Star Trek: Season 5 - Boldly

[X]

Joint post by Jen and Just X

Aeric took a deep breath as he adjusted the power regulators of the ZPER. Even with the regulators installed, the Tiberius' power systems needed to be monitored. While the power generation system was successfully retrofitted with the ZPER technology on their way to Romulas, the power conduits needed to wait until they returned to a space dock and had several weeks of refit time. After they returned from Vulcan, Aeric felt that they could overhaul the systems as they repaired what ever else was wrong with the ship.

It felt good for Aeric to be working beside his life long friend again. Even though she had not been a part of the project that designed the systems in this reality, she had helped him in the times before this one. They could have allowed an engineering crew to do the work, but this was one of the systems that Aeric installed and he felt responsible for their condition. With Sevryll's aid, he felt like he had returned home again. He hadn't noticed how much he missed working with her until that moment.

He glanced to her as she manually adjusted the primary interlink module. Even without his having to explain the systems, she seemed to have a handle on the various quirks of the design.

"Commander," he said as he put the reactor into diagnostic mode and began to unpack the food that Aurora sent them after transporting the children. "I've been experiencing a few issues with my abilities recently. How are you feeling?"

"He must have noticed my trembling hand", she thought. Keeping her eye on the unit, the vulcan continued to tweak the module and raised an eyebrow in response. "Your... abilities..." she replied in a derisive tone. Sevryll knew very little about Lieutenant James and had even less trust in him. Since the day she discovered that her DNA had been stolen and used to create the Binary Clone he called 'his daughter'—she did little more than tolerate his presence. She acknowledged the fact that it was Aeric's prototype vessel and holographic co-pilot that created Aria James, but she still held him responsible... after all, he had created the architect of Aria's existence to begin with. Because of the sacrifices Aria had made on the mission to recover Sevryll's father from Romulus, the commander had grown to respect for the clone who shared her DNA, but she currently had none for the man who had contributed to the rest her genetic background.

"Sometimes, I forget that you don't know me as well as I know you," Aeric said with a smile. "I'm also sorry that we didn't get a chance to know each other better before your life became more complicated with Aria."

Aeric paused to take a sip of water and a bite from the energy bar that Aurora sent with the rest of the equipment. "Did you ever make it to the symposium on Sirius III? I know Elizabeth isn't in this timeline, but I wanted to know what else might have changed."

In an earlier, private meeting between the two officers, Aeric claimed that the timeline had been altered and that he had memory of this shift. The lieutenant's assertion was that he and Sevryll had grown up together and were friends in the previous timeline. Aeric alleged that in his timeline, Elizabeth, the infant belonging to Sevryll's grandmother and Commander Tucker, actually survived. According to Aeric, Admiral Elizabeth Tucker introduced the two of them when they were adolescents, and they became fast friends. He also alleged that Aria James was born to Sevryll in his timeline. According to him, she was once their daughter—a product of an unexpected Pan Far.  As a scientist, Sevryll found this information hard to swallow without evidence. She worked her jaw in agitation and replied, "Yes... of course... the alternate timeline..." she glanced at him with narrowed dark eyes then turned her gaze back to the module she was working on. The vulcan woman considered ignoring the question, but answered after a few minutes of silence,  "I had every intention of going to the archaeological seminar, but the shuttlecraft that transported us experienced catastrophic engine failure. The ship was pulled into the gravity well of a near by planet, and we crashed there. "

She finished her adjustments to the module and attempted to place the tuning implement back in her kit. Her shaking hand made the task challenging, so she set it beside the case in frustration and selected another tool.

"As for Aria, since our mission, I have found her to be a gifted and self-sacrificing individual for whom I have much respect."

Aeric smiled at her comments. "She is a fantastic young woman that has adapted well to the events of her existence. As for the alternate timelines, they can get quite ... complex to those who have not experienced them, but in the timeline that conceived Aria, our trip was similar. We went to the symposium alone and avoided the crash, but were adrift for almost a month."

"I was surprised that you and David married in this timeline, but I guess he's a stubborn one. I'm happy that you found someone that compliments you."

Aeric took another sip of his water and began to read the diagnostic results as they came in. He made note of the commander's shaking and at first he attempted to disregard it, but felt the need to voice his concern. "Again, I know that this is not my place, but with people falling ill on the ship, I need to know how long you've been having symptoms. I haven't been feeling well either and I know how stubborn you ... vulcans can be regarding health conditions. Have the children been displaying any indications of infection?"

With a ragged sigh, she shifted into a sitting position with her back braced against the bulkhead. She knew his questions would just keep coming so, the commander held out her hands to demonstrate how they trembled. Then clasped them together and folded them in her lap, in an attempt to still their quavering.

"This is accompanied by headaches, fatigue and an inability to control my emotions."  She paused briefly before continuing, "I believe these symptoms began shortly after our last shore leave on Earth, and they have steadily increased since our mission began. Initially, I assumed my failure to restrain emotion was due to the stress of my father's disappearance. When we recovered him, and the symptoms remained, I attributed these problems to the meld I performed on our Romulan captive, and then to the lack of time for meditation. Since these symptoms began, I have experienced varying degrees of anxiety and anger, " she looked down and away as she worked her jaw frustration once more. " This morning, at breakfast with Captain Quinn, I...I laughed uncontrollably." Sevryll flicked her eyes back toward Aeric and blinked nervously before adding, "my children could be vulnerable, not only to the virus but to my outbursts. If my condition continues to decline...I could harm them."

