Mission 1.3: Internal Medicine

[Dylan Torngate]

[Bridge]

"Lieutenant. Man your station for now, but we may need you in engineering before long." Briefly, Stafford explained the phenomenon of the living planet. "We've made our incision, now we are going in."

[Bridge]

Dylan looked flabbergasted at the man. A living planet? That was certainly new. He went over to the Engineering station, taking over the station and pulling up all the systems monitors he could. He looked at where the Engineers were, seeing a DC team assembling toward the bow like they were supposed to at red alert. He tapped his commbadge. =/\=Crewman Torel, please head up the damage control party at the bow, they need someone in charge. he said, before cutting the channel.

He stood up, looking to the XO and nodding, indicating that the Engineering division was ready for action.

[Paige Wardropper]

[Bridge]

Stepping back from the console, shame burned in Rachel's chest, second only to the pain in her head.  She had made a mistake.  Even worse, she had made a mistake that had hurt another being, even if they didn't fully understand that being.  Ceding the console to her department head, as she had requested before making the mistake, now felt as if she were a child stepping back from a botched project and waiting for the parent to fix it.

"Yes, sir," was the reply to his request for a talk at an unknown time after the immediate crisis situation, in a quiet, almost meek voice.

Turning in the direction of the voice's source, Rachel tried hard to focus on the young woman, but ultimately gave up.  She couldn't help but feel a measure of pity for the Betazoid.  Given that for her, it felt at if someone had taken a cleaver to the back of her skull and a powerdrill to each of her implant sites, she wouldn't wish that on anyone.

"You are welcome to try," she replied, even though she knew that medications did little for her headaches due to the fact that they were related to the VISOR.  For them to have any effect, she would have to remove the device, which wasn't recommended during a crisis situation.

Bridge

Realising that Rachel couldn't focus properly on her Paige made herself known.

"Ms Deacon it's Paige who did your medical.  Are you having problems with the visor?  I realise this probably isn't the best time to take it off, and the Captain will probably kill me if I pull any more of her crew off the Bridge because of this but..."

Paige licked her lips and tried to block out the pain coming from the planet and that coming from Rachel. It was becoming increasingly difficult even with her training.

"...basically you can't see what you are doing because of the pain anyhow, and if you took your visor off which is what I think is causing your pain, you wouldn't be able to see either. So why not save yourself some pain?"

It was only logic that Paige uttered.  "I can administer some pain medication but while you are wearing that it's not going to make a lot of difference, I could dull the pain but the amount I'd have to give you might make you drowsy and thus render you unfit for duty.  I'll leave it up to you for now. But please if it gets any worse be advised that it's my duty to pull you off duty. Sorry Rachel."

[Rachel Deacon]

Bridge

Realising that Rachel couldn't focus properly on her Paige made herself known.

"Ms Deacon it's Paige who did your medical.  Are you having problems with the visor?  I realise this probably isn't the best time to take it off, and the Captain will probably kill me if I pull any more of her crew off the Bridge because of this but..."

Paige licked her lips and tried to block out the pain coming from the planet and that coming from Rachel. It was becoming increasingly difficult even with her training.

"...basically you can't see what you are doing because of the pain anyhow, and if you took your visor off which is what I think is causing your pain, you wouldn't be able to see either. So why not save yourself some pain?"

It was only logic that Paige uttered.  "I can administer some pain medication but while you are wearing that it's not going to make a lot of difference, I could dull the pain but the amount I'd have to give you might make you drowsy and thus render you unfit for duty.  I'll leave it up to you for now. But please if it gets any worse be advised that it's my duty to pull you off duty. Sorry Rachel."

[Bridge]

While there was a certain amount of relief in the fact that the person in front of her was indeed the woman who had done her and Stark's physicals, it was quickly squashed by the words that followed.  Rachel's expression twisted in to one of near anguish at the thought of being forced to remove her VISOR during a crisis situation.  However, Paige's logic couldn't be faulted, even by a Vulcan, or at least someone who had grown up among them.

Hanging her head in defeat, she admitted:  "It will only get worse if I keep it on."  Lifting her hands up to the device, she started to seek out the small nodules that would disconnect the VISOR from the implants, but snatched them back just as they brushed against it, unable to stifle the quiet whimper that accompanied the movement.  Even touching the implants was enough to send a further spike of pain drilling through her skull.  I pushed it too far, she realised.

