PHD #447: A Major Setback
A Major Setback
Summary: Late at night, on their way to Sickbay, Leyla and Marko notice something suspicious in front of the BioChem Lab door…
Date: 19 May 2042 AE
Related Logs: None
Players:
Cameron Leyla Lunair Marko 
Deck 10 - Medical/Offices - Battlestar Cerberus
The floorplating along the corridors of the Cerberus are standard military. Their forged steel plates are welded seamlessly together to run nearly the entire length of each hallway. The hallways themselves are the typical load-bearing structural design of the angled quadrilateral. Oxygen scrubbers and lighting recesses are found at nearly perfect intervals throughout the angled passageways.
Condition Level: 3 - All Clear
Post-Holocaust Day: #447

It might be late in the evening, but try telling that to the people who do schedule in the wing. You come down to sickbay when you come down to sickbay. That being said, so ventures forth Leyla, coming down for a check-in, or a bit of a check-up on her tatau, which is healing, but not nearly so well as if she didn't have to sit the pilot's seat so very often. But such is the price you pay.

Marko makes his way blearily down the corridor in the direction of sickbay, rubbing at the side of his neck and wincing. "If I get my hands on the son of a bitch who decided to put the ECO station facing sideways, I swear I will kill him." he mutters angrily as he pauses to crane his neck this way and that. "And Gods help me, I will probably enjoy it."

There are some soft but audible sounds coming from the open door of the Sickbay. Sounds like it's a quiet night there as well. That'll be good. No lines or long waits to contend with. But as Marko and Leyla draw closer to the room in question, something odd catches their eyes. Looks like somebody spilled something just outside the BioChem Lab. Ewwww. That can't be good. In the subtly dimmed lighting of the corridor it looks dark, maybe oil? Someone should probably clean it up or report it, especially if it might be biohazardous material! No knowing what they get on with in that lab after all.

It's a good thing Leyla's watching where she's going, as she comes down the corridor, because she just manages to avoid the wandering ECO sharing hallway space. "Flasher, you look like hell." Which is par for the course with this raptor pair. Tough love. "Come on, I'll let you get in line ahead of me." Onward and upward, until Leyla's hand reaches out to try to hold the bigger man back, "What the frak is that?"

"Thanks." Marko replies with a grunt of laughter. "It matches how I feel. Pulled a damn muscle in my neck on the jump yesterday, now I can't find a position to sleep in that's comfortable for longer than five seconds." he grumbles. "Gonna see if there's some cream or something they can give me to work it out. What brings you down here?" he asks, nodding his thanks for her offer. When Leyla motions for him to stop, he's so sleepy he almost misses it and nearly steps in the puddle of….Gods know what. "Frakked if I know." he replies, turning to give Leyla a disgusted look. "Whatever it is, I'm not going anywhere near it." he says, backing up a couple of steps until he's almost standing on top of her.

Upon closer inspection the smear on the floor looks less like oil and more like… blood. Then center where it is still moist is definitely red, the outer edges drying into darkness. You would think, if someone was injured and on their way to the sickbay there would be a trail leading to the door. But if anything, the smear slides toward the closed BioChem lab door instead, with no marks leading toward or away from it…

"That's what you get for flying without your regularly scheduled pilot. Quit crowding me." Leyla nudges the man back, before she pulls out her ever-present supplies. A pen, a pad of paper and a flashlight. The back of the pen is used to pick up a small sample of the fluid, the paper to deposit it on, and the flashlight to look it over. "Looks like blood. Spilled sample, maybe?" Leyla sets the supplies aside, unholstering her sidearm regardless, holding it low and ready, "Brains before beauty." Marko's up!

"What? Do you sleep with that damn thing?" Marko says, shooting Leyla a curious look before turning back to regard the mess on the floor. "Awful big for a sample…" he muses, frowning a little bit. "And I don't see where anybody's tracked it anyplace." he notes before making his way cautiously towards the closed door of the BioChem lab and reaching for the hatch.

The hatch resists at first, as if it were jammed, then releases. Which really, is all wrong. Word is they do Cylon research in here, so it should be locked up tighter than a drum. The door yawns open only a few inches silently, the room beyond pitch black and equally silent.

Leyla shifts, retrieving the flashlight and holding it overhanded in her right hand, the sidearm settling into her dominant left, "Flasher, call the MPs." Since he's not 1: shot and 2: unarmed, Leyla seems to be making an executive decision. Save the squishy ECO before herself. But she does try to get in close enough to flash the light around inside. "If something jumps out and tries to eat my face, save yourself."

