Two hours later, the captain's condition had not changed. The sick bay doors opened again and the sub-commander came in, accompanied by an Andorian. When his eyes fell on his friend, the blue-skinned man dropped the antennas. He gave Doctor Phlox a vial with a clear liquid. "Per kilogram of body weight 0.1mg", he said, stepping over to the side of the chief engineer with his hand on his shoulder. Phlox nodded and opened a syringe with the antidote. He injected it directly into the carotid artery and took a step back. For a few seemingly endless minutes, nothing happened. First, the oxygen saturation recovered. The antivenin neutralized the proteins that degraded the red blood cells and the blood was gradually enriched with the blood transfusion, while pulse and blood pressure were still elevated, but dropped to a less critical level. "Thank you, Commander Shran."
"Not for that. Allies are there for that. Also, you do not know yet whether it really helps him or whether he will recover. I would like to return to my ship now and sleep for a few hours. You also look like you could use a beanie to sleep. Please let me know if anything changes, otherwise I'll be back tomorrow." With these words he left the sick bay and the Enterprise. The next few hours were more or less uneventful. Phlox had gotten Commander Tucker to rest on the prepared biobed for at least a few hours, as Trip insisted on not leaving his friend's side.
The next morning, Sub-Commander T'Pol and Commander Shran again entered the sick bay together. It was a strange sight to see the two, until recently still hostile species peacefully side by side. Together on the bed of the man who brought both peoples closer together and moved to speak with each other diplomatically. "Good morning, Doctor, Commander."
"Good morning, Sub-Commander, Commander Shran",the doctor replied, bringing a tray to the bedside. For her part, T'Pol put one on the bedside table that belonged to Trip's temporary bivouac. "You should have breakfast. Since I do not think you can be persuaded to go to mess, I brought you something."
"Thank you, Sub-Commander", he replied, rubbing his tired eyes. He had lain down for a few hours, on phlox instruction, but it had not been a restful sleep. The unfamiliar sounds and concern for his friend made him fall asleep only briefly and restlessly. T'Pol filled the cup with coffee from a thermos and handed it to him. As he gratefully accepted, his gaze fell on the bed beside his and sadness and anxiety drove the weariness out of his face. "How is he?"
Doctor Phlox looked anxiously at his patient, whose pale skin hardly peeled off the paints. His hair was soaked in sweat and stuck to his sweaty forehead. "To be honest, I'm not sure. The antidote has worked wonderfully as far as the destruction of ricin proteins is concerned. The blood infusion could therefore work well and have enriched the hemoglobin again. And thus also the oxygen saturation could rise. The organs are thus sufficiently supplied with oxygen again. The fever is still very high, as are pulse and blood pressure. There are no more tachycardias. "
The doctor pulled up a syringe and injected it into the access. While exchanging the infusion bags with saline and an electrolyte solution, T'Pol asked, "What are you giving him?"
"An analgesic. It seems that the pain receptors have not yet realized that the proteins are destroyed. Or there's another reason why I can not wean the painkillers yet. I tried this tonight, but he's writhing and screaming in pain like being tortured. The pain has to be very strong as he has a very high pain tolerance compared to others. Commander, did you notice that too? Did you see something similar?"
"No I'm sorry. In general, the reaction was not so violent with us Andorians. Probably because we do not have red blood cells. In the end, it was just like a pretty bad stomach flu accompanied by a high fever. Our doctor noticed that because of its structure, ricin could have a different effect on other species and, because of its confusion with sesame seeds, could possibly lead to death. We then developed the antidote and at the same time tried to contact the Enterprise. We had some difficulties, as I said, in reaching your ship, but this led us to the dealer's track, which interfered with our communication with a disguised ship. The dealer gave very quickly to the seeds deliberately wrongly declared. Why or on whose behalf he acted he did not share. This morning we wanted to continue the interview, but found him in his cell. Death. Poisoned by an overdose of ricin. We probably will not get any answers from him anymore. I'm sorry. However, we downloaded all data from his computer memory. Maybe your communications officer could take a look? Unfortunately, we lack the possibilities to quickly learn a new language. Maybe there's a hint in the logbooks or in the communication files."
"That's a good idea. Ensign Hoshi Sato will be at your disposal. Please contact her on the bridge", said T'Pol. "Lieutenant Malcom Reed may be able to help you as well."
"Thank you, Sub-Commander."
"We have to thank, Commander Shran. Without your help we would not be at this point. "
"Without us you would probably never have gotten into this situation", the Andorian replied with hanging antennas. "It's only logical that we help you."
Commander Tucker got up from his bed and stepped in front of the blue-skinned. "Shran, you have no idea what happened to Captain Archer. Youwere just as deceived. You helped us make things less worse. Even if we do not know at the moment how it will actually end. But one thing is certain: Without your help, Jonathan would most likely already be dead. Help Hoshi analyze the language and translate the files. Maybe that'll keep us going, and we can prevent at least another such case. "
"Come on, Commander. I accompany you to the bridge. Keep us up to date, Doctor." With these words, the Vulcan and the Andorian left the sick bay again. Somewhat lost and helpless, the chief engineer stood beside the bed of his best friend. "You should eat something and maybe take a quick shower. This distracts you for a few minutes and strengthens you for the day. Who knows what's coming up, Trip. "
Three quarters of an hour later, he had eaten the toast and was freshly showered in a clean uniform. On the way from his quarters back to the sick bay he had briefly fed Porthos and also brought fresh clothes for the captain. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to his friend's side. It sat for a good half hour as Jonathan threw himself from one side to the other and a shrill beep made him jump up. Phlox came running too. He glanced at the monitor. "The heart beats too fast and irregular. In conjunction with the other values, everything points to a panic attack." The doctor explained slightly confused.
"But he is unconscious. How can that be, Doctor?" The Denobulan had no answer to that question. How could that be?
Trip took a damp cloth and approached the bed. With one hand he cooled his fevered forehead and sweaty face while he reached for his friend's with his other hand. He quietly spoke to the elders. After a few minutes, the heartbeat calmed down slightly and the captain became a bit calmer overall. "Doctor, maybe we should put something dry on him. Not that he's catching pneumonia or anything like that." His gaze fell on a monitor with general ship data. He noticed a small number in the lower right corner. Could it be?
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