[Paige Wardropper]

[Bridge]

While there was a certain amount of relief in the fact that the person in front of her was indeed the woman who had done her and Stark's physicals, it was quickly squashed by the words that followed.  Rachel's expression twisted in to one of near anguish at the thought of being forced to remove her VISOR during a crisis situation.  However, Paige's logic couldn't be faulted, even by a Vulcan, or at least someone who had grown up among them.

Hanging her head in defeat, she admitted:  "It will only get worse if I keep it on."  Lifting her hands up to the device, she started to seek out the small nodules that would disconnect the VISOR from the implants, but snatched them back just as they brushed against it, unable to stifle the quiet whimper that accompanied the movement.  Even touching the implants was enough to send a further spike of pain drilling through her skull.  I pushed it too far, she realised.

Bridge

Paige felt the pain shoot through her from Rachel as a reaction.

"Let's try this, it won't cure it, but it might deaden the pain enough for you to remove it and soon as we can we need to get this sorted for you."

Paige prepped a hypo with 10ccs of bupivacaines.  Realising she would have to explain what she was doing as she would to a blind person she gave Rachel the quick version.

"This is bupivacaine, blocks nerve impulses in your body for a particular area.  In your case I'm going to give you two small shots of it just behind your ear either side.  That should give you enough of a numbing effect to get your visor off without more pain?  Are you ready?  Once we've done that wait 5 mins then try removing it again.  If that doesn't work we're going to have to think of other options."

Ruth wasn't sure what her other options were bar surgically removing the visor but that would have Rachel knocked out cold if the bupivacaine didn't kick in.  She waited patiently for Rachel's response wanting to know that the woman was 100% sure she wanted to do this.

[Rachel Deacon]

Paige felt the pain shoot through her from Rachel as a reaction.

"Let's try this, it won't cure it, but it might deaden the pain enough for you to remove it and soon as we can we need to get this sorted for you."

Paige prepped a hypo with 10ccs of bupivacaines.  Realising she would have to explain what she was doing as she would to a blind person she gave Rachel the quick version.

"This is bupivacaine, blocks nerve impulses in your body for a particular area.  In your case I'm going to give you two small shots of it just behind your ear either side.  That should give you enough of a numbing effect to get your visor off without more pain?  Are you ready?  Once we've done that wait 5 mins then try removing it again.  If that doesn't work we're going to have to think of other options."

Ruth wasn't sure what her other options were bar surgically removing the visor but that would have Rachel knocked out cold if the bupivacaine didn't kick in.  She waited patiently for Rachel's response wanting to know that the woman was 100% sure she wanted to do this.

[Bridge]

Knowing that other options were few and far between, Rachel gave a short, discreet nod of agreement to Paige at her suggestion of the bupivacaine.  She was familiar with the compound, although only passingly.  She had used it once or twice during search and rescue missions, when she had to remove a limb in order to free an individual.  It was fast acting and strong.

It didn't take long after the two shots were administered close to her implants, although she did wince slightly as the hypo touched the tender area, before she felt the effects.  The level of pain quietened down slightly even though it didn't make much of a dent in the overall headache, but more telling was the fact that what information was being transmitted by the VISOR was thrown in to chaos due to the interferance with the nerves and what little she could interpret was gone.  Very gingerly, still expecting the same jolt of white-hot pain as before, Rachel lifted her hands to touch the clasps that held the device in place.  A moment later, she quickly unclipped it, almost wrenching it off.  A measure of relief spread through her as darkness rushed in to take the place of the jumble of colour.  The headache was still there and as strong as before, but she had anticipated that since the damage had already been done by the VISOR.  No, the relief came from the fact that she was no longer having to concentrate on interpreting an image that couldn't be interpreted, and from the knowledge that at least her headache couldn't get any worse.

"Thank you," she murmured to Paige.

[Paige Wardropper]

[Bridge]

Knowing that other options were few and far between, Rachel gave a short, discreet nod of agreement to Paige at her suggestion of the bupivacaine.  She was familiar with the compound, although only passingly.  She had used it once or twice during search and rescue missions, when she had to remove a limb in order to free an individual.  It was fast acting and strong.

