SubAccount: Aryn Corliss

[[Sickbay - USS Shran]]

[Sickbay - USS Shran]

Lawrie nodded sadly at Alec speaking equally quietly he said "Sometimes our best is all we can give."

He assumed that the other doctor would fill in the unwritten words of the sad sentence without him saying it '... no matter what we do, sometimes our best is not enough.'

[Lieutenant T'Aco - Sickbay, USS Shran]

"Thank you." With some effort, T'Aco turned in the biobed until her legs were hanging over the side of it, and she was facing the nurse with her PADD. The nod she gave the other woman as a marker to begin was pained, but once recording began, the Vulcan turned her unnatural, bright blue eyes toward the device.

"Father. Mother." She licked her cracking lips and inhaled deeply through her nose before continuing. There was a resignation to her expression, yet her shoulders and back were suddenly straight, proud. "I believe I am dying, and that I do not have much more time to speak with you as myself."

She rested her hands on her knees, folding one over the other carefully.

"Before that happens I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the many disappointments I am responsible for. I understand you both intended nothing but the best for me. With hindsight, I can say that I was not ready, nor mature enough to realise your wishes or intentions for me. I hope that one day you will both think of me with the same gratitude and regard that I feel for you both, and that you'll respect my decision to remain in Starfleet. This has been the greatest adventure of my sixty-six years."

"Peace and long life."

She was still for a few long moments. Then she looked toward McGellen, Trenzal and Gates. "Gentlemen. As much as I am trying to fight this incursion, I am afraid that I am becoming overwhelmed with desires that are not my own. I will soon be unable to deny them. I recommend you do not try to stop me from returning to the planet. Thank you for your care. You are all a credit to your profession."

T'Aco slid off the biobed and walked to the door.

[Sickbay]

Alec's throat tightened and tears filled his eyes as he listed to the doomed Vulcan make her final farewells. It wasn't the first time he'd seen someone die, not even the hundredth, but this one was going to stick with him for the rest of his life.

As the being that was no longer T'Aco stood and walked by, Alec offered a dip of his head in acknowledgement, saying quietly, We'll make sure your parents receive the message. Great Bird of the Galaxy be with you.

=A= Trenzal to Corliss. Make a general announcement please that Lt. T'Aco is to be left completely alone as she makes her way to the transporter room and beams down to the planet. NO interference. The being inside her is returning to its home. We can't help the lieutenant.

Aryn could tell from his voice that he was upset, and simply said quietly, Acknowledged. =A=

A few moments later, her voice echoed through the ship: =A= Attention, Shran. All personnel are to allow Lt. T'Aco to proceed to a transporter room and beam down to the planet without interference. You might offer her a farewell salute, but stay out of her way. Lieutenant, I hope you can hear me. We honor your sacrifice. Corliss out. =A=

[[Lieutenant T'Aco - Sickbay, USS Shran]]

[Lieutenant T'Aco - Sickbay, USS Shran]

T'Aco's mind, not at all like your standard human's, was still aware of what was going on in her own body. When the stasis field was dropped to facilitate her transport, the Vulcan woman followed the pull of the light, back toward consciousness. She had something important to say.

At some point she sat up ramrod straight on the biobed. Her once dark eyes shimmered a light blue as her gaze pierced the medical personnel present.

"Doctors. Nurse. Petty Officer Gates. I am changing. I am losing... myself. I do not have long. Please, allow me to record a brief message for my parents before it is too late."

This was no time for sorrow or regret. She felt the need to bid those who bore her a farewell. T'Aco fought both in her mind, and in her heart, to maintain some semblance of control, as waning as it was.

The eerie gaze rested on McGellen. "I do not want to leave."

It is inevitable.

[Sickbay - USS Shran]

Lawrie got the fright of his life as T'Aco sat bolt upright on the biobed.  Heartrate returning slowly to normal he listened to what the Lieutenant had to say then took out his PADD and set it to record.

