Clinical Death and Dismemberment

Posted on Tue Apr 2nd, 2024 @ 5:05pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Lieutenant Commander Emergency Medical Hologram & Lieutenant Commander Kataxes & Lieutenant Phoebe Baxter & Warrant Officer Arlan Harlan & Petty Officer 3rd Class Keith Potter
Edited on on Sat May 18th, 2024 @ 3:45pm

3,248 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Long Hard Road Ahead
Location: DS18 Main Sickbay
Timeline: 23 August, 2396 - 2200 Hours

[ON]

Continued from Into Whatsoever Houses I Enter

Jillian heard Keith's yell and watched the bright blue forcefield snap into place across the sickbay entrance. She could vaguely see some kind of armored force approaching. Their purple fire splashed against the force field and then the door to Sickbay clanged close. She'd never been happier for a heavy bulkhead door in her life.

Through all that, Jillian was already in motion. One of the beams had slipped through just before the forcefield came on. The young woman, an engineer who'd been carrying a hypospray, was hit in the back and flopped forward onto her face. The hypospray went skittering across the floor.

Phoebe was up and off the biobed, cradling her injured arm but intent on using the adrenaline surging through her body. "Mr. Potter, there's got to be an emergency weapons locker in sickbay somewhere. Bring everything you can here. Dr. Kataxes?"

She turned to the Tholian. "As Lieutenant Commander, you are ranking officer here - but I have a plan. We move all the critically wounded to the biobeds in the back with only the minimal medical staff required to maintain their care, then activate quarantine shields and erect a barricade in front of that." She jumped in spite of herself as the bulkheads took a loud, heavy hit. "Then, we spread out cover around the atrium. Everyone who can hold a weapon takes cover and sends anything that breaks through that bulkhead back the way it came. What do you think?"

Kataxes spoke as plainly as ever, though the way they moved while speaking was quite a bit more hurried. "See it done, Lieutenant."

The hissing tower of crystal fearlessly skittered even before the forcefield had come on, though the room was at least partially protected by the time they reached the engineer on the floor. A quick scan with their tricorder for neck and/or head injuries later, they scooped the woman up with ease, carrying her into the rows of biobeds.

"Anyone with minor injuries or none takes a phaser," they continued, kicking the hypospray on the floor towards Baxter as they skittered loudly through the room. They laid the engineer on one of the beds and began opening up the biobeds closest to the door. "Cradle the heads of any injured to be safe, I will be maintaining their conditions while you hold off the attack."

In Potter's mind, this whole thing was his responsibility, Some of the walking wounded seemed to understand what to do, He took charge, building barricades and setting up forcefields. Once he realized there was an actual Armory he made a bee-line to it.

"We are loaded!" He whooped, staring at the walls of phaser rifles and body armor. He quickly discharged his crappy armor for the newest, high-tech stuff. He wasn't ever giving it back.
He stepped outside of the armory, feeling much more confident in the sleek black body armor. He glanced to his left and groaned. He tapped his combadge.

<=>Lieutenant Baxter, we have a large transporter pad in the far back, I'm going to check it out," Keith said and moved towards the transporter controls.

Phoebe's eyes widened. There was a transporter pad? That changed things. <=> Acknowledged, Potter. Let me know if it is secure. <=> She then turned towards Kataxas. "Change of plan, Doctor. What do you think of moving the criticals down to the transporter? If it works, we can get them.... well, somewhere not here. And if it doesn't...." she glanced back towards the direction Potter had gone. "If it doesn't, that hallway will be easier to hold than an atrium."

<=>Woodhouse to medical team, medical emergency in engineering.<=>

The EMH had just finished with a patient, a young Bajoran woman with a broken leg when the call came in. He looked over at Dr Kataxes.

"I will be absent to deal with that emergency. You are in charge, doctor," he said and then vanished.

