Episode Twenty Three: Eighth Wonder

[Robert "Scarecrow" Cromin]

1348
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

Sgt Major James commented on the ongoing situation and evrybody else was starting to weigh in on the ongoing situation. It was clear that battle lines were being drawn. Captain Cromin had always thought that everybody had their place in the crazy world that they lived in. While he respected the civilian authorities he knew for thins to work smoothly they had to remain in their places. It was the job of the civilian authority to define the objective and the military experts to handle how the objective is achieved. In this case Captain Cromin wasn't exactly thrilled at what Dr Collins was sugesting. He listened as she spoke the intent of the enemy "If this was the final attack, I reckon we did be dead by now. But, I don't think killing us was on the agenda for them. Slowing us down maybe. But killing, no....not yet. They used Major Logan to get the information they needed, Lieutenant Garret shot her clone when it was discovered. Based on Troy and my recommendation, Commander Garcia led SD-1 to free the other Titans, resulting in his wife's kidnapping, over what purpose, we still do not know. If they use Doctor Garcia for information, they won't kill her. If they wanted to, they could have blown the ship when they had the chance, leaving no trace of their hand in the demise of people there. Yet they didn't. They still need us for something, but what? Can we risk trusting her with this? Even after what she's done."



Captain Cromin hearing the Doctor make her case responded saying "Permission to speak freely," he assumed a nod was given by the Colonel to speak "Nobody here trusts Ria, especially with everything she has done. I agree this is risky mam, but so is everything else we do, this is what we do and we are the best at what we do. I do not in anyway underestimate Ria especially with all that I have read. But I must say with all due respect mam that you are a tad bit emotional about this and that just might be clouding your judgement and if this is the case your recommendations are quite questionable and I must say that they have holes in them." Cromin continued as he spoke directly to Dr Collins "There is an old Earth saying mam, and it goes like this - fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. You highly underestimate Earth's special operations, especially the United State's special operations mam, I happen to believe that we are darn good at what we do. Because they fooled us once does not mean that they will fool us again, I feel insulted and if you have no confidence in us and what we do, then I think it best that you recluse your self from this operation. They just don't want to kill us mam, they want earth just in case that is not clear yet. They want Earth, and I will be damned if I let that happen. Spec Ops operators are not just shooters mam, we are good at psychological warfare, we must out think our enemy, and that is how we win and that is how we will win. Ria is not going to talk and I don't expect her to but what she will do is try to escape if we make her think that we dropped our guards down even for a bit"

Captain Cromin continued his long speech "Ria is not to be trusted at all and I agree, She is arrogant and she believes that she is superior to us and this is exactly what we will use against her. We are going to do to her what she did to us, let her think that she is in control. This is what I am thinking, we interrogate her and we do it harhsly, she is not from earth and we are in another galaxy so I believe the geneva convention does not apply to her. She believes we are going to kill her if she doesn't start talking, obviously she is not going to talk and I don't believe she is. We get into argument on how we are treating her and give room to take control of the situation which she will and try to escape in the process. But we would have already tagged her with dye. It is a medical dye used to track blood flow in the body. It is radioactive so we can track it. As back up we also tag her with two electronic tags like SG team members have. A dormant one that is activated 10 seconds after the active one is taken out. We have our cruiser and all it's 302's deployed before she escapes incase she tries to escape and we will have jumpers track her in stealth mode with me and a couple of marines on it and we can track too with UAV's and even use it as a decoy. At the most if we don't have a read on her for more than ten seconds, the marines with me and I will be on the ground no more than 15 seconds and track her on ground. Ria wouldn't have set all this up without a base of operation and we need to find that. If we find that we find out what her plan is in detail. If she wants to make it off world, then she needs to find that base. We have the gate gaurded by two jumpers in stealth mode and a couple of marines on the ground, snipers placed in specific areas and lastly we can rig the gate area to blow up anything that we don't like standing before it. We can also have the gate rigged so that only senior officers can open it. The cave system is next wired with all kinds of cameras infra red, night vision and otherwise, wherever she goes we will be able to track her."

