Disclaimer: I own Kate, and that's about it.
Part Three
A few hours later the away team had returned to the Enterprise. Some of the medical officers had remained behind and a chemical specialist team had beamed down to the surface to repair the radiation demage that they could. The medics stayed behind to treat the very few who were ill in the hospital. Most of the people were more confused over their condition than concerned. They had never known serious illness and the possibility was new to them.
After beaming up, Kate, Wesley, and Data went directly to Engineering. There they found Geordi, running scans on Linith's moon, Brasia. Without even looking up he said, "Come here and look at this. This is amazing."
Wesley and Kate huddled behind Geordi while Data manned his own computer terminal.
"All the radiation is centered on this one area," Geordi said, pointing to the area on the map.
"There is a wide array of life forms in that area," Data added. "It appears to be a small colony."
"It's not registered in the Federation, is it?" Wesley asked.
"No," came Data's immediate reply.
"Any clue where the radiation is coming from?" Kate inquired.
"It's centered around one point. It could be some kind of plant or technical center," Geordi said, obviously still confused.
Data didn't have any answers either, so he tapped his insignia and called, "Data to Bridge. Captain, there is something you should see."
"On my way, Mr. Data," Picard replied. Within a few minutes, Picard had joined the huddle around the computer readings.
"How bad is the radiation on Linith?" he asked.
"It's in relatively low levels, completely repairable," Kate said.
"What about Brasia?" the captain asked, making a glance at Data's findings.
"Whoever is down there would be suffering from a dangerous level of radiation poisoning."
Picard nodded, taking in the information. Then he came to a decision. Or at least the decision to make a decision. "I want all senior staff, plus you Mr. Crusher," Picard added at the last second, "in the observation lounge in ten minutes. We need to come up with some solutions, and I want them soon." All those present nodded in agreement and shuffled off to prepare.
Ten minutes later, the members of the senior staff plus Wesley were all seated around the long conference table in the observation lounge. After Geordi explained the situation at hand, ideas were discussed.
Riker turned to Dr. Crusher and asked, "Is it possible to safely send an away team into an area infected with class eleven radiation?"
She wasn't happy with the answer, but Dr. Crusher replied, "It's possible, but not for any extended period of time."
"How long?" Picard pressed.
"Two and a half, maybe three hours.'
Picard turned back toward La Geordi and asked, "Can you repair the radiation leak on Brasia?"
"If we can pinpoint the source without much trouble, we should be able to stop further spread. I'm not sure whether or not we'll be about to clean the surface though," he admitted grudgingly.
"Let's just take this one hurdle at a time," Picard said decisively. "Com. Riker, arrange your away team and report to Sick Bay as soon as possible. Meeting adjourned."
The away team, consisting of Com. Riker, Data, Kate, Worf, Counselor Troi, and Wesley, headed off to Sick Bay immediately. Dr. Crusher looked a little skeptical when she saw that Wesley was going to be on the away team, but her maternal fear gave way to reason before long. She injected each member of the team, excluding Data, with a protective biotic that would guard their systems from radiation. She told them that they had a portal of around three hours before the biotic would become unstable. Since Data would not be affected by the radiation, she asked him to check on the status of the others from time to time.
The away team then advanced to Transporter Room three to beam down to the surface. They beamed down right outside of what seemed to be a rather large village. Almost immediately, Data and Kate started making scans of the area. Quickly they confirmed what they had already known.
"Every living thing in this area is infected with class eleven radiation," Data reported, shutting off his tricorder.
Com. Riker nodded his head and turned to Counselor Troi. "Do you sense any danger from the village?" he asked her.
She shook her head. "No, but I don't think they know we're here. Their attitudes may change when we show ourselves."
"Well, either way," he said strongly, "we don't have time to wait around to see if they're going to welcome us with open arms." The rest of the away team nodded in agreement. Advancing towards the village, Riker warned, "Set phasers on stun. Just in case."
As they approached the main gate, two human sentries stepped out to block their passage. Before the sentries could speak, Riker moved forward. "We mean you no harm. My name is Commander William Riker from the Federation starship Enterprise." Riker paused for a moment to let them absorb the information before he continued. "We were running a check on a Federation colony on a neighboring planet when we detected strong amounts of radiation coming from this moon." The two sentries exchanged a look of confusion.
