Implications

Posted on 26 Sep 2023 @ 10:04pm by Lieutenant Commander Elodin Devan MD

439 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: Outbreak
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Immediately following Gotta Tell the Boss

Chief Medical Officer's log, Stardate 78193.2. Doctor Dattek-Winters has just informed me of her discovery of what appears to be a virus among the Antiocian population, one to which our crew seems to be immune. I am reminded of the phenomenon of microbial shock, as described among the native populations of North America when the first European colonists arrived, bringing with them smallpox, typhoid, and other viruses against which the Native American populations had no immunity. Other examples exist throughout the Federation, and on Bajor as well. Could it be that we are the cause of what is killing the Antiocians?

End log.

- - - - -

Elodin stepped away from his computer console and paced his small office. There was no comfort coming from the Shrine sitting on the shelf by the door. The Prophets were silent. It was a scary thought, but it was the most logical explanation - except that their ship was equipped with technology that should prevent such complications. Transporters were equipped with biofilters, which were designed to prevent such viruses from spreading and infecting unsuspecting populations.

He walked back to his computer console and accessed the engineering incident reports. It took him a few minutes, but eventually he found an incident report filed by Transporter Chief Marek. The young technician had found an anomaly in one of the transporter's systems, one linked to the biofilters.

With a sudden chill running down his spine, Elodin's mind flashed back to that time in the Tashi's office on that fateful day of First Contact. Most of the senior staff was there. And one person...

One person had looked a little flushed, under the weather.

"Computer, call up the latest medical records on Lieutenant Albert Spangler," he instructed.

As luck would have it, the young Science officer had been in for a physical just before their arrival at Antioch. Elodin looked through the vital signs. Temperature had been a bit elevated, and the white blood cells just a bit above the norm. Nothing to worry about, and the treating physician hadn't been alarmed. But in retrospect, it was now clear that the Lieutenant had been fighting off an infection. And if they'd been headed anywhere else, or if the biofilter had been functioning properly, that would have been the end of it. Spangler would have felt a bit under the weather for a few hours, but he would have recovered quickly.

Elodin finished compiling the data, and tapped the commpanel. "Elodin to Captain Bane. I need to see you in my office right away."

- - - - -

Dr Elodin Devan
Chief Medical Officer
USS Cygnus

 

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