It didn't take long after the two shots were administered close to her implants, although she did wince slightly as the hypo touched the tender area, before she felt the effects.  The level of pain quietened down slightly even though it didn't make much of a dent in the overall headache, but more telling was the fact that what information was being transmitted by the VISOR was thrown in to chaos due to the interferance with the nerves and what little she could interpret was gone.  Very gingerly, still expecting the same jolt of white-hot pain as before, Rachel lifted her hands to touch the clasps that held the device in place.  A moment later, she quickly unclipped it, almost wrenching it off.  A measure of relief spread through her as darkness rushed in to take the place of the jumble of colour.  The headache was still there and as strong as before, but she had anticipated that since the damage had already been done by the VISOR.  No, the relief came from the fact that she was no longer having to concentrate on interpreting an image that couldn't be interpreted, and from the knowledge that at least her headache couldn't get any worse.

"Thank you," she murmured to Paige.

Bridge

"You're welcome Rachel, just doing my job.  Now, given that your visor is off, do you just want to sit quietly there? Or would you like helped down to your quarters?  I can't give you much more at the moment, I can give you a little more bupivacaine, but I can't give you anything else to ease the pain at the moment, sorry, not without putting you in a drug-induced coma. Can you cope?"

Paige had felt the rush of relief, but she could also feel Rachel's pain.  However, she knew that different people had differing pain thresholds and she didn't know how high Rachel's bar was set.

[Rachel Deacon]

"You're welcome Rachel, just doing my job.  Now, given that your visor is off, do you just want to sit quietly there? Or would you like helped down to your quarters?  I can't give you much more at the moment, I can give you a little more bupivacaine, but I can't give you anything else to ease the pain at the moment, sorry, not without putting you in a drug-induced coma. Can you cope?"

Paige had felt the rush of relief, but she could also feel Rachel's pain.  However, she knew that different people had differing pain thresholds and she didn't know how high Rachel's bar was set.

[Bridge]

Now that it was off, Rachel slipped the VISOR into a loop on her belt that she had sewn on with tha particular function in mind.  Even when she wasn't wearing it, she became distinctly agitated if she didn't know exactly where it was and/or have it to hand should she need it in a hurry.  With the options presented to her, she took a short moment to consider them.  Without the VISOR adding more and more pressure onto the headache, she felt that she could probably draw on her lessons from childhood to keep it from overwhelming her again.

"I will be able to continue using a tacile interface until the current crisis is over or until there is no longer need of my presence," she said, but then lowered her voice, sounding ashamed once again.  "Then a drug-induced coma may be welcome until this passes.  Unless my presence here disturbs you..."

[Joran Torel]

[Bridge]

Dylan looked flabbergasted at the man. A living planet? That was certainly new. He went over to the Engineering station, taking over the station and pulling up all the systems monitors he could. He looked at where the Engineers were, seeing a DC team assembling toward the bow like they were supposed to at red alert. He tapped his commbadge. =/\=Crewman Torel, please head up the damage control party at the bow, they need someone in charge. he said, before cutting the channel.

He stood up, looking to the XO and nodding, indicating that the Engineering division was ready for action.

Engineering

Joran could hardly believe his ears. Is he being asked to take a command of a team few hours after he assumed his post? Furthermore, of a team doing work he knew quite a little about? Well, life is full of challenges and this was just one more. He was only wondering, how eager the other members would be to take commands from someone as "green" as he was.

Aye, sir. I'll do the best I can.

"Computer, what's the precise location of bow damage control party?"

"The party's location is deck eight, section one."

Of course it is. At the forward airlock.

Joran quickly left engineering for the bow of the ship.

[Ezac]

[Hallway, en route to Security Office]

The yellow alert had been enough to hasten Ezac's walk to the Security Office. He considered to himself silently that it shouldn't surprise anyone that something would come up relatively quickly after starting a new mission. Now, as he wound his way through the Athena's hallways, he was stopped in his tracks by the activation of a red alert.

With a new sense of urgency, Ezac resumed making his way to the Security Office.

[Security Office, moments later]

With just one foot in the office, Ezac quickly realized the room was empty. Unsure of what might be expected as a result of the red alert, he decided to keep himself busy by ensuring that any weapons stored there were functional and accounted for.

[Leonard T. Scott]

[Bridge]

What confidence Rachel may have had in her abilities before was reaching an all time low as the commander ordered her to lock on to a target with a view to cutting a precise hole.  To her horror and shame, tears of frustration built up in her eyes, thankfully hidden from view by the strip of metal currently causing her problems.  Why was is that, when she admitted that the situation was too much for her artificial sight device to handle, no one seemed to take any notice?  Were they completely unaware of how much pain it caused?  How afraid she was of failing because of being put in this situation?

