Chapter Ten
S'nell had looked at a computer layout of the Enterprise A soon after arriving on board and so she was aware there were twenty six decks of the ship. But without any crew, the corridors and rooms seemed more vast then usual as she walked and began to do an inventory. The first room S'nell walked into confirmed Ensign R'hon's theory that they had been robbed. But there wasn't time to focus on her emotions when she had a job to do. So she took a deep breath and began an inventory. Before now, she had never really realized how many different kinds of rooms the Enterprise had. Currently S'nell was on deck five.
Except for the engineering officers, whose crew quarters were on decks sixteen and seventeen, all other crew quarters were on decks four and five. While the senior staff and officers with lieutenant commander rank or above had larger single quarters, the rest of the crew had smaller shared quarters of four officers each. As for the common areas, the gymnasium was on deck nineteen, the bar was on deck six, while the galley and the mess hall were both on deck nine. The arboretum was on deck twenty while the observation deck was a room by itself at the very top of the ship with windows from the floor to the ceiling. The four recreation rooms were scattered throughout the ship on decks six, eight, fifteen, and nineteen.
The briefing rooms were scattered throughout the ship on decks one, six, nine, thirteen, and nineteen. They varied in size from small two person rooms to a large room that seated at least twenty people. The briefing rooms were left empty unless a meeting had been called by one of the senior staff or had been scheduled by a Yeoman. When it came to science, S'nell thought the laboratories on the Enterprise were well equipped for a spaceship. Each science department had its own lab, which varied in size and were located on decks ten, eleven, and twelve. Any alien artifacts were stored in the archive vault on deck thirteen. There was also a communications lab on deck thirteen, which according to Ensign Rila was much more comfortable to work in then the first Enterprise communications lab. Starfleet might be an organization of explorers, but S'nell understood the Enterprise would never have as many scientists on board as a science vessel, research station, or starbase.
The universe was a dangerous place and so there was also a need to defend themselves. Besides the external torpedo launchers and phaser banks of the Enterprise, there were also other rooms dedicated to the defense of the ship. The armoury and phaser practice range were both located on deck eleven. There was also the deflector room and auxiliary control, both located on deck twenty. The brig on deck ten had two individual detainment cells. Lieutenant Umal had mentioned to her that the two computer consoles in that room were not manned unless the cells were occupied.
As for other areas found on the Enterprise, deck seven comprised the med bay, a medical laboratory, and the offices of the chief medical officer, assistant chief medical officer and head nurse. S'nell was quite familiar with deck six, as that is where the transporter room, guest quarters, and officers mess were located. The shuttle bay was on deck twenty six and the cargo bay was on deck twenty five. Engineering as well as the office of the chief engineer comprised all of decks fourteen and fifteen. Finally, the bridge and the personal offices for the senior staff aside from the medical officers and chief engineer formed deck one.
S'nell mainly spent her time in the biology lab, the gym, the mess hall, or her quarters. Perhaps it was because S'nell had only been on this ship a short time or perhaps it was because of that fight with V'tek on the bridge, but most people went out of their way to avoid her. She didn't get along with one of her roommates, Ensign Harper, who worked in the physics lab. Fortunately, S'nell got along well enough with Ensign Elisa and Ensign Rila, who were her other roommates. As for friends, the crew members that S'nell considered herself closest to on this ship were Lieutenant Sulu and Nurse Dominique.
S'nell reminded herself that it had taken months at both of her previous postings to feel like she really fit in. As the lowest ranked crew member on the ship and the only one who had not attended Starfleet Academy, she knew that most people felt free to ignore her. But why should she care for personal advancement when scientific knowledge was much more compelling? All personal ambition got you was enemies. Sooner or later that ensured that you got a knife or phaser to your chest or back, S'nell mused. To a Human, that thought would sound paranoid. But it's not paranoid when it happened all the time, S'nell thought. Just because the Federation was at peace right now didn't mean people always got along.
She had only to look at the relationship between Commander Spock and Doctor McCoy for an example of that. S'nell knew there was a deep mutual respect between the two men, but their extensive differences ensured that they would never agree on almost anything. I wonder how much of their arguing is because they really disagree, or how much of it is habit by now. She'd seen the same pattern with other colleagues, who genuinely didn't like each other at first but then slowly learned how to work together.
