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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shadowdancer" data-source="post: 1385215" data-attributes="member: 515">Saro Talbek sits strapped in one of the jump seats in the lounge. He is no stranger to tense situations, but the fact that this one is totally out of his control unnerves him. As is his custom, he starts speaking to himself softly, mulling things over. "I wonder what would be the best thing to do after we land? While the excursion to KGL might work, my skills would probably be of more use treating patients. There might be a way to develop our own vaccine, or to look into altering the local pharmaceutical plants to produce the effective antivirals. "I need to talk to Martha further. She might have been exposed and still she did not develop any symptoms. She might just have the right antibody in her bloodstream. With the help of the flow cytometers and some chromatography equipment, we might be able to isolate them. Of course, we could try this in the five percent of people who do not develop the symptoms. "We also need to develop a faster diagnostic test than viral cultures. I wish I had thought of this sooner. Perhaps we can ask the scientists at the Wall to beam us a DNA sequence from the virus that is unique to it and we could use simple sequencers to determine who has the virus in the bloodstream. The procedure could take less than 10 minutes. "Of course, right now I just want to land and get to work. I can’t bear the thought of all of those people needing attention and some unscrupulous individuals trying to steal the medications." His steady hands, surgeon’s hands, rest in his lap while he thinks. The sounds of combat shake him from his soliloquy. "I’m certainly grateful to be with others who are so dedicated and skilled. We’ll be OK."   ----- The lead cutter’s mining laser fires at the Bray Keaven, but Argent’s snap roll takes the ship out of the brunt of the shot, which results in some minor surface scoring amidships but no real damage.Swann’s return fire lashes out across the vacuum and smashes into the lead cutter. The first laser hits toward the cutter’s engines while the second hits squarely on the cutter’s nose–mounted sensor array. The cutter’s engines seem to sputter but then kicked back in, and the cutter seems to be erratically casting about as if unsure which way to go. The Bray Keaven continues in her erratic maneuvers, and the port laser does not fire for what seems like an endless time. Argent is about to ask Vasilii if the computer is tracking the trailing cutter when the port laser finally fires. Perhaps out of pure luck or a sincere desire by Martha’s baby not to get hurt, the computer–controlled port turret’s shot strikes the trailing cutter squarely on the maneuver drives as the cutter is banking and trying to line the Keaven up for a run. Nothing seems to happen for a few seconds. Then, there is a visible shudder through the cutter, a puff of red– and yellow–tinged atmosphere vents through the holes in the hull, and the mining cutter’s maneuver drive goes dead. -----Vasilii looks up from his scanners in puzzlement and asks Vargas, "Emile? I thought that you said the port laser wasn’t completely calibrated?"  "Somebody out there must like us," Vargas replies. "The turret wasn’t completely calibrated. Either that or someone’s a hell of a better gunner than they’re letting on," he adds with disbelief in his voice. -----Though unable to complete its turn, the second cutter manages to get one shot off before the Keaven passes beyond its arc of fire. However, Argent’s maneuvers cause the shot to miss completely. The cutter then continues on its ballistic coarse heading away from the Keaven and Alief.The slow boat, angling away from the action, has slipped to the extreme edge of the Keaven’s sensors. A few beats after the second cutter fires, the external comm crackles to life again with a transmission from the slow boat. "Merchant ship. Cease fire, please cease fire! There has been a terrible misunderstanding, and the officers on the cutters will be punished. Please cease fire. I have received new information that indicates our Illustrious Leader was misinformed about your cargo, and he is now convinced that you only have medicines onboard. "Furthermore, he asked me to see if we could come to some sort of understanding about acquiring a very small portion of the cargo for research purposes? Please?" the slow boat’s captain finishes rather plaintively. Argent taps his comm switch to reply. "I’m sorry, captain, but I’ve no control over the distribution of the cargo," he says. "Instruct your cutter to give us a wide berth; any untoward moves will be construed as an attack and we will act accordingly. Bray Keaven out." Flipping his external comms off, the captain switches on the internal comms. "Swann, you keep a lock on that second cutter until they’re out of range. Make sure they know you’re locked on."   ----- "You got it, Captain," Swann says, keeping the lasers locked onto LCutter Alpha. He takes a couple of deep breaths, more than a little surprised that the fight is over so quickly. He continues to monitor the cutter closely. "I’m glad we got that other turret working. This ol’ ship is a real trooper. Maybe it’s all that TLC it gets from Martha."-----With that, Argent angles the ship back onto its original approach vector and heads for the pre-arranged landing zone.</blockquote>

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