DrDMatthews

I think he meant "Don't **** the ship up." :-)

Debbie couldn't believe their luck. The retrieval team was able to locate the remains of Lt. Commander Fiona Nashawryn within minutes. They had Brian to thank for that. He had painstakingly recorded the exact location of every body left on the Cairo. That, along with the information gleaned from those on Commander Ridire's away team, allowed them to transport Fiona Nashawryn's body to the Reaent just fifteen minutes after the first retrieval team boarded the Cairo. It was a relatively simple task to confirm her identity. Preparing her for "viewing" was another matter. Debbie knew they had very little time. To complicate matters, there were no morticians on the Reaent. Nor did the ship carry the necessary supplies for preparing a body for public presentation. Once again, luck was on their side. Dr. Russell Eckert had taken a couple of courses in mortuary science. Another member of the staff, Helen Manus, belonged to the Reaent Players, a small but dedicated troupe of amateur thespians. She donated a variety of stage makeup which would cover some of the most obvious blemishes on Commander Nashawryn's face. At the moment, both Rus and Helen were in a far corner of the cavernous cargo bay, feverishly working on Fiona. Time was of the essence. Commander Ridire would be down sooner or later, probably sooner. Also, Rus and Helen were needed elsewhere. The cargo bay was quickly filling with other bodies requiring identification. Debbie glanced around the room at the nondescript body bags. Each one carried a tag indicating exactly where on the Cairo the corpse had been found. Once in the cargo bay, the remains were quickly scanned. Most were identified within minutes. They were placed in stasis units and organized by species and gender. There were many who could not be identified so easily. In some instances, there were barely any remains left to identify. The "worst cases" were moved to another area of the cargo bay. They would be taken care of last. "Doc, would you mind taking a look?" Debbie turned to find Rus Eckert standing beside her. "We've done our best but we just don't have the proper equipment." The CMO smiled sadly and followed Rus to the stasis unit housing Fiona Nashawryn. The unit was open and the first thing Debbie noticed was the clean uniform. She didn't ask where they'd gotten it but it looked like a perfect fit. Fiona's freshly polished pips shone brightly on her collar. There was still some evidence of trauma on her face but the makeup had done an adequate job. Debbie reached up and closed the lid activating the stasis unit. She looked through the window at the young woman inside and couldn't help smiling. Fiona Nashawryn appeared almost angelic, her face softly highlighted by the unit's pale blue light. The CMO swallowed hard and turned her attention to Rus and Helen. "Nice job, thank you. It will be difficult for him no matter how she looks. But this will make for a better memory." The three of them moved a portable screen around the stasis unit and quietly walked away. There were many others to be identified and prepared for transport home. Debbie's only regret was they couldn't give all of the deceased the extra attention they'd shown to a certain medical officer whose assignment on the Cairo ended so disastrously. And for one of their own, the worst was yet to come.

"You're kidding!" "I wish I was." Debbie looked up just in time to stop Rocco from uttering a string of vulgar profanities. "We're already bursting at the seams! The Starbase is right around the corner! Why can't they take care of it?" "They've been quarantined." "Quarantined?" Debbie held up her hands in frustration, her voice rising. "I don't know why so don't bother asking. If I did, I would certainly tell you." Well, this is great....just great!" The CMO pushed away from her desk and quickly rose to her feet leaving the chair to bounce off the wall behind her. She clasped her hands tightly in front of her as she rounded the desk and stood directly in front of Rocco Studly. "What do you know?" asked Rocco softly. Debbie shook her head sadly. "For some reason, Starfleet has slapped a quarantine on the Starbase. They refused our request for details. I don't know if this so called quarantine is medical related or some sort of security procedure." "We were just there. If it's medical related, shouldn't they tell us what to look out for...just in case we were exposed?" "One would think so." She looked at Studly knowingly. "You don't think it's medical related?" Debbie shook her head. "No, I don't. I think they've locked down the entire base. They're calling it a quarantine so as not to alarm every ship in the sector." Rocco turned on his heel and paced to the far wall of Debbie's office. It only took him a couple of steps. Debbie remained where she was and waited for her long time assistant to turn around. When he finally did, Studly simply stared at his superior officer. He didn't have to say anything. Debbie knew by the look in his eyes exactly what he was thinking. "I don't like it either," offered Debbie in a barely audible