Captain's Log:
Star Date: 56758.2
For the past several weeks my crew and I have been studying new insect specimens for the crew of the science vessel, The Orion. It's the only assignment we've been required to do for a while now. So far it has proven to be an interesting experience for us all. One of the specimens, according to Doctor Crusher, is volatile in the search for a cure to a disease which has plagued the Arimur system; a star system we encountered a few months ago after receiving a distress call asking for a doctor. Since then, Doctor Crusher has been left there studying the effects of the virus on the planet Urchin; the planet with the highest number of casualties. We were assigned to the Orion in the hopes of finding something that will lead the doctor to a quicker cure. For this assignment I have appointed Commander Heva Brookes. With her knowledge of anatomy, the structure of chemicals and molecular studies, I saw it fit to have her lead in the hopes that she will aid the doctor in creating a successful antivirus to save the people of the Arimur system. I only hope that she has enough time to do so.

The stress was becoming too much for Heva at this point. Specimen after specimen went past her and every single one was either close to what they needed or far from it. Sleep deprived and irritable, Heva sat in her quarters staring bleary eyed at the monitor on her desk; each specimen's genetic makeup rushing across the screen at the slowest speed possible. This plague in the Arimur system was becoming a plague in her mind. Nothing could distract her from it, nothing could rip her away from it and nothing could kill her determination to help Beverly find a cure.
After a frustrating hour and a half of staring at the computer screen, Heva pushed herself away from the desk and stomped over to the replicator. "Coffee, black." She mumbled to it. After a few seconds, a hot cup of coffee sat in wait to be ingested. Even lifting a mug made Heva's arm feel weak and overworked.
The Commander made her way back to her desk only to veer off to the left and fall down on the bed. The coffee in her hand somehow found its way to her nightstand, not spilling by some miracle. Every bone in her body craved rest, but Heva wanted to keep going. Something about the way this plague was affecting Urchin had her heart on a string, dangling it about and making it insane. She couldn't sleep, she rarely ate, and her very own thoughts couldn't find peace. Suddenly the doorbell beeped at her and she sat up so quickly she became dizzy. Her lights were now dimmed for some reason. "Computer…what time is it?" she grumbled, her voice raspy.
"It is currently 09:00 hours." The computer replied casually. Heva jumped out of her bed and rushed to her desk. The specimen counts shot up to 750 instead of 432 like it was the last time she sat there. Not only did she fall asleep on the job, but consequently she now also had an extra 318 specimens to examine and only three days to do it in.
After kicking herself for falling asleep, Heva remembered the door and said in her still rasping voice "Come in."
Data entered and looked around. When he finally spotted Heva slumped over her desk staring at the monitor he approached her slowly. "Heva…I've been looking for you. Where have you been?"
Heva mumbled something into her arm. "Pardon?" Data asked. "I fell asleep." Heva snapped, raising her head to look at him. Data appeared taken aback by her reaction which made Heva feel guilty. "I'm sorry, Data. It's just…I am supposed to complete studies on all of these specimens in three days. It's taken me a week to process a little over 400 of them and now I have an extra 300 or so to study. And after that I'm going to have a new load of 250 to complete if I want to meet Doctor Crusher's quota. I could never finish this in time."
Data's face fell. He finally approached her and, with what seemed little to no effort, picked her up out of the chair and carried her to her bed.
"I can't sleep now, Data. I have work to do and I already had a nap." Heva protested wearily.
"Heva," Data argued, placing a hand on Heva's shoulder. "You need more rest. The Captain knows you have been working very hard on this project. He has also assigned a team to assist you. Knowing this, you should have rested days ago. The team can finish the studies on the insect specimens. They have been ordered by the Captain as I have been ordered to report here and make sure you get some rest."
Heva looked at him, blank. "So you came here not out of worry but on an order?"
Data understood Heva's tone and grinned. "Actually, I requested permission to see if you were all right. The Captain then smiled and told me that it was a good idea and to "Make it so." which is usually the Captain's form of an order. So technically-"
Heva pushed a finger to Data's lips, halting his explanation. She leaned in and replaced her finger with a tender kiss and released him with a smile. "I get it. I know I've been working a bit too hard…but this is really important. If we don't find a cure for that plague…it could spread further throughout the galaxy. It's already at the edges of the Arimur system and its symptoms have been reported in the neighboring Ally system."
"I wasn't aware that it has gotten that far." Data said, surprised.
"Yes, that's at least what Beverly reported yesterday. The whole purpose of studying insect specimens is to find an insect that carries the bacteria, Kerulium. It's makeup is supposed to eliminate the virus' main components and kill it, if not contain it, when combined with certain chemicals. The doctor is trying to find the correct mixture and if I could just find ONE specimen with enough of the bacteria and send her a sample…we could cure something that could potentially wipe out billions of people."
Data just smiled at her. He chuckled and Heva looked at him reproachfully. "What are you laughing at? This is serious?"
"I know that. But when you talk about it so deeply, I find it…adorable?"
It was now Heva's turn to laugh. "Is that the correct term?" Data asked, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Yes, Data. That's the correct term. You could also use…gorgeous…cute…sexy…"
"Now, you are crossing the line from modest to slightly self centered."
Heva let out a hearty laugh and lay back on the bed with a heavy sigh. "I just hope this works…what puzzles me is we still haven't come up with a cause. The Kerulium cure is only a theory. If that doesn't work we are back at square one. This is just too much pressure on both of us…"
Heva's eyes drifted out of the room and focused somewhere else. Her mind wandered on some of the worst and some of the best possibilities while Data looked on.
What if the Kerulium bacterium WASN'T the cure? What if all of this work was done for nothing and all of those people just continue to die? Heva's brain seemed to pound like her heart and wanted to erupt from her skull.
Data must have sensed the pain, for he gently laid Heva back onto the bed and stood. "I should not be here while you are resting. You must get some sleep before you even think of going back to work tomorrow."
Heva smiled weakly up at Data. "Thank you…I'll try." She leaned up and Data met her halfway with a tiny peck. He nodded at her and left the room slowly, glancing back every so often to make sure she hadn't gotten out of bed to get more work done when his back was turned. Heva had no intention of getting up just yet. Data was right, she did need rest. Perhaps only sleep could calm the anxious voices in her mind.