Parasites, Babies, and Friendlies... Oh My!

Posted on 10 Dec 2019 @ 2:40am by Commander Jayla Kij & Lieutenant Commander Arjin Djinx & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Lieutenant Avery Stuart Ph.D. & Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexander Rylan & Lieutenant Lucas Abrams M.D. & Lieutenant JG Kemm & Senior Chief Petty Officer Mila Rasputin & Story Teller

5,106 words; about a 26 minute read

Mission: Truth and Justice
Location: Deck 6
Timeline: MD 15 || 1810 hours

===[Inside Sickbay]===

Sickbay had seen a lot in the last few hours. Personnel had been infected by and cleared of parasites; others had been shot, stunned, and killed, and it had played the host to the start of the ship's auto destruct sequence. It was only natural for the next thing to happen to sickbay that the floor should lurch as a result of the external battle fought between the Black Hawk and the Guardians. Even though much of the crew had yet to be informed with what was happening, the door to reception opened, and wounded began to flow in.

Avery Stuart directed the wounded into sickbay and began to triage them as best she could, relying almost exclusively on muscle memory to do so. Even though the counselor was well aware she was literally going to be placing bandages on what would most assuredly be much deeper physical and psychological wounds, there was comfort in compartmentalization and a certain satisfaction in being able to heal, or at least stop the bleeding, so that others could heal, the physical harm before her eyes. She did not ignore the glassy eyes of the traumatized, but she did not pick at their psychological wounds either, instead making sure people were not left too isolated or without simple things like water.

By now, a couple of the formerly-possessed security personnel had awakened and had been given disc shooters with extra discs. Both officers carried a great deal of guilt for killing several of the medical staff, but they did willingly plant a disc on each person, wounded or not, who entered sickbay. Out of the forty people who had entered so far, none of them carried a parasite.


===[Outside Sickbay]===

Shay made her way down the corridor armed with Rylan's phaser and a disc shooter. Each weapon held twenty discs, and five had already been used, so she was down to fifteen. Every shot had to count, and since she was only getting started on this new leg of her journey, she hoped to used each one of them on those she knew to be taken hostage by the Dolmoqour like she had been.

Mila had no idea where she was or how far she had gone after fleeing from Torg's smoking corpse. The stench of burnt flesh was still in her nose and she felt her gorge rising at the thought of what she had done, but forced it down. "This is no time to be feeling regret. Ship is to be blowing up." She came to an intersection in the Jeffries Tube and turned towards a hatch. She pressed an ear against it and listened, but didn't hear anything. Holding her breath, the Yeoman activated the hatch and pushed it open a tiny bit to peek out.

Here we go, Shay thought as she watched the hatch in front of her start to open. She stopped and got as close to the bulkhead as humanly possible short of melding into it. She held her breath and waited to see who was going to come out. Would they be Dolmoqour? Would they be Starfleet? It didn't matter. Either way, they were going to be getting a disk to the chest just to be safe.

Mila didn't hear anything, but she took the PADD she had kept and accessed the camera feature on it that people used to record messages. She slipped it out the crack as she widened it a little and tried to see the screen and what the camera was getting.

Shay stayed where she was, holding her breath lest the slightest movement give her position away. The young woman continued to wait for whoever was in the Jeffries Tube to come out. She could take the fight to them, but she hadn't taken anyone's life that she remembered. Just someone's arm, she thought with a grimace. Still, the Ensign didn't want to start doing that now, and if she moved any closer to that hatch, it would definitely bring unwanted trouble.

It was too dim and red lit with the red alert and she couldn't see anything, so the Russian took a chance and crept partway out of the hatch, her head and one arm at first as she hesitated and tried to look around. Still not seeing anyone, the young woman took a breath and crept the rest of the way out, her body as tense as a whip.

She squinted her eyes as the other woman cleared the hatch. Shay thought she looked familiar, but couldn't make out just who she was in the current lighting. It made no difference, though, as she leveled the weapon armed with discs that sent electrical shocks through their targets and fired. She was now down to fourteen, but at least this was someone she could possibly recruit in her effort to clear the deck.