Going on what she was saying she knew she was going to die, and there was nothing the medical staff could do to prevent it.  He would try, but sometimes you had to give up.

"OK T'Aco, rest easy, say your piece, my PADD is set to record." Lawrie said kindly, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder in comfort.

He chaffed against the seconds that might save T'Aco, but at the same time she seemed to know what she wanted, so he was granting her what might be her last request.

Looking sadly over her body at Dr. Trenzal, Dr. Gates, Bettina and Grithaw he shook his head in a 'I think we're going to lose her' sort of way.

The CMO handed his PADD to Bettina and stepped away for a moment to send a message to the Captain.

McGellen to Ellis - we have decided to put Lt. T'Aco in cyrogenic statis.  However just before transit she has some consciousness of her surroundings and has asked to record a message for her parent.  It's like she's aware that... she's not going to make it...

Lawrie dashed frustrated tears from his eyes but he couldn't hide the tears from his voice.

We'll do all we can, Captain, obviously, but I think she's resigned herself to the position.  I thought I'd best make you aware. McGellen out. 

[Sickbay]

Alec jumped when Lt. T'Aco suddenly sat up when they lowered the stasis field. He wasn't a hundred percent sure, but Alec thought this might be the strangest thing he'd ever seen.

Damn it, Alec whispered after swallowing down a lump in his throat. It sounded as if T'Aco didn't think she would survive. As much as he wanted to hurry her into cryostasis, however, he couldn't deny her the right to leave a message if she wished.

The El-Aurian doctor's fists were white as he tightened and loosened them at his sides. He stepped close to the other doctor and murmured while the Vulcan recorded her message, I have a terrible feeling that our endeavors are futile.

Reserve request for the following characters:

Descant to-Harmony (SBC) - effective immediately
Ozu Saya (Disco) - effective end of current mission
Aryn Corliss (Shran) - effective upon replacement

[[Sickbay]]

[Sickbay]

[As Lawrie and BETTINA KWAN]

(Bettina)

Bettina came running through to the main Sickbay from the room in which she'd been doing analysis.

"Law... erm Dr. McGellen!" she said seing the other doctors standing there.  "I've found something, or actually the exact opposite of that!" the nurse said excitedly.

The CMO raised an eyebrow, not taking his eyes off the monitor of T'Aco's output.

"Hmm..?" he said not blinking, but worried that the drug he'd given T'Aco didn't seem to be bringing the heartrate down, but as yet it hadn't gone up any either.

"Well..." she began.  "I did every scan known to us... like Dr. Trezmal said to to, but I was also looking at them through the microscope.  I can see them under the microscope but do any kind of scan on them... they seem to disappear.  But they're definitely there.  I only cottoned onto it cuz the levels of other things altered, they're there, but they're mimicking other things.  Trouble is... something that would show up on one scan,  when I do another scan for that thing... they've disappeared.  I mean if I was scanning for thing A on a thing A scan, they wouldn't be there, but if I was scanning for thing B on a thing B scan, the thing A things would be there... it's like they're hiding from something not wanting to be scanned but knowing that we're scanning them.  I'd say they're either scared of something, or got something to hide." Bettina concluded.

"Interesting certainly.  I'm not sure how this helps with T'Aco yet but I'll certainly pass it onto the Captain.  Thank you.  What do you make of that Alec?! I'll get that down to the Captain now." Lawrie said.

McGellen to Ellis and Kane.  Just an interesting update.  First the quick news, 5ccs Vernakalant IV for Lt. T'Aco hasn't brought her heart rate down but it hasn't elevated further.  However, Nurse Kwan has been doing some research.  It seems that our wee beasties are mimics, and either hiding something or wanting to hide from something....

