Guns, Germs and Steal, Season 1, Episode 5

The Hippocrates II, streaking silver through the Black, returned at last to civilization leaving behind BlackRock G18, the singular moon now, however briefly, called Melanie.

On the journey they have compiled their data and cautiously falsified more. In the hands of Benjamin Franklin Crowe and Sister Catherine Grey, the data must be carefully concealed, and their cover stories correlated. A silence seemed to fall in her quiet corridors, passed between shielded glances and averted smiles.

As soon as possible, Maria Villasenor and Rain Adelwulf met with private transport arranged by Rain's security firm. Together, they returned to the Core, to Maria's laboratory, with the cryo chamber carrying Den Dennis. The documentarian had dedicated his life to revealing truths, and now, still and silent, had been made part of the largest conspiracy in Med-Acad's history: If they save him, will he thank them? Or condemn them?

The rush of work preceding the Hippocrates II's arrival at G18 and the hectic days following had given way to a sense of accomplishment. The crew suddenly found itself free to pursue their individual research projects and enjoy personal pastimes until their next assignment.

For now, all is peaceful.

INCOMING WAVE: ALLIANCE STATION 29
LIST ID: DESTINY SECURITY
PERSONAL ID: DILLIN CHESHIRE

The face in April's wave-screen was topped with curly brown hair, and from it glinted wide dark eyes that might have appeared doe-like if it weren't for the sharp edge with which they glittered over the screen. Dillin had already satisfied herself with the face that gazed back at her, and was now reading the background- seeing what was behind her.

April frowned as the young woman spoke. The side of her work terminal ran with Cheshire's qualifications and referrals and they were rather impressive. The Med-Acad Commander found herself drawn to the ambitious nature of the woman. She identified with her in a way, competent and strong and determined to have her way.

Oh, they would clash, no doubt, she and this dynamo duckling, April thought. She also had to put aside her personal prejudices and comparisons. In the back of her mind, she was studying the young woman and overlapping her image with that of Rain, in his full combat gear, standing up to riotting angry mudders. Rain just had a way of making you feel safe.

She would never know what exactly it was that had prompted his resignation. Was it that he hadn't been able to keep Den Dennis, Cheng and Bardier safe in the wilderness? Or was it his continuing clash with Crowe? Or was it really what he'd signed on his paperwork? That he was just getting too old for the job?

Dillin Cheshire, reed slender and straight-backed, was no Rain Adelwulf. A wry smile crossed April's face and she knew that Dillin saw it as she caught the glimmer of triumph in the briefest tightening of her eye-lids.

"You can start as soon as..." April's gaze was caught by the priority notice from Med-Acad Command, and clipped it up to the bottom corner of screen, "As soon as you can reach The Bella Starr Luxury Liner. We'll meet you there."

She was already turning away from the screen, punching her com-unit, "Daniel? Full speed to The Bella Starr Luxury Liner. Coordinates just came through and should be on your screen. Set the tightest course and burn Black."

Turning back to the slightly bewildered face of Dillin Cheshire, April shrugged, "Duty calls, Miss Cheshire." and clicked off the screen. Slapping the shipwide, she sent an all-call, "I know most of you are in the middle of important ground breaking research, but if you could stop saving lives at the moment, I'd like to see everyone in the Medical Bay."

'No,' April allowed her wry smile to grace her features once more as she headed for the stairs, 'Dillin Cheshire was no Rain Adelwulf. But who else ever could be?'

Bridge

"Daniel? Full speed to The Bella Starr Luxury Liner. Coordinates just came through and should be on your screen. Set the tightest course and burn Black."


"Got 'em, Chee." replied Daniel into the comm as he checked the screens. Sure enough the coordinates were there just as Chee said. He put them into the navcomp and plotted the tightest course humanly possible. Once the course was plotted, Daniel continued, "Course plotted, set, and engines a-burnin'. We'll be at the Bella Starr faster than you can read a dictionary forward and backward."


Setting the comm down, Daniel adjusted his trusty cowboy hat and gripped the controls. He was about to relax and let the ship's controls talk to him when Chee's voice came over the comm again.


"I know most of you are in the middle of important ground breaking research, but if you could stop saving lives at the moment, I'd like to see everyone in the Medical Bay."


