4

Frigate 'Chimera', 1350 hours, October 4, 2149

The trip to intercept the transport would take just over one day. As soon as he got on board their frigate, Malcolm had deposited his ready-bag in his usual rack compartment and then headed straight for the frigate's equipment locker to check the status of their hand weapons. After making sure that all of their EM-33s, plasma rifles and stun grenades were in perfect working order, he grabbed an early lunch in the galley area – which was blessedly empty – and then went up to the bridge area to run a diagnostic on their plasma cannon and torpedo launchers. Everything checked out – as he had expected it would – and once he was satisfied that they would be able to aquit themselves well in a firefight of any sort, he retired to his rack. He spent a few hours studying the profile report on Rigelian armaments and tactics before venturing out for his supper.

He glanced at his chronometer as he walked down the ship's corridor and shook his head. If he hadn't been sent on this assignment, he would have been finishing lunch with Jean instead of reading up on Rigelian pirates alone in his rack. Malcolm chided himself for being distracted from the task at hand, if only for a few moments.

They intended to provide the transport with an armed escort and thereby discourage any attempts at hijacking, but when they arrived they found that the Rigelians had already boarded the transport and were engaged in a fire-fight with a poorly armed crew of technicians.

Medical Transport Ship 'Beshern', 1417 hours, October 4, 2149

Stephens was busy trying to take down a Rigelian who was hiding behind some crates. He was so focused on the Rigelian bobbing in and out of sight in front of him that he didn't seem to notice another Rigelian coming towards him from his blind side. Malcolm dodged forward, firing at the alien, and made the raider drop his particle weapon with a well-placed shot to the raider's hand. Stephens finally got a clean shot at his target, leaving only one Rigelian standing, the one Malcolm had just disarmed.

As a last resort, the raider took a vial of liquid out of his pocket, opened its valve and threw the contents in the Englishman's face. Malcolm wiped the substance out of his eyes with one hand and shot the Rigelian in the chest with his EM-33.

Two of the technicians had been killed in the attack, and the Rigelians were all dead. Malcolm sighed to himself, feigning some enthusiasm for the victory which his team mates were already celebrating. They had stopped these particular villains from obtaining bio-weapons, but that didn't mean there weren't a thousand other threats to worry about, and he couldn't muster genuine excitement for taking one threat off of a list which was so blasted long.

He was shaken out of his glum thoughts when one of the techs spoke to him. "Sir, you should know that - " the Denobulan woman hesitated when Malcolm started slightly, but she seemed encouraged when he smiled and nodded for her to go on. She smiled back, and he thought that the ridges on either side of her face were oddly pretty.

"Sir, you should know that the vial you were exposed to contained a live sample of Hesperan Thumping Cough."

He let his head tip forward with a quiet groan. "Lovely. And what, specifically, does this mean in terms of my health?" He looked up at her, dreading what her reply might be.

Her smile didn't waver, but he thought that her expression seemed more sympathetic. "Since the sample came into contact with the mucus membranes of your eyes as well as your skin, there is a 98.3% chance that you have contracted the disease and will begin to experience symptoms within the next few hours."

"Just my luck," he muttered under his breath, raising his voice to ask, "And these symptoms are?" He glanced over at the team apprehensively before focusing on her again.

She handed him a PADD. "This contains all of the IME's information on Hesperan Thumping Cough."

He skimmed the first paragraph of the article and had to suppress a groan.

'Symptoms include severe hacking cough, chills and sweats, headache, a fever over 101 degrees Fahrenheit, body aches, fatigue, blurred vision, loss of appetite, weakness, lack of coordination, nausea and rhinitis. The best treatment for Hesperan Thumping Cough is to let it run its course while getting plenty of rest and drinking enough fluids. Once symptoms appear, the victim will have a high fever for four to six days, with body aches persisting for an additional three days after the fever is gone. After the fever and body aches subside, the patient will have a persistent cough and feel run-down for at least one additional week.'

Malcolm stopped reading after that, still digesting the information and not quite ready to see what the 'Detailed Symptom Overview' had in store for him. "Sounds wonderful," he grimaced and slipped the PADD into one of his pockets. He sighed, shaking his head slightly and forced a smile at the tech, touching a hand to the PADD in his pocket. "Thank you for the information. I'm certain it will be helpful."

"I hope so," she nodded, adding in a concerned tone, "I strongly advise that you be treated by a physician as soon as possible. Cold Station 12 has an experienced medical staff, and while it is not a functioning hospital, the fact that you have been exposed to one of the pathogens which we were transporting is sufficient reason for you to receive some basic treatment there. If nothing else, we can give you an injection which will inhibit the airborne spread of the pathogen so that you will not become a vector for this disease."

He shook his head, not understanding the medical terminology. "I'm sorry, what did you mean by that last part?"

The tech smiled gently. "It will prevent you from spreading the disease to anyone else by coughing on or near them. My name is Dreeyla Phlox, and if it wouldn't be an imposition, I would like for you to contact me after you are feeling well again."

Malcolm blinked at her curiously. "Why?"

"Well," she hesitated briefly, then went on. "I have never had the opportunity to document a case of this illness in an actual patient, and since you have contracted it…"

He sighed. It was never just one thing at a time, was it?