Shifting her hands on the console, taking in the readings through the tactile interface, she tried to calm herself, to channel all the lessons she had been taught on Vulcan.  "Aye, Commander," she replied, although the down turned curve of her mouth belied her discomfort and unhappiness.

Doing the best she could on touch alone given that sight was impossible, she locked on to a target and calibrated the phaser banks to give her a short, narrow burst of energy.  With a deep breath, she fired off the shot, which went wide from the clot, creating a gash in the planet's surface.  Feeling her error through the console, Rachel jumped back, her hands clenching in to fists as she fought another wave of shame and anger and pain.

[Bridge]
Scott saw that his fellow ensign and newcomer to ship had missed slightly. He noticed the VISOR and thought that there had been some kind of malfunction with the unit.

He started to empathize with her. Perhaps later on he would talk with her and help her feel more comfortable in the ship, but that would be for another time. At the same time he empathized, he also wanted to crack a joke.

"Time and place," he reminded himself. "Time and place."

"Captain, if you'd like, I can use this incision to take us in so as not to cause any further harm," Leonard said, trying his best not to belittle the new tactical officer. "As long as our sensors are good, I'll be able to navigate whatever passes for its cardiovascular system with relative ease."

[Levinia Black]

Bridge

Levinia watched with bated breath as Ensign Deacon made the cut.  She crossed her arms to avoid clenching her fists at her side and winced when the young woman made the wrong cut.  It happened however, to all surgeons and the thing to do was to correct the mistake instead of making it worse.  Walking over to the ensign she placed a hand on the woman's chair and whispered some encouraging words.  The last thing the woman needed was to be yelled at.  "It's alright, although it seems to be in some sort of pain the incision is not what is causing its main pain."

The CSO turned to the cadet manning the science section.  "I want a progressive report on the creatures bio readings.  Are there any spikes in the thresholds.  Is it bleeding, if so we need to close it up before it bleeds too much."  She returned to the viewscreen and turned to the Commanding Officers.

"Well, if you wanted to go inside right now is a good time.  However, like any bleeding creature it will try to close itself up which means it'll be throwing platelets at the opening.  If it's a typical biological and all our readings show that it is."  Levinia gave them the possible problem but then gave them a solution.  "I'd have tactical on alert to shoot any biologicals aimed at us, because we will be a foreign body.  This won't hurt the creature one bit, since each cell is basically an individual, but they can cause a lot of damage if they manage to stick to the hull or even infiltrate it.  We won't know for certain until we're inside."

"If we follow the blood flow we can maneuver basically anywhere."  She continued, "As soon as we've passed the creatures outer crust we can get a better reading of what's inside and find the source of the problem.  I believe this is what we want to do, isn't it?"   She gave Leonard a nod, agreeing with his words and turned back to the Command staff. 

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Bridge]

Scott saw that his fellow ensign and newcomer to ship had missed slightly. He noticed the VISOR and thought that there had been some kind of malfunction with the unit.

He started to empathize with her. Perhaps later on he would talk with her and help her feel more comfortable in the ship, but that would be for another time. At the same time he empathized, he also wanted to crack a joke.

"Time and place," he reminded himself. "Time and place."

"Captain, if you'd like, I can use this incision to take us in so as not to cause any further harm," Leonard said, trying his best not to belittle the new tactical officer. "As long as our sensors are good, I'll be able to navigate whatever passes for its cardiovascular system with relative ease."

[Bridge]

"Scott," The commander said, his voice firm but with a tinge of nerves. "Take us in, nice and easy."

He turned to the bridge crew and began issuing orders. "Ensign Deacon, monitor our shield status. And don't worry about the incision. None of us have any idea what we are dealing with here. McIntyre, same for you with the power and communications. If it tries to communicate again get the computer on it."

Stafford said next to the attractive female science officer, "Lieutenant Dr. Black, I completely agree. We need data, and we need it as soon as possible." As usual, their science officer was on point.

Finally, to the medical staff, the commander smiled slightly, but it looked as if his heart wasn't in it. "And it appears we have a patient, my fellow doctors. This isn't exactly slicing up a piglet like back in medical school, but I am sure we will make do."

