Thalaron

Posted on 08 Jul 2016 @ 9:16pm by Commander Jayla Kij & Lieutenant Commander Temerant Bast

1,358 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Sick Bay
Timeline: MD2 || 0800

Jayla sighed and say back in her chair. She'd read everything they had on thalaron radiation and hadn't come up with much. She'd been spending several hours a day just reading all information on it. She'd taken notes and cross referenced everything, but wasn't much farther ahead than she'd been before.

With a sigh, she crossed her office to the coffee pot. This called for real coffee. She got a pot started and went back to her desk to go over her notes.

Bast walked into Jayla's office carrying his ever-present data padd. He knew Jayla would be working on finding a way to counter the effects of Thalaron radiation. As one of the lead scientists assigned to develop a counterattack to Dominion weapons during the war, Wilem Bast, his previous host, had been granted access to certain documents from Romulan Intelligence, and Thalaron generators had been some of the documentation he'd had access to.

The smell of the brewing coffee carried over to the corridor, and he could feel his mouth watering at the smell. He rounded the corner, and walked into her office.

"Good morning," he greeted.

Jayla looked up to see the chief of Ops in her doorway. "Good morning, Bast," she said, giving him her best smile- which was slightly less radiant than usual. "How's your day going? Would you like some coffee?"

"Never say no to a cup of coffee," he replied with a smile echoing her own. He could feel a surge of protest coming from the symbiont, who was much more of a tea drinker than coffee, but Temerant, the Host, had a strong preference for coffee. In the early days of his Joining, he'd let the symbiont's love of tea take hold, but after a few months, they had found a balance between the two that they both found satisfactory.

"As for my day, well, I'm sure you can imagine. Probably going as well as yours."

"You have no idea," she replied, standing to retrieve a couple cups of coffee. "I've been doing research on how to treat Thalaron, and the only thing I can find is a passing mention of hyronalin. Nothing on how much or when or anything. I'm assuming it has to be in your system before exposure to Thalaron radiation, but I have no idea what that would do to a person of any species. It's frustrating." She handed one of the full cups to Bast and resumed her seat.

Bast nodded as he took a seat opposite her. "I remember reading some of the documentation on this during the Dominion War. The Romulans had granted us limited access to some of their research data, and a few pieces of documentation on Thalaron radiation had found its way into the package they sent us. We knew they were experimenting on it, but not to the extent that was eventually revealed. Thalaron radiation incinerates matter much too quickly for anything we know to have any effect. It turns living tissue to ashes in a matter of seconds."

"Which is why I surmised that hyronalin would have to already be in the subject's system when exposure to Thalaron occurs," she replied. "But, I don't have any idea how to about it."

"Let alone how to test it," Bast conceded. "But hyronalin can be pumped through the ship's atmospheric systems as a pre-emptive measure."

"True, but I have no idea how much to use and what it wil do to a person who hasn't been exposed to radiation," she said. "I mean, I know it's been used to pre-treat radiation, but that's what the person is certain to be exposed to it. In our case, we're not sure."

"It's been used as a prophylactic measure before. As long as you stay within the safe dosage, we shouldn't feel any ill effects. But it remains to be seen if hyronalin can effectively counter the effects of Thalaron radiation, and I highly doubt it."

Jayla nodded. "Unless we use a higher dosage, but as I said before, I have no idea what that will do if there's no radiation in the body," she said. "I'm coming up with a dead end."

"I think the safest course of action is not to get exposed to this thing in the first place," said Bast. "Besides, all we've got are rumors that this thing was here in the first place. On a ship that was lost a full eight years before the Romulans officially acquired the technology. I think we're chasing folk tales here."

"Quite probably," she replied. "Even so, I'd hate to be wrong. That would be five symbionts gone in one. Can you image?" She shook her head. "I don't know what Starfleet is doing assigning us all to the same ship."

Bast shrugged. "Is a human's life less valuable than a symbiont's? Or a Vulcan's? Why would joined Trill get preferential treatment?"

"I'm not saying we should," she answered. "Just that there's so few symbionts, I can't figure out why they've got so many of us in one place." She thought for a moment. "Do you suppose it's the Consortium?" she asked. "Do you think maybe they've got something planned? I mean, there aren't even a lot of joined Trill in Starfleet. I'll bet almost half of them are on this ship."

Bast laughed. "Now you're exaggerating just a little bit," he said. "Last I heard there were roughly three thousand joined Trill in Starfleet. Now proportionally that may seem like there are too many, but out of over eleven million symbionts on the Homeworld, that's actually not that much."

"Okay, okay," laughed Jayla. "I'm exaggerating. Still, I've never been on a ship with even one other joined Trill before. It's nice, don't get me wrong! But, it's very strange."

Temerant nodded. He was the first Bast host in Starfleet, and his joining was still fairly recent. But even before he had been Joined, he couldn't recall meeting that many joined Trill in the service. "There was one professor I had at Starfleet Academy who was Joined, and two on Deep Space 11. But you're right, there are more joined Trill than usual here."

"Oh, well, no use worrying about it, I suppose," she said. "It's just... I dunno. I'm seeing conspiracies all over the place after that virus. I'm just being suspicious."

"Just keep your mind focused on your work. Don't think about all the implications, or you'll never get anything done."

"Very true," said Jayla. She grinned. "Unless I want to write a newsletter about conspiracies," she added.

"I don't think this is the right time for that," cautioned Bast. He finished his cup of coffee and held up the data padd. "Anyway, getting back to work. Thalaron radiation works by shattering the links binding an atomic nucleus's protons, and dispersing the neutrons. Since there are no distinct atoms left, the matter hit by the radiation disintegrates, and all you're left with is a pile of ash."

He looked up from his data padd at Jayla. "I don't really see how hyronalin would protect us against that."

"Nor do I," she admitted. "I can't just give up, though. It's literally the only thing I'm assigned to do for this mission. Well, unless everything goes south and we have a lot of injured."

"Keep your department running," said Bast. "And get ready for casualties."

"Oh, I hope not," she said, blanching. "I don't like to think about casualties. But, I have this sinking feeling that there will be some."

"Hope for the best. But prepare for the worst," he advised. He placed the empty cup on her desk, and stood. "That's pretty much all any of us can do. I have to get going. Those sensors aren't going to upgrade themselves."

"Good luck," she replied with a grin. "And don't work too hard; I don't want to have to order you off duty for a day or two."

"Don't worry," said Bast. "When this is over, I'm putting in for a week's worth of shore leave."

And with a final nod, he walked out of her office.

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