Episode Four: Hunter and the Hunted

[Thomas Lacey]

1026 Zulu
Delta Site
Science Labs

< Continued from Infirmary >

Tommy, Sergeant Cormac, Akentac Tran Ware, and Doctor Madrol entered the science labs, still wearing the surgical masks they'd been given in the infirmary. Doctor O'Malley had suspicions the illness may have been airborne, and the base was taking no risks. Once inside the science building, Tommy led the group towards the lab where the translation of the Daanaas database was taking place.

The day the expedition team had arrived at the Delta Site, a recon team had found a downed alien vessel - the Daanaas, and had gone to check it out. They'd been captured by the ships crew, who had crashed 8 months earlier, and suspected the Delta personnel of being the enemy. A hostage rescue had been mounted, and the expeditions second-in-command, Brigadier General Jax Connolly, had been killed in the fire fight. The hostages were rescued and the ship's crew had fled into the jungle.

About a month later, the base's scientists were having a ball with everything they were learning, but the ship's crew returned and activated the ship's auto-destruct, killing the base's chief security officer, Colonel Shawn Ryan, and a number of security personnel who laid down their lives to ensure the blast didn't wipe out the entire Delta Site. In the end, the ship's own shield was used to contain the blast.

With all the lives that had been lost trying to get this information, Tommy hoped that it would now allow a few lives to be saved. He stepped back, and allowed the experts to work.

< Tag Anyone >

[Steve Cormac]

1027 Zulu
Delta Site
Science Labs

Cormac had followed Master Sergeant Lacey along with Akentac and Madrol to the Science Labs. Akentac, Madrol and a couple scientists got to work on translating sections of information from the Daanaas database. Cormac nodded thanks to Lacey. He then walked over to a table where a pile of papers sat. He pulled up a chair and sat at the table and organized the paper into one big pile on the right hand side.
"I'm guessing this is what you've got already. While you guys get to the translating I'm gonna go through this and find what I can on viruses that make people drop where they stand.." Cormac said sarcastically.
With that he picked up the first bit of paper and after a few seconds dismissed it. He placed it on the left side of the table, evidently starting a pile of "read". He took another sheet from the pile of "to be read" and continued working.

<Tag Anyone>

[Meredith Mardol]

((OOC Note: Cormac...I doubt that Akentac, being Reol, would have used paper for his translations, let alone left them in a mess on a desk somewhere. We're most likely using computers.))

1027 Zulu
Delta Site
Science Labs

Meredith was a little dizzy, everything was happening so fast and she felt like the rope in a giant tug of war game.

Soon as they reached the Science Labs, she set her blue and green book bag down, in which she had barely managed to grab the books she thought she'd need for this, and then slumped into a chair, pressing her fingers to her temples.

She wasn't sick, she just wished everyone would realize it was her first day and she was so utterly confused and lost it wasn't even funny. After a few moments, she turned to Akentac.

"Where's the database you've been translating? I'd like to see what you have so far." she said with a sigh, though she managed a reassuring smile for him. She figured the best way to get past her confusion was to focus on something she understood and could actually help with. Maybe it would replace the helplessness she'd felt earlier in the Commisary.

[Akentac Tran Ware]

1027 Zulu
Delta Site
Science Labs

when Akentac arived in the translation room with Lacey, Cormac, and Meredith, he went straight to the nearist laptop and started it up, as he did he noticed Cormac flicking through some papers
passing some comment he called to him, "Seargent Cormac those papers no good use that laptop over there " pointing to a laptop.

he ganced over to meredith who was sat with a bag of books on the desk, he could see that she was still adapting to the unique situations the expaditions threw up, still she was smileing though. "Where's the database you've been translating? I'd like to see what you have so far."

he pushed a laptop toward her "here, top right untranslated text, top left translated text, botom work area, and don't worry it takes time but you get used to the madness here, my advice go with the flow and chip in when you can" he said returning the smile, Akentac turned to a laptop and started runing the program looking for something anything that might be relivent.

