Let us hope science is all we have to do

Posted on 25 Apr 2016 @ 4:23pm by Rear Admiral Azura Ashcart & Commander Rhyan

2,056 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Errand of Mercy
Location: USS Redemption, Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: Day 2, 0830

Azura sat behind his desk looking over the dispatches that had been forwarded to him from Starbase 1. It was only 0830 and already his eyes were getting fuzzy from reading all the dry reports. He sighed softly to himself and wondered when he would see the pattern in the dispatches; Sixth Fleet was up to something but he couldn't tell exactly what. He had for the past six months split his time between overseeing the restoration of the Redemption and serving on the Starfleet Security Council. He rubbed his eyes and tried to make them focus, then added sotto voce, "And going to counseling so I can look my wife in the face and not break out in cold sweats."

It had been hard. The torture he had endured at the hands of the Confederacy still haunted him, and at night the sneering face of his wife - or at least the holoprojection of his wife which was overlaid on the body of his torturer - still greeted him when he closed his eyes. His thoughts were interrupted by the familiar chime of the internal communications network.

He tapped his comm badge. "Ashcart here, go ahead."

"Captain, sorry to interrupt you but we have a priority one message from Starfleet Headquarters on the line for you."

"Very well, patch it through," Azura replied as he turned in his chair to look at the far wall which served as his communications display device.

The image of a stern man with graying hair and deep set brown eyes filled the screen. "Captain, I understand the Redemption is ready to depart?" The question was said as a statement, causing Azura to blink.

Azura replied. "Yes Admiral, in approximately half a day. We still haven't received a large portion of my senior staff."

"They will have to wait then," began the Admiral, not pausing for one moment before getting to the crux of the ill-timed communique. "We have a new mission for the Redemption; and you are going to have to leave immediately. I'm patching through the orders now."

He continued. "There has been an outbreak of a previously unreported virus on Hadronus II. We have dispatched the USS Marie Curie, but initial studies have required us to dispatch a larger ship better equipped to handle the medical and scientific research required at Hadronus." The Admiral's eyes narrowed slightly as he prepared to make his next statement. "The virus is eerily similar in composition to the Ee virus that your crew encountered on Romulus. For that reason we believe the Redemption and her crew are in a far better place to research the virus and produce a viable treatment - or cure. If Lieutenant Commander Rhyan or Doctor Afton are unable to crack this thing, I doubt anyone within Federation territory will be able to."

The Admiral leaned forward on his chair and nodded to Azura. "Your research on this virus may also assist us with nullifying the effects of the Ee virus as well. I imagine that incentive alone is enough to rally your crew to the Hadronus system, is it not?"

"I'll prepare for immediate departure, sir. We have been hoping for another crack at the Ee since Ensign Sarah Kaminski was lost to us at their hands." Azura paused to check a few figures in his head. "We already have a full compliment of medical and security staff on board at present. If you would be as so kind as to have the rest of my crew shuttled to Hadronus to rendezvous with us I would greatly appreciate it. With those conditions, we should be able to get underway in ninety minutes."

The Admiral dipped his chin slightly, rested back into his chair, and replied. "What ever you need we'll get it for you Captain. Just get out there and figure out how to fix this. Starfleet Command out." And with that the comm channel was disconnected.

Azura looked down at his PADD, simultaneously issuing a command to the bridge to recall all crew on leave.

As the lieutenant who took his call responded with a swift "aye sir" he cut the link and tapped his comm badge again. "Ashcart to Rhyan, please report to my ready room as soon as possible." He wanted to give the news to Rhyan himself.

It was another ten minutes before the chime to Aschart's ready room activated, followed swiftly by the entrance of Lieutenant Commander Rhyan. As was often not the case with the Vulcan, Rhyan appeared unsettled. "You wished to speak with me Captain?"

Azura nodded and stood extending his hand to the chair across from him. "We have a mission Rhyan, one I think you will be eager to get your teeth into." He paused, thought for a moment, and then nodded. "We need to make ready to depart within the next 80 minutes. I have already recalled all personnel that are within transporter range.

"The urgency of this mission requires that we leave short-staffed. However, the outstanding members of the senior staff will meet us where we are going." Azura handed Rhyan the PADD with the emblem of the Institute as well as Starfleet's seal in the header. "We're going to do some science," he grinned.

It took Rhyan only a few minutes to read the short synopsis of the mission parameters, telling him everything he needed to know about the Hadronus virus and it's eerily similar characteristics to the Ee virus. The revelation turned knots in his stomach as he realised the significance of their new mission parameters, and his meeting with President Zal only a few hours before. Was this the subterfuge she alluded to that would allow him to carry out his research on the virus that now threatened her own life? Or was this an unsettling coincidence? The similarities between the original Ee virus, the virus afflicting Zal and what he now saw on the PADD in front of him could not be down to pure chance. Somebody was experimenting on the Ee virus; the consequences of which were now beginning to make themselves apparent to Rhyan - and to a lesser extent, Ashcart.