voice. "But we have to do this. We owe it to the survivors and to the families of those poor souls still over there." Rocco lifted both hands and gingerly rubbed his temples. "I don't like death." "Neither do I. We're in business to save lives. Death implies failure....and failure is hard to accept." She took a step closer to her old friend and colleague. "There is precious little atmosphere left on Cairo. Soon, everything on that ship will be frozen solid. We need to move quickly before the environment makes this task even more difficult." Rocco nodded but made no effort to move. "It won't take much to prepare cargo bay two. Brian recorded the location of every body over there so we can probably make do with two teams on the Cairo." "I agree. Transport them directly to the morgue. We'll have a team standing by over here to begin working on cause of death and identification." A long pause followed as the physicians began the difficult task of mentally preparing themselves for the gruesome job ahead. Finally, Rocco moved toward the office door. "I'd better get started. I'll let you know when I have the teams assembled." "Please do. And one thing more before you go, I think Commander Ridire may know one of them." "One of the deceased?" "Yes." "Why do you think that?" "Something he said. Let's try to find out who she is." "She? What makes you think it's a she?" Debbie shrugged. "The way he said it." "Oh this just gets better by the minute," sighed Studly as he approached the door. "I'll see what I can find out. But you may have a better chance than I of uncovering this one." With that, Rocco Studly and Debbie Matthews entered main Sickbay. Both hesitated a moment and looked around the spacious room, now crowded with patients from the Cairo. These were the fortunate ones, the survivors. "Rocco, please remember something. A long time ago, someone told me that death is a part of life. How you deal with death is just as important as how you deal with life." Studly smiled warmly. "Nice words. Who said that?" Debbie shook her head and returned his smile. "I don't remember...but they're good words."

Lieutenant Aerso slowly arose from his chair when Debbie re-entered the office. The man was clearly exhausted. "As you were, Mr. Aerso, " said Debbie as she took a seat in the chair beside him. When Brian Smith returned from the Cairo, he said Commander Ridire wanted to talk to 'the engineer.' Debbie needed to find out if this man was the engineer in question. "I need to ask you a couple of questions. You may not feel up to it right now, but it's very imporatant." "I'm okay." He was lying and she knew it. "We had a couple of away teams on the Cairo." "I know. I met your Chief Engineer." Debbie resisted the urge to warn the young Bajoran that not everyone on Reaent was like George McLean. "Yes, I believe it was his team that located you and the others." "Have you found any more of us?" And there it was. The dreaded question. Debbie had known Aerso would ask it sooner or later even if, deep down, he already knew the answer. Debbie drew a breath and managed to look the Bajoran in the eye. "Shortly before you arrived, two of your crew were transported over....a Klingon and an Andorian. They were both found in a closet. We aren't sure of their identities yet." Aerso smiled warmly. "Dargas and Manilan." "Excuse me?" "They are probably Ensigns Dargas and Manilan. Believe it or not, those two are best friends." Debbie wrinkled her brow. "That's an unsual combination." The Cario's engineer nodded slowy. "Yes, very unusual. They fight all the time but they're really good friends....always look out for each other. Are they okay?" "They suffered a few burns but we expect full recoveries for both of them. Are they also engineers?" "No," replied Aerso, shaking his head. "Security." He shifted uneasily in his chair. "Were they the only others you found?" There was no point beating around the bush. "I'm afraid so." Lieutenant Aerso said nothing. He took a deep breath and his shoulders slumped a little more. He looked away from Debbie. After a long pause, he commented on one of the framed photos hanging on the far wall. "Strange picture for a doctor's office." "I know, but I grew up there. I have a lot of fond memories of Utopia. That picture makes me smile every time I look at it. And in my line of work, I need all the smile time I can get." "I've been there a couple of times." "It's an engineer's paradise." "So who in your family was the engineer?" "My Grandfather. My Grandparents raised me. I can't begin to tell you how much time I spent in that shipyard. Granddad is retired now but he still hangs out on Utopia with his buddies." Aerso suddenly turned in his chair and looked at Debbie. "Then maybe you know a little of how I feel right now." Debbie leaned back and swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yes, I think I know." Captains were fond of claiming ownership of their vessels. But everyone aboard, from the CO on down, knew each starship really belonged to her engineers. When a disaster of this magnitude occured, everyone aboard took it personally. But for the engineers, it