Patients and Patience

Posted on Thu May 16th, 2024 @ 5:12pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Lieutenant Commander Kataxes & Lieutenant Phoebe Baxter
Edited on on Sun May 19th, 2024 @ 9:45pm

1,175 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Long Hard Road Ahead
Location: DS18 Secondary Sickbay
Timeline: 24 August, 2396- 0200 Hours

[ON]

Jillian was napping in a corner, having gotten the makeshift crew of nurses organized into a schedule that gave them the most coverage and allowed people, including her, to sleep, when the commotion started.

The instant the shouting began, Jillian came fully awake and searched for the source of the disturbance. She immediately thought that one of the more critical patients had crashed but instead she saw two burly looking people, one human and one Klingon, entering the sickbay. The Klingon had a form slung over one shoulder. It was human sized but that's where the comparisons ended. It had black fur over its entire body, covered only by a tight fitting black uniform. It had a large, feline head that lolled over the Klingon's shoulder.

The human, a middle-aged man wearing a torn engineering uniform with Lieutenant's pips, was pushing another feline form in front of it. The alien species had its hands bound with heavy restraints. Its face was scored by a phaser blast and another crossed it's right leg, causing it to limp. In fact, she now realized, the Starfleet personnel were also injured.

"You will all perish for this indignity!" The conscious alien said as it was pushed forward.

"I'm sure we will," Phoebe assured it as she took over the pushing so the engineer could seek treatment. She saw the Klingon place the other alien on an open bed. "Dr. Kataxes, we have new customers!"

Kataxes clicked and chirped inside their suit as they clamored forwards, their suit swiftly translating their calm speech. "Two unidentified humanoids injured. Explain, please, Lieutenant."

They helped guide the injured to biobeds in the secondary triage, and urged the injured personnel into beds as well, waiting for an explanation of what had occurred. The unconscious alien's biobed locked the scanner over their body, trapping them should they wake up. Setting both biobeds of the aliens to scan biology first, Kataxes clanked their way over to the two members of Starfleet, slowly applying dermal regeneration over their phaser wounds with one hand and scanning for bone fractures and internal damage with the tricorder in their other hand.

"Thank you, sir," the Lieutenant said as the doctor attended him. "I'm Lieutenant Cross. We are really glad to find you here. We were heading to the primary plasma junction on deck twenty-three when these guys," he said, gesturing to the two aliens. "Jumped us. Williams is pretty handy with the phaser and together we subdued them. Do you know what's going on with the station?"

"There's been some sort of coordinated attack, here on the station..." she paused briefly, unsure if she should share the other target, but Cross was Starfleet. he should know. "... and on the wormhole. Our ship, the Firebird is investigating that and pursuing the ship that left these invaders behind."

Lieutenant Cross cursed. "I knew something bad had happened. It sounds like it's worse than I thought." The engineer sighed. "The power situation is pretty bad. After you patch me up, I'd like to try to work on that from here."

"You will be capable of full painless motion in twenty-six minutes," Kataxes replied to that, blankly. "Any activity around your healing wound will draw your body's natural repair away and extend that time, but you are free to return to work, if you can accept soreness." The Tholian offered Lieutenant Cross a three-clawed metal hand to sit up from the biobed. As they did, their legs clacked and they turned on a dime to peer down at the alien closest, hand still out for the lieutenant.

"Biological readings are acceptably compatible with available Starfleet pharmaceuticals. This species does not match descriptions provided of other, more dangerous invaders of the station."

"It seems odd that so many different species would attack at the same time," Phoebe mused. "In fact, the seem more like an alliance or worlds, or a federation... but why would a group that diverse be so aggressive? To work together they must value some kind of peaceful approach."

"That is not necessarily true of their dynamic. It was a misunderstanding of the differences between socializations that led the Federation and the Tholian Assembly to so many years of conflict," Kataxes refuted through their blank translator, still scuttling and clanking through the makeshift secondary triage to gather scanning equipment for further study of the alien.

"It is possible this species is in a position lesser or greater than the previous life we encountered, rather than an equal. Perhaps also this species and the other are here for different reasons." They chittered, stopping to shake their crystalline central section inside their suit. "I am no diplomat, and can only theorize. Diplomacy is the preferred medium of Starfleet. If I can assist, I will gladly, if only to observe the methods used."

The more awake alien howled from the biobed where it had been confined. "The Alliance will not negotiate with the Federation! Together we shall drive you out of our quadrant. Your tyranny and colonization will not continue."

Lieutenant Cross sighed. "That's basically been the line since we subdued them. We are the bad guys in their eyes."

"Familiar words," Kataxes stated blankly, clasping their metallic hands now that there was a small break in the need for immediate medical attention. "There is a misunderstanding here. I am not the official for diplomatic or xenosocietal examinations, however. All I can do for them, I have done. They are both stable... and I will be preparing sedatives safe for their biology, in case they attempt to escape."

They moved to the nearby replicator, using their identification to type in a custom pharmaceutical formula, their crystalline body and glowing eyes still watching the group.

"Lieutenant. Are there others you are aware of that may need emergency help?"

Cross nodded. "I heard some reports of an explosion on deck thirty-two, sir. If you like, I'd be happy to take you over there."

Kataxes idly ran their medical tricorder over Cross and made a muffled clicking sound, an unpleasant creaking like trying to stretch a pane of glass. "Very well. Lieutenant Baxter is in good condition, and a talented science officer. She will be capable in my stead. Lead on, Lieutenant."

The Tholian clanked around the bed, offering one of their metal-covered arms to help him stand. They then began to follow Cross out of the secondary triage and into the hall, holding onto a basic phaser that did not completely fit right in their hand. Medical equipment not installed into their very suit were fastened like a belt to their front. Kataxes and Cross began the trip to deck 32.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Commander Kataxes
Chief Medical Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Lieutenant Phoebe Baxter
Chief Science Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Ensign Jillian Mox (NPC by Llwyedd)
Nurse
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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