ST: Sakura Hoshi - 04

2410.03.05

Locations: Sickbay, Transporter Room, Cardassian Shuttle
Characters: Sovaak, Almeida, Cale, Ardin, Hagen

--

Gen worked to prepare Sickbay for possible injured. She instructed the available nurses to continue synthesizing the antidote for the virus that had broken out aboard Starbase Horizon. Synthesizing was easy, but treating patients was harder. The way Gen was wired, she preferred to do everything herself.

She was working and arranging supplies when the Executive Officer's voice came over the comm system:

"Almeida to Ensigns Ardin, Sovaak and Hagen. Meet me in transporter room one in five minutes, and wear environmental suits. We're beaming across to a damaged Cardassian shuttle."

"Aye, sir," Gen instantly acknowledged.

"Doctor," Almeida added, "bring your medkit, we've detected one life sign aboard and they may be injured."

If the shuttle's damaged then "may be" would probably be an understatement, the half-Betazoid thought to herself.

"You got it," she responded to the Executive. "Be there right away, sir."

"Good. Almeida out."

First official day on the job and already Gen got to go on an away mission. She didn't know if she should be thrilled or frightened at the opportunity.

She grabbed the supplies she needed and informed the nurses of her leaving before actually doing so and heading toward a nearby turbolift.

Shortly, another Ensign joined her wearing a yellow-themed Starfleet uniform, indicating that he was from Engineering.

"Hello," he greeted. "You're Ensign Hagen, right?"

"Call me Gen," the half-Betazoid replied. "And you are…?"

"Ensign James Ardin. I understand that you're a doctor?"

Gen raised an eyebrow. "Yes, that is my practice."

"Maybe when we get back you can take a look at a little plasma burn I got," Ardin said. "It wasn't serious enough to take to Sickbay but I don't know my way around a dermal regenerator either."

Gen had to smile. "Sure, I'll look at it."

The two soon made it to Transporter Room One wearing their environmental suits. Executive Officer Almeida was already there, also in an environmental suit. He nodded upon their arrival and Gen realized that the third Ensign, Ensign Sovaak, was right behind them.

Almeida checked his phaser that was holstered on his hip.

"Keep phasers on stun," he ordered. "This is a Cardassian ship and we must assume that the life form is hostile until proven otherwise."

"Yes sir," Ardin replied.

Sovaak, Gen noticed, merely stayed silent. Weird… it seemed like her room-mate, who also happened to be a Vulcan, seemed to talk a lot, considering her race.

Gen checked her phaser and medical supplies before placing her helmet of her suit over her head.

"Ready?" the XO inquired of them as they all got on the transporter pad.

"This is a better time than any," Ardin said in a buoyant tone.

"I am prepared, Sir," the Vulcan finally affirmed.

Gen just nodded silently.

Almeida then inclined his head to the Transporter Chief. "Energize."

Shortly the team all materialized onto the badly damaged Cardassian shuttle. Immediately visible were three large holes in the hull, the stars of space twinkling brightly through them. What happened to this ship?

The Starfleet team were of course all wearing their environmental suits which prevented the vacuum of space from pulling their molecules apart, but Gen could only wonder… what about the survivor?

Everyone activated the flashlights mounted on their helmets and examined the surrounding area. The place was a mess, but the survivor was nowhere in sight.

"Ensign Ardin, see what you can determine about what's happened here," Almeida ordered, his voice coming through the built-in communication systems of their suits.

"I'll try to access their log files," the Engineer responded and he slowly walked to the helm, his boots making vibrations with the magnetizers hitting the metal each time he stepped.

"You two, with me," the XO told Gen and Sovaak. The three of them turned and began to head for the back end of the shuttle.

"Yes sir," Gen mumbled quietly.
"Commander," the Vulcan Ensign stated, getting Almeida's attention, ""Once we have cleared the vessel, I would like to take some scans of the vessel. If the damage was caused by weapons fire, I may be able to determine the signature."

They trod across the floor and Gen scanned around, both with the tricorder and her eyes to search for the unknown survivor.

The end of the shuttle seemed to be for storage, assorted boxes and crates stacked to the ceiling; many of them were floating freely in the zero-gravity area. One began to approach Almeida and he reached out to push it aside.

But then they all noticed at once a very uncrate-like silhouette nearing them as well.

The Doctor just about leapt right out of her environmental suit.

"Get him down here!" Gen told the two officers with her as she began to adjust her scanner for more detailed scans.

The XO and Ensign reached and grabbed the limp body, easily pulling him down for Gen's access.

"Is he still alive?" Almeida instantly asked her.

"If he is, he won't be for long," Gen replied hastily. "I need him in Sickbay NOW." She held the man with one arm swung around his shoulders to keep him from floating away while scanning him with her free hand. Faint heartbeat, low blood pressure, low oxygen levels, but he was still alive.

Then, Ardin approached them all huddled around the survivor.