"There is an auxiliary sickbay for emergency response and evacuation," Kataxes began, starting to grab various tools and medical supplies. "It was designed for evacuation from ships to the station, but it will serve the purpose we need it to. Follow the Petty Officer, prepare the transporter, and ensure it is functional."

With the order given, Kataxes began organizing the various temporary nurses to prepare the injured to be moved.

Phoebe nodded and pelted down the hallway toward the transporter. This was a stroke of luck, as long as they had power. They could get to safety and coordinate any additional response with the other teams. Her arm felt numb as she ran, but if there was any pain, she couldn't feel it.

She entered the room and joined Potter at the console. "What's the sitch, transporter specialist?"

Potter was in the midst of fuming about being behind another transporter console when the Lieutenant entered.

"Sir, first glance I'd say the transporter is tied into the secondary power source right now, which is great because it is functional. The bad news is that the energy output from the secondary power couplings is... weird. I've never seen anything like this before. It looks like power is coming in from places outside the station," Potter said with a shrug. "I'm not smart enough to be an engineer Lieutenant but I do know that we can transport some people away but probably not everyone or else we will crash the power system for the whole station. Wasn't a team headed to the main engineering section?"

Phoebe grimaced. She didn't like that the power was coming from an unknown source, and she really wanted to figure that out. But lives were at stake and power was power. Another mystery she'd have pause.

"We do have a team headed that way, I'll..." Before she could tap her combadge, there was the distinctive chirp of an incoming communication.

<=>EMH to Main Sickbay," one patient to beam over.<=>

Potter reacted without thinking about it. He used the functional station sensors to lock on to the figure immediately next to the EMH. Technically he should have confirmed it was the right person but the sensors showed a male human lying on the ground. He doubted it could be anyone else.

"Energizing," he said and slid the console controls up. A lone figure appeared on the transporter pad.

"Who the heck is that?" Potter asked, not recognizing the young man.

Craning her head, Phoebe was at a loss. At first. But then the uniform, and the basic features.... "I think that's our Chief Engineer. Um, just, um.... younger?" An article from a scientific text she had read suddenly sprang to mind. Something about a transporter turning some of the crew of the Enterprise-D into children?

"Potter, was there any mass lost when you beamed him over?"

Potter pulled up the pre-transport scan and overlaid it on the post-transport scan. It looked exactly the same to him.

"Negative, sir. It is the same mass, cellular structure etcetera. No change in transport."

Assured that the transporter wasn't the cause... probably... Phoebe knelt down next to her de-aged colleague. "Harlan? Harlan, is that you?"

Harlan was still very confused about everything as he absorbed the new surroundings. It felt like just seconds since he was out. Words almost couldn't describe what he sensed in his body, and nobody was giving him the straight deal on why they were reacting so strongly to his appearance. It made him a little grumpy.

"Yeah, it's me," he tried to grumble, but the voice didn't seem to have the same umph behind it. "Will someone tell me how long it has been since I regained consciousness if we're all going to die, and why everyone keeps staring at me? This mystery is getting old."

Phoebe considered his questions and decided to answer as best she could. "Well, um, Harlan, um.... I'm not sure how long you've been conscious, you were just beamed over here from, um, engineering? Or wherever your team was..." She gave a nervous glance back down the corridor where the pounding on the door echoed ominously. "I'd say we're probably 50/50 on the gonna die thing, though I'm optimistic we'll make it. And, um.... as for the staring thing? It might be getting old, but you're not. You're actually quite a bit younger than the last time I saw you before beaming over here."

Potter opened his mouth to say something smart but was interrupted by the sound of a large explosion. While it was muffled somewhat by the walls, there was no mistaking the sound of tearing metal, which sent shivers up his spine. Immediately after the explosion, the first patients began pouring into the transporter room.

"Uhh, Lieutenant, am I supposed to start transporting these people to the secondary sick bay or should I go shoot some bad guys?" Potter asked, his heart beginning to thump faster.