"Everyone huh?" Daniel thought. "Does that mean me too or just those that do the fixin' up of people's bodies?" Picking up the comm again, Daniel commed Chee and asked, "That include me too, Chee, or just the medical folk?"

Entering the Medical Bay, April tapped the com again, "If the helm can spare you, you're welcome to join us, Daniel."

A glance towards the containment unit had April stifling a burst of laughter and she quickly turned away and busied herself with shutting down her own work and relegating it to the back-burner once more.

Research Lab

"-looking at the femur, now," Blodwyn said slowly, eyes glued to the screen as she moved the focus downward, following the progress of a transplanted cell she'd injected with a firefly protein called luciferase. The protein produced a dim light when it came in contact with another molecule called luciferin. In the ordinary course of events, of course, the lab mouse she was examining wouldn't produce luciferin, but once it was injected, it produced a faint glow, pinpointing the cells' location.

It was an old experiment, practically a parlor trick now, but actually seeing it in person was- was wholly different from the vids. It was-

Amazing," Blodwyn breathed, squinting as she leaned in close to the screen, soaking up every detail. Just by looking at it, was getting an idea about a method she could try on tagged stem cells to-

"I know most of you are in the middle of important ground breaking research, but if you could stop saving lives at the moment, I'd like to see everyone in the Medical Bay."

"Of course you would," Blodwyn muttered, shaking her head, but she smiled all the same as she closed up the experiment and came out of the lab to join the rest of the more human shaped lab-rats.

"What's the news from the world?" She asked as she entered the Med Bay, propping her feet up on an unoccupied chair as she took her seat.

Bridge

"If the helm can spare you, you're welcome to join us, Daniel."


"Seein' as there's no obstacles such as space debris or asteroids in our flight path, I think she can, Chee." replied Daniel into the comm. He smiled and added, "Be down in a jiff."


Daniel checked their course once more to verify that claim. He knew there wasn't as he was the one who had plotted the course, but it never hurt to double check. Once he finished looking at the course on the NavComp, Daniel set the HII's controls on autopilot and rose out of his chair. A magazine that he had stashed in his chair slipped out and landed on the floor. Daniel reached down, picked it up, and examined the cover. It was the latest issue of Play 'Verse magazine he owned, the one with Atarah Kobain as cover model and centerfold.


Flipping to the centerfold, Daniel let out a low whistle as his eyes feasted on the delicacy that was Miss Kobain and exclaimed, "Miss Kobain, you are the the epitome of beautiful in the 'Verse. It's a downright shame I won't be spendin' time right now gazin' at your fine form."


Folding the centerfold back into the magazine, Daniel slipped it back under the seat cushion of the pilot's seat and checked the control panel once more. Smiling, he turned and left the Bridge and walked down the spiral staircase to the Medical Bay.

Med Bay

When Daniel arrived it was just Chee and Dr. Bardier inside. The lock challenged doctor had her feet on the chair nearest to her. Daniel gave a short, low chuckle and took his hat off, placing it on the counter. He ran his hands through his hair to get rid of any traces or hat head.


Sitting across from Dr. Bardier, he gave her a smile and a nod, then turned to Chee and asked, "Do I need to ask what's up or has that already been asked?"

"Ok, I think I got all that." Nikki shifted uncomfortably. Her mic had slipped down, muddying her words. "We really have to wear these things? You said it was safe. And you're the expert, right?" Her voice was tremulous, but really she was teasing. She turned away so Cheng wouldn't see her smile.

Her instructor frowned as he surveyed her slick baggy white containment coverall, noting several other mistakes. The spacer determinedly held his tongue; it had taken an eternity to get even this far. Though it's not really her fault. He reminded himself as he waddled around the isolation lab in his matching white shapelessness, trying to let go of his frustration. These are the smallest we have and they're still too big for either of us. And she admitted she's never worn a full suit. The fact was nearly unfathomable; one of his earliest memories was a recorded nursery rhyme: a high, piping tale of dancing a jig around an asteroid. Very different lives. I have to remember that.

"For this last lesson, we're culturing specialized cell lines from previously isolated mammal DNA, so, ah, no, this isn't technically necessary. The level four containment procedures are just for practice." He tried to sound upbeat as he checked her air settings, lest she slowly suffocate. Though in that case at least she would be quiet. He couldn't stop himself from thinking. Always questions! Annoying. Like I need another responsibility! Just let me get on with the job. Is that so hard?

