Ice Caves Part 1

Posted on Sat Dec 4th, 2021 @ 3:59am by Ka'see 'Cassie' Anderson (*) & Chief Helmsman Eden Bowers & Johnathan Anderson Junior & Lieutenant Junior Grade David Jameson
Edited on on Sat Dec 4th, 2021 @ 4:00am

Mission: Ishimura
Location: Andoria
Timeline: 2243
2537 words - 5.1 OF Standard Post Measure

The science expedition team was made of a ragtag group of officers that Cassie was not sure that she wanted alongside her as she investigated the ice caves of Andoria. But the Captain after the ghost planet was not sending anyone anywhere alone or without a mixed team of officers from all departments. There had been requests for Starfleet to help after a huge ancient virus had been discovered in a deep layer of the permafrost. It was much more diverse than scientists had ever known and they needed people to look into it. “Everyone make sure they are coated up inside suit." Cassie said to the team arranged on the transporter pad.

Johnathan doublechecked his gear before closing his coat and slinging his pack onto his back. He then moved up into the transporter chamber, giving Cassie a soft smile before moving to the rear of the chamber, taking his place on the transporter pad.

Pulling on his thinsulate gloves, David hoisted his pack and stepped up onto the pad. "Ready."

Having grown up in tropical Florida, Kendra was not looking forward to the frozen world. She had made sure to wear the warmest Starfleet issued gear to layer under her away coat. Her phaser was in its holster and the scanner was in its place on her other hip. "Ready as ever," she reported.

The hybrid frowned as they all appeared in transporter beams into the sudden cold of Andoria. "Brrr," Cassie said wrapping her coat around herself even more. “This way.” She called over the howling wind.

Johnathan pulled up the rear, ensuring everyone stayed in the group. He shivered, despite the many layers he had on. Had they beamed down into the middle of a blizzard?

"Oh just a lovely summer's day," Eden joked, though she wasn't actually sure anyone could hear her over the howling wind.

"For Andorians, maybe," David replied, even those few words making a mist of his breath in the cold air.

"I'm just imagining a nice warm beach," Kendra added, between shivers.

"Imagine Vulcan. Nice dessert night." Cassie offered Kendra helpfully. It was a better thought than Scotland.

As they passed under the arch of the cave, it was good to hear the wind and the snow outside instead of all about them. "It was found frozen in a deep layer of the permafrost that they were investigating, everyone is concerned that if it thawed it could become infectious once again,” Cassie explained knowing that everyone had read the mission brief snd why people either wore hazmat suits already or had them like herself ready to put on.

"Why aren't the Andorians looking into this themselves?" Johnathen asked as they moved deeper into the cave system.

“Because they have asked for help from Starfleet and we are the ship closest with the right personnel.” Cassie commenting rubbing her arms for a moment as she adjusted to the change in temperature. Why could they never go to a warm planet??

Just then, Johnathan heard a soft hissing sound. Looking up, he saw the source, GLOW WORMS!! He then saw that Cassie was about to walk right underneath them as they burned through the ice above. He reacted instantly, grabbing her arm and spinning her back to him, just as the first few fell through the space she had been standing, hit the ground below and continued buring their way downward.

"Sorry, I..." he stopped when their eyes locked and he was back in a better time with her, before the wedding, before he was angry. "I didn't want you to get burned by them." He swallowed hard as he felt entranced by her beauty all over again.

Cassie just looked at him for a long moment before she nodded. “Thank you.” She said quietly as she glanced back seeing the group coming close so made a move to put her hazmat suit on.

Eden cleared her throat before the others came up behind her, not wanting the two of them to be embarrassed by the sudden romantic turn if that's what this was.

"How deep was that layer with the virus?" David asked, running his tricorder over the area of ice the worm had just fallen through. "I'm reading more ice worm activity and if they get near it we may be dealing with a suddenly defrosted virus."

Cassie held out her map that they still had a massive trek ahead of them. “No fear of them warming things up why it has only just been found.” It would mean a long trek but it was not without opportunity for sights that most of them would not have seen before.

