"Malcolm? Malcolm, answer me. Open your eyes!" Archer knelt next to the armory officer and shook his shoulder, at first gently and then more vigorously. Malcolm didn't move. Archer reached down and grasped him under the arms. Grunting with effort he slowly walked backwards, pulling his armory officer out of engineering. Malcolm was muscular, heavier than he looked, and Archer began to sweat.
"May I assist you?" T'Pol, clad in an environmental suit, appeared at his side.
"Get his feet," Archer panted. T'pol wordlessly complied. Working together they had Reed out of engineering within seconds. Lowering Reed to the floor, Archer reached up to hit the engineering door control. With a hiss it slid shut and sealed. Still breathing heavily, he gestured at T'Pol to lift Reed again. Moving as quickly as the bulky environmental suits would allow they carried Reed to the lone gurney left in the corridor. Phlox had sent several, but now the corridor was empty; all the other injured had been moved to sickbay. T'Pol grasped one end of the gurney, Archer grabbed the other, and they began a dash to sickbay. Reed was breathing in labored gasps. His lips and fingertips were blue, and his skin was a frightening gray. Archer and T'pol raced down the corridor as quickly as they could without spilling Reed to the floor. Reaching the turbolift they found it was being held open by a Crewman Jacobs who had responded to the emergency.
"You're the last ones, sir," the crewman told him. "Everyone else has been evacuated to sickbay."
"Thank you," Archer told him. The lift was already moving. "Malcolm! Malcolm, can you hear me? Open your eyes, lieutenant!" Archer tried to rouse Reed. Reed turned his head slightly toward the sound of the voice, but didn't open his eyes.
Thirty seconds. Only thirty seconds to sickbay. Archer knew that the turbolift was never more than thirty seconds from sickbay when the emergency override was activated, but that knowledge wasn't helpful as he watched Reed struggle to breath. T'Pol raised the head of the gurney, and Reed's breathing eased marginally, but his skin was still an unnatural grey. Archer bounced on the balls of his feet, trying to will the turbolift to its location. Encouraged by Malcolm's earlier response, Archer called to him again. "Malcolm! Wake up!" Reed sluggishly turned his head, still not opening his eyes. A strong jolt made the gurney roll several inches as the turbolift halted. With a mechanical grind the doors opened. Jacobs stepped in, grabbing Archer's end of the gurney. "Sir, you're needed elsewhere. I've got this." Archer frowned, but T'Pol nodded approval. "He's right, sir. You need to determine what has happened. I would suggest you find Commander Tucker or another engineering officer and get an update." They were moving while she spoke. Archer hated to relinquish the job, feeling as though he was abandoning Reed, but knowing T'Pol was right. She shouldn't have to say anything.
Sickbay was loud. That was the first thing Archer noticed. And crowded. As Jacobs and T'Pol guided the gurney out of the turbolift they were forced to a make a hasty stop to avoid running into Cutler. Dressed in an environmental suite, she was escorting Rostov around the gurneys filling sickbay to the decon chamber. A line of crewman were waiting for the decon chamber behind a roughly drawn red line, but Cutler guided Rostov past them to the front of the line. She pressed the button next to the chamber and the door slid open, revealing four crewmen inside, one on a gurney. All four looked ill, and Cutler directed them to nearby biobeds in a an area behind a green line. The man on the gurney was wheeled out of the chamber by crewman in environmental suits. Cutler directed several of the waiting crew into the chamber. Archer noted that nearly all were coughing, and some appeared to have other injuries. A few were being supported by their comrades. Every bed in sickbay was filled, and the floor was cluttered with crewman who had been placed on makeshift litters. Some even sat in chairs. A quick head count told Archer that nearly all of the engineering crew was present. Cutler had recruited her fellow scientists, dressed them in environmental suits, and put them to work administering first aid to the men and woman waiting for the decon chamber. Archer took in the chaos with a glance, his eyes scanning sickbay for the one person he wanted to see. He spotted him bending over a crewman on the opposite side of sickbay. "Phlox!" Archer called, motioning for the doctor.
Phlox glanced up from the patient he was examining, saw Archer, and looked back down at the patient on the biobed. He glanced back at the monitor and held up one finger to Archer before turning back to his patient. He said something Archer couldn't hear to the crewman standing closest to him, and then hurried over, skirting gurneys. He looked at Reed, and his brow furrowed.
"We found him in engineering, after all the others were out. He stayed to rebalance the engine. We don't know exactly what happened in there yet, but if he hadn't stayed," Archer shook his head, "We'd be space dust now."