"Look at the cell types we're creating. Please. And lookup the corresponding hormone regimens." Cheng distracted her as he prepped an incubator tray of petri dishes, squeezing nutrient gel and gently micro-pipetting a single pink droplet onto each one.

She sighed, resigned to following yet another of Cheng's rigidly structured and meticulously detailed lesson plans. But the truth was that she really didn't mind learning from him, even if he was a boring stick-in-the-mud instructor. "Oh, all right. Commander Chee said I should learn everything." She weighted April's title playfully, gently aping his insistence on the honorific.

The procedure details scrolled across one of the monitors set into the wall over the lab bench. She pulled up a tall stool and read. "These start with the mystery cultures we did on Wednesday. So... Still no assay? What is it? We don't even know the species yet, do we?" The samples were dated a few days after touch-down on Melanie; the serial numbers retrieved only sketchy information from their database. Lots of their hastily-grabbed samples had the same problem.

Through two layers of hard, clear plastic, his soft brown eyes peered for a long moment into hers. A smile as he turned away to set the incubation cycle. "I know."

With a frustrated eye-roll, Nikita frowned as she studied the details on the workstation monitor, slowly interpreting the data. They were doing basic cell generation, including gametocytes. The meticulous study script Dr. Cheng had created stopped after the creation of the different cell types, but there was an outline attached for more work. Maybe, if she was lucky, it would hold more clues to Dr. Cheng's mystery assignment?

"I know most of you are in the middle of important ground breaking research, but if you could stop saving lives at the moment, I'd like to see everyone in the Medical Bay."

Niki took advantage of the delay to quickly scan the outline to her borrowed hand-held so that she could study it more detail later.

Cheng surveyed the neatly assembled flasks of solution, arrays of test tubes, instruments calibrated and waiting, and let out his own sigh. "Let's get the biologics packed up, at least, but leave the rest out. We're still a long way from anywhere, so there will be time after the meeting." He hesitated while sliding a tray into the refrigerator under the counter. "And this time, lets do it without the suits."

OOC: Nikita's lines and actions written by E, the rest by the amazing Manitou.

"What's the news from the world?"

April took a moment to appraise Dr. Bardier. The woman seemed little worse for the wear for all of the trauma Melanie had brought them, and a smile stretched April's lips. Blodwyn may not have been R&R material when she first came onboard, but she had grown to it, or it had grown to her. Outwardly, little seemed to have changed: Shaved head, slouched shoulders, clothes haphazard and more appropriate to a mechanic than a scientist. But Blodwyn was gorram good doctor, and a clever researcher. "I'll wait until everyone arrives," the Commander answered with a wave of her hand to say it was nothing planet-shattering, "I wanted to say that I've been watching your tagged stem-cell work and I'm impressed. If you get it to fall together, you'll be looking at another publication soon."

She knew, somehow, that Blodwyn couldn't give a good gorram about publishing. That it was the pure research that the woman liked, but the rules of academia clung to April like an oversized labcoat and it was very hard to shelve them.

Nikita and Dr. Cheng emerged from the containment chamber, Nikita grumbling something under her breath and Cheng looking relieved for the reprieve.

"Do I need to ask what's up or has that already been asked?"

April couldn't help herself. Dark eyes glimmered over the pilot, watching for signs of drink. He hadn't, as far as she knew, had a drink since she had confronted him, but he'd also given no hint of his true feelings about it, or how the events on Melanie had affected him. "No such thing as a bad question, Daniel."

When they had all gathered, April propped herself up on the equipment counter, her short legs dangling her white sneakers a good six inches off the floor. "We're headed to the Bella Starr, that luxury boat that's been in the news on and off the past year. While we are there, we're second-fiddle only. That means whatever their medical team has going, we follow their lead. Drake Ripple, commander of The R&R Nightingale, is there already and in charge."

"All I know so far is that it's an influenza type illness, non-lethal thus far, but these people are on vacation, far from home, and trapped onboard a ship in the Black. Dehydration, nutrition, fear, panic: These are all going to be factors that can raise the mortality rate, so let's not be complacent."