Mila jerked and twitched when she felt something hit her, then she felt a small charge. "What in hell is this?" She demanded as she turned towards the direction she thought the shot had came from.

Shay moved toward Mila. "That was to rid you of the parasite that's possessing members of the crew. Considering nothing has come out of your ear, it's safe to assume you weren't one of them," she said, looking her over. It was just as she thought... the Captain's Yeoman, but what... was she really using PADDs as some kind of armor? Whatever made her feel better, but in this instance, putting them over the ears was the best way to stay safe. "Was there anyone else with you, or were you on your own?"

"I...I'm alone," Mila said but looked quite shaken and pale. "What is going on?"

"Long story short... all members of the away team, myself included, were infected with a mind controlling parasite known as the Dolmoqour. More than a hundred of them are on the ship, and they want out of the Zone. They plan to use our bodies, and our ship to make that happen. We can't let them," the Security officer replied. She gestured to the disc shooter she held in her hand. "This is what freed me of mine, and what will free others as we find them. If you need more of an explanation than that, it's going to have to wait. We need to find them."

Mila started to cry, but stopped herself. "I could have saved him. I didn't know why he was attacking me..." she said softly. "Instead I killed him..."

"We've all done some things we regret," the Security officer said. "However, we can't focus on that right now. Right now, we need to get as much of our crew back as possible. Once this is all over, I'll listen to everything you have to say, I promise."

The Russian Yeoman collected herself and nodded. "Then there is business to be taking care of," she said with determination in her voice. "Are you having spare whatever that is?" she asked and pointed to Shay's weird gun.

"No, but I know where we might be able to get one. We're going to have to go back to sickbay for it. That's where he was heading when I left him. Stay close," Shay ordered as she began to backtrack the way she'd come from.


===[Nearby]===

Being up and free again, a phasor in his hand for defense, Djinx felt great. The security Ensign Eleanor had provided them with some. They had not yet encountered hostile contact but they remained focussed. This time they would stun first and ask questions later. Only a few corridors before they were at sick bay.

A set of footsteps could be heard around the corner, leading an ensign in science blue to pop around the corner. She was armed with a phaser and appeared to be looking for someone, but instead found a woman ensign in gold and a Trill lieutenant commander. "Stop right there!" she said, holding her phaser up high and shouting loudly for anyone to hear her. "Commander Djinx, we have to make sure you don't have one of those things in your head."

Arjin stopped in his tracks, his arm outstretched, Phasor pointed at the Science Ensign. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ensign Eleanor had don the same. The woman would have to choose between 2 targets. She would at least not succeed in taking both out. "We do not have any of those things in our head. We just escaped a bunch of crazy. Who's to say you are not one of the crazies with a thing in your head.", he asked quietly.

"Says the Captain," the ensign in blue replied. "We're under orders to use these disc on all of the crew. If you don't have one in your head, then it'll just be a mild shock. But if there is..." she raised the weapon and tightened her grip on the trigger, "then this will hurt a little bit." Without waiting for him to reply, she fired one of the discs at Djinx.

The impact alone was enough to be painful , but the shock afterwards sent all his muscles to contract. Leaving him without breath for a second before the pain receptors sent the experience to his brain. He fell to his knees, phasor falling next to him. But no Dolmoqour came out of him.

The ensign in blue then quickly turned to Eleanor and fired the weapon at her, planting a disc in the middle of her chest.

As the ensign shot the Lieutenant Commander, Elisabeth pulled her trigger in an attemt to stun her hand so she would let her strange weapon fall. But not before she herself was hit. She screamed as the pain got the better of her. Her training helping to not loose her phasor. Nothing came out of her ear either.

The science ensign's hand went numb, releasing its grip on the disc shooter. She uttered a Norwegian curse and she knelt down the pick up the weapon with her other hand. "Great," she mumbled. "Now we all have to go to sickbay."