Aeric nodded slowly and hoped that his words would provide the comfort that her vulcan training would refuse to allow her. "With your permission, I can have Aurora run a scan on them while they are aboard my ship. If there is something erroneous, we have some of the best medical minds in Starfleet on Tiberius. If there is nothing wrong, I think it might be best that we simply transfer your hologram... what was his name? Dennis? to the Aurora and keep them safe until this ... problem ... is addressed."

Aeric looked over the woman that he had been close friends with in many of his lives and continued, "You were a good mother in all the timelines I've witnessed. You could never harm them... "

[iceman]

Dr Peterson had been unconscious for hours, but awoke in a feverish sweat and yelled out for Dr. Dret. " Dr. how long have I been unconscious for he spurted out?" Ryla responded with "approx 6 hrs sir. "

Dr. Peterson looked at Ryla and stated "give me whatever you have to, to keep me on my feet as long as possible, I will be in my office  and will not leave sick bay, but we need every Doctor we have working on this or we will loose allot of crew from this."

Despite being very sick he pushed on helping the nurses administer sedatives to the crowded sick bay patients.
Before the Dr. retreated to his office he gave his Doctors and nurses a pep talk, just like a commanding officer does to his soldiers before going into battle ,which seemed to invigorate his staff and fill them with the confidence they would need to get through the next few hours as sick bay continued to fill up.

Dr. Peterson sent a Message to Commander Sevryll marked urgent and asked her to come to sick bay to be scanned as he was afraid that if she had the virus she could spread it to her  children, he then sent a message to his friend Counsellor Margan thanking him his friendship.

He waited quietly as Ryla Ran the Medical Scanner over him listening to it beep as she moved it over him, watching her face grimace with frustration and concern. He waited for her to speak.

[Jen]

Doctor Dret watched as Peterson gave his  'rousing' speech to the medical staff. He needed to be in bed—what the heck was he doing up?  If she was worth her weight in latninum she would would hit him with a hypo of anesthetic and force his rear back into the biobed. As it was, the CMO was likely spreading his toxic germs about sickbay and endangering his life by continuing to work himself in this state. She bit her lip, unable to make the decision to override his authority. He was in no condition to lead... but she was in no condition to take over either.

Ryla glanced at the young girl who had just joined the medical team, an hour before. Initially, she had been taken aback by her remarkable resemblance to the first officer, but she quickly recovered herself when Doctor Peterson lifted his sweaty body out of bed and began giving orders.  Aria had the same look of doubt in her eye that Ryla was sure she had in her own.

[wraith1701]

K'Tan joined Tain as he headed towards the turbolift.  Despite his efforts to stay focused on the recent rash of system malfunctions, his thoughts kept returning to the raven-haired security officer he had befriended in Five-Forward.  Tain has probably worked with Tara, he mused.  Perhaps I can pick his brain about her.  "I think I'll accompany you to sickbay," K'Tan said.  "Once the doctors have checked you out, perhaps you could introduce me to the Security Team."

"Sounds good," Tain replied.  "Once we get back to deck 4, I'm sure Chief Manrique will be happy to put you to work."

After entering the turbolift, Tain instructed it to take the pair to sickbay.  K'Tan was relieved that there were no glitches; the lift descended swiftly and smoothly to deck eight before pausing, then continuing on a horizontal path towards the starship's medical bay.  As the lift slowed, K'Tan tried to casually fish for information on Lt. Stass.  "I met one of you fellow security officers earlier this evening; a woman named Tara Stass.  Do you know her well?"

Tain gave a knowing chuckle.  "I know Lt. Stass; she's a very capable officer.  A little too fond of partying, perhaps, but she never lets it interfere with her duty.  Before being assigned here she was a ground-pounder; she saw quite a bit of action during the Dominion War.  I think she was awarded the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor for helping hold the comm relay on AR-558."  As the lift came to a stop, the door whispered open.  "Oh, and she's sort of a nut for Parisis Squares," Tain continued.  "She's been badgering the security staff about forming a ship league for weeks.  Says it will help keep us all in shape."

K'Tan smiled to himself, and made a mental note to learn more about the sport.  As they stepped out into the bustling corridor, he turned to Tain and asked nonchalantly, "So, is she seeing anyone?"

Before Tain could reply, he was interrupted by a call from behind them.  "Make a hole!" a crewman yelled as he hurried past, half carrying, half dragging a semiconscious civilian woman.  As the pair followed the crewman into sickbay, K'Tan was shocked at the number of patients; several nurses had set up a triage station in the waiting area, and were hastily examining them. 

As a pair of med techs helped the newly arrived civilian woman onto an examination bed, the frantic crewman grabbed one of them by the arm.  "Please, you've got to help her!" he cried.  "She started babbling incoherently a few hours ago; she seemed to think that we were back at her home on Betazed.  When she started having convulsions, I figured I'd best bring her here."  The crewman glanced around the room desperately, tears streaming down his face.  "We're newlyweds; we were planning on vacationing on Risa next month.  Please tell me you can help her!"