went way beyond personal. This was a wound so deep and so painful, there were no words in any language to describe it. Lieutenant Aerso was now experiencing an engineer's worst nightmare. There was no easy cure or quick recovery from this malady. The Bajoran pushed himself to his feet. "Something killed my ship. I have to find out what happened." Debbie slowly stood and faced the Bajoran. "You appear to be the sole suvivor from engineering. Captain Michaels and Commander Ridire would like to talk to you." Aerso's face brightened slightly. He seemed amenable to speaking to the Reaent's commanding officers. "And I would like to talk to them. We need to begin this investigation immediately." "I'll let them know. In the meantime, wait here." Debbie walked across the small office toward the door. She hesitated a moment and then turned to again face the Bajoran engineer. "I have one question I'd really like to ask, if you don't mind." "Of course, what is it? The CMO paused, wondering if it was appropriate for her to discuss this with Aerso. Her curiousity got the best of her in less than 15 seconds. "Why are the Cario's starboard cargo bay doors open?" Lt. Areso looked at her in total disbelief. "They aren't open." Debbie bit her lip and nodded slightly. "Yes they are.....over half way open. And it appears something exploded just outside that cargo bay." The CMO was looking directly at her Bajoran patient. As her words sank in, she witnessed a startling transformation. Gone was the exhaustion and grief so evident in his dark eyes only a moment earlier. Now, he was literally seething. Aerso muttered something in his native language. Remembering Debbie was present, he quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, I meant no offense to you." Debbie shurgged. "No offense taken but don't bother translating. I'll call the Captain."

The bedraggled engineer was leaning against the glass brick wall just inside the main entrance. His head was turned to the left. He appeared to be studying the aquarium recently placed into the glass wall. "Lieutenant?" "Yes, ma'am," he answered quickly. He hadn't seen Debbie approach. Her voice startled him. The Bajoran pushed away from the wall and tugged on his uniform blouse in a failed attempt to improve its appearance. "I'm Dr. Matthews, Reaent's Chief Medical Officer." For a long moment, there was no response. "Pleased to meet you." "And you are?" Another delayed reply. "Aerso, ma'am. Lieutenant Aerso....assistant to the Chief Engineer...the Cairo's Chief Engineer." Debbie's initial assessment of the Bajoran was confirmed by the medical scanner. Physically, he was in fairly good condition considering what he'd been through. But, by the expression in his dark eyes and his apparent confusion, Debbie could see he was now coming to grips with the ugly reality of what happened to his ship. "Come with me, Mr. Aerso." Debbie led the Cairo's engineer through the crowded Sickbay and into her office. "Have a seat," she said, pointing to one of the chairs in front of her desk. "I'll be right back." She closed the door as she stepped out into the bustling ward. Looking around for a moment, Debbie spotted Jean Boyer, the RN who was tracking all of the Cairo's crew currently aboard Reaent. She quickly walked toward the nurse, known for her quick wit and snappy one liners. "Jeannie, tell me exactly how many of the Cairo's people are with us now." There was no sign of humor in Jean's reply. "All together, we have 44 patients from Cairo. Eight are staying right here, twenty-nine are in the auxiliary sickbay in cargo bay one and seven are awaiting evaluation. The triage team should have those remaining seven processed within the next half hour. None of them appear seriously injured." Debbie nodded. "I have one of those seven in my office. He's okay....just a little stressed." "Can't say that I blame him." "The one in my office is an engineer. Do you know if any other engineers made it over here?" Boyer scrolled through the list on her padd and shook her head. "I don't see any. But those two found in the closet with the burns, the Klingon and the Andorian, we aren't sure of their identities yet. One or both of them could be engineers." "Thanks, Jeannie," the CMO started to walk away. "One more thing, Doctor." Debbie paused and turned back toward the nurse. "The highest rank we've seen, is Lieutenant . Unless they find more survivors, it looks like the Cairo lost all of her senior officers." Debbie glanced around the room at the unfamiliar faces of patients who shouldn't have been in her Sickbay in the first place. They were all young, too young to have acquired much rank. "Jeannie, I don't think they're going to find anymore survivors." Boyer shook her head sadly. "I know. And so do they. It's hard on them knowing they're all that's left." The CMO nodded sadly. "It's going to be even worse on the families of those who didn't make it." Debbie headed back toward her office, calling over her shoulder as she walked away from Jean. "Try to positively identify those two who were in the closet. Let me know right away if either of them are engineers."