Data stepped in with "In order to protect the colony, we must repair the source of the radiation leak." Data spoke slowly, carefully, as if his audience was composed of little children.
"However," Troi cut in diplomatically, "we are willing to help you repair whatever damage you have and help heal your sick inhabitants."
The sentries once again exchanged a curious look. One of them stepped forward. "How did you know that we have sickness among us?" he asked suspiciously.
"This whole area is infected with class eleven radiation. That high of a level is extremely volatile, if not deadly," Riker said, trying to speed things up.
The other sentry hung his head. "We have had many deaths, many partings from us," he said sadly. He and his companion conferred shortly before turning back to the away team. "We accept your offer to help us," one said. "My name is Caravel. This is Morican," he said, pointing to the other sentry. Riker nodded in return. Caravel then turned to open the large gate. Almost immediately, Worf was on his guard and Data, Kate, and Wesley were searching for the source of the radiation leak.
"Thank you for you cooperation," Troi said. "We will do our best to assist you in any way we can."
"We need to speak to whoever is in charge here," Riker said. "Our time is limited." Riker, Troi, and Worf were taken to a woman named Aolita. Riker explained their presence and once again offered their help. "How many people do you have living here?" he asked.
"Our population has dwindled to only sixty-seven people," Aolita answered. "Almost half our people were taken with the sickness."
Troi immediately gave her heart to these people. They obviously had no idea that they were probably causing their own destruction.
Riker tapped his insignia. "Riker to Sick Bay."
"Dr. Crusher here," came the hesitant answer. "Is there a problem?"
"No, we're fine. Would there be room to house sixty-seven patients?" Riker asked.
"We may have to crowd people," Dr. Crusher admitted, "but we could manage. Is that the entire population down there?"
"Yes."
"All right. Assemble all the people there and I'll have them beamed up as soon as possible."
Aolita had been eavesdropping and after Riker signed off she said, "I will have Caravel and Morican assemble my people."
"We'll help them," Troi offered and she and Riker left.
Part Three
A few hours later the away team had returned to the Enterprise. Some of the medical officers had remained behind and a chemical specialist team had beamed down to the surface to repair the radiation demage that they could. The medics stayed behind to treat the very few who were ill in the hospital. Most of the people were more confused over their condition than concerned. They had never known serious illness and the possibility was new to them.
After beaming up, Kate, Wesley, and Data went directly to Engineering. There they found Geordi, running scans on Linith's moon, Brasia. Without even looking up he said, "Come here and look at this. This is amazing."
Wesley and Kate huddled behind Geordi while Data manned his own computer terminal.
"All the radiation is centered on this one area," Geordi said, pointing to the area on the map.
"There is a wide array of life forms in that area," Data added. "It appears to be a small colony."
"It's not registered in the Federation, is it?" Wesley asked.
"No," came Data's immediate reply.
"Any clue where the radiation is coming from?" Kate inquired.
"It's centered around one point. It could be some kind of plant or technical center," Geordi said, obviously still confused.
Data didn't have any answers either, so he tapped his insignia and called, "Data to Bridge. Captain, there is something you should see."
"On my way, Mr. Data," Picard replied. Within a few minutes, Picard had joined the huddle around the computer readings.
"How bad is the radiation on Linith?" he asked.
"It's in relatively low levels, completely repairable," Kate said.
"What about Brasia?" the captain asked, making a glance at Data's findings.
"Whoever is down there would be suffering from a dangerous level of radiation poisoning."
Picard nodded, taking in the information. Then he came to a decision. Or at least the decision to make a decision. "I want all senior staff, plus you Mr. Crusher," Picard added at the last second, "in the observation lounge in ten minutes. We need to come up with some solutions, and I want them soon." All those present nodded in agreement and shuffled off to prepare.
Ten minutes later, the members of the senior staff plus Wesley were all seated around the long conference table in the observation lounge. After Geordi explained the situation at hand, ideas were discussed.
Riker turned to Dr. Crusher and asked, "Is it possible to safely send an away team into an area infected with class eleven radiation?"
