Saviours

Posted on Fri Apr 13th, 2012 @ 8:09pm by Captain Vorn Krace & Lieutenant JG Nicholas Tenebroso

Mission: Heart of an Explorer
Location: USS Iapetus - Sickbay
Timeline: MD40 1320hrs

As Krace stepped into sickbay, there was immediately noticeable activity, centred around one biobed, though only three people were moving around the person laying prone upon it. There were a couple of other patients sitting up on biobeds around the room who were clearly curious of the newcomer, and were blatantly gazing in their direction.

Doctor Tenebroso was leaning over the patient's head as the Captain approached, seemingly checking some kind of physical sign that alluded the captain. "Doctor," Krace said, also nodding in Lynn's direction. "Counsellor. How's our guest doing?"

"He's stable," the doctor responded. "His physiology, whilst different, is significantly close enough to analogies within the Federation that I was able to treat him. He was suffering from asphyxiation, malnutrition, bone and muscle atrophy; all the typical signs of an extended space flight without sufficient technology or provisions. He also showed an odd trace of radiation poisoning. It's not in high enough concentrations to be harmful to us, but I'll bet he was being exposed to it the entire time he was in that ship of his."

Krace nodded at that. "Can you wake him?"

The doctor simply nodded his affirmation, eyebrows raising almost as if the answer was implied in his previous response. In response, Krace held out his hand to indicate that he should go ahead.

As the nurse handed him a hypospray, Tenebroso leant down again and pressed it to the side of their visitor's neck, depressing the control to inject the stimulant. The man's eyes started fluttering almost immediately after.

As soon as the man's eyes opened, the shock his mind registered was evident in his face, and his head began snapping between his surroundings and the individuals around him. Vorn made sure to keep a bit of distance between himself and the biobed until the man settled down, so as to keep him from feeling too threatened and overwhelmed.

As Doctor Tenebroso calmly tried to make his patient relax, Krace noticed the alien's lips moving; muttering something in his own language that was unintelligible to the captain, but which he knew the computer would be able to detect and use to begin building a translation matrix.

Once the patient had stopped fighting to get away and his breathing had slowed, Tenebroso looking up at Krace and gave him a small nod.

"Hello," the captain offered, taking a small step forward, and wondering how well the computer had been able to create its matrix from the man's few mutterings. "My name is Captain Vorn Krace."

The man sat on his bed silent for long enough that the captain considered trying again, before he tentatively responded; "Arjin. My name is Arjin. Is this... the afterlife?"

Krace smiled reassuringly. "No, it isn't. This is my starship, the USS Iapetus. We found you drifting out in space, and we brought you aboard to treat you. Do you remember what happened?"

"You mean... you're real aliens? It... it worked?!"

Vorn frowned in confusion at that. "That's right," he offered. "We're not from the same planet as you are. I'm from a place called Earth. What is it that you said worked?"

Arjin paused for a few moments before answering. "My world," he said. "My world is called Meltorra. My people... we are suffering from a deathly disease - a disease that reanimates the corpses of our dead." His eyes turned more intensely towards Krace, pleading. "We tried everything to find a cure, but it is like nothing we have seen before. In our desperation, we took the work of our top scientists and built five small pods that could go faster than the speed of light. We sent them out in all directions. Hoping that somebody would find one of us and come back with us, to help us treat my people." He moved to sit on the edge of the bed and reached out to grasp the sleeve of Vorn's jacket. "Please, you must come with me back to my homeworld. You must help my people!"

"We will, Arjin," Krace said, placing his hand on top of the other man's and gently prising it off his uniform. "Lie down and my people will make sure you're alright. We're already trying to find the system that your ship came from."

The man from Meltorra nodded passively, returning to a prone position on the bed, before rolling on to his side, facing away from the officers and towards the wall. As Krace began to walk away, he beckoned towards Tenebroso, waiting until they were close to the sickbay exit before talking quietly.

"Was there any sign of a disease in his system? Anything that could infect the crew?"

"No Captain," the doctor replied. "Aside from the malnutrition and the other effects of his prolonged spaceflight, he's a healthy member of his species, from what I can tell. It would make sense that they would send healthy pilots out if the intent was for them to live long enough to bring back help."

Krace nodded. "Then again, it seems a pretty desperate move to send your first warp ships out so far in the vain hope of finding extra-terrestrial life. Keep me informed of his progress, doctor." As Tenebroso nodded and moved away, Krace paused only a moment before leaving sickbay, heading back towards the bridge. For his first command of a first contact mission, it seemed as though it would be far from the norm.

--------------------
Captain Vorn Krace
Commanding Officer

Doctor Nicholas Tenebroso (NPC)
Acting Chief Medical Officer
USS Iapetus

&

Arjin
Maltorra Native