SG Nova Roma, Chapter 4.13

13 – Contained

(Chaser – Gate Room – Year 3, Day 67, 1300)

Camille Wray and Tamara Johansen walked into the Gate Room, while Adam Brody dialed the Gate. Ginn was behind the Kino reading console, and Barnes and her team were ready to deal with any unwelcome guests. The Gate finished dialing and the wormhole formed. Johansen took out her radio.

“Chaser to Young.”

=/\=Young here.=/\= Came the reply. =/\=We’re in trouble over here. Are you getting our Kino feed ?=/\= 

TJ looked at Ginn, who nodded that they were indeed getting the feed. She made her way to the console and looked at the feed. The Kino appeared to be in an alien building and from the looks of the place, it was some kind of clinic or hospital. Then she saw the aliens with the boils and got a bad feeling about what the place really was.

“We’re getting the feed. What kind of facility is this ?” 

=/\=A Bioweapons factory.=/\= Young said. =/\=Something broke out and wiped out the local population. And now we’re stuck inside a containment field.=/\=

“Can you cut the power ?” Wray asked.

=/\=We’re working on it.=/\= 

“Is there anything we can do to help ?” TJ asked.

=/\=No. Do not send anybody else through the Gate.=/\= Young said. =/\=Dial the Stargate every fifteen minutes, Young out.=/\= 

Several seconds later, the wormhole disengaged. Johansen and Wray then left the Gate Room, while both Ginn and Brody gave them looks. As soon as the doors closed behind them – putting them out of earshot of the others – Wray spoke up.

“I know what the Colonel said, but we have to do something.” 

“We have biohazard suits,” TJ began. “We can put the Gate Room under lockdown and create a corridor to the Infirmary. But until they get back to the ship, there is nothing we can do. Not without violating the Colonel’s orders.” She paused. “We’d be risking the whole crew getting exposed to whatever is in there.”

“And what am I supposed to do while you’re setting that up ?” 

“I need you to go to the bridge and take charge.”

“All right,” Wray said with a nod. 

Wray knew there would be little to do on the bridge. Chaser would have to hold position until this whole thing was over. But she also knew that TJ would have to focus on the medical side of this situation, so she would deal with everything else while the Lieutenant did that. And it wouldn’t hurt morale to have things running normally on the bridge.

(H4A-701 – Settlement – Year 3, Day 67, 1311) 

Eli was exploring the bioweapons factory with the Kino, looking for clues. So far, he had not found any way out of the settlement. But it was now crystal clear that this was indeed a very dangerous place. They had found more subjects strapped to beds. And they had all looked rather nasty. But they had not died from the same disease. ~So they tested more then one bioweapon here.~ Besides the patient rooms, there were also labs and several rooms filled with filing cabinets. At the moment, however, the Kino appeared to be in a supply room.

“Anything useful ?” Greer asked. 

“No,” He steered the Kino out of the supply room. “Nothing so far.”

Eli kept searching the building, while Young updated Chaser on things. Rush, Varro and Volker were studying the ruins and had found a piece of a house that was still standing. Climbing up to top of the ruin, Varro took out a pair of binoculars and studied the building. He spotted the top of an elevator shaft and what appeared to be some kind particle weapon. ~And a pretty big one to boot.~ It was clearly there to defend the facility from any unwelcome visitors. There were also what Varro guessed were shield emitters. He climbed back down. 

“There’s a big particle weapon on the roof,” Varro began. “Might be the key to getting out of here.”

“Problem is, to control it, we’d probably have to go inside,” Volker said. 

“That’s presuming the weapon is operational,” Rush said, looking at the building. “And then there is the issue of power. So, yeah, we’d probably have to go in there. Which might not end well.”

Varro nodded and the led the way back to the others. While told Young what he had found, Volker went to see where the Kino was. Eli had explored the bulk of the building. And it was more of the same things they had seen before. There was no control room in the part of the building that was above ground. But Eli had found a staircase that led to a basement. He steered the Kino down and found two doors. Chloe translated the labels, which revealed that one was an emergency shelter for the staff. And the other was the control room they had been looking for. 