Having catched his breath, Arjin asnwered, "That is where we were heading in the first place. Is it safe. I saw Kij resisted the parasite. But she was in bad state. Is she all right? And the captain. Is he all right?"

"He's alive," said the ensign. "But that's all I know. The medical staff in sickbay saw him. They'll be able to tell you more."

Arjin nodded. "Let's go then. No time to waste."


===[Birthing Room - Sickbay]===

Staring at the fetal monitor nervously, Jayla attempted to calm herself with slow, steady breaths. There was nothing wrong with the babies- that's not at all what was troubling her. No, what was troubling her was-

The ship shook again, more gently this time. Jayla shook her head. Bringing babies into this situation was just wrong! She should have tried harder to convince Joey to leave the ship. Oh, well. What's done was done.

"How are you feeling?" she asked Joey gently as she prepared a hypospray with cortisone. It would help the babies' lungs develop a bit more quickly given that they were premature.

This wasn't how she'd planned this going, but living in a state of constant stress, and taking an electrical shock, had other plans for her. Now, Joey was settled on a birthing bed listening to the two steady heartbeats of the babies that would be making their appearance in the near future. Thanks to the epidural she'd been given shortly after changing and getting situated, the pain she felt was a bit more tolerable, but it did nothing to calm her nerves or decrease the stress she felt.

There was still so much going on outside of sickbay, and based on the shaking of the ship, she assumed there was quite a bit going on out in space as well. For Jayla's sake, though, Joey did her best to hide the fact that she was panicking. Her hand found the edge of the bed when the ship shook and gripped it so hard her knuckles turned white as a sheet, earning cramps in her fingers.

The question of how she was feeling was one Joey could have answered in so many different ways, however, none of those answers were positive. The ship was still crawling with people who'd been possessed by a parasite hellbent on making it out of the Zone by any means necessary, and now the Guardians were hellbent on making sure that wasn't going to happen. Even if it meant killing every soul on board. She took a deep, calming breath as she turned her eyes toward the doctor. "I suppose... I'm feeling as well as can be expected all things considered," Joey replied, keeping her answer as vague as she possibly could in hopes it would appease the Trill woman. "How are you holding up?"

Jayla grinned. "You're the one about to give birth and you're asking me how I'm holding up?" she laughed. But, then her smile faded. "I'm terrified," she admitted. "There are just too many people I care about on this ship. What are the odds they'll all get through it in one piece?"

"I know how you feel, and to be perfectly honest, I don't know how anyone is going to get through it," Joey admitted with a frown. There wasn't going to be an easy fix this time. She was sure it would take many months for people to even begin healing, and that was if they managed to survive.

"That's... a tough pill to swallow," replied Jayla. "Pill! I haven't had to take one of those in... I don't even remember. Maybe that phrase needs updating. Dexamethasone," she added, holding up the hypospray and pressing it to Joey's neck. "To help the babies."

Joey blinked, a little shocked that the doctor was injecting her with something for the babies. "Um... what exactly is that supposed to do?"

"Ensure that any vital organs that might not be fully developed have a fighting chance," answered Jayla. "Specifically the lungs. Premature babies often have underdeveloped lungs. Dexamethasone is a steroid. It'll speed the development along. By giving it to you, the babies will get a smaller and filtered dose. A direct dose could be harmful."

"Anything that will help, I'm grateful for, and I really don't mean to change the subject, but I have to ask, and I probably should have well before now," the Intel Chief began as her nerves seemed to get the better of her. "Have you delivered many children?"

"As chief of Pediatrics on the Frost, I assisted in several deliveries," Jayla replied. "And as the ACMO, I even led a couple. This is actually the first in quite some time. But... I've been practicing in simulations," she admitted, a bit embarrassed. "With varying complications. One of them was a nightmare scenario. Somehow, even a nurse died. I have no idea who designed that program, but whoever it was should be imprisoned for the rest of their life." She grinned. "So, yes, I have some practice," she finished.