She wasn't happy with the answer, but Dr. Crusher replied, "It's possible, but not for any extended period of time."
"How long?" Picard pressed.
"Two and a half, maybe three hours.'
Picard turned back toward La Geordi and asked, "Can you repair the radiation leak on Brasia?"
"If we can pinpoint the source without much trouble, we should be able to stop further spread. I'm not sure whether or not we'll be about to clean the surface though," he admitted grudgingly.
"Let's just take this one hurdle at a time," Picard said decisively. "Com. Riker, arrange your away team and report to Sick Bay as soon as possible. Meeting adjourned."
The away team, consisting of Com. Riker, Data, Kate, Worf, Counselor Troi, and Wesley, headed off to Sick Bay immediately. Dr. Crusher looked a little skeptical when she saw that Wesley was going to be on the away team, but her maternal fear gave way to reason before long. She injected each member of the team, excluding Data, with a protective biotic that would guard their systems from radiation. She told them that they had a portal of around three hours before the biotic would become unstable. Since Data would not be affected by the radiation, she asked him to check on the status of the others from time to time.
The away team then advanced to Transporter Room three to beam down to the surface. They beamed down right outside of what seemed to be a rather large village. Almost immediately, Data and Kate started making scans of the area. Quickly they confirmed what they had already known.
"Every living thing in this area is infected with class eleven radiation," Data reported, shutting off his tricorder.
Com. Riker nodded his head and turned to Counselor Troi. "Do you sense any danger from the village?" he asked her.
She shook her head. "No, but I don't think they know we're here. Their attitudes may change when we show ourselves."
"Well, either way," he said strongly, "we don't have time to wait around to see if they're going to welcome us with open arms." The rest of the away team nodded in agreement. Advancing towards the village, Riker warned, "Set phasers on stun. Just in case."
As they approached the main gate, two human sentries stepped out to block their passage. Before the sentries could speak, Riker moved forward. "We mean you no harm. My name is Commander William Riker from the Federation starship Enterprise." Riker paused for a moment to let them absorb the information before he continued. "We were running a check on a Federation colony on a neighboring planet when we detected strong amounts of radiation coming from this moon." The two sentries exchanged a look of confusion.
Data stepped in with "In order to protect the colony, we must repair the source of the radiation leak." Data spoke slowly, carefully, as if his audience was composed of little children.
"However," Troi cut in diplomatically, "we are willing to help you repair whatever damage you have and help heal your sick inhabitants."
The sentries once again exchanged a curious look. One of them stepped forward. "How did you know that we have sickness among us?" he asked suspiciously.
"This whole area is infected with class eleven radiation. That high of a level is extremely volatile, if not deadly," Riker said, trying to speed things up.
The other sentry hung his head. "We have had many deaths, many partings from us," he said sadly. He and his companion conferred shortly before turning back to the away team. "We accept your offer to help us," one said. "My name is Caravel. This is Morican," he said, pointing to the other sentry. Riker nodded in return. Caravel then turned to open the large gate. Almost immediately, Worf was on his guard and Data, Kate, and Wesley were searching for the source of the radiation leak.
"Thank you for you cooperation," Troi said. "We will do our best to assist you in any way we can."
"We need to speak to whoever is in charge here," Riker said. "Our time is limited." Riker, Troi, and Worf were taken to a woman named Aolita. Riker explained their presence and once again offered their help. "How many people do you have living here?" he asked.
"Our population has dwindled to only sixty-seven people," Aolita answered. "Almost half our people were taken with the sickness."
Troi immediately gave her heart to these people. They obviously had no idea that they were probably causing their own destruction.
Riker tapped his insignia. "Riker to Sick Bay."
"Dr. Crusher here," came the hesitant answer. "Is there a problem?"
"No, we're fine. Would there be room to house sixty-seven patients?" Riker asked.
"We may have to crowd people," Dr. Crusher admitted, "but we could manage. Is that the entire population down there?"
"Yes."
"All right. Assemble all the people there and I'll have them beamed up as soon as possible."
Aolita had been eavesdropping and after Riker signed off she said, "I will have Caravel and Morican assemble my people."
"We'll help them," Troi offered and she and Riker left.