"Only when Mark's not in-bunk." In some ways, the days since Leyla got married have softened the woman. But in others, the events surrounding it have made her that much harder. And if that means she chooses to actually wear the sidearm all officers are issued, well, so be it. Leyla shifts, retrieving the flashlight and holding it overhanded in her right hand, the sidearm settling into her dominant left, "Flasher, call the MPs." Since he's not 1: shot and 2: unarmed, Leyla seems to be making an executive decision. Save the squishy ECO before herself. But she does try to get in close enough to flash the light around inside. "If something jumps out and tries to eat my face, save yourself."

"Yeah…I think you're right." Marko says, taking a long look into the dark space before hotfooting it to the nearest growler phone. "This is Lieutenant Scaurus, we need security at the BioChem lab." he says simply. "RFN." he says, then looks to Leyla, "Hey, hey, go get somebody from Sickbay, we may need medical assistance, too." he says, snapping his fingers to get her attention. "Copy that, we're standing by, out." he says, putting down the phone.

The door hasn't opened enough to get a good look into the room, but already it's clear that something is definitely not right. There are all sorts of glass shards and debris on the floor and from what little can be seen it looks like the place has been trashed…

Leyla doesn't look back around, instead, she walks backwards away from the door, until she reaches about where she heard Marko's voice last. Only then does she turns, reaching out a hand to take his, settling the sidearm into it. "If it moves, shoot it." And then she's on her way towards sickbay to hunt down, well, someone. Doesn't matter who.

Marko nods and adjusts his grip on the weapon until it's snugly and securely in his hand. "If you hear gunfire, come running." he advises. "You know how well I shoot," he snerks. "C'mon, MPs, where are you?"

Upon entering into Sickbay, one of the on duty EMTs glances up and gives Leyla a wry smile. "Evening," he greets, his cheerful smile slowly dissolving as he takes in her serious demeanor and the obvious tension in her frame. "Is there a problem, Lieutenant?" he asks uncertainly, his brown regard suddenly sober.

"I knew I should have kept the gun," is Leyla's comment as she heads further down to sickbay, ducking her head in through the hatch, "Blood in the hallway in front of BioChem. MPs are on the way." She doesn't bother stating the obvious like, 'someone could be hurt' or 'you'd better come quick'. She just ducks her head back out and heads back to the hallway.

The MPs take a moment, but not a very long one. A good chunk of their number is down on Gemenon after all. Lunair looks unsure, occupying a new position. She does have a trio of enlisted behind her, who look a bit startled but alert. "We got your call, what's going on?" She glances around, as they near sickbay. The Marines shuffle along.

The EMT's eyes widen slightly before his frame snaps to attention and he nods. "On my way!" he replies briskly before turning to inform the officer at the duty desk where he is headed and grabbing a basic aid kit before following after Leyla's figure, pausing in the hall as he studies those assembled there, the gun in Marko's hand, and the ominous darkness of the room that it's pointing toward.

"Got what looks like blood on the floor." Marko replies, rather pointedly keeping the muzzle of his borrowed sidearm pointed into the semi-open door of the BioChem lab. "And it looks like somebody's trashed the place." he adds, then smiles a little as he finally recognizes his wife's voice. "Didn't expect to see you so soon." he adds, turning to give Lunair a quick smile before going back to business.

Lunair has her sidearm drawn at that. Her eyes narrow a little and she frowns. "I see." She looks to Marko, smiling quickly. "I'm sorry we weren't here sooner," She is still an MP in training. She eyes the blood, crouching. "Someone save this for evidence." She squints at the door and tries to peer through it. "I suspect we're going in. Did anyone see anything strange before the blood and -?" She's slowly picking it up.

The room beyond remains dark and mostly hidden behind the fractionally opened hatch door. Flashlights reveal a floor covered with broken glass and smashed equipment and the Gods know what… more biological material? The room within continues to silently guard its secrets against the hesitating interlopers.

"Is this the part where we kick in the door and go storming in like gangbusters?" Now that Leyla has brought the reinforcements to reinforce Mark's reinforcements and everything…reinforced, it seems silly to just be standing in the hallway. "Would it help if I reached in and turned on the light?"

"I was wondering what the professionals would do." Marko chuckles, moving to hand Leyla her pistol back. "How about, you guys cover me, I'll lean in and switch the light on?" he suggests and begins to suit action to words, walking straight towards the hatch and reaching inside.

