The Science of Death - Part I
Posted on Sun Aug 30th, 2026 @ 7:13am by Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren & Sergeant Major Lachlan Barr
Edited on on Sun Aug 30th, 2026 @ 7:19am
1,516 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Episode 18 - The Edge of Darkness
Location: Camp Nostromo
Timeline: MD004 1100 hrs
Alyssa nodded to Lachlan that she understood, then slipped a mask out of her cross pack and put it on. It was mostly cautionary, but the number of dead alone warranted it. She took more scans, this time to get a good visual image of the area, layering a dozen other details on the initial scan. With a mystery like this, any piece of information could prove invaluable. She looked at the readings, the positioning of the bodies, the composition of the air and soil.
The asteroid would have been checked thoroughly for biohazards. Had they missed something, or was something new introduced? She turned to Lachlan. "I want to find a computer and see if anything had been added or changed since the asteroid was declared fit for habitation."
Lachlan nodded once, but his attention had already dropped to the nearest body.
He crouched beside the Marine without touching anything at first. Habit more than ceremony. He took in the position of the limbs, the uniform, the hands, anything around the mouth or eyes, then worked outward to the deck around them. No obvious blood. No weapon drawn. Nothing immediately suggesting the Marine had known trouble was coming.
His eyes moved to the next body, then another.
“No sign of a fight here,” he said quietly. “At least not one they saw coming.”
Only then did he lean closer, careful not to disturb anything unnecessarily, looking for burns, punctures, discolouration, anything that might give Alyssa somewhere to start.
At her suggestion, he stood again and brought his weapon back into his hands.
“Aye. Computer records might tell us what the bodies can’t.”
He glanced toward the nearest access corridor.
“You find the terminal. I’ll keep us covered.”
Alyssa used her tricorder to find the where she could get the science data she wanted. Medical would look at communicable diseases. She wanted to look for an environmental or ecological cause. She found the command center and began to walk off. "This way."
When they found the correct room, Alyssa accessed the computer and pulled up all the data on the construction of the base. "Have a seat. We may be here for a while."
Lachlan gave the screen a long look as lines of scientific data began stacking across it, then glanced sideways at Alyssa.
“Aye. Right. That’s all yours.”
He dragged one of the chairs around so it faced the door rather than the console, sat down and settled his weapon across his thighs. Whatever she was digging through in there, environmental reports, ecological surveys, atmospheric changes, he was happy to leave it firmly in the hands of somebody who actually knew what the hell they were looking at.
“I’ll leave the clever shit to you, Commander. Start asking me about fields of fire, perimeter security or how somebody got twelve thousand Marines dead without half the base shooting back, then I’m your man.”
For the first few minutes he kept his attention on the corridor. Then his eyes drifted back to Alyssa’s display.
He frowned at it.
“So, what are you actually looking for?”
A beat.
“Not the full science lecture. Just enough so I know whether I should be worried when you start swearing at the screen.”
"I want to start with the Corps of Engineers report and go from there." She was old-fashioned in many regards. She liked to manually enter commands because her mind was usually processing information while she entered the commands. It allowed her to multi-task better. Speaking a command wasn't quite the same.
She pulled up the map of the asteroid, and the plans, but it wasn't what she wanted. She wanted the scientific data. It wasn't letting her in. Even with her security clearance. Which, she had to admit, was good, but not great. "It's not letting me access the initial data from the survey. Just the maps. I apparently don't have the access to look at the actual scans from the initial survey team."
Lachlan leaned closer to Alyssa’s screen when the access denial appeared, reading it once before giving the console a look normally reserved for junior Marines who had just said something particularly stupid.
“That’s no’ your clearance,” he said. “It’s because you’re Fleet.”
Alyssa raised an eyebrow. Comprehending and frustrated in equal measures.
He straightened slightly and tapped the authorisation field.
“Computer. Sergeant Major Lachlan Barr, Starfleet Marine Corps. Marine command authorisation Barr-Seven-Four-Alpha-Tango.”
