Gravity Falls

Posted on 06 Oct 2023 @ 5:38pm by Lieutenant Commander Elodin Devan MD & Captain Bane Plase

1,065 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Outbreak

On Antioch III, Captain Bane Plase rounded the corner in the great palatial residence of the Tashi. In the last few weeks, he had spent more time here than he had anywhere else on the planet, and even the Cygnus herself. The hallways, corridors, light fixtures, plants and even the schedules of the Antiocians that worked in the building had become as familiar to him as the same had done on the Cygnus.

As it stood right now, he was just about to ring the doorbell to the Tashi's personal mess when his commbadge alerted him. He stepped away just in time for his Chief Medical Officer's voice coming across the channel.

=/\=Elodin to Captain Bane. I need to see you in my office right away.=/\=

The call was short, curt even, something that Bane had come to learn was not in the vocal dialect of the Bajoran healer. He tapped his badge at once. "Ok, Doctor. I will be there in just a moment. Bane out," he said, tapping his badge off. He looked to the door of the Private Mess and sighed. He was hungry, and he had been enjoying the company of the Tashi, but duty called. Perhaps, he thought, it was something about this illness that had been ravaging the planet the last few days.

Tapping his badge one more time, he said, "Bane to Cygnus, one to beam up."

=/\=Aye, Captain,=/\= came the voice of Chief Marek, the Senior Chief Petty Officer in charge of Transporter Operations on the Cygnus. It was usual to hear from her directly; usually the Operations Officer on duty on the Bridge would take charge of directing and controlling who came on board, when and to where on the ship. =/\=We are going to have to use one of the auxilliary transporter rooms, Captain. We are beaming you to Cargo Bay 7.=/\=

"Seven?!" Bane exclaimed. He did a quick mental map of the Cygnus, but could not place it before the beam took hold of him. A moment later, he stood on the transporter pad in Cargo Bay 7, way down on deck 28. He only figured this out when he was leaving, and recognized some of the items in the bay, some mission items that they had picked up over the last year which had yet to be catalogued and turned over to Starfleet Command.

Because he had materialized on deck 28, it took him a bit longer than he expected to get to Sickbay, which was on Deck 12. It was easily the longest turbolift ride he had on the Cygnus, other than the one time he visited the Pod. Finally entering Sickbay, he made a direct path to Dr. Elodin's office, and waited to be permitted to enter.

Elodin looked at the chronometer on the wall when he heard the door chime. It had been fifteen minutes since he'd contacted the Captain, and he had been getting a bit impatient. Certainly on an emergency like this, he would have expected a faster response from the ship's commanding officer, but then the Captain was a busy man.

"Come in," he called out.

As the Captain entered and took a seat, Elodin went straight to the point. "Captain, I'm fairly certain we're the cause of the epidemic on Antioch," he said.

He pressed a control, and a holographic representation of a single strand of RNA appeared, hovering in midair over his desk.

"This is from a viral sample sent by Doctor Dattek-Winters. It was isolated from victims of the Antiocian epidemic." He tapped a control, and several gene sequences were high-lighted. "These genetic markers are unique, and common to all samples. They identify the virus. The computer matched it immediately to a known virus in the Federation medical database, one to which virtually all Federation citizens have developed a natural immunity. It's a common Earth rhinovirus. What humans call the common cold is what's killing these people."

The gravity of the situation was not lost on the Captain. "I honestly have never heard of this 'common cold," Bane said. "I am, unfortunately, not fully versed on human pathogens. How did this pathogen get on my ship, and more importantly, how did it get from the ship to Antioch III?" The crew had been careful to not use shuttles to get to and from the planet, Bane knew. "This common cold, is it deadly to humans as well?"

"Not in the least," replied Elodin. "Humans, and for that matter virtually all Federation member species, have developed an immunity to this virus. Humans themselves virtually erradicated this virus about two centuries ago, though some strains persist. I believe one crewmember was infected with this virus when we beamed down to the Tashi's office for First Contact. We infected someone on the planet, and the virus mutated, spreading even faster among a population that had never seen anything like this - they had no immunity to this virus."

The Captain scrunched his nose in confusion. "Transported down? Wouldn't the biofilters on the transporters filter out..." he paused mid-sentence, the realization hitting him. "That is why I was beamed up to the bottom of the ship, isn't it. The transporters are malfunctioning." He shifted gears. "Devan, you and your team get a handle on this outbreak, help those poor people out," he said. Using the Doctors given name lent and additional weight to the situation from the Captain. "In the meantime, Commander Larsen and Lieutenant Hartley can ensure the transporters are torn down and repaired. Until then, all transporter activity is suspended until further notice. I will need to get with the Tashi....and Starfleet Command," he said standing.

"Now that we know our enemy, it should be possible to work with the Antiocian scientists and develop treatment for this disease, and maybe even a vaccine. I'll work with Lieutenant Bast to coordinate distribution with the Healers Guild," said Elodin.

Bane nodded. Bast was a damned fine officer and was happy with that pair. "Good. I'm off to call Starfleet about all this. I am not looking forward to that conversation. See you later," he said, his voice a bit defeated at the prospect of having to talk to Admiral Braxx.

"May the Prophets guide our path," prayed Elodin to the Captain's back as the ship's commanding officer walked out briskly.

 

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