Hunter's Perils

Posted on Tue Jan 14th, 2025 @ 3:21am by Captain Rovak & Lieutenant S'Lace & SubCommander Saa & Lieutenant Commander Atna & Senior Chief Petty Officer Gaz & Lieutenant Mina Pfeiffer & Ensign Shova Qiil & Ensign P'Lar & Nurse Sharsa & Nurse Belinda Macdonald & Head Nurse Akendjaaq Son of Akondjaaq
Edited on on Tue Jan 14th, 2025 @ 3:30am

1,490 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Masters of the Stars [2]
Location: Delta Dock HazMat Lab
Timeline: 1340 - MD02 (Parallel to 'The Wolf's Fangs')

Thul and the security team had chased after the juggernaut Volsunga at the Captain's order. Under the collapsed roof of the upper cargo bay, Rovak and Saa had been injured by falling debris. Atna and Gaz were close at hand, administering what first aid they could to both.

Saa lay amid a tangle of wreckage, not far from the console she'd been trying to drag herself toward before succumbing. The Cetacean officer's silvery flesh was bruised to a purplish gray in much of the places that showed, and a deep gash lay open along her side, though only a thin trickle of blood now oozed from it, her vessels having constricted around the wounded area.

Gaz was busy keeping a medical tricorder trained on Saa. He couldn't do anything with the information, but he hoped it would be useful to whoever showed up to help. "You're alright, girl. You're alright." He repeated unconsciously, hoping help arrived soon.

Atna applied the bioregenerative field from the emergency medkit as best she could. She had a reasonable understanding of cetacean anatomy, but insufficient medical knowledge to help further, and the regen field wasn't a substitute for real care. She looked at Gaz's readings as she went. She knew from having briefly inspected his injuries the Captain did not need their help quite so urgently.

Gaz realised then that something was nudging him. He looked down, and saw it was Saa's utility drone, gently trying to pass through his leg, undeterred by its inability to pass. "What?" He asked the thing, assuming it had some kind of voice protocol.

"Connection lost. Restore at nearest connection?" The drone said.

"Yeah, fine." Gaz told it, and it floated back towards the nearest console, where he assumed Saa was working when it all went wrong. As it docked with the surface, Saa's previous work appeared. He looked away from the medical tricorder for a moment to take it in. "Huh." He said to Atna. "Looks like she was trying to replicate a hypodermic transporter enhancer dart. Probably worth a look if this carries on much longer. And we aren't all dead."

"Curious." Atna observed. "I am not confident the alloy structure of even the flexible joints in the armour will be sufficiently porous for a dart to penetrate, but we should not rule out any options." She continued with the field projector, noting Gaz's readings.

"Pfeiffer to S'Lace." Came the ACMO's voice through the Vulcan Doctor's combadge. "A medical team will be beaming to the Captain's location in five seconds. Would you like a site-to-site?"

S'Lace made her way to the downed personnel, she wondered if anyone was going to die today, or how many would be wounded in an attempt to stop that being. His utter lack of logic implied an indoctrination so deep rooted he was little more than an automaton.

One look at Saa spoke volumes, she replied, "A cetacean has been wounded and is unconscious, we will need immediate artificial respiration," she was tempted to inject some stimulant into...Saa. Yes that was their name. But all her work with cetacean had been via holodeck simulations.

She would not be telling Saa that when they woke up. "Prepare to beam the cetacean directly to sickbay with myself, send the medical team to the Captain's location."

Was anyone else on staff more experienced in cetacean biology? No time to ask. Saa's life was in her hands...

The transporter swept up Saa and S'Lace, depositing a team of medical staff and first responders. Doctor Pfeiffer supervised while Nurse Sharsa stabilised Rovak's injury and Ensigns P'Lar and Qiil used graviton projectors to remove the crate.

"The Subcommander's injuries do not appear to be life threatening, but her cetacean biology means she will not breathe autonomically. I am uninjured, I will remain here and assist." Atna told the medical team. Once she was sure they understood, she ran across the room towards the sounds of phaser fire.

"Me too." Gaz said, though he did have a couple of scratches and bruises, more from his own carelessness than being in the path of the wreckage.

