Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Troy Hunter (General Medical Doctor) in Colony: Tunnels

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Eros Dionysovich (Helmsman) in Colony: Tunnels

Posted by Captain John Tiberius Glen (Captain) in Colony: Tunnels
[snip]
The doctor gave the Captain and COS an Inertial Navigation Systems (INS)each since they were going to lead the two teams ‘’ These systems use accelerometers and gyroscopes to calculate position changes relative to a known starting point, enabling navigation in GPS-deprived environments, the rest of you have a compass for navigation and if for some reason anyone finds he or she got separated from the group forget the no noise concept use the whistle I guarantee it would blow your ear drums that’s about it …any questions?’‘ he asked hoping no one had anything.

Before strapping into the harness, Eros spoke up. “Do we really NEED all this equipment? I mean, these tunnels have probably been well used by the miners. Traversing back and forth, getting ores in and out. There’s got to be well used routes going back and forth, right? With safety protocols already in place, as well as battery powered lighting sources?”

“And the benefit of a working elevator too!” Glen replied. “Remember, the power is still off. And we should be careful of uneven floors in poor light conditions. Eros is correct, the miners will know the tunnels like the back of their hands, but we don’t!”

Hunter buckled up while listening to the Captain ‘’ We may not go where the miners were working, thus Lt M’Mera brought some older maps to check the unknown .It could be pitch black in the tunnels but we have ample light ,you brought a point about uneven ground ‘’ the doctor replied ‘’ Unfortunately our boots are not the type we should have for such an expedition, so its imperative to thread carefully and with caution ‘’.

M’Mera easily wiggled into her harness and buckled it up then put her pack on. “I sshould alsso be able to ssmell which tunnelss arre besst to go down.”

Hunter just stood ready waiting for M’Mera to show them the way .

M’Mera had the better olfactory and auditory senses, the better night vision, and she was holding all the maps, so Glen was genuinely ‘in the dark’ here. Therefore, he also waited for M’Mera to show them the way. When it was his turn Glen put on his own pack. Glen was thinking that he had only worn climbing gear once before. It was the time he had gone with Antonia to visit the hanging gardens of Ekkaia, stopping by the Museum of Izurite Antiquity, and climbing in the Crystal Mountains. She had wanted him to propose to her, and both the holiday and the relationship had gone South after that. It really wasn’t one of his best memories.

As they were walking Hunter felt a feeling of dread,it was one thing exploring the caves on Earth with his friends for he knew what they would come cross but here ? They always took great care especially when the caves were full of bats knowing the critters might carry the Ebola virus or being bitten by one and end getting rabies ,the team always made sure they would be up to date with the vaccines .

His mind went back to when he and three other friends decided to explore an under water cave with scuba diving gear but he came up with the flu and was too sick to go. His friends had entered a cave which unbeknown to them was full of sediment ,with their movements the water became too murky and they never made it out.

‘’Lt M’Mera have you any idea where we’ll stop to get inside one of the caves and search the tunnels? ‘’ he asked.

“Maybe we shouldn’t disturb her right now, and just let her get on with her sniffing, Troy!” Glen told the doctor. Glen knew that underground, and in comparison to her night vision, her sense of smell would be far more efficacious.

Hunter with that small smile of his simply looked at the Captain and nodded.

Sharp was behind them,he’s phaser already in is hand while his eyes darted around ,after all it was his job to make sure the others were safe . The security heard what the Captain had said to Hunter but was a Caitian really that exceptional good at sniffing things out… he doubted.

Any way Sharp was still infuriated with the COS for bringing him down with her tail in the gym, she cheated plain and simple ,she did not abide by the rules which in turn made him look like a fool in front of Guy .

Richard seemed to be a reputable guy one could rely on,everyone seemed to have forgotten that he got Hunter in trouble by telling him that another ship was near when in fact it was about three days away before reaching the Merrimack . He smiled inwardly the Captain had not been there on the bridge , instead there was that guy about to take his exam as a Cmdr. It nearly cost Hunter the bridge cell but the doctor was not one to get even unlike.....

Both Richard and Troy seemed particularly glum about something today, either the makeup of the team itself or simply the going underground part, but since Troy had told them all ‘the less noise the better’ down in the tunnels, Glen refrained from asking any further questions. In any case, Glen was absorbed with his INS gadget. He’d never used one before, so he was pushing buttons and bringing up menus; trying hard to understand how to make the best use of it, and to set their starting point on it. It didn’t take him that long to figure out the basics of it, and he probably didn’t need all the bells and whistles anyhow.

M’Mera finished studying the map and turned her attention to the gyroscope. She briefly tested it by turning in the four cardinal direction points and testing it against her own internal directional sense. It appeared to be accurate. “Okay, I am rready. Everryone elsse rready? We will go thrrough the tunnelss that the minerrss rrecently excavated sso trravel sshould be eassy. Once we get to the end and find the entrry to the old tunnelss thingss will be harrderr and that iss why we have all thiss safety gearr. We sshould go ssingle file and be awarre of the perrsson beforre and afterr you. Watch out forr each otherr. Captain, if you could go behind me, we can conferr on directionss and ssuch. If the Doctorr can go behind you he can asssisst the rresst of the team. Once we get to an area needing the rropess and ssuch he can come up to the frront.”

