The Constellations Stagger [✱7]

Posted on Wed Apr 9th, 2025 @ 11:32am by Lieutenant S'Lace & Mana'i & Doctor Intharia T'Zor & Lieutenant JG Nalt Iyel & First Prime Kanahkt
Edited on on Wed Apr 9th, 2025 @ 11:33am

1,758 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: The Serpent's Tooth [3]
Location: Effective for the Aten, Akhenaten's Mothership - DS13 Orbit
Timeline: 0215 - MD07

By the time the inspection team beamed aboard, the most curious of the Jaffa had returned to the space outside their tenements. Much like in Typhon's ship, in Akhenaten's ship an almost identical wood and steel shanty town had been built in the space of a large empty training room, with towers going up into the corners, and an artificial sun projecting a convincing sky. The smell was mild enough to expect they had something resembling working sewage systems and running water, but it was still obvious that so many lived in a small space.

As the inspection team beamed aboard, a few of the onlookers lost their courage and scattered, but many remained, watching eagerly. Neither T'Zor, S'Lace or Iyel caught their attention so much as Mana'i, who instantly fascinated all who beheld her.

"I think they like you." Dr T'Zor told Mana'i with a smile.

Now, Mana'i had never been one for vanity. When you wear a mask the entire day, why should it matter what your face looks like? Seeing all these people, strangers no less, gawk at her like she were some sort of exotic specimen who'd landed in their midst, though, she felt the teensiest bit self-conscious.

"I think they do." She echoed. "I believe they've never seen anything like me before. You less so, perhaps, because to some superficial degree you resemble them."

"Give them time. I'm sure soon they will realise the many similarities between us all." T'Zor said, beaming a smile to the onlookers.

Dr Iyel was surprised by the scale of the structure. How safe could it be? It made her uneasy.

The massive and booming-voiced First Prime Kanahkt awaited them, his serpent guard helm already withdrawn into its golden collar. "Welcome, Starfleet. My Lord Akhenaten bids me to assist you in any way you might request. I understand you bring healers."

"Greetings, Kanahkt. I am Dr T'Zor, I'm here to lead the general inspection. My colleague Dr S'Lace is the healer you speak of." Intharia gestured to the Vulcan CMO.

S'Lace inclined her head politely, suppressing an urge to glance around the potentially hostile environment. She would have to rely upon her hearing to detect any potential ambush.

"Doctor S'Lace, I would show you to our injured. Their need is grave." Kanahkt asked the Vulcan woman with a note of desperation.

"Very well," S'Lace replied, "Lead the way."

"Follow me." Kanahkt said to all of them, not concerned with where the inspectors decided to go.

S'Lace motioned her team to follow in their guide's wake. While they were here to treat the wounded it did not stop her from being on guard; she was well aware that medical personnel would make for good hostages.

They passed with ease out of the wooden town-room, and the air immediately became a bit less dense when they entered a lavishly decorated hallway that looked like a dynastic Egyptian tomb in its prime. They passed through a number of hallways until they reached an unmarked door which Kanahkt turned into.

S'Lace had done some small research into ancient human civilizations and the decor's resemblance to dynastic Egyptian aesthetics was not lost on her. Coincidence, or something more?

Within, they found a room that Starfleet standards would have called too small for twelve sickbeds, six on each side of the room, and the width of the door between them. There was some sort of dispensary type room at the end of the room, apparently empty.

The first four beds were occupied by men covered in severe burns, some bandaged, others not. They were all calm and still, attributable largely to the opiate tea that sat in ceramic mugs on the bedside of each.

Beyond them was a pregnant woman in what seemed to be the early stages of labour, and an old man with his arm in a sling in the bed opposite. Next to them were an unconscious man who had apparently lost a leg, and a sickly-looking child with his parents either side of him in the bed across. The other four would need closer inspection to diagnose.

S'Lace regarded the sick and injured and quickly made assessments, determined whom would need care first. Her expression was detached as she regarded every patient.

Iyel began to scan those closest to the door. She wondered what they were being treated with, they seemed sedated.

Kanahkt continued to the dispensary at the back of the room and returned with something the size of a humanoid palm, a brassy instrument that looked like it would wrap around the back of a hand with a large red gem in the centre of a round surface on one side. The gem in the centre appeared badly cracked.

"Our healing device is damaged, and our allies cannot yet spare one. I hope you have brought another." Kanahkt told S'Lace, showing her the damaged instrument.