[Paige Wardropper]

[Bridge]

Now that it was off, Rachel slipped the VISOR into a loop on her belt that she had sewn on with tha particular function in mind.  Even when she wasn't wearing it, she became distinctly agitated if she didn't know exactly where it was and/or have it to hand should she need it in a hurry.  With the options presented to her, she took a short moment to consider them.  Without the VISOR adding more and more pressure onto the headache, she felt that she could probably draw on her lessons from childhood to keep it from overwhelming her again.

"I will be able to continue using a tacile interface until the current crisis is over or until there is no longer need of my presence," she said, but then lowered her voice, sounding ashamed once again.  "Then a drug-induced coma may be welcome until this passes.  Unless my presence here disturbs you..."

Bridge

"No, Rachel dear.  Compared to the pain this planet is in, your pain is worrying me more for your sake than any discomfort or disturbance on my part!" Paige reassured the tactical officer before her.

"If you can carry on working so much the better, and should you wish to be temporarily put into a sedated sleep once we are able I'll be happy to give you that relief later."

She gave it as a sort of promise to the young woman, almost like a carrot to help her through the pain she was in.

[Bridge]
Scott saw that his fellow ensign and newcomer to ship had missed slightly. He noticed the VISOR and thought that there had been some kind of malfunction with the unit.

He started to empathize with her. Perhaps later on he would talk with her and help her feel more comfortable in the ship, but that would be for another time. At the same time he empathized, he also wanted to crack a joke.

"Time and place," he reminded himself. "Time and place."

"Captain, if you'd like, I can use this incision to take us in so as not to cause any further harm," Leonard said, trying his best not to belittle the new tactical officer. "As long as our sensors are good, I'll be able to navigate whatever passes for its cardiovascular system with relative ease."

Paige smiled at Mr. Scott, gratefully.  Poor Rachel was in enough discomfort without making her embarrassed too.  It gave her something less to worry about when members of the crew looked out for each other.

[Rachel Deacon]

Levinia watched with bated breath as Ensign Deacon made the cut.  She crossed her arms to avoid clenching her fists at her side and winced when the young woman made the wrong cut.  It happened however, to all surgeons and the thing to do was to correct the mistake instead of making it worse.  Walking over to the ensign she placed a hand on the woman's chair and whispered some encouraging words.  The last thing the woman needed was to be yelled at.  "It's alright, although it seems to be in some sort of pain the incision is not what is causing its main pain."

[Bridge]

With all of the other goings on around the bridge, Rachel hadn't heard Levinia come up behind her and started as a voice whispered close to her ear.  The words didn't bring her much comfort.  The mistake had been made.  She should have done better, or at least made a better attempt to communicate that she had been unsuited to taking the shot.  Before she could say anything in return, however, whoever had spoken had already moved on, leaving the tactical officer feeling foolish and mildly humiliated.

He turned to the bridge crew and began issuing orders. "Ensign Deacon, monitor our shield status. And don't worry about the incision. None of us have any idea what we are dealing with here. McIntyre, same for you with the power and communications. If it tries to communicate again get the computer on it."

"No, Rachel dear.  Compared to the pain this planet is in, your pain is worrying me more for your sake than any discomfort or disturbance on my part!" Paige reassured the tactical officer before her.

"If you can carry on working so much the better, and should you wish to be temporarily put into a sedated sleep once we are able I'll be happy to give you that relief later."

She gave it as a sort of promise to the young woman, almost like a carrot to help her through the pain she was in.

The offer of artificial sleep later was a definite attraction for Rachel.  Sleep would help alleviate the headache, but getting to sleep while one as strong as the one she had at that point would likely be difficult.  Even though Paige had reassured her that her pain was peanuts compared to the planet, she couldn't help but feel a little responsible for the Betazoid's discomfort.

"Thank you, Doctor," she replied softly before stepping up to the secondary tactical station, engaging the tactile interface and laying her hands on it so as to monitor the status of the shields as ordered.  It only took her a moment before she reported:  "Shields holding at 90%, Commander."

[Leonard T. Scott]

[Bridge]

"Scott," The commander said, his voice firm but with a tinge of nerves. "Take us in, nice and easy."

...

"Aye, sir," Scott replied. "It's my turn to get this bird landed."

He laughed.

He recalled the last mission and the twinge of jealousy he felt seeing the ship land on Epsilon Indi. This was a bit different though. He got the ship closer to the unison incision and began enter it's atmosphere/epidermis.

"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar," he said to himself.