Safety First

Posted on Tue Jan 27th, 2026 @ 4:20am by Lieutenant Zuriñe Aritza M.D. & Lieutenant Anna Esquivias

Mission: Season 6: Episode 6: Conglomerate
Location: Biosafety Level 4
Timeline: ??
2051 words - 4.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Anna entered in protective gear. She did not trust the purely intangible kind. She needed a suit. This was not a good area to hear there was damage. She looked around her, hoping to find Lieutenant Aritza. Her lips were pressed together in concern and her eyes showed her worry. "Doctor, I heard you got a lot of damage to this area." She was already lifting her tricorder to scan it.

Lieutenant Aritza and her assistant Petty Officer First Class Dennis McGavers were in the Biosafety Level 4 storage and lab, actually in the ‘Vault’ or storage room. They were in the process of doing inventory, which Zuriñe had decided to make twice daily, instead of the once weekly routine. Her justification for this was twofold; first the damage done to the lab from the attack, and second their current ‘help’ and ‘guest’, the Romulans. Young mister McGavers was none to happy with the change, as now he had increased duties to perform.

The computer chimed =*=Lieutenant Anna Esquivias has entered the Biohazard Lab foyer and is suiting up for entry into the Lab and Storage area. She has also brought in a personal tricorder.=*=

Zuriñe sighed and chuckled at the same time. “Mister McGavers, please go and assist Lieutenant Esquivias. Ensure she puts on the Level A encapsulated Biohazard suit on correctly. I am sure she has had training, but I seriously doubt she has had to do it on a regular basis.”

Petty Officer First Class Dennis McGavers looked up at Lieutenant Aritza and smiled. “Yea, guess it wouldn’t look good for you and I having to explain to the Captain why her Chief Operations Officer has come down with a lethal bug.” He then handed over his PaDD, then made his way to the entrance Iris to the lab.

Zuriñe smiled at McGavers comment then hit the commbadge on her oversuit =^=Lieutenant Esquivias, please wait in the first chamber of the entrance Iris for Petty Officer First Class Dennis McGavers. I want to ensure your Level A encapsulated Biohazard suit is sealed correctly. Also, I hope you are not too fond of your tricorder as it has now become the property of the lab.=^= She said the last with a smile and chuckle. People tended to forget that this lab nothing went back out except the personnel; and that was only after a thorough decon.

Anna frowned slightly but she nodded and pressed her own commbadge. "Very well," she said. She paused as she waited for PO McGavers. If she had any questions, and she almost certainly did, she kept them to herself for now. It was true that she did not often wear a Level A Encapsulated Biosuite. It was not so fundamentally different from other sorts of protective suites. Still, she would defer to Dr. Zuriñe's caution here. A mistake might have drastic consequences. She was starting to wonder exactly what they were working on.

PO McGavers went to the exit Iris for the main lab and stepped through once in the airlock the iris closed and he was dosed with a small stream of viral, bacterial, and fungicidal vapors then the sound of air being vacuumed out. The light changed and he entered the second chamber and stepped into the vacuum of the second chamber. The iris shifted close behind him and ultraviolet and infrared lighting turned on, followed by the sound of air being pumped into the room. Finally the light went green and he stepped into the first chamber and greeted Lieutenant Esquivias, "Hello Lieutenant, I am Petty Officer First Class Dennis McGavers, may I inspect your suit?" Then without even waiting began a very thorough examination, he adjusted a couple straps and then switched two small hoses; finally he reached into a compartment near a locker and pulled out a small flexible pad, slapping it on her left wrist. He quickly typed into the pad and Lieutenant Esquivias suddenly could feel warm air begin to circulate within the suit. While McGavers was doing this he went through the protocols for the lab and storage. "Is this your first time in a Biosafety Level 4 storage and lab?" Again without waiting for a response he continued; "You are about to enter an area where Level 1 through Level 5 Extinction Level pathogens are stored and studied. The storage room, or Vault, as we call it has the Federation and Starfleet's known viruses, bacterium, fungal, prions, and other assorted pathogens; each capable of eliminating those exposed to them. All the pathogens in this storage area have no known cure. You as a 'guest' are not to touch anything without permission. Unfortunately your tricorder will not be allowed out of the lab, too many porous areas. Your suit is heated and has its own air supply. The lab and vault are designed with three airlocks, , temperature, stasis chambers, and level 10 forcefields; the chambers are designed similar to an intelligence SCIF. It is a free floating bi-chamber room, the back chamber holding the lethal pathogens in stasis chambers with level 10 forcefields around them. The entire Biosafety Level 4 storage and lab have an inside level 10 forcefield and an external level 10 forcefield next to the walls. It was a self-contained environment with its own power supply should the ship need to divert power from the chamber or damage to the ships power supplies. Finally the entire bi-chamber can be ejected, similar to the warp core, and will self-implode 30 seconds after ejection. Inside the lab the temperature is maintained at is -80 degrees Celsius. Do you have any questions before we enter?"