The CMO took a deep breath and then ploughed on.    Bettina has been conducting a series of scans... Dr. Trezmal wanted every scan known to us performed on T'Aco or the samples or both, Bettina was left in charge of that.  When she was conducting Scan A for Item A... Item A didn't show up... however if she was doing Scan B for Item B then Items A did show up... that is to say it never showed up as the thing that was being scanned for, if you were looking for it... it wouldn't be found by scanning, but perfectly visible under a microscope.  Not sure if that sheds any light... they're intelligent if they can do that or pre-programmed.  McGellen out. 

"It's all we've got left... and yes we have provision for cryogenic stasis.  But I hope no one else needs it.  So far as I recall - it's been a while since I was down there I think Kestra was the last one down there, there's only 2 pods.  Let's do it." Lawrie said with a worried look.

He signalled to Roger and Grithaw to go ahead and prep the cyro unit, sadly shaking his head that it had come to this.

"Of course we've got to also wonder that they can outrun or adapt to cyro too... a worrying thought."

[Sickbay - Dr. Alec Trenzal]

Alec listened to Nurse Kwan with interest, nodding and thinking. So it's something like a chameleon, he summarized. It changes to match its environment, and consequently hide from observation, but if the environment changes rapidly, it can't quite keep up. And yet, it's not exactly like a chameleon. If we couldn't see a chameleon, but scanned for it, we'd find it because its DNA doesn't change. This seems to mimic DNA perfectly and have no real nature of its own, I guess.

When Lawrie indicated that they had access to a cryogenic stasis unit, Alec breathed a quick sigh of relief. I know that's a possibility, but I can't think of anything else that might stop them, without outright killing Lieutenant T'Aco. At best, it gives us the time we need. At worst, if we lose her, we've done our best.

Do you think transporting her is best? Get her moved more quickly?

Character(s) affected: Aryn Corliss, Ozu Saya, Descant to-Harmony
Assigned ship(s): Shran, Disco, SBC
Period of time absent: 2.27-3.1
Date of last period of activity: 2.26
Date returning: 3.2

Any relevant comments: Traveling and visiting a friend for the weekend. I'll post if I have time.

[[Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Sickbay]]

[Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Sickbay]

Kellen Gates looked up at Doctors McGellen and Trenzal, his superiors, his mentors, and appeared positively morose. He looked at the reassuring hand Alec had placed on his shoulder, and then up at the man himself when he inquired after his doctor training. "I would not deserve to be called doctor, even if I had."

At the mention of hot and sweet tea, Gatesy nodded slowly. Hadn't he only hours ago recommended the same for Miller? Fat lot of good that had done him, though. Miller was dead. No thanks to Kellen Gates. No, he had a job to do. He couldn't let anyone else down, not today. He stopped nodding, and shook his head instead.

"I might have failed Ensign Miller, but I cannot fail Lieutenant T'Aco." He stared at both men, and then toward the Vulcan's biobed again. "Put me to work."

***

[Lieutenant T'Aco - In stasis, Sickbay]

T'Aco lay motionless on the bed, seemingly completely preserved. In theory, all cellular activity should be suspended; and that was initially the case. Now, however, T'Aco's unique physiology was beginning to fail her. In the beginning it fought against the micro-organisms that had threatened to overtake her body and mind, leaving her on the brink of exhaustion. Stasis was only delaying the inevitable. She, like Miller, would eventually succumb.

[USS Challenger - Sickbay]

Lawrie's eyes looked around everything individually.  First to Alec, then to Gates, then to the bed where T'Aco lay.

"Gatesy... what happened to Ensign Miller wasn't your fault.  You know that right?  But, if you really want to help then any light you can shed on this... carry on but please, can we deal with you before you do?  Flaking out or something while working on the Lieutenant ain't gonna do any of us any favours!" the doctor said with a small encouraging smile.

Just then the monitors on T'Aco started to beep.

"Sir, heart rate is elevated.. this shouldn't happen while she's in stasis should it?" Roger said with a worried look on his face.

"It shouldn't but we know literally nowt about these beasties... so, expect the unexpected."  Lawrie shook his head sadly.  "I don't know what else we can do... Alec?  Gates?"