Phlox gave a quick nod. "Rostov told me Lieutenant Reed stayed behind in engineering. If the rest of the crew's condition is anything to go by, he needs immediate treatment." As he spoke Phlox grabbed the edge of the gurney and began pulling it toward the decon chamber. Several other gurneys were lined up by the door, and Archer could see it was at max capacity. He looked at Phlox. "They've all been exposed to toxic mix of radiation and chemicals. From the warp engine. They need to be decontaminated as quickly as possible." Phlox explained. "The lieutenant will in the next group."
Phlox turned to scan sickbay. He gestured at one of the scientists in an environmental suit. "Bring oxygen. Now."
The woman Phlox had waved to grabbed an oxygen tank, and hurried to them. Phlox fit the oxygen mask over Reed's face. "Get him to decon. He's the next one in." Phlox studied the bioscanner he was running over Reed. "Then we need to get him a breathing treatment. He'll need a biobed." Phlox paused, considering. "Ensign Fujimoto can be moved to a gurney." Archer was listening to Phlox but his eyes were roaming sickbay. He knew Trip had to be in the area, but he couldn't see him. Reed's gurney was moving towards decon, Jacobs pushing as T'Pol guided it around the obstacles littering sickbay. The decon chamber was still sealed, full of crewmen. There were clearly not enough resources or medical personnel to deal with the number of casualties. Archer could only hope that most of the injuries were minor. "Doctor, briefly, what is the situation?"
Phlox shook his head. He injected Reed with a hypospray, checked his scanner, and then knelt to give his attention to the crewman on the floor next to them. "Most of the engineering crew was exposed to radiation and toxic fumes. Thankfully the radiation exposure was fairly low. The fumes are more serious, but most of them will do fine. There are some other injuries, most of which are not life threatening. However, I haven't had the chance to do a thorough exam of everyone yet. I'm still triaging." Phlox was speaking quickly. "Really, captain, I don't have time to talk right now."
Archer would have liked more information, but Phlox was busy and the door to decon was opening. Seven crewman, including Rostov, stumbled out. One of the men was, like Reed, on a gurney. The men wore only sickbay gowns, having been forced to strip as part of the decontamination process. Cutler had reappeared and directed the exiting crewmen to various corners of sickbay. They were immediately attended to by the science section crewman who had been pressed into service as medics. All but one of the biobeds had been occupied when they entered, and Archer noted that last biobed was taken by the crewman on the gurney— it was Heller, he realized. Archer let his gaze roam sickbay. He still hadn't spotted Trip, but curtains hid the occupants of several of the beds. Archer assumed the engineer was behind one of the curtains.
Phlox was moving swiftly among the injured, giving directions to the beleaguered science crew trailing him. Glancing up, he caught Archer's eye, and gestured toward the decon chamber. "Lieutenant Reed goes in next, along with Marshall, Jones, and Smitty," Phlox called. The crewman in line gave way to those whose names had been called. Cutler motioned to bring Reed into the decon chamber where two crewman clad in environmental suites were assisting . Archer was motioned back. He hesitated for a few seconds, not wanting to leave, but knowing he had to. The decon doors slid shut with a hiss, cutting off his view. Archer felt a little stunned. They hadn't been in sickbay for more than ninety-seconds.
He started as Cutler put her hand on his arm. Yelling, so he could hear her through the helmet, she directed him to the back corner of sickbay. As he approached, he saw a makeshift shower had been set up. He noticed that the floor was covered with thick stripes of green, blue, and red. He walked between two red lines to the shower. Realizing that this was a decon station for those who had been in environmental suits, he stepped into the shower and rinsed the suit thoroughly. Only when the ensign from support services who was supervising nodded his approval did Archer shed his suit. He took a deep breath, glad to be free of the claustrophobic helmet. The ensign pointed to a container. "Sir, put the suit in that locker, please. We'll further decon them later. Now that you're 'clean' please stay in the green zone. The red zone is for contaminated individuals, and the blue is for people in environmental suits who haven't been directly contaminated/ If you go into the blue or red areas without a suit, you'll have to go into the decon chamber. "
"Thank you," Archer told him. "Do you know where Commander Tucker is?"
The ensign consulted the padd he was holding. "Biobed Seven, sir. And he's…" the ensign scrolled down a little further on the padd, "decontaminated. It's safe to go see him."