"Was it discovered by core sample or by an enthusiastic explorer, venturing down a cave?" Kendra asked. She may have been a communications expert, but she remembered a few things from her science classes at the Academy.

“Core samples. They were looking for metals but found this instead.” Cassie said almost wishing she was getting to see it all for the first time instead of having seen photos and footage of what they were going to see.

"Well," Johnathan stated warily. "We should be careful where we step, and keep an eye and ear out for more glow worms burrowing down from the ceiling."

Eden frowned, although she was always up for an adventure, tracking down a virus seemed a bit more scary to her than just descending into an ice cave. "I hope this virus isn't harmful to humans and that we find something really cool like an artifact that's been buried in the snow for centuries."

"An ancient virus could be an artifact," David noted. "If it was engineered, in which case any other artifacts present might shed light on its development. So if we find any, we need to be very careful about how we extract everything to preserve the archaeological evidence for study."

Cassie pursed her ups in what could have been a smile if she had a better display of emotions but she nodded in her fellow scientist direction as much to to say atta boy before turning on her heel. It was still a long way down but the way was lit from years of excavation work. Cassie finally stopped in a large cavern that looked like the end of road and only half finished by the abandoned equipment.

Johnathan stopped next to her, feeling a sence of protectiveness over the woman who once, and very likely still, owned his heart. "Man, they really must've hustled out of here fast. Look," he pointed to an area that had several ice-ax tools just laying on the ground. "I can't remember what they're called, but, those are supposed to be cherrished family heirlooms, right?"

"Ushaan-tor," David supplied. The A&A officer bent to examine the site. "And you're right, they must have been truly panicked to have abandoned them like this. We should retrieve and sterilize them so they can be returned to their rightful owners." So saying he opened a specimen case and began carefully gathering the tools. He judged it was safe enough since he was already wearing thick sturdy gloves and hazmat equipment for extracting the virus.

Cassie nodded and slowly moved towards where the core samples had been originally being taken from. It all looked undisturbed other than the scanner beeping with a warning. “You do that I am going to try and work this out.”

"I sincerely hope Starfleet knows what it's doing," Eden said nervously. The Ushann-tor lying there and the virus were making her really nervous now. Perhaps this place was meant to stay untouched.

"I'm sure they do, Eden," Johnathan replied confidently as he moved with Cassie, keeping an eye out for any trouble. He wouldn't say it out loud, but, he was starting to feel a little apprehensive about all this. He started ro wonder if they should be in hazmat suits.

David glanced up at them as he sealed the last Ushann-tor in the container and locked it with a warning seal. "I'd think Starfleet trusts us to know what we're doing."

“Why we were called. And why I was specifically requested as my mother started this project twenty years ago just after I was born.” Cassie admitted her back turned to the main group as she started to scan.

Johnathan turned his eyes to the hybrid. "Your mom worked on this site?" The mention of her mother brought back bittersweet memories for the pilot. He and Cassie had firstt started seeing each other, after he flew her home to attend her mother's funeral and settling if her estate. "Would her old recods and logs of the time shed any light on what we are looking at now?"

“She did twenty years ago and a mile or so across or up.” Cassie was not overly sure it was relevant. “My mother was a geneticist.” She offered to everyone else as they would not know.

That made Eden feel slightly better. "I wonder what their names were? I always wonder about things like that when I'm around such history. "

“My mum?” Cassie asked confused by the comment as she looked up from her scanner to look at the flight control officer.

Names? David was just as confused as Cassie, but he was beginning to feel like that was par for the course with Eden. "I don't think Cassie is old enough for things that happened shortly after her birth to count as real history," he half-joked. "But as to the virus down there, we should reconfirm the scans from her records to make sure mining operations haven't shifted things."

Eden laughed. "No silly, the people who have been living here for centuries, someone must have lived here at some point right? Planets change, people come and go. Just thinking," she shrugged. "Out loud."

"I am 23 thank you." The hybrid woman said unsure why that should matter but it felt like she should be offended slightly. "That is not old at all and very much not history but yes these caves have been used for millenniums. Just like our species used caves. Yes, we do Lieutenant." She agreed moving to start her scans.

