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"The difficulty in life is the choice."
George Moore, The Bending of the Bough, [1900], act IV
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My day had been nothing short of terrible. It seemed that all I could encounter was one disaster after another. The Mess Deck's autochefs were malfunctioning this morning, and instead of pancakes and orange juice, I received the Magog's equivilent of cake, or so Rev told me. It was a putrid square of sanguine and olive. After discussing Magog cuisine with Rev, I realized I had no time to eat breakfast and ran down to the Medical Deck. I was fifteen minutes late, and someone had already sustained an injury. Tyr had a broken shoulder from landing on it while exercising. I treated him with a skeletal regenerator and told him to come back if the pain persisted. I took two minutes to go to and return from the Mess Deck to retrieve a cup of coffee. I was never fond of coffee, but it seemed to make Harper's days more bearable, and I figured it was worth trying.
When I returned to the Medical Deck, I found a message that Harper had gone off duty early due to sickness. He was supposed to have come to me for an examination, but, of course, he didn't. I went to his quarters, which were locked, and begged him to open the door for fifteen minutes. Eventually, after I returned to the Mess Deck and got Rev to help me, his door was opened. I understood his reason for locking me out, though, when I saw him. His face and the exposed parts of his arms were covered in splotches of lime green. He had been infected with Perseid Fever last week when we encountered them. I had to practically carry Harper down to the Medical Deck myself. He spent an hour and a half whining and sarcastically complaining while I vainly tried to organize the new shipment of treatments I received. I often wondered how he and I became friends in the first place.
Lunch time rolled around, and I brought a turkey sandwich and some of my favorite juice from the Mess Deck to the Medical Deck. I had a nice conversation with Harper until I spilled the juice all over myself. I had to change, and I told Harper to stay right where he was. My tail was nearly shut in the door to my quarters. And I knew things were going downhill. I felt thankful that there was a crew shower nearby. I grabbed another one of my work outfits and hurried to the shower. I rinsed the sticky substances off of my skin as quickly as I could. I pulled on the outfit and returned to the Medical Deck.
At that point, Dylan said over the com link, "Trance, to the Officer's Mess Deck, NOW!"
"I'll be right there, Dylan."
I gazed over at the bed Harper had been occupying before I left. It was empty. I had two medical emergencies at once. Harper could potentially infect the whole crew, if their immune systems were weakened over the next couple of days, and I had no clue what this other medical emergency was. I hated making the choice, but I chose searching for Harper. It wasn't a long search, fortunately. It's probably the only thing that went right up to that point. I gave him a strong sedative and restrained him, just to be on the safe side.
Rommie's hologram appeared as I was finishing tightening the restraints. "We need you now, Trance."
"I'm sorry. Harper has Perseid Fever, and he was roaming the ship. He could potentially infect most of the crew."
When I ran to the Officer's Mess Deck, I realized I had made the wrong choice. Perseid Fever wasn't very severe in most cases. I could have treated it fairly easily. A young woman was in what seemed to be a severe epileptic fit. I didn't know if I would be able to save her. Time was always against me in cases like this. The extra minute I had taken could cost this young woman her life.
"Trance, she's been having convulsions for about five minutes now." Dylan looked to me for an answer that I didn't have.
"We need to get her to the Med Deck. We can't stabilize her here," I said, stating the obvious.
She arrived at the Medical Deck, still alive. I knew it had been luck and nothing more that had kept her that way. I began scanning her for whatever had caused her seizures. She was fighting cellular mutation and decay. I gave her the proper treatment to prevent the convulsions, but there was no treatment I could administer to help her cells stabilize. It was beyond the limitations of safe medicine.
"What's happening to her?" Dylan seemed to already know the news wasn't going to be good.
"Her cells are mutating, phasing in and out of their normal state, and some of them are decaying. It's a lot like cancer sped up ten fold. There's nothing I can do for her but prevent the convulsions and physical symptoms." I frowned and wished there was more I could do.
"I'm sure she'll pull through, Trance. Rommie and I have begun working on analyzing some of the data from her presumable location of entry. I'm going to send you the data as well, and I'd like to hear what you make of it. I will be on the Command Deck. Keep me posted on her condition." Dylan laid a hand on my shoulder. Even with the day I had and what had happened, I felt the sun creep out from behind stormy clouds. "By the way, she was carrying this knapsack. If the contents can help you treat her, you're free to go through it."
"I know you can't hear me, but everything's going to be okay. I won't let anything happen to you." I squeezed the girl's cool hand. She flinched, and it seemed like she understood for a split second. I shook off the feeling and returned to my work.