"Commander," he said, "I found one partial log file in the computer. There was a lot of interference but I could determine that they took heavy damage and were separated from some kind of fleet. Their deflectors were offline and impulse engines were operational at eighty percent as they headed back to Cardassian space. They may have been impacted by small meteors for all we know."
The XO nodded at him. "Good work, Ensign…"
The man was dying, and without getting him to Sickbay, he would. This really will be a stressful day, Gen mused.

Beside the Betazoid-hybrid, Executive Officer Almeida activated his commlink to the Dauntless.

"Almeida to Robinson," he stated clearly.

It was only a partial second when a response came: "Go ahead, Commander."

"Admiral, we have one casualty," Almeida reported, "a human male who requires immediate treatment in sickbay."

"Something's keeping him alive," Gen commented, "but anymore time here and he'll certainly die."

"Acknowledged, " Admiral Robinson responded, "we're beaming you and the patient up now, Doctor."

Gen nodded, even though she knew Robinson could not see her. Soon, she saw herself and the survivor being wrapped by a blue sparkling light, and they were gone from the Cardassian shuttle.

~*~*~*~

Pulse returning to normal, blood-pressure stabilizing, oxygen intake looking great. Gen sighed with satisfaction; the man was going to live. She stood up, drawing back her medical scanner, and turned to insert the data into the computer for the patient's log.

"First one of the day," she grumbled to herself. She hated the idea that soon injuries from around the ship would practically be swarming in from battle with the Cardassians, not to mention the casualties from the other Federation ships of the fleet. Gen also knew very well that the probability of getting the Dauntless damaged was very high, just like any other ship.

As the part-Betazoid finished feeding data to the computer, she could hear a faint groaning sound behind her. With her mind, she could sense physical pain; of course.

She turned around and the survivor from the Cardassian Shuttle was stretched on the bed, moaning. He was going to have a headache for a while, and he may be sore for the next week or so. Poor guy.

"Welcome back to the living," Gen greeted him as she went to stand by his bed. "I'm Ensign Gen Hagen, Medical Officer. You know, we pulled you from a pretty bad spot. It's almost a miracle you're still with us."

The reaction the doctor got wasn't what she was expecting. The man didn't immediately say anything and the feeling of surprise was absent.

"Anyway," Gen continued, "upon examining you I discovered that you had actually been drugged with some sort of substance to keep you under control and manageable by whoever it was that had administered it to you. Then there's the nanites…"

This caught the man's attention. "Nanites?" he repeated. "Please say I'm not a Borg pin cushion."

Gen inwardly rolled her eyes. "If you were, you would be a half computer and stalking around in some green cube right now," she told him. "The nanites that are swimming around in you have a very different signature. As far as I can tell, their programming is for repairing damages done to an organic body. They keep working until there's nothing else to do."

The patient visibly thought over what he was told and Gen raised an eyebrow, waiting for his response.

"So someone wants me up and walking around but now that the damage is repaired they'll die and pass harmlessly out of my body."

"That's essentially the idea," the half-Betazoid confirmed. She turned and went to the medical terminal to add to her report. "By the way, I never caught your name."

Gen watched as the man moved to the edge of the bed. He appeared to be concentrating on something… recent events, she deduced after peering into his mind for half a second.

"Marine 1st Lieutenant Mason Cale," he stated after a moment, "MCO Starbase Horizon under the command of Admiral Robinson."

Gen looked at him, arching an eyebrow. "You know, I think Admiral Robinson is in command of this ship right now. Interesting. " She smiled at him and turned back to the computer. "Now I can actually put a name to these readings. Computer…"

There was a trilling sequence as the medical computer acknowledged. "Working," it stated in a monotone, electronic voice.

"Addition to latest medical readings," Gen continued. "Patient's name, 1st Lieutenant Mason Cale."

The computer beeped again as it input the new information. "Mason Cale, Marine 1st Lieutenant of Starbase Horizon under the command of Admiral Robinson. MIA for approximately seven months. Whereabouts previously unknown."

Gen was surprised. Seven months? Up until then, Lieutenant Cale had been missing for that long? She began to wonder what happened during that time.

"Officer Cale found in a battle-damaged Cardassian shuttle by U.S.S. Dauntless away team led by Executive Officer Carlos Almeida," the computer continued. "Report synopsis end."

For a moment, neither officer said anything after the computer made an end. Gen was trying to figure out what happened. Desperately curious, she tried to telepathically read Officer Cale's mind, but he was apparently just as clueless. Other things preoccupied his mind… mostly people. Gen felt a little worried.

"Lieutenant," she began, turning from the computer console, "are you alright?"

"I'll be okay Doctor, thanks to you and the away team," the Lieutenant told her. "I need to freshen up then I need to talk to someone in command." He paused and Gen noticed him looking around, noting the rushing nurses preparing for future casualties. "Looks like I came at a busy time," he commented, "and that can only mean an extra pair of hands will come in handy."

Gen sighed. "You have no idea how much help you would be. But how `bout that freshening up, huh? There's a room for that over there." She stretched her hand out, indicating to the area.

Lieutenant Cale nodded again and got up from the bed. He silently left as the doctor watched him. She was worried… she hoped he was going to be okay.

--

Ensign Gen Hagen
Medical Officer
USS Dauntless