"How was the tour?" "Depressing." "See anything interesting?" Debbie glanced at Rocco Studly and couldn't help but smile. Rocco was Mr. Meticulous. He always looked....perfect. His uniform was just right, no unsightly wrinkles. And his hair....well....you'd never find a hair out of place on his head. He even spit shined his shoes....should have been a Marine. But that was under normal circumstances. There was nothing normal about today. Things were beyond hectic in Sickbay and Rocco was a bit disheveled. Debbie quickly wiped the smile off her face. If Studly appeared harried, she didn't want to think about what she looked like. "Saw a couple of interesting things." She hadn't had time to talk to Rocco since her brief tour of the Cairo. The survivors of the disabled ship had finally been located and were beaming directly into Sickbay as Debbie returned. "Such as?" The CMO lowered her voice to a whisper. "The cargo bay doors are open." "Couldn't they have blown open?" Debbie shook her head. "No, they didn't blow open." She took a step closer to Studly and lowered her voice even further. "Something exploded outside of that ship. Those doors were open when the explosion occurred." It was Rocco's turn to stare at his boss. "How do you know that?" "The doors are about 70% open. The force of the blast bent the exposed sections of the doors inward.....and they don't bend easily. There are scorch marks all over the exterior of those doors. "But Deb, an explosion aft of the ship couldn't possibly have caused all that damage." "Oh yes it could," replied Debbie quickly. "The initial explosion came from outside the cargo bay. With those doors open, the force of the blast penetrated the interior and triggered secondary explosions within the ship. Engineering sits directly forward of the cargo bay and engineering was blown to kingdom come." Studly ran his fingers through his hair and looked at Debbie skeptically. "And just how do you know that? Your degree is in medicine, remember." Debbie sighed. "Kenickie took us inside the cargo bay. Granted, it was dark but you could see the engineering bulkhead was compromised. Every system on that ship probably overloaded and blew out. And....I've been talking to our survivors. So far, none of them were in engineering." "You went inside the cargo bay?" The CMO nodded and returned her attention to the supplies she was gathering. "Sure did. Kenickie is quite a pilot." "So where'd you learn all this technical stuff about starships?" "It's a long story. I'll tell you about it some time." With that, Debbie picked up the supplies she'd retrieved and walked back to the area where another group of the Cairo's survivors waited. She approached a man who looked to be in his late 20s, a Bajoran still wearing his trademark earring. He didn't appear injured but he was definitely in shock. She was planning to give him a quick scan and then send him on his way to the Reaent's emergency medical facility in cargo bay one. That's where all but the most seriously injured were being treated. It wasn't until Debbie was standing directly in front of the Bajoran that she recognized it. Covered by a triple layer of dirt and grime was an engineer's uniform. Her Bajoran patient was an engineer....just the person she really wanted to talk to.