“Colonel,” Chloe began. “We’ve found the control room.”

“The problem is, the door closed,” Eli said. “I can’t take the Kino inside.” 

“Well, we were going to have to go in there anyway for this to work,” Rush said, while looking at the building. “So, what about the other door ?”

“Also closed,” Chloe said. “And that sign next to it says its occupied, which means that somebody managed to get in there.” 

“But based on the rest of the settlement, this happened years ago,” Rush said.

“So the chances of anybody being alive in there are practically zero,” Eli said. 

“We should still see what’s in there,” Young said. “If there are counteragents to the weapons, it makes sense that they would be part of the shelter’s supplies. And there might be information on the weapons themselves as well.”

“How do we go in there without getting infected ?” James asked, 

“We have biohazard suits on the ship,” Young said.

James nodded and looked at the building. Even with the biohazard suits, this was going to be a risky affair. But it was not as if they had much – not strike that – any other, options. So some of them would have to go in there. 

(Chaser – Gate Room – Year 3, Day 67, 1335)

TJ had prepared the Infirmary and secured a route there. As for the biohazard suits, Chaser had twenty units in stock. Ten for humans and ten for her alien crewmembers. Colonel Young had asked for four suits, which had left TJ six suits to work with. Johansson was wearing a suit, as were Adam Brody and Ginn. Matthew Scott would be delivering the suits the Colonel had asked for, so he was wearing the fourth suit. 

The last two suits were being worn by Doctor Lisa Park and Corporal Barnes, who were in the infirmary. And they were not alone, because the aliens suits were in use by alien crewmembers with medical training. The Gate had been dialed and Scott was ready to step through. He gave TJ a nod and then stepped onto H4A-701, which was actually quite nice.

But he knew that this was not the tropical paradise it appeared to be. Taking a deep breath, he headed for the settlement. When he got there, Greer and James were waiting for him. They were standing where the barrier was. 

“Lieutenant,” Greer said.

=/\=The suits the Colonel asked for are in here.=/\= Scott said, while holding up one of two duffel bags he was carrying.=/\=The other one has extra food and water and some medical equipment that TJ thought might be useful.=/\= 

“So, how do we get this through the barrier ?” James asked.

=/\=Let’s see what happens.=/\= Scott said. 

He got as close as he could, then held out one of the duffel bags. The barrier crackled around his arm, but didn’t stop him. Greer took the bag, while Scott passed the second one through. James took it and then Scott stepped back. ~The barrier doesn’t stop anybody until they are all the way through.~

=/\=I’d like to stay, but TJ told me to double time it back to the ship. Made it an order, =/\= Scott began. =/\=Good luck.=/\= 

Scott left, while Greer and James took the supplies and headed for the lab.

(Biological Weapons Lab – Basement – Year 3, Day 67,1350) 

Young was leading the team into the lab, with Rush coming along to do the Science. Chloe was on the team to translate and Varro was there to help deal with any nasty surprises they might encounter. Volker, Greer, James and Eli had headed for the barrier. Eli had given Rush the Kino remote, so that he could operate the flying camera ball and they could use it to scout the rooms before they went in. That was presuming they could open the doors. Young and Varro were currently trying their luck with the door of the emergency shelter. Much to Rush surprise, the door was not locked. But a closer look revealed why. ~The lock was magnetic.~ When the power had died after the outbreak, the door had unlocked. ~Good thing these suits come with build in flashlights.~ Beyond the door was another flight of stairs.

They all turned on their flashlights. Then Young led the way down the stairs and they reached the lobby of the actual shelter. The room had a desk with a chair, where the remains of guard sat. Beyond that, the room was a semi-circle, with four doors in the wall. Young opened the first door to reveal a small room with a bunk bed, a toilet and a sink. There were also two lockers with uniforms and a handful of personal items. The top bunk was where another guard had passed away. 

=/\=Not exactly the most luxurious place.=/\= Chloe said.

=/\=No,=/\= Young said. =/\=Shall we see what’s being door number two ?=/\= 

He walked out of the room and opened the second door. Young was the first to see what was beyond. And whatever it was, it made him curse. Chloe went into the space next and gasped at what she saw…