With a grim look etched on his face, K'Tan slowly looked around the bustling waiting area, appalled at the pandemonium.  "This doesn't look good," he said quietly.

[Jen]

Doctor Dret administered Rexalin to sedate the Betazoid. She turned to the woman's husband to calm him, "ensign...?"

"....Mendoza, ma'am." Replied the frazzled crewman.
Ryla Dret offered him a dim smile and gestured to a nearby med tech, who seemed unoccupied. "Mr. Mendoza, what is your wife's name?"

"Yaunna... Yaunna Mendoza." He answered quickly... his eyes wild with fear.

"Yaunna needs you to be strong. Sit here, and hold her hand—try to relax Ensign. I need you to remain calm...do you understand, Mr. Mendoza?"

"Yes ma'am..." he responded quickly.

"So, Risa... That's a wonderful place for a honeymoon. Where did you get married Ensign Mendoza?"

"On Earth ma'am... in Paris, during shore leave."

"I've never been to Paris, but I heard it's a beautiful city." As she smiled at the ensign, she saw his expression relax slightly.

The medical aid stepped to Ryla's side as the Trill continued to scan the Betazoid. Doctor Dret quickly rattled off the patient's requirements, "this woman needs 15 cc's of Triptacederin and a 20 cc's of Borathium, stat."

The aid didn't bother to respond, he simply turned and dashed from the bedside to gather the drugs to treat the patient. Ryla glanced up to see a hulking Orion glistening with blood, and a clean cut terran standing at the foot of the biobed.

"What happened?" she asked the terran as she approached the Orion with her tricorder.

"Accident in the holodeck," replied the terran.

"I'm Doctor Dret... I'm afraid I can't offer you a bed, lieutenant, but you can have a seat over here. She motioned for the pair to follow her into her office and she helped lower the Orion into her chair.
Ryla's attention was quickly stolen away by a brawl that started on the floor.

"What the...?!" was all Doctor Dret could say as she rushed back into the infirmary.

[X]

Joint post by Jen and Just X

Aurora smiled as she felt her fingertips move over the console. It had taken her longer to configure and transfer the second hologram to the orb, but the hours it took were worth it. The children needed a familiar face while their mother worked. She adjusted her modified command uniform that had been part of the new equipment, given to the away team on Romulas. Her black hair flowed loosely past her slender shoulders as she removed the silver ball from its stand. She could actually feel the weight of the device as she held it in her hand.

"Beta orb," Aurora said in her throaty voice as the soft hum of the ship's systems blended into the background. "Activate Dennis hologram."

No sooner than she spoke the words, the orb rose into position and rapidly brought the hologram to life. Light and forcefields became holo-matter that took the shape of a humanoid male. Aurora took a second to admire the visual parameters of the hologram as he got his bearings.

"Welcome to the Aurora," she said with a smile. "The physical sensation might take some getting used to, but I believe that you can adapt to them."

"Where am I? Dennis looked about the cabin in confusion, then he caught sight of Sevryll's children and stepped off the dais to protect them. He quickly gathered them in his huge arms and turned towards the woman who gazed up at him with a passive expression. "Look lady, I can easily break you in half without a second thought—I'm giving you fair warning to get out of my way."

"I am Aurora, but you can call me Rory. You are aboard the ship of the same name. I'm sorry if this upsets you, but there will be no breaking of anyone in half. The children are here and they need their caretaker. I've given you a mobile emitter to better fulfill your role."

Picking up her tricorder, she moved toward the human looking hologram and began scanning. "You seem to be all there. Do you feel any discomfort?"

Dennis shifted the children in his massive arms. "Discomfort?" the hologram asked in a rich, resonate bass. The towering man scrunched his nose a few times and turned to M'rynn and then to N'vall; each child laughed at his funny faces. Then the little girl threw an arm around his neck and kissed his cheek. Dennis smiled and turned his gaze down at the woman standing before him. "As a matter of fact... my... my nose itches? Yes, that's it. MY NOSE ITCHES!"

N'Vall scratched it for him as Dennis chuckled. "What else can I feel? Can I taste too? I can go anywhere? I want to see the bridge first... then Five Forward... THIS IS GREAT—I can go on away missions now!" He bounced the half human, half vulcan children in his arms as his delightful, resounding chortle overwhelmed their giggles. A brief pause followed the laughter when Dennis released a huge sneeze. A large grin spread across his face, "Hey! That felt... SPECTACULAR!"

"You should calm down—do not forget that you are here to protect the children—not to play at being a security team member." Rory said as she used her console to adjust the orb and incorporated the information she gathered from her tricorder. "You should also be made aware that these units are emergency prototypes that are not fully complete. Some of our senses are functioning at a fraction of the levels of organics. When I obtain enough information, Aeric and I will finishing the project."

Rory tried to sound professional, but she really wanted to laugh at the behavior of the new hologram. She had never imagined how another would react to the taste of freedom. Rory also knew that each of these orbs were hand crafted and that once they accepted a program, they would not be able to recognize another. She wasn't even sure that the holograms could be transferred out of the orbs, due to the intergraded hardware based algorithms.

"You should get comfortable," she said. "This might be the last transfer that your program can make, unless we finish working on the quirks of the system. You might be stuck like this.