Captain Cromin looked at everybody as they looked at him, he knew his plan was crazy but this was the only thing that was going to fool Ria. "Colonel, this is the only way we are getting anything out of her. We must let her think that she is in control and that we are inferior to her not directly but indirectly. She will let us know if she did this without necessarilly saying anything."

Tag <Loveridge, Collins and all>

[Caleb Emrys]

1348
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri


Specialist Caleb Emrys stretched lazily in his bunk, reveling in the comfort of having his vertebra straighten after having been in bed for so long. He coughed once, clearing his throat as he threw his legs over the side of the bed and groggily stood to his feet, one smooth hand holding onto the bed post to steady himself. He frowned at that realization. When he had first joined the expedition his hands were calloused, hard, the way workers hands should be. After spending so long with the base personnel however, his hands had become soft, a condition he associated with the rest of his body. Not to say things hadn't been exciting, it was just that when important things happened, he was always busy or stuck someplace else. It was a cruel twist of fate, and one exacerbated by the fact that for the past three days he had come down with a cold of some kind. He had been issued bed rest and allowed to return to his quarters, something that was making him more miserable then his bright red nose.

At least he was almost back to his old self. Sure he was a bit achy, and his throat was still a little sore, but his nose was no longer running and he didn't spend all day coughing up multi colored gunk. As far as Caleb was concerned, that meant he was ready for duty. It took him all of five minutes to get dressed in his full outfit. He was ready for whatever the universe could throw at him, or so he had managed to convince his physician. Of course, bribery had certainly helped.

Caleb's combat boots clomped down the hallway's of the FOP. He had missed out on most of the action, like usual, but he was ready to do what was necessary to get the job done. Whatever that job was.

His eyes scanned the room for a nice inconspicuous spot with which to lean against while he listened to the rest of the personnel debate their next course of action. As far as the specialist was concerned, that was above his pay grade. He could see the reasoning behind both arguments, but didn't feel it was his place to decide upon the course of action. Sure, if this was a question about how best to defuse a bomb, or take out an enemy installation he might have had something to say, as it was, there were people far better trained to handle these kinds of decisions than himself, and he would trust in their judgment, just as they could trust in his ability to see their orders followed to completion. Sure, this entire situation with the crystals may have been some dastardly ploy by the captive Titan. But that didn't mean she was any closer to escape. Maybe it was ignorance, maybe overconfidence, but Caleb was convinced that no matter what transpired his people would come out on top. Even if that meant killing a Titan.

The EOD specialist sniffed quietly in the background, hoping that his nose wasn't about to start running again. He couldn't believe people were worrying about whether or not the rocks were sentient. They were rocks, precious rocks maybe, but sentient? If they were that smart they wouldn't have been picking a fight with Humanity. Say what you would about his species, human beings had been killing things since the moment of their creation. If anyone could find a way to kill these crystals, you could bet it would be them.

Still, he didn't know why they couldn't have a failsafe of their own in case she tried to escape. Naturally, given his background the first thing to pop into Caleb's mind was an explosive device. Like a vest full of C-4 attached to deadman's switch. If she tried to escape, the guard simply had to let go of the trigger, and the Titan goes up in a fiery explosion. Fortunately, Captain Cromin had a better plan. Sure it was a bit technical, and might not work as thoroughly as an explosion, but it had the potential for a much higher pay off then Caleb's plan. The young man couldn't help but smile. Leave it to an Air force officer to come up with a plan as clever and devious as turning an enemies hubris against them.

Tag < all >

[Vanessa Collins]

1348
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

Standing where she was, Vanessa titled her head at Cormin, her eyes looked at the Captain coolly, her expression gave away nothing of what she thought. She didn't deny that she was certainly emotional in this situation, but her judgment wasn't clouded. "I'm aware of what the saying is Captain," she told him, then turned a little bit more, "If you think I'm doubting the Operations capabilities, that's not the case. I don't really care which operations works and how. As long as it works, I'm satisfied with the results achieved.

Nor I'm not questioning just how good the military is here or any other operation. Our ways of working are different to theirs. We are dealing with an enemy who is new to us. Their capabilities and tactics are something we still are learning. Just because they fooled us once, doesn't mean they can't fool us again with a different approach."

She was going to speak more till the word recluse hit her brain, firming her face, with a slight chin up, "If you really believe, you are qualified over psychological warfare over the handing of Ria, I will bear no responsibility if this idea goes south."

Seeing her aide come in, Vanessa took the file the young woman had on her, "One month worth of assessment on our captive." she told Troy, "Since the ball really is in your court, just keep in mind that the woman is clever enough to plan her own escape to the last detail." With that she turned to get some fresh air for her peace of mind. Irritated that some thought she was dumb enough not to understand the military POV. Sighing she looked out at the view before her. Her Aide stood by her side without a word.

<<Tag Base Personnel>>

[Alec "Wildcat" Styles]

1348
Outskirts of Akrotiri

Styles stood listening to the debate on both sides patiently. Doctor Collins had a major point. Ria was clearly a sociopath, at least when it came to the treatment of human life. That coupled with a keen intellect made her deadly, and extremely untrustworthy. The psychologist had a good grasp of that, and working with her before Alec knew she was no idiot when it came to operational prudence either. She was concerned for the well-being of the base and its personnel, and what might happen if Ria were to somehow escape.

That said, the plan that Captain Cromin was proposing was feasible. With enough surveillance of Ria, they could indeed keep track of her wherever she went. But there was always the risk of something unexpected happening, regardless of how many contingencies were planned. "I think we all agree," he began, "That Ria is not to be trusted as far as we can throw her. But we have to weigh the pros and cons here. We have an unknown entity, seemingly intelligent, that is damaging our operations here. We don't know the extent of its capabilities ... will the power make it exponentially stronger? Will it have other functions if it continues to 'grow'? Perhaps it will move off and be able to sustain itself once it reaches a point ... or it could consume the entire area if we don't do something. The basic fact is, Ria is a potential source of intelligence, regardless of her past. Can we afford to ignore that?"

In his nearly 32 years with the Marine Corps, the veteran Sergeant Major had dealt with everything from embassy security to political liaising to special opeations and everything in between. Nearly everything he had done involved intelligence analysis in one form or another, and he was considered to be one of the top experts on the subject since day one with the expedition. Even still, it was not his call in the end.

<Tag Anyone>

OOC: Nasty infection on my arm had me out Where is everyone??

[Taylor James]

1349
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri


Taylor listened as everyone weighted in on the matter, even the jar-head Sergent Major on site, and it seemed to him that unlike in the normal military, here, everyone counted, but then that was likely because comparatively, there where so few of them, which was both a bad thing, and a good thing, however Doctor Collins, Colonel Loveridge and Captain Cromin where the three people who would level the final verdict on their course of action, and Taylor realized that he would have but a few more moments to voice his idea before any final decisions where made...


It was then a second idea came to him.


"Capt'n will all due respect, that plan, as sound as it is, has two or three VERY big dammed "IF'S" in it, namely, 'What if Ria manages to break our cover?' or 'What if Ria complies but knows nothing' or even, God forbid, 'What if the crystal entity is somehow Ria's means of escape?' there are too many variables we can't answer in time, however, I think we might have a way to get some answers, without letting Ria out of her cage..." he paused and then set his jaw before going on, knowing everyone was wondering what the hell he was on about; "Why not ask the crystal entity about Ria? If they are connected in anyway, Ria sure as hell isn't going to tell us, but the entity just might... And conversely, we could always threaten Ria with the entity, since it seems to absorb all manner of energy, if she knows anything about it, she'll know that, and as good as she is, we have her outnumbered an easy ten to one, odds she might could beat, but not before we learn anything, or could... Well, put her down, if we had to..."


Taylor wasn't a fan of shooting prisoners, but then this was hardly Leavenworth or even America, it wasn't even earth, as Cromin had pointed out, and while it might be distasteful, this was after a fashion, a war, and people where killed in war.

But in a very real sense, this was beyond war, this was survival of the first order: kill or be killed...