"Di... died?" Joey stammered, a new kind of fear creeping its way into her. With all the focus on the Dolmoqour and everything else the Zone managed to throw their way, not one time did she ever consider something like that could ever be a possibility. "I changed my mind. I don't want to do this anymore. I'll hold them in." She pushed the covers off of herself in her panicked state, forgetting she'd had an epidural, and managed to go nowhere fast.

"It was a ridiculous scenario that could never actually happen in real life," Jayla reassured her as she pulled the covers back into place. "I've deleted it from the training programs, in fact. Nobody died in any of the others. Not even the one where the ship was under fire." She blinked as a rumble went through the floor. "I thought that one was ridiculous, too, but I guess it wasn't," she added, a bit darkly.

The Intelligence Chief could do without the rumbling and shaking, but there was a fight to survive going on, and she found herself hoping they all would. "Of course, when you live a life in space, anything is possible," Joey said as she settled herself back against the bed once again. Even if she did want to get up and walk away, that wasn't going to happen without the use of her legs. "I've been having this recurring nightmare that I went into labor on the Mississippi with Khan at the helm and the Borg chasing us. I don't know what was worse, the Borg trying to assimilate us, or Khan's suicide flying."

That elicited another smile from Jayla. "I'd have to say the flying," she joked in an attempt to relieve the stress of the situation. "I'd take assimilation any day."

Joey couldn't help but smile at that. Kelly was a good pilot, but she still had a long way to go if she wanted to be the best Starfleet had to offer. "You're probably right about that," she said, smoothing the covers over herself. "I think I'll be okay here for a bit if you want to go check on things and see how everything is running out there. I can't even go anywhere. I already tried, but my legs feel like lead, so you don't have to worry about me trying to escape." It was another attempt from her to put a little humor out there, but she wanted to get in touch with Torg to see how things were going. See if maybe he'd spoken to anyone else in Intel since all of this happened.

Jayla looked uncertain, but one of the nurses handed her a medkit. "Go," said the nurse. "I'll call you if anything changes."

With a glance towards main Sick Bay, Jayla sighed. "Yeah, they look swamped out there. Don't you dare leave her side for anything!" she told the nurse.

The nurse made a crossing motion across her heart and Jayla went to help with the wounded. "I'm nurse Michelle Jude," she said to Joey. "You can call me Mitchy, if you like. Most everyone does." She grinned.

"I wish we were meeting under different circumstances, but it's a pleasure, nonetheless," Joey said, looking to the nurse. "It seems Doctor Kij thinks I might try to run away or something."

Mitchy grinned. "She's pretty protective," she agreed. "She worries about her patients like a mother worries about her children. More, maybe."

"I can definitely see that," Joey said before a groan escaped her lips. The pressure was starting to get a little worse, but the breathing seemed to help.

"You're all right, you're doing great," Mitchy assured her. "Can I get you anything? Water? Or Juice? That's really all I can offer without the doctor's clearance."

The Intel Chief shook her head. "No, thank you. I'm okay for now, but I do appreciate the offer," she replied. And, she'd heard stories from other women that left her completely horrified.

“Okay,” replied Mitchy with a gentle smile. “If you decide otherwise, just let me know.”

"I will," Joey told the nurse. For now, she planned to rest as much as possible until she couldn't anymore.


===[Meanwhile, in main Sickbay]===

All business, moving with a calm sense of urgency he'd developed in the field, Alex quickly entered Sickbay, pushing the anti-grave stretcher bearing Lucas Abrams ahead of him.

"Thirty-three year old male Human," Alex said. "Vitals just barely stable. Traumatic amputation of the arm in the field brought on by phaser fire. Painkillers on board, as well as local anesthetic. Broad spectrum antibiotics administered. Specifics in the charts."

Ensign Athyle sh'neez, one of the only available nurses, intercepted the corpsman and the cart he pushed. "Doctor Abrams?" she asked, recognizing the burly form. "Which arm is he missing?" she asked, taking a quick look at the chart.

"Well I'm not one hundred percent sure, Ensign, but I'm thinking it's the one that's not there," Alex replied. "Is anyone available? Or am I putting on my Independent Duty Corpsman hat?"