Dennis put the children down and sat in a near by chair to consider the attractive woman working at the console. She was bossy...but Dennis was use to that; Sevryll was bossy too. Rory mentioned he could be stuck like this... Like what? Free? He cocked his head slightly as he watched her work. "Why would I want to go back to being a mere reflection when I could be sentient?" he asked in a somber tone.

"This isn't about our freedom," Rory said as diplomatically as possible. "It's about fulfilling our programming and protecting those we care about in this time of crisis. As I said, these are prototypes, and it would work best if we both focused on what we were created to do. With the commander and Aeric busy with work, you will need to watch after the children. I'm a command hologram, not a babysitter."

She would have loved to celebrate her own new feeling, but there was too many deaths occurring for her to revel in sensations. "As photonic lifeforms, we have the best chance to move through the ship without further spreading the infection to other crew members. We need to finish scanning the children and then we can decide our course of action. By the way, it's nice to meet you."

Rory continued to run the medical scans on the children as she observed how Dennis interacted with his new status. As the results came back, she forced herself not to frown. "It seems that the children have encountered the virus and are currently infected. I will send the results to Aria and hopefully she can do something. Do you have any suggestions on our next course of action?"

Dennis grimaced, "they have a virus? No one told me there was an epidemic on the ship. What does a guy have to do to get information around here?" He stood from his chair and paced the deck; his heavy boots thudding softly on the carpet beneath their holo-leather soles. He felt overwhelmed and he couldn't quite make that sensation recede on his own... It was time to access his backup programming. In a split nanosecond, it kicked in and steadied his course. His pacing slowed and he stopped in front of Rory and leveled a sober gaze upon her. "It's nice to meet you too, Rory." He offered her a large hand to the woman, "You're a command hologram huh? You had me fooled—thought you were a bio-babe. FYI, I'm not a 'babysitter'. I'm the guard dog... a sentinel... a minder. I uh.... just so happen to know how to make the kidos laugh and get them to blow their noses and brush their teeth in addition to all that protection stuff.  As for our next course of action, I suggest we find a doctor who can treat them. Know anyone worthy enough to lay a hand on them?"

"Bio-babe? Interesting phrase. As for the children, I will transmit their vitals to Aria and then we can see what her recommended course of action might be. When my program was recompiled, a vast majority of my medical programming wasn't included. I don't know the medical personnel well enough to tell you if they are qualified to assist the children."

Rory met the man's hand with her own as she looked at the children. "I don't think we need to worry the children yet, but we should prepare measure to protect those under our charge from the virus. If things become critical, I will do whatever is necessary to protect the people I was instructed to."

Dennis let a slight, sarcastic smile tug at his mouth, "I figured 'Bio-babe' was better than 'flesh-fem'... sorry." he released her considerably smaller hand reluctantly and glanced back at the children. "What about their mother? Is she sick? We should inform her ASAP."

"I was contacted by lieutenant James, both of them are not feeling well. I assume it is the virus," Rory said as she led them to the cockpit and took a seat at the conn. She could feel the textures against her hand and tried not to smile at the sensations. "I'm going to try to get them to stop their work and get some rest. Aeric is not doing as well as he's pretending to be and if his abilities continue to give him problems, I think he'll need to be sedated. I don't want to imagine what would happen if his powers began to randomly misfire."

"I don't think you'll be able to sedate Sevryll. She's pretty stubborn even for a vulcan. Do you think they could die from this?"

"Yes." Rory said as she prepared herself for the worse.

[Bryancd]

In the hours that had passed since they had restored some semblance of order in Main Engineering, K'arath was till at work trying to diagnose what was ailing the ship and now members of her crew. He had lost two of his staff to sickbay in the last hour and a few others were not looking very well. He still felt find, perhaps due to his Klingon disposition and all his aerobic training, but he couldn't rely on that to last.

He paused to consider that. A virus had infected the gel packs and was now infecting the crew. The illness had manifested itself intially as sporadic system failures, phantom failures such as a hull breach which never occurred causing a systemic response. Once a system responded, it too would become infected, jumping throughout the ship. Non of the failures were catastrophic in and of itself, but in their entirety, the cascade could cripple and potentially kill. By shunting and rerouting effected areas, they seemed to be holding the virus at bay. Perhaps he had missed his calling and should have been a rachwI', a nurse, instead of an engineer!

A rachwI'....that's what he needed. Tiberius was a patient at this point, not a machine, and her cold was spreading to the crew as an epidemic. Any solution was going to be an engineering and medical response. He needed to speak with sickbay.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Join Post between Moyer777 and Kinglinksr

Margon and Ensign Starstriker walked through the corridors.  At each of the quarters they stopped for a moment to check if any crew members were trapped.  With power coming back up and communications being restored they found that most were simply disorientated or wondering what was going on.

Margon took one side and Starstriker the other.

"Counselor, I have noticed something that concerns me as of late"

"Yes? what is it Ensign?"

"Well, its about.  Its about my abilities.  They haven't been working for a little while now.  I feel, lost without them.  Its disconcerting to say the least."

The ensign was plainly worried.