The Vulcan sensed that their new mission could provide the Redemption's crew - and perhaps the Ee Research Institute as well - it's first major breakthrough in combatting the Ee virus. Already, Doctor Afton's research had provided a viable anti-virus that halted the progression of the disease. Sadly, that research had not helped President Zal's condition, nor the fate of millions of inhabitants of the planet Hadronus. The explanation may lie in the the RNA sequencing of the Hadronus virus; the sequencing showed some subtle differences in base-pairs that proved it was a separate entity from the Ee virus. At the same time, the Hadronus virus was also significantly different to that which was playing a microscopic game of cat-and-mouse within the President's immune system.

Whether there was a natural explanation for the similarity between the viruses, or an artificial intervention at play to explain their similarity, Rhyan could not tell. But the Vulcan did not believe in coincidences.

Rhyan's eyes darted up from the PADD for a brief moment to face his captain. "This virus is unlike anything I have seen in nature before. It's complexity boggles even my mind. However," he said, his eyes returning to the PADD in front of him, "there is no denying that researching this virus could advance Starfleet's research into the Ee virus by decades."

Azura nodded. "Indeed, between you and Kiesha this ship is in a unique position to get to the bottom of this; and maybe right some wrongs inflicted upon this crew. I want you to oversee the recall. Give me a solid ETA as to when we can leave, and a list of all officers who will be left behind. We'll need to know how short staffed we will be." Azura eyed his XO and the bare hint of a grin streched across his face. "This is our chance - let's not miss it."

"Aye Captain," Rhyan said, almost half-heartedly as he continued to study the PADD in front of him - it was a treasure-trove of information for the science officer. As he read the reports logged by the crew of the Marie Curie he was astonished that he hadn't heard more about this new virus in his final days working at the Ee Research Institute. He would make sure his first task following the preparatory work for leaving space dock would be to forward a copy of all these files on to Andrew at the Ee Research Institute. Even if he could not tell them about the virus infecting Zal, he could at least utilise the institute to reduce his workload in researching the Hadronus virus.

A gentle cough originated from the captain's direction. Rhyan looked up at his commanding officer. "I apologise, captain. I sometimes forget that I am an executive officer first of all, and a science officer second. Is there anything else you would like me to do?"

Azura shook his head. "Just make sure Science is squared away. Also I noticed we are getting a new chief of operations; and the marines have given us the Major back. The only constant is change, eh XO?"

"Very true," Rhyan remarked as he grinned slightly at the thought of Major Blackburn returning to the Redemption. Obviously Daniel had worked his magic and located the missing Marine. How he had achieved that feat, Rhyan didn't know - nor did he want to know. Given the state Cassandra had been in the last time he saw her, he imagined that she was currently being dragged kicking and screaming on board the Redemption. That said, a lot had changed for Rhyan in the last six months - perhaps the Major had managed to turn herself around in the same time period.

Azura looked into his desk drawer and pulled out a small box. He opened it and moved it across the desk to his XO. "They were mine, it would do me great honor if you wore them. Maybe there is some luck left in them."

A slight tightening around his eyes was the only hint that Azura was amused before he continued. "You acted with initiative and bravery over the past year. Your work with the Ee Research Institute and service on the Redemption has been exemplary, to say the least; and that is before we mention your role in the location and recapture of the Redemption against the Sixth Fleet." Azura paused, allowing Rhyan a moment to absorb the news of his promotion.

"Given your previous command test scores, and everything I have mentioned above, you have earned those pips. That, and the fact that I cannot command the flagship of the Federation with a lieutenant commander as an XO. It's a prestige thing. I refuse to get rid of you, so this is the only other option." Azura's deadpan delivery of the last sentence made it all the more humorous, and he broke a slight grin.

Rhyan's shock was visible. "I don't know what to say - this is highly unusual, given that I was only promoted to lieutenant commander when I first joined the crew a little under two years ago." He couldn't quite believe the promotion; it was only a year ago that the Vulcan had been running through the streets of New Romulus in his tattered Starfleet uniform, on the run from his superiors as a fugitive and a criminal. If not for the testimony of his cremates when they returned to Earth with the Redemption in tow, he would have surely faced a court marshall and seen a likely end to his career in Starfleet.

Realising that there was nothing more to say or do than to thank the captain for the unexpected promotion, Rhyan closed the box in front of him, stood up and requested his commanding officer's permission to be excused. After exchanging pleasantries and shaking hands with Ashcart, Rhyan picked up the small box from the table, eyed up the three silver pips one more time, and then proceeded to leave the ready room to resume his duties prior to departure from space dock.


Azura Aschart
Captain
Commanding Officer
USS Redemption

&

Rhyan
Commander
XO/Chief Science Officer
USS Redemption

 

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