McGellen to Kane and Ellis, did you get the data package and is there anything you can tell us, Dr. Kane.  Captain... I know it shouldn't but I'm starting to figure to expect anything with these little wrigglies, but... but...

A very worried CMO passed a weary hand over his eyes which were decidedly starting to leak.  T'Aco wasn't the easiest person to get on with but he was damned if he was going to give up and let her die.

Lt. T'Aco as you know I put in stasis... that should put everything on hold.  For a while her natural physiology was helping and she was fighting back.  Now... either her body is giving up or the micro-organisms have adapted... either way, her heart rate is elevated and we're running out of time. 

"Roger, I think she's going into Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia... so you don't have to say that all again PSVT if you want to refer to it later... One of you get me 5ccs of Vernakalant, stat.  Hopefully that will buy us a few minutes, every second is worth it." the CMO said hoping that what he was saying was true.

[OOC - FYI Vernaklant is an IV antiarrhythmic drug... looked up on line!  Kids... do not try this at home!]

[Sickbay]

Lawrie's right, Kellen, Alec said as he squeezed the young man's shoulder. This was in no way your fault. I'm kicking myself, too. I've run over at least a dozen more things I could have done down on the planet or suggested for when he returned to the ship.

Alec rushed for the biobed when Roger reported the change in the lieutenant's heart rate, quickly turning to grab the requested medication since he was closest to the meds dispenser. He handed Lawrie the hypo and peered at the readings above the bed.

The stasis must not affect the organisms. He tapped his hand rapidly on the side of the bed. What about... An idea was budding. It might not work, but they were running out of options. Do you have the means to put her in temporary cryogenic stasis? That's the only thing I can think of that might be able to stop them long enough for us to figure this out.

[[ Planetside - Peninsula by the Sea ]]

[ Planetside - Peninsula by the Sea ]
"That does present a pickle. I guess we are stuck here if we want a specimen. I will call us down a shuttle. I think we still need to stick to the same precautions we have in place thought do you agree Peter? Before you answer let me hail us a ride" Jenna began as she tapped on her combadge.  "Lt. Commander McKinson to the Shran. We are requesting a shuttle to come to pick us up here on the surface."=/\=

[Bridge]

Aryn's brow furrowed, but she responded, =A= Acknowledged, Commander. We'll get one on the way. =A= She didn't know exactly what was going on on the planet, but based off what had happened so far, she figured some precautions were in order.

=A= Commander Corliss to Lieutenant O'Leary. I need someone suited up in an EV suit and meeting the away team on the planet's surface as soon as possible to return them to the ship. =A=

[[Felicity Ellis - Shubble Nemo, The Descent]]

[Felicity Ellis - Shubble Nemo, The Descent]
"Ellis to McGellen, Trenzal. Doctors, we're following a bit of a working theory down here, and we will need Dr. Kane. Please send him all of the data you've collected regarding the micro-organisms and Lieutenant T'Aco's condition directly, so he can consult from the Nemo. The doctor assures me that he can simultaneously walk and chew gum."

***

[Petty Officer Kellen Gates - Haunting the corridors -> Sickbay]

He walked into Sickbay, unwittingly avoiding Alec's eyes and landing on T'Aco's still form instead.

[USS Shran - Sickbay - Deck 7]

Lawrie allowed himself a little bit of a chuckle to the Captain's comment about Kane being able to '...simultaneously walk and chew gum...'.  He mentally made a note of 'We'll keep this one, he has a sense of humour!'

Acknowledged, Captain... I'll send it over now as for update on Lt. T'Aco, other than she's now in stasis, nothing new at present, obs remain stable if somewhat elevated heart rate it is not, as yet, dangerous.  McGellen out. 

He compiled what notes they had and sent over a data package to Dr. Kane.

Shortly after Kellen Gates walked into the Sickbay.

"Ah, Dr. Gates, you couldn't have arrived at a better time.  I say, Gatesy... you ok?!" the CMO enquired as the young doctor walked in.

