Kirk stood up and tapped his badge. "Kirk here. What can I do for you?"
The doctor's voice was quite assertive. "Commander, I have a bit of a medical emergency here. I need to see you right away, and bring a couple of maintenance folks with you. I need to have some equipment set up and it can't wait until morning."
T'Nia looked at Kirk quizzically. "Will do, Doctor. I'll round up a couple of maintenance crew and meet you in just a few minutes. Kirk out." In his heart, of course, he knew. Captain Velasquez had become less and less involved this past week or so. She would occasionally wince in pain for no reason, her pace had slowed considerably, and she had been trying to hide a fairly noticable limp. As T'Nia was beginning to ask a question, he raised his hand to quietly ask for a minute. He tapped his comm badge again. "Bridge to Maintenance."
He heard the familiar pop. "Maintenance, Leiutenant McPhearson here."
"Leiutenant, I need two of your people into sickbay on the double. Pull them from wherever you have to. I guess we have some kind of medical issue there and the doctor needs some of his equipment set up. I'm willing to bet one of his needs will be his computer. I need them in sickbay in five minutes."
"Understood, Sir. I'll have two people there in five minutes." The voice sounded a bit panicked, but he almost hid it.
"Thank you, Leiutenant. Kirk out." His face looked grave as he turned back to T'Nia. "I get the feeling I'm not going to like what the doctor has to say."
"Then, you know what the medical emergency is of which he is speaking?" T'Nia asked with her usual raised eyebrow.
"I have a pretty good idea, yeah." He replied. "You have the conn, Leiutenant Commander." He handed her his to-do task list. She took it and nodded compliance. She absently tapped the PADD against her free hand as he went into the turbolift. It was a very rare occasion to see Stephen this distraught. As the double-doors slid silently closed, she returned to her console.
Kirk grabbed the control lever. "Deck four." He stated. The turbolift zoomed him down and across. As Stephen walked down the rounding corridor, his mind was buzzing with possiblities. Eventually, he admitted there was nothing he could do, and no amount of worrying would help. He approached the double doors of the sick bay. The two maintenance personnel were already walking inside. He followed right after them...
...and all three nearly stumbled over each other as they encountered the myriad of boxes strewn across the floor. A few had been opened, and obviously had some equipment missing.
The various exclamations of surprise alerted the doctor to their presence. Doctor Rass poked his head around the corner from his hospital. "Good!" he exclaimed rather sarcastically. He nodded to one of the crewmen. "You - get started hooking up my computer and video displays." He nodded to the other one and to Commander Kirk. "You two, come in here with me." With that, his head returned back around the corner. Kirk and the other creman shrugged to each other, then mountaineered themselves into the hospital room.
They saw a room in almost complete disarray. Two beds were uncovered and reasonably close to their intended positions, the other ten were still wrapped and stuck in a corner. A table had been hastily constructed near the two beds. The EMH was begrudgingly assembling some equipment on it using parts from various opened boxes. There was a person lying on one of the beds. The medical readout board was laying on top of the other bed. A bio sensor had been hastily nailed to the wall above the patient. As they moved closer, they saw the patient was none other than Captain Velasquez. Kirk stumbled quickly to her bedside. The maintenance crewman just stood there, stunned at everything he had been taking in.
"Crewman," the doctor commanded sternly, "help the EMH get my microscope and synthesizer set up." The crewman turned blankly towards the doctor, who apparently had no time for indecision. "Crewman...now!" That seemed to snap the crewman out from his daze. He quickly headed towards the EMH, who was still complaining of this job not being within his performance parameters. The doctor had had enough of that as well. "I said be quiet." He looked up at the holo emitter dangling from the ceiling. "Computer, mute EMH." The virtual doctor's voice suddenly quietted, though he continued talking. When the EMH realized his words weren't making noice, he shot Dorrin a look that would melt lead, then returned to his work with the maintenance engineer. From the other room, they could hear the other crewman talking with someone else via his comm badge.
Kirk patted his captain on her shoulder. As he looked, he could see her arms and legs were restrained. Her eyes were closed. His look of concern was genuine. He looked pleadingly at the doctor. "What's wrong, Doc?" He finally asked.
"Well," he started slowly, still writing information on a PADD, "she's suffering from some kind of cranial virus. You can see it over on the bio board." Without looking up, he used the PADD stylus to point to the display on the empty bed.
As Stephen looked, he could see the three-dimensional representation of Captain Velasquez's brain in green and blue. There were several large splotches of red and orange scattered about its surface. It even appeared as though some splotches were below the surface. "Oh, my gosh..." he muttered. "Is she?.."
