A Shingular Incident
Posted on Mon Nov 16th, 2020 @ 12:11am by Lieutenant Rosk & Lieutenant Kiam Aax & Ensign Kevin Ibanez
Edited on on Wed Feb 17th, 2021 @ 5:21am
Mission:
28 Days
Location: Sickbay, Starship Ulysses
Timeline: Mission Day 1 at 0400
The Groethan heaved a multi-toned, raspy sigh of irritation. His tone was a deep, rich base as alizarin eyes glanced at the fragile-looking female in white. Lieutenant Rosk sat uneasily on an examination biobed on the far end of Sickbay. He eyed the entry, the floating desire to use it as an exit itched enough that he squeezed the edge of the bed's mattress.
"Try to relax yourself," a soothing voice chuckled. The deep of a handheld medical scanner merely annoyed him- and Doctor Kiamenra Aax knew that. Groethan minds were as complex as many, but their emotional processes were close to the surface. Kiam could detect, even with cursory presence, her charge was both irritated and in pain. "I'm almost done," she assured. Rosk grunted assent with a nod of his melonous, hippotine head.
Kiam studied the readings on her medical scanner with a bitten lip. Black eyes resolved the diagnosis well before her technology confirmed it. "I'm afraid," Kiam drawled in her Betazoid brogue, then she paused to look at the anatomical scan. "You're going to be out of commission for a couple of weeks, Lieutenant." With her too-wide smile beaming sympathy, her pale hand patted the uniformed shoulder of the Groethan. "I'm ordering you to bed, Rosk. You have Rigellian Shingles." She grimaced, "The Chelon kind, fortunately." He bitten lip slid away with another look of sympathy. "I can give you something for the pain but you'll just have to wait it out. Would you like a sedative?"
The Groethan grunted an almost acoustically vibrative experience and shook his head. Kiam didn't press, turning to gesture at the nurse. "Three cc's of Triptacederine," she turned back to Rosk, "You'll be alright. Try to avoid contact with Tellarites and Rigellians right now. I'll find someone to help you get back to bed." Again she passed a hand, soothingly fashion, on his arm. "Once you're over it, we'll get you in the cellular regenerator. It'll eliminate any post-herpetic neuralgia, and eliminate any scarring." She wrapped an arm under the massive Groethan's underarm and gently bid him to lift. "Try," she grunted, "To sleep on your back or the unaffected side. And keep the area clean. I'll come check on your tomorrow."
Again, Rosk nodded wearily. Sensing the sentient presence of her nurse encroaching, Kiam turned to smile at them. Her hand, extended, took the pain killer. Kiam placed the nozzle to the Groethan's neck. With a grunt and a hiss, it was delivered. "Nurse," Kiam said casting her midnight gaze back, "Please help Lieutenant Rosk back to his quarters."
Once Kiam handed off the hippotine Helmsman and once again insisted he was to rest- a tall order for a species that hibernated but barely slept otherwise- she swiveled into the Nursing Stations controls. She searched for the comm key and punched it. "Sickbay to Bridge."
Ensign Kevin Ibanez sat at the flight control station on the Ulysses Bridge, studying the navigational readouts of nearby star systems the starship passed en route to B'Saar. It was a trick he'd picked up at the Academy, a way to keep himself occupied during long shifts when there wasn't much to do but monitor the flight status every few minutes. He didn't mind it; unlike a lot of other pilots he trained with, he a genuine interest in navigation and astronomy, and reading up on star data could keep him busy for hours.
Kevin was still in two minds about whether or not he made the right call by requesting a transfer to a smaller ship, especially considering he was already serving on the USS Mariner, a Magee-class... there was only one viable option to go smaller: a Malachowski like the Ulysses. His father had made the suggestion; 'Officers on smaller ships get more responsibility and stand out more,' the man had said. His sister, on the other hand, was taking the opposite of that advice and managed to get herself assigned to a Cardenas-class... and not the night shift either.
His thoughts about his Starfleet trajectory were interrupted by an incoming call from Sickbay. Given there was currently no one at the communications station, it was temporarily through to Kevin's console... maybe his father had a point about more responsibility. "Bridge, Ensign Ibanez," he answered, tapping the comm button on his control board.
"Good Morning Ensign," the tone on the other end was Doctor calm, but also pregnant with the mystery of why Sickbay would be calling during the tail end of the night shift. "If you could put the ship on cruise control for a few minutes, we have an issue to discuss. I'm heading up now."
The Betazoid was standing as she spoke, re-shouldering her green lab coat over her navy ULY t-shirt. Kiam had been roused from sleep herself, but that was the life of a Chief Medical Officer. She was on call twenty-four seven. Kiam fidgeted her comm in her coat pocket, eyes steady on the soulless comm panel below her.
"Yes ma'am, understood," Kevin replied after a split-second pause, having frozen for a moment as he realized that whatever it was was probably serious for her to call up at 4 am, and even more so if she was coming to see him in person.
A few scenarios ran through his mind as he locked the cruise settings on the flight control console, effectively putting the ship on autopilot. Was it about him? Maybe something undetected during his last physical turned out to be detectable? Kevin didn't know much about medicine, and this made things worse for his sometimes over-active imagination. Maybe it has something to do with another pilot? Lieutenant Rosk? He did seem not himself the last time he spoke with Kevin.
"I'll be back, you're in..." Kiam paused when she realized she was talking to open, cool air. She nibbled her lip, her brows rising, "Mmm, someday maybe they'll invent a holographic doctor." She smirked, hands fidgeting in her coat pockets before she broke into a gentle jog through the clear Sickbay doors.
