The infirmary. She desperately wished she could forget this was a problem, much like many others, no doubt. Medical staff were still struggling to keep people alive. One would have thought the clearly lost ones would already be gone, but despite her at best basic medical training, she could still clearly pick out several dead men or women walking. No highly decorated Lieutenants among them. She glanced around, trying not to be in anyone’s way while she did and quickly left the sick bay. There was nothing she could do to help there. Perhaps once she found the Scythian’s second in command, she could make them take some of the lightly injured people away to lessen the stress. Miranda left the infirmary and headed back to the Scythian, giving up the search for now. The Scythian was his ship, he would have to come back to it eventually. Hopefully, she’d catch him upon his return.

Returning the Scythian, she looked over the crowd that seemed to be getting denser and denser. At the same time, the amount of supplies both available and those that were being handed out to the people was diminishing. Miranda moved over to the side, away from other people and spoke to her PAD.
“Nero to security office.”
[b]”Security, go.”[/b]
Miranda made sure nobody was too close. She spoke quietly. “The crowd is getting big and the supplies are getting low. Can you send a security team to the Scythian? I fear we are balancing dangerously close to a food riot.”
[b]”We can spare, uhh… twelve men.”[/b]
“Send them here. I hope it’s going to be enough.”
[b]”Riot gear?”[/b]
Miranda hesitated. “No. Just batons and helmets. Maybe tasers, officer’s choice. I want to defuse the situation before it escalates to violence.”
[b]”And if it does not go well?”[/b]
“We’ll owe the marines guarding the ship a pint or two.”
[b]”The team’s on its way, they should be at the Scythian in seven to ten minutes.”[/b]
[i]”I hope that’s fast enough.”[/i] she thought. With her, Solothurn’s customs team and the three marines she saw earlier, it was still just nineteen officers against a sea of people. She walked back to the ship. Back in Adhara, martial law gave her the right to keep those poor souls at work by threats, but she had the manpower to back it up. Not here. Here, she had neither the manpower, right nor the intent to take the same course of action. These people needed help, not dictatorship. She approached the customs officers. “And how are things here?”
“So far no wrongdoing, but there doesn’t seem to be much-” She cut him off, gesturing for him to keep his voice down. “But I think the supplies are running low. I can’t tell, as they haven’t let us on board.”

She was about to respond to him when she heard an agonised scream on the other side of the cargo ramp. A man was picking himself from the ground and a brunette with asian features was storming off. She rushed to the other side of the ramp behind the woman and tapped her on the shoulder. “Excuse me!” She shouted to get her attention over the background noise before continuing in a calmer tone, “Mind sharing what just happened back there and why that man was on the ground in pain? Because to me, it does not look like he tripped and I’d like to hear your take on this.”

[@Silver Carrot]