Cultural Exchange

Posted on Mon Feb 26th, 2024 @ 4:23pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Commander Emergency Medical Hologram & Lieutenant Commander Kataxes

1,451 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Long Hard Road Ahead
Location: USS Firebird
Timeline: 23 August, 2396, 2030 Hours

[ON]

Ensign Thomas looked down at his PADD and then back up at the corridor he was standing in. He'd previously been assigned to DS9 and had gotten very used to the Cardassian architecture. But DS18 was Starfleet through and through and his brain was having time adjusting. Which was why he was lost. Again. He looked down a corridor and saw... something? Coming his way in a suit. He managed to push away the instinctive fear that squirmed in his gut. He remembered the briefing about the Tholian exchange officer, something that Thomas thought was exciting. He might be an engineer but he really believed in races coming together. He held up a hand and smiled.

"Excuse me, sir, is this hallway H-7? With the computer not fully online I keep getting lost," Thomas said.

The Tholian exchange officer approached him, limbs encased in a shiny dark metal such that without the window on the front of the suit that exposed the Tholian's crystalline head and torso, it could be somewhat understandably misunderstood as some kind of mechanical being. The tall central spire of the Tholian's suit encased it from three sides, with the layer of transparent aluminum letting them look down at Thomas freely. Every quick step of one of their six legs clanged against the floor, not as loud as it might on a station like DS9 though of course.

The Tholian stopped several feet away, examining him, golden eyes blazing and the red crystal of their body glowing for a moment. From one of the speakers on their suit comes a tinny, female voice, as the muffled hisses, squeals, clicks, and chirps of the Tholian inside the suit serve a quiet backdrop.

"This is hallway H-7, you are correct. Behind me is the corridor leading to H-8, and you have come from H-6. Does that help?"

The feminine voice shut off as the Tholian stopped hissing, turning slightly. Their suit was almost entirely a dark, shiny metal, but there was a wide strip of metal just below the window of the suit that's a bright blue, where their communicator was fastened. A science, medical, or counseling officer... like the suit was their uniform.

Ensign Thomas nodded. "Yes, sir, it sure does. Thanks!" The lanky young human man moved past the Tholian. He had to get the plasma conduit accelerator in section E23K repaired so they could...."

Before Ensign Thomas could finish his thought, a green beam weapon transected the hallway with the precision of a knife. The engineer simply ceased to exist, as did a ten foot wide segment of the hallway. An initial rush of atmosphere was strong enough the stagger Kataxes in their protective suit. Emergency force fields popped up around the mangled hull plating. Through the windows other ships of various designs were executing a broad attack on the barely functioning station."

"All hands! Report to your battle stations!"

Kataxes stepped back, or tried to, the sudden atmosphere rush dragging them forward with a sickeningly loud scraping of metal-on-metal. The force fields kicked in and Kataxes was moving again, their visage unreadable but their movements fast, an almost spider-like skittering. They rushed away from the broken hallways and scuttled down into an interior hall, reaching up to press on their communicator.

"Hallway H-7 is compromised," they spoke, to whoever was listening. They didn't have a battle station to go to, not exactly, but the station's sickbay was their absolute top priority. A Tholian running was much more insectile than a human's run, the rapid clicks and clanks of their feet turning more rhythmic as pairs of feet pushed and jumped them forwards in short bursts of motion, bringing them to corridor intersections time and time again.

They moved as quickly as they could towards the sickbay, towards a place they could set up a triage.

The door to sickbay opened and the EMH stood up straighter. When the unusual figure ambled into the massive, but empty, sickbay, the EMH's complex sensor suite, built into sickbay and running on independent power, fed instantaneous information to his program. It identified Commander Kataxes as a temporary member of the DS18 crew.

The EMH, which had been activated by emergency protocol only four minutes prior, stepped towards the patient. "Please state the nature of your medical emergency," he said.

"I am Kataxes, the new Chief Medical Officer aboard the USS Firebird," came an equally computerized voice from the Tholian's suit. "The station is taking fire, I am starting a triage."

Kataxes continued to walk through the sickbay, their crystalline form turning inside their suit before the rest of them followed, examining the sickbay around them. "Is this sickbay adequately supplied?"

"I am perfectly aware that the station is taking fire. That's the reason my system has been activated. And you are not in charge here and will not be starting anything unless I give the order to do so. I hardly think that the entirety of Starfleet medicine will be set aside by a cultural exchange officer," the EMH said with a scowl. "As of now you are under my command."

Kataxes didn't even pause. They moved through the sickbay to begin examining the supplies and the medical replicator, starting to grab applicators and scanners.

"I am not the Chief Medical Officer of the Deep Space Station 18. I would not expect taking command over you based on my research of Starfleet hierarchy."

They continued unpacking.

"I am a doctor, command."

The EMH opened his mouth and then paused. "Very well, the station computer has indicated that five personnel are headed this way. Initial scans indicate second and third degree burns to two people. The other three have phaser fire wounds. Other injured will surely be in route as well. You will triage the burn victims and I will take care of those wounded by phasers. Do you have a care specialty that I should be aware of?" The EMH asked as he moved to a bank of inactive biobeds and began turning them on.

With scanner in hand and a number of treatment tools at the ready, Kataxes nodded and followed the Emergency Medical Hologram over to the biobeds, placing down tools. "I am versed in xenological surgeries, such as neurological, dermatological, musculoskeletal, and vascular."

They readied two beds quickly for triage.

"Does the computer clarify species?" They asked, looking around silently for a small burn chamber.

The EMH stepped to one of the biobeds and began adjusting some of the initial settings. His were much more precise.

"Two humans and one Ferengi," the EMH said. "The Ferengi has the most damage."

The oversized sickbay doors slid open and the wounded began pouring in. The EMH took charge, directing them to where they needed to go. He could already see other wounded coming down the hallway.

[Five Hours Later]

The EMH was fortunate in that his uniform remained permanently impeccable, which was something he appreciated. The other Starfleet Officers that lay on the biobeds, or on makeshift cots, and those that stood in a daze, were bedraggled. Over the last five hours, the station had been in a constant state of warfare and the wounded had continued to come in. A few of them had medical experience and he'd drafted them into the care team immediately. They had six "nurses" and, of course, Commander Kataxes. He admitted to himself that without the Commander's help, more people would have died. He looked at the Tholian, who was hovering over a patient.

"Commander Kataxes, it would appear that we have a lull in injuries. We have not had a new patient in twenty-two minutes."

"I see," Kataxes's tinny feminine voice responded, double checking the readings on the patient's biobed. They pulled away with some hesitation, feet clanking against the floor as they turned on a dime to look at the hologram. "I will remain here for now until the USS Firebird is prepared for me."

The Tholian's suit was almost as impeccable, given the shiny dark metal of their suit didn't stain like fabric could. The crystal being inside stared at the hologram without any visible change in expression - only a slight glow that the suit translated.

"I am relieved."

They hissed and clicked inside their suit, and the translator continued.

"Thank you, Doctor."

The EMH nodded and moved to sit down at his desk. He quickly scanned the reports on each patient and their current prognosis. The wounded might have stop arriving but there were many patients who were in critical conditions.

[OFF]

Commander Emergency Medical Hologram (NPC by Llwyedd)
Chief Medical Officer
DS18

Lieutenant Commander Kataxes
Chief Medical Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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