Master Of Poisons Part 2

Posted on Tue Aug 14th, 2018 @ 4:16pm by Ships Doctor Luka Mahone (Mirror) & Jasper Offermans

Mission: Mission 7 - Sabotage
Location: Deck 3 - Mess
Timeline: MD 03 07:00
1293 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

The ship was still lurching through space at the speed of light with no end location yet decided. It was unknown when and where she would stop but ship routines like mealtimes still had to happen. It might be oh-seven-hundred but there was no food in the mess hall and people were milling around unsure what to do, this type of thing had never happened before.

Tucker had managed to get four hours of sleep in his office, before waking up at 0600 and getting right back to work. That meant a stop in the mess for something to eat and the biggest thing of coffee he could manage, as well as a short break just to reset his brain, so he could look at the problem fresh. After finishing his third or fourth cup of coffee, he stood up to get some to go and headed into the back of the mess hall.

As soon as he crossed the threshold into the back area he spotted someone on the ground and started kicking at the foot of whoever it was, "Hey, you awake? I want more coffee."

The the form didn't move, he leaned down and looked over the body, "Hey, one of the doctors in here?"

Luka had taken the moment to wander in, ready for a cup of something warm and refreshing. With or without their current ordeal, he had been pouring over the medical charts of the comatose patients. A coffee had sounded like a good idea, but of course, nothing worked out the way he wanted it to.

"I'm a doctor." Eyes narrowing at Tucker, then down to where the man was examining, Luka begrudgingly made his way around the table. Then, he cursed. "I'll admit, I didn't think we'd had resorted to cannibalism on this ship."

"cannibalism?" Lhaes had caught the tail end of the conversation as he walked in, then looked down. "Are we eating the chef now?" he continued, moving to crouch beside Tucker. "Did you find him like this? Have you touched him?"

"What?" Tucker looked at the two that had just walked in. "I just walked in here, so no I didn't start chowing on the dead body. I'm not a zombie after all."

"Jokes." Luka deadpanned, pulling out a tricorder and crouching to the other side of the body. "Did you just say he was the chef? Irony is not lost after all."

Jasper entered the mess hoping he could find something to quill the growling in his stomach and a decent cup of joe. His brow furrowed and his eyes caught sight of Tucker and Lhaes back in the area reserved for the chef, "Tucker, Doctor, you two making breakfast?"

"Yes, fresh human steak and eggs, you like your medium rare?" Tucker said flatly, he was being an ass but it was one of the things he was good at. "No, we found a dead body and the Doc is taking a look. I just wanted some coffee."

"Dead body," in the mess," Jasper shook his head as he tried to figure things out, "I'll pass on the human steak as his face wrinkled at the thought. "First the Engineering chief and now someone else?" He shook his head as he approached a bit cautiously, "it's the chef."

"At least here we have a body," Lhaes commented dryly, while taking out his tricorder. "Better call security, because this man has been murdered.."

Jasper shook his head, "yes but another death, I don't like it."

He took in a deep breath, "I can run there but I don't have a COM badge."

Luka looked between the trio, who by now had fully taken in the joke he took pride in, but turned to look seriously into the matter. "Security and science, in case this wasn't a murder. There's traces of something odd in his stomach, and I can't quite make out what. Poison maybe. Don't we have one of those comm stations in here?"

"There is," Jasper admitted but the connections were removed some time ago." "I think Deacon was going to swap it out but hadn't got to it yet."

"Well if it's poison then I can likely find out which one and find an antidote for anyone who might need it," Lhaes answered confidently.

"You think he might use the same poison?" The Ops officer furrowed his brow as he thought about it, "wouldn't it be smarter for the person doing the poison to use a different one?" "It would make it harder to figure out who it was."

"Logically, yes, but murderers seldom act with a sense of logic," Lhaes replied calmly, "tell me, Jasper, how much do you know about poisons?" He looked up at the others. "Or you two, how much do you know? Where would we start looking for likely suspects?"

Jasper shook his head, "not too much, I know how to read an SDS but how to purposely poison someone, haven't got a clue."

"I do," Lhaes answered, realizing this could very well compromise him and his mission. "I know how to create them, use them, and combat them."

"This might have been a single instance," Luka persisted, eyes upon the body. "The substance, whether it be poison or something else entirely, might not have done the killing. Nevermind the fact that if it was a poison, Doctor, it does incriminate you as a potential suspect." He didn't bother to give Lhaes a moment to respond to that, instead looking to the Ops Chief. "I assume then this is exactly how you found the man, and you haven't touched him or had contact with him in any sense?"

"I kicked his foot, thinking someone had a few too many and was sleeping it off in here," Tucker answered. "When I started to suspect it was more than someone being passed out I called out to see if there was a doctor. I should also be on the list, I'm still new here and all this stuff started going wrong since. I also found the body."

"Me," Jasper began begging to circle the scene, "I haven't done anything but talk so far."

"Oh no, naturally we're all suspects in this sense, until the security tapes and the evidence determine otherwise." Luka said matter of factly. "Or at least until we can rule out certain causes. But it doesn't help if we discover that there's something in his system that Doctor Lhaes can make, or if we all discover you were alone in the room...." He gestured to Tucker, unaware of the man's name. "I'm the newest, so either I did it because I'm new, or I didn't because of the same reason. For all we know, the Captain could have finally lost it on the chef for hiding all his vodka. But incriminating ourselves further is probably the least favorable idea."

"We should get security to investigate, and move the body to sickbay," Lhaes suggested calmly.


"I can go get them," Jasper offered, "that is if you trust me to do that." He tilted his head, "actually none of us can leave until they get here can we?"

"... You all think too much like Starfleet. I'm going to go get the Captain." Luka didn't give the others a chance to interject, already turning to leave the Ward Room. "It's not like we're all going to abandon ship midwarp. We all know where to find each other."

"Then I suggest locking the mess, and we all return to quarters or duty station," Lhaes suggested.

---

Jasper Offerman
Operations
S.S. Mary Rose

Luka Mahone
Consultant Neurosurgeon
S.S. Mary Rose
(PNPC Uhin)

Lhaes Sommers
Senior Medic
SS Mary Rose

Tucker Youngblood
Chief of Operations
S.S. Mary Rose

 

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