All The Children, Part 5, Casualties

Posted on Mon 31st May, 2021 @ 1:38am by Commander Zed & Lieutenant Commander Kiara Lena

1,463 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Waging Peace
Location: USS Thunder Child, Deep Space
Timeline: MD: -30 0930 hours

Zed sat in her chair observing the view screen. She sipped hot green tea from her favorite cup. She sat with one leg crossed over the other. It was the most comfortable for the long hours in the center chair.

The Communications Officer had been trying to contact the outpost ever since they had checked the logs of the doomed ship, the Berlin. So far they had not been able to make contact and that had Zed worried, another human trait. Her communicator sounded, it was one of the Surgeons, =A=Doctor Lee to Commander Zed, please respond.=A=

=A=The is Zed, go ahead Doctor,=A= Zed could hear a certain worry in the Doctor's voice and that put her on edge.

=A=You better get down here to the Sick Bay, there has been a situation.=A=Ying Lee said. Ying was a younger member of the Surgical team, but she was good, very good. She graduated in the top 5 percent of her class when she had gone through the Academy some 5 years ago.

Zed glanced over to the one who she had assigned as her temporary XO, "You better come with me." Zed got up and put her tea down in the cup holder that was in the armrest of her chair and headed for the turbolift.

"Yes, ma'am." Gemma logged out of her console and followed the Captain.

The pair arrived at the Sick Bay main door where the Chief Surgeon met them. Doctor Sung Lee was a pretty, petite Asian woman in her mid-thirties. She normally carried a warm smile on her face, but not today. "I have some bad news, the EMH found Doctor Yezechi on the floor unconscious. She was tested immediately and tested positive for the virus. She was placed in stasis. If she had been found any later, she would probably be dead."

Zed nodded in understanding, "That makes you the Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Lee. Congratulations." Zed paused for a moment before adding, "I want the EMH to be the only one working near the Virus from now on."

"Yes ma'am." The Doctor said, "I'll make sure of that."

"Well, we better get back up to the Bridge. We are almost at the colony and there is still no answer from our hails." Zed said as she looked over at her First Officer, "You ready?"

"Ready as ever." Gemma hoped they'd find what they wanted, but it had been so long without contact that she, too, was worried.

Gemma turned to the doctor. "Good luck."

Lee nodded in return, "Thanks." She said and then turned back towards the desk she just inherited. She sighed as she thought about all the responsibilities she now had.

Zed quickly exited Sick Bay not looking back to see if her XO was still with her or not. She would speak to her more once onboard the turbolift and heading towards the Bridge

A few moments later she stepped onto the turbolift and turned around to see her XO right behind her. The door hissed shut. "So, what's your assessment of Lieutenant Jericho?"

"He's had quite the adventure," Gemma replied. "His personnel file shows him to be competent and well-respected." She found herself believing his story. There was a definite ring of truth to it.

Zed nodded, "Yes, I get that from his file as well." The door for the turbolift opened and Zed stepped out and onto the Bridge before heading for her seat, "Report."

"Captain." the Lieutenant that sat in her chair said as she got up. "We are now in standard orbit of Grandis 3. There is still no answer from the colony. Scans have detected 47 life signs. All seem to be in the age of pre-teen."

Zed sat in her chair and nodded. She turned to her First Officer, "Number One, take an away team down and conduct an investigation as to what happened. Also, collect the children and have them transported up into Cargo Bay 2. I will have the Cargo Bay equipped and ready to receive them. The planet is now quarantined so make sure that you wear full bio suits. I don't want you to be placed in a stasis pod."

"Yes, ma'am. Has a full sensor scan been run to try and find the pathogen?" Gemma asked, wanting more information. "I can have a team ready in ten minutes."

"The Transporter doesn't seem to be able to isolate the virus, but the environmental suits do seem to keep the virus at bay. I'll send what we have on the virus to your PADD." Zed replied as she send the information with a few tapps on her control panel. "Assemble your team."

"Yes, ma'am," Gemma said. "I'll take medical and security."

Zed turned back to her First Officer, "Good luck." She turned back to face forward in her chair. She didn't want Gemma to see the worry on her face.

The first officer tapped her combadge as she turned to the turbolift. "This is Commander Craven. I'd like medical and security teams ready to go down to the planet in twenty minutes. Meet me in the shuttle bay."

=^=This is Ensign Fox in Security, myself and Crewman Waters are on away team duties and will meet you there.=^= Came a female voice in response.

"Very good. Craven out."

=^=This is Medical, Lieutenant Moore here. I'm on my way to the Shuttle Bay, Moore out.=^= Lieutenant Moore was a very Capable nurse and well on his way to becoming a Doctor.


Gemma arrived several minutes before the appointed time. She never liked hazmat gear, but recognized that, in this instance, it was imperative. She pulled out her suit and carefully checked it over to be sure it was in prime condition while she waited for the others.

The two Security Officers entered the Shuttle Bay. Ensign Amanda Fox and Crewman Aaron Waters. "Lieutenant..." Childs said with a nod. Waters just gave a grunt along with a nod.

Gemma nodded to the new arrivals. "Are we all set?" she asked. "Ready to go?"

The two nodded in unison, "We're ready." The female answered for both of them. At the same time, they began pulling the suits off of the wall behind them and began putting them on.

A moment later the door hissed open again and a Nurse came walking in, "Sorry, I'm running late, but I'm here now and ready to get this over with. Moore was a little apprehensive of the Environmental suits. He always felt like he would suffocate like there wasn't enough air being provided by the suit, but he knew it was all in his head, he just couldn't help it. He hesitantly reached for his suit and began putting it on. More fumbling than not.

Gemma smiled. "Glad you made it. We'll leave as soon as your suit is on." She was concerned about what they'd find, especially as the sensors detected children, no adults.

After a few moments of the nurse fighting with his suit, he signaled that he was ready with a thumbs up.

Crewman Waters quickly double-checked the nurse's suit. Everything seemed to be in order. "We're ready, ma'am." He replied then said. "We have shuttlecraft Rio Bravo which is right over there." He pointed. The Shuttle Bay was massive and it would take the small team a minute to reach the shuttle.

The XO checked that everyone was suited up and ready, then nodded. "Okay, everyone, let's go."

The small team began walking across the Shutle Bay. It was busy with activity from the maintenance crews as they went about their daily duties with the upkeep and maintenance on the various many small craft that the Thunder Child held. The ship was basically a carrier that was well-armed.

It made an odd sort of juxtaposition. Everything around them was ordinary, routine work about a starship, and the team was in protective gear, heading down to the planet to find out why no adults seem to have survived. Gemma boarded the shuttle and took her seat, quickly running through the data again.

Ensign Fox took the Pilot's seat and began preflight checks. The other two sat in the seats in the rear compartment. Amanda finished her checks fairly quickly and then fed the coordinates for the location of the colony into the navigational computer. "Flight time is about 8 minutes. The weather is pretty nice and shouldn't be a factor during the trip."

Gemma nodded. "Let's see what's down there."

The shuttle lifted off with ease after receiving clearance to depart. The shuttle passed though a force field at the rear of the saucer section. Once clear of the pylon in the back that housed Flight Control, the shuttle made a B line for the planet surface.

 

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