Mission 1.3: Internal Medicine

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Sickbay]

Lying down had been a painful experience, but once the sedative was administered, she found that she really didn't care about the pain anymore.  The music was soothing and quiet, not an assault on her ears.  She floated above herself, allowing the soft strain of the violins to lift her away, or at least they did until the Doctor and her assistants got to work.  The sedative made it far easier to tolerate the pain, and certainly prevented her from wanting to move beyond a faint grimace and a twitch of her fingers.

The blanket was a welcome addition, taking away the chill of being out of uniform and exposed to the cool air of sickbay.  The young woman stayed silent throughout the repairs, staring unseeingly at the ceiling and blinking, occasionally twitching under the discomfort of the regenerators.  Before long, the medical team were stepping back and the final hypos were administered.  With her eyelids feeling distinctly heavier as all of the medications combined and the continued soothing sounds of violin strings singing, she had to fight to stay awake.  Everyone was moving around, she couldn't tell who was where.  Such a situation of disorientation was one that Rachel couldn't sleep in.

"Is someone there?" she asked, her voice slowed and weighed down by the strength of her body's will to sleep.

Sickbay

Posting as Ensign Chloe Williams

Chloe had been monitoring the patients vital signs after Dr Vaughan'a warning that Ensign Deacon was not be left alone. So she was seated in the chair next to the bed when she heard the Ensign speak.

"I'm right here Ensign. My name is Chloe and I'm one of the nurses on board. You've just been through surgery and you need to get your rest. Please try to relax and sleep it off. You are perfectly safe here in Sickbay." She said in her most soothing voice.

[Rachel Deacon]

Sickbay

Posting as Ensign Chloe Williams

Chloe had been monitoring the patients vital signs after Dr Vaughan'a warning that Ensign Deacon was not be left alone. So she was seated in the chair next to the bed when she heard the Ensign speak.

"I'm right here Ensign. My name is Chloe and I'm one of the nurses on board. You've just been through surgery and you need to get your rest. Please try to relax and sleep it off. You are perfectly safe here in Sickbay." She said in her most soothing voice.

[Sickbay]

It had always been a policy of Rachel's not to trust anyone who said that she or the situation were 'perfectly safe'.  It was never the case.  Unfortunately for that policy, she wasn't in much of a position to argue with it, not with the ongoing battle against her eyelids.  She also wanted to tell the nurse that she would be fine on her own, that she didn't need a babysitter sitting next to her all the time, but she was also very aware of the disorientation that was likely to happen when she woke up.  Without someone there to guide her after a medically forced sleep, she would likely panic and further injure herself.

"Thank you, Chloe," she murmured, and finally letting her eyelids slide closed, pulled into sleep by the sedative and quiet music.

[Constance Lafayette]

[Bridge]

Constance listened to the medical officers debate the situation.

"We'll act on your orders here. This is your patient Dr. Vaughan. It's your area of expertise." She reaffirmed.

"Though, personally, I think your tractor beam idea would work." The captain said analytically.

"Whatever we chose to do, we've got to do it quickly. Those white blood cells won't be placated for long."

As if she'd said some magic word they all began to move again, slowly at first but they were clearly awake now... and slowly making their way towards the ship.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Bridge]

Constance listened to the medical officers debate the situation.

"We'll act on your orders here. This is your patient Dr. Vaughan. It's your area of expertise." She reaffirmed.

"Though, personally, I think your tractor beam idea would work." The captain said analytically.

"Whatever we chose to do, we've got to do it quickly. Those white blood cells won't be placated for long."

As if she'd said some magic word they all began to move again, slowly at first but they were clearly awake now... and slowly making their way towards the ship.

Bridge

Lizzie thought hard for a moment before reaching a decision. She turned to James.

"Lieutenant, can you assemble 2 warheads. One with 250 gallons of 25% concentrate Hydrochloric Acid and enough explosive force to coat the entire clot and another with a low yield charge to break apart the clot once the Acid has had chance to do it's work?" She asked.