Phoebe considered the options. On one hand, Potter was better at the shooting than she could ever hope to be. At the same time, he was the transporter specialist. Either of them could operate the transporter, but would he be more experienced accounting for the strange energy feeding into the system?

Disturbing noises from the front made up her mind. "Go shoot some aliens, I'll handle the transport." Heading over to the console, she bit her lip and worked the problem. "First group, on the pad. Stand by..."

"Aye, sir!" Potter said, pulling his phaser and moving through the incoming crowd of wounded. I am so getting shot he thought.

---

Jillian glanced over at the main sickbay door. It still held, as did the forcefield, but there were now huge dents in the metal. Jillian was afraid that at any minute it would give way and then it would just be the forcefield between them and destruction. She finished putting a splint on a young ensign's arm and gestured for them to shuffle down the hallway with the others.

"Doctor," Jillian said to Kataxes. "What are we going to do if the door gives way?"

"The plan continues. The uninjured or lightly injured who are not moving people have phasers, setting a line of defense. The transporter room is at the end of a long hallway, the assailants will have to round the corner at the end to approach." Kataxes responded while rapidly unhooking biobeds, letting the critically injured be dragged in their beds swiftly towards the transporter room.

The Tholian skittered down the hallway of beds, gathering equipment and double-checking the injuries of passing patients. "I do not intend for anyone to stay behind and die. We hold back the assailants until everyone can be transported to the auxiliary sickbay."

Jillian nodded and then moved to the next patient. She could see that the passageway to the transporter room was getting more crowded. A loud crunching sound drew her attention to the door. A hole had appeared near the center of the door and a heavy glove reached through. It held something in the palm of its hand. Jillian's heart raced.

"Everyone get away from the forcefield!" She yelled. The patients moved as fast as they could but the nurse was afraid it wasn't going to be fast enough.

The hand retracted and Jillian had a second in which she recognized a small round object stuck to the inside of the door. Then there was a tremendous ripping sound accompanied by a brilliant burst of light and she shielded her eyes instinctively.

The sound of the explosion rolled through the sickbay, preventing concussive damage to the people inside only because of the forcefield. When Jillian unshielded her eyes, she saw the door had been torn apart, leaving huge hunks of metal pressed against the forcefield. The boxy figures were crowding around the door, clearly preparing to do something else.

"Doctor!" Jillian yelled as she pulled out her phaser. "I think we are getting to the point for that line of defense."

"Indeed we are," the doctor responded, their many legs skittering loudly backward. "Move to the hallway, create a firing line! Make distance!"

Perhaps the only time their modulated voice had yelled thus far, Kataxes moved with as much vigor as they could, the hook-like ends of their legs clanking as they urged everyone back from the forcefield and out of direct line of sight, preparing a defensive line.

"Anyone who is wounded, hand off your phaser if you can and move back."

They did not have a phaser on them, and instead, the doctor moved behind the defensive line with their medical tools to ensure the stability of the slowly-transporting injured.

The injured were motivated, by both the imposing figure of the Tholian doctor and the recent explosion, moved en masse down the hallway. The few functional wounded stayed behind, grabbing offered phasers or pulling out their own.

Potter surged through the crowd and stopped, staring at the suited aliens that were now standing on the other side of the forcefield. Having looked at the power systems a moment ago, Potter knew that the odds of the forcefield failing under attack were high. Nonetheless, he took up a position next to Jillian and the others and waited for what was about to happen.

"The wounded are being transferred to the other sickbay that you mentioned, Doctor Kataxes," he said. "But the power is running on the secondary power so it is going to take longer than we'd like."

Jillian glanced at Potter. He looked nervous but not scared. She knew Keith had a bad reputation on the ship and some of it was earned. But, and she couldn't believe she was thinking it, he was brave.

The suited aliens had formed their own line, opposite the Starfleet personnel, and they held up their hands, or what appeared to be hands, and a green light splashed against the blue forcefield.

"This is not good," Keith said.