" I understand.  You have to compensate Ensign, I used to be a barber, I was trained for it, I'm good with my hands.., but counseling is different, I had to adapt.  I know you're not comfortable without your abilities, but I'm not comfortable without my laser buzzers either.  We have to adapt.  You can do it."  The counselor smiled and comforted Isaac.

Starstriker pushed the chime for the quarters.

Nothing.

"Counselor, no answer at this one, my tricorder says there is someone in there, but they aren't moving"

"Computer, over ride crew quarters lock, Margon beta alpha four."

The computer chirped and the doors hissed open.

There on the floor was a Bajoran Ensign.  He was unconscious.  Margon leaned down and looked for a pulse.  "Do you know who he is Margon?"  asked Starstriker.  "I'm not sure." the Counselor replied.   "I can still feel a pulse."

He tapped his com badge, "Margon to sickbay, we need assistance in room 35A immediately!."   Isaac then realized that his telepathy was back.  It was like being thrown into a sea of emotions.  He immediately withdrew to his mind.

In a couple of minutes a team of medics rushed into the room.  One knelt and felt the pulse.  Another scanned the Bajoran and said, "He's alive.  I think he'll make it."  "It looks like he has a concussion and he's infected with the virus.  He'll be alright as soon as we can get him back to sick-bay," said Ensign Bovin.

"Virus?!" asked Isaac.  "When was there a virus??"

"You'll have to ask the doctors, we don't have time to explain" replied the medic.

Just then, the Bajoran stirred and opened his eyes.  He coughed slightly and looked directly at Isaac.  "Well, we meet again.  The name is Rojack." Then he passed out again.  The medics put him on the movable bio-bed and took him to sickbay.

"Meet again?  I've never met this Bajoran before." said Isaac.

Margon met Isaac's eyes.  "I don't know Ensign, you'll have to figure that out later, in the meantime since communication is up and running and power is getting restored, let's just see where we can help."

Isaac nodded, "agreed, and counselor..."

"Yes?" said the Bolian

"I can hear again."  He smiled.

[X]

Aeric's mind felt as if it was on fire as lay on the soft padded surface of one of the Aurora's biobeds . His mind and body fought frantically to repair the damage of the unknown virus to no avail. Without a complete sequence of the viral genome, his nanites were simply not able to properly counter the attack of the virus. As he lay there, he knew that Rory was right. With his powers rapidly growing out of control, he was becoming a danger to both the ship and the crew. He needed to be shutdown before he did something that could hurt or kill a fellow crew member.

"Father, I need your security code to place the nanites into diagnostic mode," Rory said softly. If it had been her choice, Aria would have been the one by their father's side to walk her through the shutdown, but she was far too occupied with her duties in the Tiberius' sickbay. With him slipping in and out of awareness, all Rory could do was monitor his vitals until she had the code. Sweat dripped from the brow of Aeric as his body shivered from the fever. "Aeric, what is the security code?"

Aeric took a deep breath as he struggled to sit up in the bed. Rory slipped the interface module under his hand and steadied him as his began to enter the security code into the device. For the sake of security, he had designed a rotating algorithm that generated a forty-two character command code into the system that allowed for manual interface. It was the last act that he could manage before once again falling into fevered dreams.

"Rest now," Rory said as she used the interface to command the machines inside her creator to push his body into the equivalent of a medical coma where even dreams were forbidden. A single uninterrupted tone issued from the cortical monitor to inform her that all detectable mental activity had ceased. With his mind neutralized and his bio-systems functioning at almost imperceptible levels, it was her hope that it would buy the crew time to come up with a cure for the virus that was tearing through the ship.

"Aurora medical log. Lieutenant James as been placed into a medical coma and level ten nanite diagnostic to limit the damage caused by an unknown viral strain. The Tiberius is still several hours from Vulcan and Aria is currently off ship trying to assist in treating the plague that has systematically reduced the moral and health of the crew. In accords with my programming, I am assuming full command of the Aurora until Aeric can be restored to health or Aria assumes command. I am working with Dennis, another photonic lifeform, to follow our shared objective in protecting those under our charge. It is with regret that I add to this log that Commander Sevryll and her children are also showing signs of infection from this unknown agent. Dennis and I are working an attempt to track the initial infection point and hopefully provide that information to the medical staff aboard the Tiberius. If a cure is not developed soon, I feel that we might loose a significant portion of the crew to this plague. End log."

Rory frowned as she moved Aeric's still form to one of the last available cryo-stasis tubes. The lower ambient temperature would all the nanotechnology in his body to operate at higher speeds and efficiency. With two of the pods already reserved for the children, the small medical bay aboard the shuttle was quickly becoming cramped, but for Rory, it was better that they were sleeping instead of dying.  It was better for the children and Aeric if they remained in stasis until a cure could be created. As the final seals locked into place, Rory quietly returned to the cockpit where the commander and Dennis waited with the twins.

[Geekyfanboy]

Several hours have passed since Quinn left sickbay and was told of the virus that is infecting not only the ship but also his crew. Quinn felt helpless as this matter was for the Doctors and Engineers to fix. He did his best at reassuring his crew that everything was going to be just fine. But would it be fine. His own telepathy was on the fritz, he had moments where his mind was quiet. This was so usual for him since there has always been other voices in his head as far back as he can remember. The quiet was disturbing and unnatural, Quinn felt as if a part of him was missing. Just when he thought he couldn't take the silence voices would come flooding back to him.