[Paige Wardropper]

Bridge

Lizzie thought hard for a moment before reaching a decision. She turned to James.

"Lieutenant, can you assemble 2 warheads. One with 250 gallons of 25% concentrate Hydrochloric Acid and enough explosive force to coat the entire clot and another with a low yield charge to break apart the clot once the Acid has had chance to do it's work?" She asked.

Bridge

Paige marvelled at Dr. Vaughan.  There was a reason why this woman was CMO.  The woman was frankly brilliant.

"Good call Dr. Vaughan, I was a bit stumped when Lt. Black mentioned silicon." she smiled at her boss.  "Ready when you are to do anything needed."

[Lizzie Vaughan]

Bridge

Paige marvelled at Dr. Vaughan.  There was a reason why this woman was CMO.  The woman was frankly brilliant.

"Good call Dr. Vaughan, I was a bit stumped when Lt. Black mentioned silicon." she smiled at her boss.  "Ready when you are to do anything needed."

Bridge

Lizzie looked at Paige and gave her a small smile.

"Nothing for the moment Paige. We just need the torpedoes configuring and that is a job for Tactical." She gave her protege a nod of encouragement before waiting for confirmation from Lieutenant Carter that things were ready to go.

[Ezac]

After double-checking that the modifications he made matched the information in his PADD, Ezac closed the access panel on the torpedo and raised his hand up to his combadge.

Lieutenant Carter, this is Crewman Ezac. The modifications that you have requested are complete. The torpedo is presently ready to launch.

[James Carter]

Bridge

Lizzie thought hard for a moment before reaching a decision. She turned to James.

"Lieutenant, can you assemble 2 warheads. One with 250 gallons of 25% concentrate Hydrochloric Acid and enough explosive force to coat the entire clot and another with a low yield charge to break apart the clot once the Acid has had chance to do it's work?" She asked.

After double-checking that the modifications he made matched the information in his PADD, Ezac closed the access panel on the torpedo and raised his hand up to his combadge.

Lieutenant Carter, this is Crewman Ezac. The modifications that you have requested are complete. The torpedo is presently ready to launch.

[Bridge]

James offered a small airy laugh as he reached up to rub his forehead. Slowly he shook his head before he finally looked over to Elizabeth. "Wait, let me get this completely straight. You want to load an explosive with highly corrosive acid and then fire that into a living organism?" The young officer offered another small laugh as he thought it over. "Yeah, we can get it done. But I do want to go on record to say that I think it's a bad idea."

Thank you crewman. Stand by for further instruction.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Bridge]

James offered a small airy laugh as he reached up to rub his forehead. Slowly he shook his head before he finally looked over to Elizabeth. "Wait, let me get this completely straight. You want to load an explosive with highly corrosive acid and then fire that into a living organism?" The young officer offered another small laugh as he thought it over. "Yeah, we can get it done. But I do want to go on record to say that I think it's a bad idea."

Thank you crewman. Stand by for further instruction.

Bridge

Lizzie gave a small chuckle.

"And when you have a medical degree I might just listen to your advice." She responded dryly. "However, we need to dissolve that clot and since silicone is one of the most pervasive substances known, we need to take measures that we know will work. 250 gallons of a 25% solution will be enough to break down the molecular cohesion of the clot but not nearly enough to cause any further harm. That is assuming that you hit the target. Should you miss, then we will have a problem. I suggest you hurry. The longer we leave it, the worse the problem will become." She finished, trying not to have a go at him too much.

[James Carter]

Bridge

Lizzie gave a small chuckle.

"And when you have a medical degree I might just listen to your advice." She responded dryly. "However, we need to dissolve that clot and since silicone is one of the most pervasive substances known, we need to take measures that we know will work. 250 gallons of a 25% solution will be enough to break down the molecular cohesion of the clot but not nearly enough to cause any further harm. That is assuming that you hit the target. Should you miss, then we will have a problem. I suggest you hurry. The longer we leave it, the worse the problem will become." She finished, trying not to have a go at him too much.