The console chimed.
“Identity confirmed. Sergeant Major Lachlan Barr. Access denied.”
Lachlan stared at it.
“You just confirmed me.”
“Correct.”
“And this is a Marine installation.”
“Correct.”
“And I have command authority within the Corps.”
“Your current billet does not grant unrestricted access to classified Corps of Engineers survey records.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Of course it bloody doesn’t.”
Beside him, the survey map continued sitting there in all its useless glory.
Lachlan keyed through the permissions manually, digging past the general access layer until he found the original installation authority. The designation was old, buried under engineering and environmental classifications, but the command structure still recognised Marine credentials.
“Computer, command override. Barr-Seven-Four-Alpha-Tango. Authorisation level Sergeant Major, detachment First Sergeant, USS Pioneer. Open the original Camp Nostromo Corps of Engineers survey archive.”
“Insufficient authority.”
Lachlan stopped.
Slowly, he looked up at the ceiling.
“You're having a laugh.”
“I am not programmed for humour.”
“Aye, I’d worked that out.”
He went back into the access tree, found the installation command protocol and entered the secondary command string attached to his billet.
“Marine command override. Barr-Seven-Four-Alpha-Tango, Sierra-Nine-Actual.”
The computer paused.
“Command authority recognised.”
Lachlan waited.
Nothing happened.
“Well?”
“Please specify requested action.”
His mouth opened, then closed again.
Alyssa received a brief look that said everything he was not going to say in front of a Starfleet Commander.
Then he turned back to the console.
“Open. The bloody. Survey.”
“Specify survey.”
“Camp Nostromo.”
“Specify survey category.”
Lachlan planted both hands on the edge of the console.
“The original one. The one Commander Maren has been trying to get into for the last five minutes. Geological, biological, atmospheric, environmental, engineering, whatever other clever shite they measured before deciding twelve thousand Marines could live inside this rock.”
There was a short pause.
“Query parameters accepted.”
“Thank Christ.”
“Religious invocation is not required for system access.”
Lachlan went very still.
Then he looked at Alyssa.
“Your computer now.”
The restricted folders unlocked across the display, raw survey data spilling into view behind them.
Lachlan reclaimed his chair, turning it just enough that he could see both the doorway and Alyssa’s screen.
“Right,” he muttered. “Before it develops another opinion, what are we looking for?”
Alyssa was trying hard not to smile. The computer was...stubborn. Cantankerous as only a machine could be. "Never underestimate the stubborn determination of a sergeant major. We're looking for something that doesn't quite fit. Transporters pick up most known viruses and diseases. So, it's unlikely someone brought a bug here. On a shuttle, yes, it's possible, but not likely. So, I'm looking for something that was already here. Something that was either overlooked or mutated." While she spoke, she pulled out a data crystal from her pack. She always kept some in case she had to store data.
She inserted the chip and quickly copied all the available files, just in case the computer decided their time was up and removed their access. "Mutated is my theory. If it had been detected in the first survey, it would have been eradicated, or the surveyors would have moved on to another location."
Because time was important, she entered a request for the computer to list all known pathogens, viruses, or unexpected microorganisms. She wasn't going to risk asking verbally in case it decided she didn't have the authorization.
"Now, we wait," she informed Lachlan and began to read through the survey reports and findings. Anything that stood out was added to a file on her crystal.
Not everything she added to the folder was a potential cause of the deaths. Some were things she wanted to look into, had a question about, or simply were incomplete in some way. "I'm going to have to take all of this back to the ship and run it through the science computer. I've flagged a few things, but no smoking gun. But if it were that easy, someone would have noticed as soon as people started getting sick."
A Joint Post By
Sergeant Major Lachlan Barr
Chief of The Boat, USS Pioneer
First Sergeant, The Cure
Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren
Chief Science Officer/Second Officer, USS Pioneer
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