Nurse Sharsa nodded to Atna and Gaz. Once Rovak was secure, Sharsa and Rovak beamed to sickbay. Qiil and P'Lar remained behind to help contain the intruder.

---

[Sickbay]

Once they arrived in sickbay, Pfeiffer left Rovak to the nurses, and moved to join S'Lace. "Readings from the time leading up to our arrival." The Doctor told her colleague as she transferred the scans Gaz had taken while Atna did what she could. "Can I assist?" She asked once she was sure the information was uploaded to the medical database.

S'Lace had directed the nurses to help stabilize Saa, to prepare artificial respiration. By the time the other team had arrived preparations were already under way.

"I am not proud," S'Lace replied, "Especially when a sentient's life may be at stake."

"I am glad to hear it." Pfeiffer said, moving to the other side of the large biobed. "It looks as though her injuries are not life-threatening, but we must oxygenate her urgently, she will not breathe on her own until she is conscious."

"What is the Captain's condition?" she inquired.

"Crushed patella, fractured tibia and cracks in the femur. Fortunately he was not pinned long enough for crush syndrome to occur, and scans are not showing any signs of fat embolism. Nurse Akendjaaq is currently repairing the soft tissue damage. He may need several rounds of treatment with an osteogenic stimulator, but all risk factors are negligible." Pfeiffer explained

"I do hope that he is not a recalcitrant patient, then," S'Lace murmured as she studied the data someone had uploaded from a medical tricorder regarding the subcommander's condition. Combined with the bioregenerative field they or someone else had activated it seemed the crew was well trained in emergency medical procedures.

Pfeiffer looked at Saa's wound, somewhat surprised by how little bleeding there was given its size. "Have you treated many cetacean patients before?" Pfeiffer asked, comforted by the activation of the artificial oxygenator, confirmed by a thumbs up from Nurse Macdonald and illumination of the device. An explosive exhalation followed, almost sounding as if something inside the device had broken. The somewhat volcanic nature of cetaceanoid respiration made the unit a bulkier affair than the humanoid variety, incorporating an actual gas canister to supply the patient's pulmonary actions. Once stabilized, the unconscious subcommander relaxed into a restful cycle of one breath per minute.

"No," S'Lace replied as she activated a dermal regenerator, "I will wish to discover who initiated first aid on the subcommander; they were most efficient."

"Lieutenant Atna, with help from Chief Gaz." Pfeiffer noted. She reviewed several of the different scan views around the wounded area on the side panel of the biobed.

S'Lace made a mental note to include both personnel in her report.

"I must confess that other than Ensign Cassius' recent physical, it has been some time since I treated a cetacean patient." Pfeiffer looked at the deeper levels of the wound in a pared back scan. "It looks as though the damage is largely superficial. She is fortunate, the crate that struck her appeared to contain neutronium alloy. I suspect her antigrav harness must have mitigated the trauma."

S'Lace nodded in acknowledgement, "The sub commander will be our guest for at least twenty four hours; I would like them under observation. I trust by the time they are ready to leave the harness will have been repaired."

She glanced at Pfeiffer, "Although, considering the crisis the harness might be of secondary importance to Engineering," she tapped her comm badge, "Commander Atna, Doctor S'Lace here. What is the status of the crisis? Are there more wounded," even as she spoke she strode over to the wall to grab a fresh medical kit.

Atna had just left the empty suit of armour behind with Commander Flynn's leave when she received the communication. "Negative, Doctor. We have disabled the individual, he is currently being contained within the lower dock space. I am on my way there currently to begin further assessments. I believe your medical opinion would be of great value if you find yourself with the time to join us." She told the Doctor.

"Understood, Commander," S'Lace replied. She was reluctant to leave Sickbay with two patients here: they were her principal responsibility. But it seemed Pfeiffer had more experience with Cetaceans and the Captain's injuries were not unusual.

"I leave Sickay in your care," S'Lace said to Doctor Pfeiffer, "Let me know if there is any change in our patients' condition."

She made certain her medical tricorder was functioning before grabbing a fresh medical kit on the way out...

"Jawohl, ma'am." Pfeiffer said, reaching for an autosuture, taking over the primary attending role. "Good fortune." She told her colleague, having seen what that man she was now off to see had done to a cargo bay.

 

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