[Bridge]

James shook his head as he listened to the woman speak. "I may not have a medical degree. But I know tactical." The man retorted. "Do you have any idea what a highly corrosive acid could do to the torpedo itself? These things aren't just built to carry acid. Not to mention you want to keep explosives inside it? Even if we do this, do you have any idea the manpower and time it's could take to convert one of these for this? I repeat. Bad idea." His voice had become increasingly stern at this point. It wasn't his usual happy and friendly tone, but it also wasn't hostile. "Captain. There has to be another way. I don't want to put my men in harms way for this. If the conversion goes wrong, the minute they go to fill the torpedo with acid....boom."

[Paige Wardropper]

[Bridge]

James shook his head as he listened to the woman speak. "I may not have a medical degree. But I know tactical." The man retorted. "Do you have any idea what a highly corrosive acid could do to the torpedo itself? These things aren't just built to carry acid. Not to mention you want to keep explosives inside it? Even if we do this, do you have any idea the manpower and time it's could take to convert one of these for this? I repeat. Bad idea." His voice had become increasingly stern at this point. It wasn't his usual happy and friendly tone, but it also wasn't hostile. "Captain. There has to be another way. I don't want to put my men in harms way for this. If the conversion goes wrong, the minute they go to fill the torpedo with acid....boom."

Bridge

Paige considered Carter's words.  "I don't know engineering or tactical I confess but I do know the corrosive properties of Hydrochloric acid.  However, I am into anything Scientific be it Medical or more like Ms Black's field. I read a paper recently and some alloys are resistant to the acid.  These include but are not limited to high-nickel alloys, stainless steels, high-molybdenum alloys, titanium, zirconium and tantalum....surely, Sir, " she said addressing the Tactical Chief, "...if we even made a shell of one of these or the torpedoes were made of such materials, forgive me, I'm not familiar with anything to do with torpedoes other than you hopefully are firing them at people rather than having them fired at you... for all I know they could be already made of such materials... if we use or coat in one of those metals, it would hold together long enough - I believe the study suggested that it would eventually eat through, in about the same time that ferrous metals would rust."

She quickly tapped a couple of buttons on her PADD and brought up the scientific paper she'd saved.

"Here sir, read for yourself, just press the button marked Acids and it will bring up the paper I was reading.  Under normal circumstances, yes, I'd totally agree with you that using normal metals wouldn't work, but I'm offering a solution here that would keep us safe, which is your primary objection I feel, and implementing the brilliant idea of Dr. Vaughan's... best of both working collectively for the present problem."

[Levinia Black]

Bridge

Levinia quietly listened to the arguments and winced at Lizzie's order of acid.  Finally she spoke, "Well I have a medical degree and I have to agree with Lt. Carter."  She sighed and hoped that Lizzie wouldn't hold it against her.  They were friends but even best friends argued at times and the use of acid seemed harsh, especially on a creature that they had just discovered.  She turned around and typed up a simple formula, "We just need to liquify the silicone, the closest I can come to explain the clot is caulking...so to thin it out we can use something like xylene but that can poison the host.  So we should go basic with water and simple glycerol."

The CSO then calculated the amounts and produced the results for Lt. Carter and the rest of the bridge crew.  "What do you think, Lt. Carter, is this a better option?"  She turned to the Captain, "Ma'am, going on Dr. Wardropper's suggestion, we can always try to beam it out but we may have to cauterize any vessels that will wind up Á¢â,¬Ëœcut' but such an abstraction.  Still, it can be done as a second choice?" 

