Raw Data -- SD 10308.03

[LoAmi 0]

CC: Science Dept, Medical Dept, Engineering Dept, USS Arcadia/Operations

 

Chief Science Officer's Log, Stardate 10308.03.  The search of the laboratories at the Lodi Directorate of Science (LDOS) has been completed, yielding evidence that points toward a larger scale conspiracy in the poisoning of the colony's water.  A summary of that evidence, as it was recorded by our equipment, follows.

 

The director's, Dr. Seymour Aurum's, lab was comprised of three sections plus his back office.  The first, and largest, section resembled a standard metallurgical analysis laboratory, and was therefore unremarkable.  The second, a smaller section, contained traces of biological material - quite unusual for the type of research that would have been expected at LDOS.  Although the evidence was "cleaned" before we got a chance to look at it, several bacterial strains may have been present.  One wall of this room was determined to have been encased in a thin layer of Lodinite, making it impossible to scan behind it.  The only entrance to this room could be gained by a short range transporter, activated by a coded touch-access system disguised as a bookcase.  This room contained more biological equipment, including state-of-the-art replicator/protein resequencers.  The room was well-stocked with biologically useful chemical reagents. Also present was a heavy grinding apparatus that looked empty by eye.  A tricorder scan revealed only minute traces of rock.  A scan with the microlaboratory revealed structures that could not immediately be identified.  A tricorder scan of the output of the protein resequencer revealed the following structure:

 

This is an unidentified, novel protein that is insoluble in physiological solution.  If it is to have any biological effect, it will have to complex with another biological structure.  No such structures were found.  A high resolution structure was obtained using the microlaboratory:

 

Intriguingly, the outline of an unknown object was seen coordinated with the protein (the outline has been contrast-enhanced for easier viewing).  The object appeared similar to the unidentified microscopic objects in the grinding apparatus.

 

After exiting from the secret lab, we proceeded to the back office, where Dr. Aurum was last seen, to confront him about the existence of the labs and to confirm the hypothesis that the microlaboratory had indeed detected Lodinite.  Aurum had a tablet of known gold-encased Lodinite on his desk.  Our intention was to request a sample - albeit more forcefully than before - from him.  Instead, Aurum was found slumped over his desk, and no lifesign could be detected.  The following message was being typed on his computer, using an old-style keypad:

To: Commander Spring, Freedom Corps of Purity

From: Dr. Seymour Aurum, Director of Science, Lodi Colony

Encoding: Quantum Encoding - Point to point, eyes only; encrypt on send

 

It's ready.  Stage III is complete.  I warn you, this is more dangerous than you had feared.  Assistants are both dead, they were not infected with Stage I.  i'm infcted too.  Dont know stts of stg 2  you prmsed 2 release thrm whn it was done.

 

The lab had been taking orders from a group known as the "Freedom Corps of Purity," led by a "Commander Spring."   The message did not yet contain any routing information, so his location could not be ascertained.

 

By conjecture, stage I may have been the primary bacterial infection released into the sabotaged water system.  Stage II could perhaps be the unknown virus that the medics had detected. The protein-Lodinite complex is part of the work on stage III.  Fortunately, it seems Aurum and his assistants died before that stage could be deployed.  The meaning of the end of the message is somewhat unclear.  What is clear is the reason that Aurum initially acted as an obstructionist.

 

The science team has now joined with the engineering team at the water reclamation plant in order to pool data.  They seem to have encountered a suspicious character named Tepi.  Could he have been the perpetrator of Stages I and II?

 

OOC: The images on this page were obtained from the Protein Data Bank (www.pdb.org), accession number 1AON -Xu et al. (1997) Nature 388:741.  They are two  representations of structural models of the GroEL/GroES chaperone protein complex calculated from X-ray cystallographic data (one of them modified with the outline).