<Tag: All>

[Robert "Scarecrow" Cromin]

1350
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

Officers, NCOs and civilians converged together in the FOP outside the cave system trying to find out a way to resolve their ongoing problem. Captain Cromin listened in as everybody gave their opinion about the ongoing matter. Having heard different opinions Captain Cromin once again chimed in, He knew the Colonel was soaking it all in. The veteran Captain said turning to Dr Collins "It's not that your judment is not valuable here, it is, God knows that I have had to use some of your insights. but we have to engage Ria, we have to put her in play." and turning to the rest of the different personels present Captain Cromin continued speaking "We can certainly ask the Crystal but if Ria did it she is not to leave her calling card on it. We can certainly try, I am not against it, it is definately much safer than letting the monster Ria out of her cage. But we all know she is not going to talk and if do eventually break her it will take sometime and that is time we don't have. Ria's bracelet places her in the cave system or at the minimum, she has some connection of some sort to that cave, and we need to know what."

Captain Cromin grabbing some files from a young sergeant who brought it to him, looked at it and then said "We can even throw in some more safety measures, explosive capsules in her body that will go off if tampered with or if she gets to a certain altitude, that's assuming our birds don't shoot it out of the sky." Then turning to the Colonel, Captain Cromin says "Sir we have to put her in play, it is risky and dangerous as hell but there is no way, the full resources of this base cannot track one person considering the full measure of caution we will be taking. Ria will give us what we need, I mean why else do we keep her around if she is not going to talk to us, this is no motel 6, we might as well use her. Sir I am your man on the field, let me run this op, let me be your point man on this, if Ria knows nothing we will have her back in no time and by the way we can even add as part of our plan a time release capsule in her system containing some powerful sedative, that will even slow her down. The plan is for her to think that she has fooled us once again while we are tracking her all the while."

<Tag all>

[Troy Loveridge]

OOC: Wow so much speaking in these posts not a case of less being more?

1350
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

If Troy was hoping that conferring with those present in the FOP would clear up the mystery surrounding Ria and the strange crystal that was growing under their feet, then the Colonel would be bitterly disappointed!

All around him the tent erupted into conflict. On one side of the room Doctor Collins continued to hold her ground and point out medical reasons why Ria should be kept in her cell. Archaeologist Kent McKillop, who had first uncovered the true nature of the Titans, had pointed out the horrors they'd subjected the galaxy to in their quest to defeat the Olympians. They were dangerous, and not to be trusted or underestimated. On the flip side of the coin was Captain Cromin, who was passionately arguing that the risk of Ria escaping and getting the upper hand was worth the reward of information she could offer. Sergeant Major Styles, who had a career of conflict resolution in his years with the Marines, was working as a mediator, putting both points of view into perspective.

Regardless of how they looked at it, they needed a way to decide. Both Collins and Cromin had their reasons, and sadly both had very good reasons for wanting to take their courses of action. The problem was only one could be right and one plan had to be picked over the other. Troy had to make a choice between playing it safe and keeping the safety of all expedition personnel in mind, or risking all for the big pay off. It was an age old choice, faced by leaders since the beginning of time. Unfortunately, Colonel Loveridge had only just recently become the expedition leader, and still wasn't used to making decision that affected everyone.

Of course, there was the chance that the choice could be made for him. "Why not ask the crystal entity about Ria?" asked Master Sergeant Taylor James, a new member of the expedition. Troy considered the idea for a moment. They'd already established the crystal was sentient and capable of thought and communication, and if it was somehow related the Ria's plan it might be able to shed some more light on what was happening. The information from the recovered UAV's hadn't turned up anything, and they were running out of options.

"What do we think," Troy asked all present. He knew wasn't speaking like a commander yet, that would come in time, he was still a field leader and it was the only way he knew how to lead. "Send a team down to try and communicate with the crystal again, see what it knows?"

< Tag Base Personnel >

[Robert "Scarecrow" Cromin]

1351
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

A lot of ideas were being bounced around with regards to how to proceed about the pressing issue. At the present moment the Black boxes have not generated enough for it to be any kind of lead. The Colonel watched quietly as both sides of the argument on how to proceed were layed out. After a wwhile of soaking in information the Colonel finally spoke. "What do we think?" He asked the personel present, and then he suggested the next step, which was the logical step and Cromin expected it. "Send a team down to try and communicate with the crystal again, see what it knows?" Always better to exhuast all other options before going down the path of the down right dangerous.