Doctor Aax needed less than a couple of minutes to reach the Bridge. She appeared with a turn past the Captain's vacant Ready Room's corridor and onto the Bridge. She stalled for a moment: the Betazoid didn't often come up here. Certain not enough that it felt normal to set foot on this deck. She took a moment to get her bearings, eyeing the person that sat at the Ops console. No one sat the center chair, the light levels a cool, low blue.
"Her hand, cool, touched on Ibanez's shoulder. She sensed the end-musings and the shift of his consciousness from duty and private musings to the presence of being approached by another. Her black eyes surveyed him, careful not to dip any more deeply into his mind.
"Is there a uh," with a nibbled lip, she stood on her toes and glanced at his panel over his shoulder, "A parking brake?"
Kevin turned slightly to look up at the woman behind him, chuckling at her comment. "Of sorts," he replied, pointing to a large but somewhat inconspicuous looking button on the right side of the helm controls. "If I press that once we're out of warp, all stop and hold. Not to be confused with the emergency break," he said, pointing to a much more conspicuous lever on the left side of the console, its handle colored red. "If I pull that, we drop out of warp immediately and come to a halt... usually not very elegantly. Requires a bit of elbow grease so you don't accidentally pull it."
Kiam after a moment of hesitation, nodded, "N-noted. It's all," she circled a hand in that lever's direction, "All yours." Kiam's slightly too big mouth opened and hung, "Uhh..." she paused, and gestured at the youth, "Bad news." The Betazoid stuffed her hands into her lab coat, sensing her desire to fidget. She tried to control it. As honest as the Betazoid species preferred to be, delivering bad news was never easy.
"Lieutenant Rosk came into Sickbay about a half-hour ago." Her black eyes surveyed the youth, "He's out of commission for a couple of weeks at least." She hesitated, shrugging as she opened her hands to briefly make her jacket appear like a flying squirrel. "Which means you and your relief Helmsman will have to cover him." She grimaced. "He can't come on duty today, he's quarantining in his quarters right now."
Kevin's eyebrows shot up. "That doesn't sound good... he was acting a bit antsy earlier." His eyes flashed down to the chair he was sitting in. "Should I disinfect the seat?"
The Doctor, grimace turning to a relieving chuckle, shook her head, "Not unless you're part Tellarite." Kiam's verdigris-colored uniform shoulder shrugged, "Or part Rigellian. Species with hemoglobin-based biochemistry are immune. The odd ones out there are the Acamarians and it's deadly to them. But Rosk's going to be miserable for a few weeks. I considered asking him if he wanted me to induce hibernation." She brushed at her neck, "And let him sleep it off. But he was uncharacteristically un-chatty."
The Betazoid crouched into a squat to even their heights, "I'll have a word with Captain Bach. I'll try and make sure you and your team get some extra leave time once Rosk is better."
"Thanks, Doctor, I appreciate that." It had taken Kevin a moment to think why she'd offer to help with extra leave when it dawned on him... with Rosk out of commission, he'd have to pull double shifts. "Nothing some caffeine won't help with I'm sure," he chuckled.
Her black eyes, mirthful, mused at that. "I'll track down a Yeoman to bring you a mug." She glanced at their sides, "They could put a carafe table in the corner there." She said with a chin jut to the corner of the screen.
Kevin's face brightened at the idea. "Not a bad suggestion at all. We could put those magnetized ornamental Ulysses cups on display in the officers' lounge to good use." Given that the bridge was mostly empty and not much else was going on, he took the opportunity to make some small talk with the doctor. "Are you looking forward to the medical conference?"
Kiam's mind sensed the youth's consciousness shift with the topic change. She pushed a canine into the corner of her mouth, momentarily mulling. "Yes. It's fascinating. The Tiburonese have pioneered some new research into cellular regeneration techniques. But my field is neurosurgery so I'll be staying near the B'Saari presenters." She grimaced again, black coffee eyes musing even as she did, "Even if their automatons give me the shivers." Her eyes narrowed like a teacher ready to dissertate, "I understand your culture has something around that idea. Mary Frankenstein?"
Kevin blinked at the doctor's mention of Frankenstein, suddenly a horrific black-and-white image forming in his head of reanimated corpses serving as automatons. "Are these automatons... alive?"
Kiam smiled like a storyteller getting to the story's hook, "Mmhmm. Sort of. The B'Saari pioneered the technique of reanimating the deceased ages ago. But their techniques fall short of giving them actual life. They're more like simple, biological robots." She shivered, "As I said, they're eerie."
An involuntary shiver ran down Kevin's spine as he thought about. He'd seen a few strange things already in his short career, but nothing like B'Saari automatons. "Another reason to be glad I'm not a doctor," he laughed.
Her too big and toothy smile spread when Kiam added, "Or a B'Saari, I think." She rose, sinking hands back into the medical green of her pockets, "I'll have someone bring you that coffee. And I'll try to inform the Captain. But I doubt he's awake yet."
Kevin smiled and nodded at the Betazoid woman. "Thanks, Doctor, I appreciate it." His attention was interrupted by a beeping from the helm console, and he took a glance at it. "Nothing to worry about, just the cruise control reminding me it's still on," he reassured her, just in case.
"That's good to know. Nice feature." The Doctor pat his shoulder and stepped away, focusing on finding a Yeoman at this hour. She sensed it meant a trip down to the Galley.