Then S'nell frowned. Why was she even still thinking of Doctor McCoy? She'd never found a Human attractive before him. Perhaps it was the mixture of McCoy's intelligence and his compassion that had intrigued her. She also appreciated that like her, he spoke his mind. Then she remembered that McCoy had been very physically fit when he'd held her in the med bay. Had his arousal just been due to her proximity or was there more to it? No, Doctor McCoy was married and so his desire was just an involuntary Human male response to stimuli. If she removed the stimulus from his presence, namely herself, it would be better for both of them. Enough, S'nell admonished herself. She was now a member of this crew and she had orders to complete. She had to focus on that, nothing else. She took a deep breath then S'nell walked back to the turbolift. Then she proceeded to the next deck to continue the inventory.
Some time later S'nell found herself with the rest of the crew in briefing room C. There were no table or chairs in the room so they all stood in the middle of the room. Commander Spock cleared his throat and everyone turned to look at him.
"Provide me with a status report on the ships inventory Ensign R'hon." Commander Spock ordered.
"I was right Commander Spock. We've been robbed, and this ship has been stripped bare. If the item wasn't connected to the power supply, the walls, the engines, or attached to the deck, a railing, or the ceiling, it's gone." Ensign R'hon replied despondently.
"Could you be more specific about what is missing Ensign R'hon?" Commander Spock inquired.
"The full list from all four of us after a complete survey of all twenty six decks comprises eighty thousand, seven hundred, and five items sir. But to summarize, we have no unsynthesized food, clothing, drinkable water, medicine, weapons, tools, shuttlecraft, emergency and mission supplies, personal items, and no furniture except for the beds, chairs, and desks in the crew quarters, the cabinets in the science labs, the cabinets and bio beds in the med bay, and the chairs behind the computer consoles and displays." Ensign R'hon replied. Spock raised an eyebrow at that extensive list.
"Was there anything else left on board?" Commander Spock asked.
"Sir, there was only the water in the swimming pool, the probes in the cargo bay, the plants in the arboretum and the botany lab and…" S'nell informed the Commander then paused before she could finish her sentence.
"Tell Commander Spock Crewman S'nell. After all, I doubt Commander Spock will be that surprised." Ensign Elisa urged S'nell.
"But it is quite clearly against regulations." S'nell protested.
"There must be a reason the natives of Denab left it when they were so through in removing everything else." Ensign Madeline insisted.
"If there is something you are omitting Crewman S'nell I wish to know. No matter how many regulations the item violates." Commander Spock ordered.
"It's the Human alcohol sir. Namely, the bourbon in Doctor McCoy's locker and the whisky close to Lieutenant Commander Scott's quarters. Doctor McCoy only had two bottles of alcohol but Lieutenant Commander Scott had a considerable supply of whisky. He hid it in the Jeffries tubes across from his quarters." S'nell supplied reluctantly.
"Maybe the natives of Denab aren't too fond of bourbon or whisky. They probably drink something else for the same effect." Ensign Melzadi suggested.
"Or perhaps Human alcohol is a toxin to them. Crewman S'nell and Ensign Elisa, begin a list of other potential biological toxins we could deploy against the natives of Denab," Commander Spock ordered.
"That will be very challenging without knowing more about their biology. I could end up killing them Commander Spock." S'nell observed.
"Your concern is noted Crewman S'nell. I too wish to avoid loss of life if possible but that may not be feasible in this situation. Ensign Grasia, what is the status of engineering?" Commander Spock replied.
"Sir, it's the computer consoles in engineering which are damaged, nothing else. The warp core and the impulse engine manifold remains intact. We could get the impulse and warp engines on line if I had tools to repair them." Ensign Grasia reported.
"Unfortunately that's the problem Ensign Grasia. When I checked the status of the synthesizers, I noticed that all of the synthesizers on the entire ship have been reprogrammed to only produce food and drink. We can't synthesize tools, clothes, medicine or anything else. Without tools I can't change the modifications. What's worse, we can't get the other ship systems up and running again without tools either." Lieutenant Z'tok explained.
"But we have some idea of where we are at least. The cartography lab has the computer backup of the long range sensors of this section of space stored there. I should be able to transfer the star chart onto the view screen of the bridge if I was able to divert power from the deflector." Ensign Melzadi responded.