Captain Cromin hearing the Colonel's question took it as an order. He turned to the personel present "Alright, you heard the Colonel's order. I need three shooters, armed with M16's, video camera and a pen and writing pad. Grab your gear and lets move out, we are a go right about now, move out . . . and by the way can someone please get me a flshlight" And with that the captain and the personel with him went into the cave system again, this time the mission was to gain intel from the crystal itself. They didn't have to go deep, they just wanted somewhere dark enough. When they arrived at the appropraite destination, Cromin asked for the flashlight he had asked for and the marine engineer with them instead brought a laptop wired to a camera / light sensor and a high tech flashlight. The marine walking to captain Cromin said "This is a much easier choice sir if you don't mind. All you have to do is type in your message and the flashlight will communicate it to the crystals and whenever it communicates back to you, the sensor will pick it up and translate the code to english where you can easily read it. This way a long conversation can be had and it saves time and everything is recorded as it was communicated." Cromin looking at the marine says "that sounds cool."

And so the communication post was set up and Cromin went to work. He was going to ask the five basic questions that are worth asking, maybe six and see what the results are. Captain Cromin asked who and what they are and they replied saying that they are called Unity and they are a life form who must expand at all cost to survive. He then asked where they come from and they replied saying that they are not natural to this world, that their kind was wiped out by an ancient agressor for no just cause according to them and they were transported here 1 lunar cycle ago and that they have being trying to survive by all means since then. When Captain Cromin asked why they were here on this planet they said that there were not here out of their own choosing but rather they were forced here and in order for them to survive they must expand and the city's power seems to be that hope but now we have shut it off and as a result we are now killing them and this makes us their enemy. Captain Cromin asked how they survived on their planet and they said that the soil provided the energy they needed but now that is not so. They continued to say that they are here not sure of how they got here but they are here and all they are concerned about at the moment is surviving at all cost. One more question Cromin whispered under his breath as he typed away. "Do you know Ria?" The Crystals flickered lights that were about to go off. Cromin figured something was wrong and the computer translaed gibirish and then finally an emphatic no from the crystals.

Cromin got on the radio with the Colonel, "Colonel did you get all that, you got anymore questions you might want to ask, or are we done here sir?"

<Tag all>

[Troy Loveridge]

1351
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

Captain Cromin, always a man of action, gathered together a team and made his way back down into the caves to carry out the most bizarre of orders - to use a flashlight to communication with a sentient crystal that was on the verge of destroying the alien city-ship the expedition called home. Back on Earth such an order wouldn't have even made its way into the most outlandish of B-grade science fiction, and yet here they were. It was a credit to his personnel's ability to 'think outside the box' that they'd be able to get this far with their attempts to understand the living rock formation that was about to destroy them.

Flashlight in hand, Cromin blinked morse code to the rocks, which understood him since absorbing the knowledge of the code from either the city or the crashed Puddle Jumper. Through the live feed supplied to him through helmet mounted cameras, Troy and the others watched the exchange. Behind him personnel were quickly noting down the questions and replies, translating them into plain English for those not familiar with the code. After the short exchange Robert ceased communication and asked what their next move should be.

While it was sentient, the rock couldn't tell them much. It was living, needed energy to survive, but didn't remember much of its history. At its current rate of growth it would soon consume the city, leaving the expedition without a base to operate from. Just as humans needed oxygen, and plants sunlight, the rocks needed energy or power, and the city seemed to provide enough for their needs. He was to call it quits and order the rock destroyed when he learned it was the last of its species.

To destroy the creature, even though it was a rock, would be an act of genocide.

"Ask it if it's found any other sources of energy nearby?" the Colonel said into the radio. The Puddle Jumper Hippocrates was a valuable expedition asset, an Ancient ship crammed with advanced alien technology. Getting it back was a priority, but if he had a choice between the Hippocrates and Akrotiri, he'd chose the city-ship every time. "Maybe it can consume the Hippocartes, buy us some time to get it a new power source?" If the rock eat the Hippocrates it might give them enough time to rig up a power generator to sustain the crystals, and give them another option to draining the city-ships power.

