More questions, Some answers & Mystery still abounds

Posted on Sat Nov 18th, 2017 @ 10:57pm by Captain Remas McDonald

1,190 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: S1: These Are The Voyages...
Location: Sick Bay

[Turbo Lift]

Tolkath explained as they rode the lift to the medical deck. "My tricorder gave some unusual readings from Petty Officer Burke, I need to verify the data with his medical file. Did you learn anything from your questioning?"

"I didn't get anywhere. He thinks he some kind of elitist and looks down on the Federation and it's ideals claiming they're destroying every specie's culture that is brought in, and he wants to stop it. Sounds like a bunch of hoopla to me, what kind of unusual readings did you get? It was clearly enough to set your Vulcan Geiger counter." Vic said with a chuckle at the end.

"On initial interpretation his Deoxyribonucleic acid and cellular regeneration patterns appeared to show chemical imbalances, not necessarily outside of standard humanoid level. Although cellular biology is not a specialty of mine;
but one would not normally associate those with a human..." Tolkath replied, he paused for a moment.

"I did not use the Geiger function on the tricorder, you would have heard a beep if I had" Tolkath replied, stepping off the turbo lift before Reynolds could see his face.


[Sickbay]

They entered sickbay and arrived to a scene of controlled chaos, medical staff moving purposefully around tending the wounded from the explosion. A couple walked past with a large bio bag on an anti-grav gurney. Somebody had not made it.

Tolkath found a Nurse who had stood still for a moment. "I understand you are busy, but we require access to the crew's medical files database"

"What? Now? Can't you see we're trying to save peoples lives?" She demanded.

"Yes, so are we" Tolkath replied evenly "This is a security matter and we require access to the file now" He tipped his head towards Reynolds "Unless you wish to debate the matter with our Chief of Security?"

"Oh... I'll get a Doctor!" She rushed off and came back a moment later with a Bajoran Lieutenant, wearing scrubs and an annoyed look

"I'm Doctor Frentar" She said "Can't this wait? I have a patient to operate on."

"It can't. Now you can be an absolute doll and allow us access to your database doc or I can order it, and I would much rather be cordial about this." Vic replied, not in the mood for pompous people


"Very well, come with me" She walked quickly back to an office, started her desk terminal and with a few taps opened up the medical files. "There, now I'll need an signed authorization from you, Lieutenant Reynolds, first thing. Right now I have to go save somebodies arm!" She hurried back out of the office

"Charm always works." He said with a smirk as he signed a pad with his authorization, "By all means my green blooded friend knock yourself out. I'll sit tight and look at all the doc's doo dads on the shelf." A particular interesting looking instrument took his attention.

Tolkath sat at the desk and brought up Burke's medical file, he began to read through it. Something was wrong, outwardly Burke appeared like any twenty nine year old human male, his physicals were all within normal levels but his own tricorder scans indicated some unusual chemical traces and anomalous biological readings. Along with that odd and not quite human odor.

He went back further and found a record of the medical evaluation undertaken at Starbase 19 when Burke and the other two survivors of the USS Countryman were brought in. Burke appeared to have been in remarkably good health after spending five weeks in an escape pod living off emergency rations.

He went back further, the only thing of note was a minor surgical procedure for an injury to his left hand during a training exercise at the Enlisted academy.

Tolkath sat back and stared at the screen, trying to put the pieces together, he glanced from the notes on the surgery to the Starbase 19 evaluation. There was something missing!

There was no record of the hand surgery, even with dermal regenerators there would still have been a residual trace which did show up in a physical from just before he joined the Countryman.

Tolkath checked the most recent data again, just two weeks ago. There was nothing there, no trace of injury to Burke's left hand!

There was, however, a mention of a minor but undiagnosed bronchial inflammation, a cough.

Tolkath showed the records to Reynolds. "What do you think Lieutenant?"

Vic walked over and skimmed over the data of interest."Sounds like he just had a minor bout of bronchitis, not un-heard of. Although that hand surgery disappearing is weird as hell, got any ideas of what can cause that? I'm not exactly what you would call a medical practitioner. Did his blood test show anything?"

"I will look" Tolkath brought up Burke's last test results "They appear to be normal, not the same as I scanned him in the brig. I will check further."

A few moments later he sat back in the chair. "The results for his latest medical two weeks ago, when he joined the Traveler crew. Which are identical to the one some nine months ago, twelve months before that, and the first one he had when joining the Long Jump Project. Not just similar but exactly identical. No variation whatsoever. Almost as though they are copies..."

However, the readings taken at Starbase 19 after he was rescued are more anomalous. Closer to the current ones I took" He accessed some medical notes. "The doctor noted the discrepancy, but it was diagnosed as being a result of the time spent in an escape pod and exposure to unusual environmental conditions. There does not appear to have been any follow up as Burke was otherwise in excellent health"

"Has anyone thought of a hair folic test? Those are used in our line of work to determine drug addiction among other ailments including drastic body chemistry changes as your hair folic is like a tree's rings but only for 6 months or so, they can tell you all sorts of stuff."

"Indeed" Tolkath held up the sample he had collected and got up to find the Nurse again.

"For traces of explosive residue?" came the lyrical voice of Remas McDonald as he navigated his way through the crowd of people. His dress uniform was a little smudged in and there, and his hair had a sort of gravity-defying angle to it. "Thought I'd come down for a face to face, leave our new chief engineer to pick up the pieces."

"Captain" Tolkath acknowledged McDonald "I shall add that to the test inventory. So far we have discovered Mister Burke has some unusual body chemistry -" He gave the Captain a brief summary of the investigation so far.

"It is much to early to make conclusions but I would theorize that we shall uncover a significant body of evidence that he is not that which he appears to be" Tolkath trailed off. "Please excuse me while I find a Nurse"

He left the office.

To be continued...

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