Anomalous Accidents

Posted on Tue May 30th, 2023 @ 9:32pm by Lieutenant Xex Wang & Lieutenant Charles Bridgeport
Edited on on Thu Jun 1st, 2023 @ 6:23am

Mission: On the Road Again
Location: Sickbay, Deck 2
Timeline: Mission Day 2 at 2144

[Sickbay, deck 2]
[MD 02, 2144hrs]

Sickbay hummed with what Xex was hoping was a slightly higher level of activity than normal. The away team had been directed to check in with sickbay on a schedule to ensure none of the pathogenic bacteria from the surface lingered in their system, and although they had not all maintained the schedule Xex and Marwol had set for them, by and large, they were checking in often enough that Xex's fears over a lingering outbreak were mostly allayed.

While sickbay thus hummed, Xex was fidgeting behind his desk, finishing up yet another of a seemingly endless round of reports about the events on Shaddam IVa. He tried not to frame the survey in terms of injuries, but the nature of his profession dictated that such a framework at least tangentially applied to his reports. He sighed, glancing away from the display long enough to see the latest patient thank the duty nurse, slide off the biobed, and exit sickbay. At least the post-shift-change rush seemed to be winding down. He would have a nice quiet night to finish up his reporting.

Goody.

He was dragged from a reluctant dive back to into his report as sickbay's doors whooshed open again. He frowned, glanced at the check-up docket, and frowned deeper. They weren't expecting anyone else this shift, which rarely meant good tidings in sickbay.

As the new entrant revealed himself to be none other than the Sojourner's Chief of Security, looking outwardly hale and healthy, Xex's brows arched with interest. Abandoning his report without a second thought, he stood and stepped around the desk into sickbay proper as the doors were closing behind Bridgeport.

“I can talk to the chief,” Xex said to the duty nurse who had moved to greet Bridgeport, “Take a break.” The nurse eyed him closely for a long moment, scrutiny which the CMO studiously ignored, turning instead to the newly-arrived security chief. The nurse would get used to the vagaries of his physiology soon enough, Xex was certain, and stop worrying over nothing. “Lieutenant Bridgeport,” he greeted warmly, as happy for the distraction as to see the man himself. “What can we do for you?”

“Well, I got hit a couple times on that last mission, and unless I’ve become a super hero or something I need to figure out why I was unaffected by the blasts.” Replied Bridgeport.

Xex's face lit with renewed interest. "And by hit, I am presuming you mean with a phaser?" he clarified, looking almost like he wanted to reach out and touch Bridgeport there and then. With a great effort of will, he controlled himself and took a half-step back, gesturing grandly at the nearer biobed. "Please, have a seat. Can you describe the sensation you felt when you were hit?"

Bridgeport thought for a moment in recall. “ Ok, I was in a fire fight when a Kazon weapon blast hit me. It felt like a taser or electric shock. But I kept going and it never stopped me. I figure there must be some kind of dampening field or something at work.” Said Bridgeport.

"So you don't think the intended effect was the shock sensation? Equivalent to setting a phaser to 'stun,'?" Xex asked, although his tone indicated a half-rhetorical question.

“That’s just it. I’ve been stunned before.this was less than 1/4 the charge of a stun.” He said as he went to sit on the bio bed.

Xex's finger's froze over the terminal he was looking at and his eyebrows reached for his hairline. "A quarter the charge of stun?" he asked incredulously. "Well now, that is interesting." As Bridgeport got onto the bed, he said, "Computer, full diagnostic, protocol six gamma for the nervous system." The computer chirped an affirmative and the biobed began to glow as it started its scan. "How have you felt since? Anything unusual? By which I do mean," and here, Xex paused looking up to make sure he caught and held the security chief's eyes, "anything. Unusual sleep, strange tastes in your mouth, unusual appetite, unusual evacuations, unusual sensations--" he broke off and one corner of his mouth lifted in a self-mocking smile, "You get the idea."

“Yes I get you. And the answer is no. Just a profound good feeling of being glad to be off that rock!” Said Bridgeport.

Xex snorted. "You and me both. That place was strange in more ways than one and honestly?" he paused, looking up from his screen, his mouth half-open as if paused midway through continuing. Instead, he huffed out a, "huh. I was going to say 'we're lucky to have come away in as few pieces as we did,' but given this odd phaser reaction, perhaps luck had less of a hand in it than usual." Eyes tracking back and forth past the data the scan was beginning to impart, he asked, "Did you notice anyone else take phaser fire? Given your experience, they might not even have known they were hit." While Xex talked, the bed glowed blue, the visual representation of the scan now throwing up data onto the doctor's screen.

“If I’m honest, no. I was concentrating on finding the team as quickly as possible. I guess I could investigate the matter further.” Replied Bridgeport

"Hmmm," Xex hummed, muttering, "Isolated phenomenon, limited scope..." His gray eyes finally focused back in on Bridgeport, his features animating from their thoughtful freeze. "That would be excellent," he said, accepting the offer of investigation. "Especially given your people were the most likely to be hit. Like I said, they might have barely noticed, or written off the sensation. If we can find these individuals though, it would expand our dataset, which is only to the better. Speaking of... computer, expand parameters for scan protocol six gamma to include all body systems."

The computer chirped, and the bed glowed, starting an additional scan. “I'm also going to take a blood sample, although I can't imagine what we'll find in it that the biobed's scan won't pick up,” Xex said, and rather than sounding doubtful, he sounded positively excited, his silvery features glowing with interest as he prepped the sample kit. “I literally can't imagine! Isn't it exciting?”

“I’ll have all the security personnel that were on the away team to report to you here. We can come up with a conclusion from what you find.” Said Bridgeport

"I certainly hope we can," Xex agreed, then warned, "This should only pinch a little." He placed the sample kit against the bare skin of Bridgeport's neck. A pop and a hiss-- and indeed a pinch-- later, and he pulled the sampler away, holding it up to Sickbay's bright lights and giving the dark, venous blood a swirl. At the same moment, the biobed chimed, indicating the scans were complete. Xex glanced across the readout, and nodded, stepping away from the bed and making a grand, inviting gesture with his hand. "I'll have to run some diagnostics on these scans, and I wouldn't want to keep you," he explained. "I'll contact you as soon as we have any information at all. And do let me know if you find any other phaser non-victims, will you?"

“I’m sure we can do better than that. I’ll have all those concerned report to you as soon as possible. Once they have, you let me know what you found out. Most have already been here to get checked out. “ said Bridgeport as he stood up ready to leave.

This last comment caused Xex to cock his head, pausing for a moment in thought. "You know, you're probably right," he agreed, a little vaguely as the gears in his mind ground through this new dataset possibility. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Lieutenant. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of it." With a reassuring smile, he stepped back to allow Bridgeport to depart, and moved toward the processing suite with his sample.

Bridgeport headed for the exit. He had heard that there was a party somewhere on this ship, and he was going to find it.

Lt. Charles Bridgeport
Chief Security Officer
USS Sojourner

&

Doctor Xex Wang
Chief Medical Officer
USS Sojourner