"That being said, there should be plenty of time for non-essential staff to actually get out and enjoy the Starr. Supposedly, she's the premiere luxury liner in the 'verse, and after where we've been"

April's smile stretched as she regarded her crew, "We might as well take in a fine meal and a few rounds of the roulette wheel while we're there."

"Now," And April's smile faded somewhat, "On other fronts, our new security officer will be meeting us there, as well as a new nurse. Dillin Cheshire of Destiny Security will be stepping up to fill Rain's shoes, and our new nurse, Kiri Fukuda is already on scene and working with Dr. Ripple."

"Nikita?" April tried to ignore the startled glance of the young woman, "Blue Sun Charities is sending a representative to take you back to Ariel. You can get back to school, and everything. You can get back to your real life."

"Peachy." The wrinkling of Nikita's pixie-nose coupled with the snarky bite of her voice to express an attitude so entirely teen-queen that one could be fooled into thinking she was five years older than she was.

But behind those eyes that glared at April in dismay, the commander caught a glimpse of something else, something clever. Nikita had already thought about this possibility. And she was planning something...

The Hippocrates II soared through the Black, docking with The Bella Starr as the huge ship began to wake for the day.

The Hippocrates II, the flagship of Med-Acad Research and Rescue, stands ready to answer the call. It looks routine, a request for back-up and supplies to a flu-addled luxury-liner. All in a days work.


OOC: Admin Note:
All posts except those directly onboard ship will continue onboard The Bella Starr. There's going to be multiple events in multiple threads, so if everyone could try to post links when moving between threads, it will hopefully make things easier to follow.

Jonathan's breakfast lay in bits and crumbs of devoured chaos, the well-fed crew circling the table glancing around in preparation as the Bella Starr's docking mechanism locked them into the much larger ship.

There was a clank as the Bella's docking apparatus locked thime in, a soft mustering of power, and The Hippocrates II came to rest.

April glanced around the table, wiping her mouth with her napkin and smiled, "That's the sound I like to hear."

"Bardier? I want you here in the laboratory. Any data we collect is coming straight back to you. MAMAS more state-of-the-art than anything The Bella will be running, and I want full analysis on everything."

"Cheng? We've got a priority request from Vecto Ventus. Apparently one of their key people onboard is ill. I want you to respond. We can't afford bad press right now, and letting some corporate bigwig vomit their intestines out wouldn't look good on News-Wire." April glanced at the young doctor, and blinked. He was an excellent doctor, and but if he went stuttering about, no one would believe it. "And...take Sister Catherine with you. Next best thing to diazepam. As soon as your done, join us in the medical clinic."

"Jonathan, liason with the clinic for supplies. You'll be working directly with, " She glanced at her note-pad, "A Doctor Delaney..? Oh." She glanced toward the supply officer, "Distant cousin, maybe?"

"Daniel, you'll be meeting with our new security officer, Dillin Cheshire. She'll be waiting at the Princess Dining Room. Tell her I'm sorry I couldn't come myself, but illness takes priority."

"Nikita, the Blue Sun charity rep from Ariel won't arrive for a couple of days, so I think you should take some fun time while we're here. It won't be ever day that you get a chance to play on a luxury liner."

"Benjamin?" She glanced towards the scientist, "I'm sure you have much to accomplish now that we're in semi-civilization, I imagine you'd like to get to it, but perhaps you can accompany Miss Nikita? See that she doesn't stow away on some other unsuspecting vessel?"

"I want us all in touch with each other, but this ship does have a rep for security issues so everyone grab a secure com on your way out. I want us completely autonomous." April stood up bruskly, showing that she was wearing her full uniform, the grey and blue jumpsuit of Med-Acad, "Let's get to it, people. Jonathan, downstairs in five."

"Jonathan, liason with the clinic for supplies. You'll be working directly with...a Doctor Delaney..? Oh. Distant cousin, maybe?"

It took effort to keep the cup in his hand steady as it traveled to his lips. Taking a slow drink of his coffee, which was in need of refreshing, Jonathan spent that split second of action to monitor his own behaviors. He had stayed in his seat. No fingers or toes twitched in shock at the sound of his own name, prefaced by the title 'Doctor.' His posture hadn't changed. Nothing he could feel had given him away; he hadn't even tightened his grip on the cup. Rather than respond, he let out a mutter that was neither affirmation or argument. Let them think what they wanted.