DATA PACKAGE FOR KANE

• Unicellular micro organisms.
• Multiply (cell-splitting) at rate of around 2x every 5 mins.
• Appear to like warm liquid e.g. blood, to survive in.
• Have dropped some into saline solution... died.
• T'Aco condition remained static, even prior to putting her in stasis, modulo the number of micro-organisms in her blood, presumably.  This suggests that potentially vulcanoid mitochondria may be fighting them off better than humanoid mitochondria did with Ensign Miller.
• Currently about to filter Lt. T'Aco's blood, removing, but saving the micro-organisms for more analysis.
• Dr. Trenzal suggests that they are 'intelligent' or at least have some kind of instinct, at least collectively, and that we should hold off just exterminating them on such a basis in case they are.

[Sickbay]

Alec had no problem letting Lawrie handle most of the communications. He was the Starfleet officer, after all. While he would have liked to have Dr. Kane on hand to run tests, it made sense for the scientist to remain with the away team. Alec was regretting his decisions through the centuries to keep his training in strictly medical fields. He made a promise to himself to diversify more in the future.

When Kellen entered, Alec immediately strode forward. Come sit down, he said, putting a hand on the young man's shoulder to guide him to a biobed. He hesitated, then changed his mind. Lawrie, how about your office?

Mr. Gates, he said in a gentle voice, Have you managed to complete your doctor training since the last time I saw you? He hoped the light teasing would ease Gates' mood, whatever was causing it. Alec had an inkling, since he was having similar feelings himself, but he didn't want to assume. There was time to get the young man seated somewhere comfortable and find out what was wrong - a small amount of time. They would be able to check the samples of T'Aco's blood to see if the organisms had continued to proliferate or if her blood was fighting them off.

*****

"Ellis to Corliss. Bridge, Nemo is under. Please have Lieutenant Dimmadome monitor our readings from there."

[Bridge]

=A= Aye, Captain. You all be safe, =A= Aryn responded. She realized that she probably should have protested the captain going on this part of the mission. Too late now.

Lieutenant Dimmadome, keep as close a watch on them as we can. Let's look into launching a probe under water to help with readings and to use as a signal booster for comms and transporter lock if needed to beam them back. I'm assuming that we'll start losing signals once they get too deep.

[[Sickbay]]

[Sickbay]

"That..." admitted Dr. McGellen with a grim look "...had crossed my mind.  However, they are unicellular micro organisms, I'm not sure that they would have the capacity for intelligent thinking, they don't have brains.  But maybe collectively they do.  Now how to find out if that is so... who knows.  I think for the time being we work on making sure Lt. T'Aco is going to survive, and if we go for filtration keep the beasties contained and alive, that way once we have T'Aco stable we can work on a way of trying to communicate with them!"

Lawrie looked sadly at Alec.

"Dammit Alec I'm a doctor, not a micro-cellular biologist.  I wish John was back here he might be able to shed some light on communicating with them if that was possible."

[Sickbay]

With their control of Ensign Miller and attack on Lt. T'Aco, the organisms seem to show at least some sort of instinct if nothing else. As he spoke, Alec drew several more vials of blood from the Vulcan's arm. He paused to observe her life signs for a few moments before stepping back. Let's get the stasis field around her. I think that's our best bet to give us a few extra hours to figure things out.

He headed back for the lab with the vials of blood in hand. I can't say I'm well-versed in microbiology either. Perhaps we should think about getting Dr. Kane back up here, and probably should update the captain, too, before we start messing about with a potentially intelligent species.

[[Sickbay]]

[Sickbay]

"Full blood transfusion??? That's one option.  However, do we have that amount of blood available that she could take I'm wondering, or are there enough Vulcans on this ship to make up any deficit."

Lawrie thought aloud.  "I don't think there's any other sure and certain way to do it to be honest unless..."

The CMO cursed mildly under his breath taking another look at the microscope.