"Our medical technology is quite different from yours," S'Lace replied as she regarded the instrument, "Perhaps our engineers may be able to repair your device but for now we will have to rely upon our equipment and medicines.

"I need information," she said to Kanahkt as she set down her medical kit and pulled out her tricorder, "When did the man lose his leg and how? What treatment has he received? And the child, is this condition recent?" she held up her hand, "A moment."

She turned to the woman in labor, "I will require information regarding the nature of your pregnancy. Among humans and Vulcans we experience contractions; the less time between contractions the closer the pregnancy approaches. Also do you have an amniotic sack, which contains your offspring? If so has it broken yet?"

As she spoke she approached the sickly child and waved the tricorder over it. As she studied the readings she said to their guide, "The Federation has centuries of experience in handling medical emergencies involving what to us are alien races, we will do our very best. In the mean time I suggest you take your device and find one of our engineers and explain it's function," she spared the man a glance and almost smiled, "Some call our engineers 'miracle workers'. While I would not go that far I must concede their competence is remarkable."

"As I understand it, my people are quite identical to humans, with the exception of the pouch in which we keep our prim'ta." Kanahkt explained, hoping this would help. He kept the healing device in his hand, confused at how easily she had discarded it, wondering if the tricorder she took out was their equivalent.

Kanahkt passed the damaged healing device to the blue woman, hoping she would have some ability to fix it.

Intharia took it by instinct, looking the device over. It did not make sense to her, but she passed it to Mana'i, speaking quietly to avoid interrupting the medical discussion. "Does this mean anything to you?" She asked her colleague.

"I will admit that I am as lost as you are." Mana'i replies with a hum as she turns it over in her hands. "I'm sorry, Intharia."

"This man lost his leg during the battle. He had been assigned to the storage bays, but he could not get out of the room in time after the hull breached, and the blast doors closed on his leg. This was around one of your hours ago. We have applied a tourniquet, his prim'ta is doing all it can to stop the bleeding." Kanahkt explained. He knew all these people, their passions, fears and histories. He knew the necessity of seeing them as lists of injuries, but he did not like it.

S'Lace nodded quietly. That seemed straightforward. She would need to get him to Sickbay as soon as possible.

"The child has passed the age of implantation three moons ago, but there was no prim'ta available for him. Without it, his body has no immunity to natural sicknesses. His parents wish for one of them to surrender their own prim'ta to him, but they promised me they would wait until you had seen him. There is a drug invented by the tau'ri that can replace the function of the prim'ta, but we have no supply." Kanahkt explained, his eyes growing watery at the child's plight.

S'Lace glanced at her guide, eyebrow quirked. With that information she scanned the adults.

"Nihy, this woman is a healer. Tell her what she wishes to know." Kanahkt told the woman in labour, who seemed like she would obey Kanahkt out of respect alone.

"My water," she said in a way that suggested the universal translator was struggling with her dialect, or that it was simply quite primitive, "it comes almost a quarter-day ago." She hoped she understood the strange words of the healer as she explained.

"Fascinating," S'Lace murmured when she saw the physiological differences evident in the adults, "This..." she was reluctant to use the word 'parasite' because she was not certain if that was what it was. But if the child did not have it then it seemed these people were dependent upon one to ensure survival. There was a human word to describe this situation: insidious.

She tapped her comm badge, "Captain, permission to beam over patients to Sickbay. I would recommend lockdown procedures to insure security. I will also need to quarantine a patient due to their lack of an immune system. It seems our hosts are dependent upon a...specific life form for survival. I will need to research a means to come up with a substitute. I will also need to perform surgery immediately."

"Granted, Doctor." Rovak's voice came through after a moment. "I will alert Dr Pfeiffer to prepare for your arrival."

Thari took a step back and gestured to Mana'i to do likewise instinctively. The asari still wasn't entirely comfortable around the transporter, even if she had used it several times now, she didn't want to be too close to anyone beaming if she wasn't.

With a hum and glow that seemed to disorient the Jaffa, S'Lace, Iyel and the Jaffa patients were all beamed away.

Once the beaming was complete, Intharia spoke to Kanahkt. "If you could please take us back to the central population. I would like to meet any who will speak with us. Can you assist us with that?" Intharia asked the First Prime.

"I can. With me." The burly First Prime told T'Zor, leading back towards the exit. He seemed like a man accustomed to going back and forth often.

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