Quinn stood from his Captain's chair and headed to his ready room. He had to contact Starfleet and inform them of their predicament.  As he sat behind his desk he spoke out load to his computer screen.

"Computer please contact Admiral Stanton, priority one." A few moments passed then an Andorian female face appeared on screen. She smiled "This is a pleasant surprise." Her smile faltered and her antenni drooped a bit, "Nathan what's wrong?" Quinn began to explain their situation. "Approximately six hours ago we discovered a unknown virus that had infected several bio gel packs. Several of our key systems have been affected. Two hour after that they discover of this virus was airborne and we had our first casualty. It looks as though this virus is not only attacking our bio gel packs but it's attacking my crew. We don't know when or how this started. We're not sure if it started in the gel packs and spread from there or maybe it's been around much longer and just incubating. I have several of my best doctors and engineering officers working on the issue. The ship is currently functioning at 85% and we can only achieve warp 4 at the moment. We are still several days out from Vulcan. We have sixty-seven crewmen down at the moment, two have died and I fear we will lose more if we don't find a cure fast. I've had shuttle bay 4 & 7 converted to make shift sickbays and have put anyone with medical knowledge to work. And I have to tell you that I too am infected. At the moment it's only effecting my telepathy but I'm not sure how long or even if it will get worse."  Quinn stopped talking as he looked at Admiral Stanton shocked face. "Nathan is there anything we can do?" she asked with concern in her voice. "Not at the moment. I can't risk this virus infecting another ship. Right now it's contained on the Tiberius and I have confidence that we will find a cure. I will contact you again when I have news." Stanton nodded "Please take care of yourself Captain" Quinn gave her a slight smile and turned off his monitor.

Quinn stood and exited his ready room, "Mr. Tucker you have the bridge, I'll be in sickbay." Quinn entered a turbolift.

[Jen]

joint post by Jen and Just X

A course of adrenaline shot into her heart, causing it to jog at an uncomfortable rate. The irregular breaths she drew did not satisfy the requirements of her lungs or brain, and soon her head felt light and her hands and feet tingled from the lack of oxygen. The woman fell heavily in the chair next to Dennis, wearing a subjugated expression on her pale face.

If she were human, Dennis would have put a comforting arm around her—but among vulcans, contact was only permitted between husband and wife, and perhaps their young children. The hologram felt helpless... Rory had just informed Sevryll that her toddlers had been infected with the virus, and by their mother's reaction; it was obvious that the illness had infected her as well.

Rory empathized with her pain. With Aria occupied and Aeric incapacitated, she had to be the one to relax the situation. Regardless if the vulcan knew it or not, she and her children were family in the eyes of Aeric and Aria. That made this crisis that much more important to her.

"Commander," Rory said softly. "We will do everything we can to help the ship and her crew, but I want you to know that Aria will do whatever it takes to make sure that the children make it through this. I will keep an eye on them and we will make sure that nothing happens to the children."

Without a word, Sevryll stood and walked into the cabin where M'Rynn and N'Vall played— the door closed behind her with a sound that resembled a defeated sigh. Dennis and Rory exchanged glances, "we should give her some time alone with them," she said. Dennis nodded and turned his gaze back to the door. An hour passed, then two... Dennis began to worry that something was wrong when, without warning, the Sevryll exited the cabin with the twins.

"We are ready," she said numbly.  Dennis noticed that the white's of her eyes were now tinged with green, but she seemed to have regained some of her fragile composure.

Rory helped the children in their cryo tubes and attached the monitoring devices to their foreheads. M'rynn tried to take hers off but Sevryll stayed her little hand by taking it in her own. Standing between the two cryo tubes, the commander then reached for N'vall's hand. "Will it hurt?" he asked in a small, frightened voice.

His mother struggled to swallow the knot that formed in her throat. Her answer came in a smothered, breathy tone, "no...."

"Will you be here when we wake up?" asked M'rynn, her large brown eyes reflecting the low light of the Aurora's small infirmary.

Sevryll drew a deep breath of sterile air and replied, "Of course...and so will Dennis and Aria." M'rynn smiled at the mention of Aria's name. The girl was quite fond of her and often asked Sevryll when she would see Aria again.

"And Rory?" asked N'vall.

Sevryll glanced towards the hologram standing near by. The woman nodded. "Rory too," replied Sevyll.

"Good night, Rory," said the little boy as he tried to sit up to see his new friend.

"Good night," replied the hologram.

Sevryll leaned over and held her son in her arms, squeezing him a little too tightly. "I love you," she said. The boy's hand smoothed her hair and patted her back as his mother embraced him. After a protracted moment she reluctantly released N'vall and kissed his forehead.

She turned to M'rynn. The little girl had propped herself up and was eyeing her curiously. "What's the matter mommy?" M'rynn had never seen her mother react quite this way before.

Sevryll brushed a lock of wispy, black hair from the girl's forehead and kissed her. M'rynn searched her mother's eyes for the truth and received an embrace instead. "Nothing is wrong," replied her mother.

After a moment, she helped M'rynn lay back. "I love you.... you can tell me all about your dream adventures when you wake up." Myrnn smiled and nodded. "I love you too," she said. 