"There's one possibility but I am lacking two things at the moment.  Firstly seeing if these things reproduce at any kind of rate and ... what that rate is, i.e. time.  Stasis might be a good option just while we figure this out, then... find something that kills them that won't kill Lt. T'Aco.  I've got a feeling a certain small person currently munching all my cookies in my office might not be too impressed with us if we let her favourite Vulcan die."

The doctor carefully picked up a clean petri dish, put a dollop of non-contaminated (as in from a blood pack) Vulcan blood in it and then sat it on his hand long enough to have it slightly warm.  He then separated 2 of the micro organisms and dropped them into the blood to see how they reacted.

"I'm going to give them 5 mins, see if they do anything, I think if we keep the rest of the 'gunk' sample at room temp and 'fed' with some blood, either fresh Vulcan or T'Aco's it'll keep the micro organisms alive so we can then... this sounds very evil but I don't want to be sometimes we have be be evil on one hand to be mercurial on the other.  We need some live that aren't in her to experiment on.  So stasis it is.  If you deal with that I'll keep an eye on these wee beasties and start working on how to kill them other than cutting them off from their supply."

He gave a look at the two in the petri dish under the microscope... sure enough they were splitting themselves and there were now 6 in the short time that they'd been talking.

"Well that answers that question... Stasis is the only way we'll save her, we can't move as fast as they can reproduce.  Do it.  I'll start working on something to kill them... which won't kill her, then we inject her with it."

Something was nagging in the back of his mind and then he suddenly smacked his head.

"Alec, belay that about stasis!"  Lawrie practically ran to his office, covering the entire Sickbay in about 3 strides, grinned at Kestra and Elanii and grabbed his personal PADD yelling "Make sure there's one of those biccies left for me!" then ran back to Alec, breathing hard, slightly out of puff.

"Normally I wouldn't allude to anyone's age, but since your species is known for it's longevity it's pretty likely you've been a doctor far longer than me and, come across what I'm going to say." He took several deep breaths to try to steady his heart rate and then let his famous grin fly.

"Mitochondria, Vulcans have mitochondria.  They can be scanned for.  There's every chance that the native mitochondria will fight the new unicellular beasties and while T'Aco might be ill for a while, her body will kill off the new strain itself.  In the meantime get a Mitochondrial Scan done on her.  We have a few new options."

[Sickbay]

Alec chewed his lip as his mind raced through possibilities. It's possible that T'Aco's physiology might be different enough that her body can fight off the 'invader', for lack of a better word, unlike a human. I think we ought to draw some more blood and go ahead and put her into stasis so that we can try some different things - filtering the blood, observation to see if her mitochondria can fight it off on their own, and whatever else we can think of to try on it. If the organism can't survive outside a living host, we might be able to cycle her blood out and hold it long enough for the organism to die.

He moved to the biobed to draw more blood. They'd want it even if they didn't pursue the idea of stasis. Alec paused before applying the hypospray that would pull more blood from the Vulcan's veins. Lawrie, what if we're talking about an intelligent species? It may not be able to help its manner of transmission. Maybe it can share the bodies of species on its own planet without harming them and didn't know it wouldn't be the same for a human.

He'd seen so many different alien species in his life, Alec had to bring up the possibility.

[[Main Sickbay]]

[Main Sickbay]
[As Lawrie, Grithaw Rag and Roger Maghouin]

Lawrie moved to the microscope and got his sample focused.  He nearly fell over at what he saw.

"Alec, can you come look at this.  I want to be sure that someone else is seeing what I am."

His eyes couldn't believe the little microscopic unicellular organisms. They were moving around quickly and seemed agitated.

"I'm wondering if these could be 're-animating' Ensign Miller, thousands of them, using him as a host to do things they can't do as individuals maybe..." the doctor said muttering aloud to himself.

[Sickbay]

Alec was waiting for the machine to finish its tests on the blood, and he was just about to pull the spun down samples from the centrifuge when Lawrie called for his attention.