"Doctor Kij is in delivery with the Captain's wife," the Andorian answered, trying not to stammer or dwell upon her extremely obvious mistake. "Doctors Road and Milo are dealing with other patients. We're basically in full triage mode here, Senior Chief."

"Okay then," Alex replied. "I'll glove up and dig in, starting with getting Doctor Abrams squared away. He snagged a bed in ICU and transferred Lucas to it, then got him trauma naked, then hooked him up to monitors. An telltale went off letting him know that the vein he had put an IV line in out in the field had closed off before enough fluids had gotten on board. The hydration would have made other veins more accessible, but no hydration meant Alex had to get creative. He could try to do a central line, but there was a safer option... it was just going to hurt like Hell. Lucas was still sedated and currently unconscious, so while he might wake up to the momentary severe pain of having an intraosseous infusion set up, he probably wasn't going to remember much about it. The family of sedatives Alex used on Lucas was specifically designed that way to minimize post-traumatic stress.

Alex got out an intraosseous infusion kit. He set everything out and cleaned an area at the top of Lucas' right proximal tibia. When the area was clean, he affixed the drill bit with the line starter on it to the drill. He got ready to drill, then paused. "Doctor Abrams... Lucas," he said. "I'm pretty sure you're unconscious, but in case you're not... I have to put in an intraosseous line, Lucas. Sorry. No other choice at the moment. As you know, it's going to hurt like Hell going in, but then it will just be uncomfortable for a bit, and then you won't even notice it. If you wake up at all, you'll probably just fall back to sleep. So... ready?" Alex held the leg securely with one hand and used the other to work the drill. He placed the tip of the bit on the infusion site. "On three. One... two... " Without waiting for three, Alex pulled the trigger on the drill, punched through skin and bone, and got the access piece in. "Three. There. Hard part is over."

Lucas, who was on the cusp of unconsciousness, let out a pained sound that could almost be considered inhuman. He wasn't necessarily quiet about it, either, but who would be when they'd had an arm shot off, and now someone was drilling into them? His breathing quickened as the new kind of pain took over, but somehow, he managed to keep his eyes closed through it all.

Alex pulled the bit out and inserted the line and got the infusion all set up and secured. Then he hung a bags of fluids and medications to keep Lucas comfortable, prevent infection, and promote stabilization of his vitals. Then Alex took the field dressing off the stump that was Lucas' left arm and began to give the wound a proper cleaning and sterilizing.

Out in the corridor, Mila crept cautiously forward and peeked around the corner to where the entrance to Sickbay was. To her surprise, she saw wounded being carried or walking in and it appeared to be organized. "Shay, be looking at this," she said quietly.

Shay peeked around the corner and frowned, wondering how many of those individuals hadn't been cleared yet. "At the rate they're picking the crew off, there won't be any of us left," she said softly. "Come on. We need to hurry." And with that, the Security officer moved around the corner, weaving her way through the injured in hopes of finding Kemm inside.

Mila took a deep breath and hoped they weren't walking into a Targ's den. "Are you sure this is being wise?" she asked quietly as she nearly glued herself to the Security woman's side.

"No," Shay answered just as quietly as she continued to weave her way through. It wasn't hard to spot the Kelpian considering he towered over everyone else inside the facility, and she definitely didn't want to stop and find out if there were any Dolmoqour inside. Instead, the Security officer moved toward Kemm and cleared her throat. "Lieutenant," she greeted, keeping half an eye on those around them. "We're in need of another one of these." She gestured to the disc shooter she carried. "We can't sweep the deck with just one of them."

A member of security was about to shoot both women with discs, but it was an outstretched hand from the Kelpien lieutenant that stopped him. "It's all right," he assured the crewman. "These two are clean." As the crewman relocated himself to the main entrance, Kemm gestured to a guarded cart. "Take what you need. But be cautious. No one has ventured past section twelve, and there are two muster areas in that direction. Reports say that they are heavily guarded."