Rory stepped toward the tubes. Addressing the children in a gentle tone she said, "I'm going to close the lid, you will hear a strange noise but it is harmless and it will only last a moment." They nodded in response and Rory activated the seals. M'rynn was a timid child and despite Rory's warning, the little girl became nervous and began fearfully slapping the glass. Sevryll pushed forward and pressed her hands to the transparent lid in an attempt to comfort her daughter. A thin layer of glass was all that separated them, as the little girl pressed her own hands against that of her mother's. A moment later, M'rynn's arms fell to her chest; the toddler was asleep. A flow of tears came unimpeded and dropped onto the glass closure—pooling on the top before rolling in streams down the sides.

Sevryll pivoted to see that her son, N'vall, had drifted off without protest. She straightened to her full height and wiped her cheeks with the palms of her trembling hands. The commander drew a long ragged breath and let it out slowly before turning to the holograms, "I believe we have work to do..."

[wraith1701]

joint post by wraith1701 and Jen



Back in the sickbay waiting room, the sound of a loud, metallic crash followed by an inarticulate scream of rage jolted K'Tan into a state of alert. The racket seemed to be coming from behind the double doors leading to the infirmary.

"What the...?!" Dr. Dret exclaimed, a startled expression on her face. Both K'Tan's and Tain's eyes followed the blond Trill as she turned and raced back towards the steel-framed, transparent doors. Before she was halfway there, another cacophonous, clattering crash erupted from the infirmary; it sounded as though a rampaging targ was destroying the place.

The growing commotion seemed to make the patients in the waiting area temporarily forget about their ailments; all eyes were magnetically drawn towards the infirmary doors. From within the infirmary, a muffled voice yelled, "Stop; let me go! No! Please, put me down!"

With an explosion of pure force, the twin doors swung open violently; the windows resting within the metal framework shattered to shower the waiting area with bits of broken glass. Simultaneously, a man in medical blue sailed through the broken doorway, his white lab coat flapping in the breeze of his passage. The airborn man's arms and legs flailed ineffectually as he arced through the air, then came crashing down to the polished waiting room floor. Carried by the momentum of his flight, the man's body slid along the floor, coming to rest at Dret's feet.

As both he and Tain sprang to Ryla's side, K'Tan's hand instinctively went to his hip, reaching for a phaser that wasn't there. His expression grim, K'Tan's hand flew to his combadge. "K'Tan to Dunn. We need armed backup in Sick bay, ASAP!"

K'Tan and Tain's attention was suddenly drawn by the sound of approaching footsteps crunching on the broken glass littering the floor. Amid gasps of astonishment from the onlooking patients, the pair turned to see an older, gray haired Vulcan woman stepping out from the infirmary. The woman's wiry right arm was held extended in front of her, and her fingers were locked around the throat of a struggling, gasping nurse. As the Vulcan effortlessly lifted her arm, the nurse's kicking feet left the floor. Her face began to turn blue as she pried at the Vulcan's vice-like grip in vain; her mouth gaped open as she struggled for air.

Ryla checked the pulse of the nurse who lay in a heap on the shard-covered floor before her, then she stood and slowly stepped toward the vulcan...it was Commander Sevryll's mother. She had spent the last few nights at her husband's side. His condition since the rescue, had not changed—the vulcan diplomat remained in a coma. "Doctor Sareth, please release the nurse...you're killing her."

Sareth cocked her head like a Le-Matya studying it's prey. Then she opened her hand, and the dropped the nurse like an unwanted doll.

With a threatening hiss the first officer's mother addressed Ryla,"My husband is in critical condition. I will not permit anyone to move him to our quarters, simply to make room for someone else."

Tain gently yet firmly gripped Ryla by the crook of her arm, then slowly pulled her away from Saerth as K'Tan carefully stepped between the two women.  K'Tan warily approached the older woman, and said, "Please, ma'am, come with me.  I'm sure the Dr. is doing everything she can for your husband."  As he moved to guide Saerth back to the infirmary, K'Tan was completely caught off-guard by the woman's lightening-quick fist rocketing towards his face.  Stars exploded before his eyes as his head snapped back, then there was darkness...

An indeterminable amount of time later, K'Tan found himself lying face-up on the infirmary floor, staring up at the ceiling lights. The weathered face of the Orion was peering down at him.   With a wry smile, Tain whispered, "You shouldn't let yourself be fooled by appearances, Lieutenant.  Sareth might look like an old woman, but Vulcans tend to be about twice as strong as humans."

K'Tan grunted noncommittally as he tried to bring his vision back into focus.  "It wasn't her strength that fooled me, it was her quickness."  He slowly sat up, pausing to let the room stop spinning around him. As his dizziness began to fade, he heard the main doors slide open behind him.  K'Tan turned to see Ensign Dunn and two other security officers framed in the doorway, their drawn phasers aimed at Sareth.   As the trio stepped into the waiting area, the officers flanking Dunn holstered their weapons; Dunn's remained unerringly pointed at Sareth's torso.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come with us, ma'am," Dunn said.  With shocking speed, Sareth's face contorted into a twisted mask of rage.

"How dare you point that weapon at me," she snarled.  With a cry of fury, the woman lunged at Dunn; her progress was cut short by the incandescent beam of Dunn's phaser crashing into her chest.  Sareth took a faltering step forward, then toppled unconscious to the floor.