"Yes, except those of us whose service branch starts with M go in first," She nods at Leyla. "I think I can reach it." She's short but not the shortest. She grunts and will stand. She motions for the others but - her husband beats her to it. She eyes him and nods meekly. There seems to be an unhappiness at her husband's decision but stays close by - with three others ready to blast should something go for his hand.

The ECO reaches into the door, clearly ready to jump clear should something reach out and grab him with the intent of gnawing on his face. A few tense moments' worth of fumbling for the switch later and Marko grunts,"Frak. Lights aren't working."

"Hang on, I think one of us has a flashlight. Corporal," She motions for it. Lunair takes the flashlight. The other two flick theirs on. "Pardon us." She doesn't seem to be the sort of MP to strong-arm the pilots. There's perhaps, some respect. With that, they'll nudge the door open a bit more to shine some light in and begin to inch in, mindful not to step on evidence.

Marko is more than happy to step back and let the Marines do their jobs, though he is a bit keyed up at his wife going into harm's way. "Please try not to get killed, babe." he calls to Lunair, wincing a little.

Now that the popo are out in force, Leyla's more than happy to step back, though she does angle so she can get a look over or around the Mps at what's inside. But no, she doesn't try to get in there too. She knows well enough to let the MPs do their jobs. And that respect is reciprocal. "She's not your wife right now, Flasher. She's a Marine doing her duty. Don't need her getting emotional." Cause then she might lose more than just her hair. Bald and faceless Lunair would be bad.

The door yawns further in, groaning a bit toward the end, as if appalled by the condition of the room beyond and embarrassed that anyone is seeing at its good housekeeping worst. The room is, in a nutshell, trashed. Computers have been smashed, slides shattered upon the floor, equipment tossed about and broken. Beyond, all of the refrigeration units have been left open and as the doorway is breached the smell of decomposing biological materials is becoming apparent. But other than that the room appears to be empty of any perpetrators or attackers. No one rushes the team of Marines and the room is deadly quiet save of the soft dripping of melting water drizzling out of the freezers and onto the floor.

Lunair grunts softly. She doesn't respond for the moment, more worried and alert. Her distant, well-mannered bearing coming in handy here. Her dark eyes look here, there. Her nose wrinkles. "Anyone see any foot prints…? We'll have to dust for prints if there's nothing." Then she's silent. The dripping. The scent of death and decomposition, too many animals - including those of the people sort- know it well. She looks a bit unsure, and they will move into the heart of the lab, one of the enlisted taking pictures. Another will begin to dust for prints on likely surfaces. She herself helps with a few pictures, her side arm holstered now. Likely, cleanup will fall to medical due to the nature of the remains. Samples are taken of any blood or foreign sorts of material. She glances around. "Shocked there's no camera in here," She admits. Either way, things are marked and the investigation has begun if nothing pops out and eats their faces.

Marko shoots Leyla a quelling look, or starts to, then realizes she's right, as usual, and merely sighs, shrugging a little. "I don't get it." he notes, stepping forward to get a better look inside the lab, without crossing the threshold and contaminating the scene. "Out here, it looks like somebody was wounded, but there's no sign of anyone in here."

"What happened to the staff that was working in here? All the samples in here were from the Cylons, that I know," pays to be married to the ChEng, "So where are the people who were studying it? When was the last time they were there? Are all of them present and accounted for?" Leyla looks towards the EMT, "Crewman, see if you can get a full roster of who had access to this lab and find out where they are, would you? Or at least call someone who can?"

It would be difficult to make out any kind of prints in the mess that is the floor, shards of glass crushed just about everywhere, shifting as the team move in. Biological material too… looks like sections of…. brains? Paper thin, and utterly destroyed by the looks of it. At Leyla's command, the EMT blinks and nods, turning and heading back to Sickbay to see if he can find the information that Leyla is asking for.

Lunair pauses. She cranes her neck and puts her hand over her mouth. "We've found a body." She never will get used to that smell or sight. For now, she stays still, letting her light run over it and past it. Any others perhaps? Hmm. She crouches, cautiously, head low. The other MPs are still doing their thing. She pauses though, her light running over the face. "It looks like Doctor Adair. Hang on," She reaches out a hand. Even someone as simple as Lunair can take a pulse at the neck.

"Frak….Dr. _Adair_?" Marko says, stiffening suddenly at that bit of news. "Shit…..This is not good." Marko says. "How?" he asks, raising his voice to be heard clearly by those inside the room. "You know what this means, right?" he asks Leyla, going chalk white as the implications begin to sink in.

The man looks like he's been beaten half to death. Or perhaps all the way. His left arm is bent at a wholly unnatural angle, his face swollen with a massive cut on his temple, his hair matted with blood suggesting other blows to the head. There is a pool of blood beneath him, and his skin is cool and clammy to the touch. There, is, however, a very faint pulse that greets Lunair's fingertips as she presses them to Cameron's throat.

"Yes," Lunair replies. She doesn't say if she knows at all. "It looks like his injuries are bad. Please summon a medic and a stretcher or a gurney. There is however, a very faint pulse. But I'm no doctor," She remarks. The other Marines are moving to preserve the scene, gathering pictures and the ilk. Lunair seems reluctant to move the man, likely due to her medical inexperience. "I cannot say for certain but it looks like someone beat him quite badly."

"No, not particularly." Leyla doesn't let herself spend much time speculating on the whole Cylon crapshoot that is the fleet and Gemenon and the research going on in the labs of the Cerberus. "Since I don't know what exactly he was working on, I can't say why he was attacked." Leyla does, however, move to summon the medical team to come in and retrieve the good doctor.

"It means we've probably got an infiltrator." Marko says simply, sighing. "I dunno how much Adair knew about Gemenon and any of that, but somebody wanted him quiet, and I can only think of one good reason for that."

It's only shortly later that the EMT returns with a small team of medics, moving quickly toward their patient. One of their own. With a softly bitten off curse, the EMT does his best to protect the doctor from any further harm, placing a brace around his neck and then carefully rolling him over onto his back to attach him to a brace board. An IV is introduced almost immediately as the team carefully lift and begin to move the patient out, checking his vitals and doing what they can to stabilize him to ensure that what little life is left in him doesn't drain away. They are, for better or for worse, more concerned about saving their patient than preserving the crime scene, wheeling Cameron past the Marines, Leyla and Marko and then disappearing into Sickbay with a great deal of noise and activity spurring into action upon their arrival.

"I cannot say we know either and I will simply do my best to gather evidence and find what happened. Guilt is for the JAGs and MPs who have completed training," Lunair remarks simply, quietly. Lunair winces as the medics don't seem to take care on entering. Thankfully there has been a good deal of photography and gathering already. She makes a note to write this down. "Please be careful. There is blood, tissue and glass all around," She warns. She does not interfere though and steps out of the way. She looks sympathetic towards them. "I'll likely oversee this and go file paperwork to start things off," She looks pained. She hasn't even FINISHED her transfer. Sigh. They HAD to go to Gemenon now. "Are you two hurt at all?" She looks over them.

"Flasher, the fact that we have an infiltrator is something we've known since the beginning. We just haven't been able to find them, at least not until they revealed themselves." Leyla steps back further as the medical team comes though and then moves to look back into the room, "What he was working on in particular might be important. His exact research at the moment. He's been down here for weeks, why attack him now? Was it Gemenon, or was it what he was looking into?" A shake of her head to Lunair, "I'm not hurt.'

Marko shakes his head. "No, I'm fine." he replies to Lunair's query before addressing Leyla's comments. "Yes, Sweet Pea, and whoever it is has chosen one hell of a time to attack the doc." he counters. "Makes me curious as to what it was he was working on, and no, I don't know, though I've got my suspicions.' he adds. "But something about this makes me queasy."

Lunair is quiet, but nods. "Good," She murmurs. "I do not know what his security clearance was or how many civilians were given access to anything that would be classified. It will be investigated. Regardless, this is now a crime scene and I suggest you two rest a bit because … it's more than a bit unpleasant to see this." Likely a reference to the fact they all know and care about the doc. That and the place will swarm with more MPs (like KILLER BEES). "For now, I've got to get this started before my shift ends," She waves a hand.

"I've seen worse." Leyla's voice is flat, as she steps back from the door and moves to turn towards the stairs, "I'll head down towards the security hub, save you the trouble of finding me and calling me down later for my statement. Thank you for your good work, Lieutenant, MPs." That said, off Leyla goes. her check-up will have to wait.

"Yeah, likewise." Marko echoes. "I'd better go find someone to report this to." he sighs, stifling a yawn behind his fist. "Frak, does the crazy never end on this boat?" he asks rhetorically.

Lunair doesn't comment. She just nods and waves. "Thank you." She will likely wait for an SNCO or an NCO before departing to take down statements and start paperwork. She smiles politely. "Someone will be in the hub," She nods. "I can meet you after my shift. And no, not as long as there are people on this boat."

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