"Thanks," Archer repeated. Carefully following the green lines, and marveling at Phlox and Cutler's ability to organize the chaos, he moved toward the bank of biobeds. Biobed Seven was near the end of the line. There were only thirteen biobeds, Archer noted. It had seemed enough when Enterprise launched, but now it was clearly inadequate.
*********
In decon Reed opened his eyes. His vision was blurred, and his eyes burned. He slammed his eyes closed again. His body ached, there was an ice pick planted squarely between his eyes, and his skin tingled unpleasantly. There was nothing he could do but remain still and wait for someone to let him know what was going on. He was being manipulated he realized. Someone forced him to sit up, and to his horror he realized his clothes were being removed. He tried to protest, but as he drew a deep breath he began to cough. He tried to bat away the hands, but his efforts were easily overcome. Air was flowing against his face. He lifted his hand to his face, and felt the hard plastic resting there. He started to lift it off his face, but his hand was pushed gently away from it.
"Lieutenant Reed?" the voice had the distant, tinny sound that told him the speaker was in an environmental suite. "You've been exposed to radiation, and to toxic chemicals. You're in the decon chamber. You have to be decontaminated." Reed tried to reply, but with the deep breath he began coughing again, and was unable to speak. He could hear others coughing, and realized he wasn't the only one being decontaminated. His uniform was already half off. The thought of being so exposed in front of others made his face turn hot. He was lifted from the gurney, held upright. Warm liquid cascaded over him. It was a comfortable temperature, but it still stung. He pulled back, trying to avoid the prickling discomfort. He was pushed firmly forward again into the liquid and he gritted his teeth against the worsening pain. His skin felt as though it was burning off. His breathing sped up, and that provoked another bout of coughing, his chest and throat were being scraped with raw glass. It was too much, and he tried again to pull back, but wasn't allowed to. He wanted to ask where he was, but couldn't stop coughing long enough to ask the question. After what seemed an eternity, he was drawn back from the shower of liquid and guided into a chair. "Open your eyes, lieutenant," he was instructed. When he was only able to create small slits, gloved fingers reached down and pried his right eye open. His head was tilted back. Warm liquid struck the open eye. Immediate sharp, white hot agony, a knife penetrating his eyeball. He jerked his head back and then to the side, but the grip on his head was a vise, inescapable. His hands flew to his face, trying to protect himself, but they were quickly restrained. When the fingers finally let his eye fall closed, he gasped with relief. Until he felt his left eye pried open.
After what seemed an eternity, Reed heard the decon doors opening. The gurney was pushed back into sickbay. He tried again to open his eyes, but the burning pain turned to hot coals of agony, and his hands flew to his face, covering his eyes. One of his hands was gently grasped, brought down to his side, and there was a brief flare of pain his hand, followed by a coolness flowing up his arm, and he knew an IV line had been started. The pain began to retreat, and sounds became more distant.
*********
Archer found Trip. The engineer was on a biobed in the corner of sickbay farthest from the decon chamber. Trip was awake, but groggy. He was trying to sit up, to Cutler's displeasure.
"Sir, please, lie still. You need to rest. The doctor said-"
"No, I have to," Trip paused. "I have to… to… to… do something. Where's the captain?" Trip looked around, searching for his boss.
"Commander, I'll get the captain, if you'll just lay back down. Please, sir." Cutler tried to bargain with her patient. She placed one hand on his shoulder, pressing him back.
"It's alright, Cutler, I'm here," Archer told her. "Trip, listen to her. Lie still. Has the doctor seen you yet?"
Trip furrowed his brow, and lifted his hand to his forehead. "Um, I think so. Did the doctor see me?" He turned to Cutler for help with the question.
"Yes. And he told you to stay here and rest," Cutler gently scolded him. "So please do. " She turned to Archer. "Sir, I have to check on others. Can you please keep the commander here? He's needs more treatment."
Archer nodded his agreement. "What are his injuries?"
Cutler was already moving away. "Concussion, burns to this right leg, radiation exposure. He's already been through decon though- his crew brought him here right away. He was unconscious. He'd had very heavy radiation exposure to his thigh. But he got deconned quickly, so he should be fine. But the burn needs more treatment, and he needs frequent neuro checks."
"Thanks, Cutler. I know you're busy. I'll make sure he stays here."
Cutler smiled wearily, and then turned to her next patient. Archer turned back to Trip who was now lying flat on his back, staring at the ceiling.
"Trip?"
"Yes, captain?" Trip turned his head to look at Archer, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
Archer sighed. He didn't know if it was the concussion or the painkillers that were making Trip so foggy. "What happened?"