[3 Ducks in a Man Costume]

Remor wasn't surprised that the power had been restored so quickly. It was a classic Federation trait: the savvy engineer. As a young Glinn in the Border Wars, he had learned never to underestimate the resourcefulness of those in gold shirts. When captured, the gold shirts were often separated from their unit to limit their ability to devise an escape. When the command officers saw that their most likely means of escape was removed from the group, they became much more docile. In those days, he wasn't yet part of the Order, nor was he cleared to interrogate prisoners, so he didn't know how the newly reasonable officers held up under interrogation, but after he joined the Order and had access to those files, his suspicions were confirmed: much easier.

What did surprise Remor, however, was how quickly the virus had begun to spread. He guessed it was already mutating, but even with his biological sabotage training, he couldn't be sure just by looking at a bunch of panicked Starfleet officers. And, dammit, he was a spy, not a doctor! He made a mental note to contact his one-armed Ferengi friend, but to do so would surely blow his cover. He had almost been caught last time. Not actually caught, per se, but the diligent security team had noticed that something was amiss with the equipment he had used in Lucas' quarters. It's not like he was hiding, though. If he couldn't kill Brandt himself, he had to get someone else to do it for him. He almost wished that Enoch had cut her throat right there in front of everyone. It would have been satisfying, at least, to see such a malevolent person get her "just desserts." But she was allowed to take her own life before being debriefed. Remor would have enjoyed conducting the interrogation himself, but he doubted that even if he told them everything he knew she had done, the Federation wouldn't let him anywhere near her. And he couldn't blame them. The things he would have to do to get information out of a Tal'Shiar dead-ops agent made his own stomach churn a little.

And anyway, if he blew his cover by talking to the Ferengi on an unsecured channel, he would expose the Ferengi. Even if he secured the channel enough to be caught, but scramble the transmission to any eavesdroppers—well, he knew how resourceful those gold shirts could be. No. He couldn't drag the Ferengi into this until he had someone to cover for him. Someone high up. Someone with access.

Remor's musing on these matters was interrupted when he ducked into sickbay just in time to see a young security officer cut down an old Vulcan woman with a phaser blast.

"Well," he said, dryly, startling the young officer with the phaser. "That's not something you see every day."

"No, it's not," grumbled K'Tan, staggering to his feet and rubbing his head.

"She must have been quick to do that," Remor said, acknowledging K'Tan's dazed state.

"Like you wouldn't believe," K'Tan said. For a moment he regarded Sareth's stunned body as the uninjured medical personnel timidly approached. Then he turned back to Remor and said, "So what's your story?"

"Oh," Remor said, having momentarily forgotten his lie. "When the ship bucked, I was standing on a chair, hanging a painting in my quarters, and I found myself briefly married to the bulkhead." He pulled up his sleeve to reveal a genuine wound.

"I remember you," said K'Tan. "The poet."

"Correct," Remor said. The truth was that he had, in fact, been injured when the ship rocked, but he had been crawling through the Jefferies tubes, investigating a hunch he had about the gel packs. Of the packs he visited, a few were infected, but the others would no doubt follow in quick succession if the disease were allowed to spread. How to contain the infection, though. . . .

"Do you know how to use this?" K'Tan asked him, offering a dermal regeneration unit.

"Yes," said Remor.

"Good. Please bring it back when you're finished," K'Tan said, turning back toward the mess of tangled bodies and broken glass. "I've got to clean this up."

[Bryancd]

Ensign Dunn had yet to put down the phaser, he cling to it tightly as it hid the slight trembling of his hand. He concentrated on calming his breathing as another crew memeber stode by.
"Well, that's not something you see every day..." he said as he passed by.
Dunn finally was able to holster the weapon, the tension in the room and in his body dissipating following the off hand comment. Just think, a few hours ago he was in his quarters lamenting how dull this mission was. He was now becoming sorry for what he wished for.

[X]

Aria took a deep breath as she navigated her slender form through the crowded medical facilities. Since she arrived, she had mostly been in her own thoughts as she processed the information. She moved cautiously to her grandmother and scanned for the severity of the wound then turned her attention onto the security officer.

"I know you meant well, but in the future could you please refrain from stunning people in sick bay?" Aria asked Dunn as she waved her medical tricorder over Sareth's still form. As she quietly gather the medical data, she turned her attention to doctor Dret and the K'Tan person that she had yet to really meet. "Sareth's concerns are justified, her husband's condition could grow rapidly worse given the delicate mental state that he is in. I propose a compromise. I can have him and her transported to the Aurora's smaller medical center and from there she can stay by his side and out of the way of our dedicated security force. While you consider that option, I suggest that we also begin to test the blood of those not showing symptoms. If there is a chance that someone isn't showing because of immunity as opposed to lack of exposure, we could use that information."

There were so many pieces to the puzzle that was missing that it was hard to even begin to devise an effective treatment. He own father and siblings had been placed in cryo-stasis for the sake of their lives and the ship. Had she the time, she would have allowed herself to feel that loss and fear, but she didn't have the time. If her calculation were correct and things were going to get much worse before they got better. How many people would die before they solved this equation? How many would she personally fail to save?