"That would be useful Ensign Melzadi. For the time being we should all head to the medical bay. After showers in decontamination everyone must have a meal and then sleep for a minimum of eight hours in their quarters. After which time we will all meet on the bridge to discuss our next steps. You are all dismissed." Commander Spock concluded. S'nell headed out of the briefing room with the rest of the crew.
S'nell could tell they all were more alert and energized by that rest when they all filed onto the bridge eight hours later. With help from Ensign Grasia, Ensign Melzadi soon had the star chart on the view screen of the bridge. Then Ensign Meldazi and Commander Spock took a long look at the map.
"Sir, could we use one of the probes to get a sample of the atmosphere of Denab? It would help to understand what conditions the crew would be exposed to." Ensign Madeline suggested.
"Indeed. Launch a probe, Lieutenant Z'tok." Commander Spock ordered. Lieutenant Z'tok wandered over to the operations console which had remained undamaged and pressed a few buttons.
"Probe away sir. Receiving trajectory… It will enter the outer atmosphere in thirty seconds. Probe destroyed, though what weapon was used is unknown. I could use a tractor beam to take what remains of the probe to the cargo bay for analysis sir." Lieutenant Z'tok stated.
"Do so. Lieutenant Z'tok, Lieutenant Keenser, and Ensign Grasia, proceed to the cargo bay and perform an analysis of the debris as much as possible." Commander Spock stated. The three officers nodded and quickly headed off the bridge.
"So now we have no idea of what's in the atmosphere, only that the natives of Denab don't want us to know." Ensign Madeline complained.
"What if the atmosphere has nothing to do with the plans the natives of Denab have for the crew? They could be questioning them for information." Lieutenant Umal suggested.
"If that was the case, then why capture the whole crew? Not everyone on this ship has knowledge of classified or sensitive information. But what else could the natives of Denab want? Unless…" S'nell trailed off there as a very grisly possibility came to her mind.
"Please finish your sentence Crewman S'nell." urged Commander Spock.
"Commander Spock, there is a possibility that the natives of Denab consume blood for their food. Specifically, they could want to have the iron in the blood of the crew, something that is found in large quantities in a Human body. That would explain why they didn't want anything to do with the alien crew who all have different blood chemistry. The minor concentrations of minerals in a body could be received from diet and atmosphere, but the major concentrations can only be recycled within the circulatory system of the Human body." S'nell suggested.
"You could be right Crewman S'nell. Why select magnesium or potassium for example when there are only minute amounts present of those elements in the Human body?" Ensign Elisa agreed.
"As you know Ensign Elisa, transferrin is the protein that controls the level of iron in Human blood. Now, the Human body automatically replenishes the complete blood supply in three days. But if a small amount of blood was taken on a daily basis and replenished with water, the individual would not even notice, especially if they were sedated." S'nell continued with the possible scenario.
"Do we have any transferrin on board?" Ensign Madeline wondered.
"Lieutenant Sulu told me that Ensign Wong mentioned that the reason the plant with purple leaves in the botany lab is behind a force field is because it causes a painful itchy rash in Humans. I was curious as to why it would be there if that was the case. So I performed a chemical analysis on the leaves. It turned out the leaves are very high in transferrin. As an Andorian I could safely pick them and grind them down. However, we cannot use water as a liquid base for a mixture because the transferrin won't dissolve in pure water and the chlorine in the pool water will neutralize the protein." S'nell realized.
"In that case, why don't we use Lieutenant Commander Scott's supply of whisky? There should be enough there to give a small dose to each of the crew. It's not entirely water after all." suggested Ensign R'hon.
"That could work, but we shouldn't give the crew too much. After all, the high alcohol content might give them liver damage or vomiting." warned Ensign Elisa.
"It would not in controlled amounts Ensign Elisa." S'nell suggested. She turned to Commander Spock who had been silently listening. "What do you think of this idea, Commander Spock?" she asked.
"Although your suggestion is quite grim, there remains a possibility that it could be what the natives of Denab intend for the crew. Ensign Elisa, Crewman S'nell, and Ensign Madeline, prepare as much of this mixture as you can." Commander Spock ordered. All three of them nodded and headed to the botany lab.