Moving Forward
Posted on Wed Jun 18th, 2025 @ 10:02am by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Lieutenant Sarah Wilson & Commander Jenna Ramthorne & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Commander Dean House & Lieutenant Commander Aurora Vali
1,771 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
Masimal
Location: Shuttlebay
The senior staff were gathered outside the shuttle, nested safely within the shuttle bay and away from the pathogen that was influencing Sarah's behaviour. Captain Kaylen wanted a clearer picture of what was going on on the planet below before speaking to it and negotiating any agreements.
"So - tell me what was going on down there?" She asked the away team.
"That's what I'd like to know, given that Aurora and I are still stuck in here," came Dean's voice from one of the nearby consoles. He'd locked in on the Shuttlebay from Sickbay so they could still see and hear things. Dean was a little bit irritated from the virus, even if he and Aurora seemed to be 'mostly' immune; it was still trying to run it's course.
Aurora was feeling a little worse for wear, trying to fend off a headache that didn’t want to go away as well as a low grade fever. “What happened down there?”
Savar spoke first, "The virus is widespread among the population. It is a full-size epidemic which shows no sign of abating as the virus looks for more hosts. In addition, the virus is sentient. We are able to communicate with it through Sarah."
"And what the hell is it saying then?" Dean chimed in.
"It's saying that they need more hosts to survive. Which brings the question on sentience into play," Baldric replied grimly. "It reproduces, it fears death, those are some pretty big boxes to tick in that regard."
Captain Kaylen's expression dropped for a moment as this additional layer of complexity made itself known. "So we need an alternative to killing it. Moving forward, Dr Tarsis is engineering an inoculation to prevent infection in the first place, but how do we deal with those infected now?" She posed the question back to the group.
Jenna was standing at the opening to the shuttle, keeping her eyes on Sarah and her ears on the conversation at hand until the moment there was a break in the conversation. "Your mention of inoculation was enough to cause this specimen to squirm, Captain." She eyed Savar quickly, then back to Sarah, "And it's safe to say this has reached pandemic at this point. Every moment we hesitate, the populace down there gets taken at an exponential rate." She added.
"Right, there was that child. That poor young thing." Bonnie piped up from where she still sat, inside the shuttle.
"I suspect Aurora is able to fight the virus because of her copper-based blood and Mr. House is also able to combat the virus due to his enhanced immune system. Perhaps a clue or a potential inoculation lies there." Savar commented.
“You said this virus is sentient?” Aurora was fighting the urge to scratch an itch that was plaguing her. “Could we find it a planet with the right conditions for it to survive, without infesting a populous?”
" So this pathogen must have come from somewhere. We can inoculate the rest of the population once we have a vaccine. Then maybe we find another planet solution," Kaylen mused as she took the key points from the conversation. " Not a small ask."
"That would be a very astute evaluation, Mr. Savar." Considering they were still on comms, Dean could hear him. "Though If I were Vulcan right now, I'd say my mood and stature is leaning into the blood fire of Pon-Farr."
Jenna was deep in thought, no matter how they spun this, the pathogen may have been sentient but it was preying upon other sentient beings, in this case humanoids. Transferring it to another planet would only endanger the species of another world. More importantly, right now, it was feeding on Sarah Wilson.
"At some point we may have to consider drawing a line on this one. Who are we to tip the scales by allowing this, thing, to spread elsewhere? I believe we need answers as to where it came from first. Should it be invasive, or man-made, perhaps allowing it to die is the natural course for its evolution." Jenna wisely decided to add her thoughts into the mix.
Rhenora drew a breath and forced her mind to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Masimal was a warp culture so the prime directive didn't apply, however, it was clear that this was a pandemic that was likely to annihilate the entire population, plus the potential to spread further. "You're right Jenna, we can't play a higher level being on this, but we can help Sarah and drop some warning buoys outside the system. We can also inform Starfleet Command and leave the big morality decisions up to them." It seemed a harsh line to draw though, with people fighting for their lives on the planet below.
"Let's investigate it with the information the away team retrieved, as well as the data Dr Tarsis had collected from Aurora and Dean." Baldric pushed, nodding towards the screen where Dean and Aurora could be seen watching on. Her gut clenched that he was infected, but according to the data the two in that small lab were the key to this mess.
