Wordlessly she nodded to the rest of the landing party and proceeded to follow the decontamination protocols, shucking the armored EVA suit and dumping it unceremoniously into the sterilization recycler. The TR116C2, her phaser and the entire lot went in, followed by the skeinsuit beneath. Stripped down, the Amazonian astronaut looked out darkly from beneath her brows, clearly seething. When she spoke, her words were clipped and short, quite unlike the easygoing executive’s usual pattern. “Decon showers, everyone, move in.”

It was clear from her body language that public nudity wasn’t something the fulsome first officer was comfortable with, but she was dealing with it as she was internalizing her turbulent emotions. Her face was set in a mask of grim neutrality.

Once everyone was standing beneath a shower head, Asa turned on the high pressure water.

“Please start with everyone standing with arms out so we can turn on the side jets. Legs shoulder length apart.” Seeing the rest of the crew and Kodria move to comply, Asa turned on the side jets and also took up the position.

“Hold here for thirty seconds. When you see my lower my arms, you can too. At that point please apply the green gel in the holder on the wall all over your body and hair. Then using a scrubber, go back under the water and thoroughly rinse. Repeat this process for the blue gel and white cream. Take your time and be sure to get every nook and cranny. I’m serious, any folds in your skin, any little bit of crease- get it in there. None of this will hurt any of you beyond a bit of dry skin, and we can fix that later. When you are done with all three gels, continue to stand under the water until everyone else is done. We will begin to dry at the same time as well,” Asa instructed, and moved to begin the process.

“If you are ever unsure, speak up. If you need help reaching something, speak up.” The doctor’s voice was calm and steady- the voice of a medical professional giving instructions in their realm of expertise. However if anyone had looked they would see Asa’s hands trembling slightly and the beginnings of tears forming in their eyes.

Determined not to let Kodria see how sad they were at the loss of life, Asa pinched their nose and swallowed. It was an old trick to stop from crying they picked up as a child…while there was no physiological reason the action stopped tears, Asa believed it so deeply as a child that the placebo effect still worked and the action still held power.

All Alex wanted now. Was something to drink and sleep. He followed instructions and did as he was told.

As she showered, Paris kept her head turned, keeping an eye on the unstable security investigator. Having seen what she'd seen, she would never trust him at her back again, lest he decide that she too needed 'mercy killing'. Rage and bile filled her mouth, and the outraged officer swallowed it. Calm and professional was called for here, and this would be handled by the book. In the meanwhile, damned if she would let Sexton out of her line of sight- particularly with vulnerable individuals in a contained space within his reach.

Having been through similar decon a time or two back on the SS Haspatia, Kodria was used to the procedure since she wasn't nearly as susceptible to dangers as her biological counterparts were. Even in the short time she served with them, she had built some meaningful relationships with the crew on the small scientific survey ship. Looking up and around at the others in the decon chamber as she went through the various scrubs, she realized that the mood was a lot darker than she remembered things like this should be. She knew a few of these people in the future, but she couldn't exactly tell them that...

Sighing internally, she hung her head, wondering what she could do. "Aunt Rita?" Kodria began, the slip tumbling out of her before she could stop it. "Thank you for rescuing me." She then smiled as best she could, her various access ports across her arms, legs, body, and even the one on the back of her head waving in a seemingly happy fashion.

Seemingly snapping out of a trance, the buxom blonde smiled at the petite android. "You're welcome, little one. You were very brave and clever to find a way to signal for help, and I'm glad we could get to you in time." Despite her rage, the little android still seemed to be an innocent, and she was the one bright spot of this mission. Those six men had laid down their lives 'All gave some and some gave all' she heard as she watched the replay in her mind Sexton executing his own men gangland style. Blinking the image away, she forced a smile. "Well talk later, I promise."

The rest of the decontamination passed in thick and morbid silence, each of the crewmen who were being sterilized so thoroughly externally being eaten up by toxicity within them. All had heavy hearts, and none were celebratory of a successful mission.

With six men dead, it was hard to feel anything but the blood on their hands.


 

Previous Next

labels_subscribe