[Lizzie Vaughan]

Bridge

Levinia quietly listened to the arguments and winced at Lizzie's order of acid.  Finally she spoke, "Well I have a medical degree and I have to agree with Lt. Carter."  She sighed and hoped that Lizzie wouldn't hold it against her.  They were friends but even best friends argued at times and the use of acid seemed harsh, especially on a creature that they had just discovered.  She turned around and typed up a simple formula, "We just need to liquify the silicone, the closest I can come to explain the clot is caulking...so to thin it out we can use something like xylene but that can poison the host.  So we should go basic with water and simple glycerol."

The CSO then calculated the amounts and produced the results for Lt. Carter and the rest of the bridge crew.  "What do you think, Lt. Carter, is this a better option?"  She turned to the Captain, "Ma'am, going on Dr. Wardropper's suggestion, we can always try to beam it out but we may have to cauterize any vessels that will wind up Á¢â,¬Ëœcut' but such an abstraction.  Still, it can be done as a second choice?"

Bridge

Lizzie gave a short bark of a laugh at Vinnys mentions of Water and glycerol.

"Lieutenant Black." She said. "While I understand where you are coming from, do you realise that water and glycerol only effect uncured silicone? This is a large mass of silicone that has had more than enough chance to cure itself. As such, there are only a few solvents that will separate a mass of this size. I picked hydrochloric acid as, despite yours and Lieutenant Carters remarks, it is the LEAST destructive and toxic of the available options. The information at Ensign Wardropper has provided, gives you the details of why we should use this option. And unless we can reduce the mass, we will not be able to tow it out using the tractor beam." She glared at the Science Officer before turning to the Captain.

"Captain, the decision at the end of the day is yours. While I will follow whatever order you give, I must advise you that we have only time for one option and while the method I advised carries more risk, it also has the best chance of success in the time we have available." She said confident that her method was the best one available to them.

[Levinia Black]

Bridge

Lizzie gave a short bark of a laugh at Vinnys mentions of Water and glycerol.

"Lieutenant Black." She said. "While I understand where you are coming from, do you realise that water and glycerol only effect uncured silicone? This is a large mass of silicone that has had more than enough chance to cure itself. As such, there are only a few solvents that will separate a mass of this size. I picked hydrochloric acid as, despite yours and Lieutenant Carters remarks, it is the LEAST destructive and toxic of the available options. The information at Ensign Wardropper has provided, gives you the details of why we should use this option. And unless we can reduce the mass, we will not be able to tow it out using the tractor beam." She glared at the Science Officer before turning to the Captain.

"Captain, the decision at the end of the day is yours. While I will follow whatever order you give, I must advise you that we have only time for one option and while the method I advised carries more risk, it also has the best chance of success in the time we have available." She said confident that her method was the best one available to them.

Bridge

While Levinia didn't care for being laughed at, she said nothing, instead she responded evenly, "If that was indeed the case, Dr. Vaughn then the creature would have been dead already.  It is not that solidified, check the numbers...diluting the mass will take longer, but it is the safer option."  She countered and looked at the captain, waiting for her response.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Bridge]

The spirited academic debate would have been interesting had not their situation been so pressing. Stafford raised one of his bony hands and addressed all parties invovled with a gentle but firm tone.

"You are both right. The mass is solid, but not so solid that it cannot be dispersed by a low yield torpedo. Acid would be too dangerous to the creature." The repeated impacts of the creature's blood cells on their hull punctuated his words. "The torpedo has been prepared. We will worry about cauterization once the clot is gone, if its needed. This is a sentient being and it might be able to heal itself."

"In any case," The commander said, sounding as tired as he looked. "We do not have time to discuss it any further. Our shields and this creature are being damaged. Captain, I recommend we go with a low yield torpedo. We'll have precious little data with which to calculate it, but we're only going to get one shot at this. It's time to operate."

Stafford felt that in an unknown situation it was best to go with the safest option. Introducing a harsh chemical such as acid would admittedly destroy the clot, but it would have an unknown effect on an unknown organism. And to dilute it would take too long.