Chapter Six

Chief Medical Officer's Log: Supplemental.

With the help of the Romulan, Professor Zelenka… we have so far managed to adapt the ante-virus in the hopes of somehow curing this plague. His breakthrough is amazing… however; I question his work ethics in attempt to cure this deadly weapon unleashed here. From what I have been told, he experimented on the dying in the hopes of finding a cure. I often wander what Starfleet would I have done if the plague was unleashed on Vulcan… or Earth!

Bracing himself against a console in the large laboratory, the ailing Romulan once again cleaned the green blood running from his mouth as he coughed painfully. With concern in his face, McCoy stood next to him as he held out a cup of cool, fresh water.

"Professor, are you okay?"

"Yes, I will… live, for now at least. My symptoms have progressed too phase four of the plague" He wheezed.

"How long has it been like this?" McCoy replied with a deep concern.

"Around six human weeks, the radiation treatment I had devised has slowed the progress down by 50%. But it is not a cure Doctor McCoy"

"It's a start…"

Slowly sipping the cool water, the Romulan sat in a chair slowly as pain tore through his body with each movement he made. Large green welts had appeared on his body, hands and face as they began to slowly weep with a hideous deep green fluid creating an overpowering smell of death. His deep green coloured eyes had turned an unusual orange colour as the whites of his eyes had also changed to a deep yellow giving the aging Romulan a hideous alien look.

With his hands shaking from the effects of the plague, he slowly lowered his cup onto the arm of the chair he was sat in as he spoke with a gravely voice.

"I have… read much of your files Doctor McCoy. Doctor Selana… had always spoken very highly of you"

Each breath appeared to be more difficult as his chest felt tighter with each passing moment. Yet, ignoring the constant pain that flowed through his body the once proud Romulan continued to assist the Human Doctor as they attempted to find a cure.

"She's an excellent Doctor… from what I hear, so are you sir"

"I was… before… the plague was launched"

"We're doing everything we can for your people. The ceasefire will hold as long as I'm working on this. I give you my word Professor; I will put an end to this!" McCoy said stubbornly.

"You sound like your father, Doctor" The old man smiled.

"You knew him?" McCoy said in shock.

"I am… proud to say yes. He was a decent an honourable man, you should be… proud"

"I am. I've dedicated my life to his cause!"

"I know. I remember him once telling me about you, you had been accepted into Medical School at his old… what did he call it, stomping grounds?"

"I have full access to his files; he never mentioned your name"

"Because he did not know I was Romulan, or he simply… did not care. I was attending a conference on the plague at your Federation's Martian Colony, I was… amongst the Vulcan delegation"

"I remember that, I was their…" McCoy smiled with fond memories.

"I know, I remember seeing you. The strange little boy wearing a Starfleet Medical gown, you're… fathers…" He said gasping for air. "… You had trouble keeping the gown on. I had to leave the area as not to show the… Vulcans I was laughing"

"That was you?" McCoy laughed. "The first time I had ever seen a Vulcan laugh"

"I remember. You reminded me of my own son. He was… here when the plague was launched" He said with sadness.

"I'm sorry"

"It is for him, and those billions that have died since… yeah!"

For the first time in his life, McCoy saw a single tear rolling down the cheek of a Romulan. Taking a moment, McCoy stepped back to his console to check on the readings as they came through from the Federation Starship high above. With perhaps three of the greatest minds in the galaxy working on the cure, now could be the time they stopped the deadly plague from sweeping across the galaxy. Several years ago, McCoy had learned from his Romulan counterpart that the Plague had jumped species and infected a Cardassian. After an autopsy of the remains, it was discovered that the unfortunate soul infected was a part of a medical experiment by the still relatively unknown Cardassian Union.

"Leonard!" A voice called out over the console speakers. "We've found something!"

"What is it Selana?"

"Theta Radiation has some effect on the base-code of the modification"

"What?" McCoy said with delight. "What kind of effect?"

"Preliminary results state that it is breaking down the virus. However, at such a high dosage, it is toxic to humanoid life"

"It's a start. If memory serves… Spock, didn't Starfleet once use Theta Radiation in decontamination units before the bio-filters where installed on transporters?"