It was Anna's first time in a Biosafety Level 4 facility, not that McGavers waited for her to answer. She was embarrassed that she had made a small mistake with the hoses of the suits life support system. That would have been critical had McGavers not caught it. She was more used to the EVA suits. As Operations officer, she did have to have a basic familiarity with just about everything, but this was one of the most specialized areas on the ship and, frankly, some of the details of exactly what was stored here were above her security clearance. Her frown only deepened at the reminded, for her own safety, of just how dangerous everything here was. "I wasn't just invited here for a tour, Mr. McGavers. What in all of that is damaged? I can infer from your phrasing and your manner nothing is..." She paused, shuddering a little at the very thought. "Nothing is loose?"

PO McGavers smiled "I can assure you Ma'am that nothing is lose. If so Lieutenant Aritza would have activated the proper protocol for such an incident, and we all most likely would be seeing what the next life holds for us. Now as for damage, hull penetration through the lab, we are similar to a SCIF, free floating. The multiphasic incinerator is offline, causing a pain in the arse in disposing of what remains of our autopsied 'guest'..."her PO McGavers points to the autopsy table where a Hunter Hound lay, next to it on different tables and in sealed transparent aluminum are alien biospecimens and cybernetics. Occasional flickers of energy show there are forcefields around the containers. "...as per protocol. The storage room is secure and undamaged, most of the lab and security systems remain functioning, with the exception of the computer not being able to monitoring safety seals in the storage area, thus twice a day inventory. Oh and Lieutenant Aritza has had to reprogram who has access to this facility; she is none too happy with the Marines Commander, and for that matter the Marines in general. I honestly cannot say she hasn't programmed the computer to vaporize them or transport them into space, perhaps both. That is saying something as she is a Dokkaran. Now just to let you know not all starships have this type of Biohazard 4 set, I believe a total of twelve have it."

"I haven't served on one that had it before," Anna admitted. "What exactly has happened with the Marines?" It sounded like more work there.

PO McGavers shrugged, "Typical interaction. Marine's gung ho. Colonel Azhul though seemed to irritate Lieutenant Aritza. Somehow the computer allowed the Colonel to override safety protocols and such. The Colonel shouldn't have been able to do that. Lieutenant Aritza was none to happy with that, as you may imagine, given what is stored here. Add to it I think Lieutenant Aritza may not be all that found of the Bajoran Colonel, Dokkaran's consider the Bajoran Prophets as false gods leading the Bajoran people off the path of the one, true 'goddess'. All I know for sure is Colonel Azhul managed to piss of the Lieutenant, remarkable given she is a Dokkaran."

"People in many beliefs serve in Starfleet," Anna said. "It shouldn't affect anyone's duties. As for authorization, there are global access protocols on the ship for officers with relevant responsibilities that might not be perfectly coordinated with your unique operational security needs. You might discuss it with the captain. So was any damage done by this incident?"

PO McGavers smiles "Oh she isn't being prejudice toward the Colonel, just that it doesn't help the situation. As for the global access protocols, in this lab they should never have been applied. This lab is similar to any of Starfleet and Federation High Security research facilities, only those with the required need should be allowed. It most likely was an oversight by one of the Operations and Engineering people. Well you ready for the tour?"

"I am," Anna said.

Petty Officer First Class Dennis McGaver led Lieutenant Anna Esquivias into the lab proper. As usual the clod hit his suit first, and he could feel the suits heater kick in. Zuriñe looked up from her work and walked over to the two of them.

Zuriñe smiled “Mister Mcgaver please clean up our work. I am hoping engineering will take the request for the multiphasic incinerator to be repaired soon. Red bag and tag the waste and place it in the vault containment bins.” Mcgaver’s bowed and moved out to carry out his orders. Zuriñe looked at Lieutenant Esquivias “First time in a high level Biosafety Level 4 facility? I can assure you that the little doomsday bugs we have are in their proper place. I do however, have a few issues with damage to the lab.” Zuriñe points to the breech in the hull that lead through to the forcefields. “That really needs to be repaired. The forcefields are holding, but should they fail, the entire lab and storage will be vacated out of the ship and vaporized. Pretty sure it will leave a bigger hull breech than the current one. As you most likely have heard the multiphasic incinerator is offline, it is an inconvenience as we can store our work in bins in the vault till it is brought online, however the longer it is off line the more degradation of our work. My biggest issue is access to this lab. Only the Captain, Xo, and Second officer are allowed access, and they require an escort, otherwise the only individuals allowed in here without escort are; Commander Sthilg, Lieutenant J'airesh Mora-Heath, Lieutenant Lieutenant N'vok Holv, the assistant Science Officer and the ship’s Microbiologist, Molecular biologist, and Virologist. Any other support staff require either clearance, one time clearance, by those I just mentioned or escorted by those I just mentioned. Last I checked Marines and Security are not on the list nor ever will be. I have made the appropriate changes in the computer, however if you could pass on the message to the rest of the command staff I would appreciate it, other wise…” here she points to the barely visible pulse phasers “…they may not survive he experience. Before you ask, yes it is a necessary precaution. What is stored her are Level four and Level five EL’s, end of life as we know it, pathogens.” Zuriñe again smiles "So Lieutenant shall we take a small tour of the 'death' lab as it is called by the Epidemiology, Microbiology, Molecular biology, and Virology departments."

"We shall," Anna agreed, "and then I can get to work."