The Findings

Posted on Mon 25th Mar, 2013 @ 4:30pm by Colonel Horatio Drake & Commander Jasmine Collins-Keller

1,662 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Deck 83: Main Sickbay
Timeline: MD-05: 1225 Hours

ON:

Drake had found himself putting this particular visit off. It wasn't particularly the gruesomeness of what had occurred down in the bowels on the station... but more what they represented. It was almost as if everything that he had come to feel about Starfleet, since the death of Patrick, was now becoming evidently and manifestly true.

As the doors slid apart, the noise was what immediately struck him. A Sickbay on a starship was generally deadly silent... how many crewmembers could require medical attention at any given time? However on a starbase, with tens of thousands of residents, the main sickbay was their number one destination if anything was wrong. The second thing that hit him was the size of the place... it was his first time visiting the infirmary as a visitor and not a patient. After his adventures on the USS Bretagne, the sheer mass of the Sickbay hadn't quite struck him.

He noticed Nyx only a short distance away from him in an admin area, of sorts, paneled off by glass. He knew this wasn't her office, as that was adjoining the main sickbay area. This was probably simply a place to go through all things administration related.

Walking into the area, he hoped the Chief Medical Officer wasn't overly busy.

"Doctor Nyx" He smiled warmly at her, not having had too many dealings with her until now.

"Colonel." Nyx nodded to the man as she approached him with a smile. "How can I help you sir? Are you sick or injured?" She asked the man. She was glad for something to do. She'd been busy today but she needed to be that way. She wanted to keep her mind occupied.

"Oh no, thank you for you concern though, Doctor". He folded his arms, perhaps subconsciously trying to defend himself against the answers that he knew were coming. "I was wondering if you had managed to complete the autopsies, yet?"

"On three of the bodies yes." She nodded. "The findings were more gruesome than I had at first presumed."

Drake inhaled deeply, for a Medical Officer to use the word 'gruesome'... something pretty bad must have taken place. He threw himself in the seat opposite the desk that she was sat at. "Prey, continue, Doctor".

"As I told you earlier, these men were alive while they were surgically altered." She walked to the first table. "This one has nanite implants much like the Borg would use. His eye was removed and replaced, the frontal lobe of his brain, and his heart. However, he died of poisoning. He had large amounts of Varaxa in his organ tissue." She shook her head. "Evidently he was a failure. There are also traces of kironide, a drug used to enhance or induce telepathy in human species."

She walked to the next body. "This is a female, Klingon hybrid. She's had her sexual organs altered to make her appear male. She is approximately 13 years old. I found the same drugs in her system, but she died of extanguination...she bled out. Her throat was cut, both sides of her jugular." She looked at Drake. "My guess is, the modifications worked and she got violent - tried to escape." She sat down before going to the third body. "You should know Colonel that all of them had DNA enhancements much like your XO." She still couldn't say Cara's name. It still made her angry.

Thirteen years old? A feeling was welling up inside of him, coming from the deepest parts of his gut. As a Marine the first thing you're taught in training was to never betray a friend or comrade and never take unfair advantage of an enemy. He had lived his life by those standards. At thirteen, enemy or not, unfair advantage had been taken.

He nodded at the revelation that DNA enhancements had taken place on all of the victims. Whilst normally this would be quite a bit revelation, in light of everything that had taken place he couldn't say he was surprised.

"Doctor, is there any chance that these alterations were done voluntarily?" He asked, knowing full well the answer.

Pointing to the first victim's wrists, Nyx shook her head. "These ligature marks come from primitive hemp ropes. They were bound to the beds for a lengthy period of time. Their ankles have the same marks. The female's bruises show that she broke through her bindings...that's probably why she was killed."

Nyx sat for a moment and wondered when to tell Drake what she'd been hiding. Yesterday had been all topsy turvy for her and she knew she had a duty to inform him of her pregnancy but she really didn't know if this was an appropriate time. She looked toward her office and saw Devyn sitting there watching her and knew it was probably best just to clear the air. It wasn't as if she were dropping a bomb or that it would effect anything really. "I'm pregnant." She said quietly and without any other explanation. She waited to see if he actually noted what she'd said.