"Yes, that is correct. Theta radiation, in small doses can be used to destroy micro-organisms, and was used aboard the NX-01, in the decontamination chamber when it was determined that a member of the crew was infected. Eventually it was replaced by the bio-filters…"

"… Of course. My father experimented with it during his early testing. Selana, how high would a dosage have to be?"

"At the recommended dosage… it would destroy the core of the plague as well as the victim…"

"Doctor, Theta Radiation is a by-product of Anti-Matter waste" Spock said slowly.

"Thank you Spock. Zelenka, we've found something… Professor?"

Slowly turning on his heels in the tight-fighting Haz-Mat suit, McCoy was stunned by what he saw before him. Transmitted back to the Enterprise, Selana looked on in shock as McCoy ran to the side of the Romulan Professor. Slumped in the chair in which he sat, a large curved blade protruding from the side of his neck as thick green blood poured from the wound.

"Ohh Shit!" McCoy said slowly in shock.

Kneeling at the side of the body, McCoy carefully closed the eyes of the Romulan as something in his left hand caught his attention. Carefully reaching out, he picked up a small piece of blood stained paper, which contained writing in Romulan.

"Selana, what does this say?"

"One word… 'Free!'"

"He couldn't stand the pain. The pour bastard could barely breathe. McCoy to Kirk…"

"Kirk here, what is it Bones?" Kirk replied over the intercom.

"It's Zelenka, he's dead Jim!… he took his own life"

"Ahh Shit! Understood. Transmit a copy of the report… I'll send it on to one of those ships orbiting us"

"Understood"

"How goes the search?"

"Selana an Spock have found something, but… the cure could be as deadly as the plague itself"

"How so?"

"They think that Theta Radiation in high dosage could be the answer… Zelenka mentioned something about it earlier… He gave me a copy of his notes. My Romulan is a little rusty Jim, I could use it translated"

"I'll get Uhura on it right away. Transmit a copy ASAP!"

"On it…"

Reaching up to the Console before him, McCoy typed in a set of Commands into the console before the large file was sent to the Enterprise for translation. For a moment, McCoy sat in silence as he looked up at the ceiling with a deep frown on his face as he spoke too himself.

"Zel'… why didn't you wait. We're so damned close"

For a brief moment, an eerie silence filled the room as McCoy looked around. What happened next no one, not even the young Captain and his experienced crew on the Enterprise high above could have foreseen. In the distance, away from the hulk that was the Romulan ship, a large explosion tore through the crumbling remains of the city as a large shockwave ripped through the remains of the buildings and vaporised them in an instant.

High above the planet, Kirk sat in his command chair and watched the horror unfold before him. The large shockwave rippled out across the planets surface below as large fires could be seen springing into existence and burning the surface of the planet below. Jumping too his feet, Kirk looked on in both surprise and shock as the Red Alert alarm echoed around his new ship.

"What the Fu… what happened?"

"I don't know Keptain. A large explosion…"

"No shit Chekov, where the hell did it come from?"

"Scanning…"

"Captain, the lead Romulan ship is hailing us"

"Take a damned message!" Kirk yelled. "Report!"

"Some form of nuclear device has been activated… the surface has not been irradiated!"

"How is that possible?"

"Captain the Romulan ship is hailing us once again…" Uhura called out.

"Sir, their weapons have been activated"

"How many ships Chekov?"

"All of them sir. Shall I raise our shields Keptain?"

"No! Uhura, patch the lead ship through"

"Aye sir" Shall called out. "On screen now!"

"USS Enterprise… surrender and prepare to be boarded, you have no options!" Called out the Romulan Commander.

"What?" Kirk said in shock. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Not content with launching a Bio-Weapon against the Empire, the Federation has destroyed that world"

"We didn't launch anything… we have men on the surface!"

"Your people… are now casualties of War. For this act of cowardice, the peace that existed between our two people… is over. Surrender your ship, if you attempt to raise your shields, arm weapons or leave orbit… I will destroy your ship"

"Don't do this…" Kirk said quickly. "… We didn't launch an attack against your world. Allow us to find out who did?"

"Very well. You have… one Earth Hour; I will notify Imperial Command of this… development. Be sure too understand, all of your communications will be monitored. Do not attempt any further deception… we are watching you very closely… Tamara out!"