He quickly joined the other doctor and leaned over to peer at the magnified sample. It took him a moment to register what Lawrie was saying as he tried to make sense of what he was looking at. What the hell... Alec looked in horror toward the biobed where T'Aco was lying. And he...transferred...for lack of a better word, some to Lt. T'Aco. We've got to, I don't know, figure out a way to stop the process. What if we put her in stasis before they kill her? Or could we filter her blood somehow?

They couldn't detect them with any of their scanners, so would their other technology work? Alec had no idea, but they needed to try something quickly before the Vulcan died.

[[Felicity Ellis - Shubble Nemo]]

[Felicity Ellis - Shubble Nemo]

Felicity listened as Jett confirmed the pre-flight checks had been completed. She didn't respond to the comment on the crew; of course there was one coming. To his statement that he was "kidding" about blowing a hole in the hull, she merely gave him a sideways glance. She was in no mood for messing, and even less open to being treated like a moron.

Ah, but that was to continue, it seemed. Her hands stilled over her console, and she turned her body fully around to stare at him in disbelief as he proceeded to impart his orders. She raised a hand after a moment, hopefully staying any further remarks.

"Do not presume to tell me what I like, think or trust. And I'd particularly advise you not to tell me what to do." Felicity was sick to the back teeth of having to justify her decision to keep the pirate on the Shran. She'd gone out of her way to make sure that he was kept alive, she'd taken him at the behest of Section 31, and she'd asked personal favours of her crew not to break convention and harm him. She had reached the stage where she could no longer ignore the requests and feelings of her crew when it came to Thomas Jett; if she continued to defend him they'd continue to question her judgment. It didn't matter what she'd been through with him, or what he'd seen - it was time for the man to show up or literally, ship out.

"Continue to overstep, Tom, and I'll let you step right off this ship at Warp 9. Are we clear?"

At the sound of the knock and the voice of their new addition, Felicity turned in her chair. "Doctor, come in. Take a seat." She gestured toward one of the four seats in the modified shubble, this one located to the side and beside several consoles that would control sensors and allow them to monitor structural integrity closely. "Once everyone is here, I'll get you all up to speed." Kane knew more than Jett, Doug or Lyric would, but she decided to wait until they were all together and airborne to fill in the blanks for the group and save from repeating herself.

The next hurdle was actually getting out of the shuttle bay itself. "Ellis to Bridge. Commander Corliss, I am taking our modified shuttle and a small team to the planet for further investigation. If McKinson can arrange enough power to Main Bay to allow us a chance to exit, that would be much appreciated."

[Bridge]

Aryn had been sitting and waiting for something to happen. She wondered if this was how captains usually felt being left behind on the ship while something major was going on.

=A= Aye, Captain. Commander McKinnson joined the away team that beamed down to the planet's surface, but I'll get engineering on it immediately. =A=

As she spoke, Aryn gestured at the officer at the engineering station who nodded and began tapping away at his console feverishly. I'll have to reroute power from secondary systems, but I can transfer power to the shuttle bay temporarily.

How temporarily?

I'd suggest they have the engines fired up and be ready to exit as soon as the doors open. He shrugged as Aryn raised a brow at him.

=A= Captain, we can transfer power for a short time from secondary systems. Engineering recommends getting the shuttle fired up and ready to go as soon as the doors open. Apparently, the power won't last long. =A=

[Sickbay]

Sickbay

"Our pleasure Captain, in the case of Kestra I think she misses her nieces and nephews, sooner we get her married off to someone nice and she has some kiddos of her own she'll be in her element!" Lawrie jested, eager to have something less horrific to talk about.

"As for after, well Bash is always asking to play with either Elanii or Steve so...." he shrugged elaborately.  "I don't think it'll be a hardship and if it comes to mealtimes so long as we have a list of anything she doesn't or isn't allowed to eat as well as a huge bowl of Cookies and Cream ice cream I think we'll be fine!!" he grinned over his shoulder as he assisted T'Aco into the Sickbay.