< Tag Base Personnel >

[Vanessa Collins]

1348 - 1351
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

Taking few moments to calm down Vanessa re-entered the tent just as Troy had asked on what should be done, and quietly listened and watched as the plan of action was carried out. She had never in the past allowed her emotions to get the best of her. Today it had most certainly had a good grip of her and her actions. Losing it the way she had made her feel like an idiot. Which was the least of the feeling she wanted to acknowledge, right this moment.

Guilt wasn't really too good for the soul and mind. She knew that better than anyone. Yet it was something she should help but feel. If she knew her friend as well she thought, then the forgiveness wasn't going to come for years. Her own MIA caused this ripple effect to start. It was something she couldn't forget. Jerry wasn't talking to either her or Troy. Which didn't help the matters.

She had been too lost in her own thoughts to know what was going around her till the Hippocartes penetrated through the thick fog. Wasn't it already draining energy of that Jumper. "How many more cards are we holding?" she asked then shook her head, to clear the cobwebs.

<<Tag All>>

((Sorry for a lame post brain refuses to work ))

[Robert "Scarecrow" Cromin]

1352
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

Things were being turned upside its head, the debate on whether our lives vs their lives continued to go on and Cromin could tell that the Colonel was really trying to do everything possible but he was running out of options fast. The Colonel even proposed further questions on which the Captain was all too willing to oblige. Even thogh the Captain was quick to say us rather than them, he also wanted to make sure that everything was done to prevent that option just incase they had to pull the plug. The captain asked if they had found a power source anywhere else and the reply was that the ZPM was the only thing sufficent for now. Then a larger question was posed by Cromin, which was after the crystals had exhausted the ZPM lets even say they get it, the next question is what then. Since it seemed that their soil sustained them back on their original planet keeping them alive here was simply beyond what the expedition was able to handle.

Cromin heard the Colonel proposing that the crystal probably should be allowed to feed on the Jumper but Dr Collins answered back suggesting that option was no longer viable since the crystals already dealt with that first. Cromin concurred over the radio. "Colonel that Jumper is a no go, its power is already spent. Sir let's assume we believe whatever this crystal is saying, what do we do then because not even the naquadria generators can do much. For all we know this could be an AI programmed by Ria to prey on our humanity to her own ends." And with that the Captain wrapped up his mission and headed back out to the FOP.

<Tag Base personel>

[Vanessa Collins]

1352
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

She listened to Cormin and knew the logic was a sound. It was possible for Ria to do what the Captain was suggesting, yet the flaw was that she needed to gate to another planet to find the crystals. The Titians at the time as their friends weren't given the access to the gate and the GDO's, if they were given, she hadn't been made aware of it.

Plus she was certain that the beings weren't native to the planet, the expedition occupied at the given moment. She couldn't recall the information on the planet containing anything about energy drinking crystals. So what Captain was said held water, there were entering dangerous territory. Sitting down, she tapped the laptop lightly and fiddled away looking for information from main database that held all the information on the gate access.

<<Tag Base Personnels>>

[Troy Loveridge]

1352
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

Troy's hard came down hard on the desk when Robert reported that the Puddle Jumper wouldn't have enough power to sustain the crystal's energy needs. Nearby scientists and techs deep in thought jumped in their seats as the Colonel slammed his hands down on the table. He cursed under his breath, then took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself down. It would be no good for the expedition to see their leader cracking.

It had come down to the wire. A decision and course of action needed to be taken before they lost control of the situation. "Stand by Captain," Troy said into the radio, turning in his chair and looking to Vanessa. Right now, at this very moment, he had to decide if they should terminate the crystal or allow it to consume the power in the city. Either he killed the last of a species, or he sentenced the entire expedition to its doom. It wasn't going to be easy one.