"Happened?"
"In engineering, Trip. What happened in engineering?" Archer struggled to keep his voice even.
"Oh! Engineering." Trip's brow furrowed again. "There was an explosion?"
"Yes. Do you know what caused it?"
"The warp core?"Trip looked hopeful that he'd gotten the answer right.
"Trip." Archer took a deep breath. "There was an explosion in engineering. We don't know what caused it. Do you?"
"Oh." Trip's face fell. He closed his eyes. "I think… I think the mix became unbalanced. I went up on the platform to correct it. It was running too hot. I tried to adjust it, but the vent opened, and some plasma shot out, right next to me. It just missed me. If it had hit me, it would have killed me for sure, it's so hot. It missed me by about a foot, but it was so hot it burned my leg where it went by. When it vented, there was a pressure wave. I think that knocked me off the platform. I don't remember anything else, captain. I don't know what made the mix become so hot." Trip's eyes shot open, wide with alarm. "My crew! Captain, my crew! Are they alright?" Trip was trying to sit up again, frantically scanning sickbay, seeming to become aware for the first time that he wasn't alone.
"Trip, calm down. No one was killed. There were injuries, some serious, but Phlox is taking care of them."
"Captain, if he we don't get the warp engines re-balanced we'll have a breach! The whole ship will be destroyed! Captain, I have to get back to engineering!" The frantic engineer was trying to climb off the biobed.
"Trip, it's okay. Malcolm got the engine taken care of. I'm not sure how. Engineering has been sealed off because of the radiation. We're dead in space for the time being, but we'll investigate as soon as it's safe."
"Oh." Trip lay back temporarily placated. "Malcolm shut the engine down, huh? Good job. Tell him that we'll have to vent the engineer room to space to remove the radiation quickly. We'll need a crew in environmental suits to go in first and lock everything down so half the contents of the engine room don't go flying out into space. He can use the emergency vents. They're designed for that. Just send him over here, and I'll walk him through it." Trip squinted at the captain, and rubbed his temples with his fingers. "Can we turn down the lights in here?"
Archer hit the control for the lights over Trip's bed. The lights dimmed, although in the overall brightness of sickbay it didn't make much of a difference. "Trip, Malcolm was injured, too. He's in decon now. He was waking up, but he got a pretty heavy exposure to radiation and to fumes from the engine. I'll have T'Pol come by and you can work out the venting of the engine room with her. The sooner the better. We need to get the engine back on line. " Archer looked up, scanned sickbay. His stomach sank as realized how many of the engineering crew were in sickbay, along with the most of the science crew, who were acting as medics. Once again it hit Archer how poorly staffed his medical section was. It had come up several times in his conversations with Admiral Forest, but there had always been some more pressing matter, and somehow he had never pressed the issue. He vowed that the next time he spoke with Forest he would insist on a full medical crew. He was grateful that Phlox had conducted some training sessions with the ad-hoc medics.
Cross-training. The armory and engineering crew often did cross-training. The thought struck Archer. He would have T'Pol pull a few of the more experienced armory crew into engineering to secure it, and to conduct the venting procedure. He began mentally organizing the tasks he needed to do to get his ship running again.
"No!"
The furious voice across sick bay interrupted Archer's mental planning. He turned quickly, certain he knew the source. Malcolm was out of decon, and was most definitely awake. He fought Phlox, pushing the doctor away, not allowing himself to be scanned. "Get away from me!"
Archer moved swiftly, trying to get a lid on things before sickbay exploded. His stomach was in a knot. The tension level in sickbay had been high to begin with and now it was skyrocketing. Crewmen on biobeds were sitting up, staring at Malcolm, who was trying to climb off his gurney. The crewman sitting in chairs rose to watch the scene.
T'Pol was quicker than Archer. Reaching Malcolm's side, she easily shoved him down onto the gurney, and in the next moment had it moving towards the rear of sickbay. Within thirty seconds the gurney carrying the armory officer was hidden behind a curtain. Archer could hear T'Pol's voice, low and calm, but he could not make out her words. The rest of sickbay remain tense. Deciding to leave T'Pol to deal with Malcolm, he turned to the rest of his crew. Pasting what he hoped was a reassuring smile on his face, he moved through sickbay, talking to crewman, offering sympathy, reassurance, and occasional joke. Slowly the tension leached out of sickbay. Out of the corner of his eye Archer saw Phlox move toward the rear of sickbay. He tensed. Trying not to let his apprehension show, he moved in the same direction. He hesitated before entering the curtained off alcove, but whatever was happening with Malcolm could not be allowed to affect the rest of the ship.