Doctor Delaney. She was there, working on board the tremendous cruise ship the HII was being sent to. The medical staff there needed aid. Why did he have to work with her? Fate was cruel, that much was certain. 'She's going to kill you,' a small voice in his head worried. Still he listened, impassive expression somewhat ruined as the truth sunk in and blood slowly drained from his face. 'She's just plain going to kill you.'

"Let's get to it, people. Jonathan, downstairs in five." April's voice cut through his predictions of personal apocalypse a moment, long enough for the order to register. As April spoke, the supply officer found himself up and moving, cleaning and securing all he could prior to docking. "Will do, April." What would he tell her? Any of them?

"Daniel, you'll be meeting with our new security officer, Dillin Cheshire. She'll be waiting at the Princess Dining Room. Tell her I'm sorry I couldn't come myself, but illness takes priority."


"Yes ma'am, Dr. Chee." replied Daniel after gulping down the last remains of his breakfast. He followed it down with the last of the coffee in his Blue Sun coffee mug and added, "I'll make sure she gets that message."


He got up from the table and put his plate and mug in the sink. It was a damn fine meal Delaney had made, but then again all of the meals Delaney made were right up there with this morning's breakfast. Walking back to the table, Daniel scooted the chair back in and stifled a yawn between his hand. He took in a breath as he blinked his eyes and headed out to his room to change his attire.

Daniel's Room

The Bella Starr was a luxury ship, which meant the getup he currently had on just wouldn't do. He had to look nice and presentable. Especially since he was meeting their new security officer in the Starr's fancy dining room. He put on his best dress pants, boots, long sleeved shirt, and black leather vest. He topped the ensemble off with a black, braided leather bolo tie with silver aiguillettes at the end and adorned with a silver dollar sized piece of polished Tiger's eye quartz. They were in fact the only set of fancy clothes Daniel had on him. The last things Daniel did was to comb his hair and make sure no buttons were left unbuttoned or missing. Confident that he would look fairly presentable to the new security chief and the other patrons on the Starr, Daniel headed off the ship and to the nearest lift.


<< Daniel's adventures continue Here >>

"Later," Blodwyn said cheefully, sipping at the cooling remnants of her coffee -a monstrosity of cream and sugar and honey, might as well drink coffee flavored cream and get it over with- as she scooted over to the nearest console to load up the notes she'd taken just before breakfast. She figured there was maybe five, ten minutes before all hell broke loose, and she might as well get some actual work done intead of twiddling her fingers.

...God, she'd gotten complacent. Must be the job. After crazed cromagnums, plagues, and floods, influenza's butch cousin didn't seem all that bad.

Bad enough that she wasn't all that sad to be in here, though. Especially since, now that she'd be alone, it was practically a vacation anyway. Sure, she'd be working, but Blodwyn had been working since she was fourteen years old. Sitting on her pi-gu analyzing data all day was, to her, the equivalent of sunning at one of the Starr's bioluminescant pools.

When all this was done, though, she'd have to steal a few minutes to get to the market, maybe buy some MSG's and crappy souvenirs. It was all part of the experiance.

"Nikita, the Blue Sun charity rep from Ariel won't arrive for a couple of days, so I think you should take some fun time while we're here. It won't be ever day that you get a chance to play on a luxury liner."

"Benjamin?" She glanced towards the scientist, "I'm sure you have much to accomplish now that we're in semi-civilization, I imagine you'd like to get to it, but perhaps you can accompany Miss Nikita? See that she doesn't stow away on some other unsuspecting vessel?"

"Yippy." Nikita gulped the last of her watery orange juice and turned the glass upside down on her plate to observe the cohesive action of the water molecules on the glass walls. Just what she needed. A fancy ship. And a nanny! A nice cushy prison before she was transferred to another prison? Sister Catherine would have been easy to give the slip. But... then again ... she glanced at Dr. Crowe... This could facilitate her whole plan.

"You don't have to babysit me, Mister Crowe." Let him see you don't need him, that you won't be in his way. That you aren't some inconvenience. She felt a surge of confidence in her plot, and the orphan turned an innocent smile his way, "I'll be fine on my own."