"I... am fine... for now, Commander." She said slowly and quietly. Her eyes did not open, but she smiled.
"Try not to talk, Captain," the doctor said softly.
"I won't... but I need to... talk to Stephen... for a moment." Her eyes occasionally winced in pain.
The doctor looked at the captain, then the commander. "All right," he relented, "but try to keep it brief." He headed back to the table where the other two were assembling the equipment.
"Commander..." she started. Her voice was shaky.
"I'm here, Captain," Kirk said slowly. He patted her shoulder again.
"The doctor has... wisely... relieved me of command while... I try to... beat this bug." She tried her hardest to remain strong and positive. The truth was, all she could think about was her four grandchildren. She had allowed herself to imagine not seeing them again. That thought was more painful than the headache.
His eyes lowered to the floor. "I see."
"This ship... launches... in twenty-six days." She struggled to turn towards Stephen, her shoulders coming off the bed. Her voice became more assertive. "I expect... you to... keep everything on task." She needed to be strong, if not for her own sake, for his sake...for the crew's sake.
Her strength convinced him she'd be back. He stood up straight. "Yes, Sir. I'll keep the seat warm for you."
Confident she had successfully 'bossed him' once more, she relaxed her shoulders and laid back down with a smile. "You had better, Commander. And don't get any coffee stains on MY chair."
"Yes, Sir." He added with a smile. "If you'll excuse me, I guess I'll get back to making sure this ship is ready for you."
"You are dismissed, Commander." Captain Velasquez said with another smile.
"YOU were relieved of duty, Captain." Commander Kirk replied with a wry smile of his own. "You can't dismiss anybody. I guess I'll dismiss myself." With that, he spun on his heel, gave a nod to the doctor, who he saw was now facing them, and maneuvered his way out of sickbay.
Despite the pain, Lydia had to laugh. THAT was why she had requested him as her first officer. They were almost mirror images of each other in personality, though almost thirty years apart in seasoning. He was willful, spirited, instinctual, and passionate. He was, however, fiercely loyal to his crewmates and bent on making sure he always did the right thing. If channeled properly, he'd make one hell of a captain. His psych profile suggested he carried a continual inferiority complex because of his great-grandfather, the legendary Captain James Kirk. This, supposedly, was at least part of the cause of occasional rebellion and indecision. Although, after reading his biography, she could see numerous similarities, she knew better than to voice them. She would be content to help him discover his true self and true worth, as she had done three times before with former first officers.
Dorrin stopped to consider everything he had seen from his new captain. She was dedicated, driven, considerate, and a bit stubborn. Still, it was obvious to him that she had the respect of her crew. Her reputation as a maverick had preceeded her. Now he could see why she had earned that title. As he contemplated why Starfleet would put such a person in charge of the most powerful ship in the history of space travel, the answer came to him. Such a person was capable of thinking for herself. In a time of crisis, she could be relied upon to make quick, correct decisions, and not wait on a superior to give her instructions. Satisfied with himself for answering his own question, he returned to work.
"Doctor?" a voice questioned from behind him.
The doctor spun around to look in the entryway. "Yes, crewman?"
"I've got your video interface up and running. It's going through the initial diagnostic cycle right now, but you'll be able to use it in just a few seconds. I'll start hooking up your desktop display now."
"Wow...you're good, Ensign." The doctor replied sincerely. "And just in time." The doctor pulled a small vial of liquid from a synthesizer and plugged it into the bottom of a hypospray. Skipping deftly around boxes and equipment, he reached his patient and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Alright, Captain. I've got something here that will do a much better job on the pain and muscle spasms than those pills you were taking." That said, he gently put the injector of the hypospray to her neck, and pressed the 'dispense' button. "It'll make you drowsy, though. But, I bet you could do with a rest."
"Thank you," she whispered. "I would like that very much."
"I'll see if I can't get a computer interface in this room installed next. Then, at least you can listen to some music." He said with a shrug. It was uncomfortably silent here, save the sounds of maintenance crewmen moving boxes and clicking things together. Other than the sounds of construction and the monotonously regular beeping of the heart monitor, there wasn't a sound.
"Hopefully..." Lydia started, "Tom hasn't... disconnected that... from our computers."
"Well, if he has," Dorrin replied confidently, "I should be able to convince whoever this 'Tom' person is to turn it back on." He added a nod. "Now, then...I'm off to go do some research to figure out exactly what this bug is. Rest well, Captain." Doctor Rass turned on his heel and headed for his office.
"Tom... is... our... senior... engin...zzzzzzzz"