<anyone>

[Meredith Mardol]

1028 Zulu
Delta Site
Science Labs

Meredith spun the laptop towards her a bit more, and pulled one of her many books on the Greeks out of her bag. She flipped through it, refreshing her memory on what words meant sickness, death, illness and the like, as they certainly didn't have the time to read everything, they'd have to skim, as much as she hated it.

"Thank you Akentac," she told him with a smile as she brought up the untranslated text. As the dialect wasn't quite the same she had to pull scratch paper and pencil from her bag as well and use it to decipher what the words she was looking for would look like.

"This is reads as though it was written fairly recently, it talks about technology the Ancient Greeks just didn't have. This word I can't make out, it's in the same sentence as the phrase 'many died from...' what do you think it could mean Akentac?" she asked, pointing to rather odd word on the page.

[Akentac Tran Ware]

1028
delta site
science labs

Akentac had got through a sentance and realised he was translating Dannans crew medical files, thinking he needed somthing more general like a medical database he started scrolling down, then Meredith caught his attention

"This is reads as though it was written fairly recently, it talks about technology the Ancient Greeks just didn't have.
This word I can't make out, it's in the same sentence as the phrase 'many died from...' what do you think it could mean Akentac?"

he thought to himself then he explaned quickly
"the text your working on came from the datadase of a downed alien battlecrusier, its all we could recover before it blew up"

he moved to Meredith's station and looked where she was pointing, he recognized part of the word and its importance in the sentance as he explaned

"well from the sentance structure it looks like a key word and part of it looks like a form of the word virus, looks like you may have something there"

he pulled his laptop over and found the same sentence and set to work, calling over to Cormac and Lacey "Seargents Cormac and Lacey, you ok? you need help?"

moments later he finished the word and and glances over to Meredith "the word says medusan virus that mean anything to you?"

[Thomas Lacey]

1029 Zulu
Delta Site
Science Labs

At the workstation Doctor Mardol he placed him at, Tommy was scanning over documents that had already been translated by the science team, probably because giving him written in Ancient Greek would have been a total waste of time! Reading had never been his thing, he'd always been out playing sport or partying, and preferred the two over curling up with a nice book by a fireplace. His mind flashed back to his 8th grade English teachers, Miss Potts, who was always seemed to catch out Tommy when he 'forgot' to bring a book in for reading hour. That women had a built in 'slacker' radar.

Behind him, he could half hear Akentac and Meredith talking about linguists, word roots and all types of babble. He tried to focus on his work, but found a hand ache was starting to develop, the type he only had when he'd been partying too hard with the pilots after hours in the ground hanger and needed to get up at 5am to complete his paperwork in time to have it on the General's desk. He poured himself a drink of water, and returned to his work.

As he skimmed over a paragraph written by the alien vessels Doctor about a soldier who'd somehow managed to break BOTH his arms while attending to a fighter on the flight deck, he noticed his headache was getting worst. He took another sip of water, but stopped when he noticed sweet appeared on the palms of his hands. Thinking it was the hard work combined with the fact he was still in full military dress uniform, he continued on, but the headache got worst.

He turned away from his work for a moment, and closed his eyes. Akentac called to him and Cormac. "Seargents Cormac and Lacey, you OK? You need help?" Eye's still closed, Tommy noted. "I'm just going to step outside for a minute if you don't mind, catch some air," said the Master Sergeant, but as he stood up, he knew he wouldn't make it to the door. Yup, just get up and try to walk you idiot! Good idea when you're about to faint! Tommy thought to himself, as he took two stepped, stumbled, and collapsed on the ground.

