The Virus Hunters, Part 1

Posted on Thu 16th Sep, 2021 @ 6:25am by Lieutenant Commander Kiara Lena & Lieutenant Elliot Jericho
Edited on on Wed 6th Oct, 2021 @ 1:38am

1,258 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: A Good Day to Hunt
Location: Undisclosed Asteroid field just inside Romulan space.
Timeline: MD -27 1932 hours

Elliot walked into the hangar bay and picked out the two-seat fighter that he would be taking on his special mission. The Orca-class fighter sat poised on its landing gear in the middle of the hangar. Elliot had never flown an Orca class and looked forward to taking it out for this mission. He walked slowly along the length of the vessel, touching it lightly with his fingertips, admiring it.

Ensign Mila Varga joined him a minute later. She was an epidemiologist and nurse on the ship. Since she worked with viruses, it was decided she would be the best person to accompany Jericho. "Hello, sir."

Elliot broke his train of thought of the ship when he heard a voice behind him. He spun around and smiled at the young woman, "Ensign Varga." He extended a hand to her, "It's a pleasure to meet you. Please call me Elliot."

She smiled and shook his hand. "Mila, please. Nice to meet you." She looked over at the fighter. "Interesting choice. Why this instead of a shuttle?" she asked, curious.

Elliot smiled, "Good question." He said as he touched the fighter again, "Since we don't plan to carry anyone else or any gear for that matter other than what we can fit in a small backpack, we don't need the room of a shuttle. We can use the stealth, defensive, and offensive capabilities of the fighter if we need them to get out of a pinch."

Mila nodded. "Fair enough. I hope we don't need them, but it's good to know the capability's there." She adjusted the pack on her shoulder. "I have all I need. I hope."

Elliot nodded, "Then let's get this over with, shall we?" He accessed a small panel and punched in a four-digit pin number which caused the canopy to slowly open with a hum from the two hydraulic rams, one on either side of the canopy. He pulled an environmental suit out of the seat and began to put it on. "There is one for you as well. More than likely we'll have to do some Zero-G before we can access the facility. I hope you are up to date on your training."

"Training, yes," she said, taking out the other suit and putting it on. "But only during training." She'd never been in a situation where she needed to do an EVA. This definitely promised to be an interesting trip.

Elliot watched as she put her suit on, "Well, now you get to experience the real thing; just think of it as training and you'll be fine."

"I'll be fine until this thing snags on something," she countered humorously. "But hopefully I'll go quickly and not have to think about it, or it'll be minor and I can patch it with something."

"I'm sure you will do fine," Elliot reassured her, not knowing what the mission would hold for either one of them. He had to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. "Let's get a move on. Ever been in a fighter?"

"No, actually," she said. "This is my first time."

Elliot nodded, "The cockpit is a bit cramped compared to a shuttle, but you get used to it. If we get in a fight, though, you will feel some Gs during any type of evasive maneuvers." Elliot lowered a built-in step so she could climb into the small vessel. "Up you go."

"Thanks." That was for both the information and the assistance. She climbed into the cockpit and settled into the back seat. She wasn't sure how this adventure would turn out, but she was looking forward to it, more for a change of pace than anything.

Elliot climbed in the front seat and began turning on the small craft. As he did his preflight checks he closed the canopy. Once all the checks were done he got permission to depart. In just a few seconds the fighter was out in space, and the Thunder Child became a small dot off behind the quickly moving vessel. "Okay, we just entered what was considered the Neutral Zone. There uses to be trouble when a Federation vessel entered it, but now with the state that the Romulan government is in, we should be all right."

"As long as no one thinks we're here to spy," Mila countered, chuckling. "I know, it's not likely, but you never know." Then, changing the subject, she asked, "How long until we reach our destination?"

"If the Romulans see us they will definitely think we are spies or worse and try to kill us." He double-checked his instruments, "Ten minutes, give or take."

Mila nodded. "All right." She didn't think there'd be trouble, but it was always better to be prepared, just in case. "What can I do to help?"

"Just sit back and enjoy the ride. I'll put you to work soon enough." Elliot said over the comms.

Mila nodded, then answered. "Okay." She did enjoy looking out into space. There weren't the same opportunities on a station or starship as there were in a fighter. She looked around, deciding to do as he asked. There would be plenty of time later for work.

The small vessel reached the huge, dense asteroid field without incident. The fighter entered the field at half impulse, zig-zagging around all sizes of asteroids. Up in the distance the large asteroid could be seen with the naked eye. "Eyes on the prize." Elliot said over the ship's come.

Mila turned her attention to the asteroid. "I've never been on an asteroid before."

"If I can help it, we won't be doing any Zero-G on the surface, but beam inside. I'm hoping that there is artificial gravity inside and corridors with rooms. We won't know until we get close and then maybe we can do some scans and even get lucky." Elliot could handle it, either way however, having to do Zero-G would take more time.

"As long as we take the proper precautions, it'll work."

"Of course," Elliot answered as if it were a question. As the ship moved in closer to the asteroid Elliot was able to link up with the problem and use its sophisticated sensors which were much more powerful than the fighter's sensors to scan the large mass. "As I suspected, there is a tunnel network a few hundred meters below the surface. There are no signs of a way to enter from the surface. We have to beam in. There is an atmosphere, so we will be able to remove our suits if we want to."

"But is the air safe? No viruses or pathogens?" Mila asked. "I'd rather be sure before we go in without the proper gear." She wasn't being paranoid, just cautious. They were here to scan, were they not? She didn't want either of them to become a casualty.

Elliot smiled, but she couldn't see his face. "That's a possibility, isn't it.?They could flood the tunnels with the virus or some lethal gas if they know we are coming, or there could have been a laboratory accident. Those are all possibilities, but knowing there is a lab there that may have the virus is good enough for me to keep my suit on." The small vessel continued to make its way towards the asteroid. "Shutting down the impulse engine and continuing on with thrusters to reduce our energy signature." Elliot tapped a few commands on his console and the controller at his right hand now operated the thrusters.

 

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