"Where do we draw the line?" he asked Vanessa. "It's sentient, but does it have rights? It knows Morse Code, but herd animals can communicate. Is it a bug we need to squash, or a being whose right to life we swore to uphold?" Wiping out alien species sure wasn't what Troy had signed on for when he'd joined the SGC. Give him a gun, point him at the enemy, and he'd get things done. But present him with a philosophical dilemma like this and he simply didn't know where to go.

Regardless, he had to act. "Where do we draw the line," he repeated softly to himself.

< Tag Base Personnel >

[Vanessa Collins]

1352
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

She continued to work even as Troy slammed his hand or fist hard on the table where she was working. The loudness of it made her jump due to surprise of the reaction. She broke her eyes from the monitor a moment in time to see him curse and struggle for calm, then moved her eyes back to the monitor of the laptop. She had learnt it to let him be when he got mad or lost his cool. Approaching him in this mood was likely to get one's head bitten off.

While she worked she kept an eye on him, like she usually did with everyone on the base. Sensing him looking at her, she gave up her search and fully paid him attention. His question took her by surprise, leaning back she continued to listen to what he was saying. Drumming the tips of her fingers to together as she went deep in thought after he was placing questions on the table.

Drawing the line wasn't easy as it was likely to sound. Of course the thing was sentient, it spoke, had thoughts, but the question was; could it feel? Vanessa was certain that the thing could. If a horse, monkey or other animal could feel the loss of it's offspring, or the joy of it's birth, the humans didn't blindly kill them. Yet they weren't dealing with an animal, but a crystal. Could they apply the same to the crystals as they with animals or locked up humans who were being ruled by arrogant Supreme Lords.

"Animals also feel," she voiced out loud without noticing, as she kept on thinking, "but that doesn't mean we kill them. We are dealing with crystals who in a sense act like a bug, but are beings. They aren't infecting anything, but only taking power. They aren't threatening, but only trying to fight for survival, by best of means."

Sitting up right, she continued to consider for an option. Her brain kept on averting for ideas, before it landed back on the laptop she was working one, as an idea arose in her mind, "Maybe" she whispered, the idea just may work. It was worth a shot.

Turning to Troy with her face full of hope, "We can draw the line that will do both, stop them from taking our power and allowing them to live. Honestly, I can't guarantee the idea will work, but we can give it a shot.

If we can get the being to take in less power/energy for a while. It will give us a chance to find a planet where they can thrive. We can save them and ourselves from dire consequences faced by either beings."

She understood the risk presented. The crystals may lose some of their population if they had any by taking on this agreement. Aside from this she didn't any other way out, that would save them all.

<<Tag Troy/ Base Personnel>>

((Oh man, she got wordy ))

[Troy Loveridge]

1352
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

The Colonel said patiently while Doctor Collins mapped the morality of the situation. Despite the fact it was just a rock formation, the crystal beneath the surface had shown the ability to learn their language and communicate complex thoughts and ideas with Robert and his team. It wasn't some mindless herd animal that could just be put out of its misery because it was an inconvenience to the expedition. The goal of this trip to another galaxy had been to explore and learn, and this rock alone would blow everything humans thought they knew about geology clean out of the water!

The crystal also happened to be the last of its species and from its own point of view had done nothing to hurt anyone, only seeking out the energy it needed to survive. If a human was stranded on a distant world and drank from the water of another people to survive, was it any different to the crystal drawing power from their base? While predictions had stated the crystal could quickly drain them dry, it so far hadn't, and so long as base operations were able to go ahead there was no reason to think it would harm them.

Still, action needed to be taken.

"Captain, break out the explosives," Troy said into the radio. It was a tense moment in the FOP, with the lives of not only the crystal but the expedition as a whole on the line. "Plant charge around the crystal formation." Some of the scientists in the room looked at Troy with puzzlement. He'd just decided the crystal deserved to live, what was he doing?

After a slight pause, he sent another transmission. "Plant charges to help clear a path for the crystal to connect with our power grid." He added that it needed to be explained to the crystal that this was only a temporary fix, and that it would be relocated to a more suitable planet ASAP. Hopefully there was a chance for it to re-establish it's species, though Troy couldn't even begin to imagine how living rocks reproduced.

< Tag Base Personnel! >

OOC: Ok, let’s wrap this one up!