It was eerily quiet in Sickbay, especially with so many people milling about. All of Reaent's medical personnel had been called in. Most still remained in Sickbay, waiting for the anticipated flood of patients from the Cairo. So far, there had been no word from the damaged vessel, much less any patients. Debbie's "bad feelings" about the situation grew worse with each passing minute. The bridge was feeding the image from the main view screen to consoles throughout the ship. Debbie found herself at her desk, staring somberly at the screen. Several others huddled behind her. It took a few minutes for the shock to wear off. During that time, no one said a word. "The whole aft section is gone," commented one of the onlookers. "I don't suppose they have life support." "They're adrift....no power....and they're leaking like a sieve," sighed Debbie. "Even from this distance you can see at least three major hull breaches." She leaned forward and pointed to the screen. "Look at this one. That one alone compromised every deck in that section." They remained quiet as the magnitude of the disaster seeped into their collective consciousness. "What would cause that kind of damage? Was there a warp core breach?" asked another of the staff. "There's no evidence of a warp core breach," answered Studly. "But something sure went wrong." "It must have been a very powerful explosion. But what exploded?" "Who knows?" "It looks like they lost almost everything aft of engineering," mused Debbie. "Where is engineering?" "Right about here, just forward of the cargo bays." Again Debbie pointed to the pitiful image of the now derelict Cairo. "And look at this! It took out the impulse engines too! Another long pause followed. "What's the crew compliment on an Intrepid?" asked Sudly, kneeling down beside the CMO. Debbie turned and met his gaze. "Between 150 and 170 souls." Rocco glanced away for a moment and then looked at Debbie intently. "Is it possible no one survived over there?" The CMO returned her attention to the image on the console before her. "It's not only possible, it's becoming more and more probable." Someone behind her cursed softly while Studly dropped his head into his hands For the next several seconds, they all pondered the enormity of what lay before them. They'd known almost from the beginning there would be casualties. But the reality of the situation was uglier than any of them expected. It was Debbie who broke the silence. "Those of you who came in early or stayed late may stand down. But be available for a quick recall." The little group broke up with each going his or her way. Some back to their quarters, others to neglected chores in and around Sickbay. She looked at Studly, still kneeling beside her. "Sooner or later, the crew of the Cairo will be transported off that ship. Some, if not all, will come here. We need a place for them." Rocco Studly pushed himself to his feet and took a deep breath. "I'll make the arrangements." He started to walk away but turned back after taking only a couple of steps. "I thought it was sad we had to prepare a cargo bay to house patients. But converting that bay into a morge....that's just plain pathetic." He turned on his heel and quickly walked away, his anger clearly visible in his hurried steps. Debbie wondered if Rocco had been able to tell from her expression that she felt the same as he. The entire situation was plain pathetic.

"You've got that look on your face." Debbie was busy tending to the burns suffered by Ensign Tamara Wilson. Tamara was drinking hot coffee when the shockwave hit. The steaming liquid splashed up all over the Ensign's face. All of the biobeds were occupied so Debbie had Ms. Wilson sitting in a chair by the storage cabinets. The CMO glanced to her left to find Rocco Studly beside her, reaching up to pull supplies down from an upper cabinet. "Which look are your referring to?" Rocco smiled sadly. "The 'we've got big trouble' look." "It may not be that bad," replied Debbie as she again focused her attention on her patient. "We won't know for sure until the AT gets over there." "You sending Brian?" "Yes." "Is he up to it?" Debbie looked around and spotted Brian Smith near the entrance to Sickbay. He was with a patient. The newest member of the medical staff wore a brace on his lower left arm. It the fractured ulna was bothering him, he hid the discomfort quite well. "He's up to it. He's taking Gracie with him. She's got more experience than all the rest of us combined. He'll be fine." "Gracie's a good choice. Probably the best nurse we have." "That's why she's going." Rocco finally located what he was looking for and pulled it off the shelf. He closed the cabinet door and started to walk away. "I hope it's okay over there. But I have a bad feeling about it. Thought you should know that." Debbie stared into the other doctor's deep blue eyes. Studly's intuition was legendary. Somehow, he always knew just how bad a crisis would be. Matthews couldn't remember a single incident where Rocco had called it wrong. What troubled her even more was that she too had a bad feeling about this one. The CMO stepped away from her patient to speak privately with Studly. "It's probably worse than bad on the Cairo." "Which means we'll have to bring their injured over here." "That's right. This might turn into a large scale medical emergency." "Do you think we'll have to convert one of the shuttle bays?" "I don't know yet. But go ahead and take care of the preliminaries, just in case." Rocco nodded, his expression grim. "You've got it." Studly hurried off and Debbie returned to Ensign Wilson, her bad feeling made even worse by Rocco's admission that he was equally concerned.

