Mission 5: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

[Deleted]

James walked over to one of the biobeds, feeling somewhat unsteady on his legs. He felt as though his abdomen were cramping up and he pressed his hands on them in a vain attempt to issue pressure to ease the discomfort. His last meal was feeling as though it was stuck at the back of his throat and he swallowed hard to keep it down. "I am starting to feel nauseous," he reported to both doctors, "but I should be able to still perform my duties. Do you want me to return to the bridge and observe the senior staff, or do you want me to remain here?"

(Holi/Williamson)

He was now sat on the biobed, sitting perfectly still as Williamson waved her tricorder over him. Then he nodded over towards Disasterman, who looked a little green in the face. "The first officer doesn't seem to be feeling well either, have you attended to him yet?"

(Holi/Williamson)

"If you give me something against this nausea, then I think I'll return to the bridge anyway. I've never really liked sickbays, besides I've got to check on my daughter." At that point, Antoinette came walking in, looking as though she had just gone through the effort of mounting an enormous expedition and seeing through it. "Tony are you all right?"

Antoinette shook her head. "No dad, I feel sick," she responded weakly, before she collapsed.

"Tony!" James cried, jumping up from the biobed, nearly collapsing himself. He picked her up from the deck and lay her on the biobed he had previously occupied. "Please take care of her," he pleaded, before unsteadily walking out the door.

When he got back to the bridge, he sank down in his seat beside the commanding officer. "Several people have reported to sickbay with food poisoning," he reported sadly, "my daughter has fallen ill also and I'm not feeling well either. Willamson's given me something against the nausea but I should be in bed too."

[kat]

"This is too much. Do we know the cause of the poisioning?" Kat asked and didn't like the answer. She cursed out the replicators, and remembered she too had eaten from the recently. She sighed and knew it would only be a matter of time before she too fell ill.

Kat decided it was high time they worked out a good antidote to this thing, and gave Commander Flanigan what he asked. She had a nurse keeping an eye on his daughter as he left for the bridge.

"Holi, I'm going to go read something. This looks a little familiar, but not entirely. I have an idea on a fast remedy, but I want to be sure of something first," she said and went into her office pulling information up that she badly needed. About ten minutes into reading, as she sat on the edge of her desk, Kat found part of the answer, but knew it wasn't enough.

"Stupid chicken," Kat said as she came out of sickbay half an hour later. She knew a tad of information about what might be causing this, but she wasn't sure about it. Instead she whipped together a hypospray and put it to the First Officer's neck, knowing the crew needed him.

Just as she was about to administer it to Antoinette, she suddenly felt her stomach. It came on very quickly, and she fell to the floor blacking out.

[Deleted]

Commander 1C Disasterman laid on the biobed wishing that his stomach would stop hurting long enough for him to even roll over and face the other direction since he was tired of looking at the wall. Suddenly he felt a hypospray being pressed against his neck and wondered what was going on. He didnt have the strength to even turn his head to see who had just zapped him. Suddenly he heard a crash and what sounded like a body hitting the floor. He forced himself to roll over and saw Katrina laying there in a heap.

He was about to call out when Holi ran over and started checking the CMO. It took a few more minutes but some other nurses came over and helped the CMO onto a biobed. Now with the CMO out of commision it was up to Holi, Command Flanigan and the few medical staff to work out a solution to the current problem that was slowly bringing the crew of the Black Tulip into sickbay.

Disasterman knew he shouldnt do it, but he tried to at least sit up. If he could do this, then someone else could also sit on the bed since the room was starting to become crowded. He sat up and realized that this was a huge mistake. The room started spinning faster than him going back down on the bed. Whatever was in that spray didnt seem to be working. The last thing he remembered before passing out was Holi looking at both the CMO and the FO with a worried look on her face.

[Deleted]

There was only so much AJ could do without showing too much worry for his daughter and crewmates. Over the last few hours many more had reported in ill, and he wasn't feeling too happy himself either right now. He sat hunched over in his seat, his arms folded across his abdomen in an attempt to fight down the nausea.

In the mean time, the Tulip had entered the Delta Persei and calls for the medical supplies were starting to come in. With Williamson herself now out of action as well, it seemed to be up to poor Holi to manage the entire sickbay routine as well as cargobay four which held the supplies. "Perhaps I should attempt to help Holi by managing the distribution of supplies to the colonists," he suggested, while managing a wary glance towards his CO.

