The truth will out

Posted on 31 Dec 2016 @ 8:52am by Commander Rhyan

3,946 words; about a 20 minute read

Mission: Errand of Mercy
Location: USS Redemption, Commander Rhyan’s Quarters
Timeline: ED4 1500

When his meeting with Kiesha had ended in sickbay, Rhyan returned to his quarters for a reluctant sleep. Despite eight hours without any interruptions his sleep had been broken: his dreams were plagued by images of Sarah, while his spells of wakefulness had been prolonged by concern for the President and the threat of a Federation Council without her at the helm.

He quickly consumed his breakfast, consisting of a bread roll native to his home village on Vulcan and a mug of steaming Raktachino. As he downed the last of the Klingon coffee he glanced out the viewport to watch the purple orb of Hadronus Prime come into view and grow increasingly in size. There was something about the colour of the M-class planet that resonated with a dream he had experienced the night before, although the exact memory seemed to elude him.

Returning the plate and mug to his replicator, Rhyan made the decision to call a science department staff meeting to refocus their efforts on curing both the Hadronus and Zal virus’. There was no doubt that this meeting was long overdue for his department, but the Vulcan felt that it was better late than never. Once the familiar hum of the replicator dissipated, Rhyan sent an internal memo to his department via the comm. net and exited his quarters.

The science department briefing room was a small and Spartan space: a complete contrast to the observation lounge in which the senior staff conducted their meetings. A simple composite table sat in the middle of the room with a dozen or so chairs dotted around it, each of them facing the modest viewscreen inset into the largest bulkhead. The table itself was littered with padds and dismantled equipment, evidence that the night shift had been using this room for a meeting unrelated to their primary mission parameters. Rhyan made a mental note to speak with the gamma shift officers as he disliked mess almost as much as he detested tardiness.

Only after a few moments did the science department senior staff begin to arrive into the cramped room.

The first of the scientists to arrive was the Redemption’s new chief archaeologist, Lieutenant Junior Grade Aeryn Tigan. Rhyan had only met the young Trill on one occasion the preceding day, but had already formed a positive opinion of the scientist. In fact, he was already mentally lining her up as his preferred choice for assistant chief science officer – a position currently held by Ensign Jon Marshall. Lieutenant Tigan’s enthusiasm for Ee research and obvious dedication to her work made her an excellent choice to help lead the search for a cure to both viruses.


Aeryn smiled at Rhyan as she took up a position immediately to his left at the briefing table. Normally this was the position that Rhyan reserved for his assistant chief science officer, but under the circumstances he was more than happy for the usual convention to be ignored. In fact, the last person the Vulcan wanted to be seated beside was the current assistant chief science officer whose surprise return had been both surprising and unsettling to him. The most concerning aspect of Marshall’s return, however, was Rhyan’s own mother’s involvement in the assignment. In time he would have to confront her on the issue, but unfortunately his time was currently squandered in the search for a cure to both viruses currently plaguing the Federation.

Realising that he had been distracted by his thoughts, Rhyan missed the entrance of the Redemption’s lead xenobiologist, Ensign Pol. Pol was a typically blue-skinned Andorian who could be likened to a female, despite Rhyan knowing better: the Andorian species consisted of four genders, none of which could be directly likened to ‘male’ or ‘female’. Pol had joined the science department during the final weeks of the Redemption’s refit and had already been proven to be a driving force behind the research into the Hadronus virus; even Captain Ashcart had been impressed to hear of her assignment to the Redemption after reading her resume and service record.

As Pol seated herself next to Aeryn, Cadet Strathmore entered the room followed immediately by Ensign Marshall. An awkward silence appeared to hang in the air between the cadet and the ensign; a silence that gradually infected the rest of the occupants of the room until they had all taken their seats and Rhyan could begin his meeting. His eyes initially lingered on Marshall, but quickly refocused onto one of the other members of his team.

“Welcome,” the Vulcan began, “and thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to meet me at such short notice.”

As his eyes scanned the room Rhyan couldn’t help but focus on Marshall once again and register the all-to-familiar expression of annoyance and disdain on his face. At moments like these Rhyan was reminded of why his mother’s species insisted upon complete emotional abandonment; he was strongly resisting the urge to grab the human by his throat and squeeze the last molecule of air from within it. He did not doubt that several members of the original Redemption crew would feel the same way in any encounter with the ensign. Despite this he channelled his inner calm and pushed the primitive thought to the back of his mind.

During the unexpected silence Lieutenant Tigan grew uncomfortable and spoke out, “It is our pleasure, Commander Rhyan. I hope I am not out of place by asking why you needed to meet with us so urgently?”

“Well,” Rhyan resumed. He repositioned himself so that Ensign Marshall was no longer in his direct line of vision. “As you should now be aware, the colony on Hadronus Prime has been infected with a virus that closely resembles the Ee virus that the Redemption encountered on Romulus two years ago. The exact origin of this new virus is unknown, but the effects are surprisingly swift and deadly for those who become infected.”

“Deadly is an understatement,” Pol interrupted, leaning forward in her chair so that she could rest her forearms on the table. As she spoke Pol’s antennae increased in frequency and vigour of motion. “The virus has a median exposure to symptom onset time of four hours, followed by a median symptom onset to expiration time of twelve and a half hours. Progression of the disease is so far thought to be independent of species, age or gender. Only zero-point-two percent of diseases known to Starfleet act this quickly on host organisms.”

Cadet Strathmore’s eyes widened at the figures being presented to them. Surprise also carried through into her voice when she spoke. “Should I be scared or impressed at how virulent this disease is?”

“Oh believe me, cadet, you should be scared of this thing,” Ensign Pol replied. Her response left no doubt in their minds that this virus was as deadly as they came. Sadly it would not be long before they had first hand experience of the virus’ deadly nature, as their arrival at the Hadronus colony was imminent. Rhyan expected to be called to bridge shortly for the orbital approach.

Although he knew the answer to the question, Rhyan requested that Pol describe the signs and symptoms of the virus further to better educate the rest of the science team. He doubted wither the cadet or Lieutenant Tigan were as up to speed as the rest of them. “Ensign, what have been the prevailing symptoms in those colonists unfortunate to become infected with the virus?”

Pol’s eyes narrowed as she pulled out a compact padd from the pocked in her jumpsuit. Once in her hand she thumbed the device alive and activated a transfer from within it. Immediate the room’s viewscreen erupted to life with photographs and histology specimens. She proceeded to explain the image in turn and in uncomfortable detail. Rhyan watched as Lieutenant Tigan in particular struggled to keep her eyes on the screen. At times even he found it difficult to watch images of the dying colonists appear between the microscopic samples.

Finishing her explanation of the virus, Pol summarised the various stages of the disease. “In what we are calling the latent phase of the disease, there are no known symptoms. What we can surmise from epidemiological and organic studies is that the disease is most virulent during this time. Once symptoms show themselves, quarantine and anti-viral treatments are entirely ineffective.”

As she spoke, Rhyan’s mind grew distracted from Pol and instead began to link the symptomatology of the Hadronus virus to the Zal virus. Despite being similar on a molecular level, the two viruses had behaved in completely different and unexpected ways. The biggest difference was obvious: President Zal had obviously been infected weeks prior to detection of the virus, but lacked the same rapid progression of symptoms. The other main contrast in the viruses was that the Zal virus had far fewer of the outward symptoms when compared with the Hadronus virus. Zal had no skin lesions, discolouration or musculoskeletal depression. Unfortunately the differences ended there, as Zal’s life was every bit as threatened as the colonists’.

Pol’s blue fingers danced across her padd, altering the images on the viewscreen with rapid succession. She continued to detail their knowledge of the virus to date with extreme clarity and professionalism. “As you can see here, the skin lesions start off as a patchy maculo-papular rash before deteriorating into fungating sores that encompass 70 to 80 percent of the trunk, head and limbs. Utilising Dr Afton and Commander Rhyan’s research into both the Ee and Hadronus viruses, we in the Xenobiology department believe that the Hadronus virus is attempting to rewrite the DNA of the host organism, but failing. The failure to rewrite the DNA into a coherent template results in complete and incurable multisystem organ failure. In essence, the host’s organs are modified to a point where they are incapable of functioning; respiratory or circulatory collapse is usually the primary mode of death.”

Lieutenant Tigan turned her head from the viewscreen, clearly unable to look at the images of dead and dying colonists any longer. Pol registered the discomfort as a cue to deactivate the viewscreen and return the padd to its original location. Rhyan caught Aeryn discreetly wiping a tear from her eye before she turned back round to face her colleagues. “Who or what is capable of putting those poor colonists through such misery?”

Rhyan sighed, louder than he had intended. “That is the question that Starfleet would like us to answer,” he replied. He emphasised the word ‘us’ to make it implicitly clear that he was referring to the four scientists (and cadet) in the room.

He continued. “While Dr Afton and her team are exclusively tasked with finding the cure to this virus, you and I are also responsible for finding the masterminds behind the new virus and making them accountable for their actions.” Without intending to, Rhyan peered out of the corner of his eye at Ensign Marshall as he finished the sentence. He was reminding his assistant chief that he hadn’t entirely discounted his involvement in the whole affair.

As if on cue, Marshall spoke for the first time in the meeting. “Might I weigh in on the speculation?”

No you damn well cannot, Rhyan thought as he considered the ensign’s request. Today was not the day for Rhyan to be pushed by the science officer.

Unfortunately for Rhyan, Marshall continued without waiting for the requested permission. “There is not enough evidence to say that this virus is not a naturally occurring consequence of the Ee virus. It is highly possible that the survivors of the Ee attack on Romulus brought a naturally mutated variant of the virus with them to the Alpha Quadrant.”

Ensign Pol attempted to interrupt Marshall, but she failed when he held up a hand and prevented her from doing so. The Andorian’s antennae straightened and pointed forwards in a movement that Rhyan interpreted as a response to hostile behaviour. It was perhaps a good thing that neither Vulcans nor Romulans could convey their emotions, or lack thereof, as inadvertently as their Andorian neighbours.

“Alternatively,” Marshall resumed, a condescending tone carried along with his words, “the virus could indeed be an artificially modified variant. Hadronus Prime would be an excellent environment to test the properties of the virus: it’s colony is isolated, rarely visited by anyone, and a small enough sample size to watch the effects on an entire population.”

“You seem to have thought about this at great length, Ensign,” Rhyan commented, once again using emphasis on the word ‘ensign’ to remind Marshall of his place. Credit to the human: he didn’t even flinch at the accusation.

Marshall replied, his face as deadpan as it had been before. “I find it interesting that you haven’t once mentioned who would be capable of creating a modified version of the Ee virus in the first place. Surely only individuals who have had access to a preserved sample of the original virus could conceivably do so.”

“What is that comment supposed to imply?” Cadet Strathmore made the query without realising the insinuation in Marshall’s comment.

Rhyan knew exactly what the man was hinting at. “What Ensign Marshall is trying to imply, Ms Strathmore, is that only an officer working at the Ee Research Institute would be capable of replicating and modifying the original virus.”

Ensign Pol appeared ever more annoyed with Marshall. The Vulcan prevented her from protesting by raising a hand towards her. She immediately backed down and kept quiet.

Marshall took the opportunity to reply, initially looking at Pol and then adjusting his gaze to look Rhyan directly in the eye. “You are partially correct Ensign Pol. What you may not be aware of is that two other individuals outside of the Ee Research Institute have also had unrestricted access to the Ee virus in the past,” his face changed from neutral to an unsettling grin, “and they both happen to serve on board the Redemption at this current time.”

As his blood began to boil, Rhyan exclaimed, “you bastard” and once again resisted the urge to lean forward and grab the ensign by the throat.

Without much thought the Vulcan knew exactly whom Marshall was referring to: himself and Keisha. During the original mission on Romulus it had been Rhyan who obtained and returned with the sample of the Ee virus. It was then himself and Keisha Afton who had worked tirelessly to create the Ee anti-virus that helped to stall Sarah Kaminski’s transformation from a human into an Ee. Their research at the time not only resulted in the anti-virus, but confirmed the theory that the virus found on Romulus was in fact the method the Ee used to procreate – literally transforming one entire species into another. One of his colleagues at the Ee Research Institute once referred to the Ee virus as “Borg nanoprobes on steroids”, which was not far from the truth.

There was no denying that both Rhyan and Keisha had access and the ability, both physically and intellectually, to modify the virus, but neither of them would have ever considered such a monstrous act. For anyone to imply otherwise was utterly un-Starfleet.

Reacting to Rhyan’s outburst, Lieutenant Tigan attempted to diffuse the situation. “Commander, please!” She was no doubt confused by the growing tension between her two immediately superior officers. In a way Rhyan couldn’t blame her.

Marshall used the momentary calm created by Aeryn’s comment to make his move. “Now, I am not one to make accusations, commander,” he started. Rhyan considered the comment a complete lie, of course: Marshall did not have an honest bone in his body. It was what made him such an excellent intelligence officer, no doubt. They continued to listen to Marshall, “but can we really ignore the possibility that you or Dr Afton had a hand in this, and let’s be honest, crime against humanity?”

Rhyan growled.

“Need I remind you of Dr Afton’s psychological state during and after the Thorlarus mission? The Redemption being evacuated. Unrestricted access to the Ee virus. An unstable emotional condition?”

“Are you being serious,” Rhyan shouted, standing up so quickly that the chair beneath him toppled over. He was struggling to control his emotions in a manner he hadn’t experienced since his first mission on board the Redemption. The only thing still holding him together was the memory of what he was capable of when he lost all emotional control. “You do remember that Keisha had just watcher her husband, our captain, die right in front of her? How she reacted to that situation was perfectly normal for any human, and it certainly doesn’t make her a mass-murderer!”

“Perhaps not.” Marshall replied, remaining infuriatingly calm and resolute. “But then do we not question what it was you were up to for nearly a year – on the run from Starfleet itself, no less?”

“You know full well what happened to me after the Redemption was lost around Thorlarus. Why the need to bring that back into the equation?” The Vulcan was teetering on the edge of losing control.

Pulling a padd out from beneath the table, Marshall thumbed through its contents to find something. It didn’t take long for him to load the intended file and begin to read out its contents. “The psychological impact of the events at Thorlarus III have left the Lieutenant Commander scarred and emotionally unstable. His actions during the mission were inexplicable driven by emotion and fear rather than logic and reason. No justification can be given for his refusal to return to Starfleet and stand before a Court Marshal to explain the actions of himself and his crew at Thorlarus. We have yet to receive a full and accurate account of his movements and interactions during the eleven months and three days spent as a fugitive from Starfleet.” He paused for a moment and then added, “Need I go on, Commander?”

Without thinking Rhyan lunged towards Marshall but was stopped partially by Lieutenant Tigan who grabbed his wrist and pulled him back towards her. By now the Vulcan’s blood was boiling and it took all of his strength to force his emotions back down below the surface. Once again he was almost grateful for his traditional Vulcan upbringing. Emphasis on almost.

“I can see that very little has changed with you, Commander,” the ensign commented, another slight grin appearing at the corner of his lips. Why did Rhyan feel that he had just walked into another of Marshall’s traps?

As the situation started to calm itself down, Lieutenant Tigan pulled Rhyan’s chair upright and returned it to the head of the briefing table. Rhyan took the cue to sit back down and attempt to resume what was left of the meeting. It was nearly a full minute before he was capable of speaking.

“I do not know how you came by that classified report, ensign, but that does not prove anything. Despite what you might insinuate neither I nor Dr Afton are involved in this outbreak.”

“And yet you have kept secrets from Starfleet, and secrets from us?”

Rhyan sighed. He was beginning to regret calling this meeting in the first place. “And what could that possibly mean?”

“You have just given us an interesting speech about curing the Hadronus virus and bringing the creators to justice, and yet,” Marshall pointed a finger directly at Rhyan, “you have been locked away in a lab for nearly three days working on something completely independent of our primary mission. What could possibly be more important than saving the Hadronus colony? Preparing your next mutation, perhaps?”

Touché, Rhyan thought. Suddenly the conversation was starting to make sense, and Rhyan could see the trap that he had fallen into. Marshall’s show was all about finding out what Rhyan had been doing since his arrival from Paris. Clearly the measures he had put in place to keep Marshall out of his lab and his research files had been successful. No mean feat given the ensign’s intelligence background.

Realising that there was no time like the present, Rhyan decided to divulge the information about President Zal to his colleagues. No doubt Daniel would have strong words with him the next time they met, but if he wanted Rhyan to cure Elesa then he would need help - and lots of it. Jon Marshall finding out about the President’s condition was a sacrifice that Rhyan was willing to take, even if part of the Vulcan was certain that he already knew about her infection.

The next few minutes remained calm, with Rhyan detailing everything he knew about the President’s infection and the unsuccessful attempts he had made at a cure. Stunned silence initially befell the room, with no obvious response being seen from Marshall: Rhyan was unable to tell if he had a hand in, or prior knowledge of her infection. Gradually the scientists began to take on board the scale of the problem and a willingness to help with the research.

“I will coordinate my efforts on the Hadronus virus to new efforts with the Zal virus,” Pol had said, before adding in that she would also discuss and coordinate with Keisha.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Tigan agreed to take the lead on the Hadronus virus research. As an archaeologist her skills in the lab were best left to coordinating rather than performing the experiments themselves. It would be a test of her ability to run the department, with the added bonus of irritating Marshall who should have been the team coordinator as Rhyan’s assistant chief of science.

Unusually, Marshall remained quiet following the revelation of the President’s infection. Rhyan surmised that he had acquired what he wanted from the meeting and was no longer interested in rocking the boat to achieve his own goals. Although he hated to thing of Marshall having just won the latest round of their spat, Rhyan was simply glad that the meeting was drawing to a close and he would be rid of the man for the rest of the day.

“Cadet,” Rhyan finished with, watching the rest of the team preparing to leave the room, “I would like you to relay this information to the Captain and observe the coordination between departments. And remember, this is privileged information so please do not repeat what you have heard in this room with anyone below command level.”

“Aye sir,” the young woman had replied, not entirely convincing Rhyan that she would abide by the order.

Within another minute or so Rhyan was once again standing alone inside the briefing room. His emotions were still running wild, a metaphorical gash cut into his side by Marshall. Given the report that Marshall had obtained on Rhyan, the feeling at Starfleet Command was not entirely positive towards the Vulcan. That might explain somewhat why the unscrupulous ensign had bee reassigned to the Redemption despite the Captain and Executive Officer’s feelings towards him. It might also explain his mother’s involvement in the whole affair – a thread that he would most certainly be following up in the not-too-distant future.

For now, however, he simply had one task at hand: cure the President and the inhabitants of Hadronus Prime. Easily achieved, surely?

OOC: Now that the JP is away, I can send this! Enjoy. Hopefully a few of you can get involved in the whole virus thing!

 

RSS Feed