"Agreed Commander," Savar replied as he looked at the screen where he could see Aurora and House. "I believe Aurora and Mr. House and their immune system properties are key to infection."
The group split up into teams. One group assisted in moving Sarah from the shuttle to the Med bay where Doctor Tarsis would be able to hopefully perform a miracle of science. The other team moved in with Aurora and Dean to study their immunity in the hopes of finding a miracle of their own. The final team had their eyes on the uninfected populace on the surface. If they could save even a few, there would be hope.
Hours Later...
Planet Side
The squad of shuttles, spanned the city in a grid like pattern, with one objective; find the uninfected. In order to do so, they would have to transport them aboard, into stasis, then scan them for infection. If cleared they would be sent to a holding area far from the cities. If not clear, they would be sent back, which was harder than it sounds.
Each individual carrying different levels of infection would plead for their lives, for help. But without a cure, or a plan, there was nothing the inspection team could do. So they carried on. Sort, inspect, move one. After several hours of this, they were nearing the end of the city grid, and the end of their shift.
"Alright everyone, once we finish the city we'll head back to the ship" Baldric announced as they began the final grids. There was a pregnant pause as it meant they wouldn't be tackling the expansive farmlands surrounding the city. Much less populated but still there were people there.
"Copy that, Commander. Beginning final run now." Jenna said as she plugged in the last set of grid coordinates. "Have you noticed the masses have tempered? We haven't had anyone taking pot-shots at us in a while now." Between the virus spread as it ate away at the flesh and the reduction in population as the healthy were moved to safe zones, all that was left had seemed to go inert to conserve resources, perhaps.
"Wait!" One of the Ensigns assigned to Baldric's shuttle shouted as they began to sweep away from the city and on a return trajectory back to the Sunfire.
"What?" Baldric's head snapped around at the urgent tone.
"There's a farm, with children, and they're clean from what I can see." The Ensign's eyes were clouded. "If we leave them, they'll be infected by the morning."
"We're full, Ensign, we can't take any more passengers." Baldric started, knowing how hollow that sounded. She sighed and opened a channel to the rest of the shuttle' "Anyone got any room left? There's a clean family on a farm in grid 24 beta."
Jenna assessed how many were on board her own shuttle before responding, "I can take four, five if they haven't eaten since yesterday." Her hands were already plotting the location of 24 Beta, "Send me the coordinates and I'll swing by and pick up the locals." She turned her shuttle around without warning, causing several inside to shoot her unavering looks.
"Sending them over now. Take care with your weight limits, we don't need any more shuttles damaged" Baldric cautioned, knowing that emotions were running high with all of them.
"Got it, heading over now." Full thrusters ahead, she wanted to be done as much as the next pilot. It had been a long day after all. She'd have to set down, to ensure there was enough room inside, which of course posed a threat of its own. What she wasn't prepared for was the belligerent mindset she would find upon arrival.
Medical Bay
Meanwhile back on board Sarah was beyond agitated. Her skin burned like it was on fire from the inside, and her muscles felt as though they were being eaten. "This body is weakening. You must find us a new host if you wish her to live" the parasite announced through Sarah's pained voice. Dr Tarsis looked up from his research, and approached the stasis field. "You will not win this battle. She is strong, and you will die within her." He returned back to his work, splicing DNA together into a working treatment.
Inside the isolation area Aurora was feeling every pained moment from Sarah, being so close wasn't helping in trying to block it out. “Dean and I are already infected, can’t we be of some use to help Sarah?”
Dr Tarsis looked over from his research. "You know that's something I hadn't considered. I can beam you into her quarantine area and advise you how to help her. The risk would be the pathogen tries to have another go at you" He frowned a little. "Your body is coping well so far, but the choice is yours"
Aurora nodded. “I understand, as you said I’m already infected. Let’s do it! Sarah saved me enough times, now it’s my turn to return the favour.”
Savar stayed on the ship to assist Rhenora and be close to Aurora as well as Dr.Tarsis in case he needed something to combat the virus. Right now he was coming into the lab and saw Tarsis talking to Aurora. "Doctor may I be of some assistance? Perhaps my blood can offer a clue in fighting the virus."
TBC
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