Pressing his hands against the armrests of his seat, he pushed himself p to his feat, then took a deep breath as he fought down the urge to vomit. "And I hope we find a cure for whatever ails this crew soon," he murmured, "for this is not a way to remain on duty for long. Once I am done helping Holi, with your permission sir, I am going to lie down for a bit."

[Elron]

"Of course, Commander, the CO replied. "An unconscious Counsellor is of little use to me. Get as much rest as you feel you need. I'll call on you if we need you."

Elron checked the constantly-updating reports from sickbay. The number of people experiencing nausea or worse was slowly but steadily increasing. At this rate, they'd be down to a skeleton crew before the day was out. With Cmdr Flanigan helping Holi to manage the transfer of medical supplies, Elron was frenetically trying to work out a personnel roster that didn't involve anyone currently stuck in sickbay. Around half of the senior staff were out of action, along with many of the engineers and security staff.

At that moment, a hail came through from the elected leader of the colony.

"On screen," Elron responded to his COO.

A stout gentleman in his mid-fifties appeared on the viewscreen. He had a thick greying beard and a neatly trimmed head of wavy grey hair. His clothing was smart and official-looking, but not very elaborate. It was the type of raiment one would expect on the leader of a small colony such as this. "Admiral Elron," he said in a warm but measured voice, "I am very grateful to you and your crew for the supplies you provide us with."

Elron smiled back. "Not at all, Councilman. It's our duty to see that you have everything you need."

"Well we very much appreciate it, Admiral. With the recent outbreak of illnesses among the colony, we probably would not be able to cope without your assistance."

"Unfortunately, we've been having a few problems of our own. We think there's been a malfunction with our food replicator systems and a large portion of the crew are suffering unpleasant side-effects."

"Oh dear," the Councilman replied with a look of genuine concern.

"Thankfully I decided to skip breakfast this morning," said Elron with more than a little relief. "I'm sure we'll trace the problem soon enough though."

The Councilman stroked his beard lightly and frowned, as though this had made what he was about to say a little awkward. "I hate to impose on you and your crew any further given the circumstances, but I was wondering if you could do another favour for us." Elron didn't even hesitate before replying.

"But of course. How can we be of service?" he asked brightly.

"Earlier in the week, some of our resident Starfleet officers and scientists left in a runabout to map and explore a nearby asteroid formation. There were apparently some unusual features that they wanted to gain information about. They were due to have returned two days ago, but there's been no word from them since they left."

"We would be happy to look for them and make sure that they're safe," the Fleet Admiral replied reassuringly. "We picked up a runabout signal on our way here, but their transmission cut out before we could locate the source."

"We can provide you with their intended itinerary," answered the Councilman with obvious relief and enthusiasm. "If they haven't drifted too far from their plans then you should be able to find them without too much difficulty."

Admiral Elron nodded. "Please send us the details. Once the bulk of your supplies have been transferred, we'll set off in search of your missing researchers. We'll contact you as soon as we know anything."

"Thank you again, Admiral. We are sure you will do your best for them."

With that, the screen returned to its previous view of the planet's surface against the backdrop of space. "Bema, as soon as Commander Flanigan confirms the medical supplies have been transferred, plot a search pattern based on the information the colony gives us." The Avari CO sat back in his chair and wondered how many of his senior staff would still be standing in an hour's time.

[Deleted]

Now with CMO Williamson down and out, Holi was running all over sick bay trying to help the remaining nurses with the abundance of patients that seemed to be coming out of the woodwork.

If Holi had been an actual living being, she would need to sit down due to being tired, but this didn't seem to affect her. After some time, a message came from the bridge telling her that they had arrived at the colonies and the supplies would begin to be offloaded. She knew she needed to be down there to supervise, but she could not leave the crew here in sick bay. She began to wish that there was a way for to be two places at one time, but didn't know if she could do it or not. She finally decided it would be wiser not to try.

"Commander Flanigan to Holi."

This hail surprised Holi since most people don't ever call her. "Holi here, go ahead Commander."

"I know you are a bit busy so if you don't ind, I will go down to the cargo bay and supervise the supply transfer."