Archer pushed aside the curtain to the alcove. Reed was turning his head from side to side, squinting as he tried to look around sickbay. "Where's Rostov? He was hurt." Reed's voice was muffled through the mask that T'Pol was holding in place to keep him from pulling it off. "Why aren't you helping him doctor?" He tried again to sit up and leaned forward, coughing violently before saying. "Why are so many people standing around? Where's Trip? What-"
Archer raised the head of the gurney further and gently pulled Reed back to lean against the support, but Reed weakly resisted. "What is going on here?" He tried to swing his legs over the side of the gurney. T'Pol intervened, blocking the confused officer's movements.
"Lieutenant, you must remain on the gurney. You are in no condition to get up, and there is nothing you can do here to help. Rostov and the other crew who were in engineering will be treated. You need to allow Phlox to treat you."
Reed tried to look at her, but his eyes were tearing so heavily he couldn't. He leaned forward again and shook his head violently, setting off another round of coughing. "No. I'll wait my turn," he gasped, "like everyone else."
Phlox hurried over, giving a deep sigh. "Lieutenant, this isn't about waiting one's turn, or giving you priority because of your rank. This is medical necessity. You were the last one out of engineering. You had the highest exposure. You need treatment immediately. It's as simple as that."
"No." Reed leaned back against the gurney again, crossing his arms over his chest. "I refuse. You can't force me- " his argument was cut off as he tried to catch his breath, and it was thirty seconds before he could resume speaking. "You can't force me," he continued gamely, "to accept treatment I don't want."
"You don't want to be treated?" Archer asked, puzzled.
"I don't want to be treated before the others," Reed clarified, looking straight ahead and refusing to meet anyone's eyes. "That is my decision."
"I don't accept it," Phlox was firm. "The triage decisions are mine."
Reed turned to glare at the doctor. His eyes were still tearing heavily, but the message was clear. "I think it's pretty clear that your triage decisions aren't very sound, doctor," he managed, and although though his voice was muffled by the oxygen mask, and he was racked with about bout of coughing, his words made an impact. Archer, T'Pol and Phlox froze.
When Phlox that broke the silence his voice was amazingly calm. "Lieutenant," he began, "I know you're upset with me, but that doesn't change the fact that you need treatment. You've been exposed to toxic fumes, and heavy radiation. I need to scan you, to determine how much damage has been done."
"No." Malcolm's voice was hoarse but insistent. "I'm fine."
T'Pol, Archer and Phlox stared at him. Malcolm's reddened eyes flitted back and forth between them.
"Now I know you aren't capable of decision making," Archer said flatly. "That is the most patently ridiculous thing you've ever said, lieutenant."
"Perhaps. But it my choice. Doctor, you have other patients," Malcolm gestured toward the curtain. "Why don't you take care of them."
Phlox studied Malcolm for several seconds. He turned away, started to push the curtain aside but paused. He turned back to Malcolm. He took a step closer, took a deep breath, and pulled himself up. "Lieutenant, I'm not going to treat anyone else until you've been properly treated. You've had the highest exposure. You're right, there are other patients. Some of them are seriously injured. You're delaying their treatment. "
The effect was immediate. Malcolm's jaw dropped, and his eyes widened, stricken. He paled even further. "I… no. Don't delay their treatment!" he pleaded.
"The scanner is waiting," Phlox said, implacable.
Malcolm nodded, seemed unable to form words. His irritated eyes were wide. He seemed stricken. Phlox took advantage. He stepped outside the curtain, and gestured at two of the science crew. "Take Lieutenant Reed to the scanner, please. Do a full body scan, with detailed images of his lungs, and then bring him back here. I'll be taking care of my other patients."
Archer watched as Malcolm lay back on the gurney, drained. He didn't offer any resistance as his gurney was rolled to the scanner. Archer saw him wince was he was lifted onto the scanner tray, but otherwise the armory officer remained silent. Archer considered the scene. He had been certain Phlox would have to sedate Reed to get him the scanner, and he hadn't known if the doctor's ethics would allow it. But when Phlox had told Reed he was delaying treatment of the rest of the crew, Reed had looked as though he'd been physically struck- and Phlox had looked vaguely ill as well. Archer had sensed something passing between the two. He was left to wonder, certain that neither of them would be explaining any time soon.