Doctor Draxnor Kealock smiled as he finished putting the cover slip on a slide he was about to study. He was itching to study this rare sampling of Vulcan gar'harat. The bacterium was only one of a few in the known worlds to simultaneously thrive in both hot and cold desert environments. But it wasn't just bacteria that made him happy; it was the fact that he was getting away from everybody else. Ever since the Ktarian doctor stepped foot unto the station, he bore witness to, in his opinion, terrible breached in conduct and general etiquette. It was more than once that he was left doctoring drunken crewmembers back to health after a particularly heavy night on the alcohol.

As if destined to interrupt his scientific reverie, one of the younger male nurses poked his head into the lab. "Sorry to interrupt you, doc, but the lab results came back for Ensign Javanahan."

Kealock put on a neutral expression as he took the padd from the man in scrubs. "Thank you, Mr. Dubois. I'll be out in a moment."

The nurse nodded, exiting the doctors little laboratory. Kealock powered off the multi-spectrum analyzer, and stood up from his utility chair. "Another time, gar'harat," said the doctor, leaving the room. "Another time."

Ops chief Charlene Krantz entered unto the relatively quiet ops, carrying a padd in her right hand. The Lieutenant's face carried a sly smile, not only because of the contents of the padd, but because she knew how Duran was going to react to seeing it.

Alece Duran straightened herself out after leaning over the main table, scheduling cargo arrivals. The security officer put on a smile when she saw Krantz coming down the side stairs. "Ah, Lieutenant. It's good to see you again. What can I do for you?" she asked.

She looked at the higher ranking officer, her arms crossed over her chest. "I have a report on what the devils did," said Charlene as she handed Alece the padd. The Ops chief smelled of over-done popcorn, and was quite dirty after the cleaning of the runabout. "They put popcorn in the exhaust manifolds."

Alece adopted an incredulous look on her face as she read the report. Slowly, a grin materialized on her face, and she fought back a snort of laughter. "You've got to be joking...they actually put popcorn kernels in the exhaust of a runabout?" she asked.

Krantz kept her face straight, her arms still crossed. She was rather upset at the security chiefs laughing at the situation. Her mind was urging her to say 'yeah, laugh…you didn't have to clean it up', but she pushed her frustration aside. "Yes ma'. I'm not sure of the amount they used, but it was certainly large. It took a long time to clean up."

Duran could tell that Krantz was not amused. "I'm sorry, Charlene, I shouldn't have laughed. I just can't believe how they got in there! The Commander's going to be a bundle of joy once he sees this."

Charlene smiled a bit, looking her in the eyes. "That's why I brought you the report. You think I want to be the one to tell him? Aye, the chain of command has its perks," she said, pushing her hair behind her ear. "God, it smelled so horrible. You would not believe how bad it was."

Duran sighed, not relishing the task ahead of her. "Well, you and Stan saved the day again," she said. An afterthought slipped across her mind, and she voiced it aloud with a grin." So, how many times did he try and make a move?"

"Oh only once," she said. "We got this understanding, you see, where if he wants to breathe another normal breath without a wrench in a particular orifice, he doesn't hit on me."

"Very nice!" commented Alece. "It took me a few times to get my method down. I just open the nearest panel and threaten to rip out whatever's inside."

Charlene chuckled. "I would do that, but I might have to help put that back together with him."

"Hmm, good point. Thanks again, Charlene."

"Anytime. Good luck telling the Commander, Ma'am. If you'll excuse me, ill evacuate the immediate area."

Coleman looked up from the various reports lying on his desk to see Duran stride in with a padd tucked under her arm. He raised an eyebrow at her, motioning her response.

Alece let out a slight sigh, her hand resting on a chair in front of his desk. Smiling, she greeted the commander. "Good Morning."

"Yes, good morning Alece," he responded. "What are you so bright and cheery about?"

Alece started to laugh loudly, now that she was out of ops. Chuckling still, she plopped into the chair and handed him the report.

Coleman took a moment to read over the report, with his facial expression going from amused, to shocked, and then to pissed. "Are you serious? How did the little bastards get in there? For crying out loud, what if there was a bloody emergency?" raved Coleman. "You know, I'm about sick of dealing with those hellions, and their mother..."

At that moment, Dr. Kealock burst into the room, flustering around like a lunatic.

"Quarantine the station! Quarantine! We've got a nasty airborne disease on our hands here, and this is a crisis! I'm placing the station under the SCC 34 bio-medical crisis code.

Duran jumped to her feet, demanding an explanation.

"Quarantine! Airborne disease! What's going on here?" she asked, her eyes locked on the doctor.

"Crewman Haravarah just tested positive for the Terothka virus. It causes debilitating stomach cramps, and a nasty rash. The virus is airborne, and it will take a little bit to synthesize a treatment."

"Commander, I agree that we should quarantine the station," added Duran.

"How long does it take to get sick?" asked Coleman.

The doctor rubbed his hands a little before answering. "The virus incubates for about 6 hours, and then it releases and wreaks havoc on your body."

Coleman rose from his desk, and proceeded to Ops knowing that the others would follow him out. "Code Blue! Computer, place the station under general quarantine, authorization Gamma Gamma Juliet. All hands to general quarters"

Operations instantly dissolved into a flurry of activity. The typically dormant running lights flared into a deep cobalt hue, and the main lights dimmed, sending the area into an industrial glow. Several status displays lining the back wall flashed the alert pattern, and the turbolift access sealed shut.

"Station quarantine complete," voiced the cool, feminine tone of the computer. "Critical areas sealed and on independent life support. Level 2 authorizations required for critical area access. All airlocks sealed. All Moored vessels have been locked down."

"Very good," said Coleman. "Doctor, mobilize the med deck and get your teams going. Alert me every half hour, and whenever there is a change."

The doctor nodded curtly before rushing off to the nearest lift, where he gave his clearance and left.

"Duran, scramble security teams to critical areas, and assign deck patrols. Make sure everyone is calm and in place. Naiobi, start working on the airflow patterns of the virus. I'd like a report as soon as possible. Engineering and Operations: Bring backup atmospheric scrubbers online, and make sure quarantine fields stay in place. Let's get to it!"