"Thanks so much Commander, your help will be greatly appreciated." With that, a little stress was relieved from Holi. Now she turned her attention back to the patients that were still coming into sick bay. Taking a moment she stepped into the CMO's office and looked at the computer screen that Katrina had left on. Looking over the screen she tried her best to think like Katrina had been to see if maybe she could get a cure for the crew. Nothing seemed to come to mind so she headed back out into the main room to try her best to ease the pain of the crew As she passed Katrina she heard her mumble something, but it was to quick to really be understood. Checking on Commander Disasterman and seeing he wasn't any worse than he had been, she continued her rounds with the others.

[Deleted]

Disasterman kept hearing a mumble behind him, but couldn't tell who it was or what was being said. Forcing himself to do so, he rolled onto his back so he could at least get a change of scenery. Doing this didn't help his stomach in one bit, but it was almost worth the pain to at least look at the ceiling for a little while. At least in this position he could also turn his head to be able to look around sick bay and see who else was there.

He was relieved that at least for the time being, Admiral Elron wasn't there. He didn't recall the Admiral eating in the mess hall, but since they weren't 100% sure if the replicator problem was just isolated there he was hoping the Admiral had skipped his normal breakfast.

He could see Holi running all over the room tending to everyone in sight. He wished that somehow he could just jump up and help, but he knew if he tried, all he would do is collapse to the floor and cause more problems for her.

Meanwhile on the bridge, the few bridge crew members that Admiral Elron could muster up were waiting for the supplies to be sent to the colonies so they could get started on the search for the scientists.

"Commander Flanigan to the bridge, the first of the supplies have been sent to the surface. Will we be setting out for the next area now?"

"No Commander, we are going to do a little side track and look for that shuttle we had picked up earlier. If you need to, go ahead and lay down. If we need you, we will call. Take care and get well soon."

With that Elron looked at the PADD containing the information the Councilman had sent to them about the shuttle's itinerary. He noted the spot where the last message had apparently come from and then turned to the helm and had them head towards that area. He knew that if the shuttle was having engine troubles, it shouldn't have gone to far.

"Scan the area and lets see if we can find that shuttle." With sensors at max, the Tulip began searching for the shuttle. It was picked up just off their planned course in what seemed to be an orbit around an asteroid. Elron was sure if this was just them surveying the asteroid, or if there was a problem. Looking at the viewscreen, he didn't see anything wrong at least with the exterior of the shuttle.

<TAG all>

[Elron]

The Admiral frowned at the viewscreen. "Max, give me a complete scan of the runabout. Try hailing them on all frequencies to get a response."

The Ops console chirruped for a few moments while Commander Richards ran his scans. Despite using all the standard hailing frequencies before moving onto the non-standard ones, his hails went unanswered. "No response from the runabout's crew. I'm reading seven life-signs on board, all in stable condition. No external damage to the ship that I can find, but life-support seems to be malfunctioning."

"Can we get a transporter lock?" asked a concerned Elron.
"Their shields are down. I can beam them straight to sickbay."
"Under the circumstances, it might be best to send them to the smaller facility on deck 16. It's a lot quieter there. Ask Holi to transfer herself down and prepare for seven arrivals in unknown condition."
"Aye, sir."

Once he had confirmation that the transport had been a success, Elron's thoughts turned back to the runabout. "Put a tractor lock on the runabout and tow it into the shuttle bay. I want a team to look at the craft as soon as possible," he ordered.
"Most of the engineers not struck down by food poisoning are trying to trace the problem with the replicators. It might be a while before they can afford to get round to it," replied Richards.
"Then we'll just have to wait."

"Colonel," said Elron, turning to his Tactical Officer, "scan the area for any other ships."
"I'm not showing any other craft within range, and no recent warp trails."
"Not even from the runabout? How long have they been here?"
It was a rhetorical question, much to the relief of the bridge crew, so no one answered and the question hung in the air.

------

Later on, Elron was down in the main shuttle bay with several technicians. Because of the current personnel shortage, he had decided to investigate the runabout himself, leaving Bema in command of the bridge. As the hatch opened, there was a slight hiss as the hermetic seal released and the pressure on either side equalised. Noticing the sound, Elron raised an eyebrow.
"Check the environmental controls," he said to the flight deck technician beside him.
The first thing he noticed as he walked onto the shuttle was a drop in ambient temperature. He actually found it quite pleasant. As an Avari, he much preferred a cool atmosphere, but it must have been positively chilly for the researchers, most, if not all, of whom would have been human. Looking around, the next thing that caught his attention was a blown-out console. One of the technicians was already scanning it with a tricorder, a puzzled look spreading across his face.