"Bloody Hell" the revelation struck him like a phaser blast to the chest. Not because it was particularly groundbreaking.... but more so because he was awful with dealing at this sort of thing.

"Er... congratulations, Doctor" he paused, not really knowing how to continue. "Do we know who the father is?" It was too late to retract or edit the statement in any way. He knew how it sounded, the second the words left his lips but he was powerless to do anything about it.

"Yes sir. Commander Kell is the father." She understood the confusion. In her mind Kell hadn't been acting like her partner and he had maintained separate quarters even though they stayed together. "Which reminds me. I owe you an apology for my abrupt departure from our meeting yesterday." She apologized. "I was a bit stunned with Commander Kell's revelation about Colonel Treia." She immediately changed topics back to the business at hand.

"The third body is a male human approximately 25 years of age. He too has been genetically altered." She walked to the third bio bed. "DNA markers
include Vulcan, Klingon, and Chameloid." She looked at the man again. "I suspect whomever did this was trying to create some sort of perfect being, strong, telepathic, and able to shift forms." She turned back to the body and made her final notations. "They didn't stop at genetics with him. They've actually replaced and transplanted organs in him. His hypothalamus is Betazoid, he has a second heart which is Klingon and they've added copper to his blood. I believe it was the copper that killed him. The human body isn't built for excessive heavy metals in the blood stream. Although there is a knife wound to his left shoulder that is stained blue. It may be Keltara Blue, a very lethal poison of which there is no known antidote." She stepped back from the body and finished. "Even the slightest trace can be lethal to someone as large as a Klingon or Cardassian. I haven't finished the labs on that yet."

This was the officer whom he had previously seen. This was the Commander. Twenty Five years old? He had moved up the chain of command faster than Drake. Having said that, it was war time... he could have been acting under a Field Promotion. This was the officer that he felt most for... as it resembled himself so much.

"This was a Starfleet Officer, Doctor... do we have a name yet?" He asked, somberly.

"I'm running his DNA now sir. I have to separate the sample from any augmentations before I can match it." She explained. "Even with the technology we have now, it could take several hours before I have an ID. There was nothing on his body to identify him. Except..." She snapped her fingers. "Colonel he has a tattoo on his upper arm. I didn't think much of it until now but it is a very unique tattoo." She moved to the victim's left side and moved the sheet from his torso. "here." She stood back so the man could see.

Drake almost grimaced in pain, he felt like someone had winded him. He had exhaled but now found it quite difficult to draw another breath. "Doctor, I think you'll find that at one point in time this officer was part of the Marine Intelligence Infiltration Division." He paused, taking all his strength not to bring his right arm up to touch a similar tattoo on his upper left arm.

"Thank you, Doctor. Please let me know the identifications as soon as possible." He felt shaky and weak... how much of a replicate was this officer of Drake? Both young... both look similar... both of the some build... both moved up the chain of command quickly... both in a small and widely unknown division of the Marine Corps. Death used to scare Drake, the same as it does any normal person. At the start of every mission, no matter how safe it was supposed to be, the inevitable always ran through his mind, 'what if I don't make it back'. Naturally that question was always centered around Patrick and should have a post-modifier of 'what if I don't make it back... to Patrick'.

Since his death, the concept of dying no longer held any trepidation to Drake... in his eyes there was very little to actually live for now. That wasn't to say he didn't want to live... simply that he could quite easily take it or leave it. The body lying in front of him on the bio-bed was simply compounding this for him.

"Of course sir." She nodded. Something was bothering the man but she wasn't sure what. Her empathic abilities weren't nearly as strong as the others.

OFF:

A Post By:

Lieutenant Nyx
Chief Medical Officer
&
Colonel Ashton Drake
Commanding Officer

 

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