"Gelatinous... hmm... let's see if we can find any of that on you..." the doctor commented.

"Yeah... well... I don't in one sense as in I'm sorry that we have to do it but in order to get to the bottom of this, yes I'm glad to take that one on, Alec.  I'll try to get separate samples of both this gelatinous stuff and the blood.  Lieutenant... do you hurt anywhere other than directly around the scratches?"

He took a small tool and got samples from around the wound, blood and other 'gunk' and put them on microscope slides.  "I'll leave the rest to you, Dr. Trenzal.  Lt. T'Aco, please try to rest a little."

[Lieutenant T'Aco - Sickbay]

"It is not pain that I feel, Doctor," T'Aco told him, her eyes feeling hot, heavy, the darkness of sleep beckoning. "I believe that Ensign Miller's attack has negatively impacted on my motor skill."

Her tongue ran tentatively over her lips. "I am warm. I am thirsty."

She rolled her head away again, her movements slow, her eyelids sliding closed. "I believe I should rest now."

[Sickbay]

Alec's fist clenched as the Vulcan lieutenant appeared to fall asleep. He raised the hand with the tubes of blood and gestured a nurse over. Keep a close watch on her vital signs and be ready with a defibrillator and cortical stimulator. There is a high risk of cardiac arrest. I need to run these tests.

The nurse nodded and took up a position beside the biobed, watching the monitor above closely.

Alec headed into the lab and began spinning down two of the blood samples in the centrifuge. While he waited for that, the El-Aurian inverted one of the tubes of whole blood several times and loaded it into the blood-analyzer unit, scrolling through the menu of possible tests and choosing any that would detect foreign bodies in the fluid.

Once that was running, he stood in the doorway and stared at the prone body of Lieutenant T'Aco on the biobed, mentally running through everything extra he now felt he should have known to do before Miller was released from sickbay. He didn't even blame Lawrie or anyone else. He was over eight hundred bloody years old and should have known better. Should have ordered more tests, suggested they keep the young man in sickbay for observation. Anything.

Welcome, Stratton!

[[Sickbay]]

[Sickbay]

"Did I hear the words 'clawed with fingernails', get that sorted.  As for the bloody tests..." he winked at Alec, hoping to put the other doctor a little more at ease,

"... every bloody last one of them that you can think of and probably a few that you can't.  Remember I'm a virologist and immunologist by specialism.  I'm used to doing things with blood and DNA samples most people wouldn't think about.  Don't worry, there's a list in the database, one extra vial of blood.  Sorry Lieutenant you're going to have a bit of an empty arm but I'll get someone to fetch you a warm drink for the blood taken to start regenerating."

[Lieutenant T'Aco - Sickbay]

T'Aco had never felt so exhausted before in her life. Her legs and arms were a dead weight, dragging her down toward the floor. She actually groaned with relief when she was placed on the biobed, where she did not have to contend with the bother of simple forward motion.

She was still vaguely aware of Dr. Alec Trenzal holding her arm and studying it, and Dr. McGellen commenting on blood. "They are from Ensign Miller's fingernails," she confirmed of the indentations, her voice coming out a little slurred. Her head rolled to the side to look at them both.

"There was a gelatinous material exuding from his ear. He smeared some of it on the wound. I found that to be highly irregular."

[Sickbay]

Alec shot Lawrie a worried look when T'Aco revealed exactly what had happened. Though no one had seen it, he had to imagine that something similar must have happened to Miller, which meant they were probably on an extremely limited timeline.

He gently set the Vulcan's arm on the bed beside her and reached for an empty hypo. Alec applied it to her arm, and filled several tubes with green blood.

I'm going to start running the tests on these, Alec said as he headed for the lab. He paused a few feet away and turned back. Doctor, maybe we should get a sample under the electron microscope, too. You want to take care of that? he asked Lawrie.