Recovery

Posted on Wednesday 5 March 2025 @ 15:44 by Captain Melody Jones & Ensign Charlie Cooper & Commander Caroline Miller & Lieutenant Commander Ras th'Zaanaq

Mission: Moopsy Mania
Location: USS Merlin Bridge/Sickbay/Observation lounge
1077 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Melody entered sickbay to find Seklar had been beamed in a few minutes earlier and was lying on a biobed.

"How is he, Doctor?"

Zirvell had just finished scanning the still unconscious Vulcan. "I am not quite certain captain," the young Cardassian doctor answered, "it seems he suffered a combination of radiation poisoning and high gravity. I'll have to do more tests." He paused, watching his patient for a moment. "He could come around any moment now..."

Melody frowned. "Radiation poisoning? The shuttle's sensors didn't pick up anything dangerous during the test flight. Is it serious?"

"No, there was minimal exposure but he responded to it all the same, quite likely due to high gravity exposure." The young man sighed softly as he continued to examine his patient. "For now I recommend rest captain. No test flight for at least eight hours."

Tag

At that moment, the Vulcan on the bed stirred and groaned softly. His expression changed briefly and minutely before he was conscious enough to control it. "Captain," he whispered as he opened his eyes. "What happened?"

Melody visibly relaxed as Seklar regained consciousness. "Commander! Welcome back to the land of the living. We're not 100% sure. Ensign Cooper is getting the logs from the shuttle as we speak. As far as we can tell, the flight was a success. What do you remember?"

The Vulcan struggled to work himself up into a half sitting position, only to find himself gently pushed back by the chief medical officer. "Not much," he confessed, "gravity increasing significantly, then nothing. I must have engaged the autopilot or I would not be here." A stricken expression crossed his features at that thought. "Who would take care of my children?" He had been oh so careful lately, because of his twins, who were still reliant on his care. Especially after Salai expressing his concerns after his last injury.

Melody put a hand on his shoulder. "Your children are fine, you are fine." Melody reassured him. Just then her comm badge beeped.

"Cooper to Captain Jones, I've managed to download the shuttle logs and sensor data ready for review."

"Very good ensign. Bring the data up to the observation lounge and have the senior staff meet there in 5 minutes." Melody turned to the Doctor. "Do you want to keep the patient here doctor or is he well enough to come to the briefing? You could always monitor from here."

"I'd prefer to keep him but Vulcans do tend to be very stubborn ma'am." He watched as his patient shied away from what was clearly a harmless touch. "I imagine he'll want to be present so as long as he doesn't get too excited he can attend, but I'll be monitoring him."

"He does wish to attend," Seklar growled, irritated over the fact he was spoken about, instead of being spoken to, "and he will do so."

"Come on then." Melody said with a smile as she turned and headed for the door.






Observation lounge


After informing the senior staff of the Captain's order, Ensign Cooper entered the observation lounge and began setting up the monitor with the telemetry and sensor data from the shuttle.

A little unsteady, and paler that usual, Seklar walked in. The Cardassian CMO, tricorder ready and monitoring his patient, followed very close on his heels.

Ras followed behind the obviously still recovering engineer and the CMO who was keeping a close eye on his patient.

TAG Senior staff assembling

Once everyone was settled, Melosy started the briefing.

"So, Ensign Cooper. What did the shuttle data tell us? Why did the Commander lose consciousness?"

Charlie activated the wall monitor. "It's curious Captain. All the sensor data we have says the Commander should have been fine but for some reason, there was an issue with the inertial dampening field. From what I cvan tell, it looks like as the shuttle accelerated, it started to pass into a different reality, almost as if it had broken the speed of reality."

Melody frowned "The speed of reality?"

"It's a relatively new theory in quantum warp field mechanics." Charlie went on to explain. "Instead of occupying every point in the university simultaneously, it is now thought to be possible to go so fast that you can actually leave your own reality and enter an adjacent one. It looks like that is what started to happen to the shuttle. It covered a tremendous distance relative to conventional warp drive and we gained valuable sensor information on this other reality. I've made modifications to the warp field and the inertial dampening field so the next flight should not cause unconsciousness."

Melody looked suitably impressed. She turned to Seklar. "Well Commander, that's one sure way to get into the history books, discovering a new reality."

Seklar all but snorted at that statement. "I do not require a mention in a history book," he answered, "I require this to function without risk to those using it."

Caroline got the message and headed to the observation lounge. She smiled with relief as Seklar walked in. They had said their had been radiation. He looked a little green around the gills but he was up and about. She took a seat and waited for everyone else.

"Is this something we can avoid in future testing?" Ras asked curiously.

Cooper responded "With the modifications I've made, yes. The next test flight should go much better. Once the Commander is cleared to fly that is."

"Is it wise putting the Commander through that again? Would there be any long term effects?" Ras asked.

"The shuttle's sensors didn't pick up anything that could harm the commander." Ensign Cooper interjected.

Melody came to a decision. "The Doctor has advised that Commander Seklar should rest for at least eight hours. That will give Ensign Cooper and myself a chance to go over the shuttle and the logs with a fine toothcomb to see if was can smooth out the ride a bit more. If necessary, another pilot will be found to give the Commander a break." She stood. "Dismissed."

Slowly, Seklar rose to his feet. "I am exhausted, not disabled," he pointed out. "I will take the required rest." The glare he shot towards the captain spoke volumes. This was his baby, and no one was going to take it from him.

Melody tried to suppress a smile but wasn't entirely successful. "Of course commander, you go and get some rest."

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