Macchiatos & Misfortune

Posted on Tue Sep 7th, 2021 @ 3:24am by Lieutenant Commander Hamish Brott & Lieutenant Skye MacLeod & Lieutenant JG Tilo Riehl & Lieutenant JG Katsumi Tanaka MD & Ensign Andrea Astor
Edited on on Tue Sep 7th, 2021 @ 3:27am

1,683 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Ninety-Nine Bottles of Swill
Location: Belwether Station | Ops
Timeline: MD 1

ON:

The large jovial Bolian had left his office, that of the Station Commander for which he was albeit the man often forgot to present himself as such. Bellwether was a small subspace relay station with only a half dozen crew when she was fully manned, something she rarely was. Nevertheless, the crew who lived and served aboard the aging station had a tendency to become a family even if begrudgingly so.

Brott was the patriarch of the station though his personal energy was more maternal than paternal most days. Between his big bear hugs and talking your ear off, the man certainly expressed his delight in having a crew. He had exited his office with a platter of mugs, all of them steaming with a frothy head of liquid.

"Macchiatos freshly replicated," he announced to those in Ops, but loud enough that even the station's physician tucked away in the infirmary or her office could undoubtedly hear. "Come and get one," he added enticing them all as best he could.

Back in the infirmary Tanaka could hear Brott's bellow. She had no intention of going but the lure of coffee was too strong. She sighed and slowly, very slowly, made her way there.

Brott had picked up a macchiato for himself and made his way around Ops, the nerve center of the station. There were several stations about Operations, Tactical, and Science were primary stations. A small auxiliary systems station sat near the operations station. If Brott wasn't in his office, it was where he usually was contributing his small part to the day-to-day mundane routines aboard the station.

“Did someone say macchiatos?”

The apparently disembodied voice filtered through ops before Ensign Astor began to extract herself from the usually sealed panel behind the science workstation. Dusting off her uniform she pushed a stray lock of hair away from her face and made her way across Ops to rescue a cup. “Thanks,” she offered as she took a long drink and sank into a chair.

The Bolian placed a hand on his barrel chest and rolled his eyes. "You're gonna scare the Holy Soufflé out of me and give me a heart attack, ensign," he said to the woman. "Crawling about fixing things I hope?"

"The tape needed to be replaced on the ODN relay," Astor quipped, only half joking as she took another drink. Sticky tape and paper clips, what more did an ops officer need to keep a station ticking over?

The communications panel on the Ops console came to life, figuratively, fortunately. Brott raised a dismissive hand to say he would handle it. He made his way to the console and shook his head and chuckled. "Looks like we are going to be getting some visitors" he announced.

Astor's curiosity made it impossible for her not to take the bait. "Visitors?"

Brott nodded. "Yes, they are transmitting a message, text only," he said clearly intrigued by that.

Skye walked in and gave everyone a bright smile. "I appreciate the thought, but I prefer herb tea." She replicated a mug of sweet cinnamon tea and a muffin. She leaned against a table to enjoy her drink with the others.

The Bolian smiled. "I'll make a mental note of that, Lieutenant," he replied chipperly. He had a tendency to memorize everyone's food and beverage preferences as quickly as he could. Brott continued working on the transmitted message that was coming through.

"Oh dear," he said aloud. "It's a Ferengi Na'Far class shuttlepod" stated the Bolian. "They are requesting permission to dock...looks like they have a bit of a medical situation. The Daimon and several members of the crew are ill" reported Brott to his crew.

Having wandered the corridor following the smell of good macchiato, Riehl hung in the doorway to Ops, not wanting to intrude, but found himself speaking up. 'Do we have any quarantine procedures?'

The Bolian looked to see Rihel, the station's Tactical and Security Officer. "We do not usually get medical situations beyond the occasional plasma burn," Lieutenant Commander Brott said. "I don't want to put the station at risk if this is something more serious."

He looked to see the Station's Physician has been there, evidentially listening to the situation. "Lieutenant MacLeod, Doctor, recommendations from either of you would be appreciated."

"Do they have a doctor on board? If we could get an idea of what they have, we'd have a better idea if we're looking at quarantine or not," Skye said. "Also, can we get scans and a blood sample? Preferably in a sealed container." This was the doctor's specialty, but Skye had a little experience in analyzing microbes.

She looked to the doctor. "Do we have the facilities to set up a level ten bio-hazard field?"

Katsumi sighed. "No, but yes. I brought a lot of things. If I can get a steri field to the infirmary or if we can use transporters that would help. I can ensure that the infirmary is well protected. I will need, also, a vent system from Engineering something that will sever the infirmary from the station and perhaps …. figure out another way to filtrate the air there. Also, I will need a nurse." She looked at Brott. "Normally I'd ask you since you assisted already but you are the CO so it wouldn't be logical."

"It would not be the first time that I've heard illogical," Brott replied. "I like the idea of having the infirmary rigged for safety. You're going to need a place to treat their I'll" noted Brott. "Are you opposed to making a house call for an initial assessment? We definitely have some hazard suites in storage."

"I think it quite prudent that I do make the house call. It will minimize the risk." She finally snatched a coffee. "Does the replicator make Pumpkin spice lattes?"

"It would also be imprudent," Skye said. "Because if you were to get sick, we'd be out our doctor. Any way we can get some initial readings before sending you over?"

Lieutenant Commander Brott looked at Skye. "I suppose that we could ask for some scans of the ship's environmental status and medical scans from those that have fallen ill," commented the Bolian. "However, this would not be the first time the Ferengi have used some form of a ruse to get the better of the Federation or Starfleet. Even if they supplied scans, should we trust them?"

"And you two seem to wish to make decisions for me. I took an oath to do no harm. I will help them no matter what the cost to me," She turned to Skye and said, "As for your concern, Starfleet is pulling doctors out of their...well medical school so I'm sure if something were to happen a replacement would be dispatched. I am going."

Brott nodded. He was not going to fight too hard against a determined physician in regards to a medical situation. "Replicate yourself a pumpkin spice latte and prep the infirmary as best you can. You have some time before that Ferengi shuttlepod is within transporter range."

"Excellent, I shall go and prepare what I need for both sickbay and the house call. Good day all." She turned and hurried, no all but ran out. She hated these little … meetings. This could all have been handled by video call. She needn't have left her sickbay.

Words did not need to be exchanged. Brott's look at Skye was a non-verbal suggestion that she come up with a supportive means of ensuring this situation was not an unnecessary risk. "They are going to have to drop shields for the transport to happen" noted Brott.

Skye gave him an almost imperceptible nod. It was a tough position for the doctor. She was the best person to send over, and the one they most needed to keep safe. The science officer had a little time to look into what might be the best way to safely treat the patients. Quarantine was essential, but they lacked a large space for it, and sickbay only had three beds. "How many crew does the Ferengi ship have?" she asked. That was one piece of information that would help her give the Captain and the doctor some suggestions.

Brott shook his head. "They did not say," he replied and looked to Tilo Riehl. "That sounds like a tactical question. Lieutenant, what's the crew compliment on one of the Ferengi Na'Far class shuttlepods?"

Riehl frowned, then shrugged, 'anything from two to eight is the standard crew complement. Given they're this far out, I'd wager it is closer to eight. Safety in numbers and all that. There may be a few passengers. I don't particularly recommend the doctor going on her own in any case. Someone ought to go with, to watch her back and discourage any Ferengi ... overexcitement.'

"They can get a bit handsy with 'the fee-males'," quipped Brott shaking his head. "I have a feeling the Doctor would not take too kindly to that, and we don't need a diplomatic crisis with the Ferengi. I presume you also have some basic medic training, lieutenant. Care to accompany the Doctor?"

The Trill nodded. 'I'll accompany them. Basic medical training, but that should suffice.' Riehl was looking forward to being able to meet and work more closely with a member of this small crew. Building relationships now was the key to a successful assignment here.

"Doc may not like it, but she's going to have to get used to it," replied Brott. He nodded. "Make it so," added the Bolian. This was going to be interesting. Brott knew Ferengi fairly well. He had experience with them as a species, but they were individual opportunists.

With a deep breath, the Bolian looked around. These people were his crew now. They were his responsibility.

OFF:

Lieutenant Commander Brott
Station Commander
RS Bellwether

Lieutenant Skye Macleod
Science Officer
RS Bellwether

Lieutenant JG Tilo Riehl
Tactical Officer
RS Bellwether

Ensign Andrea Astor
Operations Officer
RS Bellwether

&

Lieutenant JG Katsumi Tanaka
Medical Officer
RS Bellwether

 

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