QUARANTINE
Chapter 3
By Kiddo
Disclaimer:
I don't have any rights to the TV show "seaQuest DSV," and I am not making any money with this story.
A big "Thank You" goes to Jackie for beta-reading.
One day later, the situation had worsened. 15 more crew members had come down with chicken pox, and one of them was Tony Piccolo. He had been convinced that he'd already had chicken pox, but now it turned out that he'd had the German measles and not chicken pox.
That same evening, Lt. Brody stepped into the over-crowded medbay and went directly to Dr. Smith, scratching at his arm. "Dr. Smith, you have to take a look at this; I must be allergic to something." As he finished speaking, he pushed the sleeve of his uniform up. It seemed that he hadn't noticed the red spots also covering his face.
After Wendy glanced briefly at the rash, she groaned. "Lieutenant, this isn't an allergy. It seems you have chicken pox as well."
Jim's eyes got big, and he shook his head emphatically. "That's not possible, I already had them when I was little. I thought you could only get chicken pox once in your life."
Smith nodded. "That's right. You had something different as a child, but it wasn't chicken pox."
Brody frowned. "But I'm absolutely sure that I had chicken pox as a child!"
Wendy didn't feel like getting into an argument with the lieutenant; she really had enough work to do. She went to the computer where all of the seaQuest crew members' medical files were saved. She clicked on Brody's file. After she read a little bit of it, she looked up. "You didn't have chicken pox, you had a sun allergy."
The blond officer was speechless for a moment. "But... but I was so brave and didn't scratch..." He sounded pathetic.
Wendy had to keep herself from laughing and just decided to ignore it. "One of the nurses will give you a bed for the next few days."
When Smith left, Brody turned around and looked thoughtfully in another direction. It was then that he spotted a nastily grinning Ortiz.
"What was that about you being so brave and not scratching? Right! Oh it will be such a pleasure for me to repay you. Now I get to slap you on the finger if you want to scratch," said Miguel Ortiz determinedly. He already felt better. Now he looked cruelly at Jim. "Oh, that pock on your nose looks really, really bad. I'm sure it itches terribly. But don't forget, no scratching; that causes scars."
The moment that Ortiz said that, Brody's nose began to itch a lot. Jim could feel it in his hands, how much wanted to scratch. But he couldn't give Ortiz the satisfaction. The next few days would be no walk in the park, but maybe he could persuade Dr. Smith to put his pool table in here. At least it would bring some variety to life in quarantine. But, he doubted that she would allow it.
The next day, Bridger scrutinized his bridge crew. It now only consisted of Ford, Henderson, Lucas, and himself. The rest were sick with chicken pox, along with a third of the entire crew. The seaQuest was looking more like a hospital than a top UEO submarine. It was enough to drive a person mad!
For some time, Lucas had been sitting at his station, observing the commander. Something was really wrong with the man, and the first sign was that Ford wasn't standing as straight as he usually did. The teenager tried to get Bridger's attention by coughing once. When the captain didn't notice, he tried a sort of coughing fit.
Nathan sat up and looked in Lucas's direction. In the excitement of the last few days, had he not realized that his youngest crew member was sick? He went over to the computer genius, laid a hand on the boy's shoulder, and leaned down next to him. "Everything okay? Are you feeling alright?"
The blond teenager smiled reassuringly at the older man. "Don't worry, Captain, I'm fine. But, I think the commander isn't feeling too good." As he said it, he motioned to Jonathan Ford with his eyes.
Bridger watched Ford for a moment, and then he nodded at Lucas. "Thanks." Nathan went to his first officer and addressed him. "Go to medbay and get yourself checked out. Oh, and call your mother and ask her if you really have already had chicken pox."
Ford only nodded and left the bridge, a clear sign that he really wasn't feeling well.
On the way to medbay, Ford stopped at one of the rooms with a vidphone. After he let it ring a few times, a friendly-looking woman answered it, but when she spotted the commander, her face took on a worried expression. "Oh god Jonathan, you look terrible."
"Thanks, Mom, it's nice to see you too. I'm just calling because I need to know something. Do you remember how I had chicken pox when I was little?"
Ford's mother looked at him curiously. "Jonathan, what are you talking about? You never had chicken pox, you only had the measles."
A day later, the situation had gone from bad to worse. Bridger had no other choice than to contact the UEO and inform them of the situation. After some thinking, he decided that calling Secretary-General Noyce would be the best and the easiest thing to do.
It took only two rings before his secretary answered. "What can I do for you Captain Bridger?"
"Is Bill available Miss Brooks?" asked Nathan. He knew the secretary fairly well because she had been working for Noyce for years.
Marcia Brooks nodded. "Just a second, I'll put you through."
The UEO logo appeared on Bridger's screen for a moment, followed by Bill's face. "Hello Nathan, nice to see you. How are you?"
"I'm fine. And you?"
"The same. Why are you calling?"
Bridger groaned. "We have quite a problem on the seaQuest."
Noyce looked at his old friend in surprise. "I thought McGath was responsible for these things now."
Nathan nodded. "Yes, but in this particular case, I thought it might be better to talk to you."
Bill looked interested but also worried. "Okay, spit it out."
"A little less than half of my crew are ill and can't work. We have to put the whole submarine under quarantine."
"Ok... this is a belated April Fool's Day joke, right?" asked Noyce.
The captain shook his head. "Unfortunately not. We have an outbreak of chicken pox on board."
"Chicken pox?" For a moment, Bill sat with his jaw hanging open.
Bridger nodded. "Yes, chicken pox. I can tell you that the whole situation on board is becoming unbearable. The medbay is totally overcrowded; there isn't a single bed free, and the ones who haven't gotten it as bad are confined to quarters. The only ones left of my bridge crew are Lonnie Henderson and Lucas. I can tell you, I have no idea what I would do without that boy, he is such a help."
Noyce smiled inwardly. The good relationship that had developed between Bridger and the youngest crew member was totally expected. During the last tour, they'd had the beginning of something special, and if Noyce admitted the truth (if only to himself), he had secretly hoped that the two of them would have some kind of friendship or relationship. But, in the end, you could never plan something like that. You could just try to help it along. Luckily it had worked perfectly. The feelings they had for each other were good for them, and nobody had been surprised that after the destruction of the first seaQuest, Lucas had spent a lot of time on Bridger's island. Bill shook his head slightly to chase those thoughts away. They had more important things to deal now. "The whole thing sounds bad."
The captain nodded. "You see, we are not in any position to really accept orders or settle any conflicts." Nathan sounded depressed.
Noyce nodded thoughtfully. "I will talk with the leading members of the UEO about this and try to keep this secret. I don't want to think about what'll happen if the press or any enemy of the UEO hears about this."
Bridger nodded again. "Yes, that would be disastrous."
"Shall we send you a replacement crew?"
The captain shook his head. "No, there's no need. First, you'd have to find enough people who really have already had chicken pox so that they wouldn't get sick as well, and second, we don't have room for a replacement crew. I think the best thing to do is just keep quiet for the next few days and wait for the whole thing to blow over."
Noyce nodded. "Sounds reasonable. But stay in contact if anything changes or happens."
To Be Continued…
Written august 2004 / Translated winter 2005