It only took a moment for the shock to wear off. Debbie Matthews picked herself up and quickly glanced around the room. Her brand new plants were on the floor and so were half of the medical staff. "They could have waited a couple of hours," mumbled Debbie, retrieving one of her new peonies. "But oh no! We're out for two minutes and somebody's got to rock the boat." She shoved the plant back onto a nearby shelf and again turned to survey her little domain. "Everyone okay?" shouted Debbie. Her staff responded with assorted grunts and groans. She assumed those were positive replies but kept her eye on them all as they regained their footing and brushed themselves off. She caught sight of Brian Smith cradling one arm. "Let's get ready, folks!" called Debbie. "I'm sure we're not the only ones on this ship who got tossed around." Roco Studly stood beside her, rubbing his left elbow. "What happened?" "I don't know. But I'm going to find out. In the meantime, call in all off duty personnel. We only had a few seconds to prepare for whatever that was. There are probably fifty or sixty broken bones on this ship right now and their owners will be paying us a visit shortly. Studly nodded and hurried off to put out the all call. Debbie noticed Kyle Mills examining Brian's arm. She walked toward them while attempting to contact the bridge. "+Bridge+ This is Matthews. What was that?" There was no immediate response. Debbie was about to comm again when a voice she didn't recognize replied, "+Matthews+ Some sort of shock wave. Expect casualties." The comm abruptly ended. "Expect casualties?," mumbled Debbie. "Now tell me something I don't know." She quickly forgot about the bridge officer's remark as the calls started coming in from one deck after another. Most of the injuries were relatively minor. The patients were able to bring themselves to Sickbay. But it seemed Deck 8 was especially hard hit. At least seven people on that particular deck were down with injuries serious enough to require medical transport. Debbie approached Kyle and Brian. "Kyle, get up to Deck 8 and see what's going on. I have a report of seven injured up there. They may need transport to Sickbay. I'll take over here." Dr. Mills nodded toward Brian Smith's arm. "It's broken...not serious though." With that, he was off to Deck 8 leaving Debbie to repair Brian's arm. "It's not serious," echoed Brian. " I could probably fix it myself." Debbie scanned the fracture with her medical tricorder. "It will go faster if I do it. And we need you functioning with two good arms as quickly as possible." A disembodied voice suddenly called out. "Engineering and Medical, prepare for an away team." Debbie frowned. Patients were streaming through the front doors. Still others were sprawled on various decks throughout the ship. Now the brass wanted medical personnel for an away team. "An away team?" questioned Brian as Debbie worked to knit his broken ulna back together again. "An away team to where?" Debbie shrugged. "Let's find out. +Bridge+ This is Matthews. I need specifics on this away team. Where are we going and what should we expect?" Another voice replied. "+Matthews+ There has been an explosion on the USS Cairo. Expect casualties." The CMO and her assistant looked at each other for a moment. "+Bridge+ Thank you. Notify me when and where you want the medical team." Debbie quickly returned to the task at hand. They both knew the explosion on the Cairo must have been massive to have produced a shockwave strong enough to shake the Reaent that hard. The damage on the Cairo could very well be catastrophic. "I'm sorry, Brian. We've run out of time. The bone is in fairly good shape but it's going to be awfully tender. Come with me." She led Dr. Smith across the room to one of the storage cabinets. Retrieving the appropriate brace, she carefully wrapped it around Brian's arm. "This should help keep the ulna in place until it finishes healing. Go find yourself a painkiller but make sure it won't dull your senses too much. I'm afraid you're the one going over to the Cairo. Choose a good nurse to accompany you and take extra supplies. Be ready to leave on a moments notice. And whatever you do, keep in touch." With that, Debbie left Brian to finish up. There were now forty-six patients in Sickbay and more on the way. Fortunately, the injuries appeared relatively minor. Debbie could only pray the same would be true for those aboard the Cairo.