Otherwise, there was little immediate evidence to suggest what could have gone wrong. There was no sign of a struggle and the computer system seemed to respond as normal. It might take the team some time to uncover the real problem, but at first glance it seemed to be a relatively minor technical one. As he watched the yellowshirts work their way systematically through the runabout, Elron wondered what condition the crew were in.

[Deleted]

John groaned and leaned against the wall, his right arm hugging his stomach while his left hung limply by his side, trapped between his body and the bulkhead. Sickbay was pretty near full to bursting now, and the queue for the head was just getting longer and longer. He'd been waiting for about five minutes now, but it felt like a lot longer. His symptoms weren't yet as advanced as some people's, or maybe he was just lucky, but he was having trouble standing up for this long.

He glanced across the room and was startled to see someone disappear into thin air. There were no visual effects relating to transport, they simply seemed to disolved in a fraction of a second. After a few moments of alarm and wondering whether his mind was in worse condition than he thought, he realised that it had been Holi. 'Thank God for that,' he thought. 'Not going delusional quite yet.'

He saw Commander Disasterman struggling to roll over on the other side of the room. Although he wasn't a trained medic, John didn't think anyone was going to be recovering from this very quickly. Even if a way of subduing the symptoms could be found, everyone would need significant rest before returning to duty, including himself. He felt a bit bad for the rest of the crew that were having to make up the short-fall. Not for long though, as his head spun again and his knees nearly gave way beneath him. Finally, the line moved forward one. 'I might just make it today after all,' he thought to himself bitterly.

[Deleted]

James was grateful for the allowance to lie down once his task in the cargobay was done. However he wasn't done just yet. It took him several hours to sort the cargo with the spare extra hands that had volunteered to assist. With a total of four, they worked as hard as they could, often enough assisting one another in remaining on their feet.

The counselor felt drained, both physically and emotionally and sweat was pouring down the side of his face, his uniform jacked drenched with sweat as his fever flared. One time he sped off towards a vacant corner in the cargobay, fell down to his knees and vomited violently. His assistants laughed it off, though even they had to take turns towards the same corner.

When they finally were done, James dismissed his assistants towards either sickbay or their quarters, while he signaled the bridge that everything was ready to go. "Call me when you need me sir," he made Elron promise, "you need everyone you can get, sick or not. I am certain I'll feel better after a few hours of sleep."

The counselor was certain he heard a chuckle at the other end of the connection, before he was dismissed to his quarters. "Thank you admiral," James answered, as he staggered towards his quarters. He didn't bother to get undressed but flopped down on his bed straight away. As soon as he lay down, he passed out from exhaustion.

[Deleted]

Three Days Ago, Storey Ancestoral Home, England, Earth

John sat in his chair at home with a cup of tea in his hand, he sighed and wished to be back on a ship. His family had suffered lots of deaths and he had to be there for his family.

His laptop beeped, a message from Starfleet, he tpyed in his medical code and Admiral Hayes came on the screen

'Greetings John, we have an emergency situation for you'
John leaned closer to the screen, suddenly interested. "go ahead"
'We've had a call from a one Fleet Admiral Elron, he is in need of a Doctor after an outbreak of food posioning and his CMO is out of action, we want you to attend.'
"Elron ... Elron ... Black Tulip ?" John asked as the name sparked bells in his head.
'That's him, are you up for it?'
John jumped "yes i'll be there in three days, Storey out"

He jumped out of his seat, and got a bag together, he undreesed quickly and pulled on his uniform, snapped his two gld pips and his black pip to his collar and admired himself in the mirror "Doctor Storey once more" he said with a big grin on his face.

John strode out of his room, and into the garden where his personal shuttle awaited him.

He typed in the destination and started reading up on the outbreak of the illness.

Today, USS Black Tulip

John sat up from his bed as the computer spoke to him

Approaching Destination, leaving warp

John moved to the front of his shuttle and looked at the ship in front of him, he was home, where he first started over nearly 4 years ago as an Acting Ensign.

He pressed the communications button and hailed the ship. A young ensign answered.

"Hello i wish to speak to Admiral Elron immediatly Ensign"
'Identify yourself'
"Lieutenant Commander John Storey. Starfleet Medical sent me, and remember the chain of command ensign!"
'Aye sir'

The young Ensign vanished and a much older version of his former CO appeared on the screen.

<Elron?>

[Deleted]

After a few hours of sleep, James started awake and bolted upright. He didn't remember ever reaching his bed, but when he finally got his bearings he noticed he had fallen asleep still wearing his uniform. The minute he had sat up though, his stomach decided to protest against the instability of his surroundings. Retching, he leaned over, folding his arms around his stomach, but nothing would come out as he hadn't eaten since that fatal meal in the mess hall. And that had been at least a day ago by now.

The mere notion of food made James feel literally ill. Against his protesting body, he managed to get to his feet and make way to the bathroom. There, he disrobed and stepped into the shower, letting the sonic rays cleanse his body. He stepped out and splashed a small amount of water over his face, the cold of the liquid having some refreshing effect.

Feeling somewhat better, he proceeded to dress himself in a clean uniform then headed for the replicator. His hand froze at the control, remembering the replicator was as yet still unsafe to use. Unlike his quarters on the Tiger Shark, his current quarters lacked the presence of a small kitchen and now he had no means to make himself anything to eat. His stomach churned, even though the mere thought of food still made him feel ill.

"I have to eat," he murmured, reaching towards the pitcher of water that stood on his desk. "Perhaps sickbay has something edible in store."

Since he had been out cold and fast asleep, he hadn't heard that a new chief medical officer had arrived, replacing Ambassador Williamson who had also fallen ill. He strolled into sickbay, smiling wanly at the Holi. "Any progress?" he asked, "anyone getting better yet? Personally I still feel worse for wear but I can't just keep to myself in my quarters. Not while we have an emergency out there." He motioned towards where he assumed was the nearest outside wall of the ship. "Holi, do you have anything light to eat here in sickbay? I need to eat something or I'll faint right here..."

Then he noticed a young man wearing lieutenant commander's pips on the collar of his teal uniform. "Oh...someone I haven't seen yet. You must either be new or we just haven't crossed paths yet." He held out a clammy hand towards the newcomer. "Commander Aaron James Flanigan, Chief Counselor. You are?"

(Holi/Storey)

[Elron]

OOC: Apologies for the inactivity. I'm somewhat occupied just now, to say the least, but I'll do what I can to make an occasional appearance over the next few weeks. Just don't expect any masterpeices.


IC:


Elron was in the tertiary sickbay on deck 16, checking on the status of the ship's most recent personnel additions. He and Holi stood in the sickbay's small office while the runabout's officers lay in the ward.

"Well they survived the environmental failure remarkably well, physically speaking anyway. They're obviously still a bit shaken though," Holi reported to the ship's CO. "I've no reason to keep them here any longer, but I recommend plenty of bed-rest for them all, just until they find their feet again," she added with a smile.

"No serious side-effects then?"
"No, nothing a day's rest won't cure."
"With staffing levels the way they are, I figure we could use all the help we can get right now."
Holi frowned a bit at the Admiral's suggestion. "I wouldn't recommend it yet; maybe in a day or two."
"Alright, Holi," smiled Elron, "you're the doc."

Just then there was a hail from the bridge. =/\= Sir, I have a Lieutenant Commander John Storey wishing to speak to you urgently. =/\=
Elron looked at Holi in surprise. "Looks like you might not be the doc for much longer though." He motioned to the office's desk and comm panel. "Do you mind?" he asked.
"Of course not, go on ahead. I'll be next door if you need me." Holi was equally pleased at the thought of seeing Dr Storey again. It had been quite some time since he was last on the ship.

Sitting at the desk, Admiral Elron activated the comm panel and John's face appeared on screen.
=/\= Admiral Elron, I hear you've got a spot of bother. =/\=

"John, you're not a moment too soon," grinned the Avari. "What are you doing here though?" he asked, still surprised by his sudden appearance. John explained the instructions he'd received from Starfleet Medical. Elron decided to take advantage of the gift from Starfleet Medical without delay - apparently it did help to have friends in the right places. "Get your shuttle on board and we'll bring you up to speed. The you can tell us where you've been hiding yourself for the past few years." The look on Storey's face suggested that it wouldn't all be good news, but there would be plenty time for that later.

=/\= Acknowledged. See you soon. =/\=

The screen went blank and Elron stood up. He called Holi through and explained the situation to her. Within a few minutes though he received another message, this time from the over-worked engineering department. They'd completed their diagnostic of the damaged runabout and wanted Elron to review the results with them. Confident that Holi would make sure their guests were escorted to their new quarters, he took the nearest turbolift up to the main shuttlebay. Once there, he met Dr Storey from his shuttle.

"John, great to see you. I'm sorry I can't stop long; we're short handed and I've got something I need to take care of just now. Head down to sickbay first chance you get and see if Holi needs a hand. You can report in properly later today when we've got more time."

"Aye, sir," replied Storey eagerly. He'd only been back on the ship for two minutes and already things were hectic. As Elron walked across the shuttlebay, he looked over his shoulder and watched the replacement CMO head for sickbay. It occured to Elron that the Black Tulip's senior crew had a habit of returning unexpectedly at various points throughout their careers. He liked that.

His mind quickly returned to the matter at hand though, and he wondered what could be discovered from the results of the runabout's diagnostics...

[Deleted]

John walked into sickbay and saw the disaster, things haven't changed ... "Holi, my dear, how are you ? Admiral Elron hasn't explained the siutation so spill it and fast i have to get to work!"

Holi gave him the run down and he got straight to work.

It looked like someone had brought a contaminate on board and since there hasn't been a proper CMO for some time, the bio filters failed to pick it up .... he sighed ...

The doors opened and a man came in and started to talk to Holi, then he saw John in the corner.

"Oh...someone I haven't seen yet. You must either be new or we just haven't crossed paths yet." He held out a clammy hand towards the newcomer. "Commander Aaron James Flanigan, Chief Counselor. You are?"

John looked at this person and decied not to shake his hand "Commander Storey, Chief Medical Officer, if you don't mind we're a tad busy, so can you leave unless you need our help? Oh and if you want food, head to the mess, this is a sickbay not a bloody cafe allright ?"

<tag: Holi, AJ, anyone?>

[Elron]

Arriving at the runabout, Elron could see that the engineers were clearly perturbed. They were standing around the ship in silence, gazing in various directions as though they weren't sure how to proceed next. When the lead technician saw her CO approach, she stood up straight and held out a PADD towards him. Accepting it, Elron saw it was the final report on the runabout's diagnostic.

"What's the matter, Ensign?" he asked casually as he scanned the report. The PADD was still warm from the nervous technician's hand. As he reached the report summary at the end, Elron frowned and looked up. The poor technician was still trying to answer the Admiral's question, but the words seemed to evaporate before they could cross her lips. "I'm a little confused, Ensign. What is it your trying to say here?" He held out the PADD in his left hand and hoped desperately that he had misunderstood her findings.

"Well, sir," she began nervously, "our analyses clearly show that there is no external damage to the runabout of any kind. The damage to the computer console was almost certainly due to some kind of directed energy weapon, but it doesn't match anything on record. Further investigation has shown it to be polaron-based, though traces of nadion radiation have also been detected."

"And yet you say this wasn't the cause of the systems failure... So what was?"

The Ensign looked down at her shoes for a moment, and seemed to be trying to summon up her courage. "Sir, there's only one possible explanation. The environmental controls were changed manually," she blurted out finally. Elron was still frowning, trying to figure out the situation on the runabout.
"What do you mean it was changed manually? Are you telling me they just decided to sit there in the cold?" He was starting to get rather annoyed now. The Ensign became visibly more nervous, while her comrades continued to gaze at the floor, too frightened to meet the Admiral's eyes.

"What about this anodyne relay?" the Avari asked, deciding to move on in the hopes of getting more answers.

"We analysed the whole of their propulsion systems and found them in perfect working order. We eventually traced the problem to several fused relays and a ruptured plasma manifold."

Elron looked at the report again. "You say these relays were fused when the manifold first ruptured. What caused the rupture?" The Ensign was starting to regain her composure and answered this question confidently. "A type-2 starfleet phaser."
Elron just stared at her for a few seconds, then switched his gaze to the runabout, then back to the Ensign. Under the Admiral's stare, the Ensign's confidence buckled and she looked back down at her shoes.

He was still trying to make sense of the news when his thoughts were suddenly interrupted. =/\= Security to Elron. We have a situation in Engineering. You're needed up here immediately. =/\=

"What's going on?" demanded Elron soberly. Alarm bells were starting to ring inside his head.

=/\= Someone has taken control of Main Engineering and initiated a lock-down. We believe between four and seven officers are being held inside. =/\=

"On my way!" He turned his attention back to the lead technician. "Carry on the investigations if you have to. I want to know exactly what happened." With that, he sprinted for the turbolift and headed straight for Main Engineering.

[Deleted]

James glared at the chief medical officer. "Surely you have heard that the replicators in the mess hall are the cause of everyone falling ill?" He couldn't believe this doctor's ignorance, surely Holi had briefed him on the subject once he had entered sickbay?

"And I am not going anywhere. I have been assisting Holi before I went to get some sleep, and I have returned to offer my assistance yet again. I just need something light to eat, something my stomach will hold down."

Again he glared at Storey. "And my daughter," he nodded to the 14-year old girl, "is also ill. Surely a father can stay with his sick child, even when he is sick himself?"

[Deleted]

John glared at the Commander "listen to me, i've just got aboard, and YES Holi HAS briefed me, but i'm the Chief Medical Officer, and this is MY Sickbay, so what i say goes, oh and being the Counselor on board means nothing, you are in MY department and i am your superior in that respect, so LEAVE!"

John stood there awaiting for a reply.

[Deleted]

"Like hell I am," Flanigan spat, and walked straight over to his unconscious daughter Antoinette, turning his back on the furious chief medical officer.

He cast a grim look at the EMH as he passed her. "Holi, please get it through that chief's head that we need every available body to help? And where food is concerned, that sickbay is the only safe place to get it?"

James sat down beside the bed. "Hold on Toni," he whispered as he caressed the girl's golden hair, "you're all I have...you have to hold on. You're a strong girl, you've proven that time and again. I need you Toni, please get better?"

He no longer looked like the infuriated counselor, now he just looked like a desperate father willing his daughter to wake up.

[Deleted]

John sighed and walked over to the body that the Commander was sitting at, John scanned her and his insides perked.
"Holi bring me some Alizine, Animazine, Inaprovaline and Lectrazine." John turned to the commander "I have an idea, may i?"

[Deleted]

James tried to recall what the medications Storey rambled off were for but try as he might, he could not remember. "Try them on me," he answered instead, "you are not using my daughter as a guinea pig. She and I are suffering from the same, but since she is younger, it's hitting her harder."

The counselor sat down on the bed beside the unconscious girl, who clung to him as she subconsciously knew her father was with her. "Symptoms are feeling ill, general nausea, vomiting, weak feeling and finally unconsciousness. Something contaminated the replicators while we were under way here, engineering still has not discovered what. Perhaps we should call them to see if they've more news?"

He held out his arm towards the chief medical officer, demanding he be used as guinea pig. "If this works, you may further test it on my daughter. Commander Distasterman also needs treatment, he is also unconscious. Surprisingly, Admiral Elron is unaffected."

[Deleted]

John nodded "the medications i've listed are as follows: Alizine is an anti-histamine, maybe the illness is an allergic reaction, Animazine is a stimulant, Inaprovaline when used in high doses stimulates cell regeration and Lectrazine is a stabliser of cardiovascualor systems. I am going to adminster then in turn waiting at least 30 minutes before the next medication. i want you to tell me what you feel, if anything. So please move to the vacant biobed so we can monitor your vital signs." John moved over to where Holi had palce the medications and loaded the first drug. He injected the Counselor and waited for a while to see what happens ...

[Elron]

'Come on, come on, come on,' thought Elron impatiently as the turbolift made the journey from deck 9 to deck 15. The doors had barely opened before the Avari dashed through the gap and ran along the corridor to the large blast doors of Main Engineering. He quickly noticed that both doors were securely closed. There he was greeted by three security officers, who looked most relieved to see him. All three were lieutenants junior grade, but one of them had clearly assumed the lead role and proceeded to explain matters to his CO.

"About six minutes ago, an emergency lock-down was initiated from inside Main Engineering, causing the blast doors on decks 15 and 16 to seal and erecting a level-8 force-field around the entire facility. At the same time, control of all engineering systems was rerouted and isolated, and external access was frozen out."

"Who's in there?" demanded the Admiral.

"We've tried checking with the computer, and we think it's the officers we rescued from the runabout. They're missing from their quarters and most of the rest of the crew is accounted for." The other two security officers nodded in silent unison.

