Chapter IIa: Absolute Disaster

Laser Feeling: Kendall, you are unable to find any weaknesses that would help you in combat against someone infected. These parasites do have some weaknesses, however. Most obviously, if they are outside of a host body, they die after just over an hour. You also read about the changes they can do to a host body. They have great control to model a host after their wishes, for example the acidic saliva and the sharp teeth of the one you fought. However, making these changes takes a long time, depending on what type of change, it could be hours or even days, and the added stress on the host body will cause them to die much earlier.

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Moira, you're on the bridge. You can see what is happenin with the newly arrived ship.
"Lieutenant Commander, the new ship is hailing the pirate ship that our people have taken over!", Lt. Mezron explains.
On the view screen, you are also able to tell that it is flying very close to the pirate vessel, slowly navigating there until the ships are almost touching.
Darcy thinks for a moment, then turns towards Moira: "They are pirates. And they are here to recover their missing crewmen." She rises from the captain's chair and steps closer to Mezron. "I've had enough of this hide and seek. Lieutenant, move us into view." She looks at Moira: "Take over the battle station. Engage shields, lock weapons onto the new ship. And keep hailing them! We will give them something they can't ignore."

I would like to know if its plausible to seal Cassano up in a hazmat suit with the chemicals that are currently preventing infection, so she can resume active duty.

If i cant seal you inside a hazmat suit with some machines to keep you all fresh and alive, then youre getting a hamster ball. its my duty as head doctor of the USS Potential for Disaster to save every life i can

Laser Feeling: Marbo, you think about this plan. Having Cass move around the whole time wouldn't be perfect for her recovery, but it should be okay if necessary. A regular vac suit would not be enough however. To be able to properly control the environment inside, it would have to be bigger. Not necessarily a hamster ball, but definitely something big and clunky, worse than the space suits that humans used during the 20th century.

Marbo will weigh the pros and cons of both options, essentially a hardsuit, or a large ball with its own internal atmosphere.

After a moment he will return to cassanos tube, and will announce proudly,

"Commander! Zlam. I have come to two potential options. I could prepare you a bulky hardsuit that would contain the medically sterile environment, or i could place you into a large ball that would do the same, using less resources from the replicators, and be down much faster. Marbo decided it might be best to let you pick."

"Open a channel to the Antarctica. I'll explain what happened to them, and that there has been another change in command here. I will have a look at your designs later but so far, these aliens have proved themselves as hostile and uncooperative. We will have to see if they are even willing to talk first."

Taking a long, slow breath that then becomes a heavy sigh, Cass asks, "How long will it take to create this ball?"

Darcy quickly communicates the situation to Captain Tulak. The Antarctica's captain does not seem pleased with the fact that the Potential lost another commanding officer but accepts the change in command for the moment. Darcy tells her to reengage the Antarctica's engines and systems, which Tulak is happy about. Darcy tells Tulak to engage shields and weapon systems but to not fire yet.

The Potential emerges from its hiding spot among the asteroids and quickly closes in on the position of the two pirate ships.
"Bruce, have someone beam our strike team back on board, then engage shields. Leave the pirates on their ship for the time being. Have all weapon systems ready to fire on my command. And open a frequency to the new ship. If they don't want to talk to us, fine, but I want them to hear me!"