Johnathan could feel that Cassie was getting bothered, so he stepped in. "I'm sure David meant no offence." He looked over at their crewmate for agreement.

"Hey, my point was that she's far too young to be part of the weight of history here," David said and sighed inwardly. Maybe he should give up and stick to only talking about his area of expertise. "Okay, once we're certain of the region to excavate and the stability of the ice around it, we can start cutting. Slowly though. We don't want to miss anything buried down there that the scans didn't pick up."

"Of course he made no offence. Lieutenant Jameson was stating facts and was as confused as I was." Cassie said turning to look at the non-science crew.

Eden frowned slightly feeling as if her mouth had gotten her into trouble again. She reminded herself that she needed to be less . . . herself when on duty.

Why don't you all look around for more clues while we do this part." Cassie suggested trying to sound more human. She might be in charge of the team but they were all senior to her. “Me and Lieutenant Jameson can check if things have been shifted.”

Johnathan moved off to the side, trying to see if he could notice anything out of the ordinary. Of course, as he'd never been in an ice mine before, it was difficult to determine what was normal and what wasn't.

“Anything Lieutenant? Nothing seems to have moved on this side.” Cassie murmured wishing to could scratch her nose right then and there as it tickled.

"Nothing showing on my scans," he replied after taking a moment to double-check. Then he projected an outline onto the tunnel floor. "I think we can begin cutting. We'll start at the segment that's not as thick over at the far edge."

"Okay... That sounds... correct and logical." The woman agreed as she looked at the outline on the floor. She silently moved to start before taking a few steps back and looking around. "Is it me or is it getting hot in here?" Cassie wondered looking around for the source of what felt like through her equipment was heat.

Johnathan frowned slightly. "I thought it was just me. I've been starting to feel warm for the last few minutes." He then sneezed inside his helmet, spit and mucous covering the inside of his helmet face plate. "Well, that's just great."

"It happens sometimes with hazmat suits. They tend to retain body heat," David explained. "Lean against the ice wall for a few moments and the heat exchange should help cool you down."

Eden didn't know what the others were talking about. She was a little cold. Then again she could soak up heat and never sweat. "Are you sure the suits are working correctly?" She casually asked thought it was certainly a concern in her mind that they might not protect them against this virus.

Johnathan stumbled a little. "I...I don't think so. I've..I've been in...in hazmat suits before...never...never felt like this though." He shook his head, as if trying to clear it. He then sneezed again, covering the inside of his visor with more mucus.

Cassie shook her head and scanned him. “There is nothing wrong with yours or anyone else’s suit. Nothing is in the atmosphere.” Cassie said strongly. Was this how hypochondria started?

Looking at the mucus coating Jonathan's visor, David shook his head. "The suits may be fine, but he's obviously having a reaction to something. Maybe allergic to something in the suit, like the disinfecting fluid it was last washed in?"

“Possibly. Do you have any allergies?” Cassie demanded calmly as she scanned Johnathen. "If you are it is not on your file as they would not have allowed you down here."

"Not that," he sneezed again. "Sorry, not that I know of." The pilot moved over to the nearest wall and leaned against it, trying to pull in some of its chill.

As everyone started to calm down the lights flickered and turned off plunging the cavern into pitch black darkness.

"Not the least bit ominous," Eden said truthfully.

"Crap." David flipped his helmet light on. It didn't light much but the area a half meter in front of his face, but it was something. "I guess the miners never came back to do any maintenance. Everyone okay?"

Activating his helmet lights, Johnathan replied. "Are we having fun yet?"

The silence reigned as three out of the four officers spoke up and the fourth did not. Where was Ensign Cassie McAvoy?

Johnathan was the first to notice. Tilting his head down to peek through a clear space at the top of his visor. "Cass?" He quickly panned his head left and right. "Cassie?!" He activated his communicator, his voice was suddenly full of worry and growing desperation. "Enaign McAvoy, this is Ensign Anderson!! Do you read me, over?!"

But there was no answer.