“That sound like a plan,” replied Glen, “Please go ahead and lead the way!”

She looked to the Captain to see if he was okay with all this before turning and heading toward the main tunnel entrance that led down into the mines. It was the man sized entrance so not the one for the ore carts. It had the large open elevator that usually went up and down the shaft. Due to the power being off it was not working of course but at the back of it was a ladder enwrapped in a metal cage that had one large opening to allow a person to crawl through and go down the ladder. It was going to a long climb down.

Glen turned back to the rest of the party and told them, “Like M’Mera said, it looks like there are ladders inside the shaft for this first decent, so we won’t need any climbing gear yet! Assume everyone is okay with climbing down ladders? No different to the Jefferies Tubes aboard ship.”

‘’Lets check if the ladders are sturdy enough first ‘’ Hunter suggested, as he looked down to get an idea of how far reaching the descent was .

The descent looked to be about 12 feet to the ground platform and the metal of the ladders looked fairly new. Though due to the high humidity of jungle environment the first 5 feet looked like there was condensation build up on the rungs. Care would still need to be taken.

Sharp was too hyper focused looking behind him to care much about the ladder .He was half expecting to see some kind of beast ready to devour them and it did not help knowing two persons had disappeared or the fact that even the Klingon’s were about to leave .

Now he changed his mind about getting bored standing guard on the Bridge or sickbay .

M’Mera moved over to the ladder head and studied it closely before trusting her weight to it.

“The rrungss arre sslick, sso be carreful. The glovess sshould help.” Her weight was easily held by the rungs and she scampered down like the feline she was. Reaching the bottom she stepped out of the way and shined her light around. Checking out the immediate area at the bottom of the ladder shaft.

It was dark as a tomb and the air shone with dust motes that had been disturbed by her landing. The tunnel walls showed the machine marks of when it had been excavated. The tunnel ran north-south with magnetic tracks on the ground for the ore cars.

Hunter watched as the COS went down ‘’That went fast ‘’ he commented ‘’Guess it’s your turn Captain? ‘’ The doctor asked while putting on his gloves .

Once M’Mera had begun climbing down and the ladders seemed to hold okay, Glen followed her. He had put on his gloves as they had walked the corridor. He wasn’t concerned about using the ladders as the miners must have all used them twice a day, every day.

The doctor then turned to Eros who had been rather quiet up until now ‘’ Every thing okay ?’’ he asked the security Helm officer .

“Just waiting my turn, doctor,” the helmsman replied. And he had been patiently waiting quietly while all was being figured out.

Hunter did not need to ask Sharp for he seemed to be rather anxious and ill at ease .

Hunter Dr.
- Glen, CO

When it was finally his turn, Eros easily made his way down the ladder to the platform. Reaching the bottom, he looked back up the ladder at Sharp and shook his head. He moved to the front of the group and said quietly to Glen and M’Mera,

“Sirs, I’m concerned about Sharp. He is extremely jumpy, and I am literally more afraid of being shot in the back by him, than anything we might encounter down here.”

“If he’s claustrophobic, it’s only going to get worse, the farther we go. . . .”

M’Mera frowned, though it was an expression hard to tell on a Caitain and growled low in her throat. “Well, ass good ass he iss on the sship, I guesss thiss iss the place to tesst hiss metal.” She said. “I don’t wissh to take his weapon away frrom him herre but I will check to be ssurre it iss only sset on sstun.”

OOC: Sorry for my absence. I had taken a digger a couple of weeks ago had been nursing a number of broken ribs. It was painful sitting at the desk for any extended period of time.

Lt. (jg) Dionysovich
Helm

OOC: Hope you’re feeling better .

OOC: So sorry to hear! Totally understandable and hope it heals quickly for you.

Hunter saw Eros next to the others ‘’I’m now going down Sharp ‘’ he had already turned around to take the ladder . The security was about to freak out knowing he’ll be left alone ‘’Doctor would you mind if I go before you? ‘’he asked ,the good doctor thought about it he was about to say yes but then remembered the rules ‘’Sharp we are following the COS’s orders ,I would not mind letting you go down before me ,on the other hand I don’t want the Captain accusing me of not following orders …come on Richard you’ll be okay ‘’ and with that Hunter got down the ladder and joined the others.

Hunter Dr.

M’Mera waited until Sharp made it down with them before quietly moving over to him.” Crrewman, check yourr weapon and be ssure it iss only on sstun.” She ordered. “Arre you alrright, crrewman? Arre you claustrrophobic? I had not thought to assk. I need you at the end of ourr line as you arre ourr back line of defensse. I am needed at the frront as that iss wherre the dangerr is at the grreatesst.”

Lt. M’Mera COS