< Tag Anyone >

[Steve Cormac]

1029 Zulu
Delta Site
Science Labs

Cormac had settled to going through various translated documents to see what he could find. So far his search was turning up blanks. Nothing of all this gibberish was any good. Akentac's voice sounded to him across the room,
"Seargent Cormac those papers no good use that laptop over there."
Akentac pointed out a free laptop at a work station. Cormac moved to where it was and started clicking various items, not quite sure where to start looking. He overheard some muttering between Akentac and Meredith. Cormac instantly recognized the excited muttering of scientists and researchers who were onto something. That made him feel happy. If the scientists were getting excited. We are on are way to beating this thing.

Akentac called across to Cormac and Lacey.
"Sergeants Cormac and Lacey, you OK? You need help?"
Cormac replied, not taking his eyes off his screen,
"I'm Good."
"I'm just going to step outside for a minute if you don't mind, catch some air," said the Master Sergeant, but he took two steps, stumbled, and collapsed on the ground.
This took the room by surprise. Akentac and Meredith looked shocked. Cormac instantly jumped up and put an arm in front of the two researchers.
"Don't touch him. Gloves.. I need gloves!" Cormac put his hands in various pockets until he finally found a pair of black field gloves. These will have to do for now. He thought to himself as he put them on.

Steve bent down and hoisted Master Sergeant Lacey up onto his shoulders in a fireman's carry.
"Now I know this will be really uncomfortable but we need you in the infirmary right away. I'm not taking any chances. Lacey if you can still speak just try and tell me if you had any symptoms before you collapsed. Its something the doc needs to know."
Cormac had lifted him onto his shoulders and was heading for the door. He turned to the two researchers who went to follow,
"Keep working! Find out as much as you can as fast as you can. I'll try and come back if I can."
Cormac turned and started struggling his way down the corridor with Lacey on his shoulders. The thought of having somebody possibly infected this close to him was frightening to say the least. But Cormac couldn't leave this man on the floor to die. He made his way to the infirmary.

<Continued In Infirmary>

[Meredith Mardol]

1030 Zulu
Delta Site
Science Labs



"the word says Medusan virus that mean anything to you?"

Meredith thought on this a moment.

"Medusa was one of the Gorgons, she had the ability to turn people to stone with her eyes, but they had to look her in the eye first.." she stated.

Before she could get any further, the Master Sergeant collapsed. It was very apparent that he had contracted the illness as well.

with a sudden thought she called after him "Don't look him in the eye!!!!"

Turning back to the laptop she scanned the next few sentences of the ancient language.

"It says something about the Virus passing to others with eye contact." she translated, now that she knew the subtleties of the language she could easily read it now.

"But it doesn't say anything about treating it, its almost like theres a part missing, look how it just stops here...." she pointed to the screen.

"We need to get a doctor in here, or we need to take this to them, they'll have a better idea of what to do with it."

[Akentac Tran Ware]

1030 Zulu
Delta Site
Science Labs

Master Sergeant Lacey collapsing startled and worred Akentac people were falling like flyes to this mistary illness, and they only just had a name for it, Dr Mardol's next words did little to ease his mood.

"It says something about the Virus passing to others with eye contact. But it doesn't say anything about treating it, its almost like theres a part missing, look how it just stops here...."
he glanced at the screen to where she was pointing and let out a disapointed sigh
"We need to get a doctor in here, or we need to take this to them, they'll have a better idea of what to do with it."

Akentac noded in agreement then spoted somthing and pointed it out "this little bit here translates as sample 045 so its possable they had it onboard and the explosion released it"

with that he crossed the room and took a radio from its charger "ill radio through see if they have someone free to come down"

he activated the radio "Akentac calling infirmary is Docktor O'Mally there "

<continued in infirmary>

"ok doktor will do"he replyed

[Steve Cormac]

1033 Zulu
Delta Site
Science Labs

<Continued From Infirmary>

Staff Sergeant Steve Cormac burst in through the doors somewhat startling those that were inside working on the research.
"No need to send somebody. I'm here." Cormac nodded to Akentac and walked over to look over his shoulder.
"Alright, so fill me in here. What do we have so far.. Oh! And as a rule of thumb here. Nobody make eye contact whatsoever, don't even risk it until we have a cure for this thing."
Cormac felt the tension of the situation building. More people could drop dead any minute now unless they find some sort of a cure here. They've got to work fast. Is there even a cure!? Cormac felt himself panicking and took a deep breath in. He waited to see what Akentac and the other resaerchers could show him.

