#61 At the lake

Posted on Sun Oct 25th, 2020 @ 8:02pm by

Mission: Star Base Mercury
Location: Shuttle away mission
Timeline: Backpost

OOC: These are now backposts. I'll be doing a backpost JP, as well, to bring aboard what they find. There will be several posts about this until this side story catches up to the main. Thank you for your patience, fellow crew.

ON:

Liza and Tore had gone back to their Delta, lifted off and flew to the lake in question, down in the bottom of a caldera for a long inactive volcano. It was very similar to Crater Lake, Oregon on Earth. Well, inactive as in not going to blow, but still possessing lava flow and magma just below the surface. The lake stayed at a cozy 55F at all times, but was crystal clear due to the limestone and basalt the melt off ran through to pool within the caldera. Nothing alive was within the lake, according to the locals, yet they held it in reverence. Many had stated that the lake possessed restorative affects against illness and ailments, beyond just being a hot spring of sorts. They set the Delta for underwater operations, sealing it up and using repulsors only to lower into the lake, and then to move it about. No engines or pollutants of any kind.

Kahn looked out the forward viewport as the water line rose up and over the window, showing the underwater world beneath. Crystal clear water that was an amazing blue. But, slightly behind that hue was another color, a lavender variance. "That's an odd color for under water. Some kind of algae, maybe?"

Bjorgo piloted very slowly, his attention able to split by looking out the window. "We'll know soon enough. I don't see any haze in the water, so the algae theory is thin, at best."

"So is your humor." Liza smiled as she walked toward the aft section door. "Let's gear up for some scuba. Even though it's not, technically, SCUBA anymore."

Tore set the Delta for station keeping auto-pilot, standing to follow her into the back. "Will you shut up already, and get moving. I'm detecting a power variance about half a klick out. I want to approach carefully in case this bitch is gonna blow again."

"There is no volcanic activity to that magnitude," added Kahn as they moved into the aft section. "Whatever eruptions happened here were hundreds of years ago. The plate has shifted off of the hot spot."

The two of them changed out of their uniforms and into EVA bodygloves, then partial EVA suits. Enough to make scuba gear with their heads inside underwater helmets so they could communicate locally. Shoulder and chest piece with helmet seals, among others. Setting the forcefield Bjorgo opened the aft hatch, which opened out into water as the forcefield held back the water. They could enter and exit and the forcefield would not allow a single drop inside. The two of them stepped out into the lake, the water cooler but not uncomfortable at 55F. Following his tricorder the two of them set off towards this power node he was detecting.

OFF: