Supposedly Impossible Things

[DrDMatthews 0]

By the time Deb Matthews stepped off the turbolift, the knot in her stomach had doubled in size. She quickly walked across the corridor and into Sickbay. Merina met her at the door, her dark eyes glaring. If they eyes hadn't been enough, the long brown tail whipping back and forth was a dead give away. The Caitian medical officer was livid. In all the years Deb had worked with her, she had never seen Merina this worked up over anything.

 

"I know," said Deb firmly, holding up both hands to stop Merina's tirade before it began. "Be sure to lodge a formal protest. But in the meantime, take whoever and whatever you need and get down to the brig," She paused to face her feline associate. "Don't allow that man to die, " she whispered urgently. "It's very important you keep him alive."

 

"I'll be down there shortly," she added, searching for a particular face as she moved deeper into the mammoth room. "I need to speak to Aaron first." She turned again and made eye contact with Merina. "And I meant what I said about that formal protest."

 

She watched for a moment as Merina and her team, loaded down with their equipment, headed off to the brig. Then she quickly proceeded toward Aaron Scherer, the ship's Chief Engineer and the man of the hour. It was Aaron who first suspected there was a saboteur aboard. He was also the mastermind behind the plan to trap the culprit. It seemed only right that he was the one who eventually captured the traitor.

 

Aaron sat on the edge of a biobed while Grace Allen doctored his bruised knuckles. From the look on his face, the CMO could tell he never meant to seriously injure the man. Such things happen when the adrenaline starts pumping.

 

"Nice job," offered Deb with a grin. She glanced at the engineer's hands and nodded. "You single handedly captured the bad guy and walked away with nothing more than a few cuts and bruises."

 

"I went too far," grumbled Aaron, his expression dour. "I guess I let my anger get the best of me."

"He'll be okay," replied Deb, knowing all the while she couldn't guarantee such a thing.

The engineer shook his head sadly. "I don't know about that. Merina said he was bad....real bad. Then the Captain ordered him moved to the brig." He shrugged his shoulders as he studied the dermagel Gracie had just applied to his knuckles. "If he dies, we may never find out who was working with him."

 

Aaron had just hit the nail on the head and there was no reason to argue the point. In his current condition, there was a good chance the saboteur wouldn't survive. And that was what bothered Deb about the Captain's order to move the prisoner to the brig before he'd received proper medical care.

 

Exactly what were the CO's motives? Was it nothing more than an angry reaction. If so, it was very uncharacteristic for him to behave that way. Or was there something more sinister going on? Was he hoping the prisoner would die? Deb could scarcely believe such a thing was possible. But a lot of supposedly impossible things had occurred during the past few hours.

 

There was another troubling aspect of the situation. The saboteur tried to comm someone when he realized he'd been caught. That comm was traced to the shuttle Taurus. The Captain had been awfully quick to shoot down the possibility the traitor could have been trying to communicate with anyone on the shuttle. Why? There were several people aboard at the time....including the Captain.

 

"One step at a time," though Deb silently. "Don't jump to conclusions."

 

The CMO smiled sadly at Aaron. "We'll do all we can to insure he survives. Try not to beat yourself up too much over it. We'll sit down when this is all over and talk about it some more....maybe find out why you went off on him like that."

 

"I need a complete copy of the Captain's medical file," she continued, turning her attention to Grace Allen. "Download two sets onto PADDs. Leave one on my desk and you keep the other one you at all times."

 

The Chief Nurse was still cleaning up after treating Aaron. She stared at Deb for a long moment before nodding slightly. "I'll take care of that immediately," she replied as she hurried off.

 

Deb looked at Aaron to find him staring a hole through her. "Do you think the Captain has something to do with this?" he asked incredulously.

 

"Don't jump to conclusions," said Deb with a quick smile. "There have been a lot of strange goings on around here since we entered Organian space." She patted Aaron on the shoulder as she slipped off the biobed. "But what you can do is help Brian Smith track that comm our evil friend tried to place. We know it was directed to the Taurus. What we haven't figured out yet is exactly who on the Taurus was the intended recipient."

 

"Okay," replied the Chief Engineer. "I can do that."

 

"One thing though," added Deb as the two officers walked toward the main exit. "This is an....unofficial inquiry. So please be discreet."

 

Aaron nodded in understanding and quickly left Sickbay. Deb stepped back toward the main ward and stopped by the small console Dr. Studly was using to update medical records. "I'm going down to the brig," said Deb quietly. "You're in charge but call me if anything even slightly unusual happens."

 

"Slightly unusual," echoed Rocko, clearly puzzled. "Such as?"

 

"Such as the Captain showing up," answered Deb as she turned to walk away. She grinned at her long time associate. "Like he did a few hours ago...requesting a physical."

 

"Oh yeah," chuckled Studly. "But that wasn't slightly unusual. That was downright bizarre."

 

Rocko had no way of knowing just how bizarre Deb thought the Captain's behavior was. She was tempted to let him know she agreed with his interpretation of the event but decided that might not be prudent. "Just keep your eyes open and call me if anything comes up," she declared with a wave and immediately left Sickbay for the far less comforting environment of the brig.