<Tag Anyone>

[Akentac Tran Ware]

1034
Delta Site
Science Labs

Akentac was sorting through the information he and Dr Mardol had gatherd, and seting it up to print, when Seargent Cormac burst in "No need to send somebody. I'm here."

Cormac nodded to Akentac and walked over to look over his shoulder."Alright, so fill me in here. What do we have so far.. Oh! And as a rule of thumb here. Nobody make eye contact whatsoever, don't even risk it until we have a cure for this thing."

pointing to the screen he spoke "this is what we have what we dont have is a cure either there isn't one or we missed it when we were downloading from the danaas or its in an other section, one moment."

he called to Dr Mardol "Merdith use the search program see if you can find any other referances to the virus"

Akentac turned back to his computer set the entry to print speaking to Cormac he continued "take this to Dr O'Malley he'll have more use for it, and let him know were still looking for more information we'll let him know as we get it"

<tag Mardol, Cormac>

[Meredith Mardol]

1034
Delta Site
Science Labs

When Cormac burst in, his frantic almost hysterical mood made Meredith want to kick him out again.

Thankfully, Akentac seemed to sense that and sent him off on an errand.

"Meredith use the search program see if you can find any other references to the virus"

She nodded to Akentac and turned back to the laptop, her fingers seemed to fly over the keyboard.

Soon she had pages of information coming up on the virus, mostly just logs of who fell ill to it, who had died and such.

"I found something!" she called over her shoulder, too excited to take her eyes from the screen.

"It seems some people have natural immunities to the Virus, and it's almost like Chicken Pox in a way. Those who have had it before can't get it again." She explained, pointing at the information on the screen.

[Steve Cormac]

1035
Delta Site
Science Labs

Cormac went over to the printer where severeal documents on the virus were printing. When he heard Meredith shout he decided this information was now worthless.
"It seems some people have natural immunities to the Virus, and it's almost like Chicken Pox in a way. Those who have had it before can't get it again." Cormac took a quick skim through over Meredith's shoulder.
"Thats because the people that have had it once are dead! I've seen it in the infirmary, the cough their lungs up and then die! But hold on.. natural immunities.. Let me just pitch this one to you guys here, I'm no scientist but.. if the doc took some blood from somebody who is naturally immune.. couldn't he make a cure or something?" Cormac wasn't good with scientific jargon and only had a vague idea of what he was talking about. He felt his mood raise a little in this grave time. There might possibly be a way to save the day, after all this. He hoped so.

<Tag Anyone>

[Akentac Tran Ware]

1036
Delta Site
Science Labs

Akentac slumped in his chair rubing his hands over his face, he felt like he'd been working for days although it was less that half a hour, still we're makeing progress just hope its enough he thought to himself.

Then Dr Mardol exclamed "I found something!"she went on to explan "It seems some people have natural immunities to the Virus, and it's almost like Chicken Pox in a way. Those who have had it before can't get it again."

Akentac thought for a moment, then Seargant Cormac piped up
"hold on.. natural immunities.. Let me just pitch this one to you guys here, I'm no scientist but.. if the doc took some blood from somebody who is naturally immune.. couldn't he make a cure or something?"

this sounded promising to Akentac he glanced at Cormac and exclamed "I think your on to some thing there that just might work, we need to get this to Dr O'Malley in the infirmary quickly"

he started quickly from his chair, picked up the printouts on the way, and headed out the door towards the infirmary.

<tag Mardol, Cormac>


<continued infirmary>