Kataxes made a muffled squealing, like two shards of glass rubbed against each other, and their translator began winding up. "I will join the injured, and make sure they get to the auxiliary sickbay. Any further injured get sent through, but this transporter needs to be constantly running! Get everyone out of here, as soon as possible!"

Kataxes began moving down the line, turning to look as the forcefield began to fail - only in small places, but getting worse. They handed out a few emergency medical tools on their way to the transporter room. Dermal regenerators and hyposprays were passed out, though less than Kataxes would've preferred to give. They kept the rest and rushed to the transporter room, double-checking the most injured still remaining first.

The EMH appeared, a disgruntled look on its face as it took in the disorganized mess that had previously been his well organized sickbay.

"This kind of conduct is unacceptable," the EMH said. He was facing Petty Officer Potter, Ensign Mox, and the handful of patients who were able enough to wield a phaser.

Jillian was very familiar with the EMH and while this was another copy and slightly different from the one she was used to on the Firebird, she could tell that it was about to go on one of its rants.

"Doctor! We don't have time," Jillian said and motioned behind at the forcefield. Thankfully the EMH understood and turned on its heel to take in the aliens' attack on the forcefield. One of the green beams of energy pierced the field and went right through him.

"It is one thing after another," he said, shaking his head. "Computer, divert all power from the EMH to the emergency forcefield."

<=>Warning! Transfer of power will render the EMH inoperable until the power supply is restored!<=> The computer said.

"I know that!" The EMH said. "Continue with power transfer." He turned and looked at the remaining personnel.

"I have to handle everything myself, don't..." The holographic transmitters flickered and the EMH disappeared. At the same time, the forcefield bloomed with new light and the holes in it were mended. Three of the aliens had been reaching through the field when the power surged. The restored field sliced through their arms, severing them cleaning. There was a sick thumping sound as the limbs struck the floor. On the other side of the field, the stricken aliens fell to the ground, writhing in agony.

Keith lowered his phaser. "That was...unexpected," he said.

Jillian nodded. "Let's get out of here."

Keith nodded. "Alright, everyone to the transporter!"

---

[Secondary Sickbay]

Jillian was as tired as she could remember being. The secondary sickbay was smaller than the main sickbay but still much larger than the one on the Firebird. She looked around, taking note of the patients and finding none who needed immediate help.

"Doctor, all patients are accounted for and are stable. It's tight quarters but everyone is safe I think. Petty Officer Potter thinks we should try to link up with the Central Control Center. What do you think?"

"I think that is our safest option. We cannot retreat forever on this station."

Kataxes stepped off the transporter and handed off further medical equipment, leaving room for the next wave of arrivals.

Potter materialized onto the landing pad, along with the last two people from Main Sickbay. He suddenly felt very tired. He was just in time to hear Jillian and the new doctor talking about what to do next.

He looked over at New Harlan, which is how he thought of the kid, and shook his head. "I just know that I'm going to be the one to have to go looking for Commander Rees. Probably you too."

Harlan really didn't feel like himself anymore, but what was there to do but go along and see what happened? It'd be another great story if he made out of this.

"I think you're right," came his reply. "I am not sure I'm qualified to make a different decision given what we have in front of this."

"I will tell you one thing though. If we survive this system, I might call it quits if I am, in fact, younger. I haven't been young in ages, and it seems like I should enjoy whatever happened, assuming it won't kill me as has been stated."

Potter snorted. He couldn't imagine Harlan retiring. He hadn't done it the first time.

"Potter!" Jillian yelled. "You and Harlan are going to make contact with one of the other away teams, preferably the one in the Control Center."

Of course Potter thought. "Let's go, Chief," he said and made his way towards the exit.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Commander Kataxes
Chief Medical Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Commander Emergency Medical Hologram (NPC by Llwyedd)
Chief Medical Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Lieutenant Phoebe Baxter
Chief Science Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Warrant Officer Arlan Harlan
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Petty Officer 3rd Class Keith Potter
Transporter Specialist
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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