"Then, that's where we're going. We need to get rid of the Dolmoqour before they get rid of us," Shay said, grabbing a second disc shooter for Mila and handing it to the Russian woman. She wasn't worried about a phaser, that would be easier to come by out in the ship, but she did grab more discs just in case they'd need them. Her gaze returned to Kemm. "We could use an extra set of hands if no one has been where we're going."

Mila made herself familiar with them while asking a couple questions about the range and capacity, then loaded a clip into one and a nod to Shay. "I am being ready."

"I can go with you," Kemm said, knowing that sickbay was now fully contained. "But we need to carry additional arms, and we'll have to take one of them with us," he said, gesturing to a nearby Aketi.

She turned her attention to the Aketi, then back to Kemm. "We'll take anything we can carry," she said, grabbing a second disc shooter for herself. She could fire two of them if she had to, and thanks to her training, she'd hit her mark. "The Captain's wife... has anyone seen her? She's got one of these things in her head, and I know it doesn't give a damn she's pregnant."

"I just came from her," Jayla said as she appeared- haggard and exhausted, but still upright- in main Sick Bay. "She's been freed. So have I, by the way," she added quickly as she knelt next to a crewman with a gushing head wound.

"As have I," Shay stated, referring to being freed. She was glad more of them were getting back to the right side, but they needed to get everyone else back now. "What do you mean you just came from her? Was she injured?"

Mila looked over at Jayla when she showed up. "What is being wrong with Joey?"

"She's fine," answered Jayla, grabbing a dermal regenerator and getting to work on the head wound. "She's just in the early stages of labor."

The Russian was surprised and it showed, but she knew she had to go. "Be taking good care of my krestnikov," she said, the computer supplying the translation of 'godchildren'.

"She's in good hands here," Shay pointed out as she finished preparing for what was to come. "We need to go. Time is a factor."

Entering main sickbay at last, Arjin was glad he could retake his breath for a second. Being sure he was not among enemies. "Need any help?", he asked to those closest.

"I cannot say," Kemm replied to Djinx on his way out the door. "But you might ask Doctor Kij." He turned and pointed to the Chief Medical Officer.

Spotting Djinx, Avery did a quick visual to see if he looked hurt or in need of medical assistance, her eyes drawn to any sound of the opening of sickbay's doors as they all attempted to stay ahead of the casualties. She approached Arjin and asked, "Are you hurt?"

"Only superficial.", he said. "How are things here? How is Kij? And can I be of any help?"

"I'm here, Djinx," Jayla answered from her place on the floor as she continued to work on the ensign's head wound. "I'm okay. How are you?"

"Nothing more than wounded pride.", he answered. "After they saw what that parasite did to you, they did not want to try it on me apparently. They thought our specious to be incompatable. I must say I feared the worst after you collapsed on the bridge and were taken away."

If Jayla were to be completely honest with herself, she would admit that she had been concerned about him, too. She told herself that she was concerned with all Trill on the ship, joined or unjoined- the Dolmoquor wouldn’t know why she had ben able to overcome them and would be likely to target everyone with spots- but she knew she was more concerned with Djinx than the rest. She gently shoved Gavara’s memories out of her mind. No, she thought. That’s not me. “Just exhaustion,” she assured him. “I could use some sleep, to be perfectly honest."

He knew she was minimalizing but did not want to contradict Kij. Instead he nodded and replied: "I think we all could. But there is no rest for the wicked to be had right now I'm afraid. Is there somehow I can help out?"

"Basic first aid would be a huge help," Jayla answered. "And if you have any medic training, we could use help with superficial wounds and setting broken bones. If you don't mind."

"The brain remembers helping injured in combat situations.", Arjin replied. "But these hands have never done such things.", he added. "Maybe basic first aid will do nicely."

“And it would be a big help,” agreed Jayla.

Sick Bay was certainly glad of the extra hands as even more crew and injury reports from around the ship streamed in. The fighting must be dying down, though, because the ship hadn’t rocked in quite awhile. Thank goodness for small mercies.

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