"The difficulty in life is the choice."
George Moore, The Bending of the Bough, [1900], act IV
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My day had been nothing short of terrible. It seemed that all I could encounter was one disaster after another. The Mess Deck's autochefs were malfunctioning this morning, and instead of pancakes and orange juice, I received the Magog's equivilent of cake, or so Rev told me. It was a putrid square of sanguine and olive. After discussing Magog cuisine with Rev, I realized I had no time to eat breakfast and ran down to the Medical Deck. I was fifteen minutes late, and someone had already sustained an injury. Tyr had a broken shoulder from landing on it while exercising. I treated him with a skeletal regenerator and told him to come back if the pain persisted. I took two minutes to go to and return from the Mess Deck to retrieve a cup of coffee. I was never fond of coffee, but it seemed to make Harper's days more bearable, and I figured it was worth trying.
When I returned to the Medical Deck, I found a message that Harper had gone off duty early due to sickness. He was supposed to have come to me for an examination, but, of course, he didn't. I went to his quarters, which were locked, and begged him to open the door for fifteen minutes. Eventually, after I returned to the Mess Deck and got Rev to help me, his door was opened. I understood his reason for locking me out, though, when I saw him. His face and the exposed parts of his arms were covered in splotches of lime green. He had been infected with Perseid Fever last week when we encountered them. I had to practically carry Harper down to the Medical Deck myself. He spent an hour and a half whining and sarcastically complaining while I vainly tried to organize the new shipment of treatments I received. I often wondered how he and I became friends in the first place.
Lunch time rolled around, and I brought a turkey sandwich and some of my favorite juice from the Mess Deck to the Medical Deck. I had a nice conversation with Harper until I spilled the juice all over myself. I had to change, and I told Harper to stay right where he was. My tail was nearly shut in the door to my quarters. And I knew things were going downhill. I felt thankful that there was a crew shower nearby. I grabbed another one of my work outfits and hurried to the shower. I rinsed the sticky substances off of my skin as quickly as I could. I pulled on the outfit and returned to the Medical Deck.
At that point, Dylan said over the com link, "Trance, to the Officer's Mess Deck, NOW!"
"I'll be right there, Dylan."
I gazed over at the bed Harper had been occupying before I left. It was empty. I had two medical emergencies at once. Harper could potentially infect the whole crew, if their immune systems were weakened over the next couple of days, and I had no clue what this other medical emergency was. I hated making the choice, but I chose searching for Harper. It wasn't a long search, fortunately. It's probably the only thing that went right up to that point. I gave him a strong sedative and restrained him, just to be on the safe side.
Rommie's hologram appeared as I was finishing tightening the restraints. "We need you now, Trance."
"I'm sorry. Harper has Perseid Fever, and he was roaming the ship. He could potentially infect most of the crew."
When I ran to the Officer's Mess Deck, I realized I had made the wrong choice. Perseid Fever wasn't very severe in most cases. I could have treated it fairly easily. A young woman was in what seemed to be a severe epileptic fit. I didn't know if I would be able to save her. Time was always against me in cases like this. The extra minute I had taken could cost this young woman her life.
"Trance, she's been having convulsions for about five minutes now." Dylan looked to me for an answer that I didn't have.
"We need to get her to the Med Deck. We can't stabilize her here," I said, stating the obvious.
She arrived at the Medical Deck, still alive. I knew it had been luck and nothing more that had kept her that way. I began scanning her for whatever had caused her seizures. She was fighting cellular mutation and decay. I gave her the proper treatment to prevent the convulsions, but there was no treatment I could administer to help her cells stabilize. It was beyond the limitations of safe medicine.
"What's happening to her?" Dylan seemed to already know the news wasn't going to be good.
"Her cells are mutating, phasing in and out of their normal state, and some of them are decaying. It's a lot like cancer sped up ten fold. There's nothing I can do for her but prevent the convulsions and physical symptoms." I frowned and wished there was more I could do.
"I'm sure she'll pull through, Trance. Rommie and I have begun working on analyzing some of the data from her presumable location of entry. I'm going to send you the data as well, and I'd like to hear what you make of it. I will be on the Command Deck. Keep me posted on her condition." Dylan laid a hand on my shoulder. Even with the day I had and what had happened, I felt the sun creep out from behind stormy clouds. "By the way, she was carrying this knapsack. If the contents can help you treat her, you're free to go through it."
"I know you can't hear me, but everything's going to be okay. I won't let anything happen to you." I squeezed the girl's cool hand. She flinched, and it seemed like she understood for a split second. I shook off the feeling and returned to my work.