"What are they doing? What do they want?" Elron asked with growing anger.

"We've had no communications from them, so we've no idea what they're doing or why. All we know is that they've taken control of engineering and could try to take control of other systems from there."

"And why was this allowed to happen?" Elron glared at them with genuine anger, but it wasn't them he was angry at. The poor security officers looked rather embarrassed.

"With everyone stuck in sickbay or ill in their quarters, both engineering and security are reduced to minimum staffing levels. We're stretched too thinly," replied one of the other officers.

Elron gave him a look that seemed to say 'that's hardly an excuse', but said nothing aloud. The Admiral's day was getting worse and worse, as was his mood, but the most frustrating thing was that he only seemed to have junior officers to take it out on.

"Do we at least know how many are in there? How many runabout officers and how many Tulip officers?"
Again the security detail looked embarassed.

"Because of the force-field, we can't get any readings on who's in there. We've just found a pile of communicators in our guests' quarters, so we don't know whether they're all in engineering or whether they're splitting up through other parts of the ship."

"You said earlier that most of the rest of the crew are accounted for. Who isn't?"

"We're not sure about seven members of the engineering staff," the lead lieutenant answered, "including Lieutenant Singh. We don't know whether they're inside or just ill somewhere, but we're sure at least four engineering officers were probably in there at the time."

Elron tapped his comm badge. "Elron to bridge, I want this entire ship scanned from stem to stern and a definite location put on everyone. And I want security placed at all key points to prevent any further incidents. Then I want someone to get me a comm channel into engineering so I can find out what the hell's going on."

=/\= Aye, sir, =/\= came the reply, =/\= but we're rather under-staffed. It could take a while before we're finished. =/\=

"I don't care," retorted Elron, "just tell me when it's done. Elron out."

[TAG: Singh, Richards, et al]

[Deleted]

Obediently, James lay back on the biobed beside his daugther and watched with not a little apprehension as Storey injected the first drug into his system. Meanwhile he wondered how it could be an allergic reaction if two-thirds of the crew had fallen ill. To him, it seemed more like an en-mass poisoning, rather than a common allergy.

Belatedly, he remembered he had to report how he felt, and glanced up at Storey, looking somewhat sheepish. "I feel no difference," he reported and repeatedly reported the same over the next 30 minutes.

Storey seemed to sigh before injecting the next drug. After a few minutes, James seemed to double over in agony. "This isn't it either," he breathed between gags. This drug seemed to want him to vomit, but that was somewhat impossible on an already empty stomach. Quickly, Storey injected a counter to this drug and his agonies ceased immediately. "Thank you."

James glanced up at the CMO. "What's next? There ought to be something in that repertoire of yours that would cure the crew?" He watched as Storey again set the hypospray against his throat, and winced as an ice cold fluid was injected into his system. He felt himself go weak and his breathing eased, but as a down side it gave him a massive headache. "Apart from the headache and the sudden weakness, I feel fine," he reported, as he marveled at feeling relaxed for the first time since he fell ill.

(tag: storey)

[Deleted]

John's body shook with excitement, "Inaprovaline then, we need to find another to go with it, any ideas Holi?"

Holi thought for a moment "How about Analeptic, and Corophizine "


John thought for a moment, "Get them"

John towered above the Commander "Okay these will be painless, and i will inject them both simultaneously, tell me if there's any effects straight away please"

He nodded and Holi came over, "Hand me the Analeptic, inject the Corpohizine directly on the Juglar and i will do the same on the Carotid we need to ensure instant delivery"

Holi nodded "On my mark .... Three ... Two ... One ... Mark!"

The injected the drugs together and waitied ...

[Deleted]

A little apprehensive about what the effects would be, James winced as he felt the cold tips of either hypospray touch his skin. At first, his vision clouded and he felt extremely light-headed but after only seconds, any sign of illness disappeared. "I feel just fine," he reported dutifully, "dizzy and a bit fuzzed at first but now I feel fine."

To demonstrate it, he hopped off the biobed, but was caught by the doctor as his legs gave way underneath him. "Uh, maybe not so fine after all," he smiled ruefully as Storey helped him back onto the bed. "A little residual weakness I suppose, but that'll probably pass soon."

James nodded over to the unconscious girl lying on a bed to his left. "You may try this on my daughter, though please remember to adjust for her age? She's barely fourteen years old."